Inside My Radio Review (PC)

Written by Thomas GJ Sharpe

Music games have never been a favourite of mine, but I don't think this is necessarily the developers fault or mine. I guess we just don't meet in the middle. The fondly remembered PaRappa the Rapper seems to be the one that critics pull out, putting the 2D hip-hop dog on a pedastal, for some reason. Sure, it was fun, but it exists still due to the design, characters and, importantly, the music, rather than the gameplay. I have no joyful memories of the gameplay, but the music and lyrics have stuck with me since my younger-youth. The strains of PaRappa have evolved into the wallet-hoover Guitar Hero and it's ilk.

Another form of the music game that was crystalised in my mind perfectly by 2000's Vib Ribbon, is the music platformer. And so, Inside My Radio is the latest in a line of this somewhat less prominent branch of the music video game tree.

Inside My Radio has been developed up from a Ludum Dare entry that hit a good number of ratings. I've spoken before about my love of LD games brought up to a fully fledged title, mainly due to the root passion and simplicity of them. Inside My Radio, however, jumps on a shakey fence, in my opinion. On one side is the patio of platforming, and the other the greenhouse of music. I had hoped that due to the recent success of the Bit. Trip Runner series, that other heads could pop up on the fence, but it would appear to be a hard one to balance. Inside My Radio, falls slightly short of either camp.

The game world is set inside a radio that has been afflicted by a dark power. You learn this story through the perspective of various coloured blocks that look like hyperactive Jenga. In fact, the whole world of Inside My Radio suggests what the town areas of Limbo might've looked in their glory-kitsch days. The first little square is a green, rather “cool” character who is symbolised by an edgy, dance-electro sound pallette. The next is a funky purple square with a quiff and soul-funk music. The next is an orange dub-reggae block... you get the idea. The whole set up is charming and fun, in a detailed, yet stylised setting. Lots of little elements react to the music as you pass, pulling a very kinetic, lively situation out of what is a simple gameplay set up.

As a character in the radio, you have to jump and perform your actions to the beat, or else the move fails. An orbiting circle can help you visualise the timing, but this is actually less helpful than it seems. Focussing on the music is the best way to “feel” where you should jump a gap, climb a wall or perform a dash. To this end, the game does well, but it can't escape this simplicity. The platforming, controls and mechanics seem to suggest that you bounce, dash and bash along to the beat in a fluid way, in an uninterrupted stream of good looking moves. I felt like I always do when I dance. Stuttering and useless. I found it hard to tap into this higher place that I felt the game actually could shine. My fault or the devs? Hard to say. Also, the music didn't grab me. It is polished, well constructed and arranged. It paces next to the play, reflecting the flow of the levels. It just felt a tad by-the-book for each genre approached.

The last music game that hooked me was Beat Hazard, but that was because I could put my own music in. In other non-music centric games, I am very affected by the music and how it works with the other elements. I am suggesting with these two comments that I perhaps turned off when I directly had to respond to music I wasn't engaging in. Inside My Radio is by no means a poor title, but it generated neither platformer nor music sparks in me, despite the production being largely solid.

Overall 6/10

Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance Review (PS2)

Surprisingly, Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance has a plot revolving around a super tough warrior slave, his aim? - To destroy and execute as many people as possible. The reason for this is because he has been chosen by the gods to restore the glory of the empire. If ever a game stood on top of a mountain and screamed ‘I will to be the very definition of average’ this is it. So let us begin the investigation into how to create a perfectly middling title.

It all starts very nicely, with our hero going through a number of arenas chopping people up while the on-looking crowd cheers. Kill people move on, kill more people move on again, until finally you reach your goal and are taken off into a mystic field filled with long grass and ambient music. This area acts as a central hub from which to access the different lands.

Once you have picked your destination it’s off to wade through wave after wave of identikit skeletons and other such clichéd Jason and the arganaughts rip off’s. These come bounding towards you with their average animations and average attack repertoire. Our hero fights back with his own distinctly average set of moves. Pressing a combination of square and X produces slightly different combo variations but nothing to set the world alight. After the first few groups of enemies are defeated it all descends into a huge mass of button bashing intertwined with the odd push of the roll button and underpinned by a creeping sense of complete and utter boredom.

As if the responsive yet averagely realised control system was not enough to send the title down into the realms mediocrity, the camera pops up to make sure it cannot climb out of the hole it finds itself falling down at and ever increasing speed. Truly this game has the most pointless camera we have come across in a long while. Most of the time everything is static, like in Devil May Cry, this would not be a problem if you could actually see where you needed to go. Instead the camera seems to be placed at the most awkward angles possible, sometimes even obscuring your character.  Just to make it seem that little bit more pointless you can zoom the camera in and out with the right analogue stick. However, zooming in and out consists of simply moving the camera closer to your character, what is the point in that? If you cannot see from having the camera placed far out, then zooming right in only serves to show your characters boots in a nice close up is totally and utterly pointless.

Admittedly, attempts have been made to try and add some sort of invention. There are a few different weapons to choose from, each of which requires you to go about mashing buttons in a slightly different way and when using your sword, altering your attack pattern causes a combo meter to rise giving different effects depending how high you can get it. There is also a small amount of character levelling on offer. This occurs by finding challenges hidden amidst the average scenery. Upon discovering a challenge you are taken to an enclosed area where you must undertake an uninspired task, normally consisting of breaking barrels or killing a certain amount of people in a time limit. Although, your undertakings are so dull you do begin to wonder if you can get through he whole game without levelling up. 

The barrel breaking challenges are the biggest culprits as your character locks onto enemies meaning that if you are trying to hit an inanimate object, like said barrel, it can be near impossible to land a strike. The final trick the game pulls out is its array of fatalities. Any enemy who has a black energy bar can be finished off with a Mortal Kombat style finisher. The problem is that the variety of finishing moves for each enemy are limited, meaning you end up watching the same animation over and over, a nice idea but again one that is averagely realised.

On the whole the title is far from being terrible and in quick bursts of play can be fun. But there is nothing here to justify its existence really and you will find that after a few hours things begin to get very boring. The game has no major fault, it looks ok, it has some nice effects, the title is playable but it is all so dreadfully uninspired. Titles like this are the reason people get tired of gaming, overall it is merely a lacklustre hack and slash title. It makes us wonder who was more bored, us while playing it or the developers while creating it.

Overall 5/10

3D Thunder Blade Review (3DS)

Sega’s 3D classic range continues at pace with its helicopter based arcade game the next to get the makeover treatment. Thunder Blade has always struggled for a decent home conversion and now we have yet another definitive version of the game. Whether that is enough is another matter entirely.

Thunder Blade is a mix of top down and into the screen 3D sections. Both look rather good with the 3D effect on but it can be very difficult to take everything in when you are being pummelled by incoming fire. 

There are only four levels which break down into three or four sections each. Each section requires the constant firing of guns and missiles to take out enemy tanks and jets and you’ll also need to keep your eyes open for scenery to avoid. The 3D effect does an excellent job in the top down sections of giving depth to the scenery so at least you can tell if you are about to fly into a building or not.

When flying into the screen it can all get a bit too much. You’ll need to weave in and out of obstacles and also avoid enemies crashing into you. These sections can be very frustrating as it’s difficult enough to move out of the way of gun fire without having to worry about a fighter jet you couldn’t even see flying straight into you. After this you move to take on a large boss which requires hovering over slowly while you blast away at its guns.

There are only four relatively short stages to get through and with a healthy amount of continues  and a level select it’s likely you’ll whizz through everything on sheer willpower alone. There isn’t that much replay value either as aside from a new arranged mode which adds a section and moves a few things around you’ll feel you have seen everything the game has to offer.

Thunder Blade’s biggest problem is that it was never up to the standard of many other of the games in the 3D classics range even when it was first released. It’s both short and frustrating, but then it always was. This is certainly the best version of the game out there (and it now plays as well as you probably remembering it doing in arcade), but it’s still not that great.

Overall, 3D Thunder Blade will likely be something that fans of the original will enjoy in short bursts. But there isn’t really much here in truth. It’s a good technical achievement but once you’ve run through the game you’ll likely have little impetus to do it again and that’ll take you all of ten minutes. It’s nice to see it get another hurrah (and we’ll certainly never be returning to the Amstrad version), but we’ll be sticking with 3D Outrun for our 3D classics fun.

Overall 5/10

Toren Review (PS4/PC)

Toren is the debut effort from Brazilian studio Sword Tales and follows the story of a girl who must solve the mystery of the tower the game is named after. It’s a story about regrowth and regeneration and claims to be a fusion of poetry and videogames. We aren’t so sure about that but it certainly is interesting.

From the start it is clear the game is heavily inspired by Ico. The whole game is spent climbing the tower and solving puzzles much in the same way as Ico. You also get hold of a magic sword from time to time which acts to shield you from darkness much in the same way as Sony’s much lived game as well.

Toren has a distinctive visual style which is filled with vibrant colours and design. It’s not necessarily the most beautifully stunning game to look at, but it certainly is distinctive and sets up the dark and brooding world well. 

The game is only around two hours long and during that time you will mostly be moving around searching for block puzzles to solve, engaging in a bit of light platforming and entering the various dream sequences. These sequences are supposed to represent an awaking within the character of various things such as mercy. They each carry a strong sense of visual design and act as a good counterpoint to the main area of the tower.

The overall goal is to climb to the top of the Tower and defeat the horned dragon which sits atop it. As you progress your character grows in both age and stature and of course everything is all linked together with cryptic bits of story that are drip fed as you ascend.

It’s a great idea and for the most part if works well but there are a fair amount of rough edges that can become frustrating over the games short run time. The jumping and combat mechanic is somewhat basic but works most of the time. However, there are occasions when you fall off a ledge and the game can’t work out how to pull you back up without you dropping to your death.  

There are also a couple of dreams which are badly judged. One area where you have to walk around a pitch black level is teeth grindingly horrendous as most of times you fall off a ledge you don’t grab hold and just fall to your death. This is the next step on from a level with invisible walk ways and shows up a lack of creativity in the level design through these sections.

Overall, Toren is an imaginative debut from the Brazilian studio. It has both good and bad points but does create a unique and interesting tale once it gets going a bit. With a bit more polishing this could have been an excellent experience that would draw you back time after time. The stodgy mechanics and some poor design in some of dreams will put many people off though and that’s a real shame.

Overall 6/10