the item shop with tickets. The only way to get tickets is by winning the racing cups in Arcade mode. This gets aggravating when a player has to switch between story mode to arcade mode.
F-Zero GX is a good futuristic racing game. However, the gameplay doesn't show any depth to the game at all. Since it's just a racing game, what more can you expect. However, it's been a good title in the past. While the graphics have definitely come a long way since the original F-Zero on Super Nintendo, it's really no different from the N64 version.
One of the greatest aspects of F-Zero GX is that players now have the ability to create their own car in the Garage option. You can use the tickets that you have won in the races to buy parts for your car. As you progress through the game, new parts open up for you to add on to your racer. You can use the car you build in the Arcade mode to see just how well it performs. With the right parts, you can get a good leg up on the competition. The only downside to this whole aspect is that you can't name your car.
—Chris Moore
Grade: B
NBA Live 2004
Plain and simple, basketball's my favorite sport. So naturally, I'd love basketball video games.
Let me tell you, for all the commercials and all the hype NBA Live 2004 received, it hasn't really lived up to much of it. There is no sports game I have ever played before that has required the use of so many different controls just to play the game than NBA Live 2004.
Now of course, EA Sports delivered as usual with great graphics and immense attention to detail from players' faces to stadium setups. Game play wise, there weren't many changes from last year's version except for making it tougher to control who you're passing the ball to on offense. It's just one change, but in my mind, it makes the game run a lot less smoothly.
The game gets a little bit more entertaining when you're playing against a buddy and just messing around taking the ball to the rack with one of your favorite players, but if you're trying to actually take it seriously, the game is just plain frustrating.
The only thing that keeps me from giving this game a really bad grade is that EA Sports finally gave some love to my favorite player, Jermaine O'Neal, and improved his character on the game. He's simply unstoppable on the 2004 version.
All in all, this game just simply ran out
of gas from all of the advertising that EA put on its shoulders once it was released. The game is tough and frustrating, and EA Sports should focus on taking this game actually back a step so it can again be enjoyable.
—Ryan Greene Grade: C-
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004
For the years I have played video games, I have exclusively indulged myself in games of the sports genre. I would be lying if I didn't say Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 is the most addictive video game I have ever encountered. Don't believe me? Just ask my roommate, who never plays video games, because he's more addicted than me.
Just as any other sports game, Tiger Woods allows you to pick your favorite pro and go through a full season. However, this game gets into much more gross detail. You actually have the option of making a player named after yourself and can change everything from the cut of your hair to the chubbiness of your face to the size of your beer belly.
Upon beginning your journey on the
PGA Tour, you must win pro tournaments against the tour's best and also defeat fictional characters one-on-one to earn money. With the money, you can improve your player and also buy stuff. I say stuff because it varies from new shafts for your clubs all the way to platinum teeth for your mouth. Yeah, pretty random, but that's part of the game's quirky shtick.
As far as game play goes, the courses are detailed to perfection just as you see them on television during actual PGA events. And some of the fun created courses would present a nearly impossible challenge in real life to Tiger himself.
Learning to play the game takes nearly no effort at all. Basically, that means this game is fit for an experienced gamer or someone who plays only once in awhile like myself or my roommate.
The only downside to this game actually has nothing to do with the game itself. Don't plan on playing this game if you have a heavy class load or a busy personal life. You will get yourself lost in this game and lose track of just about everything, and, in the case of my roommate, cause groans of frustration from your girlfriend.
—Ryan Greene
Grade: A+
thursday, december 11, 2003
jayplay 27