Machinarium

 

Machinarium is an adventure based puzzle game that involves the player locating hidden objects in order to move on in the next level.  The player will have to follow a point and click system to progress in the game.  It was developed by Amanita Design and released on October 16, 2009. 

 The goal of the game is to solve a series of puzzles and brain teasers to move on in the story.  The differences between this game compared to other puzzle solvers is that only objects within the reach of the character will be available for you to click on. The game also has no dialogue, the exception being the opening level that is meant only as a tutorial. Instead it uses a thought bubble that displays images that can be useful to the player as a hint.  There is also a hint system as well as a walk through for each level.  However, in order to access the walk through you must first complete a mini game.  Once that is completed you will then be given a series of sketches that shows you how to get past the level.  It is a unique system that clearly shows you that it wants the player to figure out how to get by for themselves.

 The audio for Machinarium is quite unique for this particular game.  The background gives an almost eerie feeling at times while you try to solve the puzzle for that particular level.  For every action you do there is a simple sound that goes along with it.  The sound track was written, composed, mixed, and produced by Tomáš Dvořák for Amanita Design.  The music in general fits the game very well.

Overall, this is a great game that is simple to play yet challenging to figure out.  However, I think anyone can enjoy this game.  It also doesn't hurt that it is very inexpensive nowadays to play.

Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time Audio Analysis

 

Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time is no doubt one of my favorite games of all time.  From the game play to the characters, everything just seems to work.  However, one of the most memorable things about the game is the audio and soundtrack.  The game's title even includes a musical instrument so one can expect a vast array of different sounds and that is exactly what OoT (Ocarina of time) gives you.

Legend of Zelda OoT came out November 23, 1998 in the U.S. and has since become a classic that many people recognize today. One of the things that I, and many others, love about the game is the audio.  The audio was done by Koji Kondo who also was responsible for the audio on other Zelda games as well.  The technique he uses has been called a leitmotif in reverse, a leitmotif being a short canstantly recurring musical pharse associated with a particular person place or idea.  This is because not only do characters have their own theme but every area in Hyrule (which is the land where the game takes place) has its own music.  So instead of the music announcing an entering character, it now introduces a staionary environmnet as the player approaches.

The music is also used as a way to indiacte what the player is doing.  If the Link is running around the area the music will have percussion added to it, and when he is still the music will drop the percussion to have a more serene feel to it.  This technique is something that I personally enjoy becuse it really feels like the music is important to the story instead of just being there.  Also whenever the player is fighting an emeny the music will change to reflect that, so the sounds in the game are very sensitive to what the player does.  Not only that but the music is very intergral to the plot.  You will need to learn diffrent tunes in order to progress in the story.  I found this to be quite enjoyable because once again the audio serves a greater purpose than just being there you actually need it to play the game.  Zelda's Lullaby is probably one of the more important tunes you will play in the game.

 

Although there were many challenges in having such a complex sound system at that time the audio came out perfectly, at least in my opinion.  I think it it is great to feature the audio in such a way that in order to play the game you need it there.  That is something that I had never experinced with an action/adventure game before so it was a very refreshing change.  That amoung many other things is probably why this is one of my favorite games ever.  Everything you do will have a sound to go with it.  In fact it is a great way to know exactly where you are in Hyrule just by listening to the music.

The audio in this game is something that I had never seen done before when I first played the game and is still something that I have not really experinced with any other game.  Whenever I play the game I always want to immediantly go and listen to the soundtrack as well.  The music is just something to admire.

Below is a link to Zelda's Lullaby

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qPtuOfQbyI

Mappy Analysis

      

 Video games have always been very important to me as a child.  One game in paticular always comes to mind when I think of pre 1990s game which is Mappy, because it is the one game that my entire family enjoyed playing.  Probably the most memberable thing from that game is the audio since there is no voice acting or any elaborate gameplay.  Mappy is a 1983 arcade game by Midway Games, until Namco took it over.  It is  a side-scrolling platform game that features a cat and mouse theme, with the player taking control of the mouse Mappy.

The gameplay involves the player taking control of Mappy the police mouse and getting back the stolen items while avoiding being captured by the cats.  Each item comes in a pair with a different value level.

Radio (100 points)

Television (200 points)

Computer (300 points)

Mona Lisa (400 points)

Safe (500 points)

In order to receive the maximum points the player would have to get each pair in a row to gain extra points.  So everything is very straight forward which is to be expected from a simple arcade game, but just like with Pac Man the more levels you go up the harder it gets.  Also just like Pac Man and other 8-bit arcade games there are 256 levels.  Although the audio for the game is repeated with each level, the catchiness of it ofen doesn't bother you and you'll find yourself having the melody stuck in your head all day.

The Main menu screen does not have any sound to it at all though that would have been a nice touch, but I don't expect much from these kind of games.  However as soon as you begin the main theme music begins to play.  Also the tempo of the music will change when you are running out of time and begin to go faster, which I thought was a neat way to get the player to hurry up and finish the level.  Now with each action you make such as collecting items, bouncing on the trampolines, or getting caught by the cats will have a diffferent sound for each one.  All of the sounds are very basic with little variety but still very nice to hear aside from the main music playing in the background. 

Although at some point I would have liked to hear a different song for the main game with each bonus level, which happens every forth round, there is a different theme that plays.  It was a nice break form the main theme despite that fact I do enjoy listening to it.  This paticular theme that plays on the bonus level indicates the amount of time you have to collect the ballons for extra points.  When the music stops that means time is up and you will finish the bonus level whether you've collected all the ballons or not.  I always enjoyed having the music be my clock to tell me how much time I had left. I feel it is a cool way to go about indicating the amount of time the player has left instead of just a timer on the screen.

 

Overall, I feel Mappy is a simple game with a simple audio track to go with it.  Although it is not the most exciting soundtrack it is one that will always stick with you once you play the game.  And I think that having something that people will always recognize is important for any game whether it's elaborate or not.



Below is a link to the main theme music of the game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiuSCkprkZ0

Below is footage of actual game footage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS2oJw1jii4