Cooking Mama series
Stop looking at me like that. Cooking Mama is amazing and here’s why.
There’s something very satisfying about the Cooking Mama series and the slew of time management games that now exist on both the DS and the PC. When you boil it down, you’re just completing arbitrary tasks by clicking and poking at the DS but there’s something in my brain that compels me to complete these titles.
Plus I love laughing at the voice acting. I know that’s mean, but we would hire Western voice actors to act in Japanese for their games, so maybe they shouldn’t hire Japanese actors for Western titles. Just saying.
The Sims 2
‘The Sims 2? Don’t you mean The Sims 3, Voni? Surely it’s superior in every way!’ No, dear reader, you are blinded by new technology and EA’s marketing strategy.
The joy of Sims 2 is that it improved on the original by allowing your Sims to have a complete life cycle, but unlike The Sims 3 means you have total, and I mean total, control over your charges.
I was interested in the third instalment, but when I heard that when you play with one family, the other families carry on without them, I was out. If I’m playing, I want TOTAL CONTROL. They’re not allowed to BREATHE without my knowledge. Coming back to a family and finding that the dad’s cheating on mum with the cleaner and the teenage son’s run away from home? Nope, no thanks.
Tomb Raider
First off: Tomb Raider is awesome, shut up ok?! I’ve had my say on the franchise before, and I’ll be the first to agree that its current owners are basically flogging a dead horse in the hope it’ll keep coughing up money. However, the first Tomb Raider that came out way back in 1996 was an absolute classic.
Ok, my view might be slightly coloured because it was the first game I ever bought for myself (I’d been given a Playstation for my birthday along with a copy of Monopoly. I pretty much bought my own games ever since). I sucked at it and could never get past St. Francis’ Folly, but the experience was so much fun that I replayed those five levels over and over.
About a year ago I sat down with Tomb Raider and an internet FAQ and beat the hell out of that bad boy, and it was as joyous as the first time I played it when I was 11. Tomb Raider wasn’t the birth of third person gaming (Super Mario 64 claims that honour) but it was an awesome exploration adventure game and I don’t think there’s anything quite like it anymore.
Okami
I’ve touched on this before too, but let’s make this clear. Okami is my favourite game ever. EVER. I love it more than tea and cake, and damn, I love me some tea and cake.
The joy of Okami is partly because there is nothing quite like it. Gameplay wise, yes, it is very similar to Zelda, but artistically there is no peer whatsoever. The game is celshaded, but designed to look like a Japanese watercolour painting. It’s beautiful in every sense of the word. If you look closely enough at the screen, you can even see the grain of the ‘paper’.
Even better, it’s a radical departure from most games out now. It’s unabashedly colourful, throws flowers around at the screen at every opportunity, and concerns itself with bringing happiness back to the people who populate the game world. Yes, there is violence in that you as the player character must defeat various demons that are threatening citizens, but it’s still one of the most peaceful games I’ve ever played. I’d really love to sit Jack Thompson down in front of this and say, ‘Look, look! There’s more than GTA!’
Anyway, I’ve gone on far too long. See you for part 2!
P.S. If for some demented reason you enjoy my ramblings here, may I direct you to http://squarelobster.blogspot.com/? It's my new blog where I intend to review everything I come into contact with. Please to enjoy! Please!
2 comments:
The level i cooking mama where you basically make a pot noodle amuses me.
'WELL DONE! You have passed the test to be a student'
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