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

Tatio's Double Dragon

Double Dragon was developed by Technos Japen, and published by Tatio Corp. The game was released in the arcades in 1987, and the NES in 1988. This side-scrolling beat'em up is a spiritual sequel to the game Renegade, that was released in 1986. Double Dragon is believed to be one of the first successful examples of the beat'em up genre.

The objective of the game is that you play as a martial artist named Billy Lee (and Jimmy Lee in co-op mode). Your girlfriend, Marian, has be kidnapped by a fearless gang called the Black Warriors. It is up to you ,and your brother in co-op mode, to rescue her. Now, nothing to big in the plot of this game. Very stereo-typical for this era in video game history. Like other games of its time, it was just a side-scroller, nothing too fancy. There are some notable differences  from the arcade version though. One of the major differences, is that in co-op mode, instead of the final boss being the leader of the Black Warriors gang, you must fight your own brother for the affection of Marian. This added a large level  friendly competition to the game.  The NES version added an upgrade system. That is, after defeating a certain amount of enemies, the player earns a heart. Using this heart allowed the player to perform more complicated and difficult moves. Also, the NES version had 2 modes. Mode A allowed the players to play normal campaign. Mode B allowed players to 1 vs 1 each other or the computer in a martial arts battle.

Now, besides what the game did as a successful franchise, it really doesn't have anything super special about it. So if your looking for something really fun and entertaining, Double Dragon wouldn't be my first choice. You can see the impact this game made on today's popular beat'em up franchises, such as Soul Caliber, Street Fighter, and Mortal Kombat. So if you are looking for a fun beat'em up, I'd go for one of those, they are newer and more technologically advanced.

Nunchuck to your face, check

Now I'm not saying this game is terrible. Just not very unique in today's world. Maybe in 1988 it was more unique. Now though, nothing special. There were a few things I liked about this game. The first was the fact that you could move up and down on the screen instead of just left and right like on a lot of other side-scrollers of that time. This added more options to the game, such as choosing which opponents to take out first. With that you can have more of a strategy of how to win the game such as taking out enemies with weapons first. This brings be to other major thing I liked about this game, the availability of weapons. Everyone knows that weapons make life that much easier to do what you are trying to do...in video games. You find these weapons mostly from opponents carrying them to attack you with. But you can also find weapons in the environment to use, such as barrels and rocks. One thing that definitely hit me though was some one that developed this game must of kinky as all hell. Because you can fight girls in whole body hugging outfits, that carry whips and whip you. You can also knock those whips out of their hands...and whip them back...

Who's a kinky boy

In all, the game isn't that bad, just extremely boring. So as I said before, if you are looking for a beat'em up to play for fun, pick up a more recently released game. It would most likely entertain you more. If you want to go old school though, and get a little taste on what started today's versions of the beat'em up genre. Check out the link. Or go pick up Mass Effect 3, because it is still just that good and trumps all other genres.

References:
http://www.giantbomb.com/double-dragon/61-20752/
http://www.arcade-history.com/?n=double-dragon&page=detail&id=676

Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda

Legend of Zelda was produced by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka, and released by Nintendo in 1986 for the NES platform. This is the first in a long series that helped form Nintendo into the franchise that it is today. Standing right next to Mario, Link and the Zelda are two famous characters in the world of Nintendo.

Now the objective of this game is that you, playing as Link, must go and save the princess of the Hyrule kingdom, better known as Zelda.She has been kidnapped by the main antagonist of the series, Ganondorf. Now, you complete this task by completing a series of dungeons ( 9 to be exact, not counting the finale dungeon) and collecting the eight pieces of the Tri-Force, and ancient and powerful artifact of the game. Now, most hardcore Zelda fans know the background of the Hyrule Kingdom and its inhabitants. But for any of those interested in learning more, a lot of the games past can be found in the game "A Link to the Past" (anyone else catch that play on words? Sneaky Sneaky Nintedo...LOL'z). Back to this game though, this game is full of action, adventure, puzzles, battles, and questing game play. You better watch out D and D, Link's out to get you.

Now this is a picture form "The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarin of Time But it shows the main protagonist and antagonist of the series 

Now let me get this out of the way...I really hated playing this game. Now, to all the huge Zelda fans who are ready to just send some nasty cruel hate mails, let me explain why. First things first, you are dropped into the middle of huge "map".  Now this is in " " because you have no map to actually look at, just black little screen with a dot to tell you where you are. I understand that at the time there was not enough space to put such mini maps. But to be dropped in a world that you have never been in before, with no clue what you have to do, where to go, and how to do it; I mean come on, was I the only one that found this frustrating?

There were one too many times where I walked into an area with enemies past my little rusty swords difficulty level and pretty much instantly died. Not to mention if a play didn't walk into that first cave, THEY WOULD HAVE NO WEAPON! I mean, come on Nintendo, throw us a bone or something.

I had difficulties just finding the first dungeon, not to add just finding my way around the game itself. I understand that finding your own way is what makes this game into the beloved fan extravaganza. But i like to have at least a little clue on what I am suppose to be doing. 

Also, Link, why do you constantly save Zelda anyways? she is how much older that you, and a princess, way out of your league home boy. How many games have you saved her in? and what have you got out of it? A thanks...see you next week when i'm captured again. Might as well put one of those bombs to good use, and blow yourself out of this nightmare.

Now that we got past the bad part, The Legend of Zelda did add a turning point in the gaming history. That is, it was the first to add internal saves to the game cartridge itself. It did this by adding an internal battery to power the saves for the cartridge. I can appreciate this, for with out it how could I save my Mass Effect today.

In all, the game is a classic and has a huge fan base. But I hate it and it is awful. I have never raged quit a game so many times in my life. If you want to play a real action, adventure, questing, role playing game, pick up Mass Effect 3. I haven't been able to put it down since it's midnight release...winning

And even though I hate this game, for all you hardcore Zelda fans and for all the people who want to try this challenge; I still put up a "Link" to the game...Nintendo isn't the only one who can play on words (lolz) 

References:
http://www.zeldadungeon.net/Zelda01-the-legend-of-zelda.php 
http://zelda.com/universe/game/zelda/