Good Demo/Bad Demo for the week of Feb. 15th
Yakuza 3!!! Yakuza, for the U.S., is the little open world beat-em-up that could, with sequels that were in danger of not coming to our shores. Now there's the Yakuza 3 demo, which puts me in a precarious position, since I haven't beaten Yakuza 2 yet.
If you love low resolution images taken straight off a TV screen, then you're gonna love these Yakuza 3 demo pics!
If this is your first time ever hearing of the Yakuza games, I first want to say that I think you are in for some fun gameplay. Yakuza is made by our eastern cousins, and once you play it, there will be no doubt of that. There are some Japanese games that prefer content over style, and Yakuza 3 still has a "budgety" feel to it, where you get stuck in a combo animation once you trigger it, and the stock bad guys would feel at home in Final Fight.
Yakuza has grown a lot from the last time I've seen it, though. Your camera control is no longer restricted, your weapon set-up has allowed you to switch weapons on the fly, and there is the graphical face-lift. Still, the game feels a bit stiff and of the previous generation.
When it comes to kicking ass, thought, it doesn't matter much what the game looks like. It's a joy to be able to take on a bunch of goons with any object in your sight, and when that doesn't work, use your fists and feet.
Each weapon you carry or pick up has a certain strength and number of times it can be used before it breaks. Unarmed, you can gradually upgrade your strength, learning new moves and combos. Our hero, Kazuma Kiryu, does some amazing moves, which is what makes me love this series. A fight can go as easy or as hard as you let it, limited only on your imagination and the skills at your disposal.
There are two issues I struggle with:
1. Why is Kazuma still slumming around the same neighborhood? We're up to the second sequel and he's still running around the same streets? I guess that makes it easy for newbies to pick up any of the series and get the same experience as people who've played more.
2. Why does anyone screw with or doubt Kazuma Kiryu? This is the 24 disease, where someone will look down on Jack Bauer, even though he's saved America countless times! Well, bring it on, gangsters. Kazuma's got a dropkick with your name on it!
This would make you think that Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing would be the bad demo for this week, especially since Sonic has fallen out of favor recently; but I don't have too much issue with the game.
This is Sonic's Mario Kart, so I think that it's good for gamers who want a detour from standard action fare or are looking for a family friendly title.
You are most likely familiar with the whole Sonic cast, but the rest of the lineup might be confusing for you. A lot of the Sega characters are from the Dreamcast era of Sega, so if you missed out on the lifetime of that console, you might not pick one of these characters from the short-lived beloved console.
This is a simple racing game, complete with the crazy special moves and power ups that are now standard for a game like this. After the great introductory animation, don't expect much more from this game. The fun will be in playing against other people in multiplayer or against friends/family locally.
