28 - Sky Odyssey (PS2)

Genre: Flight sim
Rating: E
Developer: CAProduction
Publisher: Activision
Platform: PS2
Release date: 2000

I don't know why I have so many simulation games that I barely know anything about. I don't have any particular interest in flying or planes but here's another game based around it. Unlike more action oriented games such as Ace Combat this game is one based upon adventuring.

In the game you're given the option to play through the adventuring story mode, practice, or just fly freely around. I went with adventure mode because that was what I assumed to be the meat of the game. At first it seemed really boring but quickly picked up.

You're flying in precarious places by cliff sides and between them. Sometimes there will be rock slides that spontaneously occur and you have to maneuver out of the way or else you're in big trouble. You also need to keep an eye on the random plane stats on the side of the screen or else your craft might stall in midair. Mine did, but somehow miraculously un-stalled before I went crashing to my death.

Speaking of which, I managed to fly through the level, hitting the magical circles in the air that they wanted you to nail. It was at the very end of the flight that I finally saw the landing strip down below me. I quickly descended and tried to get on their as slow as possible. However, what ended up happening was that I slammed down onto the strip and it was game over. I saved a replay and hope to upload that to Youtube sometime.

Would I play again? No.

16 - Armored Core 2

Genre: Mech sim
Rating: T
Developer: From Software
Publisher: Agetec Inc.
System: PS2
Release date: 2000

This game has a great electronic soundtrack. It's also damn good at hyping you up as soon as the disc is inserted into the console. Armored Core looks like a solid series and this was my first venture into that world. Despite really liking the idea of mech games I've barely ever touched them.

I got thrown right into the first mission without any information about how to pilot myself around or shoot, but figured it out after getting shot at a million or so times. Thankfully, that not-really-tutorial tutorial had me at infinite life so that was sure nice of them.

My first real mission was a complete and utter failure, however. It should have been apparent as soon as the level loaded and I spent the next 5 minutes trying to open the door to the battle. It's amazing how awful I can really be at games and still manage to have a good time playing them.

So, there's really not much to say because I honestly barely got to experience 15 minutes of game. I will say that the controls for the mech are really wild and confusing. They're not as tough as Robot Alchemic Drive but they're no walk in the park either. Almost every button on the PS2 controller is mapped to some function of the robot.

Would I play again? No.

Bonus intro video: