Chris Weatherley
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PIXEL HI-SCORE DUEL #2
Rez (PS2) & Rez HD (X360)
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Shane Battams
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Chris:
Not content with the Ed and my fellow senior gamer Alan with their entertaining Motorstorm RC antics, it’s now the time for me to lay the challenge down to our youngest wordsmith and Xbox specialist Shane, to see if he has the credentials and expertise to take on the experience of a golden era gamer. Punching things up a notch, we are to contest the same game on two different formats, the aesthetically boggling and rare rhythm shoot ‘em up Rez.
Not content with the Ed and my fellow senior gamer Alan with their entertaining Motorstorm RC antics, it’s now the time for me to lay the challenge down to our youngest wordsmith and Xbox specialist Shane, to see if he has the credentials and expertise to take on the experience of a golden era gamer. Punching things up a notch, we are to contest the same game on two different formats, the aesthetically boggling and rare rhythm shoot ‘em up Rez.
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The prize? Bragging rights mostly, but I argue that my years of playing the diamond-hard titles of the past will give me the impetus to succeed on a more modern title, and Shane is tasked to show me that the youth of today are just as able to rise up above the strategy guides and walkthroughs of modern gaming and just play a tough game very well. My guess is he will come close, but ultimately fail; losing for me is not an option. If all goes to plan, his forfeit will be to sit through an hour playing the Atari 2600’s port of Pacman. With original controllers. On a CRT television set. In the dark.
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Shane:
Though Chris will be more experienced from hours of brutally punishing games, it is clearly time for the younger, shinier gamer to pave the way to victory. Perhaps the reflexes gained from countless hours spent on other music games such as Rock Band will help, or peerages the arthritis from playing these games too much will kick in. Either way, the challenge will be tough, no doubt because of the unforgiving nature of SEGA’s classic. It’s exciting to take part in this, to demonstrate this gem of a game. I cannot sum up the joy I felt when it was announced Rez would be coming to Xbox 360 via a HD remake, seeing as the PS2 version is as rare as flying pigs (and costs the same, if they existed). It’s a great opportunity to experience a mostly ignored classic in its best form. I aim to dominate, not only for the glory of the victory, but also to avoid torture: no one wants to spend any amount of time playing the Atari 2600 version of Pacman. Though at least it’s not E.T.
Though Chris will be more experienced from hours of brutally punishing games, it is clearly time for the younger, shinier gamer to pave the way to victory. Perhaps the reflexes gained from countless hours spent on other music games such as Rock Band will help, or peerages the arthritis from playing these games too much will kick in. Either way, the challenge will be tough, no doubt because of the unforgiving nature of SEGA’s classic. It’s exciting to take part in this, to demonstrate this gem of a game. I cannot sum up the joy I felt when it was announced Rez would be coming to Xbox 360 via a HD remake, seeing as the PS2 version is as rare as flying pigs (and costs the same, if they existed). It’s a great opportunity to experience a mostly ignored classic in its best form. I aim to dominate, not only for the glory of the victory, but also to avoid torture: no one wants to spend any amount of time playing the Atari 2600 version of Pacman. Though at least it’s not E.T.
The Challenge:
Chris:
Not making it easy on myself, but hopefully even tougher for Shane, I chose to set a score on one of the hardest levels of the game; Area 4. Using the Score Attack mode, we are given 3 attempts at finishing the level, starting from scratch on every try with the ‘Hacker’ in its first stage of evolution (Form 1). Afterwards, we would take the best score from one of the attempts and that would be our final high score declaration. I must confess, I found it a lot harder than I thought.
Attempt 1: Things got going well, the first few layers were a breeze but then I became complacent. Missing several easy targets on layer 3, I also miss an evolution power up. I pay a heavy price and get hit on layer 7 and miss more yet butterfly enemies. Dammit! I struggle to conquer the area boss, getting hit again but just manage to hold on to defeat him. Not a good start at all. [Score; 162,040]
Attempt 2: Calamity! I miss the very first cluster of enemies. Right, time to knuckle down I say to myself. I proceed better this time, but disaster strikes again. I get hit twice in succession on layer 5 by the damn net-bot things! Eden you unrelenting bitch! In zero form, one more hit and I would be finished, but draw on my experience to persevere. I somehow defeat the boss without getting hit, striking down all of his projectiles during the long battle. Yeah! [Score; 179,610]
Not making it easy on myself, but hopefully even tougher for Shane, I chose to set a score on one of the hardest levels of the game; Area 4. Using the Score Attack mode, we are given 3 attempts at finishing the level, starting from scratch on every try with the ‘Hacker’ in its first stage of evolution (Form 1). Afterwards, we would take the best score from one of the attempts and that would be our final high score declaration. I must confess, I found it a lot harder than I thought.
Attempt 1: Things got going well, the first few layers were a breeze but then I became complacent. Missing several easy targets on layer 3, I also miss an evolution power up. I pay a heavy price and get hit on layer 7 and miss more yet butterfly enemies. Dammit! I struggle to conquer the area boss, getting hit again but just manage to hold on to defeat him. Not a good start at all. [Score; 162,040]
Attempt 2: Calamity! I miss the very first cluster of enemies. Right, time to knuckle down I say to myself. I proceed better this time, but disaster strikes again. I get hit twice in succession on layer 5 by the damn net-bot things! Eden you unrelenting bitch! In zero form, one more hit and I would be finished, but draw on my experience to persevere. I somehow defeat the boss without getting hit, striking down all of his projectiles during the long battle. Yeah! [Score; 179,610]
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Attempt 3: Feeling better with myself this time around, I get through the entire area unscathed, appearing to collect all the power ups available and maxing out my laser frequently to gain the multiplier. This time, the boss battle goes to plan and is over very quickly, I kick his blocky arse out of cyberspace! Grinning, I wait for the final tally to come up, but I’m dismayed. It’s not higher than before. Gutted, I just hope this was good enough to be the victor, but I have serious doubts. [Score; 174,640]
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Target Score: 179,610
The Challenger:
Shane:
Things got off to a less than stellar start. Having being told what stage I was to try, I promptly re-downloaded the game and was pumped. But, to my dismay, both Areas 3 and 4 were locked in Score Attack, meaning I needed to complete them in Play mode first. For some reason, Area 3 took me umpteen amounts of restarts, so I’m glad we’re doing Area 4 instead. Feeling confident from the relatively high percentages on my play run, it was time to get my game on!
Attempt 1: BALLS!!! Well, that went less than spectacularly. Everything seemed dandy, though I did notice a lot more was happening on screen, indicating Score Attack was harder than Play mode. I got to the final boss, and noticed I was only in Form 1! Two hits and I’d be toast. It seemed to go smoothly however, with me easily dispatching all of his dreaded rockets. However, at the last section, he shot dozens of rockets at me simultaneously, and lets just say it blew me away. I ended up dying, and as a result ended up 76k behind Chris! I’m pretty sure my end score would have been less than stellar, anyway. [Score; 103,800]
Attempt 2: I suddenly twigged that I wasn’t holding down the fire button around enemy clusters, therefore removing a multiplier! I had eclipsed my old score before I even reached the last fight! The new hold-the-button-down trick was helping considerably, and I was beginning to catch up to Chris once I had reached the boss. It wasn’t quite enough, however, as after the boss I ended with 171.250. Only 9k behind Chris’s score though, which was a drastic improvement. I was hoping this last attempt would bring me over the point of victory. [Score; 171,250]
Things got off to a less than stellar start. Having being told what stage I was to try, I promptly re-downloaded the game and was pumped. But, to my dismay, both Areas 3 and 4 were locked in Score Attack, meaning I needed to complete them in Play mode first. For some reason, Area 3 took me umpteen amounts of restarts, so I’m glad we’re doing Area 4 instead. Feeling confident from the relatively high percentages on my play run, it was time to get my game on!
Attempt 1: BALLS!!! Well, that went less than spectacularly. Everything seemed dandy, though I did notice a lot more was happening on screen, indicating Score Attack was harder than Play mode. I got to the final boss, and noticed I was only in Form 1! Two hits and I’d be toast. It seemed to go smoothly however, with me easily dispatching all of his dreaded rockets. However, at the last section, he shot dozens of rockets at me simultaneously, and lets just say it blew me away. I ended up dying, and as a result ended up 76k behind Chris! I’m pretty sure my end score would have been less than stellar, anyway. [Score; 103,800]
Attempt 2: I suddenly twigged that I wasn’t holding down the fire button around enemy clusters, therefore removing a multiplier! I had eclipsed my old score before I even reached the last fight! The new hold-the-button-down trick was helping considerably, and I was beginning to catch up to Chris once I had reached the boss. It wasn’t quite enough, however, as after the boss I ended with 171.250. Only 9k behind Chris’s score though, which was a drastic improvement. I was hoping this last attempt would bring me over the point of victory. [Score; 171,250]
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Attempt 3: My focus was on this time. I had nailed the first two layers, and while I got hit in the third layer, I was still in my first form, meaning things were going well. I was a good 10k ahead than the last time as I reached the boss, and I was still sitting comfortably in form 1. Had a brief scare when the bastard hit me, taking me down to zero form, but I managed to bounce back up to first form and the points kept racking enough. I was only 6k below Chris before defeating the Boss, and after finishing it off (with a close shave, considering it started pummelling rockets at me) finished with just under 200k! [Score; 198,390]
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Final Score: 198,390 (Target Achieved)
The Outcome:
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The Final Word:
Chris:
I’m not usually one to make pathetic excuses, but I’ll make an exception this time. Shane clearly had an advantage by not having Area 4 unlocked at the start, and therefore had a lot of practice beforehand. I should have done this too! Also, deciding to sit on the coffee table in front of the TV to play intensely was probably a mistake in hindsight. I broke it. So, in conclusion I blame Ikea’s shoddy workmanship on this failure, and also my girlfriend shouting at me to buy some new lounge furniture. Congratulations to the whippersnapper on this occasion, but the old guys will return with a vengeance!
Shane:
Well, that concludes another duel, and another victory for the youngsters! It was a tough task, whether due to actual challenge or idiotic failings on my part. Perhaps it was the motivation of not wanting to be forced to play Pacman which kept me going, but either way it was simply a joy to revisit this absolute gem of a game. I plan on revisiting all the levels and fixing my stats now I know what I’m doing. I would come up with a forfeit for Chris, but I’m sure the humiliation of losing to a hipster kid is enough cruelty for now. Good game Sir, and here’s to many more battles to come!
I’m not usually one to make pathetic excuses, but I’ll make an exception this time. Shane clearly had an advantage by not having Area 4 unlocked at the start, and therefore had a lot of practice beforehand. I should have done this too! Also, deciding to sit on the coffee table in front of the TV to play intensely was probably a mistake in hindsight. I broke it. So, in conclusion I blame Ikea’s shoddy workmanship on this failure, and also my girlfriend shouting at me to buy some new lounge furniture. Congratulations to the whippersnapper on this occasion, but the old guys will return with a vengeance!
Shane:
Well, that concludes another duel, and another victory for the youngsters! It was a tough task, whether due to actual challenge or idiotic failings on my part. Perhaps it was the motivation of not wanting to be forced to play Pacman which kept me going, but either way it was simply a joy to revisit this absolute gem of a game. I plan on revisiting all the levels and fixing my stats now I know what I’m doing. I would come up with a forfeit for Chris, but I’m sure the humiliation of losing to a hipster kid is enough cruelty for now. Good game Sir, and here’s to many more battles to come!