It may be the end of ROTMK Week, but we're bringing you more flash gold today with HotDiggedyDemons latest flash movie. Hilarious stuff.
Partners
Monday, August 24, 2009
HDD - Junior!
It may be the end of ROTMK Week, but we're bringing you more flash gold today with HotDiggedyDemons latest flash movie. Hilarious stuff.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
VGDC - Rise of the Mushroom Kingdom Pt. Four
The Thwart of Wart. The conclusion of this animated gold.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Farmboy Kenny - Real Life, The Game.
Real Life Graphics, Real Life Gameplay.. all on your 360.. what more could you want?
VGDC - Rise of the Mushroom Kingdom Pt. Three
So Wart was behind the dastardly plan to kill Mario! ... but did he really succeed?
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
PekoponTAS - Top 10 Video Game Theme Songs of all time (Article)
Pekopon discovers some of the best music within video games and shares his top 10 favorites.
A loooooong time ago I posted my “Top 10 Video Game Themes Ever” list, but since then it’s been in serious need of an update. It also didn’t have links to the songs which kinda sucks. So once again I talk about a subject that’s close to everyone’s hearts, video game music. Which are the best? Let’s find out in “PekoponTAS’ Top 10 Favourite Video Game Themes Ever!” I’ll go ahead and deliver the shocker now, there are NO Zelda themes on this list. Yeah, pretty amazing eh?
First an honorable mention. I hate doing honorable mentions, but in this case it's a necessity.
Honorable Mention: Intro to Zero Wing
Yes, we all know the infamous "All your base are belong to us", but have you actually watched the intro without that god forsaken flash video? Have you actually listened to the music? If you ignore the text and listen to the music in the intro, it's actually pretty damn epic. If this was translated properly, this could have been a really amazing intro.
#10: 1-1: Super Mario Bros.
Starting out in epic fashion, 1-1’s theme is not only known by everyone worldwide, it’s also one hell of a catchy tune. Been remixed so many times it’s almost tiring, 1-1 is a favourite among many video game fans. It’s upbeat, it has a strong beat, and it’s as catchy as the Duck Tales Theme song. The only problem with this song is that in terms of audio quality, it’s really dated. Still, that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy this piece of 8bit history.
#9: Zone 1: Super Bomberman 5
I’ve never been too big on the Bomberman franchise, but its theme song is one of the most overlooked main themes ever. What’s even MORE overlooked is the version in Super Bomberman 5. There are just so many layers of music to this song that you could listen to it for years and get a new song each time by listening to all the different layers. Also I’m a sucker for a strong beat, and Zone 1 certainly has that. While I may not be too fond of the games, I’m certainly fond of this song.
#8: Chemical Plant Zone: Sonic the Hedgehog 2
I’m not scared to say it. Sonic music (for the most part) sucks. There’s rarely anything that catches my attention, and most of it just ends up getting annoying with the exception of a few select songs. However the Chemical Plant Zone theme is 100% pure awesome, and is easily my favourite song in the franchise. Sonic 2 gets a billion bonus points for this amazing tune. While Green Hill Zone IS a great song, Chemical Plant Zone totally trounces it.
#7: Splash Woman & Tornado Man: Mega Man 9
I hate to have ties in my lists, but this one is just impossible to choose. Both songs are freaking amazing, but they’re too different to accurately decide which is better. It’s like trying to decide if I like Toby or Henry’s theme better from early Thomas the Tank Engine episodes. It’s just not possible! These themes are epic and super catchy, and they really make the levels more fun. It’s amazing how music can turn a level from frustrating to awesome.
Oh, and I DO know the official names of these songs, but screw that. It’s Splash Woman and Tornado Man to me.
#6: Blackout Basement: Donkey Kong Country
Again, I know this song is officially called Fear Factory, but it’s always going to be Blackout Basement to me. Not only is this song dark, edgy and epic, it also fits the area really well. It’s a dark theme in a level where the entire screen LITERALLY turns pitch black! Again, it’s the music that really adds to the greatness of an already awesome level.
#5: The Moon: Duck Tales
For as overused as this song is, I wouldn’t call it overrated. It’s an amazing song that has ended up being more famous than the actual game itself. If you visit a gaming website of some sort, you probably know what this song is, and as you should. It’s a fantastic Capcom song which rivals, and even EXCEEDS a lot of the classic Mega Man themes. When you look for awesome 8bit music, you turn to The Moon.
Now I will confess that Elmo3000 and I often bring up on skype how the Transylvania and Himalayas theme are often overshadowed by The Moon, but the bottom line is that The Moon truly is the superior theme. I love all the music from Duck Tales NES, (except the African Mines) but the Moon destroys the competition.
#4: Normal Duel: Pokemon Trading Card Game
Pokemon Red is what instantly comes to mind for a lot of Pokemon fans when you say the words “great music”, but the informed people all say “Pokemon Trading Card Game!”. This game has incredible music which is all very well put together, and each song is actually pretty long for a looping video game theme, but the one that steals the show is the song you hear every time you duel a normal card player. One of the most upbeat battle themes ever, but also the most awesome upbeat battle theme. (Sorry Mario RPG)
#3: Butter Buildings: Kirby Series
(sorry I couldn't find a better quality MP3 of the song)
The reason I labeled this one as just “Kirby Series” is because it’s hard to choose which version of the theme is the best. It’s kind of funny how a lot of the most mediocre Kirby games have the best versions of the song. Kirby 64, Kirby’s Avalanche, Nightmare in Dream Land, and Squeak Squad were all very mediocre to downright terrible, but they had most of the best versions of the song. However I have to give credit to the original NES version. It’s funny how this has become one of the Kirby series’ most important themes, even somehow managing to get into Brawl despite not suiting the Kirby arena at all. While Green Greens and the Gourmet Race are Kirby’s two signature themes, Butter Buildings comes close behind, and I bet you it won’t be long until this is turned into the unofficial main theme of the Kirby series.
#2: Puzzle Bobble Theme (PC Version)
This is THE theme of my childhood. While I love the original arcade version, the PC version is really the better song. This is easily THE most overlooked main theme song that is actually really good. It’s insanely catchy, it’s super upbeat, it’s got a powerful beat, and it’s all around really enjoyable to listen too. Now I admit that this mp3 was from a CD that enhanced the songs a bit, but this IS the PC version of the song. If you haven’t played Puzzle Bobble, you should. Though I highly suggest you try and find the original in an arcade as it’s the best version of the actual game. However the PC version is okay, and it has the best version of the song.
#1: The Ending to Yoshi’s Island
Good, lord. This is THE most beautiful video game theme EVER! While my list mostly consisted of catchy upbeat stuff, this song is the total opposite. It’s like if Mozart was still alive and started writing music for video games. Not only is this song absolutely gorgeous, it turns a relatively boring ending into one of the best game endings ever. Seriously, if you just speed up the credits for Yoshi’s Island, then you have absolutely ZERO appreciation for music. Anyone who hears this song and doesn’t find it gorgeous needs to get their ears checked. While Koji Kondo is responsible for some of the most famous video game themes ever, this is by far his strongest work. If Koji Kondo was given the freedom to create more music like this instead of remixing the Mario theme over and over, he would be even MORE of a musical God than he already is.
Yoshi’s Island is a great game, but this song is better than the game itself. The song that makes you feel proud to have beaten the game. The best video game theme, of all time.
VGDC - Rise of the Mushroom Kingdom Pt. Two
Chapter Two in this epic struggle for survival..
Monday, August 17, 2009
VGDC - Rise of the Mushroom Kingdom Pt. One
I am so excited to have this guy aboard, please welcome the one, the only, the ORIGINAL... Randy Solem. Here tonight to present an all time flash classic...
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Rockumentary - Episode Three
Jared Leaves the band and heads off to college, So the band has to search for a new drummer...
Jet Fire's Top 100 Games of All Time (#95 - #90) (Article)
Jet Continues his countdown.
NOTE: ARTICLE WILL BE UPDATED SOON WITH IMAGES.
95. Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
Developer: Naughty Dog
Released on: PS2
Release Date: Dec 4, 2001
As with many games on my list recently, I’ve only played the original Jak & Daxter, so the original’s place is subject to change if I enjoy it’s sequels more. Still, I believe Naughty Dog made a nice progression between their Crash Bandicoot platformers to Jak & Daxter. Instead of small, linear levels like Crash Bandicoot, this game provided you with a nice, big open world based on a large island, and unlike most platformers, Jak & Daxter always kept me immersed by having no loading times between levels. Everything flowed together so seamlessly, with the transition between areas, the constantly smooth animation, bright and colourful areas, and interesting challenges that contained lots of variety (such as the hoverbike moments).
Speaking of transition a second ago, I also enjoyed how the game made sense as to how you got to the next area, by collecting power cells to fuel machines to get you past impassable barriers and locations. It makes more sense and is less generic than the whole “collect a key or magic crystal to open the magic door to another location that has a completely different climate on the other side”. On one more note about transition, you don’t have to worry about your work being reset if you only complete some tasks halfway. If you’re supposed to complete a task, like killing a certain amount of enemies and you only defeat half of them, and end up leaving to explore a different area, the enemy count won’t reset when you come back so you can just resume your mission. When you gain an orb, you won’t be sent back to the start of the level, so you don’t have to keep covering the same amount of ground. I know that some earlier platformers have some of the same aspects, but it’s the accumulation of all of these aspects that just makes Jak & Daxter so seamless.
To be honest, I can’t remember that much about this game, other than the fact that it was extremely fun, held me in front of the television from start to finish, and gave me a reason to collect every single last collectible. While there are many more platformers with more innovative concepts and ideas than Jak & Daxter, this game almost perfects the concept with it’s spot on controls, interesting locations, fun characters and addictive nature. Even though there wasn’t much of a personality to Jak, Daxter was essentially the voice of the game, providing great commentary as I went along my adventure. I even liked how death itself seemed seamless, and Daxter would stand over your body, talking like a smartass all the while. If I can relate Jak & Daxter to an older game, it’s almost like Spyro the Dragon on the original Playstation. The game isn’t particularly hard (although there are a few challenges that will take a lot of tries to complete), but the bright colourful nature and addictiveness related to the aspect of collecting and using your wonderfully smooth control to nab everything makes it an easily accessible game. It’s really something that you can just pick up and play, knowing that not much frustration will exist…only fun will. It’s not groundbreaking (hence, why it is much lower on my list), but it doesn’t need to be as long as it plays really well.
94. Ratchet & Clank
Developer: Insomniac Games
Released on: PS2
Release Date: Nov 4, 2002
“Wow, another platformer!” you ask? Well, platformers and RPGs are my favourite genres, but trust me, this list will have a lot of variety going for it after a few more titles, so bear with me. The reason that Ratchet & Clank ranks so close to Jak & Daxter, is that it does everything that Naughty Dog’s creation does, and more. Ratchet and Clank amps up the difficulty, has better cinematics, story and more engaging characters, more awe-inspiring locales, and even though I thought it would be gimmicky at first, the weapons and gadgets are incredibly creative and fun to use.
To begin, I have to elaborate on the cinematics. Even though this is the first Ratchet game on the PS2 (like, before, I’ve only played the first entry), the cut-scenes still look amazing, and have this Dreamworks-like style to it’s visuals and humour. It makes me feel like I’m watching and playing through a Saturday morning cartoon series. Captain Quark steals the show, giving the most laughs, but the rest of the cast is entertaining enough. Ratchet sounds like Michelangelo from TMNT to me for some reason. Also, since the cut-scenes rely on the in-game graphics, the transition between watching and playing is seamless (although watching my ship fly from planet to planet over and over did get a little tiring). The level of graphical polish and size of each planet’s world is astounding for such an early generation PS2 game. See all those buildings in the screenshot? They aren’t just backgrounds. You can go there, and uncover the game’s many challenges and secrets. There are so many paths to take in each world, leading to more bolts to obtain (to buy new weapons with), and challenges to earn new weapons/gadgets. I was always in a state of collecting, and was always looking forward to that shiny new weapon that was just within my grasp of obtaining, or what new, interesting world was waiting for me next.
And how unique those weapons are! A gun that turns enemies into chickens, anyone? How about robot orbs that circle you, and will explode into anyone who comes close? One of my favourites has to be the Devestator, which is a guided missile that you can control from a first person perspective, similar to the Nikita Launcher in Metal Gear Solid. I know it’s not the most original, but is certainly fun to use, and will get you out of plenty of jams when you can’t expose yourself from cover due to too much enemy fire. The Mine Launcher is also a useful addition to set up an impassable field that will kill pursuing enemies, and the Telsa Claw can send out streams of lightning, locking onto all nearby enemies like a Sith’s force move. Another critical gun to obtain is the RYNO (Rip You A New One), although it costs way too damn much to obtain and is more of a chore to get than a reward. The gadgets also add more moves to Ratchet and Clank’s move set, like the magnetic boots that allow you to walk on walls and ceiling, the grind boots that let you grind on rails (Sonic Adventure 2 style), the heli-pack which gives Clank a propeller (allowing you to jump higher and further), and my favourite, the Swingshot, which allows Ratchet to grapple onto floating orbs, Bionic Commando-style). All of these items add so much more to Ratchet’s move set than about any other platformer out there, making areas very fun and variety-filled to traverse.
What are my downsides to the game? Even though Ratchet & Clank offers up more variety than most platformers, some parts of the game can remain downright tedious and frustrating. On the tedious side of things, some weapons, like the RYNO are far too expensive. You see, through most of the game, you will collect bolts as currency, by defeating enemies, smashing crates, or finding them in hidden areas. Most of the time, by the time you have 100 percented a level in terms of collecting bolts, you can buy a new weapon from the store on the next planet (or shortly after you arrive). However, some of the last weapons to obtain, will require you to go back to the previous planet, and bolt grind until you have enough money to buy them. In total, the last weapons may take a few hours in total of just bolt grinding, and the RYNO in specific, took me over 2 hours straight from bolt grinding in the most bolt rich area in the game. If you want these coolest items, you’re going to have to suffer first.
As for the frustrating aspect, there are a few moments in the game that are truly worthy of controller smashing. One requires swingshotting from buildings to hover cars, and you are under fire most of the time. The camera gets so devilish during this area, that it makes it difficult to see where you land, and sometimes, your swingshot won’t even grapple onto the orbs, while you have to change grapple points in mid-air, causing you to fall to your death, and repeating 10 minutes of the level again until you reach that point. By the time you make it back, these problems make you commit the same mistakes (as well as the lack of familiarity as to what to do, since you were concentrating more on how to get to this area). I literally wasted an hour or two just trying to get past this broken segment. If it weren’t for the chicken gun as a reward for this, I wouldn’t have bothered. One more tedious aspect that I can recall are the hoverboarding moments. Now, I don’t mind a bit of variety in my gameplay. Jak & Daxter had a hoverbike moment, and it was fun. And Ratchet & Clank even had some fun moments where you would either take control of Clank directly (and building up an army of little robots to unleash), or turn Clank into a Super Mecha Death Clank to compete with enemies of larger size. Still, the hoverboarding moments were almost like racing Wizpig in Diddy Kong Racing. If you make one screw up…One Screw up! Then you will have no chance of gaining the lead in front of your other opponents, causing you to replay it over and over and over.
Now, I know I’ve been knocking on Ratchet & Clank’s downsides for a bit, but beyond those few points, the experience is a refreshing and interesting one that I would recommend to anyone who is interested in a good platformer. The worlds are just so imaginative, the weapons and gadgets are a blast to use, the characters and story sequences are fun and have a good sense of humour, and aside from those frustrating moments I mentioned, the game’s difficulty is easy to moderate. I’m definitely going to play it’s sequels in the future, which are more chaotic than this one. Anyways, if there is anyone that is actually interested in starting to play the Ratchet and Clank series, I find that the first game is a perfect place to start. I played this in October of 2008, and it didn’t feel dated at all to me, which is a good sign of a timeless game, seeing as how long ago it was made.
93. Klonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil
Developer: Namco
Released on: PS2
Release Date: July 25, 2001
If anyone hasn’t ever given a Klonoa game a shot just because his name and character design are obscure and cute or because the game just isn’t mainstream, because there are so many more Resident Evils and Final Fantasies to buy, than I pity you…and your children for missing out on such a magical, dream-like experience. For those that aren’t educated as to what Klonoa’s about (which I am sure is about 99%) of the gaming population, it’s a 2.5D sidescrolling platformer that is more about puzzle solving and platforming than action. Picture it like Mario (even though Klonoa’s new design is a little Sonic-ish, don’t let it put you off), only with a higher emphasis on puzzle solving. Klonoa’s main ability to use to solve puzzles is by using his wind ring to inflate his enemies, and use them to interact with his environment. You can inflate an enemy and throw it to your sides (or into the background or towards the screen) to attack other enemies, or to activate switches. You can also use those enemies for double jumps (Klonoa will jump, and then will kick off of the enemy he’s holding for another jump), sending the enemy you were holding careening downward to hit an enemy/switch, allowing you to access new places. Some enemies cannot be harmed from the sides, in which a double jump attack is the way to go, or vise versa. Also, sometimes Klonoa will have to grab an enemy that is in the air, and do the double jump while still in the air, to reach an enemy that is even higher in the air to do the same thing. You can combo your double jumps together and even use your ears to hover in place for a moment if you need that last little boost of air time to reach a platform/adjust your position.
The puzzles do mostly rely on the jumping/throwing mechanic, but there are always different enemy types/action sequences to prevent the game from getting stale. For instance, Bomb enemies will take about ten seconds to explode after you pick them up. You may need to throw that bomb by a certain switch to open a certain door, and then solve a small puzzle quickly to reach that door before the timer goes off, causing the door to quickly open, then close. There are some amazing action sequences in this game as well, by trying to escape a large enemy and raging fires on the rooftops of a rome/Venice style town. The enemy is constantly pursuing you, and will kill you if he reaches you, and you’re required to use quick thinking skills to assess an escape route to take on the fly. There are moments in the game as well, where you will fall off huge waterfalls, shoot from background to foreground from cannons, and surf down rapids while avoiding enemies/collecting gems. All the while, the game looks absolutely bright, colourful, vivid and cartoony with the cel-shaded look on the characters. Another neat feature introduced that was not in the first game is to allow a second player to take semi-control over the dog behind you. The second player couldn’t directly control the dog as it hovered behind Klonoa, but by pressing a button, the dog would fly under Klonoa and knock him into the air for a double (or triple if Klonoa already used an enemy) jump. It’s not really a groundbreaking feature or a full on cooperative experience, but it does allow someone else to jump in and make a little bit of a difference instead of just watching (like the second player in Mario Galaxy).
All in all, Klonoa 2 is a fun, light-hearted platforming experience with a fairly easy difficulty curve. Although this game doesn’t even come close on my list to being as fun and challenging as it’s predecessor, it still offers up enough fun and variety to be deemed a classic in my eyes. Seeing as how the first game is impossible to find right now until Namco releases it’s remake of it in May this year, if you’re into sidescrollers and can find Klonoa 2 for the PS2 at a low used price, then jump at the opportunity. The Klonoa series is truly a hidden gem within the sea of more popular mascots and M-Rated games that is absolutely worth experiencing.
92. Sonic the Hedgehog
Developer: Sonic Team
Released on: Sega Genesis, PS2/PSP (Sega Genesis Collection), PS2/GC/XBOX/PC (Sonic Mega Collection), 360/PS3 (Ultimate Genesis Collection), XBLA/PSN
Release Date: June 23, 1991 (Genesis), Nov 16, 2006 (PS2/PSP), Nov 10, 2002 (PS2/GC/XBOX/PC), Feb 10, 2009 (360/PS3), Aug 11, 2007 (XBLA)
The game that started it all for Sega…was actually the second Sonic game I’ve played. Although the first game may seem like the most monumental Sonic game ever produced, I felt that pretty much all of his 2D Genesis games had surpassed it and left it in the dust. Still, the original Sonic the Hedgehog is a damn fine game in it’s own right, and can’t be blamed for not having the same elements as it’s sequels since it was the first game in the series, and the sequels themselves wouldn’t exist without it. I’m sure that every gamer here has played this game (or at least a Sonic game in general), so I won’t dive into the details on what it’s about or how it’s played. I’ll just explain what I like and don’t like about it.
First of all, I’ll get what I don’t like off my chest. These factors keep the original from surpassing it’s sequels in my eyes. First of all, is the aspect of building up Sonic’s speed. While the original game is still fast in it’s own right, it would take at least 3 seconds to get the hedgehog up to full speed from a jog to a full out sprint. It may not seem like a long time, but there aren’t always long stretches of land to do so. If you get trapped in-between two hills or inside a half-pipe, it can take awhile for Sonic to build up momentum to get out of there…all because one critical move had not been developed yet, the Spin Dash. This dash arrived in Sonic’s sequels and allowed him to curl up in a ball and spin in place really fast, which upon releasing, would send Sonic spinning really fast in the direction you were facing. This move allowed Sonic to instantly accelerate to full speed without any build-up time, making his sequels much faster paced. In turn, this makes the original feel much slower by comparison. Also, that eliminates the spin dash as an attack, so all you’re left with is his roll attack when running, and his jump. Another small nitpick are that there are certain pits in the game containing spikes that will kill you instantly even if you have rings. However, small placements of spikes throughout the level will only cause you to lose rings (or die if you don’t have any). My other beef with the game is how useless the chaos emeralds are. I think collecting them all only nets you a slightly better ending (I’ve only done it once long ago), but the concept of Super Sonic hadn’t come into play yet, so there’s no transforming. This pretty much eliminates any incentive for me to enter the special stages. Plus, the bonus rounds were really annoying, random and confusing to me, and seemed more like a gimmick than anything.
Yes, I’ve complained quite a bit so far, but aside from those two gripes the original Sonic the Hedgehog is still a blast to play, and stays in the spirit as the rest of the Genesis games. Even though acceleration can be slow at times, you’ll still be finding yourself careening through loops, bouncing around off of bumpers, vaulting off of enemies and rolling off of ramps and hills all the while. The stages have some nice variety, such as the classic Green Hill Zone (where you’re running through a grassy landscape with the chequered ground), the Marble Zone (which is a nice transition from grassy fields to lava filled ruins), to the Labyrinth Zone (introducing us to the panic-inducing underwater, drowning-risking sequences), to the Casino Zone (complete with bumpers and flashy lights) to Robotnik’s final stage (with many dangerous traps that could crush and buzz-saw you to death, forcing you to use some caution). I forget exactly how many stages were in this game, but those stood out as being very memorable. When pure level design can be so memorable to get you nostalgic about a certain game, you know the game has succeeded and withstood the test of time, and Sonic the Hedgehog is no exception.
I also have to touch on the visuals and music very briefly. For a first year Genesis game, Sonic the Hedgehog has aged extremely well. Just look at all of the colour, and the animations and frame rate are super smooth and never slow down. The game always runs at a fast pace, and the stage variety always ensures that you’re never looking at the same colour palette for too long. The music is of course, absolutely classic. I played this game for the first time in years, and I could still recall every note from the Green Hill Zone, Marble Zone, and Robotnik’s final zone. The Sonic games had the best music on the Genesis, in my opinion. Also, the sound effect of Sonic picking up rings is the best sound effect of all time in a game for me.
It’s a little difficult to explain what made old Sonic games like this so good, but I think it’s also the simplicity in the controls and gameplay mechanics. All you need is a D-Pad to move and one button to jump. Anyone can instantly pick it up and play it, and a gamer can return to it over 10 years later and instantly familiarize themselves with the controls and flow of the game. You run fast, you pick up rings, you jump, you roll into stuff, and you dodge enemies and traps. That’s it, but it works so well and seamlessly, that I can’t help but grin with pure joy when I pick up the controller. For me, some of the simplest games can be the easiest to get into, and can retain their classic status for years to come. Mario, Sonic, Pac-man, Kirby, Tetris…they aren’t the most hardcore, challenging games like Ninja Gaiden, Contra (without the code), Castlevania, Metal Gear and the like, but their simplicity and easy-going nature makes them so much more compelling to re-experience again and again. Sonic doesn’t need gimmicks to make a great game. As the original shows, a pad and one jump button are all that it takes to whisk you away on a fun rollercoaster ride that is more fun to experience for the moment, and not for a mere end result.
91. Double Dragon II: The Revenge
Developer: Technos Japan Corp
Released on: NES
Release Date: January, 1990
What importance does the second Double Dragon game hold on my list? It was the first beat-em-up game that I’ve experienced, as well as one of my first cooperative games. Not only that, but it was incredibly hard, and I still haven’t beaten it to this day due to this incredibly hard stage where the megaman-esque disappearing and reappearing platforms emerge. By the time I make it that far, I’m on my last life or two, and since the jumping is a bit sloppy, I never catch onto the pattern and timing and plummet to my instant death over and over until I lose. Still, that doesn’t stop the game from being a riot until that point.
Considering that I don’t hold beat-em-ups in the highest light (I do enjoy them, but not enough for many of them to make it in my Top 100), only about 3 games, including Double Dragon II, have made it onto this list. Just to get it out of the way right now, River City Ransom is not on this list, but not because it’s bad or anything. I actually really enjoyed it. However, Double Dragon II had a larger impact on me for reasons I just can’t explain. Both games felt pretty similar to each other when I think about it (aside from RCR’s stat building), but Double Dragon II had a few things that made it very memorable for me.
The first is the challenge. This is a game where you really have to value your life, and shows that if you attempted this in a real-life scenario, you were going to get seriously messed up. Getting the crap beaten out of you by people ganging up, being thrown off or falling off of ledges leading to instant death, and getting caught in traps that take precise timing to survive would stand in your way towards victory. For some reason, some games make it fun to be a sucker for punishment, just to see how far you will make it next time. Most NES games are like this, which make them a joy to play years later to see if you’ll beat the game or if the game will beat you before you die.
Another aspect that I enjoyed was the enemy variety. You had the standard thugs with the spiked shoulder vests, and the kinky whip-toting chicks after you, but you also had intimidating bosses like the Abobos, the teleporting boss at the beginning that would grapple you and the Ninjas that dropped from the helicopter, along with their agents beforehand. I know there were plenty of others that had an assortment of weapons such as chains, flails, dynamite, knives, etc, that you could beat them up for. The stage variety always ensured that you were visiting new areas that weren’t only about beating people up, but trying to get past traps and pits in one piece. My favourite would have to be inside the enemy helicopter, knocking enemies (including bosses) out of the helicopter door when it would open. There was also a suction effect for the door that would pull you out of the chopper if you get knocked down, forcing you to stay on your toes.
There are a few more things to mention. One is the absolute catchy music, which isn’t surprising, since most NES games offer great tunes. Still, I can always hum it, even if I haven’t heard it in forever, and the dinging of the hand sign that tells you to go will always be burned into my brain. It’s timeless. Second, is that this game makes it onto my list for the coop experience alone. Only when playing with a friend is when this game can be enjoyed to it’s fullest. It’s one of those few NES games that I can play with someone else to aim towards a seemingly impossible goal, having fun the whole time doing it, and improving along with that person as we play through it again and again.
Double Dragon II was a game that I consider very challenging, but rarely frustrating. Like many other NES games, it took many tries, skill and memorization to get further in, but never once did it feel like a chore to me. Aside from having that ultimate seemingly unattainable goal for me at the end, it also had the form of gameplay that has you playing for the moment. Every punch, every kick, every enemy blown up by dynamite, every Whirlwind and Flying Knee Strike that sends your enemies off of cliffs to their doom and vice versa when you get thrown, and any lucky or ironic scenarios are just fun to experience for their own particular moments. In Double Dragon II, it didn’t matter to me if I made it to the fourth level or the very last one, because I would be having fun the whole time before that, and maybe someday I will see the end of it.
90. Road Rash II
Developer: EA
Released on: Sega Genesis
Release Date: July 22, 1993
Road Rash II on the Sega Genesis is one of the very few games that I don’t own that is on my list. I really need to go out soon and obtain a copy though, because it’s one of the most addictive and hilariously entertaining racers that I’ve ever played. It’s also one of the few racers that I actually enjoy, and don’t see as a generic “me too” game. In this game you compete in road races on your motorcycle through different countries. Road Rash II requires you to place in at least 3rd place at the end of each race to move forward. The higher your rank, the more money you can earn to purchase faster bikes to keep up with the racers in later levels. However, you can lose money by wrecking your motorcycle or getting busted by the cops. If you can’t afford to do either, the game ends. If I remember correctly, you have to place second or first in the later races as well.
All of that sounds like a decent concept for a normal racer on it’s own, but what makes Road Rash II so fun to pick up and play are it’s weapons, opponents, obstacles, twists and turns in the courses, high speed gameplay, long courses that don’t run laps, and of course the damage meter on you and your opponents. This game is meant to be violent, and it’s not just a gimmick to toy around with, since you’ll need to be an ass to survive. Other bikers will take awhile to catch up to, and every mistake you make brings the people behind you closer. In order to give you an edge when you catch up to someone, or if someone is tailing you, is to use force. You can punch and kick your opponents, and if they happen to have a weapon, you can steal it from them and use it on them and other opponents. You can also attack or ram your opponents into other obstacles, such as incoming vehicles on the road, or signs, trees and other obstacles. Doing so will cause them to go careening off of their bikes, in which they will have to physically get up and run to where their bike crashed to resume the race, which will ensure yourself getting way ahead of them (or vise versa if they do it to you). Since everyone has their own damage meters, your bike, as well as opponent’s bikes can be destroyed. So if you need to focus on destroying some pesky opponents instead of just outracing them, you can do so. Everyone also has their own health meter, so you can knock someone out of the race by simply beating the crap out of them, and vise versa.
So you see, combat is just as heavy of importance as racing in this game, and the opponents aren’t simply punching bags, as they can seriously cripple you, sending you out of the race. All the while, you’ll have to multi-task by keeping an eye on the road and adjusting your speed and turns. If you take that one turn too fast, you may bash into that tree or cow on the side of the road, sending you flying or severely damaging your bike. If you’re focusing on beating an opponent too much, you may not realize that you’re on the wrong side of the road until a truck comes over a hill and sends you soaring (and in some countries, the right side of the road may change, causing you confusion). You may also end up speeding, passing a cop and getting their attention, causing them to run you off the road to bust or kill you. This element of multi-tasking may seem like a lot to handle, but it makes the races more exciting. Even when you crash, the outcome may be so funny and random, that your frustration of losing your place may pass for a few laughs. I found myself actually laughing through most of the races as my brother and I would usually alternate after each race and laugh at our misfortunes or lucky outcomes.
There’s also a two-player mode, but it’s pretty disappointing, since it’s just the two of you on the road without any computer controlled racers to provide random craziness. Although you can pick out what weapon you want to start out with in this mode. I remember picking out a can of mace when I was playing with a friend and just as the race started, I sprayed him in the eyes with it before we accelerated, leaving his guy sitting there and screaming as he held his hands over his face, as I took off ahead of him. Good times.
Anyways, the Road Rash games on the Genesis were simply amazing and fun to play through, and were constantly addicting to see how far you can get, how many people you can destroy, and what kinds of crazy situations you can get into. While all three were great games, all I can remember is having the best time with the second (I think I enjoyed the tracks more). Whether you’re crossing the finish line in first place, or running into an incoming car, which sends your guy flying face first off his bike into the windshield of an incoming cop car (resulting in him getting busted afterwards), Road Rash II is a joy to play.
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Saturday, August 15, 2009
Game Dude - Donkey Kong: The History.
Welcome Game Dude, as he looks at the complete history of DK Games.
PART 1
PART 2
PART 3
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HDD - The Greatest Idea Ever!
Welcome HotDiggedyDemon,and his Flash animations, this one i'm sure you have ALL seen, if not, well... This is probably the most accurate interpretation of the LHC Experiment.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
The Psychotaku Show - Episode Two
He's Back to teach you foolish American's that Japan has the greatest entertainment ever.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
The Psychotaku Show - Episode One
Psychotaku has invaded Control Freeks with his first episode!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Slingshot24 - Golden Sun Megaman 64
Another Golden great from Slingshot!
*Note: This game is also known as Megaman Legends for the PS1 and Rockman Dash in Japan.
So here I have a game that I have loved since I was a child. Megaman 64 for me was my first Megaman title and as far as I know, my first CAPCOM title.
Concept
The concept of the game is this: The world is flooded. Only Islands ramain. People called Diggers are essentially treasure hunters. They wander across the sea in their flying machines in search for treasures buried in installations loacated on islands. The greatest treasure of all is called the Mother Lode. This is the prize most diggers seek.
Story
Now for the main story. You are MegaMan, a digger aboard the Flutter, a ship piloted by Grandpa Barrel, and Co-Piloted as well as repaired by the mechanic Roll.
The game begins in what seems like a dungeon. Inside Megaman encounters mutliple enemies referred to as "Reaverbots". These are essentially rogue robots that attack on sight. As you venture through this dungeon, Roll talks to you giving advice and direction. Eventually you happen upon what is called a refractor. This is basically a valuable energy source that when found is used to either power a vehicle or used as a form of money called "Zenie". (Just like in DBZ! :D ) Upon collecting your refractor, you encounter a giant reaverbot. After his defeat you exit the dungeon only to see a cutscene of megaman leaving in a cliche` way.
Believe it or not, this is just your introduction.
The game resumes to show some sort of malfunction occurs in the Flutter causing you to crash land on Kattelox Island. Here the story truly begins. As you leave your crash site you head to town to find help only to discover some guy got lost in a dungeon and you must save him.
You save him, he thanks you, he runs home. You then learn that the ship will take some time to repair, and a new refractor to be able to head back out. You then are basically stranded so you go check out the island's problems. On this adventure, Megaman encounters new foes and searches the vast interconnected dungeons of Kattelox as well as learns of the island's mysterious legends all while saving the island from the vil plans of the Bonnes.
The story is unlike regular megaman games as it is a linear plot rather then played however you want. It is told with fully animated cutscenes that include voice acting.
(I'm sorry my closing description is lacking but I never want to risk giving away the details of the story.)
Gameplay- Movement, Combat, Difficulty, Saving
Movement
The game's movement gives you a few options. you move forward and back with the control stick, strafe with Z and R, and jump with A. The game controls fairly well and generally causes few problems.
The game has a bit of a platforming element to it as you do need to jump from place to place to do what is necessary. You grab onto ledges if needed and have to navigate areas to progress. One can also perform a dodge-roll by performing a smash bros esque side smash. This makes the player invincible for the time rolling which proves quite useful. Jumping and movement speed can be increased through the use of jumping springs and the skates that allow for quicker movement and higher jumping.
Additionally, after finding one of the refractors, MegaMan gains access to the "Support Car" which acts as a teleportation system.
Combat
As far as combat goes, your primary weapon is- you guessed it- The Megabuster. In addition to this, there are multiple acquirable weapons that can be developed by Roll once you bring her the parts. Then by selecting Item Development, she will check your inventory and see what she can do. There are tons of weapons, but you can only equip one at a time. you can also upgrade these. You megabuster also can be upgraded by attatching parts to it that have different effects such as range, power, and rapidness of shots fired. The amount of ammo you have is just like regular Megaman games where the Megabuster is infinite but other weapons are not. Each unique weapon also has its own feature. Some are landmines, others are homing missiles.
When fighting, one can lock onto an enemy and fire from one spot, and while strafing, one can fire their weapons with reduce accuracy from special weapons. The Megabuster is basically auto locking so movement is no issue there.
MegaMan also has Actively useful armor that can absorb a hit before you take damage. This armor can however be broken and all attacks will directly affect MegaMan's Health.
Aside from reaverbots, there are massive Bosses the player (That's you) must face that have only certain weakspots that may require platforming to reach and that deal massive ammounts of damage when they hit you.
Difficulty
When looking back on this game, the thought of itsdifficulty has one key idea in mind... "OMFG THIS GAME WAS HARD!!!!! >:(" Being the age I was may have contributed to my issues with the difficulty of this game, but I often was faced with a haunting GAME OVER screen at each turn. Certain Elements allow for greater ease while playing such as the Helmet or Jumping Springs, which when assembled by Roll allow for impact resistance when landing on your head, or higher jumping to avoid attacks. In addition, one can purchase Armor upgrades and extra health canisters in your "canteen" which can be selected from the start menu. This proves to be incredibly helpful as enemy attacks become Nerf'd in your progression through the game with armor, and health can be restored at will with the canteen.
Saving
To save your game, MegaMan must find the monkey-robot assistant named Data (The Pikachu to Megaman's Ash) Finding this little guy can be hard as you can only usually save outside of dungeons and prior to some boss levels. Data when met can also restore your health and Ammunition. This will save your life. Data could also be found in the support car.
Characters
MegaMan Volnutt- That’s You!
The game’s protagonist and an all around awesome dude.
Roll:
The Fludder’s Co-Pilot and Mechanic of the Crew. Seemingly MegaMan’s love interest. She can build and fix just about anything, including weapons and vehicles.
Data: The Pikachu to MegaMan’s Ash
MegaMan’s personal Monkey-Bot. He saves your game and recovers Health and Ammunition.
Data and Roll
Barrel “Gramps” Caskett:
Owner of the Fludder and its Pilot. Found MegaMan as a baby and raised him as his own.
The Bonnes:
A family of Pirates and constantly recurring enemies of MegaMan. There are Three- Tron who falls in love with our hero, Tiesel, the leader, and Bon, the “Baby” who is a robot himself. They are served by underlings called servbots (Often mistaken for Lego-Men)
Additional Bits - Easter Eggs and Trivia
This game had some interesting features that proved sometimes completely random and unexpected. There are mini-games that can be played for cash found in one of the districts of the town. Some interesting Easter eggs include kicking a tin can into a bakery which in turn earns you 1000 Zenie followed by a "Please recycle your cans" message, or when purchasing a soda from a machine, instead of buying it, kicking the machine will either score you a free drink or blow the machine up. Also, MegaMan 64 seems to have a light side-dark side element as when doing certain things such as getting a free soda by kicking the machine that give your armor a darker tint that can turn into a harsh dark blue and black as a result of your miscreant ways. Also, you can sometimes pick up random things and give them away for something. You can also search through trash cans for items.
This game also teaches two VERY important lessons. Do not approach stray dogs, and ALWAYS look BOTH ways when crossing the street.
On the N64, this was one of the few games that had a Colored Cartidge on some of the copies. (I owned one but was robbed forcing me to buy the gray cartridge edition as a replacement -_- )
Lastly, this game had a Playstation Exclusive Sequel Called Megaman Legends 2.
This character model of megaman seems to have evolved into what we know as the MegaMan Battle Network version we see today.
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Sorry this is so dang lengthy (4 MS Word pages) but I had a lot to say. Probably need to cut down on some info. Critique is WELCOMED! :D
Love ya,
Stan.
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PekoponTAS featured in GamesTM magazine!
Control Freeks Very own PekoponTAS was featured in GamesTM Magazine! Check out the Article here! Congrats Pekopon!A few months ago I emailed someone at GamesTM’s website and asked if I could be featured in the “Collector’s Corner” part of the magazine. Basically it’s a section that talks about a rare game, and there’s a brief Q&A with someone who owns it. I suggested myself with Space Squash for the Virtual Boy, and they accepted! I typed up my answers, sent them in, and waited about three months for it to appear in an issue. Not only did I get featured, but I got a copy of the magazine mailed to me free of chare, and I got it a MONTH before it would be in stores here in BC. I took the time to scan the two pages and post them here. I’m sorry the images are so huge, but they need to be in order to read them. Also keep in mind that the only part I wrote was the answers to the questions on the second page. I did not write the article itself.
Pretty awesome if you ask me. :)
-PekoponTAS
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Wednesday, August 5, 2009
PekoponTAS - Super Mario Bros 3. TV Series (Article)
Pekopon Returns and reviews "Super Mario Bros. 3 The animated TV Series".
A few days ago I bought the “Batman The Complete Animated Series” DVD box set. It’s an awesome show, and seeing it for the first time is a real joy. However a couple days later I bought something else I was seeing for the first time, “The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 The Complete Series” The best way I can compare the quality of watching these two shows back to back is to say you just finished watching the very first season of Thomas the Tank Engine on the Strand VHS tapes voiced by Ringo Starr, and then skipped to Season 12 and forced yourself to sit through the whole season no matter how painful. While Batman to Super Mario Bros. 3 might not be THAT painful, it’s the best I can come up with.
So as you may have guessed, sitting through The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 was NOT an easy task. Generally if I don’t like a show, I’ll stop watching! But in this show’s case I felt I should get my 20 bucks worth and sit through it all no matter how much it hurt. I have a new found respect for the Nostalgia Critic and other such reviewers. Sitting through a show you don’t like is tough, but at least you get to share with the rest of the people how bad it was.
To begin with, I feel I should point out that I had NO knowledge about the Mario Bros. 3 show. I knew about The Super Mario Brothers Super Show, and I knew about the Super Mario World show, but I had NEVER heard of a Mario 3 show before. Since it was only 13 episodes I foolishly assumed that it might actually have a continuous story line, but sadly I was wrong.
So the show is about Mario, Luigi, Toadstool, and Toad getting attacked by King Koopa (or Bowser Koopa as they rarely call him) and his koopa kids, and Mario of course has to put them back in their place every cartoon. Now I’ll be honest and say that I freaking love the Koopa Kids. There’s something that’s just so cool about them in the games, and you bet your ass I was excited when I heard they were going to be in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Unfortunately they managed to take most of the kids and turn them into really annoying characters. The only likable one (which luckily enough has always been my favourite Koopa Kid) is Ludwig von Koopa, who was renamed Kooky for some reason. In fact, all of the koopa kids got new names. Why? Why did they feel that was necessary?
Easily the most annoying character in the whole show is Kootie Pie, usually known as Wendy Koopa. Every second of her on screen time feels like an hour. She’s self centered, a cry baby, a spoiled brat who King Koopa is far too forgiving to, and of course annoying enough to make a viewer want to shoot themselves. I find it funny yet also sad how the hardest boss in Mario 3 suddenly turned into the biggest loser in the show. It wouldn’t be so bad if she wasn’t in it too much, but there were a bunch of cartoons revolving around her. Her only redeeming scene was when she was threatening two band members who King Koopa kidnapped. What would she do if they didn’t play for her? She’d turn them into accountants!
Alright, I admit that’s kind of funny.
While we’re still focusing on the Koopas, the King is kind of a wuss in this version since he acts far too much like a father and not enough like a ruler. He just comes off as a loser villain. One of his best scenes though was when he threatened to throw Kootie Pie in the dungeon unless she got rid of the band members I mentioned earlier. YES! Throw that brat in the dungeon!
My favourite character is actually Toad. Even though a lot of people hate him due to the whole “Princess is in another castle” bit, he’s actually really likable in this show. He gets the best lines, his voice is actually pretty accurate to what it is today, and he’s home to FOUR of my favourite continuity issues.
Yeah you knew this was coming. The Mario cartoons are infamous for their bad continuity, but it wasn’t until I watched this show that I really knew how bad it was. Sure there’s the typical thing where nothing stays the same colour for more than 2 seconds, but there are bigger ones too. I’ll list off some of my favourite continuity issues, starting with toad.
In the episode where Toad, Mario, Luigi, Koopa and Ludwig all turn into babies, Toad has peach feet for a while indicating he has no shoes. Then half way through the episode he suddenly has his purple shoes back, and they never fix it. He has them the rest of the episode. Also in the same episode, Toad is supposed to just be wearing a diaper, but in one shot he’s fully clothed like his normal self.
In one episode the Princess is in Toad’s house while Toad, Mario and Luigi are fighting giant pipe monsters. We clearly see toad with Mario and Luigi, but then it cuts to Toadstool opening the door to toad’s house, and toad is with her! Then it cuts back to Mario and Luigi and Toad is with them! As if it wasn’t bad enough that one time, they cut back to the house again, and Toad is still with Toadstool! WHAT THE HELL?! Can Toad Teleport?!
Moving on to other characters, In the first episode Luigi’s green clothes turn blue, and later in the SAME cartoon he turns RED!
In the same episode there’s one shot where Koopa doesn’t have his crown, and then when it cuts away from his close up he has it!
And here’s another favourite. In one episode Larry Koopa is under a wrestling ring setting up a trap. It then cuts to Koopa in the audience, and Larry is sitting with him! It then cuts back to Larry under the ring!
Lastly in an episode with a tv hero known as Mighty plumber, he and Koopa are in a treasure room when water starts falling. In one shot the water sort of splits up in mid air, and it’s obvious that Mighty Plumber is SUPPOSED to be standing under there next to koopa. HOW DO YOU MISS THAT!? WERE THESE CARTOONS MADE IN A HOUR?!!!
How did they manage to screw up so many big things?! There’s a billion other things I could point out Like how the koopa kids change colour constantly, Luigi’s colours were reversed, and how raccoon Mario didn’t have his raccoon ears, but I’d be here all day if I listed everything.
Oh, and let’s not forget the HORRIBLE songs in every cartoon. They even reused one of them! None of those songs are good, or even tolerable. If you aren’t ready to pull out your hair by the end of the song, well you have a bigger tolerance for pain than I do. At least they’re short.
Now to the show’s credit, there are a couple of good jokes and funny scenes, but mostly with toad. In one episode Luigi built a really crummy looking steam powered sled out of pipes. He asked Toad and Toadstool “Do you like it?” to which Toad replied “compared to what?”
Good line.
Another scene with toad that cracked me up and made me burst out laughing was when Toad and Toadstool were in Hawaii, and Toad was laying in a beach chair when a little girl and her dad saw him. The girl asked “Daddy, why does that kid have an umbrella on his head?” Toad replied, “Eat Pineapple Kid”. When looking back it actually makes no sense, however Toad said it in such a tone of voice that you knew it meant “piss off” and that made it hilarious. Though it’s certainly a one time only joke as it makes no sense the next time.
Now I’m going to do you a favour and show you the ONLY cool scene in the entire show. It’s when Mario and Luigi do a special move that looks exactly like a Bros. Attack move from Mario and Luigi Super Star Saga. It’s 57 seconds into the vid.
It isn’t a bros attack move, but it would fit right in if they put it in a game. I could watch that for seven minutes straight. (hey, it’s cool, but not THAT cool)
Now there aren’t really any movie parodies in this series, so thankfully it’s all original stories with a few possible exceptions. It also doesn’t try to be as much like the game as the Super Show did, and that helps. In fact, episode 5 was actually really good! It’s the only salvageable episode, and MAYBE episode 6 can be salvaged as well. Everything else sucks though. It’s poorly written, badly animated, and probably DEcreased sales of the game rather than INcrease them.
The show has some salvageable bits, but other than that it’s downright awful. Now I know a lot of people will say “well what did you expect?” to which I’d reply “I expected SOMETHING.” Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to continue watching Batman the animated series to cure me. While I'm recovering, you can laugh at this funny screenshot I took.
lolololololololol
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Riz - Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
Amazing. One word that sums up Donkey Kong Country. Watch Aussie's review to rediscover why Donkey Kong Country helped the SNES hit greatness!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Jet Fire's Top 100 Games of All Time (#100 - #96) (Re-Post) UPDATED!
Welcome Jetfire and his ALMIGHTY LIST! Readers, this will get your rocks off!
It's been a long, long road throughout the last three months of writing this gigantic list, and despite the amount of time it took to produce, I enjoyed every second of writing it. Also, I have to thank everyone again for the overwhelming support that they have given me. I don't think that my list would have turned out half as good without the confidence that everyone gave me. This list is insanely long, so I would suggest bookmarking it so that you can read it at your own pace until you're finished. I thought it would be worth compiling all 100 entries into one list to make it easier to browse through for you all, so with that, I did, and I'm surprised that my computer didn't explode my loading it all up.
On another note, I've revised my #100th entry with a new game that's barely cracked my list, so sorry Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, but there was a better game out there. Also, check back later for my honorable mentions list, as well as Thunderbird's next interview, since I'm the interviewee. Well, there isn't much to say beyond this point, only for readers to keep in mind that this purely a personal list and in no way am I speaking on the behalf of everyone else with my entries. It's quite a wall of text to read through, I know, so please treat my 100 entries as 100 reviews as well, as sit back, relax, and enjoy!
100. Beyond Good & Evil
Starting off my Top 100 Games of All Time list with a revision from my original list, Beyond Good & Evil just barely cracks my list, and pushes Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin just barely out of my Top 100 list. That's right everyone, I'm giving you a bonus (and I'm not just putting the game here for the sake of doing it. I played it while writing up my list, and in my honest opinion, it was good enough to just barely enter it)! What makes this game so worthwhile of entering my Top 100? How about a great story with amazing presentation, possibly the best female protagonist that I have ever seen, and gameplay that is a mixture of The Legend of Zelda, Metal Gear Solid and Ratchet & Clank.
Beyond Good & Evil takes place on the planet of Hillys (a planet composed mostly of water with many islands), where an insect-alien race known as the DomZ that abduct residents of Hillys whenever they can to drain them of their life force, or to convert them as one of their own. At the time of this pandemic, a sudden military squad known as The Alpha Sections, takes charge of defending the residents of Hillys, but they never seem that proactive about preemptively attacking and stopping the threat, rather than just sitting around defending the populace, in which they are not always successful. You play as Jade, a young photographer/reporter who lives and protects a local orphanage at a lighthouse. Alongside her guardian figure, Pey'j (a pig-like human [there are lots of non-human races on Hillys too]), they join and underground network of journalists called the IRIS network, as there is suspicions that the DomZ and Alpha Sections may be related to each other, and it's Jade's new job to expose the truth of the matter.
The game is quite cinematic, often conveying strong emotions within the characters and a nice, strong, presence of mystery throughout the game as Jade unravels the truth. The whole game feels like a mature, 3D animated movie most of the time, not only through the expressive and well-acted cutscenes, but even through the use of the game's camera quite often in order to make the experience feel more movie-like (most notably the stealth scenes). Overall, while the story isn't the most deep and complex that I have ever seen, it genuinely made me care throughout the whole game, and gave me a sense of devotion and urgency when key moments happened in the story for me to see the game through to the end. Like I said before, Jade makes for an extremely good female protagonist in this game, by being responsible, confident, a good leader, talented, and athletic (but not in a stereotypical ass-kicking chick sort of way. She can kick ass, but she's not overpowered just so that the game can supposedly remain as far away from being sexist as possible). Even her attire is tasteful and has a lot of character to it. The story also moves along at a brisk pace, right up to an epic presented final boss fight that relies on reflexes rather than whittling down a life bar.
Gameplay-wise, it's really addicting. Beyond Good & Evil has an over-world and dungeon designs that are somewhat akin to The Legend of Zelda (not in how the world looks, but by how clever that puzzles and area progression works). It's addictive to explore, and solve puzzle after puzzle throughout dungeon/fortress-like areas, which gives a very rewarding sense of accomplishment when you figure things out that have been stumping you for quite some time. The game is quite a collect-a-thon as well, with you needing to constantly acquire currency and pearls in order to progress in the game (pearls are used to buy new devices to upgrade your hovercraft in terms of the abilities it can pull off, to eventually upgrading it into an aircraft, and then into a spaceship). Currency can be used to buy some of the pearls as well as upgrades for Jade's maximum health as well as your vehicle's health (currency can be earned as payment for sidequests, or by breaking open containers). Pearls can be earned by taking on certain challenges/sidequests (such as races or air hockey), by finding them in secret areas around Hillys or the main dungeon/fortress areas or taking pictures of every species on Hillys with your camera (by taking at least 8 new species photos, your data is transferred to your employer, who pays you with a pearl). Aside from the story, you're always in a constant state of collecting, earning and upgrading, which can be quite addicting outside of the story-related action sequences. It felt a little like Ratchet & Clank with the addictive-ness of it's collecting, but near the end of the game, collecting currency can be a pain in the ass, if you've already expended a ton of your cash and have done all of the missions and taken all of the photographs (leading to lots of crate-smashing).
The main bit of the action and stealth in this game comes into factor whenever you're embarking on a story-related mission to a dangerous area (or sometimes stumbling on a dangerous soldier-heavy area in the world, who happen to be guarding pearls). There are a few missions within the game that revolve around teamwork with Pey'j, to fight against different enemies and bosses, and to solve different puzzles, but a quarter or third through the game, a lot of stealth elements are introduced (the previous elements are still there, but just not as strong as before). This leads into a little bit more of a Metal Gear Solid-like feel, without the radar. You'll have to use your wits, memorize enemy patrol patterns and create distractions or find safe places to surprise and pick off soldiers if you want to survive and progress (while solving various puzzles all the way). It's really fun and fresh at first, but I won't lie that it started to get a little tedious (and downright frustrating at a few parts) near the very end of the game. However, the tedium doesn't arrive too early that the game stops being fun, but I did feel as if the game could have ended a few hours earlier.
Finally, going back to the presentation of the game, Beyond Good & Evil may be old, but it's world is extremely original and fresh, it's visuals have a unique and well-polished style to them (as well as being very well-animated and uses a great ambient colour scheme). The music, while not incredibly memorable, does suit each scene very well, and I can remember the tunes of the epic, orchestrated final boss battle music, as well as the powerful music that brings a lot of emotion to some important cutscenes. All of these factors makes it a cinematic experience. To end this entry off, Beyond Good & Evil is pretty short...possibly around 10 to 15 hours. However, you can find it dirt cheap nowadays, and I highly suggest picking it up before it's gone, becomes rare, and gets pricier (I got mine for under 10 bucks). Beyond Good & Evil provides a lot of value for your dollar. Just make sure that you're the patient type when playing this game (while being someone who values a well told story), and you should be satisfied.
99. Panzer Dragoon Orta
Another first in a series for me, Panzer Dragoon Orta is one of the best on-rails shooters that I have ever experienced. Developed by Smilebit, Orta takes you on a Starfox-esque journey through beautiful landscapes, gunning down creatures and army fleets on the back of your transforming dragon. While this game will only take you a few hours to run through, it offers great variety in terms of multiple pathways to take in each level, the ability to shoot in front of you, to your sides and behind you while you’re locked on rails, the element of using strategy in battle to change between your three dragon forms (Glide, Base and Heavy) depending on your situation, as well as the ability to upgrade each form by touching experience orbs with your desired form that you would like to upgrade.
The levels and atmosphere in particular was what drew me into this game the most. It has a certain charm and impact on the player just through it’s art and design that can’t be matched by many games (similar to the effect that Okami, Shadow of the Collosus, seeing Jet Grind Radio for the first time has on people). Orta will take you through an imperial city during a storm in which other dragon riders are trying to take you down, through forests and waterfalls, deep and complex canyons, fighting a bunch of imperial warships in the bright blue sky (as your dragon won’t just fly straight, but fly at all different altitudes while weaving around ships avoiding gunfire), running through a snowy mountain during a snowstorm, flying through futuristic tunnels and combating an epic multiphase boss fight during sunset. Also, as I’ve mentioned, the use of multiple pathways will ensure that you have new content to experience through multiple play-throughs of the game.
Orta also contained a great deal of challenge and strategy. Even the easiest difficulty had some very tough moments, such as the final boss. The ability to change your dragon’s form on the fly was an excellent key element in this shooter. You started out in your Base Wing form, which is the medium size for your dragon, and is the all-rounder within your arsenal. This form contains a decent speed boost (and speed boosts are also used as a head on attack, aside from being used to dodge attacks), decent homing and regular fire capabilities. When you changed to your Glide Wing form, you could boost longer and use it more frequently, but lost your homing capability in trade for a higher rate to regular machine gun fire (which was essential for destroying volleys of missiles headed your way). Finally, the Heavy Wing had no boosting as far as I can recall, but still had a lock on ability (although it couldn’t lock onto as many targets as the Base Wing). However, it had the most damaging attacks, which was crucial for large enemies and bosses). Finally, you could also eventually build up a super attack, which depending on your form you choose, will launch it’s own destructive attack, easily wiping out enemies and taking chunks out of bosses. Using a fully upgraded Heavy Wing form’s super attack to decimate a boss was so satisfying.
From a personal standpoint, Orta was a visual treat, and an addictive fast paced shooter that felt like you never stopped shooting. It’s one of those quick games that you can dive into, that you don’t feel like you have to give a large commitment just to beat it. You can even just beat a level or two, call it a day, and felt like you had fun and accomplished something. It also feels quite retro for an XBox game, giving a sense of nostalgia to the old shoot-em-ups on the NES/SNES. Sometimes, it’s just plain fun to play a shorter game that relies heavily on skill, strategy and reflexes, rather than a long game in which the only determining factor towards beating it is the amount of time, level ups, and the amount of resources you collect. After hearing about the disappointment known as Lair, I’m glad that there’s at least one series out there that allows you to ride a dragon and shoot the f*** outta things.
98. Odin Sphere
While were on the subject of artsy games, I cannot stress enough about how phenomenal the visuals are in Odin Sphere. Believe me, I’m one of the last kinds of people who would believe graphics make a game. Gameplay is the most important aspect. Luckly, Odin Sphere’s gameplay matches it’s original and beautiful visual design. The best of both worlds merge together, on top of a great story that is told Shakespearian-style.
Describing stories is not really my strong suit, so I’ll briefly sum it up. The story starts off with a girl named Alice, sitting in her attic, reading books about the five protagonists in this game. Each book follows their individual stories, followed by a sixth book that will contain their final battles and the conclusion. The plot involves Demon Lord Odin and the valkyries in his realm, waging war against the forested realm of Ringford, which is home to the leader Elfaria and her fairy subjects. He wages war over the Crystallization Cauldron, which is the source that creates the Psypher Crystals (as shown attatched to the protagonists weapons). The stories take place from the points of view of the valkyrie Gwendolyn (Odin’s daughter), the shadow knight Oswald, the prince of Titania named Cornelius (who has a spell cast on him, turning him into a rabbit-like creature known as a Pooka), Elfaria’s daughter known as Mercedes, and an uncursed survivor of the ruined kingdom of Valentine, Princess Velvet. Since all of the characters come from different sides of the war, and some are caught in between, it creates a lot of interesting situations, and allows you to piece together how the story went inside your own head before the final showdown. I love the aspect of how the story is shown from different viewpoints, and seeing each character’s side of the story as well as how they interact with the rest of the cast, provides significant character development. You can even choose who will fight which bosses in the final battle (a word of warning, as only one specific combination of characters can unlock the true ending).
In terms of gameplay, it’s mostly addictive with an interesting way of levelling up and managing your inventory, and has fast paced and frantic combat. However, it does have it’s small share of downs, such as some absolutely frustrating (and I’m not confusing frustrating for challenging) boss fights, as well as backtracking through many of the same environments and not having much in the means of the way of interacting with them. Starting with the good aspects, the way that you progress in Odin Sphere constantly encourages you to collect, absorb phozons, and manage your inventory. You can either choose to level up your max HP or your Psypher (your weapon with the crystal attatched), and balancing what you want to level up can mean the difference between life and death depending on your play style. Leveling up HP is critical to survive, but levelling up your Psypher not only increases your damage that you deal, but also gives you access to new spells/special attacks. Phozons are also the pink spirit particles left behind from killed enemies that you can absorb into your weapon to level up your Psypher, but phozons can also be used to grow fruit (that will increase your HP) that you can either buy or obtain from the plentiful amount of treasure chests around the field. When you plant a seed, the phozons on the battlefield will be pulled into the ground automatically to grow a fruit (or sheep) tree, in which you can pick the items from the branches, and choose to consume the item right away for the experience to level your HP, or to keep it in reserve to restore health when you need it, and gain the exp later. Since your inventory is limited (but your inventory space can be increased by buying a limited number of larger satchels to carry them in), you have to constantly manage your resources (ex. Choosing to consume a fruit for the exp, so you can buy/pick up that new potion that restores 200 HP). You can even use alchemy in this game to create new potions/items which are critical to survival, by combing two items together (also a good way to manage inventory space).
Wow, that was a lot of talk about inventory management, but it seriously is a fun and addictive aspect of Odin Sphere, encouraging a frequent necessity to create/consume items to help your character grow. Since mentioning all of that took so much space to write, I’ll just briefly touch on everything else. The fighting engine is fast and fun, and feels a little similar to the “Tales of” RPG series, only with more emphasis on aerial combat and a larger amount of enemies. Also, each character has their own individual fighting styles, weapons, and have access to some spells/special attacks sooner than others.
As for the negative aspects of the game, there are some insanely frustrating boss battles (I’m looking at you Skuldi), that seem next to impossible, even with a large accumulation of level grinding, HP potions and other helpful/critical items for the situation. Take for example, a wizard named Skuldi. The guy will summon two large shadow monsters that are impossible to injure, as well as jump over without getting hurt. He can call and cast away these creatures at will, and will constantly trap you between the two as they will close in and leave Oswald bouncing back and forth between them, constantly taking huge chunks of damage with hardly any recovery time. Meanwhile, Skuldi will send a constant wave on spells your way to hit you between the creatures, freezing you, setting you on fire, poisoning you, transforming you into a toad that you have to wait about 5 minutes for the spell to wear off). If you do manage to get out of this jam and rush toward Skuldi, you can’t hurt him by physically by attacking him. He will summon and throw a line of swords toward you (in which you will have to be standing at the exact right distance to have enough luck for him to actually cast it), which you must attack and send flying back at him to injure him, in which you must follow up with an attack right afterwards. Like I mentioned, if you stand too close to him, he’ll either teleport across the stage (making you try to avoid the damn shadows again), and if you stand too far back and he doesn’t cast the swords, the shadows will catch up to you and attack you again. Plus, the time frame between hitting him with the swords and doing a follow up attack is so small, you won’t do much damage, or the shadows will get summoned in front of you before you can get your follow-up attack on him. As AVGN said, “you’re really pressed between a bag of piss and a pile of shit on this one”.
Anyways, there are at least three to four boss fights in total that are almost as annoying as Skuldi. Aside from those, all of the boss fights are challenging (even on the normal setting) and truly epic. Not only that, but the bosses and environments are beautifully designed, as if they were all painted right on the screen with bright, vivid colours. This is probably one of the most artistic games you will ever set your eyes on. On the audio side, it also has wonderfully orchestrated music and great voice work. Fans of RPGs/Okami need to pick this game up. Oh, and finishing up on the negative aspects…even though the environments are absolutely stunning, there is quite a bit of repetition in them. Since you play all of the five character’s stories separately, you’re going to cross all of the same environments with every character, as well as having to start from scratch, levelling each one up. The settings are also mostly a backdrop for the combat itself, often having little affect on your gameplay experience. Based on these negatives, Odin Sphere has ended up on the lower ranks on my Top 100 list, but that doesn’t stop it from being a very engaging and fulfilling game. Even though the environments may seem repetitive with not much interaction, the character growth system is absolutely fun and addictive, and I still haven’t even scratched the surface on all of the features yet. This RPG won’t be shown on store shelves for much longer, and I encourage anyone who is a fan of RPGs to pick it up.
97. Tales of Legendia
Like Castlevania, so far I’ve only played two games from the Tales series (Tales of Legendia, and then Tales of Symphonia), and despite Symphonia being more popular among the masses, I’ve got to go with Legendia. I’m not sure if it has anything to do with being the first entry from what I’ve played in this series, but I found Legendia to be a more challenging and longer game than Symphonia, as well as a more complex and fluid one. To me, the plot was a little less cliché, and the characters were far more likeable and had better voicework. While the art style isn’t as powerful as Symphonia, I did appreciate the character design even more. And how much more fun is it to fight through a quest with your fists for your own selfish reasons, instead of the generic sword-wielding main character fighting for world peace?
Legendia was also one of the first RPGs that I have played that featured such a large content of voice work in it, which really helped flesh out the characters. I also felt that this game had characters that had better dialogue between each other, creating stronger and more interesting character relationships than in Symphonia. Remember the little skits that play out on the field in Tales games? Legendia had great ones, and really got me caring about my party. Even though the story was a little generic, I find that a great game or show can truly stand out if the cast is an interesting one. Hence, this is a very strong point for Legendia.
Two other things really made this RPG stand out for me than many others, which are the challenge and the length. It’s also kind of odd saying that, because in some RPGs, the creators can lengthen the game out to absurd levels by adding in too many useless plot points and fetch quests just for the sake of making their game longer. They can also add in an absurd level of challenge that requires you to do nothing but dwell in a boring battle system for hours on end as you try to level grind to beat that one particular boss. However, with Legendia, it never felt like a chore to me, because there was always so much to do that would actually benefit me. Quests wouldn’t only lead to extra items/ultimate weapons, but also to new skits and interesting plot points/dialogue for your characters. The battle system constantly encouraged you to use different skills in order to learn new ones. Workshops encouraged you to combine items to make powerful new ones and bakeries were around to create restorative items to use outside of battle so that you wouldn’t waste your good healing items.
Best of all, after you defeat the final boss in the game and see the ending…it’s not really over. You can partake in a portion of the game which is pretty much like a second half of the game. What it involves is embarking on different character quests for each member in your party. Your team will embark on an added quest that revolves around each character, providing further development, as well as an added challenge. This part of the game is much harder than the main quest, and is much more satisfying to complete. After finishing your character quests, your final quest revolves around defeating the source of evil, which is the most challenging quest that will test all of the skill and effort that you had put into your characters, pushing you to your absolute limits. All in all, I can use one word to sum up the whole experience of Tales of Legendia for myself. Satisfying.
96. Kirby: Canvas Curse
Possibly one of the most original DS games out there, Kirby: Canvas Curse relies completely on the touch screen to control Kirby around the environment, by drawing a rainbow-coloured pathway for him to roll on. Since Kirby had a spell put on him that turns him into a ball, it’s up to the player to guide him around with just the stylus. The most important and fun part of the game relies on it’s control. Draw a line under Kirby and slope it upward to make him travel along it upwards, or do it vice versa. You can send him through loops. Draw quick vertical lines in front of him to bring him to a halt. Draw lines in front of projectiles to block incoming attacks at Kirby. Tap on Kirby to roll him at enemies to attack them (when you don’t have a copy ability, you can just roll into an enemy that has one to copy it), or to activate your power-up that you already have. Last of all, while the game starts off easy, it can get ridiculously hard in the last few levels. However, there is a nice learning curve. Just don’t let the cute looks deceive you.
There isn’t much more I can say about this game, other than it’s just pure, colourful, happy fun in it’s simplest form. Kirby: Canvas Curse is a perfect pick up and play handheld game that could only be accomplished on the DS, and is one of the least mentioned Kirby games from what I’ve seen. In case you’re wondering, “why does Kirby score higher than the other games, when the other games play mechanics are so deep?” Because games are supposed to be fun, and sometimes simplicity is the highest form of fun.
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