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| | The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is an action-adventure video game developed by Nintendo's Entertainment Analysis and Development division for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It was released in Japan on November 21, 1998; in North America on November 23, 1998; and in Europe on December 11, 1998. Originally developed for the Nintendo 64DD peripheral, the game was instead released on a 256-megabit cartridge, which was the largest-capacity cartridge Nintendo produced at that time.
Ocarina of Time is the fifth game in The Legend of Zelda series in terms of release date, but is set before the first four games. The player controls the series' trademark protagonist, Link, in the land of Hyrule. Link sets out on a quest to stop Ganondorf, King of the Gerudo, from obtaining the Triforce, a sacred relic that grants the wishes of its holder. Link travels through time and navigates various dungeons to awaken sages who have the power to seal Ganondorf. Music plays an important role-to progress, the player must learn to play and perform several songs on an ocarina.
Ocarina of Time's gameplay system introduced features such as a target lock system and context-sensitive buttons that became common elements in 3D adventure games. In Japan, it sold over 800,000 copies in 1998, becoming the tenth-best-selling game of that year. During its lifetime, Ocarina of Time sold 1.14 million copies in Japan, becoming the 128th-best-selling game of all time, and has sold over 7.6 million copies worldwide. The title won the Grand Prize in the Interactive Art division at the Japan Media Arts Festival, won six honors at the 2nd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, and received universal critical acclaim, with two online review aggregators still ranking it as the best scoring game ever reviewed. Ocarina of Time has since been regarded by many critics and fans as one of the greatest video games of all time.
GAMEPLAY
Ocarina of Time is an action-adventure game with role-playing and puzzle elements. The player controls Link from a third-person perspective in a three-dimensional space. Link primarily fights with a sword and shield; he can also use projectile weapons, bombs, and magic spells. The control scheme introduced techniques such as context-sensitive actions and a targeting system called "Z-targeting" In combat, Z-targeting allows the player to have Link focus and latch onto an enemy or other objects. When using this technique, the camera follows the target and Link constantly faces it. Projectile attacks are automatically directed at the target and do not require manual aiming.
DEVELOPEMENT
First shown as a technical demo at Nintendo's Space World trade show in December 1995, Ocarina of Time was developed concurrently with Super Mario 64 by Nintendo's EAD division. Both were the first free-roaming 3D game in their respective series. Nintendo planned to release Super Mario 64 as a launch game for the Nintendo 64 and later release Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo 64DD, a disk drive peripheral for the system. Nintendo eventually decided to release Ocarina of Time on a cartridge instead and follow it with a 64DD expansion. At 32 megabytes, it was the largest game Nintendo had created.
Shigeru Miyamoto was the principal director of Super Mario 64, but was a producer of Ocarina of Time, in charge of several directors. The development crew involved over 120 people, including stuntmen used to capture the effects of sword fighting and Link's movement. Ocarina of Time originally ran on the same engine as Super Mario 64, but was so heavily modified that designer Shigeru Miyamoto considers the final products entirely different engines. One major difference between the two is camera control. The player has much control over the camera in Super Mario 64, but the camera in Ocarina of Time is largely controlled by the game's AI. Miyamoto says the camera controls for Ocarina of Time are intended to reflect a focus on the game's world, whereas those of Super Mario 64 are centered on the character of Mario.
MUSIC
Ocarina of Time's music was composed by Koji Kondo, the composer in charge of music for the Zelda series since the first game. In addition to characters having musical themes, areas of Hyrule are also associated with pieces of music. This has been called leitmotif in reverse-instead of music announcing an entering character, it now introduces a stationary environment as the player approaches. In some locations, the music is a variation of an ocarina tune the player learns, related to that area. Beyond providing a backdrop for the setting, music plays an integral role in gameplay. The game is cited as the "first contemporary nondance title to feature music-making as part of its gameplay" The popularity of Ocarina of Time led to an increase in ocarina sales.
Info above from wikipedia.com
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PaRappa the Rapper, also known as "PaRappaRappa", and "PaRappa the Rappa" is a rhythm video game for the Sony PlayStation created by Masaya Matsuura (the former leader of the Japanese "Hyper Pop Unit" PSY S) and his NanaOn-Sha company. Released in Japan on December 6, 1996, followed by releases in North America on October 31, 1997 and Europe in September 1998, it was one of the first rhythm video games. While the gameplay is simplistic on a certain level, the game is remembered for its unique graphic design, its quirky soundtrack, and its bizarre plot. Despite being made in Japan, all of the game's songs and dialogue are spoken in English in all versions. The game is named after its protagonist, Parappa, a rapping dog, with the motto "I gotta believe!".
GAMEPLAY
Considered ahead of its time in its day, PaRappa the Rapper is somewhat similar to the classic 1980s game Simon, in which the player is required to repeat a sequence of sounds and buttons. PaRappa the Rapper demands that the player not only get the sequence correct but also the timing of the sequence, in a call and response format. The game provides small portions of spoken vocals that are triggered when the appropriate buttons are pressed. Pressing the buttons in the correct order, with the correct timing, provides an intelligible imitation of the words spoken by the character; pressing the buttons in an incorrect order or with incorrect timing rewards the player with nothing more than unintelligible gibberish.
PLOT
The player takes on the role of Parappa, a paper-thin rapping dog. Parappa is Japanese for "Paper Thin". He is trying to win the heart of a flower-like girl named Sunny Funny. He is aided by his friends Katy Kat (an enthusiastic cat) and PJ Berri (a fat teddy bear DJ with a huge appetite). Also vying for Sunny Funny's attention is Parappa's arch rival Joe Chin, a rich, narcissistic dog.
To impress Sunny Funny, Parappa learns to fight at a kung-fu dojo, and takes a driver's education course to get his license. However when he crashes his Dad's car, he has to earn money at a flea market to pay for it. When Sunny's birthday comes up, Parappa has to get cake, but ends up ruining it after an encounter with Joe. He makes a new one by watching a cooking show, and proceeds to eat a lot of it on the day. When spending some time alone with Sunny, he is suddenly overcome with the need to go to the bathroom. Parappa has to rap against his previous senseis in order to get to the front of the line to the toilet.
Then one night, Parappa is invited to Club Fun, and asks Sunny to go with him, which she agrees. Parappa then raps on stage with everybody, rapping solo at the end of the song and expressing his feelings for Sunny.
Main cast
- Parappa the Rapper - The hero of the game, trying to impress the love of his life. He motivates himself out of problems with his catchphrase, "I Gotta Believe!"
- Sunny Funny - Parappa's love interest, who generally has a cheery disposition. She appears to be most impressed with Parappa when he needs the bathroom.
- PJ Berri - A lazy bear who loves to eat. He works as a DJ at Club Fun.
- Katy Kat - Parappa's friend who enjoys disco and will generally try to keep things organised.
- Joe Chin - A pompous rich guy who goes to extravagant lengths to woo Sunny. Sunny is generally disinterested in him, but Parappa sees him as a threat.
- Papa Parappa - Parappa's father, whose car ends up getting taken, and crashed, by Parappa ten minutes after he gets his driving license.
Teachers
- Chop Chop Master Onion - An onion sensei, who teaches students karate in his dojo. He is distinctedly memorable for his moustache and 'stink lines'.
- Instructor Mooselini - A strict driving instructor whose antlers have a habit of getting caught on the car roof. She has a sister who appears in PaRappa the Rapper 2.
- Prince Fleaswallow - A frog who rules over the flea market, and helps Parappa earn money to replace his Dad's car that he crashed.
- Cheap Cheap the Cooking Chicken - A chicken who hosts a cooking show for people with little money. She is somehow able to get out of the TV to tell off the viewers if they're messing up.
- MC King Kong Mushi - A flea who hosts wild parties at Club Fun that get the whole crowd going.
Info above from wikipedia.com
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| | Sonic Jam is a video game for the Sega Saturn and Game.com. The Saturn version is a compilation of titles in the Sonic the Hedgehog series originally released on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. It was released in Japan on June 20, 1997, in North America on July 31, 1997 and in Europe during the month of August 28 1997.
Content
It includes the main Mega Drive/Genesis anthology (including Sonic & Knuckles and its lock-ons); Sonic Spinball, Sonic 3D Blast, and Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine are not featured. The compilation also includes a 3D "Sonic World", which allows players to access virtual museums featuring Sonic the Hedgehog history, art, music and advertisements, as well as remastered and uncut animation sequences from Sonic CD. Sonic World functioned as both a hub for the extras and as its own game, utilizing missions such as ring-collecting, reaching markers, or finding Tails. Completing all the missions would unlock the credits for Sonic Jam.
Games included in this collection are:
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2
- Sonic the Hedgehog 3
- Sonic & Knuckles
Furthermore, by selecting Sonic & Knuckles, the player can use the "lock-on technology" from its original cartridge version in order to link up to the other three games in the collection, making the following games also playable:
- Sonic 3 & Knuckles
- Knuckles in Sonic 2
- Blue Sphere
Sonic Jam also included customized versions of the games, with redesigned levels with varying levels of difficulty. When played in "Original" mode, the games are identical to their original Mega Drive/Genesis releases. "Normal" difficulty adds extra rings and alters other aspects of the design to remove some of the challenge (these versions of the levels are used when playing Sonic Jam's Time Attack feature). "Easy" difficulty removes certain stages entirely, making the game much easier to complete.
Also implemented into Sonic Jam was the option to use Sonic's signature move, the Spin Dash in Sonic the Hedgehog (on any of the above difficulties); originally, it did not debut until Sonic 2. There were also fixes of some glitches, particularly in Sonic 3. The games were not simply direct emulations like in later compilations, but rather elaborate ports to utilize the Saturn hardware.
According to the Sonic City website, Sonic World is a test level for what eventually became Sonic Adventure.
Info above from wikipedia.com
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Star Fox 64, known in Australia and Europe as Lylat Wars because of trademark issues, is a scrolling shooter video game for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It was released on April 27, 1997 in Japan, on July 1, 1997 in North America and on October 20, 1997 in Europe and Australia.
GAMEPLAY
In Star Fox 64, the player controls one of the vehicles piloted by Fox McCloud, usually an Arwing, as it travels on a fixed-rail that generally moves straight forward. The player's vehicle can be maneuvered around the screen to dodge obstacles and shoot incoming enemies with laser cannons, and can also perform a somersault to get behind enemies or dodge projectiles. All vehicles, except the Blue Marine, can also charge up their laser cannons to unleash a powerful lock-on laser.
Returning from the original Star Fox game are wingmen that fly beside the player in Arwings and are sometimes pursued into the player's field of view by enemies. The longer it takes the player to save the wingmen the more damage they will take, eventually leading to that wingman retreating to the Great Fox for repairs. If one of the wingmen has returned to the Great Fox, that wingman cannot help the player in the next mission, but returns after that. If kept in the game, each character can provide support for Fox. For example, Slippy can show the life bar of a boss character, Peppy can provide useful in-game tips at points and Falco Lombardi can help open up routes to harder levels. Throughout the game, other minor characters, such as Fox's old friend Bill or Falco's friend Katt, appear to help the team in different wayssituations.
Among Star Fox 64's features is the in-game sampled voice speech that replaced the chatter from the original game. However, the original chatter, referred to as "Lylat" in the language option-screen, can be enabled in the PAL version, though the feature is not in the Japanese and American NTSC versions. The game relies much more heavily on dialogue than the original, and together with the cinematic sequences, they drive the story forward.
MULTIPLAYER
Star Fox 64 features multiplayer support for up to four players simultaneously. At first users can only play using the Arwing spaceship, but by earning certain medals in Story Mode, players can unlock the Landmaster tank, as well as the option to fight on foot as one of the four members of Star Fox equipped with a bazooka.
VEHICLES
- The Airwing: is the primary craft used by the Star Fox team. It is a spacecraft armed with one standard laser (which can be upgraded to twin or hyper lasers) and is capable of firing Smart Bombs which help clear the area of enemy craft.
- Landmaster: is a tank-like vehicle only used on two levels in the entire game, MacBeth and Titania.
- The Blue Marine: a submarine designed by Slippy Toad, can only be used on Aquas, which houses a primarily aquatic environment.
Info above from wikipedia.com
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| | Final Fantasy Tactics is a tactical role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) for the Sony PlayStation video game console. It was released in Japan in June 1997 and in the United States in January 1998. The game combines thematic elements of the Final Fantasy video game series with a game engine and battle system unlike those previously seen in the franchise. In contrast to other 32-bit era Final Fantasy titles, Final Fantasy Tactics uses a 3D, isometric, rotatable playing field, with bitmap sprite characters.
The game is set in a fictional kingdom called Ivalice, which has just ended its war with the neighboring kingdom of Ordalia. The story follows Ramza Beoulve, a young cadet who finds himself thrust into the middle of a conflict, where two noble factions are coveting the throne of the kingdom.[2] While the war was caused by a conflict of succession, Ramza was exposed to a plot that involved the kingdom's dominant religious organization.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay of Final Fantasy Tactics differs in several key areas from other titles in the Final Fantasy series. Instead of a generic battle screen, with the player's characters on one side and the enemies on the other, encounters take place on three-dimensional, isometric fields. Characters move on a battlefield composed of square tiles; movement and action ranges are determined by the character's aptitude and job class. Battles are turn-based; a unit may act when its CT (Charge Time) reaches 100. Charge time is increased once every CT unit (a measure of time in battles) by an amount equal to the unit's speed statistic. When CT reaches 100 or greater, the unit may act. During battle, whenever a unit performs an action successfully, it gains Experience Points (EXP) and Job Points (JP).
DEVELOPMENT
Final Fantasy Tactics was produced mostly by the team that made Ogre Battle and Tactics Ogre, and was Yasumi Matsuno's first project with Square following his departure from Quest in 1995. In an interview with Akito Inoue, an assistant professor at the International University of Japan, Inoue mentions that Final Fantasy Tactics was made because of how casual gamers are usually put off by games with branching storylines found in other Matsuno's titles such as Tactics Ogre.
AUDIO
The game's soundtrack is composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata, both of whom later collaborated to compose music for Stella Deus and Final Fantasy XII. Matsuno approached his long time friends Sakimoto and Iwata to compose the music soon after the initial release of Final Fantasy VII. Sakimoto composed 47 tracks for the game, and Iwata was left to compose the other 24. The orchestral nature of the game's music was made possible using synthesizing operated by the synthesizer operator Katsutoshi Kashiwabara and sound programming Hidenori Suzuki.
Info above from wikipedia.com
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Doom 64 is a video game for the Nintendo 64 released by Midway Games in 1997. It is part of the Doom first-person shooter video game series.
PLOT
Following the conclusion of the original Doom series, the sole Marine who survived the horrors of hell had returned to Earth, reclaiming it from the invasion that almost eradicated the human race. Demons still lingered within the abandoned halls and complexes of Phobos and Deimos. As a last-ditch effort, the military decided to bombard the moons with extreme radiation in hopes of killing off any remaining demons. Initially it was successful, however something survived the exposure. The extreme radiation blocked the military's sensors and allowed something to slip past them undetected. Now the demons have returned, their corpses revived and strengthened. Hell's forces have been rebuilt and are stronger than ever. A Marine strikeforce was ordered to contain the advancing armies of hell but was mercilessly slaughtered within moments. You, the sole survivor of the last invasion, managed to slip past hell's guards. Once again, it is you versus the legions of hell and this time, it is time to finish it once and for all.
History and Development
Midway's original title of the game was "The Absolution", but the name was changed to "Doom 64" for brand recognition. ("The Absolution" was reused as the name of the last level of the game.) Midway wanted to include every demon from the original games, as well as a few extra levels, into the final product, but deadlines and cost constraints of larger N64 cartridges made them scrap the levels and leave a few demons off the game (Former Commando, Revenant, Arch-Vile and Spider Mastermind). The music and sound effects were done by Aubrey Hodges, who also did the original sound and music for the PlayStation port of Doom two years earlier. The original Doom 64 team was working on a potential "Doom 64 2" not long after the first game was released, but decided to scrap it due to the "Doom engine looking dated", and players' attention focusing on Quake and other, more modern 3D shooters.
FEATURES
Key differences from the computer games in the series include:
- 32 exclusive new levels.
- New, larger sprites for all enemies, items, weapons and projectiles which were texture-filtered when close to the player to prevent pixelation.
- No Commandos, Arch-Viles, Spider Masterminds or Revenants (removed due to the expense of higher capacity Nintendo 64 cartridges).
- Darker and more foreboding environments, meant to increase the level of fear felt by the player.
- All new textures, scrolling skies, artificial room-over-room architecture, and custom scripting.
- Tripwire booby traps, from darts to homing fireballs.
- Eerie synth ambient music tracks (instead of MIDI rock music)
- More ambivalent usage of Satanic imagery (inverted pentagrams, inverted crosses, depictions of sacrifice) than the computer version of Doom with differing usages of horror schemes.
- More advanced atmospheric colored lighting and effects.
- Re-designed weapons that act more devastating than previous installments of the game series (realistic jostling movements when firing the weapons are also present, including being knocked back a few inches from a fired rocket).
Info above from wikipedia.com
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| | WCW/nWo Revenge is a professional wrestling video game released in 1998 for the Nintendo 64 game console. It is the sequel to 1997's WCW vs. nWo: World Tour. Like its predecessor, Revenge features AKI's revolutionary grappling system, heavily improved graphics, a championship mode, and a large roster of wrestlers (real and fictional). To date, the game has sold over 3 million copies.
HISTORY
At the time of the game's release, the Monday Night Wars were starting to go in the WWF's favor. Despite this WCW/nWo Revenge was generally recognized as the best wrestling game of 1998 and the greatest wrestling game ever released at that point. It also was voted best WCW/nWo game of all time.
Revenge's main competition that year was WWF War Zone by Acclaim. In contrast to the simpler but more consistent visuals and accessible but slower play mechanics of Revenge, War Zone possesses more complicated controls, inconsistent collision detection, a lack of impact on grappling moves and occasionally awkward animations, despite having more refined character models and faster gameplay.
The Revenge grappling system is part of what ensured the game's success and popularity. The graphics were improved from World Tour, and for the first time, THQ introduced actual arenas into games, such as Monday Nitro and Starrcade. The game also has an expansive collection of wrestlers, as almost every WCW/nWo wrestler of the time was included in the game. The Championship Mode enables the player(s) to select a belt and then fight various wrestlers until eventually the player(s) defeat the reigning champion.
New Features since World Tour
As the direct sequel to World Tour, Revenge possesses certain tweaks and additions. Some additions included wrestler ring entrances, a larger roster, ringside valets and managers, brighter more colorful graphics, a cartoon referee modeled after WCW referee Mark Curtis, and real TV and pay-per-view arenas. It also boasts EEPROM, which eliminates the need for a Controller Pak. In addition, there are new gameplay mechanics such as more frequent reversals, the introduction of multiple reversals, tall wrestlers stepping over the top rope, and being able to run and slide in and out of the ring.
New post match features include replays of the last moments of the match, as well as a scoring system for wrestlers' performance. During gameplay, players can for the first time "steal" their opponents taunts, as well as perform their "down" taunt more easily. Also, certain wrestlers cannot ascend the top rope unless they are in "special" mode (the time when a player's spirit is maxed out and can perform their finishers).
Added since World Tour were such superstars as Bret Hart, Bill Goldberg, and Chris Jericho. One notable omission, however, who actually was in World Tour, is Ric Flair who was fired from WCW for no-showing an episode of WCW Thunder in early 1998; although, he would be rehired later in the year. By then though, Revenge was in the final stages of production, and it was too late to add Flair to the game.
Info above from wikipedia.com
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WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role (Exciting Pro Wrestling 2 in Japan) is a professional wrestling video game released on the PlayStation console by THQ and developed by YUKE's Future Media Creators.
GAMEPLAY
The Season Mode was also modified in this game. Along with removing the pre-season mode from the original, Know Your Role gave more storylines and more matches per show. These changes were given a mixed reaction, some proclaiming the bigger variety of storylines in the game. Although there were some flaws in the Season Mode, such as skipped matches being fought between two battling meters. Another issue was the long loading times needed for even the most insignificant scenes, such as a wrestler walking down a corridor. Wrestlers , wrestling moves and arenas were unlocked as the player progressed through season . However, the Season Mode is multiplayer, with up to four players playing as superstars in a Season. This version also had limited commentary and limited voice overs for specific characters and points in storyline mode.
The Create-A-Superstar mode improved greatly from its predecessor. Taking ideas from WWF Attitude, fans could now put more detail into the superstars such as facial features and attire. The original head, upper and lower body mode from the original could still be used in this game as well. A new Create-A-Taunt feature was also added in which you can create a new taunt for your superstars.
The arsenal of moves available increased in this game (such as The Rock's spinebuster and sharpshooter), expanded to accompany not only superstars in the game but also those not in the game. Movesets of superstars from other wrestling promotions such WCW or Japanese promotions could be used for created superstars. In terms of gameplay, wrestlers have more striking moves with the inclusion of moves made by combining the X button with a horizontal and a vertical arrow button. Double team moves in tag team matches were also a new inclusion as well, and could be pulled off by placing an opponent in your partner's corner and making a turnbuckle move. However, this made double team moves impossible in Tornado Tag matches.
The entrance style of wrestlers from the previous game still existed in Know Your Role. Although more entrance movies were added, they still appeared in front of a superstar's TitanTron video and not the entrance stage like other wrestling games released around the same time, such as WWF No Mercy.
Such criticisms for the game included wrestlers immediately getting up after receiving a move or jumping off a ladder and missing their opponent. The game also included a lot of glitches such as walking on air.
Info above from wikipedia.com
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