Crystalis - Nintendo

If you asked me my ten favorite games of all time Crystalis would definitely be on the list. It would most likely make it in the top five. Probably my favorite NES game of all time, and certainly the one that I remember the most. I remember this game vividly from my childhood, the graphics, the music, the gameplay, everything about this game brings a rush of nostalgia to me.

Here's the thing though, I've never actually beat Crystalis. I don't know how many times I've played Crystalis before, I would guess at least five, but I've never been able to make it all the way through. One of the reasons I started this blog was because about 85% of the games I played up until about three years ago I've never actually beat. I would start a game, then something new and shiny would come along and I would put down the old to usher in the new. That's why I wanted to go through my old games, to actually beat some of these games that I never made it through.

I hadn't planned on playing Crystalis yet, I was holding off on some of my favorite games. Figured I would go through the ones I hadn't really given a chance to. Then I joined a discussion about Nintendo games that you wish were longer, there were quite a few people saying Crystalis. They were mentioning that it was only about five hours long. This made no sense to me, I guessed it was at least a twenty hour game. I remember spending a ton of time as a kid playing this game. I wondered if it really was a five hour game, had all this time I not finished a game that could probably be done in one sitting?

I sat down with Crystalis and it just made me smile. I knew every note of music, I knew pretty much everything people in the first town would say to me, I knew the map like the back of my hand. I played for a good four hours the first night... and that's when I noticed something weird. In those first four hours I had played through a lot of the game that I remember... and the second night when I played again for about another three hours? I made it through to where I had stopped the last time I played the game. The next time I played the game? Well, I beat the game. This game that I had played at least five time since 1990 that I had never managed to beat was actually about eight hours long. Here's the funny part: Crystalis has two save data slots. I used one and left the old save alone, after I beat the game I loaded up that old save to see where I had quit in the game last time. Turns out on that save I was only about 15 minutes to a half hour away from finishing the game. If I had stuck with it for another half hour it wouldn't have taken me twenty one years to finally beat this game.

Crystalis is a really good game, and I don't think that's nostalgia talking. It's a great action RPG with a decent story. It's one of those underrated gems that if you like these types a games and haven't played it before you owe it to yourself to give it a shot. It's one of those games I wish had become a series, or at least had a sequel. Do yourself a favor and find and play Crystalis.

Squid.

Saints Row - Xbox 360

I quite like GTA sandbox games. I pretty much have since I first played Grand Theft Auto 3. There's just something about driving around, and creating mayhem. I enjoy the freedom that these games allow. I really enjoyed Grand Theft 3 and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City... and then the GTA series seemed to get serious about itself. It was still fun, but not as cartoon-y and unrealistic. With GTA4 it became a little too serious and I just couldn't really seem to enjoy it, but that's a review for another time.

Saints Row basically made me feel like I was playing Grand Theft Auto 3 again. It brought back the over the top fun that I remember. I was still answering my cell phone, but instead of then having to drive and pick up my girlfriend it was having to drive and stop a gang warfare on my turf. I was involved in insurance fraud schemes that had me running in front of cars. Huge police chases that could go on for miles. Overall it was just insane, over the top fun. That's what I was looking for. This is what I wanted a GTA clone to be. Honestly this is what I wanted GTA4 to be.

When it comes to GTA-like sandbox games I really don't care about the story. I want there to be one, but I don't really care how deep it is or how great it is. Basically I play these games to cause mayhem, and Saints Row excels in this. Hell, there's even a mini-game called Mayhem. Overall Saints Row is just a fun time where you don't have to think a lot.

That's not to say that there isn't some problems with Saints Row. There were actually quite a few missions that were oddly difficult, mostly ones that involved doing a mission that automatically gave you five stars. It's hard to finish a mission when you're getting rammed by FBI vehicles left and right. Frankly I hate missions like this in any GTA game. Also you can't do missions until you fill your respect bar, this get's really annoying after a while. Having to do a couple little mini-missions before you can advance the story is kind of aggravating.

Overall Saints Row was a really fun game with some flaws that can be overlooked. If you're looking for a game that feels like a throwback to GTA3 then this is definitely game you want to play.

Squid.