Gaming Rocks On

Video Game Characters I Hate

2012-01-28T05:52:00.003-05:00

The gaming world is filled with some of my favorite fictional characters. Sonic. Mario. Mega Man. But since the world must have balance, just as there are video game characters I love, there are also characters that I utterly despise. These aren't just characters I cannot stand. These are some characters that I, as Kefka so eloquently put it, HATE! HATE!! HAAAAAAATE!!

Big The Cat (Sonic Series)

This big, dumb feline spends his portion of Sonic Adventure looking for his pet frog. Now I like pets, and I don't mind the plot behind an adventure involving rescuing an amphibian. It was the plot behind Blast Master, for crying out loud! But where as Blast Master was actually fun, playing Big's game in Sonic Adventure was the opposite of fun. The fact that this waste of space showed up as a character in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing is an unforgivable sin. Sega has a huge catalog of Sonic characters alone. Ray (from SegaSonic the Hedgehog, an obscure arcade game) or anyone from the Chaotix would have been preferable to Big. I guess I could tolerate Amy, bug Big? FRICKIN' BIG?! No. Just, no. Big's inclusion is puzzling to me. Even more baffling is how that fatty managed to say on his bike without it falling apart under his massive weight. That two wheeler is way too small for Big's fat buns.

Bowser Jr. (Mario Series)

I don't have a problem with Mario's prime antagonist having children. The Koopa Kids in Super Mario Bros. 3 were a great addition to the series. But when this brat was introduced in Super Mario Sunshine, this was the one Koopaling that I did not welcome with open arms. While I wasn't a fan of his voice work in that game, even when he isn't being voiced, I loath Bowser Jr. Bowser Jr is like that embarrassing child you're ashamed to have standing anywhere near you when you're out in public. He's that bad. Bowser already had seven likable kids. Why did he need an eighth one? Further insult was added when Bowser Jr. was made the superior to the other seven Koopalings in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. These kids don't need a leader. I mean, they've already got daddy for that. Worse is his name. "Bowser Jr". This chump is really just an inferior version of his old man, unfit to carry the name Bowser and it irks me that he's even associated with the other Koopalings. I don't even wanna think about the unholy union that occurred to spawn this brat. No, scratch that. This kid can't be blood. I'm pretty sure Bowser Jr. was adopted and Bowser just doesn't have the stones to tell him.

Tom Nook (Animal Crossing Series)

It matters not which Animal Crossing you play, the situation is always the same. When you first move into town, you have no place to call home. Tom Nook, the town's resident store owner and all around supplier of goods will hook you up with a house. In return you'll only have to be his slave. Did you think he was doing it out of the kindness of his heart? Please. Nook is a business man above all else and he intends to bleed your anus dry. You make that first payment on your house, think you're debt free, only to have your hopes dashed when Nook gleefully tells you the cost of paying for a bigger sized house. You really can't say no to this raccoon. And I mean that, you have to get those house upgrades even if you don't want them. Each time you do so, just means you'll be owning Nook more and more money. You'll hate Nook so much that the mere sight of him will make you want to do a Solid Snake on his neck.

Lakitu (Mario Series)

I already dedicated a single post on why I can't stand this member of the Bowser Koopa army so I'll try to be brief here. Lakitu is the primary reason why I HATE flying mooks in video games. For nearly 30 years he's pestered me. He caused me grief in Super Mario Bros. and has since been making my life a living nightmare. Basically, any game in which Lakitu is not holding a flag or behind a camera, you can count on him to be drooping Spinys to get in your way. Lakitu actually came down from flag duties and got behind the wheel on Mario Kart 7. Sucks for him because after all the pain he's caused me over the years, I'm gonna hit him with whatever offensive items I get out of spite. If a way to put a living person into the Mario games is made possible I will go in there and I will get Lakitu. I won't stomp on him. I won't hit him with a fire ball from a Fire Flower. No that's too good for him. I will take one of his own Spiny shells and I will bash his skull with it and I won't stop until he's a bloody smear on the ground of the Mushroom Kingdom.

Edward Gilbert (Final Fantasy IV)

When we meet Edward, the love of his life dies and he goes through some moping. I'm sympathetic, but sympathy only gets you so far. Before and after Edward get over his depression he still isn't very useful as a party member. What kinda member of the Final Fantasy hides while your friends put their lives on the line in battle? That's right, while the other members are out fighting the good fight, Edward hides off screen to save his own worthless anus. When he's not being a coward, he's healing the party... at the cost of your healing items. The only thing that justifies Edward's existence is the famous line spoken by the deceased Tellah.

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These are the only characters I could think off off the top of my head. There will probably be another installment to come in this series. It's a big video game world so I'm sure there will be more characters that make my hate list.

Mega Man in Street Fighter X Tekken. Sorta.

2012-01-27T01:08:00.002-05:00

Guess who's gonna be in Street Fighter X Tekken? This guy!

Unfortunately, I'm being dead serious. The Mega Man you see above, based off the horrendous original Mega Man box art is going to be a playable character in the PS3/Vita version of Street Fighter X Tekken. Looks like he really killed it on the donuts, eh? Check out this bit of info straight from the official Street Fighter X Tekken website.

Known as a Digger, a person who digs up relics from the past for research. He is a hot-tempered man, but has a strong sense of justice and is also very polite. His weak point is that he is easily rattled when backed into a corner. He is always running around in a hurry due to the demands of his partner Roll, and this time he's been asked to travel to Antarctica to retrieve a mysterious box.

Hm, so we got an older, fatter Mega Man Volnutt from the Mega Man Legends series. If this is Capcom's way of making amends for the cancellation of Legends 3, I don't think many bitter fans will find it amusing. But according to a tweet from Yoshiro Ono, the game's producer, this incarnation of Mega Man was in the works for some time.

I don't mean to sound like a typical Capcom hater, but why couldn't they include Classic Mega Man or even X? Would that be so hard? Or maybe Capcom is saving those guys for DLC, or better yet, Street Fighter X Tekken Ultimate Super Turbo HD Remix Arcade Hyper Plus Alpha Edition. Yeah, I know that joke is old hat, but for all we know, Capcom may have some update in store.

You can see Bad Box Art Mega Man and the other exclusive characters in action in the video below.

Sources: CapcomJapan, ProtoDude

Game Art #16: Cave Story Showcase

2012-01-26T04:23:00.000-05:00

Keeping with the trend of featuring art from games that are more than the Marios, Sonics, and Mega Mans of the world, here's a gallery of art from Cave Story (Doukutsu Monogatari as it's known in Japan), a game I like to think a wider audience has played by now. Originally an indie game for the PC, Cave Story eventually made it's way to WiiWare, DSi with and it was recently released on the 3DS. I downloaded the game for my 29th birthday on WiiWare and loved it. If you haven't played it, you really should. This art showcase contains a few spoilers so consider yourself warned. Enjoy.

By TheWax

By Bal-Bafu

By raizy

By louten

By moementm

By curtisdraws

By davidn6597

By GoshaDole

By Risocaa

By scrotumnose

By nanokostudio

By CaptainJamesman

By Kojiro-Highwind

By CytosisX

By Bandooo

By matthewart

By nanokostudio

By raizy

By oh8

By Th3w-san

By FargalEX

By StarEspeon

By ktcoope

By oh8

By Mrcrapinson

By TheNork

By rongs1234

By RhexFiremind

By Suguro

By le-mec

By okavango

By fluxmage

By Pembroke, colors by Christopher-Jones

By Ekuneshiel

By blackbookalpha

By Risachantag

By purplekecleon

By glitcher

Bacon EP

2012-01-24T01:26:00.000-05:00

At MAGFest 7 on January 1, 2009, The Smash Brothers released Bacon EP, a six track album containing tracks from numerous popular franchises such as Castlevania, Final Fantasy and Contra. With only seven tracks and just under 30 minutes at length, the album is sadly on the short side, but it's another example of quality over quantity. Every track on this album is awesome and the short length is great for repeatedly listening.

On January 1, 2010, as a gift, The Smash Brothers re-released Bacon EP as a download for free. I had the album sitting on my computer for over a year and just recently gave it a listen and fell in love. It was nice to see U.N. Squadron, Earthbound, Lifeforce and even Dr. Mario get some love here. Bacon EP is some fantastic music to rock out to. The download version also has an exclusive bonus track that's pretty amusing. Click the link below and make this one yours.

Bacon EP

Virtual Console Review: Super Mario World

2012-01-23T03:14:00.000-05:00

System: SNES
Genre: Platformer
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Publisher: Nintendo
Virtual Console Release: USA Feb 5, 2007 / EUR Feb 9, 2007 / AUS Feb 9, 2007 / JPN Dec 2, 2006
Original Release: USA Aug 13, 1991 / EUR Apr 11, 1992 / AUS Jul 1, 1992
Cost: 800 points
Players: 1-2
Rated: E for Everyone
Controllers Supported: Classic, GameCube

It's not easy to top yourself. The original Super Mario Bros. was a smash hit. Super Mario Bros. 2, while different from the first game, still managed to sell millions of copies. The third entry in the Super Mario series, Super Mario Bros. 3 is easily seen as Mario at his platforming peak on the NES. So how does one surpass that? Simple. Take everything that gamers know and love from Mario's past exploits, make it bigger, give the visuals a 16-bit face-lift, add in a dinosaur pal, tons of secrets, name it Super Mario World and call it a day. Sure, it's debatable whether Super Mario World trumps Super Mario Bros. 3 as the finest 2D Mario, but one cannot deny that Super Mario World is an outstanding game.

After saving the Mushroom Kingdom (again), Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach decide to take a vacation to Dinosaur Land. Shortly after arriving, the princess goes missing and since it's a ridiculously short list of names of people that would want to kidnap her, the game doesn't even hide the fact that Bowser's doing the same old same old. (Interestingly, Super Mario World would also foreshadow that taking vacations in the Marioverse is always a bad idea as more crap hit the fan when they tried to take time off again in Super Mario Sunshine.) But, Bowser wasn't just satisfied with abducting the princess. He's also imprisoned Yoshi's friends. Mario and Luigi, being the nice guys that they are, agree to help Yoshi rescued his friends since it coincides with saving Peach.

Super Mario World is a grand experience. Run, jump, grab coins, power-ups, stomp enemies, and make it to the exit. You know, pretty much the stuff that makes up a lot of 2D platformers. However, like the two dimensional Marios before it, Super Mario World outclasses so many games in the genre that came out at the time (and even many today) in one key area: execution. Super Mario World is bursting at the seems with fantastic level designs. Twenty years after it's release, the worlds in this game are an absolute blast to romp through. Controls are tighter than they've ever been and the challenge is just right, starting out easy early on and getting tougher as you progress. It's not hard to see why Super Mario World is the perfect 2D Mario experience for many gamers.

Secrets abound in Super Mario World.

Introduced in Super Mario World is the spin jump. Where as using a regular jump on a Koopa Troopa will cause them to come out of their shell, a spin jump will dispose of them all together. This changes things up significantly as you may need your regular jump to get a boost off an enemies head if you don't have Yoshi or the Cape Feather (more on them in a bit). The spin jump can also be used to jump off Spiny's (and number of other foes) without being harmed, so you need not fear death if you happen to be small. All breakable blocks in Super Mario World are yellow and unlike the past entries in the series, they can only be broken with a spin jump and only Super Mario/Luigi can break blocks. You can, however, still pass through them if bumped from underneath while they flip.

Joining you on your quest is the aforementioned Yoshi, your dino companion. Found in question mark blocks, Yoshi can be brought along to just about any stage (except Fortress and Ghost Houses, more on those later) and will eat almost anything, no matter how big or small and Yoshi is not picky about his meals. Goombas? Tasty. Koopa Troopas? That's good eatin'. Mega Moles, the bigger brothers to Monty Moles? Delicious! Having Yoshi along can make things easier but he's not really game breaking like the Cape Feather (more on that in a bit). Depending on the Koopa shells Yoshi eats, he'll take on different abilities. Red shells enable Yoshi to spit fire, blue shells the ability to fly, and yellow shells emit a powerful stomp when Yoshi lands from a jump, taking out any nearby enemies. There are also different colored Yoshi's in addition to the standard green. You've got blue Yoshi, yellow Yoshi and red Yoshi, all the same colors of the Koopa Troopa shells. These different colored Yoshis have an advantage over the common green Yoshi in that whatever shell they eat, they'll always get a power. For instance, blue Yoshi can fly even if the shell he eats is green. Any shell red Yoshi eats let's him shoot fire and so on.

From World 2 and on, expect to see these jerks.

Compared to Super Mario Bros. 3, the list of power-ups in Super Mario World is rather slim. In fact, there's only one new power-up to speak of and three returning power-ups. Returning power-ups include the Super Mushroom, Starman and Fire Flower, which all work the same way they did before, but thankfully the Starman lasts much longer than Super Mario Bros. 3's painfully short limit. The only new power to speak of is the Cape Feather. The Cape Feather grants Mario and Luigi the ability to fly and do so much more. Similar to being able to tail whip foes with the Super Leaf in Super Mario Bros. 3, you can attack enemies on the ground and spin continuously. While flying you can also glide in the air if you use the up and down motions on the control pad correctly. Not only that, you can slam down onto the ground, killing any enemies on the screen. If that wasn't enough, if you're really good with the Cape Feather you can skip lots of levels entirely due to flight/gliding. Is it any wonder this item hasn't shown up again in a Mario game or that flight-based powers were toned down ever since? The thing's just so freaking broken! The big inventory space for items in Super Mario Bros. 3 sure was nice. Kiss it goodbye because you can only hold one item in Super Mario World. At least you can access it while you're in a level. Just hit minus on the control pad and you can switch between a Fire Flower or Cape Feather. Taking a hit from an enemy makes the item come down automatically.

As if stomping and kicking them weren't enough, Mario
can now punch Koopa Troopas when he's on a fence.

With seven worlds to pass through, one world less than that of Super Mario Bros. 3, you might think Super Mario World isn't as big as it's predecessor, but you'd be wrong. The last word in the game's title is "World" and Super Mario World make you feel like you're traveling one huge globe. The bulk of the levels in Super Mario World are much longer than the last game and many have multiple exits. Each world takes places on an over world map. The starting area, Yoshi's Island is rather simple, with levels all containing a single exit. Once you reach World 2, Donut Plains, multiple level exits are introduced along with a plethora of other stuff. If Boos were a headache to you in Super Mario Bros. 3, you may not be too fond of Ghost Houses, basically acting as mazes with a ton of Boos and other super natural foes that can't be killed. Like all the previous Mario games, if you know the secret paths, you can breeze through Super Mario World in a matter of minutes, but as the old saying goes, getting there is half the fun. So unless you're going for a speed run or want to deny yourself one of the best Mario games to the fullest, you really shouldn't skip worlds.

You're pretty much screwed if these giant spikes
crush you, even with a power-up.

Secret exits aren't the only things to uncover in Super Mario World. There's actually an entire hidden world known as the Special World that's designed for super players. Consisting of eight stages, the Special World is home to the most brutally challenging levels with no check points. These stages are completely optional but if you want to hit all 96 level exits and get 100% completion, then you better get ready for some frustration. The levels here aren't quite as maddening as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, but if you're the type that breaks controllers, you may want to steer clear.

Being a first generation SNES game as well as a launch title, Super Mario World represented a considerable step up from the previous Mario titles, but even so, this game was quickly outclassed in the audio and visual department by later releases. That being said, Super Mario World isn't a bad looking game and the soundtrack, while mostly just a variation of a single theme is quite good. Themes that really stand out are the Fortress, Vanilla Dome (World 3), Forest of Illusion (World 4), Bowser, and End Credits. A really nice touch is the addition to bongo drums to the music when you're riding Yoshi.

Gnarly, Tubular, Way Cool, Awesome, Groovy, Mondo,
Outrageous, and Funky. Old school slang and a mountain of
agony for anyone that's attempted these special stages.

As previously stated, Super Mario World is the greatest Mario game for a lot of players. It's lengthy, packed with secrets, stellar level designs and is so much fun to play. In short, it represents Mario's platforming at it's finest. It's emulated extremely well on the Virtual Console and plays great with a Classic Controller. There really isn't any reason why you shouldn't download this game if you have a Wii. Your Virtual Console library is empty without Super Mario World.

Game Art #15: ICO & Shadow of Colossus Showcase

2012-01-21T00:22:00.000-05:00

Recently, I got my brother-in-law the Ico & Shadow of Colossus Collection for the PS3 (aren't I a great bro-in-law?). Watching him play inspired me to do an art showcase for these games. I imagined there had to be some pretty breath-taking art pieces on these two masterpieces, and I was pretty much right. Enjoy the art.

By 12Gen

By NotThePornStar

By kitanai-neko

By psuke76

By cellar-fcp

By fellcoda

By kaworu24

By homanga

By Mogasaki

By RocketJess

By RubyDragoness

By cynthiafranca

By DensenManiya

By isra-ac

By mister-meh

By hahanegrodragon

By ashwara

By Ouroboros-13

By Svy

By chibiniko

By taiki99

By ismo-h

By fellcoda

By LLucilla

By Joseph-Mama

By XRobinGoodFellowX

By V-nom

By gregmks

By Yaguete

By hastati95

By arugaisou

By Hani7

By MeganeRid

By oh8

By adonihs

By meiwren

By xadhoom

By tomten

By V-nom

By AAAGH

By aletsander

By Fennewalde

By GoKammy

By Mmmmuppet

By blurymind

by zeo-x

By nobodysleeps

Latest Game Purchases #21

2012-01-20T06:59:00.002-05:00

A few more dirt cheap buys this week.

I've a ways to go before i collect the remaining Ace Combat releases but I knew that if I didn't pick up Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War for the $8.99 price, I probably wouldn't see it in the store like that anytime again soon. Complete, too.

OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast is my favorite OutRun and one of my favorite PS2 games. So being able to play it on the go will be pretty sweet. Also complete and just $4.99

It's getting hard to keep up with all the Dance Dance Revolution games. I vaguley remember their being a game with Supernova as a subtitle, but since it sports the EyeToy label, I'm guessing it came out at around the time that Sony's camera accessory hit the PS2. Complete and only $4.99

Buronout Dominator is a came I've had numerous chances to pick up but passed on, and each time I did, it seemed like I saw it less and less. Despite the fact the Criterion didn't make this game and there's no crash mode, I still want to see what it's about. Complete and just $7.99.

Super Mario Galaxy Desktop Figures

2012-01-20T00:43:00.000-05:00

Gotcha TOMY's capsule figures are really growing on me. I picked up a few Sonic figures from them months go and now I've got three from the set of five Super Mario Galaxy Desktop Figures. I was able to see through the little holes in the capsules somewhat, so I could tell what I'd be getting. I don't mind surprises, but I really wanted to get Bowser and thankfully, there was one. Even before I took him out, he felt noticeably heavier than the rest. I also ending up with Peach, who despite getting captured all the time, is a character I can never truly dislike. And finally, I got Roslina, one of the best additions to the Mario universe. Like Bowser, I could tell I was getting Peach and Roslina. These things look pretty cool and with the exception of Bowser, each one comes with their own stand.

It should go without saying but if you're looking to preserve these babies, especially Peach and Roslina as they aren't as durable as Bowser, then these things shouldn't be played with. Take the "Desktop Figures" name to heart here and display them.

Like all other Gotcha TOMY capsule toys, these things go for $3.99 for individuals or you can spring for a whole case of 18 for around $60. I'll personally just take my chances to spring for the single capsules. All I need is Mario and the Octoombas and I'll have the whole set.

Sonic Throw & Pillow Set

2012-01-19T06:37:00.001-05:00

Sonic, holding or "hugging" the blanket.

I was originally gonna title this post "Sonic Keeps Me Warm at Night" Just to widen a lot of eyes and raise a lot of eyebrows. But then I decided to just go by the item title *shrug*

The blanket when you unfold it.

While looking around in fye, I saw this very unique Sonic Throw & Pillow Set. It contains a Sonic hugger plush pillow and a 14" blanket. I won't be using Sonic as a pillow, but he will make a fine addition to my growing collection of plush toys. In fact, this is the biggest Sonic plush toy I have so far. And I prefer my blankets to be more than 14" long but I still can't argue with how nice this set looks. The original price was $14.99 but fye was selling it for $9.99. How could I say no to that? I mean, look at it!

Awwwwww.

I love how Sonic looks holding, sorry, hugging the blanket. It's just so adorable. I almost didn't want to cut him lose because once that's done, he can't really hug the blanket again. Kinda wish he had some velcro on him or something. Ah, well.

Downloads #10

2012-01-18T00:10:00.004-05:00

Mario Tennis (N64)

When Mario Tennis first hit the Nintendo 64 back in later 2000, it was a very big deal for my friends and me. The game actually made us stop playing Perfect Dark and engage in some very heated multiplayer doubles matches. It was so much fun keeping a volley going and then finally smashing that sucker to score some points. The loads of characters to choose from were a delight to play as. This is also the game that introduced, Waluigi, Wario's brother and Luigi's "evil" counterpart, a character I honestly feel is underrated. Waluigi was one of my favorite characters to play as because he had insane reach, which made him ideal for working the net. Alas, friends are a bit harder to come by so it could be a while before I get to enjoy those awesome doubles matches with human players once more.

Zombies At My Neighbors (SNES)

I once owned a complete copy of Zombies Ate My Neighbors on the Genesis that I stupidly traded in. Wanna hear the real kicker? I got that game for free from a co-worker. When I think back on things like that, it makes me glad I don't really do trading anymore. Anyhoo, my fellow forumites were talking this game up something fierce when it released for the Virtual Console some time ago. Wanting to get a game I've never played before (yeah, even when I had the game, I never played it), I decided to part with 800 Wii points and pick it up. From the looks of things, it looks like one of those games where anything that isn't a power-up wants your head. Sounds hard, but fun. Should be fun to take this one for a spin. And yes, the acronym for Zombies At My Neighbors is one of the best ever. ZAMN!

Check Out These Mugs... and Shirts

2012-01-17T00:49:00.000-05:00

It has finally happened. I have gaming coffee mugs! I've been craving gaming related mugs for some time now. I'd seen some really awesome-looking mugs in the pages of Retro Gamer, which I still want to order from their site, but seeing these in fye was a pleasant surprise. I'd actually seen the Sonic mug a few weeks ago and passed on purchasing it. Each mug at fye cost $7.99. Figured, I'd get it another time. Good thing I waited because when I went into fye on Sunday they had a special deal going where you can get three mugs for $9.99! How about that? They also had a Pac-Man mug! Pac-Man! How cool is that? I don't think I've ever owned anything relating to Pac-Man that wasn't a video game. I'm pretty sure it's required by law to have some sort of Pac-Man merchandise so now I'm covered. I also got a mug for one of the most iconic super heroes, Superman. I love the simple design of this one. Naturally, I'm gonna make sure that the only person who drinks outta these babies is me.

It seems I just can't get enough of Sonic. I've got games, comic books, toys, a mug, a water bottle and even shirts with the world's most famous hedgehog plastered all over them. Well now I have two more shirts with blue streak pimped out on the front. With fye's buy one get the second half off, I'm gonna end up with more t-shirts than I've ever had before. These two shirts show Sonic with much of his supporting cast, on the front, which I'm perfectly fine with. Well, except Big the Cat on the blue shirt. But even he can't totally ruin it for me. I started buying my shirts in XL size because a few of my large sized shirts ended up shrinking when dried. So no more large t-shirts for me.

Latest Game Purchases #20

2012-01-16T22:03:00.003-05:00

Who doesn't love a bargain? The latest game buys were picked up at insanely cheap prices and I once again managed to cover more than one platform. On top of that, I didn't pick up a single Wii game. Shocking, I know.

Despite not yet owning a PSP, this hasn't stopped me from buying games for the handheld. The Mega Man Powered Up + Mega Man Maverick Hunter X Dual Pack was my first PSP game purchase. Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together has the honor of being the second. I'm not terribly brilliant at strategy games, let alone RPG strategy games, but there's something very appealing about the Ogre Battle series. Be it the stories, the beautiful artwork or the rich soundtracks, even a scrub like me can't help but take an interest in these titles. The last time I saw the price for Let Us Cling Together, it was $39.99 brand new at GameStop. Now it's an unbeatable $9.99 As they say in auctions "Sold!"

My third PSP game is another from Square Enix, Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions, an enhanced port of Final Fantasy Tactics for the PlayStation. I only put a few hours into the original Tactics. I got stuck on the fourth scripted fight. Even so, I liked the game was very thankful for it's re-release in 2001 (suck it, you eBay clowns). I've always wanted to play it again but it seems like a highly advanced game of Chess to me and I suck at Chess. Not enough to pick up another version of the game, though. For $6.99 and complete at fye, I'd be crazy to pass that up.

The final game I picked up was Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando, the second game in the Ratchet & Clank series. I've been wanting to get into this series but still haven't played any of the games. I bought Up Your Arsenal about five years ago and surprise, surprise, it's still unopened. I still need to get the original Ratchet & Clank so it will be some time before I play this one anyway. Going Commando was only $9.99 and complete at fye.

Game Art #14: Mario Showcase

2012-01-15T03:53:00.000-05:00

I know I said I'd have more Mario related posts last year for his 30th anniversary, but said posts ended up getting delayed. So I'm gonna try to have them posted in the coming months. These posts involve reviews and a pecial feature in honor of his big birthday bash that Nintendo seems to not give a rat's about. Until then, enjoy some lovely Mario art from the short, chubby Italian's many fans.

By EiffelArt

Unknown Artist

By botjira

By Themrock

By belldandies

By greatLP and zaratus

By Hisui-sama

By KagomesArrow77

By BunnyHeadFullForce

By SaladBowl

By LordDonovan

By Kairi26

By MaroBot

By TheBourgyman

By NatSilva

By MKDrawings

By Loopy-Lupe

By D-MAC

By ultimatesol

By thweatted

By EiffelArt

By finni

By GEKIMURA

By Joker08

By Eagle-of-the-Wired

By Pharaoh-chan

By MKDrawings

By doctorWalui

By PinkPuffKirby

By beyx

By goldwater

By JAtothemuthafinC

By JardimStudios

By SaladBowl

By Test-Tube-Baby

By sergevirusx

By Evanatt

By tvskyle

By kodinkenji

By SanJ-T

By pnutink

By Foxeaf

By agevelez

By CaptainJamesman

By Thelombax51

Bu beyx

By beyx

By pegosho

By SelanPike

By Dillo64

By rina-co

By Chugoku-jinko

By project-l

By MaroBot

By Yardley

By Torogoz

By EvanBryce

By arsenagearxx

By qwedfgbnm

By Quadrackss

By Loopy-Lupe

By James Loram

Unknown Artist

By Mike Mitchell

Memories #6: Mortal Kombat

2012-01-14T01:12:00.003-05:00

In the early 1990s word was spreading fast about an upcoming fighter called Mortal Kombat. Publisher Midway did everything within it's power to make sure gamers heard about Mortal Kombat. Only those that were dead or weren't born yet knew nothing of this game. It's that simple. TV ads, comic book and magazine ads and good old fashioned word of mouth made MK fever spread like wildfire. Posed to give Street Fighter II a run for it's money, MK featured realistic graphics the likes of which we'd never seen. The fighting combatants really sprung to life thanks to the digitized visuals with realistic character models.

Of course all of that stuff wasn't what made MK gain so much attention. It was it's over the top violence. Just punching your opponent made an insane amount of blood pour out of them. What's more, during the second round after depleting your opponent's vitality, the announcer would yell "FINISH HIM" (or "FINISH HER" if you happened to be fighting Sonya). If you knew the right inputs, you could execute a fatality, a death move that would kill the loser. It was shocking, gory, and awesome all at the same time. This same level of violence is what brought Mortal Kombat to the attention of Congress. Long story short, this game is one of the primary reasons we have the ratings labels on games that we have today. Naturally, I was completely unaware of this at the time. Ah, to be young and ignorant to the happenings around you.

Even I'd caught MK mania and wanted to give the game a try after hearing my good friends at church talk about it. But would my folks allow me to play it? While most mid to late teenagers probably wouldn't have a hard time getting the chance to play MK, us twelve and under kids had a bit of a struggle. See, at that age, playing MK was like watching an R rated move you had no business watching. Getting to play MK felt like getting to be part of the grown ups world and it was a chance that was just too good to pass up. I never played the arcade version and since a SNES was all I owned, I rented that version around the game's 1993 console release. At first, I was worried my parents wouldn't let me play the game, but to my surprise, they really had no problems with it. I'm guessing they trusted my ability to distinquish between what was real and what wasn't. It probably helped that I wasn't insane, but whatever.

"GET OVER HERE!" Come on, you
know it had to be said.

As powerful as the SNES was, I can still remember being wowed by the graphics that MK produced. First Street Fighter II, Star Fox, and now MK, the SNES just kept bringing out visual feasts. Anyway, I didn't know any moves (no instructions) so I just mashed buttons. I believe Sub-Zero was my first pick, probably because he was a ninja that wore blue, my favorite color. I won both rounds and was feeling pretty proud of myself. I'm pretty sure I discovered what is in my opinion, one of the series best moves in just the first round, the uppercut, which became my favorite. I just love how cool your fighter looked when doing that move. Plus it just felt so empowering for me to use it. Scorpion became one of my favorite characters thanks to Ed Boon's awesome voice.

More than likely, this is what happens
after Scorpion gets you with his harpoon.

I can remember one Wednseday afternoon during my rental period. We were playing as Raiden against Sonya on The Pit. It was a pretty tough fight and we were just frantically passing the controller back and forth. We were very low on health and she shot out her projectile move. Somehow, my friend teleported behind her (again, didn't know the moves) and we were slack jawed, because that one hit would have meant game over. The teleport gave us the opening we needed to take down the last of her health. The controller was handed back over to me. "FINISH HER!" the announcer demanded. I said "OK, I'll finish her!" and with that, I did my favorite move, the uppercut. I figured the match would just end like usual, but she went way up into the air and came crashing down into a pit of spikes. My jaw, along with my friend's jaw hit the floor. We'd never seen anything like that. I was actually a bit frightened by that. Looking back on it, I now think it was one of the coolest things I'd ever seen in a game at the time.

All my time spent playing Street Fighter II had made me a bit clueless as to what to expect as I moved up the fighter chain. After taking out the six regular opponents, I was met with what the game called a "Mirror Match." I don't remember these being too tough, but even after playing Street Fighter II: Turbo on the SNES, I wasn't use to fighting in these type of matches. What was really difficult for me was the endurance matches. In these fights, you had to fight two opponents back to back with no health recovery. Endurance rounds were pretty much what kept me from making it to the last two fights during my rental, but even so, I still had a blast playing MK.

During my week long stay in Toronto Canada (lovely city, by the way), my uncle had given me some cash to do with whatever I wanted. When we finally went to a place that sold video games I picked up Goof Troop, Mega Man X and Mortal Kombat. These actually mark the first time I'd ever bought a game in another country. Since I could now play MK for as long as I wanted, I finally had a chance to better myself at the game. When I got back to America, I played MK to death. I was able to advance beyond the endurance rounds and make it to Goro! And what happened when I made it to the four armed freak of nature? One of my earliest memories of a no-holds-barred-beatdown in video games. Most of the match consisted of me getting thrown back and forth as well as stomped on as I looked on in frustration and disbelief. I hadn't gotten a beating that bad since M. Bison. But in all my loses, I discovered Goro was vulnerable to spam attacks like fireballs and Scorpion's harpoon. With Goro down, I moved on to Shan Tsung and like Goro, he also mopped the floor with me. Thankfully, like Goro, he could also be beaten by spam tactics. After what seemed like many struggles, I'd finally beat MK.

After what seemed like many struggles, I'd finally beat MK. And yet I would still play it over and over. Via Nintendo Power's Mortal Kombat II coverage, I found that many of the fatalities for that game would work on the original. When I learned Scorpion's fatality (which was a simple block, up, up) I was thrilled. It felt awesome to be able to finally "FINISH" someone.

A few years later I discovered that the SNES version of MK was heavily sanitized. The blood was gone completely and some fatalities were heavily altered. Why was MK met with such censorship? Nintendo of America's family friendly practices at the time. This ended up costing the SNES version in sales as the Genesis version of MK pretty much took a nine iron to it at retail. Even so, I still dug this version of MK. And with Game Genie, I turned that sweat, mist or whatever it was into blood.

I never saw a lot of kung fu or martial arts movies as a kid, but the SNES version's audio of MK made me feel like I was watching that type of film. The character select screen still sounds amazing. Not only do I love the pit for what awaits the loser at the bottom, but the background music there was just so sweet! I can still see Shang Tsung sitting in the throne room watching you fight endurance rounds. Even the starting area, the courtyard, another stage where Shang Tsung watches is remembered thanks to the awesome music. That theme is so good, it was actually remixed in Mortal Kombat II.

These days, I can see that the original Mortal Kombat was loved so much mainly for it's gore. If it hadn't been for that, it probably wouldn't have been talked about and played as much as it was all those years ago. Doesn't it taint my memories of it? Not in the leeast. This is one of those games that I'll always remember fondly. How many kids wanted to play this game when it hit the home consoles but couldn't because mom and dad wouldn't let them? I was one of those kids that got to play a "grown up" game and while the first entry may be pretty shallow today, if I could go back and do it all over again, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Crystal Flash EP & Harmony of a Hunter: Metroid 25th Anniversary Albums

2012-01-13T07:41:00.000-05:00

Nintendo may not have done anything about Metroid's 25th anniversary, but that certainly didn't stop the fans from celebrating. From video tributes, artwork to arrange albums, fans were busy showing their love and appreciation for Samus and pals throughout 2011. I'm late, but I'm finally doing my part. I just heard about these two albums so that's why I'm posting about them now.

Crystal Flash EP, is a six track digital album arranged by Theopany. The album contains arrangements from Super Metroid, Metroid Prime and Metroid: Other M. This album marked the first time I'd ever been exposed to Theopany's work and I must say, it's very impressive. Despite containing only six tracks, Crystal Flash EP has high production values. It echos the spirit of Metroid music and if you're looking for something that's on par with Stemage's extraordinary Metal Metal albums minus the metal, Crystal Flash EP is outstanding. It's short, but very, very sweet. And unlike Metroid Metal, it won't cost you a dime to listen to as Theopany is giving it away for free. It's a great addition for any Metroid fan and a splendid way to celebrate the series 25th anniversary.

But wait, there's more!

Similar to Crystal Flash EP, Harmony of a Hunter is also a digital album, but much larger in size, spanning two discs with a total of 36 tracks. This 25th anniversary Metroid album covers music from nearly every game in the Metroid saga (Metroid Prime Pinball didn't get any love), which is quite an achievement in and of itself.

"Harmony of a Hunter is an album created to mark the twenty fifth anniversary of the Metroid franchise. A vast number of people contributed to this project to celebrate and mark this historic franchise, which includes music from the original NES Metroid through Metroid: Other M for the Nintendo Wii. The album features a diverse range of talented individuals covering a variety of genres which we hope will appeal to many musical tastes."

"We hope that Harmony of a Hunter will be a fitting tribute to this wonderful series."

And a fitting tribute it is. No matter your proffered style of music, I'm positive that there's something for you in this incredible album. From rock, jazz, chiptune, this baby has it all. As someone who has logged only a few hours into the first Metroid Prime, I was pleased to find that I could recognize some of the songs presented here. Although I haven't played through the Prime Trilogy or Metroid: Other M, I still greatly enjoyed the arranged music from those games in this album.

The amount of talent that hoped on board this project to help celebrate Samus' 25th birthday is staggering. Regular remixers from the OverClocked Remix community have contributed like zicron with the excellent Ashes to Ashes along with C-GPO on Solitude. Sam Dillard who did The Crimson Depths, and Mission Complete: Ending Suite. Stemage chipped in as well with as Theopany. The Video Game Music Choir even gave us a superb a Capella medley with Phazon Corruption. Harmony of a Hunter is another fine entry in what is shaping up to be an impressive line of Metroid fan albums.

Metroid hit the Famicom Disk System in Japan on August 6, 1986. Both Harmony of a Hunter and Crystal Flash EP released on August 7, 2011, one day after the series 25th anniversary. When Nintendo did absolutely nothing to celebrate, fans stepped in, releasing two outstanding albums. I'd like to thank them for making the 25th anniversary of Metroid one to remember.

Crystal Flash EP

Harmony of a Hunter

Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Logo

2012-01-13T02:40:00.002-05:00

Capcom has unveiled the 25th anniversary logo for one of it's most popular brands and one gaming's longest running franchises, Street Fighter. "Wait, wasn't last year the 20th anniversary of the series?" You may be asking yourself. Nope, that was the 20th anniversary of Street Fighter II, which hit arcades in 1991. The original Street Fighter, the one with the awful controls and most don't even remember, was released back in 1987. What are Capcom's plans for the fighting juggernaut's 25th anniversary? All the details aren't known, but according to Capcom, the company has "big plans" for this milestone anniversary. Though the official anniversary of the series won't be until August 30, there's nothing wrong with getting a head-start on the celebrating. The logo is set to appear on all Street Fighter related products starting with the crossover fighter Street Fighter X Tekken, which is set to release on March 6 in North America.

Street Fighter II may be the game that made the series what it is today, but if there were no 1987 Street Fighter, there would be no Street Fighter II, no Alpha series or even any crossovers. The fighting genre as a whole may have been a completely different critter if Capcom didn't decide to get their feet wet with the first Street Fighter.

As for the logo itself, I personally think it looks pretty sweet. We've got the series' poster boy, Ryu in the background looking like he's ready to throw down with some nice gold coloring and of course, the red magic number. Man, 25 years is a long time to be executing Hadokens and Shoryukens.

Source: Capcom Unity

Sonic Mini Figure Classic Collector's Set

2012-01-12T07:42:00.002-05:00

Months ago, I'd heard about the Sonic Mini Figure Six Pack Collection by First 4 Figures and drooled. These things just looked so awesome! These kinda reminded me of the Super Mario Mini Figure Series (which, I still need to pick up.) Unfortunately, they were sold out and frequently so. It wasn't until Jazwares re-released the set as the Sonic Mini Figure Classic Collector's Set that obtaining them became much easier. I placed my order at Toys 'R Us' website last Tuesday and while I was at work yesterday, they arrived in the mail, and that was with the slowest shipping. Standing at around 2 inches tall, these mini figures are dripping with the detailed likeness of their classic designs. I love the looks of them so much, that I don't even mind (too much) having Amy in this set, though Robotnik would have been way better. I've already got a mini classic Super Sonic, but it's still nice to have another one along with the remaining figures.

While I was looking for a good place to shop for these figures online, I'd read that some people were paying over $30 and in some cases $40 and upwards for this set, which is crazy, really. Just about as crazy as charging $9.99 for an individual mini Sonic figure in this set (the asking price at K-Mart). Toys 'R Us has the Sonic Mini Figure Classic Collector's Set for $19.99, which should be the SRP at any store selling this collection. So if you're planning on buying this excellent set, do it from there.

But enough about greedy retailers. Let's get a better look at these babies!

The gang's all here. Amy, too.

Tails is SO screwed.

"Amy, go hang yourself. And take Big the Cat with you."

You can check out more pictures of the Sonic Mini Figure Classic Collector's Set at First 4 Figures. Below is an unboxing video for your viewing pleasure. I'd say Sonic toys accounted for more than 80% of the gaming toys I bought last year and I know I'll still end up buying more this year. I'll probably pick up a second set of these figures to open up and display on my desk or a shelf.

Blog Background Header No. 1

2012-01-12T04:40:00.000-05:00

In an effort to visually spice up my blog, I've looked into some images that could go along with the title header. I wanted something to match the "Rocks" part of the blog title so I went out look for guitars. There's a popular image of an 8-bit Mega Man sprite throwing up the horns, but I couldn't find it anywhere. During my search I came across this cool looking Sonic sprite with green eyes, holding a guitar. The sprite was done by sonictherobloxican over a year ago. I'll be using different background headers in the future to keep things fresh. This one may not be super fancy, but I like it.

Game Art #13: Metroid Showcase

2012-01-11T03:11:00.000-05:00

Last year marked the 25th anniversary of the Metroid franchise. I feel awful for having not done any sort of special post for Samus, Ridely, Mother Brain and company but 2011 was a huge year for gaming anniversaries and it really was hard to keep up with them all. Heck, my Zelda and Mario features even missed the post deadline for 2011. Anyway, here's a special fan art showcase for one of gaming's most revered series.

By Gavade

By GENZOMAN

By Kirra241

By masateru

By Maiss-Thro

By tskrening

By the-gates-of-kuma

By Eyes5

By noprips

By fatal-mantis

By Samolo

By mintchoco

By pekepeke0

By AznJoker2

By modusprodukt

By P-H

By BlkCelebration

By Falcon-

By ryuzero

By Sprivate

By CoreyLoving

By bluewolf487

By Paperfiasco

By UOL Jogos

By villainzekes

By ChaseJC

By Roguetwo

By Orioto

Unknown Artist

By mixxedstuff

By cre8vsteph

By Wes-Talbott

By hungerartist

By DAV-19

By Vhoyos

8-bit Sonic Soundtracks

2012-01-10T23:39:00.002-05:00

I really should have made a post about these sooner as I've known about them for some time now. With all the Sonic posts I made last year, this would have been right at home in celebrating Sonic's 20th anniversary. But, better late than never, I suppose.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles 8-Bit Soundtrack

Chiptune artist Daniel White, better known by his handle of 8BitDancoot1 has undertaken the task of making covers for some of the most memorable early Sonic tunes in 8-bit audio glory. Ever imagine what Green Hill Zone would sound like if it were done on NES hardware? Or how about the Casino Night Zone 2 Player stage theme? Maybe you've wondered what an 8-bit rendition of Chrome Gadget (one of my all-time favorite Sonic songs) would sound like. Well wonder no more. Daniel has put out no less than three albums of 8-bit Sonic soundtracks. The first album, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles 8-Bit Soundtrack, covers all the music from the mammoth sized Sonic game. Not a single tune was left unconverted to 8-bit. The second album, Sonic the Hedgehog 1 & 2 OST, covers all the music from the first two Sonic games. Lastly, the most recent release, Sonic Spinball NES Arrange OST covers the music from Sonic Spinball.

Sonic the Hedgehog 1 & 2 8-Bit OST

The first two albums feature some enhanced audio instruments, which may have some scratching their head about the beefed up sound. Daniel explains why.

"If you're wondering why it does not sound as "8-bit" as say, a game like Megaman 2, it is because I used the Konami VRC6 expansion chip when creating this album. What this does is allow for a few extra sound channels to be utilized, enabling me to use those sound channels for added harmony and fullness.

In short, the expansion allowed me to create a better listening experience that can still be played on an actual NES with the right equipment. "

Personally, the inclusion of the VRC6 chip doesn't bother me one bit. The music still sounds fantastic. With the Sonic Spinball NES Arrange OST, Daniel took a different approach.

"Once again, it's time for another Sonic 8-bit album! This time, it's Sonic Spinball, in glorious 2a03-alone NES 8-bit! That's right! No "cheating" expansion chips or Sawtooth bass enhancement, it's nothing but pure NES! About 40 hours of work went into this project, and I am very pleased with the way it turned out."

Sonic Spinball NES Arrange OST

One of the earliest spin-off titles, Sonic Spinball had some amazing tunes, like Toxic Caves, Lave Powerhouse, and that incredibly dope Boss Battle track. They really don't lose much in the transition to 8-bit and like the previous two 8-bit Sonic scores, are very pleasing to the ears.

It's always interesting to hear good 8-bit versions of classic video game music and Daniel has put out some extraordinary work. What could be better than getting sweet 8-bit covers of Sonic music? Getting them for free. These digital albums won't cost you a dime. Highly recommended for Sonic fans, lovers of 8-bit and those that love video game music.

Game Art #12: Mega Man Showcase

2012-01-09T07:23:00.001-05:00

First Mega Man fan art showcase of the year and it's a big one. It seems like I've done more Mega Man Game Art Showcases than anything else. What can I say, I love the Blue Bomber. A lot of these actually made it into the Mega Man Tribute art book by Udon (which I still need to pick up). Mega Man has many talented fans, even those that didn't make it into the book. Enjoy.

By SteBan

By Speedbkr

By CE-Rap

By Naomi

By RioRock

By coachbeer

By ckotnha

By jmatchead

By GoshaDole

By theoriginalmistajonz

By Zatransis and AmericanNinjaX

By suzuran

By TraditionalDanimatio

By Zatransis

By zetallis

By Nidaram

By ericvedder

By frogbillgo

By jaimito

By Zubby

By matthewart

By ninjaink

By jesonite

By saiyagina

By Penril

By Theifoworld

By rongs1234

By Chewyli

By jjmccullough

By mrstupes

Unknown Artist

By One Head to Another

By speedking

Unknown Artist

By iDidntTouchHER

By jeffagala

By S3eye

By lastscionz

By rongs1234

By neato-neko

By ry-spirit

By WhiteFox89

By JoshawaFrost and Meeks-Oddities

By Orioto

By stplmstr

By jus-a-dude

By drawedgoods-eric

By scrotumnose

By Blopa1987

By m7781

By mulcimber

By garnettrules21

By Laumann

By Roboto-kun

By AndrewDickman

Super Mario Figurine Collection: Bowser

2012-01-08T04:19:00.001-05:00

"Did somebody page the king of awesome?" Yes, Bowser, yes, I did.

For all the times he's been thwarted by Mario, Bowser remains one of my favorite villains in video games. I mean, you kinda have to like the guy. He's a big, monster turtle with an unrequited loved for a princess he's constantly kidnapping and he never gives up on his goal, no matter how many times he's met with defeat. You gotta admire that. Plus, he just looks so cool. I mean, just look at him. How can you not think he's awesome? When I saw the Bowser figurine in the Super Mario Figurine Collection, I knew I had to have him. Buying this actually makes it my very first Bowser toy. Made by Banpresto and distributed by Global Holdings, this Bowser figurine captures the likeness of Mario's prime nemesis perfectly. There are a total of four figures in this set, the others being Mario, Luigi, and Peach. You'd think I'd have bought Mario first just to do things in order. But I've already got a Mario plush, key chain and a 5" Mario figure. He can wait. I'll end up buying the rest of the set anyhow, so I'll pick Mario up eventually. Anyway, it's Bowser! How awesome is that?!

Downloads #9

2012-01-07T05:19:00.003-05:00

It feels like it's been forever since I download some digital games, over a month in fact. So I picked up my first DSi Points card and two Wii Points cards. Here's what I bought.

Mighty Flip Champs (DSiWare)

I've been listening to the Mighty Switch Force! Official Soundtrack so much that I just had to download the first two Mighty games. Mighty Flip Champs may seem a bit simple and a bit pricey for 800 points, but after playing a few stages, it was so worth it. Playing as Alta, your objective is to rescue your friends and reach Fishman to complete the stage. Sounds easy enough but each stage is populated with all kinds of nasty traps and hazards and Alta is a one hit point wonder. The main gameplay mechanic here is that Alta can flip between areas of the level. The current area shes in is the top screen, where she'll end up next when flipping is displayed on the bottom screen. Levels can have up to two to six areas. I've already died a ton of times and I've just started out. It's great when you finally figure out the solution to clearing a stage. You're ranked on how much time it takes you clear a level and how many flips you use. Thus far I've only gotten two S ranks and a few B ranks. Mighty Flip Champs is great for long and short play periods. I was able to clear one stage yesterday before clocking on at work.

Mighty Milky Way (DSiWare)

Since I downloaded Mighty Flip Champs, getting Mighty Milky Way only seemed natural. Unlike Mighty Flip Champs, Mighty Milky Way is played almost completely with the stylus takes some huge risks with gameplay being completely different from it's predecessor. Controlling Luna, instead of rescuing friends in numerous rooms, you're out in space, pulsing off planets to reach the gateway exit. You don't really have direct control over Luna. All she can do is run around planets and pulse off them via gravitational pull. Like Mighty Flip Champs, Mighty Milky Way offers simple but brilliant gameplay. I wanted to try this one out a bit and I'm still getting used to making different sized planets and the play style of pulsing. I'd like to finish Mighty Flip Champs before moving on to Mighty Milky Way, but we'll see how that goes. So worth the 800 points.

Super Mario RPG (SNES)

Back when I was first getting into RPGs, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was among the earliest that I'd played, getting it as a present on my 15th birthday. Even if you aren't into RPGs, I still recommend this game. It has lot of elements from the Super Mario series, you can see enemies on the field and avoid combat if you wish, and said combat is pretty involving thanks to timed hits. If memory serves this is the first time Mario and Bowser ever teamed up and it was great to have the King of the Koopas on your side. I'm really looking forward to playing through this game again. I've been trying to get into RPGs but their time consuming nature has kept me away as of late. It usually takes me under 30 hours to finish Super Mario RPG so it should be perfect for me when I want an RPG to play.

Mario Kart 64 (N64)

The first 3D Mario Kart. I haven't played Mario Kart 64 in ages so I was a bit worried how I'd feel about this one. Thankfully, it's still a lot of fun to play, even if the controls are pretty slippery on turns. The track designs are still some of my favorites and when you get hit by an item, you really feel it, unlike the last few Mario Karts where being hit with a shell seemed like a minor problem at best. As much as I love the original Super Mario Kart, it saddens me to say that Time Trials just aren't as fun in that game. The drifting and mini turbos in Mario Kart 64 made Time Trial a far better experience. I do find it interesting that 150CC and the Special Cup was available from the get go when I started the game up. You usually have to unlock that stuff, but I'm guessing Nintendo wanted to make more of the game accessible. Maybe I'm a bit rusty but even on 50CC, the AI is putting up a fight. I had to defend my place on all three laps on each race!

Gradius III (SNES)

Gradius III was my introduction to the Gradius series and I'm happy to report that even with slowdown, Gradius III on the SNES is still a fantastic shooter. Though I've played the arcade version on Gradius III & IV on the PS2, the SNES version is still my preferred version because it shows some mercy on the player. Some of the music on the SNES version also sounds a bit more fleshed out, another nice difference between the two games. That's not to the arcade version's music is bad, certainly not, just the SNES music sounds a tad more lively. By the time I made it to Accident Road (the stage with the really intense speed) I'd lost my first few lives and started using continues on the following boss rush stage.

Zanac (NES)

Man, I wish Compile was still around. Space Megaforce, MUSHA, Blazing Lazers; they made some of the best shooters. I was fortunate enough to pick up the NES version of Zanac some five years ago and loved it. Imagine my surprise when I browsed the NES games on the Virtual Console and saw Zanac. Finally got around to downloading it last night. If you've never played Zanac before, it operates on a fluctuating difficulty. The firepower of your ship determines just how strong the opposition will be from the enemies on the screen. If your p-shooter is on the lowest level, things will be a breeze, but if you're decked out, then your adversaries will want your blood. I've only made it to the third area. From what I understand, Zanac had around 12 areas or so and considering this is a Compile game, the levels are lengthy.

Dynamite Heady (Genesis)

I remember reading about Dynamite Heady when it first came out back in 1994. It wasn't until around 2007 or so that I found a copy and experienced it first hand. Like most Treasure games, Dynamite Heady stands out from everything else in the genre. You use your head to attack enemies and the game is full of strange levels and bosses. I only played a few levels of Dynamite Heady when I bought it years back, but I was very glad that I purchased it. It was definitely a stand out Genesis title. I've read that the American version of Dynamite Heady is harder than the Japanese version but still doable. Guess I'll have to summon all my old-school gaming skills if I wanna finish this one.

Latest Game Purchases #19

2012-01-05T06:19:00.003-05:00

Here we are, with my very first game purchases for the year 2012. Some pretty cheap buys here, especially on the PS2 games but I found some good deals all across the board.

I bought Guitar Hero II on the PS2 back in 2007, complete with the guitar controller. I've been wanting to pick up the original Guitar Hero for some time now but all new prices for it were $40 or more. It figures that when the series fizzled out that I'd find a used copy and for less than $5.99. Guess I'll be breaking out that guitar controller somewhere down the line.

More Guitar Hero goodness with Encore Rock the 80s, what I believe to be the series first side game. The whole concept of an 1980s based Guitar Hero games was great in it's own right. What wasn't great was the original $50 asking price that Activsion stamped on that sucker. As much as I wanted to play that game, there was no way I was gonna drop 50 clams for it. It also didn't have as much content as Guitar Hero II, which from what I've read, also hurt the game. The $4.99 price I found it for was far more reasonable.

When I went to my friend Brandon's place back in Ohio, we'd play the 360 version of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and it was a whole lot of fun. At $2.99 this was the cheapest of the three Guitar Hero games I picked up. It'll be nice to play this game again as I loved the song selection.

Despite not being a huge Dance Dance Revolution freak, I do like this series. The last DDR game I picked up was the first DDR Max (DDR Max 2 was my first DDR). Since DDR Extreme was only $4.99 and I remember wanting to buy this game a few years back but not wanting to pay the full price, now was probably the lowest I'd see the game sell for. It was also the store's last copy.

Excite Truck was one of the earlier Wii games and I know it wasn't met with much acclaim but I'd been meaning to pick the game up and try it out for myself. For $8.99, this was a bit of a no brainer. Being a big fan of the Excite series, it's easy to get my attention focused on any racer with the word "Excite" in front of it.

I've only played No More Heroes for a few hours, but I really like it. It's a shame both it and it's sequel, No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle have not sold well. Shortly after the game came out, the price was already cut. At most places, you can find Desperate Struggle selling for $19.99 brand new. GameStop has it for even less at $12.99 new. I ended up getting it used for a little less than that. I really do need to finish the first No More Heroes.

It's nice to see Rayman return in his own game and back to his platforming roots, no less. Rayman Origins has been getting glowing reviews but even before the press gave their take on this game, I was stoked about it months ago after reading a nice lengthy preview in an issue of Nintendo Power. From what I've heard, the game is the same across all three platforms, it just has higher resolution graphics on the PS3 and 360, but if a Wii is all you've got, you still shouldn't pass on this one just because it's only in 480p. I picked this up brand new at GameStop, where it's only $29.99. Considering, it's going for $50 everywhere else, that's a pretty good deal.

Finally, I bought Retro Game Challenge at fye. It was on sale for $13.99. I vaguely remember hearing about this game. The plot is amusing. You get sucked into an 80s gaming world and to survive, you have to finish all the games. Not an original plot, but an entertaining one, none the less. Since Sonic Colors on the DS is slow going with me, I'll probably open this one up and start it out real soon.

Game Art #11: Donkey Kong Showcase

2012-01-04T04:40:00.001-05:00

Last year marked the 30th anniversary of Donkey Kong (as well as another popular Nintendo character, name stars with an M). So in order to do some belated celebrating here's a fan art showcase of everyone's favorite tie-wearing ape. Enjoy.

By strongstuff

By mattdog1000000

By PhazonRidley

By Weidel

By theoriginalmistajonz

By Spune

By mattdog100000

by mattdog10000

By RETROnoob

By Sprivate

By Kidd-P

By mattdog100000, colored by
ItsFrisbee

By Ribbedebie

By supernitro

By ry-spirit

By Orioto

By anasazi75

By Bob Dob

By tvskyle

By Mizutori

By jennychiu

Memories #5: Gunstar Heroes

2012-01-03T05:38:00.003-05:00

The first time I'd read anything about Gunstar Heroes was a special issue of Electronic Gaming monthly from 1998. It had a special feature or retired game systems like the Saturn, SNES and Genesis. At the top of the list of the ten best Genesis games to play was Gunstar Heroes. "Really," I thought, "the best Genesis game wasn't Sonic the Hedgehog 1 or 2? It was a run 'n' gun shooter? That's crazy." Now I'm a fan of the Contra series and I love me some Metal Slug now, but at the time, I'd never heard of Treasure's masterpiece, so I was just another ignorant gamer.

On a Friday night in March of 2001, I was in Funcoland with my dad, browsing the used games bin, in particular the Genesis section and there it was, Gunstar Heroes for just $9.99. I remembered what EGM said about it and decided to pick it up.

From the very first level, I was blow away. The detail of the sprites, the amount of action, the explosions, it was all simply amazing. It quickly dawned on me why EGM thought so highly of this game. Just the first stage and I was already in love. I thought it was cool how you could select your weapons before staring out and then combine them with other weapons. The seeker has always been my favorite. Of course offensive tactics weren't just limited to shooting. I found that I could also slide into enemies, block, throw and kick. Nice to have some variety.

M. Bison's day job.

My experience with Mega Man X and Donkey Country had prepared me for crazy mine cart stages so the second level, in which you use a handy mine cart that can can shift gravity, while not too insane, was still very memorable and fun. At about midway through the level, Smash Daisaku (the M. Bison knock off) saved millions of dollars in ammo and started throwing his own soldiers at me. They weren't super effective, but props for originality. As if stage 2 weren't entertaining enough, the boss is easily remembered as one of the greatest in the history of gaming. When I got the boss warning bell, it said that "Seven Force" was approaching. Before I could really ponder what a Seven Force was, it quickly came running behind me in the form of a giant mecha. After I depleted his energy, I thought "Yeah!" as if I'd defeated him. But he quickly changed, taking the form of a pistol. I had to admit that was pretty sweet and like a real pistol, after firing six times, it had to reload. Thinking I'd taken him down, it changed forms AGAIN! "How many forms does this guy have?!" I thought. I was actually starting to sweat a bit. Thankfully, I finally beat him and got the second gem. That stage clear music tasted so sweet after such a grueling battle.

My favorite level in the game.

The fourth level started out like your typical run 'n' gun stage. Then mid-way through the level, I was hit with the mother of all unexpected gameplay changes. In the background was what looked to be a board game and a die dropped in front of me. I picked it up, rolled it and was whisked off. I don't remember where I went to first, but I do remember most of the games I ended up playing. One had me fighting some Pong-like boss, another had me navigating a single screen maze to the end. A particularly nasty area pitted me against a small soldier, that I quickly discovered was quite powerful in spite of his diminutive stature. The board game section made this may favorite stage out of the whole game and out of the four selectable first stages, I always save this one for last.

Gunstar Heroes is easily one of the
Genesis' most visually stunning titles.

I ended up playing Gunstar Heroes for a few hours that night, finishing the game on the easy setting. I could not believe that I managed to score such an incredible game for just $9.99. The levels, the music, the graphics, the gameplay changes; it all adds up to one of the best games from the 16-bit era and one of my favorite Genesis titles. Man, what a rush Gunstar Heroes is. It ended up being the very first Genesis game I downloaded for the Virtual Console last year. How could I have missed out on this phenomenal game in the Genesis head day, I honestly do not know, but I am ever so thankfully that I picked it up that Friday in March ten years ago.

Physical or Digital?

2011-12-31T00:52:00.001-05:00

One of the greatest feelings associated with gaming is going to the store, looking at the games on the shelf, finding the game you want, or something you weren't expecting to find, making your purchase and then leaving, excited to get home to try out your games. As typical as that is, it's a wonderful feeling. Of course if there's a particular game we want, we can always shop online and avoid some stress that unfortunately sometimes comes with that experience, like rude people, the trip to the store and what have you. The digital age also provides a similar feeling when it comes to shopping for games but without the aforementioned hassles. However, since our purchases are digital, we end up with a game that exists only inside a machine and isn't something we can hold in our hands

Finding a physical copy of this game isn't always easy
and if you do find it, expect to pay around the price of
brand new console release. The Xbox Live Arcade version, however,
is a much cheaper and easier option.

Having a game sit on your shelf, being able take it down and actually hold it in your hands, as ordinary as that is, it's a great thing to be able to do. To look over the cover. To flip through the manual, it's nice to be able to do all that stuff. These are things that we cannot do with a digital game. Now that's not to say that digital releases shouldn't be appreciated like a physical release. Just because I can't treasure Mega Man 10 in the same way I can Mega Man 3, that doesn't make Mega Man 10 any less valuable to me. Mega Man 10 is actually one of my favorite Mega Man games. But despite my feelings on the matter, there are people out there that wished Mega Man 10 was released in physical form, some even going so far as to want it on an NES cartridge.

It's not just Mega Man 10 either. Mighty Switch Force, Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury and other retro inspired titles get digital releases and many of them are sold for chump change. Maybe publishers feel that their games won't move as many copies in physical format. As competitive as the market was in the late 1990s, it's even more so now. It's not just about placing your game up against Sonic, Mario or Zelda. There's the Batman Arkham Cities, the Call of Duties, Skyrim and a slew of other mega high profile titles. It really is a jungle out there and even good games that see a physical release get eaten alive. As nice as it would be for every game to get a physical release, that just isn't the game industry that we have.

Mega Man 10 is just as important to me as any
physical release in the series.

I'm personally a big fan of digital releases, especially for older games. I never owned a PC-Engine or a TurboGrafx so I was never able to play Blazing Lazers, Lords of Thunder, Gate of Thunder, New Adventure Island, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and many of the other standout games for those systems. This all changed when I started checking out PCE and TG games on the Wii's Virtual Console. Rondo of Blood is a superb, yet brutal Castlevania title, New Adventure Island is now my favorite game in that series, and Blazing Lazers is another solid shooter entry from the now defunct Compile. I could have tracked down a PCE and TG and these games, but the Virtual Console saved me the hassle as well as cash.

Sonic CD can be experienced by a wider audience
thanks to digital releases.

Sonic CD, held in regard as one of the best Sonic games was originally released on the ill-fated Sega CD (Mega CD for you European readers) hardware and for a long time, it remained a Sonic game that not many played. Sure Sega rectified this when they released it on the Sonic Gems Collection for GameCube, but the recently released Xbox Live and PlayStation Network version of Sonic CD is easily the most definitive version of Sonic's first CD-based adventure, allowing you to hear both the Japanese/European and American soundtracks and letting gamers play as Tails. This version of Sonic CD is also ridiculously dirt cheap, around the price of a value meal at McDonald's. So for less than the price of a few comic books, gamers can easily play one of Sonic's best games without having to find the original hardware or a compilation game. And it's all because of a digital release.

So to answer my own question in this editorial title, physical or digital, I say, why not have both? They've both got their good points and I'm a proud endorser for both anyway.

Game Art #10: Misc Showcase

2011-12-28T05:04:00.000-05:00

By spacecoyote

By WakaBee

By silentgecko

By Om

By super-tuler

By Orioto

By Tervola

Unknown Artist

By Orioto

By pyawakit

Unknown Artist

By Orioto

Unknown Artist

By Orioto

Unknown Artist

By Luda

Unknown Artist

By excluded

By Place of

Mighty Switch Force! Official Soundtrack

2011-12-27T04:25:00.001-05:00

Mighty Switch Force, the third game in the Mighty series (the first two being Mighty Flip Champs and Mighty Milky Way) was released on the 3DS eShop on December 22 in the USA, UK and Australia. What also dropped on that same day was the Mighty Switch Force! Official Soundtrack

I've never played any game in the Mighty series, but I've heard good things about them. I have, however, been a fan of Jake "virt" Kaufman's video game compositions and arrangements for years and since he's written the music for Mighty Switch Force, it shouldn't have come as a surprise at just how awesome the game's music is.

This 23 track digital album is a nice blend of chiptune, metal, funk and it sounds marvelous. There's a lot of standout tracks here, but my favorites would have to be Level Select, Caught Red Handed, Love You Love You Love, End Credits (which is actually a remix of Caught Red Handed), Whoa I'm in Space Cuba (awesome for the name alone), and Yummy. As if the regular tracks weren't enough, there's also some delicious remix tracks such as the coda remixed Love You Love You Love (Good Morning Onee-san Mix) and Yummy (Electronugget Remix).

Hearing this album has me dying to give Mighty Switch Force a go and check out Mighty Flip champs and Mighty Milky Way as well. If you have a 3DS, head on over to the eShop and give the game a purchase. It's only $5.99, next to nothing. The funky soundtrack is free and is an absolute must have. This sucker is going on my MP3 player right now.

Mighty Switch Force! Official Soundtrack

NiGHTS: Lucid Dreaming

2011-12-26T00:37:00.000-05:00

NiGHTS into dreams was a unique kind of game, memorable for it's fantastic 3D flight-based gameplay and it's dreamy musical score. Arranged NiGHTS music may not sound like a good fit. It's the kind of music that one may not even want to have remixed for fear of straying too far off from the source material. However, NiGHTS: Lucid Dreaming, OverClocked Remixes' 26th album manages to put it's own spin on the beloved NiGHTS tunes while still sticking closely to the original tracks.

Spanning 3 digital discs, NiGHTS: Lucid Dreaming contains remixes of favorite tracks such as Message from Nightopia, Paternal Horn, She Had Long Ears, and the unforgettable vocal track, Dream Dreams. With Dream Dreams being a fan favorite track, it's no surprise that it received as much attention as it did on this album. There are no less than four different versions of Dream Dreams to be heard here. The first one, Dream Dreams (Disco NiGHTS Mix) is a fast, shorter version of the original track. Even though the original tune is more slow going, this is still a superb arrangement and one of the best tracks on the album, which is already saying a lot. Slumber on a City Corner (Dream Dreams : In Silent Memory) is a jazzy, non-vocal tune, taking things much slower in contrast to Disco NIGHTS Mix. More good stuff there. The third version of Dream Dreams, The World is Dreaming is probably the closest of the four covers that's the mirrors the original song and it's nothing short of brilliant with phenomenal voice work and music to match, making it one of the best arrangements of Dream Dreams. The final version of Dream Dreams is a Karaoke version of Disco NIGHTS Mix. I got so used to listening to the vocals on Disco NiGHTS Mix that it seemed a bit odd not having them in the background, but I learned to appreciate both tracks and ended up putting both on my MP3 player.

So what about the tracks that aren't remixes of Dream Dreams? Reverse Rain (The Amazing Water), which was one of my favorite tracks in NiGHTS, is outstanding and maybe even more beautiful than the original (please don't lynch me, NiGHTS fans, I did say maybe.) From Dusk til Dawn (Fragmented NiGHTS) makes me long for more piano arrangements from OCR. She Had Angry Pixels is a wonderful chiptune cover of She Had Long Ears, one that I actually prefer over the original. Sixto Sounds hits another remix out of the park with Beyond the Dream (Gate of Your Dream), one of the most stunningly beautiful arrangements I've ever listened to. Speaking of Gate of Your Dream, A Dream, the close out song of disc 2 is another fine remix of said tune and as cliche as it sounds, the track feels just like that, a dream. A very, very good dream.

In case you couldn't tell, there's a lot to like about this album. I've greatly enjoyed listening to it on repeat numerous times. NiGHTS: Lucid Dreaming is without a doubt, some of the best work to come out of OverClocked Remix and is a shinning example of just how talented the fans of video game music are. I like to think Naofumi Hataya, Tomoko Sasaki, and Fumie Kumatani, the original composers of NiGHTS' music would be proud of this arrangement album. It's a splendid love letter to their work. Head on over to the homepage below, download Lucid Dreaming and enjoy.

NiGHTS: Lucid Dreaming

Latest Game Purchases #18

2011-12-24T23:55:00.002-05:00

While I was out doing my last rounds of Christmas shopping, I treated myself to something of a Christmas gift with a few games, which will more than likely be the last games I buy in 2011.

King of Fighters IX is another game I used to own but never got back from a friend when I moved. I didn't play it as in depth as I did other KoF games but it was still a lot of fun. All I need is Kingdom Hearts and I'll have all the games that I loaned to pals back before I said adios to Ohio.

The Legend of Starfy is a DS game I've had the chance to pick up at Best Buy on the cheap numerous times. And what happens when I finally decided to purchase it? Every copy was gone. Luckily, Wal-Mart had some in stock for just $15. Score.

Speaking of Wal-Mart, they had one copy of Kirby Mass Attack left, a game I've been wanting to play for months now but either couldn't spare the cash or was buying other games at the time. They also happened to be selling it for $29.95 as opposed to Nintendo's SRP of $34.99. So screw you, Nintendo. Looking forward to playing this and unlocking the mini games.

When I picked up a gift for my brother-in-law at K-Mart, they were having a deal where if you bought a Sonic game, you got a Mini Sonic figure free. All of the figures are based on classic Sonic designs and they had Sonic, Super Sonic, Tails and Knuckles in stock. At $5.99 a piece, the things are a bit pricey, but since I was getting it for free, I couldn't complain. My pick was Super Sonic. Some searching on Google showed that, as I suspected, the entire collection of mini figures (which also includes Metal Sonic and Amy) can be picked up in a single set. Beats $5.99 for each figure separately. But at least now I'll have another mini Super Sonic when I eventually buy the whole set.

Christmas 1991

2011-12-23T06:04:00.003-05:00

Best Christmas gift ever? It's a stronger
contender, that's for sure.

I can't remember each and every Christmas, but thanks to some of the awesome gifts I've received, I've been able to single out certain ones. The Christmas of 1991 is one I remember with utmost fondness.

News of the Super Famicom first hit me in the summer of 1990 via newspaper article. I didn't read much newspapers outside of the comic section back then, but anything game related was sure to grab my attention. The console wouldn't release in the United States until the summer of 1991 and like the Nintendo Entertainment System before it, it was given a name change, being called the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, or SNES for short in America and the UK. Not only did the SNES appeal to me but so did the game that was focused on with the article, Super Mario Bros. 4, which would later go by it's subtitle, Super Mario World.

When August of 1991 arrived, I coveted a SNES more than anything. I didn't want toys, nor did I want a Sega Genesis, no matter how much Sega tried to sway me with Sonic's attitude. The SNES and Super Mario World was all I cared about. But my dad knew how gullible I was back then. He had me convinced that I was getting a Genesis for Christmas and I fully believed him. I even told my friends that's what I was getting. I thought that maybe owning a Genesis wouldn't be so bad. I mean, Sonic certainly looked nice. But dang it, I wanted Super Mario World!

December 25th finally arrived (when you're a kid, it seems like it takes Christmas forever to come) and I had only one present, a big box. I assumed it was the Genesis like my dad said, but when I unwrapped it, a huge grin hit my face. It was the Super NES Super Set! It came with the system, two controllers, and of course, Super Mario World. I couldn't believe it. My dad just smiled seeing me so happy with my gift. Back in the late 1980s, my mom and dad got my sister and I and NES, but the SNES was 100% mine. This was the first time I'd ever received such a large scale gift. I was truly wowed.

The system itself was amazing to look at. Yeah, the American SNES model seems more clunky compared to it's UK and Japanese counterparts, but I still loved the way it looked. Even the controller was a marvel. The curves, the four button layout, the shoulder buttons. I'd never seen a controller like it. My sister and I just felt the comfort of the SNES controllers (this was back when Nintendo actually included two controllers AND a game with their systems) as my father hooked the system up to the TV. NES controllers were fine, but they felt rougher compared to the SNES controls.

I had the honor of placing Super Mario World in the cartridge slot and turning on the power. I can still hear that chime and the picture the Nintendo logo appearing on that old SD TV as I type this. The Super Mario World logo appears along with the title music. We see Mario and Yoshi teaming up to take down some Koopa Troopas. If there's a better way to spend Christmas morning with the family, I haven't heard of it.

My first stage was World 1-2, where you first encounter Yoshi. Despite having never played the game, I played as if I'd been playing the game for years. I didn't need to know how to run or how to eat enemies with Yoshi. Everything just felt so natural to me. The SNES controller having more buttons than the NES pad didn't throw me off one bit. It wasn't long before we passed World 1 and went off to the much larger, secret-filled World 2.

Each time I think back to Christmas 1991, I just smile. I'd not only gotten what I wanted for Christmas, I got what is my favorite video game console of all-time. The SNES is the system that got me into shooters, despite it's processor not being as fast as the Genesis. I discovered Gradius here, Final Fight, Street Fighter and a wealth of other franchises. The SNES really did open up a new world of gaming for me. My love for RPGs is largely attributed to this system. On top of that, it's also the prime reason I can remember a Christmas of 20 years ago. So there's yet another reason the system rocks.

Stars of Famicom Games

2011-12-20T05:18:00.001-05:00

During a trip to the library, avid Nintendo fan Chris Covell picked up a children's book titled Stars of Famicom Games. While the book may have been found in the children's section, the book is still interesting for Nintendo fans of all ages.

Originally published in 1989, Stars of Famicom Games shows some development pictures of Super Mario Bros. 3. The book also contains pictures of a younger Shigeru Miyamoto and music composer Koji Kondo. Not only does it give you a look at the development behind one of the most popular games of all-time, it also takes you inside Nintendo's headquarters to show you how game manufacturing and distribution was done at the time. It's very fascinating stuff. The entire book has been scanned and translated into English for your viewing pleasure on Chris's website, which can be viewed here. As a fellow blogger put it, this is "a piece of Nintendo history," one that no one should miss.

Mega Man, Happy 24th Anniversary

2011-12-17T00:25:00.002-05:00

In Japan on December 17, 1987, a little blue, pixilated robot stepped out into the gaming world and fought for everlasting peace on the Famicom in Rockman. While he was called Rockman over in the land of the rising sun, over on American and European shores, he would go by the name Mega Man. Regardless of what you choose to call him, I think everyone is pretty much in agreement that his games are made of awesome.

Has it really been 24 years? Twenty four years of ladder climbing, jumping, shooting, sliding, Mega Buster charging, weapon-getting fun? Why, yes, yes it has. I guess those of us that grew up with Mega Man really are getting older.

2011 certainly hasn't been the kindest year to the Blue Bomber. Two games canceled and a glaring omission from both versions of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Still, it hasn't been all bad. Udon has translated the excellent Mega Man Gigamix manga and Archie Comics is on a roll with the new Mega Man comic series. There was also that sweet Mega Man Tribute Book that Udon also published. On the gaming download front, we saw the release of Mega Man X (Wii Virtual Console), Mega Man 5 (Wii Virtual Console), and the elusive Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge (3DS Virtual Console).

I honestly can't say what the future holds for Mega Man, but I refuse to be all gloom and doom. I doubt Capcom has any plans for Mega Man's 24th anniversary (most game companies only celebrate "the big" anniversaries, 10, 20, 25, etc.), but that really hasn't gotten me down. I've been a Mega Man fan for over twenty years and it's been a really fun ride. Do I think we'll see a new Mega Man game some time? I like to think so. Until then, I'll just kick back and enjoy his 24th birthday and replay some of my favorite Mega Man games. Happy 24th anniversary, buddy.

MEGA MAN: The Robot Museum

2011-12-15T06:35:00.000-05:00

Released back on March 25th of this year, MEGA MAN: The Robot Museum is an OverClocked Remix album (the site's 24th album, to be precise) by the very talented Joshua Morse. Before this album was released, I was already foaming at the mouth in anticipation based off the samples I'd heard. It was easily one of my most coveted albums of 2011 and it couldn't be released soon enough.

"The Robot Museum is an idea I've had up my sleeve for a while now. Ever since playing Mega Man 7 years back and reaching the mid-game robot museum stage, I thought the concept of a robot museum was a great one. It wasn't until I played Mega Man & Bass that the thought of an arrangement album in the style of a robot museum had occured to me."

"The following is the idea that has come into fruition. I've arranged a robot master's theme from the original Mega Man all the way through Mega Man 8 with the addition of a bonus track from Mega Man & Bass," says Joshua Morse.

The robot museum mini-stage in Mega Man 7 was one of my favorite areas out of the entire classic Mega Man series. It was short, but very sweet, containing robot masters from games gone by. The robot museum was revisited again in Mega Man & Bass and it was expanded upon even further into a full blown level. So the fact that Joshua was inspired to create this album from two highly memorable stages from separate Mega Man titles is pretty cool.

As an avid Mega Man fan for more than two decades, I've been in love with the original songs throughout the series and have heard some excellent remixes, both from official album releases and from fans. MEGA MAN: The Robot Museum does not disappoint, featuring some of my favorite Mega Man arrangements. Spark Man has what is my all-time favorite electrical theme from the entire classic series so I was very pleased with what Joshua did with it here. Spark Shock (the tracks are named after the powers of the robot masters) starts out slow, misleading you to believe that the whole song might be of lesser speed than the original track. But after about 30 seconds, it picks up to a head bobbing beat. I like a great deal of music in Mega Man 5, but I always considered Stone Man's theme to be one of the weaker tracks from that game. So it's a little surprising that Power Stone ended up being one of my favorite songs from this album and as it stands, it's the best remix of Stone Man's theme that I've ever heard. Mention must also be given to Air Shooter, which is perfect lounge music. You will never hear better elevator music than Thunder Beam. It doesn't feel right to call it that, but that's exactly what it reminds me of. Soothing, relaxing elevator jams. Capping off this fantastic album is the ninth track, Data Base Accessed, an arrangement of the CD Data Base from Mega Man & Bass. The original CD Data Base Track was a very calming tune. In this album, the tune plays much like an infinitely enhanced version of the same track. It's beautiful stuff and a great way to end a superb Mega Man remix soundtrack.

Do I have any complaints? No, not really. Though how cool would it have been if the actual Robot Museum stages from Mega Man 7 and Mega Man & Bass had been remixed on this album? Can you imagine those tunes being given that unique Joshua Morse flavor? That would have been an extra thick layer of icing on an already sweet, sweet cake.

I've been a fan of Joshua's works for nearly three years now. He's got a very distinct style that puts him in a league of his own from other video game music arrangers. I can instantly tell when I'm listening to one of his songs. MEGA MAN: The Robot Museum ranks as one of his best works and that's saying a lot. If you're into Mega Man music, or you just like music in general (and really, who doesn't?) this free download deserves a spot on your iPod/computer/MP3 player.

MEGA MAN: The Robot Museum

Too Many Games

2011-12-14T00:09:00.000-05:00

I don't have this many games. Yet.

Being a gamer is an infinitely enjoyable hobby, but it is not without it's faults. For one, it can get pretty costly. Most new titles generally run for $50 or so and that's just on the consoles. If the 3DS is an indication, $40 could be the standard for portable games. Then there's time investment. Some games require more time to finish than others. Metal Gear games can take about 10-12 hours to complete. An RPG like Dragon Quest? Look to spend 60 or so hours on that sucker and that's if you're not screwing around with side quests. But perhaps what I'm finding to be the biggest negative about my favorite pass time, is that there's just too many games to play. How does one find time to play all that he/she owns and will eventually own?

The only current generation system that I have in my possession is a Wii. As of this writing, I have over 30 games for the Wii and I'm not even close to having all the games I want for it. There's also quite a few games I haven't finished (like Klonoa) and some I've bought that I haven't even started. So I'm already building a sizable backlog on just the Wii alone.

Circa 2001, my copy is still sealed.

What happens when I eventually get a PS3 and a 360? That's two system's worth of gaming catalogs I'll have to dig through. The fact that many of the best games for both of those consoles are now dirt cheap just means the backlog for both of those will add up even faster.

On the portable gaming front, there are still DS games I need to pick up. I'm planning on getting a 3DS sometime next year so that'll just be adding to the pile. I'll more than likely get a Vita so I can finally get around to playing PSP games, so that's even more games.

Some gamers only deal with "too many games" around the holiday season when publishers release a ton of triple A titles to get the most sales. It would be nice if I only had to face this situation around Christmas time, but the fact is, I'm floored with a mountain of games all the time. I'm not just counting games on current gen hardware. I've got tons of PS2 games I haven't finished or even started. Since I missed out on the first Xbox, God only knows how many games I'll end up buying for that system.

Basically, I don't think my backlog of games will ever stop growing. Every time I buy a game, just one game, it gets even larger. I usually like to finish each game I start but that doesn't always happen. Sometimes I lose interest or get sidetracked by another game. I like to think that if I've put enough hours into the game or come close enough to finishing it, that that's enough. Really, does everyone really finish every single game they play? I can be a bit of a perfectionist, but not to that extent.

This game is good. I really should finish it.

Being a huge fan of old-school gaming, I often like to go back and play the classics from the yesteryear. In doing so, that's time I could be investing in newer titles, or a game that I could be finishing up. But dang it, playing through those old greats again is just so much fun!

The digital age has added even more to my plate. Thanks to the Wii's Virtual Console service, I've been exposed to some awesome TurboGrafx/PC Engine titles like Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, and Lords of Thunder.

There are times when I fear that there are just so many games that I'll never be able to experience them all. Seriously, who has that much time to dedicate to so many games? Most of us have full-time jobs, families and other matters to attend to. It was so much simpler when we were kids. No job, no responsibilities. Just sit in front of the TV and game your heart out. Sometimes I wish I could go back to those times, but being an adult means being able to afford many of the games you want. Which brings us right back to the current problem. Aggghhh!! I can't win here!

Sigh. You know, it could always be worse. There could be nothing but crappy games and then I'd have nothing to play at all. As it stands, I have a ton of awesome titles in my library so I'm never really bored. Well, I'm off to agonize over what I should play.

Latest Game Purchases #17

2011-12-12T07:10:00.002-05:00

I'm in the middle of Christmas shopping so I'm trying not to do much in the way of shopping for myself, but these games were so insanely cheap that it was hard to pass them up.

Another game that I used to own, loaned to a friend, said friend moved, and well, here we are. I never did get around to playing Xenosaga Episode I, but I heard good things about it. I've also heard it has some pretty lengthy cut scenes so I'll be sure to not play this game before going to work. I ended up paying even less for this when I bought it than I did the first time, so I view that as a win.

Since I was buying the first Xenosaga, I figured I may as well get Episode II. Never played this one and I'll hold off on it until I finish the first one. If I ever get around to either one, that is.

Crazy Taxi was one of the first games I bought when I picked up a Dreamcast in the summer of 2001. Still own my Dreamcast copy to this day. But I did play the PS2 version at Best Buy when it released and it was identical to the Dreamcast version. I know the cover art it simple, but I just love the way it looks. The log painted on a yellow background. That's just brilliant to me. Crazy Taxi is the prefect game to take out when I feel like going for a high score or playing something that doesn't involve some convoluted mission objectives. Looking forward to driving like a maniac again.

And speaking of driving with no regard for public safety, this is another game I own for another system, the GameCube version to be exact. Burnout 2 was the breakout game for the Burnout series. I feel this Burnout had the best Crash mode and the best AI out of all the games I've played. It's been years since I've played this one and getting a second version seems like as good a reason as any to play through it again.

When I originally went to buy a Classic Controller for my Wii, all I could find was the Classic Controller Pro. Much like Wii Motion Plus, The Classic Controller Pro has became the standard Classic controller, but I came across this baby a few weeks ago while I was in GameStop. Amazingly, it was still there, even after 50% off all Wii controllers on Black Friday. I didn't think I'd have another chance to grab this again, so I picked it up while it was still available. Despite lacking the grip handles that the Pro version has, this is still a very nice controller.

Shigeru Miyamoto is Staying Put, Says Nintendo

2011-12-08T18:21:00.001-05:00

On December 7, 2011, legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto told Wired in an interview that he had plans of eventually "retiring." Many saw that key word "retiring" and went into a panic. But there was really no cause for alarm.

"I'm not saying that I'm going to retire from game development altogether," the Nintendo senior managing director told the site. "What I mean by retiring is, retiring from my current position."

Miyamoto further explained to Wired that he wants to "be in the forefront of game development once again," building smaller projects solo or in groups consisting of younger developers. Much of Miyamoto's time these days is spent on long term game projects spanning upwards to five years. He hopes to begin work on one smaller project in the near future and show it off before 2012 ends.

Despite the clarity of the article, many assumed Miyamoto was leaving Nintendo altogether. This caused Nintendo to come out with a few statements to put people's minds at ease.

"Video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto's role at Nintendo is not changing," the company said in a statement. "He will continue to be a driving force in Nintendo's development efforts."

So while it appears that Miyamoto's position at the company will change, he'll still be with Nintendo.

This man's worth is not to be underestimated. As the spearhead of creations such as Mario, Zelda and Pikmin, Miyamoto has given much to the industry. He's made some of my all-time favorite games and the industry would be all the poorer without him. But if anyone's earned some time to rest and step back to do what they truly desire to do, it's Shigeru Miyamoto. So if he wants to do other things within the company, I say let him be.

Source: GameSpot

Virtual Console Review: Mega Man

2011-12-07T02:11:00.001-05:00

System: NES
Genre: Action/Platformer
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Virtual Console Release: USA Aug 18, 2008 / EUR Jun 22, 2007 / JPN Jul 29, 2008
Original Release: USA Dec 1987 / EUR May 1990 / JPN Dec 17, 1987
Cost: 500 points
Players: 1
Rated: E for Everyone
Controllers Supported: Wii Remote, Classic, GameCube

The original Mega Man game is a title that is unfortunately overshadowed by it's superior successors. Despite being the game that introduced the world to the Blue Bomber, many didn't even realize that he existed until Mega Man 2 arrived. Even so, without the first Mega Man game, that much celebrated sequel along with the numerous spinoffs, would never be. Mega Man introduced the majority of the series' staples, chief among these being memorable tunes, non-liner gameplay, precision platforming and a difficulty that may very well have been responsible for introducing children the world over to expletives.

In the year 200X, Dr. Wily, like all mad scientists, dreams of world domination. To attain this, he steals the robots of Dr. Light, reprograms them and sends them off to wreck all kinds of havoc across the land. Rock, Dr. Lights lab assistant volunteers to go after the rampaging machine men and put and end to Dr. Wily's mad ambitions. To this end, Dr. Light makes the tough decision to modify Rock, giving him combat abilities to stand a chance against such powerful odds. Thus the super fighting robot, Mega Man is born (or Rockman if you live in the Land of the Rising Sun, or you just feel like calling him by his Japanese name).

Well, this fight isn't off to a very good start.

Unlike a lot of other platform games of the '80s era, you're given some freedom in where you can go in Mega Man. The six robot masters, Bomb Man, Guts Man, Cut Man, Elec Man, Ice Man, and Fire Man can be disposed of in any order of your choosing. But like the announcer from Street Fighter Alpha 3 says "It all depends on your skill." To fight these androids, you have to get to them first, which can be an uphill battle in and of itself. A few of the robot masters will sustain good damage from Mega Man's default arm cannon, but more powerful foes like Elec Man will barely feel anything from it. For this reason (and because some bosses are tougher than others) a rock/paper/scissors formula has firmly been implemented. In other words, all six of these robots are vulnerable to another one's weapon. Although if you're confident or you're just looking for a challenge, the game doesn't force you to find the weakness chain. It's this kind of flexibility that really helped Mega Man stand out at the time.

The Thunder Beam will undoubtedly be your favorite toy.

Even though it's the first game in the series, the original Mega Man game boasts some very useful weapons Elec Man's Thunder Beam shoots off in three different directions in one shot and packs a punch to boot. Ice Man's Ice Slasher can stop enemies in their tracks, Cut Man's Rolling Cutter comes back to you like a boomerang, and Guts Man's Super Arm allows you to pick up certain blocks and hurl them at robotic mooks. The ever-useful Magnet Beam is one of the best adapter items in the history of Mega Man games, creating platforms to elevate Mega Man to higher ground. There's really not a dud in the lot. Even Fire Man's Fire Storm and Bomb Man's Hyper Bomb have their uses.

One of the series' biggest annoyances all started
with the very first Mega Man game.

Mega Man games have a reputation for being rather difficult and this can be traced all the way to the series' first entry. Many fans believe that even by today's standards that the first Mega Man game is no cake walk. You may have heard of a certain boss in the first Dr. Wily stage that is a brick wall to many players, but let's be real here, he's far from being the only hurdle keeping you from reaching everlasting peace. Some of the robot master levels are absolutely brutal. Guts Man's stage, while shorter than most, has an excruciatingly painful platform section that takes place on moving platforms over a bottomless pit. These moving platforms move across a line that has drop points that require perfect timing to make it to the next one. Jump too soon or not at all and you're dead. Ice Man's stage is even worse. You're Platforming over a bottomless pit over moving, shooting platforms called Foot Holders. These Foot Holders are about as reliable as a sheet of thin ice supporting the weight of an army of sumo wrestlers. It's not that they break, but it's easily possible to have one of them shoot you and knock you into the abyss. And if that doesn't happen, you can glitch clean through them and die. Unless you're some kind of masochist, going through Ice Man's stage without the Magnet Beam is not recommended.

The Magnet Beam is in Elec Man's stage. You can't
miss it. No, really, you can't miss it, because if you do,
you won't be able to pass the first Wily stage.

It may not have received as much praise as Mega Man 2's score, but the original Mega Man does house some very catchy tunes. As frustrating as Guts Man's stage is, it has one of the best themes in the game. Fire Man's stage is pretty hectic and his theme captures what it would feel like to be surrounded by blistering flames and lava at all times. Bomb Man has one of the most underrated songs in the whole series. It's a slower theme that goes well with a stage that's easier than the others.

For 500 points, Mega Man is quite a bargan. Sure, most of the sequels are better games, but this one is still worth checking out, though the difficluty may turn off some. It's harder than the games that came after it since there are no E Tanks but the Virtual Console version does make things a bit easier with being able to save. Mega Man fans and those looking for a game that requires a fair amount of skill should download this without hesitation.

Box Art Disaster

Like many video games in the 1980s, Mega Man's American box art was radically different from it's Japanese counterpart. It was thought that Mega Man's anime look wouldn't be all that popular in the West (which is ironic when one considers how huge anime is in America now) so Capcom USA's art department scrambled to come up with a new cover. The end result was a character that looked nothing like his in-game sprite, instead resembling a middle aged man with a bizarre blue and yellow color shceme, sporting a hand blaster. Mega Man's American box art is widely regarded as some of the ugliest video game box art in the history of gaming. And yet as awful as it was, Capcom payed homage to it when Mega Man 9 released with T-shirts featuring retro American-ized Mega Man artwork. Mega Man 10 received similar artwork upon it's release.

Xenoblade: Coming to America

2011-12-03T22:31:00.001-05:00

Ladies and gentlemen, the impossible has happened. Xenoblade Chronicles, what has been hailed as one of the most popular JRPGs of all-time is actually coming to America. Who says Nintendo doesn't listen to their core fanbase?

Developed by Monolith Soft, Xenoblade Chronicles was released in Japan on June 10, 2010, in Europe on August 19, 2011, and Australia on September 1, 2011. It was thought that the game would never see the light of day on American shores since Nintendo of America said they had no plans to release it, despite it already being translated to English. Xenoblade Chronicles now has a set release date of April 3, 2012 in North America. Thus far, the game is only available for purchase at GameStop and Nintendo's online shop.

One has to wonder if Operation Rainfall had anything to do with Xenoblade coming state site. For those of you not in the know, Operation Rainfall was a fan made campaign to get Xenoblade, The Last Story, and Pandora's Tower, all high profile Wii games, to come to America. Operation Rainfall received coverage from numerous media outlets in the gaming press. On top of that, Tetsuya Takahashi, the director of Xenoblade has viewed Operation Rainfall in a very positive light.

"This is going to be quite interesting after everyone made all that noise about these games not coming over here and then they're finally bringing it out. Will it be too late? Will people who have gotten sick of NOA's bs who have already imported bother to buy it again to support it? If the game doesn't make enough sales will NOA blame it on the people who said they wanted it and didn't go out and buy it despite the fact that they took 2 long to bring it out? Will sales of this game even have any effect on the other 2 games of Operation Rainfall? There's a lot of stuff going on behind just this game alone," Said forum poster Sonichuman at the shoryuken.com forums.

Source: GameSpot

Richard Garriott: Console Gaming's Days are Numbered

2011-12-02T05:19:00.001-05:00

Richard, you so crazy.

Mobile has gaming on the rise for some time now. Rising enough to replace console gaming? Richard Garriott seems to think so.

"I think we might get one more generation, might, but I think fundamentally they're doomed. I think fundamentally the power that you can carry with you in a portable is really swamping what we've thought of as a console."

This man is so far off his rocker it's not even funny.

Mobile phones offer some good games and I'm no stranger to portable gaming. My DSi is a wonder for gaming on the go and I've been known to play it for hours when I'm at home. To say that mobile gaming will weed out console gaming? That's just crazy talk. Many mobile games don't even come close to matching the depth of what you'd find on a console, or even that of portable game systems like the DS or PSP.

Garriot created the Ultima series many moons ago. I've never played any of the Ultima games but I'm aware of the popularity that they carry. Just because someone creates a critically acclaimed series, that does not make them immune to having crazy, outlandish predictions. Rich, try not to look too surprised at all the "boxes" you see in the future.

Source: GameSpot