Is the trend for an easy ride a bad thing?

Before its mass-market appeal, there was a time when gaming was about a sheer battle of the will. Platformers such as the first Prince of Persia required pixel-perfect leaps, while shooters required the player to memorise the enemies’ attack patterns in order to succeed. Some would argue that beating these games was more a case of attrition than any sense of fun, yet gamers from that era would argue the opposite: the notion of challenge defined their hobby. But with the advent of casual gaming in the late 90s with the PlayStation, through to the recent domination of the Wii, the games world has embraced a wider audience. This audience may not have the time to put in the hours and ‘master’ a game. As a result, developers have recently been criticised for dumbing down their titles, with Nintendo coming under fire in particular. But is this loss of a challenge necessarily a bad thing?

As a gamer growing up in the mid-90s I narrowly missed out on the truly hardcore games such as the original Contra and Jet Set Willy. But I've heard all about the stories of woe. In the original Contra, a cheat cartridge was usually necessary to even complete the first level, while Jet Set was infamous for being impossible to complete. While I missed out on these particular delights, I did experience hardcore gaming through Contra III on the SNES. It was my first tough title, the sort of game you'd happily throw through the window if it wasn't so much damn fun. I refused to play it in single player, and recruited a friend to stick it through. Taking it on as a team meant that the challenge was no longer a chore but an essential part of the gameplay. After playing it for hours every day, our reactions and predictions of the enemies’ attacks greatly improved, along with a sense of achievement. Although we never completed it, it has stayed long in my memory nevertheless.

Recently, though, the popularity of such games has faded. Contra's sequels on the PS2 were met with little enthusiasm, with out of all things, its six hour-long length being criticised. This was despite the fact that a speed playthrough of Contra III would come in at around an hour or two. Clearly gamers want more bang for their buck these days; replaying a stage over and over again is no longer an acceptable form of entertainment. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule. Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox is notorious for its difficulty, while hardcore shooters like Ikaruga are still on the market. This ignores the mainstream, though. In truth, hardcore gaming has become a niche, with today's top sellers providing nothing like the reward and accomplishment that old-school titles provided.

Since the Gamecube generation, Nintendo’s games have been criticised for this very aspect. The Zelda series, traditionally up there with the hardest of Nintendo’s franchises, is a victim of this. Wind Waker received a fair amount of criticism for its short-length and lack of challenge. But the dumbing down of games has also filtered into other areas of the industry. BioShock has no game over screen. Instead of restarting a level, you are placed at the nearest checkpoint with your health almost fully restored, though the damage dealt to your enemies' health remains the same. Another modern title with a similar “safety net” system in place is the latest Prince of Persia. Instead of returning to the start of the level after falling off a ledge, your ally Elika places you straight back on the platform. Great for first-time gamers, you could say, but for anyone looking for more playtime, it's way too forgiving a system.

In previous eras, this lack of challenge would have been seen as a fatal flaw. Compared to today, the release schedule was a barren wasteland, so a game had to last or else players would feel short-changed. Nowadays, however, there are more games than ever: if a title proves to be too much of a challenge, a player is likely to trade it in at a game store to grab another release. Tastes have also changed: while graphics have always been a selling point, a game could rarely be sold on the experience alone a decade ago. It had to have solid and challenging gameplay, and its graphics and sound were merely a backdrop. When you compare titles now, there is ever more of a sway towards the experience over the traditional template of effort and reward. More than ever, video games are now an art form.

To the older, more wily gamer, this absence of a challenge can be disappointing. With the advent of online gaming, though, never has there been a better way or artifically extending a game's length. While the main campaign of a shooter or racing game may be short or too easy, the online modes now provide the true test of your mettle. Mastering a game and stretching yourself is still possible - it just requires a bit of DIY these days.

GTA: Chinatown Wars

Run. Drive. Shoot. Okay, it does GTA a slight disservice but these actions sum up the basic structure of Rockstar's genre-defining series. Through the years it has emerged as a riveting formula, one that reached its peak with the release of GTA IV in 2008. GTA IV saw Rockstar turn away from the cartoon violence of GTA III and its offspring in favour of a grittier, more realistic experience. Although it was met with widespread critical acclaim and mind-boggling sales figures, a minority felt the series had lost its sense of fun. Chinatown Wars, just released on the Nintendo DS, sees Rockstar change artistic direction with a return to an arcade feel. But does it live up to its console counterparts? The answer is a resounding yes.

You play as Huang Lee, a Triad member tasked with delivering his father’s sword to his uncle in Liberty City. Huang's father has just been assassinated but he has no idea of the perpetrators. Arriving by plane, Huang is set upon and dumped into the sea, the sword stolen. The story that follows sees you fight to retrieve the family heirloom and revenge the death of his father. Played out in a series of static, 2D cut-scenes, the story has an interesting cast and plenty of twists in the tale. But while the dialogue retains the humour characteristic of the series, the cut-scenes lack the cinematic ambition of GTA IV. While this is understandable given the limitations of the DS, you may still find yourself rushing through the cut-scenes.

While the story's presentation may be stripped down, the same cannot be the said of the rest of the game. The cel shaded graphics – new to the series – are extremely impressive, with a pleasing variety and colour to Liberty City's districts, plus all the pools of blood and mangled vehicles that you'd expect from a GTA title. The use of an isometric viewpoint is also a first, making the game fall in between 2D and 3D. This grants more immersion than the flatness of the early GTAs, with cars flipping through the air. In fact, the DS’s capabilities are pushed to the very limit in recreating the same Liberty City as in GTA IV (with the notable omission of the Alderney island). Taxis and ambulances career down the street while pedestrians are seen crossing roads and buying hot dogs. All this action is handled with a minimum of fuss with not a loading screen in sight. The only niggle in this area is a jarring frame rate when a cop chase gets particularly heated. This apart, though, the production values are of the same quality as a triple-A Nintendo game and more than hold a candle to the sharp, precise visuals of GTA IV.

Comparisons with the latest GTA are all too easy to make and it may seem unfair to compare the two, given the differences in technology involved. Rockstar has nonetheless done a remarkable job of translating the action onto a handheld. The main missions - although not quite matching the epic scale of GTA IV’s - are full of variety and multiple goals. Almost all of the missions are engaging, meaning you're likely to zip through the twenty-hour storyline. And this is without taking into account the drugs mini-game, which sees you traffic drugs in Liberty City, trying to make a profit by pulling off the right deals. For such a small part of Chinatown Wars, this mini-game is remarkably in-depth; it’s possible to while away hours on this alone.

Other features unique to Chinatown Wars include the use of the stylus and the touch screen. Tapping the PDA box at the top left of the bottom screen allows you to set paths to the next mission, as well as seeking out the best profits in the drugs mini game. The stylus is also used in the missions: one sees you tap the screen in order to escape from a sinking car, while a later mission sees you assembling the sniper rifle by connecting its parts together on the bottom screen. While other titles can make heavy-handed use of the DS, the touch screen is used seamlessly here. Granted, throwing molotovs and grenades by sliding the stylus across the bottom screen can be awkward, but this only constitutes a tiny portion of the gameplay.

Outside of the main storyline, there's a welcome return for the rampage mini-game, and more variety in general than GTA IV. Hidden missions are strung about the city, while the police, ambulance and fire truck missions also return. Whereas GTA IV's core story was more impressive than its predecessors, it had lost a degree of freedom and fun. Since a handheld title has no chance of matching its more powerful counterparts, Rockstar has made a wise decision to strip back the visuals, but chuck in a huge array of features. Chinatown Wars thus never feels inferior to the console versions; it even manages to introduce new ideas to the series. Police chases can be cut short by ramming their squad cars off the road, while if you fail a mission, you no longer have to trek back to its starting point. Every mission can now be replayed in a click of a button, eliminating any previous frustration.

This successful refinement of GTA’s basic template adds to the feeling that Chinatown Wars is more than just a handheld GTA. Taking the main ingredients of GTA IV along with the cartoon feel of GTA III, Rockstar has created a game with the same thrills and guilty joys of its predecessors. Time to move over Mario.

Chrono Trigger

Originally released back in 1995 on the SNES, Chrono Trigger received universal acclaim and was held up as one of the finest games of the generation. But thanks to a criminal decision by Nintendo, it failed to reach UK shores on the SNES, and UK gamers had to wait until Final Fantasy Chronicles's release on the PSone in 2001. Its release on the DS then marks the first chance for Nintendo aficionados to experience the game. After all this time, I guess the first question that needs to be asked is has it aged well? The answer, as you will see, is a fairly surefire yes.

At its core, Chrono Trigger is a JRPG that breaks new ground for the genre. The storyline is a perfect instance of this. You meet a girl called Marle at the Millenial Fair, who is then caught in a time portal, sending her back four hundred years. Since Chrono, your character, is involved in her disappearance, he decides to go back in time to rescue her. This unravels a plot that will determine the future of the universe, moving between time frames from pre-history (65,000,000 BC) to a dystopic future (2300 AD). While the story seems straightforward, the simplicity with which it's told allows it to steer clear of one of JRPGs' biggest faults: over-wordy dialogue. This minimalistic dialogue effortlessly fills out the characters as well as furthering the narrative, while the inclusion of FMV cutscenes included in the PSone version also help immersion. Drawn by the same artist behind the Dragon Ball Z cartoons, they are suitably stylish, adding to the filmic quality of the narrative.

With the exception of these cutscenes, there has been little to no improvement of Chrono Trigger's original, 1995 graphics. But this is no criticism - generally its presentation has held up well over the years. For one, the art direction is inspired, with a mixture of bleak and colourful environments, and a plethora of screen-filling bosses. Only the overworld, which looks a little sparse and basic, shows up its mid-90s roots, but this is only a minor complaint. The presentation is aided by the musical score, which provides a suitable accompaniment to the action. Changes to the story’s mood are reflected by the music, which effortlessly veers between down-key piano accompaniments and bass heavy themes. For a game from the SNES era, its overall atmosphere is excellent.

One of the most praised features of Chrono Trigger back then was its battle system, which remains just as fresh and innovative today. Battles take place in the game’s environments, allowing a smooth transition between combat and exploration. Furthermore, battles tend to be optional, so you can continue to plow through the narrative, instead of the 'level grinding' that drags down the pace of similar RPGs. Besides the battles - which take up approximately half of the gameplay - exploration is a key element of the game. Somewhat unique to its time period, you can pursue a number of diverging paths in Chrono Trigger. You can then see how your actions at the start of the game contribute to a different outcome of the story. These outcomes are depicted in the game’s fourteen unlockable endings, one exclusive to the DS version. Given gaming's current movement towards how choices affect the experience, Chrono Trigger certainly was years ahead of its time.

Overall, this is a faithful conversion of a classic, with little movement away from foundations of the original game. However, there are a few features exclusive to this version. First of all, the battles and the statistics are split between the two screens, giving it an uncluttered design. Secondly, there are a couple of side quests specifically developed for the DS, including two new dungeons. While they are adequate in their own right, they fall short of the standards of the dungeons in the main quest. Lastly, there is a Pokemon-style side quest that sees you training up a monster for battle. Shallow and entirely irrelevant to the main quest, this is the weakest aspect of the game. Although these features do not detract from the whole, they are disappointing: those who have already beaten Chrono Trigger may not find much to attract them to this version.

Saying this, those coming in new to this game will find a lot to admire, and not just due to nostalgia. Much of Chrono Trigger's gameplay puts a lot of modern games to shame, while its design choices are still as fresh today as they were back in 1995. It should be hard to proclaim a game as one of the best of all time but with Chrono Trigger it's a hard claim to resist. Full of touches that make you smile, the sweeping narrative and the cast of likeable characters make it a hard game to put down. Many games can disappoint given the weight of expectation attached to them, but Chrono Trigger manages to surpass these expectations, cementing its place as a must-have title on the DS.