This is getting great reviews, and looked really interesting.
But do we even care about shit on the PSP anymore?
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This is getting great reviews, and looked really interesting.
But do we even care about shit on the PSP anymore?
The PSP has had a pretty good year, actually. I've been using mine a lot and look forward to Every Extend Extra when it finally wanders into stores in the next few days.
James
Agreed, PSP is getting some great games. Killzone is really good, EEE looks to be unique & fun. Looking forward to Lumines as well and even Medal of Honor plays fantastic.
I only got to play a bit of Killzone and had a surprisingly good time. The visuals were annoyingly monochrome, but everything else was just great.
LocoRoco has become my background game lately, and I've got all the MuiMui with about a third of the levels having all 20 LocoRoco collected. I wasn't planning on doing a perfect LocoRoco run, it's just kind of happening. I'm thinking Every Extend Extra might put that on hold for a while, though. It doesn't help that Elite Beat Agents is next week as well, though.
James
This is an awesome game.
Gotta give it the obligatory "better than Lumines".
Played the 2 level PC version, and this is pretty much a must-buy game.
From what I've read on other forums, Every Extend Extra has been released in the US, but it seems a lot of stores don't have it yet. It would be a shame to see retailers pass on carrying this game, while they stock their shelves with more movie or cartoon licensed filler junk.
The original Every Extend on the PC is excellent. It's a pure arcade-style game of skill that is simple and short, but lots of fun to replay again and again to see if you can top your best score. EEE looks like it'll have more content, and will probably be a great "short burst" game to carry around on a portable system.
It's on my Que. If I like it, I may keep it.
It was released to hit on Friday, but most Gamestop/EBs sent it cheap-o delivery. Therefore, it's probably out on Tuesday. I can kind of understand EEE, but doing the same thing to Lumines II is just kind of weird.
James
Blv. I've been attached to my PSP the last several months. It's gotten more play time than my DS and GBA combined.Quote:
Originally Posted by James
I wasn't a huge fan of Lumines, but got pretty into Meteos, so I'll check this one out.
James, are you doing the LR time trials as well?
One thing about this which has me excited EE fully supports 2P gamesharing, here is what the 2P mode is like from an old IGN preview:
And here are some detailed impressions of the import from a shmups member back in august:Quote:
Wireless multiplayer in Every Extend Extra plays really well at this point. You can play against one other person, in only one mode, but it's damn fun. The objective is simple: earn higher chains than your opponent. For every high level chain, you move a giant orb close to the second player. Once it gets into the middle of the screen, they're toast. It's possible to "hit" the orb back and forth for hours, depending on how you play.
Quote:
Originally Posted by angrycoder
Quote:
I was just able to 'rank up' into the 3rd bracket of levels. I guess they aren't new skins, just more difficult versions of the existing skins, disappointing. The higher brackets are very hard, there are more enemies and new patterns of enemies. Every set of enemies destroyed also leaves behind suicide bullets. However, the biggest challenge is trying to hit the long initial chains on the boss before time runs out.
When you get an A rank on a level, you move up to the next bracket of levels. From the way the level grid is laid out, it looks like it is possible to level down as well if you aren't able to maintain your rank. If you die and get a crap score, your rank is Dot Eater, funny nod to ikaruga. Although the dot eater rank in ikaruga was a challenge in and of itself, here its used as a badge of shame.
It seems like the key to scoring and getting the A rank is filling up on purple gems as quickly as possible. This makes everything go faster, allowing more enemies to flood the screen for greater chain possibilities. Its a nice risk verses reward system. Also, grab the yellow power ups whenever you can, they give you an extra 10 seconds. Kill all the large shooting enemies as well, they drop yellow gems when they die. I think when the timer clicks down to about 55 seconds, that is when the boss is triggered.
"Queue".Quote:
Originally Posted by Beefy Hits
Someone will keep correcting you until you get it right for once.
I'm guessing this is a 2.81 firmware game, ain't it?
The import version isn't, at the least. They might've changed it for this, but it's not like it's a text heavy game or anything.
$29.99 @ EB.
http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=190296
Agreed, getting a better score on Loco Roco adds a nice amount of challenge without being frustrating.Quote:
Originally Posted by James
I have a single tip for anyone who plays this game. It applied to Every Extend, and I assume it applies to Every Extend Extra. Forgive me if I'm wrong.
Those "Purple Gems" are called Quickens. After you get 6 Quickens, you don't get any more for the rest of that level.
You want Quickens.
Thus, the optimal strategy is to gather five Quickens, and then either:
a.) Blow up the Pink ships in a way so that the Quickens stay on screen longer. (Easier)
b.) Chain three Pink ships together and gather the Quickens, well, quickly (Harder/Luckier)
You can get a maximum of Eight, and getting at least Seven was actually the key to getting to the Secret Boss in Every Extends Heavy level.
Just thought I'd throw this tip out there....
Man, the boxart for this game is amazing. Some of the best I have ever seen. It's also the first game where the bilingual Canadian packaging doesn't piss me off. Some games here are shrinkwrapped with an extra insert overlapping on top of the normal US one. Unfortunately, this cover tends to be too large to fit inside the case or under the plastic outside the case (where the US insert is). However, EEE has a full outer cardboard package that fits over the entire UMD case. Think VCR-style packaging and you're on the right track. This is great. I hope more companies follow this packaging setup.
This game rules. I've been pirat^H^H^H^H^H testing it since the Japanese release. Very little has changed. All the Japanese text is gone. There's a new male voice that announces time extends and complete sessions. Boss explosions seem a little different. The rankings have been reworded. But the gameplay is exactly as it was before.
Incidentally, the key to getting high scores is getting 7 or 8 Quickens (as mentioned above) and getting every single time extend that comes your way. If you do, you can get stages to last for really long (up to about 10 minutes). More quickens + more time = more enemies and more chances to get huge chains.
This is a must-have PSP game. Go try the freeware original. If you like it, definitely get EEE.
By the way, it uses firmware 2.71, so people into "homebrew" don't have to worry about updating.
Here's some badass EEE wallpaper: http://www.qanyu.com/music/update/20..._pspupdate.htm
I like the third image, which is what the NA cover uses.
I see this game compared to Lumines and Rez all over the place because it's trippy and coming out of Q. Really, don't buy this expecting something with a huge emphasis on presentation. I mean, it doesn't look or sound bad or anything, but if you don't like shooters (or the PC original), you might not like this.
Then again, if you like the PC original, this is so awesome.
Not really, no.Quote:
Originally Posted by icarusfall
man shut yo mouth
Between this and RR2, I've been playing a ton.
On the contrary, the presentation is super-slick, and better than Lumines. The dynamically generated music that reacts to your movements is a great touch, and the different themes look great.
It's more abstract than Rez, which actually tried to have an escalation of sorts and some thematic consistency. Rez was all about the presentation and the gameplay was in service of the presentation. In EEE that core scoreplay mechanic of the PC game is still front and center with the presentation there to enhance that.
Yeah, of course if you don't like the original you won't like this. It's the same gameplay. But if you don't like the original, I don't know what's wrong with you.
I don't know. The menus, font, and a couple of the early levels kinda struck me as being a little ugly. There were some ugly stages in Lumines, though, looking back. I guess I could see that.
This is a fun game, but not one I can play for a long time (> 30 minutes). Not sure why, but this is the perfect portable game where I can play for 10 minutes. Stop. And play another 20 minutes.
The cover is amazing, and will be getting an ...of the Year award from me. Design like that makes me realize just how incredibly boring most box art is.
It's also got a nice 70s sci-fi vibe to it, and I've no idea why I find that so cool seeing as I find most 70s sci-fi kind of dull.
James
I was actually going to bring this up, but I figured it was just me. But I agree completely with all of this.Quote:
Originally Posted by James
I think the 70s feel comes from the similarity to the cover of Dark Side of the Moon. EEE's art also reminds me of the Moonwalker cover.
There's a small similarity there, sure, but 70s science fiction books tended to a style of cover that the EEE art is very reminiscent of. If I could find an online site I'd point some out, but I guess all I can say is hit up your local library, assuming they didn't get rid of all that stuff years ago.
James
I like the box art for EEE a lot better than the in-game art style. I think the game's kinda ugly actually.
It's still cool, but I don't think I have completely "gotten it" yet. More practice needed.
Wasn't there a DS version of this planned as well?
Nope.Quote:
Originally Posted by Geen
You're thinking of Gunpey.Quote:
Originally Posted by Geen
Probably. I think I got the two of them confused at some point.Quote:
Originally Posted by Korly
On topic, I downloaded the free PC game of Every Extended and it gets my approval.
I try to avoid the ignorance of much of the print media, but in the latest issue of EGM, in the Every Extend Extra review, one of the editors said the original game was a blatant clone of Rez. I hate people.
James
Gamespot did a hands-on preview of the game where the guy called it a rail shooter. He referred to the ship as your crosshairs, and the lives as ammo.Quote:
Originally Posted by James
lol at games journalism
I agree with you guys in that the boxart reminds me of a 70s album or sci fi book cover.
Between that and Yoshi's Island DS getting a couple of 6's due to the screen gap and basically because it's an "overly challenging" game (Parish, Bettenhausen and Ford use such words as "nightmarish chores, sadistic, brutal and frustrating," quite lame), all I can say is I am glad I got a free copy from my brother. Because that rag is no longer worth the paper it is printed on. I miss the days of Sushi X, ya know? That man could give a game a 7.5 and he worded it in a way where it made perfect sense.Quote:
Originally Posted by James
1up.com also said it plays like a 2D version of Rez. I know it's not an easy game to sum up, but this is just a joke.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frogacuda
The editor in question would be Jeremy Parish. To clarify, he starts the review by saying, and I quote:Quote:
Originally Posted by James
"Parish: Every Extend Extra is Tetsuya Mizuguchi's remake of a flash based rip off of his own masterpiece, Rez." I used to think Parish was a competent writer even when I disagreed with his reviews. So much for that.
No mention of the scoring system whatsoever and he scores it a 6. Also, Parish tells the readers EEE is so bright and sparkly that it's practically broken. How so? He says people should just play the original flash game instead because "...it's fun when you can actually tell what is going on." :rolleyes:
Michael Donahoe literally hated the game because he admitted he could not figure it out (he even says in the review that he couldn't get it after reading the in game tutotial) and also...because it's not enough like Meteos and Lumines.
Robert Ashley scored it an 8, said the chaining is rewarding once you figure it out and that it has "a surprising amount of satisfying depth." Thank you.
FWIW in the IGN review Juan Castro gives it a score of 8.1, "impressive." Juan says the game's main strength is that it forces players to max out their chains instead of making things easy for novices who would want to just go in with "all guns blazing" (how often do you hear that in an IGN shooter review?) He says the only drawback is the game is too short but is a small gripe since they "demand repeat playing."
http://psp.ign.com/articles/745/745184p1.html
he calls it a flash game? Does he think he's playing it in his browser somehow or is he just pretending to have even played it.
He was the joke reviewer made up by the staff, wasn't he? I think more than one person wrote under his name but I'm not sure. Still, "he" was better than idiots like Parish any day. That guy's arrogance, bad taste, bad writing, and lack of gaming experience rolled into one.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dylan1CC
Yeah, Sushi-X was a played by several writers, but most Ken Williams.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frogacuda
Right, Sushi was sort of their version of a lovable toned down GF type mascot. The few folks who wrote for him though did a good job IMHO. My fave review by "him" was for Mischief Makers. He gave it either a 7 or 7.5 (mainly due to the levels being so short). But it was tempered with just the right mix of both caution and enthusiasm that I still wanted the game.Quote:
Originally Posted by NeoZeedeater
100% agreed. IMHO someone like Ben Turner (his Treasure and Guardian Legend/Compile retrospectives were great reads) should've been the 1 Up reviewer farmed over to EGM, not Parish.Quote:
Originally Posted by NeoZeedeater
Anyways, still too low on funds to buy EEE. :(
I love the cover too. Speaking of ace 70s sci fi style art, for some reason the woman's face with the font lines running out of her head rvaguely eminds me of the Famicom cover art for Guardian Legend, just much more colorful:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...endjpcover.jpg
Doesn't look like Ben T does much on 1Up these days. As mentioned before, here is his excellent "Crucial Classics" feature on The Guardian Legend which includes a nice reference side bar on Compile's history:Quote:
Me: 100% agreed. IMHO someone like Ben Turner (his Treasure and Guardian Legend/Compile retrospectives were great reads) should've been the 1 Up reviewer farmed over to EGM, not Parish.
http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3142613
...and his 2005 Treasure retrospective feature (which was done in anticipation of GSH):
http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3145006&did=1
"Crucial Classics" could end up being a good feature when they finally finish it, depending on what games they choose(Wonderboy III, please). I like how they discuss various games within each pick's article.
I have noticed a bunch of historical errors though, like the usual crediting Nintendo for stuff they didn't invent(password system). Maybe when it's complete I will send them a list. ;)
In a perfect world, I would own a gaming mag covering all generations past and current and NeoZeedeater would be Universal Supreme Game Media Reviewer/Archivist. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by NeoZeedeater
'minds me of this Trans Am/Fucking Champs co-op EP cover.
http://www.brainwashed.com/common/im.../thrill107.jpg
This game is bad-ass, but like most games of its ilk, very short. Has something of a learning curve, but take the tutorial course and a few playthroughs will see you to the end. Only problem though is that there's very little replay value, even for high score nuts.
I'm still on the fence regarding the purchase of this game. I really want to just ditch my PSP, but EEE is along the lines of the type of games I look for on a portable. This review gives me some hope, but I'll wait for more feedback.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dylan1CC
Here's another nicely detailed review:
http://www.ntsc-uk.com/review.php?pl...eryExtendExtra
Being a high score nut is how most of my shooters get their replay value.Quote:
Originally Posted by TrialSword
re: Sushi-X
just fyi, the original Steve Harris EGM apparently had strong ties to a prominent Japanese magazine of the day (BEEP!, maybe - I forget), and Sushi-X was the equivalent of their Taco-X. I've wondered if Sushi's reviews were just translations of Taco-X's reviews.Quote:
Originally Posted by NeoZeedeater
I like how they mentioned Geograph Seal in the Jumping Flash one. It's good when game journalists do their research and know more than the average EB store clerk.Quote:
Originally Posted by NeoZeedeater
Finally got my copy of EEE. Picked it up at Gamestop for just 19.99. Love the game so far, the chaining is nicely intuitive and very addictive (I'd played the Omega game before on the 'net but never delved into it as deeply as I am now).
The rush you get from artfully weaving into swarms of enemies in order to maximize the destruction feels nicely reminiscent of Bangaioh. And being forced to chain competently just to stay alive keeps the intensity consistent.
The visuals of course are beautifully surreal. My fave level so far is Cambrian Drive with its neon colored sea creatures.
The only gripe I have so far is that the titles and menus are very bland and the music, while pleasing, could use more "oomph." Otherwise, great buy and the perfect pick up and play PSP title to keep one busy before the Konami shooter comps are released.
My only question is, when are all the levels unlocked? I have played up to stage 6 yet the only levels available in caravan are 1 and 2.
You have to finish the hardest variant of a stage in order to unlock it in caravan mode. You move up and down in difficulty based on performance (you can see this on the game map between stages).Quote:
Originally Posted by Dylan1CC
^^^
Gotcha, thanks.
I still don't have this game. Back when I had money, I bought House of Leaves instead, and now I'm broke. Hopefully I'll get it for Christmas.
From an IGN preview back in August:
Either the IGN editor who wrote this preview worded the above paragraph very poorly, or game sharing multiplayer really was there but Q took it out of the final build. In any case, the game requires two UMDs for multiplayer. Tried it tonight and all game sharing would let me do is send a short gameplay demo to my friend's system. :rolleyes:Quote:
http://psp.ign.com/articles/723/723117p1.html
There's also Versus Mode, where you have to earn more extended combos than your opponent. With every combo that you complete, you move a giant orb closer to the other player. Once it gets into the middle of the screen, they're toast. If your friend doesn't have the game, don't worry; the game supports Game Sharing, and the download time is reasonable, clocking in at around a minute and some change.