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Forums > Contributor Zone > Review of the Week: 9/7/08 --9/13/08

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Author: drella
Posted: September 13, 2008 (08:49 PM)
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When I do review of the week, there are no rules, though please don't be surprised if I adhere to past regulations out of a combination of classical conditioning and fear of change. Thanks to all those that contributed this week, but I can only highlight three reviews, because those are the rules.

Winner:
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance by mariner
Long-time contributor Mariner comes back from the dead, having not submitted since January, and in true veteran form shows little rust in tackling Path of Radiance. The review, though clear that a lack of strategy is a fault of the title, still convinces that FE is worth playing for its team management aspects, in particular, the life-and-death situations of its characters after the player grows an attachment. The use of rhetorical questions works well to establish this point, though a few character name drops come out of nowhere. Building a deeper backstory before questioning whether your party could (or should) do without them might have captured the reader more (the first paragraph describing the cliched story works against this), but this is still an effective approach and a terrific piece. Great job covering a game with these kind of complexities.

Runner-Up:
Earthworm Jim by wolfqueen
A heated competition for the top spot, wolfqueen's Earthworm Jim was just barely edged out this week, so you better check this one out too. Worth reading for the hilarity of the subject matter alone, WQ is spot-on in what makes the Earthworm Jim franchise so goofy and endearing, describing everything from how Jim bides his time to avoiding lawyers in the depths of Hell. This is quality retro reviewing, only topped this week by a powerful review with more ambitious subject matter.

Third Place:
Sonic 3D Blast by pickhut
This is another quality Genesis review only knocked down the charts because of a tad of carelessness ("The isometric viewpoint gets a little getting used to, but you'll get the hang of it" being a particularly redundant line). Pickhut establishes a well-backed and believable case that Sonic 3D Blast --admittedly, a game I never played -- showed promise but could have easily turned out a lot better. While currently replaying Donkey Kong 64, I can relate to some of these complaints about objectives being too far spread out. And I love the sarcasm at the end -- patented pickhut, and he had readers that know him well waiting all review for it. Quality work.

Taking the RotW reigns next week is.... Overdrive? Really? We let him do this? Anyway, best of luck to all and keep the contributions coming.


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Author: wolfqueen001
Posted: September 14, 2008 (01:13 PM)
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Thanks, drella. I won't say I wasn't expecting to win this week (WHOMG, ego from me, really?! =O), so second was kind of disappointing. Still, I realize it's still good, and the things you said made it sound really close, so that's good enough to me. Especially coming from someone as renowned and revered as you are. I'm glad you considered it as good as you did.


[Eating EmP's brain] probably isn't a good idea. I mean... He's British, which means his brain's wired for PAL and your eyes are NTSC. - Will

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Author: honestgamer
Posted: September 14, 2008 (01:27 PM)
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Congratulations to the winners, and kudos to drella for stepping immediately into the RotW rotation and posting a topic like this one with such fine analysis for those who placed. Can Overdrive do as well next week?!


"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy on reality

"What if everything you see is more than what you see--the person next to you is a warrior and the space that appears empty is a secret door to another world? What if something appears that shouldn't? You either dismiss it, or you accept that there is much more to the world than you think. Perhaps it really is a doorway, and if you choose to go inside, you'll find many unexpected things." - Shigeru Miyamoto on secret doors to another world2

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Author: dementedhut
Posted: September 15, 2008 (01:13 AM)
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Congrats to mariner for the top spot, and congrats to wolfqueen for getting pretty close. And thanks for the comments on the review, I do have a habit of making those types of mistakes. It sounded normal when I typed it up, and even when I was proofreading the review, but when you grab a sentence out like that, yeah.


I head spaceshit noises.

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Author: jerec
Posted: September 15, 2008 (04:29 AM)
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"Can Overdrive do as well next week?!"

So... we check back in a month or so?


I can avoid death by not having a life.

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Author: overdrive (Mod)
Posted: September 18, 2008 (09:59 AM)
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Hey, Jerec, I have a good streak of getting my RotWs done in a timely fashion. A streak of ONE!!!!


I'm not afraid to die because I am invincible
Viva la muerte, that's my goddamn principle

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