The Nestlekwik Happy Hour for June 14, 2008

The Nestlekwik Happy Hour for June 14, 2008!

Nestlekwik: Welcome back for another feature-packed edition of The Nestlekwik Happy Hour! The podcast you have to read makes its return. Your views have spoken and The Nestlekwik Happy Hour is the number seven-rated show in Utah between the hours of 3-4 a.m.! We’d like to thank everyone for their support and by we, I mean that right by my very side is my second player, the Florida Tekken Guru himself, MixMasterLar.

MixMasterLar: Man! I love fan mail!

Nes: Wait … what? You got fan mail already? Your mailbag even has your name on it. Since when were you the clear favorite on the show? All I’ve received since last Saturday was a paper towel with “You Suck” scribbled on it in silver crayon from some random guy while I was pumping gas in my car …

Lar: What can I say? The fans love my charisma. I’m like a Nintendo Power Game Counselor; everyone wants to write in to me. Remember Howard Phillips? He was awesome. I’m like Howard Phillips 2008.

Nes: Well, you’ll have to stop by Goodwill sometime and pick up a snappy polka-dotted bowtie then. And don’t even think of asking me to be NESter. I’m never dying my hair that color again after the last time …

Lar: Hee hee hee. That was hilarious. I don’t think you’ll ever be allowed in that bowling alley again.

Nes: Hmmm. Nintendo Power and Virtual Boy references all in one intro … it just doesn’t get any better than that, folks. Since we’re reminiscing about the days gone by, this sounds like a perfect segue into our retro review of the week! We’ve blindfolded the monkey, handed it a dart and turned it loose on our vast collection of video games. In hindsight, that was a very bad idea as I don’t think we’ll ever get that smell out of that room.

Lar: Oh. I thought that was you.

Nes: Not this time. So which game got the dubious honor of being hit with the dart and thus being chosen for our entertainment?

Lar: Well, seeing as there is a huge hole in the disc thanks to a dart, we’ll need to buy a new copy, but this week's retro review is the sequel to the game that made you want to learn skate slang and listen to grunge, while screaming "dude!"

Nes: “Dood!?!?” There’s a hole in my Disgaea 2 copy?!?! I’m going to kill that monkey …

Lar: No, not the Prinnies, the skaters. We’re taking a look at Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2.

Tony Hawk's Pro Sakter 2 Review

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 Overview: The gameplay remains the same: Skateboard, do tricks and try not to die. Players can choose one of 12 real professional skaters (or the game's unlockable fantasy characters or even a skater of your own creation) and skate around seven skate spots (few resembling a real location, of course). While getting a string of tricks and a high score has always been a goal, as a draw for people wanting replayablity, most levels have about 15 challenges for you to tackle, such as collecting the letters S-K-A-T-E or riding train rails. The most notable new trick is the manual, which allows players to combo a string of moves in areas they couldn’t reach within one string otherwise. This one move changed the gameplay and allowed it to evolve to the "Combo the Level" aspects of the later Tony Hawk games.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/TCFiTJKj9_E&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/TCFiTJKj9_E&rel=1</a>

Lar: The game was released in 2000 and had a lot to live up to as the first THPS kick-started the action sports genre of games in our era and set the bar for any that followed it. While keeping the gameplay exactly the same, developer Neversoft added several features and new tricks and kept everything that made THPS a hit all while upping the ante on the line of games.

The game retains its career mode, which had always - until Underground's release - played out like more of an arcade mode than anything, session mode (a mode based on highest score), free skate mode, and two-player mode (which includes its share of mutiplayer games) as well as introducing create-a-skater, create-a-park, and a list of gaps (gaps are best described as sections to combo off of). The Game also introduced a lot of staples in the "Pro" Games: Skill points to improve your stats, guest characters, cheat menus, tons of FMV (and joke vids) and the ability to change a trick's command. The game's difficulty suits what you care to do: Just skating around and beating career mode a few times is easy and the controls are so simple my mom has even skated a few rounds, while unlocking everything requires absolute mastery and a lot of time (I owned the game for 7 years and I have yet to reach beyond 95% completion). Another aspect that helps replay is the lack of overpowering combo chains. In the newer games, you can learn to pull everything with ease and make your skater the ultimate character with skill points, thus making the game boring after you reach that level. Here, you will always have to use a lot of skill to always get a combo and skill points don’t help you as much (but you’ll still want to buy them, of course).

The graphics in the N64 and PSX versions of the game were pretty standard for the time, neither breaking records or making anyone's eyes bleed, while the Dreamcast version had much prettier -looking graphics and looked very appealing. The animations where a step ahead of the time: Your skater rolls over once before recovering from a nasty fall and stumbles forward if the board comes loose and shoots behind him. While reused for the remainder of the PS1 releases, the animations have progressed a lot better since.

The level designs were some the best of the first four THPS games in a lot of fans’ opinion and many of these levels have been reused in later games’ "Classic Mode." That only shows the basic layout is still good enough that fans still play them after almost 10 years. Looking at the maps, the game still heavily favors rail grinding or overall "street skating" over using vertical ramps - something that wouldn’t change until THPS3. While lacking a few features that took advantage of newer moves, these are still pretty much the same ones that newer players relived in Underground, Underground 2 and American Wasteland. The menus are a lot easier to get around in and look great compared to some of the other titles. The game also lacks a grid indicator to show balance, so even if you’re good at the later games you might still find it harder to pick up.

One thing people have always remembered the THPS games for is the soundtracks. While the newer ones have up to 50+ songs and feature something for everyone, the older games had a lot less. THPS2 upped its own ante at the time and featured 14 songs from rock and metal bands - five more than THPS (five songs in 2000 meant something). While more diverse then the first, it's clear that any of the later games blow it out of the water.

Overall, the Playstation version a great blast from the past, and if you enjoyed the later games at all you should check this one out since it's considered to be the true essence of the original concept that made Tony Hawk games a classic.

Nes: Seeing as my true love from 1999-2001 was my Sega Dreamcast, it should come as no surprise I snatched up THPS2 for the white box after being pleasantly surprised with the original title on the Playstation. While Pro Skater inherently re-launched the extreme sports genre, Pro Skater 2's beefy set of additions could have possibly created what is arguably the greatest extreme sports game in history and definitely put Tony Hawk, skating and the franchise on the mainstream map.

What you can instantly expect from the Dreamcast version is a very noticeable bump to the graphics and animation, giving the character models and environments much more color and life. Fleshing out the presentation, while most players might not notice it, the sound is also a tad more crisp on the DC – a definite plus as THPS2 was one of the pioneers of offering up varied, licensed music as a game soundtrack. One nod given to the Playstation, however, lies in the system's controller - while the Dreamcast version handles extremely well, the Playstation's button layout makes playing the game just a smidgen more comfortable. While the Nintendo 64 version handles itself very well on the hardware, nothing it does seems to make it stand out from the other two versions aside from perhaps the advantage of no load times.

The level design in THPS2 is definitely top-notch as most of the levels seem a lot less linear than in the first title. If you badmouth a stage, put your money where your mouth is and create a better one using the park editor. With all of the goodies unveiled through the course of the game, players will be pressed to reach 100% completion and, unlike doing the task in some other games, players will have fun doing it the entire time.

In all, THPS2 is just a bump up in every conceivable area, even for Dreamcast standards. With the franchise launching a number of extreme sports titles on the Dreamcast, none of them even comes close to thinking about holding a candle to THPS2. In fact, the title arguably ranks toward the top of the entire Dreamcast library of games.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/x1bapcevrL4&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/x1bapcevrL4&rel=1</a>

Overall: Whether it be the Nintendo 64, Playstation One or Sega Dreamcast, players can’t go wrong with the game play in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2. The title is a clear example of a franchise that improves on the original in every conceivable way. The controls are so simple that even non-followers of sport can pick up the controller and have a blast right away. Most of the different versions’ strengths and weaknesses lie in the capabilities of the hardware, however, the grind and grab action fits the bill on whatever you play it on.

Nes: After loving Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 so much, it’s difficult to see the series get whored out every year. Hopefully Skate will give Activision the nudge it needs to push for a more unique entry to the Tony Hawk series.

Lar: Yeah. Every time a Tony Hawk game releases, that denies another classic series a chance to be remade into a proper sequel.

Nes: That smells like a segue …

Lar: No. That’s still you.

Nes: While games such as NiGHTS have made long-awaited returns to gaming, there are still other classic gems that are begging to see the light of day on today’s newest technology. With this, we bring you:

The Nestlekwik Happy Hour Top 5!
The Top 5 Games We'd Like to See a Proper Sequel For

#5 Jet Set Radio
Nes: Even though the series did receive a sequel that looked and sounded like Jet Set Radio in the form of 2002's Jet Set Radio Future, it just didn't play like Jet Set Radio. The Xbox version removed all of the police pursuits, combo-based large graffiti tags, turf battles and super-strict time limits that made the original so feverishly intense so it's no surprise Future failed to captivate us in the same way. Given Sega's current track record for classic-based remakes, we're wondering whether another JSR would even please us, but seeing as the title featured some of the best presentation and style we've ever seen in a video game, seeing the series' wily cast and Tokyo-to in high definition would too good of a treat for th eyes to pass up. As long as the intensity of the original is maintained, Professor K would most definitely have a welcome home on our consoles.

#4 Sin & Punishment
Lar: Formerly Japan -only and recently released on the Wii's VC, Sin & Punishment is probably one of the most fun arcade style shooters I have ever played in my life. Earth is being attacked by an alien race and has pretty much crushed what resistance there was and it's up to a small group of rebels to stop the terror. The game is a cross between Galaga, Time Crisis and your average third-person shooter: You control your character from a rear view and shoot waves upon waves upon waves and more waves of aliens, soldiers and mechs while playing on a rail-based level (you're almost always moving forward, with only choices to shoot, jump and sidestep). The game’s biggest downfalls, unfortunately, are it's incredibly short - taking about a little over an hour to beat - and some sorely outdated character models. Thankfully, the gameplay and what little story it has easily made the game a keeper.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/hmxanWXvAgA&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/hmxanWXvAgA&rel=1</a>

I would love to see another game with similar gameplay, a much better soundtrack (the one used sounds alot like Time Crisis minus the charm), deeper story and a controller configuration that matches any controller that works with newer consoles (the first game was on the N64, and the Wii Remote doesn’t do it justice at all). A sequel could also allow gameplay changes that may include more third-person controls like being able to manually walk and/or stop. It would be cool to see where it could lead.

#3 Burning Rangers
Nes: Sega lands yet another franchise on our top 5, placing the Saturn 3-D title that could on our wish lists. Hitting the Saturn toward the end of its life, Burning Rangers pushed 3-D like no other on the hardware and featured impressive audio via a real-time navigation mechanic. As well-done as the title was, the meager four levels and weak boss fights left players wanting more, including us. Firefighting was never this fun and with the hardware available today, the possibilities would really have us excited - online multiplayer squads tackling massive fires and other threats together, navigations fed to players through USB headsets, visual treats in the form of vivid fire, non-blocky characters and proper lighting and particle effects - the jump from the Saturn would allow the series to do everything it couldn't do in 32-bit form and given the fact hardly anyone played the original, the premise would appeal to first-time players and fans alike.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/ceodvR4m5EU&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/ceodvR4m5EU&rel=1</a>

#2 Bushido Blade
Lar: Released on the Playstation One back in 1997, Bushido Blade is probably the most realistic fighter ever created for any home system (or arcade for that matter). With a small cast of six playable characters, you play in modern-day Japan as you learn the dojo in which you live in is really a secret ring of assassins. Once you discover this secret, you start to make your escape and are forced to fight your comrades, but once escaped, you realize that you must return and stop the killings. The game has a unique body damage system that few other games have really picked up on correctly since. If your opponent hits your left arm, it's wounded and you can’t use it for the remainder of the fight. If he slices your leg, then you have to fight on your knees and if he hits your head, then you die - even if it is the first strike of the round. In a time where people where playing games that kept you at a turbo pace, Bushido Blade challenged you to slow down and plan out attacks. You didn’t want to miss any strikes or else your opponent had a free shot. It also punished you if you used cowardly tactics (such as hitting grounded opponents before they are ready or stabbing them in the back) with a “Game Over.”

Sadly, the game's only sequel was nothing like the first: It ret conned most of the story, added a whole other school with a story that wasn’t as fleshed out and changed the gameplay into more of an action game (but it at least kept the body damage system, sans the leg wounds). I compare the two games like the movies The Searchers and Blood Alley - both have John Wayne and great acting, but they are completely different experiences. I would love to see a real sequel that featured the new characters from Bushido Blade 2 but had the controls and story of the first. Oh, and having a real soundtrack would be nice, seeing as the game is mostly played without any music.

#1 River City Ransom
Nes: A remake alone won't cut it for the rabid fans of this series, they want a real deal. Kunio is a big man in Japan, but very few of his outings have received proper releaases in the U.S. When he's not playing dodgeball or soccer, he's fighting and that's what most players remember him for. River City Ransom never sold quite well during its initial release on the NES, but long after the system had retired, it remains as one of players' favorite Nintendo memories. The title was simple, leaving it up to players to deem how much time they wish to devote to it. With the stat building RPG elements and simple-to-play mechanics, River City Ransom still stands as the system's greatest beat-'em-up for one or two players.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/dpLsDehM58k&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/dpLsDehM58k&rel=1</a>

Given the title's straight-forward brawling action and RPG elements I'm honestly shocked no one has revisioned the concept into an MMO title. Even with its recent success as a best-selling Virtual Console title, it seems no one is willing to take a chance on a brand new Kunio brawler. Even in 2-D fashion, the online element would create a thriving world of players forming factions and engaging in massive street brawls when players aren't cashing in earnings for waffles that increase their will power and stanima. River City Ransom's own stat building pratically lends itself to an MMORPG format and the thought of hundreds strong roaming a virtual street looking for a fight makes us long for another dose of stone hands and Texas boots.

Lar: Out with the old, in with the new they always say, so let’s take a look at what gamers should be paying attention to this coming week.

Nes: It’s a portable-dominated field as only DS and PSP games make are Picks of the Week this week.

Lar: You might say because of Metal Gear Solid 4, this week is weak.

Nes: … No.

Happy Hour Picks of the Week for the Week of June 16, 2008

Pick of the Week Runner-Up #1 – Arkanoid DS – Nintendo DS
Nes: Taito's long-running brick breaker returns, this time under the publishing arm of Square-Enix. I really shouldn't have to explain how to play Arkanoid so we'll just let you know the title has 140 levels to complete in its standard mode, a time attack mode versus the CPU and a quest mode sets different rules for clearing the various stages. Accumulating points allows players to customize the game by spending them on new backgrounds, blocks and sound effects. To change up the game play, missing a ball no longer deducts a life and starts play from scratch - a miss damages your paddle, allowing you keep accumulated power-ups and speed until you miss three times. Sadly, sadly missing, however, is the Japanese version's dial controller. By plugging into the Game Boy Advance slot on the DS, Japanese players have access to true arcade controls. American gamers will be stuck using either the d-pad or touch screen, further proving U.S. publishers hate you.

Pick of the Week Runner-Up #2 – Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard – Nintendo DS
Nes: Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard marks Atlus' second attempt to launch the series on U.S. DS systems, bringing critical party choices and in-your-face monster encounters back into play. The title's presentation reminds us of old-school RPGs, but EO II offers up a number of additions from its predecessor. Not only do a number of character classes force players to set up strategic battle plans, players will have to off enemies skillfully as taking too long in any battle will result in other monsters closing in on the battle. Thankfully, the sequel adds in "force skills," which act as powerful skills only selectable when an appropriate meter has been filled. Just as in the previous game, dungeons are explored via a first-person view with players being tasked with mapping their own progress on the touch screen. Thus far, EO II looks to be a rewarding experience on the Nintendo DS, stepping in to aid the weak adventure titles released on the system this year.

Pick of the Week for June 16, 2008 – Secret Agent Clank – Sony PSP
Lar: Our top pick for this week's releases is the PSP-only platformer Secret Agent Clank, the seventh game in the Ratchet and Clank series. Ratchet is framed for a crime and sent to jail where it happens that all of his old rivals are waiting for him. It's up to the player to help his robotic sidekick Clank find out who is pulling the strings.

The game looks pretty fun to play, using the PSP engine from Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters and is also taking cues from old spy movies of the 1960s (mostly 007, but I’m hoping that Flint will get recognized somewhere). Unlike other Ratchet games, Clank now comes with his own set of moves and can get around like a regular action hero. Clank will be armed with bowtie that acts like a boomerang and Clank now does some wicked kung fu. He also has a ton of guns that have become staples in the franchise.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/ptnCHBVz44Y&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/ptnCHBVz44Y&rel=1</a>

Another cool thing is that players will get to play as Ratchet later in the game as he fights old bosses again along with Captain Qwirk as he attempts to free him. Each will play a bit differently then the other while keeping the old Size Matters gameplay at heart in order to keep the game from being too different than the main games. PSP owners have no excuse not to try a platformer on a handheld that is a spin-off of one of the best platformers in this generation, so I expect this one to sell well.

Lar: Speaking of Bushido, Nes, wouldn’t Tatsumi be a great guest character in some other fighters? All he'll need are those double katanas he has in BB2 and he could fit anywhere. Tatsumi vs Kilik would be golden.

Nes: Kilik, I’m afraid, is busy fighting product placement at this moment. At this rate Kilik vs. Killik would make more sense.

Lar: Wow. That’s some really deep Star Wars right there.

Nes: Yeah, you have to love the Internet.

Lar: Speaking of lesser-known entries falling into the norm, I believe we have one more feature …

Nes: That’s right. With Metal Gear Solid 4 out now, we’ve decided to take a look at the bastard child of Metal Gear!

Lar: You sure we’re not going to get in trouble for this? I mean, we could really upset Hideo Kojima by talking about this.

Nes: What is he going to do? Storm our studio? … Please?

Lar: I wonder how Snake’s Revenge could possibly tie in with the Metal Gear storyline?

Nes: Given the weirdo voodoo philosophical crap that happened at the end of Metal Gear Solid 2, anything is possible.

Lar: Well, we could always try and play it to see, right?

Nes: I’m well ahead of you, my friend.

Orphaned: Snake's Revenge. I'm a Metal Gear Too Dammit!

Nes: Really, there are only about six reasons this is even a “Metal Gear” game: The game play matches the original, the inventory and radio system matches the original, Snake, Big Boss, Metal Gear and FoxHound. Given that, this seems like a typical day on the job for Snake.

Lar: Seems that code names change a lot. Lt. Snake, eh? This is well before MGS1, since he still denies a real name. "Ahem. Excuse me Lieutenant, eh, Snake. I have some papers for you.”

Nes: I bet he placed pizza orders under the name Snake Plissken. Konami can’t fool me. Up until Metal Gear Solid, Snake was some straight up Kurt Russell down to the scraggly locks and he’s sporting some mad eye patch in Metal Gear Solid 4. Given how odd Snake looks in this installment with his hair, he must have cut it down for Snake’s Revenge and grown it back out for Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. If it weren’t for what happens in Metal Gear 2, we could possibly suggest Snake’s Revenge actually came after Solid Snake, in which the painful memories of that battle forced him to cut his hair or a curling iron accident prior to a Kurt Russell look-a-like contest warranted the cut.

Lar: Well, it looks like there was a Metal Gear model that was only 22 feet high and managed to be 225 tons. I’m thinking that it moved like a rock.

Nes: You are correct because Metal Gear 2 (as in Metal Gear model 2, not the game) doesn’t move at all! The final boss battle pits Snake against a stationary object! Psycho Mantis be damned, this is real psychological damage – playing through a game of espionage and a battle with “Higharolla Kockamamie” (seriously, what the f***? Even as a play on words that’s just lame) to encounter the lamest ending in all of Metal Gear.

Lar: I love the way Snake can see through walls and guide that rocket to destroy Metal Gear 2. I guess you have alot of time to try different patterns when there are no soldiers around a weapon that's getting ready to go out in battle. Snake is still just like Big Boss in this one, look how he just leaves without looking for his "co-workers." Bye, guys!

Nes: Chalk it up to Snake to have X-Ray goggles to see through walls (and Jennifer's clothes, that dirty hoss). Or is he "using the force" to shoot the torpedos down the tube? We do know the other two members of Operation 747 are dead before the final confrontation, as vague as the game may be. Regardless, I wouldn't doubt Snake was ditching his comrades just like he was ditched at the beginning.

Lar: I would suppose he’s a little sore about being on the mission since his comrades ditch him in about a minute. I guess that new FoxHound suit codenamed “IRON MAN” didn’t impress them. You can tell Snake was playing too much Rush 'n Attack when the mission started. I guess he ditched it in Solid when he realized that jumping and shooting in the side-scrolling sections wasn't working out when you wanted to be undetected.

Nes: You can clearly tell this game follows the escapades of “Fashion Accessory Snake” from Metal Gear Solid 3. He’s clearly experimenting in the early ‘90s neon color fashion but I’m calling Naruto on this one. When your job is to sneak around and kill people without them knowing about it, wearing the brightest colored outfit you could possibly pull from a garage sale is a bad first step. Iron Man looks cool. Red-suit Snake looks like a six-year-old tried to dress himself. Slap on the bright red berret, and, yes, he'd be right out of Rush'N Attack.

Lar: So what is final verdict? Does Snake’s Revenge work in a Metal Gear timeline and associate with the workings of the entire series? The meaning of Metal Gear Solid's ending means a heck of alot more when you realize that snake
pretty much kills his "co-worker" (As fellow FOXHOUND members are called during the mission) so he could sneak in.

Nes: Of course. The transition is obviously Metal Gear Solid 3, Metal Gear, Snake’s Revenge, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4. Snake’s Revenge clearly plays off Metal Gear as the dictator from the original title survives, a new metal gear mech directly follows the original and the “Revenge” aspect plays on the deaths caused to his comrades in the first game. There is no reason the game couldn’t be considered canon, it just isn’t merely because Kojima-san wasn’t involved (which is odd since he isn’t even credited in the original’s credits). Since everyone "important" other than Snake dies, as said before, Snake’s Revenge would be looked at like another day on the job for FoxHound, which could merely be referenced to in all of the death and battlefield dribble Snake goes on about. In reality, it seems Snake’s Revenge was meant to be the final adventure of Snake given the ending, which gave us this ultra creepy Snake moment:

Nes: Yes, you are rewarded for clearing Snake’s Revenge through the stupidest sentence ever conceived and Snake grudgingly cracking a smile. The best part of the ending lasts five seconds and just reminds Snake that all of his friends are dead. Given the look on his face with that devious smile, you'd think he just cut one in a crowded room.

Lar: Well, I bet readers are finally smiling again since this week’s show is over.

Nes: There’s no naked guys named Seth this week so I made it a little further through the reading this time. Maybe this time we can be number six in Utah.

Lar: Well, hopefully the naked guy named Seth wasn’t the reason we had so much viewership.

Nes: That’s just creepy.

Lar: Indeed. Just like that .gif above us. That's going to give me nightmares for weeks.

Nes: See you next week folks!

Also be sure to visit us at GemuBaka!!