Grand Theft Auto IV vs Mario Kart Wii
Zach got me thinking a lot about Evan's famous video game stance: take a good game like Final Fantasy 6 and just re-release it with new characters and boards/towns/dungeons and it too will be a classic.
This stance (and i agree with it) will help me while discussing my two latest video game purchases: GTA IV and Mario Kart.
GTA IV:
This is an awful game. It got perfect 10s across the board. I give it a 6 out of 10. If you account for the reviews it gets a 4. My biggest problem with the game is IT'S THE EXACT SAME GAME AS GTA 3!! Same exact cars (Moonbeam, Balista, Sentinal, Infernus, Banshee, Bobcat, etc...), same exact city (Liberty City), same exact missions (drive to this location, steal a car/shoot a guy). I never played Vice City or San Andreas, but i know what makes them different than GTA 3. These games are MORE in line with Evan's stance: take something that works (a Sandbox game where you steal cars and shoot people) and make improvements whether that is different cars, buying businesses, making your guy fat, adding jetpacks, making fun of the 80s, etc... GTA IV does NONE of this. In fact, it is a far WORSE game than GTA 3! Here are the adds and losses:
BETTER
better graphics, different storyline, multiplayer, cell phone to restart missions easier, slightly improved combat system
WORSE
No uniquness, loss of gang territories and gangs in general (who am i fighting in GTA IV?), worse driving control, worse wanted level/cops, NOTHING to use money on (i have $22,000 1/5 through the game), FORCED to "hang out" with friends/contact in mundane ways like playing horrible versions of pool and bowling or eating chicken (yup). And I mean THE WORST video game versions of both of those games.
Now, multiplayer sucks. You have racing games that suck because the controls are stiff and there are only 3 good cars, plus, it's way worse than ANY racing game (no cool tracks, no cool weapons, no cool cars, no cool anything). You have shooting games that suck because of lock-on targeting (or non lock-on, which the game isnt made for as the characters are too small, the draw is too poor, and accuracy is dicey), plus, it's worse than ANY shooting game!
The problem here, and why GTA IV does not meet Evan's video game stance, is the fact that there's no leveling, no collecting, no better weapons, no nothing. Niko in GTA IV is the EXACT same as when you start. Theres no sense of accomplishment or change. This is why re-releasing FF6 would work, while this GTA IV game is basically GTA3, PS3 edition, much like theres a Wii and XBOX edition of Bully. Only Zach could make me play this game again...
MARIO KART WII
I was extremely skeptical coming into this game. Mario Kart (SNES) is a top 3 game ever maybe. I played 1 or 2 other incarnations of Kart and HATED them. But this game is enjoyable. A solid 8.5 out of 10.
THE GOOD
Some GREAT boards. Great touch to add retro boards like Ghost Valley 2 and Mario Circuit 3 from NES (Mario Circuit 3 being the 3rd hardest board in the game, IMHO), bikes and karts adds a little different spice, and you can just ignore the bikes if you want (mostly), different kart choices which lets you tweak your style, drifting for turbo boosts is well done, drafting is a nice feature (racing behind someone to reduce wind resistance and slingshot in front of them), addition of "off road" stat for karts so they perform better on non pavement tracks
THE BAD
Too many characters. Whats the point? There are only like 3 different types of stats, why do you need 20 characters? Some horrible, broken items (like the bullet bill item, which not only auto-races you about 1/3 through a lap at 3 times the speed, but it also wipes out anyone you touch), inconsistant items (bullet bill makes you lose your item but getting hit with a red shell doesnt? Frustrating), Too many items, too often (you can get 3-4 items a lap), items are too poorly distributed (0% chance to get a star, blue shell, bullet bill when you are in the top positions, nearly a 90% chance to get them in the rear which leads to too many "oh, another banana peel cuz i'm in 1st")
BUT, i can understand A LOT of the bad. My theory is that there are so many broken items because the game WANTS you to wipe out. Acceleration is the worst attribute in Mario Kark SNES. In the Wii version, it's useful because you are starting and stopping more.
There is also my mixed review of the new grand prix series. You have 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc. Now you have 150cc Mirror which flips every board so right turns are left turns, etc... This is COOL and difficult. At first. Now I have been trying to beat the mirror boards so much that I'm used to them as the standard (thats bad). But overall, it's a great game.
In summary: GTA IV sucks and Mario Kart Wii is great.
This stance (and i agree with it) will help me while discussing my two latest video game purchases: GTA IV and Mario Kart.
GTA IV:
This is an awful game. It got perfect 10s across the board. I give it a 6 out of 10. If you account for the reviews it gets a 4. My biggest problem with the game is IT'S THE EXACT SAME GAME AS GTA 3!! Same exact cars (Moonbeam, Balista, Sentinal, Infernus, Banshee, Bobcat, etc...), same exact city (Liberty City), same exact missions (drive to this location, steal a car/shoot a guy). I never played Vice City or San Andreas, but i know what makes them different than GTA 3. These games are MORE in line with Evan's stance: take something that works (a Sandbox game where you steal cars and shoot people) and make improvements whether that is different cars, buying businesses, making your guy fat, adding jetpacks, making fun of the 80s, etc... GTA IV does NONE of this. In fact, it is a far WORSE game than GTA 3! Here are the adds and losses:
BETTER
better graphics, different storyline, multiplayer, cell phone to restart missions easier, slightly improved combat system
WORSE
No uniquness, loss of gang territories and gangs in general (who am i fighting in GTA IV?), worse driving control, worse wanted level/cops, NOTHING to use money on (i have $22,000 1/5 through the game), FORCED to "hang out" with friends/contact in mundane ways like playing horrible versions of pool and bowling or eating chicken (yup). And I mean THE WORST video game versions of both of those games.
Now, multiplayer sucks. You have racing games that suck because the controls are stiff and there are only 3 good cars, plus, it's way worse than ANY racing game (no cool tracks, no cool weapons, no cool cars, no cool anything). You have shooting games that suck because of lock-on targeting (or non lock-on, which the game isnt made for as the characters are too small, the draw is too poor, and accuracy is dicey), plus, it's worse than ANY shooting game!
The problem here, and why GTA IV does not meet Evan's video game stance, is the fact that there's no leveling, no collecting, no better weapons, no nothing. Niko in GTA IV is the EXACT same as when you start. Theres no sense of accomplishment or change. This is why re-releasing FF6 would work, while this GTA IV game is basically GTA3, PS3 edition, much like theres a Wii and XBOX edition of Bully. Only Zach could make me play this game again...
MARIO KART WII
I was extremely skeptical coming into this game. Mario Kart (SNES) is a top 3 game ever maybe. I played 1 or 2 other incarnations of Kart and HATED them. But this game is enjoyable. A solid 8.5 out of 10.
THE GOOD
Some GREAT boards. Great touch to add retro boards like Ghost Valley 2 and Mario Circuit 3 from NES (Mario Circuit 3 being the 3rd hardest board in the game, IMHO), bikes and karts adds a little different spice, and you can just ignore the bikes if you want (mostly), different kart choices which lets you tweak your style, drifting for turbo boosts is well done, drafting is a nice feature (racing behind someone to reduce wind resistance and slingshot in front of them), addition of "off road" stat for karts so they perform better on non pavement tracks
THE BAD
Too many characters. Whats the point? There are only like 3 different types of stats, why do you need 20 characters? Some horrible, broken items (like the bullet bill item, which not only auto-races you about 1/3 through a lap at 3 times the speed, but it also wipes out anyone you touch), inconsistant items (bullet bill makes you lose your item but getting hit with a red shell doesnt? Frustrating), Too many items, too often (you can get 3-4 items a lap), items are too poorly distributed (0% chance to get a star, blue shell, bullet bill when you are in the top positions, nearly a 90% chance to get them in the rear which leads to too many "oh, another banana peel cuz i'm in 1st")
BUT, i can understand A LOT of the bad. My theory is that there are so many broken items because the game WANTS you to wipe out. Acceleration is the worst attribute in Mario Kark SNES. In the Wii version, it's useful because you are starting and stopping more.
There is also my mixed review of the new grand prix series. You have 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc. Now you have 150cc Mirror which flips every board so right turns are left turns, etc... This is COOL and difficult. At first. Now I have been trying to beat the mirror boards so much that I'm used to them as the standard (thats bad). But overall, it's a great game.
In summary: GTA IV sucks and Mario Kart Wii is great.