Super Backlog Clean-up Turbo

Most people have at least a little bit of a backlog. You know, those games you picked up on sale a while back or found at the flea market, but have just never quite gotten around to playing.

With digital distribution it’s even more prevalent. Pretty much everyone who games on PC these days has at least a handful of games from Steam sales or indie bundles just sitting there, unplayed and unloved.

The genesis for the first post in what I’m hoping will become a bit of an irregular series of articles though comes not from the bargain bin, but from PSN. I love PlayStation Plus, but my hard drive is always full of free (via paid subscription) games. I’m clearing off some space, and bringing you my impressions of the games in question.

These aren’t full reviews, but in most cases they came out years ago. The time for traditional reviews has passed. Here we go!

HamsterBall

It’s Super Monkey Ball, without the monkeys.

Now, it’s really not a bad game, and since Sega never released a version of Super Monkey Ball for the PS3 (despite releasing a version for just about every other system in the past decade, including the N-Gage), this might be only option for fans of the roll-a-ball-around-an-obstacle-course genre on Sony’s console.

Also of note, sections of Super Monkey Ball bear resemblance to an unreleased prototype from the 32X called Virtua Hamster.

Pretty much every level falls into one of two gameplay styles: don’t fall off, or get to the end of the tubes really fast.

It’s not a bad game, but not a great one either. The levels are fast and fairly simple to figure out. The main reason I quit before the end was that it gave me motion sickness, one of only a few games to do that in the last few years.

Frogger Returns

It sucks.

Go play the original.

Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom

I’ve always has a soft spot for mahjong games. One of the first Genesis games I played was Shanghai II: Dragon’s Eye, and it’s stuck with me ever since.

Mahjong Tales tries to differentiate itself a little bit by incorporating Chinese legends (or tall tales, or myths, or fables, or whatever you want to call that kind of stories). In between each board, a short segment of the tale is narrated over woodblock style artwork. It’s a nice touch that makes you want to finish each set in one sitting.

If you’re looking for a good mahjong game on PS3, this is a safe bet.

Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars

Have you ever wanted to play soccer with RC cars and have everything be all Unreal Engine default shiny?

No? Me neither.

If this was a mini-game included with another Unreal Engine game, it would be a fun distraction. As a stand alone game, I was bored with it in about an hour.

Well, that about wraps it for this round of Backlog Clean-up. Look for more of these in the future, maybe not even from me. Heck, if anyone in the community wants to do one of these I’ll post it. The rules are as follows:

• Older games only – at least a year old, but no limits beyond that. If you want to dust off an Atari 2600 and let us know what you think of River Raid, go for it.
• At least three games – and preferably no more than five. If you’re going through more than that, split it into two posts.
• Come up with a new title – all post titles need “Backlog Clean-up” somewhere in the name, but take this opportunity to make fun of the ridiculous titles videogames (especially sequels) often receive.

So, anyone feel like clearing off some shelf (or hard drive) space?