Right. Like last time, this is just to go back at Retrograde our own site. And more specifically, my reviews back when we had the 4 point system which allowed for much higher ratings, compared to the current ten point highly informative and almost anal retentive system we here use at Inside Pulse.
Last time we showed that in converting to the current system, 5 games fell in their overall score, one stayed the same, and one actually rose, showing that the system did seem to be flawed/biased towards inflated scoring. Now let’s see what happens with the final seven games I reviewed from that era.
But before we start, a rehash from last time:
What I am going to do today is look at each of these reviews, link you to my comments and replace the old ratings with the ten point scale. I’m curious to see what games rise in score, what games fall, and what games stay the same. Because these new scores will replace the old ones (11 of which are GBA titles and I was the only one reviewing these games at the time), the Gameplay, Graphics and Sound will get to keep their old scores because it’s an accurate rendition of how I felt at the time. The rest of the scores will not be based on my current opinion, but by my original words. This prevents the issue of time (up to 2.5 years with some of these games) from clouding my original opinion. I’ll also link to the original reviews for you.
Again, this is more an attempt to clean up and move everything over to one comparable system, and for staff benefit that really anything else. Although you guys who are stats fans may enjoy this…
The real point of interest here are these 7 games are when Bebito and I came back after months of being away from the site and decided that hell or highwater we were going to remake the site into what WE wanted it to be including the damnation of inflated scores and biased fan boy gibberings.
1. Ikaruga
Original Scores:
Gameplay: 10.0
Graphics: 9.5
Sound: 10
Fun Factor: 10
Overall: 9.5 (The highest rating I have EVER given a game!)
Current System
Story: 5
Graphics: 9.5
Sound: 10
Gameplay/Control: 10
Replayability: 10
Balance: 7
Originality: 7
Addictiveness: 10
Appeal Factor: 7
Miscellaneous: 10
Overall: 85.5
Final Score: 8.5 (a full point drop here. This makes Ikaruga no longer my highest rated game. In fact, it’s not even the highest rated shooter as it ties with Gradius V and is outranked by Robotech: The Macross Saga by half a point! Holy crap! And in truth this is where is should be. I enjoyed this game SO much. But I truly do think Robotech is the best shooter I’ve played in several generations, and I do think I prefer Gradius V by just a smidgen.)
Original Scores
Gameplay: 1
Graphics: 4
Sound:8
Fun Factor:3
Overall: 4.0
Current System
Story: 5
Graphics: 4
Sound: 8
Gameplay/Control: 1
Replayability: 3
Balance: 3
Originality: 7
Addictiveness: 3
Appeal Factor: 3
Miscellaneous: 1
Overall: 38
Final Score 4.0 (This is the horrible GBA version and not the awesome DC version BTW. No change in the overall score, but still a game to stay away from)
Original Scores:
Gameplay: 9.0
Graphics: 10.0
Sound: 10.0
Fun Factor: 8.0
Overall: 9.0
Current System:
Modes: 6
Graphics: 10
Sound: 10
Gameplay/Control: 9
Replayability: 10
Balance: 10
Originality: 7
Addictiveness: 10
Appeal Factor: 8
Miscellaneous: 10
Overall: 90
Final Score: 9.0 (Another game stays the same. Pokemon Pinball is one of the greatest GBA games available, and even better than the Pokemon RPG games out on the GBA. It’s also the best pinball game made in MANY generations, eclipsing the original and a hair better than the awesome PINBALL OF THE DEAD.
4. F-Zero GX
Original Scores:
Gameplay: 7.0
Graphics: 10.0
Sound: 7.0
Fun Factor: 5.0
Overall: 7.0
Current System:
Story: 7
Graphics: 10
Sound: 7
Gameplay/Control: 7
Replayability: 7
Balance: 7
Originality: 4
Addictiveness: 5
Appeal Factor: 7
Miscellaneous: 7
Overall:68
Final Score 7.0 (Once again, the score stays the same. F-Zero GX was a really good racing game. And I really don’t care for the genre at all.)
5. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Original Scores:
Gameplay: 8
Graphics: 6
Sounds: 5
Fun Factor: 6
Overall: 6.0
Current System
Story: 3
Graphics: 6
Sound: 5
Gameplay/Control: 8
Replayability: 7
Balance: 4
Originality: 5
Addictiveness: 6
Appeal Factor: 8
Miscellaneous: 5
Overall:57
Final Score 5.5 (Containing a plot that makes FF8 look good by comparison, FFTA is a slap in the face to the original game. It’s easy as hell, and it takes forever to learn certain skills. It’s a tepid average TRPG that only sold and has fans because of the FFTA label. There’s over a dozen better TRPG’s on the system. Still only a slight drop.)
Original Scores:
Gameplay:6.0
Graphics:8.5
Sound:7.5
Fun Factor:4.0
Overall: 6.5 (And I bashed the thing!)
Current System
Story Mode: 2
Graphics: 8.5
Sound: 7.5
Gameplay/Control: 6
Replayability: 6
Balance: 2
Originality: 3
Addictiveness: 4
Appeal Factor: 6
Miscellaneous: 3
Overall: 48
Final Score 5.0 (A point and a half drop! And where it belongs. We actually used THIS review to show how badly oft kilter the originals coring method force and then shoved in the new one. When I used the word “Crapulence” to describe this game, it should NOT be getting a 6.5. But then, with the old system, we only looked at the positive aspects. WM has great graphics and sound, and some amazing gameplay, but was shit in every other fashion.)
7. Shining Soul
Original Scores:
Gameplay: 8.5
Graphics:5.0
Sound: 5.0
Fun Factor:7.5
Overall: 6.5 (This is the review where I go off on inflated scores for really the first time…)
Current System:
Story: 4
Graphics: 5
Sound: 5
Gameplay/Control: 8.5
Replayability: 7
Balance: 8
Originality: 6
Addictiveness: 8
Appeal Factor: 7
Miscellaneous: 8
Overall: 66.5
Final Score 6.5 (Stays the same. Not surprised here. Especially if you read the review.)
So what we’ve seen is 4 games keep the same score, and 3 games fall, 2 rather sharply.
It does show that I ended up trying to railroad the system by keeping scores down to a 5 = average instead of the original “Let’s be like IGN” mentality that 411games had. Ugh. Just thinking about it makes me want to shave my skin.
But for those of you curious:
Only 5 games have received a 9 from me under the IP system of grading games: Robotech: The Macross Saga, Pokemon Pinball R&S, The Suffering, Bubble Bobble Old and New, and Shining Force: RotDD. Four of these games are GBA, one is Xbox. Interesting.
I’ve reviewed 83 games for 411/IP, 38 of which has gotten under a 7, 45 of which have gotten a 7 or higher.
The average score a game has received from me is 6.61. At 411 the average score a game got under the old system is a 7. Under the new format that average score dropped to a 6.53, and since IP started a year ago, the average score a game has received from me is a 6.25.
The ten worst rated games by me are:
Nightmare of Druaga (2.5)
WM XXI (2.5)
CIMA (3)
Chicago Enforcer (3.5)
Space Channel 5 (4)
Advance Guardian heroes (4)
Shining Tears (4)
Beyond Good and Evil (4.5)
Raze’s Hell (4.5)
Samurai Western (4.5)
5 of these games have come out THIS YEAR (Ew.), and I had to review three of them in the same month. Out of these ten worst games, three are PS2, three are Xbox, 3 are GBA, and 1 is GCN.
14 games received an 8.5 or 9 from me. They are:
Phantasy Star 2 (8.5)
Ikaruga (8.5)
Haunted Mansion (8.5)
Midway Arcade Treasures (8.5)
Dark Alliance 2 (8.5)
Pokemon Coliseum (8.5)
Pokemon Fire Red/Leaf green (8.5)
Gradius V (8.5)
Digital Devil Saga (8.5)
Robotech: Macross Saga (9.0)
Pokemon Pinball R/S (9.0)
The Suffering (9.0)
Shining Force GBA (9.0)
Bubble Bobble O&N (9.0)
Out of these 14, only ONE came out this year (DDS), while 7 games from 2004 got an 8.5-9. 4 came from 2003, and 2 from 2002.
The most common genre to get an 8.5 or 9 from me is Turn-Based RPG, which surprises me, as it is my least favorite form of RPG, while there is only one action (DA2) and one SRPG (Shining Force) that scored this highly. Shooter is the second highest rated genre with 3.
Out of these 14, 6 are for the GBA, 2 are for the Xbox, 2 are for the PS2, and 4 are for the Gamecube.
3 of these 14 games have Pokemon in the title. :-P
That’s really it. All 14 reviews I did for 411 under the old system have now been updated. Next time I go back and look at things from yesteryear, it’ll be a look at our very first Kliq feature, and in fact the first feature ever on IP or 411…