9/04/2013

Castle of Mouse....






Another classic Disney game remade in HD? Awesome. Reviewers giving it low scores because it's the essence of that classic game? Sounds familiar. I still haven't finished Ducktales because I just haven't been gaming a bunch lately, but I've played over half of it and aside from Ms.. Beakley repeating the same dialogue every time it's a thoroughly enjoyable experience. And reviewers hated it for being goddamn Ducktales with a few added (and very skippable) cut scenes thrown in.

Castle of Illusion goes a little more in the reboot direction and if you pre-ordered on the PS3 you can really tell because it's comes with the Genesis original, which gameplay-wise holds up pretty well but it is DAMN ugly. The remake looks gorgeous and rather than full cut-scenes has a narrator (who I think sounds quite a bit like Dumbeldore). It's a bit more modern mechanics, like a mostly 2D Crash Bandicoot with the occasional 3D bit thrown in. And it works. So what if it's only a few hours long? People talk about amazing yet quick experiences like Journey and Gone Home and Papers Please and all these other games that deliver short bursts of really enjoyable experiences. I'd also argue that platformers and 2D platformers especially are in short supply so ones that are good are certainly worth $15 for those that will enjoy them for both the tight gameplay and the nostalgia factor.

Game length vs. cost is a very subjective matter, there are very few games I'm willing to pay $60 for because many can beaten in a couple of days (Tomb Raider, Bioshock Infinite and Last of Us all come to mind, rented and beat all those well before the rental period was up).  But I think that kind of goes away once you hit the sub $20 level. At that point it's really a question of did you have a good time with the time you had with the title, however short it was?

That's all I've really got for today, hopefully I'll have some impressions of Diablo 3 tomorrow (plan on renting it today) along with some other stuff.

No comments: