Dragon Quest 8 - Another Peak of Fantasy

 

Every roleplaying game had to start somewhere. If that somewhere is a sequel to the greatest JRPG there is, so be it. This takes place in the same world as the original Dragon Warrior, and it is deserving of that title. This is a very story rich game with a lot of ins and outs to the quests you go on, and sometimes that works in its favor, other times, it can be a bit of a puzzler. The greatest part about this is how they bring the creatures you fought before to life in full 3D animation. The Metal Slime even makes an appearance more than once! 

So, you are [Insert Hero Name Here], and you are on a quest to help King Trode regain his throne after being transformed into a strange creature. Along the way, you start to meet your party members, even having one of them at the beginning. Your starting partner is Yangus, a thief who owes the main protagonist a life debt and the two of them have become friends and battle buddies. Jessica and Angelo are your next party members, though there is a start difference to both of these characters. That's one of the great things about DQ 8, is that the characters are very different and well written to have different motivations and goals. Jessica is definitely the more interesting of the NPC's, because she really starts to play a large role later in the story. Angelo is just your normal flirty boy but it is cool that he is a knight's templar. He's known as a screw-up to the rest of the Templar, namely is brother. 

The next strength in this title is the villain, Dhoulmagus, who you just can't help but love to hate. He is absolutely dreadful and very menacing throughout the story. He is the one who changed the king into a toad-like thing. Along the journey, you start to see just how evil he is. He goes to extreme lengths to obtain power an it just feels right that you want to stop him from doing just that. It's funny to note that he employs the same baddies as the Dragon Lord from the first game. The game is rather long, which just enriches the experience, and it always keeps you wanting to obtain your goal. 

The greatest thing about this game, though, is the artstyle. Yes, it is obvious that this is a very Pro-Dragon Ball site, and that will never change. Even after our sensei has passed on, we can still marvel in his treasures. Akira Toriyama's art in this is brought to such a wonderful view. From the very start, they wanted to emulate his artstyle and this is the game where it is clear that he was the right man for the position of Art Director. Even if they look similar, it just makes you want to watch DBZ all over again, so go ahead. You can play the game and watch some Z, there's no shame in it! 

If you hadn't guessed already, this game is awesome. It is considered the best in the series by many and it is clear as to why. Mr. Toriyama keeps showing off how watchable his art is, and the game mechanics are all here from the franchise we know and love. The magic is simple, the level progression is linear and the weapon system keeps making you want to kill more monsters to buy the higher ranking stuff. They had a proper story to go with the game, like they always do, but it is not at all as simple as DQ1. There are great characters to carry it along and you genuinely want them to achieve their ultimate ambition. Pick this title up if you ever see it on the shelf. You will be glad you got another crack at that Metal Slime. Also known as the Virtua Slime.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (PS2) - Umbridge the Game

 Dolores Umbridge is a perfect representation for this game. On the surface, this game almost looks cute. It looks good in the graphics, for the most part and it has the feel of Harry Potter. The visage does not last long, though. All of it begins to come crashing down as you begin to play it. The more you play, the worse it gets. The combat, the level navigation and the movements in general, all of it was absolutely abysmal. The real problem is that this PS2 game is made in the style of the Wii game! This is a game that was meant to have a nunchuck and a Wiimote in order to play for the immersion of casting the spells with your wand. Does it translate to PS2? NO! No it does not!

The worst part about it is that it tries to stick to the story, but the dialogue, the action and everything it possesses is just executed horribly. Performing the "wand movements" with the PS2 controller only works whenever it feels like it. Sometimes, it glitches out and does not work at all. You literally need to restart the game in order to get it working again. Everything involving this style of control becomes monotonous and you feel like throwing the controller into Umbridge's face rather than continuing this mockery of gameplay. 

Running through the castle, following the Marauder's Map takes up 75% of the game! You thought Hogwarts Legacy had a terribly laid out Hogwarts? Well, I didn't, but apparently people complained about HL in its architecture for the school and I need to point to Order of the Phoenix for a stark difference. It takes FOREVER to get from point A to point B and this is obviously on purpose to extend the game's runtime. Those cruel bastards! This game is already terrible enough, you don't need to torture us with such foul tactics! 

Voice work in this title was absolutely horrific, and while the graphics were alright overall, the uncanny valley for every character is very noticeable. That may be a little harsh on the graphics animators, but they were also the ones who put the WB and the EA Games logo in every single time you LOAD a game! Those things should be in before the title, not the literal Loading of the game! This has it in both! It's understandable to do this sort of thing when people select New Game, but what the hell!? 

Doing the spells is hard enough, but then there is also the fact that they constantly dip down as you fire them. The range is atrocious on all of them and it looks like a sad little drip from your wand. You want it to look like the movies, yes? Well, they apparently didn't seem to think it was that important so now your wand is impotent! Thanks, EA, that was really nice of you! I can see why your company has been voted the worst! Constantly! 

Harry Potter games are already bad enough, but this one was a special kind of terrible. I've already covered the first game in another review for the Gameboy Advanced version and that one was the worst of the bunch for that review as well! Everything there is present here, only in sharper focus, just in case you missed all of the SUCK the first time! Avoid this title like the Death Curse and make sure to take it easy on the pumpkin juice! Don't use love potions this Valentine season and good luck with the redcaps! Virtua Kedavra! 

Transformers (PS2) - Starting to Prefer GoBots

Transformers was created for one single purpose: To make toys and profits. Since its inception in the 1980's, the TV show was created in order for Hasbro to make transforming robots en masse and make sure that kids have the option to buy all of the accessories. Much like Ninja Turtles and GI Joe, this came as a gigantic victory, as the franchise not only sold many toys, but grew a fanbase around the lore of Transformers. This would prove to be one of their major downfalls. Once the first generation of characters had run their course, the studio heads came up with the terrible idea to kill off many of the original roster to make way for a new cast of characters. While the original animated movie was met with good critical reception, the mass killings of main characters, including Optimus Prime, was seen as a tasteless bid for a cash grab. 

This sent Transformers into a downward spiral that it honestly never recovered from. Michael Bay, however, was finally able to bring the franchise to the box office. These movies made a lot of money, and while the first movie is seen as a decent entry, the sequels were seen as mediocre. They drew too much from their human characters and seemed to make the situation worse for Prime for arbitrary reasons. Once the Last Knight hit the theaters, the crowd was large but not very supportive. 

The better received first entry in the Michael Bay series was a victim of an all too familiar symptom: The Tie-in Game. Like many before it, this title boasted decent graphics, but absolutely abysmal gameplay. Rather than playing to its strengths, the game seemed to want to limit the player and make them a puppet playing to the movie's shallow plot. There are sessions where you race the badguys to a target, and thanks to the janky driving controls, these missions are a slog to get through with how many times you fail. This idea of wasting time is accentuated through cut scenes that are skippable, but also loading screens that plague much of the game.

The combat is another very hard point against this game. Not only are the controls not great, but you are counted against for the destruction of the city around you. So, fighting the Decepticons as an Autobot basically tied an arm behind your back because you couldn't destroy anything around the city. While this was a morally correct decision for the character, it was a jarring addition to the game mechanics and only served to make the game feel more like a chore. The later battles in this game get rid of the destruction game mechanic, so the Optimus Prime sessions can be seen as a slight improvement.

Learning the game's play style is another chore. Being able to train yourself to transform into vehicle and robot should just add to the difficulty, but the game isn't fun enough for it to work very well. Trying to keep up with the enemies as a vehicle is hard enough, attempting to target them with the weapons as such is just plain BONKERS! Not only is the targeting system a grating experience, but you often need to keep track of two enemies and stop them from doing their mission. After just a bit of this gameplay, it becomes exhausting. 

This game is not more than meets the eye, it's potential that was pissed on John Tutturo in a character assassination that was played for cheap laughs. This game tries to play along with the movie, and that is only one of its flaws on a mountain of others. It lacks charm and it is so boring, you'll wish you were watching Transformers 4 instead. Yes, that is a bad thing. It's very strange to note that Transformers has very few noteworthy titles in the gaming scene. For a franchise meant to sell stuff to kids, you'd think they'd at least get that right. Well, games didn't pan out so well, and that's odd, given the source material.  Now take the form of a glass and get some water!

Fantastic Four (PS2) - Fantastic Failure

The Fantastic Four is one of the original super hero teams in Marvel, even before the X-men and the Avengers. If you're a fan of the Fantastic Four, you probably have your favorite on the team. Mine is definitely the Human Torch because he's awesome. Now, when it comes to the Fantastic Four movies, this is quite a different story. The original movie, which was never released but leaked to the public through comic cons, was an absolute atrocity. It was made with some heart, but not a lot of money nor talent behind the camera. It made all of the characters parodies of themselves, especially Doctor Doom. 

Then there are the Fantastic Four movies from the 2000's, which is where our game today is from. These movies were not horrific, but they certainly weren't gems on the franchise's face. They were kind of lame, the CGI was dated even for the time, and the stories were all over the place. Chris Evans does great as Human Torch, Michael Chiklis was good as the Thing and the cast were decent overall. Sometimes, they did their homework well, but the movies still missed the mark in several ways. While they did Silver Surfer justice in both Laurence Fishburne as the voice and Doug Jones as the CGIed body, they crapped the bed with Galactus being a galactic fart ball. They were divisive and not especially endearing. Still, they had their own charm and had some good parts along with a bit of feeling.

The same cannot be said about the 2015 movie, nor the subject of today's article, the Fantastic Four for the Playstation 2. If you want a good Fantastic Four video game, I'm sorry to say that you should keep dreaming, because there has never been even a decent attempt at such. This game kind of fell in my lap to play, because I forgot they were still doing movie tie-ins in the early 2000's. Besides this game and the Rise of the Silver Surfer game, there is literally no other mention of another Fantastic Four game. 

This title is said to be an action adventure beat'em up. Sure, why not? Either way, it's so boring that I've gone three whole paragraphs into this review and I've barely even talked about the actual game itself! It's so by the numbers! You play all four characters of the team, they have different powers and ways of playing, but it's still so mundane. You run through levels, fight robots and weird creatures, that's basically it. There are stealth sections and collectathons but it does very little to add to the title. There's hardly any impact, no real engaging storyline and you'll be begging for the Simpsons or X-men arcade games. 

All of this would be more forgiveable if there wasn't so much potential lost. The fact is that you have fire powers, strong man powers, invisibility and stretchy powers; none of it has any real substance at all. The graphics are horrendous, even for the Playstation 2, though you can argue that even the movie didn't have that great of CGI either. At this point, we can at least forgive it for that, as it has become clear that movie tie-in games were given ridiculously terrible deadlines in order to release around the time of the movie it represented. We can sit around talking about how much this game is garbage and throw it off as a wasted effort, but really, what were we expecting? 

I wasn't expecting much when I came into this game. I couldn't finish it for obvious reasons, but it wasn't unplayable and there were some fun little mechanics when it came to their unique fighting powers. Beyond that, though, it tried to follow the movie and add random robots and monsters to make up for the fact that the movie itself was sadly devoid of action of any sort. It's a decent attempt with what they were given and the obvious deadlines they needed to reach, but that still makes it fall into the extremely long list of duds of the movie tie-in era. Thankfully, movie tie-in games are extremely rare, almost to the point of being null and void. Until then, just read the old comics and drink water.  

Virtua Neptune's Worst Fighting Games

This planet is no stranger to horrible fighting games. While we may specialize in the Saturn, there are so many subpar Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter clones out there. These games do nothing to add to the genre, but subtract from the fun factor on many fronts. Graphics may not be the biggest factor, far from it, but even that is somehow part of some of these games' downfall. We'll be covering some of the bigger titles, but also going at the games that are the largest criminals in their respective faults. This is going for games that are primarily 1 vs 1, not beat'em ups or wrestling games. The fighting games masquerading as wrestling games, however, are not off of the radar! 

These are games I've played and have at least played through the Arcade Modes/Story Modes. If you got some you hate worse, it's time to fight! Get your dukes up! Let's go! 

Sonic the Fighters (Gamecube)

Sometimes, when we say worst, we mean the ones with crap mechanics but the most charming characters. This charm goes over to the mistakes the game makes, sometimes, and this is one of those times. Sonic has a large cast and this game takes advantage of many of them. When you play as Amy, you get to use a hammer and when you're Knuckles, you get to use his fists! The gameplay is completely unbalanced, the attacks have no skill on show to put to use, so any thought of competition is out the window. You can play with a toddler and the toddler can literally win by button mashing because they button mashed with more vigor. This makes it a poorly executed button bashing fighting frenzy and that's got some playability, especially at parties. If you enjoy Sonic games, don't pass up a chance to play this terrible little gem. 

Dragon Ball GT Final Bout (PS1)

Once again, we find ourselves covering a large franchise, and once again, the game was so terrible it's loveable. The controls in this, the attacks and the blocky graphics only make fans love it more. You see characters you love (from a divisive part of the series) and you will either love or hate how they are presented here. It really helps when a friend is making fun of you, and you get the upper hand to bash their brains. Finding out the scope of these characters they cover is an utter joy, if you find a way to button mash your way through the roster. Another guilty pleasure for your consideration.

Battle Arena Toshinden 4 (PS1)

The great thing about not caring about a story or its characters is that if they are poorly used or not treated well in later sequels, it's really not a big deal. If you attempt to keep up with this story and its gameplay through the Playstation, you'll see why this was worse than Battle Arena Toshinden URA. Just because the second game for the PS1 was better does not mean that this series went a favorable route. Characters are meaninglessly killed between games and the story basically goes nowhere. The gameplay is just as bad, if not worse than all of the other ones, which is saying a great deal. Sorry if you had any sort of investment in this series, for whatever reason.

Street Fighter (Anniversary)

Fighting Games had their start in the very late 80's, but they didn't truly hit the mainstream until this very strangely nostalgic game hit the arcades. Why this drew such a crowd is anyone's guess, but it put Capcom on the map and Street Fighter II skyrocketed them through the stratosphere. How did it start like this? This game is so limited, and its controls are heartbreaking, even if you play the updated versions. They were very adamant about keeping its clumsy charm about it. I've played the original version in the arcades, previously, but this was back decades ago. I do remember comparing it very starkly to its sequel and there was only one quarter spent as I played Ken against my brother's Ryu. Needless to say, we stuck to TURBO!

Rise of the Robots (Genesis)

I mostly played the sequel, thinking that it was the worse of the two. This was false, as the first iteration was recently attempted. Well, attempted meaning I made a feeble attempt to play and dominated the entire game by spamming one attack. One thing that really puts this below Rise 2 is that you can only play one character against generic, shapeless machines that you can knock back with a light tap. You can make a pretty good joke that the most powerful opponent is the laziest bipedal hunk of chrome metal plating of all the robot things.  

Battle Monsters (Saturn)

When you play a fighting game, normally you like to actually see what you are playing. This game begs to differ. Not only does the camera have a spaz attack at a moment's notice, but the character designs and graphics are so terrible, it's hard to make out anything. You attack in the opponent's general direction and you hope that it hit something, because the detection is beyond abysmal. The candles for lifebars is charmingly dark, and there is something decently cool about the horror theme, but this was a boring and laborious experience.

Celebrity Deathmatch (PS2)

If you wanted quotes repeated over and over again, terrible controls along with gruesome graphics, you've come to the right game! Slogging through this game is like a gauntlet of what horrific images and poorly represented celebrities that you may or may not have heard of. The show was grotesque and and had stupidly funny jokes, but none of that crude charm is presented in this game. I understand that this was supposed to be fought in a ring, but did every single level need to be a ring? Yes, they differentiated them by the outer exterior, but that does not help them from feeling samey. In fact, every match is samey. 

The Simpsons Wrestling (PS2)

This is a reason why your characters need some sort of mass and physicality in your game. Each and every character in this game is made of balloons. The controls don't matter because you can just jump onto someone until they are down. If you try to actually fight someone legitimately, you will find that you are juggled over and over again. Always get the faster, smaller characters because they can swing faster and it doesn't matter that they are weaker, they still do tons of damage. Fighting in a bouncing castle is fun, but this was a dismal experience. There is something fun about how loose the fighting rules are and weightless the characters are. This can be a good party game, much like some of these others. Any of them are fun to laugh at, honesty  

Time Killers (Genesis)

This game will give you motion sickness with how shallow and stilted it is. The controls are stiff and the graphics do not mesh at all with the background. It's very different looking at it against playing it for yourself. Limbs randomly fall off your character, and if your arms fall off, obviously, your kicks are not your one defence. You may as well say goodbye to yourhead, because that means you can't block your opponent's headshots. It has some morbid charm, at first, but it becomes a slog very quickly. You either need to be very lucky when fighting the final guy, or you are going to be fighting him again and again. He is required to be beheaded at the end of the match, so here's hoping.

Pit-Fighter (SNES)

If you thought you could win, guess what? You're wrong! Even the most gifted and talented players at their peak would be troubled to even bother with this game. You push buttons and it is a miracle if you even make it past the first bout. All you do is pound each others faces with punches and kicks and you move onto the next fighter where you are thoroughly turned into a gray mass of dead body. This game thought it had to be hard to get more quarters, but it missd the fact that it was on the Super Nintendo! This terrible experience is topped off with horrible graphics, acres of wasted screen space, and an all around very unpleasant soundtrack. 

Mortal Kombat Advance

Here is the missing link between Tyger Electronics and the Gameboy Advance. Some unknown developers LIED and told the public that they could, in fact, create a fighting game fitting for the MK title. This was supposed to be Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for the GBA, but for some reason, the fighters move as if their frames were slowed to a crawl. Many special moves do not work and the entire game is nothing but a glitch. Even regular moves feel wrong and do not even present correctly half the time. The frames are so bad that it looks like you're blinking in and out of existence. Their inputs just don't react correctly, it is very hard to describe how jank the controls feel. The AI blocks continuously and even seems to go in fast motion compared to your own movement. 

There are plenty more fighting games that belong on this list, but these are the games that were readily available here on Planet Virtua. Each one of them has their shortcomings that pretty much ruin them, but that doesn't mean they're without merit. Some of them were just underdeveloped, while some of them just didn't have much of a gimmick to keep it interesting. There are still some great fun to be had from these titles, especially Sonic the Fighters. They can just be mindless fighting fun, or they can be fun to laugh and poke fun at. As bad as they are, we can still play them and have a good time. Virtua Soft Spot.

Grand Theft Auto 3 - Now in Vanilla Flavor!

 

There is no denying the impact that San Andreas and Vice City have had on sandbox games throughout the ages. However, you cannot have those two without the original game. Grand Theft Auto 3 is obviously not the first in the series, but what was a 2D overhead game turned into a 3rd Person free roaming game where you go on missions in order to help take over the city for the mafia. This game opened up an entirely new world, literally, for gamers. GTA3 became the Doom of sandbox games with its very large, detailed open world gaming. While it didn't have all of the shops or houses interior, there is still a lot to do all around the starting city. 

As you progress through this game, going through harder and more detailed missions, you'll start to open the world up more and more. If you commit crimes like stealing cars, killing people or causing mayhem too much, you will start to grow more visible to the authorities. In the beginning of the game, you aren't able to fill up your wanted level all the way, but once you go through the game, you'll start attracting the attention of the armed forces. The more authority you attract, the bigger their vehicles get. They'll go from squad cars all the way up to armored vehicles and helicopters. 

All of this adds to the difficulty of the game, which can have some very complicated and difficult timed missions. There are also some extra missions you can do when you steal a taxi or a police squad car. There is even a van in the middle of the city that you can get into and start controlling remote little trucks armed with bombs. 

Some of the best things about this game aren't even involved with the gameplay itself. Once you get into a vehicle with a radio, you can either listen to rocking tunes, which can be customized with your music in your PC, or you can listen to the talk radio. The talk radio is some of the funniest, most nonsensical sketch comedy there is. Whether it be the interviews or the commercials that satire American culture in some very crude ways. These are just some of the engrossing elements of this game that get you involved in the game. 

Then, there are the cheats and the mayhem you can cause throughout the city. If you don't care whether you get arrested or die, as you wake up outside the hospital or police station without your weapons. This means you can use the weapon cheat to get as many guns as you want and just start shooting people and cars. You can steal cars and run them into people, run them into other cars for nice big explosions. This also goes for the grenades, rocket launcher and the molotov cocktails. Some people just play this game to see how long they can survive against the police and the authorities while you destroy as much as you can. It's one of the original games where this was possible. The cheats just add a nice little replay element to the game and allow you to have fun with the world you're in. Anyone who has played these games know these joys. 

While the later iterations and the copycat games are objectively better with the Saints Row Series and later installments of GTA itself, this game still has plenty of charm to love. It is hours of fun gameplay as well as a sandbox world that never stops spawning new NPC's that speak nasty lines and attack you for no reason. This is the first installment of a brand new world that only got more beautiful as time went on and it's fun to go back to see where it all began. It can be glitchy and crude, but it's carefree fun for anyone wanting to take their anger out on some randos. Just don't go into the water, that's our drinking water.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (PS2) - Professor Imps Attack!

 Everyone can probably agree that the first Harry Potter novel was more of a trial and error novel where JK Rowling was trying to find her footing in the genre and the world she was building. The story and the lore she was building was in its infancy and it took a few more novels to really grow what she wanted from the series itself. This game is a release on the PS2, given much better graphics and more fluid mechanics in comparison to its Playstation 1 counterpart. The first iteration of the Philosopher's stone (which it is properly titled) was more of a puzzle platformer and that's a lot of what we got here, but it has more development behind it. 

Keep this in mind, because there are still some rough areas in this game where there should have been a bit more thought. The mechanics have a good amount of thought when it comes to figuring out and exploring the world and the puzzles. When you play through the levels, you can look in different areas around where you're supposed to be puzzling to find extra items and even some collectibles. Instead of moving a huge cube into its place for the puzzle right away, you can push it to a shorter wall in order to jump on top of that wall to get some health power ups or even some chocolate frog cards.

The collectibles are probably the best part of this while also being one of the more annoying aspects. Yes, it's nice to have the chocolate frog cards, but do we really need to go straight into their history and/or text as soon as we collect them? The Berttie Bot's Beans are fun to collect as well, but do we need to know every single flavor your pick up as well as your reaction to said flavors? You pick them up and Harry will tell you what he thinks of them right away individually and there really aren't that many flavors to choose from. They're not only collectibles, but they're also the currency for which you pay for dung bombs and other useful items. 

This iteration of the game has its good points, like when you cast spells on imps in order to trap them in cages while also figuring out puzzles. However, the problem it has is with the extra mechanics that it adds to the game. The stealth in this game are rough to say the least. When you have to get around Percy Weasley to get to the Weasley item shop in a secret passage through the Gryffindor Dorms. Not that they could have done it in their own dorms, they had to do it in the Prefect Dorms! Whatever sense that makes is not important, I guess, but getting through this stealth section is not a matter of skill, it's a matter of luck because Percy will go anywhere and everywhere in this place and it's so easy for him to catch you. 

One part of the game that should have been better explained was the section where you catch Draco Malfoy on his broomstick. You're supposed to cut corners and catch him, and if you didn't know this beforehand, the game will not tell you anything. You can just keep chasing him and chasing him and chasing him and you'll seem like you're getting closer just like this but you never do. You have to maneuver around him as much as possible in order to catch him off guard. This is monotonous to say the least, because the game WILL NOT progress until you do and it's just a matter of figuring it out yourself. Once you figure out the mechanic, it's really not hard and you can ace it in no time, but the game really should be telling you these details. 

The levels have the problem of being too open and the game has a horrible habit of not telling you a single thing to do. The stage where you're supposed to find the potion ingredients in Hagrid's Hut leaves you to figure out everything for yourself. There's some things that you can figure out on your own, but really not a whole lot. Figuring out where to go and how to collect the plants is left up to luck because you just need to know how to approach everything and the luck of having to dodge the gnomes that gain in number the longer you're there. These sections can be especially long and boring while you're sitting there trying to determine where to go and what plants you need to collect.

The glitches are also on full display here. You can do parts of the Hagrid's Hut level by simply climbing one of the roots and getting behind the waterfall without the platforms and having no need to activate the gargoyle behind the bars. I also had a part of one level where I searched one of the boxes, but nothing happened. I got stuck in the box and was forced to load my last save. These glitches aren't horrible and they're not especially bad, but there are just so many time wasting elements in this game. The game sometimes doesn't outright tell you when you finish a mission and so you're going around the level to try and find anything else you can do until you figure out that you can check your book and it will tell you there.

The openness in this game is a strength as well as its most glaring weakness. Sometimes, it is alright to tell us where to go or tell us when a mission is done. On the other hand, though, before you do anything in your actual missions, you can search Hogwarts to get more beans and pumpkin pasties. The more health items you get while you're at full health, the more health meters you get. It's fun to explore Hogwarts, but it's not so fun when you don't know which doors to go through and searching for ways to go can become stale and overly time consuming. 

Overall, the game is a mixed bag, but it's a decent Harry Potter game. Like Berttie Bott's beans, there are good and bad elements to it and honestly, exploring the school can be a little more fun than simply going through the story mode itself. The graphics and gameplay are far better than the original PS1 iteration of Philosopher's Stone, but it also has a few elements that deserve a bit more explanation. It's a title worth checking out if you're a fan, but remember not to spend too much money on this. Save your Virtua Galleons.  

Christmas on Planet Virtua 2024!

 Here on Planet Virtua, we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve! Strange, yeah I know, but who cares! Come have egg nog! We're not going to invade you! While we sit here and eat our cookies, we like to think about the good old Christmas mornings of old. Some of the old systems showed up in boxes and we all remember that we couldn't get the boxes open fast enough. 

Sadly, it seems that those days are from the times of old. More and more, we're seeing video games on digital systems with no disc. It's a good thing that Stadia went nowhere, but that's not saying it wouldn't have worked. The longer we stick with physical media, the better. Is there a good side to owning digital? Of course, but who wants to wake up and open your Playstation store, find new games in your library only to need to download them, install them and patch them over the next three hours? 

Classic gaming is the way to go when you give new media to loved ones. Give them something they can pop in and play, or you'll just be deleting games from your storage to make someone happy. Santa is there to deliver the presents, he can't just sit there and pick which games you don't want to play, making way for 20 gigabytes a pop. 

The solution? Hit the game stores! Used game stores have consoles of old and they can be some of the most engrossing titles. You don't need to spend much more than a 100 USD to have a Merry Christmas or whatever other holiday you celebrate. If you have people you want to entertain, take some of these into consideration.

Nintendo 64

While these better known titles can be rather expensive, nothing can be said about the hours upon hours of family entertainment that it is clearly capable. The cartridges it has in its library are sturdy and long lasting. You will be hard pressed to not find some great 2-player game or two. Even if you can't get 007 GoldenEye, the chances are you can find Mario Kart 64 for at least a decent price. Quake is a multiplayer capable port for this and you can have mindless fits of glee killing each other in arena combat. 

If you wish to do cooperative, there is plenty of that here as well! Gauntlet Legends will allow you to work together to cut through rows upon rows of orcs sksletons and goblins. The N64 is perfect to just pull out and play whether you want to play with someone else or if you want to play by yourself and/or with someone as a spectator. 

Sega Genesis

That's right, we're going Sonic 2 and 3 for some of the greatest in 2-player goodness. Whether you want Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter 2, this is your baby. Blast Processing may not be an actual thing, but it sounded cool and honestly became something of a fond memory in early gaming memes. 

For a little extra co-op, look toward the Adventures of Batman and Robin (not the movie of the same period, mind you) along with Toejam and Earl! Some of the greatest 2D titles can be seen on the Sega Genesis, even if it doesn't seem to get as much praise as the SNES. Streets of Rage 2 and Contra Hardcore are two hidden gems that seem to go overlooked a lot on the Genesis but you put any of these games into your machine and you're bound to find one that you'll quite possibly love. 

Playstation 2

This system was made especially with families in mind. While you may not consider it an old school system, it still doesn't require patching. Even the PS3 is guilty of patching and updating games before you play them, and then it's not nearly as bad as the ones we have now. The Playstation 2 came at the time right before multiplayer went primarily online. There are still so many games with local multiplayer like the legendary title, Twisted Metal Black. 

To say destroying your loved one's vehicles with missiles and miniguns is satisfying would be such an enormous understatement. You completely destroy them in huge gales of smoke and fire and it is glorious! 

Baldur's Gate II: Dark Alliance is 100% co-op friendly. In fact, the game is easier with two people with the puzzles you need to solve. With one as a caster and another as a warrior, you can beat down your enemies with no problems and have a ton of fun while doing it. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is an amazing example of technology that is scarce even today. With such an enormous world to explore, having two people in one game to do it is something of a marvel in gaming in general. 

There's a ton of local multiplayer options in the early to mid-2000's, and even into the PS3 era. Here at Planet Virtua, we're all about the physical media you can pop and play with a loved one. Christmas morning, don't forget the money-saving presents that can bring a family together. Even if it's a passing fancy, it gives them something that they can come back to. Just a few titles in your library like this and maybe a few for some self therapy with some good story. 

Virtua Fighter Series - Punch, Kick, Repeat!

 

Virtua Fighter is one of the flagship franchises for the Sega Saturn. It is one of the most instantly recognizable games on the system and it is an exemplary fighting game. No matter what generation after the fifth generation of consoles, this series has had an impact on it. VF had somewhat humble beginnings, but has never sagged in its portrayal of a genre that it helped invent. It was the first 3D fighting game to hit the arcades and it set the standard.

What it lacks in story, as it doesn’t have a great one, it makes up for it in pure fighting mechanics. Each of the characters are distinct from one another and each of them boasts a different type of technique. With every entry in the series, it only grew in quality and number of characters. No matter what kind of character you fight with, there is someone for you here.

We’re going to be taking a look at the main titles of this series. All of them bring something new to the table and all of them are up to par. It competes with the strongest franchises. Although it didn’t keep the popularity up the whole way through, it still kept its dignity in tact with every entry to the series. Starting with Virtua Fighter in the arcades, the franchise took off like an eagle!

                                                                                Virtua Fighter

                                                    

With some blocky, jagged graphics, the first installment of the series was crude, but that didn’t matter. While the graphics didn’t age well at all, the game mechanics aged like a fine wine. We’re introduced to characters who will be following us for more and more generations than we could have known at the time.

With great characters like Pai-chan, Akira and Jeffry, you have quite the array of different personalities and styles to play with. There really isn’t much of a story behind this game, but honestly, it doesn’t need a complex narrative behind it. Fighting games can be made great with a story behind it, but in this case, it worked just fine without one. For the time, the graphics and the fighting mechanics were at a great high.

3D games in general were a great rarity when Virtua Fighter was released. The backgrounds are simple but effective in their portrayal of the setting. A cityscape looks like a whole cluster of fireflies standing still and the beach looks like a small patch of sand with a never ending body of water on the outskirts. Still, it looks just strange enough to work.

Virtua Fighter doesn’t win a great deal of points for graphics, but its controls and its atmosphere of retro fighting makes it a staple for any Saturn collection! Not to mention, it was a perfect opener for a fantastic encore!

                                                                                Virtua Fighter 2                                                       

Many consider this the best in the series, and they are not wrong. As well upgraded as the future sequels were, Virtua Fighter 2 encompasses everything we love about the original series. The graphics were upgraded to a ridiculous extent. The console version stacked up well against the arcade edition, as it only featured minimal differences from the original version. It even gave the characters new moves and brand new backgrounds for fighting arenas.

Lion and Shun are brought into the fray and who could say no to a drunken fighter and the mantis style? They fit in perfectly with the cast and bring about their own extended mechanics. Shun, especially, brought a new weird batch of fighting moves as the more you make him drink, the more fighting moves he can perform with different button combinations.

All of the character models look so much better and the frame rate smoothed so much more this time around. If you were looking for a fighting game to challenge yourself by learning its ins and outs, this is your game. It has been used for competitive fighting many times and still holds true greatness to this day.

                                                                        Fighters Megamix

                                            

A crossover that brought the likes of Fighting Vipers into the arena alongside Virtua Fighters. Does it work? Yes, but there are some issues here and there. First off, though, the greatest thing about this whole game is the roster of characters and the settings for each wondrous level. Bringing all of these characters together and giving you the opportunity to play with both regular player characters and boss fighters was a stroke of 90’s action awesomeness!

Now, as for the shortcomings, unfortunately there is a bit of a balance issue when you take certain characters into consideration. Fighting Vipers featured some of the more fast paced moves along with armor protecting its characters, so they had something of an unfair advantage some of the time. Beyond that, there is also a few cage matches where the frame rate tanks at a ridiculous rate.

Beyond those problems, though, the graphics look amazing and the roster even bears some characters you never would expect to be in a fighting game, like a bear. Unlocking all of these characters are half of the fun and enjoying the wondrous images of both the Virtua Fighter and Fighting Viper backgrounds is a sight to behold.

Beating the game isn’t much of a challenge as all it takes is choosing some of the less scrupulous fighters with the bigger, easier combos to perform. This is okay for unlocking characters and beating the computer, but not so great when you’re fighting your friends or siblings. Be sure to keep it fair.

                                                                       Virtua Fighter Kids                                                        

Something that probably should have never happened, but we’re glad that it did! Featuring the roster from Virtua Fighter 2 in kid form, this strange title became something of a lauded title in the series. Given its strange game content and the overall outlandish execution, its kind of a wonder as to how it all worked so well. The game mechanics have changed quite a bit, but still retained its greatness in controls and fighting styles all around.

The thing about this title is that it is, in fact, aimed at children and even gives them the option to choose a more kid friendly difficulty. It also features brighter colors and a much more upbeat atmosphere. Somehow, this mixed in with the fighting mechanics just fine. Pay no attention to the fact that the guys with facial hair still retain these as a kid. The fact that Shun is an oldman kid is hilarious.

One thing worth noting about this title is that both Sarah Bryant and Akira Yuki appear in their kid forms in Fighters Megamix as some of the later unlockable characters. Beyond this, sadly, there were no sequels made for the Kids title. It’s sad, but then again, it’s not surprising as this seemed more like an experimental game. If you want to try and gets kids into Sega Saturn fighting games, then look no further!

                                                                    Virtua Fighter Remix

                                     

                    

A revamping of the original title in the series, Remix came and improved pretty much all of the graphics of Virtua Fighter. To be honest, it looks better, but there is just something missing from it. It lacks the atmosphere of the original titles and the polished graphics just don’t feel like they belong. Many would find it to be preferable over the blocky polygons you see in VF1 but honestly, if that sort of thing bothers you, then you’re better off just going with Virtua Fighter 2 rather than this.

This is more subjective than anything because newcomers will probably find this version far superior. It’s definitely worth a try, without question. However, those who look past graphics and frame rates and enjoy the old retro style may not find this favorable. If you have a chance to try and see for yourself, do so, please.

                                                                           Virtua Fighter 3tb

                             

 Now moving onto the Sega Dreamcast system! Virtua Fighter graduates to a new set of 32 bit graphics with this take on the Virtua Fighter series. Virtua Fighter 3 came out on the arcades but hit the Dreamcast with the “tb” at the end (standing for Team Battle). The graphics overall look remarkable, certain details aside, and the fighting mechanics are still here for your fighting pleasure.

This is probably the worst title in the franchise, but that’s not saying a whole lot because it’s still fantastic. The real problem it has is in the team battle aspect itself. This mechanic makes fights take far longer and the length makes them out stay their welcome just a little bit. The graphics, while improved, also start hitting the uncanny valley when it comes to seeing the people’s faces. Their eyes and facial features just look a little off and seemed like the improvement only made them worse.

Still, the fighting arenas never looked better and fighting in them is a lot of fun. The level of detail can be seen with such clarity and you get to meet your old favorite characters all over again while also being introduced to more. While the new characters don’t really have the same kind of staying power or charm, they also don’t get in the way of anything.

Honestly, this is not the title you should use to get people into VF, but it also won’t scare them away. The team battle aspect can be a lot of fun if you have the patience and the time to work it to your liking. The characters have looked better, though, and it’s a little sad that this is the only title that made it to the Sega Dreamcast, as Virtua Fighter 4 was never ported to it. In fact, this is the last Virtua Fighter game to be on a Sega system. It’s sad, but let’s move on.

                                                                         Virtua Fighter 4

                                     

                  

After a bit of a dip in quality with the third installment, hopes weren’t exactly high for this title. Boy, was I surprised to find that this game made improvements across the board and even gave it even more of a fun factor. This is how you truly improve upon greatness. The introduction to the PS2 honestly could not have gone better for Virtua Fighter. It not only kept its underlying greatness, but the story mode is actually a whole lot of fun!

You play as one character and improve that character to your liking as you fight in arcades around the city in order to take them all over! The more arcades you take as yours, the more your character improves overall. It makes you want to keep fighting and improving your character to take over more regions of the city where there are bigger and more important arcades.

To say this was a graphics improvement would be an understatement. While the new characters still lack in staying power, it really doesn’t matter. The character designs are still stylish and their overall portrayal has lost none of its potency. This was a surprise and a half! Virtua Fighter 4 is a hit! How it could possibly have been the only title the series had on PS2 is a mystery, but it carried on an amazing legacy and ushered in even a fifth title.

                                                                                 Virtua Fighter 5                              

                     

The fifth and final title of the main game series. VF5 was released on the PS3 and Xbox 360 and wowed audiences and critics alike! The graphics are sublime and it never stumbled on its fighting mechanics, as the series never would. You can still see your old favorites along with a few new, rather noticeable additions to the line up.

How is it that this was the last title, though? Was there a bit of franchise fatigue or did AM2 simply think that they should end the series on a high note? This is definitely a high note and it is worth buying right now because you can get it remarkably cheap. It holds the same mechanics as VF4 and the frame junkies will get their fix because it runs as smooth as butter cream. It’s just such a shame that the series needed to end so unceremoniously. They could at least release a Virtua Fighter collection or something to commemorate such an amazing series as this.

Virtua Fighter had its highs and its small mediocrity, but it never dipped below its own standards. It still held true to its mechanics and every single one of the game developers should be proud of how it all turned out. Not only is it a staple for Sega enthusiasts but Fighting Game junkies will get their money’s worth in many ways with any of these titles on this list. If you are a fan of this genre, then you are neglecting a fantastic bunch of games in skipping out on this franchise. Do yourself a favor and get as many of these games as you can because this is a legacy that needs to endure and Sega needs to show it some respect. There are titles that I missed (namely the Sega Genesis 2D fighter) in this list, but these are the titles that I have played and loved in doing so. Give it a go, just don’t be like Shun and over indulge. He should drink more water and so should you.

Virtua Neptune's Top Dragon Ball Z Games - Virtuamehameha!

 In light of the oncoming of Sensei Toriyama to the far reaches of the multiverse, it is the belief of this planet that it is far past time for us to take a look at one of the most iconic series in multimedia, Dragon Ball. This series has been around since just before the 90's and its impact on media has been Earth shattering! The Kamehameha is one of the most recognizable fighting moves and Son Goku was once Japan's Ambassador to the Olympics! Akira Toriyama had no idea how influencial his series became, spawning TV Shows, movies, comic books outside of DBZ, Lunchboxes, backpacks, pencil boxes, frisbees, dolls, toys, cups, diapers, yeah Dragon Ball Z had about as much impact as Disney when it was in its hayday. 

So, here we are with some games! DBZ has spawned anything from fighting games to roleplaying games and they have been quite awesome and quite dreadful, as one could imagine. So, where do we start? It's simple! We get into the greatest of the greats and we go from there! If you want a good bunch of games, being on the lookout for those stars on those balls, then you have come to the right place. Remember to give your energy to the Spirit Bomb as we show you the best of the best. 

Dragon Ball Z Bodokai 3

Among the 3D Fighters, this is the king! Budokai 3 takes everything that was great about 1, makes it better, and then fixes everything that was wrong with Budokai 2. Yes, the second one was a bit of a dud, though not a total loss. Then 3 came along and made them both irrelevent. It makes all of the moves look right, it gives the characters better voice actors and it has quite the engrossing story mode. This is the game you want to pick up and play with your friends who also have tried to concentrate energy into their hands.

Not only does the story mode stand out, but the roster features characters and many great versions of characters throughout all of Dragon Ball, Z and even GT, which was the latest iteration at the time. Anywhere from Super Saiyan 4 to Cyber Freeza, all of it is here. The problem is that you need to unlock all of it and you need to be on your game, so to speak. This game isn't exactly hard, but there are some rather frustrating elements to the AI opponents. Either way, if you are wanting a 3D fighter with all of the Z packed in, this is your baby.

Dragon Ball Z Super Saiya Densetsu

Perhaps one of the greatest games never released in the US, as far as DBZ is concerned. This is a chance for you to determine who is the most powerful on your team and how the story goes. The thing about this game is that it is amazing, but it also has a few kinks here and there. This is a roleplaying game where you start from the Raditz Saga and go on. You obviously need to play it like the series, but you don't need to play every element like that. You could keep playing Tenshinhan and make him out to be a beast of a character, super charge him and have him survive the Saiyan Battle to go to Namek afterward. 

The game is very simple, employing multicolored Saibamen and Freeza Soldiers to attack you in various sagas of Dragon Ball Z. The overall game is very, very grindy, though. If you want to stand a chance against Nappa and Vegeta, you will need to travel around and fight Saibamen of various shades. The most powerful ones will be the 6 green ones you fight in when Nappa arrives. It is up to you to make sure all of your guys get their training, but you can also grind one of them more and more. This will shave hours off the clock and if grinding is not your thing, then you should probably skip this entirely. It alleviates some of this grind with Goku, though, when he trains on King Kai's planet and in the gravity machine on the way to Namek. You have to gain power and raise the dynamics of training, but if you try too much too fast, you will die. This does balance the time scale on level progression and allows him to take on Vegeta and Freeza in their respective sagas.

This is the Super Famicom at its finest in graphics and just overall fun mechanics. You get to do special energy moves from everyone and it is a lot of fun to see who kills the villains with what special moves, as they all are quite tense and awesome. These villains are no joke either. You need to grind to an extent to defeat them or you will be spanked royally. The level progression is rather slow, the encounters can get frustrating in frequency and the music is charming and lovely but it can also begin to grate on the ears after the 6th or 7th hour. This game is not without its flaws but it comes with high recommendations! 

Dragon Ball Xenoverse

Finally, the fans are given an official way to create their own Dragon Ball characters. It only took a few decades. Xenoverse is a great way to bash out your frustrations on whatever character you hate the most, as there are many in the rosters. While microtransactions are frowned upon, they are available and you can get some of the GT and Super characters from spending a bit more. The story is simple, you're time traveling to different and popular points in the series in order to stop people from tampering with them. Someone is trying to change time so that the villains win. You need to fight along side them and correct this. 

Very good premise in the ways of giving the fans what they want. They want their character to be in the fight and they want to contribute to the win. This is pulled off with a good amount of style and allows your character to customize their moves along with who teaches them. You can take on many teachers and keep building your character's power and fashion sense as you buy them items and clothes. 

Xenoverse is just one of those games you don't need the internet for, but it's there if you want it. There are plenty of exercises and "simulation fights" for your character to grind and win. Not all of the fights are very good, and some of them are just downright impossible since one of the Cell Jrs is a glitch in one of the maps, thus rendering it incompleteable. Whether this glitch was ever fixed, I don't know. Either way, this game is fantastic, and so is its sequel. Xenoverse 1 and 2 differ a good bit in mechanics but either one are just a personalized good time.

Dragon Ball Budokai Tenkaichi 3

While this may be confused with the Budokai series, it is a bit different. The roster on this monster is massive! You can see ridiculous amounts of characters and fighters and that is half of the entertainment value. They did a great job making it fun to unlock all of these wondrous features in this game. The fighting mechanics are quite different from your normal affair. It does the split screen a lot in order to make it easier to do ki blast moves and special techniques. 

One small problem with this title is the number of mechanics. The Rush Ki Wave and Burst Dash and everything around tend to interrupt the fighting a tiny bit more than should be needed. The stages are also quite enormous and numerous. You have so much space to fight in and that can lead to some awesome power struggles. As you keep up your ki, you fight with your fists and then back to the blasting! The mechanics are satisfying and the characters are so numerous that the replayability is built right in.

Dragon Ball Z Hyper Dimension

More of a relic from a different era, but still an all around fun title to play. With a roster featuring Buu, Vegetto, Cell and Majin Vegeta, you'll find at least one of your favorites. The graphics are a little outlandish, but very charming and unique. Once you look at the graphics, you immediately know which game you're looking at, even if you don't know the name. The fighting is simple and the controls are tight enough to keep the punches coming. 

This is one of those nostalgic games that has just existed seemingly since the very beginning. Even if it is a late entry in the Super Nintendo, it is one of those games that OG Dragon Ball fans relish in. It also supplied many Gifs for websites back in the day when they were edited into transparent images for layouts. It is quite the novelty and is one off many 2D DBZ fighters.

Dragon Ball Fighter Z

Among the best, in terms of modern DBZ Fighters. While the story may be a bit confused with the androids, the graphics, controls and mechanics are very, very tight! Fighting through the story mode or just flat out fighting your friends, this is the one you want to compete with. While the roster is nothing special, and it is, once again, marred by microtransations, there is a good number of characters along with their Super Saiyan Blue counterpart. 

There is a lot to love with this version, as it's very easy to find your chosen characters along with their techniques. There are a good number of favorites on display along with some beautiful special techniques. The internet interface is also a nice touch as you can choose so many characters for your icon. Mine has always been Jeice from the Ginyu Force in red armor. It can be that specific and it is a very charming mechanic. Fighter Z is one of those fighters that just blew so many others out of the water and it will be difficult to top! 

Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z were amazing. None of the other series will ever top them and their legacy that has influenced so many other animes and media. Keeping to the core of Dragon Ball has always been the way to go but it is good to invite everything you love about the series. If you have any suggestions for games, leave them in the comments below. Then strap yourselves in and get ready to be sent to the NEXT DIMENSION! Virtua Crusher Blast!!!