Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain - A Smattering Of Screenshots (No Spoilers)

Big Boss... is watching you. Right now. Put some clothes on!

Zelda II: Adventure of Link, Part 3 - Shadows

Previously on AMC's The Adventure of Link... Our hero fought Not-Agahnim and rescued young Damien from the clutches of Maze Island. Now, in the final chapter, Link must face... Link? Featuring a live performance of "Forty Six and Two" by Tool!

Zelda II: Adventure of Link, Part 2 - Hammer to Fall

Holy Crusader Link sets sail for more palaces. I'm surprised Nintendo allowed a religious symbol into these games considering they're the same company that censored "Holy" to be "White" and "Pearl" in some of the Final Fantasy titles.

Zelda II: Adventure of Link (NES, 1988)

 Time to cover a Zelda game that I sorta skipped over before. If I don't cover it, it'll bother me, so here we go. This one suffers from the same thing that Castlevania 2, Dragon Quest 2, and Final Fantasy 2 on the NES suffered from: It reinvents something that was working fine before, to mixed results at best.

Sonic 3 and Knuckles (Sega Genesis, 1994) (Sonic and Knuckles Half)

 Here we go, second half of a double-header. This title screen is actually from the standalone version of the game, but I'm continuing to play it as the full Sonic 3 and Knuckles combination.

Sonic 3 and Knuckles (Sega Genesis, 1994) (Sonic 3 Half)

 Today I'm playing a game that I've never played before, even though it was beloved by a lot of my classmates in the mid-90's. I was a Nintendo guy across the board until around 1997 when the Playstation got Final Fantasy VII.

This is an interesting game. Sega wasn't able to get Sonic 3 done by the intended release date, so they ended up splitting it into two different games. One was Sonic 3, while the other was released later in the same year as Sonic and Knuckles. Via plugging the carts into each other, players could play the full combined game that was originally intended to be Sonic 3. That's a good thing, because individually the two halves aren't all that impressive as full games. I liked Sonic 2 more, and a lot of that is probably due to it feeling more like a finished product.

Ruminations on the Fourth Dimension

The book The Island of Dr. Moreau is a chilling look at what can happen when one man plays God in a world of his own design. As a mad scientist who specializes in genetic alterations, the titular character engineers horrors that would be at home in the LV-223 world of Prometheus. As humans tend to do, he utilizes his creations to control and dominate in a military-like fashion; either you are with him – or you are with the terrorists, as it were.

While Moreau – we think – is fully conscious of the world outside of his island, his engineered minions are not; so much so that it's likely he could tell them that the island IS the world and be believed without a second thought. He could go so far as to say that the ocean surrounding the island is a mere pond surrounded by their island, and those without critical thinking skills wouldn't bat an eye. This is the community that Moreau fosters: An unquestioningly loyal tribe.

This tribe sees only itself and its island as the world; much like ancient people who believed that the sun and the universe revolved around the Earth, Moreau's minions have no concept of “the outside”. This is much like the residents of Flatland (from Edwin Abbott's book Flatland), an entire civilization of beings who unquestioningly believe themselves to be the be-all and end-all in the universe. The difference being that the denizens of Moreau's island believe this because they're told to, while Flatland's residents believe this because they simply can't see anything else.

The Top 16 Scariest Monsters to Ever Grace Movies, Television, and Video Games

 

Right now I'm going to do something a bit different: a list of the scariest monsters I've ever seen in movies or TV. The only rule is: No people. Only inhuman monsters will be found here. No Joker (The Dark Knight) or Kurgan (Highlander). Though one could make an argument about either of those characters being inhuman monsters in and of themselves.

Why 16? Because it's 2016!

I'm also unfamiliar with the likes of Freddy Krueger, Mike Myers, and Jason. For now. So they won't be showing up. Darth Vader is debatable, but I think he's still human enough to not be included. Feel free to comment with your own monster nominations.

Witcher III (Playstation 4, 2015)

Covering something a bit more recent here for the new year. This game is excellent, and deserves a gigantic mega-post for the ages. Spoilers will abound, but only for the first couple hours of the game.

I try the Planetside 2 Beta

 Coming soon for the PS4! I decided to try this since it's run by the same company that runs Everquest. Unfortunately, the company that runs Everquest these days is a bit shady, which is ironic considering their name is Daybreak. Still, I'm going to spend a little while with this game and give it a quick spin.

Top 10 Creepiest Battle Themes

Today I'm taking a quick look at some of the creepier battle themes in video gaming. Your mileage may vary, and it's worth noting that I haven't played too much in the survival/horror realm. I'm sure a lot of very creepy tunes are missing in action here, but this is my personal list based on the things I have played.

Assassin's Creed: Syndicate (Playstation 4, 2015)

 

 Just finished this game and it was pretty fantastic. Not going to get too in-depth on it, but I took some shots.

Assassin's Creed: Unity (Playstation 4, 2014)

Today I'm looking at a modern game that has pleasantly surprised me. Assassin's Creed: Unity was released around six months ago and was poorly-received as a glitchy mess. After numerous patches and some free DLC, the game is a lot better off now than it was at release. This game takes place in scenic Paris, and it has never looked better in a video game.

Originally Posted March 18th 2015

Metroid Fusion Finale - A Multitude of Idols

In this installment I take on all of the final battles. There are quite a few.

Metroid Fusion #2 - Space Madness

This Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for Samus arching her back while wearing a micro-outfit.

...What? I'm a dude.

Metroid Fusion (Game Boy Advance, 2002)

Metroid Fusion is chronologically the final part of the Metroid series. It's also effectively the end of the Metroid series as a 2D entity. It's a pretty huge game story-wise, with a lot of ground to cover, so I'll be breaking it into multiple parts rather than doing one Super-style megapost.

Castlevania: Dracula X (Super NES, 1995)

Here's a game that I've never covered before. It got somewhat of a bad rep over the years, and a lot of that is probably because Super Castlevania IV was a much better game. This despite Super Castlevania IV being years earlier in the Super NES's lifespan. In short, this was a fairly unnecessary addition to the Castlevania-verse, but it's a decent game regardless.

Castlevania Bloodlines (Sega Genesis, 1994)

Originally posted in 2010, now remastered for 2015.

With this one, the series arrives on the Sega Genesis with a bang. I found this game to be more fun than the NES installments, even though it still has a brutal final battle. In keeping with Sega's early 90's tradition of acting younger and hipper than Nintendo, this game stars the hip young descendants of Simon Belmont. Come on in and follow along.

Super Castlevania IV (Super NES, 1991)

This was one of the Super NES's earliest games, and helped kickstart Nintendo's bid to regain any ground they lost to the Sega Genesis - which got an earlier release - in the 16-bit wars. It's a great game, and my personal favorite in this series.

It isn't a sequel to the earlier games, nor is it a prequel like the third. This is nothing less than a remake of the original Castlevania starring Simon Belmont. That's right, we've gone from the original, to a sequel, to a prequel, to an original remake. It's pretty weird, but at least it's less confusing than Zelda.

Because this game is SO GOOD, I decided to do something special with this one rather than my usual spastic commentary and juvenile references. Thus, it will be narrated entirely by the protagonist, Simon Belmont.

Take it away, Simon.

Castlevania III: Akumajou Densetsu (Famicom, 1989)

(Originally posted in 2010, now heavily remastered for 2015. This is probably the most-remastered of anything I've remastered. Without further ado, let's start this.)

Time for another classic game. It's worth noting that what I'm playing here isn't Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse as we know it here in the States. It's the Famicom version of that game, translated as Legend of Demon Castle. (Note: Pay no attention to the title screen spelling it "Akumajyou", as the Y is evidently a typo in the version I got ahold of).

Why play the Japanese version over the U.S. version, you ask? Well, this version has vastly better music and a more down-to-Earth challenge level. That's right, this is one instance of an NES game that was actually made more difficult for the North American version. A more manageable challenge level is very welcome here; the U.S. version is so difficult that it might as well have been a game about birthing a meteor. The music is also notably improved in this version, due to it having a special sound chip that the North American version lacked. Now that we've established all of that, time to play the most well-balanced version of the third game in the series.