14 replies to this topic

[Magnetic Vorahk]

I'm wondering about the two canon BIONICLE video games, Quest for the Toa and Maze of Shadows. Are they any good? Most of the online reviews complain about the fact that there are no LEGO elements involved, so I thought it would be better to ask here.

[bonesiii]

QftT was fun. Only one I played.

[Aanchir: Rachira of Time]

Quest for the Toa was pretty excellent... basically if you took the Mata Nui Online Game and added more of an action element. Some of the dialogue was very silly, but that added to its charm. The only real faults I have with the game are its occasional frustrating glitches and its low-res graphics, which keep you from appreciating many of the more creative Rahi designs.

I have never played Maze of Shadows so I do not feel equipped to comment on it.

[742mph]

I have Maze of Shadows, and I've been stuck in a particular room in the desert section for months, so at this point I'm convinced there's a glitch. It's a pretty fun game overall, though, sort of a puzzle game-RPG combination. It's very satisfying to upgrade the Metru and increase their power in battle. If you happen to have a GBA or DS, I'd recommend getting it.

[Lyichir]

I'm wondering about the two canon BIONICLE video games, Quest for the Toa and Maze of Shadows. Are they any good? Most of the online reviews complain about the fact that there are no LEGO elements involved, so I thought it would be better to ask here.

Online reviews of Bionicle games, tend to completely miss the point of them. When reviewers see the Lego name on a game, they expect an emphasis on the Lego medium itself thanks to games like Lego Island and Lego Star Wars, whereas Bionicle games have always been focused on the Bionicle Universe, so elements like building become less essential.

As a side note, while it's non-canon, I quite enjoyed Matoran Adventures, a fairly simple platformer that suffered from far fewer glitches than Quest for the Toa.

[Jalaguy]

Quest for the Toa is very good, almost like a BIONICLE equivalent of the 2D Legend of Zelda games, if you've played any of them. There is some very silly dialogue at times, but it's mostly limited to generic characters, and the variety of Rahi enemies is lovely. Loads of Master Builder Set Rahi, plus others who probably would be buildable if you could get a better look at them. Definitely worth playing.

Jalaguy

[Magnetic Vorahk]

Interesting... I'd heard some pretty terrible stuff about them in reviews, but maybe they just didn't get them. How about some of the other games, like Matoran Adventures, Heroes, or The Game?

[742mph]

Matoran Adventures is alright, although the characters don't have the best controls in the world. If you can get used to them, though, it's pretty fun. I'm not sure about the other two, as I don't own them (except for a European copy of Heroes DS that doesn't work on my American system).

[bonesiii]

Interesting... I'd heard some pretty terrible stuff about them in reviews, but maybe they just didn't get them. How about some of the other games, like Matoran Adventures, Heroes, or The Game?

1) "Professional" reviewers are notorious for being wrong. Pick the best movies, games, or books and you can find at least one, often a plurality (near majority) or reviewers who will get paid to sit down at their computer and nitpick the slightest little downsides from the upsides (and everything has both ) to sound smarter than the people who actually do the work to produce these things. Often they make the mistake of judging them from their own personal tastes even though they are not part of the target audience, though there are many reviewers who know better and will try to give a more balanced review that mentions how they expect different people will like or dislike them. Even with them, though, they're often wrong about their understanding of people who have different tastes than them. In my experience, the best way to get reviews is what you're doing -- ask people who are actually in the fanbase of the thing.

2) I have Heroes. It's pretty fun -- I'd highly recommend it. A great way to pass the time with rockin' music. Of course, I may be biased as I helped with some of the extras (the masks trivia room ). The "over the shoulder" view thing is the most interesting aspect of it; it's slightly different in that way from other first-person shooters (technically it's third person limited, heh). Downside can be that it's sometimes a bit repetitive -- but there is a lot of variety in the building challenges and some enemy strategies. The weapons are cool too.

I dunno about the others. My cousin had The Game and I guess it was okay. I only played it briefly though.

Edited by bonesiii, Oct 07 2012 - 04:10 PM.

[Magnetic Vorahk]

Yeah, I guess the console and DS versions of Heroes are pretty much different games. Bones, which version are you talking about?

[bonesiii]

The "real" version.

http://biosector01.c..._and_PC_Version

[T.B.O.C]

Quest of The Toa was a bit confusing, but a great game in general. I wouldn't know about Maze of Shadows, though, never played it.

Matoran Adventures was great, but Heroes was simply amazing: it's one of those games you can play over and over again and still have fun. The ending is rather anti-climatic, though. (I played the PS2 version, which from what I've seen, is one of the better versions)

[Fastcar800]

Quest for the Toa was pretty excellent... basically if you took the Mata Nui Online Game and added more of an action element. Some of the dialogue was very silly, but that added to its charm. The only real faults I have with the game are its occasional frustrating glitches and its low-res graphics, which keep you from appreciating many of the more creative Rahi designs.

I have never played Maze of Shadows so I do not feel equipped to comment on it.

True that. It was orignally called Tales of the Tohunga, but you already know that I bet.

[Kumata]

Don't buy Bionicle: The Game. Offensively lazy and rushed, frustrating controls... its' not even canon, so there's no real reason to get it at all.

Quest for the Toa is good fun though despite its other flaws, and should be easy to find cheap online.

[Bulik]

I own Bionicle: The Game for the PC and playstation 2, And I've played it enough times to know that it has a relatively small amount of level, even though said levels are interesting and have many "separate" objectives. it also has somewhat of a replay value, with bonus content for getting a certain amount of lightstones, etc. in a level. The graphics are only rivaled by Bionicle Heroes (PC), and it loosely follows the 01-03 story. I also own the GBA game, which is harder when you consider that you cannot save your progress. It has fairly decent graphics when you consider the time it was made in, but it has little to no replay value and is somewhat difficult (even I haven't beat the GBA version). The levels are long and tiring, IMO.

Quest for the Toa is a fun game, which I also own. It is the Prequel to MNOLG, so it has that aspect to it. It has decent graphics for the time it was made in, so that's good. It even has character customizations. The gameplay is of the mixed puzzle and shooter genre, with around 3 locations for every wahi. one being the travel getting to the village, the other the koro, and the final the path leading up to the boss battle/the first path the next koro. The goal of the game is both to rescue the turaga, find the lost turaga staffs, and get all the toa stones. It is somewhat challenging, loosely follows the story, and has horribly written dialogue.

I also own Bionicle heroes for both PC and GBA. The PC/Console version has the best graphics of all the bionicle games, and has tons of replay value due to unlockable characters, upgradable weapons and special powers to get to new areas, and a bunch of achievements found in hidden areas on the levels. The levels themselves don't follow the canon story at all, and are quite repetitive, although still fun to play. The first level of a wahi has a rahkshi you must defeat at the end of the level. The second level in a wahi has a titan set from over the years (Axonn, Brutaka, Roodaka, Sidorak, etc.) as the boss, And the final level in a wahi has the piraka of that element himself as the boss. The final level is a duel against Vezon and fenrahk. The PC/Console version also has the "piraka playround" that you can buy parts of, which let you watch humorous animations. The GBA version pales in comparison, with similar graphics to Bionicle: The Game (GBA) and Quest for the Toa. It's levels are extremely repetitive, and it has little, if any replay value at all. the gameplay is very easy, with you just holding down the shoot button and running around the maps.

Those are the ones I own, and my opinions on them.