Need for Speed Games Part 3: Need for Speed: Porsche 2000 (aka Porsche Unleashed)

This week on Super Adventures, I've been playing through all the Need for Speed games released during their first decade. Well maybe not all of them, I'm sure there's one I've accidentally skipped, because they just kept making the things! There are more Need for Speed games than there are Bond movies at this point. Well, kind of. It depends on whether you count games like Need for Speed: V-Rally and Over Drivin' Skyline Memorial. Or if you count games like Porsche 2000, Porsche 2000 and Porsche 2000.

Speaking of which, today I'm writing about Need for Speed: Porsche 2000, also known as Porsche Unleashed, or sometimes just Porsche. Once again the US version has the better name, as I don't think a game has any business having '2000' in its title when it actually came out during the year 2000. FIFA 2000 coming out in 1999, that's fine. Death Race 2000 coming out in 1975, that's cool too. But this I don't like.

This is the third part of four. If you want to go back to an earlier part you can find them here and here.

(If I don't mention what system a screenshot came from, it's from the PC version.)

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (GBA)

Developer:

Gameloft Srl

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Release Date:

2003

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Systems:

Game Boy Advance, N-Gage

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This week on Super Adventures I'm finally taking a look at a Splinter Cell game! Just not the one you want.

GBA Splinter Cell came out around five months after the Xbox original and I don't see a subtitle on it so I'm presuming it follows the same plot. But have they turned it into an isometric action game or a platformer? It's a mystery.

I don't dislike sneaking around in games but I do hate it when failing stealth leads to absolute disaster, so even though I've played a lot of the Splinter Cells I didn't play them very long. All I remember about them now is nice looking shadows and a man on the radio yelling at me for ruining everything. But I played them long enough to know that the generic funky spy music coming out of this GBA game right now isn't normal. Tom Clancy games are supposed to be about serious people on serious business! Not that I'm complaining, it's nice that it's cheered up a bit since its console days.

Alright I'll give it a couple of levels, sharing my thoughts as I go, and once I've played enough to satisfy my curiosity I'll finish off with a block of words that looks very similar to a review.

Comix Zone (Genesis/Mega Drive)

Developer:

Sega Technical Institute

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Release Date:

1995

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Systems:

Genesis/Mega Drive, GBA, Windows

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This week on Super Adventures, I'm playing a game that was requested roughly... I'm guessing four years ago. I got to it eventually, that's the important thing.

I don't know why I've been putting off playing Comix Zone for so long, but I'm thinking the fact that it's bastard hard might have something to do with it. I didn't want to start it up, get my ass kicked, and quit on the first level. Not for this game, it's far too pretty for that.

The game was ported across to systems like PC and GBA, then later emulated on others, but it's mainly known as being Mega Drive/Genesis game released towards the end of its days. The concept actually came from an Amiga demo video from 1992 called "Joe Pencil Trapped in the Comix Zone", but Amiga owners never got to play the final game! An Amiga version would've bombed in '95 though, and the Mega Drive didn't exactly rake in the cash either. I guess it was just bad timing, releasing such a two dimensional game at the point where everyone was going crazy over polygons.

Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)

Today on Super Adventures, my Mario Marathon Month continues with a tale of two Super Mario Bros. 2s.

Back on the Famicom and NES in the late 80s there was a bit of a trend for sequels to be radically different to the original. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link added RPG elements and swapped genres to become a platformer, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest evolved into more of an open world RPG with NPCs and a day/night cycle, Final Fantasy II encouraged players to beat up their own team-mates to level up skills etc. But Super Mario Bros. 2 managed to be both more of the same and a reinvention of the formula at the same time, by cheating and being two separate games:

The Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 (AKA. Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels in the West) is the next step on from Super Mario Bros. and arcade game VS. Super Mario Bros., with even more challenging levels and a badge on the box saying "For super players" to make sure that regular players realise that it's going to kick their ass.

The American Super Mario Bros. 2 (AKA. Super Mario USA in Japan) is a localisation of an entirely unrelated platformer, repurposed as a replacement Mario sequel due to the Japanese Mario 2's dated visuals and punishing difficulty level making it more likely to scare players away from the unproven NES than win the undying love that the Famicom was currently enjoying in Japan.

At least that's how I think it goes. I'll give each an hour or two and see how they play.

V.I.P. (GBA)

Huh... my keen video gamer instincts are telling me that this game is based on something, isn't it?

Today on Super Adventures I'm learning that 'V.I.P.' was a TV series starring Pamela Anderson that somehow ran for four years a decade or so ago without me ever learning of its existence. This isn't even the only licensed V.I.P video game, as there's at least three of the things available on systems like the PlayStation 2, Game Boy Colour, and Game Boy Advance, and I can't imagine that this is in any way a good thing for the humans who have to share the planet with them. That's not a knock on V.I.P. by the way, I've never seen the series, I just know that games based on any TV series (even the good ones) aren't typically regarded as things that have any business existing. Though I will of course give this one a fair chance to win me over.

Jazz Jackrabbit (GBA)

Today I'm taking a look at Jazz Jackrabbit, for the Game Boy Advance. Despite the name it's actually not a port of the original PC game, though you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise as that's a perfectly normal reaction to seeing two different games with the same bloody title.

Yeah it turns out that they made three of these games in the end, but I didn't learn about this third one until recently, so it's apparently not all that memorable. For a while the world was getting a new Jazz Jackrabbit game every four years, but this managed to derail that tradition and sent the series crashing right into a metaphorical wall.

I've never played this before and I haven't checked the reviews so I don't know yet whether it was a tragic end or a mercy killing, but I'm trying to stay optimistic. Well reasonably optimistic anyway, I don't expect it'll be as good as Jazz 2.

Doom (MS-DOS)

The Doom franchise is 20 years old this year so I thought it'd be a good time to take a brief look at the original Doom, id software's fifth first person shooter (but their first to have four letters in its title and end with 'm'). The anniversary is actually 10 days into December but I'm impatient so you're getting this early.

I'll admit right now that I'm not going into this one even slightly blind and I doubt I'll be able to think of anything worthwhile to say about the game that you haven't heard a thousand times already, but it's not like I've ever let that stop me before. There's a Doom shaped hole in my website and that needs fixing.

To be accurate I'll actually be playing Ultimate Doom, not the ORIGINAL version of original Doom, despite the fact I've used the original title screen here. I apologise for the unnecessary confusion. Basically Ultimate Doom is Doom with the latest patch installed and a fourth episode bolted on, but there's at least one sneaky change to an earlier level.

Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA)

Today I'm finally getting around to Metroid: Zero Mission, only a year or two after it was requested. This is the fifth 2D platformer in the series and despite the name it's actually about bounty hunter Samus Aran's first video game mission, as it's a remake of Metroid 1.

I have played this one before, though just enough time has passed now for me to have entirely forgotten everything about it. I actually managed to finish the game... on the easy difficulty. This time though I'll be playing it on normal mode, so I'm expecting it to be closer to the original's level of challenge and kick my ass from one side of Zebes to the other.

Spider-Man (GBA)

At last, the game that no doubt everyone's been waiting for: the GBA version of Spider-Man (The Movie)! Though this title screen music definitely ain't the Spider-Man: The Movie theme. Sounds like it'd be more at home in Spider-Man: The Old Amiga Game.

This is another case of a handheld game released alongside a console game with the same title, same cover art, same everything... except for the actual game inside the box. I get why they do it, they want to sell two games with a single marketing campaign (plus in this case it's a movie tie-in as well), I just wish they'd give each version a subtitle or something so it's clear that they're different products.

Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars (GBA)

Here's another requested game for y'all: Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars, for the Game Boy Advance. A relentlessly, fervently and strenuously requested game in fact. Hopefully now I've finally gotten around to playing it I'll be able earn myself some peace.

I honestly don't know much about the Z.O.E. franchise, except that it's about giant robots shooting at each other, though I have a feeling that they tend to be 3D third person shooters. But that isn't usually the GBA's style so I don't know what to expect from this. Judging by the music I'm guessing... Ridge Racer style racing game.

Final Fantasy II (NES)

Wow that's the title screen, seriously?

Today I'm playing the original Final Fantasy II on the NES, not to be confused with Final Fantasy II on the SNES which is an entirely different game (probably). I've got a problem here though, as Square seems to have neglected to release the original Famicom version in English and rule #3 over there on the right strictly forbids me from playing fan translations. So I can either run each line of text through Google Translate as I go, or play a remake. Or better still, I could do both!

Final Fantasy (NES) - Replay

Super Adventures in Gaming Replay 2013 - Game 2

This is a pretty terrible choice of game for me to replay really, considering that I didn't play it myself the first time around and the original guest post by Ocean is actually fine. Plus the game isn't exactly photogenic enough to be worth showing off a second time. Not that the art's bad, it's just that it's an 8-bit NES game and even at their best they don't tend to be eye candy.

This didn't even reach the West until 1990, well into the 16-bit era, so it must have looked pretty basic to Westerners even at the time. In fact the game didn't get a European release until 2003 as part of the Final Fantasy Origins compilation on the PlayStation. The first FF game released over here was actually Final Fantasy VII, which hit shops a full decade after the franchise began in Japan.

Uh, what was I even talking about again? Whatever, here's a quick absurdly long look at the original Final Fantasy on the NES.

Dynasty Warriors Advance (GBA)

Alright, today I'm going to see what Dynasty Warriors Advance is, because the internet asked me to.

I have actually played a lot of the main Dynasty Warriors games on consoles, and they're typically about running around on a field slicing through hundreds of rubbish soldiers to an anachronistic rock soundtrack. And this... isn't going to be like that, because it's a handheld game and the hardware just isn't up to it. But at least I can confirm that it does have the correct music, at least on the title screen. Plus it even sounds fairly decent for a GBA game.

007 Games Part 13: Nightfire (PC)

Super AiG's Guide to Every (old) James Bond Game Ever, Finale

This is the last Bond game post for a long while, I promise you. Just two more Nightfire games and then we're done. Normal service will resume shortly.

Game 25 - Nightfire (2002)
Formats: PC, Macintosh.

Finally another Bond game for computers, after 10 years of total console domination. This probably follows the same storyline as Eurocom's console version of Nightfire, but it's definitely not a straight port. This is a separate game created by Borderlands developer Gearbox Software, who should hopefully know a bit about making a first person shooter.

Click the pics to view them at a slightly more civilised resolution.

Duke Nukem Advance (GBA)

Today I'm taking a quick look at Duke Nukem.... Advance. I didn't even know there was a Duke Nukem game on the Game Boy Advance until recently, which isn't usually a good sign. Not that I could even name more than like 20 GBA games (and that's using this site's game list to cheat).

I imagine it's either going to be a platformer like the first two games, or an isometric shooter like Max Payne Advance. Anything but a straight port of Duke Nukem 3D works for me, because I've written enough on the game already. Though I'd be impressed if they managed to get that running on a GBA.

Max Payne (GBA)

Aka Max Payne Advance. Yeah I'm playing a Game Boy Advance port of a third person shooter, but keep an open mind, maybe it's not that bad!

(Click the PC game screenshots for a massive 1024x768 version.)

Eragon (GBA)

This came out for a few systems but I'm only playing the GBA version. And only because someone asked nicely.

Soccer Kid / The Adventures of Kid Kleets (Amiga)

Super Adventures in Gaming Replay - Game 6

Aka The Adventures of Kid Kleets in the US... but only for the Super Nintendo release as far as I know. This was originally an Amiga platformer, but eventually got ported to most of the early 90s consoles.

I wrote about the game once already, but I seems that I forgot to say anything about how it plays or what it even is, so I'm giving it another look.

Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation (GBA)

Another game request, though this will be the last for a while.

The Super Robot Wars franchise has apparently been going on since 1991, but due to licensing issues this is the first in the series to escape Japan. The games are typically a crossover between famous giant mecha series, but for this one the cast is all original characters. Which I guess would be a lot like Smash Bros dropping all the Nintendo characters for a game. Not that it makes much difference to me, I don't know shit about giant robot anime.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (GBA)

A few months ago I was asked to play Fellowship of the Ring on the Game Boy Advance, and I kinda hated every minute of it. This time around they've requested the sequel, The Two Towers, so either they liked what I wrote, or they hate me and want me to suffer some more.