Dcubed Posted Tuesday at 06:13 AM Posted Tuesday at 06:13 AM Interesting! Had no idea that the US got a different version of ISS2. BTW, it really strikes me just how many more sports games the GCN got over the N64. Even at this early stage in the GCN’s life, the difference is night and day!
Cube Posted Tuesday at 07:25 AM Author Posted Tuesday at 07:25 AM 3 hours ago, Dcubed said: Interesting! Had no idea that the US got a different version of ISS2. BTW, it really strikes me just how many more sports games the GCN got over the N64. Even at this early stage in the GCN’s life, the difference is night and day! Early days is crazy. Although after a couple of years, they fizzle out due to EA pricing out the competition and other companies ditching the GameCube. So it goes from a ton of sports games to pretty much just EA's ones. 1
Cube Posted yesterday at 08:25 AM Author Posted yesterday at 08:25 AM Donald Duck: Quack Attack Donal Duck is Going Quackers to Save Daisy! NA release: 27th March 2002 EU release: 3rd March 2002 JP release: N/A Developer: Ubisoft Montreal Publisher: Ubisoft NGC Magazine Score: 32% Mods Used: Widescreen Hack Someone high up at Ubisoft really wanted the Donald Duck: Going Quackers/Quack Attack concept to work. Three different developers had already made completely different versions of the game for PlayStation, Game Boy Color and Nintendo 64 (with the N64 version getting PC and Dreamcast ports), but now it was Ubisoft Montreal’s turn to make a new version for the PS2 and GameCube. At this stage they mainly worked on licensed games and Tonic Trouble, but they would later create Splinter Cell, the Prince of Persia 3D trilogy and a little game called Assassin’s Creed. While the story and level themes are exactly the same as the previous versions, the levels themselves are completely different. They’re still mostly Crash Bandicoot-style levels with a few 2D levels, but they’re designed around the specific mechanics of this version. Throughout each level are sets of five cogs, collect these in quick succession and you’ll get a letter to spell out “SPECIAL”. Once you’ve completed a level with this, you’ll earn a special move. To activate a special move, you need to jump on three enemies without touching the ground, press R, then enter the combination for the various special moves – although all they do is activate a different animation then all give you the same power: invincibility and a bonus to your score for a little bit. While the actual reward for the special moves are fairly rubbish, they still benefit the game a lot: enemies and presents (which hold gears, health and power-ups) are placed within reach of each other, and bouncing across all these is extremely satisfying. I rarely actually activated the special move, but bouncing through the levels made them flow extremely well. Donald is also lovingly animated, looking like he just escaped from the cartoons. He’ll distort as he moves, grab his hat, dance around and is extremely expressive, which helps make the game feel alive. The main campaign is quite short (with fewer levels than previous versions), but there are two bonus ways to play. One is a time trial, and the other has you perform at least two special moves per level, both of which are fairly easy. Still, the mechanics of the game make it quite good fun. Fun Quote Goin’ Quackers is total rubbish, and not just because it’s one of the most boringly uninspired games we’ve played this year. Fact is, this looks and plays exactly the same as the N64 version, right down to the level structure and bumbling boss encounters. NGC Magazine #68 Remake or remaster? The various versions of this are worth including in a Disney platformer collection Official Ways to get the game There is no official way to get Donal Duck: Quack Attack. 3
Dcubed Posted 23 hours ago Posted 23 hours ago Oh that’s interesting. Had no idea that the GCN/PS2 version was a totally different game from the others! Ubisoft was a very strange company up until the PS360 came out and consolidated all of their game development output. 1 1
Ashley Posted 17 hours ago Posted 17 hours ago 9 hours ago, Cube said: EU release: 3rd March 2002 EU release: N/A Just flagging this 1
Cube Posted 2 hours ago Author Posted 2 hours ago Driven Inspired by Sylvester Stallone’s hit movie DRIVEN. NA release: 27th March 2002 EU release: 3rd May 2002 JP release: N/A Developer: Crawfish Interactive Publisher: BAM! Entertainment NGC Magazine Score: 60% Mods Used: Widescreen Hack The first direct movie tie-in for GameCube, and it’s about a film I’ve never heard of. Driven was a personal project for Sylvester Stallone, who produced, wrote and starred in it. It was about an up and coming racing driver that started losing focus, so a champion is brought out of retirement (to help him out). It was supposed to be about Formula 1, but due to behind-the-scenes secrets, Stallone had to settle on “Championship Auto Racing Teams”. The game is, naturally, a racing game, but there are a few modes inspired by scenes in the film, and a story mode that follows the plot of the film, using the various modes throughout. The most unique mode is blocking, where you have to get behind a teammate and prevent an opponent from overtaking. You have to stay close to your teammate, so you just can’t crash into your opponent (despite having a special crash camera, the crashes are extremely underwhelming). A few scenes in the film are car chases in cities, and you get to play out these as well, dodging traffic, which is decent fun. There’s also a mechanic where if you don’t hit anything, you’ll enter “focus” mode and improve your top speed, acceleration and steering. I really don’t like how it handles, though, cornering is very stiff and the opponents are near-perfect, making each mission extremely difficult. While some of the modes are interesting, it’s not very nice to play. Fine Quote While Story and Blocking modes add a little variety to the mix, it never manages to really get going – there’s just enough speed, and it’s infinitely better than the PS2 version, but it still fails to grab you by the throat. More like a tap on the forearm. Shame, because there’s the nucleus of a good idea here. NGC Magazine #68 Remake or remaster? The blocking mode could be implemented into F1 games (if not already done). Official Ways to get the game There is no official way to get Driven. 1
BowserBasher Posted 33 minutes ago Posted 33 minutes ago 2 hours ago, Cube said: It was supposed to be about Formula 1, but due to behind-the-scenes secrets, Stallone had to settle on “Championship Auto Racing Teams”. Look how far things have come. Now we have the F1 film due out soon that was filmed a lot on race weekends in the pits and on track with a lot of input from people in the sport. I know Hamilton had a major role in helping make it Never heard of this game. thanks. 1
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