Sonic The Hedgehog Developer: SEGA Publisher: SEGA Platforms: iPhone (reviewed), iPad Release Date: May 16th, 2013 Price: $2.99 – Available Here
Overview
There are many games that have seen remakes on the mobile platform to great success. SEGA recently did it with The House of the Dead: Overkill – Lost Reels. Naturally one could only expect SEGA to bring the blue blazer himself to mobile devices and they have already done so with Sonic Dash and Sonic Jump. So how does SEGA fair at reviving Sonic’s first outing on the iOS?
Gameplay Sonic The Hedgehog is a game that took platforming to new heights and new speeds. With an emphasis on speed, gamer’s were enchanted by Sonic The Hedgehog. Unfortunately with this iOS remake, while being a very affectionate tribute to the legendary title, it just doesn’t keep up with the original.
This version of Sonic The Hedgehog is essentially the original game ported with a few additions. The game is of course completely controlled by touch for example and there in lies the game’s biggest issue, it just doesn’t control well. With two on-screen controls, one for moving Sonic and the other to make him jump, it shouldn’t be too difficult to maneuver throughout the levels but it really is due to some poor response to the input. If you can get used to the touchy controls though you will be fine. Due to the control issues however it can feel at times that the sense of speed that comes with Sonic games is lost on this version, which is a shame.
Other than the control issues, this game is very much Sonic The Hedgehog, it is identical in nearly every way but it features some nice little extras which are sure to excite fans such as Tails and Knuckles being playable characters after being unlocked.
At the end of the day however, this is Sonic The Hedgehog as you always knew it. You can do time attack, partake in the leaderboards to compete with others and of course play through with the alternate characters. It is a nice little tribute to the original, but is unfortunately held back by nagging control issues. It is ultimately just a fun little trip down memory lane, it is Sonic as you have always known it, whether that is worth the price of admission is up to you to decide.
Visuals and Audio
As the game starts up you are greeted by a delightful 3D model of a mega drive case and cartridge for the game, this really sets the tone for what to expect from this title. It is retro in all regards and wears that as a badge of honour. There is no alterations to the original visuals of Sonic The Hedgehog, but it hasn’t aged a day. It is vibrant, inviting and very charming. The aesthetic still works wonders even in this day and age.
The soundtrack is likewise retained from the original game which is of course a good thing for fans of the legendary music of Sonic. It goes without saying that Sonic The Hedgehog is well known for featuring incredible music and this release serves as an excellent reminder of that.
Overall
If you are looking for a nostalgia kick then maybe Sonic The Hedgehog for mobile is worth a look-in. But if you have never played the classic original, this is not the place to start. The control scheme just doesn’t compare to the original game’s slicker and smoother controls. There is a fair amount of fun to be had here however if you are a willing to give it a go. What more really needs to be said? It’s Sonic The Hedgehog. This is far from a necessary port but it is also far from a bad port. It isn’t as fast as it once was but it’s still worth a spin.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Welcome to another episode of CC Indie Spotlight with Senior Editor Jamie Laike Tsui where we demo the latest and greatest of indie gaming.
Today we are featuring Hamlet or the Last Game Without MMORPG Features, Shaders, and Product Placements for Windows PC. It is a light hearted adventure game based on the characters of William Shakespeare’s famous play Hamlet. This point and click adventure will test players’ logic skills. The graphics look like they came out of a child’s storybook, matching the classic damsel in distress plot.
Hamlet is available on Steam for $4.99 USD. Want to learn more about the game? Check out our review for more information about Hamlet.
Double Eleven is excited to announce the development of the popular indie game LIMBO for Playdead on PlayStation Vita, to be released June 4 in North America and June 5 in the U.K and Europe! Since the original release ofLIMBO in 2010 on Xbox 360, the artistic platformer has also transgressed to PS3 and Steam and was selected 2012’s ‘Best Indie Game’ in the PSN Gamers’ Choice Awards.
The COO at Double Eleven, Mark South stated “LIMBO for us is the gaming equivalent of a priceless painting. Rarely do all the right ingredients come together in the industry to allow for the creation of a game like LIMBO, as it did for Playdead. We feel truly honoured to be the first external developer to work on LIMBO, and bring it to the PlayStation Vita”.
Shahid Ahmad, Senior Business Development Manager for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe commented, “Having the first mobile version of LIMBO on PlayStation Vita is part of our enduring commitment to ensure it has a strong, competitive catalogue of quality titles. Both Playdead and Double Eleven have shown a tremendous amount of energy and attention to detail in re-creating the PS3 experience on PlayStation Vita.”
Find your copy of the PS Vita version of LIMBO this week for only $14.99!
After 4 years of portraying the eccentric 11th incarnation of The Doctor, Matt Smith will be leaving Doctor Who after regenerating into the 12th Doctor in this year’s upcoming Christmas special.
Matt Smith’s tenure as The 11th Doctor has equaled that of David Tennant who portrayed the 10th Doctor also for 4 years. Don’t fret however Whovians, Matt Smith still has two specials left in him; the 50th Anniversary special which will see the return of David Tennant as the 10th Doctor alongside Matt Smith’s 11th Doctor, the other special of course being the Christmas swan-song for Smith.
Smith commented on his departure from Doctor Who through BBC’s official website:
Doctor Who has been the most brilliant experience for me as an actor and a bloke, and that largely is down to the cast, crew and fans of the show. I’m incredibly grateful to all the cast and crew who work tirelessly every day, to realize all the elements of the show and deliver Doctor Who to the audience. Many of them have become good friends and I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved over the last four years. Having Steven Moffat as showrunner write such varied, funny, mind-bending and brilliant scripts has been one of the greatest and most rewarding challenges of my career. It’s been a privilege and a treat to work with Steven, he’s a good friend and will continue to shape a brilliant world for the Doctor.
The fans of Doctor Who around the world are unlike any other; they dress up, shout louder, know more about the history of the show (and speculate more about the future of the show) in a way that I’ve never seen before, your dedication is truly remarkable. Thank you so very much for supporting my incarnation of the Time Lord, number Eleven, who I might add is not done yet, I’m back for the 50th anniversary and the Christmas special! It’s been an honor to play this part, to follow the legacy of brilliant actors, and helm the TARDIS for a spell with ‘the ginger, the nose and the impossible one.’ But when ya gotta go, ya gotta go and Trenzalore calls. Thank you guys. Matt.
It is certainly sad to see Matt Smith hang up his bow-tie, but it is also very exciting to know that we will see a new Doctor this year. So for now stay tuned for more information on the upcoming departure of Matt Smith and introduction of a new Doctor as it comes to light. I tip my fez to you Matt Smith, it has been one hell of a ride.
I am going to start this by saying that I am by no means an avid race fan. I don’t stay up until 3am to watch the big race, and I have never dreamed about sitting in an F1 Racer. That being said, I didn’t hate Grid 2 and in fact found it quite enjoyable for what it is; a good racing game for racing fans. There are a few issues with the game that stop it from taking the leap forward to being one of those truly great racing sims.
Story
I was pleasantly surprised with the campaign for Grid 2. I jumped in expecting nothing more than a loose threat to tie together a few races, but what I got was far from that. You start your racing career as an amateur, doing street races for cash before you are scouted by a rich petrol-head who is looking to start up his own racing league, the WSR. His dream is to create a league filled with the best drivers from all over the world and from all racing disciplines to determine who truly is the best in the world. You are selected to help start the WSR and it is your job to traverse the world, taking part in race meets for the various clubs in order to entice their best drivers and their loyal fans over to the WSR. Each of the club you participate in has a different, specialty style of racing for you to try out and dominate.
As you improve as a driver and gain a following as a global racing celebrity, you also help the WSR gain prestige and prominence within the racing community. Over the game’s 30+ hour campaign, you are shown your rise to fame, as people search YouTube for your races, text one another and discuss on message boards the future of the WSR. This gives the player a feel of being a racing superstar from their very own home.
The story narrative is also tied together by segments of ESPN’s SportsCenter. The clips were filmed in the SportsCenter studio with anchor Kevin Connors and international Motor Sports analyst Toby Moody. The segments are nicely made and add a sense of realism to the whole package that is Grid 2. Several times, I had forgotten that the WSR was a fictional league.
Gameplay
Grid 2 is a racing simulator first and foremost. It isn’t an arcade-style racer like Need for Speed or outlandish like Twisted Metal or Carmageddon. Due to this, Grid 2 will only really appeal to a very small section of the market. However, Codemasters know that the game’s niche is those people who stay up until 3am to watch the Grand Prix, and the die hard driving sim fanatics who are always looking for something new. With that in mind, Grid 2 offers up a lot for those people, with enough depth and variety to keep them coming back.
The game has no less than seven distinct race modes, ranging from your typical 12 car race, through to drifting events, time-trials and the timeless video game classic; checkpoint racing. These different race modes are littered throughout the game’s 30+ hour campaign and because of this you usually aren’t doing an event often enough to become bored of it. The only exception to that I found is the standard race race. The standard race was a part of the events for every club regardless of their specialty, and in comparison to the other events they just felt dry and almost like a chore.
The game is filled with a large number of race tracks from all around the globe. Racing enthusists will be happy because any of these are officially licensed tracks that the Codemasters team have painstakingly recreated down to the smallest detail. It is a great touch and one that will have anyone who has ever dreamed about getting behind the wheel of a million dollar racing machine excited. Yet surprisingly, as you progress through the campaign, you find yourself racing through the same tracks over and over again. It helps when it comes to memorising the twists, turns and when you should be spinning into a drift, but at the same time it can quickly grow tiresome seeing the same backdrop and racing the same tracks over and over again.
One of the methods Grid 2 tries to alleviate the feeling of repetition the use of LiveRoutes. LiveRoutes are dynamically changing courses that make for unpredictable racing. The track can change in pivotal points and have you going down roads and paths that you have never seen before. For the most part it is a great feature, especially as it removes the mini-map from the game’s HUD forcing you to think on the fly and rely only on your instincts and what you can see instead of track-memory. The sad part is that no matter of dynamically changing tracks can distract me from the fact that I am still driving around the same streets over and over again.
During Single-Player, for those instances where you take a turn too sharply and end up against a wall, or spin out of control and careen over a cliff, there is a feature that I like to call the “Oops Button” (actually I call it something much worse but I wont print it here). What the Oops Button does is it lets you rewind time so that you can attempt to take a corner again or move out of the way of a car that is going to rear-end you. With limited uses in each race, the feature becomes helpful without breaking the game’s balance. That isn’t to say that the feature isn’t without its issues. Sometimes as you go rewind time it may be difficult to determine where in turn you made the mistake that caused you to go nose first into a guard rail, and as such returning to the game too early can result in a serious case of deja-vu – costing you one of your limited uses and having gotten you no where.
The multiplayer of Grid 2 almost feels like a completely separate game that just shares the same space as the single player. None of your skills or unlockable vehicles transfer between the campaign and multiplayer. This definitely has its ups and downs a key plus being that it creates fairness and equality among players, where you don’t have any distinct advantage over someone just because you beat the campaign and they didn’t. On the flip side is that some of the unlockables come in the form of livery options, and having to reach level 5 just to use green paint is a little more than frustrating, especially if you are like me and spent the majority of the single-player game with the same design.
Aside from a few hiccups like that, Grid 2’s multiplayer is well-defined and unique from other racers, largely due to RaceNet. RaceNet is an online service that is free to join and provides you with a plethora of features that are otherwise unavailable. These features include weekly challenges that you can compete asynchronously against your friends or strangers on the leaderboards. In addition, RaceNet keeps careful tabs on your driving skill, style (if you are a clean driver or a bully on the road) and a whole set of other stats to ensure that when you are in matchmade games, you are racing against players similar to yourself. The only problem I really had with RaceNet’s style of match-ups was that it considered me a racer who likes to “Trade paint” and play rough, when in reality I really did try to race clean… I am just a terrible, terrible driver and should not be allowed behind the wheel of a Dodge Charger.
Visuals
Grid 2 is for the most part quite a pleasant game to look at, with car models that match their real-world counterparts down to the smallest details. It is impressive the amount of work that Codemasters have put into these models, and as you look at them in your garage and out on the track, you can unmistakably recognise makes and models.
I have to take a moment here to discuss the camera angles. There was a lot of buzz leading up to this game’s release about the removal of the racing-game standard interior camera view. Codemasters in their production of this game chose to remove some elements in order to increase the graphical fidelity of the game, and they opted to remove the interior camera because less than 5% of players across their other racing titles used it. I for one don’t think that this detracts from the game at all. The game’s three camera angles; bonnet view, bumper view, and third-person are all great and provide players with enough choice to tailor to their play styles. The bonnet view was my go-to camera angle as it offers a nice wide viewing angle and you can still see far enough down the track that you are never surprised by an upcoming turn, always seeing it well ahead of time and preparing accordingly.
The detail on cars during the race was quite nice, with metallic and glossy paints reflecting the scenery around them. Unfortunately, ss your car takes damage (which mine always took plenty of) you may lose the hood of your car and be treated to a view of its engine. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, the engines themselves were blocky, pixelated and had low-resolution textures, that not only did they feel like an afterthought, but they can severely detract from the immersion of the game.
You are able to customise your car’s design and livery to an insane amount. The game offers over 50 patterns, 5 different types of paint, a bunch of colours and over 40 wheels to choose from, so the list of what you can create is nearly endless. Codemasters boasts that the number of possible combinations exceeds 6 billion. After you have meticulously created the perfect design for your racing beauty, you can pick and choose your sponsors (or lack thereof) and where you want their logos on your car. The sponsor logos are much like the engines in that they are often pixelated, of a low-resolution and just blurry when out on the track. This becomes especially noticeable when using bonnet view as the logos will often take up a large portion of the bottom of your screen.
The tracks themselves are meticulously designed and many are recreated from real-life areas. The detail and beauty of some of these backdrops is absolutely stunning. Driving through Paris at night with fireworks in the sky and the Eiffel Tower in the distance is a sight to behold and one that can quickly have you driving into a wall because you weren’t paying attention to the road. While the background stuff is immaculate, there are some issues with the foreground, with some guard-rails, audience members, trees and cliff faces having a lower resolution and could quite easily be distracting, however you are usually zipping past them so quickly you wont often notice.
Audio
If Grid 2 has any areas true areas of weakness it is its audio. As it tried to be as close to the real thing as it can while still remaining accessible, the audio isn’t flashy or engaging as many other racers. Instead of ambient music tracks, the most you will usually hear is the rev of your engine or the sound of tires skidding along the road. While some of these sounds are near-perfect, others really feel bland and uninspired.
As you would imagine, one of the game’s primary sounds is of your car engine humming away as your hurtled down the streets at over 200km/h. I was disappointed in the sound as to me it didn’t sound like the powerful engines I was expecting out of these cars. I even had to pause my game several times while playing because I wasn’t sure if the sounds were coming from the car, or from my neighbour’s electric table-saw. It turned out about 50% of the time to be the table-saw. When I’m in a Mustang, I want to hear the engine roar with power and authority, not to have it sound like a simple power-tool.
Through the races, you will have the disembodied voice of your race-coach in your head reminding you about which position you are in, telling you to ease off the aggression (I heard that one a lot), and making sure to remind you that you hit a wall (just in case you didn’t see part of your car fly off). Having a race-coach in your ear is a great addition and really adds to the feel of the game, but he can quickly grow repetitive and is occasionally slow to react. Often times I was being told that I could overtake someone to get to third place when I had already made it to second.
The last thing I want to touch on regarding the game’s audio is the music. Music really only appears in menus is sparsely ever heard during an actual race. For people who want to be completely immersed in the feel of being a multimillionaire racing superstar it may work well but for me the lack of music just made me hate the sound of my engine all the more.
Overall
Grid 2 is a game that has a lot to offer for fans of sports racing, and of driving simulators. While there is nothing there for people who aren’t fans of the genre, the incredible amount of content from its thirty hour campaign to its wide variety of racing styles and its RaceNet focused multiplayer, it offers plenty for the avid driving fanatic. If you have ever dreamed about getting behind the wheel of a Touring Car and hurtling down Miami at near 300km/h this is definitely a game for you. A few nagging visual and audio problems are what really hold this game back and keep it in the realm of a good racer instead of a great one.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Steam is picking up the pace, Greenlighting four games and one application. The titles will be available in the coming weeks and months when the respective developers are ready to post their title.
Ohm Studio is the lone Greenlit app. It is a digital audio creation suite that allows musicians to collaborate while maintaining professional quality sound. The collaborating musicians don’t even need to live in the same country to work together with Ohm Studio.
FRACT OSC is an exploration game heavily inspired by Myst, Tron, electronica, and synthesizers. Players will explore an abstract world and solve music inspired puzzles. The game also features music creation tools that allow gamers to exercise their creative sides.
Haunt is a first person horror game inspired by the Slenderman genre. It is an artistic take on a popular indie horror genre.
Inquisitor is a action RPG that has been in development for the last 10 years. The game features three classes, 90 different monsters, over 200 weapons, 80 spells, and over a hundred hours of gameplay.
Rogue Legacy is a rogue like platformer. Although a character has only one life, they can pass their abilities down to their children, eventually creating powerful legacies. The game is procedurally generated and will be available soon on Steam.
Xenonauts, the spiritual successor to the classic XCOM games, is now available through Steam’s Early Access program. It is a turn based tactical strategy game where players will do battle against invading aliens. A Cold War era alliance of armies from around the world are at the player’s disposal as they defend bases and fight off the extra terrestrial threat
Xenonauts was successfully Kickstarted last June, bringing in more than three times the asking goal. The game features are almost all complete, the developers are currently working on balancing and polishing up the final art assets. Buyers should be aware that major updates will render old saves obsolete. Brave alpha testers can purchase the game for $19.99 USD on Steam. The game is available for Windows only.
Hello Trainers! Welcome to yet another edition of CC Unplugged. This week, Dustin Spencer, Luke Halliday, Travis Bruno, Frank Inglese, and Kane Bugeja have come together to celebrate one of the greatest video game franchises of all time. If you haven’t guessed by the title, we’re talking Pokemon here. In this episode, we speak about the game franchise, spin-offs, and even the anime, as we go around and share our memories from it all. Yes, this is one nostalgic podcast – and one all of you Pokemon fans should tune into.
Grab your Pokedex, tell your friends, and prepare to get UNPLUGGED!
Special Mention to our partners over at Razer, us here at Capsule Computers are geared by gamers, for gamers. Check them out on Twitter and Official Website.
Indie developers Games Foundry’s humorous fantasy city builder is now available on Steam through the Early Access program. Players will manage a town full peasants and heroes as they carve out a spot of land into a thriving city. Ruling is tough, so players can choose the moral high road, the road to damnation, or anything in between. However, the Slavemaster Urzal is right around the corner, looking to sow chaos and acquire some new… merchandise.
Folk Talk is available on Steamfor $19.99 USD. This price includes access to the alpha as it is developed, the full completed game and major patches after said completed release. The developers are currently working on finishing the sandbox mode. A story based campaign tutorial and some gameplay elements are currently available. Folk Talk runs on Mac and Windows PCs.
Indie developer Rain Games announced announced today that their newest game, Teslagrad, will be making its way to the PlayStation 3.
Teslagrad is a sidescrolling puzzle platformer where magnetism and electromagnetic powers are the key to solving the world’s challenges. Players will have to work through the long abandoned Tesla Tower, where they’ll gain new abilities as they explore the non-linear world. The game features more than 100 gorgeous hand-drawn environments, setting the game in an old Europe inspired by steampunk themes. Armed with ancient Teslamancer technology, you’ll unravel a plot filled with ancient conspiracy, despotic kings, and more.
Features for the game include:
Complex Puzzles – Put your sense of logic to the test and cleverly manipulate the world around you using electricity and magnetism, the lifeblood of the game. Puzzles will range from “pff, that wasn’t so bad” to keyboard-smashing, controller-chewing frustration.
Explore – Make your way through rich 2D hand-drawn surroundings as you journey into — and beyond— Tesla Tower, as you discover and use amazing new items.
Visual Storytelling – Tired of all those words in your video games? Have no fear, Teslagrad features not a single snippet of text or squeak of dialogue. Everything is purely visual, and the entire story is told through what you see (and sometimes what you don’t see).
Steampunk powered – Discover a dystopic and mind-blowing rainy-and-brainy setting, presenting a steampunk vision of an old Europe-inspired new world.
Old-school boss fights – Use your skills and wits to overcome the 5 incredible final bosses eager to demagnetize you.
No disruptions – That means no loading screens, no GUI, no cutscenes. Just the game and you.
Mesmerizing soundtrack – Awesome mix of classical orchestra, with a touch of Russian inspiration and a myriad of metal bit and electrical stuff.
For more information, you can check out Rain Games’ official website here. Also be sure to head over to Steam Greenlight and vote for them here.
