Wrecked!

Wrecked Game!!!!

This may be new knowledge to some of you reading on the internets, but I am a fan of what is considered "retro" games (pssh, I remember when they were NEW). Kids these days with their new finagled controllers and Nintendos (to us old folks, everything was a Nintendo). Games were cartridges and sometimes referred to as "tapes," which if you followed Commodore, they DID have games there were on actual cassette tapes. I know young ones are asking, "whats a cassette tape?" Stifle, and know your role. 

Anywho, thanks to this game review, I'm all in a fit. Fellow game expert Dave Burk stated, "It's a movie-license game. Never have your expectations up for such a property." That being said, I'd rather itch my butt like a dog on a sheet of ice instead of playing this game. 

One thing it does do well is remind me of games from yesteryear that had bad controls. Meaning, graphics may have been fine, story was sound, but you spent all of your effort fighting with the controller to produce the result you want. Castlevania. (Get behind thee Satan! How dare you Pat!) Hold on, don't hate. I love the Castlevania series for the NES, even the less than stellar Castlevania II. But anyone who ever played those knew that most of the time you were making jumps that required you to stand in a very precise spot (one foot off the ledge style WHATS UP!!!!). Don't get me started on the damage "jump backwards." Again, right now if you are confused, either find a way to play them or just save the hassle and  take my word for it. 

Back to life, back to reality.

Wreck-It Ralph could have been a great game. I saw the movie and possibly enjoyed it as much as if not more than my kids. I lost it during the "bad guys" group when they freak out and the Pac Man ghost turns blue (actually the whole time he is following the same pattern he does in the arcade game, I know, huge nerd whatever).

I thought the characters were good and actually found myself enjoying the iPhone App my wife has. Very Donkey Kong esq with the vintage graphics and game play. Thus, my expectations were upped for the Wii version. 

Why do I do that to myself. I guess as a Blues fan I'm used to...............

The game's graphics/cut scenes are a bit of a let down and look like they were done using a program on Windows '95 (yeah, I freakin went there). Basically it's just the picture of the character speaking with a word bubble above their head. SMH


I do like that the different worlds look like the different places in the movie i.e. Fix it Felix, Jr., Sugar Rush, Hero's Duty. 

The other annoying thing is the switching between the characters. See Ralph is a typical video game "big guy." He is strong and can move things but doesn't jump well and is slow. Felix is at the other end of the spectrum in that he's a bit weaker but has a double jump and can chuck his hammer like Link's boomerang (BOOYAKASHA!) Now switching between characters in a game isn't a bad thing especially if it's a one player game, but you will find yourself switching every few seconds or so. I'M NOT MAKING THAT UP. 

So in closing, don't pay the retail price for this game. I noticed that most places have it "new" for $20. I would rather eat the $20 bill and pass it. It would be more entertaining than playing Wreck-It Ralph.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go play E.T. on the 2600.........

Thanks for reading, take care & have fun out there

-PM