Telestrations

               Telestrations is a board game that uses up to 9 players. Each player has a notepad, an eraser cloth, a card with a dozen different words, and a marker. The game is played by a die being rolled, and using that number given from the die, you pick a word from your card and write it on the first page of your note book. After this is done, you then pass your note book (to either the left or right, depending on the rules of the group playing) and the next person will attempt to draw a picture of your word. After that, each person passes their note book again, and next person must guess the word from the previous drawing. This is repeated until all of the pages are filled, and the note book is returned to its original owner. Like the game states, this is the game Telephone, but with drawing. It is a fun, family friendly game, but that is not the point of this paper. The game can have a much deeper meaning, and that is to help people realize that it is sometimes ok to be bad at something.

            You are probably wondering how a board game can help a person realize this, well let me give you an example. The worst you are at drawing, the more fun this game becomes. Because when the next person see’s your “who knows what it could be”, they mainly just guess a word. This throws a curve ball at the end when you are giving out points and wondering how you went from say the President of a University, to a pizza. So what does that example prove? If you are self-conscious of what your “artwork” looks like, it is ok if it is bad, because it makes the game more fun. Everyone gets a laugh out of it, and that self-conscious feeling begins to go away. This in turn can help you open up, have more fun, and maybe make some new connections. Ok, ok, you are probably thinking “cool man, but how does this help me in real life situations”, well I will tell you. One of the most commonly asked questions when going into a professional interview is “what is your biggest weakness, and how do you plan on improving that weakness.” I have personally been asked this in an interview situation before. When you go into an interview, you usually plan to talk about your strengths; you know, to make you sound good so you can get the job. So when they throw a curve ball like this at you, it usually trips most people up. What they are looking for is that you are ok with admitting you have weaknesses, and that if you are trying to make progress on those weaknesses, you will be able to handle some given situation in the work place that may play against your strong points (if you are planning to go to some really big job interview, I recommend going to an interview workshop. It was very helpful for me). One of my biggest weaknesses is not expressing or talking about my feelings, a very common weakness among males in today’s society. This is a weakness because; if I am extremely upset I tend to bottle it all up inside. This can affect my work in the work place, especially in my field of work, a Certified Nursing Aid (CNA). Working on this, such as talking to my supervisor (someone with you know, a lot more experience in these situations) may show my weakness, but it will help me calm down and do better at my job.

            As I sat down to first start playing the game, I knew only one person in my group. So I can’t say everyone was talking too much. But after we were done with the first round, everyone was laughing and talking as if we all knew each other for years. Everyone’s shyness or doubt disappeared.  For instance, if it was not for spell check, I doubt anyone would be able to understand half this paper. To say the least, I am really bad at spelling. So when it came to one of the rounds where I had to guess, I did not know how to properly spell the word. The worst part was it was the name of the building we were in, Fawick, which I have only ever had 2 classes in. So instead I spelt it Fay-a-wick. Instead of people laughing at me because I did not know how to spell the word, they were laughing with me, and I actually won points because of it.

            So all in all, I am saying that it is ok to have weaknesses, and it’s ok to be bad at something. It does not make you look weak, or cause people to judge you.  Instead it can help you become stronger and even break the ice in some situations, and this board game can help show you that.

New posts, but a twist on the games

Hey everyone! Well It has been a long time since I had any posts, and I thought about adding some new ones. I started this blog because I was taking a class on video games. Well now I am taking a class on social board games, I know you're probably thinking "what school is this guy attending?" Well I will post my thoughts on the games that I will be playing weekly in this class. They will be less about the game, and more of what the game can teach you. I hope everyone enjoys these new posts!

Marvel vs. Capcom 3

That's right, the third chapter.
  Much like 'Words with Friends,' MVC3 is a game that will destroy all relationships that it comes in contact with. It is a well designed game, but it was much better in an arcade setting when you could easily hate the stranger next to you who very effectively used the stupid Okami wolf to trounce you nine times in a row. At home with only friends you are forced to let these frustrations fester until you find youself digging up old wounds, and making your once solid friendship crumble in ruin like so many ancient civilizations.

Fuck you, Okami wolf. Fuck you.

  That being said, I really sort of love this game. It is one of the best fighters out there, and you get to be spider-man; the Spider-Man! The game pits two players against each other, each picking three characters from the Marvel or Capcom universe. There is also a single player mode culminating in a fight against a giant Galactus, but that isn't really the main point. One could button mash if they really wanted to, but if one really focuses on good play and combos, one can easily defeat the aforementioned masher. I am a little disappointed that the super move function boils down to essentially pulling a trigger and that sometimes just triggers a tag to one of your teammates. Maybe I was a little hasty saying it was well-designed, but I did really like it despite some of its issues. Deadpool moves backwards in a moonwalk.

Even Galactus gets owned by that damn wolf.

Marvel vs. Capcom was always my favorite game to play in the arcade, so perhaps my opinion is a bit clouded my nostalgia, but I would say that this game gets an Ironman out of all Marvel characters. Which is to say, not the best but still pretty damn cool.
 

Line Rider

Line Rider is an Indie game, that has made its biggest appearance on mobile devices. Now, this is another "App Game" that is not much like another out on the market. The game has built up quite a large fan base, and even created what I like to call "line artists" for the great detail and time put into this game.

Now, as I said Line Rider is not like a lot of other "App Games" on the market. It doesn't have have a story, or a plot, or even basic game play. The only thing you do in this game is draw. Yup, that is right, you just draw. You use a multitude of different colored pencils to create any thing you want.

In Line Rider, you draw a track of any design and have a little dude on a toboggan ride your track. Plan and simple. This is a game that I really like, but I wish I was better at., How can you be bad at a game that you just draw in you ask, well that is simple. I cant draw a straight line in this game to save my life. When you can not draw a straight line in a game called Line Rider...you are pretty much a failure. Anyways, the game is about how far your imagination can take you. This is something I really like, because if you anything like me, you can not keep your mind on track to save you self from any amount of boredom. With a game like line rider, where you can build any type of track possible, it really keeps a person busy to kill some time.

I did mention "Line Artist", these are people I tip my hat to. For there is now way I could ever put the details and let alone the time they have put into these designs for this game. A great example of this is the McDonald's Line Rider commercial. Here I put up an impressive video to show the amount of errfort these people put in that I just am way to lazy for.

If you ask me, it is game like line rider and it's generation of "App Games" that made mobile gaming, especial with the IPhone as popular as it is. So check out the PC version of this game Here.

Popcap Game's Zuma's Revenge

Zuma's Revenge is another "App Game". A lot like the games Bejeweled or Boulder Bash, it is a simple game game with no real story behind it.

Now as I said, like Kingdom Rush, this is an "App Game". So it has no real difficulty on how to understand and play the game. You control a frog somewhere on the map, and your goal is to shoot colored orbs into groups of 3 and destroy them all before they reach the skull at the end. It has a hand full of power ups and collectible fruit for extra points.

So like Kingdom Rush, this a game that anyone can pickup and play with out difficulty. It has an addicting like game play for those who enjoy this simple mechanic.Now the graphics are not that bad, and the power ups give it some fun aspects. But, personally I did not really find the game that fun to play. This is because of a few reasons. One, it is kinda hard to aim the frog, I mean you get used to it real fast, but It bothered me. Not that big of a deal though. The real main reason I did not really like this game is mainly because I am just not a big fan of "App Games". They are great for people who are not really big gamers, and just want something simple to kill time. But me, I like story, detail, and action. I am looking forward to a break from school so I can take a deeper look and Star Wars the Old Republic, personally.

From what I have seen about it, it is a really popular game online, popular enough to become a squeal for the original at least. So, for the small time "App Gamers" out there, check this one it, I think it is more your style than mine.

Here is a Link to play the game

Armor Games' Kingdom Rush

Kingdom Rush was developed by Armor Games, and is in a different category that the other games that I have posted about. It is more of a "App" game, and that's is what I am going to refer it as. This is more of a game that you will be seeing people play on tablets and smartphones. Though it is not as "in depth" as other games, "App Games" have brought upon us a new generation of gaming.

Kingdom Rush is your basic tower defense game. That is you have a starting point where enemies start their advance, and it is your job to stop them from reaching the other side by placing a series of towers to destroy them. There is not really anything that makes this game stand out against other tower defense games. That is, it still has all the basics. Up gradable towers, special abilities available on purchase, and of course you standard Tower defense strategy game play.

Though simple, I find the game still very addicting and fun to play. it still has towers with different abilities and enemies with different immunity's. Which gives you the need strategically place towers in the best of ways to insure your victory. Also, it does have some fun towers that really add to the game play. The ones that I liked the most where the barracks and the bomb towers. This is because, the barracks set out little soldiers in the path of the enemy. I really liked this because it was like a slow tower, but still did damage. It was also a tower did not actually shoot at the enemies, which is something you do not find very often. Next, the bomb tower was just fun because it lobbed  bombs that did splash damage, and I just found it entertaining.

Now as I said it is an "App Game" so nothing to special about it. But, it is an "App Game", which means it is easy to play and understand. So if you are not really one of those hard core gamers, but looking for something to kill your free time, I recommend you check out this game.

Here is the Link to play this game. Enjoy!

EA's NHL '95

Here comes EA Sports to the line up of games. NHL '95 was developed EA (Electronic Arts) and released on several platforms in 1994. I know it says NHL '95, so why was released in 1994. Well that s just what EA does with all of their sports games. The release them a year prior so the game is available during its title year. I am sure that there are other marketing reasons, but I am a gamer so i can not say I really care about those other reasons.

Now I can not say that I am a huge fan of sports games. I do do sports in real life, but I only run college track and cross country, and only people that are involved with those sports believe them to be real. So half the world doesn't really consider me an athlete, if you are one of those people, then get off my back for never even owning a sports game. Anyways, NHL '95 is all about, yeah you guessed it hockey. Now this game, along with a lot of other early sports games of it's time, doesn't have any real campaign or story plot. You pick a team, and you face another team. The team that scores the most goals wins. It is just that plain and simple.

Though I did enjoy playing this game because of a few of its aspects. First off, there is no story, it is just play the sport. Sports games should not have stories. Good for you if you made a character and brought him to the pros. Now tell me, who else, besides yourself, really cares. In NHL '95, you get to pick your favorite team and get right into the action.

Next thing I liked was its general simplicity.  No fancy controls, no control this with this stick then move with this stick, shoot with this pass with this so on and so forth. If you really play a sports game for its complex controls and in depth story.... just go outside and play the sport. I know I know, you have never seen sunlight, so its going to burn a little the first time. But, you will make so many more friends than the ones who play sports games for the story and complexity. As I was saying, the controls are really simple, you move, sometimes pass, and you shoot. Also, for those saying "but I have never played hockey, how does it work" you will get destroyed by penalties, but you can simple turn them off. That is a another thing that I like. You can make the game more work for you.

All in all it is a sports game I actually liked playing, and no Wii Sports and Mario Tennis do not count as sports games. So if you are looking for a simple way to turn yourself into a hockey playing machine, without the actual hockey playing part, then check this game out. But please, do not try to use hockey playing as a pickup line after playing this game.

Quintet's Act Raiser

Act Raiser was developed by Quintet and published by Square Soft (Square Enix). This game put a big mix on the Final Fantasy RPG aspect with a city building sim all in one game. Released in 1990 for the SNES, it was one of the first games available with the release of the SNES, and really helped show the potential of the system.

Now this a game that is a little more detailed than other we have covered so far. The plot of the games follows "The Master", a god-like character, who was defeated in battle by Tanzra, a devil/demon like character. After the battle, The master returns to his Sky "Palace" where he falls into a deep sleep while recovering from his wounds. He awakens to one of his angle servants who tells him that while he was asleep, for a few hundred years, an the world has been taken over by Tanzra (sounds a lot like the whole Apocalypse end of the world thing don't it).

The game play consists of the player playing as The Master. Even though the player never actually controls The Master, you enter the game world as an angel that shoot arrows and looks a lot like cupid, or as animated statues (which really makes me think a lot of Dr. Who). As you play as the angel, you fly around shooting demons with your bow, or telling The Master where to use his "magic" such as lightning. As you do this, the people build their city's, with your control, and close lairs where demos spawn. They also give you gifts in your honor every now and again. When playing as the animated statues, you go into a side scrolling plat former style game play, where you fight demons to clear the land of their presence so that the land becomes habitual for the people again. The goal of the game is to defeat Tanzra and his six lieutenants, while reviving the people's faith in you.

Now if you ask me, all this game is a game to let people play god. You are pretty much just trying to rid the world of demons that have risen from the depths of wherever they came from, and you fight them with your army of angels and god like powers, without ever leaving your sky palace. Now this seems morally wrong, the game is actually a lot of fun to play.

At first I was really confused on what to do in the game, but when I finally figured out what to do, I though the game was just a plat former side-scrolling action game. After I got past the first "level" though, I found out how it is also a city building sim. Now anyone that is a fan of city building games but don't want the complex game play such as Sim City, I really recommend this game. Now the city building doesn't really include you know like pipelines, and electricity and what not. But you do control the direction of the building direction, and you have the ability to clear the land from obstacles (more than demons) to allow the building process. People who play a lot of city sim games know that they are a lot of fun...for the first ten min. Then you just get bored, but Act Raised helps cure this by adding that side scrolling action fighting in between building city's. Now if you ask me, the game is not super fun. It is very repetitive, but oddly very addicting to play. Even though it is morally wrong for one person to "play god" and control others, in a video games it is very addicting and is kind of the answer for that forbidden fruit.

Now I did like playing this game. Mainly because I enjoy to play both City Building Sims and Action-Adventure RPG's. You can see how this game really made an impact on showing the true potential of the SNES with its intricate game play. But you can also see where it set the standards and influenced city building sims and other sim like games in that class. Even though in a lot of today's generation of games you dont fly around as a half naked arrow shooting angel (sorry Kid Icarus), but controlling the building and progress of the city, along with intervening if people live (we all know that in Sim City, when you get bored you just let lose a random tornado or something) is something that all sim games have in common. But lets not forget the action adventure part of this game though....but there really wasn't anything special about it, lets emit it just try's to replicate Super Mario like a lot of its kind during the time. So I am not really going to go deep into that.

But anyone looking to play a good game that helped set the standards for the SNES, I recommend checking out Act Raiser

Remember To play this game you have to download the emulator and ROM

 References:
http://www.gamespot.com/actraiser/reviews/actraiser-review-6172407/
http://www.flyingomelette.com/reviews/snes/actraiser.html

Square Soft's Chrono Trigger

Chrono Trigger is a RPG style game play both published and designed by Square Soft (now Square Enix). The game was designed for SNES and released in 1995. The game's fine details in beautiful artwork (at the time) made this game one of the best selling games of 1995. Nintendo power even marked the game as ''revolutionary", and previewed the game, setting high hopes for Square Soft.

Chrono Trigger takes place in a world much like  the early Final Fantasy games. Traveling via a over world map, you guide a party of (most the time) three through out a series of towns, castles, and dungeons. The biggest difference though, is that Chrono Trigger takes place with in series of different eras as well. Starting out in a midevil style era, you use time gates to travel to and from different eras such as a prehistoric era or post apocalyptic era.

Now that you know a little behind the setting of the game, the game play is easier to understand. You play as Chrono, the silent protagonist but fearless young warrior type. You are first joined by Marle (who you later find out to be the princess of your current time) at a fair to watch your friend Lucca demonstrate her newest invention. After that, you and your party discover the time gates (first to save Marle after she accidentally gets sucked into one) and travel to a post apocalyptic era to find out that a creature has wreaked havoc on the world. You and your party then set out to stop this apocalypse, and change history to save the world.

Now at first I really didn't like this game that much. The graphics were really good (for the time of the games release) and the music was nice, but it just started out bad. That is, you were basically just dropped into the game not knowing what to do or were to go. You were told about the millennia fair, and your friend Lucca, but when you entered the over world map to travel you had no idea where was what or where to go. After some trial and era I was able to find out where to go and I started to like the game, until I got in my first battle. The way the whole game is set up, including the fighting is just too much like Final Fantasy. The way you inter act act with people, fight, level up, rest, heal, and gain equipment is pretty much exactly like that in Final Fantasy. The only difference was that instead of random encounters with enemies, you could see the enemies and run around them to avoid unwanted confrontations. To me, it seemed like I was just playing another installment of the Final Fantasy series. After a while though, the game started to grow on me.

The story is very detailed for a game of that generation, and the more I played the game the more the game began to pull me. After I got use to the fighting style as well, I really started to like this game. The story is really interesting and it was something that I really did not expect, throwing me way off from what I was expecting around each and every curve. The game also goes really deep into character development, using story related side quests to really give you an in depth look into each characters background and role. This is something that you really did not see a lot of until a lot of more recent generation platforms. You can see how the details in the game play, such as character development, has really influenced games such as Mass Effect or later Final Fantasy games.

Another really big impact that this game has, that you can also see the influence of in big titles such as Mass Effect, is multiple endings. Crazy right, how one little thing you do in the game can change the entire ending. The game has a total of 15 different ends, now that a lot of different ways to end one game (here is a link to the different endings). This is something that I found to be really cool, and really helps give a replay ability to the game.

All in all, I thought the game was surprisingly pretty good. With its intricate story, detailed game play and multiple endings, I really recommend RPG fans to check out this game. If you are not really looking to play another Final Fantasy game though (as I have said a million times how this game is JUST LIKE the early Final Fantasy games), I still recommend trying out this game, and hopefully it will grow onto you like it did me.

References:
http://sinfulandroid.com/games-30/chrono-trigger-%5Bandroid-game%5D-7762/
http://shrines.rpgclassics.com/snes/ct/endings.shtml
http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/File:Np1.jpg.html

Capcom's Street Fighter II Turbo

Street fighter II Turbo was published and developed by Capcom in 1993 for the SNES platform. Known by fans and critics as Street Fighter 2.5, the game dose not let any body down. Considered one of the "fan favorites", this game has a few surprises of its own.

The objective of this game is like that of another fighting game in the genre. You take a handful of fighters with different fighting styles, and pit them against each other to see who is the best. You play the game by selecting one of the twelve fighters in the game, and you just go at it. Beating the tar out of each other until a champion has been crowned. Whats so special about SFII Turbo though? The answer to that can be found in the game's description on the back of box,

"They're back and they're badder than ever! Faster, stronger and with all new moves, twelve of                                 the greatest fighters from across the globe are ready to do battle! Choose your champion and get ready for the big brawl as they try to earn the right to battle M. Bison for the title. And just when you think you've mastered it all, crank it up a notch and go TURBO!"

That is the game itself gave you the option to increase that speed of the game play to"turbo", adding a new level of difficulty to even the most skilled players. Personally though, I am not a big fan of this game. Now, a lot of people argue that the Street fighter series is the best out of all and that its a game of real skill. But really, where is the fun in it?

So the game takes "skill", but what do you count as skill (aka who can mash the most buttons the fastest to get random combos). Watching the "pros" play this game, "skill" looks like who can crouch the most and get those cheep shots in. This game, to me, is just not any fun. 

Watching this video from Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix Tournament Part 6, (fighting starts at 3:40) the guy wins the first time by slide crouch kicking the whole time! how is that skill? Thats like just uppercutting the whole time in Mortal Kombat II! At least in MKII you get the little funny guy yelling "Toasty" when you use a cheap move. Also, in MKII the gore and overly unnecessary finishing moves make the game more fun to play.

In all, I didn't find anything really special or overly exciting about this game. Big deal you can speed up the game play. It may have made a major impact during the 16-bit era, but know (even then) I don't/wouldn't find this game very fun to play.

References:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/snes/588701-street-fighter-ii-turbo

http://www.gamespot.com/street-fighter-ii-turbo/

http://www.gamewinners.com/snes/StreetFighter2Turbo.htm

Midway's Mortal Kombat II

Mortal Kombat II (MKII) was originally released, by Midway, As an arcade cabinet in 1993. Do to the success of both MKII and its prequel MKI, and do to the ever changing race of the 16-bit era of the time, MKII was released on several different platforms (such as the SNES and Sega Genesis) in 1994. The Mortal Kombat genre help set a new standard on both fighting games, and the regulations of video games. It is also believed by fans that MKII is still the best in the franchise.

Now for those who do not know the series ( and should be hung upside down by their toes for not knowing it...) the story of MKII is as follows:  after failing tom defeat Liu Kang in the first Mortal Kombat game, evil sorcerer Shang Tsung begs for mercy from the Outworld supreme overlord Shao Kahn. Shang Tsung convinces Kahn to redeem himself by defeating the Earthrealm in another Mortal Kombat tournament, but this time the tournament is held in Outworld. I know, epic right.

You start off the game by selecting a character and then using that character to defeat a set series of opponents. You defeat your enemies one by one using hand to hand combat, special moves, and fatalities. As you defeat each enemy and sub boss, you slowly make your way to the man who started it all, Shao Kahn, and defeat him to save Earth and all that has been effected by Shao Kahn's evil.

Now, one thing that I really like about this game, and the franchise in general, is that each character in the game has their own background. That is, it explains, who they are, where they are from, and even why they are fighting. This in depth detail really helps bring any game to life. You can also see how a lot of games in today's gaming world have either used this concept of story background in their own games, or put more detail into it, to really bring the game to life for their fans.

MKII is your typical 2D fighting game, where you and one opponent fight to the death on a staged arena. The game itself has a handful of different stages for your battles to take place. What makes mortal combat though is not only the special abilities of each character, but the finishing moves provided at the end of each fight, and even some of its comical humor in the game.

Eat my Hat, that is till on my head? whaaaaaaa...

 Starting with the special abilities of each character, this adds a little spice to the game play. That is, the moves are not just press this button and this will happen, you must enter a series of commands using the directional pad and buttons to execute the proper move. Know I really like this because it adds some difficulty to your every day button mashing fighting game.  If you do not enter the flow of commands correctly though, all you will see is the look of your character having a seizure. But, if entered correctly, you use a special unique move such as freezing an opponent, or spitting acid. This adds some excitement to the game, for everyone enjoys that special feeling you get after you correctly use a difficult move for the win. This brings me to the next point, that really makes MKII a real Mortal Kombat game. That is the use of bloody gory fatalities, stage fatalities, babalities, and... friendships.

Reptile, are you eating peoples heads again?

Another thing I really like about this game is that after defeating your opponent for the second time, you will come to the end of a fight with the words "FINISH HIM" and your opponent standing at a daze. This is time given to you to end a fight with style. You can either end the fight with a classic Mortal Kombat gory finishing move, knock your opponent off the stage into a river of acid or a bunch of spikes, turn your opponent into a crying baby...or just become friends with your enemy...I know this a total "WTF mate" moment. The reason that the developers added this "friendship finisher" was primarily because at the time, not a lot of companies followed the strict ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) rules that we have today. Actually the ESRB was just coming out of its shell at the time. The sum of it all was that people were throwing a fit about the violence in video games (big shocker there...) and so the developers of MKII stuck in the 'friendship finisher" to more or less mock everyone throwing a fit. But, you can really see how this game has effected all games since. Personally I just go for the cheep uppercut move to end it all (yeah all you people who have played this game know exactly what i'm talking about).

As a kid, I was a huge fan of this game. I also knew like every combo and special move. But I dont know why, now that i'm older I cant execute a finishing move to save my life. The game is still a lot of fun though, and it is always fun to just mash buttons in the hope you will some how magical knock off your enemy's head. with the ever so entertaining gory graphics, along with an agro quit every now and then, I am still a big fan of the game and franchise. So I recommend all those looking for a fun and comical challenge to check out this game. Oh, and lastly, I still always laugh when every that guy pops out of the corner and yells "toasty" in a really high pitched voice. Oh how it brings back the memories.

Remember, If you want to play this game, you must download the proper emulator and ROM. Both which are located at the top of the web page.

References:
http://www.mortalkombatonline.com/content/games/mk2/
http://mortalkombat.wikia.com/wiki/Mortal_Kombat_II

Nintendo's Super Metroid

Super Metroid was both developed and published by Nintendo for the SNES. Before its release in 1994, the project of developing the game was actually almost canceled several times, for it was the largest game Nintendo had released at the time.  Though after its release, it became a large success in the US. Named game of the month in May 1994, in the "Electronic Gaming Monthly", it set the standard for 16 bit games. Also, in 2007, it was named number 10 in IGN's top 100 games of all time.

The objective of the game is you play as Samus Aran. As the third installment of the series, the game mainly takes place on the planet Zebes. This large open world is primarily connected by a series of doors, elevators, and hidden passages (the map that is accessible through out the game will become your new best friend). You explore this planet in search of the stolen Metroid larva, that you have previously just delivered to a science facility for research on its life absorbing properties.

Along the way, the player also encounters a series of items and upgrades though out their mission. This upgrades can further enhance Samus' suit or allow Samus to even reach hidden locations. Most of the upgrades are needed though to complete the game.

Now this game is very different from most games of its time. The  most notable difference is , the main protagonist, Samus Aran is a girl ( Oh my god a girl! no way!). Now, at the time, this was huge. Girl characters though out prior video games where most the time either victims, or the main point of the entire game. You can really see this in the popular games of the time such as Mario Bros. and The legend of Zelda. But, in this game the main character is female, when most games, again at the time, had the main character as a male. You only see this though during two points in the game, either when you beat the game and Samus takes of here helmet, or when your power reaches zero and your suits gets destroyed; showing your female attributes, and getting you the game over.

Now what I really liked about this game was how much more adventure it was than action for being an action-adventure type game. that is the ability to find items and upgrades for your character, really brought me into the game as if I had a choice on how the game is played. Also, the game is very puzzling. That is, with out certain upgrades you can not reach many locations. There are a lot of hidden locations can only accessible by either the rockets, morphing ball, or mine laying upgrades. This forces the player to further explore the map to find all the upgrades needed. But there are also hidden locations for you to find that hold access to map rooms, and save locations.

Now talking about the map rooms, as I said previously, they become your new best friend. The map in this game is a very important tool, unlike most games of the time when the mini map was just a black square showing your location. The map in this games shows where you have been and what ares you have accessed, and the mini map shows the directions you are heading and the shapes of the rooms. The map rooms though, are a god send. That is, when you find these rooms, they allow you to download areas of the map. You can access your map in the start menu and it will allow you to see rooms and areas you have yet to visit, these include more map rooms and save rooms, along with the titles to areas (this is extremely helpful to find those hidden door locations).
This menu also allows you to view and activate our deactivate abilities and upgrades that you found for Samus. This I really liked because it gave the players a feeling of control and responsibility in the game, not like most games of the time where you only controlled the a character and all you and to do was "move forward" . Which leads me to an other aspect I liked, which was how the game also has you backtrack to find areas and progress through out the game. Comparing it to other games of the time, you mainly moved "forward" throughout the game to reach your main destination. when in Super Metroid you must also backtrack to ares you have already been to to reach your destination.

This game is not perfect though. That is at moment throughout the game I felt like I was playing Super Mario. A lot of the game includes a series  timed jumps and shooting your enemies as you jumped. I kind of felt like Mario with a Fire Flower upgrade shooting fireballs at goombas, when really I was just Samus shooting at aliens.

This game is very addicting to play, it is a lot of fun and has a difficulty that is just right to give the player a challenge. Though at some points it doesn't seem very original, the difficult boss battles, puzzle making, and action packed adventure make it a lot of fun to play.

Now remember, if you want to play this game you have to download the ROM and use an emulator. I have a link to both above in the "Link to Games" nav bar.

References:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/snes/588741-super-metroid/faqs
http://top100.ign.com/2005/001-010.html
http://metroid.wikia.com/wiki/Super_Metroid

Square [Enix] Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy was developed by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) in Japan. This fantasy RPG set the standards for the rest of the franchise, and is said to be one of the most influential and successful RPG's on the NES. The game it self has been remade for many different platforms, and the franchise has released over a dozen different Final Fantasy sequals and branched off games.

The objective of this game is that you play as four young warriors, that are made up of a combination of warriors, thiefs, mages, and monks (this combination is any of your choosing as a player). You follow these youths, who each carry one of the four world's elemental crystals. Known as the light warriors because of their legendary crystals, they quest to defeat the evil that has darkened the elemental crystals, restore their light, and save their world. The world itself is a fantasy world (big shocker there I know, hence the title) that is made up of three large continents. You travel this world via foot, canoe, airship, and Chocobo (a mountable bird in the game). The world is made up of a numerous amount of races that include Humans, Elevs, Dwarves, Mermaids, Dragons, and Robots. The three continents include a numerous amount of towns, kingdoms, dungeons, and creatures that add an impacted story line and many accessories and abilities to purchase and add to your party.

Now one thing that is a characteristic of all Final Fantasy games is the random enemy encounters. This is a feature that I both really like, and extremely hate. That is when you are wandering around the world in the over world map view and while in dungeons, you will randomly encounter enemies and will be taking to a battle screen. Now, I like this because it adds a level of surprise to the game, something you are not prepared for. That though, can make it or break it for you. If you are in dire need of recovery or items, fleeing a battle could be your best choice. I also extremely hate this though, that is because it can be really aggravating and annoying when you run into an enemy ever few steps.

Also the game uses a menu system style game play for the battle screen. People might find this a little different, especially at the time, when the characters of the the game were more intractable. the fighting also follows a turn based style play as well. patients plus video games do not always go hand in hand though.

Another thing I really like about the game is how you can decide the members of your party. Every Final Fantasy fan will tell you that the solid plan is to pick Warrior, Thief, White Mage, and Black Mage. For this lethal combo of tanks, healers, DPS (damage per second), and heavy hitters is a sure fire victory. But there is also the Monk and Red Mage in the game to add some difficulty from the noob party. For instance, I beat the game with the combination of the Warrior, Thief, White Mage, and Monk. Leaving out the sure fire heavy hitter that the Black Mage is, this added a level of difficulty to the game. You can even play with a party of all four of the same class type.

Now with the different class types, items, accessories, and spells, there is a level of strategy that can be put into the game. Not to mention the amount of detail it takes to just figure out where to go, when to go, and how to get there. A lot like Zelda, you are just thrown into the game with out much to rely on. You are given a back story at least and not completely screwed from the start like they did to you in Zelda. But you do not really have much of a clue on where to go first, they just assume that you will go to the nearest Kingdom (Coneria, where the game first starts) and move from there. Another really difficult part of the game is the dungeons. That is, with out a guide or a map for the game, you will wander around aimlessly until you either A) die from too many enemy encounters, or B) spent enough time using the cause and effect method of "if I use this ladder I go here, but this other ladder takes me there". You can spend countless hours alone just trying to navigate your way in and out of a dungeon. Do not get me wrong (all the die hard fans waiting to hatemail me) I really like the game and I am a big fan my self. But this can be extremely aggravating. Also, a little tip to all those new comers to the Finale Fantasy world, The save button will become your new best friend. Making sure you save often will help save those countless hours spent in a dungeons after your party gets defeated from a random enemy encounter that is too difficult for your party to handle. I really recommend a game guide to all those who run into difficulty playing this game. (Guides, cheats, walkthroughs)

From a different stand point though, you can see how this first installment of the series really set a standard for the future games to come, and those in the same genre of fantasy RPG. The importance of different items, abilities, and strategy can be seen in a lot of today's games. For instance in both games like Final Fantasy, and the new Skyrim, potions play a major factor in not only staying alive health wise, but also how much magic you put out in a fight. Resting to recover health, and knowing the weakness's of your enemies are also major components of games that started to catch on after the release of Final Fantasy.

All in all, the game is a classic and made a major impact in the history of gaming. I really recommend all those you want a good game that will make you think, and is also fun to play, to try this game out.

Lastly, Because of the improvement of the 16 and 32 bit games, compared to the 8 bit games that I have blogged about in the past, it is hard to find a "good" link to put up to send people to sit to play the games. Therefore, as a solution to the problem, I put up links to both gaming emulators and ROM's on the "Links to Games navigation bar". These are both easy to download and install. Any questions on the process of the emulators or ROM's, feel free to comment or email.

References:
http://wireless.ign.com/objects/680/680927.html
http://www.square-enix.com/na/title/finalfantasy/

Technos Japan's River City Ransom

River City Ransom, both developed and published by Technos Japan, is a side scrolling beat'em up action RPG released for the NES in 1989. Like the game Double Dragon (1988), it is believed to be a spiritual sequel to the game Renegade (1986).

The objective of this game is that you play as one of River City High's students, Ryan (and Alex if in 2-player mode), attempting to save River City High and Ryan's girlfriend Cyndi from the villainies "Slick".
You do so by battling your way across the city from gang owned "turf to turf". You fight the gangs such as "The Generic Dudes", "The Frat Guys", "The Jocks" and "The Squids". Now, I found this pretty funny because, for example, when i was facing the "Generic Guys", they all had very generic names (I know, imagine that). There are also safe zone areas through out the game where you can upgrade your characters stats and recover health.

The only big difference is the amount of enemies on the screen
at once. And that is only because of the technological differences.

Now at first I did not even know that this was an RPG type game at all. It was at a point in the game where I was like "how do you recover health in this game? Or are you just not suppose to take damage". I was also confused about the areas in the game where you just crossed without any action or violence. It was at one of those points that I noticed I could walk into a store or a resteraunt, and spend the money I was picking up off my fallen enemies. I was like "what the fu*k" no way. And after that the game became a lot more interesting to me. At first I though it was just another Double Dragon, because it basically had the same game play. You could move up, down, left, and right, you fight enemies, and you can use weapons from the enemies. One thing that I really enjoyed about this game though was how you can use your own enemies as weapons. While I was playing, I tried picking up a stick or bat like weapon, and instead picked up an enemy that I already knocked down. This was pretty comical if you ask me. The best part was, not to long after that, I was playing the Scott Pilgrim vs the World Xbox arcade game and It was like the exact same thing as River City Ransom. It was a side scrolled beat'em up, where you can pick up weapons, use your enemies as weapons, and find stores where you can buy health restores and upgrades from money recovered from fallen enemies. There are even bosses and sub-bosses like in River City Ransom. I wonder where those developers found their inspiration. Like, I am a big fan of Scott Pilgrim, but you can only play so much of a beat'em up before you really start to see the repetitiveness of the beat'em up genre.

The difference between this and other beat'um games of that era (besides the RPG half) is that However, the characters' effectiveness in battle is determined by several statistics, and their knowledge of fighting techniques. These techniques include the games techniques such as Grand Slam, Stone Hands, and Dragon Feet, which are purchased as books in shops throughout the city (just like the movies and comics in the Scott pilgrim game) using funds recovered from defeated gang members.

So it is obvious that games like this made an impact on current games like Scott Pilgrim vs the World  and Finale Fantasy, but the game to me is not that interesting. I like the concept of it, but to me the story line was just a little dull. I mean there is nothing special about saving you "world" from a villain or rescuing your love interest. Besides that though I did like the other parts of the game (like using your enemies as giant hammer like enemies). And, let me add (again) how much this game is like that Scott Pilgrim game... tisk tisk developers of Scott Pilgrim the game, where is your creativity.

References:
http://classicgaming.gamespy.com/View.php?view=GameMuseum.Detail&id=308

Mass Effect 3 Ending.

Warning: Spoiler Alert 


I have no idea what everyone is bitching about (pardon my language). All I have seen and heard from different sources is that the ending to Mass Effect 3 is the worst ending in the world. Personally I liked it, a lot. Also, the game is so good in general, that the ending shouldn't change that much of a real gamers opinion. So all of you complaining, grow a pair and look at what makes Mass Effect into the game it is.

I have been a huge fan of the Mass Effect franchise since the release of the first game. I have logged over 30+ hours of game play per camping (first play through) of each individual game. I even have a Mass Effect skin and face plat on my Xbox. I am a fan to say the least. So please tell me...why all the complaining?


I have heard multiple reasons on why people hate this ending. One was that the game just stops...hello people an "ending" is suppose to END!  Another reason i have heard is that of choice. AS we all know, the Mass Effect games have been centered around choice. Every decision we have ever made has effected the game play and how the game unfolds as a hole. So when the ME3 ending comes up we are only giving 3 choices- to destroy, to control, or to sync. THOSE ARE STILL CHOICES!!! its not like we where slapped in the face by a giant Reaper penis and the end was choosing for us. We were giving a choice that was to effect all existence in the (games) galaxy. If you ask me, that is not an easy task. And yeah, it may only be 3 choices, but what else is there that could of been done? Think about it...you are at the end of this war and you can destroy the threat, control the threat, or create a synchronized bond with the threat. What other choices could you have? I mean really, what else could of been done. Think of a real world situation here people, what other choice would you be given if you had to end a war with a power that is too strong to let roam free. A power that is so strong that it could wipe the galaxy clean of all life. What else could you do with such a power besides:

1)Destroy it
2)Control it
       or
3) Bond with it and become one


Also, If you play the game right, and the way that it is supposed to be played, Shepherd still survives in the end. This brings me to my next point

Here is a little food for thought. There is a theory spreading around the wide world that explains a lot. That is, that the Commander was really indoctrinated the whole time. How else can a organic life form some how get melted into some substance and transferred into a giant hive mind data base (that the reapers are) and control them. And that the point of the game was to try and indoctrinate the player as well. For all those super geeks that think that they must always be right, and know everything that is Mass Effect here is some support. Through out all of the Mass Effect games blue was in correspondence with paragon options, and red was in  correspondence  with renegade options. Paragon was in correspondence with the "good"choices, while renegade was in correspondence with the "bad" choices. So tell me why the ending choices in ME3 shot out beams of different colors, and not just the same color. When you destroyed the reapers, which was the main point of the series and what everyone thinks is the "right" ending, the crucible shot out a red colored beam. When, if you choose to control the reapers, and become part of them, the crucible shot out a blue colored beam. So if we follow the what the franchise using as right and wrong (blue and red), what was really the right decision and why.  I am pretty sure that the producers and developers that put all that time into this franchise wouldn't care so less to mess up the ending. Also, the idea is that the DLC's to later be released, as was confirmed by the PDA message at the very end before the re-load onto the Normandy, will explain the ending to the players.One DL at a time. So come on people, Give Bioware some credit. Its both there job, and it is still a business world people so grow a pair> And if you think you can create a franchise better than Bioware, then do so and shut the hell up already. 

A special thanks to my buddy Ben