I have a lot to do today.
I have a reinforced concrete design project due Monday.
I have a hydraulics assignment due Monday.
Both those classes have exams this week.
I have my Senior Design proposal due on Thursday.
I have jury duty on Friday, for which I will have to skip three classes.
I have Drill with the Navy Reserve next weekend.
Obviously the one or two people that may end up reading this don’t care what my schedule is like. Nor do they care about this blog, which has all but died. A one or two post per year blog is nothing to get excited about.
However, I am (for some inexplicable reason) overcome or inspired to say something today. I have not thought this out beforehand and do not really intend on editing it to ensure that it is my instinctive thoughts, nothing more, nothing less.
Two things have happened lately which culminated in this inspiration. The first event occurred while coaching cross country. The head coach brought in an article about goal setting, which encouraged runners to speak their goal and make it public. The simple act of making a goal public adds an element of seriousness to the undertaking at hand, it adds gravity, it makes you accountable for your actions, it adds credibility to the pursuit.
For the runners, we put a sheet of paper on the door to the small closet the cross country team uses as an ‘office.’ We call it 'The Vault' and it contains a small couch, an unplugged mini-fridge, a stereo from 1992, and serves more as a lost-and-found than anything else. The paper was taped to the outside of the door, not the inside. Anyone in the school that happened to walk by would be able to read what was written on it. At the top of the page, we wrote ‘Say it Loud’ and left the rest of it blank and gave no direction to our runners on what the purpose of the sheet was, they could use it how they saw fit.
Within a few days, it was filled with goals for the upcoming track season, with goals ranging all across the board. The kids had laid their goals out for the world to see. They had taken a huge risk and put themselves in a vulnerable and exposed position. The world (or at least anyone who cared to look) would know if they succeeded or failed. The world was now watching.
The second thing to happen to me was StarCraft 2. I actually don’t play StarCraft 2. I really, really want too, but I know that if I installed it on my PC, I would never get any work done. I know myself well enough to realize that it would have a severe impact on my grades, so I have resisted it. But this isn’t about playing StarCraft 2, it’s about watching it. I watch it more than I watch sports. I get drawn into the games, I cheer for my favorite players, and know more about the intricacies of the game than I do about basketball.
But the most impactful thing that has happened is that I started watching the Day[9] daily. On the surface the daily is merely a tactics and strategy analysis show (which naturally appeals to my experience as a Tactical Officer in the Navy). But Day[9] has much more than that going on. Yeah, he tells funny stories – especially about all his experiences with the opposite gender, all of whom seem to be named Felicity. And, yeah he is a pretty damn good gamer and tactician. But more so, his views on the process of learning and exploration and his general approach to life are pretty dang inspiring.
So, what does any of this mean?
I have no idea. As I said, I really haven’t thought through any of this yet, which for me is a pretty unusual thing. Part of me, I think, is jealous of people like the kids on the cross country team and Day[9]. These people are inspired enough with what they love to put themselves out there, to risk it all. I have several things I really love to do that I utterly am failing at. I don’t mean that I suck at them, I mean that I am failing in pursuing them. I love building with Lego (and am admittedly pretty damn good at it), but have probably only spent 10 hours in the past 3 months doing so. I love and have a diverse collection of really good video games that have never been played. But, I just play the same three or four games over and over with only a rare breaking out to play any of the numerous titles that have never even been turned on.
I simply feel that I am missing the passion and fire that I see on a daily basis from high school runners and an online StarCraft 2 strategist. However, rather than depress me, I have found the reverse to be true. I am finding myself inspired. Inspired to pursue my interests and engage in the art of learning. Day[9] has a motto for his show, ‘Where we learn to be a better gamer.’ I want to reengage my own efforts to learning to be a better me, to put myself out there in a vulnerable and exposed position, because only from that spot will I ever be able to excel.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Just Beat: New Super Mario Bros. Wii
My fellow gamers, I wish I had an excuse for my lack of activity on this esteemed publication that follows my path to gaming glory. The truth is that I have been… uh… distracted; distracted by life (which has been pretty treating me pretty awesome, I might add).
This does not mean that I haven’t been playing anything. I have beaten a couple of games and been playing another few pretty extensively. The two games I have beaten deserve more than just a quick gloss over, so each will (hopefully) get a full and equal treatment, so without further wasted words:
New Super Mario Bros Wii
Let me tell you what I remember.
I remember that a majority of my childhood was spent playing Super Mario Bros 3.
I also remember that SMB3 is easily on of my top ten games of all time. It's damn near the closest thing to perfection from the 8-bit era.
Given that New Super Mario Bros Wii is directly inspired by SMB3, I suppose I was the target audience. Additionally, the nostalgia that sold me the game might also be responsible for my reaction: I freaking love New Super Mario Bros Wii! (NSMBW? how is it the acronym is almost more cumbersome than the actual title?)
Here’s what I liked:
1) Classic Approach: SMB3 changed the Mario paradigm by not simply advancing the player level by level, but incorporating a sort of overworld. This allowed a player to choose their path, route around difficult levels, and find secrets and bonuses. NSMBW returned to this style, complete with Mushroom houses, bonuses, hidden paths, and varying routes.
2) Play Style: This is traditional Mario play style with innovative, creative, and flat out entertaining side scrolling levels. Simply put, I really enjoyed almost all the levels. Each was unique and reflected the respective theme of the world in which it was located. Additionally, there was plenty of familiar enemies and terrain, but each level also contained a healthy mix of new and just plain cool stuff. The best example of cool new shit is in World 8, the new lava and volcano based hazards are crazy… crazy awesome!
3) Airships: In the first world, I was a bit disappointed that it ended simply with a castle and lacked an airship battle, like in SMB3. However, this only made my excitement even greater when I discovered there were indeed airship levels (and they even had a sweet updated version of the original music)!
4) The Final Battle: I’m not going to spoil this one. If you’ve played it: you know what I’m talking about. I’ll simply say, I did not see that coming and it was Awesome!
5) Challenge: The game rewards you for finding all the star coins in each level and beating all the levels. The difficulty in accomplishing this varies on the level and your own personal standards. For the more difficult locations for star coins and secret levels, one can usually go to the Mushroom Kingdom Palace and watch one of the many hint videos, which are less like hints and more like flat out cheating. However, if you resist the urge to head to the videos for a coin you can’t find, the feeling of accomplishment can be very satisfying.
While I thoroughly enjoyed NSMBW, I did find some flaws in the game. Here’s what I didn’t like:
1) Challenge: NSMBW is easy. I mean really easy. I accumulated 99 lives by World 3 without even trying. Only a few levels in the game actually pose some sort of challenge, and those are mainly the bonus levels in World 9 (and of those... 9-7 is flat out brutal). But, the rest of the game is a relative cake walk. I don’t like how a vast majority of the challenge in NSMBW is wrapped up in the collection of star coins or finding the secret levels.
2) Power Ups: Most of the power-ups in NSMBW just plain suck. The propeller cap is so powerful it reduces 95% of all the levels to all kinds of easy. Meanwhile, the remaining power-ups are only useful for the specific areas for which they were designed. All I really want is a Racoon or Tanooki Suit and a Hammer Brothers Suit. Is that too much to ask? Oh, I would also have really liked to see a level or two sporting a goomba shoe. I loved that thing…
3) Multiplayer: Nintendo billed the four-player aspect of NSMBW as the primary feature, and honestly, it sucks. First, the mechanics of multiplayer just don’t seem… right. The way the characters interact and react to hitting each other seems way too loose and over exaggerated. I suppose if a dedicated group of people spent a ton of time planning and practicing, the result would be in some truly epic youtube videos. But, if you simply want to sit down and have some fun with friends for a few hours, go play Mortal Kombat or something.
4) Multiplayer, Again: Why am I stuck with Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Another Toad!? Seriously. With the massive wealth of characters available to choose from, why are we stuck with the lamest three choices in the entire Mario universe? Remember how Mario 2 sucked? Yeah, well at least they had four characters to choose from, each of which had a unique trait that distinguished them from the others. Why didn’t NSMBW follow that model? And don’t tell me it would ‘unbalance’ the game. This isn’t competitive, professional gaming. This isn’t Starcraft or Marvel vs Capcom, this is Mario. It’s already insanely easy, why not spice it up. Let me play as Peach. Yes, I know the point is to rescue Peach, but gloss that over with some convenient explanation and put her in the game. Or Daisy. Or, hell, let me play as Bowser. Or Yoshi. That would be interesting: Player One as Mario, Player Two as Yoshi. That could lead to some pretty inovative cooperation. At least make some of these characters unlockable. How about instead of getting gold stars (or even the glowing gold stars for doing a super good job…) for beating all the levels and getting star coins you get additional characters? That could be fun. The point is that Nintendo phoned in Multiplayer in virtually every respect. It sucks and I really don’t think I’ll ever play it again.
However, despite the flaws in NSMBW, I loved it. It was enough nostalgia mixed with some really awesome levels with creative and fun platforming. Yes, it wasn’t a big challenge. But it was a blast to play and kept my attention long enough to completely play through it twice in a row. And in my book, that’s the biggest complement a game can get.
Current State of the Steke:
Games Owned: 305
Games Finished: 121
Percentage: 39.7%
Progress to Date: Embarrassing
This does not mean that I haven’t been playing anything. I have beaten a couple of games and been playing another few pretty extensively. The two games I have beaten deserve more than just a quick gloss over, so each will (hopefully) get a full and equal treatment, so without further wasted words:
New Super Mario Bros Wii
Let me tell you what I remember.
I remember that a majority of my childhood was spent playing Super Mario Bros 3.
I also remember that SMB3 is easily on of my top ten games of all time. It's damn near the closest thing to perfection from the 8-bit era.
Given that New Super Mario Bros Wii is directly inspired by SMB3, I suppose I was the target audience. Additionally, the nostalgia that sold me the game might also be responsible for my reaction: I freaking love New Super Mario Bros Wii! (NSMBW? how is it the acronym is almost more cumbersome than the actual title?)
Here’s what I liked:
1) Classic Approach: SMB3 changed the Mario paradigm by not simply advancing the player level by level, but incorporating a sort of overworld. This allowed a player to choose their path, route around difficult levels, and find secrets and bonuses. NSMBW returned to this style, complete with Mushroom houses, bonuses, hidden paths, and varying routes.
2) Play Style: This is traditional Mario play style with innovative, creative, and flat out entertaining side scrolling levels. Simply put, I really enjoyed almost all the levels. Each was unique and reflected the respective theme of the world in which it was located. Additionally, there was plenty of familiar enemies and terrain, but each level also contained a healthy mix of new and just plain cool stuff. The best example of cool new shit is in World 8, the new lava and volcano based hazards are crazy… crazy awesome!
3) Airships: In the first world, I was a bit disappointed that it ended simply with a castle and lacked an airship battle, like in SMB3. However, this only made my excitement even greater when I discovered there were indeed airship levels (and they even had a sweet updated version of the original music)!
4) The Final Battle: I’m not going to spoil this one. If you’ve played it: you know what I’m talking about. I’ll simply say, I did not see that coming and it was Awesome!
5) Challenge: The game rewards you for finding all the star coins in each level and beating all the levels. The difficulty in accomplishing this varies on the level and your own personal standards. For the more difficult locations for star coins and secret levels, one can usually go to the Mushroom Kingdom Palace and watch one of the many hint videos, which are less like hints and more like flat out cheating. However, if you resist the urge to head to the videos for a coin you can’t find, the feeling of accomplishment can be very satisfying.
While I thoroughly enjoyed NSMBW, I did find some flaws in the game. Here’s what I didn’t like:
1) Challenge: NSMBW is easy. I mean really easy. I accumulated 99 lives by World 3 without even trying. Only a few levels in the game actually pose some sort of challenge, and those are mainly the bonus levels in World 9 (and of those... 9-7 is flat out brutal). But, the rest of the game is a relative cake walk. I don’t like how a vast majority of the challenge in NSMBW is wrapped up in the collection of star coins or finding the secret levels.
9-7, the exception to the 'too easy' complaint...
2) Power Ups: Most of the power-ups in NSMBW just plain suck. The propeller cap is so powerful it reduces 95% of all the levels to all kinds of easy. Meanwhile, the remaining power-ups are only useful for the specific areas for which they were designed. All I really want is a Racoon or Tanooki Suit and a Hammer Brothers Suit. Is that too much to ask? Oh, I would also have really liked to see a level or two sporting a goomba shoe. I loved that thing…
Oh, it's on now!
3) Multiplayer: Nintendo billed the four-player aspect of NSMBW as the primary feature, and honestly, it sucks. First, the mechanics of multiplayer just don’t seem… right. The way the characters interact and react to hitting each other seems way too loose and over exaggerated. I suppose if a dedicated group of people spent a ton of time planning and practicing, the result would be in some truly epic youtube videos. But, if you simply want to sit down and have some fun with friends for a few hours, go play Mortal Kombat or something.
4) Multiplayer, Again: Why am I stuck with Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Another Toad!? Seriously. With the massive wealth of characters available to choose from, why are we stuck with the lamest three choices in the entire Mario universe? Remember how Mario 2 sucked? Yeah, well at least they had four characters to choose from, each of which had a unique trait that distinguished them from the others. Why didn’t NSMBW follow that model? And don’t tell me it would ‘unbalance’ the game. This isn’t competitive, professional gaming. This isn’t Starcraft or Marvel vs Capcom, this is Mario. It’s already insanely easy, why not spice it up. Let me play as Peach. Yes, I know the point is to rescue Peach, but gloss that over with some convenient explanation and put her in the game. Or Daisy. Or, hell, let me play as Bowser. Or Yoshi. That would be interesting: Player One as Mario, Player Two as Yoshi. That could lead to some pretty inovative cooperation. At least make some of these characters unlockable. How about instead of getting gold stars (or even the glowing gold stars for doing a super good job…) for beating all the levels and getting star coins you get additional characters? That could be fun. The point is that Nintendo phoned in Multiplayer in virtually every respect. It sucks and I really don’t think I’ll ever play it again.
However, despite the flaws in NSMBW, I loved it. It was enough nostalgia mixed with some really awesome levels with creative and fun platforming. Yes, it wasn’t a big challenge. But it was a blast to play and kept my attention long enough to completely play through it twice in a row. And in my book, that’s the biggest complement a game can get.
Current State of the Steke:
Games Owned: 305
Games Finished: 121
Percentage: 39.7%
Progress to Date: Embarrassing
Sunday, May 15, 2011
State of the Steke Address
My fellow gamers, first I would like to thank the two of you for reading this web-zone. Your patriotism to Steke the Geek is admirable, although likely misplaced. I am deeply regretful of my inability to post anything for the past quarter of a year. One of you may believe that it was a result of how bad Super Mario Bros 2 is. While the craptasticness of that poor excuse of a Mario game may have crushed a weaker gamer’s soul, rest assured that I survived and have moved on to better things.
It turns out that deciding, on a whim, to go back to college is taking a bit more of my time than I anticipated. As a result, gaming for this fiscal quarter has been down. However, some slight progress was made. So, let’s get to it! To save some time, we’re going into the Rapid-Fire Bonus Round!
Round 1: Soldner X and Soldner X-2
A long time ago there were these awesome games that we used to call shooters. This was before the host of crappy military/space-marine first person shooters stole that name for their own. No, this was when the 2-D, side-scrolling space shooter held the title. Unfortunately, this genre is all but dead. Occasionally, a new 2-D shooter crops up, but they are few and far between. And the ones we do get are all too often eastern bullet-hell imports that are essentially impossibly unless you happed to by Jimmy from The Wizard or Japanese.
Fortunately, for us non-Japanese, non-savant gamers, we’ve been given Solder X and its brilliantly named sequel Soldner X-2. Since this is the Rapid-Fire Bonus Round (RFBR?), here’s the quick and dirty:
A) These games are awesome
B) Yeah, they’ve got some glitches, but nothing you can’t overlook as they are independently produced games for dirt cheap.
C) The gameplay mechanic has greater depth than ‘just hold down the fire button,’ which leads to a surprising amount of strategy and requires a little bit of forethought
D) Soldner X-2 is a game with ‘X-2’ in the title that I actually want to play
E) They are graphically stunning, with lots of pretty colors
F) The Challenge Mode in X-2 is addictive, time consuming, and tons of fun
G) Did I mention these games are awesome?
Yeah, so I liked them.
Round 2: Vanquish
For some reason, Vanquish appealed to me when I saw the initial previews. It completely isn’t my type of game: third person shooter, standard cover mechanic, Gears of War clone in a Halo type setting. It’s all very, um, average. It wasn’t necessarily bad and I had fun… it was just rather unremarkable. The only thing that sort of sets it apart from the other bajillion games just like it is the suit mechanic. Your suit has several unique features that can greatly aid you in battle. Most notably is the ability to go into matrix style bullet time, which actually allows me to aim somewhat effectively (because otherwise, I can’t hit shit). A futuristic action game with a bad-ass protagonist in an awesome suit? Yeah that reminds me of something else I would rather play…
Round 3: Muramasa: The Demon Blade
I love Muramasa. Everything about this game oozes style. The beautiful watercolor style graphics, the distinctly Japanese character and level design, the sub-titled and not-dubbed over Japanese voice acting; everything adds to an overall world in which the player can truly become lost.
There are two different story arcs to play through each with unique main characters and sets of weaponry. This adds a nice bit of replayability, but beyond an additional difficulty level unlocked upon beating the game and optional Monster Lair battles, there isn't a lot gameplay-wise to bring a player back. What will bring me back for future playthroughs is the presentation. Yeah, the game is fun, but the shear awesomeness of the game's style creates an overall experience that makes me want to replay it.
Round 4: Mortal Kombat
One reviewer of Mortal Kombat mentioned that no one seems to be able to review the game without reflecting on their own personal history with the series. I don’t think I can break that pattern. I essentially grew up playing MK 1 through 3. I followed the mythology and read the strategy guides. I loved the series and that affair culminated with MK3. Patrick Curtis and I used to rage against each other in MK 3 on his Sega Genesis all those years ago. Smoke and Sub-Zero were our main guys and we would go head to head for hours.
While the past-Steke I just described is who this game is made for, the true genius behind Mortal Kombat is how accessible it is for newcomers. MK virgins don’t have to worry about not knowing the moves: in-game tutorials; the availability of move lists in the pause menu; and the switching of primary characters in the story and challenge modes all combine to give a comprehensive introduction to the game mechanics. Additionally, the story mode (in a fighting game!? and it's actually good!?) cleverly retells the story arc of MK 1 through 3. This eliminates the burden of trying to understand the increasingly convoluted mess that became of the MK storyline through the later games. For us old-schoolers, the new story has plenty of nods and connections to the previous games, which makes me very happy.
The total package for Mortal Kombat is incredible. The story mode is challenging and takes maybe ten or so hours to beat, there is standard arcade ladders (like traditional fighting games), 2v2 matches are now included (and implemented very well, not just a throwaway add-in), the challenge mode is a 200 level tower with a ton of variety, there are numerous unlockables (of which most are worthless, except for the alternate costumes and additional fatalities), and the online component is implemented better than every other fighting game I’ve played.
So, I guess you could say I liked it.
And that brings us to the end of the Rapid-Fire Bonus Round. Some good games have been played, and all of them way better than Mario 2. I suppose that my faith in humanity has been somewhat restored.
State of the Steke:
From now on, I’d like to finish every gaming post with the State of the Steke. This is just a quick breakdown of my games owned to games beaten. After all, the whole point of this (pointless) blog is for it to track the journey through my very substantial backlog of games.
Games Owned: 303
Games Finished: 120
Percentage: 39.6%
Progress to Date: Abysmal
It turns out that deciding, on a whim, to go back to college is taking a bit more of my time than I anticipated. As a result, gaming for this fiscal quarter has been down. However, some slight progress was made. So, let’s get to it! To save some time, we’re going into the Rapid-Fire Bonus Round!
Round 1: Soldner X and Soldner X-2
A long time ago there were these awesome games that we used to call shooters. This was before the host of crappy military/space-marine first person shooters stole that name for their own. No, this was when the 2-D, side-scrolling space shooter held the title. Unfortunately, this genre is all but dead. Occasionally, a new 2-D shooter crops up, but they are few and far between. And the ones we do get are all too often eastern bullet-hell imports that are essentially impossibly unless you happed to by Jimmy from The Wizard or Japanese.
Bullet Hell: I'd last 3 to 4 seconds; Japanese schoolgirls last 45 minutes, playing one handed while talking on their cell phones
Fortunately, for us non-Japanese, non-savant gamers, we’ve been given Solder X and its brilliantly named sequel Soldner X-2. Since this is the Rapid-Fire Bonus Round (RFBR?), here’s the quick and dirty:
A) These games are awesome
B) Yeah, they’ve got some glitches, but nothing you can’t overlook as they are independently produced games for dirt cheap.
C) The gameplay mechanic has greater depth than ‘just hold down the fire button,’ which leads to a surprising amount of strategy and requires a little bit of forethought
D) Soldner X-2 is a game with ‘X-2’ in the title that I actually want to play
And one I do NOT want to play
E) They are graphically stunning, with lots of pretty colors
F) The Challenge Mode in X-2 is addictive, time consuming, and tons of fun
G) Did I mention these games are awesome?
Yeah, so I liked them.
Round 2: Vanquish
For some reason, Vanquish appealed to me when I saw the initial previews. It completely isn’t my type of game: third person shooter, standard cover mechanic, Gears of War clone in a Halo type setting. It’s all very, um, average. It wasn’t necessarily bad and I had fun… it was just rather unremarkable. The only thing that sort of sets it apart from the other bajillion games just like it is the suit mechanic. Your suit has several unique features that can greatly aid you in battle. Most notably is the ability to go into matrix style bullet time, which actually allows me to aim somewhat effectively (because otherwise, I can’t hit shit). A futuristic action game with a bad-ass protagonist in an awesome suit? Yeah that reminds me of something else I would rather play…
Hint: It starts with 'M' and ends with 'etroid'
Round 3: Muramasa: The Demon Blade
I love Muramasa. Everything about this game oozes style. The beautiful watercolor style graphics, the distinctly Japanese character and level design, the sub-titled and not-dubbed over Japanese voice acting; everything adds to an overall world in which the player can truly become lost.
Style...
There are two different story arcs to play through each with unique main characters and sets of weaponry. This adds a nice bit of replayability, but beyond an additional difficulty level unlocked upon beating the game and optional Monster Lair battles, there isn't a lot gameplay-wise to bring a player back. What will bring me back for future playthroughs is the presentation. Yeah, the game is fun, but the shear awesomeness of the game's style creates an overall experience that makes me want to replay it.
Even More Style...
Round 4: Mortal Kombat
One reviewer of Mortal Kombat mentioned that no one seems to be able to review the game without reflecting on their own personal history with the series. I don’t think I can break that pattern. I essentially grew up playing MK 1 through 3. I followed the mythology and read the strategy guides. I loved the series and that affair culminated with MK3. Patrick Curtis and I used to rage against each other in MK 3 on his Sega Genesis all those years ago. Smoke and Sub-Zero were our main guys and we would go head to head for hours.
While the past-Steke I just described is who this game is made for, the true genius behind Mortal Kombat is how accessible it is for newcomers. MK virgins don’t have to worry about not knowing the moves: in-game tutorials; the availability of move lists in the pause menu; and the switching of primary characters in the story and challenge modes all combine to give a comprehensive introduction to the game mechanics. Additionally, the story mode (in a fighting game!? and it's actually good!?) cleverly retells the story arc of MK 1 through 3. This eliminates the burden of trying to understand the increasingly convoluted mess that became of the MK storyline through the later games. For us old-schoolers, the new story has plenty of nods and connections to the previous games, which makes me very happy.
Soooooo Awesome!
The total package for Mortal Kombat is incredible. The story mode is challenging and takes maybe ten or so hours to beat, there is standard arcade ladders (like traditional fighting games), 2v2 matches are now included (and implemented very well, not just a throwaway add-in), the challenge mode is a 200 level tower with a ton of variety, there are numerous unlockables (of which most are worthless, except for the alternate costumes and additional fatalities), and the online component is implemented better than every other fighting game I’ve played.
So, I guess you could say I liked it.
And that brings us to the end of the Rapid-Fire Bonus Round. Some good games have been played, and all of them way better than Mario 2. I suppose that my faith in humanity has been somewhat restored.
State of the Steke:
From now on, I’d like to finish every gaming post with the State of the Steke. This is just a quick breakdown of my games owned to games beaten. After all, the whole point of this (pointless) blog is for it to track the journey through my very substantial backlog of games.
Games Owned: 303
Games Finished: 120
Percentage: 39.6%
Progress to Date: Abysmal
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Just Beat: Mario 2
This game sucks and I hate it. End of story.
Well, to be fair, there are exactly three awesome things about this game.
1. The underground music is awesome.
2. The end boss music is awesome.
3. The fact that I never have to play this game again is awesome.
Well, to be fair, there are exactly three awesome things about this game.
1. The underground music is awesome.
2. The end boss music is awesome.
3. The fact that I never have to play this game again is awesome.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Currently Playing: Super Mario Bros. 2
Throughout the storied and diverse history of Mario games and his numerous spinoffs, there certainly is a wealth of fantastic games. Few would argue with the supremacy of Mario 3 near the top of all-time greats. Additionally, there are lots of games that don’t quite fit the standard Mario mold: there’s Super Mario Sunshine, or Yoshi’s Island or, heck, Dr. Mario or Mario Kart. These are good games for sure, they just are Mario’s stepchildren from that ‘other’ marriage; the ones the courts say he has to include as part of his lineage and pay monthly child support to.
Then there is Mario 2.
If Sunshine is Mario’s stepchild, then Mario 2 is the incoherent drunkard on Jerry Springer who is trying to find out who his real father actually is, then ends up throwing a chair at Kid Icarus.
Honestly, I’m surprised that Mario (and Nintendo) weathered this disaster with such grace. Then again, I only vaguely remember Mario 2 from my youth. I mean Matt, the spoiled, only-child who lived down the street, had it. But I only remember actually playing it once… and I thought it sucked, and this was before we used even knew what ‘sucked’ meant.
No, for my friends (and everyone I knew in general), Mario 2 was simply never mentioned. We went straight from Mario to Mario 3 (and what a glorious leap that was) and left the second installment by the wayside.
Even when I finally got the game from a thrift store, or garage sale, or other such used-goods emporium, I never played it. I felt it necessary to own, but never bothered to actually play it… until now.
And now I know why.
This game flat out sucks, and I hate it.
Yes, I know that I already said that. Hey, I’m an unoriginal bastard. But the reason, I said it again, is because I say that exact same line numerous times whenever playing the game… because it sucks, and I hate it.
Alright, alright, I know the game actually received strong reviews and was the third best selling NES game (thanks, Wikipedia!), but that doesn’t change how I feel about it (Spoiler Alert: it sucks and I hate it).
And here’s why.
1. Play control is balls. Control of your character is very ‘floaty.’ No, I don’t mean how Luigi and Peach have an inherent float in their jumps; I mean the inertia of your character lags. It’s like being in an Ice World in any other game: you slide all over the place. This game is difficult, not because of tricky platforming (I’m looking at you Lost Levels) or because of challenging bosses, but because the controls are down right atrocious.
2. It’s buggy as hell. Enemies have the tendency to vanish, for no reason. Sometimes, I’ll go to jump on the top of a wall and I’ll land on the side of it just below the top.
Other times, I’ll do a blind jump to a platform that I know is there, only to find that this time, the game decided to not include it, just to remind me that I hate it. This just scratches the surface, I challenge anyone to play through a game of Mario 2 and not experience some sort of glitch or bug. It’s ridiculous.
3. Mario 2 looks like crap. The levels, graphics, and visuals are generic and boring. And what’s with the whales in the Ice World? They look more like building blocks that spout radiator fluid than whales. Oh, I know it’s supposed to be a dream world and everything, but what the hell is this shit? I walk into a bird mouth at the end of each level? Uh, what? I mean, this is supposed to be a Dream World, why not go all out? Make this thing crazy. Make it way out there. Get freaking creative. This isn’t a dream world, it’s bland world. If this wasn’t the 8-bit era, the entire thing probably would have been rendered in five shades of beige.
Who knew that Mario 2 had its own Exit
I can’t wait to beat this shit and get it over with. I’ve been playing maybe a run-through a day for about a week and can now consistently get to the final boss, so it’s just a matter of time. I want to put Mario 2 behind me and never look back.
This game seriously sucks and I hate it.
Then there is Mario 2.
If Sunshine is Mario’s stepchild, then Mario 2 is the incoherent drunkard on Jerry Springer who is trying to find out who his real father actually is, then ends up throwing a chair at Kid Icarus.
'E's Yer Beby!'
Honestly, I’m surprised that Mario (and Nintendo) weathered this disaster with such grace. Then again, I only vaguely remember Mario 2 from my youth. I mean Matt, the spoiled, only-child who lived down the street, had it. But I only remember actually playing it once… and I thought it sucked, and this was before we used even knew what ‘sucked’ meant.
Mario 2... sucks?
No, for my friends (and everyone I knew in general), Mario 2 was simply never mentioned. We went straight from Mario to Mario 3 (and what a glorious leap that was) and left the second installment by the wayside.
Even when I finally got the game from a thrift store, or garage sale, or other such used-goods emporium, I never played it. I felt it necessary to own, but never bothered to actually play it… until now.
And now I know why.
This game flat out sucks, and I hate it.
Yes, I know that I already said that. Hey, I’m an unoriginal bastard. But the reason, I said it again, is because I say that exact same line numerous times whenever playing the game… because it sucks, and I hate it.
Alright, alright, I know the game actually received strong reviews and was the third best selling NES game (thanks, Wikipedia!), but that doesn’t change how I feel about it (Spoiler Alert: it sucks and I hate it).
And here’s why.
1. Play control is balls. Control of your character is very ‘floaty.’ No, I don’t mean how Luigi and Peach have an inherent float in their jumps; I mean the inertia of your character lags. It’s like being in an Ice World in any other game: you slide all over the place. This game is difficult, not because of tricky platforming (I’m looking at you Lost Levels) or because of challenging bosses, but because the controls are down right atrocious.
2. It’s buggy as hell. Enemies have the tendency to vanish, for no reason. Sometimes, I’ll go to jump on the top of a wall and I’ll land on the side of it just below the top.
Other times, I’ll do a blind jump to a platform that I know is there, only to find that this time, the game decided to not include it, just to remind me that I hate it. This just scratches the surface, I challenge anyone to play through a game of Mario 2 and not experience some sort of glitch or bug. It’s ridiculous.
3. Mario 2 looks like crap. The levels, graphics, and visuals are generic and boring. And what’s with the whales in the Ice World? They look more like building blocks that spout radiator fluid than whales. Oh, I know it’s supposed to be a dream world and everything, but what the hell is this shit? I walk into a bird mouth at the end of each level? Uh, what? I mean, this is supposed to be a Dream World, why not go all out? Make this thing crazy. Make it way out there. Get freaking creative. This isn’t a dream world, it’s bland world. If this wasn’t the 8-bit era, the entire thing probably would have been rendered in five shades of beige.
Who knew that Mario 2 had its own ExitI can’t wait to beat this shit and get it over with. I’ve been playing maybe a run-through a day for about a week and can now consistently get to the final boss, so it’s just a matter of time. I want to put Mario 2 behind me and never look back.
This game seriously sucks and I hate it.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Housekeeping
Wow, has it been a while.
Last time I posted was a long time ago, when I was mired in a tough, crap-I-took-too-many-credits semester of school. School has been out now for about a half a month and no longer is eating up tons of my time. So why haven’t I posted? I’ve been playing video games and it was glorious!
Well, I just beat Valkyria Chronicles (for the second time) and newsflash: it’s not pretty awesome; it’s freaking awesome.
I love this game. That’s pretty much all there is to it. I haven’t restarted a game immediately after beating it since… maybe R-Type Final? And before that it was Metroid Prime.
The point is, I usually have a hard time playing through a game again immediately after beating it because I get burned out. It took a lot of effort to get to the end and starting over usually seems a bit daunting.
But not with Valkyria Chronicles. I didn’t even wait until the next day. I beat it, watched the ending, saw that there was an option for a new game plus, and started playing immediately.
I’m not going to rave about why I love this game so much. Just know that Valkyria Chronicles jumped the charts directly into my top ten of all time and that’s some pretty tough competition.
I also recently joined the rest of the population of the Universe and bought a Wii. I’ve been collecting the few Wii games that look good over the past few years as they’ve come out and, with a temporary price cut on the Wii at Target, I decided it was time to finally get the hardware required to play those games.
So, I just beat Metroid: Other M. Given the almost universal negative reviews of Other M, I was set to get through the game hating it and surviving on stubbornness alone. Apparently, I got a different copy of Other M than the reviewers, because the game I played was pretty darn good.
Many of the reviews did, justifiably, comment on the jaw-dropping graphics, superb music, and (mostly) competent game control. All of this is very true and adds together to result in a very satisfying game-play experience.
The reviews had me prepared for prolific cut scenes and pervasive melodramatic narration throughout the game. I found the narration and cut scenes pretty benign, however. Yeah Samus does come off a bit more emotional than I would have expected, but for the most part, she was neither the ‘chatty Cathy’ that one reviewer called her, nor an emotional wreck constantly worried of what Adam would think. I honestly felt, and this isn’t a fan boy talking here, that Samus reacted to the situation pretty much how anyone would.
There is one exception, however, and this is the fan boy talking here. Samus froze when first confronting her longtime nemesis, Ridley. This was out of character. In the heat of battle, Samus doesn’t really strike me as someone who would be frozen with fear. Seriously, this is the same girl who has fought off the Mother Brain’s minions twice AND single-handedly infiltrated the Metroid homeworld and eradicated the entire species. She’s fought some pretty serious battles, seeing Ridley again (well for a third and not-the-last time) shouldn’t stop her in her tracks.
Despite this mis-characterization and the standard ‘made in Japan cheesy bizarreness’ Other M is solid. Does it top Super Metroid? Uh, no. But, it’s better than Prime 2, Fusion, and obviously way better than Hunters.
I likey.
Last time I posted was a long time ago, when I was mired in a tough, crap-I-took-too-many-credits semester of school. School has been out now for about a half a month and no longer is eating up tons of my time. So why haven’t I posted? I’ve been playing video games and it was glorious!
Well, I just beat Valkyria Chronicles (for the second time) and newsflash: it’s not pretty awesome; it’s freaking awesome.
I love this game. That’s pretty much all there is to it. I haven’t restarted a game immediately after beating it since… maybe R-Type Final? And before that it was Metroid Prime.
The point is, I usually have a hard time playing through a game again immediately after beating it because I get burned out. It took a lot of effort to get to the end and starting over usually seems a bit daunting.
But not with Valkyria Chronicles. I didn’t even wait until the next day. I beat it, watched the ending, saw that there was an option for a new game plus, and started playing immediately.
I’m not going to rave about why I love this game so much. Just know that Valkyria Chronicles jumped the charts directly into my top ten of all time and that’s some pretty tough competition.
I also recently joined the rest of the population of the Universe and bought a Wii. I’ve been collecting the few Wii games that look good over the past few years as they’ve come out and, with a temporary price cut on the Wii at Target, I decided it was time to finally get the hardware required to play those games.
So, I just beat Metroid: Other M. Given the almost universal negative reviews of Other M, I was set to get through the game hating it and surviving on stubbornness alone. Apparently, I got a different copy of Other M than the reviewers, because the game I played was pretty darn good.
Many of the reviews did, justifiably, comment on the jaw-dropping graphics, superb music, and (mostly) competent game control. All of this is very true and adds together to result in a very satisfying game-play experience.
The reviews had me prepared for prolific cut scenes and pervasive melodramatic narration throughout the game. I found the narration and cut scenes pretty benign, however. Yeah Samus does come off a bit more emotional than I would have expected, but for the most part, she was neither the ‘chatty Cathy’ that one reviewer called her, nor an emotional wreck constantly worried of what Adam would think. I honestly felt, and this isn’t a fan boy talking here, that Samus reacted to the situation pretty much how anyone would.
There is one exception, however, and this is the fan boy talking here. Samus froze when first confronting her longtime nemesis, Ridley. This was out of character. In the heat of battle, Samus doesn’t really strike me as someone who would be frozen with fear. Seriously, this is the same girl who has fought off the Mother Brain’s minions twice AND single-handedly infiltrated the Metroid homeworld and eradicated the entire species. She’s fought some pretty serious battles, seeing Ridley again (well for a third and not-the-last time) shouldn’t stop her in her tracks.
Despite this mis-characterization and the standard ‘made in Japan cheesy bizarreness’ Other M is solid. Does it top Super Metroid? Uh, no. But, it’s better than Prime 2, Fusion, and obviously way better than Hunters.
I likey.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Currently Playing: Oh Shit, There Go My Grades
About 6 years ago I graduated from college with a very useful degree in Military History. Since then, the job offers I’ve had in that field have been incredibly numerous and lucrative… Okay, that’s a lie.
In reality, I realized that History, while I enjoy it and think that it’s fascinating, isn’t really my calling. I don’t want to spend years of my life researching some obscure historical event, only to write a book that will most likely be read by eight people and some poor Midshipman at the Naval Academy who, by pure chance, was assigned a report on the very event to which I devoted my entire life.
Instead, I’ve returned to school to get a degree in engineering, which is much more suited to how I think and view the world.
Naturally, I’m impatient, so I’ve completely overloaded on credits in a vain attempt to get to graduation as soon as possible. Consequently, video games have taken a distant back seat to School.
And the work seemed to be paying off. With only a bit of ego, I can say that my grades were great and the semester was shaping up nicely… until Tuesday, October 5, 2010. At approximately 9:45 in the evening, I fell head-over-heels in love.
I started playing Valkyria Chronicles.
I want to have it's babies.
The characters, while still loosely conforming to the JRPG stereotypes, seem like real 3-dimensional people. Granted, the occasional cheesy line gets in the way, but otherwise the characters are all fairly likeable. In almost every JRPG I’ve played, there is at least one character that makes me groan and say, ‘shut up, shut up, shut up!’ every time they open their mouth (I’m looking directly at you, three-quarters of all Final Fantasy characters). But, so far, I’m pretty much annoyance free right now.
The story is top notch. I truly feel that I am but a small part of a much larger war, and not just a lone group of people who fight off the entirety of the cosmos to ‘save the world.’ Additionally, the equipment, time period, and geo-political situation draw heavily on the Second World War for inspiration, making everything familiar enough to feel like it could easily have taken place in our world, rather than some distant fantasy world. At the same time, however, there is enough change from the actual Second World War to make it a fresh and new experience and not be a mere ‘change of names to protect the innocent.’
Additionally, gameplay is extremely fun and intuitive. It took me less than one battle to get my bearings and there were very few tutorial sessions. Coming off my last game (Final Fantasy XIII), where the first 20-odd hours of gameplay was essentially an extended tutorial, Valkyria Chronicles was extremely refreshing. To boot, the combat is just plain awesome. I seriously can’t get enough of it.
Lastly, Valkyria Chronicles has succeeded were almost every other RPG of the past few generations has failed: it got me interested within about 15 minutes of starting. Understand that, while I love RPGs, I despise starting them. It always feels that first few hours are like pulling teeth: with tedious fetch quests that ‘teach’ you to use different game mechanics; boring exposition scenes that try and set up the story; and multiple, painfully long explanation screens for how different mechanics work. Valkyria Chronicles was designed extremely well to either camouflage these aspects, or respect the fact that I have some intelligence and can figure most of it out on my own.
Needless to say, I’ve already broken down and played about 6 to 8 hours this week… hours I should have been studying.
I’m screwed.
In reality, I realized that History, while I enjoy it and think that it’s fascinating, isn’t really my calling. I don’t want to spend years of my life researching some obscure historical event, only to write a book that will most likely be read by eight people and some poor Midshipman at the Naval Academy who, by pure chance, was assigned a report on the very event to which I devoted my entire life.
Instead, I’ve returned to school to get a degree in engineering, which is much more suited to how I think and view the world.
Naturally, I’m impatient, so I’ve completely overloaded on credits in a vain attempt to get to graduation as soon as possible. Consequently, video games have taken a distant back seat to School.
And the work seemed to be paying off. With only a bit of ego, I can say that my grades were great and the semester was shaping up nicely… until Tuesday, October 5, 2010. At approximately 9:45 in the evening, I fell head-over-heels in love.
I started playing Valkyria Chronicles.
I want to have it's babies.
The characters, while still loosely conforming to the JRPG stereotypes, seem like real 3-dimensional people. Granted, the occasional cheesy line gets in the way, but otherwise the characters are all fairly likeable. In almost every JRPG I’ve played, there is at least one character that makes me groan and say, ‘shut up, shut up, shut up!’ every time they open their mouth (I’m looking directly at you, three-quarters of all Final Fantasy characters). But, so far, I’m pretty much annoyance free right now.
Annoying.
The story is top notch. I truly feel that I am but a small part of a much larger war, and not just a lone group of people who fight off the entirety of the cosmos to ‘save the world.’ Additionally, the equipment, time period, and geo-political situation draw heavily on the Second World War for inspiration, making everything familiar enough to feel like it could easily have taken place in our world, rather than some distant fantasy world. At the same time, however, there is enough change from the actual Second World War to make it a fresh and new experience and not be a mere ‘change of names to protect the innocent.’
More Annoying.
Additionally, gameplay is extremely fun and intuitive. It took me less than one battle to get my bearings and there were very few tutorial sessions. Coming off my last game (Final Fantasy XIII), where the first 20-odd hours of gameplay was essentially an extended tutorial, Valkyria Chronicles was extremely refreshing. To boot, the combat is just plain awesome. I seriously can’t get enough of it.
Die in a fire.
Lastly, Valkyria Chronicles has succeeded were almost every other RPG of the past few generations has failed: it got me interested within about 15 minutes of starting. Understand that, while I love RPGs, I despise starting them. It always feels that first few hours are like pulling teeth: with tedious fetch quests that ‘teach’ you to use different game mechanics; boring exposition scenes that try and set up the story; and multiple, painfully long explanation screens for how different mechanics work. Valkyria Chronicles was designed extremely well to either camouflage these aspects, or respect the fact that I have some intelligence and can figure most of it out on my own.
Needless to say, I’ve already broken down and played about 6 to 8 hours this week… hours I should have been studying.
I’m screwed.
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