Let me ask you something. What do you think is the most OP thing in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate? King K. Rool? Yeah, he hits hard, his down throw can literally put you in the ground and his down Smash is safe on so many things. But nope, as powerful as the king of Kremlings is, he is not the most broken thing in Ultimate. How about Isabelle? That cute little secretary has probably given you nightmares with the way she using that fishing rod. The mayor's PA isn't the most over powered thing in the game either. The most broken thing in Smash Ultimate is the little JPEGs or PNG images you can purchase when you go into the shop or complete Classic mode. I am of course talking about Spirits.
If you've played World of Light for any extended period if time, I'm sure you've run into some pretty tough customers. Spirits help tip the scales in your favor so much that an opponent who once gave you no end of grief can be completely steamrolled. So long as you have a good setup, that is.
The fun doesn't stop there, though. Spirits are great in World of Light but if that's the only mode you're using them in, you aren't getting the most out of them. Do yourself a huge favor. Make some Spirit teams, make a rule set for Spirits and have yourself a grand old time. Feed your primary Spirits snacks so you can get them nice and strong to make them as OP as you possibly can. There's nothing quite like having an additional jump, fire attacks that do more damaged or super buffed magic attacks with Zelda. I have several Spirit teams that make gun users like Mega Man dish out the high percent numbers quickly and another team that gives my sword users a major buff. As cool as all of that stuff is, though, I don't think I've even barely scratched the surface.
I've found myself seeking out Spirits because they contain certain characters I really like such as Rush and because I'm curious to see just how busted I can make my fighters. Several aces are in my collection but I really want to add some legendary Spirits to the list. I want to have so many OP Spirits in my possession that my fighters can make Thanos and Galeem look like pitiful pretenders. That's the kinda of powers Spirits have. Spirits are so stupidly broken and I wouldn't have it any other way. It's like Sakurai laid before us this huge treasure chest, filled with wonderful toys and said "Go. Have. FUN!"
If you haven't really kept up with Spirits, you don't have to take my word for it. Alpharad has done an awesome job showing how insanely busted Spirits are in one of his many Smash Ultimate videos.
2018 is just a few short days of being outta here. I feel like I say this about every year but this one went by really fast. It's been a pretty wild ride with some awesome games and I'm looking forward to even more in 2019.
As a child, I played a lot of Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. on my NES, so music the jingles of both of those titles are firmly implanted into my brain. I was not expecting a killer medley of both game's soundtracks in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. As cool as it is to be able to select the song you want on a stage before the match begins, sometimes you ought to let the game decided what is played via your song settings. That's how I came across this baby.
Originally released in 2015 for iOS and Android as Horizon Chase, the game has since come to PC PS4 and more recently, Xbox One and the Switch with an added "Turbo" to the title. If you've got to scratch that arcade racer itch, this game comes highly recommended from yours truly. The game has a very cool visual style and a far out soundtrack by Barry Leitch, known for his work on racing titles such as Top Gear.
Between the Spider-Mans and Smash Ultimates, make sure you don't let Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom slip under your radar. This retro inspired game has plenty of modern trimmings like frequent save points, lush HD graphics and an outstanding musical score. As I oinked through the sewers, I couldn't get over how mesmerizing this jam was. And then I found out the composer of this piece was none other than Michiru Yamane. You PC games will get this game in early 2019.
One of the best things about this futuristic racing series is the soundtrack. Hitting the ground running are some hard beats by Tim Wright, also known as CoLD SToRAGE. It can be a bit difficult keeping the first few WipeOut game's soundtracks straight as some versions had completely different scores. When it comes to the first game, however, Mr. Wright's music instantly springs to the front of my mind.
This super calming song happens to have a stellar remix you can listen to while you send poor saps to the blast zone in Smash Ultimate. Kinda of a shame that the original wasn't included.
I'm not asking for a new Smash game anytime soon but if we get more DK reps, I'm all for Lord Fredrick. That final boss fight demonstrated a plethora of moves for Sakurai to play around with. Back to the game he came from, if you missed Tropical Freeze on the Wii U it is one of the many ports you can now buy on the Switch.
1994. The strong winds of change were blowing in the video game industry. Nintendo was holding second place to SEGA during the 16-bit SNES/Genesis console war but the fifth generation of consoles was on the rise and a new player had entered the ring. Sony would release the PlaySation in Japan but the system was already making waves outside of the Land of the Rising Sun despite the fact that it wouldn't hit North America and European shores almost a year later. SEGA also had their own fifth gen console release in '94, the Saturn and like the PS, it also released outside of Japan in 1995. Of course Nintendo had their own supped up, polygonal baby in the works, but the N64 wouldn't hit store shelves anywhere in the world until 1996. Polygons and higher bits were heavy talking points during these times and while the Genesis and SNES had seen a few games boasting polygons, they weren't on the same level as what the PS and Saturn were capable of, the former, which would later become a serious head turner. Even though all of this was going on, one of Nintendo's biggest icons made a huge resurgence this year on hardware that was already available on all sides of the world.
Though he made his debut in same game that Mario did and was very well known, Donkey Kong as a character was pushed aside in favor of the Italian that would become Nintendo's mascot. Other than the home ports of Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. on the NES in the mid to late 1980s, the Big N wouldn't refocus their sights on Donkey Kong until 1994, which saw the release of not one, but two Donkey Kong titles.
The first Donkey Kong game to release used the same title as the 1981 arcade version, Donkey Kong, though it is often referred to as Donkey Kong GB due to the platform it was released, the Game Boy. Releasing during the summer of 1994, it combined elements with the original Donkey Kong game as well as those from Donkey Kong Jr.and even Super Mario Bros. 2. Much longer than the four levels of the first two Donkey Kong games, this puzzle/platformer stared Mario as he playable character while DK and DK Jr. were the antagonists. Donkey Kong GB would go on to be a million seller for Nintendo but it would be overshadowed by the the second Donkey Kong game to release that same year, one that saw the big ape finally step into a staring role.
Even before Donkey Kong Country released during the fall of 1994, the hype for this game was huge. I remember multi-page previews of the game appearing in issues of GamePro and Nintendo Power and being in awe of the game's jaw dropping visuals. Donkey Kong Country was a 32-meg game running on 16-bit hardware. This was the type of game you'd think you'd would only be possible on the next gen systems but here DKC was, running on a the four year old SNES technology and not the new fangled fifth gen babies gamers were drooling to get their hands on. The fact that DKC could be played on a system that most players owned at the time was even a selling point and Nintendo was none too shy to rub this fact in SEGA's face. SEGA had been known for their aggressive advertising against Nintendo in the western market and after years of just sitting there and taking it, Nintendo struck back both in magazine and TV ads.
A western ad for DKC.
Anyone that owned a SNES wanted DKC. The hype Nintendo drummed up for the game along with the stunning visual presentation attracted buyers in droves and I was one of the many that coveted the game. For Christmas 1994, my dad bought me the game and it is one of the few gifts I remember getting that year. Needless to say, I was one very happy 13 year old on Christmas morning.
I had seen the game on demo displays during trips to Wal-Mart and Meijer but having the game in my own hands made it feel so more more real. I looked over the front and back of the box, marveling, jumping with excitement to play the game. As much as I wanted to dive right in, though, I took some time to read the instruction manual (those things that used to come with physical versions of the game all the time). Inside was more cool 3D renders of DK and company and it was through the manual that I got familiar with my favorite member of the Kong clan, Cranky Kong, whom the manual stated to be the original DK that kidnapped Pauline in the first DK game (which, I believe is no longer cannon). Cranky lived up to his name, always grumpy and always berating the player. He really did a lot to liven up that instruction manual. As if that weren't enough, each world had a location known as Canky's Cabin, where he would go on and on about how games were so much better back in his day. In between going on nostalgia trips and tell me how much I sucked, he would sprinkle in advice before telling me to get off his lawn. Cranky never failed to make me laugh so I would frequently visit him.
The manual also went into detail about the whole reason for DK's latest adventure: retrieving his banana horde from King K. Rool and his army of Kremlings. It was a different reason to go on a platforming quest to be sure. In the past, I was always rescuing princesses or foiling the plans of mad doctors. This time, we had to save the potassium. There was also the matter of Diddy Kong, DK's sidekick, getting stuffed away in a barrel, but saving the bananas was the main thing, so while the reasons for the adventure was different from what I was used to, I was perfectly fine with it.
DKC's striking graphics may have been a major selling point, but there was a really fun platformer beneath it all. Sure, it would be refined and polished in later entries, but for the first in the series, this was really freaking strong start. Enemies could not only be stomped on but rolled into to dispose of them and it always felt gratifying to take out several in one fell swoop. The differences between DK and Diddy were instantly noticeable with DK being stronger, but slower and Diddy being faster but weaker. I loved the switching mechanic between the two of them where they would slap hands to single who would take the lead. I remember doing this over and over at one point because the animation was such a joy to watch. (I was easily amused back then and still am to a degree.)
I recall the huge smile on my face as I went through the game's first few levels, hoping off the top of palm trees, swinging from vine to vine, riding Rambi, hitting a wall with him to unearth a hidden bonus level and being amazed at how stunning the game looked at the time. I had seen these types of levels like this before but never had they looked this good. When I got to the game's first water level, I was slack jawed both by the visuals and what would become one of my all-time favorite water themes in a video game, Aquatic Ambiance. That level felt like such a pleasure cruise. Taking in the water effects as I used Engarde to slam into sharks and listen to that beautiful, beautiful music.
I couldn't do a Memories post on DKC without gushing about this game's marvelous soundtrack. Composed by David Wise, Eveline Novakovic and Robin Beanland, DKC's music was praised just as highly as the visuals were back when it was released. While DKC may look dated today, the soundtrack has aged beautifully. DKC was one of the few games to get a soundtrack release outside of Japan in the form of DK Jamz album. I couldn't get my hands on that so I help a TV recorder up to my TV and recorded many of the songs that were my favorite like the aforementioned Aquatic Ambiance, Forest Frenzy, Treetop Rock, Bad Boss Boogie, Funky's Fugue and Fear Factory. I'm pretty sure I ended up wearing that tape out.
My trip through DK Isle was tons of fun but not without some serious snags. I had gotten several game overs due to some pretty tough levels. It took me numerous attempts to pass the third world and those mine cart levels were murder (they would get even more insane when the DKC came back on the Wii and Wii U/Switch) but the biggest hurdle to overcome was the first level of the fourth world, Snow Barrel Blast. Holy crap, this level was one nasty difficulty spike. Usually the worst part of snow and ice level is the slippery terrain but that wasn't even a big deal here. Snow Barrel Blast was a level that got worse the further you progressed into it. Things start out simple enough but before you know, it beings to snow, the snow turns into a blizzard, which hampers your visibility, which sucks because this level has some of the trickiest barrel shooting segments in the game.I'm guessing Rare was fuly aware of how insane this level was because they hid a shortcut that lets you bypass the final stretch of the level. I wish I had known that as a teen because I took the normal rout and died so many times on this level. What made it so agonizing is that Candy's Save Point was a few levels after Snow Barrel Blast, so if I got a game over before reaching her, which I think I did, I had to do Snow Barrel Blast all over again.
In spite of those setbacks, I pressed onward and before I knew it, I was at the final area of the game, Gang-Plank Galleon. Not having a strategy guide, this was my first time seeing King K. Rool so I had to learn his patterns on my own. All of the bosses had been easy peasy and the same was true for the Kremling's leader. To my surprise, he dropped fairly quickly. When the credits began to roll, something seemed strange. Why where the developer's names so odd? When "The End?" appeared, I knew for certain something wasn't right. Sure enough, K. Rool go back up and resumed his attack, catching me off guard, making me have to start the fight all over again. It took me a few attempts but King K. Rool ended toppling for real on December 31, 1994. Yes, I spent my Christmas breaking playing and finishing DKC.
DKC did a lot to turn the 16-bit war in Nintendo's favor. Just as Sonic the Hedgehog had helped SEGA steal the number one spot from Nintendo, DKC helped SNES sales catch up to the Genesis. The game would end up selling more than 9 million copies worldwide and helped the SNES stay relevant during the 32-bit console generation. Of course there were tons of great SNES titles in 1994, but few had the impact that DKC did. Yes, it looks archaic today, but back then, it was mind blowing stuff. Fortunately the DKC holds up pretty well, not was well as the 1995 sequel, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and other games in the series, but the first DKC is still good, nonetheless. For everything that the game did for the SNES and Nintendo all those years ago, it also made a 13 year old boy very happy and for that, I couldn't be more thankful.
We probably would have been past 250 by now but a few of my Favorite Tunes posts got delayed. Regardless, we're here now. Favorite Tunes grew into the feature it did out of my love for video game music and from observing fellow blogger Super Philip Central. This week also serves as a Christmas edition so there will be some Christmas/wintry music sprinkled in here. Happy holidays and gaming!
Once again, special thanks to Cat with Monocle for the (Mega Man 11 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate) wallpapers.
Fun, challenging and introducing some new mechanics to the series, Mega Man 11 makes strides to push the series forward without relying on the old visual style that the previous two entries did. I've played through this game three times so it has certainly earned a spot on my top games of 2018 list. As winter/ice/snow themed music goes, Tundra Man's stage is pretty... cool. Sorry, not sorry. If you check the bio on Tundra Man, you'll find the company that manufactured him to be familiar.
As per usual, one of the best things about the latest Super Smash Bros. is the music. It uses music from preexisting games, brings back remixes from past entries and has tons of brand new remixes. Ultimate is the first game since Brawl to give us some F-ZERO music other than a new Mute City arrangement. This F-ZERO Medley mixes Death Wind, Fire Field and Port Town. The man providing the lead vocals is the legendary Takenobu Mitsoyoshi, famous for providing vocals for the music in SEGA's Daytona series among other things.
Something was missing in my video game library on the current gen systems I own: high octane, fast paced action. Bleed 2 delvers that in spades. You run, shoot, deflect bullets and defeat the enemy in style to a rocking soundtrack. It isn't a very long game. I think I finished it in under and hour, which gives it an arcade feel, but there's replayablity in earning higher rankings and unlockable characters.
The series is widely known for the online games these days, but back in the late early in early 1990s, Phantasy Star was an offline JRPG. If you're curious to check out the very first game, you should give SEGA AGES Phantasy Star a look on the Switch. As with most SEGA AGES titles, M2 has added new features like an auto fill in map feature, making navigating those 3D dungeons a lot easier.
Before Ultimate released and begun consuming my time, I purchased Hyper Light Drifter off the eShop. It doesn't run at the promised 60fps, but that isn't a major issue for me. The game has a positively stunning visual pixel art style, so much better than what most other indie games that use. It's also quite hard. Like, really, really hard. Of the four paths I could take, I went to the right and while I've made some progress, I've died more times than I can count. I plan to get back into this one eventually.
As has become Christmas tradition, here's Diamond Dust Act 1 from the Saturn version of Sonic 3D Blast. Sonic 3D Blast is one of those games I often point at to demonstrate that the classic era of Sonic games is not all the sunshine and roses that so many fans and critics like to believe it was. Even so, both the Genesis and Saturn versions have really good soundtracks, which is a given for just about every Sonic game.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has one of, if not the biggest character roster in a fighting game. Not counting the DLC characters and Piranha Plant, there are 74 fighters in Ultimate. That is nothing short of mind blowing. To get that big, beefy roster, however, you're gonna have to unlock them.
Your starting Roster in Ultimate.
Your starting roster in Smash 64.
When you first start playing Ultimate, your roster is small. Very small. You only have eight fighters to start with, the exact same characters from the original N64 gane that started it all. Seeing those eight fighters staring back at me, hit me with a little wave of nostalgia. This also presented me something of a dilemma: none of my Smash 4 mains were available to me. There were (are) dozens of videos and articles on the net, detailing how to unlock characters quickly, even telling you how to unlock a specific character you were looking for but I opted against using those methods.
One of the greatest pleasures to come out of playing Melee and Brawl was completing a match or mode, hearing a warning siren go off, accompanied by a screen sorta like this one.
AHHHHITSTHEMOMGAHHHHHH!!!!
That right there, sends tingles to my tummy, especially when it's a character I've really been wanting to see. That rush hit me so many times during my first two days/nights playing Ultimate.
Smash 4's roster wasn't as big as Ultimate's, but it was still quite large but a great deal of fun from unlocking characters in that game was deflated because most of the roster was there out of the box, including some of the newcomers. I've read some posts from players saying all 74 fighters should have been there from the get go and that just seems wrong to me. I didn't feel like I earned much of anything in terms of character unlocks in Smash 4 because more than half the cast was already given to me. It is the exact opposite for Ultimate. I had a ton of fun unlocking characters in this game without rushing.
Since I didn't have my mains from the get go, I got to try out other characters, and I have to say, I really like a lot of the characters in this game. With a roster this huge, it almost feels criminal to play the same characters all the time. Link's remotely detonated bombs introduce all kinds of new strategies. Bowser's down air can now spike and Gannondorf is finally making use of that sword he's been carrying around. With faster speed of Ultimate, a lot of characters are better than ever. The game isn't Melee fast, but Ultimate is a faster game than Smash 4.
Some of you won't be getting Ultimate until Christmas and if I were to offer you any advice, unpopular as it may be, it is simply this: take your time playing Ultimate. Don't look up who you need to use to unlock what character, just enjoy the ride. I was surprised the whole way through and I loved it. It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows unlocking everyone, though. Those of us that unlocked the characters before the latest patch all have horror stories about which character clapped those cheeks (Duck Hunt and Lucina really gave me the work). However, we got some really good videos out of unlocking characters before the patch like this one from Keef Crew. You'd think a tournament level player was controlling those CPU fighters.
Smash Ultimate is so dang good. Last week the game took up the entirety of Favorite Tunes, but this week, only a single track gets a slot. You can expect me to be talking about the music from Ultimate for a very long time. However, other music this week comes from OutRun, Double Dragon II and Persona 5.
Some fans feel that Tekken music has gotten worse over the years. While on the one hand, I see it as the music changing with the times, I can sort of see where they are coming from. There's a lot of music in Tekken 7 that seems to have an emphasis on being loud above all else. Regardless of that, Tekken 7 still has some really good tracks. If you prefer the music from earlier Tekken entries, Tekken 2 and Tekken 3 are arguably the best of the first four Tekken titles.
The new remixes of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate are freaking amazing. I was only expecting a few new tracks for the Wily Castle stage, but to my surprise, there are a dozen of them. The title of this one may be Dark Man Stage, but it contains the Fake Proto Man Whistle, the Get a Weapon jingle, the Opening theme and the Title music, pretty much making it a badawesome Mega Man 5 Medley. Go to the Wily Castle stage in My Music and crank this sucker to Often on max.
Largely know for the "All Your Base" memes it spawned in 2001, Zero Wing's origins are that of an arcade game, where the botched translation that spawned the meme is nowhere to be found (that would be the Mega Drive version). Being a game developed by the defunct Toaplan, the music is exceptionally awesome.
The Double Dragon II has been out on the PS4 under the Arcade Archives line for a few years now but if you prefer to take your arcade experiences on the go, it recently came to the Switch. If you wonder why the subtitle is called "The Revenge," look no further than the intro, which sees Marian getting gunned down. Spoilers, be tee dubs.
Considering the fact that Joker has been announced as the first DLC character for Smash Ultimate, I think that posting some music from his game is appropriate. I've never played Persona 5 but it was one of those games of 2017 that it was impossible to not hear about. Even the game's most famous battle theme, Last Surprise, reached my ears and I'm really hoping it is one of the music choices for Joker's stage in Ultimate, along with this one.
Developed by M2, one of the best in the business when it comes to emulation, SEGA AGES OutRun is already out on the Japanese Switch eShop. Gamers outside of Japan will receive the game in early January of 2019. Along with all of the music from the 3D Out Run on the 3DS, The SEGA AGES Switch version includes four brand new songs, using instruments to match the original 1986 OutRun soundtrack. It's pretty rad to hear the Genesis exclusive track, Step-On Beat with arcade sound.
You know the saying "I didn't ask for this!"? It tends to get thrown around quite a bit, especially in the medium that is video games. This phrase is often used to describe displeasure when one sees something they don't like. While throngs of players asked for the inclusion of King K. Rool in Super Smash Bros, wanting him to be added to the rosters as far back as Brawl if I recall, the reptile is not a character I asked for. In fact, the mere notion of having him take part in Super Smash Bros. for 3DS/Wii U was absurd to me. At least, it was until a few short days ago.
I'm usually not against the inclusion of any character in Smash Bros. I've never cared for Shulk (probably because I haven't played Xenoblade Chronicles yet) but I don't have anything against the character. King K. Rool, however, was a character I did not want to see join the Smash cast. We people where championing for him to be added in Smash 3DS/Wii U, I was like "Seriously? This fat crocodile that makes a hobby out of DK's stealing bananas? There are dozens of other characters more deservring of a slot than that idiot."
I get that K. Rool is the arch enemy of the Kongs and all throughout the SNES Donkey Kong Country trilogy, they did battle with him and the Kremling army. When they Kremlings and K. Rool were absent for both the Wii and Wii U DKC games, I didn't lose any sleep over it. Having the heroes fight the same villains over and over again can get stale. Sure, the Joker is Batman's greatest enemy but if he was the only foe Batman ever threw a punch at, no matter how well written the Clown Prince of Crime is, I think even the most die hard Batman fan would get tired of seeing him. Yes, gaming and comics are two different mediums, but I don't think that makes my point any less valid. Bowser, Dr. Wily, Eggman, I love those characters to death but I honestly get worn out seeing them be the main antagonist of Mario, Mega Man and Sonic's adventures.
So despite the fact that K. Rool and his minions haven't been part of the last two DKC games, I don't think they were worse off because of it. I liked the Snowmads of DKC: Tropical Freeze a lot. They had no interest in stealing fruits or kidnapping apes and chimpanzees. They took a liking to DK's island, said "Nice place you got. I think we're gonna like it here. Of course, it's gonna be a bit crowded with your monkeys stinking up the place, so don't let the door slap you in the face on the way out." The Snowmads took over DK Isle, forcing the Kong clan to reclaim it. It was a very nice change of pace to save the homeland instead of bananas or comrades.
Back to King K. Rool, I suppose I never really thought he was that great of villain. Yeah, when you get down to it, most badies of platform games are never gonna be in the same league as the Green Goblin, the Reverse Flash or even the Phantom Blot. Still, Eggman, Wily and Bowser were always more appealing bad guys to me over K. Rool and I didn't want to see him make it in Smash. I thought the Mii Brawler costume for K. Rool was a hilarious substitute for anyone wanting K. Rool in Smash 3DS/Wii U and maybe a fitting punishment for those that leaked the Ryu/Roy reveal. Maybe I'm a bit salty after all these years for actually falling for those bogus kredits in the first DKC and getting jabaited by K. Rool but that's besides the point.
The King K. Rool reveal trailer in August was one of the best things about an already excellent Smash Direct. That Dedede troll followed up by K. Rool slapping him in the back of the head had me in stitches. As much as I disliked him, I couldn't deny that he looked like such an overwhelming joy to play as. I thought I would take him for a spin occasionally. Ultimate isn't even a week old and I've already found one of my new mains and its a overweight crocodile.
King K. Rool is an absolute beast. I've loved heavy characters in Smash throughout the years like Bowser, Gannondorf and King Dedede (especially in Smash 3DS/Wii U) but K. Rool trumps them all. He's got not one but two projectiles in the form of his Crown and Blunderbuss and mixing the two up makes for a great game of pressure to your opponents. On top of that, K. Rool hits like a tank. Getting hit by his Up Smash, Forward Smash and Back Air (which spikes) is like having a missile fired off in your face. His Down Smash is particularly nasty because it tanks numerous attacks and some just flat out won't even work against it.
No doubt many of you have seen WeeGee Plays How to King K. Rool video, which highlights how insane his Down Smash is. It wasn't until I watched said video that I had a moment of clarity from one of my previous battles with the insane CPU. I did Down Smash as the CPU attacked and I thought I wad done for, but K. Rool's gut tanked the hit, the CPU was sent flying and the announcer shouted "GAME" as I stared back at my TV in disbelief that I had won. At the time, I wasn't really sure what happened but thanks to WeeGee's video, I know the score. Again, King K. Rool is an absolute beast. He's not just a fighting beast, but a sexy one, too. That scaly skin, that right, bloodshot eye, the way he struts and slaps that gold platted belly. Hide your love interests, kiddies, King K. Rool is coming for them.
There are all kinds of videos on YouTube that show what a great character K. Rool is. Not trying to be a hipster or anything, but I'm happy that I was able to find out how fun he is on my own. Unfortunately, there are already people claiming that he's broken and that he needs a nerf. Instead of crying for nerfs I'd like to suggest these people learn the match up. K. Rool is powerful but he's not unbeatable. You can also find videos of the big lug being sent into the blast zone.
Even if King K. Rool does get nerfed I will still play as him because I love this character in Smash Ultimate. I think the way he is in this game has given me a newfound respect for him as a whole. This fat crock is on my phone screen and when his amiibo drops I will have that sucker on day one. Whenever Nintendo gets around to releasing a World of Nintendo K. Rool figure, I'll snatch that up as well. To everyone that wanted King K. Rool in Smash, thank you so much for your drive and desire, your push for him to be in this game. I welcome on new, thick, scaly overlord.
So yeah, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate just came out and spoiler alter, the game is freaking awesome! This week of Favorite Tunes is all about the music from the latest installment in Nintendo's mega crossover.
Special thanks to Cat with Monocle for the awesome Smash Ultimate wallpapers. Check them out here and use them to decorate your PC, laptop or phone.
I started playing The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker around the same time I played Brawl. Wind Waker really built my appreciation for Toon Link and when I unlocked him in Brawl, he became my favorite Link to use. My first exposure to the Molgera boss theme was through Brawl, which was one of the main reasons I loved playing Toon Link's stage. I was devastated when the Molgera music didn't return for Smash Wii U. Thankfully, this mistake has been corrected. Ultimate gives us a glorious remix to one of my favorite Wind Waker songs. I don't know if the original Molgera theme is in Ultimate or not, but this arrangement is so good that I have no problems if this is the only Molgera theme we get.
The Super Smash Bros. games are about blasting famous gaming icons off the screen, yes. However, the games are also about the rich history of famous as well as not-so-famous games. Scroll through My Music and you'll probably spot a few tracks from games you don't recognize. I came across some of the original 8-bit music from Yuyuki a few years back. Listening to this arrangement makes me wish Nintendo would bring us some of their more obscure titles.
I have been wanting a Sand Ocean remix in Smash for the longest time. Not only did I get my wish, the original SNES tune is also available in Ultimate. I've always felt that Sand Ocean doesn't get the love that Mute City, Big Blue or Port Town does and it is a real shame because its such a great tune and I'm pleased to see it get the attention it deserves in Ultimate.
The amount of musical love Mega Man has been given in Smash Ultimate is mind blowing. Wily Castle has over 25 tracks when booting the game up and more than several of them are brand new remixes. I was not expecting a Top Man remix but I will gladly take it. Meanwhile, Cloud is off crying in a corner because Midgar STILL only has two tracks.
My favorite 2D Mario game is Super Mario Bros. 3 and I love, love, loooooove the Bowser battle music. Those bongo drums really do it for me. If I had to decide my favorite Boswer final battle theme, it would be tough to decide between this one and the one from Super Mario World. Naturally, when I found out there was an arrangement of Bowser's Super Mario Bros. 3 theme, I had to crank it all the way up on certain Mario themed stages. The themed also contains an arrangement of World 8 from the same game. The man himself, Koji Kondo, stepped in to arrange his own work.
Who can forget the reveal of King K. Rool? I didn't see why everyone wanted him so badly in the Smash Wii U early days, but after using him in Ultimate, I'm very glad he's been included. I would have liked to have Dixie, but K. Rool makes an excellent third DK rep. Speaking of things that are excellent, do I even need to mention how amazing this new remix of Gang-Plank Galleon is? Those trumpets go in SO hard.
One of, if not, the most anticipated game of 2018 has (officially) dropped today: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Like all of you, I have been playing and loving the game. Its actually been tough for me to make blog posts because I have to tear myself away from such an amazing game. There are tons of reasons to be stoked for Ultimate and while I could possibly list them all, the four below are the ones that really stick out in my mind.
01. So Many Fighters
"Everyone is Here!" Three words that made Super Smash Bros. fan go ballistic. You thought the previous Smash had a ton of fighters? Pfft. Please. The base game of Ultimate has a total of 74 fighters. Of course, when you first turn the game on, this won't be the case. In fact the fighter selection screen will look pretty bare, with only the original starting roster from the N64 Super Smash Bros. game being available. But the conditions for unlocking fighters has been streamlined so regardless of the mode you're playing be it Smash, Spirits or Mob Smash, you're bound to unlock fighters. Some might bemoan the fact that most of the cast isn't there from the get go, but it does give you something to work towards. Remember the days of Melee and Brawl when you had your game interrupted by an incoming challenger? The first few hours I spent with Ultimate made my face light up like a Christmas tree when I saw a silhouette of a fighter I really wanted. I really don't see how anyone could complain about X character not being in Ultimate when you have a fight roster this freaking huge. And the crazy thing is, more are on the way. None of us ever saw Joker coming (I don't care if that joke has been used a million times) but he's been revealed as our first DLC Smash Ultimate character. Truly this is the game that keeps on giving.
02. World of Light
There hasn't been an adventure mode in Smash quite as ambitious since Subspace Embassy in Brawl. Ultimate takes another stab at a huge adventure mode in the form of World of Light. While there aren't nearly as many cut scenes in World of Light as there were in Subspace Embassy, there are some sprinkled here and there. World of Light is nonetheless an engaging adventure mode. You start out as the sole surviving member of Galeem's massacre, Kirby, fighting to reunite the Smash cast, collecting spirits and battling it out with numerous bosses. Many of the fights have certain conditions to them such as enemies becoming quicker when they eat or some foes avoiding combat, forcing you to chase them down. This kinda thing keeps the many battles fresh.
03. Different Ways to Smash
Are you a competitive Smash player? Or maybe you don't mind having Pokemons spawning for a random bit of chaos. No matter what side of the fence you sit on, Ultimate gives you the most customization options of any Smash game. If you don't want to chase down a Smash Ball, you can enable Final Smash as a meter, albeit it a weaker version. Do you love the Wily Castle stage but hate Yellow Devil dropping in to take up a good chunk of the level? Stage hazards can now be turned off. You can even save your customized Smash options and edit them whenever you like. No matter your play style, Ultimate is sure to cater to you.
04. My Music
I. LOVE. VIDEO. GAME. MUSIC. Favorite Tunes is proof of that. The music in Smash Bros. not only consists of songs from other franchises and past entries in the series but a slew of brand new remixes and arrangements. And the amount of music in each Smash has only grown with each installment. Ultimate has over 900 tracks and the My Music feature that was introduced in Brawl has been buffed. Music is now tied to series so you can have Slider blasting on any Mario themed stage. The amount of selectable music on the Wily Castle stage makes me swoon as does the love for other Mega Man titles besides Mega Man 2. I never would have dreamed we would get an Ice Man, a Bomb Man, a Guts Man and a Fire Man arrangement, but five of the six Robot Masters in Mega Man got the audio love they deserve. There's even some killer remixes for Top Man and Snake Man! Then you've got all those sweet, sweet Castlevania tracks, many of which are so good, I'm having a hard time deciding just which ones I want to hear often. The Shop usually has more music you can pick up for a mere 300 coins per song. Can you guess what most of my money has been going to?
Retro plug and play consoles are nothing new. AT Games has been plugging away at these things for around a decade. But in the last year or so, things have changed. Where as AT Games has been content to release abysmal plug and play systems featuring shoddy emulation, Nintendo raised the bar with the NES and SNES Classic mini consoles. These systems not only have a great selection of games as well as screen options but also sport outstanding emulation. Suffice to say that sub par efforts for the plug and play retro machines are no longer going to cut it. Sony has thrown their hat into the mini retro console ring with the PlayStaiton Classic, which releases today. With the success of the aforementioned Nintendo mini consoles, and Sony being behind the PS Classic,
When the trailer for the PS Classic was first revealed, things looked very promising. The system comes with two controllers, its much smaller than the original PlayStation and among the first games divulged were Metal Gear Solid, Tekken 3, Final Fantasy VII and R4: Ridge Racer Type 4, some of the best of the best games that Sony's first system had to offer. Then, the remaining list of games came to light an it raised a lot of eyebrows. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six? Freaking Battle Arena Toshinden? No Resident Evil 2, no Twisted Metal 2, not a single Crash Bandicoot or Spyro game, nothing from the Ace Combat series. Not a single space shoot 'em up to be found (at least in the North American and PAL versions) and of all the fighting games, Sony went with Battle Arena Toshinden, one of the worst games in the genre on the system. Soul Blade and Street Fighter Alpha 3 are off weeping in a corner. After the full game list reveal, things only went further downhill.
Early hands on play reported lousy emulation. There are no screen filter adjustment options. The user interface, while paying homage to the original PS blue screens looks bland and very uninspired. However, what prompted people to stat throwing dirt onto the coffin was when they learned that nine of the games would be the PAL versions and among those nine titles was Tekken 3. Are you freaking kidding me? You're asking us to play Tekken 3, one of the fastest, smoothest running games on the PS at a measly 50hz? People had already begun canceling preorders for the PS Classic and with this news, even more followed.
The user interface of the PS Classic. Sure, it is nostalgic, but also yawn inducing.
You know when your child does something that doesn't please you or something that you don't approve of and they ask if you're angry? You're undoubtedly not happy with what they've done and that is clearly shown by your facial expression as well as your body language. Yet you aren't angry. Instead you respond to them with the tried and true "I'm not angry. I'm just disappointed." That is precisely how I feel about the PS Classic.
The PS was born out of some very bad blood between Sony and Nintendo. I'm sure many of you already know that Sony was to partner with Nintendo to created a CD based system but Nintendo didn't like the idea of Sony having so much control in this deal so they went behind their back and partnered with Philips, publicly humiliating Sony when the Big N announced their new deal during the 1991 Consumer Electronics Show. Sony then tried to partner with SEGA to make a console but when that fell threw, they decided to go solo and create the sleek gray box we all fell in love with.
Even the best games on the PS Classic aren't immune from performance issues due to less than stellar emulation.
With the original PS, Sony found great success in the gaming market. 3D games were helped realized thanks to the PS and Sony showed that they were a serious force to be reckoned with. As an added bonus, Sony got sweet, sweet, revenge on Nintendo for stabbing them in the back. Because Nintendo did them dirty, the Big N actually created one of their biggest rivals. Not only did PS outsell the N64 (by a huge margin) but the SEGA Saturn as well, being the market leader for the fifth as well as the sixth console generation.
The original PS is where it all began for Sony. So to see the PS Classic turn out to be such a mess is truly appalling. I can't help but think the pitiful state the PS Classic released in is due to Sony's current position, which is once again the market leader with the PS4. When Sony is on top, they tend to be very arrogant and make mistakes. The PS3 struggled during the first few years of it's life due to Sony's massive ego with it's high price point. Multiplatform games ran better on the 360 and the Wii ended up kicking the PS3's teeth in. The PS Classic is the very definition of a cash grab, showing how little Sony care's about their legacy. Digital Foundry has an excellent video that I've posted below that goes into the major technical aspects of why the PS Classic is such a disappointment, so I highly recommend you check it out. If you want to get a loved one a retro gaming compilation steer clear of the PS Classic. There are far better options out there.
This list is the Favorite Tunes of December 1, 2018. Kirby, Sonic, Fighting EX Layer. Go now and enjoy great listening! (I wanted to take a stab at some Engrish.)
The latest entry in the Kirby franchise initially got flack due to the its short length and high price point. Yes, the game is on the short side and $60 is a little too rich for my blood, but HAL has continued to support the game after release with free DLC waves of new playable characters such as Marx, Magalor and Gooey to name a few. The latest batch of free DLC characters includes fan favorite, Susie from Kirby: Planent Robobot.
Sonic Forces isn't great, but it isn't an abomination of a Sonic game that sets the series back to the dark age either. I enjoyed my time with it as I did the soundtrack. I'm getting the feeling that techno and electronic music with heavy synth isn't a lot of people's cup of tea. The synth in particular is used a lot the music of Sonic Forces and that may detract from the score for some. Me, I love this game's soundtrack as whole.
If you didn't play Katamari Damacy when it originally came out on the PS2 back in 2004, I highly recommend you snag Katamari REROLL for the Switch and PC. I don;t think there is a better game that involves the action of rolling. Ever. Not only is the game brilliant in it's simplicity but the soundtrack is freaking awesome. This is just the first song in the game and it only gets better from here. I feel so envous of anyone that is gonna play this game for the first time when it hits the Switch and PC on December 7th.
After two games where all players were stuck traveling on a board in a vehicle, Super Mario Party finally allows players to travel the board solo once again. There are also more playable characters from the mook side such as Goomba and Hammer Bro. Now if only Nintendo would fix their online service and give Super Mario Party better online options. Well, at least this title theme makes me feel like I'm dancing on a beach in a Hawaiian shirt.
The EX games have gotten such a bad rep. Sure they aren't the pinnacle of Street Fighter but they aren't bad by any means. Developed by Arika, the Street Fighter EX games includes a host of original characters and it was due to this that many believed we would never see the likes of Skullomanoa or Garuda again. Arika surprised us when news let out of Fighting EX Layer, the first game in the EX series since Street Fighter EX on the PS2 in 2000. The same crew behind the outstanding EX soundtracks has reunited for the music in EX Layer, resulting in another stellar effort.
Also know as Cybernator outside of Japan. This is from the arranged album simply called Assault Suits Valken. Like many arranged game albums of the time, it stayed in Japan and to this day, has never been reprinted. The music in the SNES game sounded fantastic and this album makes it sound just as good, if not better.
