J W @TheVideoGamer
Reviews
FishVille (Browser)
By J W on March 2, 2012
FarmVille (Browser)
By J W on March 2, 2012
CityVille (Browser)
By J W on March 2, 2012
Ultimate Civil War Battles: Robert E. Lee vs Ulysses S. Grant (Windows)
A budget RTS game full of glitches.
The Good
It has a decent concept, you play as the Confederates or Union army in four battles of the American civil war: Seven Days Battle, Battle of Chancellorsville, Battle of Gettysburg, and the Battle of Chattanooga.
The battles load almost instantly.
The game's landscape textures, buildings, and water look decent, but the soldiers are some of the most hideous I've ever seen in a video game.
The sound effects are sparse, you get a drum roll when you select a brigade, a beep when you move it, and of course, cannon and gun firing. All are decent.
Overall, this game is pretty fun. Command your brigades and attack the Union or Confederate army!
The Bad
From playing this game, I deduced that the developers failed their history exams. Why? Because they got a HUGE detail wrong: they had the Union wear gray and the Confederates blue. That is pitiful.
Looking at the summary I have of this game, you probably know what I have to say here. This game has a ton of glitches. Some of them are "good". The soldiers have the ability to walk through buildings as if they don't exist (and when they do, the buildings actually fade a bit, which is weird), walk underwater with no ill effects, and climb mountains, no matter how tall. There's also a glitch in the game that is also functions as a cheat. Pressing F5 creates a saved game, and F6 loads it. That isn't the cheat, but what makes it one is the fact when you load the saved game, the amount of soldiers in a brigade resets to 100. This does not restore dead brigades to life, however, just ones still alive. Using this cheat is a must when attacking cannons, and also to win the battles.
There are many bad glitches too. Many involve crashing the game. Alt-tabbing causes the game to stop working (and this pretty much goes for all games made by Stellar Stone). Setting the soldier density in the options to low causes the game to crash. Loading a game (pressing F6) causes the game to crash if there is no preexisting save. And the most annoying crash glitch is the one when you move your brigades around too much in one time.
The battle of Gettysburg cannot be completed due to the fact the programmer placed some of the brigades IN the ground.
Also, the developers forgot to put in animation for the cavalry units, which means they just slide across the ground when moving, without any motions, and when attacking they just stand still, frozen.
The Bottom Line
I cannot believe GameMill let all those glitches into the final product. Then again, according to the credits, there was no quality assurance! Many of the glitches aren't funny, unlike the ones in Big Rigs:Over the Road Racing, they're freaking annoying! This would have been a great game if it was at least looked over a bit. At least the game is enjoyable, if you accept it for what it is, like I do for Big Rigs:Over the Road Racing.
By J W on November 24, 2010
Midnight Race Club: Supercharged! (Windows)
The more complete version of Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing
The Good
After finding the game Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing, I was curious as to what other games Stellar Stone made. Along with a few other games, I found this one, Midnight Race Club:Supercharged! Now for the review.
Midnight Race Club is a game where you, well, race against an opponent in a one lap race. Instead of rigs, there are regular cars, trucks (not big rig trucks), and motorcycles. It's a generic, but decent concept, and I've seen worse.
Graphics are the same, so-so ones from Big Rigs, but the vehicles look better than the boxy trucks from the aforementioned game. The vehicles' taillights are a different story (see bad).
Sound effects are pretty much the same, along with a new one when you hit a building.
Something we take for granted in video games is collision detection. Big Rigs did not have any. The developers at Stellar Stone added some in this game.
Physics are somewhat corrected: you can't drive up a hill, but when your car finally slows to a stop, it doesn't roll back down. No longer do you have freedom to drive up vertical mountains and off the map.
There is also AI in the game, but the opponent car just follows a pre-programmed path to the finish line, and there are even more bad things about it (see bad).
The hilarious, but grammatically incorrect, "YOU'RE WINNER!" words have been changed to "YOU WIN!"
The Bad
Selecting the Nightride track, along with a few of the vehicles, causes the game to crash (and Stellar Stone did not release a patch to fix these, they probably were out of business soon after releasing this game, as it was their last).
When it came time to do the vehicles' taillights, the people working on the graphics had this wonderful idea: to reuse the same taillights from Big Rigs. This means the lights float INCHES away from the vehicles, which is hilarious looking, especially when driving a motorcycle.
As for the opponent, the AI is programmed to have him stop before the finish line, meaning you win every time.
The Bottom Line
Midnight Race Club is certainly not the best racing game I've played. Go ahead and find this game and give it a try, but you'll be playing a rather generic racing game that's not really special, besides being a "cousin" to Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing.
By J W on November 23, 2010
Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 (Game Boy Advance)
THE MOST OVERRATED GAME EVER!
The Good
After releasing Super Mario World for the SNES, Nintendo decided to milk it's Mario cow AGAIN and port the stupid game to the GameBoy Advance in 2001.
Since that year, people can play a "classic" wherever they go!
What's good about the game? Maybe in the near future this game will be worth a lot of money and I can sell it and use the money to buy much better games like expansion packs for The Sims 3!
The Bad
Oh my GOD! It's the SAME story, yet joined with new characters like the dinosaur Yoshi! Princess Peach is whisked away by that evil Bowser yet again and since she is too lazy to find a way out herself Mario and Luigi must rescue her. It may not seem to bad, but the designers obviously were unable to come up with a story from previous games. It's like that in EVERY Mario game. Rescue the stupid princess, again and again and again.
The graphics are some of the blandest looking I've ever seen in years. The backgrounds get so repetitive I feel as if I'm playing an Atari 2600 game, which have really repetitive graphics.
The music is also horrible. It loops over and over again before your ears nearly go deaf. The PC Speaker from those old IBM computers in the 80s make much better music.
All of the above things may seem pretty big, but this next one is what kills this game (and pretty much all other Nintendo-developed games). This game, is so FRUSTRATING! It's easy to die, and when Mario touches an enemy for the 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000th time you want to rip the cartridge out of your Game Boy and tear it into pieces! This game was made for children(obviously). If it's frustrating for those of us who are older, then I cannot imagine what it's like for a 8 year old!
The Bottom Line
Please do not play Super Mario World. I cannot stress this enough. Do not play ANY game developed by Nintendo, period. All of them are of abysmal quality. Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing is a much better game than this masochistic piece of garbage, and certainly a lot more fun!
By J W on November 6, 2010
Streets of SimCity (Windows)
A great game, even though it has problems
The Good
Being able to build your own cities in the Sim City Urban Renewal Kit and driving through them.
The graphics are so realistic, I feel as if I'm actually driving.
The game's scenarios are challenging and fun.
You can build your own cars in the car factory(but you can only use models of the games regular cars).
I love how the game is very realistic. You have to fill up at gas stations, repair your car when parts of it are damaged, and even change the tires and engine!
One of my most favorite things about this game is the radio. The commercials are hilarious and the music sounds so good. You can also change the station .
The Bad
There is no horn.
The bugs. I see pedestrians walking funny and backwards, parked cars on top of each other and on parking lot lights, and being able to drive through gas stations, power lines, and trees.
That message that says: "An unrecoverable error has occurred and Streets of Sim City must quit."
The Bottom Line
If you are the type that likes driving and racing games, this game is for you. But expect some bugs.
By J W on November 6, 2010
Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing (Windows)
YOU'RE A WINNER!
The Good
Ah, Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing. Known as the worst game of all time, this game has gotten many low marks on sites like Gamespot, X Play, and Netjak.
Well, are there any good things about this game? Well, its serious glitches make the game so hilarious. I will explain them when I get to the Bad.
Although my copy of the game has no soundtrack, there was one and I listened to it and it's one of the best game music soundtracks I've heard.
As this game's many fans say, this game is "so bad that it's good", in a way.
The Bad
Hmmm, there are only four trucks to choose from in this game! Not that it matters, they all have the same handling, top speed, and acceleration. Stellar Stone really should have added different top speeds and all that, but they didn't.
There's also only five tracks to choose from. Actually, there's only four because one of them, Nightride, does not work at all. Selecting it without this patch (I'll explain it later) causes the game to crash.
As for sound effects, there are N-O-N-E unless you get the aforementioned patch.
Also, without the patch, the opponent truck does not move a single inch. You get no AI without it.
Here's the funniest part. You go through EVERYTHING! And when I mean EVERYTHING I mean EVERYTHING! Buildings, your opponent rig, trees, road signs, road lights, and even bridges! When crossing a bridge the truck FALLS THROUGH it, and when I saw my truck fall through the bridge the first time I nearly ended up on the floor laughing.
And there are literally no physics in this game. The trucks, they can literally go up nearly vertical mountains! And at the top of the mountain, a little ways, is the gray area. Normally in a game, these "gray voids" have an invisible wall around them. In Big Rigs, however, you can go into it. Seriously. And when you do, the truck starts flipping out like it's having a seizure in some parts!
The graphics of this game are rather poor. You can't even set the graphics to high, it's medium or low. And the rigs' headlights are not even attached to them. So sad.
The trucks all have top speeds when going forwards: 81 mph. It's an ENTIRELY different story in reverse. The rigs can go backwards at an infinite speeds! And when they're going so fast backwards, when you press the left or right arrows, the truck starts spinning really fast, which would cause many people with motion sickness to start feeling a little queasy.
Because of the lack of AI without the patch, you win all the time. And when you do complete a race, you get a screen with a three handled trophy saying "YOU'RE WINNER!". By this time you'll be laughing your head off.
But the really bad thing about this game is the fact that the game was not what it was meant to be. Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing was supposed to be a game that featured you delivering cargo to a destination and trying to avoid cops. There are no cops, no cargo, and not much of a game here in Big Rigs.
The Bottom Line
Okay, Stellar Stone released a patch that (didn't really) addressed some of the problems. It gave the opponent truck AI, but the truck just follows a programmed path to the finished line, and it stops just short of it, allowing you to still be WINNER all the time. Sound effects are also added, like a handbrake and engine. Lastly, Nightride is fixed, but it's a mirror image of the first track. This patch barely fixes the glitches in the game, such as going through buildings and going up nearly vertical slopes. Apparently Stellar Stone wanted to keep the trucks' magic powers of defying physics and going through buildings! Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing is only good for a few laughs, unless you're a curious person who wants to find this game and watch trucks go 50,000 miles an hour...in reverse.
The developers, Stellar Stone, do not exist anymore as far as I know. But the producers, Gamemill Publishing still do. How they managed to survive after publishing this game is a mystery to me and anyone else that played this....rather unique game...
By J W on November 2, 2010
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (DOS)
Nice little game, but also a little disappointing
The Good
The graphics, in high quality (for the time) VGA graphics are great.
The music is fast paced and fits in with this game. Although that's the only sound you'll be hearing in this game (and in the sound card selection I'd recommend Ad lib, Sound Blaster, or Roland sound as your options. PC Speaker is annoying).
The gameplay in this game is pretty good, you run around New York avoiding Harry and Marv while luring them into traps such as pedestrians, cars, and setting off traps yourself
This game has some replayability, you can choose difficulty(which determines how fast Harry and Marv are) and has a high score table, so you can challenge your friends for the highest score.
The Bad
The game is a bit short. There are 15 levels in this game, that may sound long but the levels are very short. Along with that the game's faithfulness to the movie is rather dubious.
There is no sound except for a few songs looping in the background (varies between the level). Other than these a good game.
The controls are absurd!. You press 0 to jump! Enter to use a weapon and space to pick weapons up!
The Bottom Line
I do recommend you play this game, it's good to kill 10-15 minutes. Great fun if you love Home Alone 2.
By J W on September 11, 2010
Spore (DOS)
This may not be the game you are looking for, but it is still a nice text adventure.
The Good
The game is pretty fun. You are sent from Earth to investigate a colony planet. It combines a text adventure with a breakout type game. It has everything you may expect from a text adventure. What makes it fun is that it combines a breakout type game with it too, which can be a nice break from the game
There are not many sounds, but the few are good. The same with the graphics.
The Bad
To some, the game may get boring. I don't find it boring. I love text adventures!
The Bottom Line
This is VERY different to the Spore that people are looking for. Yet if you love Sci-Fi, text adventures, and breakout, you have hit the jackpot!
By J W on April 3, 2010
Attack (DOS)
Wow.
The Good
Well, I don't like Apple, so this game really fit me well. It is also pretty fun. What you do is try to destroy the Apple manufacturing plants and avoid their ships. You can choose to dodge them or shoot them with your lasers, although you have a rather limited supply
The controls are also decent. Although I do forget to use the brake button while moving, they are good.
Back in the good days of PCs, there were no sound cards. No Ad Lib, no Sound Blaster, no nothing. There was the PC Speaker. PC Speaker sounds are not very good, but it is not fair to judge on things like that. The sounds are good for the 80's.
The graphics are pretty much the same. They are in ASCII, but that is also decent for the 80's. Although they could have been in CGA (Color Graphics Array) they are fine.
The Bad
People that like Apple will be turned off by the game. But why would they play this anyway?
The Bottom Line
Hate Apple? Think the PC is better than the Mac? Then download this great game and have fun!
By J W on March 29, 2010
Home Alone (DOS)
A well adaptation of the movie
The Good
The game follows the movie very well. It clearly shows the climax of the movie in this game.
The graphics of the game are great (if you choose VGA or MC-GA 256 colors in the configuration. The Tandy and EGA 16 color graphics are not very good). Kevin, the Wet Bandits, the cutscenes, and the house are all well detailed.
The music and sound effects are good. While you may not hear the theme song or any other music in the movie the music is good. The sound effects are decent.
There are also many variations on how the game can be played. You can set one trap in one room and when you play the game again you can set it in another.
There's also humor in the game when you lure the Wet Bandits into traps.
The Bad
The controls could have been better (typical of old computer games). However, I have listed the controls in the Tips and Tricks section.
The Bottom Line
If you like Home Alone, this game is for you!
By J W on March 29, 2010
Tetris & Dr. Mario (SNES)
TERRIBLE!
The Good
Tetris: Guess the gameplay was alright. Sounds were okay and decent graphics.
Dr Mario: You have the choice of whether or not you can play it or not.
Mixed Match: I liked the graphics and the sounds.
Onto the bad, where most Nintendo-made games have plenty.
The Bad
Tetris: The music sounds terrible. Also, the game is very frustrating.
Dr Mario:Everything. The music in this game is the worst. It is ANNOYING( the synthesizers that those horrible game makers at Nintendo are what makes it annoying) and sounds AWFUL. MIDI music sounds a whole lot better than the agitating tunes on this game! The whole concept is S-T-U-P-I-D. You try to land the pills on the viruses, which is obviously a very dumb rendition of Tetris. Do not play Dr Mario.
Mixed Match: The AI is DREADFULLY STUPID. It just keeps flipping the blocks and always stacks them to the top. While the music is the best of the games, it still sounds poor. The concept is lame.
The Bottom Line
Nintendo games are bad. When they released Mario, everyone liked it, but I sure don't. They've released other horrible games like Metroid, Zelda, and Donkey Kong that are horrible( and not to mention terribly overrated). Do not get any Nintendo game. The games they licence are good, but the ones they make are just terrible.
Grab a good game like Sim City or The Sims instead.
By J W on October 4, 2009
SimCity 2000 (Game Boy Advance)
An awful redo of the fantastic computer game. Mediocre at best.
The Good
The graphics were the same from the computer version, which was good. Sounds were OK and the gameplay is mediocre.
The Bad
TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE controls. But this is a Game Boy Advance game, you would expect a game like Sim City 2000 to have poor controls on a Game Boy Advance.
There is no music except for that terrible song that plays in the main menu.
There is only one save file. What the heck is up with that!? This isn't a computer where hard drive space is taken up when you save cities!
The Bottom Line
If Maxis did the developing, it would have been much, much, better. A whole lot better.
Get the Windows version( or Macintosh, for you Apple people).
By J W on August 30, 2009
Need for Speed: Underground 2 (Game Boy Advance)
Talk about a terrible racing game!
The Good
I guess the racing was okay. The mini games were fun.I liked the Lexus car, it was cool looking.
The Bad
Where the heck are the Chevrolet's, Fords, Cadillacs, and other fine American vehicles!? I was stuck driving Toyota's and other ugly things! But the Volkswagen was pretty cool, and so was the Lexus.
Some of the WORST music I have ever heard in a video game is in this one. It sounded like a scratchy record to me. And the sound effects are pretty terrible, too.
The graphics are pretty unremarkable, and quite low quality. Buildings and non-racing cars in this game look like junk.
Gameplay is also a failure. The races are either TOO HARD, or TOO EASY!
What the heck is up with POINTS as the form of currency in this game!? Why didn't the designers put dollars instead of points!?
The Bottom Line
A horrible game. Only for those who like to play awful racing games. Grab a copy of the Playstation 2 version, you will like it a lot more.
By J W on August 29, 2009
SimCopter (Windows)
Copter flying at its finest!
The Good
The concept: flying a copter and doing missions to earn money.
Graphics are OK.
The radio is a lot of fun to listen to, with it's humorous commercials, and the music is fantastic.
Sound effects are good
You can take a walk around through your city from a Sim's perspective.
The Bad
Like I said, the graphics are OK. Not good but OK. They are not exactly the best. It takes a while for things to get drawn out and a lot of things are in poor detail. They did improve greatly in Streets of Sim City
The Sims look weird. This was improved in Streets of Sim City too.
The Bottom Line
It is a fun game. It does have problems, but it is really fun!
By J W on August 15, 2009
US Racer (Windows)
Not the best racing game, but pretty fun
The Good
The game features a radio, making the game more realistic.
The cars look nice.
Cops add to the challenge.
The graphics are good, and so are the sounds
The Bad
Well, they could have put a dashboard like Maxis did in Streets of Sim City to make it more realistic.
The controls are sensitive! A little tap on the left or right key and the car makes a big turn.
On my Windows 98, the game runs horribly! On the back of the CD case, it said it could run on Windows 98, 2000, and even 95! The game slows down on me on numerous occasions. I can't imagine how it would run on 95.
The other racers run on a fixed course which means: NO AI! NONE AT ALL!
The Bottom Line
It is a fun game, I mean, you race through the U.S, but it isn't the best out there.
By J W on August 15, 2009
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (PlayStation 2)
Fun game to play, but there were a few problems.
The Good
The storyline was great! It was pretty accurate to the movie.
Christmas and Halloween are in the game.
The graphics are good for a game made in its time.
The sounds and music are great. I like the music in the game.
When you pick up beans, you hear what the flavor is.
The Bad
The game has signs that it was rushed. One time, I was walking through the Grand Staircase and the walls looked funny.
The only prefects I saw in the game were Gryffindor prefects.
The only place you see the inside of in Diagon Alley is Ollivander's Wand Shop.
I have no clue what this was, but it was WEIRD! I was walking in the dungeons and decided to go inside the potions classroom. Well, I went inside and I was in another room besides the potions classroom! The room had a bunch of lit torches on one side of it, and I tried to go over to them, but some invisible wall held me back, I also went another direction, but another invisible wall held me back. This is what really freaked me out: The door to the rest of the dungeon was TRANSPARENT. I could see through it and into the rest of the dungeon. Well I went back into the Dungeon Corridor and then back into the room and it was still there. Then i went out and back into the room and the potions classroom was there again.
The Bottom Line
It is a really enjoyable game, but I recommend it only to hardcore Potter fans.
By J W on August 15, 2009