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[Kumiko Nikaido]

The December issue of GMR has the first review of EA's Need for Speed: Underground 2 (which graces the cover, along with model Brooke Burke)

The scores: (out of 10)

Multi

* Need for Speed: Underground 2 = 9
* Men of Valor = 7
* Midway Arcade Treasures 2 = 6
* The Bard's Tale = 7
* Mortal Kombat: Deception = 8
* Tony Hawk's Underground 2 = 9
* X-Men Legends = 8
* NBA Live 2005 = 8
* ESPN NBA 2K5 = 8
* Rocky Legends = 6
* FIFA 2005 = 7
* Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude = 5
* Tak 2: The Staff of Dreams = 7
* Wings of War = 6

PlayStation 2

* Nightmare of Druaga = 5
* Get on Da Mic = 3
* Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal = 10
* Karaoke Revolution: Vol. 3 = 9
* Kuon = 5
* Jak 3 = 8
* Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex = 7
* Spyro: A Hero's Tail = 5
* Neo Contra = 7
* Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone = 7
* Blood Will Tell: Tezuka Osamu's Dororo = 8
* Taiko: Drum Master = 8
* The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact = 7

Xbox

* OutRun 2 = 7
* Karaoke Revolution = 8
* Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders = 8
* Dance Dance Revolution: Ultramix 2 = 4

GameCube

(None)

Game Boy Advance

* Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django = 9
* F-Zero: GP Legend = 8

PC

* Call of Duty: United Offensive = 8
* The Sims 2 = 10
* Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War = 8
* Rome: Total War = 9

Special Feature: Top 10 Season Sleepers

(In no specific order)

1. Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django
2. Viewtiful Joe 2
3. Taiko: Drum Master
4. Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
5. Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
6. Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors
7. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
8. Katamari Damacy
9. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War
10. Pikmin 2

 

[TheGreenGiant]

T
GameCube

(None)

dead system

 

[Grubdog]

9??? Judging from the demo in Burnout 3 I wouldn't give it a score higher than 5.

What did they give NFSU?

 

[Mrbob]

Wow.

NO Gamecube specific reviews in the December issue.

Amazing. Dead system indeed.

 

[Speevy]

The Gamecube had exclusive releases in September and this month, and will have exclusive releases in November and December. Strange.

 

[snapty00]

I wasn't a big fan of Underground, but I do want to check out this next one to see if the actual racing part is better. I don't like the emphasis on souping shit up, though.

Haha @ Get on Da Mic. I figured it'd be trash, but even that score surprised me a bit.

I want to give Neo Contra a try, although the shit won't work on my demo disc. Half the stuff on my demo disc seriously won't work! Metal Gear Solid 3 itself works pretty nastily.

I can vouch for the score of F-Zero. That game really is pretty good -- much more fun than Maximum Velocity, anyway. It has actual color in the backgrounds and tracks now, and the controls don't seem as unnecessarily awkward now.

Looks like the GameCast is all but dead, though.

 

[Mega Man's Electric Sheep]

7 of the multiplatform ones are on gamecube, and xbox is hardly lighting the word on fire with its 4 Xbox exclusive reviews either. They just didn't get any of the big november and december games in for either system.

 

[CrimsonSkies]

Ugh at those sleepers.

 

[Speevy]

Two of those "sleepers" are in my top 3 list for the year.

 

[snapty00]

What is their definiton of "sleeper"? The term has been bastardized to such a degree that I wonder if everyone knows what everyone else is talking about when they refer to a "sleeper."

 

[Speevy]

Game that could come out of nowhere and actually sell and/or be good? That's generally the implication.

 

[snapty00]

Is it sell or is it high-quality, though? There's definitely a difference.

And I've heard some people use it as a term to describe a game that's good quality but sells horribly.

 

[Mega Man's Electric Sheep]

Viewtiful Joe 2, POP and Paper Mario are all sequels to games that sold well enough to get sequels, and the press spooged all over their predecessors and likely the sequels as well. I don't think they're using sleeper properly. I think of it more like Rez or Guitaroo Man, a little known title that garners a small, hardcore following but is mostly overlooked.

Then there is "sleeper hit", which is a game which comes out of nowhere and surprises everyone with how good it is, and is more successful than expected.

 

[GaimeGuy]

They didn't review ANY GC games? Not even Paper Mario? ?_?

 

[Dead]

They didn't review ANY GC games? Not even Paper Mario? ?_?

did it in previous issue

 

[Project Midway]

November Play magazine also had zero GCN reviews... have magazines given up on GCN?

 

[Ristamar]

And I've heard some people use it as a term to describe a game that's good quality but sells horribly.

That'd be the way I've always used 'sleeper hit.' It doesn't have to completely bomb, but the sales aren't spectacular.

 

[Sinatar]

November Play magazine also had zero GCN reviews... have magazines given up on GCN?

Why not, the gaming public has.

 

[Drinky Crow]

Nintendo's always been really shitty about getting p/review copies of their software out to publications. It's stupid.

 

[Mrbob]

Zing!

 

[Renegade]

* OutRun 2 = 7

Anyone else up for some killin'? I got a spare revolver somewhere in my gun cabinet and we can borrow our grandfather's rifles.

 

[miyuru]

Way too liberal with the 10s. Reviews these days certainly aren't the same as they used to be.

 

[Bog]

Way too liberal with the 10s.

* Need for Speed: Underground 2 = 9

And the 9s.

 

[ferricide]

What is their definiton of "sleeper"? The term has been bastardized to such a degree that I wonder if everyone knows what everyone else is talking about when they refer to a "sleeper."

great games, that shouldn't be missed, that people are potentially going to ignore in favor of Teh Big Hits -- GTA SA, MGS3, halo 2. we all submitted suggestions and then tom (EIC) whose feature it is, compiled the final list. good list, IMO.

certainly the feature is not left up to the reader's imagination. it's explained. and it's a sweet-looking feature, too.

Nintendo's always been really shitty about getting p/review copies of their software out to publications. It's stupid.

nah, not really, these days. i mean, there are Other Companies who are way worse than nintendo now. use your imagination.

if we didn't review any nintendo exclusive games it's because through a quirk of fate they weren't there to be reviewed. our last cover was PM2, after all, so that was already out of the way, and of course we're working on prime 2 and such right now. there's no lack of nintendo coverage in GMR.

can anyone think of any nintendo games that should have been covered but were not? exactly.

 

[shpankey]

that FIFA score is low imo, this years FIFA is actually amazing, one of the best sports games i've ever played... ever.

 

[skip]

Anyone else up for some killin'? I got a spare revolver somewhere in my gun cabinet and we can borrow our grandfather's rifles.

bring it.

 

[Renegade]

* OutRun 2 = 7

* Need for Speed: Underground 2 = 9

WTF? If they don't fix this and switch these scores around, I'm gonna go into their office and TOSS SOME SALAD :mad

 

[SolidSnakex]

WTF? If they don't fix this and switch these scores around, I'm gonna go into their office and TOSS SOME SALAD :mad

You've played the final versions of both games?

 

[Renegade]

I play Outrun 2 in arcades, and I *acquired* the PAL version. I will buy it MONDAY. I don't see how they could ever rate it so low. The first NFSU got a 9 from GMR as well, and I know sure as hell it did not deserve such a score. It was a good game but not a '9' good, nor a "Better than Outrun 2" Good.

Outrun 2 is quite possibly the most addictive, fun and polished arcade racing game I've laid hands upon this generation. Burnout series inclusive.

 

[radios shipping overview]

Who reviewed Druaga for this issue? And is that a 5/10 as a roguelike, or a 5/10 as a console RPG?

 

[Musashi Wins!]

The two biggest Nintendo titles of recent memory are "sleepers" hahaha. Dead system.

What did they say about Bard's Tale?

 

[ferricide]

Who reviewed Druaga for this issue? And is that a 5/10 as a roguelike, or a 5/10 as a console RPG?

nich maragos.

to be blunt, nobody reviews these games as rougelikes, becuase console gamers don't really play roguelikes. nobody cares about the subgenre besides about 20 people who will buy druaga regardless of what reviewers might say. hell, i don't even 100% understand what the term "roguelike" means, and i'm a giant RPG fan for the past 15 years.

reviewers are just approaching this game at face value and ... well, it's getting these kind of scores everywhere. which, if you take a score as a measure of a gamer without preconceptions just popping in a game and seeing how much fun they get out of it, well, there you go. i think it's predictable.

honestly i don't know who could have reviewed this game at any publication and really liked it a ton/reviewed it from the perspective of a sub-genre fan. i didn't have time, and i have no idea what i would have given it, but i doubt it would've been very high. IMO if you wanna play something with crazy dungeon action, go for SMTN.. you get bonus other content. =)

 

[Musashi Wins!]

But enough about that...more about Bard's Tale.

 

[Drakken]

* Dance Dance Revolution: Ultramix 2 = 4

What's up with that?

 

[Mejilan]

I'd love for someone with a decent roguelike history to review Druaga.

 

[bloke]

Outrun 2 is quite possibly the most addictive, fun and polished arcade racing game I've laid hands upon this generation. Burnout series inclusive.

True, but better get used to 7 and lower scores for Outrun 2 since rest of the world won't have much understanding for games like these.

 

[xabre]

* The Sims 2 = 10
* Rome: Total War = 9

Oh please :/

 

[ferricide]

I'd love for someone with a decent roguelike history to review Druaga.

yeah, but i think that's more the domain of fansites, honestly. or, for that matter, maybe PC magazines. =) but those won't be reviewing druaga...

 

[Musashi Wins!]

The best review of Druaga I've read is on GameSpy. I don't think it will back up anyones preconception of the game scorewise, but it has a lot of pertinent gameplay information rather than blanket assertions about genre, timeline, etc.

 

[Guns N' Poops]

Can anybody tell me whether Taiko is coming over to Europe?
I like the look and the drum of it much more than Donkey Konga's.

 

[SantaC]

November Play magazine also had zero GCN reviews... have magazines given up on GCN?

lol that's stupid. Let's say Nintendo sent them Metroid Prime 2, and the magazines send it back:

"sorry we have given up on you"

It's just that Prime2, Mario tennis, baten kaitos or whatever wasn't ready.

 

[White Man]

I'd love for someone with a decent roguelike history to review Druaga.

I haven't played Druaga, but if there were a roguelike fansite/magazine/whatever, I doubt any console roguelikes would get decent reviews. They just don't hold a candle to the ones on the PC.

 

[Patrick Klepek]

What's up with that?

because the ultramix series is very poor compared to its playstation brothers.