Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Tuesday, 13 March 2012
DryChris's Video Game Round-Up Ranch And Grill
Usually I try to review video games separately in a "unique" fashion rather than stuff them all into one blog, but sometimes I decide that I want to get to talking about a bunch of games. This is when the latter comes up. I usually do this because I get a wave of games and I have to talk about them all in one gulp or because I'm lazy to write a bunch of long reviews on each game. In fact I did that in the past around the same time, and I could safely say that it was actually a good way to get through my opinions of each game.
Saints Row The Third:
Why Did I Get This: I consider myself a bit of a ticking time-bomb that would burst out beating someone senseless for no reason. It isn't really helped with hormones as they have a wonderful tendency of throwing me in different plains of thoughts like I'm a ping-pong ball. When that happens, all that is left is regret, confusion and more anger that will be repressed until the day that I snap. Now there are various ways that I've controlled this. I've become somewhat snarky with commentary towards certain individuals, I've listened to calming music, I've created different things and I've improved emotionally. Despite all of those efforts, I still feel that I'm going to crack if so much as a speck of dust glides down on my head. So I'd need something that could perhaps take out my anger but at the same time, convert it into amusement. You know, like smacking a bunch of random people with a giant dildo. So I figured this sandbox game would fulfill that need.
Thoughts: I've never played Saints Row 2 so I can't talk about from a "fan's" perspective, but I have played GTA IV and GTA San Andreas. As many people said, Saints Row basically out GTA's GTA. Now for something to be more than what GTA allows you to do is one hell of a pitch. Pitches don't usually mean that it will turn out that way, but in Saints Row The Third's case, it is. The reason this happens is because there is a huge sense of absurdity that comes within. It can come from small details like when you hit a whole crowd of people, they seem to be catapulted across the map as if they were covered with Flubber or from the more noticeable features like a dildo for a weapon or facing off a bunch of armed mascots in a Japanese game show.
The game comes with a variety of missions, side missions, collectibles and weapons that keep you busy. You basically do the missions so that you can have more crazy fun with new weapons, vehicles and features. It also allows you to customize your character's appearance, voice, and clothing, so you can go about mixing and matching costumes...or running naked through the whole game. The missions can be fun as well as the side missions, but the hub is usually where you go just to see what sort of mayhem you can ignite. You can be as creative or as deranged as you please when you're confronted by civilians, cops or other enemies that just so happen to be laying about there. For example, you could rob a store and kill the owner, alerting the cops, then smack a police officer with a wooden bat, steal his police car, run him over with it, shoot a rocket at his car and then do a little victory dance. There really is a lot of chaos that you can cause in order to relieve yourself of everyday annoyances.
Saints Row The Third kind of suffers from not fully embracing it's silliness. For those that have played the game, this will sound odd because some of you thought it was too silly. That's not really a bad thing, not everything has to be completely grounded to reality, but here's the thing. It really doesn't take advantage of the quirky nature it's putting out. Whatever quirky elements there are in the game are few and it becomes a very lackluster and mundane experience when I use my rubber dick of pain on someone. That and it usually ends up belonging to characters or side missions, with both being a hit or miss on if you're getting something quirky and if said quirk will amuse you or make you want to gouge your eyes out. This became increasingly frustrating with the whole Prof. Genki Japanese show bit. Why the hell didn't they do something more with this? The potential for more bizarre weaponry and perhaps a creative "boss" battle could have come out if they played with it a bit more. Being creative with how you're going to screw the place up is still present, but it would have seemed much better if they gave you a few toys more to mess with in the actual game.
Other than that, the story is passable but not really that interesting, and you'll probably encounter some lulzy glitches on your way. If the game wasn't rushed and they took their time adding some more content rather than pulling the dickish DLC move, this might have been the most insane joyride ever. For what it turned out to be, it still delivers on all that unadulterated anarchy, but those loose screws ended up hitting me in the face. I removed myself from all the aggravation of life and had my fun, but I was still wishing that I could have had a little more.
Saints Row The Third:
Why Did I Get This: I consider myself a bit of a ticking time-bomb that would burst out beating someone senseless for no reason. It isn't really helped with hormones as they have a wonderful tendency of throwing me in different plains of thoughts like I'm a ping-pong ball. When that happens, all that is left is regret, confusion and more anger that will be repressed until the day that I snap. Now there are various ways that I've controlled this. I've become somewhat snarky with commentary towards certain individuals, I've listened to calming music, I've created different things and I've improved emotionally. Despite all of those efforts, I still feel that I'm going to crack if so much as a speck of dust glides down on my head. So I'd need something that could perhaps take out my anger but at the same time, convert it into amusement. You know, like smacking a bunch of random people with a giant dildo. So I figured this sandbox game would fulfill that need.
Thoughts: I've never played Saints Row 2 so I can't talk about from a "fan's" perspective, but I have played GTA IV and GTA San Andreas. As many people said, Saints Row basically out GTA's GTA. Now for something to be more than what GTA allows you to do is one hell of a pitch. Pitches don't usually mean that it will turn out that way, but in Saints Row The Third's case, it is. The reason this happens is because there is a huge sense of absurdity that comes within. It can come from small details like when you hit a whole crowd of people, they seem to be catapulted across the map as if they were covered with Flubber or from the more noticeable features like a dildo for a weapon or facing off a bunch of armed mascots in a Japanese game show.
The game comes with a variety of missions, side missions, collectibles and weapons that keep you busy. You basically do the missions so that you can have more crazy fun with new weapons, vehicles and features. It also allows you to customize your character's appearance, voice, and clothing, so you can go about mixing and matching costumes...or running naked through the whole game. The missions can be fun as well as the side missions, but the hub is usually where you go just to see what sort of mayhem you can ignite. You can be as creative or as deranged as you please when you're confronted by civilians, cops or other enemies that just so happen to be laying about there. For example, you could rob a store and kill the owner, alerting the cops, then smack a police officer with a wooden bat, steal his police car, run him over with it, shoot a rocket at his car and then do a little victory dance. There really is a lot of chaos that you can cause in order to relieve yourself of everyday annoyances.
Saints Row The Third kind of suffers from not fully embracing it's silliness. For those that have played the game, this will sound odd because some of you thought it was too silly. That's not really a bad thing, not everything has to be completely grounded to reality, but here's the thing. It really doesn't take advantage of the quirky nature it's putting out. Whatever quirky elements there are in the game are few and it becomes a very lackluster and mundane experience when I use my rubber dick of pain on someone. That and it usually ends up belonging to characters or side missions, with both being a hit or miss on if you're getting something quirky and if said quirk will amuse you or make you want to gouge your eyes out. This became increasingly frustrating with the whole Prof. Genki Japanese show bit. Why the hell didn't they do something more with this? The potential for more bizarre weaponry and perhaps a creative "boss" battle could have come out if they played with it a bit more. Being creative with how you're going to screw the place up is still present, but it would have seemed much better if they gave you a few toys more to mess with in the actual game.
Other than that, the story is passable but not really that interesting, and you'll probably encounter some lulzy glitches on your way. If the game wasn't rushed and they took their time adding some more content rather than pulling the dickish DLC move, this might have been the most insane joyride ever. For what it turned out to be, it still delivers on all that unadulterated anarchy, but those loose screws ended up hitting me in the face. I removed myself from all the aggravation of life and had my fun, but I was still wishing that I could have had a little more.
Uncharted 3:
Why Did I Get This: Simply put, I had fun with the past two games so it would only be natural that I would want to try Uncharted 3 and continue Drake's adventure.
Thoughts: Since this game borrowed a lot from it's predessecors and those were good, that makes this good by default. But it didn't really feel like anything that new was being brought to the table in terms of gameplay. It was the same third person shooting, parkouring, and exploring that was happening before. Not that there's anything wrong with that, you know. You shouldn't fix what isn't broken. I was just expecting maybe some new weapons or a new interesting mechanic you could fuck about with.
The story on the other hand does feel somewhat new in the same sense that making the same peanut butter and jelly sandwich is somewhat new because you're using two new loafs of bread and you use way too much PB&J. The basic sort of elements were sort of the same (save a few things) and it felt like it tried to add too much nail-biting insanity. (spoilers) In the whole game, you end up losing a friend because of mind control, trying to escaping a burning building, losing another best friend because the villains want to use him to find the treasure, escaping a giant "cruiser" that's about to sink, crashing a giant plane, going through three trippy reality-bending segments and running through a city that's about to collapse. (/spoilers) It felt as if instead of trying to make a suitable yet intense experience, it was trying to severely 1-up the other two games by throwing in old ideas that were incredibly insane and adding in new parts that would raise the stakes even more. It's not that putting too much balls-off-the-walls action is a bad thing, it just didn't feel like it was handled properly, it felt rushed.
Nonetheless, the game's campaign is a good length and it was fun seeing how the whole adventure would take its course. The story's interesting if only because it's absurd in how much they try to squeeze into it. That's not to say it wasn't fun to see all that would happen in the adventure, it was still decent. Even if the story feels like it's trying too hard to be grand, the multiplayer makes up for that sort of feeling of having too much candy.
Batman Arkham City:
Why Did I Get This: My sister was on the phone with me and she asked me what games I'd like to get. I told her either Mortal Kombat or Batman Arkham City. I told her Mortal Kombat because I already had a Street Fighter game and I wanted to get a test of both of the "top" fighters. (Then again what do I know, I'm a scrub, lolololol). I told her Batman Arkham City because I've played a bit of Asylum and if people said that City was basically going to be like Asylum but 100 times better, then I'm gonna have to go with City. Add in the fact that the trailer with Riddler made Nigma go from a semi-laughing stock to someone of a more threatening demeanor and I was even more hooked. Still, I would haven't been disappointed with Mortal Kombat. Knowing my sister, Arkham seemed more predictable.
Thoughts: The Riddler isn't as great as they made him out to be. That can be partially due to the design that they went with him and that can also be due to how he seemed less like a mastermind luring you into a grand trap and more like a whiny bitch when you'd solve his riddles. The trophies can also share the blame on why the Riddler wasn't as great as I wanted him to be, but that wasn't as big as the last two parts. He did sound somewhat threatening with some of the messages he'd sent out to you, but that's about it. I guess that's enough of me nitpicking, now onto the rest of the game.
Remember when I was complaining that Uncharted 3 was forcing greater stakes to make the game seem more epic? Well Arkham City didn't really do that. Yes, at times it felt like some of the events were trying to be bigger than one another, but it felt like it was easing into all the chaos that was coming from such an environment. It felt epic because there was proper timing to when the stakes would be risen. It was constantly building up one crazy shitstorm after another. The characters themselves are written well, but that's almost expected when talking about Batman (unless we're talking about Frank Miller, hyuck hyuck). Sure, I bitched about the Riddler, but the Joker's obviously better and has more screentime so I can smile at Hamill's hysterical Joker cackle after frowning at what I saw with the Riddler. Hugo Strange was very interesting to see as sort of the main antagonist in Arkham City mainly because I've never heard of him and he was equally as threatening as any other Batman villain.
Gameplay-wise, with all the crooks to beat up and sneak-attack, puzzles to solve, areas to glide through and gadgets to mess about, it feels quite strong. Each of the bosses you encounter are somewhat difficult, but you can overcome them if you do the usual "time your shit right" tactic that works with most bosses in most games. The difficulty does kind of go up and down at times, but it manages to provide a challenge to the gamer which isn't a bad thing. Succeeding in something that had to make you plan out your moves carefully is more satisfying because you had made a greater effort to overcome the problem. Everything just seemed to fall into the right places in the game. Except The Riddler. But like I said, it's just a nitpick. That, and even I, as a Riddler fan, have to admit that he wasn't all that special.
Thoughts: Since this game borrowed a lot from it's predessecors and those were good, that makes this good by default. But it didn't really feel like anything that new was being brought to the table in terms of gameplay. It was the same third person shooting, parkouring, and exploring that was happening before. Not that there's anything wrong with that, you know. You shouldn't fix what isn't broken. I was just expecting maybe some new weapons or a new interesting mechanic you could fuck about with.
The story on the other hand does feel somewhat new in the same sense that making the same peanut butter and jelly sandwich is somewhat new because you're using two new loafs of bread and you use way too much PB&J. The basic sort of elements were sort of the same (save a few things) and it felt like it tried to add too much nail-biting insanity. (spoilers) In the whole game, you end up losing a friend because of mind control, trying to escaping a burning building, losing another best friend because the villains want to use him to find the treasure, escaping a giant "cruiser" that's about to sink, crashing a giant plane, going through three trippy reality-bending segments and running through a city that's about to collapse. (/spoilers) It felt as if instead of trying to make a suitable yet intense experience, it was trying to severely 1-up the other two games by throwing in old ideas that were incredibly insane and adding in new parts that would raise the stakes even more. It's not that putting too much balls-off-the-walls action is a bad thing, it just didn't feel like it was handled properly, it felt rushed.
Nonetheless, the game's campaign is a good length and it was fun seeing how the whole adventure would take its course. The story's interesting if only because it's absurd in how much they try to squeeze into it. That's not to say it wasn't fun to see all that would happen in the adventure, it was still decent. Even if the story feels like it's trying too hard to be grand, the multiplayer makes up for that sort of feeling of having too much candy.
Batman Arkham City:
Why Did I Get This: My sister was on the phone with me and she asked me what games I'd like to get. I told her either Mortal Kombat or Batman Arkham City. I told her Mortal Kombat because I already had a Street Fighter game and I wanted to get a test of both of the "top" fighters. (Then again what do I know, I'm a scrub, lolololol). I told her Batman Arkham City because I've played a bit of Asylum and if people said that City was basically going to be like Asylum but 100 times better, then I'm gonna have to go with City. Add in the fact that the trailer with Riddler made Nigma go from a semi-laughing stock to someone of a more threatening demeanor and I was even more hooked. Still, I would haven't been disappointed with Mortal Kombat. Knowing my sister, Arkham seemed more predictable.
Thoughts: The Riddler isn't as great as they made him out to be. That can be partially due to the design that they went with him and that can also be due to how he seemed less like a mastermind luring you into a grand trap and more like a whiny bitch when you'd solve his riddles. The trophies can also share the blame on why the Riddler wasn't as great as I wanted him to be, but that wasn't as big as the last two parts. He did sound somewhat threatening with some of the messages he'd sent out to you, but that's about it. I guess that's enough of me nitpicking, now onto the rest of the game.
Remember when I was complaining that Uncharted 3 was forcing greater stakes to make the game seem more epic? Well Arkham City didn't really do that. Yes, at times it felt like some of the events were trying to be bigger than one another, but it felt like it was easing into all the chaos that was coming from such an environment. It felt epic because there was proper timing to when the stakes would be risen. It was constantly building up one crazy shitstorm after another. The characters themselves are written well, but that's almost expected when talking about Batman (unless we're talking about Frank Miller, hyuck hyuck). Sure, I bitched about the Riddler, but the Joker's obviously better and has more screentime so I can smile at Hamill's hysterical Joker cackle after frowning at what I saw with the Riddler. Hugo Strange was very interesting to see as sort of the main antagonist in Arkham City mainly because I've never heard of him and he was equally as threatening as any other Batman villain.
Gameplay-wise, with all the crooks to beat up and sneak-attack, puzzles to solve, areas to glide through and gadgets to mess about, it feels quite strong. Each of the bosses you encounter are somewhat difficult, but you can overcome them if you do the usual "time your shit right" tactic that works with most bosses in most games. The difficulty does kind of go up and down at times, but it manages to provide a challenge to the gamer which isn't a bad thing. Succeeding in something that had to make you plan out your moves carefully is more satisfying because you had made a greater effort to overcome the problem. Everything just seemed to fall into the right places in the game. Except The Riddler. But like I said, it's just a nitpick. That, and even I, as a Riddler fan, have to admit that he wasn't all that special.
Driver: San Francisco:
Why Did I Get This: Rather than having my sheep mentality of getting all dem popular games, I decided to go on a sheep mentality of following Yahtzee's caustically-coated reviews. I watched his review of Driver: San Francisco and noticed that while he was giving the game a proper critical jabbing, he did find himself liking the game. Since he's one of those "not-so-easily-impressed-snob" types, for him to enjoy a game means that it must be quite the game. It could be a guilty pleasure too, but I didn't really bother with details and got it.
Thoughts: For a driving game to leave a greater impact on me, it either needs to be like Mario Kart, like GTA or have something else to it that those two games don't have. The only other racer that did this was Need For Speed 2: Hot Pursuit, where you could play as a cop car chasing a perp. Driver did deliver with this "car-jumping" mechanic that allows you to jump into a different car in the map and control it. When it comes to certain missions in the game, this sort of idea works wonders because you can stop a car that's way ahead by getting into another car and smashing into it. This does get fun when you simply want to mess about with the cars, but it doesn't last long. The characters and the story aren't that engaging, but some of the missions do make up for that lack of interest.
Rayman Origins:
Thoughts: For a driving game to leave a greater impact on me, it either needs to be like Mario Kart, like GTA or have something else to it that those two games don't have. The only other racer that did this was Need For Speed 2: Hot Pursuit, where you could play as a cop car chasing a perp. Driver did deliver with this "car-jumping" mechanic that allows you to jump into a different car in the map and control it. When it comes to certain missions in the game, this sort of idea works wonders because you can stop a car that's way ahead by getting into another car and smashing into it. This does get fun when you simply want to mess about with the cars, but it doesn't last long. The characters and the story aren't that engaging, but some of the missions do make up for that lack of interest.
Rayman Origins:
Why Did I Get This: Rayman has had a bit of trouble with Ubisoft ever since the Rabbids overshadowed him. Granted it was sort and I was okay with the first two Rabbid games, but Rayman was far greater than the Rabbids. Mostly because I hold Rayman 2: The Great Escape so near and dear to my heart that to see more of our armless-yet-not-handless friend would be good. I could start getting older games like the first Rayman and the third one, but then Origins came along and I completely forgot that there is such a thing as the PSN.
Thoughts: I really can't say much about this game to the extent that I did with the others. That's not to say I didn't like the game, I loved it. The music is wonderful, the gameplay is solid and the fun is present in the wacky graphics. The thing is that this game is just a simple platformer, so there isn't that much to go on about in great lengths. I can't really go to great nitpicks, because the experience was just captivating and for me and any problems that I encountered were my fault. Hell I can't even do much comparison as a fan of the Rayman games because I need to at least play the original one to make the proper comparison. Sorry.
Thoughts: I really can't say much about this game to the extent that I did with the others. That's not to say I didn't like the game, I loved it. The music is wonderful, the gameplay is solid and the fun is present in the wacky graphics. The thing is that this game is just a simple platformer, so there isn't that much to go on about in great lengths. I can't really go to great nitpicks, because the experience was just captivating and for me and any problems that I encountered were my fault. Hell I can't even do much comparison as a fan of the Rayman games because I need to at least play the original one to make the proper comparison. Sorry.
Super Mario 3D Land:
Why Did I Get This: Well the 3DS came out and I wanted to start my collection with the expected platforming adventure of the Italian menace himself, Mario. I didn't really care for the 3D aspect or much of the other features (which is kind of weird if I want to justify to myself that the 3DS was a good idea), I just wanted to see how this game would fair out with all the other Mario games that I played back when I was a radical Nintendo fan.
Thoughts: I felt like I was breaking off as two personalities throughout the whole game. On the one hand, the game was fun. The music was standard cheerful, the enviroments, enemies and powerups were inventive and the platforming was great. On the other hand, I muted the music because it wasn't as good as the other games, some enviroments felt rehashed, enemies weren't as interesting, powerups didn't have much changed and were just collections of previous powerups and the platforming was piss-easy. I felt like I saw the other side that I neglected so much as a blind fan when I played this game. It honestly would get a bit annoying when I would one point love the game for the interesting level I was in and then hate it because of the overused Tanooki tail bit and the inconsistency of the levels in the world and the Special World bullshit it pulled once I "completed" the game.
It has come to a point where even though I'll like the game, I want something more creative to be done with Mario. Perhaps the next Mario game will add something new like Galaxy did, but it might end up banking on that concept like it did with Galaxy 2 or semi-failing like it did with Sunshine. But it feels like there's more to it. I want the game to have a semblance of challenge. I know it's directed for younger audiences, but difficulty in a game provides the end result of success to be much more sweeter. That sort of idea feels like I may be asking too much from Nintendo, and I might as well be asking for someone to mimic the Sistine Chapel's paintings in my own house. I'm not sure what I want now that I've made this transition. The people who bought will probably like it, but to me, it felt like it wasn't all that great or fun as my Nintendo fan would like it to be.
Thoughts: I felt like I was breaking off as two personalities throughout the whole game. On the one hand, the game was fun. The music was standard cheerful, the enviroments, enemies and powerups were inventive and the platforming was great. On the other hand, I muted the music because it wasn't as good as the other games, some enviroments felt rehashed, enemies weren't as interesting, powerups didn't have much changed and were just collections of previous powerups and the platforming was piss-easy. I felt like I saw the other side that I neglected so much as a blind fan when I played this game. It honestly would get a bit annoying when I would one point love the game for the interesting level I was in and then hate it because of the overused Tanooki tail bit and the inconsistency of the levels in the world and the Special World bullshit it pulled once I "completed" the game.
It has come to a point where even though I'll like the game, I want something more creative to be done with Mario. Perhaps the next Mario game will add something new like Galaxy did, but it might end up banking on that concept like it did with Galaxy 2 or semi-failing like it did with Sunshine. But it feels like there's more to it. I want the game to have a semblance of challenge. I know it's directed for younger audiences, but difficulty in a game provides the end result of success to be much more sweeter. That sort of idea feels like I may be asking too much from Nintendo, and I might as well be asking for someone to mimic the Sistine Chapel's paintings in my own house. I'm not sure what I want now that I've made this transition. The people who bought will probably like it, but to me, it felt like it wasn't all that great or fun as my Nintendo fan would like it to be.
Sunday, 5 February 2012
Age Is A Number With An Impact
Time is one of the most mysterious things in the world. It isn't completely concrete, yet we use it as a measurement. It is something that can manage to change your title as a human being. Time is what separates those that can drive a car and those that can't. Time is what makes a piece of bread into a moldy mess. Well that and bacteria and fungi covering the bread, but that's besides the point. Time is capable of changing what you are able to do and what you able to become. The amount of time something can manage to last in this universe is something that can create a huge impact on how people view it. But how exactly does time warp our vision on this world? You're about to find out.
Standards: The Good Of Today Isn't The Good of Yesterday
You ever heard older people say the phrase, "back in my day" after you do something that seems to irritate them? Like how you decide to date someone of a different race and they disapprove. Or perhaps you wag your finger sternly to a bratty kid instead of spanking them for their misbehavior. Or maybe the geezer's just rambling on about how this new-age music sounds awful. Those are all different things that relate to a person's standards. Now I can't really talk about the first two examples for two simple reasons. One, racism is bad, so I can't really be a devil's advocate. Two, disciplining a child isn't something that I can really conserve about since I don't have a child and I don't know how to properly go about the subject. The third one, on the other hand, is better for me to focus on because it bases itself on the public's subjectivity in different decades on pop culture.
Movies are part of something I like to call the "quality time-shift". In a sense, movies have always been equal in the amount of crap they spew with the amount of gold they create. The problem is that it's never consistent with how much of each should come out in a period of a year. Sometimes a lot of good movies come out altogether in a brief period of time. Other times a lot of crap movies come out altogether in a brief period of time. Depending on when these movies come out and how long the "crap" or "gold" is leaked out creates this skewed perspective that a period of time is worse with the quality of of it's films than another or vice versa. Another thing to take into consider is timing. But we'll get to that later.
Music is based around being fragmented in it's quality. What do I mean by this? Well, to become really popular in music you have to really be good at what you do in your genre of music (or be lucky, but I'm not here to start a flame war about some popular band (*cough* The Beatles *cough*)). Otherwise, you don't really stick out to the audience and you'll be forgotten (unless you make a huge comeback or you go out with a bang...either literally or figuratively). Now, popularity isn't what we're talking about, but let me further explain this. See, the reason that this sort of phenomenon occurs is that the music industry is based on eras. Take disco for example, everyone used to love disco...for about 12 seconds. Then everyone didn't care for it. That's because the music industry creates different sets of standards for different movements. That's why there are people that actually like music that most would consider deplorable. It's because at a young age, these people were brainwashed to follow these standards and possibly enjoy them. At least that's my theory.
Video games aren't based so much around time-affected standards as you'd think. Sure, you could argue that what a retro gamer considers difficult is different than what a new-age gamer considers difficult. I'm not saying that this sort of thing doesn't exist, but standards are much more affected by a different time mechanic rather than the simple passing of time being part of the problem. That mechanic being nostalgia.
Nostalgia: Time's Nuclear Power
Nostalgia, for those of you who don't know, is the bittersweet feeling of going back to older times. Like nuclear power, nostalgia can either be used for good or for evil. For good, nostalgia can advertise a product. For evil, it can suck a fanatic dry out of their cash. For good, nostalgia can make a customer feel happy that they've returned back to older times. For evil, it can turn them into a blind puppet that will praise anything that is thrown at them. Movies and music do fall under this trap as anyone who's seen the Star Wars prequels or been to a comeback concert where the musician that used to be good back in his hayday is now worn down could tell you. Despite that, video games are the United States of nostalgia as they use it a lot as good and as bad. It is something that turns gamers against each other and it is the major cause of anger amongst the community
The effects of nostalgia on video games are so powerful that it manages to pit a certain category of gamers against each other. That's right, retro gamers fight amongst each other because of nostalgia. For you see, there are clingy retro gamers and self-aware retro gamers. Now the way these two work is simple. Suppose as a child, these two have teddy bears. They love this teddy bear. Then they give it up because they grow up. Now let's say 10 years go by and they go back to see the teddy bear. It's all dirty, a bit torn up and it smells weird. The clingy retro gamer will hug it and remember all the good times it had with it, avoiding the problems that it has. The self-aware retro gamer will hug it, but then it will see something wrong with it. It will notice that it wasn't the teddy bear of before. This gamer will try to fix the teddy bear to get the teddy bear of before or abandon it, thinking that the good times were all in the past. Now does this happen all the time? Not exactly. Sometimes the teddy bear is exactly the same as it was before. Sometimes it's better. It depends on what we're talking about.
Timing: Forgotten To Recognized
Timing is a simple concept. People have to wait for the right time to do an action so that it has the fullest effect. It is what can separate a low-life with no importance to the greatest hit that ever came to be. The problem with timing is that it doesn't really impact the opinion of how people view something. Just because something terrible managed to get through at a time where everyone swarmed over it doesn't make it good. It's still bad. Yet, the tragedy of this is that if you don't pinpoint the proper moment to strike, you may end up being overlooked. That's why terms like "overrated" and "underrated" are abused. It's because something got incredibly lucky or something was covered by projects of greater importance.
Importance: Does The Old Fix The New?
Someone once said that you should learn from the past in order to create the future. Someone also said that you shouldn't let the past impact the future. Which one of these people is right? If you answered that the first guy is right, then you're probably that guy who thought the rapture would happen in 2011. If you answered the second guy, then I guess you probably make the same mistake over and over again. In a sense, both of these people are right and wrong. It all depends on what matter we're talking about and the intensity of what happened. If you're into science, why would you care what Shakespeare wrote? You woudln't. If you're into English...why would you still care about what Shakespeare wrote? You would if you wanted to become a better writer. How about if you never shoplifted anything before and you get caught doing that. Should you get a longer punishment than someone that did it before? Depends...did you shoplift a candy or a TV?
Now I know that you're thinking that this isn't so much based on time as it is on the minor details. The thing is that people sometimes consider the importance of it more than they consider the time on when it happened. Or they think that since it's an old concept it isn't worth being important. That why sometimes things that aren't broken end up getting fixed and why it's harder to believe someone that could actually be telling the truth.
Time is an odd part of our universe. But I hope I spent yours well with this blog. .
Tuesday, 27 December 2011
DryChris's Top 10 Characters That Needed More Screentime
In movies, there's a lot of things that need to be handled with care and precision. The writing has to be good, the sets have to fit the atmosphere of the film, the music has to do it's job, and the editing has to be spot-on. But there's also the characters that need to be taken into consideration. Each character needs to be in the movie for a set amount of time. This sort of thing can also be said for games. But you know, sometimes I want to see some of the characters a little longer. Maybe they just amuse me greatly or I feel that they might be more than what is already displayed to us that needs to be known. Perhaps it was because they needed to equal the screen time for each character or they didn't really feel that the character needed anything else. Nonetheless, these are the ones that I would have loved to seen more of.
10. The Duo Who Owned The Theatre (Phantom of The Opera)
They get so little screen time, I can't even find a good picture of them. So here's the theater they own.
The Phantom of The Opera is one of those movies that seems to have good supporting characters and great songs, but an awful main character with a somewhat cool concept. But I'm not here to bash Gerald Bulter's performance. I'm here to talk about the two characters that apparently own the theatre. These two are at the very bottom of my list because I really didn't have enough to really work with. Their names seem to be lost in the film and they appear few times. When they do appear, they amuse the hell out of me. They mainly served as worms that were pressured to follow the main actress' desires but the way they squirmed was so fun. They were just so paranoid and didn't want to have a bad show, like any theatre owner.
I really would have loved to just seen more conversation with the other performers. It would have been fun to see them switch from demanding the actors to ordering chocolates to its more valuable actors. It would have provided with great comedic relief once things got incredibly dramatic and maudlin. It's too bad that they just went like that, but luckily the others managed to entertain me nonetheless.
9. Knuckles (Sonic 3)
I sometimes wonder who makes his gloves...
Now I know what you're thinking. "Why would you ever want more screen time for Knuckles when the main focus is Sonic? For that matter, why him? He was basically the side-character that exemplified the annoyance that later side-characters would emulate." Well, let me explain. When Knuckles was introduced in Sonic 3, he was simply a very pompous character that used brute force because he wanted to guard the island. The interesting part of his character in the game is that he allies with Robotnik thinking that Sonic is the villain. Now that alone seems like an interesting concept that they could have played around.
It would have just been nice to seen him interacting with Robotnik a little more and slowly coming to the realization that Robotnik is the bad guy. But then again, Knuckles was redeemed with the expansion pack and the "story" in Sonic 3 was still good in it of itself. And I have to be honest, I've said this thing before. I'm not really into the story when it comes to a Sonic game. So it shouldn't be something of a high importance. Besides, he got more screen time in later Sonic games which actually made up for the lack in Sonic 3.
8. Waluigi (Mario Series)
Is it me, or does it look like his overalls are incredibly tight on him?
Waluigi is a very underused character. And that wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't in so many freaking games as an underused character. Waluigi is supposed to be Luigi's arch nemesis in a sense, much like how Mario and Wario are. But this character does nothing. He simply plays party games. I don't really get it. He seems like he would be a perfect cheesy villain. He has a vaudeville look going for him, he seems to have an obsession with Bob-ombs and tennis rackets. If Luigi actually had a more adventure based game rather than Luigi's Mansion (which isn't bad), he could have been a fun villain to fight against. Heck, they could have had Waluigi make some sort of cameo in Luigi's Mansion.
In fact, he could have been like how Bowser appeared in Luigi's Mansion. Yeah, a ton of ghosts could have been manipulating a Waluigi costume and throwing ghostly bombs. That would be incredibly bizarre and maybe a little nonsensical, but at least he would be put to use in a very interesting manner. I don't know, I just think that for a character that's been returning in so many Mario games to have such a little point is a tad insulting.
7. General Guy (Paper Mario)
Mee-auwg! (Shy Guy for Sieg Heil)
Paper Mario had some really inventive surroundings. In fact, if we were to rate Mario game series on creativity, I think the Paper Mario series would be on par with the Super Mario Galaxy duo. You had ice castles, European-like ghost towns, fortresses in the middle of the forest and best of all, you had the Shy Guy Toy Box. Which basically was like if your toys were overrun by an army of masked monks. And of all the bosses in Paper Mario, General Guy was by far, my favorite. He had a very interesting tank-like vehicle and had a lot of quirkyness to his character. I mean, he attacks with a light bulb. That's just so silly, but it worked for him.
Now the thing was that the character is a boss character, so it would feel weird to have him come back when you just whooped his ass, but come on. If he escaped the toybox, they could have had a chase scene around the "hub" of the game. If he crashed in another map, he could have had his tank enhanced by the surroundings. Just imagine his tank pouring lava onto the battle. Or he would pick off icicles on the tank and throw them at you. I just would have loved to seen more of him. Plus, it would have been much better of a reoccurring battle than that little egghead twerp. You know the one I'm talking about.
6. Joel Cairo (The Maltese Falcon)
He could be anyone with that look. But that voice can just ruin that.
Now I would just like to say that I loved this film. This classical film noir really summarized how those sort of films are supposed to play out. Interesting but mischievous clients, antagonists that range from bitter to elegant to deceiving and quick talking, hard boiled private dicks. This film just had a lot going for it. And one of the supporting characters that I seemed to like the most was Peter Lorre as Joel Cairo. Cairo is an interesting character because you can't really tell if he's a pawn or a man with his own plans. He seems to be both at some times which seems really weird for someone to pull off.
I really wanted to see what else Joel had in store. He just seemed much more secretive and sly than the other two antagonists. He just had more hidden to him which really drew me to him. But I guess the less I know about him works to the film's advantage. Film noires are known to have such tangled and perplexing characters that wrap themselves in an enigma. But it just would have been nice to see more of Cairo's perspective.
5. Baby Herman (Who Framed Roger Rabbit)
Who's a cute little chain smoker? You are! Yes you are! Yes you are!!
For a movie that has a lot of cameos, you'd think that it would be hard for me to choose. Well, here's the thing, as much as I would have wanted to seen some of the one-time cameos be a little more extended, it doesn't really seem like something that would work. WFRR is supposed to focus itself on the other toons that just so happen to work with the toons that we grew up with. There isn't that many supporting toon characters that don't live in another cartoon series, so the choice really seemed easy for me. Baby Herman had to land a spot here.
Baby Herman is Roger Rabbit's co-star who acts like a baby and looks like a baby, but has an incredibly crass attitude. He knew what happened and he wanted to make sure that Eddie had his facts straight. He seemed like someone that could have pulled off the tough guy if he wasn't...well...a baby. The movie still is wonderful to me, but I just can't help but imagine him doing more comedic relief. Couldn't you just imagine him appearing in that bar out of nowhere, asking for the waitress for a drink? I sure as hell did and thought that it would have been hilarious. But hey, what he managed to do still put a goofy smile on my face.
4. Edna Mode (The Incredibles)
The first person to point out the flaw of capes to me.
The Incredibles's cast really seemed like something that gave every character a fair amount of screen time. Not one character was neglected and not one character was on too much. It all seemed to fit perfectly. So you're probably wondering why in holy hell I would put a character from that movie on this list. Well, Edna is like a comedian doing a really good opening act for another really good comedian. You found yourself to have a really good time with her and even though the main event was satisfying, you just can't help but want to see her more. She perfectly captured the fashion designer cliche and stretched it to such a laughable extent. You really can't add that much more other than she was a riot in the films.
3. James Donnelly (L.A Noire)
BINGO, BOY-O!
L.A Noire is quite a video game, if you haven't heard me yapping my head off about it yet. It offers a lot to the player and feels a lot like an interactive adventure. But the best part is that it revived the film noir in such a way that it was quite refreshing. Maybe it's because the whole game isn't in black and white, but just something about it made all the familiarity of the film noir genre refreshing. That and it actually did have some "modern" elements to it. But now let's talk James Donnelly.
James Donnelly is the Irish police chief of the LAPD that seems to not take any shit. But at the same time he's very inviting and and tries to be as charismatic to you as possible. He pats you on the back when you do things good and tries to make sure that you're still doing your job and your doing it right. He really had his own sort of mood that differentiated him from the other characters. He also seemed to have a past of his own that was as checkered as Cole's. In fact, maybe he had an even more convoluted life. You're not sure. Much like Cario, Donnelly has a lot more mystery and slyness to him. But unlike Cairo, Donnelly seems to have answers that make you ask more questions. That and if you compare the two, Donnelly has a lot more screen time. Then again, like Cairo, you just can't help but want to see more behind the LAPD chief.
2. Crooks (Of Mice and Men)
Uh...I can't think of a witty tagline.
Of Mice and Men was an ok book, but showed itself to be a great movie in 1992. It wasn't the best, but you really felt the effort placed into the film. But there's something that not only the movie, but the book had a problem with. And that was that they didn't develop a character that had the most turmoil throughout the journey enough. That being Crooks. Crooks is a stable man who is discriminated for his skin and finds himself in his own cabin. He spent most of the time alone and grew insane and incredibly bitter. It scarred him. Add to the fact that he's physically challenged and you pretty much have a tormented character that could be developed into something more.
They only meet him once and it really shows how much he's suffering, but it just felt as though he needed something else. Perhaps we had to see the discrimination in action by him going into the other cabin and being assaulted by Curly. Or hell, when he's slowly making a connection with George and Lennie and he realizes that one is dead and the other leaves the town, they could have shown his reaction. And judging by how those two were the closest to friends he had, he would feel crushed. I just saw a lot of potential for him.
1. Amos (Chicago)
To think that he was a Sasquatch...
If anyone knows me, they'd know that I love Chicago. It's one of my favorite musicals ever. But aside from they, they'd know that my favorite character in the film is Amos. Amos is a really relatable character. He finds himself as an every man who just gets stiffed over by his supposed wife. People use him as a pawn and make him feel insignificant no matter what. This guy is also a powerhouse with the emotional side of people with his song "Mr. Cellophane", which shows how he feels when he converses with anyone. And we've all felt what he's felt at one point or the other. But here's the problem. The film isn't about him. It's about Roxie Hart.
Is this bad? Not really. Roxie's story of how she craves attention and does anything to gain it while having a pseudo-romance with her lawyer is gripping...but damn, with all that he has, Amos could have a whole musical centered around him. It could tackle his job, his feelings for his wife, how he reacts with the news that he gets and the intense heartbreak he feels at the end. He just has so much that can be used and he just doesn't seem to have enough of it. Then again, like most of these entries, the work is still great with the allotted screen time he gets, but I really just want to see a story about this sad, troubled man.
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Shuffle Jukebox #1
I realize that my most recent blog wasn't the best blog I could have made. All I did really was use this to upload a gif. I also realize that I lack actual blogs in here, and for that I'm sorry. To make it up for you, I've decided to start this up. The Shuffle Jukebox. I basically take a bunch of songs from my iTunes and talk about them. The reason I wanted to start this up is because I like talking about music to others. Music to me is wonderful form of art. It can convey all sorts of stories simply by listening to them. To me, if a picture is 1000 words, then a song is a 1000 pictures. Anyways, enough of the introduction, let's get to the meat of this blog.
Bernard Herrmann - Taxi Driver (theme)
As I have previously stated before in a past blog of mine, I am a huge fanatic of the film noir movies. So naturally, I would be a fan of the soundtracks of these movies. And would you look at that, the first song on this blog is from a film noir. Before I can get talking about the song, we must at least skim over the film where this song presides, Taxi Driver. Taxi Driver is a 1976 Martin Scorcese film that stars Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle, a Vietnam war veteran who works as a taxi driver who slowly drives himself down into madness. The movie is by far light, as we see the trauma and pain that Travis endures throughout the whole journey.
The song begins with a bunch of crescendoes of the percussion. Afterwards, the brass come along with the strings and the sax blasts out. The sax mostly goes about at a slow, slightly painful dialogue that carries on for a while until the harmon trumpet takes a turn to talk. The strings then go about, repeating the sax's statements, but in a softer tone. The trumpet and sax take turns conversing and then the harmon trumpet returns to make a quiet little speech which then gets overshadow by a saxophone and the rest of the instruments. Everything starts going mad and then the saxophone is left to talk. Then the whole thing starts again, only more bombastic than before finally ending with a dark pierce to the heart.
The song is simply magnificent for a film of this caliber and style. The emotion is gloomy but there's still few dashes of serenity. Each instrument manages to take it's turn at just the right length. I especially like how the saxophone and harmon trumpet work in the song, surveying the area around you.
The song begins with a bunch of crescendoes of the percussion. Afterwards, the brass come along with the strings and the sax blasts out. The sax mostly goes about at a slow, slightly painful dialogue that carries on for a while until the harmon trumpet takes a turn to talk. The strings then go about, repeating the sax's statements, but in a softer tone. The trumpet and sax take turns conversing and then the harmon trumpet returns to make a quiet little speech which then gets overshadow by a saxophone and the rest of the instruments. Everything starts going mad and then the saxophone is left to talk. Then the whole thing starts again, only more bombastic than before finally ending with a dark pierce to the heart.
The song is simply magnificent for a film of this caliber and style. The emotion is gloomy but there's still few dashes of serenity. Each instrument manages to take it's turn at just the right length. I especially like how the saxophone and harmon trumpet work in the song, surveying the area around you.
Phillip Glass - Opening - Glassworks
Phillip Glass is a recent artist that I've been looking at. He is a minimalist which means that he'll repeat phrases over and over. It's kind of like techno except for classical musicians. Phillip has also made songs for various films. If you saw the Watchmen movie or the Truman Show, then you've heard a Phillip Glass song. It's weird that not many of us herald him as a household name like Hans Zimmer or John Williams despite the fact that he's done a lot of films. Anyways, getting to the tune. As stated before, his work is simple. And Opening is no exception as it only has the piano a few notes cycling through. Yet, the way the phrases are constructed and the way the volume goes throughout the tune makes it a beautiful serenade. It's a relaxing piece that makes you feel that you're in harmony.
Benny Goodman - In A Sentimental Mood
There's no real understanding as to why I'm a fanatic of the big band style of music that originated in the 20s. Perhaps its the fact that one of my favorite musicians is Glenn Miller or the fact that big band style of music is similar to jazz and classical. Or it could be because I'm not limited to certain genres of music like other people are. Not really implying that most people are like that. The song itself is much more classical than jazzy as the instruments move about a slow pace and the clarinet is more dominant than the other instruments. Nonetheless, the song is simply a delight to listen to.
Snow/Shiver Star - Kirby and the Crystal Shards OST
Anyways, that's all the time I got. See ya later.
Sunday, 18 December 2011
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Confronting Ehsan In The G1 Tournament Battle
"Mr. GameJudge."
Ah, my fellow anonymous assistant of mine. What can I help you with on this fine day?
"MisterBo called in about the g1 tourney..."
Excellent news! What's my topic?
"Mega Man...but I-"
That's simply wonderful! I'll get to working on it as soon as possible.
"I...I wanted to warn you about your competitor."
Oh please. None of my previous rivals have posed a threat to my utter genius. What makes you think this one will?
"You're going against Ehsan, sir."
E...Ehsan?
"I'm afraid so, sir."
That...that can't be right. I can't go up against a Capcom fan of his caliber. He knows much more about Mega Man than I ever could. Did you know that he knew about Mega Man's Japanese name of Rock Man before I knew Mario's original name was Jumpman? And I knew about that pretty early in my gamer years.
"You have told me about this, sir."
Ehsan's knows the date of Mega Man's debut of December 17, 1987 by heart. I had to take it out of some source.
"Wi-"
DON'T YOU EVEN FINISH THAT SENTENCE, YOU INGRATE.
"Sorry."
No no, I shouldn't have snapped at you. It's just that there's so much that dear Ehsan knows about Mega Man. I'm left in a fight that I simply can't win.
"But...you can talk about Megaman too, right?"
Of course. I can tell people that the story behind his creation in the game was due to a scientist by the name of Dr. Thomas Light. He invented Mega Man in 20XX to fight against the 6 robot masters that Dr. Light and Dr. Albert W. Wily created together that were later reprogrammed by Dr. Wily due to his jealousy towards Dr. Light. But I know that Ehsan will add on that Dr. Light first created a prototype by the name of "Proto Man". The problem with Proto Man is that he went rogue and was later altered by Dr. Wily to serve him as well as become the basis for the Sniper Joe. Not only that, but Ehsan would have probably said earlier on in his entry that amongst all the people that worked in Mega Man, Keiji Inafune would end up becoming the most recognized and the most vital to it's success. Damn it, he's constantly getting into my head.
"Settle down sir. Why don't you talk about the original series instead of jumping from place to place to compete with him. And try focusing less on what Ehsan would know and what you can recall."
I'll try. I'm well aware that once the game starts in the original series of Mega Man, you have the choice of which Robot Master stage to go to. At first, it serves as a simple choice and you try to go into a level, attempting to beat it. But then you'll find that if you choose a certain sequence of levels, it'll allow you to progress throughout the game. The interesting concept of Mega Man is that despite facing an incredible sense of challenge no matter what stage you chose, you still continued to get through the game.
"Why would that happen though?"
Well like most successful games of the NES era that had similar difficulty levels to Mega Man, the difficulty came from knowing that you didn't plan ahead. Mega Man would usually give you the guidelines necessary to your survival if you observed closely. It was up to you to think through what the game would give you in order to go from area to area losing little to no health. Sometimes the game would give you cheap surprises, sure. But that's the charm of the game. You do better by trail and error, skill and cunning. Not by doing something cheap like grinding. It was incredibly satisfying to complete a level in Mega Man because you felt that you accomplished something by memory, quick reflexes and planning ahead.
As each game would go on, new abilities would be presented to you that you could use to your advantage. Whether it be a new power that you get after defeating an enemy in a stage or a new mechanic that was implemented in the latest Mega Man installment, the premise was still the same. Use what you knew and what you find out about the surroundings to your advantage.
"Is there anything else the games from the original series you can talk about?"
Music's obviously something that you have to bring up when you talk Mega Man. No matter what game from the entire Mega Man franchise you talk about, there will always be a handful of spectacularly crafted tunes that will get you incredibly excited when you'd reach a new stage or level. They would usually be incredibly upbeat and have something that immediately fits the scenario of a robot with air-based powers or a toxic seahorse mechanical monstrosity. Whether it be a mini-boss, the whole stage or the final fight, the music would remain as something iconic in the series.
"But what about the characters that inhabit the world?"
Well in the original series, you had Mega Man, Roll, Rush, Dr. Light, Dr. Wily, Proto Man and the Robot Masters. Mega Man was the average hero that you couldn't help but follow on his quest, Roll was the cute character that served simply as a little boost when you'd see her in a cutscene, Rush was your faithful sidekick, Dr. Light was a father figure of sorts and Dr. Wily and the Robot Masters were the enemies that you'd defeat.
"Wait...you missed Proto Man."
Proto Man's a little complicated on his motives. Sometimes he's good, other times he's not. Anyways, the great thing about the characters in the original series was seeing the creativity that was presented in the enemies and Robot Masters. The programmers really worked hard on most of the stage bosses and added as much as they needed to so that the stage would benifit from the enemy choices they made. Each of those bosses was relative to how the stages felt. It seems like a crucial detail that makes both the stage's enemies and its boss all the better.
"You know anything about the other series?"
Well, I know about Zero from Mega Man X. Zero's iconic to the whole franchise because not only was he your ally...he was a mentor of sorts. You knew right from the start that in order to win this game, you had to be the toughest son of a bitch that you could be. And Zero was just that. I also know that Mega Man X introduced a smoother platform feel to Mega Man, thereby boosting the possibilities of more interesting mechanics that would allow for the satisfaction of going through each level to be sweeter than cherry candy dipped in soda and covered with sugar. The rest, I know little to nothing about.
But I know what an impact Mega Man has created on the gaming industry. It supplied gamers with challenge that was not only authentic in its difficulty, but also in it's reward. You know that what you were dealing with would take a while to fully master. And you'd go at it again and again, listening to the rocking tunes and admiring the beauty that the programmers and artists could create. You'd beat stage after stage and you'd obtain a new power that you'd use on another stage. Little by little, you conquer each level until you finally reach the domain of the meanest enemy of them all. No matter what, you push inexorably through the uncomfortable setting that the castle of Dr. Wily brings to defeat the one who turned possible allies into future scrap metal. Whether you died once or twice or a hundred times in the game, it didn't matter. You knew that your purpose was to crush Wily. And once you took that cretin off his high horse and see his old pixely body bowing before your greatness, asking for mercy, you know then and there that you worked damn hard to see his demise.
"Sir...that was..."
Don't say a word. I know what it is. And I stand by these emotions. Mega Man is something that set a true example in the gaming world. Everything it managed to accomplished always served as a benefit, not only to the games, but to the gaming world around it. Other video games borrowed from the similar mindset and qualities that Mega Man would present. And I'm grateful that they do, because everything that was right about Mega Man was something that could turn a good game into a great masterpiece of digital entertainment. I'm sure that whatever I will write, Ehsan will probably match it in quality. Hell...perhaps he exceed what I bring. Whatever it may be, I still feel privileged to combat against a man with such expertise on this topic. And if I lose...at least I lost to a friend.
Now if you'll excuse me, my anonymous assistant...I must write my entry.
"Yes, sir."
Ah, my fellow anonymous assistant of mine. What can I help you with on this fine day?
"MisterBo called in about the g1 tourney..."
Excellent news! What's my topic?
"Mega Man...but I-"
That's simply wonderful! I'll get to working on it as soon as possible.
"I...I wanted to warn you about your competitor."
Oh please. None of my previous rivals have posed a threat to my utter genius. What makes you think this one will?
"You're going against Ehsan, sir."
E...Ehsan?
"I'm afraid so, sir."
That...that can't be right. I can't go up against a Capcom fan of his caliber. He knows much more about Mega Man than I ever could. Did you know that he knew about Mega Man's Japanese name of Rock Man before I knew Mario's original name was Jumpman? And I knew about that pretty early in my gamer years.
"You have told me about this, sir."
Ehsan's knows the date of Mega Man's debut of December 17, 1987 by heart. I had to take it out of some source.
"Wi-"
DON'T YOU EVEN FINISH THAT SENTENCE, YOU INGRATE.
"Sorry."
No no, I shouldn't have snapped at you. It's just that there's so much that dear Ehsan knows about Mega Man. I'm left in a fight that I simply can't win.
"But...you can talk about Megaman too, right?"
Of course. I can tell people that the story behind his creation in the game was due to a scientist by the name of Dr. Thomas Light. He invented Mega Man in 20XX to fight against the 6 robot masters that Dr. Light and Dr. Albert W. Wily created together that were later reprogrammed by Dr. Wily due to his jealousy towards Dr. Light. But I know that Ehsan will add on that Dr. Light first created a prototype by the name of "Proto Man". The problem with Proto Man is that he went rogue and was later altered by Dr. Wily to serve him as well as become the basis for the Sniper Joe. Not only that, but Ehsan would have probably said earlier on in his entry that amongst all the people that worked in Mega Man, Keiji Inafune would end up becoming the most recognized and the most vital to it's success. Damn it, he's constantly getting into my head.
"Settle down sir. Why don't you talk about the original series instead of jumping from place to place to compete with him. And try focusing less on what Ehsan would know and what you can recall."
I'll try. I'm well aware that once the game starts in the original series of Mega Man, you have the choice of which Robot Master stage to go to. At first, it serves as a simple choice and you try to go into a level, attempting to beat it. But then you'll find that if you choose a certain sequence of levels, it'll allow you to progress throughout the game. The interesting concept of Mega Man is that despite facing an incredible sense of challenge no matter what stage you chose, you still continued to get through the game.
"Why would that happen though?"
Well like most successful games of the NES era that had similar difficulty levels to Mega Man, the difficulty came from knowing that you didn't plan ahead. Mega Man would usually give you the guidelines necessary to your survival if you observed closely. It was up to you to think through what the game would give you in order to go from area to area losing little to no health. Sometimes the game would give you cheap surprises, sure. But that's the charm of the game. You do better by trail and error, skill and cunning. Not by doing something cheap like grinding. It was incredibly satisfying to complete a level in Mega Man because you felt that you accomplished something by memory, quick reflexes and planning ahead.
As each game would go on, new abilities would be presented to you that you could use to your advantage. Whether it be a new power that you get after defeating an enemy in a stage or a new mechanic that was implemented in the latest Mega Man installment, the premise was still the same. Use what you knew and what you find out about the surroundings to your advantage.
"Is there anything else the games from the original series you can talk about?"
Music's obviously something that you have to bring up when you talk Mega Man. No matter what game from the entire Mega Man franchise you talk about, there will always be a handful of spectacularly crafted tunes that will get you incredibly excited when you'd reach a new stage or level. They would usually be incredibly upbeat and have something that immediately fits the scenario of a robot with air-based powers or a toxic seahorse mechanical monstrosity. Whether it be a mini-boss, the whole stage or the final fight, the music would remain as something iconic in the series.
"But what about the characters that inhabit the world?"
Well in the original series, you had Mega Man, Roll, Rush, Dr. Light, Dr. Wily, Proto Man and the Robot Masters. Mega Man was the average hero that you couldn't help but follow on his quest, Roll was the cute character that served simply as a little boost when you'd see her in a cutscene, Rush was your faithful sidekick, Dr. Light was a father figure of sorts and Dr. Wily and the Robot Masters were the enemies that you'd defeat.
"Wait...you missed Proto Man."
Proto Man's a little complicated on his motives. Sometimes he's good, other times he's not. Anyways, the great thing about the characters in the original series was seeing the creativity that was presented in the enemies and Robot Masters. The programmers really worked hard on most of the stage bosses and added as much as they needed to so that the stage would benifit from the enemy choices they made. Each of those bosses was relative to how the stages felt. It seems like a crucial detail that makes both the stage's enemies and its boss all the better.
"You know anything about the other series?"
Well, I know about Zero from Mega Man X. Zero's iconic to the whole franchise because not only was he your ally...he was a mentor of sorts. You knew right from the start that in order to win this game, you had to be the toughest son of a bitch that you could be. And Zero was just that. I also know that Mega Man X introduced a smoother platform feel to Mega Man, thereby boosting the possibilities of more interesting mechanics that would allow for the satisfaction of going through each level to be sweeter than cherry candy dipped in soda and covered with sugar. The rest, I know little to nothing about.
But I know what an impact Mega Man has created on the gaming industry. It supplied gamers with challenge that was not only authentic in its difficulty, but also in it's reward. You know that what you were dealing with would take a while to fully master. And you'd go at it again and again, listening to the rocking tunes and admiring the beauty that the programmers and artists could create. You'd beat stage after stage and you'd obtain a new power that you'd use on another stage. Little by little, you conquer each level until you finally reach the domain of the meanest enemy of them all. No matter what, you push inexorably through the uncomfortable setting that the castle of Dr. Wily brings to defeat the one who turned possible allies into future scrap metal. Whether you died once or twice or a hundred times in the game, it didn't matter. You knew that your purpose was to crush Wily. And once you took that cretin off his high horse and see his old pixely body bowing before your greatness, asking for mercy, you know then and there that you worked damn hard to see his demise.
"Sir...that was..."
Don't say a word. I know what it is. And I stand by these emotions. Mega Man is something that set a true example in the gaming world. Everything it managed to accomplished always served as a benefit, not only to the games, but to the gaming world around it. Other video games borrowed from the similar mindset and qualities that Mega Man would present. And I'm grateful that they do, because everything that was right about Mega Man was something that could turn a good game into a great masterpiece of digital entertainment. I'm sure that whatever I will write, Ehsan will probably match it in quality. Hell...perhaps he exceed what I bring. Whatever it may be, I still feel privileged to combat against a man with such expertise on this topic. And if I lose...at least I lost to a friend.
Now if you'll excuse me, my anonymous assistant...I must write my entry.
"Yes, sir."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)