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Read the reviews by Xpress Film Critic Billy Norris
It's 2004 - let the gaming begin
By ALEC EWIG
Published January 19, 2004
It's the new year and that means there are some exciting new games available for every system.
While 2003 had its share of excitement, with some of the top picks being the Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker; Viewtiful Joe; Enter the Matrix; Golden Sun: The Lost Age; Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic; and Jak II, gamers are excited about sequels to games and new games that are sure to keep them playing.
Whether you prefer Gamecube, Game Boy Advance, X-Box or Playstation 2, there are some interesting games that are being offered for gamers of every stripe.
Perhaps the most anticipated game for Gamecube is Metroid Prime 2, the working title for the game that is rated T for Teen. It is the sequel to the popular, first-person shooter Metroid Prime. A first-person shooter puts you inside the eyes of the character you're playing on screen as you battle aliens or other creatures. In Metroid Prime, the shooter battles aliens on a distant world. Your goal is to defeat the evil Metroid.
This popular game received high ratings from players on Gamespot.com, one of the best Web sites for information on games, and was voted best game on Nintendo's player's choice awards.
The role-playing game Baten Kaitos (rating pending) is coming out soon for Gamecube. A role-playing game allows you to be more than one main character. Baten Kaitos takes place on floating continents where good must fight evil. Another game, the Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Plus (rated E for Everyone), will be a completely different take on Zelda games. Four Swords Plus will be a party game. Party games involve trying to collect more money than your opponents to win. In most party games there are several minigames in which players compete for money.
For Game Boy Advance, Mega Man Mania (rated E), a collection of five classic Mega Man games, is set for release in late March. The Mega Man story changes almost every game, but Mega Man will always have a buster gun and a blue uniform. A new fighting game that was released earlier this month for the GBA is Sonic Battle (rated E). Characters from the Sonic universe will battle one another to find the best fighter.
Old favorites Mario and Donkey Kong also will return in a new game for GBA this year called, well, Mario and Donkey Kong.
If you prefer Xbox, the most popular game of the new year might be Halo 2 (rated M for Mature so it's only for kids ages 17 and older). Halo (the prequel) revolutionized first-person shooters. In Halo, there is a huge war between the aliens, who are called the Covenant, and the humans. The humans found out that the Covenant wants an object on the planet Halo. The humans must stop the Covenant; the object could be a weapon. In Halo 2, set for release in April, you fight the aliens on Earth.
A role-playing game set for release Tuesday for the Xbox and Playstation 2 is Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II (rated T for Teen). In it you will use magic to fight many creatures in different environments.
For Playstation 2, a racing game, Gran Turismo 4 (rating pending), is coming in late April. A few role-playing games are coming out for the PS2 like Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II (rated T for Teen), and Star Ocean: Till the End of Time (rating pending). In Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, the player travels to different planets to try to find aliens who killed your parents. This game is set to be released next month. For those of you with computers, Matrix Online (rating pending) may be the game for you. The story takes place after Matrix Revolutions. You can create your own character and plug in to the Matrix to fight agents. You can eventually become as strong as Neo. The battle begins in October.
A new game that was recently released for Gamecube, and will soon be out for Xbox and PS2, is Sonic Heroes (rated E). You must team up with three Sonic characters to foil Dr. Eggman's evil plan. Also coming out in March for those three systems is Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (rated T). In the original Splinter Cell, you played as Tom Fisher, a super-secret military commando who is trying to destroy a high-tech terrorist organization.
- Alec Ewig, 13, is in eighth grade at Shorecrest Preparatory School in St. Petersburg and is an avid gamer, playing on Gamecube, Xbox, Game Boy Advance and his personal computer on the weekends. He was also hoping that he could get a Playstation 2 for writing this, but, no such luck.
