I was always a member of the Sega Genesis contingent when the 16 bit contingent of platforms came out for general consumption, so I really haven’t had much access to the Castlevania series since the original NES games. A while back, however, they released a side-scrolling Castlevania for the Playstation, which I picked up with little expectations, other than a bit of classic style gaming. What I got, however, was a masterpiece of the modern day systems.

This game focuses not on the whip-wielding Belmonts that have been the consistent stars of the series, instead focusing on a (somewhat bastard) son of Dracula, the sword wielding Alucard. I liked this change, as it gave a lot more possibilities in terms of equipment, clothing, etc. that could be wielded throughout the game. Alucard’s mission, to put it simply, is to infiltrate the castle of Count Dracula and stop his father’s return and domination of Earth.

Graphically this game is the perfect blend of old school side-scrolling and modern day visuals. There is little slowdown, the backgrounds are lush and well drawn, the characters and enemies are all well executed, and the entire “feel” of the castle seems to fit perfectly with the plot. The graphics are outdone by another aspect of this game; the music. The sound effects and music throughout this game are entirely “right.” All of it is well orchestrated and fits into the gameplay flawlessly. I’d suggest checking it out just for the music, even if you don’t like side-scrolling games such as this.

The plot of the game, while simple, is engaging and interesting enough to draw you into the castle. There are tons of secrets to be found, and lots of minibosses to fight and develop your character with. That’s another great thing about this game, as you fight your character gains strength, luck, experience, etc… as opposed to just having a static health bar throughout the game. If you really want, you can devote yourself to making an unstoppable killing machine before even getting to the first boss, though normal players will find the development is set at a pace to keep the game challenging, yet fun.

The entire experience of this game should keep both old-school and new-school gamers entertained throughout, with all of the secrets and developmental possibilities allowing you to play this game for hours on end. Once you beat it you can even go through as the chain-wielding Richter, if that’s more your style, so theres something for everyone. I’d highly suggest adding this game to your collection, as it seems that the entire gaming industry and Castlevania series in particular are moving away from classic games in favor of 3D graphics which just can’t capture the same appeal as games like this.

Of what little I played of Mario Tennis for the N64, I found it to be a decent but slightly annoying game. However, I came to this game with high expectations that Camelot had put together a quality game. It resembles Mario Gold: Toadstool Tour in many ways: the roster of characters, quality of graphics, method of unlocking, etc. The game has a couple interesting features however, mainly the addition of special moves, a power shot and a ’save’ shot that rescues the ball if it is out of your reach. These seem like a great idea, but some character’s specials appear to be a bit unbalanced. For example, if I am playing as Wario and trying to beat Koopa Troopa it is almost impossible to beat KT’s special that waterlogs the ball and drops it dead in front of the net because Wario is too slow and his specials are less effective than they should be. It was also observed that certain teams just had a really difficult time beating others. It seems like there should have been more balance for the characters.

Another new feature is the gimmick court, which takes several Mario games and builds a theme around the court, complete with obstacles and everything. For example, there is a Luigi’s Mansion court with ghosts that hold you unless you click the light button on the opposite side of the court. Other ones are two different courts from Mario Sunshine, one which involves moving panels on the Glooper Blooper stage (pretty cool stage) and one which shoots the ‘graffiti’ found in the game onto the stage to foul you up, though it can be removed by hitting a water button. Then there is a Wario Ware court (should have been better), Donkey Kong Country court (same thing), and hidden courts like the retro arcade Mario Bros. court. For the people hating the gimmicks and finding them a bit much (which I admittedly did for some), there are also classic courts with no gimmicks.

There are also several play modes for a quick game such as classic tennis, items tennis, and ring game. Classic tennis is self explanatory. Items tennis puts item boxes from Mario Kart in on the net and gives you items when you hit them, which can be used to help you or hurt your opponent. This mode is pretty crazy and fun, but at times gets to be too much to think about on screen. The ring mode is actually a pretty cool idea which rewards precision shots by shooting them through rings that grow over the net. They start out very small and worth a lot of points, and slowly grow bigger and become worth less. You set a point limit and the first player to reach it wins.

There are also some minigames which are fun diversions themselves. Examples include a painting game where you have to color portraits of Mario characters using colored tennis balls, cooling off chain chomps so they don’t attack you, and a ghost mini-game at Luigi’s mansion. Some of these seem very Mario Party inspired, just a bit more complex, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Not all of them are very fun, but it adds some needed variety to the game.

Graphic-wise, this game is rock solid. Possessing some of the best Mario models to date. The courts are equally excellent in both detail and function. Crowds, when applicable, seem realistic and vibrant.

The controls I have some slight issues with. While it is pretty simple to pick up and play, to fully use top spin and back spin, along with a lob takes quite a bit more skill. The lob is perhaps the hardest because you have to press A and B with a certain rhythm to get it to work (maybe I was doing it wrong, but it seemed hard as hell to do it consistently). I also found myself a little irritated in the minigames when it required precise shots and I simply could not drop them where I wanted to, though I knew what to do and was doing that. It just seemed a bit imprecise, especially compared to Virtua Tennis, my favorite tennis game. And unlike VT, which rewarded smart play and perceptive shots, MPT at times seems to reward lazy play and new players rather than allowing some experienced to beat them easily. This is a give or take as far as if it is a bad thing, but it is annoying knowing that you hit an awesome shot past a player only to have them tap their special move button and have the ball rescued from them being in poor position.

The music, as usual, is pretty good. It has a variety of Mario themed tunes for each level, but it also surprisingly has some good original tunes for the basic courts, which is good to see. Too often the ‘themes’ take the place of original music and it feels stagnant in games of this type.

Finally, I have to say that I enjoyed the game, but I do not know if I would recommend buying it for 50 bucks. If you were a big fan of the first game and love tennis games, I would say go for it, but it lacks the depth of Smash Bros. Melee when it comes to extras, coming closer to what Mario Golf or Double Dash had instead. It makes a really good party game and an excellent rental, but I don’t think it’s worth buying until it becomes a player’s choice title.

Whether you’re a long time Final Fantasy fan, a Disney lover, or just a gamer who enjoys a solid RPG, Kingdom Hearts is almost sure to provide you with a wonderful gaming experience. The game is based on a real-time fighting system where you must quickly attack, cast spells, etc… as opposed to the turn based systems which can usually be associated with Square games.

To start off, the story for this game is quite original. There are several different worlds in the universe, all of which are starting to come under an invasion by the Heartless, which feed off of the darkness within people’s souls. King Mickey (Mouse) goes off to find the source of this infestation, and Donald and Goofy are left to go find a boy to help them save their King and the universe. Of course that boy is you, Sora, whose world is little more than an island, and you and your friends are doing what you can to get off that island. You meet Donald and Goofy, are given your quest, and off you go to try to save your friends and all of the other worlds.

Where this game really shines is in the different settings which you must journey to and from in order to fulfill your quest. The settings include Alice in Wonderland, Aladdin, A Nightmare Before Christmas, The Little Mermaid, Winnie the Pooh, Hercules, and many more Disney movies. The great thing is that you only spend a limited time adventuring within each setting, so there are very few times that the novelty of the Disney settings wears off and you find yourself annoyed by the cartoonish surroundings. All of the worlds are extremely well designed, and you can fight side by side with some of the heroes of these worlds (Beast, Aladdin, Peter Pan, etc…), which adds dynamics to your party selection and equipment.

The fighting system is very easy to get used to, even when flying around trying to keep track of several enemies at once. The magic system is also quite simple, and you can “key up” 3 spells to be able to cast quickly with a touch of a button. The summons include characters such as Genie, Tinkerbell, Simba, and (my personal favorite) Dumbo. Each summon has their own special attributes, and may provide you with health, magic, extra attacks, or more. The only problem with summons are that you must consciously remember to cast them, as they are sort of hidden within the magic menu.

There are several main and side quests that must be fulfilled, all of which add to the immersion of this game. You might find 3 of the 101 dalmations in a chest in the 100 acre wood, or a new part for your gummi ship in the stomach of the whale from Pinocchio.
Alongside the Disney characters are many Square characters, primarily those from the most recent Final Fantasy games. I really enjoyed this inclusion within the game, as there is not much more thrilling than squaring off against Cloud or Sephiroth from FFVII, or receiving the help of Squall from FFVIII.

The entire game is just filled with little details that make it so great to play and an enjoyable experience. I’d highly recommend this to anyone who likes either Square games or Disney movies, as this should have something for just about anyone. The game will take around 25-40 hours, depending upon how in depth you want to go. I did a fair amount of the side quests and finished in just around 29 hours, and I found that not playing for a while doesn’t take away from the game’s charm or cause any difficulty in getting back into the story. Definitely check this one out.