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Megas

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  1. Megas
    Ever since Capcom announced Ultra Street Fighter 4, one thing that they've highlighted was the appearance of a Surprise Mystery character, and yet have released little hints other than they've never appeared in a fighting game, yet, are related to the series in some way. As a fan of the series, I can't help but get a little excited for this, so here are my thoughts on who it could be. Again the character is related to the series in some way, it could be a character that has never been playable, a character from another franchise, or an original character; however, they hasn't appeared in a fighting game yet(sorry Maki and Haggar)
     
    Also, there will be spoilers
     
    Goutetsu

    Hey, they brought in Ryu and Ken's old master, why not Akuma's as well
     
    Go Hibiki

    Go's an interesting one. A character who's only been in the Udon comics, he basically serves as a competent version of his son Dan. But what's interesting about him is his relationship with Sagat, as he's responsible for his eyepatch. He may be dead in the comic, but it would be cool to see Capcom bring him back from the dead.
     
    Eliza Masters

    Ken's wife Eliza. A wild shot, but I think it's possible. Considering the fact that there are probably already some unlikely characters in the series, her importance in Ken's story line, and the fact that there's a fan made sprite for her in Mugen, I think she has a fair shot
     
    Carlos Miyamoto

    Some sort of South American-Japanese hybrid, Carlos appeared along side Maki and Haggar in Final Fight 2. However, unlike Cody, Guy, Haggar and Maki, he has never appeared in either Final Fight or any other game for that matter. Personally I would love to see them shed some more light on this mysterious character. Plus his katana would be cool to use.
     
    Dean(Final Fight 3)

     
    Much like Carlos, Dean doesn't have much backstory too him. On the other hand, he looks like he was built for the game. Perhaps Capcom could give him some character?
     
    Lucia(Final Fight 3)

     
    I was honestly kinda hesitant to put her on here, she has more background than Carlos and Dean combined, and is potentially friends with Chun-Li. However, I fear that she may be to similar to her in terms of moves, but if she does get in, it would be interesting to see how she plays out
     
    Megaman X

     
    Oh Megaman, how we love you, and how Capcom loves to hate you. That said, with the fans are getting really restless with Megaman's disappointing 25th anniversary, but I honestly think it would be a good idea to include him. With the inclusion of Bad Box Art Megaman, Capcom's hesitant to make the Blue Bomber a Street Fighter, and X technically meets the requirements for the secret character. It may not be a new Megaman game, but would be a great move on Capcom's part, and wash out that awful taste of XOver out of my mouth. Coming with the famous secret techniques the Hadoken and Shoryuken from X1 and X2, X could be an interesting mix of Ryu and Megaman from MvC and BBA Megaman with the moves he learned from Dr. Light.
     
    Speaking of which
     
    Dr. Thomas Light(Megaman Series)

     
    I always wanted to know how he learned those secret techniques. It's possible that they'll be lazy and make him another Shoto-clone, but that doesn't stop it from bring hilarious.
    And honestly he probably has a better chance than Dean or Carlos
     
    Opinions? Do you like these character choices? Are they ridiculous? Who'd you like to see?
  2. Megas
    10 really dumb maverick ideas that somehow got through the idea board. Some are legitimately bad fights here but otherwise they're on the list because they look dumb
     
    10) Infinity Mijinion(Water Flea)(X6)

     
    Water Flea sounds dumb on top of being an annoying boss, but at least he has an
     
    9) Crystal Snail(X2)

    The biggest pain in the arse of the 8 Mavericks in X2. Messing with the shell is fun though
     
    8) Wire Sponge(X2)

    Really? C'mon this is only the second game
     
    7) Split Mushroom(X4)

    Fortunately this guy's power isn't growth. Thankfully he has the funnest fight on the list
     
    6) Shield Sheldon(Clam)

     
    Yeeeaaaaahhhh, Sheldon isn't exactly the most threatening name either
     
    5) Duckbill Mole(????)(Command Mission)
     

    Apparently this is a thing
     
    4) Gigabolt Man-O-War(Jelly Fish)(X8)

    .....Next
     
    3) Optic Sunflower

    To this day, Axel the Red is still the only plant based boss that doesn't look dumb
     
    2) Tornado Tonion(Onion)(X7)

    Capcom was probably really high when they made this boss. Just like they were with the rest of the game
     
    1) Ground Scaravich(...Dung Beetle)(X6)

     
    That's right, you actually fight a dung beetle. Because nothing is more fun than fighting a guy who rolls around in other's caca. Oh, and he's probably the worst boss in the entire franchise
     
     
     
    okay. bai
  3. Megas
    *based on the 3DS version*
     
    Tales of the Abyss is the eighth installment in Namco's popular "Tales of" series, and was first released on the PS2 in 2005/2006(and rereleased on the 3DS in 2011/2012, coming to Europe and Australia for the first time). When it was released, Tales of the Abyss had a lot to live up to following the huge success of one of the previous titles Tales of Symphonia(not to mention Legendia fell short for many people). Despite some of flaws Tales of the Abyss is an excellent addition to the series that sits up their with Symphonia as one of my favorites in the series and of the best games on it's respective platforms library
     

    The story and characters are fun and engaging for the most part despite adhering to several cliche's common among JRPG storytelling.
     
    The world in Tales of the Abyss follows a society that depends on a a "Score", or prophecy, read by a historical figure in the game, Yulia, that foretells the destiny of the world and the people who live in it. Meanwhile the game's main character and nephew to the king of Kimlasca, the immature and incredibly selfish Luke Von Fabre, is still confined(for his safety) in his manor after he was kidnapped and lost his memory. While he still gets regular visits from his loyal friend, the woman-fearing Guy Cecil and his teacher, Master Van Grants, things go awry when an attempt to assassinate Van causes Luke to accidentally teleport himself and the assailant, the battle-hardened sister to Van Tear Grants to a different country, and along their travels they meet many allies along the way, including the really fucking pessimist and sarcastuc yet awesome Jade Curtiss, a general of Malkuth, Fon Master Ion and one of his guardians Anise Tatlin, and Princess Natalia of Kimlasca, and Mieu, a cheagle who is basically the game's cute animal mascot. They also face many foes mainly involving the Order of Lorelai, who is obsessed with fulfilling Yulia's score(though the Six, The Order's main faction, has plans of their own).
     
    The game has a pretty strong cast for the most part, with Luke though it really depends if your willing to put up with him throughout the first 4th of the game, as he is absolutely unlikeable with almost no redeeming values(and his abusive behavior towards Mieu doesn't help). However, after a certain point he vows to change, and throughout the game he changes from a spoiled brat you never want to deal with a game to a guy that you really don't want to depart with, and is easily one of the best characters in the game. The other characters are also really awesome like Tear, Guy and Natalia, and I already gushed over Jade, as he's up there with Kratos as one of my favorite characters in the Tales series. The only character I never really cared for was Anise, who only reminds me why I dislike most child characters in video games.
     
    The game also has a strong set of antagonists, the most notable one being Ashe, who serves as Luke's Rival, but the others are also strong each with their own distinct personalities and goals that do a good job of putting them in a sympathetic light. Again the only antagonist I don't care much for was Mohs, as he pretty much serves as the game's religious nutjob.
     

     
    Gameplay-wise, the battle system got a bit of an overhaul from Symphonia, with every character being fun and easier to use. On top of this, it's the first game that allows you to run freely while choosing your enemies. Techniques(now called Artes) work the same as previous games, certain artes cam be mapped to certain button placements to allow you to execute them in battle, and short cuts allow you to use any skill quickly(including your allies). Also, whenever an elemental ability is used, an elemental circle called "Field of Fonons" and can change your artes attack depending on the FOF and which arte is used. At a certain level, when you go to Overlimit, you can use an attack called "Mystic Artes" which is basically a Limit Break. Each character also has their own set of skills(called AD Skills) that amplify certain actions, and each character can fit artes with something called Capacity cores that does different effects for them.
     
    Many key features from previous Tales games such as Cooking, Titles, Grade and Skits return and work exactly how they should. Only problem I have with cooking is that Wonder Chef doesn't make an appearance, which I find inexcusable
     

     
    The soundtrack, while not as memorable compared to other JRPG soundtracks imo, is still really solid with its share of standout songs. The voice acting is also fairly strong, which is actually pretty amazing compared to the Voice Acting you hear in other JRPGs.
     

     
    The game is also packed with content. The main story should take about 30-40 hours to complete, and that's not even including the plethora of sidequests to do, which range from pretty mundane tasks like being a waiter and rearranging boxes in warehouses, to fighting in the coliseum, learning more earning powerful new artes and learning more about your character's backstories. Some sidequests also include getting alternate outfits for your characters. One thing I feel the game falls short in is replayability, again coming after Symphonia where you can have different paths, even if only slightly different, this game doesn't really change during different replays. That said there are still plenty of things to do that you will either miss on your first playthrough or you can only get on subsequent playthroughs, and there's still a ton to do if your a completionist.
     
    In all, Tales of the Abyss is an awesome game that's a welcome addition to the Tales franchise and is one of the must-haves on the PS2 or the 3DS, two platforms already lauded for having a strong JRPG library. If you have either platform, I highly recommend getting this game
  4. Megas
    Characters have always been one of the biggest things in Super Smash Bros, and with the Wii U version coming right around the corner, I figured it was time to look back at all of the characters we’ve seen in this series, more specifically, the newcomers of each game. What qualifies as a newcomer is a new character whose been added to the series roster whether as a hidden character or the starting roster. Since this is about newcomers, this list won’t include the first 8 original Smash characters(Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Samus, Yoshi, Kirby, Fox and Pikachu.), but I will count the secret characters in Smash 64, and most of the characters here are there for their impact, whether it be for Smash or for Nintendo in general. Now, without further ado
     
    5) Mr Game and Watch
     

     
    There’s a really irresistible charm about Mr Game&Watch, whether it be his bizarre fighting style or his general goofiness. But in all Mr Game and Watch was the character that started a trend of weird characters appearing within each game(otherwise known as WTF characters in the Smash Bros fandom), with other characters like ROB, Wii Fit Trainer, and Duck Hunt Dog joining Mr. G&W. While some may argue that Ness was the first WTF character to his obscurity, but Mr. G&W was the true leader in weirdness….speaking of Ness…
     
    4) Ness and Lucas(Earthbound and Mother 3)
     

     
    Included both Ness and Lucas since they’re both here for pretty much the same reason. To put it simply, Ness and Lucas’s appearances in Super Smash Bros is one of the biggest contributors to the Mother series’ popularity in the US. Before SSB64, hardly anyone knew what the Mother series or Earthbound was, come Ness’s appearance in Super Smash Bros and BAM, everyone is suddenly interested, with the series exploding in internet popularity, prices of the game skyrocketing, fan translations of the first and 3rd games, and constant petitioning of Nintendo to bring the series to America.
     
    3) Pit(Kid Icarus)
     

     
    Even before Super Smash Bros, Kid Icarus was a pretty popular game(with a solid sequel on the Game Boy) among the Nintendo fanbase, and a game that fans pretty much begged a sequel too. Seeing his inclusion in Brawl brought a lot of happiness to KI fans, even with his design being drastically different from past appearances(cartoon angel to anime pretty boy), and his inclusion must’ve been really well received, as Nintendo finally released another sequel on the 3DS, Kid Icarus Uprising, which was led by Sakurai himself, with Pit sporting a new look. Thankfully the game was well received and sold well, which helped build its popularity(even if Sakurai shows disturbing bias for the series in Smash 4)
     
    2) Snake(Metal Gear Solid)
     

     
    This list could consist mostly of the 3rd party characters since they’re well… 3rd party characters, but if you asked me which one was the best, surprising, most important 3rd party character in Smash, my vote would go to Snake, and no that’s not my MGS fanboyism kicking in. Here’s a brief history lesson: Hideo Kojima and his son Kojima Jr. are playing Smash 64 on a nice day, Kojima Jr asks why isn’t his character in it, and since Kojima is an awesome dad, he goes to Sakurai(whom he’s friends with btw) and asks his if he can put Snake in Melee, Sakurai says ok, realizes that Melee is too far into development, so he says “meh, I’ll put him in the next game” and the rest is history. Whatever your opinion on his inclusion is, you can’t deny that his inclusion had a huge impact on the series. We probably would have never gotten Sonic, Megaman, or Pacman without Snake, and I'm personally happy for it...even if it means we'll now have to deal with Sonic fanboys begging for the entire Sonic roster
     
    1)Marth and Roy(Fire Emblem and Fire Emblem Sword of Seals)
     

     
    Taking the number one spots are two characters that were originally intended as Japan exclusive characters(which I’m glad didn’t happen since Japan exclusivity sucks balls). Marth and Roy were main characters in one of Nintendo’s older franchises and formerly Japan-exclusive, Fire Emblem, specifically the first game and Sword of Seals respectively. No one knew who either of these characters were, but their appearances were insanely well received in America, that Nintendo decided to release Fire Emblem Blazing Swords, the first Fire Emblem to reach America. The game sold very well and received critical acclaim. Every Fire Emblem game since then has been released internationally and continues to do well, and I’m very glad for that. I’d hate to think of a world where Fire Emblem Awakening was only released in Japan, since that’s probably one of the best games I’ve played in a long time.
     
    ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
     
    I'll probably make a top 5 worst newcomers list sometime in the future depending on my mood, though I'm less inclined to make one since no.1 is probably going to be Dark Pit
  5. Megas
    Much like video games based on movies, games based on cartoons also have had a stigma for having....not so good games, some of which can be legendarily bad. But much like games based on movies, there are still those cartoon-based games that will break the mold and show us that there can also be good ones too.
     
    10) Tiny Toon Adventures: Montana's Movie Madness(Gameboy)

     
    This game really surprised me when I was a kid. Unlike most others, I actually never got a Pokemon game with my Gameboy until much later. While my top games for the system were Donkey Kong and Legend of Zelda A Link's Awakening, but one other game that got as much attention as those was Tiny Toon Adventures: Montana's Movie Madness, a surprisingly challenging platformer with various movie themed levels. I adored it, a lot. Early on, both Capcom and Konami actually had their fair share of strong licensed titles and this was one of them.
     
    9) Goof Troop(SNES)

     
    One of Capcom's many Disney games back on the SNES, and it is also the first game designed by Shinji Mikami, creator of the Resident Evil franchise and the Father of Survival Horror. Basic premise is that Goofy and Max were trapped on a pirate island and you have to save Pete and PJ. What makes this action-adventure game fun is the co-op mode where one player controls Goofy and Max respectively, and co-op mode can lead to some seriously great times. Playing it alone is a lot of fun too.
     
    8) Sailor Moon: Another Story(SNES)

     
    A game that unfortunately is Japan only, Sailor Moon Another Story is a surprisingly good JRPG. Having an original story that takes place between the 3rd and 4th story arcs, the biggest selling point(at least for me) of the game was being able to control the Sailor Senshi as much like the anime, they all have their unique abilities that make them useful depending on the situation. And there's also multiple ending encouraging replayability
     
    7) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time(SNES/Arcade)

     
    Another game from Konami's Licensed Catalog, Turtles In Time is one of the very, very few SNES arcade ports that didn't get neutered*coughfinalfightcough*. Despite not being able to play up 4-players in the SNES version, it's was actually able to add a lot to the SNES version like a couple more levels and tons of cutscenes and visuals faithful to the cartoon airing at the time.
     
    6) Mickey Mouse's Magical Quest

     
    A Capcom platformer starring the Iconic mouse himself, it kept visuals that was some of the best on the system as well as staying true to Mickey Mouse as well as featuring some very fun and solid platforming
     
    5) Ducktales(NES)

     
    I think the best way to describe this game is that it's basically a Megaman game if it was produced by Disney(helped by the fact that Keiji Inafune and most of the staff behind the series worked on it). It boast similar visuals, and a soundtrack and difficulty on par with Megaman. Plus Ducktales was the birth of the legendary pogo bounce. If you can there's a remake on the PCPS360U by Wayforward that's fairly faithful to the original game
     
    4) Spongebob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom(PS2/Xbox/Gamecube)

     
    Another game that took me by surprise. Battle for Bikini Bottom is a strong platformer in vein of Super Mario Games like SM64 or Sunshine, where you collect golden spatulas in order to unlock more levels and defeat Plankton and his robot army. Has a pretty fun physics engine, tons of references to past episodes(back when the show was still good), and excellent use of the 3 characters Spongebob, Patrick and Sandy. The Spongebob Movie game is also pretty similar and just as good
     
    3) South Park: The Stick of Truth(Xbox360/PS3/PC)

     
    What makes South Park The Stick of Truth so memorable to fans is that it is a South Park episode in almost every single way. The humor, the visuals, the voice actors are very true to the series. Tons of fanservice and being an overall fun RPG makes this game a favorite for fans as well as being a solid RPG
     
    2) Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3

     
    First off, DAT THEME SONG.
    That said Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3 is both a great love letter to fans and a solid fighter. It marks a high point in the Budokai series by getting rid of some of the fluff the first two games had, having a giant roster, and having tons of content that keeps you going. The movesets are much more manageable to make the game more balanced than the past games(though admittedly it's still unbalanced) and the Dragon Universe lets you play through the main story(as well as some movies) with multiple characters(though it's still a step down from Budokai 1's story mode). It also has a fairly large roster(at the time) featuring characters from every saga, as well as the movies and even a couple from GT and the original Dragonball. Also, again, DAT THEME SONG
     
    before I get to no.1, here are some honorable mentions, either because I never got to play them(but other people liked them) or because they just missed the mark:
     
    Honorable mentions:
    The Simpsons Arcade game
    the Sailor Moon Arcade game
    X-Men Mutant Apocalypse
    Dragon Ball Z Legacy of Goku 2
    Budokai Tenkaichi 3
    Naruto Clash of Ninja Revolution
    Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers
    The Spongebob Movie
    Futurama
    The Simpsons Game
    Kim Possible What's the Switch
    Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law
    a Megas XLR game that'll never happen
    a decent Friendship is Magic game that'll never happen
     
    1) The Simpson Hit and Run(PS2/Xbox/Gamecube/PC)

     
    When I say this is one of the best Grand Theft Auto games ever...I mean it. While it was a blatant GTA clone(much like how Road Rage=Crazy Taxi, and Skateboarding=Tony Hawk), one thing Hit and Run did what the other two failed to do was copy everything that made the original game good. While obviously the gratuitous violence isn't there, it's still a GTA clone, but a very excellent one. The game has it's own charm and fun that makes it stand out. The gameplay and car controls feel surprisingly great, missions are fun and diverse, exploring Springfield is a blast and the fanservice is glorious. If you love the Simpsons, or just GTA-style games, and haven't tried this game yet, you are doing yourself a huge disservice
     
    Also the soundtrack is excellent, which is something I don't say to most licensed game's OST
     
     
     
    EDIT: I'm pretty sure if I remade this list, Transformers Devastation would be no.1.
     
    Sorry, I still can't shut up about that game
  6. Megas
    Whether it be because they have the worst english ever, can't seem to speak properly, are more annoying than Moe the Clown's laughter, or just aren't very interesting characters, there are always "those" characters in the Phoenix Wright series you wish you never had the misfortune to speak to(I'm only putting people from the first 3 games since they're the only ones I've played)
     
     
    Wendy Oldbag
     

     
    Always makes things a chore for you to do. Likely due to the fact that her favorite movie stars always wind up dead, but for some reason she likes taking it out on you specifically. The only reason she's low on the list is because even when she pisses me off, her old lady banter sometimes will crack a smile out of me.
     
    Also seeing her hit on Edgeworth is scary
     
    Cody
     

     
    Because dealing with fanboys always sucks
     
    Victor Kudo
     

     
    He suffers from crazy old people syndrome as well, but unlike Oldbag, he isn't as entertaining
    Also, who else is grossed out by his jiggly nose?
     
    Jean Armstrong
     

     
    I can get passed the blatantly gay stereotype, I just wish he didn't mix his French and English together
     
    Meekins
     

     
    Looking at him just screams annoying and incompetent
     
    Sal Manella
     

     
    Probably one of the creepiest characters in the series. He's also the reason why I hate internet slang. Seriously how did this guy get to be a director(then again with people like Uwe Boll and Michael Bay in real life, it probably isn't surprising)
     
    Lotta Hart
     

     
    She intentionally makes things difficult for you just to be famous. And what's worse is that she kept showing up everywhere
     
    That Creepy Docter
     

     
    How the hell is this guy not in prison yet?
     
    Moe the Clown
     

     
    "AHA! AHA! AHA! AHA! AHA! AHA!"
     
    Honorable Mentions:
    Everyone else from Turnabout Big Top - Didn't put them in because they'd make up most of the list
    Angel Starr - A Grade-A bitch. I was contemplating, but decided against it since she still managed to get a decent backstory
    Furio Tigre - See Angel Starr
    April May - Averted because boobs
  7. Megas
    Because I realize my iPod is mainly video game OSTs, I decided to make a list of my personal favorites OSTs.
     
    10) Dynasty Warriors 3

     
    As odd as it sounds to have ancient Chinese warriors fighting each other to loud Japanese rock music, it works very well. The Dynasty Warriors series usually does a good job having the music blend with the intense action of hack-n-slashing swaths of enemies, but Dynasty Warriors 3 is the cream of the crop. My favorite soundtracks here are
    , , , , and  
    9) Call of Duty 3 - Joel Goldsmith(RIP)

     
    I remember when I first booted up the game on the Wii(yes I got CoD3 for the Wii and enjoyed it, sue me) and just hearing
    Sometimes I'd just sit at the menu for minutes on end just to listen to it. Made even more epic was when that same theme would come back in the end of the final mission. Of course there are tons of great tunes in this game like , , and . It's still one of my favorite WWII themed soundtracks ever, only beaten by one other game... 
    8) Medal of Honor Frontline - Michael Giacchino

     
    Composed by the same guy responsible for UP, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille, Medal of Honor Frontline is another great addition to his work. Stand outs in this one include
    , , , and  
    7) Marvel Vs Capcom - Capcom Sound Team

     
    The musicians at Capcom were usually geniuses when it came to their older style of music when it came to their arcade fighters. It was disappointing to see the second game set to smooth and slow jazz music(for a fast-paced fighting game '-_-) especially coming off the heels of the first game's OST. It did a great job of finding fitting themes for all the characters whether it'd be based off older games or based off the characters. Favorites include
    , , , , , and  
     
    6) Persona 3 - Shoji Meguro

     
    High School, Teenagers, and Pop Music is usually a recipe for disaster but holy shit does Persona 3 subvert and completely curb stomp that trope. Persona 3 has the kind of music you either be walking around school too, driving to, or just use to sit down and chill. Some of my favorite songs here are Mass Destruction, Burn My Dread, I Want to Be Close, Iwatodai Dorm, and
     
    5) No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle - Akira Yamaoka

     
    No More Heroes 2 was really something. The first game's soundtrack was already awesome, but the second game managed to top it in almost every way, while at the same time it manages to be as batshit insane as the game itself.
    . Other great songs include , , , and  
    4) Super Smash Bros Series - Various Composers

     
    Yes I'm putting the entire series into this category as they usually bring back 90% of the soundtracks from the previous games into the next one. In short, if your a Nintendo fan(and Nintendo makes fantastic music), then you better make sure you have this in your music device, as it has a plethora of music from nearly every single Nintendo franchise(including some third parties like Sonic, Pac-Man, Megaman, and Metal Gear). Too many favorites to choose from, but some from the top of my head are Fountain of
    , , , , , , , Gerudo Valley(Smash 4), and  
    3) Metal Gear Solid - TAPPY

     
    There's something about the heavy sound of MGS's soundtrack that makes it so memorable for me. Every theme fits its scenario to a tee, from the slower sneaking parts to the adrenaline pumping fighting moments. And boy songs like
    , , , , , , and of course the game's  
    2) Final Fantasy VIII - Nobou Uematsu

     
    It was hard for me to pick which Final Fantasy OST should go over here, but if I had to pick just ONE OST to stick with forever, I would definitely go with Final Fantasy VIII. Seriously it's hard to beat a first impression like
    . To go along with it, I'd consider the game's boss theme, , to be the best one ever. And lets not forget , , , , , , , , and . Regardless of your feelings towards the game, the game has an amazing soundtrack, and honestly, if your not even gonna give its OST props, then you are, quite frankly, fucking insane. 
    1) Megaman X - Capcom Sound Team
     

     
    Kinda feels weird to give to the No.1 spot to a 16-bit game after praising the hole bejeebus out of fully orchestrated OSTs. It may be my love for rock music. Megaman X is not only my favorite game OST, it's my favorite OST ever, which is saying a lot considering Juggernauts like Star Wars and Disney movies. Nearly every single song in this game I find memorable and has a place in my heart.
    , , , , , , , ...Jesus the list goes on. Hell even the . All of the soundtracks above I hold in such high regard, but Megaman X has the biggest spot in my heart
  8. Megas
    For how long The Simpsons has ran on TV, you'd expect them to churn out a bunch of games. And they did, and unfortunately, and unsurprisingly, a lot of them turned out to be crap, with only a small handful of games worth trying. The Simpsons Hit & Run is part of that weird era from 2000-2007 where they try to parody what ever was popular at the time before going all out with The Simpsons Game. We had Simpsons Wrestling(an awful parody of Wrestling games), Simpsons Skateboarding(an awful parody of Tony Hawk games), Simpsons Road Rage(a so-so, blatantly plagiarized version of Crazy Taxi), and then there's this game, The Simpsons Hit & Run, which is a parody of the Grand Theft Auto series. However, this time around, unlike the previously mentioned games, Hit & Run copies all of the right things about GTA and makes for a very fun experience.
     

     
    Simpsosn Hit & Run(2003)
    Developed by Radical Entertainment, published by Vivendi Universal
    For PS2/Xbox/Gamecube/PC
     
    Story

     
    A new flavor of Buzz Cola is introduced into Springfield, advertised by Krusty the Klown, and becomes the hot new thing in Springfield, however, as the story progresses, it becomes more apparent that the Cola has a dark secret. Meanwhile strange Black Vans(which turn out to be bogus), and Wasp-Surveillance Cameras(which are legit) begin showing up around town. The story revolves around the Simpsons family and Apu where they must uncover the secrets of the new Buzz Cola.
     
    Story is fun to follow and does a good service to the Simpsons franchise, as the story was penned by the show's writers themselves. The writing is funny and the casts consists of most of the show's favorites. Also Mr. Burns isn't the villain in this, which is a very huge plus, in fact, he becomes crucial to saving the town later on.
     
    The game consists of 7 levels, each with 8 missions. Each level has it's own story to follow while also adding to the game's overall plot as more is shown as the game progresses.
     
    Gameplay

     
    As said earlier, the game is a parody of the Grand Theft Auto series, just without all of the violence. However, that does not mean the game isn't fun to play. On the contrary it's a blast. Each level is a sandbox of a certain area of Springfield each full of tons of things to do, whether it be exploring, doing missions, finding collectibles, or racing. The game also has a ton of cars that we've seen in the show and a few that are exclusive to the game, each of them having certain stats that make them useful in certain missions and situations, and the driving mechanics work very well this time around(as opposed to Road Rage). You can also repair your vehicles whenever it's damaged. Destroying your vehicles also causes you to lose coins, but only about 10 every time. One annoying thing about the game, and this goes for both ground and driving sections, is that the camera can be pretty cumbersome, most of the time it's fine, but there are some areas in the game where the camera loves to hang in the worst angle and not let you adjust.
     
    The maps usually have tons of things to do, such as looking for 7 collectible cards, which unlocks a multiplayer race for each level(these aren't very fun). Collecting all of them in the entire game unlocks an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon, which is pretty funny. Each card is actually cleverly hidden and is usually in a place the card is relevant to. Bonus missions has you helping a character do some sort of task for them and finishing the mission unlocks a new car for you to use. Two other ways to get new cars is buying them either from Ol' Gil or a certain character that you can buy them from(as these are usually required). The other is by doing races, where you must take part of a race and win, which usually include the Checkpoint Race(ran by Ralph Wiggum), the Circuit Race(ran by Nelson), and the Time Trial(ran by Milhouse), and winning these unlocks a new car, which is usually the best car to use in the level. There's also a 4th race, the Wager Race, which usually involves you putting in some coins to bet on, and if you can win the race, your prize is usually double of what you bet. There's also costumes to buy, which we've seen the characters wear in the show, which includes Donut Head Homer, Officer Marge, Cool Lisa, Bartman, and so on. Gags are also scattered throughout each level, and gags are usually references to items we've seen in the show. And lastly, there are the wasp cameras, 20 of these are usually scattered through each town, and it isn't much fun, as some of them require you to go out of your way to find them. It's not too hard, but difficult enough to 100% the game, but it's usually worth it as doing so allows you to use the "all car cheat", which allows you to use every single vehicle in the game, including a few story cars that normally aren't able to use. Lastly there's the Hit & Run meter, which usually fills up when ever you do felonies, like destroying property, hitting other people/cars, and etc. Filling it up completely will get the cops after you, though it's of little consequence. The worst you get is a 50 Coin fine(which isn't much considering how easy they are to get), and maybe make you restart your mission because it messed you up.
     
    There are several types of missions in this game, ranging from racing, collecting items, reaching an area within a time frame, destroying other cars, avoiding enemy cars, and etc. Some missions like to mix these objectives to allow for more variety. The only issue with these is that most of these missions are timed, which may be annoying for some, and at times can be frustrating, but the missions are doable within the given timeframe. Some missions may require you to use a certain vehicle or outfit to use, giving them some importance to the game. Also, much like Road Rage, you can skip missions if you fail them enough. Unlike that game however, you can't skip important missions and skipped missions aren't counted as completed
     
    Graphics

     
    The town of Springfield is well crafted in the 3D world. Tons of recognizable locations in the Simpsons are faithfully recreated in the game, and very hidden details and references to the show are scattered throughout each level and are plentiful, fans can recognize them very well and says a lot about the game's detail. However, the character models can be a bit off-putting, though not terrible like past Simpsons games like Road Rage and Skateboarding, as well as the game's beta build. This, like most other cartoons inspired games, though could probably benefit more from a bit of cel-shading like The Simpsons Game(2007) did, which is still the best looking game in the series.
     
    Sound/Music
     




     
    No cheap imitations here, every character in the game is voiced by their respective voice actors, and unsurprisingly the do a great job at it. There's a ton of great dialogue in this game as opposed to Road Rage which relied mostly on unfunny one-liners, and some of the one-liners here usually generate a good laugh. The game also boasts a great soundtrack, and one I feel doesn't get enough love. Each character has music that fit's them, like Homer usually gets the traditional Simpsons style music plus a big tuba, Bart's levels have a bigger emphasis on rock music, Lisa is Jazz, Marge is classy and Apu is Indian. The overall OST is much more memorable than Road Rage's and is one of my personal favorites.
     
    Overall
    +Great controls
    +Springfield
    +Variety
    +Great music
    +References galore
    +Fun Story and characters
    -Time limit can be frustrating
    -Wasp Cameras
    -Character models are a bit off-putting
    -Annoying camera in places
     
    This is one of the best Simpsons games, best cartoon-licensed games, and one of the better GTA clones out there. This is a game I can recommend easily to both fans and non fans alike. It's a little on the pricey side as there's been more demand for it, though it's usually around $20, but it's definitely worth it
  9. Megas
    Bored today, so here's another random top 10, this time about video game character themes. By the way, clicking the picture will bring you to the song
     
    10) Theme of Cecil - The Red Wings(Final Fantasy IV)

     
    Best theme song for second best Final Fantasy Hero
     
    9) Philistine - Margaret Moonlight(No More Heroes 2)

     
    It's not everyday there's a villain song that actively rips on you while you fight them
     
    8) Star Wolf - Starfox Assault

    This song's had many arrangements, but I still think Assault's is the best
     
    7) Ken's theme - Street Fighter II
     

     
    This song never fails to put me in an ass kicking mood
     
    6) Guile's theme - Street Fighter II

     
    This one too, but with more America
     
    5) Captain America - Marvel Vs Capcom

     
    But this right here is as American as you can get
     
    4)Terry Bogard - 11th Street(Fatal Fury Wild Ambition)

     
    A good song succeeds when it's both great to kick ass too and to chill out too
     
    3) Zero - Megaman X4

     
    Can't have a list of character themes without one of Zero's million themes. Personally X4's takes the cake
     
    2) Psycho Mantis - Mantis's Hymn(Metal Gear Solid)

     
    Haunting and Iconic. This one also gets a nifty boss theme in Twin Snakes
     
    1) Godot - Fragrance of Dark Coffee - Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations

    C'mon did you expect me to put anyone else at No. 1?
     
    Honorable Mentions:















     
    And billions more I undoubtedly missed
  10. Megas
    The Starfox franchise is no stranger to experimentation, with the original SNES game bringing 3D polygons, Starfox 64 introduced rumble with the Rumble Pak, and even experimented within it's own series, some with drastic changes(like Adventures), and some feeling close to what we expect from the series(Assault), with Starfox Command kind of in the middle, as while it does do somethings similar yet different compared to more traditional games in the series
     

     
    One thing the game does in terms of the series roots is a return to a purely air-based combat, but at the same time it does a different take on it. Instead of arcade style on-rail shooter, the game takes a tactical approach where you where you are given a number of turns(which you can get more by destroying enemy bases) give a select number of characters(up to 4) a path you set towards enemies, enemy missiles, and capture enemy bases, and engaging in quick all-range dogfights defeating enemies and gaining enemy cores, or you engage in destroying missles by following beacons until you are close enough to shoot them down, and with enemy bases, you can destroy enemies to get a chance to destroy the mothership by following beacons and destroying the mothership by barrol rolling into it...seriously. It's also worth noting that a lot of the game's inspiration comes from the cancelled Starfox 2.
     
    For the most part the game can be fun if you can get past some annoying drawbacks. For starters, the game is entirely controlled with the DS touchscreen, including Barrel Rolls by drawing circles on the touchscreen, dragging smart bombs, u-turns, and somersaults via buttons on the screen, which for game like Starfox can be a pretty big pain in the ass at first. I remember when I first played the game I was really turned off by the touchscreen controls to the point where I was put off the game for a month until I decided to give the game another chance, and played it enough to where I was able to play the game easily and enjoy. While I did ultimately get used to the controls, I feel it would've been a better idea to allow control with the d-pad, as I felt playing the game with the touchscreen in general would turn off the people who wasn't a fan of the touchscreen.
     
    One other annoying mechanic is the time limit(ala fuel) given to players for each time they fight, and are shared with all characters and goes into boss fights as well, though you can gain more fuel cells to increase your time limit, and deflecting projectiles can also increase your time limit. Once you get used to it, it's not as big of a deal, but when you start playing for the first time, it can be a huge turn off.
     
    Boss fights are also pretty fun, one of which even features a fight with F-Zero's Octoman
     

     
    The game doesn't really look to bad either, the in game graphics are exactly what you expect from a DS Starfox game. The character designs are serviceable, though for some reason they thought it was a good idea to have almost every female pink
    Funny enough the girl that was pink in the past is now grey(I feel like I'm in the minority that prefer's Katt's new design)

     
    A big change from this game was a bigger emphasis on the story. In the past games, the stories were, while enjoyable, were really just basic, simple, and typical things you'd expect from their games, while the game's main draw was the engaging gameplay. Starfox Command however decided to take a new approach and try to get you more engaged with the characters and the plot. All of this would normally be all fine and good...if it wasn't for how over-dramatic and serious the game takes itself and with how the characters act; the game feels like a really bad space soap-opera with furries(or Gundam SEED with furries)
     
    Basically bad fanfiction
     

     
    The game starts off with the Starfox team disbanding, with Peppy becoming the new Cornerian Army general after Pepper falls ill, Slippy staying with his girlfriend, Falco leaving to go solo, leaving Fox, Krystal and ROB. Sometime however, Fox ultimately decides to give Krystal the boot for her safety(urrrggghhhh...). Meanwhile a new army arises from the seas of Venom, the Anglar army, with it's emperor planning on taking over the Lylat System. Meanwhile, Starwolf becomes wanted criminals with high bounties on their heads
     

     
    As far as the characters go...ummm....well....well Slippy and Peppy mostly went in and out unscathed. If anything they're probably the only characters that really benefited from the game's narrative. As for the rest, Falco, even though he doesn't feel much different from what he's been in the past, does have his own fair share of bullshit moments. Fox and Krystal, however, were beaten over the heads with the stupid drama hammer. Throughout most of the game, Fox is an emotional wreck often begging on his knees for Krystal to forgive him.
    Speaking of which, let's talk about Krystal for a minute. Krystal is mean in this game, often giving Fox verbal thrashings, and even driving Slippy to tears at some points. She also joins Star Wolf and begins dating Panther just to spite Fox. I get that people can become bitter when someone breaks their hearts at points in their lives, but Jesus Christ girl. Another issue I have with this is that it further establishes the stigma that she's Fox's girl, and that's really about it, which was an unfortunate trait she's had since Assault. But one thing I will say it did that Assault failed at was giving a few small touches such as her apparently being close to Peppy and his daughter Lucy(I'll talk about her later), as well as
     
     
     
     
    Anyway back to the rest, Star Wolf is...not as entertaining as they have been in the past. Leon, again, just feels like he's their to be his right-handed man, Wolf rather than a rival/anti-hero comes off as an honorable foe, which isn't bad, but it's still a little lame. Panther picked up a new habit of taking in third person, and it is really fucking stupid, anything he tries to say menacing just comes off as laughably bad with his third person. Katt and Bill from Starfox 64 also return, and are mostly unchanged, though Katt also ghas her share of Bullshit drama as well. Several new characters are introduced as well, Amanda(Slippy's Girlfriend), Lucy Hare(Peppy's daughter and Krystal's supposed best friend), and Dash Bowman(another one of Andross's nephews, though unlike Andrew, he dislike his uncle) and while they aren't the greatest, I did fairly enjoy them, and would be a little disappointed if they were left out of the next game(though I could do without Amanda honestly)
     

     
    One of the benefits of having plenty of characters though is that you get to control all of them. Unlike previous games which mostly had you control Fox(unless you were playing multiplayer), you get to take control of several of the game's characters(including James McCloud!), each with their own unique ships and statistics.
     
    One of the game's best features, something that's been missing since Adventures and Assault, was the return of branching paths and several alternate endings. Depending on what decisions you make throughout the game, you can change the story and the outcome which will give you access to 9 different endings, each different from one another. While whether any of them are any good is subjective, it does give the game high replayability(as some paths are more enjoyable than others)
     
     
    There's no more multiplayer. Nintendo nuked it
     
    FINAL VERDICT: I personally thought the game was really fun, in spite of the learning curve and the shitty story, and I did managed to find a few endings that I liked(thought they're all neutral because I'm boring like that). I do think there is something here if you can get passed the touchscreen controls, poor story and well...questionable art direction
  11. Megas
    If anyone has been following me in the past few weeks you'd know that I haven't been very fond of Season 6 as a whole, and while I can't say it was a total loss, as it still delivered on a few things, and had plenty of good episodes, but after giving it much thought though, my feelings towards it still haven't changed, in fact my feelings have actually worsened, and if I was suddenly allowed to live in a universe where S6 didn't exist I wouldn't miss it at all. This is the worst I've ever felt watching the show, with me becoming more critical with it, leaving it in a distant last compared to the rest of the show, EQG included(and considering I'm usually really lenient on the show, I don't feel this is a good thing), and this isn't a feeling I want to have when I watch this,
     
    I feel like this is something I need to get off my chest, just finally dump my thoughts on S6 as a whole. I don't want to sound like a complete Negative Nancy, so I'll list things S6 got right, things that I do hope continue on into S7, but ultimately, this will be pretty negative. If you liked S6 that's cool, don't take this as a personal attack, just see as this might be a reason why some may not like S6, as I do feel I'm not alone in some of these thoughts
     
    THE GOOD
     
    1) Spike and Fluttershy finally get their due
     


    Very happy for them and you should be too


     

    For the longest time, people have been having lots of issues with these two, due either their stagnation or how they've been treated in the past. Spike's episodes have had a long history of being some of the most criticized episodes in the show, with season 5 not only giving him only one episode, but his worst by far, and Fluttershy never growing passed her shyness, getting to the point where it feels like that's all there is to the character(and having as little screentime as possible didn't exactly help). So the great pony gods in the sky smiled the days Spike and Fluttershy finally got their due. Spike's episodes in Season 6 are not only some of the best episodes he's ever gotten, they are some of the best in the show and while Fluttershy still could've benefitted from more screen time, almost any episode that had her as a major role she was on fire this season(well, except for 28 Pranks Later, but more on that later).This season is definitely what they needed and I hope they continue to have this momentum going forward
     
    2) A great season for guys
     


    Drinks are on me


     

    This was a great season for the male characters. Besides for the aforementioned Spike, Discord's made a great recovery from the debacle that is What About Discord, as he was in top form in both Dungeons and Discords and To Where And Back Again(one of that episode's few highlights), Big Mac got some good expansion too, with deeper look into his nerdier side. Plenty of the new males introduced were great as well, Sunburst is adorable, Quibble is hilarious, the Flim Flam Brothers aren't redeemed and are still slimy con men(thank God!) and Thorax is one of the best support characters introduced yet. Of course it isn't perfect(I'll talk more about him later), but otherwise it was one of the better portrayal of male characters this season
     
    3) The Map gives better episodes
     


    "I still don't know my purpose, but the least I can do is shit out better episodes"


     

    There are still many problems with the Cutie map's existence, but it's output this season far surpasses that of S5's. While I still maintain that "Lost Treasure of Griffonstone" is still the best Map episode, as well as one of the series best, Made in Manehattan and Hoofields and McColts are on the opposite end of the spectrum, MIM is one of the most boring episodes the show has made and HAM manages to be both boring and awful, doing a disservice to it's focus characters and giving us some of the worst side characters ever. Meanwhile S6's Viva Las Pegasus and Top Bolt are also some of the best the show's given, putting their focus characters at their best(and giving Griffonstone a run for its money) and despite notable problems with Spice Up Your Life(notably its portrayal of Rarity), there was definitely a lot more heart and effort put into it compared to HAM and MIM, as everything else apart from that one flaw everything else was great.
     
    4) A Potentially bright future for Equestria Girls
     


    "In the name of Equestria, we will punish you!"


     

    I dunno if it belongs here since it's technically not part of S6, but was worked on around the same time.
     
    Before Legends of Everfree, it seems like the series didn't quite know what it wanted to be. While certain tropes played up to being some sort of Magical Girls spin-off(akin to Sailor Moon), it was pretty obvious there were more tropes gravitating it towards something similar to Monster High, and while this certainly isn't a bad thing(I actually enjoy this series), it does create a certain conflict of identity for it. However, with LOE, with it focusing heavily on the girl's newfound powers, it seems like they've decided to go more towards the Magical Girl route, the the glee of many. While I can't say LoE, while a solid movie, was better than Rainbow Rocks, especially with it feeling more like a pilot than a movie/special, I can say that it feels like the series finally knows what it wants to be, and with the next installments of Equestria Girls being split into 3 22-minute long specials, it feels like they're beginning to test the waters into its own series, and finally try to stand out on its own. EQG will probably stick around for a while, especially with the immense popularity of Sunset Shimmer, but Hope Shines Eternal for this spin-off, and I've probably lost a few readers for that pun
     
    Unfortunately this is all I can really say about the positives about S6, if there were some I missed feel free to include them
     
    Negatives
     
    1) The Old Blood pulling the weight
     


    "Corey I'm sorry we all yelled at you over Rainbow Falls, please come back....no seriously I miss you."


     

    As with many long running shows, it's only natural for writers to come and go, but what worries people is if they new people coming are up to snuff. This season saw some of the biggest influx of new writers since S4, but unfortunately a lot of them weren't pulling their own weight, and a lot of them pulled out some of the weakest the show's had to offer, either by being really boring, or setting whatever character they focused on so far back. It's also worth noting that with the exception of Dave Polsky(who...honestly isn't exactly a high point) all the writers who've been with the show has since departed. Many of the show's best episodes are from people who've been around for since Season 4 at least, with the likes of Josh Haber, Nick Confalone, and Songco&Lewis, and speaking of which, Josh took up the role as story editor from MA Larson and Meghan McCarthy, and while, he can write his own stories fine, for a guy who was with the show for a while, it's amazing he let some of the crap through. As far as new writers go, the best one was easily the duo of Burke&Wyatt, who delivered the excellent Times Are A Changeling and Viva Las Pegasus. The next best new writers were Jessica Skelly(Buckball Season) and Mike Vogel(Hearth's Warming Tale, Stranger Than Fan Fiction, and also worth mentioning that he's been with the show for a while, since S1, but he was Hasbro's VP of marketing at the time, S6 was his first time writing), and even then they have their own set of problems, with the former needing work on her dialogue and the latter suffering from similar problems with McCarthy, in that while he can write great small/SoL episodes, his work on major developmental episodes (Every Little Thing She Does)and finales are his Achille's heel(also his portrayal of Rarity needs to be called out on). And then there's the next batch of new writers, The Fox Brothers, Dave Rapp, and FM D.Marco, who have quickly become some of the fandom's most disliked writers within recent memory. It really feels like a lot of these guys didn't do any homework when they came on, which plagued a lot of episodes this season
     
    2) Worst season for about half the mane cast
     


    Screw picking one, hug all 3, they really need it


     

    It was easily the best for Spike and Fluttershy, but was problematic for a lot of the cast, but for 3 certain ponies, it was easily their worst showing by far.
     
    For Twilight, this season she was given a similar role she had in Rainbow Rocks, in that she was supposed to be a teacher for Starlight Glimmer, and guiding her on her quest for finding friendship. However, this seemed to have an opposite effect on her role in Rainbow Rocks, as she's shown to be a very ineffective teacher, constantly paranoid over her student, not trusting those she's forgiven in the past, and her lessons having little effect on Starlight(but apparently we're supposed to assume that they worked by the finale). There's also the fact that a lot of her roles didn't play up most of her strengths and just left her pretty boring. It wasn't until Top Bolt where she really got to shine...which was the penultimate episode of the season. Also, despite showing her try to do a lot for Starlight, she still chooses Trixie over her. She might as well been given been given a giant middle finger,
     
    Next we have Rainbow Dash, whom I'm convinced the writers were deliberately treating like garbage for some undisclosed hate and punishing anyone who was invested in the character(I'm sure someone's gonna call me out as a butthurt fanboy for that, calling it now). Reasons why I feel this why is because while she had some more good appearances than the other two ponies here, is simply because of the mere existence of two of her solo focus episodes this season(that I'll touch on later, you sure as well know which ones I'm talking about), the circumstances around them, and how anyone in the staff allowed them to get passed brainstorming is absolutely baffling
     
    And lastly there's Applejack who's arguably had it the worst of the 3, had easily her worst season, as the first two thirds of the season had her at her absolute worst out of any season, between her stupidity in AJ's Day Off, or her hostility toward's Applebloom in The Cart Before the Ponies, and her idiocy in PPOV(As much as I loved Rarity's depiction of Pirate AJ, it can't save the episode), it took her until BUCKBALL SEASON to actually have a decent appearance, which is about 3/4ths into the season, and she was still great in Viva Las Pegasus and Where the Apple Lies, but overall it was just a really bad time for AJ
     
    3) Newbie Dash - The Ultimate "Fuck You" of a milestone episode
     
    A poster child of how NOT to write a milestone episode. 1) Give it to a new writer, 2) Make sure the new writer knows fuck all about the show, 3) Make sure every past development of a character's arc is forgotten completely and fuck over your audience completely for having any sort of of investment of the character and mocking them for it.
     
    Rainbow Dash's Wonderbolt arc was the show's earliest arc in the series, dating back to the very first episode. As the show progressed we've seen her slowly, but surely get closer to her goal, and despite a few bumps(namely the portrayal of the Wonderbolts) on the road, this arc has given some of the show's best and most beloved episodes such as Sonic Rainboom, Wonderbolts Academy, Testing Testing, 1-2-3, and Rarity Investigates. With Rarity, Twilight, and the CMC, not only receiving very much beloved conclusions to their arc, but also starting a new chapter for their characters, it was only natural for Rainbow Dash to receive her due. However, unlike those three, which capped everything off in a spectacular fashion befitting for their characters, putting every bit of effort the writers could, NEWBIE DASH does absolutely everything in its power to completely mock anyone expecting at least some satisfying climax. In the cold opening, the audience is suddenly told Rainbow becomes a Wonderbolt, no big feat accomplished, no big celebration, no nothing, just heads straight to the opening. Right off the bat you can tell the writers gave absolutely fuck all about this episode, and it only gets worse from there. The rest of the episode spends its entire runtime of making a character we're supposed to be happy for make a complete mockery of herself through and through, constantly humiliating her while having her dealing with a nickname that haunted her since her childhood, with her idols now teammates, the Wonderbolts coming off as real bullies and never once wondering what was wrong with her unusual unperformance. The cream of the crop, is when she's finally at her absolute lowest, instead of giving her a chance to climb back up, they somehow manage to bring her down further. Strike one - Her plan to "look cool for the Wonderbolt" includes an incredibly reckless stunt that would've her gotten her kicked out - Goes against everything she learned in Wonderbolts Academy. Strike 2 - Rainbow Dash suddenly doesn't know she's supposed to cross the road(because suddenly the writers decide now to make this a problem), and she isn't aware of her surroundings - Goes against everything we know about TT123. Strike 3 - Suddenly she doesn't know how to work with a team, has issues flying with the Bolts, suddenly cares more about herself than them - Goes against everything we know in Wonderbolts Academy and Rarity Investigates. All of this over a nickname. All of this constant humiliation. And what does the episode conclude with? "This is normal for us". Which comes dangerously close to "Hazing is OK". I'm positive that this moral wasn't intended to be interpreted like that, but it's still amazing that no one in the writing staff saw this. And what was all this for? That impersonation scene.
     
    The fact that anyone there thought this was a great way to end an arc is outright infuriating to me. Whereas other characters were celebrated for their achievements, for this the writers might as well be pointing their fingers and laughing at the audience going "HAHAHA LOOK AT YOU, YOU ACTUALLY THOUGHT SHE ACCOMPLISHED SOMETHING, YOU FUCKING WASTED YOUR TIME!"
     
    "BUT MEGAS, SHE NEEDED A REALITY CHECK!" Fuck off, if you seriously think that the best way to complete a character's milestone, their biggest achievement, is to humiliate them every chance you get and make a complete mockery of their accomplishment, then it is you who needs a reality check, Storytelling doesn't work that way
     
    Six years of character development, six years of investment, six years of time, thrown out the window complete for the sake of a stupid fucking joke. It's amazing I didn't quit from there. There's been lots of bad episodes in the past, but considering all of the circumstances surrounding this one, this episode is the only I've ever felt that warrants a fucking apology.
     
    Instead they shit out 28 Pranks Later
     
    4) Insult to Injury - 28 Fucking Pranks Later
     





    Skip this shitty ep, watch a better Zombie parody, have an ice cold pint, and wait for this to all blow over


     

    As if that wasn't enough, they went ahead with this. When the synopsis was first revealed, a ton of people first thoughts were "The Mysterious Mare Do Well 2 Electric Scootaloo". It's not a good sign when everyone's first thoughts were towards one of the show's most hated episodes ever. Of course it doesn't necessarily mean much, everyone thought Gauntlet of Fire was gonna be a retread of Dragon Quest, another wildly unpopular episode, however that episode managed to address a lot of that episode's problems and delivered a much more satisfying episode, so many were giving this episode the benefit of the doubt. Of course the exact opposite actually happened, and the episode turned out to be what many feared. Not only did the writers not learn anything at all, they in fact shit out an even worse episode. Instead of addressing MMDW's problems, they instead thought the best way to fix the episode was to make Rainbow Dash act even shittier, regressing her as far back as the beginning, so they can try to justify bludgeoning Rainbow Dash over the head with a proverbial sledgehammer, which was more transparent than a Roman Reigns push. And what was this for again? To dick ride off the zombie hype train. Again, I hope you guys thought it was worth it.
     
    To this day, it's the only episode I've ever filtered from Derpibooru
     
    5) Fucking Zephyr Breeze
     


    Really wished this actually happened


     

    It's amazing how unlikable this guy is. When they said this guy was hate-able, they weren't kidding, as he's managed to top Sven Gallop and Spoiled Rotten as some of the most unlikable character in the show. Which wouldn't be so bad....if they didn't expect us to root for him the whole time. The episode, Flutter Brutter, this character spends being a lazy cock, wrecking his parents things, and not putting every effort to anything, then the episode throws suddenly a sob story about how he can never live up to his sister and we have to feel sorry for him. Besides the fact that they did this much better with Big Mac in Brotherhooves Social, the episode suddenly expects us to root for him when he spends the entire time being one of the most unlikable d-bags in history. For an episode that does everything else right, Zephyr himself is the definition of make or break.
     
    6) Rarity Out the Ass
     

     
    I've always felt that there's always been a bias towards Rarity among the staff, and it's not hard to see why, they've made a fantastic character based off a wildly disliked trope(she's even my third favorite character in the entire show), but I was always bothered by some of the favoritism she's received. For example, she's the only character that's actually had an entire episode, Spike at Your Service, changed because the writers didn't like how she acted in it, and considering how awful they've let other characters act, that says something(also, that was a Spike episode, the episode was changed for Rarity, not Spike, who remained a bumbling buffoon. Let that sink in). This season displayed some of the worst character bias since the early start of the comics, with Rarity making a major appearance in a majority of the first half's episode, either as a main character or a major supporting character, and even in the second half there were still episodes where she had a major role. It didn't take too long until people got really sick of her, especially since other characters were severely lacking either in character development and/or screen time, especially Pinkie, Fluttershy, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Celestia, to name a few
     
    "But Megas! Why are you picking on Rarity?! Rainbow Dash got THREE solo episodes! THREE!!!! I have to emphasize on THREE!!!"
     
    And so many people were really fucking happy for that, one's a giant middle finger of a milestone and the other is a shittier rehash of her worst episode. There's definitely a character bias, but it sure as hell isn't for Rainbow Dash
     
    7) Reforming an entire fucking species
     
    By the time Starlight was reformed everyone was more or less sick of villains being redeemed, as there's been a ton of them happening at that point. It got to the point where everyone became wary of when a recurring villain showed up they would be redeemed. Flim Flam return? Redeemed?!(thankfully they didn't). Then Chrysalis was confirmed to return, people were afraid they'd redeem her, and thankfully they didn't. Instead they managed to top that, and redeemed the entire changeling army, which, quite frankly, is an absolute steaming load of diarrhea. Besides being completely implausible(a few siding with Thorax is fine, but the entire race? Come the fuck on, somebody had to say no!), they gave them some of the worst redesigns ever
     
    8) You saw this coming - Starlight Glimmer
     

     
    Time to address the big elephant in the room, Starlight Glimmer. Ever since her redemption made her a reoccurring character, she's been one of the most highly controversial things in the show arguably since Twilight's ascension, mainly due to the divisive nature of the character's redemption. S6 was their chance to get people warming up to her(which admittedly it started well off early on), but instead managed to make her even more divisive.
     
    1) The show is seriously bending over backwards for her. A point people have been making a point about how easy she got off for her actions in the S5 finale, but the show intended on believing she's willing to learn from her mistakes, yet when she made more massive mistakes, she's given more slaps on the wrists. At some point it feels like she can do what ever she wants and show just bends over backwards to her
     
    2) She never faces the consequences of her actions, and everything is handed to her on a silver platter. I'm not saying she should get death or get thrown in jail, that's not what the show is about. But facing the consequences of her actions is how you make a believable redemption, so it feels like everything she accomplishes and goes above is earned. Instead she receives instant forgiveness, everyone is willing to be friends with her and immediately becomes Twilight's student. But not having earned any of it
     
    Oh and they pull they same shit again, same exact results
     
    3) She's hardly around yet the show wants us to assume she's grown. She's missed many major events that could've included her but they decided to leave her out
     
    4) She barely hangs out with the remane 5 yet, the show wants us to assume she's best friends with them. Despite this she doesn't feel like she's friends with them at all. She's barely around and misses major appearances like Rarity opening another boutique or Dash becoming a Wonderbolt, and such. When she finally gets a chance to hang out with them, first thing she does is mind control them
     
    5) She's barely shown change, but the show wants us to assume she did. When it seems like she's going somewhere with No Second Prances(as poor as that episode was) the writers shit out Every Little Thing She Does, where she finally hangs out with the remane 5 only to mind control them as mentioned above
     
    "But Megas! Twilight mind controlled Ponyville in Lesson Zero! UNFAIR DOUBLE STANDARD!"
     
    First off, different scenarions
     
    Second Twilight was going mental, absolutely desperate, and was at her absolute lowest point in the episode when she did that
    Starlight first idea was to use mind control them. Why? Because she couldn't have been assed to actually try to be friends with them and just wanted to make her life easier
     
    And again, same bullshit happens, a slap on the wrist a quick "I'm sorry" and another bullshit montage
     
    6) She drags Twilight down, makes her look like an ineffective teacher only to get fucked over. This was probably meant to start a new arc for Twilight giving her a mentor role, but as we've seen it's done her no favors. In No Second Prances we constant see her go crazy over Starlight and Trixie the point of ending their friendship by mistake. Then there's ELTSD, all the mind control bs happens, and the first thing she does is praise her magic, but tells her what she did was the wrong way. Instead another slap in the wrist. Of course, as ineffective as she was we still see her try to do a lot for Starlight....only for her to choose Trixie as her best friend in the finale. Might as well shove a middle finger in Twilight's face
     
    7) She gets to star in a finale the she honestly didn't earn. Said finale also needs to completely fuck over every major character without any reason or explanation? Why? Just to make Starlight look good
     
    _____________________________________________________________________________________________________
     
    Wow, that...4 for 8
     
    Yikes, and I did a lot more venting than I wanted
     
    Again these are personal feelings, and some I felt I really needed to get off my chest, if you agree or disagree, go ahead and comment....or don't your call
  12. Megas
    The Ace Attorney series by Capcom is one of the most surprising games I have ever played in my life. On paper it just sounds like an absolute bore: a game about a defense attorney defending their client when they're charged with murder. Doesn't sound like anything you can see working as a video game. Yet, leave it to Capcom to turn such a concept into a franchise full of charm, heart, humor and fantastic stories that is still going strong for over a decade. The first game in the series, Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney is actually an enhanced port of the GBA game of the same name that was made to utilize many of the DS's key features and was the first time the series was released outside of Japan. The series would eventually become popular enough to spawn 6 main titles and a few spin-offs.
     
    This review may contain a couple of spoilers, but I'll do my best to try to avoid them if I can
     
    GAMEPLAY:
     

     
    Gameplay is set into two parts and both are very simple to get. One takes place out of the courtroom where start out going to the Detention Center where you meet the guy that needs your defense and often tells you what happened when the murder took place. Then you begin investigating key areas such as the scene of the crime or areas the murderer/victim/police/witnesses have been and can talk to various people about what happened or what they might know. You also come across key evidence that will prove useful to the courtroom and can help your case. You can also examine places you've which can reveal new areas, evidence or clues on what the to next. You can also present items to other people and look at your court records and see the profiles of the people you've met or see the details of the items and evidence you have in your possession
     

     
    The second part of the gameplay involves the actual trial, where you go up against the prosecutor and prove your client innocent. When you start, you begin by hearing a witness's testimony and then cross-examine them, where you either press the witness to reveal more information of what they know, or you can present evidence that contradict's what the witness says, with some contradictions being harder to find than others. But be careful as presenting the wrong can result in a penalty, and five penalties will result in a game over. Other elements include looking at pictures to showing contradictions, or pointing out flaws in the witness's or prosecutions arguments.
     

    Story
     

     
    Obviously the main draw of the game, you play as newbie defense attorney Phoenix Wright and begin your career with the help of your mentor Mia Fey in five different cases throughout the game. The first case(The First Turnabout) is your usual tutorial case where you learn the basics of the game and defend your best friend Larry Butz(one of the series more prominent characters) who is accused of murdering his girlfriend. The second case(Turnabout Sisters) involves Mia's sister and the second main character in the game Maya Fey, who is accused of murdering Mia Fey. The second case also features many prominent characters in the series like Detective Dick Gumshoe and your and Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth. It also features one of the story's odder elements such as spirit channeling(which is how Mia Few still remains a prominent character through out the series). The third case(Turnabout Samurai) is...how you say...the "filler" case. You see in every game in the series there's always at least one case that really is just kind of...there...and more often than not it's usually a pain to get through. It involves the TV star, Will Powers, of the in-game children's show "The Steel Samurai" who is accused of killing the actor of the show's villain. The fourth case(Turnabout Goodbyes, arguably the game's best trials) involves Miles Edgeworth who is accused of killing a defense attorney from his past. This is also the case where you learn about why Phoenix and Miles chose their careers, the DL-6 Incident(a case from the past that's a big part of Edgeworth's backstory) as well as some more background on Mia and Maya, including their disgraced mother. The final case(Rise From the Ashes) is an all new story exclusive to the DS version of the game, which could serve as a sort of prequel to the fourth game in the series "Apollo Justice. It revolves around Ema Skye(one of AJ's main characters) who is trying to get Phoenix to defend her sister Lana Skye who is accused of murdering one of the police force's major detectives(don't worry it's not Gumshoe). This case also features a lot of the gameplay elements you see in AJ including finger-scanning, forensics, and looking at evidence in a 3D plane which allows you to see more detail.
     

     
    The game also has a large and colorful cast of characters. Phoenix himself is a very funny character that knows when to take his job seriously, while Mia serves as a great mentor for Phoenix who's and has her quirks as well. Maya Fey is an energetic girl with both a a spiritual connection to the supernatural and a love of hamburgers. Gumshoe is a hilariously incompetent goofball but still takes his job very seriously with one moment in the game where he becomes a straight up badass, Miles Edgeworth on the other hand is a pretty cold guy who doesn't care much for other people(though you'll understand him more after Turnabout Goodbyes). The rest of the cast such as the witnesses and the villains for each case range from pretty awesome(Larry Butz, Will Powers, Ema Skye) to downright infuriating(Lotta Hart, Wendy Oldbag, Sal Manella)
     
    Visuals

     
    The game has some nice visuals, backgrounds are very detail while making it easy for the most part to see oddities. But what everyone remembers the most are the in game sprites which are both very expressive and can be downright hilarious, especially when a character has their breakdown, they're often handled in some of the most hilarious and over the top ways possible. It's no wonder you see people use them on the internet all the time
     
    Sound
     

     
    The series has managed to create some of the most memorable, arguably even some to the most iconic sound design in the gaming industry. The series has become known for the over-the-top use of courtroom terms such as "OBJECTION", "HOLD IT!" and "TAKE THAT", as well as various soundbytes that are made when you call out the witnesses or the prosecutor. The soundtrack is also stellar with iconic tunes such as the famous "Cornered" theme or Phoenix's "Objection" theme that plays whenever you correctly point out a contradiction. The soundtrack also pumps out many other tracks that plays with your emotions, whether it be to get your adrenaline pumping, make you feel all happy inside, or tugging your heartstrings, the OST is easily one of the best out there
     

     

     
    OVERALL
    Phoenix Wright is a fantastic game that, despite an odd premise, manages to do everything wright. Strong Story, strong characters, charm and humor, it's easily one of the best games of its kind. It's a must-own for DS owners everywhere, and even if you don't have a DS you can still find the game on your iOS device or on the Wii's WiiWare shop. The best way to go is to get the AA on the 3DS eShop which has improved sprites and comes with the other two games in the original Ace Attorney Trilogy. But regardless of how you get it, Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney is a great game to experience
  13. Megas

    10 Gaming Easter Eggs

    By Megas,

    ATTACK OF THE CHICKENS(ZELDA)
     

    Starting with A Link to the Past, attack a chicken as much as you can and an entire army will get their revenge on you
     
     
    METAL GEAR-VANIA

     
    Have Castlevania Symphony of the Night on your PS1 memory card and he'll reveal the game on your memory card. This works with other Konami games including Azure Dreams, Suikoden, and Vandal Hearts. The Gamecube remake also brings this back, this time with Legend of Zelda Windwaker, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Smash Bros Melee, and Eternal Darkness
     
    CLOUD JOINS THE PARTY(FINAL FANTASY TACTICS)

     
    A sidequest that is activated after finding a certain Zodiac Stone, you can get Cloud from Final Fantasy Tactics to join your party, complete with most of his Limit Breaks from the game. The PSP remake of the game follows up on this by re-including Cloud, as well as Luso(FFTA2) and Balthier(FFXII)
     
    LINK AND SAMUS IN SUPER MARIO RPG
     

     
    Both Link and Samus make appearances in Super Mario RPG, sleeping in some inns before/after(respectively) facing battles with their foes
     
    BATTLE CUTMAN(MEGAMAN X8)

     
    If you have a save file of Megaman X Command Mission on your PS2 Memory Card, you can unlock a battle with Cut Man from Megaman 1
     
    STARFOX REPORTING FOR YOUR MASKS
     

     
    A line of masks in your inventory in Majora's Mask will appear to represent the Starfox crew+Pigma
     
    SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH THE G-DIFFUSER
     

     
    Appearing in F-Zero X, James McCloud in F-Zero is pretty much the same character from F-Zero. Since his appearance in F-Zero X, he's since become a staple
     
    ROOM OF GABEN(HALF-LIFE)
     

     
    The God among PC Gamers has his face plastered in a room in Half Life...which is kind of creepy
     
    RESIDENT GAMECUBE(RESIDENT EVIL REMAKE)
     

     
    In the Gamecube Remake of the original Resident Evil, the MO Disc Reader was changed to resemble the Gamecube(as a nod to the game's exclusivity). Unfortunately since the recent HD update of the game isn't available on any Nintendo consoles, the GC resemblance has been removed
     
    STARTING THE CONSOLE(NINTENDO GAMECUBE)
     

     
    Holding the Z Button with one Controller will make an alternate sound when starting up. Do it with all four controllers and you'll get another start up tune
  14. Megas
    Megaman Legends is a very interesting game. Before it every Megaman or Megaman X game had always been an 2D action, side-scrolling platformer. Megaman Legends, however, was a completely alien experience for fans; rather than running from one side to another on a 2D plane shooting every bad guy and taking on an army lead by madmen, you were instead put into a full 3D world exploring ruins and discovering treasure while making your way through mysterious robots and thwarting pirates. It was a wholly unique experience from the Megaman franchise at the time and since it's release it's developed quite a cult following, and today, it's finally made its way to the Playstation Network Store. How well does it hold up?
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

     
    The story takes plays several tmillenia into the Megaman timeline(though no prior knowledge is needed to play the game). You take control of a new incarnation of Megaman called Megaman Volnutt(who is also referred to sometimes as Megaman Trigger), a 14-year old digger who travels a world covered in water with his surrogate sister and Spotter Roll Casket, her grandfather Barrel Casket and a little robot monkey named Data. The game begins with Megaman escaping a ruin after successfully getting a refractor(which serves as both money, and an energy source in the game). After escaping, the groups ship (called the Flutter) has an engine failure and crashes into Kattelox Island, where they meet the locals and a small town up ahead to meet with the Mayor. During their stay there they venture through several ruins, meet antagonists(though not bad guys) the Bonnes, a lovably goofy family of pirates who tries to find all of the treasure they can at any cost, and they learn from exploring the island's ruins that it contains a dark and ominous secret.
     
    This is probably the first time since the original Megaman X where the story in a Megaman game is actually pretty fun and engaging. The build up to the game's climax is fun to follow through and the characters are the best. Megaman and his "family" all have some pretty fun quirks and are great to be around, as well as some of the Kattelox's residents. But the real stars are the Bonne Family, who are some of the funniest characters in the game, Tron is feisty and stubborn girl with some temper problems(who also totally has a crush on Volnutt), Teisel is her crazy, hot-headed older brother who emotions are all over the place(which leads to some hilarious moments) and Bon Bonne who is the youngest of the 3 siblings because he's literally a baby, and and yet can operate a giant robot(He is likely inspired by Baby Commando, a character in the Capcom beat-em-up Captain Commando). Then there's their henchmen(and the game's pseudo mascots) the Servebots who are absolutely adorable despite their incompetence. They're some of the best adorable yellow/blue henchmen out there(suck it Minions!)
     
    Also Wily makes an appearance, but as a normal boat salesman rather than a crazy scientist
     
    Gameplay
     

     
    As I said before, Megaman Legends is a much different experience from the traditional Megaman games. This is the first Megaman game that lets you experience the world in a 3D adventure game. As far as controls go, they work well. Movement and shooting work fine, and you can interact with different objects, sometimes they do nothing, sometimes they explain game mechanics or the story, and somethings, usually boxes, trash cans and treasure boxes, contain items. The shoulder buttons move the camera, and the R2 button allows for targeting enemies. One glaring issue however with the targeting is that you can't move while targeting enemies which can make it difficult for targeting enemies, and sometimes it's difficult to switch enemies when there are multiple ones at once. It's takes a while to get used to and simply becomes a minor inconvenience once you do, but I can see this turning off some new players. There are also some situations where some enemies can become unreasonably difficult and overwhelming to deal with at times, which can lead to a few cheap deaths, especially for newcomers.
     
    As for exploring, you can enter ruins and search for hidden items, treasures, buster parts and money(which can also be obtained along with health from defeating enemies) with some items being harder to find than others. Some ruins may have areas where you can't progress further until certain items are found(such as the Drill Arm or Jump Springs). Some items can be taken to Roll to be turned into buster parts, special items and special weapons. Buster parts can be used to upgrade the stats of your buster, which is your standard weapon and you can upgrade either your attack, energy(the amount of shots you can fire at one time, with 3 shots at the start, like every other Megaman game), range, and rapid fire and are completely unlimited. Special weapons are weapons that can be more efficient than your buster given the situation and are completely unique to each other, they range from machine busters, to rocket launchers, swords, vacuums(which is more useful than it sounds) with a laser being your strongest special weapon. Unlike your buster you have limited ammo for most of your weapons until your refill your weapon energy at the save point or have a Hyper Cartridge and you can upgrade your special weapons with money as well. You can also obtain Special items, some of which are either key items or items that improve your performance(such as Helmets, which protect you when you fall on your head, armor, jump springs, which improves jumping, and jet skates which allows you to move faster). Other items include energy canteens(refills health), chameleon net(which makes invisible and avoid enemy detection), Adapter Plug(which lets you equip more parts) and a shield repair(which lets repairs your shield when it gets too damaged). There are also various shops and vendors where you can buy more items, parts, increase your life gauge, energy canteen, etc. Items and parts can also be obtained by doing side quests, that can range from fun to annoying.
     
    Visuals

     
    Visuals are a bit of a mixed. They game is very polygonal, and definitely shows its age in a lot of areas. On the plus side, the world is very colorful, some areas such as the town, shops and ruins are very detailed, as well as some cameos here and there left by Capcom. Ruins are made to be very dark and mysterious with a draw distance that adds to their ominousness. The game also uses cutscenes played in game and was very anime-like(not quite cel-shaded though), it allowed for characters to give some very good facial expressions, which was pretty impressive, not to mention rare for a 3D game at the time(keep in mind, not even Metal Gear Solid or Ocarina of Time had that). The character models on the other hand could have used some more work,while the main characters looked fine for the most part(which is probably because they focused mostly on them) most background character models had some ridiculously massive limbs and normal towns people look pretty ugly(and not intentionally).
     
    Sound
     


     
    Music is quite different compared to most Megaman titles, but it's still a very impressive soundtrack. Memorable tracks the Apple Market theme that plays whenever you're in the main town or in the small shopping arcade in front of it, it's very relaxing and will put you in a shopping mood. Most of the ruin's music definitely add to their mystique, though the
    definitely gets bonus points for adding some suspense to it. And lets not for get the , or the Flutter vs the Gesellschaft, both of which are up there with Dr Wily's Castle and X Vs Zero as some of the best tunes in the franchise. 
    This is also one of the few Megaman games that doesn't have awful voice acting. They aren't anything special, but they get the job done pretty well. Some characters can come off as a bit hammy, but with some of them they work very well and fit the character perfectly(again, Tron and Teisel are easily the most memorable performances in the game)
     
    Also Megaman finally sounds like a boy
     
    Overall
     
    This game is an odd one. Visually it shows it's age, and I could see the shift in gameplay being a turnoff to some people, especially hardcore fans of traditional Megaman gameplay. But the controls still hold up well(despite targeting issues), and the story and characters are a blast to experience. For a new player it could be beaten in about 10 hours and beating it unlocks the Hard difficulty which allows for more replay value. Despite it's issues it's still a really fun game that I still say is very much worth giving a chance, especially now that it's on PSN(which means you won't have to donate an organ to buy the original PS1/N64 copy), though the best way to experience it is either on the PS1 or PS3 due to the lack buttons on the PSP/Vita, and because the N64 controller is seriously fucked.
  15. Megas
    When a game comes to a close, they often end with a final, satisfying challenge, often in the form of a boss fight, with the player using everything they learned to overcome it. Unfortunately even the best games can deliver a final boss the is completely underwhelming compared to everything else you've gone through throughout the game. Sometimes the ending can be satisfying enough for you to forgive it, but more often than not, the boss fight can sour your opinion of it.
     
    Just like every other list, this'll only have final bosses from games I've played
     
    10) Ganondorf(Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess)
     

     
    Even though I will always consider Twilight Princess one of my favorite installment in the franchise, even as far as my second favorite, I can't say the fight with Ganondorf was a highlight. Sure it had a lot to live up to with how great Windwaker and Ocarina of Time's fights were, but even then, surely they could've done better than give us a fight with what is essentially a beefed-up Darknut(which is a generic enemy in the game, let that sink in). Also his weakness is the fishing pole....no I'm serious, just swing it and he'll be distracted, giving you a chance to attack. Still as underwhelming as the boss is, at least that last tidbit can garner a good laugh.
     
    9) Bowser(Super Mario Sunshine)
     

     
    For a game that was fairly difficult, especially compared to other Mario games, this boss battle was surprisingly weak. In most other Mario games, you use different kinds of tactics against Bowser, such as using his own attacks against him, outsmarting him, sneaking up to him. Here you just go to the a certain point of the hot tub, shoot up with Rocket Fludd, and then smash the floor, all while avoiding easy to avoid projectiles. Also hearing Bowser with a voice is really weird.
     
    8) Hell Sigma(Megaman X6)

     
    Regardless of your opinions on Megaman X6, it's hard to deny that the game can get ridiculously hard. Yet no matter how much the game loved to crush your balls with a sledgehammer, one thing everyone can agree on is that the endboss is insultingly easy, especially if you're using Zero or the Shadow Armor. Hell any attacks that chain damage(like...the saber). You'll be done before you even realize it.
     
    At the very least it almost makes up for it by having one of the
     
    7) Necron(Final Fantasy IX)
     

     
    Nowadays you'd be hard pressed not to find a Final Fantasy fan who doesn't consider IX their favorite, and who could blame them? It was a return to classic Final Fantasy with a good story and fun characters.....yet it managed to deliver one of the lamest endbosses in the franchise. Would have been fine with just Kuja, but no they had to throw one more guy, as Necron appears literally out of nowhere. He's a fairly difficult boss, but you just got done getting thru Kuja, they guy you've been going after the entire game(who was already a difficult boss as is), now it just feels like a huge waste of time fighting someone who literally has absolutely no reason to appear. And I can only imagine how angry people would be if they lost to this guy.
     
    6) Tabuu(Super Smash Bros Brawl)

     
    Tabuu shares some similar problems Necron had; he shows up near the end of the game, and is supposedly the mastermind behind everything rather than the guy you've been going after most of the time, Master Hand and a plethora of Nintendo villains. What makes him worse is how absolutely boring and generic he looks and acts, which is criminal for a game with a cast of colorful and diverse characters. You know you suck when a floating hand has more life and personality than you. His fight is also nothing to write home about, aside from one desperation most of his attacks are fairly easy to dodge or don't do much damage.
     
    SSE had a lot of potential, but unfortunately it still needed a ton of improvements. Getting rid of this guy would be a good first step
     
    5) Abyss(Marvel Vs Capcom 2)

     
    Tabuu before Tabuu. Abyss was the first and only time a Vs Capcom title used an original character for a final boss. Normally they've used various characters, either their own or from the franchises they've crossed over with, such as Marvel's Onslaught(MvC), Apocalypse(XMvSF, MSHvSF), Galactus(MvC3), Okami's Yami(TvC), Akuma and SNK's Rugal(both CvS2). You'd expect someone interesting, perhaps someone like Sigma, or Mundus, instead you get some really generic blob of energy that can also control armor. The first form is a joke while the second one is outright cheap unless your character uses projectiles. Then the 3rd form isn't much to write home about either. MvC2 is still highly regarded as one of the best superhero games ever, but it drops the ball when it comes to a final boss.
     
    4) Ehrich Rhoemer(Syphon Filter)

     
    As much as I love the Syphon Filter series(heck the second game is one of my favorite games on the PS1), admittedly the game does not hold up very well, and that is most evident in the final boss battle with the game's big bad, Erich Rhoemer. After you abort a nuke and saving the world from World War III, you find yourself face to face with Rhoemer. Sounds good and all right? Except the guy has a fucking M-79(grenade launcher) and your in a little square box with very little room to do much, and the only way to defeat him is with Gas Grenades(which you better fucking hope you find it). The only real strategy is to exploit the game and spam and gas grenades you have at the little opening where Rhoemer appears then after the cutscene he'll immediately die from the gas. But because the game has a checkpoint immediately when the battle begins, you can't do much to correct any action. While I still had fun with the game, I still found it have an incredibly frustrating endgame
     
    3) Andross(Starfox Adventures)
     

     
    Despite not being a Star Fox game on any right, I still have a lot of fondness for Adventures, fun combat, fun characters, fun world to explore, and I especially loved the villain, General Scales. So you can imagine my enjoyment going up the him in the final Krazoa Temple. I begin with swinging my staff and then*plop*...what the fuck just happened. Turns out Andross was just waiting for his power to be restored so he could begin to conquer Lylat again with the Power of the Krazoa gods. Strike one. He also suffers a lot of problems seen with Necron and Tabuu, he literally shows up at the last second and suddenly he's the real bad guy all along. Strike two. He's also significantly crappier compared to his SF64 boss fight, it was such an unfun fight and so rushed you could tell he was thrown in at the last second. The straw that broke the camel's back? You never get to fight General Scales, the guy who was built up to be genuinely terrifying villain, suddenly disappears and I doubt we'll ever see him again.
     
    2) Yu Yevon(Final Fantasy X)
     

     
    Final Fantasy X is one of my favorite installments of the series. I loved some of the new things they attempted such as the Sphere Grid and the new battle system and had one of my favorite endings of all time, and despite some bullshit like the minigames, it's one I hold very close to the top, along with IV, VIII and Tactics. Yet that doesn't stop this boss fight from sucking all kinds of ass. At first you'd expect this guy to be some god-like being, as he goes to possess every Aeon you have. So far so good. When he finally appears? He's just a tick....who's weak to practically everything. Normally the final bosses in Final Fantasy games are near-godlike beings, capable of having some of the deadliest attacks and are invulnerable to nearly everything with ridiculous amounts of health that even the best weapons in the game aren't enough. Then this guy shows up, vulnerable to practically every status effect, can be killed with Full-Life and Phoenix Downs(since he's already undead), and can be one-hit KO'd with your best weapons, all while you have permanent auto-life. There's easy endgame bosses, and then there's handing you over the ending. Still, at least the ending was worth it, unlike the no. 1 spot
     
    1) Jasper Batt Jr(No More Heroes 2)
     

     
    Fuck this guy right off
     
    This guy is the main villain of No More Heroes 2, who kills Travis's friend Bishop as revenge for you killing his father and brother. Remember those assassination missions from the first game that had you killing to generic CEOs at one point? Yup that was them. Besides being absolutely grating in every sense of the word and stupid-looking with a very punchable face, he redefines throwing-your-controller-across-the-wall-with-testicle-smashing-cheapness. His first form is nothing to write home about, but his third and especially hiss second form is what does it, as he's absolutely difficult to get a hit on(he rarely, if ever, staggers) as well as having a automatic kill attack where he punches you off the roof if your not careful. All of his attacks are incredibly strong to the point where it's unfair, and the final form which is one of the most hideous things you'll ever see, with the same cheapness as the second form. It's unfun, unfair, and frustrating that it leaves you finishing the game unsatisfied...speaking of which
     
    The best part? This was intentional. Apparently Suda51 wanted to tell the story to make it a point that revenge was usually never worth it.
     
    Suda51...I love you, but fuck you too
  16. Megas
    Despite being the WWE's biggest show of the year, not every Wrestlemania can turn out good, and there's bound to be some stinkers. This also holds true for the show's main event, which needs to hold the responsibility of ending the show with a bang, but there are some main events that ends the show on a whimper. This also increases the chances for other matches to shine, hell there's also those times where a 'Mania will always have a show-stealer whether it be a better wrestling match or just more memorable, even with a strong main event. With Wrestlemania fast approaching, and with another main even fans are expecting to hate, it's still possible for WM32 to have another showstealer, but if it does, it'll be hard to top some of the following showstealers
     
    10) Triple H vs The Undertaker No Holds Barred(Wrestlemania XXVII)

    Contenders: None
     
    Lets start off with an easy one. With Wrestlemania XXVII often being regarded as one of the worst, with it's lackluster main event being regarded as one of the many reasons. The show also had a pretty underwhelming card to boot, including a match between Lawler and Michael Cole(that not even Austin could save) and freaking Snooki wrestling for fuck's sake. The show does have some good and underrated matches such as CM Punk vs Orton or Edge vs Alberto Del Rio(which also unfortunately was Edge's last match). Easily the best match though was Undertaker vs Triple H in a No Holds Barred match, which was easily the best match in spades. It paled in comparison to the two Michaels matches in the previous two Wrestlemanias, but c'mon those two were gonna be near impossible to live up to, and on its own right it more than delivered
     
    9) The Rock Vs Hulk Hogan(Wresltemania X8)

    Contenders: Undertaker vs Ric Flair
    The original Once-In-A-Lifetime match, this was one of the most anticipated matches for fans all around. Hogan coming back to the company shortly after Vince bought out WCW, as soon as he came back they immediately threw one of WCW's top guys in a match at Wrestlemania with one of the WWE's top guy, The Rock. And while the wrestling itself was alright, it was a fantastic match to watch from a storytelling standpoint, from the crowd switching between cheering for the Rock and Hogan(despite him being booked as a heel) to Hulk Hogan "Hulking up" for the first time in ages, to the Rock kicking out of the Atomic Leg Drop, to the Rock saving Hogan after the NWO turns on him, just nonstop fun from start to finish. While Triple H Vs Chris Jericho was a fine match, Hogan vs The Rock is definitely worth more remembering
     
    8) CM Punk vs The Undertaker(Wrestlemania 29)

    Contenders: None
    While we're on the subject of "Once-In-A-Lifetime", was the second Rock vs Cena match really that necessary? The first in WM28 was good enough and we really didn't need another year to hype up a rematch especially when said rematch turned out to be a complete dud. In comparison, Punk vs Undertaker completely curbstomps it, and further proves why CM Punk is the best of in the world. Oh, and the Undertaker's still got it
     
    7) Money in the Bank Ladder Match(Wrestlemania 21)

    Contenders: Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels, Undertaker vs Randy Orton
    Wresltemania 21 is probably one of the most important 'Manias in the history of the WWE as it helped build two of the WWE's biggest superstars of the current decade in Batista and John Cena, but there was one more guy who also got his big break at WM21, Edge, and not only did he also see his rise as one of the biggest heels in the company, he was also in a much better match, with the first ever Money in the Bank ladder match, and still one of the best.
     
    6) Edge Vs Mick Foley Hardcore match(Wrestlemania 22)

    Contenders: Shawn Michaels vs Vince McMahon
    Oh look, another Edge spot. Despite two good Championship matches and another fantastic Shawn Michaels match, there's nothing that could top Mick Foley and Edge's hardcore match. Easily the most memorable match with one of the greatest spots ever
     
    5) The Rock vs Stone Cold III(Wrestlemania XIX)

    Contenders: Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho
    The Rock vs Stone Cold matches are always bound to be classic matches, especially at Wrestlemania and this one is no different, except two reasons one was that this was the only one of the 3 bouts where The Rock would win, and this was the only one that didn't main even Wrestlemania. The main event between Angle and Brock Lesnar was fantastic, especially since it helped helped Brock Lesnar become one of the WWE's biggest superstars, but again, it's hard to top an Austin vs Rock match, especially it would become Austin's last match.
     
    4) Daniel Bryan vs Triple H(Wrestlemania XXX)

    Contenders: None
    The WWE was running into a pretty bad position when Wrestlemania XXX was approaching, as many fans weren't giving their main event a chance and instead they wanted the WWE to push Daniel Bryan into the main event, especially after no showing the Royal Rumble, and boy was it the right idea. While Daniel Bryan would win his match with Triple H and have an excellent Triple Threat with Orton and Batista(and thus winning the WWE WHC), it was his earlier match with Trips where he really shined
     
    3) Triple H vs The Undertaker Hell in a Cell(Wrestlemania XXVIII)

     
    The last of The Undertaker and Triple H's 3 'Mania, arguably the best, but easily the most memorable. More tension added with the addition of Shawn Michaels as the Special Guest Referee(seriously, him as ref is almost guaranteed to improve the match), one of the most insane kickouts ever. While WM28's main event was a solid fight, nothing could top a Hell in a Cell match between the two Superstars that helped the match become a must watch.
     
    2) Shawn Michaels vs Ric Flair(Wrestlemania 24)

    "I'm sorry, I love you"
     
    AKA the match where everyone cries at the end. And truth be told, this one was really hard to rank as it was the same Wrestlemania that had the Undertaker vs Edge, which was easily match of the night material as well as "best main even ever" material. But in the end I had to give it to Michaels and Flair, great emotion and storytelling, this match proves why Shawn is "Mr. Wrestlemania"
     
    1) Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker(Wrestlemania 25)

     
    Seriously what else did you expect?
     
    For being the show's 25th anniversary, there were surprising a lot of things wrong with this show, from two underwhelming main event title matches(especially considering HHH Vs Orton's buildup) to an insulting Diva's battle royal. But there was one match that made me forgive all of it, one match that made the event worth watching. Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 25 is often regarded as one of the best matches ever, let alone best at Wrestlemania. It was so critically acclaimed that WWE decided to make a just a rematch that was just as excellent in the next Wrestlemania, and one made it the main event.
     
    It also delivered one of the most insane moments with Shawn kicking out of the tombstone, with the Undertaker's priceless expression seen above
  17. Megas
    Apollo Justice is the fourth game in the Ace Attorney series and the first game to fully utilize the DS's key features. It is also the first game that takes major risks with the series by breaking away from the first 3 games by giving us both a new main character and almost entirely new cast to interact with.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Story

     
    This game takes place 7 years after the events of Trials and Tribulations, and a lot has happened since then. The first case(Turnabout Trump) introduces you to the new main character, Apollo Justice, a new defense attorney working under Kristoph Gavin, a veteran defense attorney, and his first trial is to defend none other than Phoenix Wright himself, who was revolked of his attorney badge 7 years ago for presenting forged evidence(unknowingly). The first case also introduces key characters like the victim Shadi Smith(who's more relevant in the final case) and Trucy Wright, Phoenix's adopted daughter and a prodigy in magic tricks. The second case(Turnabout Corner) involves a stolen noodle cart, a hit-n-run case and panty theft(seriously), all of which eventually become related to a murder, and Apollo must defend the son of a family gang. This case also features the return of Ema Skye, who made her appearance in the extra case in the first game, Rise From the Ashes, though she is much more different from her first appearance, as she's a bit more bitter, especially towards the game's prosecutor. Speaking of which this case also introduces the main prosecutor Klavier Gavin, who's the obvious younger brother of the Defense Attorney Kristoph, as well as a rockstar who leads the rock band "The Gavinners". The third case(Turnabout Serenade) involves a concert featuring Klavier's band, and famous Borginian(fictional country) singer Lamoire(who's more important than this case lets on) and her pianist Machi Toyabe, the latter who eventually becomes the suspect for the murder of his manager. Also despite the terribly slow start, this case gets really good. It also introduces Valant Gramayre, who Trucy refers to as "uncle". The final case(Turnabout Succession) involves the murder of an artist who also turns out to be responsible for a ton of forgeries, and his daughter is accused for poisoning him. This case is eventually linked to the first case as well as the same case 7 years ago where Phoenix loses his badge. The case also allows you to play through that same case where Phoenix defends Zak Gramyare, Trucy's real father as he's accused of the murder of his master, Magnifi. Phoenix's case also features the original courtroom, music from the first game, as well as other familiar faces like Detective Gumshoe, and also appears to be Klavier's first case as a prosecutor. And slowly shows the mastermind behind the whole ordeal. Unsurprisingly this is the best case in the game, though it also introduces one of the worst characters in the series, Spark Bushel(more on him later). The final case also deals with the changes to Law and Court after the forgery debacle, and the final case is an attempt to reform by using a Jurist system.
     
    The game features an almost an entirely new cast of characters, with the returning characters mainly consisting of Phoenix, Gumshoe(albeit in a flashback), and the Judge, as well as a couple of characters like Ema and Officer Meekins(ugh). Surprisingly, Phoenix is a lot different from the original trilogy, as he feels a lot more mature the past 7 years, and works very well as a mentor for Apollo. Apollo himself is a great character, and has enough different to him to keep him from being a copy of Phoenix, with him being a lot more serious and wanting more confidence, and his sarcasm gives him some funny moments(CHORDS OF STEEL). Trucy is easily my favorite new character, her enthusiasm for her magic tricks, her upbeat and adorable behavior and her tendency to look at the bright side, even in the bleakest moments makes her a lovable character. With Ema, at first I found her personality change jarring, but I eventually liked her more as it made her stand out as opposed to being Maya 2.0. I'm more mixed towards Klavier Gavin, as while he's likable, and I enjoy his personal dilemma in the final case, he's probably my least favorite prosecutor, as I didn't find him as interesting as Edgeworth, Franziska or Godot, and I found his rockstar motif kinda lame. On the other hand, this game probably has the best minor cast, as most of the suspects and witnesses are pretty fun, especially Guy Eldoon, Valant Gramyare, Vera Misham and Wocky Kitaki. However one character, Spark Bushel, a guy who's scarily obsessed with getting the 'juicy scoop'(so basically a even worse version of Lotta Hart), is easily the worst character in the game, and ranks up there with Oldbag, Victor Kudo, and most of the Turnabout Big Top cast, as one of the worst series, and has a very punchable face.
     
    Gameplay

     
    *Finally I can say more about the gameply
     
    Most of the gameplay we expect from the series make their return(including Psyche Locks), though there are some new features and changes. Most gameplay that was used in "Rise From the Ashes", such as viewing evidence in 3D, and most of the new gimmicks introduced by Ema such as luminol for blood and checking for fingerprints, make their return. Another includes an X-ray machine, which allows you to look through envelopes for messages without compromising the evidence. Another new mechanic is the "Perceive" mechanic, where Apollo uses a special bracelet(which he got from his mother) which allows him to specifically see witnesses where he can point out odd habits when they show signs of being nervous. This is a neat mechanic, though at times it can be difficult as some signs of nervousness can be either vague and be very difficult to find.
     
    Visuals

    The spritework get a huge upgrade from the original trilogy as the character have several very well-animated sprites and are much more fluid compared to the original 3, and
    are very fun to look at. The game is also uses 3D artwork for both it's cutscenes and evidence, which while used in RFtA, it's used to full affect here. The 3D cutscenes can be hit or miss especially regarding the characters, but it makes looking at evidence more interesting. And as usual the backgrounds are great. 
    Sound and Music
     


     
    Unsurprisingly the sound is the same tired and true sound design we expect from these games, yelling "Objection!" will never get old. Where the soundtrack stands with the rest of the series is up for debate(personally it's above JFA's, but below T&T and almost on par with Ace Attorney), but on it's own it's great, and does have better sound quality compared to the original 3.
     
    Overall
     
    The game definitely feels like a new chapter for the series as it does a lot to shake up the series like introducing new gameplay elements and a mostly new cast and main character, while staying true to what the series is best known for. Unfortunately the game hasn't gotten a rerelease, so it's more difficult to find. But if your a fan of the series or have a DS or 3DS(which is Backwards compatible with the DS), and you come across this game, you should definitely give this one a go
  18. Megas

    Best and Worst of the IDW MLP Comics

    By Megas,


    My Little Pony
    In about another week, the final issue(that we know of) of IDW's MLP G4 comics will be released and it's...uh, been incredibly rocky to follow to put it lightly. A real rollercoaster, the comics have put out both some of the absolute best, and some of the absolute worst the generation's had to offer. The comics have gone through a lot whether through original stories, sequels to episodes, the movies, Equestria Girls, specials, events, and crossovers all with varying degrees of success. So I thought to look at where it succeeded and where it failed. Just putting this out there, I am putting some of these in the same categories if they fulfill the same purpose
    MAIN SERIES BEST - ZEN and the Art of the Gazebo Repair

    Honestly the best way I can describe this comic is that it's basically a harem anime staring Big Mac. Both the most fun and one of the funniest comics in the entire run, this two-parter does a lot to make Ponyville feel alive and characterize a ton of little used characters at the time like Big Mac, Fleetfoot, Princess Luna, etc., as Big Mac gets entangled it all of Ponyville's wild shenanigans when he's just trying to do some errands, as well as earning the eyes of several mares like the aforementioned Fleetfoot and Princess Luna, among others. And when he's not getting into love pentagrams, he's finding himself getting caught up in whatever crazy things Zecora, Photo Finish, or Sapphire Shores are involved in.

    "You know what? Spazzy Luna is fun in small doses"
    MAIN SERIES WORST - The Good, The Bad, The Ponies

    What was billed as a western themed two-parter, this has....some of the worst and most baffling characterization of Twilight the comics have had to offer, having some out of nowhere moral code over using magic against citizens(which really goes against a lot of things in the show) refusing to do anything about the antagonists, the Cattle Rustlers, who are destroying AJ's missing uncle's town(whom they've come to look for), as well as beating the shit outta AJ. Also the only way the manage to defeat is through a loophole turning a barn into a historic landmark, and using it as an excuse to arrest the antagonists when they destroy it.
    Oh and they never find AJ's uncle

    "Sorry about you're broken ribs, but!...."
    MAIN SERIES MOST DISAPPOINTING - Reflections

    While not as bad as the comic above, Reflections is...rather infamous for hyping up a mirror universe where the Mane 6 and the princesses are evil and the bad guys are good and Shining Armor has a sub fetish(think Transformers' Shattered Glass). Okay that last one isn't real, but point is the mirror universe was built up and advertised as the main selling point and, uh, they barely do anything with, with all of the attention going to a lame romance between Celestia and Mirror Sombra who's virtually perfect in every way. Also there's a really dumb moment where it's revealed Celestia had mirror Luna replace the real one when she was banished as a coping mechanism


    "You know, I'm really tempted, but I'm not going to"
     
    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    Alright now we're getting to the Micro series, which is honestly a line I wanted to like more, but it's one where half of the comics(more painfully, 4 of the mane 6) of the issues are honestly kinda bad
    MICRO SERIES BEST - Rarity

    Arguably the best comic under the main team of Katie Cook and Andy Price, this issue deals with Rarity learning to appreciate the hippy life. It's really puts Rarity's generosity at the spotlight putting up with a lot of the hippie ponies antics in order to help them save their business, and not only does she succeed, she helps them become a huge hit with the Canterlot Elite. Fun fact this comic had to undergo several changes due to it's similarities with Rarity Takes Manehattan, which is also considered one of her best episodes

    "You guys knew exactly what you were doing here"
    MICRO SERIES WORST/MOST DISAPPOINTING - Rainbow Dash

    IDW early on didn't exactly, uh, like Rainbow Dash, and some of those early issues didn't really hide it, and I think the fact that her Micro Series comic was the only one to be outsourced to someone outside the country really highlighted that. I don't think he thought much of the MLP audience given how many memes, pandering and references dominate the comic's dialogue, to the point where it's distracting and just comes off like a really bad 4chan post. RD has to deal with some annoying cloud gremlins who are making Ponyville miserable and for some reason this is RD's problem alone(seriously the Mane 6 apart from AJ are absent), yet the townsfolk give her a lot of shit throughout for being unable to do anything about it, with only AJ and Tank being the only ones willing to help her. Rainbow Dash and the Very Bad Day that came out years later pulled off a lot of what this did better and I wished that one was her Micro comic instead. Unfortunately this was the only comic RD would have to her name for the longest time until Friends Forever #6 which I also think was much better
    Also there's a moment that either feels like a reference to or stealing an idea from Double Rainboom, which explains a lot

    "We have so much in common in all the worst possible ways!"
    The Micro series would end with Issue #10 with Luna, and would be replaced with Friends Forever, and I got to be honest, Friends Forever has to be my favorite MLP Comic linw
    FRIENDS FOREVER BEST - Rainbow Dash and Soarin

    This one holds a special place in my heart, and yeah, you're gonna hear me gush about this one, even disregarding the old SoarinDash shipper in me. Coming out in between S6 and S7, this was one of the first comics centered around RD's status as a Wonderbolt and goddammit I still wish this was an official episode, this comic deals with one of the Wonderbolts, Soarin trying to find his place on the team(as well as his strained relationship with Spitfire following the events of Rainbow Falls) after a big screw up by doing a dangerous mission to receive and deliver some medical supplies, and Rainbow Dash is sent to both help Soarin out both on the mission and emotionally as well as help mend his and Spitfire's friendship. While it's a great comic for Rainbow, serving as a bridge for both Soarin and Spitfire to patch things up, this comic does so much more for both Soarin and Spitfire, whom both needed a better showcase for their characters after colossal missteps like Rainbow Falls and Newbie Dash, and this comic(along with an earlier FF comic featuring Spitfire), does a lot more for both of them than the show ever did. While one could argue there are better comics in the Friends Forever line(Rarity with Babs Seed and Gilda, Spike and Celestia, AJ and Mayor Mare, Twilight and Big Macintosh are all strong contenders to name a few), I think I needed a comic like this, especially after how much of a disappointment Newbie Dash was(comic came out sometime afterwards)

    "Derpy, expert flier. For reals!"
    FRIENDS FOREVER WORST - Pinkie Pie and Applejack

    Oh, um, this one is really weird to describe, and not in a good way. This is the very first issue of the Friends Forever line, and to be generous, it's, pretty bad. It centers around a baking contest that AJ and Pinkie are a part of(though AJ's only in it as a mistake), but you wouldn't know that if you read it because that aspect feels like an afterthought, focusing instead on an original character who wants them to help her win(this becomes a bit of a problem around the middle portion of the FF run). Then the main villain is an edgy looking Fluttershy recolor who wants to ruin everything because she legitimately got screwed out of entering the competition, then after constantly trying to re-enter and failing she goes crazy and starts freezing everyone until AJ, Pinkie and the OC manage to freeze her, and somehow this gets the OC a victory in the competition. This comic is probably the worst out of the lot purely from an objective standpoint, the art is bad, the story is bad, the dialogue is bad, everything is just....bad. It probably the least bad of my least favorite comics entirely because it doesn't piss me off or offend me like a few select other comics in the entire run, or even among other bad comics in the FF line alone.

    "STAY OUTTA MY....wait...."
    FRIENDS FOREVER MOST DISAPPOINTING - Rarity and Trixie

    Man, this one hurts, you'd think having two of the most over the top and hammy characters in G4,(and Sapphire Shores!) would be prime for one of the funniest comics ever, yet it's potential is completely squandered, mainly due to how it not just puts Trixie's questionable past into the forefront(despite being set after the S6 finale), but how portrays Rarity as being incredibly hostile towards Trixie throughout most of the comic even though they got along just fine throughout most of the Manehattan Mystery two-parter a while back. Just Rarity treating Trixie like shit for a majority of it, I don't even like Trixie much and I felt bad for her!

    "Sources say Trixie is just hanging around catering until her contract expires."
    SPECIAL/ANNUAL/EQUESTRIA GIRLS BEST - March Radness

    To say EQG had it rough when it came to the comics is putting it lightly, as much of the worst comics in the entire run have been related to EQG. Put fairly enough the final comic ranks among one of the best. Instead of focusing something big or """"complex issue""""(we'll get to that later), this comic instead decides to focus on a trio of simpler stories carried by the antics of the girls and they all work really well. The first story focuses on the girls getting into detention over a series of misunderstandings, and it's eh, but harmless enough. Surprisingly enough, for this comic 2 of the 3 comics has RD as the focus, both of which are some of her best appearances, with one focusing on her trying help AJ out with chores while also making it to a Daring Do book signing(that also challenges their friendship), and the other with RD getting a bruised ego and questioning her place among her friends when she falls short of her friends in all the events in a sporting competition(who would have thought an EQG comic would be the one to pull that story off for once?). Also pulls off being a better RD focused story than her own special, as depressing as that sounds

    "She may or may not be yelling at Opal"
    SPECIAL/ANNUAL/EQUESTRIA GIRLS WORST - Holiday Special 2014

    yeeeeeeeaaaaaaah. This one, this fucking one, no one likes this one, no one likes talking about this one. You want a comfy Christmas story with all the little girls. Well NOPE, here's a badly done story about cyberbullying, how they Mane 6 reject Sunset over something she didn't due, how they make the CMC complete monsters that almost destroy Sunset's life and the Mane 6's friendships only to get a slap on the wrist about it. This one is just a complete miserable experience and easily one of the worst things all of G4 has ever put out

    "Fluttershy after RD tells her she's gonna be in this comic"
    MINISERIES/CROSSOVER BEST - Transformers x My Little Pony II

    Yeah, I'm probably biased, but these were a lot of fun. And while I enjoyed the first one a ton(along with having the best Spike story with his teamup with Grimlock), I still think the second one was a big improvement simply by the insanity of the pair ups here made it a lot more fun, with a lot of the ponies teaming up with the Decepticons this time around. Rainbow Dash and Starscream! Rarity and Knockout! Vinyl Scratch and Soundwave! Sombra mind controlling Megatron and half the mane 6! Mane 6 Action Masters! The series does lots of digging and putting not only G1 Transformers in the spotlight, but those from the likes of Prime and Cyberverse as well with the likes of the aforementioned Knockout, as well as Prime Breakdown and Cyberverse's Slipstream and Shadow Striker. Heck the only thing I really have to complain about is the lack of certain characters I would have wanted to see like Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Blitzwing or Astrotrain, to name a few.

    "C'mon I never said I didn't want to be in that Pony crossover, just that I was too cool for it!"
    I think it does speak highly of how I feel about this comic when the worst things I can say are just personal nitpicks. Maybe with the teaser at the end of the second one, some of those characters might be able to make an appearance. It's clear that this crossover was something some people there have been wanting to do for the longest one. And, uh, you know, if they make a pt 3, and continue to dig into other continuities, I wouldn't mind seeing Animated get some love like Bulkhead or the aforementioned Blitzwing, or, and this might be sacrilege, but maaaaaaaaaaybe a couple of Bayformers characters like Barricade or Blackout

    "Now kiss!" "We don't have mouths!"
    MINISERIES/CROSSOVER WORST - Generations

    Oh man, I know this one still isn't done, but I really don't see how it can be salvaged at this point. Despite being billed as a crossover between My Little Pony G1xG4, the G1 ponies themselves don't show up until issue 4, that issue doesn't make it sound like they matter much in the the end(and OH BOY that preview for issue 5 isn't doing this thing any favors), instead they've been putting so much of their efforts on the School of Friendship and how hard its been for everyone, a trio of edgy ponies making a mess of things in said school, and a pair of really human villains that look like they came out of a rejected EQGxJEM pitch. And that's not even getting into the artwork which is filled with traced artwork, from both official and fanmade sources. This feels like the complete opposite of the other crossovers, a really obvious and fun idea for a crossover, but the end result comes off as if no one involved wanted to work on this.

    "Accidentally based"
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    And, this is a lot shorter than I was expecting, probably because I skipped out on a few categories and grouped some together, and I'll be real, there's ton of stuff to follow here, and given how much of a rollercoaster this comic line is, with some stellar highs along with some startling lows, some I failed to mentioned like Neigh Everything, Nightmare Rarity, or Manehattan Mysteries(for greats), or things like Accord, Cosmos or Season 10(preeeeetty bad), and as much as some of this blog might give off, this isn't meant to come off negative. While I think the comics have had more lows than the main show has, they never hadn't driven me away like the show ever did, I stuck by it until the end, and if I'm being honest, I do think sometimes the comics did get more hate than they deserved. As much as I do criticize it's big arcs, much like the show I do think the comics shined a lot more at the simpler stories, and I do hope that when they get to G5, I hope they mainly stick to what made the original comics because not only do I think that's what the series is best suited, but because I think that's one of their bigger strengths
  20. Megas
    Today marks the end of the IDW Friends Forever comic line featuring Princess Luna and Celestia as the last pairing and while...it's not the worst comic ever, it easily could've been so much better, considering it's the final comic in the line, and considering it's a comic about the sisters, it could've been much more
    This just got me to think back to the comics, namely which ones were dumpster fires and which ones managed stand out and shine
    Worst
    5) Granny Smith and the Flim Flam Bros(#9)

    This one features Granny Smith running into the Flim Flam Bros, but also finding herself trying to reunite the brothers after breaking up when a woman dumps them both. There's one word to describe this comic. Boring. Seriously neither of the characters are very fun and the story isn't interesting enough to care about. Doesn't help that for most of the comic Granny Smith is in her "cooky-crazy-old lady" mode
    4) Rarity and Trixie(#37)

    This one features Rarity and Trixie working together to make Sapphire Shore's concert one of her best yet. This is Trixie's second comic in the FF line and unfortunately it isn't a very good one. For starters Rarity is a massive and hostile bitch to Trixie throughout most of the comic...despite taking place after both the S6 finale and Manehattan Mysteries(for comparisons sake, in FF#6, Rainbow Dash was merely slightly annoyed with Trixie, but was Trixie needed help to get out of her pickle, she was glad to help. This was just after Magic Duel). It really feels like the writer, Jeremy Whitley, did not care one bit for either continuity when writing this. Also, Sapphire Shores, despite always being happy and chipper in the show, is also a massive bitch here. Also Rarity suddenly decides to stand up for Trixie in the very end out of nowhere. For a comic featuring some of the show's hammiest characters, this had tons of potential only to completely shit the bed and turn out to be a massive disappointment. The comic had Sweetie Belle and Babs Seed meeting up to hang out, and just makes me wish the comic was about them. I don't even like Trixie and the comic just made me feel very sorry for her
    3) Spike and Princess Luna Fangirl Mina

    This one features Spike and Princess Luna Fangirl Mina investigating some incidents involving dragons in Fillydelphia. First problem is that this comic hardly features Luna. There was a really weird period in the FF series where the pair featured was hardly featured, and instead the comic would feature a random OC made by the author instead of one of the said featured characters(or in one instance both, OH, WE'LL GET TO THAT). Instead of Luna, we get to know a dragon named Mina(who also turns out to be a massive Luna fangirl...which is awful) who also serves as a political mouthpiece for Whitley. Another problem is that there's a sudden Dragontown in the middle of a major pony city out of nowhere, with very little explanation("muh politiks!"). The comic is just a huge mess with a very misleading premise, an annoying character replacement for Luna, major continuity errors, and subject matter that IDW has constantly shown it's terrible at tackling
    2) Rarity and the Cakes(#19)

    This one featured Rarity trying to start more business working with the Cakes in hopes of being the most famous wedding planner ever. The FF line really...wasn't kind to Rarity. For every great comic(Babs, Maud, Gilda) she always followed up with a bad comic, usually with her being the worst part, usually being a huge idiot(AJ), a huge bitch(Trixie), or in this case being a huge screw up who's too in over her head. For starters, the Cakes are barely featured in it, and instead has Rarity mainly interacting with a bunch of random characters such as another big wig fashionista as well as AJ's billionth cousin. The comic also spends most of it's time with Rarity screwing up everything, only to have everyone else(The Cakes, Spike, etc.) fix her screw ups
    1) AJ and Pinkie Pie(#1)

    Almost all of FF's reoccurring problems can be found here. This one features Pinkie Pie(lol) and AJ(lol) in a baking contest...except that never happens. Instead the comic is about a random OC baker who gets confidence advice from Pinkie and AJ to win the baking contest...also the main villain is a Fluttershy recolor who gets unfairly kicked out of the contest. For such a shit start to the series, it's amazing how much it the series would improve
    Dishonorable mentions: Rarity and Applejack(#8), Pinkie and Granny Smith(#27), Twilight and Cadance(#30), Fluttershy and Iron Will(#10)
    Best
    5) Rarity and Babs Seed(#13)

    After Sweetie Belle gets sick on the day of her big trip with Rarity, she need someone else to spend some time with, enter Babs Seed. This is easily Rarity's best comic in the line, and it's a great one. One thing that helps it stand out is that this is one of those strange pair ups that work really well. We constantly see them do things outside their comfort zone and enjoying it together. We also see what Babs Seed got her cutie mark in, which is nice.
    4) Celestia and Spike(#3)

    This one features Celestia and Spike going on an adventure to find the perfect gift for Twilight. Part of what makes this comic special is that it was the second instance(first being the Celestia's Micro) where we got to get some meaningful insight into Celestia's character(namely how she works as a teacher). It also give Spike and Celestia something to bond over, as well as letting them shine in something outside their comfort zone
    3) Twilight and Pinkie Pie(#12)

    This one involves Pinkie enlisting the help of Twilight to learns self control and resisting some of the greatest sweets ever. This one is easily the most fun comic in the entire line, as most of Twilight and Pinkie Pies situations and solutions wind up with hilarious results. Also full of lots of visual goodness and funny expressions, that ends with both Pinkie and Twilight having these "Phenomenomnomnoms" anyway, only to find out the right solution to beat the addiction...by saying she can't help and giving up, which puts Pinkie in a "Help my friend mode" and learns that she must need to resist and beats it. Overall it's just a real blast.
    2) Rainbow Dash and Spitfire(#11)

    This one has Spitfire asking Rainbow Dash's help to teach fillies and cults how to fly. From here we go from "great and fun comics" to "these were fucking desperately needed". This comic came shortly after Rainbow Falls and by god did Spitfire need this. The comic decides to have the "your heroes aren't perfect" moral, but whereas Rainbow Falls portrayed her as a backstabbing she-demon with no redeeming qualities, this comic has her overcome her inability to teach children(whom she admits she's terrible with, and has difficulty teaching as opposed to the cadets), on top of that it makes sure you root for Spitfire and remembers that you're supposed to like her, with Rainbow Dash' help, and works as a great supporting character. This is the first comic is Fosgitt's first and while the art is still hit or miss, this is definitely one of his better ones.
    1) Rainbow Dash and Soarin(#36)
     
    This one has Spitfire sending Rainbow Dash to help Soarin on a dangerous mission to bring a cure for a disease to Yakyakistan. Much like FF#11, this comic was desparately needed for every character involved after Newbie Dash. This is probably the first official accusation fic we've gotten as there are lots of addressing the flaws of Rainbow Falls, and is probably the best example of one, as it never goes out of it's way to turn anyone into little Hitlers. The comic starts out with Spitfire sending RD to help Soarin' on a mission, but Spitfire doesn't go herself because she still feels bad over what happened during RF, and thus still can't muster up the courage to make up with him. Meanwhile we get a lot of info on Soarin, namely how the events of RF affected his he has to push himself harder as he's not as naturally gifted as the rest of the 'Bolts and thus put in more effort. Spitfire also eventually musters up the courage to apologize after some convincing from RD. After taking a real beating in S6 RD, Soarin, and Spitfire really, really need this and it did them wonders. If there was any comic I'd wish they'd make into an episode, this would be it.
    Honorable mentions: CMC and Discord(#2), Rainbow Dash and Trixie(#6), AJ and Mayor Mare(#15), Twilight and Big Mac(#17), Rarity and Gilda(#24), AJ and Fluttershy(#23)
  21. Megas
    A list of the the dumbest moments in the WWE. Nothing controversial or anything, just moments that were really fucking stupid, and not in a good way
     
    Killing the Cruiserweight Division...with Hornswaggle as the final champion
     

     
     
    The Anonymous Raw General Manager Storyline...and the reveal of who it was
     

     
     
    John Cena gets drafted to Smackdown...then back to RAW on the same night
     

     
     
    Katie Vick. 'nuff said
     

     
     
    Big Show Vs Akebono @Wrestlemania 21
     
    No one wants to see Big Show in sumo attire
     
    Kevin Federline defeating John Cena in a singles match
     

     
     
    King Booker
     

     
     
    Spirit Squad
     

     
    There was a time when these guys were some of the main heels in the WWE roster....let that sink in
     
    I will give 'em credit though, it gave us Dolph Ziggler
     
    Corporate Kane
     

     
    Much like American Badass Undertaker, Corporate Kane is a reflection of the real life Glenn Jacobs(the guy who plays Kane). And like the American Badass Undertaker, it hasn't gone over well with fans
     
     
     
    I'm pretty sure I missed a lot of dumb moments, so feel free to add any that you thought was dumb
  22. Megas

    Top 10 cancelled games

    By Megas,

    Earlier today, a game I've been looking forward got the axe. Kaio: King of Pirates was one of several games spear-headed by Comcept and Keiji Inafune(who's known for his work on the Megaman, Dead Rising, Onimusha, and several other Capcom franchises as well as the upcoming Mighty No. 9) and sounded like the perfect game for me(Pirates? Penguins? RPG? Hell yes!). But unfortunately, shit happened and the game has officially been cancelled.
     
    This of course this isn't the only promising game that has been shitcanned however, throughout gaming's history many games have been killed in the middle of development, despite the amount of potential they had.
     
    10) Unknown Disney Brawler(I'll just call it Disney Smash Bros)
     

     
    When you think about it, Disney is probably the one of the very very few companies with a stable of characters more iconic than Nintendo's(which says a lot), which is why I'd be the perfect company to have their own Smash Bros clone. Not much is known about this game other than it was an idea that was never greenlit and this artwork is the only thing we know of it. Most likely it never came to light for the same reasons Dissidia went from being a Kingdom Hearts fighting game to purely Final Fantasy, as Disney probably wouldn't like to see their characters beating each other up
     
    9) Star Wars 1313
     

     
    Another game that was cancelled because Disney seems to hate good ideas. 1313 was a game intended to put Star Wars fan favorite Boba Fett in the spotlight in his early adulthood as a bounty hunter. The game was cancelled when Disney closed down Lucasarts after buying out the Lucasfilms and its assets in 2013. However Disney has said that they are willing to revive the project if a studio with the license is willing to work on it, so there's still hope. In the mean time...hey we still have Star Wars Kinect.....
     
    8) Dinosaur Planet
     

     
    The reason this one is much lower on the list is because it technically still exists.....as Starfox Adventures. At first Dinosaur Planet was originally going to be an original IP for the N64, and was going to be RARE's swan song to the console. However, despite the original game being in near completion, it became Starfox when Miyamoto noticed the one of the main characters, Sabre, looked close to Fox McCloud of the Starfox series. As a result, he asked Rare to change it up into a Starfox game and move development. The game was mostly going to be the same until Rare was bought out by Microsoft in 2002(sometime during the game's end development) and the buyout resulted in the game becoming rushed. In the end, a lot of content was cut from the game(leftovers can be found on the game's code), Sabre turns into Fox McCloud, Krystal(Dinosaur Planet's original lead character) turns into a fox and gets royally screwed over, General Scales(the game's original main villain) also gets royally screwed over, and Arwing sections feel tacked on. Despite it's problems I personally enjoyed Starfox Adventures, however there isn't a moment in my life where I wish it stayed Dinosaur Planet, and I hope that one day the original game has a chance to come into light
     
    7) WWE BRAWL
     

     
    Developed by Blue Tongue Entertainment(Known for their work on the de Blob series and the Nicktoons Unite games)WWE Brawl was going to be different from what we expect from traditional WWE games, even different from WWE All-Stars. Instead, the wrestlers were put into some kind of alternate world with over-the-top interpretations of their characters, beating the crap out of each other in a Power Stone style fight, free from "real world" rules. Ultimately it wound up as one of the many casualties of THQ's financial struggles in 2011(who closed down in late 2012). It still pains me that this game was never made while WWE Immortals and Crush Hour exist
     
    6) The Avengers FPS
     

     
    Despite not knowing much about this game, whether it had its own story or if it was based on the upcoming movie, it looks awesome. Much like WWE Brawl, it was also a casualty of THQ's financial issues.
     
    5) Raven Blade
     

     
    Before working on the critically acclaimed Metroid Prime series, Retro Studios working on 4 different games at the companies foundation, including a Vehicle-Combat game(like Twisted Metal), an untitled Action-Adventure game, a football game, and an RPG called Raven Blade. Development was insane, probably because they were working on 4 different games at once. When he looked at the different projects, he had a peculiar interest in the Action-Adventure game, which would wind up becoming Metroid Prime. The Car Combat game and the football game wound out getting cancelled to put more focus on Metroid, but Raven Blade still had a chance, and eventually got to show it off at E3 2001. Unfortunately the game was cancelled due to technical setbacks and so the could put all of their focus on Metroid Prime. Perhaps with everyone clamoring for a new IP from Nintendo, and Retro working on a secret title, maybe there's still a chance?
     
    4) Dead Phoenix
     

     
    Dead Phoenix was one of the Capcom 5, a set of games that Capcom intended on releasing exclusively to the Gamecube, along with Viewtiful Joe, P.N.03, Killer 7, and Resident Evil 4. Unfortunately it was the only one to never see the light of day, and no one knows why.
     
    3) Lily Bergamo
     

     
    Much like Dinosaur Planet, Lily Bergamo does exist...as Let it Die, and being a big Suda fan I had to put it on the list. Lily Bergamo was first revealed at the 2013 Tokyo Game Show, and it showed a lot of promise. Then by E3 2014, the game turned into something completely different, instead of looking colorful and stylish, it became a dark and gritty hack-n-slash featuring a bunch of half naked convicts trying to violently kill each other. Oh, and the game has been confirmed to be free-to-play
     
    I'm sorry Suda, I love you, but Let it Die looks like complete shit
     
    2) Starfox 2
     

     
    For some reason, despite the game practically being finished, the game was never released and ultimately cancelled. After the success of the orginal Starfox, developers Argonaut went on the create a second game, one problem however, was the coming release of the N64 and Nintendo was afraid of the game getting overshadowed by the new console. When it was cancelled in 1995, Nintendo planned on having the game release on the N64, but eventually Nintendo ultimately decided to reboot the original game instead into the space shooter we all now and love as Starfox 64. Despite the game ultimately being the original Starfox, Starfox 64 reuses a lot of Starfox 2's assets, including Star Wolf, and even more assets were used in Starfox Command.
     
    Eventually, fans have found a full ROM of the game, which can be easily played on SNES emulators. But still the game has a bit of cult following, and two characters exclusive to the game, Fay and Miyu, are surprisingly popular among the Starfox fandom. Hopefully someday, Nintendo can finally release this game(or at the very least, let Fay and Miyu become official characters )
     
     
    Now before I get to number 1, here's a short list of games that should have stayed cancelled:
    - Duke Nukem Forever
    - Aliens Colonial Marines
    - Too Human
    - Ride to Hell Retribution
     
    And now Number 1
     
     
    1) Megaman Legends 3
     

    C'mon, don't act like you're surprised, if you know me then you should have seen this coming. 10 years after the release of Megaman Legends 2(which as everyone should know, ended with Megaman stuck on the moon). 10 years fans have been begging to see a sequel. 10 years later they're prayers would finally be cancelled. A few months later Keiji Inafune(One of Megaman's leading forces) leaves Capcom on bad terms. Then Capcom announces a Prototype demo for the game in order to gauge interest. Then Capcom cancels the game, without releasing said prototype. Then Capcom would blame fans for the game's cancellation....
     
    Yeah you can see how well that went. The game's cancellation is still to this day considered one of the most unpopular moves Capcom has ever made, as well as prove to one of the company's biggest PR nightmare. Fans eventually made a 100,000 Facebook page in hopes of getting the game resurrected, and has already passed it's initial goal. While many Megaman games have been cancelled leaving fans sour, Legends 3's cancellation still hurts the the most
     
     
    Keep in mind that this is really a personal list, but I still acknowledge that there are many promising games that were cancelled and people would love to see come to light, like Starcraft Ghost or Earthbound 64, so share your thoughts while I go cry endlessly in a corner
  23. Megas
    15 years today, marked the release of the Playstation 2, and the rest is history. After the runaway success of the PS1, the PS2 went on to surpass its predecessor to great lengths and would become the best selling console ever made. There were many things that helped the system become such a success, like the ability to play DVDs, but what everyone remembers the most, is its ridiculously extensive strong library of games, which helped cement it as many people's all-favorite consoles.
     
    METAL GEAR -

     
    Metal Gear Solid was critically acclaimed when it was released on the PS1, and the series would continue on its success with the sequels on the PS2, MGS2: Sons of Liberty and MGS3: Snake Eater, both of which were as critically acclaimed as the first(despite people's problems with Raiden). They eventually released an "Essentials" collection which included the Substance and Subsistance(updated versions of MGS2&3) as well as a rerelease of MGS1
     
    FINAL FANTASY X

    Final Fantasy help greatly with the PS1's success, and the series would continue with FFX, which attempted to differentiate itself from its PS1 predecessors. FFX would be the first game in the series to use voice acting(which most would've probably been happier without) as well as a conditional turn system, in place of the ATB system used since FFIV(and would be used in many future JRPGs like Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, Megaman X Command Mission, etc.). FFX would also be the last Final Fantasy game that it's creator Hironobu Sakaguchi would be involved.
     
    Also it would be the first FF to spawn a direct sequel which was....yeah.
    Unfortunately I never played FFXII
     
    Kingdom Hearts
     

     
    You'd think a crossover featuring Disney and Final Fantasy would be really stupid, but in a game that shocked everyone, it turned out to be fantastic, and one of the most beloved game series ever. I plan on replaying the series in anticipation for Kingdom Hearts III
    God of War
     

     
    God of War comes from the heels of Twisted Metal creator David Jaffe, and would eventually become one of Sony's biggest IPs. Also like Twisted Metal, God of War kicks ass....
    Despite starring an A-Hole of a protagonist
     
    Persona
     

     
    While the series has been going on since the PS1, it wasn't until the PS2 where the series began to get noticed with Persona 3, and I'm very glad it caught on, as it would become one of my favorite JRPG franchises ever.
     
    Sly Cooper

     
    While Sucker Punch made a game before, the Sly Cooper series is what really got them noticed. The series was a stealth-platformer with a cast of lovable characters and was ridiculously fun. While the series went on a hiatus until some time in 2013 where they finally got a sequel. I never got to play, but I've heard that while it's not made by Sucker Punch, it's got the same amount of love and effort as the other games had
     
    Ratchet and Clank

     
    After Sony had the genius idea of selling Spyro off to Activision(/s), Insomniac moved on to develop the Ratchet and Clank series, with a whopping 4 games on the PS2, each as every bit as awesome as the Spyro series. The series has still continued on through to the PS3 and is still going strong
     
    Odin Sphere

     
    A hidden gem among the PS2's library. It's one of the most beautiful PS2 games out there using it's 2D artstyle to it's full advantage, as well as utilizing it's RPG playstyle well. The game's story plays through five different stories following the five main characters, each with Unique struggles and gameplay styles that make them each worth playing
     
    God Hand
     

     
    The game that made everyone hate IGN more than they already did, as well as Clover's swan song and Shinji Mikami's final game under Capcom. God Hand is a ridiculously silly beat-em-up and it kicks ass. Seriously, if you haven't played it you should.
     
    Okami
     

     
    Another underrated gem by the gents at Clover, and Hideki Kamiya's final Capcom game. Okami was Capcom's answer to the Legend of Zelda series, and is just as good as any Zelda title(if not better than some). If you haven't played it yet, you should, and there's really no excuse(it's available on the Wii and the PS3 via PSN)'
     
    Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3
     
    http://img.gamefaqs.net/box/9/0/4/59904_front.jpg
     
    The Dragon Ball Z Budokai series is really well liked among fans, but many(myself included) consider this to be the best in the series, even going as far as to say it's the best game in the series. Hell this game is worth getting
    (which you can't hear in the HD version unfortunately) 
    Smackdown! Here Come's the Pain
    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fb/WWESmackDownHereComesThePain.jpg
     
    Surprising considering this is a sports game, but I was absolutely surprised when I tried this out, as it would eventually be one of my most favorite WWE games ever, featuring the best of the WWE's roster, and a surprisingly fun career mode. Wish whoever was developing the games now would look back on this game to see how to make the current games as great as this
     
    Also it has The Undertaker Chokeslaming John Cena on the cover
     
     
    Since this is a blog post commemorating the PS2, and I know I didn't include some notable fan favorite games like Devil May Cry, Jak and Daxter, Xenosaga, and the TEAM ICO games(Ico and Shadow of the Colossus), why don't you share some of your favorite games on the console
  24. Megas
    Just recently, Bamco announced
    , a sequel to the massive crossover project between Bandai Namco, Capcom, and Sega, and have revealed a bit of the roster which features some familiar faces from the last game(Yuri Lowell of Tales of Vespira, Akira Yuki of Virtua Fighter, Megaman X) as well as some new appearances(Leon S Kennedy of Resident Evil, Kazuma of Yakuza, Kazuya of Tekken). While I'm expecting to see most of the original cast return, I'm mostly interested to see some of the new characters/team ups each company may include in the next game. 
    For this, since there's a lot of characters to cover, I'll probably just separate this into 3 different blog posts, one for Capcom, Sega, and Namco respectively
     
    _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
     
    Starting things off with Capcom as they're probably the easiest to work with, both because they have the most popular stable of characters...and I'm kind of a fan of most of them
     
    Team Commando

     
    Featuring Capcom's original mascot, Captain Commando, since the game prides itself on teams, it'd be a huge missed opportunity to leave them out a second time(especially since he DID appear in Namco X Capcom, a precursor to PxZ)
     
    Viewtiful Joe and Sexy Silvia

     
    Much like Team Commando, it just seems like a huge missed opportunity to leave them out again, especially when Capcom seems to love including Joe in crossovers
     
    Ace Attorney Characters
     

     
    Was very surprised to see them miss out on the last game considering how popular the series is. With how bonkers the cast is, they'd have a funny fighting style to see for sure(especially if Phoenix's moveset in UMvC3 was). As for who'd team up with Phoenix, I could see Apollo, Athena, Edgeworth, Maya, hey maybe even Franzy working well
     
    Breath of Fire Characters

     
    I'm actually not to familiar with the Breath of Fire series, but I know for a fact that they're popular among Capcom fans, and they'd more than likely work well in the game(and it helps that Breath of Fire could use some crossover love)
     
    Guile and Charlie(Street Fighter)

     
    Kinda seems like a no brainer, especially since Charlie is supposedly gonna have a big part in Street Fighter V. Plus Everyone loves Guile
     
     
    Gene(God Hand)

     
    From Clover's Swan Song, God Hand, Gene has that sort of whacky style that can't be replicated from anything else. And God Hand is awesome
     
    Final Fight Characters
     

     
    As par for the course, Final Fight series prides itself on co-op teamwork, and to see them in the game(whether it be Haggar/Cody, Haggar/Guy, or Cody/Guy) would work perfectly
     
    Powerstone characters

     
    Much like Breath of Fire, the Powerstone franchise could really use some more love from Capcom. In particular, I'd love to see the game's lead, Edward Falcon make an appearance, either with another character(probably Rouge) or even as a support unit
     
    Onimusha characters
     

     
    Like Breath of Fire, I'm not very familiar with the world of Onimusha, other than, much like BoF, it's very popular among Capcom fans, and they look like they'd work well in the game
     
    Jin Saotome(Cyberbots)
     

     
    While I'm not familiar with Cyberbots, I am familiar with Jin due to his appearance in Marvel Vs Capcom...he's a fucking badass. He's long overdue for a new appearance in a game anyway
     
    BONUS ROUND
  25. Megas
    I might do this for other franchises I like, but for now I'll just do it with the Megaman X series, since it's both my favorite series within the Megaman franchise as well as one of my favorite series in general, and it's been something I've been wanting for a while.
     
    This'll probably end up as a review of the series in a way
     
    I don't know how to start this up considering it's my first time making this kind of post so I'll just get to the nitty-gritty. In this series I look back at every game in the series up to the most recent installment(whether it be a main title or a spin-off), and give my thoughts on each installment with some history lessons for those unfamiliar to the series if it's interesting to be brought up(just be warned, there will probably be spoilers, though I'll try my hardest to avoid them).
     
    Originally I was simply going to do the entire series in one go but this blog was getting too damn long so I decided to cut it to separate parts. Criticism is welcome
     
    Now let's get this going:
     

     
    Megaman X(SNES, Wii/Wii U VC, PS2/GC(Megaman X Collection))
     
    Set 100 years after the Classic series, the first X game places you in control of a new hero and Dr Light's last creation, Megaman X, some years after being discovered by Dr Cain. Teaming up with the his mysterious mentor/best friend Zero, he must face a new enemy Sigma and his army of evil reploids known as Mavericks.
     
    The First Megaman X is platforming bliss, I've probably played through this game more times than any other game I can think of. There's some kind of joy to expect in every level whether it be neat gimmicks or upgrades or the boss at the end of the stage. Speaking of which, the ability to gain upgrades like armor, life ups, and refillable e-tanks are welcome additions to the series and help add replay value to the game by allowing you to find new paths or hidden areas throughout the game that you couldn't reach before. The game also has some of the best controls on the SNES period. A bold statement, but the buttery smooth controls along with excellent level design help make the game one of the SNES's timeless classics.
     
    The first 8 mavericks are also my favorite set of bosses in the series, even above the 6 first robot masters, they are difficult but really fun to fight especially if you love to challenge yourself and fight them without their weaknesses. I also like how they tried to make them more interesting and give them a back story in the game's manual(a lot of which is expanded in the manga), and of all of the mavericks I'd have to say Storm Eagle is my favorite maverick as far as the 8 bosses go, both due to having a kickass design and his backstory(and he also makes his appearance by blowing up his own plane, which is always awesome). All that said, Vile, X's rival, is my favorite villain in the entire franchise, and I always found him to be much more interesting than Sigma, especially after the story's retelling in Maverick Hunter X(I'll elaborate more on that when I get to it later)
     
    As with most other Megaman games, the soundtrack is one of the best on the console, and easily ranks among my favorite soundtracks period with great songs like Storm Eagle, the Intro Stage, and the first theme of Sigma's Palace.
     
    Also fun but obvious fact: Not only is Zero's current design based on X's original design, he was also intended to be the main character. But Capcom changed that because they though he was too different from the Original Megaman
     
    I'm really glad this game did as well as it did because this wouldn't be the last time we would see X &Co.
     

     
    Megaman X2(SNES/Wii/Wii U VC/PS2/GC)
     
    Set 6 months after the events of the first game, X assumes head of the Maverick Hunters and continues to face the Maverick rebellion. During his mission he faces a group of new foes called the "X-Hunters" who continue Sigma's original plans along with some of their own plans.
     
    There really isn't much about X2 I can say other than it's much more polished than the original X from a gameplay stand point. The armor upgrades also improvements from X1's armor, introducing the series' first Giga Attack as well as a helmet that's actually useful. The game also has a bigger emphasis on speed due to the Dash being a permanent ability rather than an upgrade like the first game. The addition of Ride Chasers are also very welcome
     
    The 8 mavericks are still fun to fight, though they aren't as memorable as the first 8, nor are their weapon's aren't as fun to use. I didn't find the X-Hunters very interesting either, especially compared to Vile, and their fight's aren't as fun either(Violen's in particular is more frustrating if anything). All that said, the story is a great follow up to the original game, even if it's not as interesting.
     
    The soundtrack is probably the most underrated track in the series, I really don't think fans give this soundtrack enough credit, especially with gems like the
    or the  
    Now on to X3, which I'll probably have more to say about
     

     
    Megaman X3(SNES/PS1/Sega Saturn/PS2/GC)
     
    Set sometime after X2, it is believed that the maverick threat is finally put to an end thanks to technology designed by Reploid scientist Dr Doppler. However it turns out that they were wrong when mavericks wreak havok among the recently created "Doppler Town" with Dr Doppler behind everything and now X and Zero must face this new threat as well as some familiar foes.
     
    X3 was really.....boring, I can't think of any other way to describe my feelings towards it. There are a lot of moments where the games just feels empty or the enemies don't do much. Everything about it feels boring, the story, the levels, bosses. Doppler had some promise, but he just feel like "generic corrupt/evil scientist" in the end. The gameplay is left unchanged and the hidden upgrades are some of the better parts of the game, with the ability to summon ride armors at will(when you find the necessary platform of course). The addition to play as Zero is welcome, even though he just plays like X(the only difference is that he can swing his sword once after a full charge shot). It's also nice to see Vile back to, as his fight was still more fun than just about every other boss in the game.
     
    I also find the soundtrack highly overrated. While it has some of the
    in the series, it also has some songs that make my and just sound . Almost everything else in between either ranges from "good" to "meh".(it's worth noting too that the PS1 version of the game(which was the one they used for the X collection) features an arranged soundtrack, with most songs sounding a lot worse(the only song that doesn't worse was Zero's arranged theme, which to my surprise, sounded a lot better) 
    In all I personally just find X3 really boring. It's not terrible, far from it in fact, I just don't find it in me to play it as much as other games in the series. All that said however, I still think this game is worth your time if you love the first two games, as there are still plenty of things to enjoy from it
     
    Next time I'll cover the PS1 trilogy, starting with the first Megaman Ze....errr I mean X4
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