Visual Novel Review - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - The First Turnabout

The first Ace Attorney game, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, was released way back in 2001 in Japan for the Game Boy Advance. Its later Nintendo DS remake was released outside of Japan and gave the visual novel genre a moderate fanbase outside of Japan for the first time. It has since been re-released on many more devices over the intervening years, but it still remains one of the best games in the genre.

The game was split up into episodes and was released episodically for Windows and Wii. It works well for this style of game, as each episode contains a new case that is taken on by Phoenix Wright, a young defense attorney. The game is set within a semi-fictional Japanese law system, where each case has to be dealt with quickly and can only last three days. As this game was released in the early 2000s, the official English translation tries to remove the Japanese references as much as possible and sets it in the United States instead. This leads to some disconnect with Japan-exclusive concepts such as attorney badges being used in the United States. Thankfully, however, it's not too distracting even if you do know about Japanese culture, as these can be chalked up as being part of the game's then-futuristic setting of 2016.

The first case was created specifically to give the player an introduction to the game's mechanics. Phoenix Wright handles a case where his childhood friend, Larry Butz, is accused of murder. Luckily, Wright's mentor, Mia Fey, is with him every step of the way as he works to clear his friend of any wrongdoing. In this game's judicial system, it is up to the attorneys to discover all the evidence they can, so Phoenix will need to look around crime scenes and talk to the defendant and witnesses to discover everything they can about the case.

The main crux of the gameplay comes in the courtroom, however, where the goal is to listen to witness testimony and pick apart any contradictions through previous testimony and collected evidence.  The witnesses will attempt to give new testimony that explains these contradictions, but after picking apart their testimony several times, they will eventually crack and admit to the truth.

The first episode of Ace Attorney is a great way to start the game. Phoenix Wright's mentor Mia Fey is invaluable, as she will help Phoenix through each step of the process. Larry Butz is also a fun character to start off with, as he is completely over-the-top and especially silly.  The later episodes will pack a more emotional punch, but this lighthearted first case is a fantastic place to start.

Final Verdict:
4 out of 5

A Host Master Carol

The first game out the gate for the Coding for COVID Coronavirus fundraiser is a sequel to Host Master and Host Master Deux titled A Host Master Carol.

It is a mix of my favorite Charles Dickens novel, A Christmas Carol, and one of my favorite Tim Schafer games, Day of the Tentacle.

To donate to the fundraiser, click here: https://donorbox.org/coding-for-covid.

Coding for COVID Fundraiser for Coronavirus Relief

I'm doing a fundraiser titled "Coding for COVID", wherein I code games while raising money for Coronavirus relief.

I'll be creating games based on my comics, Jenni and Doug the Ogre. I also received generous permission from Double Fine to create games based on some of their properties.

90% of all donations will be split up evenly among Doctors without Borders, Direct Relief, and Actions Against Hunger. The remaining 10% will go to the West Elmira Computer Museum. The latter is my non-profit charitable organization through which this charity drive is being handled.

You can donate to the cause here: https://donorbox.org/coding-for-covid

Point and Click Adventure Review: Reversion: The Meeting

This review was originally posted on the McMurray Internet Channel website on March 8, 2019.

Reversion: The Meeting is a much meatier game than its predecessor. It also is a much more fun experience.

Reversion: The Meeting picks up right where Reversion: The Escape left off. The amnesiac man meets with the woman from the hospital, briefly, and then he is left trying to find his next contact.

It is much more interesting than it sounds. His contact is shrouded in mystery and protected by gadgetry, so he must use his ingenuity to get to him. Once he does get to him, he finds himself in a conspiracy, and as he uncovers more of it, he finds that he strangely has vague memories of the mystery that he is uncovering.

On his way, he meets several interesting characters, and new locales to explore. He is given a GPS which he can use to travel around the wasteland that used to be Buenos Aires. There is much more to do this time around, as there are several new locations. The hospital, the sole location from chapter one, must also be re-visited. Doing so even solves one minor mystery left open from the last chapter.

With all of the highlights, there are still a few missteps, mainly in the translation. The Portuguese to English translation is still a bit rough, and there are portions where the English dialog sounds a bit off, or where a question isn't worded exactly right, leading to an unexpected answer. It's nothing too major, as it doesn't detract from the main story. However, it is noticeable.

Reversion: The Meeting vastly improves upon the first chapter with multiple locales, interesting puzzles, and an intriguing story. However, some of the wording gets lost in translation, leading to some awkward phrasing here and there. Ultimately, though, the positives way outweigh the negatives, and the second chapter of Reversion is miles above the first in every respect. It is definitely worth a play.

Final Verdict:
4 out of 5

Reversion: The Return Is Out Now On Steam

The final chapter of 3f interactive's Reversion saga is out now, as Reversion: The Return is now available on Steam.

Dance Game Review: Feet of Fury

This review was originally published on May 22, 2004, in the first issue of Dream On Magazine.

In 2003, Cryptic Allusion Games made history by releasing the first commercial independent Dreamcast game written with free development libraries.

Feet of Fury is a dancing game that borrows many elements from Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution games. You have a set of arrows that you must follow while keeping your steps to the music. The main difference in Feet of Fury is that the game is focused more on strategy and beating your opponent.

There are power-ups and power-downs on the board. Hitting an arrow that contains an icon may cause the speed of the arrows to slow down or speed up, or it might cause the arrows to reverse direction. Because of this element, the multiplayer mode in Feet of Fury is awesome. Another addition is the health bar. At the end of the round, the person with the most health is the winner. It adds a lot more to this type of game when you have to worry about your opponent hitting you with power-downs, and throwing your feet around on the dance mat like an idiot, all while trying to keep your health bar full.

The single-player mode is no slouch either. There are a good number of songs to play and unlock. Each song has a good tempo to it and fits this type of game really well. There are a number of hidden characters and features to be unlocked, so the game will entertain for hours. When you get sick of all that dancing, you can let your fingers do the dancing with what is in my opinion, the coolest thing to happen to dance games since their invention: The Typing of Fury mode. In this mode, letters fly up onscreen instead of arrows, and you use your Dreamcast keyboard to match the letters to the beat while spelling out words. This mode is very challenging, and surprisingly, very fun.

When you add multiple keyboards to the action for some multiplayer mayhem, you’ll see the pure hilarity that ensues. This is a top-notch addition and is a lot less of a gimmick than you might think. Take your underused keyboards from the attic, and set them up for some furious typing. You won’t regret it.

Good songs, multiplayer battle elements, unlockables, and Typing of Fury make this game a good investment, and an example for future independent developers to follow.

Final Verdict:
4 out of 5

Shareware Platform Game Review: Commander Keen - Invasion of the Vorticons: Marooned on Mars

This review was originally posted at Jupiter Beagle on October 10, 2008.

Commander Keen: Invasion of the Vorticons - Marooned on Mars is a shareware platformer created by Apogee Software, now known as 3D Realms. It is the reason I bought a Super VGA monitor for my DOS computer in the 1990s, and there’s a good reason for it. Commander Keen is one of the best classic platformers, and my number one pick for the game I’d love to see get a re-release on modern consoles.

Marooned on Mars was the first part of Invasion of the Vorticons, a three-part trilogy that was a shareware game by iD Software and published by Apogee. The idea of shareware was that the first episode was free to download and upload from dial-up text-only BBS systems before the World Wide Web, copy, and share with all of your friends. If you enjoyed the game, the rest of the episodes could be purchased by phone or by mail from Apogee, who would mail you the episodes on disk.

The trilogy starred the 8-year-old genius Billy Blaze, who built a spaceship out of household parts. He dons his brother’s football helmet and defends Earth from the forces of evil in the galaxy as Commander Keen. Part one finds Keen marooned on Mars, where he must find various parts for his spaceship so he can make his way back home.

At first, Keen can only jump over creatures or jump on top of the weaker ones. If he tries to hop on a strong creature, Keen loses a life. The weaker creatures are only stunned, and snap out of it momentarily. These weaker creatures just push Keen forward, while the stronger ones kill him on contact. There are hazards on the levels, such as pits, fire, and spikes, which also cause Keen to lose a life upon contact. Once Keen finds a laser gun, he can shoot laser shots until he runs out of ammunition or finds another gun. Located throughout each level are candy treats and soda, as well as things like teddy bears. Collecting these adds to Keen's points, and at certain score levels, Keen receives more lives.

Later on, Keen also finds a Pogo stick, which lets him jump higher when the pogo button is pressed, which can get Keen to higher platforms and collect more treats. Some levels require exploration, as there are doors that can only be opened by finding the correct colored key (a gameplay concept that iD Software will later incorporate into its popular first-person shooting games). The stages in the game become tougher as they go on, with more hazards and stronger and higher concentrations of enemies.

The game sported great graphics at the time for DOS, which were on par with the graphics on the Nintendo Entertainment System. The music, however, is non-existent. The game was made at a time when most PCs did not have sound cards, and sounds came from the PC speaker, which produced pretty terrible sounds. So, there are only bloops and bleeps in here for the jumping and shooting sound effects. These sound effects are not bad though, and the game is engrossing enough that even playing through the game again recently, I didn’t notice the lack of music.

There is a fan-developed interpreter, however, titled Commander Genius, which uses the original data files and adds optional music. This is my favorite way to play, as the music adds a lot to the atmosphere of the game. All and all, Commander Keen: Invasion of the Vorticons - Marooned on Mars is a definite classic. The storyline is interesting, the graphics are nice, and the gameplay is superb.

Final verdict:
4½ out of 5