The Adamant Ditto Blog

Pokémon Remake: Pidgeotto

2012-03-01T12:06:00.001-08:00

So, as you already know (Or should know, if you read my last Update), I love the Pidgey line, and Pidgeotto's no exception!

Pidgey was the third Pokémon to Evolve on my team (After Charmander and, of course, Caterpie), so more Nostalgia there. Also, Pidgeotto was on the show, and back then, that meant a lot to Everyone who played the games...or at least the people around me...

Pokémon Remake: Pidgey

2012-02-27T19:52:00.004-08:00

Let me just start this off by saying I love the Pidgey...The Pidgey line holds a special place in my heart. I remember back in the 90's catching my first Wild Pokémon...It was Pidgey! I'm going to hold off on saying any more until it Evolves...

So, yeah, I have a great Nostalgia for this line of Pokémon, so I worked harder on it than I probably should have, but yeah, I hope you all enjoy my hard work, and I'll see you next time with yet another Remake!

LTTA: Sonic the Hedgehog

2012-02-27T15:28:00.002-08:00

By now, you're all aware that we end up with a fair share of Let's Try That Agains we never actually plan like Kirby's Dream Land 3 and The Great Circus Mystery. Well, here's another one. Basically, I was streaming one night, beat Sonic 1 and in the process, we had a lot of great conversations and I decided I was going to put it up. Still, don't be surprised when we talk more about Zelda, Mario and cartoons than we do Sonic the Hedgehog.

The first video is below and a link to the playlist is below that.

Matt's Top Five Favorite Mario Kart 7 Tracks

2012-02-27T01:54:00.001-08:00

When we first started this blog, I kicked things off with mylist of the ten best Mario Kart tracks in my opinion. In many ways, it was tocelebrate not only my love for the series but the then upcoming 7^thinstallment, Mario Kart 7. Well, Mario Kart 7 came out in December and I’ve hadplenty of time to play it so I figured I’d go back and list off the tracks Ithink are the absolute best in Mario Kart 7.

Sure would be nice if Waluigi was in this game.

Of course, when I say “absolute best,” I mean of the newtracks. While Mario Kart 7 easily has the best selection of retro courses inany Mario Kart yet, it’s unfair to compare the likes of Waluigi Pinball andKoopa Cape, already great tracks that were on my original list, to the newtracks I want to talk about. Also, I’m only going to be listing off five. Anymore than that and I’d be listening almost all the new tracks all together! One last thing, and this should go without saying, no Battle mode tracks. I know they barely count to begin with but I just feel the need to remind you that they're not going to be included. Even if Honeybee House is kind of cool.

5. Rock Rock Mountain

Not sure if physically possible...

When it came down to it, I had to decide whether I liked DKJungle or Rock Rock Mountain better for my number five slot. While DK Junglehas better atmosphere, being based on Donkey Kong Country Returns and all that,but I ultimately gave it to Rock Rock Mountain simply based on track design.Rock Rock Mountain is just a very fun track. From the very beginning where you’reracing through caves and avoiding bats, to the gliding sections where you caneither go over or under a fallen tree and of course, the main attraction, thegiant slope at the end. It’s almost as if you’re driving straight up verticallywhile avoiding rocks. Something like that has never been done in a Mario Kartgame and it’s just a lot of fun to play. Then, to top it off, you pass thefinish line with another gliding section, allowing you to take a path youcouldn’t on the first lap.

4. Shy Guy Bazaar

Where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face.

Much like DK Jungle, Shy Guy Bazaar is all about theatmosphere. The track takes place in a desert marketplace, almost Arabic. Itreminds me a lot of Subcon from Super Mario Bros. 2, or Doki Doki Panic inJapan, which is likely while it’s Shy Guy’s home course. In fact, there are thevases you could warp down in Super Mario Bros. 2 located near the end. Butatmosphere isn’t the only great thing about the track, it’s also a blast toplay on, offering perhaps the most paths in any of the tracks in the game. Whenyou first reach the marketplace, you can either stay on the ground, go abovethe stands on the roofs or even take an enclosed path filled with coins. Evenfurther down the track, there’s another split path that I’m not sure why it’seven there but it’s nice to have options. Top it off with a gliding sectioncomplete with Shy Guy’s on magic carpets and in the end you have one greatracecourse.

3. Music Park

Better than the entirety of Wii Music!

Music Park is sort of this game’s Waluigi Pinball. It’s aconcept that comes out of nowhere but ultimately works in the game’s favor. Asyou’ve likely guessed, it’s based entirely around music that means racing ontop of pianos and xylophones, bouncing off of drums and high-hats and avoidingincredibly happy, giant music notes. It’s a fantastic looking track and a lotof fun to play on. I love that every time you cross over the piano or bounce onthe drums, you hear music coming from them. It adds a lot of charm to analready charming course. I also love the Piranha Plants located in one of thetunnels who are bobbing their heads up and down to the rhythm, way to go aboveand beyond, Nintendo. But my favorite part is definitely the smiling, giantmusic notes. What can I say? I’m a sucker for cute, living objects. They bouncefrom place to place and make the ground shake and if you pull a trick off atthe right time, you can get a quick boost from it. Music Park is a highlyoriginal track with a lot of charm and a lot of fun.

2. Wario Shipyard

This has so much to do with Wario!

Nintendo has a habit of naming tracks after characters thathave nothing to do with those characters. I still to do this day will neverunderstand why Donkey Kong has not one but two snow tracks named after him.They continued this tradition with Wario Shipyard, a mostly underwater trackbased on sunken pirate ships. What does it have to do with Wario? Nothing. Doesthat matter? No, because it’s beyond awesome. Wario Shipyard perfectly showsoff why the addition of being able to race underwater should exist and opensthe door to all kinds of interesting track designs. Switching back and forthbetween underwater and out of water makes the track very unique, even comparedto every other track in the game. The pirate theme goes a long way, too.Avoiding swinging anchors and being able to glide over masts to receive coinsis very cool to look at and offers up some minor strategy when working throughthe course. There’s also a section with Warp Pipes that blow air and try toknock you off the stage. It tends to work on me a lot. Wario Shipyard is anexpertly designed track and would likely have been in my top ten had the gamebeen out by then.

1. Piranha Plant Slide

Sure, Mario can breathe underwater when he's racing.

Here’s a track that would definitely be in my top ten. PiranhaPlant Slide is this game’s equivalent of Koopa Cape, which is also in this gamebut unfortunately gimped, in that there’s a lot of water, a lot of speed and alot of fun. It starts outside with a retro themed area based on the originalSuper Mario Bros. Seriously, even the bushes are just recolored clouds. Then,you make your way underwater and come up underground where a rushing current ofwater, similar to the river in Koopa Cape, takes you along the track at highspeeds. There’s some jumps along the way, places to pick up some extra coinsand Piranha Plants and Gloombas to avoid. Then, you take a pipe underwater andend up in a place with a bunch of pipes that randomly blow air, one of whicheven takes you to a higher part of the stage which is good for avoiding a verypesky Piranha Plant near the end. Then, you glide out of the water, pass a fewwaterfalls and go through an 8-bit brick castle. Make your way around a finalcorner (or take a cleverly hidden shortcut) avoiding both real and cardboardGoombas and there you have Piranha Plant Slide. I just love the 8-bit design ofthe outside, rush of the current in the inside, the fact that there’s Gloombas,the use of pipes in the underwater sections to reach shortcuts, the cardboardbushes and Goombas, it’s a fantastic track. One of my all-time favorites andcertainly the best in this game.

When it comes to Mario Kart 7, I honestly can’t point to anytracks that I straight up don’t like. Sure, the one lap tracks are sort of lamein concept but the designs make them fun to race on and even Maka Wuhu with it’sterrible glitch is fun to play on. While not all of them knock it out of thepark (I’m talkin’ to you, Neo Bowser City and Rosalina’s Ice World), I wouldn’tsay any of them are bad. But these are just my picks, let me know how you feelin the comments!

VGM of the Week #17

2012-02-26T15:57:00.000-08:00

I got so caught up in my Sonic '06 review and playing Kirby's Epic Yarn with my girlfriend and the gang last night that I completely forgot today was my day for VGM of the Week. But it's okay, I'm on it.

I've known what my pick for this week was going to be ever since the last time I posted; the Throwback Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy 2. Yeah, I know, every pick I've made so far as been a remix but they're all so good. Not only was the Throwback Galaxy a really fun little nod to Mario 64 but it also had a really awesome remix of the tune from Whomp's Fortress. It's kind of jazzy and upbeat, I like it even better than the original, personally.

Review - Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)

2012-02-26T12:53:00.002-08:00

Yes folks, I finally got around to review what may be my most anticipated game review yet. The dreaded Sonic '06. Yes, it is as bad as everyone says. No, you should never play it. Yes, you should totally watch my video.

Pokémon Remake: Unown

2012-02-26T00:40:00.000-08:00

This is by far the biggest update I've ever done...Not one Pokémon, not two Pokémon, but TWENTY-EIGHT Pokémon! And this isn't my biggest sheet!

Ok, so yeah, I got a little lazy, but in all honesty, it's TWENTY-EIGHT Different Movements for a Pokémon with one Attack...So yeah, it's a little lazy, but the original one was just as lazy

Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 Announced.

2012-02-25T15:48:00.000-08:00

Well this was unexpected. Instead of the long-rumored third entry in the series, "Pokémon Grey" being announced on Pokémon Smash today in Japan, instead, series producer Junichi Masuda announced direct sequels to both Black and White. So that's right, four entries in the same series rather than the usual three. Little information is known about the games with the exception of the names, the fact that they'll be on the DS, not 3DS and that they come out in June in Japan.

They also revealed that the game will involve two new forms of the third dragon, Kyurem. They looked to be fused versions of Zekrom and Reshiram to me. We'll keep you posted as more information on this (admittedly bizarre) announcement as it comes up.

Pokémon Remakes: Diglett & Dugtrio

2012-02-25T09:30:00.002-08:00

I think this is my first Journal about something that I've been doing since this project started: Remakes

This first one contains two awesome Pokémon, Diglett & Dugtrio...Yes, I know Dugtrio was on our top 5 Worst First Generation Pokémon, but that was only because he's lazy. Otherwise, he's an awesome Pokémon, and one of the only Shiny Pokémon I caught way back in Fire Red (The other one being an Onix, who I started using).


Diglett Dig! Diglett Dig!

Trio Trio Trio

As with everyone else on the planet ever has, I've wondered what Diglett & Dugtrio actually look like fully above ground, and if you've seen a hacked one use Fly in any of the 3D games, you know that not even they know (As the Ground flies up with them)...I just don't know how they can use Scratch...

I'm still on the remake train, so no hints!

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 Gameplay Trailer

2012-02-23T12:35:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in my previous post about Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2, the gameplay trailer was scheduled to be released through Gamespot today. Well, here it is.

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;W&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;
I do think, visually, it looks better than Episode 1 but not by too much. It's certainly not on par with Generations but I never expected it to. After all, it is a downloadable title. The gameplay looks like a nice return to form and the physics look better, though one can't be sure until the game is released. I'm not sure how I feel about the team-up moves but at least they look to add a little bit of a depth and give Tails a purpose for being there other than to drown a lot. Plus, it'll probably be especially fun to use those moves in Co-Op. The stage design, while completely ripped-off from past games, is looking pretty sweet too.

I'll remain cautiously optimistic for now, mostly because of the physics. Though I do honestly believe Sega was going to listen to the fans and fix them. The engine is supposed to be from the ground up. After Sonic Generations did so much to please the fans, I'll give Sega the benefit of the doubt if only this once.

New Pokémon Sheet: Swablu

2012-02-23T11:43:00.000-08:00

I love Swablu. Back when I originally played Sapphire Version, I had one on my Team! I love everything about this guy, it's color, it's cloud wings, it's feathers on it's head...That's pretty much everything, aside from his typing which is nothing special...UNTIL IT EVOLVES!

Click on it to see the Full Size...Hey! I can add Captions now!

It was nicknamed Sacreblu...But enough about me, back to the topic at hand...Swablu's a cool Pokémon, end of story

I'm going to be doing a few Remakes of older Pokémon sheets, so...NO HINT FOR YOU!

Nintendo Direct 2012.2.22 recap

2012-02-22T07:55:00.000-08:00

If you missed Nintendo Direct when it was live, you can still check it out here.

For those of you who don't have time to watch a 12 minute video, here's a basic rundown of what Reggie had to show for us. No bombshells, of course. They save those for E3 obviously.

Dillon's Rolling Western is said to have 20+ hours of content and is out on eShop today at $10 (Developed by Vanpool, the guys who made the Tingle RPG)
Mario Tennis Open will be launching May 20th in NA and May 12th in EU. Has local download play for up to 4 players as well as online modes that feature leaderboards. There's a gyro mechanic that lets you control the way you view the court and the touch screen has several virtual buttons that let you hit the ball differently if you are not familiar with the standard button combinations. (Developed by Camelot)

There is a new interview with Masahiro Sakurai on Kid Icarus: Uprising where he and some goofy translators explain the 3 on 3 multiplayer mode and some of the mechanics in the game. The game is coming out March 23rd and if you preorder it at select retailers, you will receive a download code for 3D Classics: Kid Icarus.

Xenoblade Chronicles is coming out on April 6th. Also, you might remember they had this poll on facebook awhile back where you could vote on the alternate boxart for Xenoblade Chronicles. The poll is closed now and the votes are in and they are going with...

The Last Story has been announced for NA and is being published by XSEED Games. XSEED is seriously on the rise of taking the title of localizing the best Japanese titles from Atlus. Talented bunch. They brought us Retro Game Challenge!
Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir will be launching on Friday, April 13th. This is a horror game in similar vein to Fatal Frame that utilizes AR.

That's it for the west side. Japan's Nintendo Direct had a ton of more information for their audience with it being upwards of an hour and a half in duration. Nintendo of Europe also took that presentation and added English subtitles while including some other stuff. for Here are some quick notes on some of the stuff I figure some people might care about but again this is obviously not for fans in the US.

Fire Emblem: Awakening has a new trailer and the DLC is going to be free for a limited time. The DLC is supposed to feature new maps and episodes. Coming to Europe some time this year. April 19th in Japan. No announcement for the US yet.
There's a new Brain Training game featuring Dr. Kawashima where you train to be a Demon. Supposedly you do challenges for him as if he was Arino.
Rune Factory 4 coming out in July for Japan.
Project Zero 2: Wii Edition is coming out in Europe which is a remake of Fatal Frame II.
Game Gear are coming to VC on 3DS in May. They're kicking off with Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble, Dragon Crystal, and G.G. Shinobi. They're also getting Game Center CX to show off these titles.
Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry's Wonderland 3D is a remake of the original DQM game. Features Local and Wi-Fi vs., and StreetPass.

And some other information about Etrian Odyssey IV, Kingdom Hearts 3D, Pokemon vs. Nobunaga's Ambition, Culcept, and a collaboration between Namco Bandai, Sega, and Capcom under the Banpresto brand for a mystery 3DS game. Really cool stuff and I wish they'd bring it all over.

Oh, by the way...

New Pokémon Sheet: Barboach

2012-02-21T11:39:00.000-08:00

Barboach is a...strange Pokémon...I mean, I love Whiscash, but Barboach just seems kind of strange to me...I mean, when I first saw him in Generation 3 (After my 3 year-or-so break from Pokémon [yes, I actually hated Pokémon for a few years, but not anymore]) I thought Barboach was Qwilfish, which is...Strange.

I think that he's pretty forgettable, but, unlike most of the other forgettable Pokémon, I don't hate him...he's not my favorite, but he's not awful

Next up is a Pokémon that, when it evolves, it has a different Primary type, but the same Secondary type

The Ten Best Disney Video Games

2012-02-20T00:25:00.000-08:00

Hey, let’s talk about licensed games. Ever since video gameshave existed, there have been video game tie-ins for popular movies, TV showsand books to try to capitalize on the success of both gaming and the franchise.Often times, these games range from mediocre to complete garbage. Developersdon’t seem to put the normal amount of effort they’d put into their regular,non-licensed games. It could be because the company that owns the franchisedoesn’t want to actually pay a decent amount of money for a development team orthey rush it to meet a deadline or something but regardless, licensed games arenotorious for being bad.

Seriously, this game is terrible. Look at it!

However, they’re not always terrible. In some rare cases,licensed games actually fall into capable hands and have a lot of more effortput into them. This was quite a bit more common in the 8-bit and 16-bit days.Developers just seemed to care more back then. One company in particular whoseemed to care about whether their games were good was of course Disney. Gamesbased on Disney properties have been around since the days of Atari and for awhile, many of them were some of the best for their respective consoles. Sure,in recent years they’ve sort of gone down the tubes making games like Monsters,Inc.: Scream Arena and Hannah Montana: The Movie: The Video Game but at onepoint, Disney had a pretty good track record with video games and even workedwith some of the finest developers in the business. So, I’m counting down theten I happen to like the best.

Also, before we start, for the sake of fairness, I’m notincluding any Kingdom Hearts games on the list. Kingdom Hearts is one of myfavorite video game franchises of all time and likely every major entry of thefranchise would find a place on this list but I’m not going to be doing thatjust so we can give some love to other games that deserve it.

10. Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue

An odd choice? Sure, but I enjoy it.

As you’ll come to notice on this list, the Toy Story serieshas had a pretty good run when it comes to video games. For the most part,every game released, even the more reason Toy Story 3, has been pretty good.Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue for the Playstation (don’t play theN64 or Dreamcast versions) is your typical 3D platformer but it’s actuallypretty fun. The stages are large and diverse and follow the locales from themovie pretty closely although they did have to get creative with several of thelocations just to make the game large enough. You take control of BuzzLightyear as he searches for his best buddy Woody throughout the 15 levels.Each stage has a number of different missions you have to complete to earntokens which are needed to progress in the game. Missions range from beating aboss to finding Mr. Potato Heads pieces, they’re all diverse and make it so youhave to explore every inch of the huge stages. By today’s standards, the gamedoesn’t control as well as it could and while the graphics were great then,they aren’t as great today. Still, it’s a fun game if you can look past itsflaws and probably the best 3D Disney platformer of all time.

9. Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse

Mickey's gone through more jobs than Barbie.

Disney’s mascot and most beloved character has had his fairshare of great video games featuring his likeness. From the recent Epic Mickey(which was pretty flawed but still not bad) to the classic Castle of Illusionseries, Mickey has been in a lot of great games. However, one of his best isMagical Quest for the Super Nintendo. One of the many Disney games developed byCapcom at the time, Magical Quest lets you play as Mickey on his quest torescue Pluto from the evil Pete. Along the way, Mickey gains a number of coolabilities by putting on costumes such as a FireFighter outfit which allows himto squirt enemies with water and a weird Peter Pan style outfit which allowsMickey to go all Bionic Commando and swing from hooks throughout each stage. It’sa classic platformer by a once great developer and one any gamer should checkout.

8. Toy Story Racer

Ricky doesn't approve.

I’ve mentioned this game before on my list of the bestnon-Mario Kart kart racing games and yeah, it really is one of the best. Thegame is unlike any other Kart racer before it, at least it terms of how thegame is set up. Instead of just jumping straight in to a series of tournaments,you have to complete missions as each of the four available characters at thestart of the game and then from there, you can unlock more stages andcharacters to compete in even more missions. It’s a pretty unique set-up andgoes a long way in increasing the replay value of the game. Plus, the gameplayis darn good too. The game handles well, the stages are unique, the charactersare all there, the items work well, it’s well put together game and one I’drecommend to any fans of fun, arcade style kart racing games.

7. Darkwing Duck

Let's get dangerous.

Let me level with you, readers, I love the Disney Afternoon.Very few aspects of my childhood were as big as the Disney Afternoon. I lovedsitting down and watching all the different shows. I still love it to this day.Though admittedly, I never got into Darkwing Duck until I was an adult which isa shame because it’s a great show and spun-off into a great game for the NES byCapcom. Darkwing Duck is half Mega Man, half Bionic Commando. Darkwing goesaround blasting enemies with his blaster but he can also hang from ledges andhooks and drop down from platformers and do all kinds of cool platforminggimmicks. He can also block attacks with his cape. It’s a pretty cool mechanicbut I forget it’s there all the time. The stages are well designed and thebosses are all bad guys from the show but the game is relentlessly hard. It’shard for me to even complete a level sometimes because of how difficult thegame gets. Regardless, it’s a fantastic game that any fan of Darkwing or evenMega Man should take a look at.

6. Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse

More games should be in black and white.

The best game to feature Mickey Mouse as the main star isalso the hardest. Mickey Mania for the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis is afantastic sidescroller with an amazing art direction and great level design bymy God is it hard. Every level, even the very first level, is a test of allyour gaming skills. You face countless bad guys, disappearing platforms, splitsecond jumps and decisions, it’s a very hardcore game but it’s also a lot offun. It’s one of the few games on this list I just love looking at. Each stageis based on an older Mickey Mouse short and the sprite work ties in to thestyle of the short. For example, the first stage is Steamboat Willie andeverything is black and white and looks fantastic. Later stages include ThePrince and the Pauper and the Lonesome Ghost with appropriate art styles,enemies and locations. If you can get passed how damn hard the whole thing is,it certainly is a treat to play and look at.

5. Toy Story

Whoa, look at those graphics!

I promise this is the last Toy Story game on the list buthonestly, it’s the absolute best. Developed by Traveler’s Tales (Mickey Mania& the current Lego series of games), it’s a classic sidescrolling platforminggame with some of the best visuals at the time. They tried their best to imitatethe CGI of the movie and used the same method of turning 3D renders intosprites as the Donkey Kong Country games. The end results were great, the gamelooks fantastic. Every character and enemy has so much life and fluidity, itlooks like you’re playing the movie. It’s great. Except many of the levels aremade up just for the sake of the game. Oh and it’s unbelievably hard. Yes, manyof the games on the list have been difficult and I’m terrible at them but I’dhonestly say Toy Story is the hardest. It doesn’t start out too bad but as youget to later stages such as Inside the Claw Machine and Rollerbob, the gamegets impossible. Rollerbob makes me want to rip my hair out even when I’mplaying with invincibility on. Go find a video of it on Youtube, it’s just notfair. Either way, this is a great game and one of the best licensed games evermade.

4. Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers

The real superpower of teamwork!

Now this is what I’m talkin’ about! Rescue Rangers is stillto this day one of the best cartoons ever made and I love watching it eventoday. So it only makes sense the game would also be amazing. Much like therest of the Disney Afternoon video games, it was developed by Capcom and isyour typical sidescrolling game however with one major twist; it’s co-op. Yes,that’s right, you and a buddy team up as Chip and Dale and go around throwingboxes and apples at robot ducks and bees. It’s fantastic. The stages aredeveloped around working with a pal. While you can play the game single player,it’s much easier and much more fun to play with a friend. Not that the game isa cake walk or anything. Sure, it’s not as hard as Toy Story or even DarkwingDuck but it can get really tough in later stages. I personally am also a bigfan that almost every level is based on a different episode of the show and thebosses are also ripped right from the show. Capcom clearly did their homeworkand it pays off big time.

3. The Lion King

I was stuck on this stage for an hour and it still looked great.

Here’s another fantastic but incredibly hard game but thistime, it wasn’t developed by Capcom. Around 1993, Capcom lost the Disneylicense and instead, Virgin Interactive took it over. While they weren’t quiteas good as Capcom, they did have a couple of hits and in fact, some of the bestgames on this list including The Lion King. The Lion King follows Simba fromthe time he’s a cub to the time he’s an adult and plays through a wide varietyof levels actually based on scenes from the movie. As a kid, Simba can roll toattack and roar to stun enemies but as an adult, Simba can slash and throwenemies like nobody’s business. The game actually gets a bit simpler when you’rean adult because of this but it still ends up being relentlessly hard,especially towards the end. There’s a stage where you have to go through aconstant string of maze-like tunnels fighting hyena after hyena with nocheckpoints along the way. It’s borderline sadistic. I would also like tomention how great this game looks. Because Virgin worked with Disney animatorsto make the sprites, the sprites are beautifully fluid and look like they wereripped right from the movie. But not quite as good as…

2. Aladdin (Both of them)

Genesis has apples too but why would you use them?

So maybe I’m kind of cheating here since these are twocompletely different games based on the same movie but I’m sorry, I couldn’tdecide. Aladdin was developed by Virgin for the Sega Genesis and Capcom for theSuper Nintendo and both are completely different in design, music and gameplay.The Genesis version features the same beautiful animated sprites as the LionKing did, but even more so. The game literally looks just like the movie. TheGenesis version has more of a reliance on swordplay, since Aladdin wields asword in this one. In the Capcom version, Aladdin throws apples and jumps onpeople’s heads. That game is more about platforming than anything but thelevels are still well designed and it’s a lot of fun to play. Both games alsoironically feature incredibly hard “rental stopper” stages based on the flyingcarpet scene inside the Cave of Wonders. The Genesis version moves so fast, youdon’t know what’s ahead of you and the SNES version has lava that covers uphalf the screen so you once again have no idea what’s coming up. It’sbrutal. While I guess I would say the Genesis version is better both ingameplay and graphics, I find both games to be a joy to play and think theyboth deserve a spot on this list.

1. Ducktales

More games need Launchpad McQuack.

Yes, this is it, number 1 and I bet many of you figured itout before we even made here. Ducktales was one of the best-selling games onthe NES and Capcom’s very best-selling for the system and for good reason; it’sfantastic. Following the same basic format of the movie, Scrooge McDuck travelsthe globe to get even richer and uncover hidden, valuable artifacts. On hisquest, he ends up all over the planet from the Amazon to Transylvania even tothe moon! Each stage is masterfully crafted with tons of branching paths andsecrets making it hard to earn that true ending where Scrooge is playing in ahuge pile of money. The gameplay is unlike any other on the NES and can be abit jarring at first but once you get used to it, you’ll have a blast. Scroogecan’t just jump on enemies like Mario or Aladdin, he has to either hit stuff atthem by playing golf with his cane or use his cane like a pogo-stick, which isalso useful for getting across gaps and spikey platforms. It’s very strangeconsidering I don’t remember that from the show but it works and adds someoriginality to the platforming. Since this was Capcom in their heyday, thegraphics and music are top notch. This has one of the best soundtracks for theNES and features an amazing 8-bit rendition of the ever catchy Ducktales theme.Ducktales for the NES is a classic for a reason and is very easily one of thebest licensed, if not the best, licensed games ever made. It definitely makesme say WOO-HOO!

So there you have it, the ten best Disney games in myopinion. Now, there’s quite a few I left off that deserve some recognition likeKim Possible 2 for the GBA, Lilo and Stitch for the GBA, The Castle of Illusionseries, The Little Mermaid on the NES, Disney Universe on the PS3/360/Wii, ToyStory 3, I could go on and on. I’m sure you guys out there have some I left offas well. So let me know what you agree with, what you disagree with and whatyou’d have added instead in the comments.

VGM of the Week #16

2012-02-19T06:56:00.000-08:00

You guys already know the drill. I had some tracks in mind for this week last time I did this but it's been so long that I forgot already!

I've been playing a lot of Retro Game Challenge lately as well as listening to a lot of the Chrono Trigger OST on loop but I think I'll have to go with...

I feel like the music in this game really sticks, given the amount of time most people put into it. This one plays when you're around and about on the spaceship which is like the hub for taking missions, shopping, storage, and health care. So, you're always going to come back and hear this after grinding it out on a bunch of monsters with three other friends OVER THE INTERNET (which was a revolutionary thing at the time when considering the fact most people were still on 56k).Anyway, I think this tune is great. Probably my favorite from PSO.

New Pokémon Sheets: Volbeat & Illumise

2012-02-18T21:45:00.000-08:00

hey, you guys get to hear from me twice in one Day!

So yeah, if you know us, you know our views on these guys...I didn't feel they deserved 2 Separate Posts, so...yeah, they get a joint one!

Saving on space and Time! All right! But yeah, these guys aren't too good...They're yet another Duo to show off Double Battles...Literally right after another duo in the Pokédex, Plusle & Minun...

Next up is a Pokémon who can learn Spark, but is not an Electric Type

Things I Would Like to see Happen with Pokémon Grey

2012-02-18T08:32:00.000-08:00

I’m thinking about making “Things I Would Like to see Happen with...” a thing, as I tend to think (or in most cases over think) about these types of things...I already did this with the “Next Iteration of the 3DS,” and I think it was well received...Anyway, onto what this Blog Post is all about: Pokémon Grey!

The Story:
One of the best things about Pokémon Black & White was the Story, as always, the third version will tweak it...I’d like to see more about the Sages you have to find after beating the main story in Black & White. In Black & White, you find them and they immediately get arrested, only giving you a little tidbit about Team Plasma, but I think they could go a little further in Grey, making them Trainers who you Battle before Looker takes them away...In Black & White, they didn’t even put up a fight, they just hid and stood in one place...I could see them also doing something more with N after he flies away on Reshiram/Zekrom.

I could also see them doing more with the Shadow Triad, another thing in Black & White that was never really elaborated on, mostly because you couldn’t battle them, and they only showed up a few select times...and even then, they only dragged you to N or Ghetsis...They don’t try to hinder you at all, and yet they’re supposed to be Team Plasma’s most faithful members!

Aside from that, they’ll probably try to combine Black & White’s unique features. For example, instead of Black City & White Forest, I would expect the place that replaces either of them to be called “Grey Village,” which will basically be both Black City and white Forest combined (a Shop for Rare Items, and Tall Grass to Catch Wild Pokémon)

N will probably have both Reshiram & Zerkrom, and you’ll probably have to get Kyurem...Which brings us to our next Topic:

The Cover Pokémon
I’m assuming that it will probably be Kyurem, all signs are pointing to him being Grey’s Poster Child...I think that they’ll give him a new form (maybe call it the “Complete Form”), and create a new Item for him to hold to change into said form...Maybe expand on his area, make his story more important...Basically everything they did with Giratina in Platinum...I could also see them tossing in a few mini-games, as they did in Platinum’s Wi-Fi Plaza...Maybe evem something like the Pokéathalon, or the Battle Frontier will appear as well...There’s not much more to say here, I didn’t think this would be a long point anyway...Moving on.

What Handheld it would be on
I would, Ideally want it to be on the 3DS, as there’s no reason for it not to be...The 3DS is already a year old (as is Black & White, in North America, at least. The games are a little older in Japan). I think it would run smoother, and have less lag if they decide to go with the same engine, and continue to use the moving Sprites (I’m not the only one who noticed the occasional Lag in the Black & White in-game Battles, Right?)

Since the 3DS can still connect to the DS, I could see a Transfer feature, similar to what Black & White had with the 4th Gen games, and you would probably still be able to battle a Black and White Cartridge...Maybe not over Wi-Fi, but even that is possible with the 3DS.

The Scenery would benefit from the move to the 3DS, which would make it an overall prettier game, something that, even on the DS, it didn’t need much help with!

I also think If they wanted to use Models instead of Sprites, they’re already able to...Just look at Pokédex 3D, which looks amazing! Some minor Touch-ups to the Battle Revolution Models here and there, and they’re ready to go!

(Just a side note, but if they had everything as Models, there would be a good chance that Trainers would be Customizable...Probably to a greater extent than in Battle Revolution (As I would assume you would only have two Bases (Male and Female) to go off of instead of the 6 in Battle Revolution [Male, Female, Young Girl, Muscle Man, Cool Guy, & Cool Girl))

You were all probably waiting for this...I’m not going to complain too much, we have a Podcast dedicated to, as my friend Ricky would put it, “that exactly thing”...Instead, I’ll just offer what I would do when presented with this conundrum...I would...

Have different sets of pre-existing rules, which would consist of:

Battle Tower – Level 50 – The Current ‘Level 50’ Rules (One of Each Item, can only bring 3 Pokémon to a Singles Battle)...The only difference being everything (Above or Below Level 50) will be brought up/down to Level 50Battle Tower – Level 100 – The same as above, only everything’s Level 100 instead of Level 50

No Restrictions – Everything is as it would be, Levels remain the same, you can have Multiple of Every Items, etc...

No Restrictions – Level 50 – The Classic Level 50 Rules from the Fourth Generation of Pokémon games

No Restrictions – Level 100 – The Classic Level 100 Rules from the Fourth Generation of Pokémon games

I also think it would benefit from a Community System, much like Mario Kart 7...Under this you could create your own Rules and Restrictions for you and your friends to join! Along with naming the Community and picking one of many Icons, I would have it so you would be able to set:

What Attacks are Banned (You can choose from all of the Attacks, so if you wanted to set Stealth Rock to off, you can without affecting other entry hazards, like Spikes)

What Pokémon are allowed (No Legendaries? No Problem!)

If you can have Multiple Items (Anyone want 6 Lefteovers? Then Don’t set this rule!)

If you can have Multiple of the same Pokémon (Anyone want 6 Magikarp? Then don’t set this rule!)

Clauses (i.e. Sleep Clause – Two or more Pokemon cannot be put to sleep at one time)

What Type of Battles the Community will take place in (Singles, Doubles, Triples, Rotation, or any combination of the 4)

Whether or not the Wonder Launcher will be used (Because...Well, they added this option in Black & White)

Entry Pokemon (1-6, I’d always have it set to 6, just because that’s how I Rollout)

Whether or not you can see the opponent’s team before the battle (Why Ruin Surprises? Turn this baby on!)

I got a few of these from Battle Revolution’s Rule customization, so I’d like to see at least those settings appear.

As you can probably tell, I put some thought into this. I’m half-expecting an announcement for the next ‘main’ game (Grey, or the Ruby/Sapphire remakes, not Gen 6, that’s, at the very least, another 2 years off...for Japan) sometime in April (Just going off of Past Trends that I noticed). I could be wrong, but I might not be, which is kind of what I’m shooting for...

Most of this is what’s expected to happen, and I wouldn’t be surprised if most of this happened (Obviously, the Cover Pokémon and the Story would be changed, as no third version has had the exact same story)...

I kind of doubt that it would be on the 3DS, but who knows, it’s surely possible, it would make financial sense, as it would Sell like hot-cakes...As would the 3DS. But a Single Generation has never spanned over two Consoles, so I think we’ll be waiting until the Gen 6 to see a main Pokémon game on the 3DS...Then again, Gen 5 already broke existing Trends by being on the same console as a previous Generation, so who knows, this could be entirely possible.

The only thing I really want to see happen is the Wi-Fi Overhaul, as I’ve said many, many times...Unless it’s on the 3DS though, the Community thing is just a pipe dream, so just giving more options for Battles would be fine...I would really like to see rule customization, even if it is along the lines of Battle Revolution’s, which had a fine selection of customizable rules.

Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D Demo out on eShop

2012-02-17T10:18:00.000-08:00

The demo for the stereoscopic remake of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is now available for download in the eShop! Likewise, this demo also has a limit of 30 uses. It's 1,070 blocks so make sure you have sufficient space.

As a side note for 3DS Ambassadors, there was also an update for Super Mario Bros. that you can download. When you enter the eShop, it'll notify you of the update which is kind of neat. Nothing was changed with the classic game itself, of course. It now features a Restore Point like the Virtual Console Gameboy games as well as a cool new logo on the Home menu that resembles an NES and a TV.

For my impressions of the demo, hit the jump.

Let me first start off by saying I have yet to play the original Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Although, I've played quite a bit of the original Metal Gear Solid, some Portable Ops, and some Peace Walker. If you've played Peace Walker on the PSP, the controls will seem very familiar with most functions mapped to the D-Pad and aiming the camera is mapped to the face buttons. I think for others, it'll take a little bit of getting used to after taking a look at the controls diagram. From what I could tell, there weren't multiple control styles like there are in Peace Walker but it still has a multitude of options you can customize like sensitivity of the circle pad or the sensitivity of the first person camera specifically. If you're not really digging the buttons to aim, this game is compatible with the Circle Pad Pro. The touch screen set up is pretty intuitive although a little hard to explain to someone who hasn't played it yet.

Anyway, let's move on to the visuals. The environments and the 3D look pretty good. Even though it's the 3DS and there are a ton of jaggies because of no anti-aliasing, I was impressed with how detailed the grass was when I was crawling around on the ground in first person. Unfortunately, at times I felt like this game looked too good for its own good as I could tell the frame rate really took at hit during cutscenes while in 3D. It wasn't a slideshow but it was definitely noticeable. Frames per second for me is apart of what makes a game look good so I thought it was kind of a shame considering how good Super Mario 3D Land and kinda Mario Kart 7 looks while maintaining 60 fps in 3D. Another thing that bugged me was when you happen to move your camera behind or in a tree and it would sort of pop and cover the screen. I feel like this is sort of intentional in the way the camera works cause when you're crawling in the grass, the grass you tread on disappears into the screen or gets stuck on the screen for a 3D effect. That's cool. For trees, it kind of obstructed the view and I would prefer if they went translucent when it came near the camera. Nitpicking, yes, I know.

As for the gameplay, it's everything you'd expect from a remake of a Metal Gear Solid game where your main goal is to sneak around while trying to avoid getting caught by guards. Or you can just go Rambo once you pick up the hidden gun under the bridge. Metal Gear Solid games usually discourage you by giving you a bad grade at the end of segments if you kill anyone but this demo doesn't grade you at the end so it's alright. I encourage people to play through the demo a couple times just to explore the different ways you can approach the game as well as finding new stuff you might have missed before.

The Naked Sample from E3 looks NOTHING like what Snake Eater 3D ended up as.

On my second playthrough, I went through my inventory and noticed there were some Fake Death Pills. When used, Snake collapses to the ground and on the screen it says SNAKE IS DEAD while on the bottom screen it gives you the option to continue or exit as if you were to really die in the game. I thought to myself, "Shit, did I really just kill myself?!" That's when I noticed on the bottom screen that you still have the button that lets you use items. Pressing it goes to your inventory and it'll show that you can only use Revival Pills. So, to get the most use out of the Fake Death Pills you must also use it in conjunction with Revival Pills. Otherwise, you really did just kill yourself and guess what? You have more Fake Death Pills than you have Revival Pills so don't make the same mistake I did and do it a bunch of times because I thought it was so cool. You might ask "Why would I want to pretend to kill myself?" No real efficient reason really but it is a cool way to get the guards off of alert when they see your "dead" body. By the way, if you sit on the SNAKE IS DEAD screen for a while, the letters eventually transform into the words TIME PARADOX. I'm sure this was in the original but since it's my first time, I thought it was cool and I figured I should mention it!

Back to the bridge real quick, I'm assuming this wasn't in the original but you are now forced to use the 3DS's gyro to balance yourself as you cross the bridge or else it stops you by having you hang on the edge. This was kind of annoying to me since I was laying down while playing but it's not really a problem. I know some people who are really put off by any arbitrary motion controls so I thought I'd mention that. I want to also mention that the load times definitely feel like a stop between areas. It is cool to see a little Snake running in the bottom right corner of the touch screen though. In Peace Walker, the developers hid the load times by showing the map and having Snake move in the background and I kind of wish they did that here too. Also, you can eat foods to refill your stamina and in the description of these foods, it says you don't know what it tastes like because you obviously have yet to eat it and I guess after eating it'll tell you what it tastes like. A very nice subtle touch that makes me respect Kojima's work.

So, if you're a fan of the series, I think you should at least grab the demo and check it out. If you're not, get it anyway because it's free and can't hurt to try it. I feel like most people will pass on this game with the existence of the "HD" port that comes with other games but I feel like there's enough here that's different from the original game. I know I said I didn't play the original but I can tell that the developers are working hard to make it worth while to see what's different by adding stuff like camouflage from photos (which isn't an available feature in the demo).

LTTA: Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

2012-02-16T12:14:00.000-08:00

I meant to post this yesterday but forgot so instead I'm just going to post over myself. Joy.

So anyway, here's our latest Let's Try That Again. This time it's of perhaps the best platformer on the Super Nintendo, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. We've wanted to do this one for a long time and even attempted in our infancy but due to technical problems (always) it never worked out. But we finally got around to it. YAY! We brought our good buddy David along for the ride too since he knows a lot more about this game than most of us. We like to think it came out pretty well.

I'm uploading two videos a day because it's a little bit longer than our average LP (about five hours I'd say) so only the first four are up. You can check out the first part below and a link to the playlist below that.

First Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 Screenshots Released

2012-02-16T10:44:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, a handful of screenshots for the upcoming second part of Sonic the Hedgehog 4 were released on Xbox.com and today, a few more were shown off on Sega's own blog. I figured I'd share them with you all because 1. we've posted about this game before and 2. they look fantastic.

On top of the new screenshots. We also got a little bit more information about the game. It's set to include an all-new graphics and physics engine, which we already knew, but part of that new engine involves teaming up with Tails to do a number of partner moves including flying to reach new places as seen above. It was also confirmed that the game will have four zones, like the first. There's a rumor going around that it's also supposed to feature co-op multiplayer both local and online but X-Box removed that information earlier. Still, the game is looking great and sounding great. The first gameplay trailer is set to release next Thursday on Gamespot.com.

Hit the jump for the rest.

New Pokémon Sheet: Finneon

2012-02-15T06:48:00.000-08:00

Oh Finneon, you're so...Forgettable...I remember actually liking your design when I first saw you, thinking you would evolve into our first Dolphin Pokémon, only to have those dreams shattered seconds later by seeing the horrible Pokémon you actually evolve into...

Anyway, like I said, Finneon's pretty forgettable, but looking back, I do actually kind of enjoy it's design...I don't exactly know why I thought it would evolve into a Dolphin, but I think it might have to do with how slick it looks...and it wouldn't be that strange, considering that it wouldn't be the weirdest Evolution (That one still goes to Remoraid -> Octillery)...But yeah, not much to say about this guy (Even though there seems to be a lot of text here...)

Next up are two Single form Bug-Type Pokémon who are hatched from the same egg

Review: Rhythm Heaven Fever

2012-02-13T11:45:00.001-08:00

The third game in the Rhythm Heaven franchise (though only the second to see an international relase) fits right into the delightfully wacky, decidedly Japanese mold that the first two games have established. Veterans of the series will find themselves just as charmed and just as challenged as they have in the past, while newcomers are in for a much more accessible experience than they might have found had they jumped aboard on the DS.

As a franchise, Rhythm Heaven has always felt to me like the truest expression of a "rhythm game;" games like Parappa the Rapper, Guitar Hero, and Elite Beat Agents, while fantastic, rely just as much (if not more so) on visual cues as they do a genuine sense of rhythm. But Rhythm Heaven is much more subtle in the way that it incorporates its visuals, and they will frequently wean you off of such cues until you are left solely with your ears and your gut to guide you. Rhythm Heaven Fever is no different, and all manner of clouds, leaves, Japanese sumi-e paintings, and monkeys riding hot-air balloons will obstruct your view of the scene to help you build a natural sense of rhythm. The game's audio cues, as always, are relentlessly charming and fiercely memorable; "Wubba dubba dub, was that true?" and "Babom bom bom" are as thoroughly embedded in my head as the previous game's "Scratch-o" and "Together now" were. Just play either game and you'll see what I mean.

"Whoa, you go, big guy!"

Gameplay in Rhythm Heaven Fever is just as fun and addictive as it was in the two previous installments, and just as challenging. The developers of the Wario Ware series have once again built up an enthralling collection of amusing mini-games that must be navigated by keeping proper time. These encompass a wide variety of themes, ranging from golfing with monkeys to sorting candies, from playing badminton in the sky to interviewing a luchador. It is the eclectic nature of these mini-games that make the franchise so endearing to me and so infinitely replayable, and as usual, we're dealing with a delicious slice of Japanese wackiness. There are some stinkers, of course (one stage in which you play as a back-up singer rapping about how "into you" and "all about you" the lead songstress is proves to be as frustratingly difficult as it is annoying), but they are the exception rather than the rule.

While Rhythm Heaven on the DS was every bit as fun and as challenging as its Japan-only predecessor for the GBA, there was no denying the learning curve involved in mastering the game's ubiqitous "flick" mechanic. Rhythm Heaven Fever is much more accessible, using only the A and B buttons, and I think it's a better game for it. It serves as sort of a "return-to-form," adapting the simplified control scheme that made the original GBA title so great. Rhythm Heaven Fever is, as a result, easy to learn and very difficult to master, as I feel it should be.

The game calls these critters "weasels," though they look
more like gophers or groundhogs to me.

After finishing a stage with a "Superb" rating, the player receives a medal which goes toward unlocking "rhythm toys" and endless minigames that the player can mess around with at their leisure. Stages cleared with a "Superb" rating also randomly grant the player three consecutive chances to attempt a "Perfect" score, where the player must not miss a single beat. The medals and Perfect ratings give the game significant replay value for those interested in collecting them, though I've wished since the first title that I should be allowed to attempt a Perfect score whenever I pleased. Still, even for the player disinterested in collecting Perfect ratings, there are 50 minigames and many hours of fun to be had here.

As is par for the course for this series, the game's visuals are amusing, cartoony, and charming, though they look more crisp and more colorful on the Wii than they ever have. The back of the box boasts that Rhythm Heaven Fever is "hilarious to play or just watch," a statement which couldn't be more true. In truth, casual observers might even find themselves even more amused than the player, as they may be too engrossed in keeping the beat to notice the hilarious happenings in the far background. I personally guarantee that if a friend or family member watching from the couch sees you slip up spectacularly on an especially fun-looking stage, the next words out of their mouth will be "let me try."

Ee-oo. Ba-boom. Ee-oo ba-boom ee-oo. Ba-boom.

In short, Rhythm Heaven Fever is undeniable fun that should charm the pants off of all but the most stubborn of manly men, and is well worth its budget price of $29.99. I should mention that the game includes a selection of cooperative two-player minigames, a feature that, regrettably, I've been unable to test out. I'm sure they would be a blast and I applaud their inclusion, especially on a console as family-centric as the Wii. Pick up Rhythm Heaven if you can; at least rent it, if you can't afford it. It's exactly the sort of fun, challenging, accessible, addictive party game that would have sold like hotcakes in the Wii's prime, and I hope its dreadfully late appearance in the system's lifespan doesn't doom it to obscurity. It's a game I'd recommend to absolutely anybody.

One word of caution; while this is certainly no fault of the game's, be sure to confirm the settings on your television. In my case, if my TV isn't set to "Game Mode," there is noticeable input lag that can significantly throw off your groove, particularly when attempting a Perfect.

Ricky thought this game was...

New Pokémon Sheet: Wormadam

2012-02-12T12:25:00.000-08:00

Wormadam's...Alright...Unlike Burmy, you can't change it's form, so it's forever in its Plant, Trash, or Sandy Cloak

I've seen a few used online, and they're mostly Sandy Cloak...Man, I really have nothing to say about this guy...err, girl...
Next up is one of the two non-Bug-Type Pokémon to learn Silver Wind by Level up

VGM of the Week #15

2012-02-11T10:10:00.000-08:00

Hey, it's Josh here again with another VGM of the Week!

This week, I decided to go with a tune that's been on my mind since I started listening to the music again. It's the Music that plays during the Ganondorf Battle of Wind Waker:

I really love most of the Music from Wind Waker (And I really love how the game looks as well), but this one has always stuck out to me. I've always felt that the Music added to the Intensity of this Final Battle with Ganondorf. At the same time, it also kind of pumps you up!

It adds all of the pressure and encouragement a Final Battle theme should have! I think that Nintendo pulled it off perfectly with this track, and that's why I chose this as this weeks VGM.

Super Mario Bros. Crossover 2.0 Released

2012-02-10T05:42:00.000-08:00

It's actually been out for a couple days now but it's the first I've heard of it. I figure since we brought up Abobo's Big Adventure, we should post this too! For those who don't already know, Super Mario Bros. Crossover is a flash game that let's you play through Super Mario Bros. as various classic video game characters. Each character offers something different and is fairly true to the original in how they play. For example, Ryu Hayabusa can climb walls and Mega Man can slide and charge his buster. New in this version are playable characters Luigi and Bass. With that, they added a ton of skins in different styles for the characters and levels along with hundreds of new music tracks. All of this is customizable to your liking. If that hasn't sold you, Haggle Man and the Demon from Retro Game Challenge appears as skins. Now you have no choice but to play it!

Here's what the creator, Jay Pavlina, has to say about the release from his website:

I am very happy this day has finally come. It’s been a lot of hard work, but it’s worth it to see it all come together. We hope you’ll enjoy playing Super Mario Bros. Crossover 2.0. We’re very excited to finally release it, and even more excited to start working on our awesome original game. Exploding Rabbit will entertain you for many years to come!

So yeah, go check it out now and get some Bass all over your face.

Mario Kart 7's Maka Wuhu Problem

2012-02-09T15:41:00.000-08:00

When it comes to gaming, glitches are a common thing. Nogame is really ever safe from having an occasional bug or programming errorthat messes with the game. Sometimes dragons fly backwards or characters getstuck in walls but for the most part, in any good game, glitches are few andfar between and with the introduction of online gaming, even minor glitches arecapable of being fixed through patches made by the developer.

Even the game of the year has horses that can climb up the side of mountains.

However, one developer seems to be a lot further behind thetimes than any others when it comes to online support with patches. Of course,I’m talking about Nintendo. Nintendo isn’t much for the whole “online” gamingthing and they’ve never sent out patches to fix any of their game’s problemseven if they were in need of them. Thankfully, Nintendo games are pretty safefrom glitches, their quality control is top notch. Too bad one of their latestgames has a glitch that is beyond game breaking on a global scale.

In the latest installment of their popular Mario Kartseries, Mario Kart 7, there’s a track known as Maka Wuhu, based on the islandfrom Wii Sports Resort. It’s a pretty neat little track that only has one lap.It’s just a three minute course you race on once. However, about 45 secondsinto the track, if you do a very specific maneuver and exploit a glitch in thegame’s code, you can actually skip the vast majority of the track. After thesecond section starts, if you turn around and jump into some water behind agate, Lakitu will pick you up and take you to the start of the third section, completelyskipping all of the second section. It’s very easy to pull off and thanks tothe internet, very easy to find out how to do. It’s also ruining the game.

The Maka Wuhu glitch makes playing online with random peopleabout as fun as playing with the only set of building blocks the dentistwaiting room has every single time you visit. No matter who you’re playing withonline, chances are multiple people are going to vote for Maka Wuhu, thinkingthey’re the only people on Earth who know how to exploit this game breakingglitch. So you go into a room of eight people, chances are four of them votefor Maka Wuhu, you go to the stage and it just turns into a bunch of peoplefoolishly jumping into the water, thinking they’ve got this in the bag. Then,once the race is over and you wait two minutes for the two people who don’tknow about the glitch yet to finish, three of those four people vote for itagain because they didn’t win by exploiting their precious strategy and chancesare, somebody new has entered the room and voted for it too not knowing youjust raced on it. I once played 12 races online with randoms and seven of themtook place in Maka Wuhu. I am not kidding.

Unfortunately, when it comes to glitches, Mario Kart isn’treally a stranger to them. Mario Kart 64 had all kinds of weird exploits andglitches you could use, such as jumping half way across the course on RainbowRoad or the horribly programmed red shells that hit the walls every time youthrew them. But perhaps the most prominent was snaking in Mario Kart DS. Thiswas another element that ruined playing online for anybody who didn’t know howto do it. Basically, every time you drift in Mario Kart, you get a boost ofspeed if you do it correctly. Well, in Mario Kart DS, if you wiggled thecontrol pad fast enough, you got the boost faster. Many people figured this outand started exploiting the boost to literally lap people who didn’t know how todo it. Every race you entered, chances are there was a snaker. It made playingwith randoms a complete joke if you knew how to do it and no fun if you didn’t.But at least Nintendo fixed it in later Mario Karts by making boosts alwaysshow up at a set time rather than how fast you can move your fingers.

Believe it or not, despite how much I hate snaking, Iactually think the Maka Wuhu glitch is way worse for a number of reasons. Themain reasoning being that with snaking, I could at least race on other tracks.A good snaker could snake no matter what track they landed on so if I wasracing four people and one of them knew how to snake, I could at least race theother two on any track I felt like. With the Maka Wuhu glitch, I’m forced toplay the same stage over and over again because people online think that glitchis just so great and that they’ll get an easy win. Which of course, brings meto my next point; The Maka Wuhu glitch is easy. While I do consider snaking tobe a glitch or just poor programing on Nintendo’s part, it at least took somekind of skill to learn how to do properly. You had to practice the timing andmoving the d-pad really fast, it wasn’t something you could just do. In fact, Istill can’t do it and Mario Kart DS is by far my most played DS game. With theMaka Wuhu glitch, once you learn how to do it, you can do it every time andtrust me, it isn’t hard. I pulled it off on my first try and have been able todo it successfully every time since. No skill, no practice, just exploit.

It's all fun and games until this jerk cheats.

The worst part is, because of Nintendo’s lack of care fortheir online functions, I doubt we’ll ever see a proper fix of it. Nintendo’s neversent out a patch before and I guarantee this has been brought to theirattention by somebody out there. Somebody at Nintendo has to have raced onlinebefore and played Maka Wuhu eight times. They have to know. So what’s the holdup? You guys have talked about doing DLC for upcoming games like Fire Emblem,you can’t pretend you can’t send out some kind of patch to fix this. Just, makethe gate longer or just program it so that when you fall in the water, Lakituputs you right back to where you landed. It can’t be that hard for amulti-billion dollar company like yours.

In racing games, shortcuts are one thing but the Maka Wuhuglitch is a glitch and it’s ruining my gaming experience. In a game with 32different tracks, it’s absolutely pathetic and not fun to race 7 of 12 races onthe same track. It’s a problem on a global scale and the more people buy thegame and discover the glitch, the worse it will become. Snaking was bad but itat least offered up some variety. There’s only so many times I can lose on MakaWuhu before I get sick of the game in general. Sure, I can race with my friendsand we all have an agreement to not use the glitch but playing one on one isn’tas fun as playing against 7 other strangers. But why bother if I’ll never playon Piranha Plant Slide or DK Jungle? Just Maka Wuhu all day, every day. It’s aproblem, Nintendo. Fix it. You have the technology and the power. Just, show usthat you care about the online experience for once.

Review - Sonic Riders

2012-02-07T17:48:00.001-08:00

Sorry to post over you right away like this, Josh, but you just happened to finish something the same day as me!

Anyway, here's my look at Sonic Riders. This game is very bland and uninteresting. But it looks pretty and has a cool opening. Oh, it also introduced the Babylon Rogues and should probably be condemned to Hell for that reason alone. OH WELL!

New Pokémon Sheet: Lunatone

2012-02-07T16:46:00.000-08:00

Yeah, another new Pokémon Sheet, Lunatone

Lunatone always seemed strange to me...I mean, I get it, it's a Meteorite shaped like the Moon, but it seems like it's...Not alive...Now, I'm sure there's other Pokémon that look more...inanimate...but this guy just seems kind of...off...I know, I said the EXACT same thing with Solrock, but it also applies to Lunatone...That said, I'm amazed at how well I got the Spin to animate

Next up is a Pokémon who can have 3 Different Secondary Types

Top Picks - 5 Favorite 1st Gen Pokémon

2012-02-06T12:54:00.001-08:00

We made it to the big one, folks! It's like, an hour long so uh, yeah, be cautious of that.

The Eleven Stages I Want In The Next Super Smash Bros.

2012-02-06T00:49:00.000-08:00

Well, my last two lists have been about the best and worststages to ever be featured in the Super Smash Bros. series so I might as welltalk about the stages I’d love to see in the next installment. With such a hugeselection of characters and franchises, I find it hard to believe Nintendowould ever be pressed for ideas for stages. Personally, I’m of the belief thatevery character in the game should have their own stage for when you fight themin Classic or All-Star mode. I remember finding it very strange that Young Link’shome stage in Melee was Jungle Japes.


What happened to you, man? You used to be cool.

So, in an attempt to come up with ideas for stages to be addedinto the next Smash Bros.,I give you my list of the eleven stages I’d love tosee. Why eleven? Because I came up with one last minute and didn’t want to getrid of anything. Now, it was hard coming up with this list. There’s tons ofideas for stages I’d love to see, many of which from the franchises thatalready get the most stages. I tried to be fair and give each franchise onestage but I couldn’t do it so there’s two Zelda and Mario stages on the list anyway,OH WELL!

11. Boxing Ring

Spitting not included.

Let’s face it, there’s a very strong chance Lil’ Mac will bein the next Smash Bros. He’s a very popular character from a classic seriesthat recently got revived, plus, he already knows how to fight so he has anadvantage over 90% of every other Nintendo character out there. So it onlymakes sense for a stage dedicated to Lil’ Mac to take place inside a boxingring. I might be alone, but I’d love for the boxing ring to be 8-bit and havethe 8-bit crowd in the background and maybe even feature referee Mario come outand hurt you sometimes. Characters like Glass Joe or King Hippo could show upand mess with the fight, it opens up a lot of opportunities. Or it could justbe another flat stage along the lines of Final Destination so all thetournament players could be happy. I don’t care one way or another as long as weget the boxing ring in the next Smash. And hey, if Lil’ Mac isn’t playable forsome reason, it could be King Dedede’s from Castle Dedede.

10. Casino Night Zone

Tails not included.

Now, this one probably should have been left off of the listbecause there’s no guarantee Sonic will be back in the next Smash and if he isn’t,obviously they wouldn’t have a stage from the series. However, because of theway fans are and the fact that Mario and Sonic are certified friends now, Ithink they also have no choice but to put Sonic in the next Smash. So, mychoice for a Sonic stage would be Casino Night Zone from Sonic 2. Obviously,Green Hill Zone is the best choice to represent the Sonic series but thinkbeyond that, a casino themed stage is another great representation of thefranchise. Casino Night could have bumpers, flippers, those blue platforms thatmove up and down. It would offer up a lot of chaos but could also be reallyfun. I’d love to see what they could do with it.

9. Macbeth

Well, at least we got the Landmaster part.

I don’t know about you folks, but I am so sick of Star Foxstages that take place on the Great Fox. The tried to stray away from it withLylat Cruise in Brawl but you’re still on some generic spaceship doing the samething you’d do on the Great Fox. It’s boring and it’s worn out it’s welcome. IfI were to pick a stage from Star Fox, it would either be something on Sauria,from Star Fox Adventures (Mostly because I’d love a stage on the ground and Iwant Krystal playable) but beyond that, I’d love to see Macbeth from Star Fox64. Instead of taking place on the Great Fox, it could take place on the train.You’d be running along the top of the train as Arwings fly overhead and shootat it. Maybe at the end of the stage, the train can blow up and you’re nowforced to fight at the base or on the ground. Or you could just run on top ofthe stage at all times. Who knows. All I know is, no more random spaceships!

8. Skyloft

It's so pretty.

Now, I haven’t played Skyward Sword yet but if the nextSmash is anything like the last three, the Link featured will be the one fromSkyward Sword. So naturally, his stage should take place in the main locationof that game, Skyloft. There could be floating bodies of land you could jumpon, maybe some Loftwings come in once and a while and mess you up or you couldjump on them. Maybe the stage could even transition from day to night andduring the day, the colorful characters of Skyloft are out and about in thebackground, living their lives and at night, Keese and Remlits come out to messwith the fighters. It could be interesting and I guarantee it would be abeautiful looking stage. Maybe it could even move similar to Delfino Plaze. Thepossibilities are endless!

7. Tiny Town (Reddy Land)

It could be madness in all the right ways.

Here’s perhaps the most unlikely stage on this list, TinyTown from Kirby: Canvas Curse. I’ve wanted a stage based on Canvas Curse sincethe game was released and because of it’s obscurity in the franchise and thefact that new games keep being released (an Epic Yarn stage would also be rad)but I’d still love to see it. Basically, it would work in a similar fashion toMushroomy Kingdom mixed with Pictochat. You move along the rainbow coloredplatforms as more get drawn and you have to jump to those while avoiding obstaclesand stuff. I wouldn’t want it to move too fast because those stages getannoying but it could be a very creative and very fun stage unlike many we’veseen so far. I went with Tiny Town because I think it looks the mostinteresting but any stage from Canvas Curse could work as long as the gimmickremains the same.

6. Sunset Shore

So cool.

The second I saw this stage in Donkey Kong Country Returns,I knew I wanted it in the next Smash Bros. Imagine a stage where you’re playingas the silhouette of your character with nothing but a few articles of clothingshining in one bright color? It would certainly look really cool. It wouldn’thave to be a very fancy stage, there doesn’t have to be some insane gimmicks ortons of pits to fall into, though those bush enemies could be neat. I just wanta sunset stage where your character is mostly black. They’ve featured allblacked out characters in the Event Matches before so it’s not out of the realmof possibility.

5. Moonside

Melcom et owoonside.

Wecomel to Soonmide. Yes, Moonside would be an awesome stageto be included in the next Smash. Okay, yes, it’s just an alternate universeFourside, which was already a stage, but Fourside was awesome and it would beeven more awesome if it was lit up like Las Vegas. Maybe it could even bereverse Fourside, with the buildings and platforms being in an alternate order.Or, preferably, a completely different set of buildings and obstacles alltogether. Maybe you could have to avoid Abstract Art or Enraged Fire Plug orperhaps Evil Mani Mani could be in the center of the stage and occasionallycome to life and unleash some sort of attack. All I want is a really coolEarthbound/Mother stage that isn’t gigantic and impossible to kill people on. Ilove the concept of New Pork City but man did they drop the ball. Moonsidewould be a great way to make up for it.

4. Hyrule Castle (Wind Waker)

It's black. It's white. It's tough for you to get by.

While the Pirate Ship stage was perhaps the best form ofrepresentation they could have made for Wind Waker since it takes place on thesea, I was a little disappointed by the all-around genericness of the stage. There’sno familiar locations or faces from the game, with the exception of the King ofRed Lions. While I think the idea of being lifted up into a tornado was cool,why wasn’t Cyclos or Zephos seen when you reached the top? The Pirate Ship feltlike a missed opportunity to me. So, I came up with my own idea for a WindWaker stage based on a specific location, namely Hyrule Castle. Basically, whenthe stage starts, you’re inside the castle when it’s monochrome, there’s nocolor and everything is destroyed such as the giant Link statue in the background,whose pieces would act as platforms. As time goes by, the stage would slowlyfill with color and the broken areas would fix themselves, rearranging thestage. On top of that, enemies in the background would also reanimate andoccasionally interfere with the battle. Not too often but enough to make use ofthe creative enemy designs in Wind Waker. I think it could offer up a veryunique experience and would give The Wind Waker a slightly less generic stage.Assuming they keep Toon Link, that is.

3. Gangplank Galleon

I bet you read "Gangplank" wrong at first.

Rumble Falls was an awful way to represent the Donkey Kongseries and I think a stage from Diddy’s first starring role should have beenfeatured because he was new and it would have been awesome. So, GangplankGalleon would be an obvious choice and, depending on if they make it in, itcould be the home stage of Diddy, Dixie or K. Rool. The entire theme of DonkeyKong Country 2 is pirates. The Kremlings and enemies all wear pirate garb, thestages often feature ships, anchors, ropes and all kinds of crazy pirate thingslike that so why not make a stage that just takes place on the ship? It couldbe larger than Pirate Ship and feature climbable ropes that lead you to sailsor crow’s nest. Stacks of barrels could line the bottom and act as platforms,maybe even cannons could be fired or parts of the ship could collapse and leadto the ocean. Gangplank Galleon should have been in Brawl and I will becompletely upset if it isn’t in the next game, especially if Dixie or King K.Rool are featured.

2. Space Junk Galaxy

More exciting than the Observatory would be.

At this point, it’s almost a guarantee there will be somekind of Super Mario Galaxy stage in the next Smash. There were two games in theseries, they sold like hotcakes and they feature the most creative locations inall of Mario. I personally would go with Space Junk Galaxy because itrepresents both games better than any of the others. First of all, it’s gotspace right in it’s name, so it could have some crazy gravity and spherical platformsif they wanted. Second, those platforms that form together when you jump overthem? Yeah, those would be awesome. Your friend throws you off the stage,thinks you’re going to fall to your death and bam, you land on a reappearingplatform and the match continues. Maybe the Yoshi Head planetoid or Olimar’sship could appear as the main platforms. The idea of having gravity effect thestage, as well as disappearing platforms, already has me giddy to what theydecide to do with a Galaxy stage in Smash. I can only hope it’s this one.

1. Bowser’s Castle/Airship Fortress

Needs more lava.

Yes, the Mario stages are both number 1 and 2 but come on,Bowser deserves his own stage! For the longest time, I couldn’t decide if Iwanted Bowser’s Castle or the Airship Fortress from Super Mario Bros. 3 so Icame up with an idea, why not just combine the two? It could play similar toRainbow Cruise but less annoying. You start out on one of the Airships, it’llscroll just like in Mario 3 and you have to avoid Bullet Bills andflamethrowers and what not. Then, when you reach the end, the ship eithercrashes or docks and you’re now outside of Bowser’s Castle. There could be lavapits on either side of the stage, Thwomps in the sky that can crush you and itwould just look insanely cool, especially if it’s based on the castle fromPaper Mario. Maybe the Clown Car can make an appearance as a platform. Then, ifthe match lasts long enough, the Airship rises from the ground and it allstarts over again. It has the possibility to be the greatest stage in Smashhistory. While I do think it’s unlikely Nintendo would combine the two, I thinkit is very possible we’ll get one of the two in the next Smash. Bowser’sdeserving of his own stage and the castle is an obvious choice but the Airshipshave made reappearances in every major Mario game since Galaxy so it’s likely.

Well, there you have, my top 11 choices for stages in thenext Smash. Now, I’m sure there’s plenty I left out. Off the top of my head,Viridian Forest from Pokémon, Balloon Fight from…Balloon Fight, Sauria fromStar Fox, Rainbow Road, Mother Brain’s Chamber from the original Metroid, theUnderworld from Kid Icarus, Shy Guy’s Toy Box from Paper Mario, Diamond Cityfrom WarioWare, I could go on and on. But hey, enough about me, let’s talk aboutyou. What would you like to see in the next Smash? Do you have any super coolideas you’d love to see but doubt would happen? Hit up the comments below!

VGM of the Week #14

2012-02-05T14:10:00.000-08:00

Me again! I had quite a few things in mind for this week (including Doomsday Zone, which I mentioned during our Sonic 3 & Knuckles playthrough), but somehow, as I was deciding between them, this little ditty popped into my head.

This anthem from River City Ranthom is totally swingin' and really gets me psyched to beat the snot out of some Generic Dudes. (That's actually the name of their gang, not just my term for the mooks you'll plow through on your way to the boss.) I catch myself humming this tune at least once or twice a month; it's that relentlessly catchy.

River City Ransom is a timeless classic, but River City Ransom EX for the Game Boy Advance takes the cake in my book; it has more secret attacks, more items, more bosses, a plethora of customization options for your characters, and a pretty in-depth hidden morality system where sometimes bosses or other characters will actually join your party based on your actions. If you haven't played it, you're missing out on one of the best experiences on the GBA.

New Pokémon Sheet: Solrock

2012-02-04T11:28:00.000-08:00

Yeah, another new Pokémon Sheet, Solrock

Solrock always seemed strange to me...I mean, I get it, it's a Meteorite shaped like the Sun, but it seems like it's...Not alive...Now, I'm sure there's other Pokémon that look more...inanimate...but this guy just seems kind of...off...

Next up is a Pokémon who is based on the Moon, yet can't learn Moonlight (Bigger, more obvious hint: The Counterpart to Solrock)

PSN is now SEN (Sony Entertainment Network)

2012-02-03T20:38:00.000-08:00

I'll admit this isn't from the most credible source on the internet but NeoGAF user, Psykotik, says they received an e-mail from Sony that notified of this change.

Dear Psyko_2000,

On February 8, 2012, your “PlayStation®Network account” will be renamed a “Sony Entertainment Network account” or a “SEN account” in conjunction with Sony Computer Entertainment’s PlayStation®3 system software and PlayStation®Vita system software updates. (Note, this change will not be applied to the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system at this time.)

For general purposes, this account change is a change in name only. Your username or password will not change, nor are we asking you to change them. In accordance with this transition, some necessary naming changes will be made to the TOS and Privacy Policy.

This transition is based on Sony’s goal to enhance its unique digital entertainment offering. As a series of these activities Sony started last September, PlayStation®Network will be aligned with “Sony Entertainment Network.” This helps us get closer to our goal of establishing a global comprehensive network platform of services across games, movies, music and more, all accessible from one convenient account.

Thank you for your continued loyalty and support during this transition.

Sincerely,
The Sony Entertainment Network Team

I haven't gotten this e-mail yet but I think it's very likely this is true since Kaz Hirai was recently appointed CEO and President of Sony. With that, he's mentioned that he wanted to make some changes to get Sony as a whole back on its feet. Losing the PlayStation moniker most likely also means that they'll be expanding this service to platforms that aren't necessarily PlayStation.

Iwata Asks: The Last Story

2012-02-03T16:08:00.001-08:00

With its upcoming release in Europe, Nintendo has translated Iwata Asks: The Last Story into English which you can find here. In this interview, Satoru Iwata sits down and has a laugh with Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of the Final Fantasy series.

Here's a little excerpt from the interview:

Sakaguchi:
I left Square in 2003 and after taking a bit of a break, I began working again and was involved in the development of a number of titles. Then, just as I was finishing up work on them, I came to a point where I was doing a lot of reflection… Well, how can I put this? I felt that I might have been a little out of step with the times.

Iwata:
You’d really go as far as to say you were ‘out of step’?

Sakaguchi:
Well, maybe not out of step. I just felt like I was at a slightly different point from everyone else. As if I was surfing alongside the others, but had ended up riding a different wave from the one I should have aimed for. This project came about just at the moment when I was becoming aware of this. That’s why, if I’m honest, I feel a real sense of gratitude towards this game.

I find it interesting to hear the thought process behind developing games so I've always gotten a kick out of these interviews since the one with Masahiro Sakurai on Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Keep in mind, The Last Story has yet to be announced for North America and this interview was intended for its European audiences. However, it is likely that we will be seeing this game if Xenoblade Chronicles is a success.

Review - Sonic Rush

2012-02-01T23:10:00.000-08:00

So this isn't so much a review as it is an 8 minute long video about why I hate Eggman Nega with occasional references to the rest of the game thrown in. ENJOY!

The Simpsons Arcade Game HD Coming to PSN

2012-01-31T14:34:00.000-08:00

Obviously not the HD remake but just as awesome.

Sony revealed today on their Playstation Blog that Konami's classic Simpsons Arcade game is coming to the PSN on February 7th and will feature updated HD graphics and online multiplayer for up to 4 players. Rumors circulated that this game was being released awhile back after an ESRB rating for it showed up and an achievements list appeared on the X-Box Achievements websites but Sony confirmed today that it was in fact being released and would feature HD graphics, though I personally hope it also includes the sprite based original. We love the Simpsons here at Adamant Ditto and this is a great classic beat-em-up that has been released very sparingly in the past, in fact, it's only ever been released on the Commodore 64 and PC Dos. There was also a remake released on iOS in 2009 but it featured new levels, music, graphics and bosses to avoid conflict with Konami so don't even bother. It's very exciting to finally get this classic on console. With online multiplayer at that!

And if you happen to be a Playstation Plus subscriber, you can actually pick up the game for free that same day. Yes, Sony is just giving the game away if you're signed up to their expensive online service. Pretty nice of them. Now, it's only been announced for Playstation Plus but I'd imagine it's being released on the regular PSN the same day. After all, money is money. A wealth of other PSN games, including Far Cry 2, Final Fantasy V and Sonic the Hedgehog are also going to be made free to PS+ users throughout February. Hit the jump to see the full ad.

Update 2/1: Konami confirmed today that the game is indeed seeing release on the X-Box Live Arcade, four days earlier in fact! The Simpsons Arcade HD hits the X-Box Live Arcade this Friday, February 3rd.

PS3 Full Games:
Far Cry 2 – 2/14 (V-Day Special One Week Offer)

PSN Games:
The Simpsons Arcade Game – 2/7
Sega Genesis Bundle – 2/21
Altered Beast – 2/21
Comix Zone – 2/21
Golden Axe – 2/21
Sonic 1 – 2/21
Sonic 2 – 2/21
Streets of Rage 2 – 2/21
Battle Fantasia – 2/14
Fatal Inertia – 2/14
Hamsterball – 2/14
Inferno Pool – 2/7
Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom – 2/14
Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket Powered Battle Cars – 2/14

minis:
Hungry Giraffe – 2/7
Gold Medalist – 2/7

PS one Classics:
Final Fantasy V – 2/7

Full Game Trials:
Grand Theft Auto IV – 2/14
Deus Ex: Human Revolution – 2/21
Tom Clancy'S H.A.W.X 2 -2/21
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 -2/28

Early Access Demo:
The House Of The Dead III Exclusive Playstation Plus Demo – 2/7

Media:
Qore Episode 44 – February – 2/7

Avatars and Themes:
The House of the Dead 3 Dynamic Theme
Start The Party 2 Dynamic Theme – 2/21
The House Of The Dead III – Agent G Avatar
The House Of The Dead III – Lisa Avatar
The House Of The Dead III – Z1 Avatar

PSN Games
Grand Theft Auto IV: The Complete Edition (Bundle) – 2/14 (PS+ Price: $23.99)
The House of the Dead III – 30% off Crazy Taxi & SEGA Rally Arcade – Drive Me Crazy Bundle – 20% off – 2/21 (PS+ Price $9.59)
Sonic Rivals 1 – 25% off – 2/21 (PS+ Price $5.99)
Sonic Rivals 2 – 25% off – 2/21 (PS+ Price $5.99)
Sar – Search and Rescue Mini – 20% off – 2/21 (PS+ Price $TBD)
Hamilton's Great Adventure – 50% off Sale Price – 2/21 (PS+ Price $2.50)

New Pokémon Sheet: Weezing

2012-01-31T12:28:00.000-08:00

Weezing is one of my favorite Poison Type Pokémon...I mean, he's this weird amalgamation of a bigger Koffing with a second smaller one attached, and a weird...mine...tail...thing!

I don't know what it is about this guy, but I think it's ugliness is part of it's charm...It looks kind of depressed...Kind of like he was hanging out with that Wobbuffet from Silver Version...Hey, this is also my first non-symmetrical Pokémon Sheet on the Blog!Next up is a Pokémon who can learn Fire Spin, despite not being a Fire Type Pokémon

Top Picks - 5 Favorite 2nd Gen Pokémon

2012-01-30T16:00:00.000-08:00

Because I apparently love posting over my own lists, here's our latest video in our quest to countdown our five favorite Pokémon from each generation. It is, of course, second gen, the Gold and Silver gen. That means we're almost at the most important one. YAY!

The Five Worst Super Smash Bros. Stages

2012-01-30T01:48:00.001-08:00

Last time we met, I made a list of my ten favorite stages inthe Super Smash Bros. series. As I’ve mentioned previously, the stages are justas big of a part of the series as the characters. Every stage has a differentpersonality, a different familiar location from the world of Nintendo and oftentimes, different gimmicks.

Consider Venom number 6.

However, unfortunately, those gimmicks can sometimes beannoying. Some stages use gimmicks in very minimal ways such as the walls inShadow Moses Island or the Banzai Bills in Peach’s Castle. But sometimes theycan get a little annoying and over the top such as the Pokémon from SpearPillar or the entirety of the WarioWare, Inc. stage. Some stages have greatconcepts behind them but ultimately fail to impress like Venom, 75m or New PorkCity. However, many of these stages aren’t “awful” just not very good. I’mlooking at the five stages I absolutely hate, nay, refuse to play on. This ismy list of the five worst stages in Super Smash Bros.

5. Hanenbow

At least it looks nice.

As you’ll likely notice with pretty much every entry on thislist, I think the concept for Hanenbow is a neat one. A stage based on theobscure DS game Electroplankton? Sign me up! The stage is very unique and looksgreat unfortunately, that’s where the magic stops. These stage is terrible to playon. The layout is too all over the place, the leaves get in the way of actualbattle because they’re constantly moving and it’s the only stage with waterthat you can’t swim in. I feel robbed every time I die by falling in the waterconsidering I can swim in every other water stage. Also, the bottom leaf isjust a joke. You can move it all over the place and fall off if you make itmove too far in one direction. A great idea for a stage but awful in execution.

4. Icicle Mountain

The opposite of fun.

I hate this stage. In fact, it’s the only one on the listwhere I don’t even like the idea of it. Giving the Ice Climbers their own stagemakes sense but why didn’t they just make it based on the NES game? Why didthey make up some completely new area for them to explore. Okay, yes, it’s asnow covered mountain, which is the idea of Ice Climbers but it’s far toorealistic for my liking. The Summit does it much better. I just would have preferredthe NES style stage, like their Break the Targets. But beyond the way the stagelooks, it’s also terrible to play on. The fact that it’s vertically scrollingmeans it’s more about constantly moving than actually fighting your opponent.You have to always be jumping to even stand a chance and just attack enemieswhen you get the chance. If you play on random and get a character likeGanondorf, you might as well just kiss the victory goodbye cause you’ll just bescrolled off screen. An awful stage all around. The Ice Climbers deservedbetter for as unique as they are.

3. Mario Bros.

It all comes down to this.

Another stage I like in concept but hate in execution.Making a stage based on the original Mario Bros. with the same basic style ofthe original as well as enemies walking around, it’s really cool looking and couldhave been a good stage. However, there is a big problem; the enemies areoverpowered. Because you can attack and then hurl the enemies walking around atfoes and every hit sends your opponents flying, the whole battle because lessabout skill and more about who can get the enemies fastest. I’m not a fan oftournament play and I play with almost every stage on, even the gimmicky oneslike WarioWare but this stage is one I have turned off. It’s such a great ideabut the enemies are too powerful and there’s too many on screen at once,sometimes upwards of five and it just involves no skill to be good in thisstage. A great idea with a very fatal flaw.

2. Rumble Falls

Eat your heart out, Icicle Mountain.

Hey, remember how awful Icicle Mountain was because itscrolled vertically? Well, what if they took that concept and made it 100xworse? That’s what they did with Rumble Falls, based on Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat….orso they claim, I don’t see it as more than just a generic DK stage. Basically,it’s a vertical scrolling stage like Icicle Mountain but it scrolls way fasterand has way more traps that cause you to die quicker. In Icicle Mountain, atleast sometimes the stage slowed down or you could get to the top fast enoughto actually fight, in this stage you literally have to be jumping constantly. On top of jumping and maybeattacking your opponents, you have to avoid spikes, hit switches to activate newplatforms and ladders and make sure to avoid getting caught under the severalhundred platforms you can’t jump through. This is a horrible stage. Easily theworst in Brawl and one of the absolute worst in the whole series.

1. Brinstar Depths

You knew it was coming but I stand by it.

I mentioned it briefly in the intro to my last list but hereit is again; Brinstar Depths is an abomination of a stage. The absolute worsestage in the series hands down. WhileI do appreciate the setting of the stage, it’s nice to have a Metroid stagewithout lava, as well as seeing Kraid in the background, this stage is sopoorly designed and unfun to play on, I can’t ever be happy to see it. Thestage is very small and it’s constantly rotating because of Kraid attacking thestage, so you’re always in a new, tiny section of the stage, known of which arefun to play on. But the worst part is the fact that none of the platforms orledges can be grabbed at all. There’sno way to save yourself on this stage, especially if you’re a bad jumper likeLink or Samus. You have to be lucky enough to maybe land on a ledge that may ormay not be sticking out at the bottom, depending on the current position of thestage or just hope you can jump high enough to get back on the main part of thestage. It’s a terribly designed stage. I can’t imagine why this was okayed. Whothought it would be fun to play on a stage where you can’t save yourself? You getthrown off once, you’re dead. I feel bad for all two Ganondorf and Bowser playersout there, man. This stage must be the bane of their existence.

There you have, the five stages I think are the worst. There’sother stages I don’t particularly like such as Venom, Pokéfloats, 75m, Peach’sCastle (The original) but none of them are quite as bad as these stages, I canat least tolerate them. The ones above are just…so bad. They suck the fun rightout of the fight. Kind of like getting a stopwatch item that backfires. Anyway,let me know if you agree or disagree, what stages do you hate the most? Soundoff below!

VGM of the Week #13

2012-01-29T20:19:00.000-08:00

Matt's probably freaking out about how late in the day I'm posting this, but work was crazy tonight.
Anyhow, this week I wanted to share some of my favorite atmospheric music from the Pokemon series. Actually, Colosseum had a ton of great music in that regard, and no matter what you thought of the game itself (I'm a fan, fyi) you can't really debate that. Anyways, The Under was a whole 'nother city that was, well, underground. The population here is shady and seedy and otherwise off and this music made it all tense and classy at the same time. Oh man, I loved this game.

Top Picks - 5 Favorite 3rd Gen Pokémon

2012-01-27T02:47:00.000-08:00

Continuing where we left off, here's our picks for our five favorite Pokémon from generation 3, the worst generation.

LTTA - Sonic 3 & Knuckles

2012-01-25T01:11:00.000-08:00

So hey, because apparently January is Sonic month, we decided to do Sonic 3 & Knuckles! Yes, Ricky relives one of his favorite games of all time as we all watch on in awe, including our special guest David from our Mega Man 3 Let's Play. It's sure to be a good time!

You can check out the first video a below and a link to the playlist below that.

New Pokémon Sheet: Slakoth

2012-01-23T11:58:00.000-08:00

Not much to say about this guy. I don't love him, but I don't hate him...He's just kind of there...

The same goes for it's evolutions, I don't like them, but I don't hate them. Not to mention the Awful ability it, and Slaking have, Traunt...Where literally every move is like Hyper Beam

Next up is a Pokémon who has the highest Defense Stat of all Poison type Pokémon

VGM of the Week #12

2012-01-23T03:24:00.001-08:00

It is 3:18 AM on Monday and I just remembered I forgot to put up my selection for VGM of the Week this week. OOPS! Sorry to break the tradition of doing it every Sunday but well, it was my birthday and I was busy pretty much all day with my girlfriend, family and friends so it just slipped my mind. Terribly sorry but I hope you can all forgive me.

Now, as for my pick this week, I've had it decided pretty much since my last pick and if you watch any of our videos or streams, you probably know what it is. It is, of course, Rooftop Run - Act 2 from Sonic Generations. Sonic Generations has such a great soundtrack. It takes all the classic songs from each of the stages and remixes them for both acts and just turns into something completely different. So many tunes in that game are great like City Escape - Act 1, both Sky Sanctuary Zone Acts, Chemical Plant Zone - Act 2 but my absolute favorite is Rooftop Run - Act 2. They took what was already a great track and turned it up to 11 by adding some truly killer violin and guitar. I love it, it takes my breath away every time I hear it and I'd like to share it with all of you.

Retro Review - Shadow the Hedgehog

2012-01-21T18:57:00.001-08:00

So I made it to the Shadow the Hedgehog review. This game made me physically ill and I never wish to play it ever again. ENJOY!

Top Picks - 5 Favorite 4th Gen Pokémon

2012-01-21T01:35:00.001-08:00

It just occured to me that we forgot to put this up here. WHOOPS! Anyway, here's out individual lists of our five favorite 4th Gen Pokémon. Enjoy!

Resident Evil 6 Announced, Trailer Included!

2012-01-19T15:35:00.000-08:00

And holy shit does it look pretty damn good aside from the whole Chris Redfield and random guy thing.

Resident Evil: Revelations Demo out on Nintendo eShop

2012-01-19T15:25:00.000-08:00

The Resident Evil: Revelations demo was made available today and you can download it from the Nintendo eShop right now!

More demos will become available in the coming weeks so be on the look out for those!

Edit: It has come to my attention that, like their Japanese counterparts, these demos do have a limit on how many times you can play it. After 30 uses, the demo will cease to work. That shit don't fly with me.

New Pokémon Sheet: Trapinch

2012-01-17T04:20:00.000-08:00

I love Trapinch. It's a cute little Antlion, which is kind of a strange thing to say, considering that I hate bugs in real life...The same could be said for most Bug Types (Yes, I know Trapinch isn't part Bug Type)...Except for a Select Few (Just watch our Least Favorite Pokémon Lists)

There's really not much to say about this guy (As usual) I really like Flygon, and it's Middle form is kind of forgettable (Here's Lookin' at you, Vibrava!)

It's said that just seeing this next Pokémon will make you Drowsy.

Villain Analysis: Zant vs. Ghirahim

2012-01-16T19:17:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I guess I slacked off doing that Project Runway blog, and by "slacked off" I mean "Never put in the time or energy into doing it at all." So instead of that (or my looking at game shows which I'll get back to in time) I'm going to look at the villains of some Legend of Zelda games. Why? Well because I certainly can't look at the two different protagonists, for one, but also because in any work, it's the villain that makes or breaks it. Don't think that's an original observation or anything; Roger Ebert said something similar when he reviewed Wrath of Khan. Also, I just want to emphasize how much Nintendo learned how to properly write for an antagonist after forgetting halfway through Twilight Princess.

So let's get started. Now, I'm going to try to avoid being spoileriffic for those of you that haven't played Skyward Sword yet, but not as much for those of you who haven't gotten around to Twilight Princess, that one's, like, six years old. Get with it, you guys.

Now, for most of Twilight Princess, we have the Usurper King Zant. Zant kicks off the game being mysterious. Unlike other games, we start seeing the effects of what he's doing long before we even hear his name. Just after you get the hang of using your sword and game is really about get going, you get dragged, literally, into the Twilight Realm. Now everything is hazy, these alien creatures are running around, the music is eerie, people are no more than spirits, and , oh yeah, you're a wolf now. Once you finally get some explanation as to what's going on, you learn about the Twilight Realm and how Zant brought his army right up to Hyrule Castle and Zelda was forced to surrender the castle. Okay, right away they were on the right track establishing his sheer, dominating power, since in the world of games, Authority Equals Asskicking, his army strong-arming THE Hylian army means that he as an individual is a tempered badass when it comes to strength. And let me tell you, they went up and delivered that promised right to your face. Look at this video clip, this is just after the third dungeon and you just got all three Fused Shadows, which according to Midna are necessary to being able to defeat Zant.

BAM! Zant just shows up with no warning and without even moving, knocks over the local Light Spirit. He takes a look at your Fused Shadow and scoffs. He doesn't even take them for himself, he tosses them aside, like garbage. He jabs that nasty magic into your face, that's another thing. Okay, go back and start from 2:10. The first time I ever played this game, right at 2:41 a chill went down my spine. It's the first bit of his face we ever see and that in conjunction with that bone-chattering whisper he gives and that tension-stirring score, was absolutely terrifying. Of course it also reminds you that all this time Midna has never been aligned for good, she was clearly Chaotic Neutral. Then Zant turns right around and uses the Light Spirit's Magic to almost kill Midna right out. It was after this scene I wanted to call Zant the best thing to ever happen to Zelda. It even continued this way, Zant shows up again right before your reach the Mirror of Twilight and sicks Stallord on you, one of the coolest Zelda Bosses EVER.
But then things get bad, and they get bad fast. We finally reach Zant in his castle and he's... he's... he's a whiny little kid.

Listen, there was nothing wrong with him being a former servant of the Twili Royal Family, there was nothing wrong with him begrudging them and seeking power all his own, I'll even go so far as to say there was nothing wrong with him not having his own Boss Room, but when all of the sudden you go from intimidating badass to Wacky McCrazy for no reason, with no foreshadowing at all or anything, it's a disappointment to say to bare minimum. And Ricky said it before, but he ended up having the Villain seat stolen from under him That second video I posted is the first time we get any kind of notion that Ganondorf is even IN the game. Sure before he revealed his power was given to him from his god, but that gave no indication whatsoever that it was Ganondorf. in Ocarina of Time, we're told right away from Link's dream and then told by Zelda looking through the window in the courtyard, and in Windwaker we see (most) of him the first time we're at Forsaken Fortress and then King of Red Lions tells you it's Ganon. Here Ganondorf just shows up with no indication at all and it's unfortunate. But truly, it's Zant that suffers as what is suddenly revealed to be how he was all along doesn't compare to the sheer awesomeness of what he was and promised to be.
But wait, Zant was wacky, and Ghirahim's pretty wacky too. Why aren't you grating him on that? Well, I'll explain. Let me go through an analysis so we can be fair.
Demon Lord Ghirahim. We meet him nice and early in the first dungeon. (I'm trying to make this video start at 1:19, but if not, that's where the clip I'll be talking about is. And even if it does work, the clip ends at 3:37 for those of you avoiding spoilers.)

Right away, you're probably thinking, "Wow this guy's pretty fab-u-lous," and yes, I mean fabulous is that way. And yeah, he kinda is, but this is a good thing, trust me. See, at "Furious! Outraged! Sick with Anger!" We have established that behind his fabulousness, there is a huge amount of anger and madness that he is keeping tabs on the entire time. Then he establishes that he's capable enough to rush up behind you without you being able to even notice. If this weren't a video game, that'd mean you'd hit the ground before you realized he killed you. I'll spoil this since it's first dungeon stuff, you fight him here and his key thing is he can grab your sword with his bare hands. Frankly, establishing that he is this strong and putting it behind this extravagant exterior is terrifying.

As the game and story continue, Ghirahim stays this way and his madness continues to grow and eventually explodes once he's sick of you. It has an effect on his physical appearance as well. And none of this is ruined by his character twist once he reveals his 'true nature' to you. My mind went kablooey once that happened. Ultimately, I find all of the development we get with Ghirahim and this big reveal more engaging and just BETTER than this big Boss battle at the end. I'll spoil that too, since Ghirahim's straightforward with this fact during the whole game, but yeah, he's not the Big Bad.
And this brings me to what makes Ghirahim vastly superior. Everything about Ghirahim was established well before big things happen. Zant turned out to a the right hand man of the Big Bad, but with no warning at all. Ghirahim constantly talks about reviving his master. Zant makes a very noticeable transformation into a wacky boss. Ghirahim establishes his latent madness as early as possible, which grows as the game progresses. Am I making my point?
Conclusion.

Matt's Top Ten Favorite Super Smash Bros. Stages

2012-01-16T14:32:00.000-08:00

The Super Smash Bros. series is one of the most popular ofNintendo’s franchises and for good reason, it’s a great series. But beyond thegameplay and how much fun the games are, they’re so popular because it bringstogether all of Nintendo’s other franchises. What other game can you see Marioduke it out with Kirby? Or pit Ness against Captain Olimar? Gamers everywherehype themselves up so hardcore about the next Smash Bros. that discussions ofwhat characters should and will be included in the next begin the same day thelast game was released. People love that stuff.

Seriously, this is the worst stage.

But what about the stages? Nintendo has a lot of memorableand iconic locations from their games too. Stages often go overlooked in favorof the characters but they are just as much an important part of the series. Sofar, Nintendo has put together some real winners with the line-up of stages andlocations. Sure, not all of them are great, some of them are pretty boring(Peach’s Castle, Yoshi’s Island), some of them are great in concept but not indesign (75m, New Pork City) and some of them are just plain bad (BrinstarDepths, Rumble Falls). But today, I’m taking a look at the best of the best.Which stages from the past three Smash Bros.’s games stand out the most in myeyes? What are my favorites? Well, let’s find out.

10. Sector Z

Kirby might not be proper size, but The Great Fox is!

Sector Z is the Star Fox stage from the very first SmashBros. game. The Star Fox universe takes place all over the universe so I canimagine it would be hard to pick a location based on that alone. Not to mention,up until that point, you’d never really set foot on any of the planets, justflew over them so it made sense to put the stage on top of the Star Fox teamsbase of operations, the Great Fox. Sector Z makes it on my list not justbecause it’s a cool concept and a well-designed stage but also because it’s theonly Star Fox stage to date to get the size of the Great Fox even close toright. It’s massive in Super Smash Bros., as a stage that takes place on agiant spaceship capable of holding other, smaller spaceships should be. InMelee, the Great Fox returned for two different stages but this time it was waysmaller compared to the characters and when Corneria from Melee reappeared inBrawl, it was even smaller! The character models were so much larger than Melee’sand Nintendo didn’t bother to rescale the past stages so it essentially lookedlike a Godzilla film was taking place on top of the world’s smallest spaceship.Sector Z didn’t have that problem. While the background might not have been asexciting or dynamic as later Star Fox stages, the stage itself was bigger andmade for a better battlefield. Take note, other Star Fox stages.

9. The Great Bay

More stages need giant turtles.

Of all the Zelda stages to make it into the Smash Bros.series, The Great Bay is my favorite. It isn’t the biggest or necessarily eventhe most interesting but just love the design of it. Being able to fight on topof the giant Island Turtle that takes you to the Water Temple is a great ideaand the fact that it disappears and reappears adds a bit of strategy tofighting on top of it. I’m also a big fan of Tingle floating around with hisballoon on the stage as well. You can stand on top of it but do too much andit’ll pop and send him flying to the ground. You can even get him to fall intothe water if you time it right. But perhaps my favorite part of the stage isthe background. The Moon from Majora’s Mask looms over the stage with it’sdeadly stare and slowly makes it’s way closer and closer into view. Soon, it’shuge and just when you think it’s going to crash, the Four Giants come out andpush it back into the atmosphere. Sometimes I just like to watch the backgroundplay out instead of fighting. Great attention to detail there, Nintendo! Sookay, maybe this stage doesn’t belong on my list. Maybe the Temple is a littlemore fun to play on and the Pirate Ship has a better artistic design but theGreat Bay is just so much fun to watch that I couldn’t help but put it on here.It’s far from a bad stage and it’s got a great level of detail put into everyaspect of it.

8. Shadow Moses Island

It also has giant robots that do absolutely nothing.

Yes, that’s right, one of my favorite Smash Bros. stagesisn’t even from a Nintendo game, commence booing and tomato throwing now.Shadow Moses Island from Metal Gear Solid was the obvious choice for a MetalGear stage, it’s the first location you visit in the first Metal Gear Solid andvery iconic to the series, so it made sense for it to be Snake’s home stage.And boy did they make it a good one. It’s not the most dynamic stage, it has anupper platform, a floor on the bottom and two smaller platforms in-between thatbut what really makes it stand out and what really makes it fun are the twowatch towers on the side of the stage. On both the left and right of the stage,there are these two huge watch towers and you fight in the middle of them. Inorder to remove the watch towers, you have to destroy them. If you don’tdestroy them, prepare for one hectic battle. It becomes quite a challenge toactually kill anybody in this stage because you’re constantly sending thembouncing off of the towers instead of off the side of the stage as you normallywould and since there’s no holes in the floor, the only way to kill anybody isto send them flying upward. It causes for some intense battles and makes for alot of fun. If you do manage to destroy the towers, the stage becomes largerbut it’s easier to kill people on. But don’t get too excited, the towers docome back. A well designed stage that really adds some extra strategy to theway you play the game, as you’d expect a Metal Gear stage would.

7. Pictochat

If it was accurate, there'd be more penises.

What a great idea for a stage. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl,Nintendo wanted to show some love to their most successful handheld, the DS, bygiving it it’s very own stage. But what would they make it of? The DS itselfwould have been boring and the DS didn’t really have any built in games, withthe exception of one; Pictochat. And man did that work in their favor. The ideabehind the game Pictochat is that you can draw and send messages to otherpeople when their DS is connected to it, so the idea behind the Pictochat stageis that new platforms and obstacles are constantly being drawn and erased. Thatis ingenious and it makes for a really fun stage. One minute you could befighting on top of a house with a couple trees next to it, the next you’reavoid missiles coming to blow you up. The whole stage revolves aroundconstantly changing so you have to constantly adapt how you play to thechanging environment and I love it. Some people are not into the gimmickynature of many of the Smash Bros. stages but I don’t think Pictochat is asannoying as some of the other gimmick stages like Mario Bros. or Flatzone 2 sothat’s why it’s one of my favorites.

6. Fourside

Link on a UFO? I smell a sitcom.

Super Smash Bros. Melee gave us two stages based on theMother/Earthbound series and both of them were a lot of fun and pretty unique.However, of the two, my favorite was Fourside. Fourside takes place in the cityof Fourside, which is basically Earthbound’s take on New York City. You fighton top of several skyscrapers of varying height and have to avoid falling downpits. All of the buildings were different widths and sizes so you and theopponents were constantly jumping around, trying to avoid each other as well asfinding a proper foothold to stand and do battle. Occasionally, a UFO wouldalso fly into the top half of the stage and if you stood on top of it, prepareto fight with the controls because it gets really slippery. I guess spacealiens really like to wax their ships and keep them shiny. Fourside lookedreally cool, it was a fun concept and a joy to play on. It didn’t offer thatmuch in terms of variety or gimmicks but it didn’t need to, it was just areally fun, well-designed stage. So naturally, Onett was the stage from Motherto return in Brawl. Cool.

5. Big Blue

I DON'T GIVE A FU-

Yes, I am well aware I am the only person on the planet wholikes this stage but it’s my list so I don’t care. Big Blue was the unlockableF-Zero track from Melee and I love it. You fight on top of the F-Zero racers asthey race along the track Big Blue. Personally, I think this was the best ideafor a F-Zero based track, the games are all about racing and going fast so whynot make the fighters do battle on top of a bunch of cars going at super-fastspeeds? Cars would race off screen and you’d have to jump to another one tosurvive and if you landed on the road, you’d go zooming off screen instantlybecause of how fast the stage was moving. Okay, admittedly, that’s kind ofannoying but it at least makes sense. I really like the concept of Big Blue andI think there’s a lot of fun to be had when you get four people all fightingwith each other but also fighting with the stage to stay alive and find a placeto land safely.

4. Saffron City

The very best, like no stage ever was.

Yes, much like everyone who has ever played the very firstSmash Bros., my favorite stage from it is Saffron City. I mean, let’s face itpeople, it’s the best stage in that game. Most of the other stages are boringor simply uninteresting, and any of the interesting one’s would go on to bereplicated in the later games like Mushroom Kingdom and Dream Land. However,the one stage everybody knows, remembers and loves is Saffron City. Fighting ontop the buildings, especially the Silph Co. was just too cool and the movingplatform on the side of the stage could be a lifesaver when you had to makesome of those tricky jumps to save yourself. But of course the best part of thestage were all the Pokémon that came out of the top half of the building andhurt you. Venusaur popped out and shot razor leaves at you, Charizard burnedyou, Electrode exploded, Chansey threw eggs, it was a really fun concept andbasically ensured that every time you played, you’d try to throw your opponentinto the Pokémon. This is the one stage everybody remembers and everybody wantsto see again so naturally, Nintendo has yet to bring it back. Instead, Nintendobrought Yoshi’s Island back in Melee. Thanks, guys.

3. Smashville

Bowser fits right in.

Much like Pictochat, I love Smashville as much as for theconcept as I do for the stage itself, in fact maybe even more so. AnimalCrossing is a very popular and iconic series for Nintendo but doesn’t have aspot on the roster. The Animal Crossing games are very peaceful, in fact youdon’t have to fight anybody at all in the games. The closest thing to an attackyou have is being able to hit people with your butterfly net so it reallywouldn’t make sense to have a playable Animal Crossing character in the game(although I wouldn’t be against it, personally.) So, the only logical way toget the series involved is with a stage and I love it. It’s a very basic stage,just on large platform with two smaller platforms that move back and forth. Nocheap gimmicks, no having to constantly move, nothing but you and the stage. Sowhy do I enjoy it so much? Well, unlike stages like Final Destination or Battlefield,it just looks so much nicer. I guess you can say this one is on the list forpurely aesthetic reasons and that might seem lame but I’m sorry, I love thisstage. Depending on the time and day you play the game, the scenery changestoo. The characters and locations in thebackground change. Sometimes you might see Brewster and his café in thebackground, sometimes you might see Mayor Tortimer in his Acorn Day mask and ifyou come on a Saturday night, KK Slider will be there putting on a show. It’s afantastically designed stage with a lot of love and care for the AnimalCrossing games thrown in. I wish Nintendo would go this route and give moreiconic games stages even if they don’t have a character on the roster. Thatwould be awesome.

2. Delfino Plaza

It's just so big and pretty.

Now here’s a stage with a gimmick that actually makes thestage better rather than more annoying. Delfino Plaza is the main hub worldfrom Super Mario Sunshine and while it is an iconic location from the Mariouniverse, there’s no one area in the Plaza that anybody really thinks of whenthey hear the name, they think of the whole thing. So that’s what Nintendodecided to give us, the whole thing. You start on this set of floatingplatforms that fly above the stage before coming down for a landing. It touchesground on one part of the island, a part that’s never in the same shape ordesign as another, fight for a little bit and then the platforms reappear andyou fly to the next part of the island. This was a great idea for a stage andmanaged to have more diversity in this one stage than any other in the game.One minute you’re fighting on a tiny island surrounded by water, the nextyou’re fighting on top of the Shine Tower, which basically one, long platformbut with a few raised areas on it. It’s a lot of fun and one of the mostvisually stunning stages in the game. Every time you move on the main set ofplatforms, you can see the whole island in the background and for once it isn’tjust there to look nice, you do in fact land on most of it, making it thelargest stage in the game. Delfino Plaza looks great, it plays great and it’s agimmick stage that doesn’t annoy. So what could possibly be better than what isprobably the best idea for a stage they’ve ever had? Well…

1. Mario Circuit

It would be even better if the Shy Guy's made noises.

Yeah, this may or may not be a little bias but it is my favorites, after all. Yes, myfavorite stage of all time is Mario Circuit, the stage based off of Mario Kartand I mean, what can I say? I love Mario Kart so when I learned there was goingto be a Mario Kart stage, I lost it. I was super excited and let me tell you,the stage didn’t disappoint. Unlike Big Blue where you fight along the wholetrack, this time you’re in one stationary position. The track is laid out withjust one big long stretch of land at the bottom and a ramp overhead, meaningthere are no holes in the ground so you can’t fall off the stage thetraditional way, you have to be thrown off the sides or in the sky. As you playon the stage, 8 Shy Guys in karts make their way around the track and can hityou. They start out driving through the lower half but after a few seconds, theyjump over the ramp, as if it really was a race track. It’s very well designedand very well thought out and I love it. It’s fun to play on, it’s a funconcept, it’s just so great. While it might not have been my first choice for aMario Kart-based track (I’d go with Rainbow Road) it was the most obviouschoice and it turned out better than I could have possibly imagined. MarioCircuit is by far my favorite track and I hope they go even further with thisMario Kart concept in later games.

So there you have it, my ten favorite Smash Bros. stages. Iknow there are plenty of good ones that I’ve left out like Luigi’s Mansion,Castle Siege, Mushroomy Kingdom, Fountain of Dreams, Jungle Japes (Melee only), Halberdbut hey, I could only do ten. But if you think I left out one of yourfavorites, let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear it.

LTTA: Sonic Generations (Blind)

2012-01-15T18:50:00.000-08:00

After finally getting Sonic Generations this past Christmas, I decided to do a blind Let's Play of it in honor of my Sonic reviews I've been doing. It was a lot of fun and a great game. There are a few technical problems because hey, what LTTA is complete without them? But we made it through and it was a lot of fun.

The first video is below and a link to the playlist is below that.

VGM of the Week #11

2012-01-14T22:23:00.000-08:00

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;hr class="more"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

This one is my personal favorite from the legendary indie classic, Cave Story. I just love how emotional this piece is. Pixel really did an amazing job with every aspect of this game.

I just had to upload this one myself because I didn't like the other uploads out there. Might upload the other VGMs too. On a side note, check out this piano cover of this song.

It brings me to tears.

Top Picks - 5 Favorite 5th Gen Pokémon

2012-01-14T14:01:00.000-08:00

So we've received constant requests to do our top 5 best Pokémon from each generation ever since we did the worst. Well, you wanted it so you got it. Each of us are counting down our 5 favorite Pokémon from each gen. Starting with the newest generation.

New Pokémon Sheet: Nosepass

2012-01-13T18:14:00.000-08:00

Sorry to keep you waiting! I've been busy playing Skyward Sword, and I have to say, I love it!

Speaking of things I love, I finished Nosepass (In case the Title didn't give it away)

I really like this Pokémon, but I LOVE it's Evolution! There's not much to say about this guy...There will probably be more to say when he evolves though!...I hope you all noticed that I added his Original Colors as an Alternate Color
Next up is a Pokémon who can learn Gust, but doesn't have Wings. This Pokémon is also the only one of it's line to have a Hidden Ability, which it loses when it evolves

Abobo's Big Adventure is Now Up!

2012-01-11T21:50:00.000-08:00

Awhile ago, back when we first started this blog, I posted a video about an amazing fan-game being made called Abobo's Big Adventure. It's a giant love letter to everything NES with tons of different playstyles, enemies and locations from classic NES games as well the main playable character being Abobo from Double Dragon.

Well, the wait is over, Abobo's Big Adventure went live today and let me tell you, it is great. I've only played the first level, which is the beat-em-up portion based on Double Dragon but in that level alone I ran into Goombas, Donkey Kong, Kid Nikki, the Spies from Spy vs. Spy, A T&C Skater, Alex from River City Ransom, a handful of enemies from Double Dragon, as well as a few sprites I didn't even recognize. It's also pretty dang hard, I lost almost all of my lives on the first level but you can tell a lot of love and care went into the game because of the original sprites, the gameplay and even it's achievement system. Definitely check it out here.

Retro Review - Sonic Advance 3

2012-01-09T20:48:00.000-08:00

Yep, time for my next Retro Review! This time, I'm taking a look at the final entry in the Advance series, Sonic Advance 3. This game did a lot of unique stuff that the other two did not. But does it work? Well, you'll have to watch to find out.

The Top Ten Kart Racers (That Aren't Mario Kart)

2012-01-09T15:39:00.000-08:00

Ever since Super Mario Kart hit the market 20 years ago, theracing genre has had a smaller sub-genre; the mascot-driven kart racer. Takingthe arcade style racing game, throw in some crazy locations and power-ups and ofcourse, some sort of licensed character seemed like instant cash fordevelopers. It seems like every property out there has been involved in a Kartracing game at least one time or another, from Sonic to Pac-Man to South Park,the Smurfs and even Homies.

9.8/10

However, it doesn’t always work out. Very few Kart racinggames ever even come close to capturing half the magic of Mario Kart and evenmore of them are just flat out bad. Now, I love Kart racing games, especiallyMario Kart, so I’ve played a lot over the years and I’d be lying if I didn’tsay there have been quite a few that have stood out as more than just rip-offs.So, I’m counting down the top ten best Kart racing games, that are not MarioKart.

10. Lego Racers

Also it has pirates. Pirates are cool.

Before Lego became famous for taking popular franchises andturning them into awesome platforming games, they made a series of hit or misstitles for the PS1, N64 and PC based on their own sets. One of the hits wasLego Racers. Now, Lego Racers was not a perfect game, the controls were alittle slippery and sometimes even bad and the tracks were nothing to getexcited about but the coolest thing about Lego Racer was the ability to buildyour own karts and racers. Utilizing a property like Lego, you have to havesome sort of element of customization in there and Lego Racer nailed it. Therewere tons of parts and pieces to choose from as well as plenty to unlock and itmade designing your car just as fun as playing the game. However, it did suck prettyhard when you spent all that time working on a kart and it ended up being slowas dirt. They released a sequel for the PS2 in 2001 but I’ve never played it.It just didn’t appeal to me like the original. For all I know, it’s just asgood though.

9. Muppet Racemania

This game is posolutely, most transparently awesome.

Alright, yes, I’m a huge Muppet fan so obviously I like thisgame for more reasons than one but it’s actually a pretty cool racing game. Theitems are appropriately silly, the controls are good, for the most part, andthe tracks are all based on locations from the movies or show and I think that’sawesome. Not to mention, there’s 25 playable characters and that’s a lot, especiallycompared to Mario Kart which, at the time, didn’t have more than 8. However,how you unlock these characters can be a little cryptic. There’s an adventuremode but you have to go some ridiculous places just to find characters to race.Like in the Happiness Hotel level, there’s a random wall you have to smashthrough in the middle of a race to find Floyd. This room serves no purposeother than letting you find Floyd so you have to back your way out and on tothe track to finish the race. It’s a little dumb but the rest of the game isgood fun.

8. Walt Disney World Quest: Magical Racing Tour

We ride off into the sunset against bears in cowboy hats.

Despite it’s ridiculous name, this one is pretty cool too.All of the tracks are based on locations and rides from Walt Disney World suchas Space Mountain, the Jungle Cruise and the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, althoughthey obviously took a lot of creative liberties. I always thought it was socool how if you were on one of the water-based ride racetracks, you drove aboat instead. Although I remember getting lost a lot on the Haunted Mansion levelso that kind of sucks. However, my biggest problem with the game is thecharacter selection. With the exception of Chip, Dale and Jiminy Cricket, allof the characters are just made up. Why? You’re telling me that in a game basedon Walt Disney World, the best you can muster is Jiminy Cricket? Where’sMickey? Or Minnie? Donald? Goofy? Pete? Anybody! I don’t want to play as BrunoBrissle or Astro Spacer. I mean, who are these people?! Aw well, despite theterrible roster, the game is pretty fun and I’d check it out if you like DisneyWorld.

7. Chocobo Racing

D'aww.

I know next to nothing about Final Fantasy, I’ve played noneof the main games and all my knowledge comes from Kingdom Hearts. I do,however, know that Chocobo Racing is awesome. This game is so completelyridiculous and unnecessary that I have to love it. When it comes to a serieslike Final Fantasy, the last thing you think of is a kart racing spin-off butSquare went there. You race as a series of creatures or generic races from thegames like Chocobo, Moogle, White Mage and Behemott, although you could alsounlock Cloud and Squall who look ridiculous and out of place. The tracks arepretty fun and I assume based on the games, I honestly have no idea. Thecontrols can be a little poor though and the difficulty is surprisingly steepin later stages but it’s still a fun experience just for the fact that you canplay as a Chocobo on roller skates. Also, if you put in a code, you can play asthe guy from 3D World Runner and that’s awesome.

6. Looney Tunes Racing

Also you can play as Lola and people like her now, apparently.

This was a game I rented from the local Blockbuster aboutsix times and probably should have just bought instead for how much money Imade my parents spend on it. What can I say? It was a lot of fun. Much likeMuppets, there was a whole lot of Looney Tunes characters to unlock and play asranging from your typical like Bugs and Marvin the Martian, to the obscure likeGossamer (!) and Rocky the Mobster. The tracks were all based on locations fromthe many different Looney Tunes shorts and they were all pretty great. Theyeach had different short cuts and traps and it felt very much like a Mario Kartgame. A very well developed game with a great sense of humor. Sure, it was ablatant rip-off and did nothing to set itself apart from the rest but it wasstill pretty great.

5. Crash Team Racing

Hey, remember him?

When it comes to Mario Kart clones, Crash Team Racing islikely the first one you think of due to it’s popularity back when it firstcame out and I have to say, that’s very well deserved, it’s a great game. Whilethe Crash Bandicoot world and characters don’t have as much charm as the Mariouniverse, the controls and tracks felt like they were made by the same company.It was the rip-off at the time and it deserves any praise or cult following itcurrently has. It also had a story mode to set itself apart at least a littlebit where you have to win each individual track and race bosses. It was a neatlittle distraction and a nice way to set itself apart from the otherwisesuperior Mario Kart games. It may not be as charming, but it’s almost just asgood.

4. Toy Story Racer

RC is like, the most appropriate character.

Here’s a game you might not have even known existed. It cameout at the very end of the PS1’s lifespan, right before the PS2 came out so itwent overlooked by most audiences. Not me, however, I love Toy Story and I lovekart racers so it seemed like a perfect match. And, well, yeah, it was. This isa really great game. The way it presents itself is very different than anyother kart racing games. See, you start out with only four characters and eachcharacter has a set of objectives they have to complete before they can unlockmore characters. These objectives could be anything from Win the race to knockthe opponents out with items to even racing 8 laps until each character dropsout. It was a lot of fun and surprisingly robust for a Kart racer. Though itcan be a little jarring considering there’s really no way to just jump into arace and familiarize yourself with the game at the very start, you have tostart a story. The locations are all places from the first Toy Story and allthe characters are here too, even some obscure ones like Lenny and Babyface.Toy Story Racer is a great game that went overlooked for no real reason. Youcan likely find it for cheap and it’s also available on the Playstation Networkas a PS1 classic. Check it out if you like Toy Story and a good kart racer.

3. Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing

Reason enough to buy it.

Alright, let’s get this out of the way right now; yes, Sonicis in car and that’s weird. Okay, yes, duh, that’s a given but it isn’t thefirst time he’s been in a car or a hoverboard or whatever so quit complaining.Once you get past the fact that the fastest thing alive is driving a car, you’lllikely be quite surprised to find a really great kart racing game in there.Yeah, I love this game. The controls are great, the tracks are very welldesigned and the character selection is appropriate for this type of all-starsgame (although why isn’t NiGHTs playable?) My biggest problem with the game isthe lack of variety in stages. All the tracks are well designed, sure, butthere’s what, 15 franchises represented on the playable roster and only six intrack form? And even worse, most of the tracks are duplicates of the other’s.Did we really need more than one Casino Park track from Sonic Heroes? And whyare all the Billy Hatcher stages based on the snow world? The track variety isvery lame but the tracks themselves are well designed and my complaints aremostly nitpicking. If you’ve been living in 1994 and have been ignoring MarioKart because it isn’t Sonic, definitely check this game out, it’s a lot of fun.Also you can play as Billy Hatcher and Ryo from Shenmue and that’s something.

2. Modnation Racers

More games should have killer ice cream truck clowns.

Hey look, it’s the reason I got a PS3! Modnation Racers isone of the best kart racing games for so many reasons. The controls are tightand responsive, the items are well implemented, the tracks are well designedbut what really sets it apart is it’s absurd amount of customization. Not onlycan you customize your character and your kart but you can make your own trackstoo. That’s unheard of in a game like this. The customization options alone areenough to make this game worth playing. Plus, with the inclusion of online, youcan share all your tracks and characters with people from around the world anddownload stuff yourself so every time you play, you could theoretically play on a different track you’ve neverplayed every time. It’s a lot to take in and I really think Nintendo shouldconsider track customization something for the next Mario Kart installment. Itwould take a lot of work but if can make out own Brawl stages why not our ownMario Kart tracks? Modnation Racer is an example of a game that rips-offanother game and in many ways, actually improves on it. It may be lacking thelicense backing every other game on this list has (Which I personally thinkattributed to it’s less than stellar sales) but it definitely has a lot tooffer that every other game doesn’t. Check it out if you haven’t yet. I know it’scheap by now.

1. Diddy Kong Racing

You will believe a turtle can fly.

Could anything else really be number 1? I mean really? DiddyKong Racing is the supreme rip-off of Mario Kart and it was published by thesame company! Diddy Kong Racing took kart racing and made it an adventure.Exploring the overworld and racing in the different tracks and finding hiddenballoons was just as much fun as actually racing. Not to mention, the bossraces were awesome if not a lot unfair. Damn Octopus… The tracks were very welldesigned and being able to race in not just karts but planes and hovercraftswas something truly unique and made for some interesting choices in each racethat allowed it. Although I always found planes to be annoying. I’m also a bigfan of the item upgrade system. See, when you go through a colored balloon, youget an item, go through that same color again and that item upgrades, do itagain and you get the best item. Have 1missile? Go through the same colored balloon 2 more times and you can have ten!It added a level of depth to the item system that Mario Kart still hasn’tmanaged to capture and I really enjoy it. My only problem is the lack of DonkeyKong characters. Yeah, Diddy’s in it and Conker and Banjo but where’s DK orFunky? Who the hell is Drumstick or Tip-Tup? Aw well, I grew to like thecharacters a lot and the DS version did end up adding Dixie Kong and Tiny Kong,so that’s something. Diddy Kong Racing is the best Mario Kart rip-off and itprobably always will be. It’s just that good.

So there you have it. My top ten Kart racing games that aren’tMario Kart. Do you agree? Disagree? Something I left out? Maybe you really likeNicktoons Racing or South Park Rally. Let me know in the comments!

VGM of the Week #10

2012-01-07T23:05:00.000-08:00

It's Sunday, so it's time for some good VGM.

This week, I decided to go with a Track from a game I've been playing a lot of lately, Kirby Mass Attack:

The game has a wonderful soundtrack, as most Kirby games do, but this one just stuck out the most to me, in a good way. I think it also has something to do with the Kirby's dancing along the bottom of the Menu Screen, but I really like this Track, and I hope you do too!

I would also like to mention that sometimes when I start the game up, I'll just sit there and listen to this for a good minute or two before playing the game.

LTTA: Sonic the Hedgehog 2

2012-01-06T15:34:00.000-08:00

Here's a Let's Play that was never planned. Actually, I was trying to stream my own Let's Play but due to some technical difficulties, Ricky had to take over and play something. He landed on Sonic the Hedgehog 2. What we got was a pretty funny LTTA out of it. Though if you expect us to get all the Emeralds and not use Cheats and Saves, you're in the wrong place.

The first video is below and a link to the playlist below that.

And now for something completely unrelated to video games in any way: Project Runway

2012-01-05T18:39:00.000-08:00

Alrighty, so I'm going to come clean with this: I watch Project Runway. Yes, that competitive reality show with fashion designers. You can try to take away my man-card all you want with this, but honestly it's a well-delivered, well-presented show that keeps you tuning in week after week to see what the designers have to offer. Also, drama, because it is after all a reality show. I know you're going to take my word for it, but you would see what I mean if you started, especially if you wind up on one of their "unconventional challenges."

Anyhow, I've decided to join the plethora of Project Runway blogs now since, well, I'm on a blog. During the last season, while discussing it with the family, the only people who know I've been watching it up until now, they said I had some good insight on what was happening. Afterwards, when they were reading other blogs, points I brought up before were there, which gave my thoughts some credibility. So here we are with another season upon us (already) and I've decided to fully defile they other guys' otherwise beautiful web page with talk of fashion. While I'm at it, my favorite episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic does happen to be Suited for Success, so there.
This season actually snuck up on me, and I meant to do a pre-season blog about my expectations about a week in advance, but that won't happen since the season began tonight and I'm actually writing this as the episode is ending. Don't worry, I recored it and can watch it later. So I'll start that blog right about now and do the one for tonight's episode a bit later. The guys are gonna hate me for this.

Here we are in what is Season 10 of Project Runway, dubbed: Project Runway All-Stars since, instead of having a fresh batch of designers, we have a collection of returning designers back for another chance at winning the big prize. I'm expecting big things right out of the gate since everyone here has experience in the grueling life of a reality competition, also fashion. Right away I'll call out my frontrunners as Mondo Guerra and Michael Costello from Season 8 (Both of whose aesthetic {and personality] I liked more so than the actual winner of that season) and Anthony Williams of Season 7 (who was not the best designer that year, but had some great win when it counted). I'm totally expecting to be surprised, though, since we have contestants from Seasons 1 and 2 which I know hardly anything about.

Truly, my expectations are set for the producers. Ever since the series shifted to Lifetime, there has been a noticeable difference in what happens behind the scenes. I am not the first to accuse the previous two winners of an undeserved title. Season 8's Gretchen had talent, I'm not denying it, but Mondo's final collection was miles ahead of hers. As for Season 9, well, if I see the producers' putting in as much effort to affect the outcome as I did in Season 9, this first season will also be the last season I blog about, since I'll drop it like I dropped every other good show that rotted away. Project Runway Season 9 was a travesty unto the the show's integrity. There was just so much that happened that clearly guided Anya to her victory that it is difficult to enjoy anything about that season. It's hard to enjoy my chocolate chip cookies if I know someone else has been grabbing all around in the cookie jar with their grubby little hands.

So that's just my two bits. I look forward to this season; and I hope that if you made it this paragraph, you'll spread my blog around to people that actually do watch the show. Maybe they'll like it. Maybe they'll like Matt's or Rick's blogs more. We welcome new viewers all the time. No, I'm not adding this because I'm pandering to Matt. I hate concluding paragraphs.

Let's Podcast - 2011 Year in Review

2012-01-04T21:02:00.000-08:00

Just like last year, this year we decided to do a Podcast about all the games we played in 2011. Everything from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword to the 3DS to Portal 2 to the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The five us plus our good pal Phil share our opinions and thoughts about 2011 in Video games all while I play The Legend of Zelda quite poorly in honor of Zelda's 25th anniversary.

The first part is below, follow the annotation at the end to get to the next part.

Retro Review - Sonic Battle

2012-01-03T17:53:00.000-08:00

Sonic Heroes took a lot out of me. I played it for forever, it was awful, got a lot of flack for thinking it was awful, it really put me off these reviews. But, after playing through Sonic Generations and just feeling like I need to finish this, I finally started back up. So without delay, here is my review of Sonic Battle for the Gameboy Advance.

New Pokémon Sheet: Chimecho

2012-01-02T19:52:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know, the Hint had nothing to do with this sheet, but I figured this was a better way to ring in the New Year (Get it?)...That, and I sometimes do 'Surprise' Sheets, so here it is, the first sheet of 2012, Chimecho!:

For what it is, Chimecho's a cool Pokémon...I mean, he's a bell! Or, if you go by it's Species name, a Wind Chime...I actually really like this Pokémon, and I wish it was better...Maybe it should evolve? Of course, if it did, it would have to have the same charm as Chimecho, but I'm getting off Point, I really hope you guys had a Happy New Year!

The same hint from last time still applies:
Next up is the only Pokémon who has the Ability Magnet Pull, yet is not affected by it when encountered.

The Twelve Stages I'd Pick for Sonic Generations 2

2012-01-02T03:14:00.000-08:00

After months and months of eager anticipation, I finally gotmy hands on Sonic Generations this Christmas. Last night I even managed tofinish the game and boy was it a treat. Sega certainly knew how to appeal tothe fans, the whole game is one big love letter to everything Sonic. Each levelis loaded with love for the source material, references to other Sonic stagesand characters and the expert level design from Sonic games past.

This is what dreams are made of. Also nightmares.

Although the game is almost perfect in every way, especiallystage design, I can’t help but wish there were more stages. I personally wouldn’thave chosen Seaside Hill to represent Heroes nor would I have likely pickedSpeed Highway from Adventure. Not that either of those are poor choices, they justaren’t what I would have picked.

So I got to thinking about what stages I’d put if I coulddevelop Sonic Generations 2. Now, this is all completely hypothetical.Obviously, it’s unlikely we’ll get a Generations 2 as this was a celebration ofSonic’s 20^th anniversary not to mention Sega has expressed nointerest in it. But, I have so I’m going to list off 12 stages I’d like to seein a sequel. That’s one from each game represented in Generations as well as astage from Sonic 3, Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 4. The only ruleis that it has to be a stage that was no included in any version ofGenerations, console or 3DS, so no Casino Night Zone as much as I’d like it.Also, this list is just in chronological order so when I get to number 1, don’ttake it as that’s the one stage I want more than anything ever.

12. Marble Zone (Sonic the Hedgehog)

Sonic Generations needed more lava.

Obviously, when it comes to the very first Sonic theHedgehog, no stage was getting in over Green Hill Zone. It’s the single mosticonic stage in the whole series and deserves to be the first stage, noquestions ask. However, since it was in the first game, I decided that MarbleZone would be a fitting replacement for it if they did a sequel. I know itseems cheap to pick the second stage if I can’t pick the first but honestly,when you think of Sonic 1, what’s the second stage you think of? Marble Zone wasall about platforming and puzzle solving so it would obviously work very wellfor classic Sonic. It’s modern Sonic that I’d be most interested to see,however. How could they make a zone like Marble Zone which was all aboutdodging obstacles and jumping on platforms and make it work in the boost-filledmodern Sonic mode? It could be very unique and very fun to see.

11. Mystic Cave Zone (Sonic the Hedgehog 2)

Also Tails should follow you again.

This was a hard choice. When it comes to Sonic the Hedgehog2, there was no better option than Chemical Plant Zone. The only Zone that evenwould come close is Casino Night Zone but oops, that made it into SonicGenerations on the 3DS. So what to pick instead? Well, Emerald Hill Zone isjust a carbon copy of Green Hill, Aquatic Ruin isn’t interesting enough, HillTop is just Emerald Hill will lava. It ultimately came down to three choices;Mystic Cave Zone, Oil Ocean Zone and Metropolis Zone. While I’d be curious tosee what they did with any of those zones, I ultimately decided on Mystic CaveZone because it’s my personal favorite of the three and I think it would lookabsolutely gorgeous with the Generations graphics engine. All the crystals andstalactites would just be so stunning in HD. Not to mention they could do somepretty interesting stage design. None of the stages in Generations really tookplace inside a cave but Sky Sanctuary came close with a few sections that werepretty neat. I imagine Mystic Cave Zone could act out similar to that but withmore things trying to crush you. Also, there’d have to be a pit of death ineach act just on principle alone.

10. Angel Island Zone (Sonic the Hedgehog 3)

Nothing says "Tropical Paradise" like hellfire.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 didn’t get any representation in SonicGenerations, instead they opted to go with Sonic & Knuckles for bothversions of the game. While I don’t think that was a bad decision, they do kindof go hand in hand, I think Sonic 3 has some pretty great levels of it’s own,not to mention it was a separate release regardless of it’s originalintentions. While Ice Cap Zone would have been my first choice for SonicGenerations, if I was in charge of Generations 2, I would go with Angel IslandZone. The first Generations already had enough green island themed areas but asequel wouldn’t have so many and Angel Island is easily a great way to fillthat void. Angel Island is the most iconic location from the Sonic 3 for somany reasons. First of all, it’s huge, much bigger than either Green Hill orEmerald Hill. Second, it isn’t entirely your typical first green stage. Severalareas have water you have to work your way through and the entire second act,the stage is on fire or already burnt up. That could make for an interestingchange of pace halfway through each act or it could separate the Classic Sonicstage from the Modern. Either way, Angel Island is the perfect choice fromSonic 3.

9. Flying Battery Zone (Sonic & Knuckles)

At least there's no exploding starfish.

Sonic & Knuckles really doesn’t have very many zones to choosefrom. Other than Sky Sanctuary and Mushroom Hill, both of which were alreadyused, there’s Lava Reef Zone, Sandopolis Zone, Death Egg Zone and the one Ichose to go with, Flying Battery. Why Flying Battery? It’s simply the mostmemorable and the most fun. While I’m sure any of the other three stages couldbe turned into something grand (Though Sandopolis would need a lot of work),Flying Battery is already a great stage and has the potential to be evengreater. Blasting through the different section of the fortress as Modern Soniccould be a blast, maybe even with some parts involving fans or climbing acrossthose monkey bar things. Maybe there could even be a Rooftop Run cameo sinceapparently the two go hand and hand now. Not to mention, the music would beamazing with a remix.

Oh and if you’re one of those people who’d rather there be aSonic CD stage over both a Sonic 3 and a Sonic & Knuckles stage, I’d gowith Stardust Speedway. Sometimes the most obvious choices are the best ones.

8. Red Mountain (Sonic Adventure)

This stage has rockets AND spiky balls.

Although Marble Zone already covers the lava level trope,Red Mountain is still my pick from Sonic Adventure. It was either this orTwinkle Park. Why’d I go with Red Mountain? Well, the music would be awesome ina Generations game but also I just think it has a lot going for it. It’s one ofthe few cave stages were you actually start outside the cave and make your wayinside. Not to mention it’s loaded with all kinds of traps and tricks thatclassic Sonic could really use to some good strength in level design. I reallydon’t know what else to say about this stage except that I’d like to see it.

7. Metal Harbor (Sonic Adventure 2)

Also it has planes. Planes are cool.

Metal Harbor is one of the most memorable stages from SonicAdventure 2. The music is great, the stage looks great, it’s fun to play, itends with you hanging off of a rocket and then jumping off and sliding down atube, it’s great! City Escape was the obvious choice from SA2 and I would havepicked it too but Metal Harbor is easily the runner up although almost anystage from this game would make a good choice. Metal Harbor has plenty of goodspeed moments as well as few decent platforming moments which is good in thecase of Classic Sonic. Though I’d ultimately like to see how they handle thegraphics, I bet they’d look amazing. The rocket launch at the end would also becool to see played out with either of the two hedgehogs.

6. Hang Castle (Sonic Heroes)

The most creative stage is also the worst.

Alright, look, I don’t like Sonic Heroes and I sure as helldon’t like Hang Castle, it’s easily the most frustrating stage in the wholegame however, it’s also the most unique and interesting and that’s why I thinkit’s a good fit for a game like this. Flipping the castle upside down andwalking on invisible paths are things that would truly be unique for a classicSonic stage and could also be really cool for Modern Sonic as well. Not tomention there were no “haunted” levels in Sonic Generations. It might be bad inHeroes, but with the expert level design of Generations, I fully believe itcould be turned into one of the best Sonic stages ever.

5. Westopolis (Shadow the Hedgehog)

Talking tentacle eyeball things need not apply.

When it came to including a stage from Shadow the Hedgehog,I tried to pick one that Sonic actually made sense to be in. He was Shadow’spartner in three of the games stages, and although that didn’t prevent Segafrom including Radical Highway in Sonic Generations for the 3DS, I figured itmade more sense this way. I ultimately went with the game’s very first stage,Westopolis, just because I feel it has the most to offer of the three available.It’s a city stage, for one, and those are always fun, not to mention it’spractically crumbling beneath everybody’s feet so that could lead to someinteresting mechanics, similar to Crisis City in Generations. Hey, just as longas they don’t give either Sonic a gun, I trust they could make it work.

4. Kingdom Valley (Sonic the Hedgehog 2006)

Wow is this screenshot misleading.

None of the stages in Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 are any goodand Crisis City is easily the most memorable so I’m going with the only otherstage I really remember, Kingdom Valley. It’s basically just a greenish areawith some temples that occasionally collapse. Also it takes like 15 minutes tobeat it and sometimes there are eagles that take you from place to place.ADVENTURE! Admittedly, the eagle thing could be cool, like the rockets in SpeedHighway. Not to mention, if they can make Crisis City work, an equally brokenstage, then I’m sure they could make any stage from ’06 work. Even if it doesn’tmake a lick of sense for them to be included to begin with.

3. Cool Edge (Sonic Unleashed)

I'm not sure snow works like that...

Rooftop Run was the best possible choice from Unleashed. It’sthe best visually, the music was great, the stage is great, everything about isiconic and fun. So picking a second stage from Unleashed was no easy task. Itwas between Dragon Road, Skyscraper Scamper and Cool Edge. Cool Edge ultimatelywon out because I feel we need an ice stage and if we can’t have Ice Cap, thanit should be this one. Although slippy, slidey ice stages aren’t always veryfun, Cool Edge was a beautiful looking stage that had a lot of neat features.You could run on glaciers, there was penguins in the background, you could runon water which is always cool. I just feel a lot could be done with this stageand a mandatory ice/water stage always seems necessary so why not fromUnleashed?

2. Casino Street Zone (Sonic the Hedgehog 4)

They made sure you knew they were using cards.

All the stages in Sonic the Hedgehog 4 are carbon copies ofexisting Sonic stages but with new names. Honestly, this is the only stage thatreally sticks out in my mind plus we could use a casino stage. Casino Streethad some interesting gimmicks like running on moving cards, timing your jumpson cards that were flipping over, bumpers, pinball, cannons, it was a prettyuniquely designed set of stages despite just being Casino Night Zone. Therunning on cards gimmick is where I really think they could get creative withthe stage design. If the cards constantly move and change positions, it couldmake it tricky for Modern Sonic to use the boost or just be a platformingpuzzle for classic Sonic, much like in Sonic 4.

1. Sweet Mountain (Sonic Colors)

The ONLY stage.

Sweet Mountain is one of the most ridiculous stages ever putin a Sonic game and that is why it absolutely should be seriously consideredfor a comeback. The platforms are surrounded by ice cream, cakes and donuts!That is fantastic! The look of the stage alone warrants it a place on thislist. Not to mention, there’s one part where you have to make your way to thetop of a giant hamburger. Imagine all the ridiculous things they could do withboth Classic and Modern Sonic in this stage. Throw in the fact that they’d likelyinclude some of the Wisps and you’d have one crazy set of stages. Planet Wispmight have been the obvious choice from Colors but Sweet Mountain would havebeen the right choice.

So there you have it. Now, I’m sure all of you out there aredisagreeing or wondering why I would include something from Shadow at all. Ifthis is true, feel free to sound off in the comments. I’d love to hear what you’dlike to see in another Sonic Generations.

VGM of the Week #9

2012-01-01T10:39:00.000-08:00

Let's ring in the new year with a song that makes me feel like celebrating - from a game you've never played!

The Ape Escape series, though very obscure, is one of my favorite game franchises, and spin-off title Pumped & Primed was just as fun an challenging as any of the main numbered entries. Soichi Terada, who composed most of the series, is one of my favorite video game composers for his Ape Escape work alone, so I hope you'll give this little ditty a listen and appreciate it as much as I do.

Happy New Year!

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 Not Coming to WiiWare

2011-12-30T16:08:00.000-08:00

Just a quick follow up to Don's article about the teaser trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2, Sega representative Ken Balough confirmed in a recent interview that Episode 2 would not be hitting the WiiWare. I figured I'd share this as we here are pretty diehard Nintendo fanboys and chances are you are too if you're reading this. Here's what Balough had to say;

But no - the reason Episode I was on the Wii was because we wanted to bring the Sonic 4 saga to the widest possible audience. Episode II unfortunately will not be coming to the Wii - for reasons most people have probably guessed, but that doesn't mean the SEGA isn't supporting Nintendo platforms, we have a very strong partnership and will continue to do so.

While he never specifically mentions the reasoning behind this, it is quite obvious why. The WiiWare limitations are simply too strict. Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 had to be dumbed down graphically and in terms of the music in order for it to even run on Wii. While most critics said the game still played almost the same, it was likely still pushing the WiiWare's limits. Since Episode 2 will likely feature more content and better graphics, it's unlikely the Wii would be able to handle it with it's given limitations. They could dumb it down but they probably don't want to have to do that and want to make an equal product all around. I don't really blame them but I do have to wonder why they would just shrug the Wii off. According to Sega's very own sales reports, Episode 1 sold the best on Wii. So again, I understand why they went this route but that doesn't mean it's necessarily a good idea business wise.

Regardless, I picked up Episode 1 on the PS3 so I'll do the same here. Also and don't quote me on this but I'm sure once the Sonic the Hedgehog 4 saga is complete, Sega will package them all together for a retail release. Maybe then the Wii will see the missing episode.

Top 10 Songs in Super Smash Bros. Brawl

2011-12-29T23:27:00.000-08:00

There are a ton of songs in Brawl. A ton. The sheer quantity vastly overshadows the quality. The amount of songs in conjunction with the ability to pick and choose which one plays on what stage and how often . It's arguably the best video game soundtrack even. Narrowing it down to a select few in order of how much I like them is incredibly hard. So I decided to set a rule. It has to be music that is rearranged specifically for Brawl. That means nothing like Dragon Roost Island or the remixes made for Melee. It can be a totally original piece made for Brawl. Just not something that they just brought over in it's original form. It's also kind of hard to explain in a lot of words why I like these tunes so I only included a little blurb with each entry.

With that, here's my list of ten favorite songs that are in Brawl...

10. Waluigi Pinball

This is a great track in more ways than one.

9. Underworld

Matt would've killed me if I didn't put this on the list.

8. Battlefield ver. 2

There a lot of versions of the Brawl theme but I decided to put this one at number 8. Some other good ones I considered including the Online Practice Stage or All-Star Rest Area.

7. Battle Theme / Final Boss (Golden Sun)

This shit's melt-your-face-off hardcore. It plays on Norfair which is fitting cause it has lava.

6. Butter Building

All of the Kirby songs are great in Brawl but if I had to narrow it down to one, I'd choose this one. It's so upbeat and rockin'.

5. Corneria

I honestly just can't explain how cool this sounds. SNES Corneria > 64 Corneria.

4. Mute City

I always felt this one had a dash of Linkin Park in it. Good stuff.

3. Final Destination

Technically another variation of the Brawl theme. I know most people are tired of hearing this because all they ever do is play on Final Destination without items and as specific characters but it's just so damn epic and good.

2. Ocarina of Time Medley

All of the very catchy and iconic tunes from Ocarina of Time meshed together in one grand and epic medley. Makes my Link rock hard.

1. Bramble Blast

You guys probably weren't expecting this one at number 1 from me since I haven't really made it known that I think that DKC series has great music. This is such an amazing and beautiful piece so I just had to put this as number 1. I can never get tired of listening to this song. It's unfortunate that it plays on worst stage in the game.

It's really amazing to see all these various video game composers get together to contribute some music filled with appreciation and respect of the original work. For the most part, I gotta say, I honestly think that these arrangements are better than their original counterparts. The originals were such classics with very catchy melodies but I feel that these remixes manage to improve on them. That's quite the achievement. It's like the sequel movie is an even better movie than the first. By the way, this is for anyone that followed the Dojo every day like I did, the samples they put out are among my favorites in the game. Like Tunnel Scene (X)? So cool sounding. They did a good job of picking which ones to get people hype for the game.

I want to also take this time to mention that... Does anyone else think Gritzy Desert sounds like Agrabah in Kingdom Hearts II?

Gritzy Desert

A Day in Agrabah

That's probably because they're both made by the same person, Yoko Shimomura!

And one more thing... this is a special shoutout to TimmyTurnersDad aka DeoxysPrime aka GilvaSunner but not to be confused with SilvaGunner for uploading all the songs from Brawl. You're missing a few though.

Feel free to share your thoughts about my list or your own below!

Pokémon Sheet Remake: Lapras

2011-12-29T13:39:00.000-08:00

My first ever remake on the Blog...Just give me a moment to let that sink in...It's kind of strange, considering the Bulk of this project in the past has been retooling my older sheets to look better...And yet here I am posting a remake for the first time...

Anyway, Lapras is by far my favorite Ice Type...I mean, just look at it, cute and awesome at the same time! I know it's probably based off of the Loch Ness Monster, but it reminds me of a Turtle, my favorite animal (The Ninja Turtles are completely to blame for this!)

Anyway, this took a lot of hard work, and I think it paid off...I at least hope it did...This is my Final sheet of 2011, and I hope you enjoyed the ride! Expect to see new Sheets in 2012!
What? Did you think I forgot the hint? Next up is the only Pokémon who has the Ability Magnet Pull, yet is not affected by it when encountered.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 Teaser Trailer

2011-12-29T01:17:00.000-08:00

I'll just leave this here...

New physics engine, new graphics engine, playable Tails, and the return of Metal Sonic. Fuckin' sign me up.

Interview with SEGA by Gamespot here

Nintendo's first Paid DLC is for 3DS Fire Emblem

2011-12-26T20:04:00.000-08:00

It may come to you as a surprise but you heard right. Nintendo's doing paid DLC with microtransactions for the 3DS. They're aiming to start off this program in March 2012 with the 3DS Fire Emblem.

I was under the impression that Nintendo wasn't interested in doing paid DLC. The title on this article is very misleading. In fact, in the original interview they credited as a source, Reggie pretty much says that they're bring DLC to the 3DS and they were going to do it right.

I've had this conversation with a number of our key developers, and their mentality is, "Reggie, when we sell a game, we want the consumer to feel that they've had a complete experience." Now, in addition, if we want to make other things available, great, and we'll look at that.
But what we're unwilling to do is sell a piece of a game upfront and, if you will, force a consumer to buy more later. That's what they don't want to do, and I completely agree. I think the consumer wants to get, for their money, a complete experience, and then we have opportunities to provide more on top of that.

Other companies may cheat you with "DLC" that's data already on the disc. Nintendo understands that this is a problem and have said it themselves that they're not going to do that. I'm being biased but I'll take their word for it. Paid DLC can be a good thing. I honestly wouldn't mind paying a couple bucks for level pack in Super Mario 3D Land. So, I'm very interested in seeing what exactly they plan on putting out with Fire Emblem. For all we know, it could just be overpowered units you could recruit with real money. Here's hoping it's more like a side campaign with several maps and new units. An optional story arc, if you will. That would be neat.

VGM of the Week #8: Christmas

2011-12-25T19:09:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

Yes I'm still alive. Work has just been a little crazy, what with Christmas and all. Anyways, it's my week for Video Game Music and I had something picked out, but decided to hold it off and do something special since it's... well, you know. I'll admit Rick helped me pick it since I had no idea what to do, but even though I never played but a little tiny bit of Banjo Kazooie, this still had fun winter whimsy. Enjoy, and Merry Christmas! And whatever else you celebrate if you're not into the whole birth of Jesus thing.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T15:39:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays to all of you loyal viewers (and first timers) out there, from all of us here at Adamant Ditto!

I don't have a new Pokémon sheet for you guys...Instead, I was hit with the Christmas Spirit, and decided to make something Special for the Holidays:

Making something like this has been a Tradition of mine since 2008, and I'm proud to bring you this years Christmas Scene!

I hope you all enjoy this, and have yourself a Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! I'll see you all in 2012! (Maybe a few days before, depending on if I finish Lapras before the ball drops on New Years Eve)

LTTA: Astro Boy: Omega Factor

2011-12-24T15:06:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays, folks. Sorry we've been kind of slow lately. It's the holiday season, everybody's busy with their families or shopping or working, not a lot of time to post stuff. Plus, the video game world has been kind of slow recently. So, sorry about that. We probably won't post anything tomorrow except Kyle does still plan to post the VGM of the Week so look forward to that.

For now though, I have begun finally uploading our Astro Boy: Omega Factor Let's Play. This is an interesting one because on one side, Ricky is very informative about the history of Astro Boy and all that stuff. On the other side, we can get rather boring and the technical aspects are kind of garbage, mostly the audio. Sorry about that. Regardless, the first four videos are up. You can find the first below and then a link to the playlist below that.

And again, Happy Holidays!

Let's Try That Again - Portal

2011-12-19T23:31:00.000-08:00

Betcha didn't see this one coming! Matt and I were going to play Portal 2 Co-Op but we figured that we should get Portal 1 out of the way first. It wouldn't hurt to do it, it's a really short game. Most people can finish this game in one sitting. The runtime we have here is 2:16:12. It's actually been a while since I last played this game, so it's practically brand new to me again. It's almost a blind let's play.

Watch it all, right here, right now!