Fuck the music...here's the real stuff:
F-ZERO: Seemed fun, but the control was too twitchy. Even on the basic first level, I could barely keep my ship from ramming into the sides of the course. I can already tell that this is a game I will suck at, but I'm eager to play more. The visuals are jaw-dropping.
SOUL CALIBER II: Typical SC. Seemed fairly similar to the Dreamcast original, but it's been a while since I've played that one. Apparently lots of depth and strategy, but I beat the first three enemies just by button mashing. Withholding judgement.
STAR WARS REBEL STRIKE: Crap. The only level on display was the Hoth "on foot level", which seemed like a bad rip of Robotron. Run around a plain white field, shoot some tiny stormtroopers, destroy AT-ATs. The much hyped "destroy Walkers just like in the movie!" feature was worthless--Get underneath a Walker, press a button for your cable, slash once, press another button to throw a grenade. From a cinematic standpoint, it's nice. From a gameplay standpoint, it's "Dragon's Lair" shit. Not impressed.
VIEWTIFUL JOE: Seemed fun, if shallow. The graphics and style were great, but even the six minute demo felt repetitive by the end. Slow down time, punch someone. Slow down time, kick someone. Hopefully later levels will get more complex than this, because right now it's "River City Ransom" with slow motion.
BILLY HATCHER: Ehhh. A typical cutesy platformer. Rolling the eggs was annoying, and the pastel color scheme made my eyes bleed. Seemed cute for kids, but I can't imagine buying and playing this with Jak II and Ratchet II on the horizon. Pretty pedestrian.
Sadly, Mario Kart Double Dash was NOT on display in playable form.
On the whole, Nintendo's next wave of big hitters left me more than a little unimpressed, although both F-Zero and Viewtiful Joe have potential.
F-ZERO: Seemed fun, but the control was too twitchy. Even on the basic first level, I could barely keep my ship from ramming into the sides of the course. I can already tell that this is a game I will suck at, but I'm eager to play more. The visuals are jaw-dropping.
SOUL CALIBER II: Typical SC. Seemed fairly similar to the Dreamcast original, but it's been a while since I've played that one. Apparently lots of depth and strategy, but I beat the first three enemies just by button mashing. Withholding judgement.
STAR WARS REBEL STRIKE: Crap. The only level on display was the Hoth "on foot level", which seemed like a bad rip of Robotron. Run around a plain white field, shoot some tiny stormtroopers, destroy AT-ATs. The much hyped "destroy Walkers just like in the movie!" feature was worthless--Get underneath a Walker, press a button for your cable, slash once, press another button to throw a grenade. From a cinematic standpoint, it's nice. From a gameplay standpoint, it's "Dragon's Lair" shit. Not impressed.
VIEWTIFUL JOE: Seemed fun, if shallow. The graphics and style were great, but even the six minute demo felt repetitive by the end. Slow down time, punch someone. Slow down time, kick someone. Hopefully later levels will get more complex than this, because right now it's "River City Ransom" with slow motion.
BILLY HATCHER: Ehhh. A typical cutesy platformer. Rolling the eggs was annoying, and the pastel color scheme made my eyes bleed. Seemed cute for kids, but I can't imagine buying and playing this with Jak II and Ratchet II on the horizon. Pretty pedestrian.
Sadly, Mario Kart Double Dash was NOT on display in playable form.
On the whole, Nintendo's next wave of big hitters left me more than a little unimpressed, although both F-Zero and Viewtiful Joe have potential.
