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Voodoo Vince: Remastered reviews - now with more soundtrack appreciation

E

ElBoxyBrown

Banned
IGN - 7.2
Voodoo Vince's action doesn't deviate much from the standard conventions of early 21st-century platformers, but its jazzy music and bizarre New Orleans look render it a memorable experience. With modernized textures, resolution, aspect ratio, and frame rate, this remastered version updates Vince for a new generation, and hopefully ensures he won't get buried like he was in his former incarnation as an Xbox exclusive.
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CGMagazine - 5.5
If it wasn't for the technical issues I encountered I would have been a little sweeter on Voodoo Vince. When you look at its entire body of work, even in 2003, it was only a slightly above average platformer. This isn't one that you need to necessarily rush out and pick up, but it'll be the perfect rainy day game when it's inevitably free on Games with Gold.
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Destructoid - 5
With lackluster plot, awful comedy, and shallow gameplay, I just don't see where the following comes from. Voodoo Vince should be commended for trying to add variety and humor, but ultimately the execution is not there. Perhaps harsh on a game that is no worse than mediocre, I did experience brief nuggets of bliss, but they were rare. More often than not you'll be frustrated, leading you to believe you're the real victim when Vince sticks pins into himself.
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iXx6IGf.png
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Edit: For the people that are wondering why this got made:
Banjo-Kazooie said:
I mean, does Vexx, Whiplash, Blinx, etc have their original creators with an independent studio WANTING to work on the game??

Clayton works at MS, wanted to make the game, still had control of Beep Industries, and got permission from MS to use the IP (MS reupped the trademark)

The reason this happened wasn't because of some strategic decision, it's because the original creator wanted to do it.

People need to understand this.
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W

Wedzi

Banned
With lackluster plot, awful comedy, and shallow gameplay, I just don't see where the following comes from. Voodoo Vince should be commended for trying to add variety and humor, but ultimately the execution is not there. Perhaps harsh on a game that is no worse than mediocre, I did experience brief nuggets of bliss, but they were rare. More often than not you'll be frustrated, leading you to believe you're the real victim when Vince sticks pins into himself.
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PhilSpencerLHInt-6101.jpg
 
C

Chronospherics

Member
I really hate the thought that press outlets are actively encouraging users to 'wait until it's free' with services like PS Plus, and games with gold. That line from CGM magazine really irks me.

If we look at the proportion of games that actually feature on those services, only a minority of released titles are likely to be free. If you think you'd enjoy it, then buy it when it hits the value that's right for you. Saying it's 'only worth it when it's free, is both presumptous and a little insulting unless the game is straight awful.
 
B

bananafactory

Banned
Honestly hadn't heard of this game until the remaster. People seem REALLY excited about it though so there must be something there, right?
 
S

Savantcore

Unconfirmed Member
I'd never heard of it before all this talk of a remaster and remake. Glad to know I wasn't really missing out on much.
 
E

ElBoxyBrown

Banned
bananafactory said:
Honestly hadn't heard of this game until the remaster. People seem REALLY excited about it though so there must be something there, right?
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The consensus seems to be that if you didn't like it back then you won't like it now, especially if you didn't play it back when it was released. None of the problems from the original have changed. Everyone agrees that the music is still great.
 
G

Gestault

Member
I really like the soundtrack, but I skipped on VV the first time around. It didn't stand out compared to a lot of what I was playing. I hoped this re-release might be a window on a missed gem, but it really does sound middling, overall.
 
R

RMI

Banned
is this one of those games like Crash Bandicoot where what must have been a running joke got misinterpreted as an actual desire to see a remaster?

who asked for this?
 
T

Theorry

Member
Mufausa The 3rd said:
I just found out that this was released on Steam today: http://store.steampowered.com/app/545980/

I didn't see any mention of it anywhere.
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http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1350547&highlight=voodoo+vince

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1361419&highlight=voodoo+vince

RMI said:
is this one of those games like Crash Bandicoot where what must have been a running joke got misinterpreted as an actual desire to see a remaster?

who asked for this?
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Its a classic and people liked it. There has always been a small fanbase for it. The orginal creator now works at MS and worked in his spare time on a Remaster of the game as a indie.
 
I

iavi

Member
Honestly, no one was asking for this.

All the classics the OG Xbox has and this was the first one out the gate
 
P

Primethius

Banned
RMI said:
is this one of those games like Crash Bandicoot where what must have been a running joke got misinterpreted as an actual desire to see a remaster?

who asked for this?
Click to expand...

What? Sounds like you actually haven't seen the demand for a Crash remaster.
 
R

Rodney McKay

Member
I remember playing a demo on my Official Xbox Magazine demo disc back when it came out and was quite disappointed with this.

I thought a game staring a Voodoo doll would offer a lot of inventive gameplay scenarios and combat where you hit yourself to hurt enemies, but I don't remember any of that in the demo apart from very scripted moments. And I seem to remember that you just smack enemies to kill them, which felt like a total oversight.

While I didn't love Blinx either, at least in the game game where you play as a cat with time travel powers you get to use time travel powers as your main mechanic.
 
B

Banjo-Kazooie

Member
ElBoxyBrown said:
The consensus seems to be that if you didn't like it back then you won't like it now, especially if you didn't play it back when it was released. None of the problems from the original have changed. Everyone agrees that the music is still great.
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I mean ya, it's a remaster, not a remake.
 
T

TheDinoman

Member
RMI said:
is this one of those games like Crash Bandicoot where what must have been a running joke got misinterpreted as an actual desire to see a remaster?

who asked for this?
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I don't get why people act like Crash is this super unpopular meme character like Gex or Bubsy or something like that. The Crash Bandicoot games were critically and commercially successful back in the day.
 
K

Kinsei

Banned
TheDinoman said:
I don't get why people act like Crash is this super unpopular meme character like Gex or Bubsy or something like that. The Crash Bandicoot games were critically and commercially successful back in the day.
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Because some people think a dead game series has to mean that the original games were bad. A lot of people were even shitting on the DKC trilogy back before Returns came out.
 
RedAssedApe

RedAssedApe

Banned
TheDinoman said:
I don't get why people act like Crash is this super unpopular meme character like Gex or Bubsy or something like that. The Crash Bandicoot games were critically and commercially successful back in the day.
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How dare you lump that loveable lizard with Bubsy!
 
R

rjc571

Banned
RMI said:
is this one of those games like Crash Bandicoot where what must have been a running joke got misinterpreted as an actual desire to see a remaster?

who asked for this?
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I did, I was interested in playing Voodoo Vince on the Xbox but didn't want to deal with 30 fps when most 3D platformers of the era ran at 60
 
V

VLiberty

Member
back in the days, i always had the feeling there was some sort of bias against the genre. i've lost count of how many great 3d platformers couldn't get past 7s

I haven't played YL or Voodoo Vince yet so I don't know if that's still the case, but the low scored reviews are definitely not enough to reduce my interest in those games.
 
V

VLiberty

Member
Rodney McKay said:
I remember playing a demo on my Official Xbox Magazine demo disc back when it came out and was quite disappointed with this.

I thought a game staring a Voodoo doll would offer a lot of inventive gameplay scenarios and combat where you hit yourself to hurt enemies, but I don't remember any of that in the demo apart from very scripted moments. And I seem to remember that you just smack enemies to kill them, which felt like a total oversight.

While I didn't love Blinx either, at least in the game game where you play as a cat with time travel powers you get to use time travel powers as your main mechanic.
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The mummy sections in Sphinx and the cursed mummy are probably something like what you are looking for

although that was mainly used for puzzles rather than fighting
 
P

Primethius

Banned
shandy706 said:
So do I buy this or Yooka-Laylee at discount first?

That's the real question.
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Yooka-Laylee is largely fine if you enjoyed the Banjo games. I put in sometime and enjoyed it mostly, but probably won't go back to it for a while due to a plethora of other high quality releases.
 
E

ElBoxyBrown

Banned
iavi said:
Honestly, no one was asking for this.

All the classics the OG Xbox has and this was the first one out the gate
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It's Microsoft's only platformer that wasn't terrible.
Banjo-Kazooie said:
I mean ya, it's a remaster, not a remake.
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They still could have cleaned up some minor issues like the camera.
Jimmyfenix said:
How does a remaster like this have technical issues ?
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Cuz it's just an upscale of the original game. They didn't do anything to fix the technical problems from the original.
 
xabbott

xabbott

Member
Never played the original but so far the game is fun.

Got this over YL since I've never been a fan of collecting a ton of stuff. The camera has the same issues many platformers had at this time but it works. No tech issues...Yet.
 
C

Camjo-Z

Member
Destructoid said:
The soundtrack, however, was unexpectedly dull. When you visit locations like a carnival, a Louisiana swamp, and a haunted house, you would imagine some catchy music would accompany the levels to help sell the atmosphere. Instead the music is royalty-free tier without much variation, at best sounding like it belongs in The Sims.
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Just no.

shandy706 said:
So do I buy this or Yooka-Laylee at discount first?

That's the real question.
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Linear level-based platformer vs more open-ended collectathon platformer

Pick whichever sounds more appealing.
 
D

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
EBE said:
blinx double pack when?
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In all seriousness, I would love that. A 60fps version of Blinx and Blinx 2 would be sweet.

They are strange games but I have a soft spot for them both. The original reminds me of NiGHTS on Saturn in some ways, for some reason. It's a neat game.
 
Papacheeks

Papacheeks

Banned
RMI said:
the one where Crash was bad, apparently.

Today I learned that people actually liked those games (I didn't, obviously). I hope you guys enjoy the remaster.
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How do you not know about the original Crash trilogy and CTR that have sold a shit ton in their day, and are always talked about with praise?

They also were the go to platformer in the 90's outside of Mario.
 
T

Teknopathetic

Member
"The soundtrack, however, was unexpectedly dull. When you visit locations like a carnival, a Louisiana swamp, and a haunted house, you would imagine some catchy music would accompany the levels to help sell the atmosphere. Instead the music is royalty-free tier without much variation, at best sounding like it belongs in The Sims."


Fuck outta here.
 
L

Lord of Ostia

Member
RMI said:
is this one of those games like Crash Bandicoot where what must have been a running joke got misinterpreted as an actual desire to see a remaster?

who asked for this?
Click to expand...
People definitely want the Crash Remaster, hence why it seems to have a lot of effort put into it. This has a lot less effort put in, but it was clearly something done on the cheap for people who liked the original.
 
S

serenewarfare

Banned
RMI said:
the one where Crash was bad, apparently.

Today I learned that people actually liked those games (I didn't, obviously). I hope you guys enjoy the remaster.
Click to expand...

Crash 2 and 3 have been the top two selling PSN Classics in Europe every month for about two years straight at this point.
 
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