80's Overdrive 3DS Video Game

80's Overdrive

3DS Video Game Review

Written By: Adolph Vega


3D

 

The stereoscopic 3D visuals fit this game perfectly. The game uses a pixel art graphic style that is similar to other car racing games from the 1980’s. This graphical art style lends itself perfectly to depth based 3D, because the player is inherently looking into the screen to see where the various tracks lead to. Simply put the 3D looks totally rad. The gameplay is fast and smooth regardless if you play it in 3D or 2D. The 3D really gives the player an immersive racing experience and makes the high speed racing more enjoyable and engrossing. In fact I didn’t want to play this game in 2D, because it looks so nice in 3D. Depth based 3D is just a natural fit for racing games and the 3D element really shines within this game.

 

Final Verdict: Great 3D


 

Video Game

 

 

80’s Overdrive is a throwback to arcade racing games from the 1980’s. It many ways this game resembles the classic “Outrun” or “Rad Racer” games, but it also feels modern and is it’s own thing. 

 

Are you the fastest racer? Are you the best racer? Are you ready to compete around the world and prove your excellence? Like any other racer, the main goal of this game is to be the greatest racer and to win all the races. The game has a fairly strait forward gameplay loop. After each successful won race you will receive prize money, money which you will need to purchase entry into other races. You can also spend your earned money to upgrade your vehicle(s) or buy new vehicles. The currency system is a huge element of this game. Success breeds more opportunities for success and the player needs to strategically invest the money earned to be become more successful. Upgrading and maintaining your vehicle is a major aspect of the game and necessary for advancement. Most of these upgrades are self-explanatory but within this review I will discuss a few of them in detail. The player can upgrade / maintain the following aspects of their vehicle(s):

  • Increase Top speed
  • Increase Maneuverability
  • Increase Structural integrity
  • Make repairs
  • Add nitro boost capability
  • Refuel the gas tank
  • Add a police scanner

The Nitro boosts can only be used twice per race , and only when the player has already reached the vehicle(s) maximum speed. Using Nitro boosts to push yourself ahead of your competition or ahead of traffic or the police is something you must do on a regular basis to win. Nitro boosts are a fun dynamic and I enjoyed using them within the game. 

 

The vehicles can receive damage from hitting other vehicles or going off road. So upgrading the structure integrity is key to mitigate future  damage. The player will need to watch the damage meter and occasionally pay to repair the vehicle. Traffic which I mentioned earlier is another thing to consider as the player needs to avoid hitting other vehicles to prevent damage. Sadly the game doesn’t showcase any crazy crashes or radical flips so any damage to your vehicle is largely invisible. Your car can become wrecked if you reach the maximum amount of damage on the damage meter. It’s pretty cool to see your car become smoky and break down on the side of the road when you wreck your vehicle . The cost to repair a totaled vehicle is higher than just repairing it in between races, but you might not be able to afford to repair the vehicle unless you win the race. The damage is saved automatically so you can’t forget to maintain and repair your vehicles. The vehicle damage system is a nice addition to the game and is well implemented  . 

 

The police are a big aspect of this game and the police scanner vehicle upgrade tells you when police vehicles are nearby. Sadly this information is displayed on the bottom screen, so you would need to quickly look down from the main top screen to view the scanner. It takes a split second to view the other screen so it’s a risk/reward dynamic to view the police scanner. You might crash your vehicle or miss a turn within that split second so viewing the policy scanner or anything on the bottom screen is potentially hazardous to the race.  Honestly I don’t care to know if the police are close by, because there isn’t much that you can really do about it. The police will go after the player for going above the speed limit, however if you slow down your vehicle to be under the speed limit that will dramatically decrease your ability to win the race. The police are a serious threat to the player and have aggressive artificial intelligence. The police will actively try to hit the player and try to run you off the road . If the police catch the player they will give you a speeding ticket. The player can decide to pay the ticket and continue the race (which is not necessarily worth it and the race is probably already lost) or just reset the race entirely and not pay the ticket. The police can be outrun if your vehicle is fast or agile enough. I do enjoy the element of the police being within the game, it’s a thrilling gameplay mechanic. It’s incredibly satisfying to use a turbo boost and blast past the police. Ultimately the police scanner is a frivolous addition and I would suggest the player not spend money on this feature.

 

The game does many interesting things to add variety to the gameplay. The main game includes random bonus missions for the player. For example one bonus mission is to purposefully lose a race and to finish in a specific place. If you complete the bonus missions you will be handsomely rewarded with cash prizes . Many times the rewards for successful competing a bonus mission will be significantly more money than actually winning the race. Sometimes you will be able to double dip and complete the mission and still be able to win the race and receive a huge cash reward for doing both simultaneously . Another example of a bonus mission is when a mysterious man asks you to purposefully damage another specific character in the race to teach them a lesson. Finally another mission you may receive is to you collect several packages that are left on a specific track. These bonus missions are sometimes unethical but are always fun. These bonus missions are also totally optional and you can ignore them if you so wish.  If you run out of money the game will institute a touch screen mini game. Within this mini game you will need to use the touch screen to clean the dirt off your opponent’s vehicles with the stylus. This mini game is only available when you run out of money . This mini game is a smart design choice by the developers and gives the player the ability to earn small amounts of money and be able to get back into the main game. The game also has a time attack mode, which is a fun alternative to the main story mode and asks for perfection from the player. Can you beat the times set by the developer for each of the tracks? This game mode is lengthy and is well done. I do applaud the effort the game developers have done to keep the gameplay fresh. 

 

Sadly the track design leaves allot to be desired. The game has a large number of tracks to race on with eight visual themes. The player selects the individual tracks via the world map and they have free reign to select whatever track they can afford to enter. The vast majority of the tracks look and feel the same with only minor deviations. The different visual themes (beach, desert, etc.) are nice but overall the track designs are all nearly identical. The tracks are all on highways that may or may have sections that split the lanes apart, but they always lead to the same end goal. The tracks are linear by design and the game heavily discourages exploration. If the player goes off the main track you will almost instantly hit an obstacle that will promptly stop your progress and damage your car. The tracks are essentially surrounded by invisible brick walls , and it is jarring to see a small traffic sign instantly stop a car going 200 miles (321 Kilometers) per hour. I couldn’t find a single short cut within this game. I feel that short cuts should be part of any racing game so a total lack of them is disappointing. The player can pick previously won tracks and replay them as needed to make money. The game can become monotonous to play because of all the nearly identical track design and the need to replay tracks to gain enough money to advance. The various tracks do offer terrain that contains hills and valleys which gives some variety to the design, but I wish the levels did more to differentiate themselves. Overall the track design is adequate for this style of game, but it left me wanting more.

 

The game includes a track editor and sadly this addition is all but worthless. The track editor is a series of menu sliders you can change to create new tracks. Adjusting sliders in a menu isn’t the most satisfying or fun way to make your own content. The custom tracks can be saved and the game will generate a specific numeric code for each created level. The game doesn’t have a built in community to view and share custom track codes. Nor does the game have an option to share the tracks via social media. Some aspects of the level editor are vague and I was left confused to what certain options did. With the tracks looking so similar from one another it can become difficult to see how your custom levels are any different from the ones made by the developer. I simply didn’t care about making my own tracks and didn’t find this mode to be enjoyable or well implemented .

 

The controls for this game feel tight and are responsive. You have the option to have manual transmission and shift up and down the transmission with the L/R buttons. One small issue I had with the controls is how you travel to your next track within the world map via the touch screen. The game doesn’t indicate that you can move the map around with touch input on the touch screen. The game does have a cursor to select tracks but it doesn’t automatically pan the screen to reveal more of the map when you hit the edge of the viewable screen. The game never tells you how to move the world map and assumes that you will figure it out. I did figure it out (eventually) but it’s a strange obvious omission. This map scrolling issue is a small nitpick but overall the controls are excellent.

 

The music for this game is truly fantastic. The electronic techno songs presented within this game perfectly match the style of synthesized music from the 1980’s. The game has a large selection of musical tracks to select from . I really enjoyed the entire selection of musical tracks within this game. Sadly the player has to select the song they want to hear before each race, and this can be an agonizing choice since all the music is totally tubular. Having a simple shuffle option would have helped to alleviate this difficult choice for the player. Some of the songs even have some lyrics and fairly complex compositions. Some of the songs resemble other popular songs from the 1980’s, but they still sound distinct and unique . Easily the music in 80’s Overdrive is the best aspect of the game. I only wish I could make the music louder on my Nintendo 3DS, because maximum volume is simply not loud enough to enjoy this superb sound track. I kid you not, these jams are gnarly.

 

In closing 80’s Overdrive is a fun yet flawed game. I enjoyed my time with this game and I can mildly recommend it. The gameplay has a surprising amount of depth and the music is excellent. Sadly the level design could have been more compelling and the track editor is lack luster. Old school racing fans should rejoice with this release and find many hours of entertainment with this choice game.

 

Final Verdict: 7/10

 

 

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Transformers The Last Knight 3D Movie Review

Transformers The Last Knight

3D Movie Review

 

Written By: Adolph Vega

Watch our video review via YouTube below : 

 

3D

 

The 3D in this movie isn't good , it isn't great, it is spectacular. The movie was shoot with IMAX 3D cameras, and it looks incredible in that format. I watched this movie in laser projected 4K IMAX in the biggest screen in the state of Texas and I was not disappointed, because the massive action scenes look sharp , vivid and are perfectly executed . A vast majority of recent 3D movies are post converted and are not recorded in 3D, and you can really tell the difference with this movie . Obviously IMAX scenes are not accessible to everyone and are more expensive than other cinemas but regarding this movie it's totally worthwhile . Why is the 3D so well done ? It's because they use 3D to make the action scenes more memorable and epic . The movie has tons of objects popping out of the screen, and it looks amazing. Some objects will travel in 3D space and travel from the background to the foreground and give the viewer some truly amazing visuals. The movie jam packed full of action scenes that look great in 3D. You really feel like your staring into a window of action scenes that are actually happening. Occasionally 3D depth is used to give a sense of scale and height which makes the visuals very immersive . So many scenes use multiple layers of 3D at the same time and slow motion to highlight specific characters and weapons and looks incredible. Honestly if you watch this movie in 2D your doing yourself a disservice. I usually like to highlight a specific scene or scenes were the 3D is especially interesting or well done but this movie has so many of those scenes it's hard to narrow it down, it's all fantastic. The 3D visuals and action scenes are perfectly intertwined and go hand in hand together. The 3D in this movie is possibly one the best uses of 3D that I have seen in years. If you can watch in IMAX 3D, you won't be disappointed and I will give this movie my highest recommendation and is truly awesome. I hope this movie will inspire other movie studios to record in IMAX 3D because it's a must see in 3D movie .

 

Final Verdit:

GREAT 3D, Editors Choice 3D Award 


 

Movie

 

It is what it is. Transformers do what Transformers do.

This movie is the fifth movie in this popular franchise . You should know what to expect from this film franchise, because it's been fairly consistent in quality over the years . If you haven't seen any of the previous entrees in this franchise then I wouldn't suggest you watch this movie because you will be totally lost. This movie franchise is reviewer proof therefore; I will try to keep this review brief and be fairly straightforward.

 

The transformers have been present on earth for centuries . This history of Transformer and human interaction has been hidden and this movie reveals that story . This movie takes place in the present, but also has many flashbacks to scenes in the past. Mark Wahlberg returns and reprises his role from the previous movie. (Transformers 4: Age of Extinction) Mark Wahlberg is Cade Yeager and is an inventor and watches over several transformers . The Earth is in trouble and the transformers are both the cause and the solution to this problem. How this story was presented is interesting and better done than the previous movies within this franchise. However the story barely makes any sense. I have watched all the previous Transformers movies and I actually liked this one the most .

 

The plot within this movie very convoluted. It has many multiple parts that are happening at the same time and it can be very difficult to understand what exactly is going on. The best word to describe this plot is combocomplexlicated . Combocomplexlicated is a new word that I invented that is a mixture of the following words: combination , complex, and complicated. Combocomplexlicated perfectly describes something that is overly convoluted when it doesn't need to be . The movie has a massive cast of characters . You know very little about each character, and some of them are new and others return from previous movies. The plot is essentially an excuse for action scenes. The movie begins with an action scene, and about 70% of this movie is action, and the remaining 30% is people explaining the action. The movie has a crude sense of humor and is very corny, but I have to admit it made me laugh several times. Other times the comedy made me cringe and roll my eyes. The movie has plot holes big enough to drive an Optimus prime through. The action scenes are enjoyable to watch and are the only reason to really watch this movie. The action is big , crazy ridiculous but I was able to enjoy it .

 

The movie is far from being perfect, yet I liked it . The transformers movies are not "high art" and they aren't trying to be. This movie is all about over-the-top action and pure entertainment. I was entertained by this movie and it succeeded on that aspect. Ultimately movies are about being entertained and I cannot deny that I had fun watching this movie . I laughed , I cringed , I was confused and I had fun with this silly action movie. It is what it is , and this is possibly the best transformers movie ever,  but that isn't saying much .

 

Final Verdict: 6/10

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