Archive for Category: Columns

  • Versus Mode: Pokémon Red vs. Pokémon Ruby

    Columns Columns by Kay Leacock on

    For those of you who have never played Pokémon (Cthulhu forbid), it's a game where you play as a little boy who just got his Pokémon training license. You are trying to catch every Pokémon, and then train them to compete against gym leaders and an elite team of trainers. Pokémon are these little creatures that inhabit the world, and they'll randomly attack you when you're fishing or walking through the grass. Then, you either fight the Pokémon until they faint and get experience for it, or fight it until it weakens and throw a Poké Ball ( a device used to capture a Pokémon) at it to make it yours.

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    Dear Readers: What is an RPG?

    Columns Columns by Paul Franzen on

    I overheard these children in my school's gymnasium the other day discussing just what makes a game an RPG, and it kind of made me laugh. To them, a role-playing game is a game in which you name your main character, you are able to alter the storyline, and you take turns battling. So, by their logic, none of the games in the Legend of Zelda series can be considered RPGs, nor can Secret of Mana or Super Mario RPG. This got me thinking about what the true definition of a role-playing game really is. After looking back at all of the RPGs that I've beaten, I realized that the number of such games is embarrassingly small, and thus I'm probably no expert on RPGs. So I decided to pop on over to the Chrono Cross boards on GameFaqs to ask a few people who might be what their definition of a role-playing game would be.

  • … of the Month: .hack//SIGN Vol. 1 Limited Edition Boxed

    Columns Columns by Matt Gardner on

    This boxed set of .hack merchandise was released by Bandai in an attempt to make lots of money off of crazed fans like myself... and it worked. The box is hexagonal and has various .hack//SIGN characters on it. Inside the box are all the evils of the world, along with some hope and a bunch of .hack items to please any fan of the series.

  • Versus Mode: Oracle of Ages vs. Ocarina of Time

    Columns Columns by Kay Leacock on

    How different can two games from the same series be?

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    The Gates of Life: Episode 1 – Prologue

    Columns Columns by Brian Wolf on

    Time flows like a river, and history repeats.  Such is the case for a group of young friends nestled away in the southeastern reaches of the Finny Isles.  Barin, Dugo, and Apul often spent their off

  • Dear Readers: GameCola Does Disney World

    Columns Columns by Paul Franzen on

    So I went to Walt Disney World this month for my senior class trip. A good time was had; TV theme songs were sung, travel mugs were rendered semi-useless, pirates were made to cry -- but I won't bore you with the details. I'll just show you pictures instead!

  • … of the Month: A Link to the Past

    Columns Columns by Matt Gardner on

    Some say that A Link to the Past was the best Zelda game made to this date, and I would have to agree with them.

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    Dear Readers: Advertisers Don’t Get Videogames

    Columns Columns by Paul Franzen on

    Has anyone else seen that commercial, I think it's for some sort of battery, that uses the impossible portable gaming console? The system's molded to resemble a Game Boy Advance, but I wasn't fooled. Too generic looking. Anyway, what a terrible commercial! It makes me wanna take that damn "going and going" bunny and tear its face off in a violent manner. In the ad, a kid and his grandpa (wait, old people don't play video games! ) are playing two of the GBA wannabes when the batteries of the gpa's system die, causing an error screen to crop on on his screen and the young whipper snapper to win the game. That's so dumb! The boy wouldn't win, his screen would just freeze, we all know that. So Energizer or whoever has turned off the entire gamer demographic by airing this commercial, the very demographic you'd assume they'd be trying to reach by airing a commercial featuring video games! Grrr, idiots.

  • … of the Month: Breath of Fire II

    Columns Columns by Matt Gardner on

    Breath of Fire II is every bit as good as the first one, if not better. If you've played the first you'll be familiar with soe of the towns (i.e. Windia) and characters (i.e. Nina) in this one. The battle system is also pretty much the same as the first, with random encounters and turn based fighting. The main difference is that your character formations is a diamond instead of a line. The story is quite interesting, and you'll be into it from the very beginning of the game. There are many new and interesting characters that join you on your quest, such as a big armadillo type man, a fierce cat girl, a dog with a crossbow, and a monkey with a knife (and come now, what could be more fun than a monkey with a knife? Nothing.) There are fun side things to do while you wander around the world (hunting, fishing, visiting a traveling circus, etc.), any many interesting items and spells to discover. If you are a fan of RPGs or dragons or fire.. or monkeys with knives.. or grass and water and shiny things and mountains with caves and fish and breathing or... anything, get yourself a Game Boy Advance or a Super Nintendo and pick up Breath of Fire II.

  • Your Top 10 Favorite Games: Brian Wolf

    Columns Columns by Brian Wolf on

    Brian Wolf's top 10 favorite videogames.