Terry Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Hype

November is almost here, which means a number of things. Thanks Giving, one of my favorite holidays is fast approaching. More games to get excited for and wonder just when I'll get around to playing. It also means another fighter will be joining the ever growing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster: Terry of SNK/Fatal Fury/King of Fighters fame.

When Ken showed up to join his best friend and rival, Ryu in Smash Ultimate, I always thought Terry would make a great fit. I wasn't too surprised when he was announced (and I somehow managed to avoid finding out about him being leaked, thankfully) but I was nonetheless thrilled that Terry was getting the chance to thrown down in Smash Ultimate.

Back in the head-days of game magazines, I would read GamePro religiously and it was in those pages that I've first read about SNK's NEO-GEO, the home console version of SNK's hit MVS hardware. The $600 price tag for the unit and $250 for each game, ensured that I would never own one, but the games on the NEO-GEO still caught my attention. Fast forward to the early 2000s and SNK is releasing their old games on systems I actually owned such as the PS and PS2. After years of playing Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter and only being able to see Terry and the gang on websites and game mags, I was finally able to play some KOF and Fatal Fury titles. King of Fighters 2000/2001 on the PS2 and King of Fighters 2002/2003 were among some of my most played fighting games with my friends even though I wasn't great at fighting games (still not great BTW). In the late 2000s, I picked up Fatal Fury Battle Archives Vol. 1, not knowing at the time that this was the series that birthed Terry. The first Fatal Fury certainly felt ridged, which was to be expected from the first game. Fatal Fury  2/Special and Fatal Fury 3 were much more enjoyable fighters. Capcom vs SNK 2 only gave me a greater appreciation for Terry and company.

Between the Fatal Fury and KOF games, Terry was always a fun, easy character to pick up, which is import for any fighting game to have. Terry's truck-driver like character design is also quite humorous as well as his broken English and that seems to be in tact for Ultimate. I think fans would riot if that part about Terry was dropped. Hearing "Busta Wolf! Power Wave!" and the like without that broken English in Smash just wouldn't feel right.

SNK games have some killer music so as stoked as I am for Terry getting in Ultimate, I'm just as jazzed for the music selection we'll get for his stage. If Suzaku Castle is any indication (we got all of the Street Fighter II CPS-I and CPS-II themes), we'll more than likely get all of the stage themes from the first Fatal Fury. This includes Michael Max Theme, Tung Fu Rue Theme, and of course, Geese Howard's Theme. Some Fatal Fury 2/Special tracks could be used as well, if not original tracks, arrangements. Before Ken was in Smash, his theme made it into Ryu's stage in the previous game so I'd say Pasta (the title of Andy's theme and Andy being Terry's brother) is a safe bet.

With Terry being a big player in the King of Fighters games, I hope we get some KOF beats as well. I really, really want ESAKA from KOF '94 to make it in. Nettou King of Fighters is a lesser known game but anyone that has played some Mega Man ROM hacks has more than likely come across Mr. Karate's Theme, a fantastic chiptuine jam and I'd love for it to get arranged in Ultimate. The latest KOF entry, KOF XIV has some bangers and if I had my say, I'd definitely go with Saxophone Under the Moon and Survivors Under the Sky. I wouldn't mind a few Metal Slug tracks being in the game as well, but I realize that is quite the long shot. Regardless, I'm looking forward to seeing the full selection of music tracks on Terry's stage. Now come on and give us that November Direct, Nintendo!

The Blizzard Backlash

Oh, Blizzard. Bliz. Blizzy, Blizzy, Blizzyyyy. I am 100% certain that EA, Ubisoft and any other scummy video game company is super glad they are not you right now. Heck, I'll bet any game company is glad they are not Blizzard right now because it sucks to be Blizzard despite all the money they've got. When Blizzard banned Hearthstone player Bliztchung from the Grandmasters tourney for shouting "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our age!" during a post-game interview, they initiated what could very well be the biggest PR disaster the gaming industry has ever witnessed. Initially, Bliztchung was banned for a year and his prize money that he had already won was rescinded. In the days that have since followed, his ban was shortened to six months and his prize money was given back. Blizzard stated that the actions they took to ban Blitzchung had nothing to do with China, but come on, let's be real here: anyone with half a functioning brain cell knows that Blizzard brought down the ban hammer because they did not want to upset their Chinese overlords. Blizzard can hide behind their vague YouTube-ish rules all they want, but no one is buying it.

So just how badly did Blizzard screw up? When the mainstream media picks up on the story and it spreads around like wildfire, you know you've gone and made quite the oopsie. Oh, but it gets even better. Congress caught wind of this whole fiasco and fired off a letter to Blizzard. This letter was signed by republicans as well as democrats and if either of those two bickering parties can find something to agree on, you should be very, very afraid. My favorite part about the letter? The final two sentences. "You have the opportunity to reverse course. We urge you to take it." That is basically a polite way of saying "Don't make me take off my belt." The letter, clearly written at a time before Blizzard cut Blitzchung's banning and gave him his prize money back, is one of those rare time's I've been very proud of congress.

Blizzard's response to banning Blitzchung has been your typical corporate robot crap but for the most part, they've stuck their heads in the sand over this. Nintendo announced that the Overwatch launch event for the Switch version of the game that was to be held at the Nintendo store in NYC was canceled and by Blizzard, no less. Blizzard can suppress free speech to protect their bottom line but they can't be bothered to announce the cancellation of one of their own events? Wow, classy. Nintendo has done little to promote Overwatch on their US social media pages. The cancelling of the Overwatch event may have had something to do with it but I kinda think Blizzard's terrible decisions are the reason for the Big N's beef with them. The Switch prints money so getting on the bad side of the console manufacture? Just another bad move from Blizzard, something they are excelling at as of late.

I do wonder just how much of an impact the Blizzard backlash will have on the Switch version of Overwatch. Following Blitzhung's ban, there have been numerous walkouts from Blizzard employees and they've banned three more Hearthstone players. I've heard of hardcore World of Warcraft players quitting the game out of disgust for Blizzards latest course of actions and I'm pretty sure boycott Blizzard is a trending hashtag. No doubt Overwatch on Switch is gonna see some sales but had it hit a year or so earlier or before Blizzard's PR nightmare, I can't help but think it would have sold so much more. I don't begrudge anyone that wants to pick the game up, nor any other Blizzard products for that matter. No matter what happens, all eyes are on you, Blizzard, for the wrong reasons and it is entirely your own fault.

Favorite Tunes #270: Venture Forth

What do we have for this week's Favorite Tunes after a two month hiatus? A darn good selection of music and even some Nintendo tunes. Until Nintendo nukes all of their music off YouTube, it will continue to be featured here.

A Lonely Youth (Dragon Quest II) - Dragon Quest I-II (SFC)

A century of peace is shattered when Hargon shows up and ruins everyone's day. Fortunately, the hero from the first Dragon Quest wed Princess Gwaelin and bore descendants so the people of the world in Dragon Quest II have heroes that can take him on. If you're playing the mobile or Switch version of DQII (like I am) this theme would sound a little bit different than the Super Famicom version. Nevertheless, this is still an amazing track and easily one of my top DQ jams.

Drive - River City Girls (PC, NS, PS4, XBO)

Kunio and Rikki were the stars of River City Ransom but they've been kidnapped and it is up to their girlfriends, Kyoko and Misako to save them in River City Girls, an awesome sequel to the beloved NES classic. River City Ransom was known for it's banger of a soundtrack and River City Girls is no slouch in that department (or many others for that matter).

Mabe Village - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (NS)

You come back to Mabe Village pretty often in Link's Awakening, a place home to some of the funniest, quirky characters in the game.The original GB tune was one of my favorites from the game and this holds true for this splendid remake.

Title Screen - Tiny Barbarian DX (PC, NS)

My nephew started playing Tiny Barbarian DX and he likes the game quite a bit, even though it is causing him some frustration. Watching him play and hearing Jeff Ball's amazing chiptune soundtrack reminded me of how good this score is and that it was long overdue for some love here. If that title music doesn't put you in the mood to elbow drop fools, nothing will.

Glut - Descent II (PC)

While I was introduced to Descent and Descent II on the PS, the series got its start on PC, both games have some rocking soundtracks and come with redbook audio, meaning you can pop the disc in any device that will play music and listen to those awesome jams straight off the game disc.

Just Do It Up - Command & Conquer (PC)

I was no serious C&C player but even I knew how baller that soundtrack was. Pick a song, any song. Nearly ever one of those beats are straight fire. I am so happy that we live in a world where you can listen to Just Do It Up while you work.

Favorite Tunes Database