Games You Don't Play #2: Out Of This World SNES

Hey everybody! It's my second game review here on MySpace! Yay!! Aren't you all excited?!
Probably not. I doubt anyone is reading this, but if you are, thanks!! It really means a ton to me!

This time I'm reviewing one of my personal favorite games, Out of this World. The game was released in 1991 for many systems including: 3DO, Amiga, Apple IIGS, Apple Macintosh, Atari ST, DOS, Sega Mega Drive, Sega Mega-CD, and SNES by Delphie and Interplay but was developed by a man named Chahi.

You start the game off as a character named Lester, a physicist who is testing an experiment in his laboratory for particle acceleration. Lighting strikes, and you find yourself in what seems to be another dimension or, "Another World." It's a world of prehistoric looking surroundings and creatures with some caveman-like humanoids armed with laser guns and other advanced technology.
After escaping a large saber-tooth tiger like creature, barely being killed by tiny toothed worms and not falling to your death, you are captured by a guard of sorts. He takes you to a prison, where you meet your one and only friend in the game. He is nameless, and you can't understand him, but you know, and he knows, that you only have each other and that you have to find a way out.
Difficult doesn't even begin to describe this game. It's a constant puzzle, and has no life bar or power gauge. You only get one weapon by swinging your holding cell until it falls onto a guard. You take his gun, and it's the only one you have for the rest of the game, and you better conserve it, because the recharging chambers are few and far between.
As you figure your way through the giant maze of a prison you'll come across many obstacles, Most of which will require you to die at least 20 or so times before you figure it out. If you can think of a way to die, it's in this game. You fall off a cliff, and you are impaled on stalagmites. You don't watch where you're going and a boulder will fall on your head and crush you. You don't run fast enough and rushing water might catch up and drown you. Strange creatures in the ground will catch your leg with their teeth and chew your leg off. Not to mention the many shoot-outs you will have with various guards looking for you, because they ARE looking for you. There is nothing in this game that can't or won't kill you, so you have to figure out a way around it. At no point in the game does it ever give you any clue whatsoever as to what it is you're supposed to do. You just try something, and if it doesn't work out, you try something else. You continue this until you figure it out.
Like most of the games from this time, there is no save point. You can only restart your game from a password given to you when you die. You know you made it to the next level when you get a new password after dying. Sometimes, you will finish part of a puzzle, and think all of your hard work paid off and you made it to the next level, but you didn't, so you have to start all over again and remember what the heck it is that you did and what not to do.
I like everything about this game, from the difficulty, to the music, to the cinematics, to the controls, everything about it. It is the ultimate side scrolling action/adventure. The graphics, for the time, in my opinion, are top-notch. Very visually pleasing and it really adds to the atmosphere to the game. They are cell-shaded for lack of better words. The music is very ambient, but gets suspenseful at just the right times to add to the gameplay.. And it does, trust me. When the music starts to get louder and more dramatic, just like in Jaws, it gets your heart pounding. There are all kinds of cinematics to watch throughout the game, and they are very well directed. The story is very heartwarming as it is about two friends in the fight for their lives.
It is left with an open ending and has a sequel called Out Of This World Part 2, which can be played on the Sega CD where the two games were packaged together under the name "Heart Of The Alien."
Don't worry, I won't spoil the ending for you! Even though I'm pretty sure you'll never make it there. And if you do, or have, kudos to you, because this game is quite a feat to complete.

I give Out Of This World a 4 out of 5 and recommend it to only the most hardcore gamers that think they can take on the most difficult of games. You really need a lot of patience for this game, and if you don't smoke, you will once you commit to this game! I know I chain smoked like a mad-man the whole time!!!

Here's a video of some silly ways to die in the game:

Games You Don't Play #1: Chulip PS2

Hey guys! This is my first game review! I hope you like it!

People that know me and know the kind of games I like to play would probably say that I like weird games, quirky games and cute games. It's true. I'm addicted to the oddities of the gaming world.
So, I'm at EB Games in Penn Square Mall (My corporate store of choice) and I'm scanning the PS2 wall. I see a game that I haven't seen or heard anything about, called "Chulip." I pick it up, look at the cover, see "Natsume" written in the bottom right corner, scan the back of it and decide to buy it. I really didn't know anything about this game when I bought it, I just thought "Oh this must be a little like 'Harvest Moon.'"
When I got home that night, I popped it into the PS2 and started playing.
My first impression? WTF.
Chulip starts off with your main character walking up to a tree. The tree suddenly has a very odd looking face erupt from a hole and then asks you your name. Then, a girl walks up to the same tree and stands next to you. It asks her name. It then proceeds to ask if you love each other, you say "Yes" and then it tells you to kiss.
You then wake up in the bed of a pickup truck, pulling up to a rickety old house. You're poor, moving into a new town with your father. The whole tree-girl thing was just a dream, but what a dream! You love this girl already!
Your father tells you to wander the town and one of the first people you meet is -- you guessed it! Your dream girl! But she hates you. You have a bad reputation and you've never kissed anyone before. You can try to tell her that you have, but she can see right through your lies. And this brings us to one of the main goals in the game -- Kissing!
I know what you're thinking... "Kissing?" Yeah, I know. How did this game make it to the U.S. shores?
So, you spend your time exploring the town you live in, talking to your neighbors and learning about them and their daily problems. Everyone here has something interesting to say, as Chulip doesn't skimp out on hilarious dialogue.
There's an older alcoholic woman that spends her time wandering the town sweeping, cleaning and gossiping; An unemployed musician that lives in a trailer; A metal Lion that works in the bath house and private tearoom (who knows what goes on in there at night?); And all sorts of other very interesting characters, above ground!
But then, there are the people who live underground as well. They are the ones that no one appreciates, they are depressed, lonely and they do all of the real work around the town. What purpose do they serve? Well, to make them happy, you kiss them of course! And when you kiss them, your heart becomes stronger. How do you know it becomes stronger?? When you go to sleep at night, your father reviews your day, how many people you've kissed, and then the same tree from your dream makes your heart grow.
You earn your reputation by helping various characters in the game and kissing. This is how you win the girl of your dream's heart.
The controls of the game are a bit wobbly, but tolerable. The gameplay, story, graphics, music and theme of the game make up for it big time. The clock is a bit irritating, but it only gives the game some challenge.
I'm really happy that a game like this got licensed in the United States. It's not very often that something this "out-there" is released here!! I'm definitely in love with this game. Everything about it. It just makes me.... Happy!
The character design is great. Fantastic even. It's been a good long while since I've seen such interesting and original character design.
The music, sound effects and voices used by the characters are also very interesting, entertaining and original. The NPC's speak a language that "kind of" sounds like Japanese, but it's not. It reminds me of Simlish(The Sims) or Animalese(Animal Crossing).
You sometimes have to dig through garbage cans to get items to sell to the local pawn shop, but sometimes you get an item called "Poopie" which takes your life away. You can sell it for 1Z (1 dollar).
You can buy cigarettes and smoke but it's illegal.
At some point you will appear naked in public, also illegal.
It even gives you the opportunity to commit suicide, sort-of. Play the game and see for yourself!
All in all, this game is awesome.

Thank you Natsume!

I give this game 3 1/2 out of 5, and I recommend it if you're a collector, japanophile or are into the very very strange.


Here's a video of some kissing on Chulip:

MOTHER3 impressions... 1 year later

I knew that I would love Mother 3 from the time it was announced .
The first screenshots only proved that fact even more..

I did not download the rom or look at anything I shouldn't have before I got the game. I'm pretty positive I got it next day shipping, my bill was pretty high, but it was worth it. I didn't want to wait any longer.
I loaded up Mother 3 into my GameBoy Player, plugged in my trusty Hori controller and pressed the power button. To be honest with you, when I finally saw "MOTHER 3" come on the TV screen, I started to cry. I didn't ever think this day would come. I was completely over-whelmed when the naming character screen came up, because it reminded me so much of EarthBound. I noticed everything about it. When I named my first character and I heard "OK desu-ka" I pretty much freaked out.
When they do an overview of the world, showing you the town, the houses, etc. I felt it was very familiar, but not too familiar. It felt new, yet nostalgic. I was amazed. I literally had tears running down my cheek.
I felt the graphics were amazing. I had heard a few other people say that the graphics weren't that great, that they looked the same as EB on SNES, etc. But I felt it was much more detailed while still keeping the minimalism that Mother is famous for.
The movements of the characters were much more fluid and I could actually see body parts moving. It's definitely not 16-bit grade.
The music was amazing. I was humming the tunes for months, making everyone listen to the tracks that were ripped from the game.
I wasn't so sure about the theme at first, I almost thought it was going to be a country-western themed game, and I was really afraid of that, but I stayed open minded and reminded myself that "This is Mother 3!!!!" and I definitely wasn't disappointed as I progressed through the game.
There were parts that made me laugh, parts that made me cry, and parts that made me think, all in a language I can't read or understand.
I felt that Mother 3 trancended all language barriers and could touch anyone if they just gave it a chance.
I truly felt that, "Strange, Funny and Heartrendering" was the best slogan for it because it was so true. Much better than "This game stinks!" like it's predecesor.
Mother's audience/fans have grown up and matured a lot since Mother 2's release, and the series as a whole has aswell. The story is much more mature.
I honestly think that if Mother 3 would have been released on N64, I might not have enjoyed it as much, if it were to have this story. I might have been too young to fully comprehend the story, even if it were completely in English.
I was very happy about this game, more than happy, ecstatic even.
I was proud of Itoi. He proved to the world again how much of an amazing storyteller he is, how deep he is and the genius he is.
This game proves it.
I couldn't have been, and still couldn't be happier with the game.. Well, if it were in English that would be nice, but hey! People are working on it!! And I can experience it all over again when that happens.