Now I need to get a PS2. I loved TM 1 & 2. Sony's in house development team sucks, and that's probably why the original team did the new one. They hated 3 as much as the rest of us.

Okay, I got them both http://www.veforums.com/smile.gif. As I said I got them from Gamestop, which I now rank right next to Funcoland as a step toward the equivalent of used car salesman. I go in I'm like "SA2 and TM:B."

Pulls them out and he shows me the special "Sonic Birthday" edition. I heard about it online and I wanted it. I didn't pre-order so the tool made me buy either the SA2 strat guide or the TM strat guide (like 10 bucks). I knew I was getting scammed, but I did it anyway, really wanted that stupid audio CD/booklet/coin.

So now, I'm going to bring that stupid strat guide back (I got the TM one) and give them some bullpoo story. The more I think about it the more it annoys the hell out of me.

As for the games, I didn't play Sonic yet, to say anything definate about it. Nice clean menues, and the graphics look pretty sweet in the little I saw sar.

Twisted Metal is another fine looking game. Like the title suggests it's very dark. You need to turn up the brightness to see anything. 1 player game, the framerate is a rock solid 60 fps (so is the 2 player). Nice design in the cars, the weapons now come out of the cars (like the cars already have the hardware, when you pick up the weapons on the read, it gives you the ammo). You can blow up almost everything, and the lighting effects are really well done. Explosions are really cool (really nice sparks), but I find that the fire effect is a bit weak. I've only played 2 levels, and they are freaking huge. Oh and the music is really, really good (nice cinimas too). That's it for now. Anyone else get either of these games?

--Nick

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--Life is full of tasks to be completed, but right now I am so far behind I will never die

From where I'm standing, it's just SSDD.

Sonic 2 is great. I really enjoy the 2 player sonic races. The framerate is pretty good considering theres so much detail in the levels. Hey Rumpy, which gamestop/funcoland did you goto? I have a friend who is the manager of the one in Nanuet if you live in that part of Jersey. She's pretty cool. She tells me how she hates to selll people stuf extra. But then again the dude in EB asked if I wanted the stratagy guide for Sonic Adventure. I was like what do you think? If I need help I just goto the mecca known as Gamefaqs.

I got it in Paramas, I'm basiclly right next to New York state (get there in a 15/20 minute drive, and NYC in about 40 minutes). I'm going to take back the strat guide tomorow.

Sonic 2 is quite a bit better than the first. There have been a couple of times that I've gone "Wow". This game is really showing what the DC can do. Some of the textures are down right scary! The damn near look real (look at the stone walk ways on he first level). I haven't gotten very far (level 6 on heros) but it's good to see Sonic Team working their magic again. Sonic's levels feel a lot like the orginal levels from the Genny days. For one thing, if you get it right, you can fly through the level at an alarming rate, and their much longer than the first SA. I'm real happy to see Big's crap gone (did you see him locked up in one of the levels?), and it looks like Tail's levels are better to (a little weird though.) Knuckles, is a little brtter, but it's my least favorite part. The 2 player race is pretty cool (the other 2 are a joke though).

Twisted Metal is freaking hard. Right now, I've played three levels and my hand is killing me. It takes me forever to beat a level on Easy, but I can feel myself getting better at it. Cool game so far.

--Nick

Yeah, I picked up a copy of Twisted Metal at EB today. The damn salesman tried to sell me the whole damn store in the process. Strategy guide? No thank you. Game Doctor? Nope... And so on. They didn't have the 10th Anniversary edition of Sonic though. Not like I had any money left over to buy another game today anyway. Oh well... Maybe I just suck ass right now but the AI in TM:B is beating the crap outta me. I think I played for about an hour and a half and I just made it to level 3 - on EASY!

By the way, the fire effects in TW:B are terrible. Otherwise the game looks and sounds wonderful. Perfect use of the Rolling Stones "Paint It Black". I first heard that song when I saw the movie Stir Of Echoes. I think it fits the mood of this game extremely well.

I really want to play Twisted Metal Black, but none of my friends want to pick it up and I haven't bought a ps2 yet. (Game Boy Advance was higher priority) Maybe I can make them play it if I rent it yeah that's it! That's pretty funny Rumpy, I knew someone who used to work in the Paramus store but transferred to the Nanuet store. Small world.

On a side note, suggestive selling really irritates the crap out of me http://www.veforums.com/smile.gif I know they kind of have to do it, because there's not a lot of profit in the games themselves...and things like peripherals and strategy guides give you a MUCH better profit margin. It's just irritating to have someone try and sell you on something you don't want. Let alone have them FORCE you to buy something else, when all you want is the bloody game! Those are the kinds of stores I wouldn't patronize at all. I'd buy online first.

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Kevin, the erstwhile "Hi-Fi"
www.videowrestling.com

It's really anoying because the Sonic SE didn't cost them a damn thing. You get a standard game (regular case) and the extra stuff is in its own blue fold out thingy. So to make me spend more in his basement of a store (I swear to god the first time I walked into this place, I thought I was in someones basement, with a lot of games). I go to EBX all the time and the wouldn't have done that to me, but it's in the mall (Garden State Mall, pain in the ass to get into) and the damn phon was busy. I was to impatient to heaer if they got it in. But it's just a really lame practice, it's like whoring this crap out because no one wants it. They get like 50 copies of the startegy guide that NO ONE BUYS. Why buy it if you can get the same info for free on the internet (if you need it)?

Before I left the store, the guy calls a friend and tells him of his *great* idea to sell the books.
"I have a great deal going on for the startegy guides, you should try it...(listens to the other guy)...yeah, it's worked twice today so far." It's one thing to be scammed (and already annoyed about it) but to talk about it while the customer is standing 12 feet away is another thing! But then he went on to tell a story that that morning he crapped and puked like in that South Park episode with Kenny's dad. That made me feel better http://www.veforums.com/biggrin.gif. P.S--APparently only Gamestop and Software Ect. got the Sonic SE. Apparently Sega didn't release a whole lot here.

I suck at Twisted Metal. I've played like 4 hours an have seen three levels. Made my damn hand hurt. Yeah...the fire efect is horrible. Is it me or do the missles look more like your shooting fireworks? I remember in the second game that when you drove into someone it made more damage,and would knock people over. I want to see shrapnel!

--Nick

So you guys have played Twisted Metal. Is it worth getting for someone who normally doesn't like racing games or car combat games? I played through Twisted Metal one and I enjoyed it alright, but then I set it down and it collected dust until I returned it. Now I barely play games outside of my favorite genres. Character Platform games, RPGs, Puzzle Games, Shooters. Ok, well let me know if you think it's good enough for someone with my tastes to enjoy. Later.

-Wes