Sega Dreamcast Shenmue II Review

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(More customer reviews)Shenmue 2 is an awesome game. Sequel to "Shenmue" for the sega dreamcast. Shenmue 2 is the story of Ryo Hazuki. Ryo's father was killed at the beginning of the first game by the mysterious character Lan Di. Ryo is out to find out why and seek revenge. Shenmue 2 takes place in china where the first game was in Japan. This series is one of the best ive played. You are free to interact with anyone and progress the story at your own rate. Also released on the xbox. A must have for any gamer.

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Panasonic 3DO FZ-1 System - Video Game Console Review

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(More customer reviews)Background:
The 3DO interactive Multiplayer system was one of the first dedicated CD-ROM based game systems.Launched in 1993, at a price point of $699.99, it was intended as a standard from which various manufacturers and developers could work from. The 3DO company did not manufacture the game units, instead they licensed out the idea for a small fee in royalties.

Ahead of its time, it boasted a CD-ROM drive (capable of playing games and photo and music CDs) as well as powerful 3D graphics capabilities. The system could be used as a CD player, and had standard AV outputs including component and S-video. Among other innovations were controllers that could be daisy chained together (physically linked together through a connector port on the back of each controller), and a built in game save ROM.

Some reviewers state that the 3DO was only slightly less powerful than the Sony Playstation, a system that came out two years later. In this, the 3DO was definitely ahead of its time.

The 3DO system sold a significant number of units, but never gained enough traction to compete with the main players at the time (which included SNES and the Sega Genesis). The high cost of the system made it out of the price range of most of its potential audience.

Over 130 games for the 3DO were produced. At the time, Full Motion Video (FMV) was considered the latest advance in video games. There are a good number of FMV games available for the 3DO, many of them fairly cheesy. Towards the end of the system's life cycle, a number of adult themed games were produced, making it one of the few major consoles to feature adult oriented content.

But FMV were not all the games produced for the system. The 3DO also featured numerous 3D based FPS's, space based shooters, racers and a few fighting games.

Sadly, the system faired poorly in the market and was canceled in 1996. The 3DO Company went on to become a software publisher.

The system:
The FZ-1 is the first version of the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer that Panasonic produced. Physically, it bears a very close resemblance to the alternate Goldstar model, the main physical diferance being the embossed Panasonic logo on the top. I've read that the Panasonic FZ-1 is preferable over the Goldstar model because it has fewer compatability issue with certain games.

Both units are fairly heavy. The later FZ-10 used a top loading tray similair to the Playstation. The original FZ-1 form factor is nicer in some regards because one is able to stack other equipment/consoles on top of it, a bonus when space is limited.

The FZ-1 features a front loading CD Tray and standard AV outputs (meaning that standard AV cables may be used.) This includes standard an RF connection, Composite video, stereo and, unusual for the time, S-video.S-video is extremely nice to have as it was the best display standard available at the time and has the cleanest image. Unlike the updated "slim" version in the FZ-10, the FZ-1 requires the use of a program CD to access the system's game save rom.In this the FZ-10 is superior as it's a lot less tedious to delete save files, and used units these days will often be sold without the needed CD.

The Games:
The 3DO has a fairly small library of games compared to other systems, though the games cover the full range of genres from RPG, FPS and space shooters to fighting and racing games.A number of games such as Star Control II and The Need For Speed are especially memorable. The 3DO was also the platform for the only strategy based tie-in game for the movie Jurassic Park entitled Jurassic Park Interactiveand the 3DO version of the infamous Night Trap is considered by some to be the best available. Overall, a good number of the 3DO's games are entertaining and ahead of their time, though there's some garbage on the system (Plumbers Don't Wear Ties).

Many developers went out of their way to use the CD capabilities of the 3DO and as the result, the system's games often boast CD quality music. Street Fighter 2 Turbo is an example of this. The music in the 3DO port is actually better than in the arcade version. This sets it apart from the systems it competed against early in its life cycle.

In addition, a good number of games use Full Motion Video cut scenes or high quality pre-rendered animations, both available due to the additional space allowed on a CD. Along the same lines, a good number of the games feature FMV gameplay, but this type of game covers only a small portion of the game library.

PROS:
* AV connections use standard cables including S-video.
* Native S-video support makes this system display better on modern flat panel TVs than many of its contemporaries.

CONS:
* Limited game collection (about 140 games), many of them mediocre or worse.
* Small consumer base makes games harder to find now.
* Controllers could be better.
* Many 3DO games were ported to other systems after the 3DO's demise.

BOTTOM LINE:
The 3DO is a good system, but the limited catalog of games makes it less desirable to the average gamer.An interesting footnote in gaming history, it's likely to appeal only to the vintage gaming enthusiast. It certainly lacks the legs of the NES, Genesis or SNES.

The FZ-1 is a good model though I would say it's a toss-up between this one and the FZ-10.The game save program manager of the Fz-10 is a nice feature, but the FZ-1's form factor gives it a little extra appeal. Since both systems contain much the same hardware, it's mostly the cosmetic differences that purchasers will need to decide on.

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Product Description:
The original edition of the console, the FZ-1, was referred to in full as the 3DO REAL Interactive Multiplayer. The console had advanced hardware features at the time: an ARM60 32-bit RISC CPU, two custom video co-processors, a custom 16-bit DSP and a custom math co-processor. It also featured 2 megabytes of DRAM, 1 megabyte of VRAM, and a double speed CD-ROM drive for main CD+Gs or Photo CDs (and Video CDs with an add-on MPEG video module).[2] The 3DO included the first music visualizer in a game console, converting CD music to a mesmerizing color pattern. The controller was also original for its time; a headphone jack and volume dial was available at the bottom of the initial version.

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Battalion Wars Review

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(More customer reviews)Battalion Wars which is a game that combines strategy and action to the point where it's one of my favorite games.You take the role of a commander and command your battalion from the direct control of a unit.You can order your units to follow you, attack an enemy unit, move to a certain position, defend a designated spot, and much more.You don't have to worry about aiming since you can lock on to enemy units and you can also roll to avoid incoming fire.Each mission puts you in command of a battalion of units and you have to complete certain objectives and secondary objectives such as capturing a capture point or rescuing a group of soldiers.You can change the unit you're controlling whenever you want and you can order individual units at a time.You don't have to worry about ammo except for reloading and your weapon overheating from firing too long.I hate how the game is so short because you can beat it in about 6 hours or so and the missions aren't very long either.But the good part about it is that time really flies by when you're playing through them.One time I started playing at 6:40 and when I was done playing I thought it was 8:00, but I looked up at the clock to find that it was 11:00.The bad part about the game is the imbalance of difficult and easy missions.In campaign the number 2, the first mission is kind of hard if you don't know what to do while the last mission of it is almost impossible to lose.Most of the missions can be beaten by taking a single unit(I mean like a bazooka or mortar veteran) and blowing everything up and this includes the last mission.I would like to see a multi-player in it though.It's short, but a good game and I hope to see a sequel.

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Product Description:
Battalion Wars takes the popular turn-based startegy game, Advance Wars, and brings it to your GameCube. In this fast-paced, 3D, real-time combat game, it's the end of the 21st century and a global conflict has erupted between two superpowers. Their armies are at a standstill, weakened from years of constant battle -- when a despotic warlord makes his move. Weakened and frightened, the two largest superpowers call a truce and unite to face a new threat to them both. That's where you come in. You're an experienced commander leading men of both armies into battle. Can your small force use pluck and guile to overcome the forces of darkness, or will both nations fall under the boot heels of a madman?

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Sega Dreamcast Console Review

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(More customer reviews)I purchased a Sega Dreacast last Christmas and couldn't be happier.The graphics are jaw-dropping and there's a truckload of games, 200 or so by Christmas 2000, some titles like Shenmu, Ecco the Dolphin, and Soul Calibur could be classified as works of art.As an engineer in the hi-tech field I'm always impressed by a design masterpiece, you can be assured I'm impressed with the Dreamcast. Now let's talk about the PS2, I've studied the Dreamcast and the PS2 for over a year by researching numerous design articles on the Internet and unfortunately for Sony, the word is getting out, the PS2 is a bad design.Sony had great plans for a powerhouse machine, but they all fell apart due to a serious design flaw that traumatizes the entire system. Here's the bottom line, the PS2 is severely limited by an anemic 4 MB Video ram memory in the graphics subsystem, this is the pipeline that controls video output to the screen, everything must pass thru this pipeline before it appears on the television.By comparison, the Dreamcast has twice the size of the PS2 pipeline, or 8 MB video ram memory.This still does not tell the complete story, the Dreamcast has a superior graphics engine that makes it's 8 MB pipeline perform more like 10 times the pipeline in the PS2, yes, that's right, I said 10 times.This gives the Dreamcast the ability to produce screen output the PS2 simply cannot match. This probably sounds hard to believe after all the hype you've heard about the PS2, but sadly, it's true.In a nutshell, Sony built a 750 horsepower Ferrari and then fitted it with a Ford Pinto exhaust system.No matter how much power the PS2 engine can deliver, the entire system is choked by the restricted output and software developers are left frantically scrambling trying to work around the problems this causes.Surely you've heard the PS2 is difficult to develop for, this is the main reason why. The results are quite revealing, if you compare the top games on both systems, you'll notice the Dreamcast is at least as good as the PS2 and many time's it's superior.The best example of this lies with two different fighting games, Tekken Tag on the PS2 compared to Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast, both games launched with the respective system.Namco, one of the finest game development companies on the planet, developed both titles.If it was within Namco's power, you can bet they wouldn't let the spanking new Tekken Tag on the PS2 be outshined by the 18-month-old Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast, but that's just what happened.Soul Calibur is a masterpiece that dwarfs Tekken Tag in any comparison.Another good example is EA Sports Madden NFL 2001 for the PS2 compared to NFL 2K1 for the Dreamcast.EA Sports has everything riding on the PS2 and cannot afford to be outdone by the Dreamcast.In direct comparisons, some say Madden NFL 2001 has slightly better graphics than NFL 2K1, but read almost any review you want, even some on Sony biased sights, and NFL 2K1 is the better game. Moving on, some Dreamcast games are thought to be impossible on the PS2, these are Jet Grind Radio, Shenmue, Crazy Taxi, Sonic Adventure, Ecco the Dolphin, and perhaps a few more.These games either have incredible detail and texturing, fast moving free roaming 3D environments, or both.Because it's choked by it's design, detail texture and fast moving free roaming environments are all difficult for the PS2.In other words, some things the Dreamcast can do with ease are near impossibilities for the PS2.Chances are you haven't heard comparisons like these before, but they appear to be true. A few more things to mention if your considering purchasing a new game console, the PS2 can play DVD's, the Dreamcast can't, that may be a selling point to some.On the other hand, the Dreamcast has an ACE up it's sleeve, it's internet ready out of the box and online gaming for the Dreamcast is here, right now, today, no fool' in.How good is online gaming on the Dreamcast? I've heard nothing but praise and worship for SegaNet, they use a system that reduces lag over an analog modem that makes an opponent across country seem like he's playing in you living room.In the online department Sony has completely botched up, Sega has a much better plan in place and Sony will never fully catch up. One last point, the PS2 plays old Playstation games with the same quality as the Playstation, a certain selling point.On the Sega side, a new software product called Bleem! will give the Dreamcast the ability to play around 400 Playstation games thru emulation, with 4X the screen resolution, graphics filtering, and jagged edge removal that the Sony machines can't accomplish.The Dreamcast will be a better Playstaion than the PS2, even a better Playstation than the Playstation itself. In conclusion, if you're a Sony fan and you don't mind the high price, go ahead and buy a PS2, the games will get better as developers master the system.The PS2 is an adequate machine and will be a smashing success with the following Sony already has, it's just not the revolution in console gaming that all the hype predicted.Now, if you think you want a PS2 because it's a superior machine, forget the hype, save yourself some money and go buy a Dreamcast, you won't be disappointed.The PS2 is vastly overrated and over-hyped, the Dreamcast is underrated and it's time for the truth to even up the score.Lastly, if you are a budget conscious consumer, buy a Dreamcast over a PSone anyday, it's 10X better.... Bottom line, the Dreamcast is a masterpiece of design engineering and it easily rivals the PS2, in many ways it's the superior machine, much to Sony's dismay.

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Super Mario Bros. 2 Review

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(More customer reviews)While many consider this the black sheep of the Super Mario Bros series on the NES, this game is actually my favorite on the bunch.The world is nothing like the world of the other Mario games, and the enemies and bosses and goal is different.This is a quest to defeat Boss Wart (instead of Bowser) and you have the options of playing as one of four characters (with the ability to switch every level): Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Toad.Each of these characters have different play characteristics.Toad can pick up any object with no difficulty but is the worst jumper.Princess is the opposite (no strength, but can float).Luigi has the best jump (no float), but that becomes its own problem.Mario is perfectly average.These strengths and weaknesses come into play in choosing who to use for each level and some are clearly better than others on any given level. Even though I found this game to be the easiest of the bunch, for me it was also the most fun.This is still a side-scrolling game, but some levels scroll up and down on the screen (keeping the side-scrolling viewpoint, though) depending on if you are climbing or dropping down.There are shortcuts in many levels and different ways to warp, get extra lives (including an odd cheat for extra lives), or to shorten the game.In the end, there are a couple of difficult levels, but this may be the easiest of the three on the NES.Even so, this is my favorite of all of the Super Mario games on the NES.

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Product Description:
GREAT GAME. SUPER MARIO BROTHERS PART 2 FOR NES NINTENDO. ALL-TIME CLASSIC. A MUST FOR ANY TRUE HARDCORE GAMER, COLLECTOR OR GAME PLAYER. LOTS OF FUN. HERE IS SOME MINOR INFO ON THE GAME. Players choose from four characters each time they start or restart a level: Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Peach. Each has a special ability: Luigi can jump very high, the Princess can remain temporarily suspended in the air as if she were levitating, Toad can pick up things quickly and is very agile, and Mario is well-balanced in all areas. This is the only original Super Mario game where Princess Peach is not the damsel-in-distress along with being the first playable female character in a Mario game. In future Mario games in which multiple characters were playable, with the exception of Mario Golf, Mario would always be the most balanced character. A unique ability in this game is the "power squat"; by holding Down on the control pad for a few seconds, players could build power for higher jumps. One of the game's most defining aspect is the ability to pluck vegetables from the ground to throw at enemies; these vegetables reappear in Super Smash Bros. Melee as one of Peach's special attacks.

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