Flashback - 002 - Streets of Rage 2's soundtrack

Streets of Rage 2 was, on its own merits, a spectacular beat-em-up. One might go so far as to say things never really got much better than that one point in time, with competition being fierce between SoR, Final Fight, Double Dragon, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and lets not forget about all the early 90's amazing arcade only experiences. The one thing that this specific game had over every other game at the time was the amazing soundtrack. Most games had simple medleys that would stick in your head forever, but something about the soundtrack here was just so much more than that. To this day, I can start the game and spend a lot more time than I should just listening to music in the sound test.

Remember that part where you're in that park at night, walking through and beating up thugs as they wake up from laying on benches? Guaranteed if you don't, you could load up that song and remember how magical it made the entire environment feel. The big thing in gaming since Uncharted 2 was released has been trying to create these elaborate set pieces, making the game one of the characters instead of just players and npcs. While games hadn't really progressed to that point all those years ago, the soundtrack is just as important as any boss, character, or level. All in all, I seriously love this game, and the soundtrack...? Let's all just take a moment to thank the composer, Yuzo Koshiro, for an effing amazing job.

Flashback - 001 - Ninja Gaiden 2

After recently watching the Angry Video Game Nerd Castlevania retrospective and hearing his final statement about those games, both the good and bad, being like a photograph of moments he'll never forget, then thinking about Chad Concelmo's excellent Memory Card articles over at Destructoid, I felt it was time that I wax nostalgicly about games that were important in my life. Anyone else out there that's reading this, either comment on it or feel free to join in the movement, because as long as Superman 64 had some sort of significance in your life, it's always good to hear about it and why it left such an impact. The first entry in this series for me? Ninja Gaiden 2.

After FINALLY completing the game, I was debating on writing an actual review in my head. I felt this would be much more appropriate, considering how important this game was in my life as a gamer, instead of critically analyzing every aspect of it. Ninja Gaiden 2 is one of the earliest video game memories for me, along with Super Mario Bros., Mike Tyson's Punch Out, and Contra. I'm not sure why, but I have distinct memories of being 4 years old and holding the controller in my hands, knowing that as long as I had the controller, I was a badass ninja, running across rooftops and slashing enemies out of existence. While the first game gets the credit for starting the franchise and pioneering that cinematic storytelling technique via cutscenes, the incredible graphics of this sequel actually made me feel like I was Ryu Hayabusa. And that's just the beginning.

It seemed like all the kids I knew at the time (including myself) were really into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Since the first TMNT game was pretty not good, something about this captured what I really wanted my ninja to be. Ninja Turtles had the advantage of selecting 4 different turtles. NG2? Although it's just one dude against hordes of strange enemies, who could possibly forget all the amazing power ups? By slashing any of the floating orbs in the game, items would then drop out, ranging from scrolls that could restore your life or magic, to the invincibility-granting firewheel, all the way to the amazing shadow ninjas that would follow you around and help you take down enemies without actually taking damage. Speaking of them, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only person in the world that somehow convinced myself that there was some sort of secret code to make the game into a 3 player game by getting one of those ninja and having a friend enter some elusive code on the controller.



Another major advantage of this game to that other ninja franchise is that the storyline in NG2 was definitely more gritty. After reaching and taking down the first boss, you stumble across a strange man that gives you pointers on where to go in your quest. All of a sudden, the guy pulls a gun out and fires at you - or does he? Turns out, that monster you just killed wasn't all the way dead and he totally just saved you. After finishing that amazing city level and seeing that jaw dropping cutscene for the first time, you're...on a train? Until about 10 minutes from the time that I'm writing this (3 AM on November 3, 2010), I never realized that the boss of the first level just so happens to be -gasp- in a train yard. Anyway, after boarding the train and fighting your way to the front of it, you're in one most memorable NES stages I've had the pleasure of enjoying. Most platformers have their ice and lava levels. This game places you on a mountain (which I'm assuming comes from the mountains on the background on the preceding stage). As a result of the elevation, there happens to be snow. This snow isn't coating the ground, so at least you can hold your footing and don't have to worry about slipping and sliding around like you do on so many similar stages. Oh no. Instead, you watch the snows direction. When it's falling straight down, there's nothing to worry about. When it's moving left or right, it pushes you in that direction, meaning if you're fighting the elements, you're going to be going a lot slower than normal and incapable of making what would have previously been the most simple jumps. If you work with it, you'll be going twice as fast and fly twice as far through the air, Since the game wasn't satisfied with difficult jumps on its own, this levels nasty trick is that sometimes the snow just stops going in a direction, or pushes back in mid jump, causing you to fall to your death.

In many games, that would be infuriating. In NG2, it came across as being incredibly innovative and gave you one more thing to master. After working your way through this level, the 3rd stage is a battle across a treacherous path leading to a castle. Unfortunately, this is the last highly innovative level that I can think of. Instead of it just being a bunch of perilous blocks and platforms strewn about, with a constant threat of enemies, there are certain parts of the level that are too dark to see any of the terrain, forcing you to wait until lightning strikes, then carefully move towards your goal. Keep in mind that you could technically do this entire area if you had the layout memorized, but realistically, you won't, so it's just one more amazing element that makes this game such an impressive feat in the world of 8 bit platformers. The rest of the game has you using your platforming skills to eventually fight the end boss, which has 2 forms, since that's what every end boss ever has to do.



The last thing that really stands out for me aside from the awesome level design, amazing cutscenes, and gorgeous graphics was the fantastic soundtrack. Since this was towards the end NES life cycle, but the SNES hadn't hit American shores just yet, developers had managed to crank out some beautiful sounds coming from the consoles sound chip. While it's no Streets of Rage 2 by any means, every single sound fits the enviroments you're in. The main melody on the snowy mountain stage is something that will probably forever be etched into my memory, probably thanks to how long it took me to clear the level. Something about the song used in the first level always feels like it's ramping me up for what's almost always going to be a long adventure until the end of the game.

All in all, while I can't say Ninja Gaiden 2 is the best game of all time, it definitely sticks out in my memory, and it's nice that it's one of the games that I feel holds up incredibly well to this day. When people ask what games they should use to get a friend into gaming, instead of going with a game like Modern Warfare because of graphics, or Flower because of the innovative control scheme, there's something that's really simple about having 4 directions on ONE d-pad and 2 buttons to perform any of the possible in game actions.

Hope you enjoyed this first feature of what will hopefully turn into a either daily or at least weekly series, as long as I can keep writing. For anyone wondering, this isn't going to follow any sort of chronological or top 10 order, it's just going to be games that have meant a lot to me over the years for whatever reason, from the 2600 to the PS3 and everything in between. Hell, I might even include some pinball tables if I feel like it!

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game Review

Normally when there's a movie and a game to accompany it, it ends up being utter trash. Strict release dates and short development times usually means the core experienced has a tendency to affect the games in the worst way possible. This makes Scott Pilgrim vs The World probably one of the biggest surprises I've ever seen when it comes to games based on an already established franchise. With fast, furious, yet familiar mechanics, this easily is one of the best deals of the summer.

Gameplay - 8/10

Scott Pilgrim is a series that's known for it's geek culture references. Instead of trying to design a next gen game and throwing in subtle hints towards Mario, Zelda, or whatever else, this game goes all out and embraces it, just like the material it's based around. Following the story, which a friend summed up for me as "Nerdy unintentional jerk scores mega-hottie but has to battle her seven evil exes in order to continue dating her. Hilarity ensues," The game uses Scott's quest through a beat-em-up, using the exes as end bosses to each of the levels. While a lot of games in the genre had a tendency to devolve into you maybe hitting your enemy first, but normally trading hits until you run out of lives, SP slowly expands your move list the more you play. On your first few times playing the game, you might end up getting your rear handed to you, the more you play, the more experience you earn, ultimately unlocking new moves. Taking cues from River City Ransom, you're able to defeat enemies that turn into coins, which can then be spent in stores found throughout the game for food or items that can be used to boost your experience/stats. There's also a lot of charm that presents itself at every opportunity possible. The game sports a 4 player co-op mode, a few unlockable characters, and a zombie mode, which can be unlocked by entering a code at the start screen. Unfortunately, there's no online co-op at the time of this review, which feels like a missed opportunity.

Graphics - 8/10

Since I haven't read the comics or seen the movie, I can't comment on how accurately the game portrays scenes from there, but I CAN say that SP is a gorgeous game. Using pixel art from a Mr. Paul Robertson, every single inch of the game looks like a work of art. While the developer (or at least whoever tried to describe the art style) claims it's an 8/16 bit art style, I'm pretty sure every one that plays it or at least sees the game in action will admit that the stuff here is of a much higher quality.

Sound - 9/10

Part of me feels like I should elaborate on this a bit, but there's not too much to say. In addition to some very retro sound effects from attacks, the reason this scores so highly is that the entire soundtrack consists of music created by Anamanaguchi. If you've never heard of them, they're a chiptune band, meaning they produce music that sounds like it's coming from one of the retro gaming consoles of yesteryear. Despite what your feelings may be about the genre, the best part is that every single melody is highly appropriate for whatever stage you're currently on, and it's also pretty good to listen to on its own.

Overall - 9/10

SPvTW is a game that anyone who ever had a soft spot for beat-em-ups absolutely has to own, along with people that are just looking for a good downloadable game that's a bit different from the other offerings present on the downloadable services. 4 player couch co-op makes this game an easy recommendation for anyone that tends to get a bunch of people together, even if it's only for an hour. Unfortunately, most people have traded in the social experience of slapping your friend a high-five after that tough boss fight in favor of playing games with people from across the globe. Since the game doesn't feature online play as of right now, it limits the appeal for people who claim the game is too hard or only want to play a game that they can finish with iPwNn0oBz69. Regardless, it's still a solid title and worthy of belonging on almost everyones hard drive, young and old. What else are you going to do with that cash, after all? Buy t-shirts on PS Home or Xbox Live?

Heavy Rain Review

I know I’m months late with writing this review, but here it is nonetheless! Heavy Rain was one of the highest anticipated games released on PS3 so far this year. Garnering buzz from critics with the early Casting Call tech demo showcasing the PS3’s potential at an E3 years ago, the game it spawned is here and worry not, it’s actually a spectacular title

Gameplay – 8/10.

Although everyone’s been wrapped up in the eye candy, it’s nice to know the game itself presents a solid experience. After a tragic event relatively early on, one of the main characters children is kidnapped, plunging you straight into the center of the mystery of the Origami Killer. In order to unravel everything, the player alternates between 4 different characters throughout the experience, each contributing in their own way. Most games would have used a point and click interface for an experience like this, but Heavy Rain relies heavily on creative controls using the six-axis and button combinations, along with a timer to keep dialogue moments moving while feeling fresh. On one hand, you could look at the game as being a gigantic QTE exercise, but that’s only a perspective that the most cynical could ever take. One of the most interesting things about the game is that it is completely possible to mess up too many QTE’s or just make a few bad decisions and one or multiple characters can die, while still allowing the experience to go on. There are also normally multiple solutions to many of the sequences, offering tons of branching paths if you choose to go down them in subsequent playthroughs. While a lot of the sixaxis movements contribute to the immersion, there are times where you’ll fail something due to shoddy movement detection. The movement controls are also very untraditional, leading to a few annoying moments as you adjust to having to use R2 to move forward and the left analog just for steering your character.

Graphics – 10/10.

The wait was completely worth it. When the tech demo was first shown, it was considered one of those graphical benchmarks that showed what the future could hold for Sony’s console. With the release of Heavy Rain, the bar has been raised for every other console game on the horizon. While some games would be satisfied with having some amazing looking cutscenes or some incredibly fleshed out areas, while ignoring some of the minor ones, every single location of every place you visit in the game is jaw dropping. Since there is now a game instead of just something to look at, the graphics might not be exactly as good as the early footage of the game, it still is easily one of the best looking games of this generation. The character facial animation does wonders for breathing life into every character that you come across, so much so that Quantic Dream felt the need to include a close-up of different characters during some very awkward loading screens.

Sound – 7/10.

With the game offering a solid experience with some of the best graphics to be found in any title since the launch of this console generation, it’s sad that these lifelike characters do have some incredibly strange tropes in terms of voice acting. The most cited example is during an early moment in the game where you essentially “Press X to ‘JASON,’” turning what should be a tense experience into one of the funniest things I’ve probably ever seen in a game. Most of the voice acting issues stem from the fact that it sounds like they hired French actors to pretend to be Americans, leading to over enunciation of every syllable, or just an awkward pacing to some of the speech. While the voice acting is a bit strange at certain times, the sound effects and musical themes are all expertly done, making the VO discrepancies are definitely a minority that is made more jarring when compared to how well other moments are.

Overall – 8/10.

Contrary to most of the other big name PS3 releases, this is one game that I feel every single gamer, and even many non-gamers should experience at least once. With the excellently crafted story, emphasis on realism, making QTE's a compelling part of the gameplay, and breathtaking graphics, it's guaranteed to draw in even the most skeptical person. The story is brief enough to keep you going until the end, and ends at just the right time to feel like you had one of the most unforgettable experiences you'll find on the console. The downside to the brevity of the game is just that; while you feel completely satisfied by the end of the game, it's worth mentioning that it's probably going to clock in at around 6-8 hours for most people, but the multiple endings, plus the possibility to have any of your characters die at any time due to a bad decision more than make up for it. I'd give the game a higher score if those jarring voice acting issues weren't present and while I loved it, I could see some people being put off by how cinematic of a game it is, sacrificing rocket launchers, double jumps, and world-threatening terrorists in favor of a dad that just wants to save his son from harm, even if it means sacrifing his own life. If you don't pick it up for full price, make sure that if you're a gamer to at least give it a shot whenever you get the chance, you won't be disappointed.