Smash Brawlin’ in March

Well yesterday I reserved Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii. Its interesting that I did seeing as I don’t actually own a Wii, but my brother does, so I plan on playing the game on that one seeing as he doesn’t really use it, hence it being in my room.

I wasn’t going to get the game, but I’ve always enjoyed the Smash Bros. games ever since the first one on the N64, so I figured why not get it, eh? The game has many good features including online play, a much better story mode, custom maps and a decent roster, so I’m pretty sure it will be a solid game for the Wii, and will probably be the best selling game for the Wii in 2008, and in the long run as well.

Many people were disappointed at the announcement of yet another delay for Brawl, but that actually helped in my decision to buy the game. See, I didn’t want to spend a lot of money during January/February since I was starting college and all of that, and between books and such, the last thing on my mind was buying a new game, but since it was moved one month up, I guess you could say that sealed the deal.

I can’t wait to play it, specially since it will probably be one of the only solid AAA titles for the Wii in 2008. A lot of people are looking forward to Mario Kart for the Wii, but I’ve yet to see anything about the game that would make me want to get it. If I want online Mario Kart, I’ll just play the DS version, which I have. I could go on about what I think is in store in 2008 for the Wii, but I’ll leave that for the near future.

- JC

A list of ten: Mega Man.

From time to time, I plan to do little top 10 lists on various subjects. The first in this series is regarding the Mega Man game series from Capcom, and a list of 10 reasons why it was so great, as well as 10 reasons why it was possibly one of the toughest and most infuriating games to ever have been released.

So without further ado, The List of Ten reasons why the Mega Man series was so great.

1. 8-bit Heavy Metal Soundtrack
C’mon, you guitar players out there all at one time or another tried to play the Mega Man 3 theme or Bubble Man’s theme, admit it.

2. Collectable Weapons!
Say what you want about Halo, Doom, or any FPS…it never had weapons like Giant rocket-propelled fists, circular saw blades, killer spinning tops, or bombs that look and act like tiny snakes.

3. Progression in Gameplay without deviation in the original format.
You always knew how the game was played, you knew there was 8 robots you had to beat, and then eventually you’d have to kick their master’s ass at the end. But somehow, this constant formulaic style of play never bothered you.

4. The oh-so-lovable (and useful) robot dog, Rush.
This dog puts other lovable, indispensable robot companions such as R2-D2 and K9 to shame…I mean come on, HE TURNS INTO A SUBMARINE!!

5.  Arm Cannon.
There is nothing so cool to an 8-year-old, as having an energy weapon as an appendage…it’s about as bad ass as it gets.

6.  Kick-Ass bosses.
Boss battles in Mega Man were always the high point of the game, Every time you saw that telltale “gate” to the boss, with the “Dr. W” over it, you knew shit was gonna go down, and you knew that, just like the Highlander, at the end of it all, there could be only one.

7. The knowledge that, at some point, there will be yet another new game in the series.
What is there, like, 30 of these games now?!
8. Inventive and wacky enemies.
Killer rabbit-bots that throw carrots, giant cats that cough hairballs at you, and walking construction helmets….need I say more?

9.  Dr. Light looks like a white-haired George Lucas.
Please, someone other than me HAS to have noticed this…the similarities are UNCANNY!!

10. It’s bright and noisy.
With the colourful enemies, Mega Man’s technicolour costume changes, the barrage of sound effects and music, this game could surely induce seizures….but we love it anyway.

So that’s what made the games so great, but they weren’t always now, were they? There was always points where you wanted to huck the controller at the screen in frustration. And there were things about the games that just made them unbearably silly…and here they are.

1. DISAPPEARING BLOCKS!
Yeah, you know what I’m talking about….you’re standing over a seemingly impassable pit (sometimes one with spikes in it),  you hear that horrifying “vooooot….vooooot” noise those things made as each one shimmers into existence, and your first thought is “oh crap, not these.”

2. Horrible Box Art.
The box art for the first Mega Man looked like Tron with guns, whereas Mega Man 2 had him looking more like some pansy in an ice dance costume with a football helmet.

3. Framerate problems.
Mega Man 3 was plagued with these….the worst would be when they started while you were trying to dodge or run away from something, and the game would suddenly slow down.

4. DISAPPEARING BLOCKS!!!
Seriously, they really, really suck!!!

5.  Flash Man’s Weapon.
Did anyone EVER get any use out of that thing?? ‘cos I sure as hell didn’t.

6.  1,2,3,4,5,6…umm….X…X2? 7??
Whether it’s the odd numbering schemes for each game past 6, or the fact that they can’t get their dates straight (when in the hell is 200X???) this is proof that the Capcom production staff can’t count. (believe it or not, there’s actually more proof of this, but more on that in a future post.) Not to mention, can someone PLEASE tell me, what happened to Mega Man 8 and 9???

7 . Spikes.
To borrow a line from Adam Sessler, You would think, after so many years, that Dr. Light, being as smart as he is, would engineer something to help protect Mega Man from those stupid things.

8. DISAPPEARING BLOCKS!!!!!
Have I mentioned I hate them? yeah?? okay…just wanted to clear that up.

9. Password Bingo.
Back before Battery Backups were standard in cartridge-based console games, there was the password. Kid Icarus had it, Metroid had it, every game did. Remember the absolutely retarded password system in the Mega Man series? It was essentially bingo. You matched up coloured dots on a matrix-like grid of letters and numbers…It was infuriating trying to remember the passwords, and you would sit there drawing them out on a piece of paper whilst hearing that annoying password screen music playing over and over.

10.  Megaman NT Warrior.
If you are a Mega Man fan, this is never spoken of. I will say nothing more about it other than if you DON’T know what I’m speaking of, and you REALLY want to, look on Wikipedia…because I REFUSE to acknowledge this travesty.

So, there we have it, the top 10 things that made Mega Man great, and the top 10 things that made it lame. Have anything you wanna add? feel free to leave a comment.

On Halo and 007 and friendship

This past week, I got into a conversation with 2 of my friends. Our topic simply was “what’s better? Halo or 007.” Now, before I made my choice I took into consideration whose side I was on. I thought for a bit then replied “Neither, both are the same really.”

Before you say ‘what’? Heres my explanation.

You can’t deny, that back in ‘97, you

a) played the shit out of that game

b) owned the game

c) knew someone who did a) and b)

d) all of the above.

And you secretly enjoyed shooting the piss out of your friend who was James, while you were Alec.

Fast forward to 2001.

You are now a bit older, maybe working maybe in school, maybe not. But you and that buddy of yours are now playing Halo head to head at your houses. You are now shit talking to each other over XBox Live, not sitting next to each other.

My point. Halo and 007 are the same because they both have nostalgic values. They both are major first person shooter franchises, selling well over a few million copies alone. Both have those final difficulty stages that still make you wanna punch the TV. The multiplayer is kickass, and they both allow allow you to feel ok when you totally annihilate someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing.

So do me a favor, the next time you talk about Halo, take a note on how similar it is to when you were kids talking about 007. Don’t you feel old? I know I do. But at the same time. I’m proud to have been around to experience both of those games.

Three-Dragon Ante

So, this past weekend a friend of mine introduced me to a standalone card game called Three-Dragon Ante. The game is published by Wizards of the Coast and is part of the Dungeons & Dragons canon.

The simplest way to describe the game is Poker, Rummy and Hearts…with Dragons.

This however, is a gross understatement. This game is not one of pure chance, and is steeped in subtle strategy, so as such, there is seemingly an infinite number of ways to gain an advantage and eventually win. The cards themselves are very well designed; the artwork is absolutely beautiful, and the shape of the cards are unique, but not overly so, to the point that they’re hard to work with (Like another card game WotC once had…*cough*Hecatomb*cough*).

Even more fascinating, this game was designed in such a way that it could even be incorporated into a D&D Campaign scenario. I’ve yet to try this myself, but from what I’ve heard, it can add a whole new dimension to a campaign.

Overall, This is a really great, fast, geeky little game that’s great to play just about anywhere. It’s extremely portable, being only really a deck of cards and a rulebook, so you can always have a copy with you and say, hit a coffee shop with some friends and have a few games (a popular weekend pastime for my friends and I), and at $10, it’s one of the cheapest little games out there. I would DEFINITELY recommend this game to anyone, even the less geeky of us out there can find some appeal in this gam. As it stands, I’ve introduced my VERY non-geeky younger siblings to the game, and they absolutely love it.

If you want to learn more about the game itself, check BoardGameGeek or of course, the all-knowing oracle of teh internets, Wikipedia.