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Maximum Letdown: War Gods (Playstation 1, Nintendo 64, Arcade)
by William Talley, filed in Games, Maximum Letdown on Jul.30, 2009
After Midway struck gold with Mortal Kombat, they tried again, again, and again to repeat its success in the fighting game arena, but failed miserably. While Capcom was able to follow up the wildly successful Street Fighter 2 with Darkstalkers and the Marvel fighting games, SNK successfully presented Art of Fighting (along with King of Fighters, Samurai Showdown, and so many others) as Fatal Fury’s successor, and Namco followed up Tekken with Soul Blade, Midway churned out failures such as Bio Freaks and Mace: The Dark Age. They had some potential though, as Bio Freaks had an dismemberment game mechanic and Mace could have been Soul Edge’s evil twin. However, Midway’s most notable attempt (and by this I mean biggest failure) was War Gods. Although it had some promise, it was dragged down by horrid controls, lousy character design, and a frustratingly cheap artificial intelligence.
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Skies of Arcadia was one of the few RPGs on the Dreamcast. Although its plot about three youths teaming up to fight an evil empire was as old school as it gets, the game’s sky-pirate theme made the game unique. Players take the role of Vyse, a member of the blue rogues, a group of sky pirates. While searching for treasure alongside his best friend Aika, Vyse meets a mysterious woman with strange powers. From there, Vyse gets involved in the empire’s plot to take over the world by reviving ancient weapons. The battle system is turn-based, similar to other RPGs. Each character has a weapon with a crystal that can change color in order to battle against different enemies. The game also features ship battles, in which Vyse and his crew take to the skies to battle against giant monsters and enemy ships. You can select from different types of cannons and attacks as you try to sink your opponent. You’ll recruit a crew of pirates, each with their own special abilities. A big part of the game involves exploration, and you can gain fame and fortune by making discoveries. The graphics are bright and colorful, and the music is good as well. As you are battling bosses, the music actually changes on the fly depending on how you are doing in battle. A few years after the Dreamcast version was released, a Gamecube game was released, featuring shorter load times, less random encounters, more sidequests, and new boss battles. It goes without saying that it is backwardly compatible on the Wii, so this is definitely the version to go with. Skies of Arcadia may not reinvent the wheel, but it is a solid classic-style console RPG. 
For years, Maxis’s games have given gamers everywhere an unprecedented amount of control over their gaming experience. Weather you’re managing (or destroying via disasters) your city’s infrastructure in SimCity, directing (or ruining) the day to day lives of the people in your household in the Sims, or climbing up the food chain and evolutionary ladder in Spore, few other game companies have given players the power to make their gaming experiences truly unique and individual. This compilation features 5 of the more recent titles (or rather 2 titles, their expansion packs, and a third) in Maxis’s SimCity franchise, and is highly recommended for fans of SimCity.
Earlier this week, I featured one of the more recent Syphon Filter entries. This week’s Lost Classic features an earlier entry in the series, Syphon Filter 3. SF3 was the last game in the series to be featured on the PS1, and it had to be delayed due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks (the original box art featured protagonists Gabe Logan and Lian Xing jumping from an exploding building). Thankfully it didn’t take too long for the game to be released, and players got another explosive chapter in the popular espionage saga.
Our nation’s birthday was this past Saturday, so in celebration, this week’s $20GOTW and Lost classics will feature games based on Sony’s Syphon Filter, a franchise about keeping the world safe from terrorism. When it debuted on the original Playstation in the late 90s, Syphon Filter gave players its own brand of espionage action. It may not have been Metal Gear Solid, but Syphon Filter was the closest thing players got to playing through an episode of 24. Syphon Filter’s storyline covered 3 PS1 games and a PS2 entry which featured online play. In 2006, Sony bought Syphon Filter to the Playstation Portable, creating one of the best games available on the system.
2000 was a good year for Squaresoft and its fans. Square released a parade of hits that year, from Vagrant Story to Chrono Cross, and this game was among them. The Front Mission series is a turn based strategy RPG featuring mechs, which has its roots on the Super Nintendo. However, this is the first time that the series has hit U.S. shores. Front Mission 3 contains 2 different storylines, chess-like gameplay, and deep mech customization. Fans of games such as Final Fantasy tactics and Advance wars will love this game’s strategy action, and robot lovers will get a kick out of the many ways they can outfit their mechs.
Lost Planet, along with Dead Rising, was part of Capcom’s strategy to make an impact on the Xbox 360 market, and it did, gaining critical acclaim for its fast-paced single player campaign and solid online multiplayer. Later on, the game was ported to PC (allowing cross-platform multiplayer with the Xbox 360 via the Windows live service) and PS3, although they received a somewhat lukewarm reaction compared to the Xbox game. A sequel to the game was recently announced, along with a movie (with a screenplay written by writer/voice actor David Hayter), so there is no better time than the present to explore the Lost Planet.