Publisher: bam! entertainment-Platform: Ps2Finally, a worthy rally game for the PlayStation 2. Originally, World Rally Championship was released in Europe by Sony, but when it came time to test the waters in the States, it was dropped. Thankfully, Bam! picked it up and now the PS2ers have a spectacular rally game to play.
One of the coolest aspects of WRC is that all of the cars, drivers and rallies are licensed, which means you can play Carlos Sainz, Richard Burns or any other WRC driver in their respective cars. However, there is one notable exception to this, a certain Ford Focus driver who shows up in the game as "Ford Driver 1," due to the fact he has his own series of rally games.
The graphics are excellent, but some creative fogging helps obscure the distance so the hardware is given a chance to draw the track. While this prevents pop-up issues, it doesn't look as good as Rallisport Challenge's graphics. The soundtrack does a good job of simulating WRC coverage-it doesn't sound particularly cheesy.
With several different camera angles and a good replay mode, you get a pretty good feeling of what it's like to drive a WRC car. However, you'll have to listen to a bland co-driver spouting off turns and warnings that sound scripted. If only they could have some commentary from the co-driver when you botch a turn, go off the road or roll the car. A few swear words or at least an artful placement of a censor-beep would do wonders for enhancing the experience.
All in all, World Rally Championship is a good game with high aspirations-most of which it actually meets. WRC does a great job immersing the player in the superfluous World Rally experience without trifling with petty details. If you're a rally nut or a car geek, this game belongs on your shelf.
GT Advance Championship RacingPublisher: Thq-Platform: Gameboy AdvanceUntil recently, most hand-held racing games weren't really worth noting because there's not a whole lot you could do with the existing hardware. With the Gameboy Advance, there's no excuse anymore. Now, hand-held racing games are either good or they're good furniture stabilizers.
GT Advance Championship Racing is good, primarily because it uses licensed cars in the game. This means you can race anything from a Daihatsu Midget to a Nissan Skyline GT-R. Other makes represented include Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota. Furthermore, every race you win in the championship mode unlocks a track, a car and new tuning options (about every other win will net you one).
Also, there are a couple of extra modes included in the game, such as F1 cars and go-karts. GT Advance is a barrel full of goodness in a small package. However, one major complaint I do have with the game is that there's no battery save. This means if you want to play honestly, every time you're ready to shut off the GBA you have to retrieve a password. For the dishonest, a password to unlock everything is readily available on the Internet at GameFAQs.com.
If you have a GBA and you've been looking for something other than one of the several Super Mario remakes, or just a good hand-held racer, then GT Advance belongs in your pocket. Let's hope THQ decides to bring out MTO's Advance Rally as well.
Final Fantasy Publisher: squaresoft-Platform: Ps2Every so often a game comes along, grabs you and slaps you silly. When you're done, you find it difficult to wipe the drool from your chin because you want more. That's when you realize you're addicted to eye candy. Eye candy is what the PS2 was made for. Remember all the hype behind the Emotion Engine chipset? With Final Fantasy X, we see the Emotion Engine in full effect-and it shines like a perfectly cut, flawless diamond.
Just like Metal Gear Solid 2, the intro is well worth the price of admission. FFX is like playing a movie. The other cool thing is that it's narrated. From the opening scene to the destruction of Zanarkand (all within the first 15 minutes of the game), you realize your money was well spent.
While it would seem like FFX is more cinematic than game, this is where you'd be wrong. The game is very intricate in how it deals with character development, battles and dialogue. Though not every scene is a cut-scene, the sheer level of detail would speak otherwise. Also, unlike most RPGs, the Final Fantasy series spends a great deal of time developing the characters into something more than cheesy, two-dimensional clichs.
The soundtrack is another thing of particular interest. While keeping some of the score similar to previous FF games (like the music played after winning a battle), it does a great job separating itself from the other nine titles in the main series. So successful is this soundtrack that it's insanely popular in Japan and has spawned a CD soundtrack you can buy either through eBay or Japanese online record stores. If you're this much of a Final Fantasy fan, then I don't need to tell you about the Coke commercials that were aired in Japan for FFIX either.
OK, so Final Fantasy X is the best thing since sliced bread, right? Almost. If you're not an RPG fan or have hated the other nine Final Fantasies, then you won't like this game. Also, one complaint I do have is the characters' mouths move out of synch with the dialogue. However, this is a very minor issue as the game was released in Japanese first and it would be a Herculean task to redo all of the dialogue sequences to match the English dubbing. No matter what, this is a game of the highest caliber and my collection of limited-edition FFIX Coke caps should tell you how I feel about the series as a whole.