I’m replaying Space Quest I: The Sarien Encounter and it amazes me that the game has held up for so long. After thinking about it for a bit, and rewriting this entry more than once, I’ve come to the conclusion that it doesn’t matter what technology the game uses, whether or not your board game pieces are made out of pewter, or if the game comes with a secret decoder ring. What matters most is the game itself or more specifically:

Is the game fun to play today? And remember that meaning changes every 24 hours.

This may seem like something obvious, but so many companies miss the boat. I see compilation CDs with several games available for play, but I shake my head when only half of them are fun to play now. They may have been fun a few years ago, when the technology or technique was new at the time, but many just don’t cut the mustard. I see polls for Golden Eye (N64), citing that it should be released for the Wii. Why? Have you played the game recently? I absolutely loved it when it was released. The multi-player games were quick and exhilarating. I played that game with my brother-in-law until my eyes were bloodshot. If you play it now with some friends, you may find it just doesn’t have any appeal. The single player mode is marginally better; the missions are still challenging but it lacks a certain panache. After an hour of game play, you’ll probably be checking your watch or thinking about how much you’d rather be helping Roger Wilco defeat The Sariens once again.

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I was playing Rayman Raving Rabbids the other day and I found it to be a lot of fun. The idea for the game is simple, you progress through the game by making your way through a long chain of mini-games. The game has more of a story to it than Wario Ware: Smooth Moves, but the action is much less intense, which may make it more enjoyable for younger players or adults who find Smooth Moves a little too extreme.

You start the game as a prisoner who has been locked away in a cell under a stadium. You’re hated by crazed, extremely volatile, and rudely demonstrative rabbits. The rabbits absolutely despise you and relish watching you hurt yourself through a series of gladiator style games. As you finish each level, however, their attitudes slowly change. They eventually start cheering for you with banners and noise makers. Hearts fall from the stands and a fan club soon starts gathering outside your door. It’s enjoyable to watch their mood change over the course of the game, and you start to develop a sick satisfaction with punishing your furry friends in the mini-games. After all, these rabbits once cried out for your head to be removed with a rusty chainsaw (I’m guessing here because you can’t really understand what they’re saying).

Despite the ease in which I was progressing through the levels, the dancing mini-game makes the game worthwhile. In this mini-game, you find yourself on stage with bunnies steadily entering the stage to your left and right. In order for the each bunny to leave the stage without incident, a spotlight must be turned on at exactly the right moment. You control the spotlight and if you time it correctly, and the bunny is on the designated spot, then he disappears happily; otherwise, the game warns you to find your groove. Too many mistakes will lead to the power being cut off and the mini-game abruptly ends. The beauty of this scenario is the beat used to control the bunnies stepping onto the stage. There are a number of recognizable songs and licensed songs from artists like Cyndi Lauper or the Misirlou song (also played in Pulp Fiction).

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