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Contrast Review: Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U/3DS

Archive — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 08:28:00 +0000

These games have been two of the most hyped games to be released last year, and for good reason. If you have been living under a rock for the past three years, Super Smash Bros for the 3DS and the Wii U are the fourth and fifth games in the critically acclaimed party brawler series from Kirby's Dreamland series creator Masahiro Sakurai, but I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that. As such, this review is going to be slightly different than what I normally do. Because of the varying contrast between the content of the two versions of the game, this time I'm gonna compare the two and tell you which version would better suit your gaming palette.

Now if you are worried about what characters are available in each version, you have no need to worry about that. Both versions of the game have the exact same cast of nearly fifty characters which include Mario, Link, Pikachu, Fox, Samus, Yoshi, Donkey Kong and Kirby (just to name a few), but the number of unlockable characters is reduced in the Wii U version. While there are twelve characters to unlock in the 3DS version, the Wii U version has four of these characters already unlocked from the get go which reduces the amount of work needed.

Returning from Super Smash Bros Brawl are the challenges. Challenges are in both versions of the game, but they are split up into three separate pages on the 3DS version with a total of 105 relatively easy ones to complete whereas the Wii U version has 140 moderately more difficult ones all on one page. Completing a challenge will give you a reward and a special picture to view as a little bonus.

Classic Mode also makes a return in these games as it always has since the series' beginning, but this time it has gotten a drastic overhaul. On the 3DS, you go through branching paths of varying difficulty (Blue = Easy, Green = Normal, Red = Hard) and it feels very similar to how Classic Mode has been in past games, but in the Wii U version, Classic Mode is more based on your actual skill level as there are multiple groups of fighters each with a varying number of opponents and the occasional rival and surprise ambush.

All-Star Mode makes a return yet again from its introduction in Super Smash Bros Melee, but it feels a little bit different this time around. Like in Brawl, you face every character in the game in order of character's creation and release according to the real world (with the exception of the customizable Mii Fighters), but the direction of the order you face them in differs per version. In the 3DS version, you fight them in chronological order. In the Wii U version, you fight them in reverse chronological order. Also, unlike the previous games in the series, All-Star Mode is unlocked from the start with more available opponents to face every time a new one is unlocked.

Now for the mode everyone knows about, SMASH MODE. This is the game's basic free-for-all versus mode in which you choose your character and beat the crap out of your opponent on one of dozens of different stages inspired by a game in Nintendo's MASSIVE repertoire of franchises. The types of battles that can be done include Timed, Stock, and Coin battles and each can be played in teams. Smash mode can also be played online in modes called "For Fun" which has all items on and uses every stage except for Final Destination, and "For Glory" which all items are turned off and the only stage available is Final Destination or a visual variation of it.

Now new to these two games are character customization and amiibo support. With character customization, you can apply badges to a character that will boost one stat and hinder another and modify their special moves to better suit your tastes (I personally made a version of Mario that had completely fire based attacks). These customizations can also be applied to the amiibo that have been getting released these past few months. Amiibo fighters are completely AI controlled with no input by the player at all, but at their lower levels they can be trained to fight better by mimicking the player's fighting style. It should also be noted that amiibo support on the 3DS is limited to the "New" 3DS only.

Stadium mode also returns from the previous games, but with some slight alterations. Break the Targets has been completely removed and a new mode called Target Blast has taken its place. The 3DS version only has one stage while the Wii U version has three and if you want an idea of what Target Blast plays like, think Angry Birds but instead of a slingshot, you're launching a large bomb with a character's smash attack. 15-Minute smash mode in the Stadium has also been replaced with a new mode called Rival Smash in which you have to knock out more opponents than a CPU controlled rival character. The Fighting Alloy Team from Brawl in Stadium has also been replaced with the Fighting Mii Team. I find this to be pretty humorous as the Mii's faces are taken from the system's internal memory (I have some pretty low brow ones on my systems).

Now, here is what is exclusive to each version.

Returning from Brawl are the Event Matches, but these are exclusive to the Wii U version of the game. Event Matches are special battles with very specific win conditions. Some examples would include defeating a specific character before a computer controlled rival, or even preventing a hoard of slowly falling enemies from landing of the stage. Each event also has a secondary win condition that will reward you with a special prize should you succeed.

Also returning from Brawl and are exclusive to the Wii U are the Masterpieces. Masterpiece are demos of classic games that last anywhere between 1 to 5 minutes in length. If you happen to like the game's demo by the time the timer runs out, you are given the option to buy the game from the eShop which is a very nice convenience.

The Stage Builder also returns to the Wii U version of the game, but it simultaneously got both an upgrade and a downgrade in terms of content. The upgrade is the ability to draw the stage you're building with the Wii U's Gamepad. The downgrade on the other hand is the lack of stage additions you can add to what you're creating compared to Brawl. While the free form drawing is very nice and extremely cool, I feel a bit let down by the removal of so many options from the last game. Overall though, what you are given gets the job done, but I was still hoping for more.

New to the game and exclusive to the Wii U version is Special Orders mode. Special orders gives you randomized rules and opponents to fight with a guaranteed prize should you succeed. In Master Orders you pay a small sum of coins to take one of three challenges and the options reset with each win or loss. In Crazy Orders however, you can either pay a fairly high sum of coins or pay with an Orders Pass which can be won from Event Matches or from the roulette in Classic Mode. In Crazy Orders, you go round after round with most damage kept after each round until you feel like you don't have the confidence to continue any further. Whatever damage you accrued from the previous rounds will be then calculated into health for the final battle with Crazy Hand and any minions he may have helping him.

Exclusive to the 3DS version is Smash Run mode which is a 5 minute trial in a MASSIVE map where you collect stat boosting items to help increase your chances of winning a special challenge after the time is up. To find stat boosters, you need to defeat enemies from many different Nintendo games and some from games made by Capcom, Namco and Sega. It is actually very similar to the City Trial mode in Kirby Air Ride. The Wii U version has something slightly similar to this mode, but it is a much more party based mode called Smash Tour. This mode is played on one of 3 different maps of varying sizes with your Miis to act as the game pieces, but the general concept is the same: collect stat boosting items to improve your chances in the final match. Honestly though, I personally think Smash Run is much better than Smash Tour.

And now the pi√É¬®ce de réstistance, 8-PLAYER SMASH. This mode is exclusive to the Wii U version of the game and it is a damn fun mode to be had. You and up to seven other people can compete in these fantastically outrageous battles on a select few set of stages that can support the load of eight characters at once. But there is a catch. If you want to play with eight people, you will need to get at least one Game Cube controller adapter due to the fact that only four wireless controllers can linked to the console at any one time. In my opinion though, the Game Cube controller is the way to go anyway.

Now comes the verdict. The controls are tight and responsive, the music is fantastic, and everything else will keep you occupied for a very long time like collecting trophies and betting coins on the online spectator mode. If you're like me and enjoy playing games with other people in the same room, then get the Wii U version. Almost all the game modes in the Wii U version can be played in co-op mode with friend which is very nice. However, if you aren't the person who spends a lot of time playing TV games or if you travel a lot, then I would recommend the 3DS version as the game can be taken over to a friend's house for use as a controller for the Wii U version or you can play the 3DS exclusive Street Smash game mode when you encounter a random person with the game when out and about. I guess you could also get both if you have the money, but until then, I'll be seeing you.

3DS Score:

Wii U Score:

Lost in Obscurity: Sonic Battle

Archive — Mon, 23 Mar 2015 07:43:00 +0000

Many great games have been released over the years, most of which were part of a very well known franchise, where as others were very much a sleeper hit that grew into its own thing. But every once and a while, a fun, well made game will get its fifteen minutes of fame and then fade into obscurity forever, unless of course it develops a cult following a decade or two later. The game I'm going to cover is one that I've had an unusually high amount of fun with when I was in high school, and that title is Sonic Battle for the Game Boy Advance.

Released in the US on January 5, 2004, Sonic Battle was Sega's second attempt at making a fighting game starring Sonic the Hedgehog and other characters from that series. Although, unlike its predecessor Sonic the Fighters, this game has a much larger freedom of movement, big, open arenas for up to 4 fighters, and a simple control scheme that just about anyone can pick up at fairly quick pace. A is jump, B is normal attack, R is special attack, and L is guard. Now while this may not sound very exciting at first glance, but the combat is fairly more complex than you would probably give it credit for.

Each character has several additional attacks that can be performed by pressing the attack button in combination with the D-Pad, and holding the guard button down will slowly recover health and charge your Ichikoro gauge. When that gauge is completely charged, the next special attack you use will be a one hit knock-out should it connect. The characters' special moves are what make this fighting game unique though. Each character has three special attacks: Power, which is a strong, close range strike that is meant to knock your target away from you; Shot, which attacks your foes from a fair distance away; and Trap, which places a mine or bomb on the ground to hopefully snare an inattentive opponent. Each of these moves are also set to one of three relatively self-explanatory actions which are Ground, Air, and Defend. This adds a level of customization not normally found in fighting games.

In addition to the normal fighting portion of the game is a story mode featuring a character exclusive to Sonic Battle, Emerl, an ancient automaton called a "gizoid" found by Dr. Eggman and abandoned on the beach where it was then recovered by Sonic. The story plays out in chapters, with each chapter starring a different character and their personal interactions with Emerl, but the main focus of the story isn't solely character development, but rather collecting custom chips that can be used to modify the initially weak Emerl's moveset. Emerl is the player-made character of this game and he can be customized to have moves from several different characters and even some special super powerful skills that can be unlocked with a bit of luck and patience. Finishing specific chapters will also unlock minigames that help give the game more variety, and finishing any chapter a second time will allow you to read a section of Gerald Robotnik's journal regarding his initial discovery of the gizoid known as Emerl. These journal entries help to further explain Emerl's backstory and is a nice little bonus for those that enjoy the game enough to play through it more than once.

I have a soft spot for this game. Not because it's a Sonic title, but because of how unusually engrossing it was for a fighting game. It was fairly well balanced considering it was the first (and probably only) game of its kind and its lengthy story and addictive minigames kept me busy for hours on end. If you want to get this game for yourself, you can likely get a pre-owned copy of it for fairly cheap on eBay or Amazon. If you lack the money, then an emulator could also work, but I don't really condone that unless you have absolutely no other options. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

Score:

Review: Bayonetta (plus Extras)

Archive — Fri, 08 Jan 2016 08:07:00 +0000

With the recent announcement that the Umbra Witch, Bayonetta would be coming to Super Smash Bros 4 via DLC, it got me wanting to play through the first Bayonetta game again. There is so much about her that I just adore, be it her sexual nature, her fun-loving personality, or even her fighting style; it all just screams whimsy. I played through the game again fairly recently, but after I finished it this time I decided to do a bit more research on it and I discovered that some additional products were made to further promote it that I had unintentionally overlooked. In addition to the game (and some figurines that were only in Japan), Platinum Games also released a rather large artwork book (with a behind the scenes DVD) and even an animated film called Bayonetta: Bloody Fate. So, I'm going to review each of these three and see whether or not if it is worth getting each one.

Video Game

Since the video game was the first of these three that I had experienced, I will of course be covering it first here as well. Released on January 5, 2010 for the Xbox 360 and PS3 and again on October 24, 2014 for the Wii U, Bayonetta is an over the top, combo-heavy, action packed brawler with some light platforming and minor puzzle elements. In it, you play as Bayonetta, a rather tall, voluptuous, and long-legged witch with the ability to travel to and from Earth and Purgatorio as she hunts down and slays angels to keep the demons she has contracts with at bay. However, as she fights these angels, she also needs to recover the memory of her past which was lost from being sealed in a deep sleep at the bottom of a lake for 500 years. As well as recovering bits and pieces of her past, she also frequently runs into a bumbling investigative reporter named Luka, who blames her for the death of his father; a lost little girl name Cereza, who mistakenly confuses Bayonetta for her mother and tags along with her for most of the game; and an opposing witch named Jeanne, who wants nothing more than to stop Bayonetta dead in her tracks. To help her fight the more powerful angels, Bayonetta can also temporarily obtain their weapons when they are slain, or as a better option, collect pieces of golden LP's of angelic hymns to bring to a weapons manufacturer named Rodin at a bar called "The Gates of Hell." He will use these records as bait to call forth powerful demons which he will then turn into a permanent weapon for Bayonetta to use for the rest of her quest. Confused yet? Well the plot just gets more outlandish later on and is explained in pieces by the angels that Bayonetta kills.

The gameplay, as I've said before, is a combo-heavy action brawler. Bayonetta fights with punches, kicks, and with the various weapons that she obtains throughout her adventure. She can also punish her foes with BDSM-styled finishers or by summoning her contracted demons to more easily finish off her larger targets. If you are having trouble hitting faster or airborne enemies, Bayonetta also has four guns she can use that help with her reach, and the ability to dramatically slow down time when she successfully dodges an attack at the last moment. However, as fun and action packed as the battles are, the rewards that you gain from them are dependent entirely on skill. The rewards get better depending on how fast you finish it, how often you got hurt, how many items you used, and how high your combo was for the entire fight. This scoring style determines how many halos (the game's currency) you get after you win and what kind of medal (from Stone to Pure Platinum) you will receive. These medals actually affect your final score at the end of each chapter, and getting the best score is not easy.

This game is fantastically good and a helluva lot of fun, even if the difficulty on the Normal setting is a little unforgiving. The music is fantastic as well and the character and enemy designs are extremely creative and fit the theme of the game superbly. The story can be a little confusing at times, but it all comes together nicely in the end. However, depending on which version of the game you get, it can be either an extraordinary experience, or torture for the eyes. If you decide to get the game, go for the Xbox 360 or Wii U version of the game as the PS3 version is plagued by terrible frame-rate issues making it look awful to watch, let alone play. Plus as a bonus to those that get the Wii U version, Nintendo themed costumes for Bayonetta are also available which alter some minor aspects about the game without affecting the gameplay. All in all though, just avoid the PS3 version.

"The Eyes of Bayonetta" Artwork Book and DVD

Now this is usually outside my area of expertise, but before I decided to play through Bayonetta again, I decided to learn more about the game outside of what Hideki Kamiya's Twitter and Platinum Games' blog can provide. Luckily, I found an artwork book on Amazon called The Eyes of Bayonetta that had a lot of cool concept art and production notes that had been omitted from the blogs and wiki for the game. The book had a ton of really interesting tidbits and information about the game that also went unused as well. Some stuff did manage to find its way into the game's sequel though, but I'll cover that another time.

Now despite how interesting and informative the artwork books was, the "Making of" DVD actually was what I more interested in. The development process was quite a sight to behold. As it turns out, the main character, Bayonetta, was designed by Mari Shimazaki with the only instruction that she should look feminine. Needless to say that this gave her a lot of freedom and she rolled with it. She wasn't the only one that was given a lot of freedom in her work, just about everyone involved in the game's creative process was allowed to let their imaginative juices flow freely. The way everything meshes together really shows that love and care was put into the game's creation. The DVD is definitely well worth the watch; the dev's personalities show in both their commentary and their work.

Animated Film

Now out of all of the things that could've been produced from the success of Bayonetta, I don't think an animated film was expected at all. Released in the US on February 14, 2014, Bayonetta: Bloody Fate is an adaptation of the video game, with some minor changes to the plot in order to fit time constraints. The animation is is really good and music from the game is used at times where it fits really well. Some other extra details that were shown in The Eyes of Bayonetta also managed to find their way into the film as well. A really good example would be Bayonetta's guns which actually aren't Scarborough Fair as they are in the game. Instead, she has a set of guns based on some concept art for a prototype design called The Elfin Knight. Now while the plot is designed to follow the story of the game, there are some changes in order to make it flow more smoothly and to make it easier to understand. Some enemies from the game are noticeably absent from the film and certain scenes have been changed in order to better fit the lines they had in the game. Overall, I liked the changes they made because the plot was indeed a bit easier to understand. Definitely worth the watch if you enjoyed the game.

Closing Statement

No matter what medium you enjoy Bayonetta in, this first entry in the series definitely had a very strong impact. Bayonetta as a character is probably my favorite female protagonists of all time as well. She is strong, independent, knows that she's sexy and casually exploits that fact in her work, which she also enjoys. If you can get any of these things, definitely go for it, just remember to avoid the PS3 version of the game due to a very shoddy porting process. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

Game Score

Book Score

Film Score

50 Haiku for my Top 50 Favorite Video Game Series

Archive — Mon, 11 Apr 2016 07:36:00 +0000

It's that time again! That's right everyone, I've reached article number 50 since I started writing here. And if my calculations are correct, then this will double as the site's 200th article as well. DOUBLE KILL! To be honest, I've actually been planning this article for months. I've been meticulously compiling my Top 50 favorite video game series and writing a little haiku that I believe sums up what I feel about each one. So, without further ado, here's 50 haiku for my fop 50 favorite video game series.

Animal Crossing

Banjo-Kazooie

Bayonetta

BioShock

Castlevania

Chibi-Robo

Crash Bandicoot

Donkey Kong

Doom

Final Fantasy

Fire Emblem

F-Zero

Game & Watch

God of War

Golden Sun

Halo

Jak & Daxter

Katamari Damacy

Kid Icarus

Kirby

The Legend of Zelda

Mario Kart

Mario Party

Mass Effect

Mega Man

Metal Gear Solid

Metroid

Monster Hunter

Mortal Kombat

Mother/EarthBound

Okami

Pac-Man

Phoenix Wright

Pikmin

Pokemon

Professor Layton

Punch-Out!!

Ratchet & Clank

Rayman

Rhythm Heaven

Shantae

Sly Cooper

Sonic the Hedgehog

Spyro the Dragon

Star Fox

Super Mario Bros

Super Smash Bros

Tetris

Warioware

Yoshi's Island

Thanks once again for your continued support and I hope you all will still be reading my articles even after I reach 100. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

NES Classic Edition VS Sega Mega Drive Classic (Sonic's 25th Anniv. Version)

Archive — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 11:47:00 +0000

As someone who greatly enjoys retro games, I got really excited when Nintendo announced the NES Classic Edition. A handful of QUALITY classic NES games for $60 and produced by Nintendo themselves? Sign me right up! But sure enough, out there somewhere there are bound to be imitators. This when when I found out that Sega had teamed up with AtGames to produce a special version of their previously released Mega Drive Classic Console to celebrate Sonic the Hedgehog's 25th Anniversary. So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna compare their pros and cons to see which is the better deal and more worth your hard earned cash.

Included Content

First of all, here are the individual stats:

	NES Classic Edition	Sega Mega Drive Classic Console
# of Games	30	80 (40 Mega Drive games + 40 "Bonus" games)
# of Controllers packaged with system	1 ($9.99USD for each additional controller)	2 ($19.99 for each additional controller)
Audio/Video Output	HDMI	Composite
MSRP	$59.99USD	$59.99USD? (√Ç¬£49.99GBP)
Cartridge support?	No	Yes
Save Game support?	Yes	Unknown, but probability is high
Suspend Points?	Yes	No
Power Cord	AC Adapter (not packaged in EU version)	AC Adapter
Additional Notes	Controllers can work with NES Virtual Console titles	A portable version will be released along side the home version

Analysis

As you can see, both have their highs and lows. While the NES may have less games than the Mega Drive, half of the 80 games included on the Mega Drive are low quality throwaway games (falsely listed as "Sega Arcade") that were added just to pad out the fluff. The Mega Drive does make up for this with the ability to play cartridges and it comes with two controllers instead of one, but the NES can use its controllers with the NES titles on the Wii's and Wii U's Virtual Console service. Plus if you don't want to buy a second controller, that's fine too as it can also work with the Wii Classic Controllers. The real deciding factor though is tough to determine. As I have stated many times in the past, I grew up with Nintendo games, so I'm a bit biased toward the NES Classic. Yes, it does have less games than the Mega Drive, but they are of objectively superior quality. It's just a shame that it can't be played on an old CRT TV set; retro games somehow look better on those older TV's.

Final Verdict

Even if I wasn't as Nintendo biased as I am, I'm going to have to give the upper hand to the NES Classic Edition. Considering the fact that not everyone owns a CRT TV anymore and most modern HD TV's no longer have support for composite cables, I don't think the Mega Drive Classic Console will be able to thrive in this new plug-n-play "console war" as much as I would want it to. So if you like retro games, get the NES Classic Edition when it is released on November 11th of this year; don't even bother with the Mega Drive unless you were a fan of those games in the past and still own cartridges that it can use, and/or if you own a CRT TV. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

How to Deal with Fangames the RIGHT Way

Archive — Thu, 29 Sep 2016 11:47:00 +0000

This subject has been bothering me for a while now. Ever since Nintendo recently put the kibosh on over 500 fangames, it has got me wondering whether or not the legality of fangames is really something that companies need to fuss over. I get that fangames are technically illegal because most of them contain unauthorized use of characters, music, or assets owned by another company, but 99% of the time the game in question doesn't pose any harm to the company or the image they represent. They're just little distractions that were made by a fan of that series as a symbol of how much they like those games. And it's not like a lot of these fans are trying to make any money off of those games, and most of the time they even give credit to the original developers. Now I can definitely understand why these companies would be so protective of their property, but they aren't exactly going about it the right way. They need to figure out better, more tactful ways to deal with this without damning the person or people that made them. It just creates poor PR and bad blood with the fans. Let me elaborate...

More often than not, when a fan-dev makes a fangame they are showing their appreciation to the company that made the original work. Most of the time they mean no harm in their intentions and just want to show how much they like the game or series that inspired them to make their own with their favorite characters. However sometimes when the fan project gets shut down, it breaks the heart of the fan sometimes even making them think that their favorite game company doesn't care about what the fans think at all.
They give potential future game developers a good jumping off point in which they can get into the field of game design, but if the project gets shut down relatively early in its development cycle, it becomes rather dejecting to the fan-dev thinking that game development just isn't for them.
Some fangames promote awareness of a franchise or series that might not be selling well or have been neglected by the owners of the original IP. Now this is where things get a little gray. Whether or not if the game gets canned, this still promotes awareness for the series in question. It just happens to work better if the game gets finished first.
Fans gain more from the experience of fangames and official works combined than from the official works by themselves. It is actually quite common for a fan to run into a fangame that is of extremely poor quality and makes them appreciate the polish that went into the official series more as a result. But in the event that a fangame is really good, it makes them not only appreciate the original work, but applaud the effort that the fan-dev made to make it as close to the original series as possible and anticipates whether or not if they will make anything original later.
Much like video game piracy, fangames WILL happen with or without the IP holder's consent and trying to police this and prevent it from happening is a fruitless effort that not only wouldn't accomplish anything, but would alienate any future game devs from making their own original work down the line.
Fan-devs gain more from encouragement than from a cease and desist. It costs nothing to allow them to keep their finished work up for others to play, and more often than not will not affect their sales much if at all. Most fan-devs even encourage the fans that play their games to buy from the original IP holders so as to offset their involvement in making their little project.
If a fan-game is good enough, it benefits both parties more if the original IP holders buy the rights to the fan work and/or ask them to port it to a system they regularly develop games for. Non-canonical works by the original IP holders do exist in the video game industry and fangames always fall under this as they have no legal rights to any of the characters, music, assets, etc. that they borrowed from.

Now with the advent of more user friendly game development tools like Unity, Game Maker Pro, RPG Maker, and the upcoming Mystic Searches S.T.A.G.E, it has become much easier for fans to get into game design. So what should the big gaming companies do? First of all the way I see it, STOP BEING SO STRICT. A hundred or so fangames that happen to contain assets from your works is not the end of the world. Your paychecks aren't going to be affected any from a few practice projects. Secondly, if you see one that looks promising, ENCOURAGE THE DEV. A few kind words can go a long way, especially if you can get a profit from it in some way, shape, or form. And lastly (and this is most important), if a popular fangame is of a series that hasn't seen the light of day in over a decade or so, TAKE THE HINT. It's obvious that the fans want that series to come back, but since you're not doing anything with it, they often take matters into their own hands. The only time you should break out the legalese is when a fan-dev is trying to make money off of their game when it contains many assets your company created. This should be done especially if that fan in question happens to work for a rival game company.

Only time will tell if gaming companies like Nintendo will loosen the leash they have on their property. Many gaming companies like Namco, Sega, and Capcom have already become more lenient on these matters, but while this is a step in the right direction, bigger gaming giants like Konami, Square Enix, and Nintendo still need to unclench and treat the fans as fans and not as parasites. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

Review: Puyo Puyo Tetris

Archive — Fri, 19 May 2017 11:47:00 +0000

Every now and then I fancy myself a puzzle game to break me away from the usual set of action and adventure games I play, but the one puzzle game that ends up pulling me back the most is Tetris. If you're a gamer, chances are you've probably played a Tetris game at least once. This addicting series has been pulling new fans in for over three decades without showing any signs of slowing down. With its simplicity and high entertainment value, its hard to say anything bad about it; its just that good. But what if another puzzle game franchise somehow dug its way into the Tetris series? Well you'd probably get something like Puyo Puyo Tetris, which is the game I will be reviewing in this article today.

The concept of the game is simple: Put Tetris and Puyo Puyo in the same pack and experiment on ways for the two to coexist. First off you have your standard Score Attack and Marathon game modes of the two as well as a Versus mode where you can face up to three human or CPU controlled opponents either in person or online, but you also have these special modes like Big Bang (where you quickly clear out a pre-made set of blocks or puyos in succession to take out you opponents), Party Mode (which is basically Versus but with field affecting items), Swap (where you play both games at once by swapping between the two), and my personal favorite: Fusion.

Now Fusion mode is similar to Swap in concept, but executed very differently. Instead of swapping between the two playing fields, both the tetriminos and puyos occupy the same playing space which make for some very interesting ways to make combos and chains. Now you'd think it would be difficult to make lines with the tetriminos when the puyos would be in the way, but since the puyos are goo they can be squashed by the tetriminos to make room and will reappear on top of them; this also completely removes garbage puyos from the playing field.

In addition to all of these game modes you also have Adventure mode: a wacky and humorous story scenario featuring the cast of the previous Puyo Puyo games, plus a small handful of new characters that represent the Tetris series. The story is this: The crew of the S.S. Tetra crash land on the Blue Planet that the Puyo Puyo characters call home due to a little incident involving both the puyos and the tetriminos. So in order to fix these problems, the two teams battle each other through the means of Tetris and Puyo Puyo matches. Not exactly the most compelling plot, but it gets the job done. I just think of it as a glorified training mode for the online matches.

Overall, I think this game is a fantastic addition to both franchises and a magnificent crossover to boot. Both games are extremely addicting by themselves and in fusing them made them even more so, and the story is fairly entertaining at times and the voice actors certainly sounded like they had fun with their roles (keen listeners will notice that the voice of the Dark Prince is none other than Xander Mobus, the VA for Smash 4's announcer). I really hope that The Tetris Company does more crossovers like this in the future like with Dr. Mario or Puzzle League. So until next time, I'll be seeing you.

Score

Sega Forever vs Emulators and ROMs

Archive — Sun, 02 Jul 2017 11:47:00 +0000

Last week or so Sega launched there Sega Forever series. The idea is to have classic Sega games from all their classic consoles be available for free on Android and iOS devices.

Though my question was why would I want to download these games where I'm being charged $2 to take off ads and have some free type of cloud storage? For me I have not found the answer seeing there is such a thing as classic console emulators and free ROMs of the same classic games in this series along with better touch screen controls. Though big companies like Nintendo have been getting their games pulled from very popular ROM sites such as Emuparadise, but I have still be able to find Genesis ROMs.

Rob doesn't an emulator app and ROMs take up more space on my phone then the games in the Forever series? Well reader I'm glad you asked that question. I downloaded Altered Beast and Comix Zone, both of those games took up 91.24 MB of memory on my Nexbit Robin. After curiosity killed the cat, I have downloaded the Cool Genesis ft emulator from the Google Play store and 16 games, all over that only took up just over 33MB of memory. That is just under a third of memory I am saving.

Emulators and ROMs maybe the bad boys of free gaming, they save space and are for the most part ad free. I have not had a 24 second ad pop up to save my game, so I think emulators and ROMs are the best way to play these nostalgic classic games.