Emotion Control

Sydney Morning Herald

Monday August 20, 2007

Eliot Fish

Legend of the Dragon fails to make a fist of it, writes Eliot Fish.

LEGEND OF THE DRAGON

PC Xbox

PS2 X360

Wii PS3

NDS PSP$79.95 $49.95 for PS2

PG

Rating: 2/5

Any new fighting game is going to struggle to punch its way through a crowded marketplace dominated by heavyweights such as Tekken, Virtua Fighter, Dead or Alive and the ever-youthful Street Fighter. But Legend of the Dragon, a game with nothing but a generic set of controls and a primitive graphics engine, is especially handicapped.

Based on a little-known cartoon show, the game revolves around the story of Ang and Ling, a brother and sister who have become fierce rivals. Both want to acquire the lofty status of Golden Dragon, guardian of the Temple of the Dragon.

Throw in other such power-hungry characters and you have a fighting tournament on your hands.

The Wii version of the game incorporates a number of motion-controlled moves into the standard button-combo-style beat-'em-up action. Flicking the Wii remote from side to side grapples your opponent and performs other manoeuvres that would normally be executed with the standard buttons on a controller.

The fighting mechanics are fairly unimaginative, with unspectacular punches and kicks making up most of the action. Characters can, however, transform into their animal-based guardian forms to let loose more powerful attacks.

The bland visuals may come close to the look of the cartoon show but they make for a dull looking video game. Dialogue between characters before a showdown is delivered in drab blocks of text, adorned with static portraits, which does little to get the blood pumping before the big fight.

ENDGAME The motion control adds nothing to this underdeveloped fighting game, other than barrels of frustration when the Wii fails to interpret your actions correctly.

MARVEL TRADING CARD GAME

PC Xbox

PS2 X360

Wii PS3

NDS PSP$79.95

G

Rating: 3/5

The unimaginatively titled Marvel Trading Card Game seeks to provide the thrill of an elaborate card battle without the need to own a bloated deck or worry about losing any cards down the back of the couch.

However, the world of trading card games can be baffling to the uninitiated, with seemingly arcane rules and an endless stream of game-changing cards.

Despite kicking off with a detailed tutorial, this is still a very confusing game to learn. The rules are complex and the cards require careful study. Yet it's the unintuitive design of the interface that makes learning the game so unnecessarily difficult.

Your game deck is made up of superhero character cards (or villains if you choose the evil story path), equipment cards, location cards and plot-twist cards.

Each turn is broken down into stages where you build your hand, place your cards down strategically and then see how your powers fare against your opponent's cards.

Even though the cards dealt are random, you can still employ a lot of strategy in how you combine the resources in your possession and when you choose to use special powers. Battles become a seesaw of one-upmanship as you reveal cards that nullify your opponent's attacks and vice versa.

Aside from the fabulous Marvel comic illustrations, the presentation is extremely poor. Nothing in the game is animated nor are there any rewarding effects when cards are used. Playing a successful attack is only as exciting as watching your opponent's stamina total tick down a few notches.

If you're new to card games, this will prove to be a frustrating and unsatisfying experience. Marvel comic fans may persist due to the wealth of authentic content but a physical deck of cards would probably provide a far more engaging experience.

ENDGAME This is utterly confusing to learn if you've never played a trading card game but strategic enough to satisfy those willing to learn the ropes. EF

© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald

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