Joebo's Playstation PS3 Blog

Review Score: 7.5 out of 10

Spring training has started and baseball season is almost upon us. MLB: The Show 12 is back again to kick off another season. Is it still the best baseball sim?

The Good:

Variety of Game Controls:

You do get the a variety of choices for control options to suit your hitting or pitching style. Some new hitting, pitching and throwing controls such as Pluse Pitching I could do without, but at least you can change the settings and use the good ol’ timming and pitch meter controls. You can use the analog stick, the Playstation Move or buttons to swing the bat or select the location of your pitch.

Faster load times:

MLB: The Show 12 has much faster load times than last year’s game. It really makes a huge difference.

The Music:

Once again this series hits a grand slam in terms of music selection. The Show 12 has a cool collection of hip and mostly unknown alternative rock. It seems to have an 80′s new wave flair to it. Somebody needs to put all the songs gathered from the MLB: Show series and stick them on an album because they are all so damn good. You can also customize your own music and insert your MP3 songs into a playlist and have your own walk up music when you approach the plate or hit a home run.

C.C fires away during sunset skies

The Graphics:

MLB: The Show 12 is still the best looking baseball game on the market.

You can see the difference with the graphics mainly on the player models. The players and coaches look fantastic. The fans in the seats have gotten slightly better looking, but they still react like a buch a stiff wooden zombies.

There are some new player animations (on and off the field) and they look life like and fluid. Also this year’s edition, the players don’t run through each other anymore like ghosts. They now avoid each other so sliding hard into second base will take out the second baseman to break up a double play. There are also some great new views and cut scenes inbetween innings and it adds to the feeling of being at the ball park.

One of the best improvements to the graphics are the baseball animations. The way the ball bounces, rolls and skips is more realistic looking than MLB: The Show 11.

RTTS:

Road To The Show is pretty much the same as in the Show 11. It’s still fun, but I didn’t really see any big changes.

Challenge of the Week:

Challenge of the Week returns to this year’s edition, but this time around it’s 100% FREE.

Last year sony charged 25 cents for each challenge. This new feature makes the Show 12 very additive and will keep you playing online. You can win various prizes, like signed baseball jerseys or Sony products for placing on top of the leader boards for each successful challenge. For example the first challenge is get as many hits as possible off of Yankees Ace, CC Sabathia by using Home King Jose Bautisa. COTW is also fun to jump into if you just want a quick baseball fix without playing a long nine inning game.

Diamond Dynasty:

Now you can create your own ball team with the new Diamond Dynasty feature. Design your uniforms, club logos and more. The feature seems very indepth. It’s cool, but to be honest I haven’t spent much time with it.

The Bad:

No online support for HR Derby:

Just like in the Show 11….I don’t get this…

Sony corrected a lot of dumb decisions from the Show 11 like making Challenge of the Week free, adding Playstation move support for a whole 9 inning game and being able to create your own team. But not having online support for the Home Run Derby is such a boneheaded move. The batting controls for the Move, analog stick, buttons, or even the yellow barf stain sweet spot work great for the Home Run Derby. Not having the Home Run Derby to play online is a no brainer. How could they miss this, again for the second year in a row?

The online player base is already there for it and the HR derby would be easy to jump into online. It would be a blast for players to compete online through leader boards.

Just like the SHow 11, Sony dropped the ball again by missing the chance to make the Show 12 that much better.

Joey Bats hammers one out

Yellow sweet spot/piss stain:

Sony added this new feature to batting to give the Show 12 more of a acarde feel, but it completely sucks and it ruins the online game.

You move this ugly, yellow piss stain around the plate (which is supposed to represent the “sweet spot” on your bat) and then try to make contact with the pitch. It works OK for hitting in the home run derby, where the ball is always lobbed in the middle of the plate, but playing against the A.I. or another online players where the pitches are always out of the stike zone using it becomes a frustrating experience.

This yellow sweet spot is really distracting and far to sluggish to control online, and it is almost impossible to get a hit with. You can change it in the game settings (like the crappy pulse pitching) but unfortunely you can’t change the hitting when you play in a online game. You’re forced to use it and it’s sooooooo garbage.

If there is a way to change it to another setting for online, I haven’t been able to figure it out.

Most of the batting averages online are well below 200 because noboby can make contact with this stupid batting/piss stain/sweet spot hitting. Most games there’s only a hit or two and online players are stealing bases like crazy because it’s the only way to get your player to score a run becasue the piss stain/ sweet spot batting is so fucking horrible.

Pulse pitching:

The new pulse pitching feature is complete GARBAGE. You have no control on where you want to locate the ball. Even if you locate the pitch in the middle of the plate, you’ll end up throwing the ball way out of the strike zone. You actually throw more balls than strikes. The new pulse pitching feature would ruin the game, but luckily you can change it to the old pitch meter settings.
I would recommend “switching” back to the old button system for pitching in the game option menu. The pulse pitching is 100% stupid and useless.

Eric Karrors:

Man, is this guy boring and annoying to listen to. As a commentator, listening to him really feels like you’re drifting into a coma. Matt Vasgersian and Dave Campbell pretty much say the same thing as last year’s Show. I think all the announcers could use a new over haul and bring back Rex Hudler or maybe change everybody all together!

Hard A.I:

The A.I. is tough on the Show 12. Even if the difficulty is set to easy, this game is still way too hard.

Be prepared to lose more than you win…

Still lag issues during online play:

The Show 12 still lags a bit when playing online. It’s better than the Show 11, but the lag is still there.

Playstation Move for pitching and fielding is bad:

It’s nice to have some Playstation Move support for pitching and fielding, unfortunely throwing with the Move is awkard and doesn’t work well. I can’t even recommend using it for throwing because it’s pretty bad. Stick with the button or the analog stick.

Bottom Line:

Overall, MLB: Show 12 is still the best baseball game on the market, but the competition is nipping at it’s heels.

The MLB2K series gets better each year, and maybe next year it might able to stand toe to toe with The Show or maybe even surpass it. The Show 12 is a must if you’re a baseball fan and own a PS3. It’s much better edition than last year’s edition, which was full of bugs and glitches and long load times.

I do recommend buying The Show 12 , if you are new to the series or own a Playstation Move. You really can’t go wrong. Some new elements were added into the formula and not all of the new features work well (like the pulse pitching) but The Show 12 mainly falls into the trap of being a little too familiar. The series needs to keep kicking last year’s edition ass instead of just offering us a few new things. The competition is catching up and the Show 12 is starting to feel a little lazy in some areas.

Next year, I think it’s time for a major overhaul to the series. Give us something new and exciting instead of new hitting and pitching options that don’t work as well as the old ones.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Review Score: 8 out of 10

Can Sega actually make a good Sonic game that doesn’t involve kart racing or colors?

The Good:

High-Speed Action:

Sega finally got a clue and made Sonic super fast again. The 3D modern day Sonic can burn through levels at super sonic speed and his 2D counterpart is no slow poke either.

Dazzling Stage Designs:

There is fine detail in each of the stage levels. The 2D and 3D levels both look beautiful and are well crafted. Each level has variety and is very enjoyable to play through. In some of the levels, Sonic is able to race down the side of buildings, grab on helicopters, slide on railings, run across water, ride on skateboards, turn into a rocket, and crash into cars just for starters. The level design echos back to past Sonic levels, but has exciting new twist to them. Add some super speed and some innovative level design and you’ll be hooked to see what the next level offers.

Surf's up, Sonic

Lots of Unlockables:

There’s many unlockables in Sonic Generations.

You can earn points to buy various upgrades at the store plus there’s many mini challenges that you can play, which are a nice break from the actual game levels. Some challenges that you accomplish will give you keys to unlock another part of the map or give you access to a stage boss. Some of the challenges have you working with or against one of Sonic’s supporting characters like Shadow the Hedgehog or Amy. You can also unlock artwork and level theme music. You can even unlock a Sega Genesis console within the game where you can go back and play Sonic the Hedgehog in all of it’s original 16 bit glory.

2D/3D gameplay:

Sonic Generations manages to blend old and new Sonic elements extremely well. It’s a nice change to play as 3D current Sonic or as 2d old school Sonic. Both Sonics feel different when you play them. Unfortunely you can’t play as any of the other characters like Tails or Knuckles.

The Bad:

Boss Battles:

There’s not many boss battles in Sonic Generations, and the bosses are pretty simple to beat. Overall, I wish the boss battles were a little more epic. It feels like the boss battles were just tacked on to the rest of the game.

The Story:

Sonic Generations has your basic “Good Vs. Evil” storyline, however the story and characters don’t have the same depth as a Mario game. I just wish that Sonic and the other characters were injected with more personality. There’s a ton of supporting characters in the Sonic universe, but we really don’t get a chance to know them. The dialog between the characters in the game is choppy and the cut scenes are pretty much forgettable.

Go for a helicopter ride...

Cheap Deaths:

Sonic does have a fair amount of cheap deaths and this does get annoying at times. Many times you will speed boost yourself over a cliffside because you are running so fast or miss a simple jump. The controls are good for the most part, but they aren’t as tight as they should be in a platform game where jumping and running are so important to success. I found that Sonic doesn’t jump high enough and you sometimes have trouble just getting him to jump up on a short ledge.

Bottom Line:

Much like Sonic Colors, Sonic Generations is a Sonic game that restores Sonic to his former glory. It’s a much better game than the weak, Sonic 4: Episode One that was released on PSN last year.

This is a “must buy” game for Sonic fans or anybody into a exciting solid platform game. It’s one of my favorite games of 2011 and even made it on our “Best PS3 games of 2011″ list. However, Sega picked a poor release date for this game. It seems to have gotten lost in last year’s holiday shuffle and might of had more of a spotlight on it if it was released in January. I had a difficult time even finding a copy of the game to purchase.

Sonic Generations is a Sonic game that deserves to be played. And trust me, you’ll have fun playing it.

If you want to forgive Sonic and Sega for years (and years) of awful Sonic games. Sonic Generations is a damn good reason to let the little blue hedgehog back into your cold video game heart.

Review Score: 5.5 Out of 10

Choplifter HD comes back from the past and lands the Playstation store. Is it a worthy remake of a old classic, or is it a Black Hawk Down?

The Good:

Nostalgia Factor:

Choplifter HD is a remake, but it also jogs your memory about playing the old 80′s classic.

I remember playing the original Choplifter game back on my Apple II computer (which had a green and black screen) It really takes me back. Inserting the floppy disc into the disc drive and typing those magic letters, “BRUN CHOPLIFTER”

As kid I remember making the people run back to the air base instead of picking them up and flying them there. Ah….being a kid in the 80′s!

This remake brought back lots of nostalgia for me (for a little while…) Maybe they’ll remake other 80′s gems like Captain Goodnight, Lode Runner or Aztec!

Nothing to see here!

The game doesn’t take it self too seriously :

The chopter pilots banter back and forth with each other with some cheesy humor like, “Don’t text and fly!” or ” Who was that girl I saw you with last night?” ” You only saw one of them?”

Bombing Goats, Chickens & Zombies:

This is a fun aspect of the game. If you don’t want to rescue the people and you’re tired of shooting soldiers, you can shoot/bomb chicken and goats on the ground. There’s even trophies to achieve for killing 1000 chickens. A nice change from the standard missions. There’s even a zombie level thrown into the mix. (which, I’ll get into later…)

The Bad:

The Price:

Choplifter HD is a whopping $15 bucks in the Playstation Store. A bit overpriced for what you get.

Respawning enemies:

The enemies in the game keep respawning.

This is very annoying once you just cleared out a section of soldiers armed with RPG’s and you fly back and the exaact same enemies magically reappear again out of nowhere. It also makes the later levels much more difficult.

Unbalanced in the level difficulty:

The first few levels of Choplifter HD are simple, but then out of nowhere the game gets incrediblely hard.
There seems to be no “medium skill” difficulty in the game. It goes from easy to impossible in just a few levels. I found this game so hard and frustrating that I put chucked down my controller and quit. Some of the levels feel really one sided in the enemies favour. I kept getting nailed with rockets or running out of gas no matter how careful or quick I tried to progress through the levels.

Graphics:

The graphics for Choplifter HD are ok, but nothing that’s going to blow you away.

Needs more weapons:

You got your guns and rockets and that’s it. There needs to be more weapons it feels very bare.

Clunky flying:

The flying feels slow (even when you turbo boost) and turning around the hellicopter feels very sluggish and akward.

Happy boring landings!

Zombies:

It feels like the zombies were thrown into the game because the overall game wasn’t good enough. You can fly over the zombies, shoot them or shake them off your hellicopter. They really don’t pose much of a threat or bring any more excitement to the game.

The Bottom Line:

Choplifter HD is a slightly fun nostalgia trip, but it doesn’t offer much else. It’s not 1985 anymore…

It doesn’t stand out from any other 2D action/flying side scrollers. There are a few new things added into this remake, but it could of went a few steps futher when it came to the game’s development. As a game, it’s slightly hovers (get it?) above medicore.

I recommend it to fans of the original Choplifter to check out, but only if you’re able to get a huge discount on it in the Playstation Store.

Nostalgia or not, this game isn’t worth $15 bucks.