hatok

p.s.(optional)have any known fan characters been integrated into the games?

No. A fan character has never been ntegrated into the games.And never will.

A song looping, and a loop are not the same thing. Basically, Sonic 4 uses very short, repetitive tracks, which are commonly found in music making programs and the like.

Remember Knuckles' theme from Sonic 3?

Yes. It was a short loop. This can be excused because it only plays a couple of times in the game, for a very short time.Sonic 4's music last for an entire level.

A song looping, and a loop are not the same thing. Basically, Sonic 4 uses very short, repetitive tracks, which are commonly found in music making programs and the like.

The music is good and all, but I wish they'd stop having such short loops. Most songs weigh in at less than half a minute.

Speaking of the leaked episode, the last levels are pretty amazing.And I love the first boss troll in Sylvania Castle :PGotta say, episode 2 is a game where I can actually say 'Yeah, they did this after Sonic 3...'

There's an easy mode? I'm playing at the original difficulty, never knew about easy mode.

It isn't really an Easy Mode per say; you can play the game with updated controls that make it easier for you to maneuver/shoot/etc.

Basically this. I'm pretty sure it's easy mode by default :PDo you dare try the original difficulty?

I must say: the difficulty curve of the original Kid Icarus is pure evil. I've never died so many times in a game as I have in Kid Icarus.

Are you playing the game as it was when it was released, or using the new easy mode for the 3D Classics release?

Just got the Kid Icarus 3D Classics port, quite a good game. Although I have yet to beat the first level.

Well savour it, there are only 3

I used to really like the series, but I jsut don't have the time for it these days. I haven't had money to buy a new book since the middle of the Power of Three.Also, this forum has seen like a dozen of these topics... I wonder how long this one will last?

Well, to be fair, they ARE stickers. Textures. What I mean is that the eyes are animated properly, when I say sticker eyes, I mean eyes whose entire animation is just changing to another texture. These characters have proper eye lids, and their faces crease and whatnot.

Sandopolis and Oil Ocean had a baby.Hopefully there aren't any oil ghosts...

I don't think you understand. There is a limit to the number of polygons that can appear in a given area. That's why the grass is 2D, and that's why the models are blocky. Final Fantasy and Devil May Cry have much smaller areas to explore, so they can use more polygons to smooth out the characters models.Have you played Super Mario 64? At the start of the game, you can play around with Mario's face, and it's fairly detailed (Looks like early gamecube). Mario's face doesn't look like that ingame though, because ingame there are environments that need rendering, enemies whose AI needs planning.That said, there is a fairly simple trick that could have been used to dramatically improve cutscene graphical quality. Basically, instead of just rendering the cutscene in the massive world, they could make a smaller version of the part of the world they are using, and only render that. Then, using the extra processing power, they could have swapped the models for fairly high res ones. However, given the number of cutscenes, I'm not sure that this would have worked.But honestly, I think the face models just look a bit weird. Especially Dunban and Mumkhar in the opening scene. I got used to after a while, but it's certainly a shock at first..But yeah, between cutsomizable equipment and large worlds, there simply isn't enough power left over for better character models. that said, the character models DO look better than a lot of other Wii games, since many developers seem to be under the impression they are developing for the Nintendo 64, not a current gen console :/You know what impressed me though? How expressive the yes are. They have a lot of movement, which surprised me. I was expecting 'sticker eyes' (Where eyes are basically just pictures that change, it's used in a lot of games, Zelda, Kingdom Hearts, etc.)

Sonic music isn't very simple compared to most other music of the time. That stuff had layers!It's just the masterful melodies that stick in your mind. And never leave.

I'm sorry, I could go along with saying that you disliked Xenoblades graphical style, or something to that effect, but saying FFXII has 'better' graphics is quite simply not a fact.First of all, each given area in XII is DRAMATICALLY smaller than the ones in Xenoblade. This is a big deal. The fact that Xenoblade looks as good as it does, with short and few loading times, with such large environments, on the WII is what makes the gaphics inexpressive. You need to understand how much worse Xenoblade could, and by all means SHOULD look before you can appreciate it. With something to the scale of Xenoblade, you should expect bad draw distance, and bland environments, but Xenoblade goes in the reverse, looking nicer than most Wii games, but having a much larger environment than... well... any Wii game. Ever.And even taking the environments, the character models still have plenty of articulation, and the textures are still fairly detailed and large. There is a consistent lighting effect, weather, which affects the characters. And the special effects can be lathered right on top.And through all of this? No lag.That is why Xenoblade is a great looking game.

Looks like it will have Episode 2 physics as well.

No durr. But it'll be nice playing as Metal from his own perspective as Eggman's robot. Wonder if this leads into the story of Heroes...

Nope. Sonic 4 takes place after Sonic 3, and Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 happen before Heroes, but after Sonic 3.

Um, it takes place sometime after Sonic and Knuckles, which could mean after Sonic 3D or directly before Sonic Adventure.

Sorry, I think of the games as one whole. But anyways, the point is that the game doesn't lead into Heroes, not that it could take place before or after other games

So how big is the game exactly? I'm thinking of getting it, but I've begun to doubt JRPGs, don't hate me. I like voice acting-though I love Zelda. Skyrim is second only to Zelda, in fact, and I've heard Xenoblade has some elements of a western RPG blended with the JRPG genre, so is that true? And how big is the world compared to Skyrim?(also check out my Mudcrab picture)

I don't know enough about Skyrim to say, but I WOULD say this is comparable to Oblivion... only much nicer, in every way I can think of.This game is cool, because it has JRPG styled focused narrative, but has a big open world to explore as well.It's strange, you know how games tend to have either a great story you want to keep exploring, ignoring everything else to get to the next story bit, or a game with a story that takes a back seat to exploration, or combat, or something?Xenoblade has me constantly torn between exploring the amazing world, or experiencing the amazing plot.I've barely scratched the surface of the game, but I've already internally thought 'Gee, I really should get back to the story' 'But there's so much to explore! Look, what's that? How do you get there?' 'But I wanna see another awesome cutscene!' SO MANY TIMES.I swear, this game will make me bipolar.

Looks like it will have Episode 2 physics as well.

No durr. But it'll be nice playing as Metal from his own perspective as Eggman's robot.Wonder if this leads into the story of Heroes...

Nope. Sonic 4 takes place after Sonic 3, and Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 happen before Heroes, but after Sonic 3.

All of you poor souls who haven't played this game.I feel the utmost pity for your incomplete lives.This game is amazing. Play it.

I think I might get it tommorow for easter.I also did hear that there's an option to not use the touchscreen OR that Second-Circle-Pad-Add-on/Whatever -it's-called. Is that true?

Sort of. The second circle pad is only there to add a left handed mode, but they is an option for analog control. Beyond that, the controls are customizable.

Videogame music is amazing. It makes or breaks games, because it alone can set a language free tone. Music is often the reason you will approach an aspect of a game a certain way. Is there a slow plodding techno? Then you'll probably expect puzzles. Majestic orchestral piece? You'll probably be set to explore the world. And then there's a whole new layer of depth with battle music, and themesongs, which can easily change how we perceive a character.Honestly, videogame music is one of my favourite things in the world. It isn't bound by genre, it's just made to be heard, and it's often made in a way to ensure that it doesn't get old fast, as you'll probably hear it a lot. My favourite composers, Yoko Shimomura, Nobuo Uematsu and Koji Kondo all belong to this genre, and have created, as far as I'm concerned, the greatest collections to music to be found anywhere.

I seem to like boss music, due to the feelings of intensity they can sometimes bring, or their groovy style that fits with the tone of the fight. Examples would be the Kirby Mass Attack boss music (remix of King Dedede theme), or the Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story final boss music (composed by the same person who composed for Kingdom Hearts).Though I also like background music too, the Throwback Galaxy theme from Super Mario Galaxy 2, which is one of my favorite themes ever.

I wholeheartedly share your view. I prefer the fast pace of battle music to slower pieces intended for ambiance.

I'm also surprised that nobody's mentioned Final Fantasy, but it's a known fact that those games have great music, anyways. Even though I noticed the change after Uematsu stopped doing the FF music, I like the direction It's taking, the soundtracks for FF12 and 13 were both pretty different from those of previous games, but in a good way.

I have to say, I personally disagree here. I loved the distinct, esoteric music that Nobuo Uemtasu created for the first ten Final Fantasys. The newer music seems to be slipping more into bland chords and generic fantasy. Not to say I didn't enjoy the soundtracks, in particular I liked the Final Fantasy XIII-2 soundtrack for trying something new, it just isn't very likely you'll find me humming, say, the boss theme from XIII, or the music that plays when you're on board the Bahamut in XII.

To name a composer, Yoko Shimomura is responsible for a lot of great stuff, chief among them Super Mario RPG, Kingdom Hearts, Radiant Historia, and Xenoblade.I also want to give a shout-out to the Ace Attorney games because I'm a huge fanboy their music is excellent for setting a mood. It's an absolute thrill to have any given game's "Pursuit" track kick in as you make a key deduction, and a lot of character and event themes (in particular the "Reminiscence" tracks) are superbly done.

That fact that I finally found somebody who knows what Radiant Historia is made me very happy. Yoko is a fantastic composer, my personal favourite. It doesn't matter what game she's making music for, it'll turn out fantastic, and the game will be better for it.

Okami

YES!

Okami

YES!

Ōkami has the best soundtrack ever and anyone who denies it is lying to themselves.

The Sun Rises. The Sun Rises!

I'm going to give the spotlight to an obscure video game: de Blob 2.The game was fantastic, as well as it's soundtrack. The music had a very jazz-like and groovy feel. It would also get more colorful as the world would, and would have different sounding effects depending on what color you were.Both the music and the game were great, and it's a shame almost nobody knows what it is.

Totally agree. de Blob (Both of them) are an excellent meld of music and gameplay, the music you achieve at the end of a level really drives home your accomplishment.

All this time, and no mention of the Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 soundtracks?

The soundtrack for both games is quite good, but for some reason I just don't listen to them out-of-game that much. I guess it's because oftentimes the music is sort of secondary in the game, so it doesn't get as well associated with particular moments in my mind. Still, both are quite strong, and I'm looking forward to what ME3's team can do.

In my experience, Mass Effect music is fairly repetitive, on its own, this doesn't make it very special. Only with the context of the game does the music become special. Therefore, I think the greater attachment one has to Mass Effect, the better the music will appear, because they can easily draw the memory of when the music plays.That said, Suicide Mission is fantastic, no matter what.

Another video game with good music: Sonic the Hedgehog (the 2005 video game). Its main menu theme is epic -- or maybe I just have a bias toward staccato violins.

Staccato Violins FOR THE WIN!

Right now, I can't get The Price of Freedom, from Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core out of my head. It is such a beautiful song.

This music MADE the ending. It would not have been anywhere near as sad without it.

I really like the boss music from The Legend of Zelda Spirit tracks. The Fraaz and Skeldritch (Capbone, for those of you who are PAL) are both extremely epic and suit the battles perfectly.However, the best theme is the Final Boss theme, which is mind-blowingly epic. It pumps you up for the battle, and it is just about the most beautiful thing I've ever heard.

Spirit Tracks is probably my favourite overall Zelda soundtrack, there are individual songs I like better from other games, but the whole soundtrack of Spirit Tracks pleases me, from Byrne's theme, to the excellent boss music, to the refreshing overworld theme. It's all great. All the time.It's also the only modern Zelda soundtrack I wholeheartedly enjoy...Videogame music is really something special. If somebody is reading this topic, and doesn't recognize the music, look it up NOW.I've ready found some great songs I never would have found without this topic.But you know what surprises me? The lack of mention for Bionicle music. Every Bionicle game I can think off the top of my head had some great tracks, from the GBA games, to The Game, to Heroes, and of course, the MNOLGs.To this day, Avak's battle theme from the console version of Heroes is one of my favourite music tracks, period. And I will never forget the Matoran theme, or the Lewa vs Onua theme.Ah...This topic makes me happy.

The controversy is mostly focused on the control scheme. It looks like that'll make or break the game for each individual.Honestly, I've been worried about the ground controls snce the start. There ARE better ways to play than what most closely resembles an old PC FPS in third person form.

Ken's mustache is Tails, your argument is invalid.

Considering Sonic 4 episode 2 is part of Sonic 4, it'd be strange if it didn't have the same title screen music.It's meant to be one game after all.

So was Sonic 3 and Knuckles. But they didn't have the same title music, did they?And besides, both have the same map music.

I knew somebody would say that, but Sonic adn Knuckles wasn't called Sonic 3 Episode 2 was it?Also Sonic adn Knuckles has more, higher quality content than Sonic 4 as a whole

Considering Sonic 4 episode 2 is part of Sonic 4, it'd be strange if it didn't have the same title screen music.It's meant to be one game after all.

I thought that its probably one of the best ideas ever, although, Kingdom Hearts uses that same kind of idea... I guess they should get most of the credit...

Kingdom Hearts just has difficulty levels. This lets you scale the difficulty from 0.1 to 9.0

Ever played re:coded for NDS? In that game you can make the heartless have more or less health, if they have less health the item dropwill be more frequent... Pretty much the same ideaBut on a more kid Icarus note, I got my issue of game informer yesterday and to my surprise it came with a pit, kid Icarus card!

No it's not. This difficulty change is basically a betting system, you win hearts for winning on higher difficulties, but it also makes more enemies, with different layouts appear, and some events or bosses only happen on certain difficulties. Finally, you get better weapons on higher difficulties.Re:Coded's 'cheats' are very different.