Sega's 3D Classics: making old games stand out

by JC Fletcher

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I never really thought much about Space Harrier. I like vintage Sega just fine, I just never spent much time with that particular game for whatever reason. Then I read this interview with M2, who ported it and the rest of the Sega 3D Classics line to 3DS, and I resolved to buy 3D Space Harrier as soon as it was released.

M2's obsessive love of Space Harrier, evident in the overwhelming, comical level of detail applied to the port, was the most ringing endorsement possible. The care put into the port made me care more about the game, showing the persuasive power of a truly bespoke adaptation. And by giving me cause to reevaluate Space Harrier, Sega's 3D Classics line allowed me to see just how well it holds up. 

Space Harrier is vibrant in that classic Sega arcade way. Your character moves around the screen at insane speeds, while rocks, fireballs, moai heads, and serpentine dragons fly straight at him (and at you). The way enemies enter the screen in dance-like patterns suggests a classic shooter like Galaxian or Galaga, but with the speed turned way up and the perspective shifted, lending it the intensity of a modern shmup. Bright colors and fun, quirky text ("Many more battle scenes will soon be available!" the game says when you die) add to the idiosyncratic appeal.

M2's presentation takes a game that could only have been made by 1980s Sega and makes it feel modern in all the best ways. There's nothing retro about a 60FPS shooter on a handheld, especially one that displays in 3D. Optional settings go even further to make the 3DS version unique, with always-on (yet totally optional) touch controls, screen size settings to emulate arcade monitors or enable more modern widescreen, and even a mode that tilts the whole display to simulate the motion of a motorized arcade machine ... complete with motor and button noises recorded from a real Space Harrier cabinet.

Read full article :Joystiq

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Total War: Rome 2 review: The condiments of war

I once watched a reenactment of the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge – a Revolutionary War battle in Wilmington, NC – and one of the colonist militia used ketchup packets to simulate fatal blood loss. Upon recoiling from the impact of the invisible half-inch musket ball, he fell to the ground, reached into the pocket of his homespun colonial breeches, clenched his fist, and pulled out a handful of Heinz to smear on the open wound. His body was not buried; the corpse slid into his Corolla and went back to Wendy's to restock.



There's something inherently silly about historical fiction that the Total War series will never shake, though Total War: Rome 2, the eighth in the series, comes as close as any reenactment can to escaping it. A passion for historic detail is more convincing than any graphical leap or streamlined troop management system could be, and the staggering obsession over political intrigue in 280 B.C. is a fascinating study in itself. And, as the first Total War game to support thousands of independently animated hoplites, the technical feat is (usually) a marvel too. Developer Creative Assembly put me in charge – now Caesar's dead and there's ketchup everywhere.

Total War: Rome 2 (9/2/2013)

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For those unfamiliar with Total War, the campaign allows players to assume turn-based sovereignty of a nation in an elaborate, complex game of computerized Risk. Players manage cities and provinces down to the siege factories, tax rates, diplomatic visits and even the cows while trying to conquer the ancient Near East with military might. Individual battles can be automatically resolved using behind-the-scenes math, or they can be played out on the battlefield, giving players direct control of troop maneuvers. Both overworld and in-battle play require thoughtful tactical decisions, and utilize terrain, weather, and faithfully recreated historic cities to distinguish the nature of each encounter.

Outside of a two-to-three hour prologue and the well-staged Historic Battles, the allure ofTotal War: Rome 2 is dependent on its mechanical, tactical intrigue, particularly during campaigns. The approach attempts to blend the narrow, focused storytelling from the original Rome: Total War and Napoleon: Total War with the encompassing perspective ofEmpire: Total War. The effect is similar to 2011's Total War: Shogun 2 in that it succeeds in painting a believable, interconnected picture of the Aegean nations during Rome's height of influence.

Even better, the varied unit types and abilities faithfully represent military tactics from the time period (I'm willing to believe) and establish an interwoven system of skirmish statistics. Veteran players will find on higher difficulties or competitive online play that their orders must be both premeditated and improvisatory for their armies to endure. For example, a cleverly-positioned formation of spear nobles hidden by trees or terrain can mean the end of a preemptive camel archer assault, and likewise the tactical advantage of elevation or a bottleneck can keep a city from subjugation. Players are quickly funneled into a necessity for sound combinations of range, tank, and support units and the wit to adapt their use to an evolving battlefield. The narrative created by clever AI states or other players tells more nuanced tales than any scripted event could. Rome 2 leans heavily on these emergent stories, and is better for it.

Total War: Rome 2's expertly crafted UI elements deliver critical information in period style without distracting from the action on the field. The game has to convey an unbelievable amount of data on demand, which it does mostly through scroll-over pop-ups that expand to reveal detailed stats on towns and units. Troops are represented by Greco-Roman style pottery reliefs in a collapsible panel, and important events in the campaign or scripted battles get their own cinematics. On the world map and in-battle I never felt encumbered by unnecessary menus or notifications like in past Total War entries. The clutter is gone, replaced by audio cues and convenient scroll-over windows, which makes the gargantuan task of securing an empire that much less daunting.

It's become table-stakes for the Total War series to deliver an astounding soundscape supported by cascading orchestrated scores for each region. Total War: Rome 2 sits at the head of that table by replicating the chaotic, terrifying echo of Iron Age combat across three continents and employing a mix of sweeping Mid-East dirges and European standards. I may never understand why Roman characters are given British accents in any media, but the voice work is as faultless as the score.

Naval battles are the only real step back in Total War: Rome 2. Where Napoleon: Total Warused a precision targeting system to allow ships to aim cannons and fire different kinds of shot, Rome 2 substitutes a few ballistic galleons, some archers, and ramming techniques to get the job done. To be fair, naval warfare was far less advanced in 250 B.C. than in the late 18th century, so the shift can be justified by context, and land combat is still nuanced enough to spend time on the field instead of just the world map. On the world map, generals can also move seamlessly between land and water, which will cut down the number of battles won by warship alone.

Given the incredible scope and precision Creative Assembly packed into Total War: Rome 2, I wasn't surprised to see isolated technical shortcomings, particularly when the game is at its most ambitious. (For reference, the PC I used for this review was well above therecommended specifications.) When I started a three-faction multiplayer skirmish with AI opponents, the convergence of the three forces caused the game to stutter to the point of becoming unplayable. Other instances of dropping frame rates or stuttering also occurred intermittently during campaign battles, particularly when using the cinematic view, or a view close to the action. Some multiplayer sessions suffered from similar issues, which could usually be fixed by dialing down the detail level in settings.

When the models do render quickly, it's a pleasure to see the ancient world alive and in action, recreated with such scope and care. Without even the addition of the three Greek States DLC factions (Athens, Epirus, and Sparta), players can take command of nine different regencies, city-states, or kingdoms circa 300-200 B.C. (Rome, Carthage, Macedon, Iceni, Arverni, Suebi, Parthia, Egypt, and Pontus), which are grouped into four major civilization types (Roman, Barbarian, Hellenistic, and Eastern).

While Egypt may play similarly to Parthia because of their shared heritage, each faction boasts its own historical buffs, gods, and technologies that markedly change how the faction should be commanded. The Barbarian kingdoms, their research trees stunted by barbarism, can form alliances with the more erudite Hellenistic states to gain cultural stability, which in turn might incur disfavor from the Romans who everyone despises de facto. The Eastern states can recruit elephant riders (which is just as great as it sounds) but struggle with internal unrest because of their divisive social castes. Throw in 104 non-playable nations with distinct motives and the ancient Near East starts to wax like a snappy teen drama.

A quick glance at the in-game Encyclopaedia makes clear the conversion rate from historical fact to game mechanic. The Romans, for instance, invented the modern concept of an underground sewer system, which changed the course of humanity's sanitation and wellness developments forever. InRome 2, researching sewers translates to +3 public order. The Iceni's oral traditions laid the framework for the lore-crafting that would perpetuate the myths of King Arthur throughout the world. In game, a loremaster's hut nets +2 percent research rate.

The silliness of turning history into a tactical land grab is worth mentioning in order to point out that the Total War series, and much more Total War: Rome 2, won't appeal to everyone with its tedium exchange. My experience was marked by exciting discovery and challenging political maneuvers, but I was willing to work through the steep learning curve to uncover the rewarding, if Pyrrhic, victories beyond. Not everyone will want to learn that recruiting a Champion, upgrading his cunning, then deploying him to a recently conquered city will help to rout enemy Spies poisoning the water supply, or that building siege weapons requires a workshop, which can only be built after first researching two specific military tech tree nodes. Historically, the logical leap can be made, but only for the committed.

For these dedicated strategy connoisseurs and Roman history buffs, Creative Assembly has just about crafted the pinnacle work in the art of meaningful detail. Each Ptolemaic temple and Gallic brine distillery reaps some number value for the tactical player, which is in itself a notable benchmark. The trouble with meaningful detail, however, is its imposition to be noticed, a barrier that will likely fend off hordes of uninitiated would-be conquerors.

As Caesar's lilting British tongue desperately recalls his rule over the crumbling columns of a militant empire, I don't mind the ketchup oozing from his invisible wounds
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Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F review: Rhythm and hues

Remember Clippy, the virtual "assistant" that drove thousands of innocent cubicle drones to despair back in the late 90s? Imagine that instead of becoming a running joke and an omen of Microsoft's cultural obsolescence, Clippy instead became a multimedia icon with his own TV show, energy drink and video game series. That's what happened to Hatsune Miku, the bobble-headed mascot for an obscure voice synthesizer program who went on to become the world's first bona fide virtual pop idol. The future is here, ladies and gentlemen, and it's basically Clippy crossed with an autotune machine.

Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F may superficially resemble the pop music shovelware that haunts the bargain bin at your local Walmart, but there's a degree of artistry here that puts it above the usual Celebrity: The Game slop. That's not to say you'll like Project Diva F if you're not the proud owner of a pair of Miku-brand underpants. The virtual dollhouse segments will likely leave you bewildered, but there's a competent music game at the heart of Project Diva F that may keep even non-fans entertained.

Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F

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The core of Project Diva F is your usual rhythm game fare: You select a song (from a rough total of 40), a difficulty, a character to perform the song and then start hitting buttons in time with the music. Button prompts appear on the screen while secondary prompts glide towards them. Press the correct button when the two prompts intersect and voila, points and adulation. As you progress, the game mixes things up with notes that need to be held, or pressed in conjunction with a direction on the d-pad, and "star notes," which require a quick flick of an analogue stick in any direction (standing in for the touchscreen used in the Japan-only Vita version). Oddly enough, despite often being worth more points, star notes are easier to hit and have more forgiving timing than their regular counterparts. At the end of the song, assuming you made it through, you're given a performance rating and a suitable amount of Diva points, which serve as the game's currency.

The music videos that play in the background during the gameplay are rendered in full 3D and any changes made to your lineup are reflected in the video, right down to the costume and vanity items you select.

Where Project Diva F starts to deviate from the traditional music game model is also where it starts to get a bit wobbly. In most music games, the important information – like which key you're supposed to press – is presented up front, usually in a visually neutral part of the screen. Not so in Project Diva F, which litters prompts all over the screen and has secondary prompts flying in from all angles like it expects you have three eyes. When it works, it's great. Good patterns will draw your eye around the screen in a natural way, which feels more engaging than waiting for the prompts to hit a static line. I found myself getting into the "zone" far quicker in Project Diva F than I do in most music games.




The downside is that the difficulty isn't really determined by how complex the song is, but by how complex the developers made the prompt pattern. Playing sometimes seems more like a vision test than anything to do with rhythm. It's meant to be challenging, and it's joyously so, but failing to hit a simple four beat note because the game is deliberately obscuring what you're supposed to do is infuriating. This is made worse by the accompanying background videos. Like most pop videos, they're prone to flashing lights, fast-moving objects and quick cuts, which makes picking out individual prompts headache-inducing at times. You'll learn to filter out the visual noise, but drop a beat during an intense chorus and your chances of finding it again are slim.

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There are special patterns, denoted as "Technical Zones," that reward you with bonus points should you hit every note in the sequence, but these appear at the same point in every song and don't really affect the gameplay in any substantial way. You either get the points or you don't. Compared to, say, Guitar Hero's Star Power, which can be used strategically to either keep a song going or to boost your score during difficult sections, the Technical Zones feels rote and uninspired. Likewise, Chance Time, which sees you filling a meter to hit one special note at the end of the sequence, is similarly limited.

Problems with its pattern design aside, Project Diva F actually gets a lot right when it comes to difficulty. The game doesn't really start until hard mode, with both easy and normal difficulties serving as a long introduction to the mechanics. The jumps between difficulty levels can be jarring, but they can be bridged with clever use of optional challenges that alter the difficulty. You might not be ready to take on "Nyanyanyanyanyanyanya!" on expert, but you might just be able to get through it on hard with a quarter of your usual health. The challenges also function as wagers. They cost a small sum to activate, but they can vastly increase your earnings should you survive the song.

Once you're done with the included tracks, there's an editor that lets you create your own rhythm sequences. The editor is initially intimidating and the tutorial is too brief, but it's a powerful tool and I suspect it'll add a lot to the game's lifespan in the right hands. Unfortunately, the network system Sega has implemented isn't doing much to make finding good content easy. Each user can only upload a maximum of three tracks, meaning you'll have to scroll through a lot of "song deleted" prompts to get to the good stuff. It's possible to make sequences for your own MP3s, but anyone downloading those sequences will need to find the correctly named MP3 and download it to their PS3 from outside the game's menu.

The remainder of the Project Diva F is a virtual dollhouse where you visit Miku and the other entirely interchangeable characters in their rooms. It isn't quite as creepy as my description implies, but nor is it that exciting. There simply isn't much to do beyond looking at the characters. You can buy them extra costumes or accessories which carry into the music videos during the actual game – pro tip: aviators for everyone – but mostly you'll be spending vast quantities of Diva points on vanity items that do absolutely nothing. You can buy gifts, which unlock short cutscenes of the characters doing sickeningly cute things in sickeningly cute ways, or gadgets, which unlock things that are almost, but not quite, mini-games. One of the gadgets is an alarm clock that lets you watch Miku sleep. In real time. No, really.

"Communication mode," which lets you "touch characters to build a better bond with them," sounded like a one way trip to creeper-town, but even that turned out to be fairly dull. Spoiler: Miku likes having her head patted and dislikes having a finger driven into her eye socket. Those are your two options; head patting and eye poking. Pat her head enough times and you can play a game of Rock Paper Scissors. That's as close to exciting as it gets.

The rest of the content is similarly frivolous. You can watch music videos, including some for a few songs not included in the game. You can take photos of the characters in various costumes, complete with a hilariously stern message that appears when you try to adjust the camera to look up their skirts (never let it be said that I'm not thorough). If you're expecting something along the lines of the Idolm@ster series, you'll likely be disappointed.

Ultimately, the virtual idol segments of the game are just padding, there to drive you back to the main game in an endless cycle of make money/buy stuff. The quickly increasing price tags are a good motivator to move on to the harder difficulties, but putting your hard-earned money to use is an exercise in frustration as you navigate seemingly endless sub menus peppered with loading screens.

While the extra fluff might fall flat, the core game that drives Project Diva F is definitely decent, though it's certainly not the best music game on the market, especially if you're not a J-Pop fan.

As with any music game, your mileage is mostly going to come down to how fond you are of the game's soundtrack and, unsurprisingly, Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F has a very narrow musical focus. While the Miku program has been used to craft songs in many different genres, the song selection in Project Diva F tends toward the more diabetes-inducing end of the saccharine J-pop spectrum. If you like that sort of thing, or you're in the market for a substantial time sink with a high skill ceiling, Project Diva F is worth the effort it demands. For everyone else, there are more innovative and more varied music games out there. Looking only at its core mechanics, Project Diva F is about as basic as a music game can get. It's not that it makes any huge missteps; more that it simply fails to do anything particularly interesting in a very well-trodden genre.

Via joystiq

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