That One Boss Vol. 2

World of gaming is full of bosses and as expected, not all bosses are created equal. Some boss fights are easy while others are hard but still doable. And then you've got bosses that make you want to let out a Super Saiyan rage scream. Sometimes it can be bad programming, a bug, a glitch or sometimes the boss is just stupidly hard. Much like That One Level, That One Boss is something to dread.

Boobeam Trap - Mega Man 2 (NES)

I love Mega Man 2 but I've made mention that the game's faults are not pointed out nearly enough. It has some positively splendid level design, memorable Robot Masters and a ridiculously catchy soundtrack. But the game us also very cruel to players that get a game over and it has one boss in the Dr. Wily stages that is just flat out badly designed. Aggravation, thy name is Boobeam Trap.

Make it past the invisible floors over spike pits, elevator rides surrounded by Tellys, a gauntlet of Sniper Joes and you'll come face to face with the boss of Dr. Wily Stage 4, Boobeam Trap, a highly unusual boss. Boobeam Trap consists of five turret-like guns that fire off unbelievably fast, near unavoidable shoots at you every few seconds. It doesn't matter where you are in the boss chamber, the shots will always lock on to you. As far as I know, the only way to avoid being hit by these things is to use Mega Man's teleport whenever you pause the game at the right time. Doesn't make Boobeam Trap any less annoying, though.

This is the first boss in the game that can only be defeated with a specific weapon, in this case, the Crash Bombs. None of your other weapons, including the Mega Buster, will work. If you aren't aware of how many Crash Bombs you can use before the weapon's ammo is depleted, the answer is seven. Wanna know how many Crash Bombs you gotta use to defeat Boobeam Trap? Seven. That basically means, no screw ups here. While there are only five targets you need to destroy to defeat the boss, you have to use a few of your Crash Bombs to get to said targets. Not all of those barriers need to be destroyed so beginners can get tricked into wasting valuable Crash Bomb energy. Bear in mind that Crash Bombs take a few seconds to detonate so you will be vulnerable to attacks. Oh, and these things cause a lot of damage when they hit you.

If you die on this boss, which is more than likely to happen for novice MM2 players, you'll be sent back to the stage's midway point and have to farm for Crash Bomb ammo and Dr. Wily Stage 4 is not a particularly fun stage. When I found out that I needed all my Crash Bombs to beat this boss as kid and that I had to farm for more energy, I was silently livid. I had no more Energy Tanks and any desire I had to press on further to beat the game was gone. I turned off my NES and walked away. I don't care how much you love this game, Boobeam Trap is just a poorly designed boss that should in no way be defended.

Moldorm - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)

Often considered the greatest game in the long running Legend of Zelda Series, this is certainly one of the overhead or 2D Zelda's best outings. But as great as it is, it also has a few things I detest. The Water Dungeon in the Dark World can suck it and Moldorm is the type of boss that no one should ever have to deal with, especially in a game as polished as this one.

Moldorm, a big worm-like creature, awaits Link at the end of the Tower of Hera. The Tower of Hera is an interesting dungeon. The game already established that Link can at times access floors below him without taking stairs, but in this dungeon, it really becomes pronounced. You see, it is the floor falling mechanic that makes tangling with Moldorm so frustrating.

The battle with Moldorm takes place on the top floor of the Tower of Hera with an inconveniently placed hole in the center and no walls surrounding the combat arena. Moldorm's only weak point is his tail. Touch any other part of him by attack or from collision damage and Link gets knocked back, which can easily fling you into the hole in the center or off the side of the platform. Now you actually won't die from falling off the arena. You'll have to climb to the top floor again, which is pretty painless. What is not painless, however, is when you get back to Moldorm. Whatever damage you inflicted on Moldorm will be reset and you'll have to start the battle from scratch. This happens each and every time you fall off the platform. To make matters worse, Moldorm moves faster the more damage he takes. When he's almost kaput, his movements become really erratic and you really don't want to fall off that platform when he gets like this. Moldorm really isn't even a tough boss, The conditions that you have to fight him under make him a chore even for players that have run through the game numerous times.

Mr. Sandman - Super Punch-Out!! (SNES)

Seeing someone use their incredible, well honed skills in a Punch-Out!! game is really something. These kinda of players can knock out the toughest of opponents in seconds. To the rest of us that aren't Punch-Out!! masters, guys like Aran Ryan and Great Tiger are still going to give us trouble. Mr. Sandman has always been a nightmare for me to face in both the NES and SNES version of Punch-Out!! (haven't faced him in the Wii game yet), but he really left his mark on me in Super Punch-Out!!

Of all the characters that could have been the final opponent of the Major Circuit, they just had to choose Mr. Sandman. The Punch-Out!! games are full of fierce fighters, but Mr. Sandman wears that tough exterior all around him. I forgot he was from Philadelphia, which actually explains a lot. A lot of hard cases came out of Philly, so it all makes sense that Mr. Sandman is mean personified.

Mr. Sandman can take a punch just as well as he can give one. You may as well be hitting the guy with crumbled up paper because your punches do so little damage to him but his punches do a lot of damage to you. Unless you mix up your punches from highs to lows, you'll have a hard time connecting. Mr. Sandman doesn't unload everything he has right away.  No, he saves the really hard hitting stuff for later. The big guns I speak of are three nasty uppercuts in a row. I've never had a boss make my arms hurt from just trying to topple them but Mr. Sandman is a special kind of opponent and as much as I hate him, I must give credit when it is due.

Jinpachi - Tekken 5 (PS2)

Heihachi has seldom been a pushover when he's a boss in the Tekken games. So I guess it only makes sense that his old man, Jinpachi is one tough bruiser as well. But where as Heihachi took some degree of skill to topple and wasn't possessed by an evil entity, Jinpachi is not only revved up on some of that evil energy mojo, he's really, really cheap, too.

Jinpachi's blows are like a bomb going off right in front of your face, taking off huge chunks of damage if they connect. You may think keeping your distance would be a wise idea, but I've often found that when you put distance between yourself and Jinpachi, you're screwed. Jinpachi has a devastaing projectile that can spread across the whole screen for anyone that likes to play keep away. This thing does so much damage that it's on par with M. Bison's Psycho Crusher from Street Fighter Alpha 3. You wanna win against this cheepo, stay on top of him an don't give him a chance to breath.

That One Boss Vol. 1

World of gaming is full of bosses and as expected, not all bosses are created equal. Some boss fights are easy while others are hard but still doable. And then you've got bosses that make you want to let out a Super Saiyan rage scream. Sometimes it can be bad programming, a bug, a glitch or sometimes the boss is just stupidly hard. Much like That One Level, That One Boss is something to dread.

Yellow Devil - Mega Man (NES)

The original Mega Man is still regarded as one of the toughest games in the series and for lots of good reasons. There are no E-Tanks, Mega Man's increased falling speed is a bummer and a few of those Robot Master stages holding nothing back. Then you've got the Dr. Wily stages, which aren't exactly a breeze either. The true measure of skill comes not from besting the mad doctor. No, that is reserved for the boss of the very first stage of his fortress, the Yellow Devil.

When the first boss of a villain's lair is harder than anything else inside the place, you know you're in some serious trouble. The Yellow Devil makes his way into the chamber by assembling himself piece by piece. You are not invulnerable as he's doing this so you must avoid his fragments until his complete. Once the Yellow Devil is whole, you'll see his weak point, a single red eye. His eye isn't exposed for very long. More than likely, you'll only have one chance to damage him before he disassembles himself to move to the other side of the room.

The most difficult part of this fight is when the Yellow Devil breaks down to move to the left or right side of the chamber. Every time he does this, you have to avoid his fragments, which come flying at you at alarming speeds. Many of your attempts to take this guy down are more than likely to end in failure until you figure out his pattern, which is thankfully the same every single time he switches sides. But while knowing that his pattern never changes does help, actually getting the pattern down is the tricky part. Knowing which fragments you need to jump over, which ones fly just over Mega Man's head without hitting him, making suure you hit him when his eye is vunerable and of course, being quick on the controls are all key to defeating the Yellow Devil. Jump too soon, jump to late or not jumping at all when you need to are all fatal mistakes.

There are plenty of Mega Man players that still struggle to take this boss down without resorting to the pause glitch. Variations of the Yellow Devil would appear throughout the series, but none of them came even close to matching the challenge brought forth by the original.

Mike Tyson - Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (NES)

The road to Kid Dynamite was a long and hard one. Mr. Sandman and Super Macho Man were some heavy hitters but even they don't have anything on the former heavy weight champion, Mike Tyson. You are truly in for the fight of your life.

Just as every other opponent has done throughout the game, Tyson telegraphs his move with a gesture. In the case of Iron Mike, winking. Unlike every other boxer, however, the speed of Tyson's punches are ridiculous. Nobody throws punches as fast as this guy. If you do not immediately dodge when Mike winks, you're going to have a very uncomfortable date with the boxing mat. The first 90 or so seconds of the match has Mike doing knockout punches, meaning with just one punch, all of your health is drained. One. Punch.

Knockout punches make trying to survive the first minute and half of a round sheer torture. It doesn't get any easier when Mike stops using one-hit KOs. Even his jabs, body blows and regular uppercuts hurt like you wouldn't believe. Little Mac's punches do so little damage to him and you probably won't have any Star Punches since Mike is using you as his punching bag.

Losing against Mike is an automatic Game Over. It is extremely rare to win this fight by decision. Mario will almost always rule in Tyson's favor. Mike probably threatened to punch the Mushrooms out of him or something.

M. Bison - Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (Multi)

Ah, Street Fighter II: The World Warrior. This game revolutionized the fighting genre. Because of this game, there's a huge tournament scene for fighting games. I guess you could say that this game is also the reason final bosses in fighting games are what they are. Before Shao Khan and SNK bosses, there was M. Bison, the boss that stole countless quarters and induced controller throwing fits of rage.

Your journey to reach Bision is no easy task. The three bosses that stand before him, Balrog, Vega and Sagat are worthy enough to have their own spots here on this very feature. But Bison is in a class all by himself. You know terms like owned, wrecked, destroyed, bodied, no holds bared beat down? All of them and every other word that sums up utter defeat is what Bison will do to you.

If various mediums have taught us anything, its that antagonists wearing capes are bad news. When the villain throws off the cape, it is very bad news because it usually means a serious beat down is about to ensue, Oh, look, Bison is wearing a cape. And he just took it off. The words "Oh crap" spring to mind.

Bison has a move to counter whatever you throw at him. Use a projectile? Head Stomp. Going for the anti-air move? Scissor Kick. Try to distance yourself away from him? He'll use his Psycho Crusher to clear the gap. Try to block his melee attacks? He'll throw you, breaking those lovely statues in the process. On top of always being prepared, Bison is extremely aggressive. If you don't come at him, he will come after you. You'll need some skill and a lot of luck to beat this guy.

The End - Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (Multi)

Metal Gear Solid 3, arguably the best game in the Metal Gear saga has some pretty cool boss fights. Each one is an encounter different from the last so no two fights feel the same. The "fight" with The Sorrow is different depending on how many soldiers you killed, if any. The Finale battle with The Boss among a field of white flowers can either be fought from a distance or up close and personal with CQC. And then there's the fight everyone seems to go ga-ga over, the fight with The End. I see so many claiming this as one of gaming's greatest boss battles. Whenever I play Metal Gear Solid 3 and I know the fight with The End is coming I let out many frustrated sighs.

You search four huge forest areas to find The End. He's quite the elusive fellow and how he manages to be so spry for a man of his advanced years is beyond me. I mean, the guy is wheelchair bound when the game introduces him and yet he gets all jazzed at the prospect of one final hunt. Eh, it isn't like this is the first time something in a Metal Gear game hasn't made a lick of sense.

My problem with The End isn't that the actual fight against him is hard because, in all the times I've fought him, I found nothing difficult about beating him. Hunting for this old man is BORING. I've been angry and frustrated during many bosses fights in all the years I've been playing games, but rarely have I felt bored out of my mind. You go around the the woods looking for this old geezer, spot him, shoot him and he runs off so you can do the whole thing all over again until he's dead. The End is so good at hiding and so quick at getting away that the fight against him drags on and on. I cannot fathom why anyone can find the fight against this decrepit old man enjoyable. But I know I'm in the minority, so more power to those people. I just wanna put a bullet in his brain and be done with him.

Favorite Tunes #114: Play it Loud

Three words, "Play it loud." This was actually Nintendo's slogan back in the mid 1990s. Prior to this it was "The best play here," which wasn't nearly as cool as SEGA's "Welcome to the next level." This is another one of those Nintendo centric Favorite Tunes posts but this time we're focusing on the rock side of Nintendo music.

Punch Bowl - Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Wii U)

I actually don't mind the absence of the Kremlings in the latest Donkey Kong Country games.  Even Mario faces foes other than Bowser from time to time. There's no written law that all DKC games must feature reptiles as the primary antagonist. Bashmaster is the boss of the World 5 and like Pompy from World 1, he rocks out to a killer beat. 

Mr. Sandman - Punch-Out!! (Wii)

True story, Mr. Sandman has always given me a hard time in any Punch-Out!! game. Fighting him actually made me right hand ache from throwing so many punches in Super Punch-Out!! In the Wii version of Nintendo's arcade boxing game, Mr. Sandman is Little Mac's final opponent. Three guesses as to why this guy has the name he has. 

Stark Farm - F-Zero: Maximum Velocity (GBA)

There was a rock flair to the original SNES F-Zero but it really became apparent with F-Zero X, which was bursting at the seams with rock and metal tracks across the board. The GBA's sound system may not be one of Nintendo's best but in the right hands, it can pump out some splendid audio. Featuring completely original music, F-Zero: Maximum Velocity still retains that rock flair that was made famous in the series first 3D outing. Stark Farm has a continuous bass line accompanied by sick electric guitar riffs and solos.  

Skyloft - Hyrule Warriors (Wii U)

Zelda fan service rapped up in a Dynasty Warriors package. I've never played a single Dynasty Warriors game but the addition of characters from the Zelda universe was enough to make me take interest. The game is repetitive to be sure, but so are some of the best beat 'em ups so in that respect, I can get down with Hyrule Warriors. I can also get down to the game's soundtrack. Rock has always been a major part of the Dynasty Warriors games so giving Zelda themes that sort of treatment only seems logical. You'd be amazed how some classic Zelda tunes sound all rocked up. 

Gourmet Race - Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)

Dream Land was my favorite stage to play in the original Super Smash Bros. I liked the stage hazard that was Whispy Woods trying to blow fighters off the stage and I couldn't get enough of Hirokazu Ando's Gourmet Race arrangement. The Halberd stage in Brawl has a wealth of different Kirby jams, including this unbelievably rad metal arrangement. This sucker is enough to melt your face clean off.

Nebula - Excite Truck (Wii)

The rock and metal tracks are in heavy abundance in Excite Truck, a game which ditches the motocycles from ye old Excite games in favor of four wheel trick style gameplay. You'd think trucks would have a doozy of a time pulling of stunts since the weigh a couple of tons, but nope, they get along just fine. The Postrace theme from this game was included in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as well as Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. However, I personally feel Nebula is the best tune in Excite Truck and feel it should have been included in those games. 

Favorite Tunes Database

Game Over Part 3

Those old-school game overs were really something. They take up the bulk of Game Over Part 3 but we do make the transition from sprites, to polygons to HD in this one.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (NES)

Ganon is not a real threat in Zelda II. His minions, however, are quite the salty bunch since Link took down their lord and master. All the baddies you encounter in the game serve Ganon and he can be brought back to life if they sprinkle Link's blood on his ashes. No joke, that stuff comes straight from the game's manual. So every time you get a game over in Zelda II, the mooks were successful in reviving Ganon and in true villain form, he taunts the player with a cackle for their failure.

Duck Hunt (NES)

Every time one of those mallards flies off the screen that infernal mutt will pop out of the grass to laugh at your shortcomings. Nintendo must have known how irksome it was so they decided to paste his mug on the game over screen. After years of being powerless to do anything against that dog, we can now kick the crap out of him in Super Smash Bros. 3DS/Wii U.

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (NES)

There's something about seeing a dejected Little Mac sitting down, filled with the disappointment of shattered dreams that just crushes the soul. The road to become a boxing champ is a painful one as players were quick to find out. Bald Bull, Mr. Sand Man, Super Macho Man and especially Dynamite Kid himself do not pull their punches.

Banjo Kazzooie (N64)

Bear and bird are on a quest to save bear's sister from an evil witch out to use said bear's sister's cute looks to get a makeover. The game over shows the witch Gruntilda's scheme being successful and when she steals Tooty's looks she transforms from a hideous witch to a smoking hot babe. You can pretty much guess what happens to Tooty. What's interesting about Banjo-Kazooie's game over is that you don't even have to lose all of your lives to see it. Simply saving your game and quitting results in this scene playing out in full.

Bayonetta (PS3, 360, Wii U)

If you opt to call it quits after the witch falls, she's dragged down to hell by a host of hands. It isn't overly long and drawn out. She's snatched down so fast you barely have time to take it in.

Awesome Boss Battles in Gaming Part II

Welcome to Awesome Boss Battles in Gaming Part II, or boss fights that I think deserve to be recognized for some reason or another.

Magus - Chrono Trigger (SNES, PS, DS)

This fight is memorable for a lot of reasons. There's a considerable amount of build up before you face of against Magus. You're given some back story on Frog and find out how he came to be. Why would one of the Guardia's most noble and skilled warriors choose to isolate himself from his kingdom? This is a combination of what Frog sees as his own failures and Magus. During a mission to take down Magus, Cyrus, Guardia's most powerful knight was struck down my Magus' magic right before Glenn's eyes. Upon a remark made by Ozzie that Glenn looked like an angry Toad, Magus used his magic to turn Glenn into a frog and cast him down the mountain upon which they were fighting. Glenn has been going by the name Frog ever since and has sworn to make Magus pay for killing Cyrus. So yeah, Frog has some pretty justifiable reasons for wanting to dull out some vengeance.

As his name implies, Magus is a very powerful spell caster and the toughest customer you'll come across at that point in the game. In addition to assaulting the party with a barrage of magic attacks, Magus has high resistance to physical attacks, but this defense can be cut through with Frog's Masamune. Magus has a barrier changing spell that alters his elemental weakness, which constantly keeps the those that are attacking with magic switching up their spells. During the second half if the match, he'll stop with the barrier spells, giving you a chance to lay into him. If anyone's HP is low, you'll probably want to heal them because once Magus drops the barrier, he begins charging up his ultimate attack, Dark Matter, a magic attack that's strong enough to kill any party member without sufficient HP.

You're always on your toes during this battle, changing your strategies. And when the fight is finally over, Frog is still denied his revenge duo to Lavos picking the wrong time to wake up. Oh and that music that plays during the fight? Hands down one of the best boss themes ever.

Ralph the Raven - Yoshi's Island (SNES, GBA)

Long before Mario was facing Bowser on small planet sized battle arenas in Super Mario Galaxy, as an infant, he and Yoshi faced off against a ferocious bird named Ralph the Raven. Growing super size thanks to Kamek's magic, Yoshi must use his ground pound technique to pound the stumps when Ralph is in the right position. Seeing as how Yoshi and Baby Mario are on a very small playing field they have to keep moving. Ralph is actually pretty nimble for an over-sized pigeon and the only thing that will halt his pursuit is being struck by a rising stump.

Final Zone - Sonic the Hedgehog (GEN)

Robotnik is one sick dude. He trapped all the land's animals into his Badniks and is bent on taking over the world. That's reason enough to take him out. But just when you reach him at the end of Scrap Brain Zone Act 2, he commits his most sinister act yet: dropping you into a watery maze that may as well be Labyrinth Zone Act 4. Now you're really gonna kill him. When you make it back to the surface, Robotnik decides to put that 300 IQ to good use with an elaborate death trap, which takes full advantage of the fact that you don't have rings. Your life support, your precious insurance, your rings are denied to you in this last battle, meaning one hit and you have to do the whole fight all over again. In the center of the room are four rising crushers but only two of them come up at a time and Eggman changes which crushers he's in each time they rise up from the floor. The safest place in the whole arena is the far right, but even after you've avoided being crushed to death, you've still got to watch out for the four electrical balls that materialize and try to shock you to death.

Mike Tyson - Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (NES)

Mr. Sandman. Super Machoman. Soadapopinski. Many of the opponents you faced in this game were ball bustingly hard but they all pale in comparison to Kid Dynamite. Like every other boxer in the game, Mike telegraphs his moves. But Mike moves so unbelievably fast. Everyone that has fought this guy on their first try got knocked out. Everyone. When the fight starts, Tyson's punches are so deadly that just one of them can lay you out on the mat. And even the punches that don't knock you out can drain so much of your energy. Speed and sharp eyes are the key to taking Mike down. If you haven't taken Peppy's advice the millisecond after Mike telegraphs his moves, one of two things are going to happen: you're going to lose a lot of energy or you're going to get knocked the eff out. It's that simple. This isn't a fight that you try to win. This is a fight that you try to survive and pray that you can land enough punches to send Tyson's back to the mat.

Mecha Bombers - Super Bomberman (SNES)

Four whole worlds have been building up to this big endurance battle. The story goes that the big bads have abducted Black Bomberman to use his advanced fighting capabilities to greatly enhance their own Meach Bombers, basically evil robot twins of Bomberman. Up until this point every boss you've faced has been much larger than our pint sized, squeaky heroes. When you get to level 5, you find yourself standing in a battle stadium and out walks your doppelgangers. It's quite the surprise and despite being the same size and possessing all of the abilities that Black and White can use, these robo clones can take a lot of damage before the topple. It's no longer about dropping your bombs around the large enemy that's slowly advancing around the room. You have to plant your bombs careful to trap you opponents and take into account that they can do everything you can do. All of level 5 is a boss rush against increasingly tougher Mecha Bombers in front of a live crowd that cheers when your evil counterparts fall.

Part I

Currently Playing #15

Wario Land: Shake It! (Wii)

This is another one of those games I've had for some time. I started playing it about a week ago. I've always been fond of the WarioWare series but the Wario platform games are also quite enjoyable. The last one I played was Wario Land 4 back in 2002 so needless to say, I've been away from the series for a very long while.

As the subtitle implies, there's a good deal of shaking going on in Shake It! Wario is in the Shake Dimension looking to fatten up his wallet. He's also there to help rescue some of the world's inhabitants but we all know he could care less about helping anyone but if it helps him get rich, he's game. There are lots of money bags to shake to unleash coins. Seems simple enough and it is, but I found that you really have to be careful just where you're shaking that bag of cash. It's easy to lose coins to a lava pit or have them get shaken to where they fly out of your reach. These coins don't stick around for too long either so you gotta be quick about collecting your reward.

The game also has other motion control use. The Wii Remote can be swung back and forth to help Wario swing on vines. A quick flick of the remote makes Wario slam the ground to cause an earthquake and you even control Wario's aim with the Wii Remote. The most taking use of motion controls I've come across so far is shaking for coins and even then, it isn't that bad.

I just reach Area 3 (yeah, I'm moving at a slug's pace) and the best implementation of motion controls I've seen thus far was the boss of Area 2. Wario's gunning for some speed demon in a convertible who chucks wheels and monkey wrenches at him. Wario's only means of fighting back is using a mounted boxing glove on his car to bounce the projectiles back at his opponent. This is of course done by means of tilting the Wii Remote to aim up or down. I got a bit frustrated on this boss but that mainly due to trying to rush things. It's a pretty cool boss battle.

Each level has three treasures for you to find and like Wario Land 4 you have to escape each stage before time runs out or you won't get to keep any of the cash or treasures you've collected. A lot of these treasures aren't in plain view and I've already repeated levels numerous times trying to find each treasure. This game was made by Good Feel, the same developer of Kirby's Epic Yarn, a game I needed little to no help finding each stage's three items. You'd think it'd be much easier to find these treasures but no, you really gotta work for 'em here. But then, Epic Yarn was Kirby game, so things are supposed to be a lot easier. There are also extra goals you can meet in every level like making it back to the start of the level at a set time, finishing a stage without getting hit and so on. I'm not sure if these extras count as 100% completion but if they are, getting 100% in Shake It! won't be easy.

Still Playing...

Punch-Out!! (Wii) 

I started a new game because I actually lost to Great Tiger. Great Tiger! Granted, he's a lot tougher in this Punch-Out!! but still! I did learn one thing when I started over: I have a terrible tendancy to always dodge left and because of this, I was getting hit by a lot of punches. I'm not sure why I always go left when dodging but I found myself doing it so much that it was like a reflex reaction. Once I started mixing up how I dodged, I was taking less hits.

I'm also still adjusting to how each boxer works. With a guy like Glass Joe, you have all the time in the world to dodge his punches so if you dodge too soon, you can still dodge again and be fine. Do this on a guy like Disco Kid and you're screwed. In a lot of ways, it feels like a have to learn how to play Punch-Out!! again even though I played the NES version and Super Punch-Out!! to death eons ago.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy (3DS)

For the record, I have not stopped playing this game since I started playing it a little over two months ago. I've gotten Terra, Cloud, and Warrior of Light up to level 99 and Cecil is almost there with them. My current party consists of Cecil, Lightning, Bartz and Vaan. I've gotten an all critical on The Sunleth Waterscape (Final Fantasy XIII) on Expert mode and a lot of Expert mode level songs aren't as tricky as I thought they'd be. Though some require good eyes and lots of timely taps and swipes. I think this is the first 3DS game I've invested nearly 50 hours into.

Currently Playing #14

Final Fight 2 (SNES)

Some time ago, I downloaded Final Fight 2 off of the Virtual Console. It wasn't until yesterday that I started playing it, so I'm pretty sure it's been years since I've come back to this baby. I went through the entire game yesterday on Easy with Maki. I think I used about three continues getting through with most of my deaths coming from the hands of thugs getting hits on me when I was very low on health. It was a good way to kill an hour or two and it felt great to return to the beat 'em up genre.

 Now I'm going through the game on Normal as Haggar. I rarely play as Haggar when I play a Final Fight game and I regret that because I was reminded how much of a tank he is. Sure, he's a bit sluggish, but he hits ever so hard. Doing a Spinning Pile Driver on the Mad Gears or simply throwing them as Haggar never gets old.

I think the toughest boss for me in Final Fight 2 is Rolento. He was abscent from the SNES Final Fight but he's here for the sequel and he's insanely fast. And I just loooooove how he throws those grenades when he starts getting low on health. As if his fighting stick and speed weren't enough to deal with.

Punch-Out!! (Wii)

Nearly 2 years after I bought this game, I finally opened it up and decided to play it yesterday. I'll knock down that backlog yet.

Playing the Wii version of Punch-Out!! is like meeting up with an old friend. In many ways, this game feels like the the NES Punch-Out!! and the SNES Super Punch-Out!! Glass Joe is still a joke and I had no problems beating him. A lot of these boxers have the same moves and patterns they did from the old games. It's very gratifying to know that the most of the same techniques I used to beat King Hippo nearly two decades ago still work on him here. I say "most" because I'm positive King Hippo never used that nasty headbutt that causes a ton of damage before this game. Piston Hondo (yes, Hondo, not Handa) was my first real threat. It took me some time to learn how he opperates and he seems much faster than he was in the NES game, but on upgraded hardware, I guess that's to be expected.

Right now on on the Major Circuit and it Great Tiger is proving to be one tricky dude. His mirage punch or whatever it's called is hard for me to avoid even when I look at the real deal. I didn't think I'd have this much trouble on him so I can only imagine what Bald Bull and Mr. Sandman will be like.

Currently Playing #4

Super Punch-Out!!

I was thinking of opening up Punch-Out!! for the Wii, but I decided I'd go ahead and play my freshly downloaded Super Punch-Out!! on the Virtual Console.

It's been years since I've played this game but a lot of things are still fresh in my mind. I took out Gabby Jay pretty quickly. It wasn't a 27 second KO, but I did have him kissing the mat in under 48 seconds. Not too shabby for a guy that hasn't played in years. Piston Hurricane gave me some trouble. I did pretty lousy dodging those hurricane punches, but I was still able to defeat him.

I played through the Minor Circuit and called it a day. My nieces watched me play through it. They thought I was really good. I told them a lot of it was memorization, because as good as I did, I could have done a lot better. It's crystal clear that I'm rusty at Super Punch-Out!! but it feels great to to get back into it.

Kirby Air Ride

I can remember the first time I ever heard of this game. It was in the GamePro 1996 E3 issue. Back then I had N64 fever and gobbled up any coverage on N64 games I could find, especially Nintendo's first party titles. Kirby Air Ride had a struggling development cycle and was silently canceled only to resurface in 2003 on the GameCube.

I had planned to purchase Kirby Air Ride upon release but this was a time in my life where I was easily swayed by reviews and the game received mixed reactions due to it's simple controls. But recently I'd kept hearing so many fans mention how great Air Ride is. According to the Kirby 20th Anniversary Celebration Book that came with Kirby's Dream Collection, a lot of fans are still playing Air Ride to this day. I picked up Kirby Air Ride off Amazon, complete for a reasonable price of under $22. It came in the mail pretty quickly and I've spent the last few weeks playing it and really enjoying it.

With controls being restricted to the analog stick and the A button, I do feel somewhat limited when playing Kirby Air Ride. I mean, you don't even have to press A to accelerate because that's done automatically. You do have to steer around turns and using A to drift takes getting used to. I still don't quite have it down. You also have to position your air ride machine just right for landings. Do it properly and you'll get a boost for landings. Flub it and you'll land roughly and lose a bit of speed.

I like how the Copy Abilities was implemented in this game. Get close to an enemy, press A and Kirby can inhale them to gain a power. You can use these abilities to screw with the other three racers but you still have to race a good game to come in first so this game isn't totally about power-ups. At least when you're playing Air Ride and Top Ride mode. City Trial has you powering up your machine and then completing a various, random challenges. It's quite fun and this was the mode that was walked about the most among Kirby fans that played the game. Though to be honest, I find myself coming back to Air Ride mode more. Top Ride is the most simplistic mode in the game. The race tracks can be viewed on a single screen, similar to the race tracks in the Super Off-Road games.

Kirby's Epic Yarn

I finished this game last year with 77% and I felt compelled to start up a new file and play through it again. Despite not playing like a traditional Kirby game, Epic Yarn is still one of my favorite games in the Kirby series. This game received much praise for it's visual style and gameplay but some people slam it because it's too easy and it doesn't play like the usual Kirby game. First off, Kirby games are designed with younger players in mind, so they aren't made to be brutally difficult. Secondly, some of the best Kirby games are the ones that don't play like traditional Kirby games. One of the main reasons I love Kirby is because he's so diverse. Heck, even Mario hasn't branched out nearly as much as Kirby has. Anyway, I've gone so far off topic.

I'm trying to unlock every level in the game and get a gold medal on each stage. Thus far, I've gotten gold medals on all levels the first two worlds. I'm also gonna get every piece of furniture and wallpaper so I may have a lot of bead collecting ahead of me depending on the cost of all the items.

Maybe it's due to the decreased challenge. Even by Kirby standards, Epic Yarn is easier than other Kirby games. Perhaps it's the atmosphere. But Kirby's Epic Yarn is a very calming game to play. There's this overwhelming feeling of bliss that comes over me whenever I'm playing it. There's stuff to collect and levels to unlock but it still feels very much like a "chill" game, something I think every gamer needs from time to time.

Still Playing: Kirby's Dream Collection, New Super Mario Bros. 2, Mario Kart 7

Video Game Art

While browsing Deviant Art for pieces to use as covers for upcoming compilation albums, I came across these. Pretty sweet, huh?

Mama Said Knock You Out

Great news, kiddies! Forget a Big Mac. It's allllll about Little Mac. Took Nintendo forever, but they've finally brought back Punch-Out!! and I cannot think of a more fitting system for a boxing game than the Wii. Look's like we're in for more 30 second KO bouts against Glass Joe, stuffing the Bull Charge, and more racial material than we can shake a boxing glove at. I'm off to do some road work while listening to the pass word music to Punch-Out!!