Licensed Games

[warelander]

We all know them, games based off TV Shows, movies, comics,etc. It's a safe assumption almost everyone here played at least one at some point, so this is a thread to talk about them, the good, the bad, anything that's just interesting or any that you happened to play recently.

I'll make the start with this one:

I mentioned in the ''What vidcons are you currently playing?'' thread that this game is a guilty pleasure of mine, since then I did go out of my way to dust off my PS2 and play the game again and my opinion is still intact.

All things considered the game is extremely trial & error heavy, since not only is every track in the championship mode (which you have to play to unlock stuff) not a simple race to the finish, but rather mission based, but because everything past the first track is unlockable you'll be forced to deal with completely new layouts all the time, which is made even worse by the fact that there aren't seperate cups, you need to do EVERYTHING in one go, with limited tries.

So yeah, that''s a massive pain in the twat, so what makes me like the game? Well once you become familiar with the tracks and objectives I do think that the sheer chaos that ensues when everyone goes at each other or when trying to get the desired object to be oddly enjoyable, it helps that the freeplay modes allow you to not only just play normal races, but also play with any rule on any track, meaning that there are over 8+ ways to play on every single track, so there is certainly variety there.

Then there is the matter of the game taking advantage of it's source material and I do think it shines in that regard, from the tracks themselves, to the items, to even just details there are a very sizable amount of references to the show's first two seasons, that really give the impression that the team behind the game were fans of the show themselves. The rather impressivly sized roster of 30 characters is no slouch either, from mainstays like the four main boys, Chef or Pip, to even one timers like Damien and Scuzzlebutt, off course Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Issac Hayes & Co are all there for the voice work as well.

So yeah I do get enjoyment out of the gameplay and think the fanservice for fans of the show is great, however I do admit to it's problems, hence guilty pleasure.

 

[Glowsquid]

There was a period where I was really into playing Gundam gaems (I watched a good chunk of the original series, and some Zeta and Wing but hardly an hardcore fan by any mean). I will write about all of those I played in roughly chronological order (and over multiple psots because I'm pretty sure I'm gonna bust open the character limit otherwise) because I'm bored and I'm a fucking idiot.

Gundam Crossfire/Target in Sight

I've written about this one at length here before, so I won't repeat myslef too much, but basically this was an attempt to do a "realistic" Gundam simulation, not just realistic in term of combat but also in the field of supply management. A blatantly rushed technical disaster, but with enough good ideas to be decent fun.

My 2nd Gundam game ever and the one that got me to watch the shows. I was intrigued by the concept of the Musou games but not so much with the Romance of the Three Kingdom theme, so I figured this game was perfectly indicated for me.

I like punching things and this game lets you punch/slash a lot of things with minimal obfuscation so I like it. Musou stans insist the game can be genuinely strategy and skill-based experiences if you play them on th hardest difficulty but somtimes you just wanna kill people.

The movesets are limited and the movement stiff compared to the later games, but on the plus side, the game does have very amusing original scenario mode, involving a nutso storyline where characters from all over the Gundam multiverse end up on some bullshit planet and make arbitrary alliances, resulting in chuckleworthy antics. The later Gundam musou games didn't really try to do something similar (understandable because of the gigantic casts), instead having generic missions with far lower production values.

 

[Crescent-Moon Villager]

I used to play Pirates of the Caribbean Online and Lord of the Rings Online. Those worlds are good fits for MMOs and I enjoyed them a lot. The ship combat in Pirates in particular was some of the most fun I've ever had in a videogame.

 

[MonaWare]

Id like to try a Romance of the three kingdoms themed gundam game. Mostly just cuz I liked ROTT though, I dont really know much about Gundam 0 or whatever : p

Well Ive only played it for the NES anyway, Romance of the three kingdoms I mean. But I really liked that one.

I like Star Wars games. I really liked the Jedi Outcast game for Gamecube. Though, to be honest, all I really did on that game was play the deathmatch stuff, I liked doing like all lightsaber team deathmatch and stuff like that : p I did play the single player mission but I got stuck and never tried it again : p

And Knights of the Old Republic is probly my favorite Xbox game as of right now.

I also really liked playing Star Wars Battlefield on Xbox with my little brother, he was ALWAYS the Empire and I was ALWAYS the rebels, and he always won : p But we had fun playing together anyway. I also really liked doing the hero battle when he wasnt home and I could play his Xbox.

Oh, and I really liked the Simpsons game Hit and Run. Probly the only Simpsons game I enjoyed : p



Its pretty much just GTA but in Springfield, haha.

 

[Dangerous Duck]

I just love zooming around causing utter chaos in the two Simpson games by Radical Entertainment (Road Rage and Hit & Run). You can tell Radical really loved the world of Springfield, when you consider the staggering amount of detail in both games. All the signs, references, sight gags.... "DON'T EAT BEEF.... EAT DEER"

I like a lot of licensed titles. For every game in my collection that is regarded great/classic, you'll find a title nobody knows, or have forgotten, or actively hate on the internet today (including titles that were once liked/popular but are now mocked, like this old fella....)

 

[MonaWare]

We once had a Ninja Turtle side scrolling beat em up game on NES that I really really liked playing. And we had Double Dragon on Genesis, too. I really liked these games growing up : p

 

[Dangerous Duck]

Here's a list of the various franchises, cartoons, films, etc. that my favourite licensed titles are based on. I'm forgetting a fair few, but this is most of them...

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Asterix
Wacky Races
The Incredible Crash Dummies
The Simpsons
Eek the Cat
The Smurfs
The Addams Family
Jurassic Park
South Park
Peanuts
Dennis the Menace
Hook
The Mask
The Blues Brothers
Goosebumps
Tiny Toon Adventures
Captain Planet and the Planeteers
Ghostbusters
7-Up
The Lord of the Rings (Not the Peter Jackson movies)
Ducktales
Darkwing Duck
TaleSpin
Tom & Jerry
Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends
WWF
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker
Action Man
Ace Lightning
Agro
Flipper & Lopaka
The Lion King
Ariel the Little Mermaid
General Disney (Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, etc.)
Superman
The Amazing Spider-Man
Silver Surfer

 

[Magma]

Sign me up for the people who had fun with licensed The Simpsons games, though I have yet to check out The Simpsons Game. They did not have creative premises but still were fun and well put together with creative uses of Springfield.

A rather random game I remember playing was Godzilla Destroy All Monsters Melee for the Gamecube.

Far from the greatest fighting game ever, it's still lots of fun and is probably everything you could want from a Godzilla fighting game. The sequel, Godzilla Save the Earth, has eluded me but seems to be just as good if not even better. Godzilla Unleashed didn't seem great though.

 

[The 3rd Wario Brother]

a favourite of mine in middle school, looking back on it its okay.

 

[SurrealBrain]

I remember playing the Shark Tale game...I kinda regret it looking back, but I had fun with it.

The majority of licensed games I played were just "meh" experiences at best. Not horrible games, but nothing special, either.

For a more recent example, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan. I played the PS4 version, in case you were wondering.

After Transformers Devastation, I was hoping for this game to be a little better than it was, even if it wouldn't be up to Platinum's usual standards (TD itself isn't Platinum's best by a long shot, but it was still fun).

But honestly, with Mutants in Manhattan, it really feels like Platinum did the absolute barest minimum required to get by, and didn't feel compelled to do any more. It has a story written by IDW TMNT co-writer Tom Waltz, and I appreciate that its art style is even based on Mateus Santolouco's art style in the comics...it even has a bunch of little things Ninja Turtles fans will appreciate.

But honestly, the writing is not Tom Waltz's best, and the gameplay is merely meh. There's so much better you can play. It's not bad by any means, but unless you're already a fan of the Ninja Turtles, I can't say this will be a worthy experience for you. And even if you are, I think the little nods to the franchise are there just to distract fans from the game's real problems.

Should you buy it? I can't say no outright, but don't buy it for anything above $30...preferrably less than that if you can.

 

[Glowsquid]

I will write about all of those I played in roughly chronological order (and over multiple psots because I'm pretty sure I'm gonna bust open the character limit otherwise) because I'm bored and I'm a fucking idiot.

Time to honour my promise of fucking idiocy

Dynasty Warriors Gundam Reborn is so far the latest installment in the DYnasty Warriors Gundam sub-series and basically what you'd expect from a Musou sequel: an orgy of characters, modes and missions. The game tries to answer criticisms of the previous two games single-player structure by having multiple original scenarios with an actual plot. Some are what-if scenarios (one campaign where the plot of Zeta Gundam is reenacted with the characters of Gundam Seed ), some are goofy and poke fun at the many odd aspects of the Gundam franchise, and some even have gameplay twists. There's one scenario that's a quizz about the Gundam shows and answering questions is done by beating up one of three characters on the map, for example.

There's ton of stuff and the gameplay is pretty smooth. It also removes *most* of the irrititating, inexplicable content-gating decisions from the previous games. The whole "blueprint" system to ugprade your character is confusing and strange but otherwise I have no real criticism.

Gundam: Federation vs Zeon is the first installment in the Gundam Vs. series, by far the most prolific sub-series of Gundam games. Federation vs Zeon apes Virtual On's formula of third-person shooting with fighting game elements, albeit simpler and slower (In turn Virtual On would try to imitate the Gundam Vs. formula with Virtual On Force and fell flat on its arse)

I read FvZ was an huge success in Japanese arcades when it launched, and that was not surprising at all. Not only the game does the license justice, it's fast, accessible, and fun. Furthermore Capcom did not rest on its laurels for the home conversion and added an awesome campaign mode where you can play as 100+ missions for both the Federation and Zeon. Federation vs Zeon a classic in the gundam game canon, and one of the few I can safely recommend to any gamer who's not familiar with the property.

Journey to Jaburo is a direct adaptation of the original anime, making the player relieve key moments from the first 2/3 of Mobile Suit Gundam (the rest is adapted in the game Gundam: Encoutners in Space, which I've yet to play). The game is aimed squarely at fans of the show, featuring some really slick reanimated scenes as well as a lot of voice acting and nods to the Gundam expanded universe.

JtJ is an early PS2 tps, something made apparent by the fucked-up button mapping and the decision to have the player use the d-pad to move instead of the analog stick. The Gundam moves sloooooow and has some really oddd jump physics. The 10-mission campaign is short and not particularly difficult, but after beating it, you unlock a mode called "Tactics Battle" where you have three missions for either the Federation or Zeon and unlock More Stuff as you beat each missions with different mechs. It's a fun addition, but even it's limited by the fact a fair portion of the unlockable mechs have either really weak or hard-to-use weapons that make them a pain to use (fuck you Ground Gundam).


Even though it sounds like I'm ragging to Journey to Jaburo, I actually enjoyed my time with it. But it doesn't rise above being a licensed game.