Rock 'N' Roll Racing Review (Gameboy Advance)

Rock N Roll Racing started life back in the 16-bit days of the Super Nintendo and Mega Drive. At the time it was a breath of fresh air across a very arid landscape of numerous Mario Kart clones. Indeed, with tongue firmly placed in cheek, it seems once again it is time to drop into the world of mullets and nitros... Now come on, with a combination like that, how could you go wrong?

The story goes that in 2833, intelligent life was found on the planet of Bogmire. The inhabitants of this strange world became addicted to the art of racing and started using souped-up cars to bomb around the planet. Something else that caught on quickly was Earth's rock music and thus from these strange beginnings the Rock N Roll Racing Commission was created. Set across six planets each with a whole host of tracks, Rock N Roll Racing is good over-the-top racing fun.

After selecting your racer of choice players must battle against three other opponents with the aim of collecting enough points at the end of the season to qualify for the next planet. Far from being a simple case of racing around the circuit, tracks are often reminiscent of a battleground with both cars and terrain capable of blowing an opponent into a different universe. Cars come in four different types, starting with a sand buggy-type contraption and working up to a full-on battle hovercraft.

Each vehicle can have numerous things added to it in order to help you through - these include mines, missiles, nitros, better tyres, and thicker armour. But the real skill comes in being able to take on opponents with as little as possible, as when you reach a new planet one of the opponents will have a new car meaning you need to upgrade - and rest assured these contraptions do not come cheap.

In terms of cosmetic issues everything is faithful to the original game. In fact this title is more or less identical in every way to the Rock N Roll Racing of years gone by, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Different planets are varied and contain a fair amount of detail both on and around the track and the isometric racing viewpoint acts well to keep players going where they should be. Cars look rockin' enough to fit in with the premise of the title and it all moves along at a breakneck speed without any problem.

Of course, the gimmick of the game is the soundtrack and though only a minor point it really helps to make the game seem that little bit more over-the-top. While jamming round the track with missiles flying and parts of cars littering the corners, the tunes of "Born To Be wild" and "Paranoid" (among others) blast out over the action. Obviously, the Gameboy can't cope with complete songs, so instead we get an instrumental version, but it's effective nonetheless.

Along with the music comes an incredible enthusiastic commentary that runs through each race. Coming out with phrases such as "Let the carnage begin!" and "Tarquinn lights him up!", it is undoubtedly cheesy but then again if you buy a game called Rock N Roll Racing, what exactly were you expecting? The commentary helps keep the fun in the title along with many other little touches that create something which endeavours to make you smile more often than not.

Accompanying the decent graphics and sound is a solid handling model and responsive control setup. The cars are a joy to drive and very easy to get to grips with. After your first race you should be able to grasp the controls enough to be able to fire well-aimed shots at your opponents while taking a ninety-degree corner. Indeed after a few races - as well as fighting off the other racers - you will find yourself trying to grab all the extra money packages laid around the courses as well and while the action can become a touch samey due to the fact certain tracks must be raced upon more than once, nothing really takes away from the feeling that you are having a lot of fun.

In conclusion, Rock N Roll Racing gets away with being a straight port of a fun, over-the-top and cheese-filled experience. It will not change the world but if you are after a game that offers nothing but pure enjoyment then you cannot really go wrong with this reincarnation.

Overall 8/10

Low G Man Review (NES)

You are low gravity man! The instruction book shouts at you as if it was a statement of fact. What a way to promote a game we thought, and what is a low gravity man anyway? Well, that’s something that’s never really explained, but this is the NES after all and epic plot driven stories did not come into fashion until the sixteen bit generation.

The story, and we use the term loosely, consists of having to capture a robot producing planet from evil aliens. Normally used for exploration, these aliens are trying to reprogram all the robots so that they will hunt down and destroy the whole human race.

Graphically, the game is nothing special, on screen characters are very small and made out of a limited range of colours. Backgrounds fare a little better with at least five different colours at one point. What exists though is clearly defined and moves smoothly with slowdown hardly ever occurring.

What is impressive for a game developed early on in the days of the NES is that it manages to scroll not only left to right, but up and down as well, Indeed as the back of the box says ‘Jump one and three quarter screens high’. What makes the game stand out though is the amount of invention to be found in the gameplay. Instead of just shooting enemies in the tried and tested fashion the player must first freeze the enemies with an ice gun, then jump at them stabbing them with a lance.

On top of this you have the usual power ups for the ice gun that create multiple and stronger bullets as well as four collectible weapons, boomerang, mine, shock wave and a fireball making it all add up to being an incredibly enjoyable experience. There are also a host of different vehicles you can use, one of which allows you to climb up walls like a giant spider, Innovation all the way and an enjoyable game because of it.

Controlling little Low G Man is an absolute joy. Jumping is easy to control, meaning you can shoot, turn in mid air and spear something all in one go, pretty essential to the enjoyment of the game with the monsters you have to defeat not giving an inch. The game is split into four worlds made out of three parts with a boss that must be defeated at the end of each. Most bosses are the standard fair and offer nothing new. One or two though require you to scale about two screens in height, climbing up their gigantic bodies until you reach a part that you can happily hack away at kind if like a 2D shadow of the Collosus.

Overall Low G Man offers eight bit platform gaming at its finest. Apart from the Mario games it's hard to find anything that plays as well as this on the NES. You'll find yourself coming back to the game again and again as it's incredible addictive and so much fun to play. Gaming gold, cheap and not that hard to find, snap it up quick.

Overall 8/10

ICO Review (PS2)

Ico is a simple story of a cursed boy banished to ancient castle, and a strange girl who is the castles prisoner. Together the two must find a way to overcome the many traps and dangers and escape the giant citadel.

Ico is so simple it’s brilliant, you control the boy and must aid the girl as both of you explore the castle. Your character can climb and hang off ledges and do all the things you have come to expect from any game post Prince of Persia. To defend himself the boy has a simple stick, sometimes exchanged for a sword, but most of the time a stick. That is how you start the game and it is how you finish with no powering up, no magic spells, and no health packages lying around. Just a boy, a stick and a girl against all the huge overshadowing castle has to offer and this is a large part of what makes the game so sublime.

Everything graphically makes you feel very small, the colours are beautiful yet reserved, focusing on light and shadow, creating towering gothic environments of stone, each as picturesque as the last. The graphics could not have been more perfect if they had been hand painted by the greatest artist who ever lived, like the game they are beautiful and simple, Ico is a game of simplicity and subtlety and everything in it gently reinforces that fact.

Simplicity to the point where the girl is completely white and the monsters who appear to drag her back to her prison are just black shadowy silhouettes. You can’t get much more clear cut good and evil than that. Sound acts much in the same way, no constant techno in the background, just the faint whispering of wind as it swirls around the towers, and the occasional haunting melody as the shadow creatures rise from the ground.

The game itself sees you solving puzzle after puzzle in the castle, until you realise the castle itself is one big problem to solve, each puzzle completed acting to make the castle fall together until the whole thing is conquered. You find yourself bewitched into wanting to see the whole thing unfold but you won’t know why. That’s the thing about Ico you know you want to keep going, you know you can’t let the shadows have the girl, but you don’t know why, you can’t put your finger on it but it’s definitely there and it’s beautiful.

Ico is amazing, at times it sort of lulls you into a trance, you just become controlled by its magic. In the day and age of endless sequels this shines as an original piece of genius, more of a work of art than a game, it feels like someone’s private project that has been put together through a labour of love, I just can’t fault it.

Its not too long, or too short, its got exactly the right difficulty level and everything is perfect. When you do finish the game after the credits role you get the moment that makes the game a true grade A title, what that is you’ll just have to find out for yourself.A  pure perfection, a master class in games programming

Overall 10/10

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Metal Slug X Review (Playstation)

Containing just about the shortest plot in videogame history, Metal Slug X sends the player on a mission to eliminate an individual who is causing a lot of upheaval in the world. Rumours suggesting the plot was written on the bus by an SNK employee on their way to work remain unconfirmed, but then the Metal Slug series has never been about epic plot-lines. Indeed, shooting things is all that matters in this title - a lot of things - and it makes a nice change to see a game concentrating on the action rather than some pointless plot that nobody cares about anyway.

For those unaware, the Metal Slug series follows the tradition of classic side-scrolling shoot 'em up action. One or two players are directed across screen blasting absolutely everything in sight, devouring power-ups and rescuing the odd hostage who is (conveniently) scattered about the levels.

Metal Slug X is set across six stages of high-octane bliss, and even though you are granted unlimited continues, the blasting never gets old for anyone starved of mindless destruction. What truly places the series apart from others in the genre is the absolutely astounding artwork and character direction. Each of the six central stages is a smorgasbord of detail, with lashings of colour and digestible moments. Indeed it truly is one of the most sumptuous-looking 2D shoot 'em ups ever to exist. As well as the terrific backdrops, all the enemies and characters in the game are coated with equal dollops of care with small touches such as soldiers laughing when they kill you, only to then almost jump out of their skins when you reappear with your next credit - sometimes even legging it into the distance.

Boss battles are something to marvel at as well, with each new mechanical monstrosity being both bizarre and intimidating at the same time and it is clear so much thought has gone into every detail that you can only marvel at the end result. Coupled with the graphical excess are some of the best sound effects the PSone has to offer. At all times the sheer amount of explosions and gunfire plays out to a fever pitch of excitement and, when you throw in the screams of soldiers who have been shot with some obligatory arcade-style speech samples, you find yet another level of depth added to this otherwise 2D experience.

Your characters are controllable to the Nth Degree and move about at a fair notch, which at least gives you half a chance of avoiding all the incoming fire. While superficially the nuts 'n bolts of gameplay are hardly revolutionary, they do fill the requirements which means you can shoot and jump, throw bombs, and use a number of different vehicles to despatch your foe. Simple, but very effective.

Furthermore, to top off this excellent feast of graphics, sound and controls, stage layout is dramatic and different all the way through - containing enough new features and small touches of brilliance to keep players occupied at all times. Given the unlimited continues it's fairly certain you will complete the game each time you play it, but everything seems so full-on and engaging that you'll want to return for the sheer chaos. (once completed a number of extra missions do become available, and while most only consist of simple tasks - such as staying alive for as long as possible or seeing how long you can protect a baby from marauding aliens - they do serve to spike interest, as players aim for those ever-increasing high scores.)

Overall, Metal Slug X takes its place on the Throne of Unmissable Experiences. We have no reservation in saying that if you own a PSone this is the best thing that has happened to it in years. A masterclass in the way that all action games should be made, grab yourselves a copy and get blasting.

Overall 9/10