Music Reviews

For the past couple of years I've watched Electronic Arts, formerly one of the most reliable game companies on the scene, squander its reputation with game after game filled with relentless B.S. I gave it another shot with Medal of Honor Frontline, because it was part of the franchise I'd played for a long time and I thought, how bad could it be?

I should have remembered that the last two Medal of Honors I've played, Spearhead (for PC) and Infiltrator (for Gameboy Advance), both sucked. Frontline was the first time since Medal of Honor Underground that I played this game on a console. It should have felt like home -- instead, it felt like I was playing Spearhead without a mouse. What caused them to mess up the control scheme so badly, I can't tell. But now your character aims blindly thanks to a touchy-feely right analog stick. I've had to do much more minute aiming adjustments in Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain, targeting distant enemies in the head, and I found it even harder here, though the enemy is just several steps away from me. From the first level, I bumbled about blindly because foolishly, the game designers now rely mostly on sound to let you know where to go. Not that bad a thing, except they botched the sound mix. Rule of thumb in sound mixing: Music and effects should never, never drown out dialogue. Here, your superiors' instructions are neatly covered up in the gunfire, overloud music, and ambience. From the beginning, I had to run around the beach while under enemy fire, looking for scattered teammates who were supposed to be yelling and waving at me to reach them. Well, I can't hear them, and since there's no radar, I had to rely on blind luck to find them. A very dumb flaw, easily fixable, but neglected. Did they actually *test* this thing on real players?

As with 90 per cent of games these days, the lighting looks good, and the music is great. But once again, this game qualifies as a good-looking, good-sounding product that flunks its grade on mechanics. I don't feel like I'm in control of my character. Nothing is more of a drag than that. I should've listened to my instinct and passed on this one. I regret even the reduced price I'd paid for it . Medal of Honor and Medal of Honor Underground were such classics, it's baffling how EA managed to botch it all up.

Let me start by saying I think that the Medal of Honor series are my favorite games for the Playstation, being a huge WWII buff. I bought Frontline the day it came out, and it is a fantastic game, but I was a bit disappointed overall. The sound continues to be a great strength of the series, but the graphics are very similar to the last 2 MOH games. They are definitely better, but with the PS2 I was expecting more fluid movement. Also, I was hoping for a little more realism out of this one, but it still has the same problems as the last one--Germans stay standing and continue to fire after being shot in the chest or don't notice a bullet whiz by their ears, they catch and hold onto grenades while still firing, and seem to have no military training outside of returning fire (they never try to lay down a base of fire then flank you, they are very predictable in their movements, etc.) On top of this, the game is fairly easy to beat in a short time, and there is no multi-player, which was half the fun of the other ones. Don't get me wrong, I love this game and the series (and look forward to the next one), and I'd recommend anyone to get this game. But be advised that it is basically the same as the first one except it has a better look and sound to it--this is not an ultra-realistic game but well worth the price. For more WWII info: ...

Medal of Honor: Frontline is easily one of the best Ps2 games too date. To say that this game is incredibly addictive and fun is an understatement. Play this game and you will see what I mean.
The graphics are very pretty. Totally kick-*** animations and details. The character models are amazing! The whole look really gives you the feel of a World War 2 setting. The only problem is the mushy textures.
The gameplay consists of, obviously, moving along the very long levels and defeat the opposing Nazi's as they come along. The levels have you complete various objectives, such as destroying some U-Boats. It's very linear, however, it's insanely fun. The game is also expertly scripted, and the AI are no dummies. Some people may say that the AI aren't that smart, but I highly disagree. They definently know how to ivade bullets, hide behind corners, take cover, duck, and use the best methods to take you out. Trust me, the AI is fantastic, just not ALWAYS fantastic.
The music sound is this game is amazing... I've never heard sound effects as good as this in any other game, literally. The explosions, the gunshots, everything... it's so incredibly realistic. And than you have the music... oh it's just beatiful. No WW2 game could possibly give us music as rich and good as this. It's perfect for the game.
So is there anything particurally wrong with the game? Yes... the analog! The control setup is very nice, and it is *fully* customizable, however, the problem is that the right analog stick (used to aim) is just a bit too sensitive, making you rely heavily on strafing to get shots off on the enemy. But once you get used to this, like me, you will become very good at it and have no problem (most of the time, that is). The only other problem is that there is no multiplayer. However, I didn't really mind at all. Leave multiplayer FPS to PC gaming.
As for the replay value, it's definently good enough. The game should take you 10+ hours to beat the first time through, but theres always time for replaying levels. I've had the game since it's been realeased, and I still replay levels often.
Frontline is an awesome game, and definently stands as the best in the series and arguably, the best WW2 shooter ever made. It's easily one of the best Ps2 games to date, and if you own one, than you need to own this game. Don't wait, go get it now.

As a huge fan of both the Donkey Kong Country series and its developer, I was eagerly anticipating Donkey Kong 64. All signs seemed to point toward excellence: huge budget, huge cart size, huge hype and optimization at 8 MB of RAM (w/ the required expansion)! Nothing could have convinced me that this wasn't the title of 1999... that is, until I actually played it.

First and most surprising is that, despite the RAM upgrade, Donkey Kong 64's graphics are splendidly mediocre. This reality is especially striking as compared to Banjo-Kazooie, a game released over a year earlier (w/o the RAM expansion) but unquestionably superior in texture detail and polygonal complexity. There are some decent lighting effects to be found in DK64, as well as some moderately interesting level design, but the overall graphical presentation is extremely underwhelming for those who have played Banjo-Kazooie or its sequel, Banjo-Tooie. Nearly all editorial reviews have commented on this disappointment (e.g. IGN).

Of course, graphics don't make the game, and a lackluster performance in the graphics department could have been forgiven if the gameplay were anywhere near its N64 predecessors (Mario 64, B-K)... yet, again, Donkey Kong 64 comes up short. This is a title that truly earned its distinction as "kiddie," since its levels are mindless scavenger-hunts masked by shallow objectives. In a title like Banjo-Kazooie, collecting items would involve a diverse set of puzzles and tasks that intergrated beautifully into the themes of the levels: saving Christmas lights from destruction to light a tree at the center of Freezeezy Peak, bringing water to a thirsty camel and looting a Sphinx in Gobi Desert, playing a gigantic organ while in the haunted cathedral of Mad Monster Mansion, watching the complex effect of your actions in the continuously evolving world of Click Clock Wood... DK64's shallow gameplay suffers even more next to the recently released (11/20/00) Banjo-Tooie, the sequel to Banjo-Kazooie; it's a comparison so one-sided it's not even worth delineating. There are numerous development teams within Rareware, and from this evidence, it's easy to recognize that an inferior one was assigned the creation of DK64: a true shame.

The mediocrity of Donkey Kong 64 would ordinarily warrant at least 3 stars, but given the proven ability of its developer, the pedigree of the Donkey Kong franchise and the massive amount of potential that Nintendo has failed to capitalize on, 2 stars is an overly generous score. I urge you to ignore the commercial machine that touts this game as the one to own, and recognize the under-appreciated wonders that the Nintendo 64 offers: Banjo-Kazooie and its sequel, Banjo-Tooie.

When Donkey Kong Country was released for the Super Nintendo in 1994, it astounded the gaming community with its exceptional graphics and stunning sound. Donkey Kong Country was the very definition of a quality video game. Five years later, Rare set the standard again with Donkey Kong 64.

Donkey Kong 64 is HUGE! This is the largest, most extensive video game I've ever played! There are so many different tasks to achieve, so many various weapons and items to collect, and so many moves to learn, that it's easy to become lost or frustrated. I love it!

The graphics in Donkey Kong 64 can be amazing! The lighting and particle effects are like nothing I've ever seen before in a video game. (At first I couldn't figure out why Donkey Kong 64 REQUIRED the Nintendo 64 Expansion Pak, but now I do. Trust me, once you see how crisp this game looks with your own eyes, you'll understand!) The frame rate however, drops to a low number frequently. This is the worst problem with Donkey Kong 64.

Since Donkey Kong 64 requires the Expansion Pak, an Expansion Pak is included with every copy of Donkey Kong 64 sold. As a result, Donkey Kong 64 has a price tag of around 70 dollars. OUCH! For those people who already obtained the Expansion Pak previous to the release of Donkey Kong 64, that price may be a bit steep! On the bright side, the Donkey Kong 64 cartridge is painted a pretty yellow, which might make paying 70 of your hard-earned dollars that much more worth it!

One of my favorite features of Donkey Kong 64 is that it INCLUDES the original 1981 Donkey Kong game! Somewhere in the world of Donkey Kong 64, there's an arcade machine which enables you to play the original Donkey Kong, totally unedited. If you want to beat Donkey Kong 64, then you're REQUIRED to play (and beat) the original game! Ingenious!

Stop reading this so-called review and go buy Donkey Kong 64! It's worth it, trust me! ....

A simple game, tons of fun to play. I recommend it to everyone!

I was excited to learn they were releasing a new Mario game on the GameCube, the first Mario action game since Super Mario 64. So here it is SUPER MARIO SUNSHINE. There's many differences from Mario 64 to Sunshine. The story starts off where Mario and Peach are going on vacation, when they arrive at this island Mario is arrested, as a con artist who looks like him as vandalized the entire island with graffiti. Mario must clean up the entire town, so this is where the adventure begins. You have a water nozzle which has different functions: 1) to spray 2) to hover 3) to rocket and 4) to spritz while you run. There's 7 main levels. You collect shines in this game, as opposed to stars like in Mario 64. Each level has 8 main Shines as well as 3 hidden ones per level. The problems I had with this game were simple, Mario has lost all his regular attacks, since you now have a water nozzle. You can't punch anyone, you can't kick, you either jump or spray. Another problem was the levels, they are too similar. It would have been nice if they threw in a desert level or a snow level, something different at least. Instead, most of the levels are pretty similar. Each level has at least one special shine where you lose your nozzle and you have to manuever yourself through these puzzle like mazes, which are incredibly annoying and frustrating at times. As well at times the game was too hard, some of the shines, especially in the later levels, are very difficult, and while I like a challenge this was more than that. Overall the game just wasn't as fun as Mario 64 so if you're looking for a fun filled game like that one, this one isn't it, but worth giving a try to draw your own conclusions.

Yet another great installment into the mario series. Here's an over view:

Graphics 8/10: Smooth and sweet fits this mario game just fine, though I think they could of put a little more detail in.

Controls 7.5/10: Easy to learn but not too easy to master. Now here's the only real complaint I have with this game, the camera, it sometimes ends up where you don't want it to, sometimes causing you your life. You have to operate it manually, so it can be a pain.

Gameplay/Fun Factor 9.5/10: Just great mario fun. Not too chalenging ( Those people who said it was too hard to be fun must stink at video games).

Storyline 5/10: Mario takes a vacation, so your thinking "WoW! it's not that same old save Princess Peach story." But Nintendo could help themselves, Peach does get kidnapped a few times.

Overall 9.5/10: Great game definetly worth the 50 you have to pay for these things.

I recently bought Mario Sunshine and at first I didn't like the game because i didn't really understand what to do. But I figured it out fast and it was awesome! My friend and I would play all the time and we usually aren't that addicted. Mario Sunshine is a huge leap for the better from Super Mario Brothers which I used to love. This is a farely old game but very fun. I encourage you to go out and buy it, it's only 20 dollars. A much better price than the new ones which are 50 dollars!

Yep, finally WarCraft 3 is here, long time since '96 is it not? A lot has been written and spoken of this game, yet most of those revolutinary features have not seen the light. So how do I dare give this game 5 stars? First, though its true that war 3 is not the RPG/RTS hybrid Blizzard promised almost three years ago, WarCraft III is the most enjoyable RTS this side of Red Alert 2. This is the key. What make this game so enjoyable is that it fine tunes every single aspect of RTS games, and that though mostly cosmetic, the RPG elements add quite a new dimension to classic RTSs. Toss into this mix great graphics, terrific audio and a pretty compelling story (on which I'll not comment in order to avoid spoiling its fine twists)and you have an instant winner.
Certainly, WarCraft III has a few flaws. Most of the RPG elements are merely cosmetic (of course it is a step in the right direction). The 3D engine is awesome from the default perspective, but when it zooms graphics are not quite as astonishing. Finally, Blizzard has for some time emphasized 'net play over battle.net, but i'd have loved to be able to play on other servers other than it.
As a bottomline, and I beg forgiveness to the millions of StarCraft fans, finally WarCraft has its true succesor!

I hated the previous Warcrafts/Starcraft gameplay. They all came down to resource management and I always felt that when you strip away the eye candy these games were nothing but beauracratic training tools. I barely gave WarCraft 3 a chance but I'm glad I did. There's a plot line running through this game that blows away many dedicated role playing games (with some very balsy plot twists that left me grinning). Also the designers broke up the day-long city seiges with very creative small-party quests. Blizzard took a hard look at the warcraft gameplay and fixed just about everything that was previously booring.

Do the 3d graphics make a difference? Yes. They drew me into the game far more than the 2d sprites ever could. They are very cartoonish, to be sure, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The designers obviously had a blast coming up with the beasties and it's a ton of fun watchcing them go through their animations. Also you gotta give some credit for the stunning cut scenes which surpass the movies in Diablo II.

I give this game 5 stars although there is one problem that makes me really upset - the game downloads, but does not run on my laptop. I get error message telling me to check that the CD is in the CD drive and try again. I think this is a problem of my laptop having a CD-rom, DVD and CD-writer combo. Since I dont have access to a PC right now I cannot play Warcraft. I wish I could, I need a rest from Everquest :oP

If anyone has a solution for this, please write to me at russian_enchantress@hotmail.com.

Buy this game you will LOVE it!

Let's get started. First off, the games graphics are excellent, character models are outstanding. The voice acting is superb, a reason for that may be it is the actual characters voices. The games controls are easily mastered. You can play as 1 of 3 characters initially, a 4th becomes unlocked after you beat the secret mission with any character. The A.I is very easily defeated, its only strength being in numbers, and the game is completely linear, meaning every time you play it is the same, and their is no kind of MULTIPLAYER(game companies, hint hint)therefore replay value suffers tremendously. It is more like an arcade action game, drop in a quarter and start killing enemies. The game can become difficult at times, and their will be plenty of instances when you want to throw the controller through the tv screen. Especially the rohan, and helm's deep levels. The games cut scenes of the upcoming movie are very enjoyable, and the interviews with the cast and artwork you can view are also great. The game is also very short, A dedicated gamer can play through the game in about a day and a half. Overall, it is more of a rent on the weekend type game rather than one you would want to pay 50 bucks for because of the lack of replay value, and the linear gameplay.

Sound-5 out of 5
Graphics- 5 out of 5
Replay Value- 2 out of 5
Controls- 4 out of 5
Fun Factor- 3 out of 5
Overall- 4 out of 5

Video games based on movies have always suffered, "The Curse". The curse that plauges movie tie in games that makes them awful to anyone but the most devoted fans. Seeing the pictures of this game early in development, if finially seemed that it would break that curse. Did it? Well, yes, but just barley.

The Two towers starts off very well, using the prolouge footage from the first movie to tell the story of the ring. When we get to the battle of Mount Doom, you take on the role of Isildiur fighting orcs, and trying to stay alive. This scene does a good job of introducing the player to the concepts of gameplay, such as fierce attack, and the vital parry move. After that, you play as Aragorn on Weathertop, wielding off the Ringwraiths and protecting Frodo. Here, you must learn the Parry move, which will save you... many times over. Then the game goes into full swing, and the action begins.

The Gameplay for the Two Towers is pure hack-n-slash. you go through a linear path, hacking up enimies, and...well...uh... hacking up more enimies! After the level is over, you are given points that you can spend to purchuse new skills and combos, along with other things such as more health, and better bows and arrows. The game does very well in this section.

The graphics and sound are easily the high point of the game. The visuals are top notch, and the charachters are very detailed. They look exactly like thier movie counterparts (Except for Gimli during the FMV scenes). They also sound like thier movie counterparts because they are voiced by the real actors. Every actor (Except for Christopher Lee) did voice work for thier digital selves, and it adds a really big bounous that lends an air of authenticity to the game. Another big bonous is the cool factor that comes in when re-playing the scenes from the movies, such as Balins tomb, Aragorn vs. Lurtz (Or, you can do Legolas vs. Lurtz, or Gimli vs. Lurtz, or Secret charachter vs. Lurtz) and of course, Helms deep.

Unfortunitly, the two towers did not escape "The Curse" entirely. My biggest gripe with the game is the very thing that makes it a brawler,The combos. Combos are a string of moves strung togethor to kill enimies fast, and get more experience points. For example, to do Isildiurs/Balins/Elronds swift terror, you would rapidly tap, X,X, triangle to do a damaging attack that would good damage. However, as the game goes on, the game, in a sense, forces you to use combos to meerly survive. When you reach Helms deep, you have to use every combo in your arsenal to move on, and frankly, its a pain...to memorize all these combos (On a side note, it is possible to finsih the game with a minimal amount of combos, its just very very hard). Also, some of them dont work very well, if at all. One attack has you strike your enemy, then charge forward to knock him down, and then finish him off. 3/4 of the time, I rush forward and stab my blades into the ground, while my intended victim slashes me to the ground. If you get hit while you are in the midst of a combo, it ruins it and you have to start over.

Some of the later levels are a pain ...to get through. The last last level in the game is really hard, but conquerable. The trick is to shoot ALL the archers before resuming fighitng.

Other little niggies. Where are the other hobbits? Frodo is the only hobbit to appear in the game, so Sam, Merry, and Pippin are completly absent, aside from Merry and Pippin in a movie scene. All the charachters seem to move a little too fast, and some voice work of Gandalf seems a bit...off.

But I dont want to paint an excessivly poor picture of this game. Its a blast to play, and a lot of fun. The DVD style extras are very cool, such as the actors talking about the game (John-rhies-Davies (Gimli) is probobly the neatest one). There is also a secret charachter to unlock (Who is pretty cool). And the cheat codes are nice. Probobly my favorite feature is (WARNING: GO NO FURTHER IF YOU WANT A FUNNY SUPRISE REVEALED) the mini enemy cheat code. Whenever I feel sad or depressed, turning on this code shrinks all the eniemes to absoloutly tiny size, and brightens my day. Its absoloutly hilarious to see goblins that are 12 inches tall, Uruk-Hi two feet tall, Wargs the size of Chiwalwas,trolls, who are absoloutly gut bustingly funny, and funniest of all, the ringwraiths! And wait untill you see Lurtz boss battle! (END SPOILER).

Overall, this game is great for Lord of the rings fans, but If you hate stringing togethor combos like I do, I recommend renting it first.

The good:
Superb graphics and sound
fun gameplay
neat levels
cool extras
a certian hilarious cheat code

The not so good:
People who do not like stringing togethor combos will not like this game so much

sometimes a bit too hard
charachters move a little too fast
Lurtz appears to give you "The finger" in a cut scene

I have not played this game but I am sure it will be fun. (ROTR Game ROCKS!!!) But do they make this for the PC?

Why doesn't someone who hates RPGs just bomb Squaresoft. If that happened, no more god awful FF games!! When will you RPG playing FF fans just give up the stupid game series and get a life!! Play Sonic or Halo. Those games are better than this crap!!

First i have to say i have NEVER played a final fantasy game before. I've played RPG but never final fantasy. My friend recommended the final fantasy series so i bought a bunch and the only one i was really drawn into was ff8 because of the stunning cinematic graphics (with the emotions and expressions on the characters clearly seen) and memorable music and the cool junctioning attack features as well as the ability to laze around while the stunning GF's do the work for me. It's FAR from boring. It was very exciting going on all those missions (battling and escaping 5 times from XATM machine monster at Dollet, confirming the codes while trying to not be caught on the roof of a train, etc) and controlling the floating ship and then controlling the swift fast easily more maneuvarable flying ship. I thought how the story evolved was quite enjoyable, too. Squall, the cold, uncaring, reluctant "leader" who didn't want to get involve with anyone (because he feared being alone) gradually through Rinoa evolves into a caring person. The Squall/Rinoa story is the main story interspersed at times with the rambunctious but sometimes dimwitted hero Laguna whose sequences in gameplay affect the main story line.

i thought ff8 was as a lot of people said, "HIGHLY CUSTOMIZABLE". You can control whether you run into a monster every second or not by learning certain abilities.

GF's (or Guardian Forces) are junctioned to characters and they can be invaluable in serving to take any hits from your opponents as well as attacking your opponents massively. Their only drawback is that they take time to summon unless the compatibility is high.

The attack system in ff8 is appealing since it's multi-faceted. In addition to the GF's, there are 4 important aspects to the game: 1) the junction system/drawing magic, 2) individual character limit breaks, 3) the Triple Triad card playing game and 4) Ability points. All of these have a huge effect on the game. It's not just a matter of how many monsters did you beat or how many times you've fought that monster. Most RPG games rely on you levelling up which doesn't do much good here since the opposing monsters level up also.

I have to say something about magic, too. In a lot of games, magic is just spells that you throw onto your opponents or that you use for yourself like a wizard throwing magic, but here, in ff8, magic is not just spells that you use against monsters or that you use to heal yourself. Magics are your "shield" and "sword" as you junction them to your stats to make your characters and GF's more powerful.

As far as abilities, you have to learn the abilities first before you can junction them using the menu screen controls, but once you have them, those abilities make a weak character's attributes SO MUCH MORE powerful.

You can control the speed of the game. Don't like that the GF's take so long to summon and slow the game down? You can level up quickly to acquire the rarer items by using your powerful limit breaks, especially in combination with junctioning lots of magics to your stats and junctioning learned abilities.

Playing the Triple triad card game is a nice slow but restful and patient way of going from one battle to the next which allow you to acquire rare items and items for refining to magic.

The story is kind of tedious and boring and cheesy with Laguna mooning over Julia and Rayne, but the story moves right along and enters the gaming mode almost seamlessly. There were a lot of other side quests like encountering Pupu the alien, Shumi Village sidequest, the Card games, acquiring Quistis' blue magic items (and some of her blue magic is quite powerful), the Laguna side story (which affects the main story) that I never got bored from the game. I think I have played it over a dozen times already! Just its replay value is worth the money!!

My, how times change. Just twenty years ago the epitome of video entertainment consisted of manipulating a yellow blob around a crude maze, gobbling smaller blobs for points. The goal was simple, the play addictive--truly, a 'game' to be enjoyed by almost anyone. Many moons later we have the same type of game, albeit with far better graphics and sound, but the concept is very similar: run around a maze, blasting enemies for points. Pac-man, meet Quake--under the cosmetic differences, my how they look the same.

But times _have_ changed, and so has video entertainment-or games, if you will. And the eighth episode of SquareSoft's popular Final Fantasy series has raised the bar yet again for this interactive pastime. One really has to give massive credit to the producers for introducing the element of romance into a media glutted with non-plot shoot 'em ups and simulators. But then, SquareSoft has never been conventional; with every further chapter they seek to push the envelope, resulting in extraordinary achievement and, consequently, the danger that the final product might not seamlessly gel together as it should.

Such is the case here. Final Fantasy 8 arrived on these shores with so much expectation and hype that the actual result of the game itself was destined for mixed feelings of awe, confusion, and disappointment. The quality of the presentation could not be denied, but these same innovations also highlighted certain flaws that another year of tinkering could have rectified.

The central, and dominate, of FF8 would be the budding love between Squall Lionheart and Rinoa Heartly. Other plot-tangents and themes abound: rivalry, war, dark sorcery, time compression, abandonment issues, the lust for power: but romance remains at its core. SquareSoft has done a fine job with this theme, giving these two characters individual quirks and a powerful pathos that in the end brings a tear to the eye and a catch to the throat. The cold calculations of zeros and ones inspire actual human _emotion_, feeling beyond cerebral enjoyment. FF8 was a risk worth taking, and a risk that succeeds.

The good:

1. The Graphics - The visuals of Final Fantasy 8 are, in a word, stunning. The gorgeous FMV sequences pushed the PSX to the limits of its capability, and though the in-game graphics may suffer in comparison, they are quite good in themselves, thanks in large part to the design (see below).

2. The Music - In my opinion, Nobuo Uematsu's finest and most inspired work yet. The location songs are subtle and beautiful, such as the melancholic chimes of balamb garden, the resonating 'Blue Fields' overworld theme, and the acoustic strumming that echoes and shimmers through a seaside town. The opera strains of 'Liberi Fatali' and 'Fithos' give import to characters and theme, and the orchestration of the Ending Theme is truly magnificent.

3. The Design - Fantastic. From the clean, futuristic architecture of balamb garden, the engrossingly melodramatic summons, and the cool character renditions (such as Squall's cyberpunk gunslinger look), this is the finest design output from SquareSoft yet.

The flawed:

1. Lack of Character Development - Unfortunately, the emphasis on Squall and Rinoa leaves the other characters out in the cold. Irvine, Selphie and Quistis receive no further development past the first disc, making each a bland cipher, with nothing to differentiate between them other than limit-break status. A shame, really, for it would not have been all that difficult to include sidequests/situations in order to booster their importance as done in ff7/ff6.

2. Ambiguous Plot/Ambiguous Villain - The plot gets rather slow in the third disc, the conflict ambiguous at best, thus, the tension lost. This is due in part to the lack of a concrete villain. Kefka (ff6) and Sepheroth (ff7) were great villains because, through repeated interaction, they grew into a monstrous status, deserving to be dispatched by the end. The Edea/Adel/Ultimecia quandary is a shadowy threat, and the weak link to an otherwise strong storyline. However, the last battle is an incredible experience, well worth the overall effort.

3. Linear Play - This is standard in any FF game, and only becomes an annoyance in replay. Not as bad as ff9, either.

4. Battle System - The draw/summon system has received its share of praise and criticism. I agree with the latter, finding it tedious and boring. Funny thing is, you don't have to use it--one can just limit-break their way to victory. But by any method you choose, FF8 is a very easy game, though the standard plot convolutions guarantee 30+ hours of playtime.

Despite these flaws, I cannot give Final Fantasy 8 less than five stars because 1) it pushes the envelope, a good thing in any form of media, and 2) I enjoyed playing the entire game two times over. FF8 is a worthy addition to the Final Fantasy library...bring on FF10!

how do you make a sequel that can live up to it's predecessor? have three awesome leading ladies with new cool abilities and quests, allow the player to pick his/her own destinations, and throw in superb graphics that surpass final fantasy 10's fan expecatations. even though ff10 would have been fine as a stand-alone game, the sequel isn't even close to as bad as some are saying it is. it may not have a deep, emotional storyline, and gameplay is very lax, letting you roam freely and choose where you go. but that's what makes this a fun game to play if you aren't looking for a headache- you can just play it whenever, without worrying about what's going to happen next. the battles are fun, the characters are awesome, and i think the look of the game is great. my only complaint is that the music got repetitive at times, but that's a minor factor- the rest was wonderful. just don't expect a huge epic adventure like ff9 or ff10, and you can love this game, too!

Ok to lets start with the good and the ugly...

GOOD:
* Excellent graphics you're used to from FF-X.
* Nice Storyline
* Lots of quests (If you like that type of abuse)
* Option to start new game with ALL items once you beat its the first time around
* Hours of gameplay
* No more weapons

UGLY:
* Your dress is your weapon
* Will not let you go back to complete missed quests once you complete the chapters in the game.
* Will not give you "PERFECT ending" if you dont complete 100% of scenerios...(Hmmm, Omnimusha 2 anyone? >=T)
* 3 Women Characters (2 underage girly girls, the other is a manly woman)
* Hillbilly antics (Yuna's cousin, BROTHER, is in love with her)
* Ultimate Weapons are *drum roll*...damn dresses!!!
* Some dresses will not be acquired if you missed doing some quests before chapter ends

OVERALL
- If you like Final Fantasy you'll still enjoy this game, its good to past the time around but to get 100% scenerio completion to see "perfect ending" can be annoying. 3 Characters to choose from can get dull but overall its still fun to past the time away i must admit.

Now, after successfully completing Final Fantasy X, I went right out to the Gaming store and bought Final Fantasy X-2, as I deeply loved X. When I put the disk in my drive, I noticed the nice piano music playing. At first, in the game, it was pretty boring, which most games are in the beginning, so naturally, I played on, waiting for the good stuff to happen. To my surprise....It didn't. Honestly, if you hold down X during regular enemy battles, you will win. I guarantee it.

STORY 6/10

Well, the story can probably be told in a few sentances, so let me try. Continuing from FFX, Yuna finds a sphere of tidus, or someone who looks like tidus, and joins to sphere-hunting group "gullwings". Later on, they discover it is NOT tidus, and also that there is an evil machina that New Yevon is hiding from the public, so you and your companions set out to destroy that evil.

Not the best summary, but pretty much gives the gist of it.

SOUND AND MUSIC 6/10

I give a six out of ten because half of the music was good, half sucked, and The sounds were the usual greatness.

Now, the music...Well, the Director of music sure got lazy or something. The battle music seems like the director just hired a professional guitarist and had him play random guitar notes and riffs. So while you are shooting and hacking and slashing, you hear this really annoying guitar noise just blasting over your characters' talking and making jokes, which just adds to the annoyance effect. The boss music is even worse. Sure, they actually have MORE than a guitar, but It really is not very nice to know that it adds up to be a whole four notes played. Yes, four notes, each one accented, blasting over your gameplay and bad joke telling.

However, there are two FMV scenes where Yuna sings. The first one, which can be seen on New Game, Features a Very catchy techo/dance song, which takes a lot of getting used to. The biggest problem during that scene, is in the middle of this pretty cool singing, Two pop-ish guys dressed in really tight cut off jeans and cut off jean shirts suddenly appear, giving frightening boy-band moves off, and thus made me scream the first time.

Summary of Music: Gameplay music is not very good, But the FMV music is phenominal

GAMEPLAY 6.5/10

I will be honest here. The gameplay is not very organized or good at all. I say this for quite a many reasons, and a few will be mentioned below:

1) There is the usual option of Active or Wait on the ATB system, but even if you have the option of Wait, while you are selecting your item or spell, The monsters still attack! why, I do not know...

2) There are so many side quests it is sickening. I promised myself when i got the game to complete it ALL, and after countless hours of random sidequests that would not affect the game were it taken out, I gave up and only beat the game at 74 percent.

3)As mentioned above, most of the enemy battles can be won by holding down the X button. While not producing any challenge at all, It also proves no fun.

4)While most enemy battles prove no challenge or fun, Bosses are different. Near the end, they get to be Insanely challenging, so challenging that you have to level your Characters up to a level higher than you have ever leveled up JUST to beat this boss, and then it turns out that the last boss is much easier, making it possible for you to beat him in 10 minutes with no trouble

5) You learn Many Countless skills, about 5 in total which you can use against enemies and bosses

6)having to watch the dressphere changing over and over again

There ARE some Pros here, believe it or not:

1) some bosses provide adrenaline-pumping action

2) Sometimes provides quite a bit of thinking and a lot of strategy

MENUS AND PUT-TOGETHERS 8/10

While the dressphere idea is very nice, during gameplay it becomes very annoying, watching the same animations over and over again. Even though they have an option of shortening the sequence, it still becomes very annoying. But its pretty fun being able to customize your only three playable characters, so its a pretty great idea, with that minor setback.

Well, once again, there is no equipping armor, just two accessories, but I have grown used to it thanks to Final Fantay VIII and X.

GRAPHICS 9/10

Great graphics. The FMV sequences are stunning, and the mouths ACTUALLY MOVE WITH THE SPEECH NOW!....during the FMV sequences, I mean. The usual nonstop mouth moving is still in here, however.

REPLAY VALUE 5.5/10

When I finished this game, i just started up VI again. The game has some really sort of original ideas (the dressphere idea sort of reminds me of FFV), the two songs 1000 words and the intro song are stunning, making me save a seperate game right before the cutscene so I can listen to them again.

I honestly suggest you rent this game before buying it, as i bought it first, and now im having a hard time finding where to sell it. If you like it, then or course buy it. If you dont like it from the beginning, do not get it. It will not change.

I own only a PS2, but I am also experienced with the Xbox, having played it many times. I am here to compare these two, which both are champions over the Gamecube. I will first go over the pros and cons of each system then comparison.

PS2:
Pros:
Great controller
Major online support
Graphics are not THAT bad
Third party support
Cons:
Graphics arent that great either
Only 2 controllers without adapter

Xbox:
Pros:
Great graphics!
Halo(duh)
Built in hard drive
Decent first party support
Utilizes online play
Cons:
Clunky controller
Clunky sytem
Difficult controls(majority of the time)
Gets several PS2 titles(see GTA and MGS series) long after PS2 gets it.
Not enough great games

Now the comparison:(I will put the better featured sytem next to each category)
Graphics:Xbox, mostly because it came out later.
Title Support, 3rd and first party: PS2, mostly because it came out earlier.
Online play: PS2 (Final Fantaxy XI, SOCOM 1 and 2, etc.)
Controls in general: PS2 (smaller controller= no carpal tunnel from trying to reach the fire button like on the xbox)
Technical stuff(controller number, memory, etc.): Xbox (4 controllers, a lot of free memory.)
Price: Tie, they both cost the same.
The future: PS2 looks to be getting some impressive titles (MGS3, GTA: San Andreas) while Xbox seems to be waiting for the games that were supposed to be out this year (Halo 2). PS2 is the winner in that one.
Recent releases: Xbox (Ninja Gaiden, Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow edge out the monumental FFXI, while most other significant games are in it for both systems.)
So the winner, 4 to 3, is the PS2! If you are rich then buy both systems, but if you are broke like me then buy PS2 and play Xbox at your friend's house :).

Ok. I played all the systems.. so heres my review. XBOX has the best graphic capibilitys. And is the adult system. Gamecube is the kiddie system. I still go over my friends houses and play it but, for the older gamers it gets old quick. PS2 has a wide variety of games for gamers of all ages. And the worst graphics of the three systems. I'm not saying they're bad, the other systems just have better graphics. But really, does graphics really matter? I still pull out my old N64 and play 007: Goldeneye and still have a good time. Even though I'm shooting at graphical disasters (ha ha ha). So if you're a little kid get Gamecube. If you're an adult get XBOX. If you're in the middle get Playstation 2. If you run out to buy this right after reading this (ha ha ha) get Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando. It's a fun game for people of all ages. Ignore the T rating. Happy gaming.

OK. Put it this way. XBOX sucks. Gamecube sucks. For XBOX, you have to freakin pay to play online. for the PS2, all you need is the Internet adaptor. And what the heck is up with the XBOX controller? Its fat and ugly. Plus the PS2 is more compact and easier carry. Plus, you have to pay more to even do what the XBOX is capable of. 30 dollars for a dvd remote just so you can be able to play dvd's on the XBOX? thats crazy. With the PS2, all you need is the PS2 and a controller. Plus the PS2 has a WIDER variety of games to play than both systems combined. Sure the XBOX may have better graphics, but thats it. So hands down, the PS2 is the best system to buy right now.

Okay to start off I do have other systems (gamecube, ps1, and game boy advance.) so I'm not a PS2 fanatic. ... I'm going to start out with one of the most over looked good points of the system : the controller. This is the best controlller ever made. The Xbox controller, the original or the S type, is just way to big, whereas, the gamecube controller isn't as comfortable. I mean, It was perfect with PSX and PS1, so why change the controller? Okay now on to the system, the graphics aren't exactly the best, but they are the best with extreme sports type games (Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3&4, Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2 etc..). The games are the best, with titles ranging from the rating of E-M, you can't go wrong whether your 5 or 55 or any place in between. The system is fast and has more games (including PS1 games, more than 500). It has the best titles out there like Final Fantasy X, Jak and Daxter, Grand Theft Auto 3 and Vice City, Armored Core, Ace Combat 4: Shattered Skies, and many more. It doesn't need and extra adaptor for the DVD feature. And everybody is so critical that the PS2 only has 2 controller slots, well the PS2 is the only system that can have 8 controllers, with 2 multitap adapters. .... Xbox is just way to big and bulky, while the PS2 is sleek, thin, can stand on its side for more room, and for ... more (which I even think is a little much) you can get it in different colors. Overall if you want to have tons of fun get PS2. It'll be worth [money]in a long run.

PS2 is the best game system ever. it has very good graphics and good games. its cool because of the built in dvd player. ps2 is awesome. i would definetly recommend this item.

I think that the Sony Playstation2 is better than the Nitendo Gamecube and X-Box and has definately been a huge improvement over the Playstaion 1.The controls are very easy to manage and has advanced graphics more games and even a DVD player.You can also hook up four conrolers into it(controlers are sold seperately),listen to music and watch movies only for two hundred bucks!Get it now!

This is a good game, and is the perfect starter game if you just bought a gamecube but once you beat it ... you don't play it again (at least for me). This and Super Smash Bros. Melee were the first games I got with the cube and it didn't take very long to beat it. It's a fun game featuring Luigi who rarely gets the credit he deserves but it's just not hard enough. If it took longer to beat or if it were as fun and innovative as the Zelda or Mario series, I might want to play this more. The main reason I got sick of this game is that the whole thing takes place in the manshion, there really is no worlds or temples. Really, it's not as good because it doesn't take that long to explore the whole place. In all, this game is more worth renting once or twice until you beat it then buying it. Unless you are a cube or Mario series fanatic like me, this isn't really worth your money just for the fact that it's too easy to beat.

I'm in Japan right now, and Gamecube has been released. I played it on a display thingy outside a video game store. The story is like this:

Luigi goes into a mansion. There he finds Toad sitting on the ground crying. He tells him something about Mario. THen you meet some weirdo professor guy who teaches you how to catch ghosts. THen you start your journey.

Each unexplored room starts off with no light at all. Armed only with a flashlight and a vacuum, Luigi tries to suck up cash. While he greedily gathers money, ghosts appear behind him and try to kill him (duh). So Luigi whips around with his flashlight and immediatly begins the battle to suck up the ghost. The only difficult parts about this process are: 1, If you don't have the proper timing, the ghost will disappear before you can even begin to suck it up. 2, If there is more than one ghost, there other can hurt Luigi and cause the other ghost to escape the vacuum cleaners grasp.

This game is pretty cool, and it's on my list for games to get.

Regardless of what others may say, I find EAD's "Luigi's Mansion" a great game for anyone. It really is a shame that people may bypass it due to its graphics (remember to never judge a book by its cover).

The premise is simple. Mario's younger and less famous brother Luigi won a mansion in a contest he never entered. Sound suspicious? Things get even more mysterious when Luigi arrives at the mansion. According to long time friend Toad, Mario came to the mansion to surprise Luigi, but has since disappeared. Digging deeper into the mansion, Luigi realizes the mansion is haunted with ghosts, and they are going after him. Luckily, Dr. E. Gadd arrives in time to suck the ghost up with his Poltergust 3000 vacuum. After a trip back to his lab, and a little training session, Luigi re-enters the mansion to find Mario and solve the mystery of his mansion.

The gameplay is classic Nintendo. Very simple to pick up and play, but deep enough to avoid being called "simple". The main premise of the game is to capture the ghosts. Players do this by shining the flashlight onto their exposed hearts and then suck them up with the vacuum. There are normal ghosts, which are scattered throughout the mansion (and are not that hard to capture). Harder ghosts are known as portrait ghosts. Players need to solve a puzzle to find a way to expose their hearts and capture them. Some of puzzles are difficult, so have your brain prepared. Even harder ghosts are the bosses. They usually require players to figure out their weakness and then use action-based gameplay to capture them. The controls take some time to get used to, but players should find themselves comfortable by the first boss. The use of the vacuum makes exploring the mansion fun. Around every corner is a hidden treat. Using the vacuum, players can do everything from rattling vases to shake money and hearts out of them, to sucking up table cloths and towels. Also, if your lost or confused, the handy Game Boy Horror will help players learn about their surroundings and direct them to the next areas. The basic way to lose is to be attacked by ghosts. They can hit you, throw bombs at you, or hope you slip on one of their banana peels. Once you're out of hearts, you will start from your last save.

The graphics are cartoony. Some gamers would turn away at first sight, but the graphics really fit the game well. This isn't the type of game that would have blood, guts, and profanity anyway. Though the game is not a texture paradise, it carries a lot of impressive effects. From the transparent ghosts, to the lighting caused by Luigi's flashlight, this game is a treat to look at.

The music composes of one major song. Luckily, it is a good one. The basic tune will change many times over the course of the game, and even Luigi will hum along. The sound effects are simple, but impressive. The best sound effect comes from Luigi himself as he calls out for Mario throughout the game. As his hearts decrease, the desperation in his voice increases. It is a simple Nintendo touch that will always put a smile on your face.

Overall, Luigi's Mansion is a great game. It is incredibly addictive, as I found myself heading back to game often to find out what is hidden within the next room. It may not be the flagship, "Mario 64" Gamecube owners were looking for (that is coming next year), it is a great start. I would recommend that gamers look past the graphics and the seemingly repetitive nature (which, once you play, won't seem all that repetitive), and at least give it a trial run. In the end, the gameplay is what really matters, and when it comes down to the bottom line, Luigi's Mansion is a blast to play.