Kazuhisa Hashimoto, Creator of the Konami Code, Has Passed Away

Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start. Without a doubt the Konami Code is the most famous code in the medium that is gaming. Heck, the Konami Code is recognized even outside of video games. Unfortunately the creator of the code, Kazuhisa Hashimoto, died on February 25. This news comes from former Konami collaborator Yuji Takenouchi via Twitter.

The Konami Code gained fame from being used in the NES version of Contra where entering the code would up the player's lives count from three to 30. The code was first printed in the pages of Nintendo Power's Classified Information section, which really helped the code spread like wild fire. While Contra may have made the code so well known, it was not the first game to use it.

Hashimoto-san came up with the code while play testing the NES version of Gradius. The Nintendo Hard difficulty from the arcade game was carried over to the home version, thus he came up with the world's most recognizable button inputs to make things a bit easier for himself. The code gave him a fully powered up Vic Viper, which allowed him to finish play testing the game. Why did Hashimoto-san go with that particular set of button inputs? Because it was easy to remember. Makes sense. Even someone that hasn't played Contra in years probably still has the code cemented in their skull. I know I do.

There's some debate on whether or not Hashimoto-san forgot to remove the code before the game hit store shelves. Did Konami like the code and leave it in? No one really knows for sure. Whatever the reason, the Koanmi Code remained and went on to have a colossal impact on gaming and pop culture.

I never would have been able to beat Contra without the Konami Code. Matter of fact, I still can't beat Contra without it. That game is so punishing that I am certain that players that do no death runs on Contra or are able to beat the game without any help used the Konami Code to get as good as they are. I let out the biggest sigh of relief when playing NES Contra on Contra Anniversary Collection when I input the Konami Code and got 30 lives. 

When I played Gradius III religiously, I would frequently use the Konami Code. I was even aware that the code in Gradius III had two different versions. Knowing this, I had one of my best friends input the code on his game and got a laugh out of his ship blowing up when he entered the old Konami Code and unpaused the game. Of course he didn't think it was funny.

I don't think we can thank Kazuhisa Hashimoto enough for his contribution to gaming. That cheat that he came up with in Gradius to make play testing easier for him made gaming infinitely better. R.I.P. Hashimoto-san. Thanks for helping me power up the Vic Viper and for letting so many gamers beat Contra.

Additional source: The Gaming Historian

Favorite Tunes #281: I Couldn't Think of a Subtitle. Really.

February is almost gone, which means those March game releases are right around the corner! I'm most hyped for Animal Crossing: New Horizons but DOOM Eternal looks pretty lit. Ahem. Enjoy the game jams.

Ice Cap Act 1 (Prototype) - Sonic 3 & Knuckles (SG)

A few months ago, the prototype for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 hit the web. Anyone that has played through the PC version of Sonic 3 & Knuckles might be familiar with a few of the prototype's tracks. You see, the PC version of S3&K featured a different soundtrack with some tracks being completely different from the Genesis version as well as the soundtrack using a MIDI font that is different from the 16-bit version. The prototype floating around online has the music in it's original SG sound font. Ice Cap tracks have a completely different tone compared to the SG game, but these are some serious head bopers.

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

Beat 'em ups are on something of a come back these past few years. Fight 'N Rage as well as River City Girls, both of which hit the Switch last year were some fine brawlers and I'm looking forward to the upcoming Streets of Rage 4. If you're craving some more beat 'em up actions (mixed with some arcade style sports), you should check out the recently released Double Dragon & Kunio-ken Retro Brawler Bundle.

Scattered and Lost - Celeste (PS4, NS, XBO, PC)

Do you enjoy a challenge? Like platformers with surprisingly interesting characters? Then go play Celeste. Without spoiling anything, the game is freaking awesome. There's an upcoming 3 disc physical soundtrack release. People that praise Celeste often mention the game's soundtrack, which is full of calming piano pieces and panic-filled tunes for those especially tense sections.

Lead Lords Keep - Enter the Gungeon (PS4, NS, XBO, PC)

This is a tune I'm sure most Gungeon players are familiar with. Reason this theme sticks out to me so much is because the first area of the gungeon is where I've spent most of my time thus far. Oh, yeah, I suppose it helps that this theme is killer.

Wind Man Stage - Mega Man 6 (NES)

It may not have the best set of weapons or Robot Masters but Mega Man 6 is nonetheless a solid entry. It has taken years for this soundtrack to click with me. For the longest time, the only track I really liked was Blizzard Man Stage, which is still my favorite from this game's soundtrack, but now, I like pretty much all of it and find myself humming other tunes like Flame Man Stage, Yamato Man Stage and the super catchy Wind Man Stage.

On the Beach with Marin - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (NS)

Wallpaper by Cat with Monocle 

The HD remake of Link's Awakening is the definitive version of the game. The art style is very faithful to the original and more buttons means far less stopping to switch weapons and items. The soundtrack has also been enhanced. It isn't orchestrated like previous Zelda titles have been but still packs an emotional punch. Some might argue that some themes are lessened with new hardware used to write the music but at the same time, song tracks sounds better than ever. The scene with Link and Marin on the beach sounds leagues better in the remake.

Favorite Tunes Database

Enter the Gungeon: Enter the Suffering

Gamers have been playing, loving and I assume cursing Enter the Gungeon for a few years now. The game originally released in 2016 but since I'm late to every part, I haven't played it until recently. It wouldn't pop up on my radar until, I wanna say 2017 or so. I would eye it on the PSN store on my PS4 and then on the eShop when I got my Switch. Despite staring at the page for the game several times, I would never pull the trigger (heh heh) on purchasing it, even when it was on sale. But! I learned that Enter the Gungeon got a physical release! And the Switch version was only going for a mere $30! Since I love my bargains and my physical media, this was a match made in heaven. Happy I was to receieve the game when Amazon dropped it off (along with my copy of Psikyo Shooting Stars Alpha, which I loooooove), I knew my heaven would be short-lived.

Roguelike games, much like the metroidvania genre, are everywhere these days. I'd almost argue that both genres are to the point of overexposure. I really like Metroid, Castlevania and metroidvania but the abundance of games on the market has made me feel burned out of the genre as of late. Even if you haven't played these types of games, the dominating presence they have can be off putting. This is why I've begun to limit my intake of metroidvania games. In the case of roguelike games, the whole idea of starting the entire game over from scratch is depressing and Enter the Gungeon is a roguelike game but unlike metroidvania, I tend to steer clear of most of these titles, with the exception of one.

Screenshot from Steam

Downwell was one of my favorite games of 2019 (the year the Switch version released) and is the game that made me see the good in the roguelike genre. I've died so many times in this game, haven't come close to finishing it and I still haven't had enough of it. The platforming and shooting mechanics are what really sealed the deal for me. Even though I'vet yet to beat the game, I can make it to the second area and have unlocked a ton of different a pallets to choose from. I suspect the many different pallets was the developers way of softening the blows of the countless deaths that would befall the player and it worked, at least for me. When I die in Enter the Guneon, I'm left with crippling depression.

The phrase "Prepare to Die. A lot," has never been more apt. I already knew what I was getting into but all the mental preparations I did for this game was not enough. That happy box art that stares back at you belies a brutal game underneath that will gut punch you over and over again. You know those stories where the main cast is trying to prevent a bad future, so they do everything in their power to prevent it, but said bad future comes to pass anyway, like it was fate? That's what it feels like to play Enter the Gungeon. Death follows you around like your dang shadow in this game. Always there, unavoidable, inevitable, inescapable until things finally "click" and you beat the game. That's how I'd heard it described, anyway. The "click" hasn't hit for me yet, but I have been improving.

I struggled a early on with he controls and my co-worker that has finished the game told me that would be one of the hurdles I would face when I began playing. Moving and aiming with the left and right analog sticks feels natural now, but in the beginning, it felt super awkward, especially when trying to dodge a ton of bullets. Then there's the dodge roll move. This thing has helped me out more times than I can count. Yeah, you move in many different directions to dodge bullets, but dodge roll gives you invulnerability when you use it. Now I just need to work on doing a dodge roll in the right direction. Sometimes dodge rolling away from a string of bullets isn't the best option when I've got bullets coming at me from behind. Making those split second decisions can sometimes mean the difference between proceeding with a run or having it end right there.

The interactive rooms are all kinds of fun to screw around with. You can blow up explosive barrels to kill enemies faster among other things. Even some of the enemies that go boom can be used to take out other enemies. Using tables for cover is a favorite strategy and depending on the positioning of the tables, you can line 'em up to hide behind a row of them. Really cool stuff.

However, for all my getting gud at Enter the Gungeon death still gets the better of me. Yeah, that one run where I (barely) killed a boss and got to the second area was great. I had one run where I found this gun that shot sizable laser beams that be bounced off walls and foes to hit multiple targets. Lost it and my run during a boss fight. Dodge rolled the wrong way and right into the boss once. Seriously, just recalling those failed attempts makes me sigh heavily. And I know I've got so many more deaths ahead of me as I improve at this game.

If you're thinking about playing Enter the Gungeon, know that this isn't gonna be some game you immediately breeze through. There will be a lot of deaths, pain, suffering and maybe even some broken controllers depending on how prone you are to gamer rage. I wouldn't say I like Enter the Gungeon as much as I do Downwell. Of the few roguelike games I've played, Downwell is still my favorite, but I am glad I finally got around to playing Enter the Gungeon and I do like it. Maybe I'll like it even more if I ever get around to completing a run.

Tata for now. The Gungeon is calling.

Sonic Speeds Towards Box Office Success

February 14th has came and went and with it, the debut of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie. I don't believe anyone was expecting the Sonic movie to make billions. I mean, this is a live action video game adaptation and while there have been good ones such as Mortal Kombat and Detective Pikachu, there have been fare more stinkers like Double Dragon and Super Mario Bros. That said, there appears to be a Sonic boom at the box office as it seems Sonic fans are in a rush to see the blue blur on the big screen. This opening weekend, the Sonic movie has manged to rake in $70 million. The film's strong opening numbers could have the four day weekend to thank and there being no major competition in the theaters on opening weekend and while I do think there is some truth to that, I think there's more to it than just that.

When fans across the globe said they would support this movie after producer Jeff Fowler said Sonic would get a redesign after the backlash that spun out from the hedgehog's original look, I think it is pretty clear that those fans stood by their words. That and that second trailer? It just looked miles better than the first one. I laughed out loud at that trailer several times on multiple viewings of it. Of course, one cannot also overlook the fact that the Sonic movie is rated PG, meaning, this is a family film, a kids flick even, which is by no means a bad thing.

With great success comes great salt and man, are there some Sonic movie haters out there. We've had folks on Twitter slamming this film and even bots spouting nonsense about stuff that isn't even in the film. This comes from angry Birds of Prey film fans. Hold up, there's a Birds of Prey movie? I honestly did not know that movie was a thing until the Sonic movie started get shots taken at it from the Birds of Prey Twitter bots. Oh and this all happened days before the film came out. The fact that Sonic mania is sweeping theaters and Sonic is running with such a huge chunk of cash on its opening weekend is probably making the salt flow like wine for these haters. Sure, there are some DC films I wanna see such as Shazam and I'm stoked for Wonder Woman 84 but I've got no interest in seeing Birds of Prey.

I haven't seen the Sonic movie myself but as a fan of the fastest thing alive, I am loving that this movie is so successful. From what I'm hearing, this is a legit enjoyable film with a number of top notch performances. I hear Jim Carrey is in awesome form but Ben Schwartz, the guy voicing our favorite blue hedgehog, hit a home run. I had a feeling he would when I saw that second trailer. Rodger Craig Smith does an awesome job voicing Sonic but I didn't mind that they picked a new voice actor for Sonic's movie debut and I think they did well selecting Mr. Schwartz. For many, I suspect hearing that good voice talent in the first trailer was hidden beneath that hideous first design. So even though I haven't seen it yet, it really sounds like the Sonic movie is more than fine. Best film ever? Nah, and I don't expect it to be. But a good video game flick that does the character justice? Dang skippy. Can't wait to see it.

And no, I do not apologize for my Sonic puns.

Favorite Tunes #280: Beat Them Up!

Like the subtitle for this week's Favorite Tunes? That has gotta be one of the best song names ever. No, this isn't a beat 'em up themed week. In fact, not a single beat 'em up is among the games I've select this week, and no the Smash-inspired brawler does not count.

Acid Man Stage - Mega Man 11 (PS4, NS, XBO, PC)

Mega Man returned after a very long hiatus in Mega Man 11 in October of 2018. The game did pretty well for Capcom, surpassing the million mark in worldwide sales. People often say the music of MM11 is one of the weaker aspects of the game. It certainly wouldn't crack my top five MM soundtrack list, but there are some really good tracks in here. I enjoy all eight of the Robot Master Themes.

Select Your Fighter - Roof Rage (PC, NS)

A super fun platform fighter, there are two ways to win in Roof Rage, deplete your opponent's life bar or knock them off the stage. The game really excels in local multiplayer but the Switch version needs some patches before I'll give local 4 player multiplayer another go as the game kept crashing on us. Until then, I'll be jamming out to the soundtrack.

Beat Them Up! - Romancing SaGa (SFC)

For the longest time, the Romancing SaGa trilogy had only been released in Japan. The past few years has changed that as not only was a remastered version of Romancing SaGa 2 released in the west, but a remaster of the third game also followed suit. No word on if or when Square Enix will release a remaster of the original game. I've yet to play of of the games in this trilogy but I have heard the soundtracks and all three of them are excellent. This is one of the many excellent battle themes, not just in the Romancing SaGa trilogy but the SaGa series as a whole.

Endless Echo - 20XX (PC, PS4, XBO, NS)

If your Mega Man X senses are tingling, they have good reason to do so. From the character designs, dashing, wall jumps, 20XX doesn't even try to hide the fact that it took clear inspirations from the 20XX version of the Blue Bomber. Still, 20XX is not some MMX knock off, but another one of those much loved roguelike games. Rather than go for more SNES hard rock style of music that the X series is known for, 20XX's music is more in line with NES instruments although without all the system limitations that the first six NES MM games had.

Chasing Down the Miniboss - Kirby: Triple Deluxe (3DS)

This game happens to be Chuggaconroy's latest LP so I've got this game's cherry soundtrack in my head once again. If you were to ask me which is my favorite 3DS Kirby title between this and Planet Robobot, I'd say Planet Robobot without hesitation, but you really can't go wrong with either.

Inkwell Isle Two - Cuphead (PC, XBO, NS)

One of the best Microsoft exclusives, came to the Switch last year and the game runs really dang well. Not long ago, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate received a Cuphead costume for Mii Gunner and purchasing the costume even got you the track, Floral Fury. I personally would have went with a different track, but I won't complain about having Cuphead music in Smash.

Favorite Tunes Database

The Wonderful 101 Gets Another Shot a Life

Developed by PlatinumGames and released late in 2013 for the Wii U as a second party title, The Wonderful 101 bombed at retail. Despite this, the game did manage to find fans and was one of the few titles on the Wii U that did not receive an enhanced port. Until now. Founded by Kickstarter, The Wonderful 101 Remastered will be heading to the Switch, PS4 and PC (sorry, XBO owners) getting a much needed shot at life.

The Wonderful 101 Remastered heading to platforms other than the Switch might come as a surprise. After all, it was thought that Nintendo owned the IP. Details aren't all divulged, but Nintendo was cool with W101R going to other platforms, which is awesome because more people will get to play the game.

W101 was one of the first Wii U games I picked up. With it not selling well, I was able to pick it up for $30 at Target. I didn't play a great deal of it, probably only a few hours and I recall struggling to execute some maneuvers but I enjoyed the little time I played of W101. Other games took priority over it, but W101 was a game I'd hope would make it to the Switch. Now I've got my wish and then some. The game received overwhelming support on Kickstarter, quickly racking up enough cash for PS4 and PC versions. With 30 more days to go as of this writing, we could get that remixed soundtrack ($1.75 million for it) in no time. Even as I was writing this post, I've watched that number climb more than once.

I want to play W101R and finish the game. I really like the art style of the game and those domino masks all the characters wear really do make the costume. Can we get a W101 art book? I would love to see all the rough draft, sketches and final designs that went into creating everything about this game.

Not only am I going to buy W101R, I plan to buy several copies. I'm getting some for my nieces, nephew and my co-workers. With the Kickstarter for this game being such a runaway success, I'd hate to seethe game not sell 2 million copies or more. I think that the reason W101R's Kickstarter took off the way it is due to the original game having fans and PlatinumGames is known for putting out very high quality titles. Astral Chain says "Sup?"

Byleth Sucks Because Some Members of the Pro Smash Community Said So

So  I'm getting ready for work, checking my phone to see what new videos are available on YouTube. Being a huge fan of Super Smash Bros. and playing Ultimate on a regular basis, I often get recommended Ultimate videos. Even though I hadn't had a cup of coffee yet, I still had to raise eyebrows over ZeRo's video titled "Byleth Is The Worst Smash DLC Character, apparently..." The video isn't really click-baity and I found myself agree with a lot of the points ZeRo brought up. It is a very good vid, but if you don't wanna watch a fifteen minute video, to summarize, well, you see the title of this blog post? Yeah, that.

Anyone that messes around Byleth even for a short period of time will notice two key things: they are slow and the moves they use have a lot of lag. The trade off for those two negatives is that Byleth hits like a truck. Byleth's Down B will break even the healthiest of shields and can kill early. If that weren't enough, Byleth's neutral B is a shield breaker that can reach opponents across the other side of the screen. Every single character in Ultimate has pros and cons. You've got some members in the pro community only looking at the cons.

What makes me roll my eyes about the "Byleth sucks" talk is that such claims are being made when the character has only been out for a week. "B-but, a pro player said they suck!" Yeah, and? They may know the game better than a lot of us mere mortals but that doesn't mean they don't make mistakes. Pro player or not, saying a character sucks when said character's meta is still being discovered is really freaking dumb.

I'd like to point out that there is an aspect of playing Ultimate that the pro "Byleth sucks" crowd isn't taking into account: there's more than one way to play this game. Free-for-alls, stage hazards, items are all a part of Smash's makeup and the competitive crowd's refusal to view the game outside of the bubble they've created for it isn't going to make those ways of playing go away.

Part of me thinks the "Byleth sucks" mentality is in effect is due to them being another Fire Emblem rep. I guess it doesn't matter that Byleth is the most unique rep from the series and that Three Houses has been a very well received game. Byleth is a Fire Emblem rep so we gotta hate 'em. We have so many reps from the Mario games because those games are insanely popular. Same with the number of Pokemon characters in Ultimate and now Fire Emblem is a huge deal for Nintendo, hence the large number of reps from that series. Haters are just gonna have to deal.

As I said above, the meta for Byleth is still being worked out. For crying out loud, Ultimate is only a year old and is going to have long, healthy life ahead of it, no matter how you choose to play. I'd love to wake up to world where casual Smash play is acknowledged by more pro players and people would stop taking pro players word as if it were the gospel. Yeah, reality is often disappointing.

Favorite Tunes #279: Return of the Track

I hope you like some SNES saxophone with your boss music because that's one of the many types of tracks we've got for this week's FT. Also, is one of my new favorite Fire Emblem jams. If you've played Three Houses, you might be able to guess which song it is before scrolling down.

Return of the Creature - Super R-Type (SNES)

This game was my introduction to Irem's R-Type series. Thanks to re-releases, I've had the chance to play the original R-Type, R-Type II and R-Type Final on the PS2. Super R-Type, despite having no check points at all, making it arguably a harder game, holds a special place in my heart. Maybe it will pop up on the SNES games on Nintendo Switch Online. This boss jam is an arrangement of the boss themes from R-Type and R-Type II.

Boss - Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge (GB)

Despite being outsourced to a different company, the first Mega Man title on Nintendo's 4-bit handheld turned out to be a solid entry. At six levels, it is on the short side but it still looks and feels like Mega Man. Even the soundtrack is bangin' with a some dope arrangements of music from the first Mega Man. This boss theme, however, is from Mega Man 2. This may be blasphemous to say, but I think I like this version more than the NES version.

Title - Super Bomberman 2 (SNES)

You'd think Konami would put the Hudson IPs they have to more use and re-release a lot of those older games. We saw the likes of Bomberman '93 and '94 re-released on the Wii's Virtual Console service but not a single game in the Super Bomberman series. Really does suck because Super Bomberman 2 along with the original are some of my favorite multiplayer SNES games.

Character Introductions - FINAL FANTASY Tactics (PS)

I have played very little of FFT but I love, love, LOVE this game's soundtrack. It is one of those scores I can listen to over and over again and still be blown away at how amazing it sounds. This game so needs a Switch port.

Snow Theme - Super Mario Maker 2 (NS)

Perhaps it could be my love for the original game, but the SMB style is one of my favorites for designing courses in Super Mario Maker 2. Great as it is to hear the original Ground and Underground themes, I like a lot of the new music that was added for themes that were originally not present in SMB. This theme will make you jolly no matter how cold it gets outside.

Fodlan Winds - Fire Emblem: Tree Houses (NS)

I love a lot of Fire Emblem music but this track has quickly climbed its way to the top of my list of best FE themes. Thankfully, it is included with Byleth's Challenger Pack in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. If that weren't enough, it is the music for the Fire Emblem Theme in Tetris 99.

Favorite Tunes Database