Tag: Gaming

Army Men: Air Attack

On By evanescentgamingexpIn PCLeave a comment

Army Men: Air Attack was the first and last Army Men game that I came in contact with. The game left a lasting impression on me because of how fun and detailed it was in comparison to my make believe games with toy soldiers. In addition, the game had a cooperative mode (one of the first PC games I came across to do so) that was extremely fun for me and my sister.

Green Army Plastic Figurines

The game was based off the toy action figurines that I played with as a boy. The Green Army “good guys” were up against the Tan Army “bad guys.” The result was an endless war between the two colored factions. Both sides had the exact same models being used with the only difference being color. There were the regular riflemen, bazooka troops, jeeps, tanks, and helicopters available for both sides. However, the Tan Army usually had some secret nefarious top secret technology to deploy to the battlefield. During the imagine games with the plastic toy soldiers, the size of the army usually depended on how many models you collected for both factions.

Unfortunately, for me I had only a small kit of Green Army soldiers without any helicopters. However, that did not stop me from supplementing my existing Green Army with other toy helicopters not from the Green Army collection. I used a remote controlled helicopter as a stand in for my non-existent Green Army helicopter. I also used other toys such as Hot Wheels cars and Legos to help diversify the various scenarios I made up. My favorite scenario was a Green Army’s equivalent of D-Day that was a complete copy of Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan. I would have the Green Army soldiers run up the styrofoam beaches while being attacked by plastic machine guns in Lego pillboxes. Yet despite all the creative ways I was able to use my toys I still felt something missing.

When I came across Army Men Air Attack I figured out what was missing, a challenge. In my make believe scenarios I always had the Green Army win regardless of the various obstacles they faced. However, in a computer game the real possibility of losing made the games more exciting. Here was a computer game that made my battle scenarios come to life. Even better, it presented the battle scenarios that others had made. I got to see the whole battle unfold in a dynamic environment from my top down view as a helicopter pilot in-game.

In Game Mechanics and Layout

Every time you started up the game there was an introduction that played. The screen displayed a black and white film with a countdown like you see in those old war films. The film describes the Tan Army menance and how the Green Army is preparing to defend itself with its new air force of helicopters. The game film transitions from black and white to colored as the helicopters take off and fly from the kids room into the distance (beyond the window). The game then cuts to the main menu displaying a Green Army tank base in the woods.

Before starting every mission you are brought to a green briefing screen that details your objectives for that mission. On this same screen you are given the option to choose your helicopter and pilot. The helicopters available are the Huey, Chinook, Super Stallion, and Apache.
– Huey: From the good old days of Vietnam. Basic helicopter that you start out with. Quick, but lightly armored.
– Chinook: Suppose to be a transport helicopter, but somehow the game magically gives it the ability to fire bullets and missiles. Slower, but tougher. True to its real life counterpart, the helicopter is better able to carry objects with the winch.
– Super Stallion: Another transport helicopter that the game somehow gives upgraded weapons systems. Has better mobility than Chinook and more firepower than the Huey.
– Apache: Modern US attack helicopter with all the offensive armament you need. Reflected in the game by being the last helicopter you unlock. Has the best stats in the game.

The pilots available are Woodstock, Hardcore, Rawhide, plus an additional unlockable character. I never significantly noticed what benefits the different pilots gave.
– Woodstock: Glasses wearing, Black afro dude. Suppose to give machine gun perks.
– Hardcore: Bionic man with the one glass eye. Perks for homing missiles.
– Rawhide: Stereotypical cowboy. Somehow his lasso skills are analogous to using the helicopter winch.

Once in game the helicopter remained at a fixed height above the battlefield. The WASD keys moved the helicopter forward, back, and side-to-side. Your primary attack is the machine gun that shoots out an unlimited number of bullets towards the enemy. Your secondary special attack depends on your selection at the bottom left side of the screen. These special attacks provided you with a variety of options from missiles to napalm. Unlike your primary machine gun, secondary special attacks have a limited munitions count. Your E key has the important function of deploying a winch. When you press the key the winch is deployed down and attaches to the first object it comes across. You can fly with the object attached, but your speed is significantly lowered while doing so. Pressing the E key again drops the attached object and retracts the winch.

The Green Army units, our allies, are mostly green colored soldiers, jeeps tanks, and helicopters. However, the enemy units in game have a larger diversity of possible color palettes. Besides the units that are carbon copy tan army units (same as the Green Army just colored differently), there are insects (ants, bees, flies), RC cars, battleships, rockets (these hurt quite a bit), cannons, and even RC robots. Some of these enemies are extremely dangerous (such as the rockets). Other types of enemies pose little to no threat (regular infantry).

The Storyline

Army Men: Air Attack comes from a long tradition of single-player only games that have become more rare as multiplayer has come to dominate the market. The game is designed as a set of specific missions for you and or your friend to play. The additional cooperative partner has no impact on the story. Each mission starts off with vocals from either the Green/Tan Army as soon as you spawn in. In the case of the Green Army the vocals you will hear are from the General, Sarge, and the pilots. For the Tan Army you will hear the streotypical evil voice of their General. The unique scenairo then unfolds, in which you will have to use your skill as a helicopter pilot to achieve victory. Once the victory conditions are fulfilled the game will zoom in on your helicopter and rotate the camera in a 360 degree motion while the Green/Tan Army soldiers comment on your actions.

The first mission is simple enough. Destroy the Tan Army forces attacking the Green Army base. Once the Tan Army troops and tanks are neutralized, carry the Green Army shipment into the portal. The second mission is more challenging as it is a timed attack mission. In this second scenario the Tan Army are deploying weaponized toy cars into the portal. The goal is to stop the cars before enough of them get into the portal. Once you destroy the cars’ spawning buildings, the rest of the mission is easy.

Later on you will have the joy of freeing imprisoned insects and carrying donuts to tan army bases. Unfortunately, the insects on later levels are mostly hostile. Ants are also featured on a few missions, with one of the mission objectives to destroy anthills by using cherry bombs. While the insects become mostly hostile in the second half of the game, there are still some notable allies. A laser shooting UFO comes to your aid on one mission, while a rampaging teddy bear leads the way in another.

A few more notable missions include: using a green crayon to change tan army soldiers into green army soldiers, protecting a teddy bear as it flows downstream, saving Sarge from a deadly magnify glass laser, and powering radar stations by transporting batteries. However, the last mission remains the most memorable mission. As expected for the finale, there is a boss in the form of a RC robot. At the start, the robot is invincible all types of attacks due to its electrical shields. The shield is powered by battery stations located throughout the map. The only way to destroy the batteries is to get a cherry bomb from one of the randomly passing tan army trucks. Only after you destroy all the battery stations, can you start unloading on the main RC robot. Defeating the RC robot results in the final animation of the game with the Green army Huey destroying the robot and Green army soldiers hoisting the flag over its charred remains.

First Coop Mode

Army Men Air Attack had the additional benefit of being the first coop game I had come across. Previous games my sister and I played often had one of us backseat gaming. This game was the first experience we both had with split screen computer gaming. Perhaps that is why I have such fond nostalgia for the game. I remember playing with the left side of the keyboard (WASD) while my sister played with the right side (arrow keys). The split screen interaction completely blew me away. The only other games that had similar multiplayer gameplay were NASCAR driving games and Super Smash Bro Melee. It was amazing to see our helicopter duo flying into action just like in the movies.

Particular levels made ridiculously easy by the coop mode were escort and defend the base levels. Escorting Sarge and the runway troops/scientists is a lot easier when you have double helicopter over watch. One helicopter flies ahead and clears the path while the other helicopter hovers over the VIP. Defending the base from ants is also easy with one helicopter dropping the cheery bombs onto the ant hills while the other shoots at the incoming ant waves.

Yet the one level that the both of us often struggled with was the final boss. The amount of firepower and anti aircraft fire (AA) that was being fired at us made the computer lag. The first time we reached the level we made the stupid mistake of constantly attacking the RC robot directly. We could not understand why it refused to die even after we dumped all our rockets and napalm on it. Later through process of elimination, we discovered that we had to reduce the RC robot’s shields first. The strategy was for one of us to distract the RC robot, while the other frantically attacked tan army trucks to look for cherry bombs to drop on the batteries. Unfortunately, the withering amount of AA fire made the distractor die way too quickly. So instead both of us went chasing the tan army trucks hoping to get as many cherry bombs as possible. Luckily for us, this blind dash for the finish technique actually worked and we were greeted with the final animation.

Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo

On By evanescentgamingexpIn PCLeave a comment

One of the classic old computer games that I still remember tidbits of quite fondly is Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo with its main character being a car with a dog as a cooperative companion. The TLDR version of the game is exactly what the title says, Putt-Putt goes and saves the zoo. The point and click adventures as well as the minigames throughout the park aids with the story completion.

The game starts with Putt-Putt meeting an older yellow car before heading off towards the zoo. He meets a farmer looking tractor trailer with a ten-gallon hat along the way before coming to zoo’s entrance (the one with a giant “zoo” sign). At the zoo, Putt-Putt first comes a food truck with an unlimited supply of specific foods. Later on, there is also an option to change color at the pain shack. The food truck has what appears to be an unlimited amount of snacks. However, one specific food, hot cocoa, is storable in the car as it later serves as an important item. Closeby to the entrance is also a map of the zoo that is broken into three different areas: polar ice caps, savanna, and jungle. across a map that breaks down the zoo into different specific areas.

By the far, the most memorable area for me was the polar cold area. I remember warming up the snake with the hot cocoa, which made the snake change color and get off the ice. There was also the fun of see Putt-Putt sliding along the ice as a car. The polar area also had a puzzle where you had to connect the pieces of the ice together to build a bridge for a hippo stuck on the iceberg. The most frustrating part of the ice area was the polar bear hockey game where you had to use your mouse to control Putt-Putt against the polar bear. The game felt really gimmicky during that part, and the puck was hard to hit with the mouse’s weird sensitivity.

The savannah and jungle areas are less clear and memorable to me. The only particular part I remember was trying to save a feline cat stuck above a waterfall. Using Putt-Putt’s amazing radio wire antenna to grab and manipulate the environment, we safely brought the cat down. Once the objectives of the three areas are completed, the farmer tractor trailer returns to present Putt-Putt with a badge for his efforts as well as the opportunity to cut the ribbon to open the park to others.

The game was memorable for me in how Putt-Putt, an object that in real life could not be imagined as animated, was personified as the do-good hero. With him leading the way and helping out the various residents of the zoo, the zoo was able to prepare in advance for the “Grand opening.” Looking back on it now, having all the characters as vehicles probably appealed to the American audience with its suburbian trends. However, as a city kid, I ended up walking and using the train more, though that did not detract from my fun in-game experience.

The environment of the zoo was easier for me to believe in than the extraterrestrial environment of Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon, another game in the series that I enjoyed far less. It is a game that I am not going to review on this website because I have close to no memories about it save the one part where Putt-Putt collects rocket parts to go into space.

Pokémon Yellow Version

On By evanescentgamingexpIn GameBoy ColorLeave a comment
The original start of Pokemon for me.

I was instantly captivated by the glittering rainbow of the Nintendo Gameboy Color. A gift from my parents, the Gameboy Color and its Pokémon Yellow version would play a major role in my love for video games. I would play the Gameboy Color constantly during weekends, after prep school, after completing my homework on weekdays, on family road trips, and during summer school. The distinct shape of the rectangular Gameboy Color with its D-pad, A & B button, and start & select button was etched into my mind.

The Beginning of a Long Journey

I started the game with a Pikachu exactly like Ash in the TV episodes. After greeting and leaving Professor Oak’s lab, I moved towards the first gym. On the way, I captured a Ratata and a Pidgey. I was quite a fool back then. I never really quite worked out the stat mechanics. Cue the often sad attempts to spam the attack button after getting hit constantly by “sand attack.” In fact, as an immature kid, I believed that attack moves that did no damage were useless. As a result, I ended up deleting stat affect moves such as growl and harden (unless I had a Metapod, then that was the only move I had). This caused me a lot of grief in the first gym battle against Brock.

This man never opens his eyes. He can literally beat you with his eyes closed.

Another fatal mistake was that I mainly focused on leveling up my Pikachu, ignoring the rest of my Pokémon. The only time when I changed to my other Pokémon was when Pikachu’s PP for attack moves ran out or when Pikachu was at risk of fainting soon. With an electric type Pokémon as my main, I attempted to take Brock, a Rock-type Pokémon trainer, head on. Needless to say, my first try ended in failure. Electric-type attacks had little effect and normal type attacks were equally not effective. However, I was not deterred in the least. I went back to the grass areas and kept on leveling up Pikachu to a point where even normal attacks could do a significant amount of damage to his Geodudes and Onix. The next time around I used brute force to break through to victory.

Unfortunately, my experience with Brock never really did hit home the mechanics of Pokémon. I never tried to diversify my pool of pokémon, instead preferring to get Pokémon that looked cool or was on the TV show (airing on Kids WB11 at the time). Most of the time when I came across Pokémon that were particularly effective against me (such as ghost Pokémon), I ended up brute forcing the battle.

Ghosts and Frustration – Lavender Town

The situation after Brock was quite fuzzy in my memory. I remember that Misty from Cerulean City was relatively easy to defeat thanks to my Pikachu. Other than that I barely remember the other gym leaders. What I do remember was that Lavender Town was especially spooky. The music that played when in Lavender Town had a creepy tune quite different from the regular Pokémon soundtrack. There were also additional aesthetics that help attribute to the scary atmosphere of the Lavender Town. The initial avatars of the Pokémon were purplish-black ghosts that you just could not run away from consistently. The avatars reminded me of the murders in Detective Conan. Both faceless avatars inflicted grievous injury upon their victims. Worse, both figures appeared to be staring straight into your soul. The Lavender Town experience was further exacerbated by the inability to actually hit the ghosts without the important Silph Scope item and the Ghost’s status effect attacks. Thus, I was continually in situations where I could not attack the random Pokémon I encountered as well as being under attack by annoying status effects.

Evil staring right into your soul.

It did not help that I could not even find the Slith Scope despite looking all over Lavender Town. I spent a massive amount of time running from ghosts and spamming the A button on every single square in Lavender Town, hoping to find the item. I only found the Slith Scope later on in the game after I beat Giovanni, the leader of the Team Rocket (the bad guys). Once I had the Slith Scope, I could reliably fight the Pokémon in Lavender town because they stopped appearing as an anonymous ghost avatar.

The Final Stretch

Past the horror of Lavender Town, the only other major roadblock that I remember was the Victory Road. As a child, I found the pathway through the dungeon extremely confusing. It involved a lot of boulder pushing, button activating, and climbing up and down ladders. You had to climb up floors, then fall down floors in a series of complex positions. I am not sure if I was too young or too stupid to realize how the dungeon was planned out. A lot of the boulders I needed ended up getting stuck in a corner due to my poor planning. I also had to fend off random Pokémon from the environment as well as Pokémon trainers I encountered because I was too stupid to figure out that maybe max repel would have really come in handy. A combination of all these factors made me have to leave Victory Road to run back to the nearest Pokémon center for healing. I had to travel back and forth between the Pokémon center and victory road more than five times. At the end of all of it, I was glad to have another Pokémon Center waiting for me.

Unfortunately, my memory of the elite four battle is also quite hazy. My strongest memory was being completely annoyed by the cheap healing items that they would use when the health points of their Pokémon were in the red. The full restoration of their health points was dangerous for me because quite a few of my attack moves of my strongest Pokémon were low Power Points (PP) moves such as, “hyperbeam.” This meant that the longer a battle dragged out the more limited my attack options became. To further worsen the situation, the low PP moves also often had a high tendency to miss their target. However, after much struggle and retributive item-spamming, I finally managed to defeat Lance’s Dragonite. I remembered shouting with excitement over my first victory over the elite four. I had shouted so loudly that my mother thought I had hurt myself. That event remains permanently ingrained in my head as a great accomplishment against all odds.

Television Unrealities: Disconnect Between the Show and Game

My shortsighted uses of TMs to give my Pokémon cool or high-damage moves stemmed from my childhood naïveity of trying to emulate the TV Pokémon series. Back in the early 2000s, Pokémon was taking the world by a storm. As a child, I watched the Saturday episodes religiously on Kids WB11. My parents did not purchase cable TV (for good reason) so I was limited to common TV channels. That did not make any significant difference to me. For all I knew, Kids WB11 was the best channel on TV with all the interesting shows. Ash and his buddies, Brock and Misty, went on a long backpacking journey to “catch them all.”

The problem was that the show portrayed Pokémon battles as dynamic with opportunities to exploit the environment. However, the in-game mechanics differed in that battles tended to be static and turn-based. Thus, cool tricks such as using the move light screen to protect Pokémon from damage did not really translate over to the game well. Using light screen in-game still resulted in damage when attacked by physical moves. As a young child, I could not comprehend why moves like light screen failed to protect my Pokémon. This confusion further reinforced my misguided belief that non-damaging moves were useless. Thus, I always removed attacks like growl, sand attack, and string shot. My logic was that those moves took up space and should be replaced with moves that actually do damage to the opposing Pokémon. Thus, I usually spammed TMs and HMs on different Pokémon to remove their “useless” moves from them. I always used powerful TMs such as hyperbeam because I was so impressed by their onscreen display. However, these powerful TM moves tended to have quite low PP and as a result often left me struggling in long, extended battles.

I was also ignorant of the basic understanding of the Pokémon stats such as special attack and special defense. The only stats I had a rudimentary understanding of were health points (the bar goes down when you are hurt, and the Pokémon faints when the bar hits zero), attack, and defense. Even my understanding of attack and defense was poor because I was unsure of where they applied. Was defense only for physical attacks? What were classified as physical attacks? Unfortunately, I was never quite curious enough to focus on these mechanics and never thought to research it.

Movie Nerdiness

My love for the Pokémon series extended beyond the weekly episodes with movies. Each movie was usually set up in a manner to advertise their new legendary Pokémon. For example in the first Pokémon movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back, the story mostly revolved around the two legendary Pokémon of Mewtwo and Mew. In game, the methods of capturing both of these legendary Pokémon differed. You could find Mewtwo in an elaborate cave, filled to the brim with strong Pokémon, next to Cerulean City. Mew, on the other hand, was found through chance encounters in the wild. Of the two Mewtwo was significantly easier to catch because of his stationary placement. Mew had an annoying habit of running away before you had a chance to lower its health points enough. A similar set up occurred with Johoto region movie: Power of One that features the legendary Pokémon: Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, and Lugia (The first three Pokémon would later be used for team formations in Pokémon Go). The three legendary birds are included in the movie as being vital to the balance of nature and chaos starts when the balance is broken. Lugia comes to help repair the unbalance. Again with the next Pokémon Movie: Spell of the Unown the story revolves around the legendary Pokémon Entei.

Overview of Pokémon Yellow

Looking back on the game as a whole, the difficulty of Pokémon Yellow was caused mostly by my poor own decisions. I often focused on training Pikachu instead of the rest of my Pokémon. I chose high damage, low accuracy, and low PP attack moves because they looked cooler. I completely disregarded non-damage moves and replaced them using TMs and HMs. I am guilty of completing stacking as many HMs as possible on one Pokémon to save me from the hassle of switching them out. I was stubborn in gyms, routes, and dungeons despite low health, stat effects, and low PP. In short, I was hopelessly naïve when playing Pokémon for the first time. Unfortunately, I did not learn my lesson from the Kanto region and carried over my bad habits into the Hoenn region.

If I had to play Pokémon Yellow all over again today I would do three major changes: (1) I would have a well-balanced roster of Pokémon each with different types of moves. (2) I would have more status attacks such as sand attack or reflect. (3) I would split up the experience to make sure at least 4 of the 6 Pokémon in the party were at the same level. Doing all three of these actions would have mitigated a lot of the challenges I was having with the game.