Strider

As I said yesterday, I'll finish the section of the series I have with Strider.  Developed and published by Capcom, Strider was originally released in the arcade in March 1989 but was re-released as a second disc on the PlayStation with Strider 2 in July of 2000.

The game's story is much like Strider 2, the evil dictator Grandmaster rules over the world and Strider Hiryu takes on the task to assassinate him.  So he glides into the Grandmaster's capital at the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic.  And so the mission starts and you control Hiryu through the Russian city.  The controls are very simple, as it did come from an arcade game, with only two real buttons: attack and jump.  You can hold down with jump to slide as well, but the controls aren't much beyond that.

So you move across the Russian roofs, having very little difficulty with the starting enemies, it's just some random soldiers with guns and bayonets who charge at you without pause and some floating robots that are simple.  The soldiers do try and spear you if they get too close, but they telegraph it so you usually know when to make sure to attack them.  Of course, the game is an arcade game, so it is purposely difficult to eat your quarters: you can only take three hits.  That means that any mistake can take you out and you really have to be careful.

The game also has a few nice power ups which are pretty easy to get.  The flying robots (some of the simple enemies I mentioned before) sometimes carry these boxes that you can slash to open and get a boost from.  There are straightforward ones such as one that heals you and another that increases you maximum health.  Then there are some "options" which give you advantages.  The first is this mushroom like enemy which circles around you and shoots blasts every time you press the attack button.  Another one of the options is a hawk, though to be very honest I'm not quite sure what it does besides circle around in the screen and look cool. 

Now unlike Strider 2, this game has a lot less bosses (or at least I fought fewer, but I didn't complete the first mission).  Each of the bosses is very interesting, and though seems simple, can still destroy you since it only takes a few hits.  The first boss is a large guy with yellow spikey hair and a lot of muscles who starts off by breaking away from a medical tank he's in and rips off his shirt.... yeah.

So he's a bit of a wrestler (and by a bit I mean very much so) and he starts by diving at you and then rolling across the floor until you either slash him or he grabs you.  If he grabs you, he flings you against the wall behind him and starts his process over again.  He's not too difficult once you realize you just have to wait for him to attack and slash him to stop him.  The problem is when he's defeated, fire suddenly rains down from the ceiling and covers the floor except for under the platform he started on and I lost most of my health to it.

So I continued further on through the level having difficulties with a new enemy: a robotic spider.  The enemy isn't that difficult, the problem is he's on a major slant either going up or going down so there is no direct line to him.  And when you are on a direct line with him, he shoots a laser at you.  Ouch.  So I finally get over the peak of the roof and into the building I've been climbing all over and I find another boss.  This one is a head looking thing that shoots a pair of lasers that bounce around the room and you just stay on the floor and slash at it until it blows up.  From there an opening appears in the floor and I fall in to get a face full of bullets from a random guy with a Gatling Gun who seems like he'll also be a boss.  I'll never know though because I took this opportunity to take a break. 

And so I've played another game and another day has passed.  This one, though while difficult due to the minimal amount of hits you can take before dying, was enjoyable.  I'll continue tomorrow and start to make my way towards Superbowl weekend.  Adios for today though.

Strider 2

I have started the month of February with a more recent game then those I have been playing with Strider 2.  Developed and published by Capcom, Strider 2 was released in the United States in July 2000.  It was released with a second disc which held the arcade game Strider, but they were mislabeled and displayed as each other. 

So the story of Strider 2 is very simple: the evil Grandmaster has taken over the world and it is up to Strider Hiryu to defeat him.  And the game begins with giving you the choice of three missions to accomplish, so I of course start with the first one: Destroy the militia group.  I'm given the orders to take out the terrorists who are occupying the city.  So your sent into the city to free it from the terrorists grasp. 

And one thing you learn quickly with the game is there isn't all to much to it.  You move through the level for a bit and then face a mini-boss.  Go a bit further... face a mini-boss.  And while some of them don't even justify being looked at, there are some that are actually very entertaining.  Such as the first mini-boss in mission one: the terrorist.  He's just this fat guy standing in a robe with a hand that looks like a a giant wrench... because it is.  He starts off the fight by raising his second hand (a gatling-gun) and shots off a few shots at you.  I took the opportunity to jump in and slash a few times before he lifted his wrench hand and tried to smash me.  The battle continues like that until you've taken half of his health where he begins to use a new attack: where he lifts his shirt and shoots rockets out of his belly. 

So the game continues on like that, a bit of level and then a mini-boss.  Most of them are simple in both name and appearance and difficulty: Spider Form and Tiger Form being two of them.  Neither are that impressive so I'm going to move past them.  The most entertaining mini-boss of the level are a set of three obnoxious girls who leap into the air and try and kick you a lot.  They attack as a team and throw kicks towards you with blasts to attempt to knock you out.  The entertaining part isn't actually the girls, but more correctly the area, you are riding across some flying vehicles in a self-scrolling section of the level.  The most likely way to lose a life is by falling off, but it becomes fun to crawl under the cars and hang on the bottom of them. 

But the level still isn't over, there is one more "big" mini-boss and then the final boss.  The final mini-boss goes by the name of Solo.  He is a guy flying around in armor with an arm-cannon that shots a spread shot at you as he hovers around.  Defeating him is simple, a single hit does a lot of damage so he's simple to defeat.  But he's not done yet!  After moving a bit further you get to face Solo version two... the only different that is initially noticeable is he has two energy rings around his shoulders.  Solo now moves faster, has more defense and throws the energy blades at you. 

And then there is the final boss of the level: the Emperor Dragon.  It's a flying dragon which you are on the back of.  It has a few moves, but it is a very simple one.  It turns and shots fireballs at you as a main attack.  Also, when it is horizontal, it runs electricity down its back to try and damage you.  Finally, when it's vertical, it turns and swings some clubbed fists at you to try and damage you when you're near its head.  And of course, the head is the only place you can damage it, so you are likely to take a bit of damage, but never enough to warrant any worry. 

And so I've started a new month and have played another game.  Keeping with how I have been playing, I'll go with Strider tomorrow and finish what I have of the series, and then it will be even closer to the weekend and the Superbowl.  Adios for today though. 

Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon

I decided I wanted to actually finish what I started and am playing Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon, the final of the original Spyro trilogy and the final Spyro game to be released on the PlayStation.  Spyro 3 was developed by Insomniac (the last Spyro game developed by them) and once again published by Sony and released mid-November of 2000.  Spyro 3 follows it's predecessors by putting an emphasis on collecting, this time eggs being the main item.

The story of Spyro 3 begins when an apprentice steals the dragon eggs from Spyro and the dragon world.  Spyro and Hunter (the cheetah from Ripto's Rage) follow to gather the dragon eggs back from the evil Sorceress.  As you go through the game, you battle against the Sorceress and her rhynoc army to retrieve the eggs.  You also are aided by various other creatures who have been trying to defeat the Sorceress, but first you have to free them from their imprisonment (usually by collecting enough gems to pay the greedy Moneybags who the Sorceress has paid to keep them captive). 

The game I'm playing is a saved game and pretty well complete (93%), so I'm going through some of it to collect the last few eggs. I'm starting out in the third world: Evening Lake, searching for the last few eggs.  The first uncompleted level I found is Lost Fleet, so might as well enter and try to complete it.  The original story is there is Crazy Ed who is trying to find his lost treasure.  You lead Ed through level until you finally find his treasure and the first of the six dragon eggs.

I've already gotten that egg though.  The last one I haven't received in that level is called 'Skate Race Hunter', so my first job is to find the skate race track.  So I wonder the level, filed with ships sunken in the sand and 'ghosts' (rhynocs in sheets).  It seems like a good idea to get a good look around, so I climb to the highest point of the ship and spot a section of the with a few ships in a row that look like ramps.  Seems promising.  After gliding down there, I head through a portal to find Hunter and a few rhynocs skating around him.  Hunter lets me know that the rhynocs think I'm slow and have wagered an egg that I can't beat them.  It doesn't sound hard, but I'm assuming because I believe I've done this before and apparently don't have the egg. 

So the race starts and each of the rhynocs use turbo to boost in front of me.  Racing forwards, I ram through a few crabs to gain a bit of boost and ram the fifth place rhynoc.  I continue on, grabbing a rocket and push my way up towards third place.  It seems like I'll do well and be able to win, and then the third lap ends and I'm still no in first.  Humbug.  I try the race a second time, moving up a bit quicker and getting a pretty good understanding of how I should be doing this.  Apparently if I do tricks (haven't figured out how yet), I can get power for boosts (the other way is to run over the crabs).  I can also gather rockets to blast the rhynocs off the course.

So here goes my third try: I start the race well, getting some good boosts and actually pass one rhynoc without taking him out (not quite what I wanted to do, but I don't think he'll be able to keep up).  I figure I'm pretty safe, and end up passing the rhynoc to get into first by the end of the second lap.  At this point, I want a rocket incase the guy in second passes me, but before I even get close, both the two rhynocs I passed pass me together.  One speeds up and starts to pull away, the second isn't so good though and stays right near me.  A it too near as I am able to simply flame him out of the race.  I grab the first rocket I come up on, blasting the other rhynoc to seal the deal and get my egg.

Or so I thought.

Apparently I already have that egg.  Hunter himself challenges me to a race where I have to run over all the crabs and beat him.  That might explain why I don't have the egg yet.  Hunter is faster then the rhynocs and a single rocket doesn't take him out.  But here I go anyways.  I start off trailing him and doing my best to gather boost by killing crabs and doing tricks.  I eventually remember that I can use my boost, catch up with him and use a rocket to knock him back.  At this point, just doing a few tricks an staying on my board keeps me ahead enough not to worry.  He does catch up and pass me at one point, but just long enough for me to use the rocket I gathered to knock him back again and win the egg.

So I've collected another egg and am taking my leave of the Spyro franchise.  As the work week begins again, I work towards more game and continue into the year.  Adios for today though.

Spyro the Dragon 2: Ripto's Rage

Today I play my first sequel this year (that wouldn't sound as bad if it wasn't the the eighth) Spyro the Dragon 2: Ripto's Rage.  Once again developed by Insomniac and published by Sony, Ripto's Rage was released early November of 1999, just a little over a year after the original.  The game carries on from the original with lots of collecting. 

Spyro 2 takes place in another world called Avalar where Elora, Hunter and the Professor has accidentally pulled Ripto through his portal.  Ripto, deciding he likes this world because it has no dragons, decides he wants to take control of it.  In hopes of driving off Ripto, the Professor teleports Spyro to Avalar to defeat Ripto.  So the plot is more fleshed out then the last and they develop it using cut scenes as you move through the different realms.

I'm once again started from a saved game, though not as far as the last, I'm still within the first world (Summer Forest).  Unlike the last game, the home world in Ripto's Rage have no enemies, giving me a chance to simply run around and explore before having to worry about combat.  Eventually I found a portal to enter a level I haven't played in this save: Hurrics.  The portal is dark and stormy clouds, looks dark and creepy (it won't be but it still looks like there might be the possibility). 

So I enter Hurricos and discover that the Gear Grinders (large burly guys with monkey wrenches) are making life difficult for the Electrolls (small nerd looking fellows) by creating force fields to keep them apart.  Dastardly, aren't they.  So it's Spyro's job to beat the Grinders into submission and make them play nice.  Much like the last Spyro, the levels are straight forward to the end if you just want to run through but Ripto's Rage allows a bit more exploring so you can't simply finish the level and be done.  So to collect everything, you actually have to get off the beaten path.

So about half way through the level I stumble upon an Orb Challenge.  Orb Challenges are small missions where you complete a certain task to gain an orb (one of the many collectibles in the game).  In this one, the Gear Grinder Thieves have been stealing the lightning stones from the generators and it's my job to replace all the stones and stop the ten thieves.  So it starts off easy, grab a stone, put it in it's spot.  After placing a few stones, the thieves start knocking them away, so just run them down.  Once you take out all ten thieves, it is just a matter of putting the stones in their place and collect the orb. 

So after the challenge, I finished off the Gear Grinders in the next area and deactivated the final force field to gain the talisman.  Now the level is free to explore and finish the remaining Orb Challenges, but at this point, I'm not sure I really want to simply run around doing more collecting, so I'm outta here.  And so another game is down and it's done until later.  Adios for today though.

Spyro the Dragon

I've moved completely towards Sony's little baby the PlayStation.  The first game I'm playing was developed by Insomniac and published by Sony: Spyro the Dragon.  Released in early September of 1998, Spyro the Dragon was the beginning of Insomniac's initial series before moving on to Ratchet and Clank and Resistance (which I shall move onto later).  

So the plot is simple, there are five families of dragons that are living in peace until Gnasty Gnorc attacks there realm and turns them all into crystals using his magic... except for Spyro because he's so small.  It seems that he should have turned Spyro into a crystal because all the other dragons are sort of peace loving and Spyro is the only one who really cares to attack.  But the game is a just a big treasure hunt, where you free dragons, collect gems, and collect the dragon's eggs.

I'm actually started on a previously saved game where I've already defeated the first realm and am in the beginning of the second (a giant desert).  The home world for the realm is filled with these green guys (gnorcs) dressed in the British Red Coat fashion but are easily charged down by Spyro.  After running around a bit to remember the controls, I decided to take on one of the actual levels: Cliff Town.

The Cliff Town level is relatively small, you start in a small building, cross a bridge and then have a cliff (surprise!) to ascend.  Once up top you can either finish the level and go back towards the home world or glide across the river to the desert to search some more.  The entire concept of the level is just the collection (three dragons, one egg and four hundred gems), so I'll just start off.  After exiting the building, I ran down a few enemies and decrystalized the first dragon: Haylor.  Haylor was kind enough to let me know that using my dragon flame would not hurt the armored enemies (you know, the ones I've had to defeat to get to him) and that I had to charge them with my horns.

Before getting to the next dragon, I found a egg bandit.  They are simply described as robbed guys with turbans who run away from you frantically in the same path holding the egg.  Once you run them down, you get the egg.  So I chased him down and grab the egg and continue on, platform up the cliff to climb higher and collect gems.  I'll be honest, I forgot how straight forward this game is: it almost walks you through it.  I got to the second dragon (Enzo) who straight out tells you to glide across the river to see what's over there.  So I did (If the game is going to tell me what to do to advance, I might as well listen). 


And across the river is: more gems and the last drgaon Marco.  Marco is kind enough to let me know that I've reached the highest point in Cliff Town and should be able to glide anywhere now.  So more exploring and looking for gems.  I kept exploring for a bit longer, but am only able to find 367 of the 400 gems (I'm picky) before I decide it's just time to quit and try later.  And so another game is down and it's the weekend now.  Adios for today though.

Worms

I decided to be more casual today, playing Worms.  Worms was developed by Team 17 and published by Ocean Software and released on the PC back in 1995 though the version I played is a remake for the PlayStation Network.  The version I played was placed on the PlayStation Network in 2009, still developed by Team 17, and plays much like the original. 

The game (much like Soul Calibur) isn't very deep in either story or concept.  The matches place teams of worms against each other with weapons from the basic bazooka and grenade to air strikes, sheep and the almighty Holy Hand Grenade.  Each worm starts off with 100 health and you beat on the other worms until they have no health and it ends.  Like I said: not deep.  The game does boast a challenge mode as well that pits your team of worms against strengthening worms to test your skill (the first challenge has one team of worms at 10 health, then 20 and so forth until you are facing four full teams of worms).

So I decided to simply do a three team match using my team of Gamers (Ness, 360, Sony and Sega) against the Trekies (Kirk, Spock, Bones and Scotty) and the computer generated Rookies (Kelly, Hicks, O'Reilly, and Barnes).  Ness got to start the round and I used the bazooka to knock Kirk into the icy depths and injure Kelly.  Spock was quick for revenge and dropped a bazooka onto Ness (Kelly took damage as well).  Barnes was the first for the Rookies and isn't quite the brightest worm, dropping dynamite to blow up Scotty, Sega and himself.  I get to go next with Sega and decide that taking a page out of Barnes' book might not be a bad idea (sans blowing myself up).  I leave some dynamite as a present and blow up Scotty, Bones, Spock and Barnes (though defeat no one).

Scotty is next and he's giving all he's got with a well placed bazooka to take out Barnes and Sega make it three all.  Kellyl is up next and finally gets revenge for the first two shots and uses a sheep to retire Ness.  I try to jetpack with 360 to get close and damage the Trekies but end up just face planting in the middle of them.  Bones is kind enough to not rub salt in my wounds and uses his homing rocket to eliminate the Rookie Hicks.  O'Reilly shows how greedy he is by using the teleporter to game the crate (getting a Ninja Rope) and his turn ends with nothing happening.  Sony gets to go next and I drop a sheep on O'Reilly, but unluckily I bounce a landmine into myself.  Spock and Kelly apparently decided to team up, Spock landing the first Holy Hand Grenade right next to Sony, followed by a bazooka from Kelly. 

At this point, my only worm left is 360, while the Rookies have Kelly and O'Reilly (both with horribly low health).  The Trekies have 360 surrounded, with Spock, Scotty and Bones all still doing well.  While at this point I would love to say I still have a chance to win, I can only really make an impact and give one team or the other the win: choosing to defeat the Trekies because they are close and it's an easy shot.  So 360 drops a Holy Hand Grenade at his feet and one short Hallelujah later has given the Rookies the game by taking out Spock and Scotty and leaving both Bones and himself with less then 10 health each.  Bones gets an ounce of revenge by blasting 360 with a shotgun but O'Reilly makes an impressive bazooka shot to end the round. 

The end of round awards are given out and apparently that Holy Hand Grenade was better then I though, giving 360 Worm of the Round, the Best Shot, and the Most Accurate worm (the jetpack incident gave him the High Flyer Award as well).  And so another game is down and it's almost the weekend when I can game even more.  Adios for today though.