SPC Showdown - 8/3/2011

It's the middle of the week, so why not begin our sixth segment of the SPC Showdown? This is where we pit games, companies, and more against each other to see which reigns supreme when all is said and done. Today we'll discover which installment of Super Mario Galaxy is best, whether ModNation Racers can outrun Mario Kart Wii, and which Final Fantasy experience on Wii outshines the other. That's just the beginning, but for now let's get this showdown started!

Round One: Super Mario Galaxy VS. Super Mario Galaxy 2

Two of the best games on the Nintendo Wii-- nay, this generation-- bar-none, but which is king of the 3D platformer?

Super Mario Galaxy

Mario and company enter territory last seen in Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins' Space Land in Super Mario Galaxy. With colorful worlds, rich visuals, an inspired orchestral score, and well-designed galaxies, Super Mario Galaxy is a treat to view as well as play. Reintroducing ideas such as the fire flower and presenting new ones such as the ice flower, Super Mario Galaxy keeps showing that Nintendo knows how to craft one amazing gaming experience.


Super Mario Galaxy 2

Reentering the stratosphere once more for some good old fashioned running and jumping action is Mario with pal, Yoshi, this time around in Super Mario Galaxy 2. The challenge bar has been raised this time with multiple shadow Marios chasing after our hero, endurance runs to tackle where a single hit will make Mario have to begin his mission anew, and big bad bosses to defeat. Those who complete all of these challenges will be entitled to a whole new series of stars to gather, and if all of those are collected, a brand-new galaxy, the Grandmaster Galaxy will be unlocked. It is with this, an improved soundtrack and galaxies, and unforgettable galaxies to explore that I bid Super Mario Galaxy 2 with this victory.


Winner: Super Mario Galaxy 2

Round Two: Super Mario Bros. 3 VS. Super Mario World

This duo of memorable 2D platformers are the champs of their respective systems, but which one outclasses the other?

Super Mario Bros. 3

Introducing a map system where players could completely skip individual levels if desired (but with how great they were all designed, who would want to?), Mario and Luigi plowed through eight themed lands in their latest adventure. From grass to desert, water to sky, Mario and Luigi bashed goombas, koopa troopas, lakitus, spinies, and even creamed Bowser in the end after a long, arduous trek through a tank-infested dark world. This game would be remade and ported to the Super Nintendo and Game Boy Advance with the latter receiving new levels via the doomed e-Reader peripheral. Does it take down Super Mario World, however?


Super Mario World

For the first time ever, players were introduced to Mario's lovable sidekick, Yoshi, a dinosaur who could gobble up certain enemies and came in several different colors. Expanding upon the map concept severalfold, Super Mario World featured secret paths leading to hidden levels, a challenging Star Road and Special World, and completing these turned koopa troopas into costumed Mario impersonators. Who could forget tackling all eight worlds, defeating the Koopalings, and chucking Mechakoopas into Bowser's cruiser in order to defeat him and save Yoshi's homeland? Plus with the new cape power-up, flying was never easier. It is with this that Super Mario World wins over a fierce opponent.


Winner: Super Mario World

Round Three: Mario Kart Wii VS. ModNation Racers

Two racers revving it up, ready to go. Which will reach the finish line first?

Mario Kart Wii

Doing away with snaking by having the player drift long into a boost around corners and turns, Mario Kart Wii did a lot of things right. Yes, with twelve racers that meant more chaos with items in heated races, but competent players could obtain enough of a lead where a barrage of blue shells wouldn't matter in the long run. With a fine selection of retro tracks including Delfino Plaza and Bowser's Castle (N64) and excellent new tracks from Coconut Mall to DK Summit, Mario Kart Wii also possesses some of the most fun online play to see the Wii. Does it speed past United Front Games' ModNation Racers, however?


ModNation Racers

Sony's foray into the kart-racing genre was not without faults. Regardless, it was a very innovative gem of a title. The ability to craft your own racer, tracks, and stickers was a pretty complicated process, but once mastered, you could build highly-detailed and impressive creations. But if you thought rubberband AI was a problem in Mario Kart, you ain't seen nothing yet in ModNation Racers. Opponents will abuse weaponry to take the lead from you, slam you off the road, and use any means necessary to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Frustrating as this may be, ModNation Racers is still a competent beast. It, though, just doesn't beat out Mario Kart Wii.


Winner: Mario Kart Wii

Round Four: Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon VS. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers

We have a duo of underrated Final Fantasy games for the Nintendo Wii. Which is the most classic of the two?

Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon

This simplistic roguelike took players through dungeons based on the memories of the game's main village's townspeople. As Chocobo you equipped talons and other garments and entered their memories, beating down familiar Final Fantasy villains such as bombs, goblins, and iron giants in your quest to figure out the mystery behind the town. With the best arrangements of classic Final Fantasy tunes period and quite engaging gameplay, Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon is a charming adventure that many Wii owners shouldn't hesitate to experience.


Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers

Finally, a Final Fantasy hero who isn't androgynous! The hero of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers has the power to pick up foes and chuck them into walls, explosive barrels, or other enemies in order to damage them. While the main quest is nothing more than a collection of high-production mini games, The Crystal Bearers possesses a great amount of things to do and enemies to conquer. However, all the running around and tremendous music aside, it has nothing on Final Fantasy Fables.


Winner: Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon

Round Five: Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus VS. Sly 2: Band of Thieves

The Sly Collection recently was released in HD for the PlayStation 3. The top two titles in the compendium go up against each other. Which outwits the other?

Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus

Sly Cooper debuts in this cool caper that was originally released for the PlayStation 2. The sneaky raccoon would receive two sequels on the same system. In this title Sly goes after the sinister group of criminals involved in stealing his family's coveted treasure, the Thievius Raccoonus, a book featuring all of their family's stealthy moves. Each boss in the game has a page, so Sly leaps on poles, crawls through air ducts, swings from chandeliers, and performs other otherworldly feats of dexterity to get them back. More linear in progression than its sequels, that may be the reason I like the original Sly Cooper game.


Sly 2: Band of Thieves

Progressing more into an open-world-like game, Sly 2: Band of Thieves opened up the gameplay for Bentley and Murray to step in and tackle their own missions. Each world was its own heist. Bentley planned it out to the finest detail, and the trio of thieves would converge on the baddie's hideout, taking out objectives and missions. The goal? To stop a new group of villains from reincarnating Clockwerk, the Cooper family's sworn enemy. While the sequel isn't as enjoyable as the first, Sly 2: Band of Thieves is still worthy of one's money.


Winner: Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus

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Five rounds are over, and with that, we've completed yet another SPC Showdown. Stay tuned in the coming months for our next showdown where more games, more companies, and much more will duke it out for supremacy. Until next time, see ya'!

Sly 2: Band of Thieves (PS3) Review

Reviewed back in the beginning of this year, we've been meticulously going through The Sly Collection, playing each game in the trilogy, and reviewing them one by one. This time we're checking out Sly 2: Band of Thieves. Is it better or worse than its predecessor?

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends.

Sucker Punch was a relatively unknown entity when they came out with the original Sly Cooper for the PlayStation 2. They quickly gained fame for the game's ingenious level design, fluid controls, and fun gameplay. Now it's a handful of years later, and the Sly Cooper gang is back with Bentley the brains and Murray the brawn as playable characters. Is this heist worth pulling off?

At the conclusion of Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, Sly Cooper took on Clockwerk, the thorn in the Cooper family's side that took out both of Sly's parents, making Sly an orphan. Defeating the iron beast, Clockwerk fell apart, left to burn in the oozing lava of the volcano. Fast-forward to present day where a new group of criminals, the Klaww Gang each has collected a piece of Clockwerk. If the gang were to reassemble the mighty monstrosity, who knows if it'd be game over for Sly and his friends-- moreover-- the world. It's up to Sly and the gang to formulate heists across eight chapters to steal back the Clockwerk parts and destroy them before they can wreak havoc on the world. Each chapter begins with a comic-book-esque CG sequence detailing the background of the current member of the Klaww Gang and Clockwerk part Sly and the gang are going after. The animation is superb throughout each of these aforementioned sequences. The voice work, too, is top notch, and works well to blend in and never sound forced.

Paris' nightlife is about to get a tad more wild with Sly in town.

Each chapter begins with Sly, Bentley, and Murray setting up a safehouse in the hub world. Each chapter has a large hub to explore, but instead of entering levels like the previous Sly Cooper game, you're entering missions. This time around both Bentley the turtle and "The Murray" the hippopotamus are playable characters with their own set of missions. Of course, I'm getting ahead of myself as I naturally tend to do. The beginning of every chapter starts out with Sly needing to take reconnaissance photos for Bentley to formulate a plan of attack to pull off a daring heist. The missions that follow slowly build up in difficulty and excitement as you steadily progress closer and closer to pulling off the heist. For example, the first chapter has you stealing Clockwerk parts from a nightclub owner who is using them as plates to forge a virtually endless supply of money. By having Sly pickpocket keys from surrounding guards to access a truck, having Bentley and Murray shoot a grappling hook from the truck to the marquis of the nightclub which causes the sign to tumble into the fountain below, opening up a secret passage, you'll have access to the Clockwerk parts. But not before a boss battle, of course.

Boss battles are much simpler than in the Thievius Raccoonus. In this game you essentially strike your opponent three times, move away from the boss' attacks, and then go back in. Rinse and repeat. Some battles are much more intuitive. A later battle has you controlling Bentley who shouts commands at a computer-operating Sly. Each of the face buttons save for X is used to spring a trap to hit the boss with. There's logs that smash into place, flames that rise up, and sawblades that whir at a moment's notice.

The gang's all here.

Like its predecessor, in Band of Thieves stealth is key. Guards show where they can see you by pointing their flashlights around. They usually follow set paths, so it's easy enough to tiptoe around them, pickpocket them for coins or keys, or take them out stealthily from behind. Spotlights work the same way, except if you get caught, you're liable to get shot in the third degree. Indoors there's floor and ceiling lasers that will burn Sly, Bentley, or Murray to a crisp if they cross paths with them. Being a thief virtuoso isn't as easy as it sounds, and these traps will put even the most masterful thief in their place if they don't watch out.

Get caught by a spotlight, and the whole area will be after you.

Sly 2: Band of Thieves is a much more sandbox-styled game than the Thievius Raccoonus. Each hub is hiding thirty clue bottles (in the previous game it was levels that hid the clue bottles). By collecting all thirty and finding the chapter's vault, Bentley will decrypt the three digit passcode to open the vault and earn Sly a new move. Speaking of moves, there's a myriad of them to learn. You can find them in vaults, but most of the time you'll be spending coins on Thiefnet, the in-game store accessed via the safehouse on Bentley's laptop. There's moves for all three characters to learn such as Sly's paraglide move that allows him to glide down from tall heights that would make otherwise unreachable jumps all the more unreachable. There's also the Alarm Clock that detours the awareness of local guards for Sly to slip on by unrecognized. If you're lacking the correct amount of coinage, you can always steal priceless artifacts and treasures hidden throughout the hubs. Some are booby-trapped, meaning Sly, Bentley, or Murray must get them to the safehouse before they explode.

There's a wide variety of missions in Sly 2, and you'll seldom be playing the same mission twice. One you'll be trailing someone as they lead you to a hidden hideout. Just don't get seen by them, or you'll fail the mission. Another will have you gliding in the air, using balloons in the sky to get extra air as you attempt to land on the caboose of one of three locomotives. You then fight your way to the engine room, slipping past guards, spotlights, and laser grids both on the floor and sprawling on the ceiling. When you're not stealthily speeding through a mission as Sly, you're smashing up stuff like the Hulk as Murray. Each of our three heroes plays differently. For example, Bentley is weak, so he relies on shooting sleeping darts to put foes at bay. Then he can run up to them, drop a bomb, and blow them up to smithereens. Murray is a close-encounter brawler. His fists do the talking... and the thinking now that I ponder this. Case in point, "The Murray" isn't the brightest of characters, but he gets the job done when called upon.

What he misses out in brawn, he makes up for in sheer brains.

Controlling Sly and the gang is a snap. One analog stick moves the gang along while the other controls the camera. The circle button is a godsend for Sly as he uses it to climb up poles, sneak along electrical wires, use them for spire jumps, and swing along hooks with his cane with the magically all-in-one button. You can map acquired moves and items to the L1, L2, and R2 triggers while the R1 trigger is used for running and escaping from particularly heated situations. There's but one attack button to speak of for Sly and Murray, and that's the square button. Meanwhile, by pressing in the L3 stick, you can get a grasp of your surroundings, and discover where missions and objectives are located. Alternately, clicking in the right stick brings up first-person mode where you can zoom in and out on the stage.

Sly 2 looks glorious in its new high-definition glory. The game also supports 3D as do all the games of the Sly Collection trilogy. The cel-shaded visuals have been upgraded to look as great as ever. Even in standard-definition, they're not too bad. There are some problems with pop-up and draw distance issues, but those are forgivable considering how old this game is. The music is a step up from the original Sly Cooper with some memorable tunes that will have you humming along if you're into doing that sort of thing. Overall, the presentation package of Sly 2 is quite amazing for a game originally released in 2004.

Sly 2: Band of Thieves focuses heavily on missions. While I prefer the level-based structure of the Thievius Raccoonus, that still doesn't make Sly 2 a bad game. With an updated and more forgiving health system, more creative level design, a fifteen-plus hour story, and a variety of various gameplay styles, Sly 2: Band of Thieves is one game that's a steal.

[SuperPhillip Says: 9.0/10]