Forums > Contributor Zone > RotW Dec 1 – 7 Still EmP’d

Hullo – me again. No, I don’t know how I’m managing to be this productive either. A hero you say? Well, I don’t know if I’d go that far. Oh, you are flattering me, theoretical reader’s opinions, but you’re right, I probably do deserve it. Change the site’s name to EmPGamers? That’s probably fair. Okay, let’s do that.

‘twas a fair week for our beloved hero to work through, and those that didn’t place have shiny feedback topics to chew over. Otherwise, the three listed below are all very solid efforts. So, yeah, well done with that. Onwards!
Third Place
3D Sonic the Hedgehog [3DS] - Roto13

This is a clever review for where it places its focus. As you allude to, Sonic 1 has been pimped out to every platform known to man, and most people will probably own a couple of ports by sheer accident. As such, telling us what this port has that the other doesn’t is the place to start. Especially since, as noted, M2 is being go-to place for retro ports; it’d be just as noteworthy had they scrimped on features.

But, of course, they’ve not, and the examples you pick out probably could not have been better. I especially enjoyed the sound chip emulator example as a way to showcase just how much work has gone into this project. Maybe my cynical knee-jerk reaction to all these 16-bit classic ports was misjudged if they all share this kind of effort.
Second Place
Journey to Silius [NES] – pickhut

Gah – a Sunsoft game. I don’t think a company exists that have such a varied and mixed bag of titles, in genre and quality. That aside, Jay McCray? That’s seriously the name they went with? I get that the original name suddenly became unavailable, but that was the best they could come up with?

That’s not your fault. Your intro works well by making the seemingly odd comparison with Super Mario Bros, and gains strength from the further examples of difficulty you provide. Comparing your attempts as a kid and bringing them up to date with current attempts is also a good dynamic – but it’s a cunning trap! You’re setting the game up to be knocked down later. Such was the quality of your praise, I honestly did not see it coming for a change.

What’s noteworthy is that the strength of your intro lends creditability for your complaints. We’ve no reason to believe your complaints of unfairness are not valid because you’ve already established a fondness for the game’s challenge, and then backed it up with fact. When you say bits are hard but fair, you walk through some examples and, likewise, the unfair sections are suitably marked. The unavoidable bullet, the sudden introduction of scrolling in a game that encourages a more deliberate pace. The review has a good back and forth with itself, each half complementing the other. It’s a fantastic bit of persuasive writing.

No food analogy – but, hang on, what’s this?!?
“and it's through a factory setting adorn with falling debris”

A typo! For shame.
Winner
Forza Motorsport 5 [XB1] – Suskie

Bonus points for you, old chum, for some of the hate-filled bile this review kicked up on N4G feedback. Not the best I’ve seen, but a fair effort.

Racing games aren’t the easiest subject to tackle. It’s not an easy to write an engaging review, so much people just settle for the review itself. Does it steer okay, what are the tracks like, number of vehicles, arbitrary score, and get out of dodge. Suskie sidesteps this, the devious swine, by exhibiting a deep sense of series history. Look at you, comparing this knowledgably to previous titles. Well, la-de-dah.

Look, the only racing games I’ve cared about since Super Monaco GP way back on the MD has been Wipeout, so I was never a target audience. That said, the way you present this review has so much authority that I almost feel like a racing game buff through your words vicariously.

You’re knocking this next-gen coverage out of the park every time you put something out, and this is top of the pile. Seriously, the only way this site could be in better hands in new-gen console reviews is if I did it myself, and I’m far too busy being a pretentious indie elitist prick.

The pick of the lines: the cut away about even the commentator getting bored with rehashing the same tracks over and over.

For us. For them. For you.

Agh, my intuition has failed me! What's more embarrassing is that I think I made this exact mistake in another review a few years back.

Nevertheless, thanks for the comments, and congrats to Roto for placing with his 3D Sonic review, a good read, and for Suskie for nabbing another RotW. As you said, he really has been doing a great job pumping out these reviews for the new console games!

And thanks for making all these RotW topics, EmP. Reading all these reviews in a row and then writing about them are definitely time-consuming.

I head spaceshit noises.

Thank you very much, EmP! That is just a boatload of nice things you've said about me. I still kinda hope that Jason reviews Forza 5, as well. He's new to the series and he absolutely adored it, so we'd be getting a very different perspective, and different perspectives are lovely.

Thanks for getting these done, man. 'Grats to Pickhut and Roto for consistent goodness.

You exist because we allow it. And you will end because we demand it.