Impressions: Blast Corps (N64), Jet Force Gemini (N64), Turok 2: Seeds of Evil (N64), Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space (Wii)

Time to start detailing out some of these games I recently acquired and tested out (beyond Batman, anyway, which I plan on doing an opinion for at some point). Alas, Space Station Silicon Valley is freezing up on me, so I don’t know if I’ll get the chance to try it out. I hope a cleaning will help it last long enough for me to try its gameplay at least. Anyway, onto what I could play:

Blast Corps (N64)
Pub/Dev: Rare
ESRB: E

This was among Rare’s earliest N64 efforts, but it remains one of the more engaging titles the console has in terms of immediate gameplay satisfaction.  I only dabbled with a stage or two briefly (I needed to reset the whole game over to play it proper), but I had recollections of joy flood over me as I zoomed around with my bulldozer and tore apart the landscape the prior owner failed to mow down in their playthrough.  In short, initial impressions seem fairly close to my joyous memories, and now that I know how to reset the game data, I doubt I’ll be selling it off again (the time trials are not as fun as the core game for me).  More as I get time to properly replay it.

Jet Force Gemini (N64)
Pub/Dev: Rare
ESRB: T

Jet Force Gemini is a colorful game – I forgot how vibrant it looked.  The controls are a little nitpicky – I wish it had an inverse setting for the control stick’s vertical aim.  I’m running with the “simple” controls, but I think that they’re more troublesome than the “expert” variant. XD  At any rate, my initial hour or so reminded me of the pleasure I had playing this as a kid, but it’ll take more time to rediscover that sense myself.

Turok 2: Seeds of Evil (N64)
Pub: Acclaim/Dev: Iguana Ent.
ESRB: M

I forgot how over-the-top the violence is in this game. XD  Man.  And I haven’t even gotten any of the gory weapons yet!  Thus far, I am enjoying this revisit quite a bit, although it suffers the same inverse issue that JFG does – I would be even more engaged if I didn’t have to fight with the vertical aim. XD  Jumping is a little wonky, but I’m sure I’ll come to grips with it in the near future.  I like the enemy AI and the occasional “BOO” moments the game throws at you, and it looks pretty nice for a N64 game as well.  So far, so good.

Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space (Wii)
Pub: Atari/Dev: Telltale Games
ESRB: T

Let’s get the complaints out of the way first, and it’s a hefty one – this is a terrible port.  The game is choppy, the frame rate skips all over the place, the Wii pointer is nowhere as functional as the PC version of earlier Sam & Max adventures I have from Telltale, and ultimately it ruins the overall greatness the game has thanks to its shoddiness.  It’s tragic because Sam & Max is so well written, so well voiced, and so well crafted that seeing that hard work so poorly implemented is a tragedy.  Luckily, I only paid $7 for it, but if I paid full price I’d be pretty irate.  I imagine that the Wii is up to the task of the game’s engine – it’s nothing that spectacular.  I just feel that Telltale didn’t optimize the engine for the hardware, and it shows.  Shame, really.  Unless you can get this for cheap, I’d suggest enjoying this series on the PC.