Category Archives: Posts By Active Authors

Food For Thought, From New Authors, Posts By Active Authors, Retro

Sonic 3Disappointment

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The year is 1997, it’s June and my birthday has just passed by. I had received some money from my relatives and there was one thing, or one game rather that I wanted to spend it on. The game in question was Sonic 3D. I’m grew up a Sega kid and as a child I was obsessed with Sonic The Hedgehog. I had played the first three games of the franchise and couldn’t wait to see my videogame hero realised in 3D.

My mum took me to a videogame store and we searched for the Megadrive games. I almost immediately found Sonic 3D, but next to it sat two Sonic games that I hadn’t played before; Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic Spinball. Both of these games combined cost the same price as Sonic 3D, which was the around the same amount of money that I had been given. Nevertheless, I wasn’t interested in either of these two games. I gazed upon the Sonic 3D boxart, the European version featured a picture of Sonic’s face bursting from the front of the case in three-dimensional glory. As someone who had only experienced 2D videogames up until this point, you can imagine as a child of 6 years old, how incredible this looked. My imagination began to race as I wondered how amazing this game would be. Continue reading Sonic 3Disappointment →

Posts By Active Authors, Review

Super Smash Bros. Wii U Review

Image captured by Josh Horne

It seems a long time ago now when video game rental stores were still commonplace. I remember as a child there used to be a small rental store, which went by the name “World of Video”, situated on the opposite side of the area of town in which I lived. Every couple of weeks or so my parents would take me and my brothers there and treat us to a new game.

As N64 games were quite expensive to buy in the UK, I would often pick out an N64 game to take home from the rental store. One day when looking through the store, I noticed a game that I had never heard of before, “Super Smash Bros.” The UK game box art featured Link, Mario, Pikachu, Donkey Kong, Yoshi and Kirby duking it out. I had to have this game. I took Smash Bros. home, immediately popped it into the N64 and spent the entire week fighting against my younger brother. From that day onward, every time I revisited the game rental store, I would search for Super Smash Bros. Unfortunately, the store only had one copy, so I had to hope that my luck was in and pray that someone else wasn’t renting it when I visited. Why the store never purchased another copy is beyond me, if the game wasn’t at my house it was always at someone else’s.

Smash Bros. became a worldwide success, and the hope that Nintendo would produce a sequel became one of the main reasons why I ended up getting a Gamecube during the next console generation. Nintendo did eventually release a sequel, and what a sequel it turned out to be. Super Smash Bros. Melee released in 2002 in Europe (6 months after North America) and become an even bigger hit than the series début. Melee improved on nearly all aspects of its predecessor and today the game remains a staple feature of fighting game expos. After skipping the Wii and missing Brawl, Super Smash Bros. Wii U is the first time I’ve played a Smash Bros. game in over a decade. So, does this new entry into the franchise live up to my childhood memories?

Continue reading Super Smash Bros. Wii U Review →

Gamer's Life, General Commentary, Posts By Active Authors

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

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From flickr user Danny K1m
From flickr user Danny K1m

*Our scene opens with the writer, a tall bearded 20-something with glasses, sitting in a booth at a local diner.  He appears nervous, checking his watch, obviously waiting for someone.  A copy of the handheld hit Bravely Default walks through the door and takes a seat across from the writer.*

Hey BD, thanks for meeting me here.  I know it’s not one of our usual places, but we shared a cup of coffee here once while killing time, so I thought it would be a neutral zone for us both.  I think you know why I wanted to get together today, so let me cut to the chase.  No, please don’t interrupt; this is hard enough for me as it is.  I… think we should stop seeing each other. Continue reading Breaking Up is Hard to Do →

Collaborations and Projects, Posts By Active Authors, Top #'s

UWG Top Ten: #3- Super Mario 64

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I can distinctly remember the first time I played Super Mario 64.

It was the last time buying a video game console was a family event. My father had purchased a Nintendo 64 the day it released and brought home one of the two launch titles for the system.  This was the third time over 11 years that we had all gathered around the television to watch our favorite plumber run and jump across the screen.  After hooking up the console to the TV in our den, my father passed the torch of first play to his sons; handing the controller to my brother.  I slid the power button on, and sat by my brother as the Nintendo 64 launched in our household.

Continue reading UWG Top Ten: #3- Super Mario 64 →

Console, Posts By Active Authors, Review

Community Post: I’m a Fool for Deadly Premonition

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We all have games that are foolish to love; those comfort titles that the general public regards as less-than.  We players can look past these games’ warts and rough edges to find a worthwhile experience in spite of what others may think.  To start the month of April off with a goofy bang, those of us at United We Game will be divulging some of our own guilty pleasure games for your amusement.  Things have gotten off on the right webbed foot by the Duck of Indeed, so let’s continue the joke with another foolish game!

Image from Flicker User: TheStouffer
Image from Flicker User: TheStouffer

Let us be frank at the commencement: Deadly Premonition is not a good game.  The graphics are outdated, the combat is repetitive (at best), and the game controls quite poorly.  The voice acting is hyper cheesy, the hit detection is appalling, and there are boring portions of the game that are simply included to drag out the time spent in front of your television.  I could go on, but you get the idea; Deadly Premonition is far from the pinnacle of video game development.  But despite all of these flaws, I really, really  love this game.  I would even go so far to recommend playing this strange title, as long as you don’t take it too seriously (along with friends and a case of beer).

When I first heard of Deadly Premonition, the main topic of discussion was how the game was receiving reviews covering the entirety of the number line.  Some reviewers abhorred the game, damning it with scores of 1 and 2 (out of 10) to match their hatred.  Others looked past the flaws to praise the story and ingenuity of the developer, rewarding the game with scores of 8 and 9 (also out of 10).  I was intrigued, to say the least.  As I was talking with a friend about the game, he revealed that he had purchased Deadly Premonition and was about to finish it for a second time.  He also mentioned that he was No. 1 on the Xbox Leaderboards for this game, which is irrelevant (and super badass).  So he agreed to let me borrow this strange survival horror/murder mystery game, mainly so he could have someone with which to talk about this title. Continue reading Community Post: I’m a Fool for Deadly Premonition →

Console, Food For Thought, General Commentary, Posts By Active Authors, Top #'s

Community Post: Mario, the Great Peacemaker

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Screenshot by Flickr User: apastor85
Screenshot by Flickr User: apastor85
Ah Mario, who doesn’t love you? It’s the one franchise that most gamers and even non-gamers can agree on. Its bright and cartoony graphics, simple controls, lack of any real plot and imaginative and fun characters make most Mario games unintimidating and very accessible for more casual gamers. At the same time, the depth of the levels, wealth of secrets and difficult gameplay at higher levels make it similarly popular with well seasoned gamers. For those of us who have been into gaming for a while, Mario represents a simpler time in games and brings to mind many of our most treasured gaming experiences of our youth. It’s easy to see why Mario remains a much loved franchise and has stuck around much longer than most. And the quality of titles hasn’t really waned. The release of more Mario games is a constant that many of us Nintendo fans have come to rely on, like the sun setting every day. So out of all the Mario games ever made, it’s difficult to choose a few levels as my favourites (also because the specifics of many of the older games have faded from my memory over the years), but below are the 5 that have stuck in my mind after all this time. They may not be the best designed or the most influential, but they all hold a special place in my heart.  Continue reading Community Post: Mario, the Great Peacemaker →