Monday, June 21, 2010

NBA Live 97: 1HN... You Gotta Be Kidding Me?!

Last weekend, my friend Andrew came to my house and hung out for a bit. When asked about what he wanted to do, he promptly said that he wanted to play some video games. Knowing that I had recently unearthed my old Genesis, he examined the Genesis games I had. Initially, he chose Madden 97, of which we played one game; it was fun -- a reminder of good times, to be sure -- but not overwhelmingly enjoyable. Andrew then opted to play NBA Live 97, which features NBA teams as their rosters were 14 years ago. After we chose our teams (he chose the Suns, I chose the Clippers), we played a game that reminded me of the high level of surreality I used to experience on a consistent basis 14 years ago!

In 1996, NBA Live 97 was the latest in a growing lineage of EA Sports basketball games dating back to the early days of the Sega Genesis with Lakers versus Celtics (circa 1989). I jumped onto the NBA Live bandwagon with NBA Live 95, followed by 96, and then 97. At that time, I was well-versed in the controls which are simplistic compared to today's standards: one button to jump/block/shoot, one button to switch players/run turbo/pass, and one button to attempt a steal/crossover (I think -- I'll have to check).

As Andrew and I played, we laughed at the various quirks of the game. One is player movement: computer-controlled players make beeline runs after the ball, which often results in one computer-controlled player pushing a bunch of other players until a tidal wave of virtual humanity converged on the ball. The game doesn't seem to discern that players are in the way: the Genesis will just push all intervening players. This often led to strange situations in which the player with the ball (e.g. my friend Andrew) would get pushed out of bounds by a mass of pushed players from my team. Or, if I happened to angle one's defender's run at Andrew's ball handling player, I could edge him out without get a foul called. Another quirk was blocking: if I ran into the key and pressed the Shoot button to initiate the dunk animation sequence, Andrew could not only jump his defender in my direction, but pass THROUGH me AND get the block. Moreover, goaltending was amusingly arbitrary: I could come down with the dunk and Andrew's player could ascend and grab the ball right out of my hands! Oh, and fouls: if you turbo run at an attacking player, you could send him FLYING across the screen and sometimes NOT get the foul called!

I should also mention one quirk that is important to note: the CPU's primary offensive strategy is to make the point guard penetrate and lay the ball up. If the point guard has a clear path, he will almost always turbo down the lane and lay it in. If you put your defender squarely between the point guard and the basket, the point guard will try a couple of crossover moves and then pass to the player with the clearest path to the basket. Also, if you maneuver a player into the path of the running point guard, you could get an offensive foul call in your favor. This is the most hilarious and often infuriating aspect of NBA Live 97.

I could go on and on about the quirks of NBA Live 97, but we came away from that game both amused and, well, infuriated. Having played the game in 2010, I can see how much sports games have thankfully advanced, though the next game we played that night (NHL 97) oddly holds up as a great game even today -- perhaps, I will review that one later. Suffice it to say, for a laugh, pop in NBA Live 97 and witness what gamers had to endure 14 years ago.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

What Defines a (Iron) Man?

Yesterday, I pondered that which defines a man. I started off from the dangerous standpoint of what I cannot or do not do: I can't fix a car, plan a camping trip, program my own website, engage in martial-arts beatings, use a firearm, kill game with my bare hands, ride a mechanical bull, lasso a real-life bull, drink alcohol, or urinate for great distances. There were many guys at my old church that could do many of these things and they formed a nice group of men that could band together in the end times to form a viable commune and defend it with an acumen for survivalism and shotguns.

I then thought about what I could do: I can speak Japanese, teach linguistics or history or English, fix my computer, cook dinner, clean my house, iron my clothes, connect and configure electronic equipment, use an SLR camera, play most sports okay, run five miles, and write reviews, blog entries, and/or academic essays.

When I compared the lists, I became despondent because my skill set really does not correspond with what most men (even men in our churches) equate to masculinity. I began to ask myself: if the poop were to hit the proverbial oscillating fan, could I protect myself and my family? Could I stand up for myself? As the self-questioning questions flooded over me, I grew even more distraught.

But, this morning, I kept in mind the best answer I could muster -- that answer being to look at Jesus. He was indeed the Man -- self-sacrificial of his time and health, wise to always ask for His Father's help, courageous in the face of an inevitably painful crucifixion, and loving of humanity enough to reach out to both the masses (from the Mount, feeding the 5,000 with two fish and a loaf of bread) and the individual (Zacchaeus, Martha, Mary, and so on).

Thus, I was reminded that my yardstick of comparison should not be the guys at church, but the Man who is the head of the Church. Of course, I fall short of that yardstick as do us all, but I have to believe that I can do all these things in He who strengthens me. If I can strive to do those things, I could indeed protect my family and ensure my own safety with much more God-given strength than just being able to pummel any foe.

Then again, even David had a sling. :)

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

RC Pro-Am: 1HN Racing

Back in my adolescent days, I owned an NES console, along with 15 or so games. Most of the time, I was entertained by those 15 or so games, but there were times when I wanted to try other games, so I'd often borrow games from my friends Ed and Brian. One game I borrowed from Brian was RC Pro-Am.

The premise behind RC Pro-Am was simple: take control of a red radio-controlled car as you zip around a track riddled with various power-ups, oil slicks, speed-boost strips, and other road hazards. All the while, you can use bombs or missiles to hold your rivals at bay as you strive to cross the finish in third place or better (fourth place meant elimination). It was a relatively simple game except for one wrinkle: as it is with controlling RC (radio-controlled) cars, if the car comes toward you, you have to steer left to go right, and vice versa. Okay, this is a bad explanation... Imagine this: the RC car is coming at you and you want to make it go to your left, so you press right on your control stick, right? Wrong. You press left because you have to pretend that you are driving from the perspective of the RC car... Get it?

That's okay -- my sons don't...

My wife and I got RC Pro-Am, along with several other NES games, for our sons for Christmas, along with a Gen-X Dual Station clone console. I initially thought that my boys would enjoy this racing simulation, but I found that the concept of oncoming perspective was too much to overcome. Thus, after 10 minutes, both of my boys asked to switch games, obviously frustrated at the idea that you had to press left to go right.

In any case, once you overcome this mental hurdle, RC Pro-Am is a whole lot of fun, especially when the computer turns on the cheese and gives the yellow RC car sudden bursts of supersonic speed -- and, the only way to stop this yellow demon is to blast it to bits... repeatedly. Despite this, RC Pro-Am is addictive and is easy to pick up, play for a while, and then put down with the satisfaction of having gotten the "need for speed" (and destruction) out of your system.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Super Metroid: Tips and Tricks

Last weekend, I chipped away at my current Super Metroid adventure, managing to defeat Ridley after two tries. During my first encounter with Ridley, I attempted to bombard him (?) with Super Missiles, and then with Missiles, but neither did much damage and only annoyed him. However, after referring to my walkthrough, I found that charged Ice Beam shots at his head did the most damage and more quickly dispatched the purple beast. Now, what awaits me is the Mother Brain.

What I realized after my most recent foray into Zebes was that, despite the assistance of my trusted walkthrough, there were a few tips and tricks about Super Metroid that many hint-providers failed to mention. So, here are my tips and tricks using the default controller setup:
  • To shinespark/rocket boost in a diagonal-up direction, (holding down the B button while possessing the Speed Booster), press down as soon as Samus begins to flash. Then, press the L button to go diagonal-up to the left, or the R button to go diagonal-up to the right. Initially, I tried to press the D-pad diagonal-up in the desired direction, but would end up going left or right.
  • To Space Jump with or without Screw Attack and stay airborne, press or tap left or right on the D-pad right before each press of the A (Jump) button. Pressing diagonal-up negates the Space Jump and sends Samus down for a landing. I wondered why my space jumps would end so prematurely and found that pressing diagonal-up killed each jump. Note: it is the intensity of Samus' jump, and not the angle of the D-pad press, that governs how high and where she goes.
  • To wall-jump, jump close to a wall. As soon as Samus brushes the wall, press the D-pad into a direction away from the wall and, in quick succession, press the Jump button. If both the D-pad and Jump button are pressed at the same time, the wall jump does not occur.
The wall jump, Space Jump, and Shinespark are the three most difficult, yet necessary, skills to learn in Super Metroid. If you have any more hints or experiences to share, please feel free to post.

Ciao!