So I've been meaning to get around to writing a "Now playing" article for the current, but keep getting sidetracked by making other articles and the actual act of playing. That wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that at some point or another I keep feeling a tad too frustrated with what I'm playing to feel certain I'll stick with it. I've been doing some digging through great old 3D platformers and I'm always at some point hammered with a stupid mini-game I don't feel like bothering with. I've got to say, I'm almost sorry about how I treated Sly Cooper because it went crazy with this by making an entire boss a mini-game. Now I still hold that criticism to it, and it strikes hard again on the last boss to, but its competition wasn't quite as harmless as I remembered it.
For starters I confess I never legitimately finished the original Ratchet and Clank. I found it a bit clunky and underwhelming playing it in a reverse order, and eventually used a cheat disc to see all the level ideas and weapons it had, then quit. I went back to it recently with a better perspective and considered it a nice dose of simplicity over the franchise because the rest really went a bit removed from being a 3D platformer. I needed that break from Going Commando which insisted on sending me to planet after planet filled with mini-games of some type, and then on top of that money-bag style guys holding vital bits for expensive ransoms that detracted from the game's point of saving that money for the weapons and fun. Well R&C1 was going good for a while, and I had even seen a review complimenting its pacing and lack of forced mini-games citing a hoverboard race as an example. It was almost right, with a couple minor exceptions. The minor exceptions were a giant clank brawl which was simple and easy to complete as well as thematically pleasing, and then there were two starship fights which was just awesome and didn't overstay their welcome. Then I went to the gadgetron facility where the worst happened. It wasn't the first hoverboard race that forces you to win, its the 2nd harder alternative that does require winning though. Oh but get this, to stand a chance in that race you need to win the first one to make the 2nd possible because without it you can't get boosters, and you can't get a certain shortcut without boosters, and you need the shortcut because the bots are magically superior and ahead of you on the whole thing and in order to beat them you must be as close to perfect using all the power-ups as possible. This is not the 3D platform you came for, its a tiny racing distraction that happens twice and never more, but without it you're missing out on around the last 3rd of the game. To add insult to injury it doesn't ever make logical sense. They showed up because it was advertised as a product of the biggest corporation in their universe. In a game where you're constantly earning cash to spend on devices from said company why do you all of a sudden get one "free" at the cost of a stupid hoverboard race. Why!? ...and now I just feel silly for demanding logic and change out of a game over a decade old and far since improved. Still its something I've been needing to vent for a while and also bring beyond just a Sly 1 gripe.
I adore 3D platformers but this was one trend in them I cannot stand. It mostly happened in the PS2 era to from the looks of it. The mario 64 style era was a bit more focused and left the bonus stuff to extra collectibles, and a certain set of those collectibles were mandatory. In Spyro 3 if you didn't want to play all the side character helper levels you didn't have to, but you had to get the dragon eggs somewhere else. If you didn't want to go down some super slide or race the koopa turtle in Mario 64 you didn't have to, but somewhere down the line you had to make up for this with more straight forward stars. The mini-games were still present and added something new and different in your big adventure, and you were rewarded for mastering it all, but if you stunk at it or just hated it you could continue the core adventure and enjoy yourself. The upcoming era started removing these liberties and suddenly you could wind up with a rhythm button boss fight, forced bike and hoverboard races for gadgets that magically hindered your progress because of some inconveniently locked door, Jak and Daxter had its share of mini-games with bikes, racing, turret pieces, and more, and heck I think I even recall the declining Spyro requiring me to go through turret sections not for extras but to pass a level properly. Also while its a different genre, maybe you could even throw in Okami and the log and fishing parts.... but honestly that is a whole lot better than hoverboard races and turret pieces. Those were actually simple and more consistent. With the others... I guess they couldn't have players simply enjoying the game, they had to force you to see everything they could come up with as a distraction to make the character look more special because he could simultaneously play sports in the middle of saving the world. Its almost like the problem that moved onto FPS games where instead of just making the gameplay fun they have to take the control out of your hands constantly to show you their blockbuster set pieces, or for the novelty of controlling a vehicle or gadget for 5 minutes and never bringing it up again. I feel like my intelligence is just insulted when that happens. This is why I think A Crack in Time became such a bigger deal than the past R&C games, and out of the old ones it was R&C3 remembered the best. This was not only because they hit the mark so well with their core gameplay and improved it above and beyond the past, but also because they mostly kept things around the main character and core gameplay... though sure I'll admit R&C3 did still have those quark sidescrollers, but its far closer to the core idea and makes more sense than hoverboarding for a random device that should be at the very least buy-able.
Well I guess the elephant in the room is this: Sly 4 had mini-games, but yet I praised it to the high heavens and claim it to be the best in the series. What gives? Well Honestly it has the 2nd best fix save for the M64 style.... it wasn't so far fetched or difficult that it destroys your progress. That's also why I'm more lenient on R&C3's sidescrolling, or the clank levels in just about any of them, or the forced first encounter with your buddies in Spyro 3. You need to help the extra characters at least once in Spyro 3, but the forced one is their 1st level, the easiest, and gives you the controls and makes it a quick and pain-less process. The more difficult or far fetched mini-games like a rail shooter ninja show-down that had me ready to throw my controller out the window... that's optional and just for the completionists. Similarly I'll bring up Okami again, those little side projects were mostly easy and straight forward, not to mention they did tie-in well to the logic of the world. I'd say that also heavily applies to Sly Cooper. It changed from a random mini-game fest in the original to a format where the gang was all working together and used their abilities interestingly. This means that you'll be hacking as Bentley, and how would you really simulate that without a mini-game? Its possible, but not so easy. Hacking would either be a matter of a puzzle, a mini-game, a context menu you just press and leave. A puzzle would be hit or miss with folks, a context push would just be dull and make the character feel less different or the events insignificant, but a mini-game that isn't too complicated could get the job done just right. Now the RC car and the belly dance rhythm game might be more pointless, but oh well... its not so bad and they don't reoccur too much. Point is if you've got to have the mini-games make some sense out of it and make it simple and easy to bypass. If you want to get carried away and pander to puzzle fans, or have some super special weird mini-game idea save it for an extra or bonus section. At the very least, give in some kind of skip option. Some idiots will whine that makes it too easy, but last I checked my skill in hoverboarding has nothing to do with 90% of Racthet and Clank, and a rhythm game isn't on the agenda of being a sneaky platforming racoon. Its shouldn't effect the core game. I still love 3D platformers or those on similar tracks and wish they would make a bigger come back, but this was one major gripe I have with about half of them and I don't miss this frustration of going so far only to slam head first into a junk part of the game that has nothing to do with the all the fun and progress I've made. Again I'm pretty pissed off at just stopping and being so frustrated with R&C over this incident... they're really amazing games outside of these early stumbling moments. Thankfully at least the movie of the original R&C wont make me stop and roller-skate in the theater in order to proceed to the climax.
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| Let the game be at peace with itself |
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