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Thursday, May 29, 2014

Super Smash Bros Time (Where is Mewtwo!?!?!)!!!!!!

This post is about the upcoming Super Smash Bros 4 game(s) for 3DS and Wii U. Admittedly I am only going to get the Wii U version. Not only does it have better graphics (the Wii U version is in HD!) but I also do not have a 3DS. Why? Because me + tiny screens = me not being able to see squat. Literally. I have a friend with a 3DS that he absolutely loves and he tried showing off Pokemon X and Y when we got together in a park (I forgot which one. I have bad navigational skills) I couldn't see anything while he could see even the smallest detail.


CharizardWiiU-3DS
Charizard


Speaking of X and Y, Not one but TWO Pokemon are playable in both versions: Charizard (see above) and Greninja (see below)!!!



GreninjaWiiU-3DS
Greninja


But where is Mewtwo!?!?!?! I need Mewtwo!!!!!!! He is my favorite Physic Pokemon of all time (I got one favorite for every type)!!!! But seriously, it would be awesome if they included Mewtwo as a playable character or even an assist trophy as long as he is in the game. But wondering where Mewtwo is aside, Greninja is pretty cool (he is my favorite Water type). Not to mention Charizard is his own character!!! No more Pokemon Trainers to use him as a meat-shield.


Anyway, Here is some bad news. The Wii U version is not coming out until winter but guess what? 3DS players get a break because the 3DS version is being released like 4 whole months ahead of the Wii U. Sorry Wii U players.




I also no that several returning characters have been modified a bit. Pit (from Kid Icarus) now uses the weapons from Kid Icarus Uprising. Captain Olimar's Up Special now summons a Winged Pikmin that carries Olimar and his Pikmin soldiers to wherever the player wants. The Winged Pikmin stays around longer if Olimar brings fewer Pikmin (he can have no more than three active at once).


Furthermore, Zelda and Shiek are no longer the same character. They are now separate characters and as such, their move-set has been edited to exclude transformations (Zelda's Downward Special Move summons a suit of armor from Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks).

Bowser has also been altered. He now stands upright as opposed to his constant slouch from the previous game (Super Smash Bros Brawl). Plus he now actually runs instead of doing that weird robotic sliding thing he did in Brawl. Also, He has a donkey kick attack.


Final Smashes are back, too. Almost every returning character's original Final Smashes have been replaced with brand new ones (Pit puts on the Three Sacred Treasures and starts wrecking havoc on any fools in his path, Greninja does what looks like a barrage of sword swipes midair while the full moon rises behind him, Samus Aran from Metroid does a edited Zero Laser that lets her keep her Power Suit, etc).


And for the first time in Smash history, Mega Man joins the brawl!!!!! He has his Mega Buster, He has his arsenal (made up solely of powers copied from the Robot Masters) and can summon Rush. He even has a Meteor Attack (an aerial attack that pushes it's victims downwards)!!!!!!


Also, Little Mac from Punch-Out! is also in the game. In my opinion his KO Punch can be a bit overpowered. Good news is he cannot spam it!!! He has to wait until the energy bar above his health gauge is full!!! Also, Little Mac can be completely helpless pretty much as soon has he jumps. His Final Smash works just like Bowser's old Final Smash from Brawl: First Little Mac turns into Giga Mac and starts sowing the seeds of chaos. All of Mac's moves are insanely powered up while in Giga Mac mode.



It interesting to note that while almost every veteran fighter in the game(s) are based off their most recent appearance in their own series Link and Zelda are still based off their appearance in Twilight Princess. They have been that way since brawl. One would think they would be based off Skyward Sword by now.



Here is a gallery of some of the confirmed playable characters (images here and above are from Super Smash Bros Wiki). NOTE: SAMUS HAS TWO DIFFERENT VARIATIONS. BECAUSE THEY ARE THE SAME CHARACTER, I WILL NOT POST PICTURES OF BOTH. SAME APPLIES WITH ZELDA.



 Littlemacwiiu
Little Mac!!!!




Mario4
Mario!!!




Link4
Link!!!!!



Zel
Zelda





Luigi SSB4 (1)
Luigi (doing something weird)





Pika
Pikachu!!!!!!




Lucario ssbwu3ds
Lucario!!!!!!



Megaman
Mega Man!!!!!





Pit4
Pit!!!





Kirby4
Kirby!!!!







DededeWU-3DS
King Dedede (pronounced "d-d-d)!!!!!







Rosalina & Luma SSB4
Rosalina (with Luma)!!!!!!






Sonic SSB4
Sonic the Hedgehog (looking forward to
his next adventure for the Wii U!)!!!



For more characters, smashes, and funny reactions to Mega Man's arrival in the Super Smash Bros Universe please go to the official website (go to Super Smash Bros Wiki for detailed info)!!!!

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Plants vs Zombies (Ultimate)!!!!!!!!

In case you are wondering why I included the word "ultimate" in the title of this post, it is because "ultimate" is my second favorite descriptive (Coming second to "mega"). Anyway I did a Plants vs Zombies post some time ago and it had early info. Now here is finalized info.

There are three main modes (all of which allow multiplayer): Garden Ops, where a team of plants (see picture) pick a spot to plant a garden and try to survive exactly ten rounds of protecting said garden from a horde of the fun-dead. In other words, ZOMBIES!!!!!!


PvZ GW E3 Screens 05 WM
A Cactus (the Sniper) and a Chomper (the melee guy)
take on one of the bosses of Garden Ops.

Every five rounds you have to fight at least one boss (if you are lucky the jackpot slots used to decide which boss to fight will give you 500 coins). Very Rarely you get three icons representing the same boss and the boss you fight will be super-charged (complete with a cute cut-scene).

But here is the toughest part of Garden Ops. If your team survives all ten rounds, Crazy Dave shows up in his flying RV (I would put a picture but I cannot find any pictures of him or his RV) to evacuate your team. It takes Crazy Dave five whole minutes to reach the pick up zone. Just be standing in the green circle by the time he parks his RV and you will complete Garden Ops mode (you can play as many times you want)

Another mode (my favorite) is Gardens and Graveyards (see below). This is one of the two modes that let you play as ZOMBIES!!!! Anyway in Gardens and Graveyards the game is sort of like a traditional Capture the Flag (it's a shooter. All shooters need a Capture the Flag mode!!!). Only difference is that only the Zombie team needs to capture the flag or in this game the garden. They have to capture it in less that 5 minutes (around the time Crazy Dave parks his RV in Garden Ops). But here is a catch. As soon as the Zombies capture the garden, another garden appears, the timer resets, and the leader of the Zombies orders you to capture that garden as well. But there are exactly ten or so gardens for every map/arena/location (whatever). Capturing them all (in a predetermined order) means the Zombies can take care of their true objective which varies from map to map. In one map the Zombies try to assassinate a giant sunflower growing in a lighthouse. In the next they try to disarm a nuclear pickle (a nuclear missile shaped like a pickle) the Plants built to be rid of the Zombies.


PvZ Gamescom 03 WM
a lone Engineer Zombie (the builder guy) tries to capture
a garden guarded by a Sunflower (who is the healer)

The final mode is Team Vanquish. Which is simply put, a twelve-on-twelve death-match. Whichever side gets 50 kills wins (see below).


Team Vanquish
Two All-Star Zombies teaming up in a death-match.

There are eight classes in the game (four for each team). Here is a list.
The first Plant I will talk about is arguably the best plant to choose for beginners (see below). It's the Peashooter!!!!

PeashooterGardenWarfare
Peashooter.

The Peashooter is very mobile but some people might notice that the Peashooter is the only plant that can't plant disposable defenses. Thus, Peashooters are forced to play a more aggressive role. Their shots deal fairly decent damage (doubly so for head-shots) and come with a Chili Bean Bomb. A bomb shaped like a Chili Bean. Also with the press of a button it can become a Gatling Gun. Plus it has a Hyper Mode which lets Peashooters run insanely fast and jump ridiculously high.

 the next class is my favorite Plant: The Cactus!!!!!!

CactusGardenWarfare
Cactus.

The Cactus is many things. But he (some people call it she. I will call it he for future reference) is a sniper at the core. His shots have literally the longest reach in the whole game. And as such the Cactus can deploy portable cover in the form of walnuts (all of his abilities involve summoning something in addition to her primary weapon). The Cactus can also summon a Garlic Drone for two things. SNEAK ATTACKS and CORN STRIKES. Cacti can also place Potato Mines anywhere they choose, which will instantly kill anything that steps on them.

The next Plant is arguably the most important during co-op matches. The Sunflower!!!!!
SunflowerGardenWarfare
Sunflower.

The Sunflower is a healer, having several different methods of healing wounded comrades. These range from dropping miniature versions of herself to shooting friends with a heal-beam. A Laser Beam that heals wounded allies!!! But like every class she needs to fight and has a crazy fast rate of fire. And the ability to shoot a continuous beam of sunlight that looks like Cyclops' (from X-Men) signature laser beam. When this is upgraded the beam looks more like the primary cannon of the Death Star from Star Wars. The one that can destroy entire planets.

The Final Plant is slightly unbalanced in terms of fairness. The Chomper!!!


 ChomperGardenWarfare
Chomper.

The Chomper is a melee guru. It can instantly kill Zombies with a single bite from those over-sized teeth. A Bite from behind will make Chompers swallow their victims whole!!! Sadly, it's only ranged attack is spitting slime on Zombies, but it does not damage them but even worse, holds them still long enough for the Chomper to deal............the death blow. Chompers are capable of burrowing underground for a sneak attack (they move twice as fast underground). Also they can place mines similar to the Cactus' Potato Mine but instead hoist the victim upside down and immobilizes them.

Now for Zombies.

It is interesting to note that the Zombies have their own version of the Plants abilities.

Anyway, here is my favorite Zombie.

AllStarZombie
All-Star!!!!

The All-Star Zombie has the biggest health gauge in the game, with exactly 200 health. But you will die just as quick as any other zombie if you are careless. That big heavy gun has infinite ammo (unless overheated). It is interesting to note that All-Star Zombies are the only Zombies to hold their guns with BOTH hands. All the other Zombies one hand their guns. All-Stars can deploy portable cover, but only after leveling up (The characters can level up, just like in a R.P.G.). They can also throw/kick bombs. And they are the Zombies' melee guy and as such, he has a melee attack (a stampede).

This Zombie is the Zombies answer to the Cacti and Chompers.

EngineerZombie
Engineer!!!!

The Engineer is........I am not sure what to call him. He can build things, His gun shoots concrete, he rides around on a Jackhammer (Zombie version of Peashooter's Hyper Mode), and he calls in air strikes. The Engineer can disarm Chompers by lobbing a sonic grenade. His deploy-able Flying Robot can do everything the Cactus' Garlic Drone can do. But I do not know what to call him. What do you think I should call him?

The next Zombie is a very special one.

FootZoldierZombie
Foot-Soldier!!!!!!!

The Foot-Soldier Zombie is two things. A Damage Per Second guy and a "get around swiftly" guy, thus making him a valuable asset in Gardens and Graveyards. His gun has rapid-fire capability. The Missile Launcher on his back can be used for super jumps as well as a insanely awesome missile barrage. He also has smoke bombs that make him invisible to everyone (friend and foe) and suffocate Plants when caught in the smoke.

The Final Zombie is great for twelve-on-twelve death-matches but is difficult to use in Gardens and Graveyards.

ScientistZombie
Scientist!!!!!!

The Scientist is a healer and somewhat of Damage Per Second guy. As you can see in the picture above, he has a glorified shotgun. It spreads out too. The Scientist is not has good a healer compared to the Sunflower, as it has only one way to heal wounded zombies until fully upgraded. When fully upgraded the Scientist has two ways to heal. The first is the throw a modified grenade that heals Zombies if they are caught in the explosion. The other is it's default method for healing; Dropping a soda can right where it is standing that sprays soda everywhere, healing any Zombie (including the Scientist) within six feet (two meters) of the soda can. He can also teleport\and throw grenades.


The game also has a Sticker Shop where you can spend coins on stuff to customize the eight classes (see above) or disposable minions. Both Plants and Zombies have minions. The difference? Plant Minions stay in one place and guard places of interest for the Plants while Zombie minions serve as meat-shields for the main Zombies. Summoning a ton of both types of minion equals chaos......Actually, The whole game can get frantic. Which is a good thing in the world of interactive entertainment because frantic and chaos = fun, exciting experience.


For more info pleas go to Plants vs Zombies wiki.

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Sly Cooper Time!!!!

This is a blog post about Sly Cooper!!! The games are awesome And to this day I have no idea why a did not pick one of the games up and try it out myself.



Anyway, Sly Cooper is about a raccoon named Sly Cooper (see picture below) who happens to be the latest in a (very) long line of thieves. That's right. One might say stealing things is the Cooper Clan's family business. Sly himself is a thief but he goes by a single policy: Only steal things that have already been stolen. But Sly isn't in this business by himself because he brought his two most trusted friends with him. The first one is a turtle named Bentley who after the events of Sly Cooper 3 (I think. I am a bit rusty at the moment, so ignore false facts I put in by mistake) is stuck in a wheel chair. The other is THE MURRAY!!!!!! He is a hippo. With a Van. That can travel through time as of Sly Cooper 4: Thieves in Time. And all of his attacks in Sly Cooper 4 sound like the signature moves of a Mexican Wrestler. Like "El Drop'o".

Slycooperimg
This is Sly Cooper.




Bclear
This is Bentley the Turtle.





Sly4murray
This is THE MURRAY!!!!!!!




Anyway Sly Cooper 4 reveals that Sly is of multi-racial descent (Japanese, Western, British, Arabian, etc.). Because in that game a book called the "Thievus Raccoonus" (which chronicles the entire Cooper Clan, their stealing methods, personalities and more) was being erased from history by the villain of that game Le Paradox. Who is a skunk. With a French accent. Anyway Sly and his friends transform The Murray's van into a time machine. And have several zany (that is right. I said zany) adventures in the distant past along with the police officer Carmelita Fox (I am not sure if I spelled her name right. I am not good at typing in names like that on my computer).



The gameplay is awesome too. When playing as a member of the Cooper Clan (You can play as Sly's ancestors) you MUST sneak around everywhere. Not only are there guards crawling up and down every possible path you can take, but if the enemies don't see you you can actually pick their pockets and make a quick $100 or so). That is fairly easy for literally every part of the game Because you can stand on tiny footholds, walk on tightropes, swing form hooks, and take photos of important objects and characters. The last one is required at the beginning of literally every episode except for two. The very first episode and the final episode.


Also, Sly Cooper has a cane. Like every other Cooper. A Cooper Cane!!!!! Every Cooper has one and they customize it to match that particular Coopers stealing methods (Sly's cane has a hook so he can use it to pickpocket, Sly's Western ancestor Tennessee Kid Cooper turned his cane into a a Old West style rifle, Sly's Japanese ancestor Riochi Cooper has two canes that he uses like swords).



Also, the music in Thieves in Time has a 1930's Noir feel to it. Noir means Detective!!!! I sound like the Argosy Captain from Monster Hunter Tri/3 Ultimate. Because he would almost always end a sentence with a word from a foreign language and he would shout the meaning of said word out loud in your character's face (Captain: "This island is far away from the city. Getting good communication here is no walk in koen. Koen means Park!!!").


Anyway, there are also several mini-games. These range from feeding two dozen corrupt sheriffs sarsaparilla laced with sleeping agents to challenging one of the game's bosses to a ice skating contest. The only mini-games that can be repeated several times in the game's story mode are the cute hacking mini-games you need Bentley to beat. One of which is a tank-versus-everything-else shooter where Bentley makes a digital tank as his virus up-loader (I do not know the proper term. But all I know is how to look up funny videos and cheats for tough video games) and must guide it to the exit (and blast apart anything in the way) to complete the hack. Another can be somewhat annoying because you have to tilt the controller to move a white ball  and deliver it to the exit within a time limit.



For more info please go to the Sly Cooper Wiki.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Chibi-Robo Time!!!!!!

This post is about a very funny and cute video game that reminds me (and probably you) of Toy Story.



The first game is the original Chibi-Robo for the Gamecube. Now I am going to tell you why the game is called that. In it, you play as a cute robot named Chibi-Robo, who is hilariously small. In fact he is no taller than Four Inches (10 Centimeters if you use the Metric System).



Chibi-Robo unlike a lot of video game robots actually follows a simple programming. To assist anyone and everyone any way he can. Normally robots in video games don't follow their own programming (either because their were programmed with a free will, or because they are refusing to obey their programming).


Chibi-Robo has only two flaws in his design (here is a picture below. NOTE ALL PICTURES ARE FROM CHIBI-ROBO WIKI). First his small size means he needs something or someone bigger than him (which is literally everybody except his fellow robot Telly Vision), and he needs to recharge his Double A batteries just to survive (hence the reason he has a plug on the end of his tail).

Chibi-Robo Pick Up Plug
He is a cute little guy.

Now here is the reason this game reminds people of Toy Story. You see, Chibi-Robo is technically a toy (he WAS built by a toy manufacturing company after all) and his masters (the Sandersons family) bought way too many toys for their daughter, Jenny, who is for some reason convinced that she is not human but is a frog. But these toys are special. They spring to life as soon as the sun goes down. All of the toys are hilarious. EXAMPLE: The toy calling himself Space Hunter Drake Redcrest (The Chibi-Robo version of Buzz Lightyear) keeps yammering on about how he is a bringer of justice. In fact, he reminds me of literally every Power Ranger hilariously combined with a anime style action figure with the head of a chicken. Why? Because he is a bringer of JUSTICE!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had to type that in. I just had to. That is actually how Drake says the word "justice" by the way. He shouts it at the top of his plastic lungs. In fact he is so funny here is a picture of him.



Space Hunter Drake Redcrest (Chibi-Robo! Photo Finder) 
See what I mean? Chicken man!!!! I swear
he looks like a Chicken. DO you think he looks like a
Chicken? A Chicken of JUSTICE!!!!!!!!



Anyway, Chibi-Robo also can modify himself with upgrades from the in-game shop. The most important upgrade is Chibi-Robo's Blaster. The Blaster is almost perfect. It's only flaw is that it doesn't make a "pew, pew" noise when you fire it. It comes in handy because as Optimus Prime from Transformers would say "There is a Villain for every Hero" (he said that in the trailer for Transformers Rise of the Dark Spark), and the villain of Chibi-Robo is an army of evil robots that look like spiders.


You remember when I said that Chibi-Robo depends on the energy of a double A battery for survival? Well literally everything Chibi-Robo does wastes his battery life. In fact the Blaster uses that same battery life as ammo.



Chibi-Robo also has a prototype form called Giga-Robo which is actually as tall as an average human being. A Giant compared to his modern day form. But Giga-Robo uses twelve times as much energy, and thus almost caused an energy crisis. And when Chibi-Robo finds his ancestor lying helplessly in the Sandersons' basement he decides to rebuild him and bring back to the world of the living. Even though Robots can never truly die. Robots are immortal. If even a piece of them remains intact they can survive ANYTHING. And even then I can name at least two robots that can download themselves into other robots. One of whom is Ultron, which is a super villain from Marvel.



In the first game Chibi-Robo has only one primary objective, which is to simply follow his programming (Housekeeping, Cleaning, shooting evil robots close to his size in the face, bringing "dead" robots back to life, Squirting honey in a teddy bear's mouth, etc.). In the next game Chibi-Robo Park Patrol Chibi-Robo has to be the groundskeeper for a park. In the game after that Chibi-Robo Photo Finder, Chibi-Robo has to travel back in time to collect everyday objects to fill up a Museum in the distant future. Occasionally stopping to help out more toys with their problems (A pair of talking Condiments ask Chibi-Robo to deliver one of five ingredients, a Sponge wants Chibi-Robo to clean everything in sight, and Space Hunter Drake Redcrest wants Chibi-Robo to prove that he is a bringer of JUSTICE!!!!!!!! Again, I could not resist typing that in).



There is also a Japan exclusive Chibi-Robo game that is internationally called Chibi-Robo 3, though when you translate the Japanese name  (おかえり!ちびロボ!ハッピーリッチー大そうじ) it reads "Welcome Home Little-Robo! Rich, Big Sweep!". NOTE: In Japan Chibi-Robo is called Little-Robo. Possibly because he is only four inches tall. Roughly the same size as a small toy. How do I know this? Wikipedia is the ultimate answer for everything. Except how to build a working Lightsaber. And how to speak Korean. Anyhow, In that game Jenny is now a fully grown adult (and seems to not remember pretending to be a frog) and Chibi-Robo has to micro manage everything involving the Sandersons. Even the electricity. In order to save money the Sandersons are using environment-friendly energy. By throwing refuse in a trash compactor it generates enough electricity to recharge Chibi-Robo. Only Problem is that Chibi-Robo has to do this manually. The Japanese letters are from Wikipedia by the way.




Anyway, All of the Chibi-Robo games are cute and funny (doubly so because of Drake Redcrest and is campaign of JUSTICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). The only thing more funny than Drake Redcrest is Geotron, another robot that is obsessed with accuracy and reminds me of the original Mega-Zord from Power Rangers. After all he shouts weird things like "Final!!! Geotron!!!! THUNDER!!!!!!!" or "Is THAT your final answer? Is it? IS IT!?!?!?!" or even "Super!!!! Geotron!!!! X!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!". As you can see from these quotes, Geotron is almost constantly shouting at something. One might say he is over-dramatic.



For more info please go to Wikipedia. Because Wikipedia knows everything. Except for teaching people how speak any language other than English. Which is a shame really.

Monday, May 12, 2014

A few reasons why Pokemon is awesome

It's been a while since I did a Pokemon post (admittedly, Pokemon is one of my seven favorite video game franchises) so here we are.



As of October 2012 there are currently 718 species of Pokemon (The plural of Pokemon is still Pokemon. Likewise the plural forms of the Pokemon names are identical to the singular.). However when the first Pokemon games (which are Pokemon Red, Pokemon Blue, And Pokemon Green. Blue is actually Japan exclusive) there were only 151.



Here is a fun fact for those that are not fans of Pokemon (I highly doubt you do not like Pokemon. First of all it's beyond cute and second of all it's very popular). Pokemon is the second most popular video game franchise of all time, just barely coming second to Mario. But let's face facts. Mario is an Italian plumber with absurdly good jumping skills who rescues damsels in distress from a fire breathing turtle (a.k.a. Bowser). Both family friendly and innovative at the same time!!!!! Pokemon is the same way, but is only a handful of fans away from outshining Mario.


Anyway, Here is another interesting fact. Almost all of the Pokemon games are named after colors. The only exceptions are Both Pokepark games (Pokepark 1: Pikachu's Adventure and Pokepark 2: Wonders Beyond), and the two newest games Pokemon X and Pokemon Y.


Here is another fun fact. The letters "X" and "Y" are the only universal letters. Every major language on the planet uses those letters. This makes sense considering that the game was officially released worldwide.


Anyway, here is something very interesting: I have been doing research on the critical reception of Pokemon games and I learned that the handheld games are generally more popular than the home console games. Weird right? Pokemon Battle Revolution has cool but sometimes confusing animations that play. One of the confusing animations is watching your Monferno get hit with a laser and walk it off to return to the idle pose, only to fall to it's knees from a complete lack of hit points. It would make more sense for the Monferno to stay down and admit defeat (this only happens when the Monferno gets defeated in battle) or at least have an animation that plays that shows severe weakness (like limping back to the idle spot).


The Pokepark games are in my opinion works of art. However the second game has only one flaw, which is lack of variety. There are only four mini-games, while the first game had at least ten. The good news is that the second game improves the Friend List by actually containing and detailing the Pokemon in questions' origin story (Example: Zoroark and Zorua are from the Tech Zone who decided to move to the Arbor Zone and through a series of events found themselves working for Darkrai, who is the game's villain and final boss).


Then Came the Pokemon Rumble Series. The Pokemon in these three games are not real Pokemon but rather toy replicas that somehow came to life (don't ask me how. Pokemon are magic after all). Possibly because they are just toys, none of the "Rumble" Pokemon as I like to call them are nowhere near as strong as their namesakes. Toy Pikachu only has two attacks, and both involve shooting lightning (which Real Pikachu is really good at, but can punch and bite too) at something. The third Pokemon Rumble game uses the same Near Field Communication system that made Skylanders possible. But sadly that same tech is near worthless, as it simply gives you a slightly tougher version of the Pokemon (therefore wasting your money). Now if they made the figurines meaningfully important, it could give Skylanders a run for it's money. But it's not Pokemon that is competing with Skylanders. It's something I (and several other people) never saw coming: Disney. I know Disney is trying to take over Star Wars with a new set of movies, but they are taking their existing franchises and combining them for a Skylanders like game: Disney Infinity.



Enough negatives and back to Pokemon. Ever heard the phrase "Gotta Catch'em All!"? Well Here is something you should think about. Some Pokemon can only be caught in one game and not the other. And in more recent games (Looking at you, X and Y) you have to choose one over the other. The only way you can catch them all is to simply trade one Pokemon for someone else's. NOTE: Some Pokemon evolve by being traded. However two Generation Six Pokemon have the most confusing evolution line. Shouldn't Karrablast evolve into Accelgor? They both remind me of marathon runners (and when I am in a Eastern mood they remind me of ninjas). And shouldn't Shelmet evolve into Escavalier? They both have armor, and they both are really slow. But I wasn't the one who came up with the evolution. Congratulations to whoever came up with the evolution lines. Congratulations for imagination and creativity (I am being enthusiastic about this confusing evolution)!!!! I love how they trick you into thinking about confusing evolution. Evolution is handy but very strange.


Speaking of which, there are tons of Pokemon that can evolve into something completely different. Here is a simple example from Generation One. Meet Charmander. He is a cute little lizard guy that can spit small fireballs with the attack Ember and can scratch things with sharp claws. He evolves somewhere close to Level 15 (Charmander has to win at least two dozen fights to make it up there) and becomes Charmeleon, which is simply a bigger, more muscle-bound ( in comparison) version of Charmander. After winning almost a hundred or so fights Charmeleon evolves a second tine and becomes the dragon like Charizard, which now has a pair of wings and a stronger fire breath, being able to burn through all but the most secure defense with moves like Fire Blast (One large fireball) and Flamethrower (A continuous stream of intense heat).


But another Generation 1 Pokemon can evolve into any one of eight forms, each one requiring a different method to acquire. Umbreon is gained when Eevee (that's the "eight forms" one by the way) reaches a certain level of power at midnight. Jolteon is gained when Eevee touches a Thunder Stone. Those are just examples. I am not going to tell you how to get each one because I have no idea how to get Sylveon (all of the evolved forms of Eevee ends with "eon" in case you have not noticed), which is the eighth form. But all of the forms have one thing in common. They all look like foxes (except Sylveon which looks like a cat, and Vaporeon which looks like a half fox half dolphin creature).




Here are a few of my favorite Pokemon.

  • Charizard - This is literally my favorite Fire Type. It looks like a dragon and it breathes fire. It is not a pure Fire element but is also part Flying, therefore removing the Charmander line's weakness to earthquakes. Pokemon X and Pokemon Y gave this Pokemon a Mega Mode, though the difference between base Charizard and Mega Charizard depends on which version you are playing. The X version looks a lot different than the base form. After all in X mode Charizard becomes a REAL Dragon and summons flames so hot they are blue (Red means really hot, blue means as hot as lava).
  • Greninja - This Pokemon is the evolved to perfection form of Froakie, and as such it is a really big frog. But it is also a ninja, hence it's name. It is a Water type and a Dark type so it is almost the complete opposite of Charizard. Greninja holds the world record for fastest Water type Pokemon. Greninja is also a playable character in Super Smash Bros 4.
  • Lucario - This is clearly the most amazing Fighting type Pokemon out there. Just like Charizard Lucario has a Mega Mode. For some odd reason Lucario's Mega Mode design reminds me of Naruto (doubly so when Naruto enters Tailed Beast State). Only with dreadlocks. And spikes. Lucario is a playable character in both the third and the fourth Super Smash Bros games. In the Third game Lucario is a replacement for another Pokemon with similar abilities.
  • Mewtwo - This. Is. The. Most. Awesome. Pokemon. Ever. Plain and simple. It's a pure Physic type so good luck trying to catch him. I am confident that Mewtwo is male. However in one of the most recent Pokemon movies it was portrayed by an actress. Anyway, Mewtwo is really powerful (probably because American video game players like feeling overpowered). It also has two different Mega Modes. One that enhances Mewtwo's close range abilities and one that enhances Mewtwo's Physic powers. Oh, and this Pokemon is a Legendary. So I guarantee the moment you catch him you  will feel invincible. 
  • The Three Monkeys - Simisage, Simipour, and Simisear. These monkeys are simply awesome. They are the evolved forms of Pansage, Panpour, and Pansear respectively. Simisage is a Grass type, Simipour is a Water type, and Simisear is a Fire Type, which ironically happen to be the first three types the player gets access to.
  • Tyrantrum - This is the most amazing Rock type by far. But it's also a Dragon type (the most amazing Dragon type is called Kyurem). Dragon types are literally the most powerful Pokemon ever. Even though Fairy types like Sylveon and Ice types like Articuno can do a number on them (so to speak). But everything else will do absolutely nothing. But here is the ironic part. You get Tyrantrum's base form, Tyrunt almost as soon as you get your second Pokemon (normally you have to beat the game and retrace your steps to hidden valleys and stuff to get them). But you cannot catch either. You must collect a item called a Jaw Fossil and use it to bring Tyrunt back to life (Tyrunt are extinct by the time you play the games). Oddly enough, Tyrantrum can learn Horn Drill but has no horn whatsoever. Horn Drill is a Instant K.O. move which means teaching this move to Tyrantrum makes winning fights easier.
  • Pikachu - I saved my number one favorite for last. Pikachu is an Electric type which means that he can fight literally anything with no problem. Except for Ground types. Anyway, I am confident that everyone has at least heard of Pikachu. Any decent Pokemon player should get one. Pikachu is also playable in literally every Super Smash Bros game to date. In the TV show Ash Ketchum has a Pikachu that refuses to stay in it's compact form (inside the Poke-Ball). That same Pikachu is unnaturally powerful, having a Thunderbolt attack at least seven times as powerful as Pikachu's evolved form Raichu. And it is really, really cute. If I could have a Pokemon in real life It would be a Kyurem with a dozen or so Pikachu with it. That is the sad thing about Pokemon. You can't have these colorful little guys in real life. If we could someone would try to become some kind of Poke-King or something.


For pictures and video pleas ego to either the official website or the Pokemon wiki. I am not posting pictures on my blog because I am lazy.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Legend of Zelda is Legendary

This post is about Legend of Zelda. I have been feeling in a Zelda mood recently and I started playing Skyward Sword (I am in the final dungeon, the Sky Keep!!!!)



I thought I might do this post for old time's sake. So here is some info on some really notable Zelda games.


Let's start at this fun fact. Until the book Hyrule Historia was released, dozens of Zelda fans and experts debated over the timeline of the Legend of Zelda franchise. Some people actually say that there is no timeline and each game is retelling of the original story. Why was that?


Enter Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time. Not only is this game the first 3D Zelda game but because it has a LOT of Time Travel in it this game single-handedly sparked massive controversy over the chronology. It also introduced Z-targeting, later renamed L-targeting, and again renamed Lock-On. This next fun fact applies to all games with Lock-On. This is how Z-targeting works. Imagine a Middle Ages style Knight ambushed by a dozen or so bandits. One of the bandits pulls out and lashes with a whip. the Knight catches the whip with his free hand. The bandit moves around in a circle. The Knight keeps his eyes on that particular bandit and attacks with a sword. Now that the first bandit is defeated, the Knight keeps his eyes on the next bandit. Z-targeting works pretty much like that, even though the whip is imaginary and the bandits are enemies and the Knight is Link.



Almost every Legend of Zelda game has the Master Sword in it. And why not? It's so Awesome!!! In fact one might even say it's the most powerful close range weapon ever!!!! But has you (or anyone) wondered how the Master Sword started life? Now comes Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. This game is a origin story or the whole franchise and according to the Hyrule Historia is the first game in the timeline.


Have you every played the original Legend of Zelda released in 1986? If you did you would know that if Link was at full health his sword could shoot lasers. Well in Skyward Sword you can shoot lasers of various shapes and sizes but this time all you had to do is simply point the blade towards the sky (straight up).


Anyway for those of you that want to know the origin story it goes something like this (WARNING: THIS GAME IS SO AWESOME THAT THE STORY ACTUALLY SOUNDS BETTER IN REAL LIFE RATHER THAN ON PAPER). Long Story Short Skyward Sword Link and Zelda (she is not a princess this time) were attending a graduation ceremony for Link (being promoted to Senior class in the Knight Academy). While out flying on giant birds called Loftwings Zelda is sucked into a Tornado And Link sets out to rescue her.


But in order to do that he has to MAX OUT the Goddess Sword and turn it into the Master Sword by dowsing the blade into three Sacred Flames and all the while Link meets time and time again with Ghirahim who at first acts like a gentlemen with a sense of sportsmanship but later shows his true colors as a ruthless but flamboyant psychopath. With a sense of drama, based on his need to act overly dramatic (i.e. Ghirahim: "I will make your ears bleed from the sounds of your own screams!"). Also, he clearly has no sense of "personal space" as he often violates Link's personal space ( possibly to scare him), normally after a quick Teleport. Despite all that, I love the music that plays every time Link fights him. He clearly has the best theme music out of every boss of the franchise as a whole.


Here is another awesome Zelda game. Twilight Princess!!!! The thing about this Link is that unlike all the others he can transform into a Wolf. Which is awesome. Wolves are cool. Though I noticed something weird when Link first transformed. When his Wolf form was locked up in a dungeon (not the kind of dungeon Link explores, but actually a prison) the guards shackled his left paw (right paw in the Wii version). Why did they (the guards, I mean) even bother with the shackles? Wolves don't have thumbs, so there is no way for them it open doors by themselves. I am going to guess that they didn't know wolves don't have thumbs. Anyway, Wolf Link's abilities are pretty cool (digging, seeing invisible things, etc). Combine that with the adorable Midna and you get a winning formula. Speaking of which, did you know and the only reason Midna was created (initially) was to be some random creature that rides around on Wolf Link's back? During normal game-play Midna is almost always seen riding on Wolf Link's back. However later on in development Midna's role was enhanced and became a crucial part to the story.


Humorously Midna often annoys Wolf Link when they first met. One might even say that she pushed Link to the brink of insanity but that was done for comedy (the scene where Midna wears Link's shield as a mask and swings the Ordon Sword wildly was my favorite).


And in almost every Zelda game there is Ganondorf (please excuse how absurd his name sounds). The only major exception is Skyward Sword, but that game hints at the birth of Ganondorf. After all, the final boss, Demise, looks strangely similar to Ganondorf. They both wanted the same thing: the Triforce. They both challenged Link to a one-on-one duel. Link's defeated both of them in the same way; knocking them off their feet and skewering them in the chest (otherwise known simply as the Ending Blow).



Generally Legend of Zelda is one of the most iconic video game franchises ever, coming second only to Mario. Both were made by Nintendo. Speaking of which, did you know that while "family friendly" Nintendo and "hardcore" Sony are polar opposites they were going to be partners to make a Zelda game? Nintendo basically betrayed Sony in favor of Phillips to make three spin-off games but those games are worthless. Basically nothing more than glorified garbage. Why? because Phillips only cared about graphics. Ironic because I have seen all three of these games in action and the graphics are barely half decent to my eyes. But I started my hobby playing X-box games, and the X-box is a system with overall better graphics.


These spin-off games also explain why Nintendo refuses to include voice acting for in-game dialogue (Personally, I actually like reading Text Boxes over listening to voice acting. It makes hints to later puzzles more obvious. And I really like reading things). These spin-off games actually do have voice-acting but the voices are simply terrible. Then again, Phillips only had a $600,000 budget and all of it was focused solely on graphics (part of me thinks they were trying to make a interactive movie). The good news is: The system these spin-offs were on is currently extinct.


Generally, Phillips did such a horrible job with their spin-off games, lots of people think Nintendo would erase those games from history. I think that Nintendo would do something much more harsh and/or uncalled for, like erasing Phillips itself from history. That is literally how bad Phillips did with those games. How do I know all this? Zelda wiki. And there is a "History of Legend of Zelda" video on the Internet.


Anyway, it is interesting to note that these Spin-offs are not in the Hyrule Historia. Basically Nintendo is pretending those sad excuses of video games never existed.


Enough about (really) cheap knock-offs, back to the main series. I almost forgot about the Four Swords mini-series (which are awesome. As awesome as awesome frosting!!) This is the first Zelda game with co-op. Sadly the original Four Swords made it MANDATORY that two or more players play. This was fixed in later entries of the mini-series.



Overall the Legend of Zelda franchise is almost perfect (I would say perfect but nothing is completely perfect. Some games are perfect in their own way). Legend of Zelda is possibly one of the most Legendary (pun intended) franchises ever. Mario, Pokemon, and a handful more franchises are the only ones that are as amazing as Legend of Zelda.



Here is one last fun fact. When Ocarina of Time was released Nintendo loosely based Link's swordsmanship style off of the way of Bushido. That means Samurai style sword fighting, if you don't know anything about Japanese culture.


for more info pleas ego to the Legend of Zelda wiki.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Amazing Spider-Man 2 (the movie!)!!!!!

My last post was about the video game and this post is about the movie. I saw the whole movie. Oh, and despite what a friend of mine says, seeing the trailers does NOT count as seeing the movie. That same friend is convinced that "seeing a movie" means both watching it and watching at least one of the trailers. In reality, "seeing a movie" means watching the whole movie from end to end. So yeah, don't listen to any movie facts from him.

WARNING: I am typing in minor spoilers. READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION!!!!!!!

The movie is pretty good actually. The fight scenes were epic!!!!!! The movie has a total of three villains that Spider-Man fights: Electro (the fight between him and Spider-Man was my favorite!), Green Goblin, and the Rhino (in that order). However Spider-Man actually took down the Rhino's civilian form, whose name difficult to spell, let alone pronounce, at the beginning of the movie.


Also, Stan Lee makes yet another cameo in this movie (he makes a cameo in EVERYTHING involving Marvel!!). Right at the beginning of the movie, Peter Parker is slightly late for his graduation. When he arrives, Stan Lee is not only in the audience, but also says "I know that guy!" when he sees Peter show up.



Oh, and I also played the video game based off the movie (I rented it two days ago) And I can say that the guy that killed the guy that killed Ben Parker in the first movie is not in this movie at all. So I can give away his name!! The "killer's killer" is Cletus Kassady. If you are Spider-Man Comic expert, you would know who Cletus Kassady is. If you don't, he is also known as Carnage, which is the red, psychopath version of Venom. Even before Cletus bonded with the Red Symbiote he was already a ruthless lunatic. However, in some comics Carnage does not even have a civilian name, because in those comics he is just a mindless creature sucking the life out of anyone in it's way.


Anyway, Kraven the Hunter is also not in the movie. And neither is Kingpin. In fact the video game has a very robust gallery of bad guys for Spider-Man to deal with. Well, robust compared to the movie. Only problem is that only two of the six villains (in the video game) actually team up. The game would be much more awesome if all the villains teamed up to form a new Sinister Six.


Anyway, here is another minor spoiler: The Rhino is not a muscle-bound guy in a cheesy rhino costume (like in the main comics), but instead is a slightly average guy with an accent (not sure what kind. It sounds like a Russian accent but I am not sure) driving a robot with the head of a rhino. Complete with Gatling guns, bazookas, Bullet-proof armor, Missiles, more Missiles, and even more Missiles (okay it has a LOT of Missiles!!).


For more info please go to Wikipedia or watch the movie yourself assuming you have enough money.