#and his endlessly changing school roster

[mzminola]

Okay so this is funny to me. I’m only partway through the Brentwood arc but I already know some of Tim’s trajectory after that from fandom osmosis, so.

When Tim & Steph first meet, they are both living in the suburbs. Steph in Manchester, Tim in Bristol (I don’t remember if it’s after Jack woke up and moved them there, or if Tim was living with Bruce, but it’s definitely after losing Janet). There’s not really maps to show how close or far from each other these are, but Steph considers it part of her turf to investigate things at Tim’s school, Gotham Heights High, which she does not attend.

The quake results in a lot of people leaving Gotham City, and students getting shuffled around, and for some reason despite not moving, Steph is transferred from ‘City Central’ to ‘Gotham Heights’... but Tim only sees her there exactly once, when she’s coming to collect stuff because she’s temporarily homeschooling during her pregnancy. We get the name of her old school because she mentions that the girls who talked to her were from there too.

Tim’s dad yeets the family to Keystone, Tim comes back for Steph’s labor, and talks his dad into moving back to Gotham/Bristol (Jack does not take much convincing). Tim then winds up in Gotham City when it’s No Man’s Land, and then airlifted out, and since this is Tim’s third Very Worrying Running Away Incident from Jack’s perspective, he enrolls Tim in Brentwood, and makes him board despite it being close enough to attend as a day student.

Steph is presumably back at Gotham Heights High still, pregnancy done, though maybe she goes back to City Central, idk. She & her mom are still in the house we met them in, because it becomes a plot point that Arthur has his name on the mortgage (fuck that guy).

This shuffling is all during the era where Steph doesn’t know Tim’s identity. So keeping them Not At The Same School is important for the writers, but there isn’t really any reason to have her be at Gotham Heights at all except to give Tim a jump scare. The preachy convo with her classmates could’ve happened in one of her own sections, which the comics have never shied away from.

Then during the Brentwood arc, Bruce is a jackass and tells Steph Tim’s identity.

So the writers don’t need to keep them apart at school anymore, right? Presumably?

BUT THEY DO ANYWAY!

This is hysterical.

Tim leaves Brentwood because Drake Industries goes up in smoke so Jack can’t pay the private school tuition, and sells the house in Bristol and moves them back into the city, where Tim attends Louis E. Grave Memorial High, while Steph still lives out in the burbs and presumably goes to school there.

So when the writers want More Assumed Cheating Drama of having Steph see Tim’s classmate kiss him, they have to have her stalking him rather than just, like, turning down the hallway at the wrong moment. Or meeting him to study in the library after class lets out. Or anything other than Batman levels of unnecessary creepiness.

Then Steph is ‘dead’ for a bit, we’re skipping all that, Tim eventually winds up at Gotham City High, which as far as I can tell is in the city itself, and hey, Ives comes back! Yay Ives :D

The fanwiki tells me Steph graduated from Gotham City High, but I have no idea if she and Tim are actually there at the same time because her return is a clusterfuck near the end of the series, and she’s at college during Red Robin, which would’ve been his senior year if he hadn’t dropped out. Her age shifts around in canon but she’s consistently older than him.

They are NEVER at the same school I love it. Fucking hilarious.

[bentasabean]

Omg I’ve been thinking endlessly all day about which houses the foxes and co would be in if they went to hogwarts and these are my thoughts:

- Andrew would’ve be a Hufflepuff and nobody can tell me otherwise because Andrew is such a loyal and caring soul in his own way towards the people he loves. And also I think it would be pretty cool for there to be a Hufflepuff who isn’t the normal kind, sweet stereotypical person.

- Neil I was thinking is a bit of a Slytherin because he is very cunning and ambitious and clever although not smart, sorry not sorry, there is no way he could ever be a Ravenclaw. However I’m also torn between saying he’s a Gryffindor because he is very brave although stupid. And Neil is also a good leader because why else would Womack have made him assistant captain?

- There is of coarse no doubt that Matt and Dan would be in the same house because they’re classic couple goals and so I think they would both be in Gryffindor because Dan is obviously a leader and not just towards the foxes but also in her past with her auntie and supporting her family. And Matt although he is loyal and could be called a Hufflepuff I feel like he’s loyal to everyone in an all loving way that doesn’t fit with a Hufflepuff and also Matt is very brave if we look at his past with drugs and the way he got through it all and came out stronger than ever. Matt is also very determined like when he wouldn’t give up pining for Dan before they got together.

- Allison would be a Slytherin all the way because she is such a boss ass bitch and she’s too cool to not be in Slytherin. Allison is a very sly woman who I would consider to be very clever although she may first appear as ‘dumb’ because she’s your average pretty blonde.

- There’s no doubt in my mind that Aaron would be a Ravenclaw along with Katelyn because their both just such smarty pants’ and we all know that in the extra content they graduate and go to medical school and you gotta be hella smart to go there sooooo

- Jeremy would be a Hufflepuff because he’s such a golden retriever he fits into Hufflepuff so well he is a brilliantly hard working man who is so kind and protective to the people he loves. That is what makes him such a great captain as well as his patience which he just radiates along with his good sportsman ship which we are clearly shown when the Foxes go up again the Trojans and they change their roster to be the same number as the Foxes even though they’re likely to lose due to it.

- Jean Moreau my little baby is such a savage Slytherin like he is such a fighter who made it till the end. He’s a very respectable man and I honestly love him with all my heart and also the only aesthetic that he fits well with is the Slytherin aesthetic and you can’t even lie.

- Nicky would probs be a Hufflepuff because he raised the twins and put so much work and effort into being a good trustworthy guardian for them and if that doesn’t scream Hufflepuff then I don’t know what does, and of coarse he had to be with Erik who just gives off Ravenclaw vibes because I bet under all those muscles that he had there is a very smart brain there, he is the brains AND the brawn.

- I’m stuck on whether Kevin is a Slytherin or maybe a Ravenclaw because he’s definitely not brave enough to be a Gryffindor (sorry Kevin baby) and he doesn’t seem like the most loyal of people. And I wouldn’t say Kevin is a genius but he seems quite smart. And he could be a Slytherin because he clever in playing it safe and logical with most of his decisions especially of coarse his exy decisions.

- The only other person I’m stuck on is Renee because she has characteristics of all or most of the houses: she is brave and courageous which we see when learning about her back story in a gang and protecting herself, she a very loyal and dedicated friend to all of the foxes, she’s basically a genius in cleverness and wit with the way that she handles situations and she is also such a educated soul who I would honestly trust with my life. So I honestly do not know for Renee.

The end that is my ramblings, your welcome 🙏

[queenofthefallenangels]

She’s Mine Part 2

Jon Moxley X Reader

Rated M 

Warnings: I don’t think theres any for this chapter

Chapter Summary: After breaking it off with Jon, she reflects on her relationship with Kenny and how it all  started  with Jon that fateful night. 

Tags: @abadamn​ @hotyeehawman​​

The next night was the show. I always got their early and ended up staying late most show nights. I would be on my feet endlessly trying to help people and making sure that no last minute changes needed to be mad. I worked very hard at my job especially seeing how I was lucky to even have a job here. I needed to keep that job here. I had been worried about losing it ever since the affair started with Jon especially since Kenny was the one that got me the job in the first place. 

Kenny and I met while he was in Japan wrestling and I was in school on a forgein exchange program in Japan and my roommates had talked me into going with them to one of the wrestling matches. I had very little interest back then in wrestling. My roommate told me that Japanese wrestling was nothing like American wrestling and she thinks I would love it if I gave it a chance. She was right. I adored wrestling as soon as I saw it the first time. After I came home from the first time seeing it, I began to do tons of research on the different types. I had become obsessed going to a match every night that they had one. 

That was how I met Kenny. Kenny was wrestling one night when I was in the front row. He had done a high dive onto the person outside of the ring. Only, he missed his mark and went flying into me. He knocked me off my feet in more ways than one.

Medics took me behind the scenes to get checked up on as the matches resumed. They were going to take me to the ER, because it looked like I had gotten a concussion. I had no friends with me because for some dumb reason I went by myself tonight. Everyone else was busy with school work, but I had made sure my schoolwork was done before I came here tonight. 

Kenny had heard that I was back here and came rushing back there to make sure I was okay. He said he felt horrible for the botched move he did. I am not exactly sure what I told him, but my memory is hazy from that night, but I remember him there. I remember him deciding to come with me because I had no one else to go with me. He waited in the waiting room while they looked at my head and made sure I got home okay. 

“You know, a girl like you shouldn’t be out here alone.” He had told me while we were outside my dorm room. 

I shook my head, “I should know better, but I really wanted to see the matches tonight. I didn’t think I would actually be in the matches.” 

He smiled and chuckled softly at my joke. “You are really a dedicated fan.” 

“Yes, I guess I didn’t grow up with wrestling like my roommates. I want to see what I missed all these years. I really love it.” 

He nodded and leaned in, “You know, I have to say, you are the cutest girl I have ever fallen on while doing that move.” My cheeks darkened as the blood rushed to them. Was he actually saying this to me? I couldn’t believe my ears. 

He slipped me a number into my hands before kissing my cheek. “I hope your boyfriend doesn’t mind me doing that.” 

“I don’t have one.”

“All the better.” He said with a sweet smile before he left me standing there. 

I texted him the next day, not even waiting as long as everyone told me to. He asked me out to dinner to make up for the concussion and I agreed. Just like that the rest was history. 

Kenny and I were really happy together. The hardest part used to be the long distance we had while I finished school and he traveled. He wouldn’t let me quit though. He said it would all be worth it some day. He made that promise to me and it seemed like it was fulfilled when he was able to get me a writing job with absolutely no experience in writing. He made sure that we would never spend days apart like we used and everything was perfect or so I thought. It wasn’t until the night that he won the belt from Jon Moxley. 

---

I was running to go congratulate Kenny on winning the belt when someone stopped me in my tracks. It was Don. He was part of Kenny’s new gimmick to help merge some people with impact into AEW. I had met him once before and he rubbed me the wrong way. He really did now with his hand in the air stopping me. “Kenny is busy right now.” “He can’t be too busy for his girlfriend,” I said crossing my arms. Kenny was never too busy for me. He always made time for me. Don scoffed and rolled his eyes, but let me pass through anyway. I smiled as I passed through and saw Kenny sitting there. “Kenny,” I said, opening my arms with a hug, but he didn’t hug back. “What’s wrong?” 

He didn’t look at me. “What’s wrong? What’s wrong, she asks. Like you don’t know what’s wrong. You have still been helping Jon write promos.” 

“He just asks me to go over a few things with me. Just like some of the other guys do. Adam still does at times. Jon basically writes his own and just asks me how it sounds. I don’t see the problem.” 

“The problem is, girl,” Don interjected. “Where do your loyalties lie?” 

“Excuse me?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at Don. “I am doing my job. It is the one that you wanted me hired on for, Kenny,” I pointed out. “I don’t get what the big deal is about me working with Jon or how it is any different from any other guy on the roster.” 

“Little girl,” Don started, but Kenny stopped him. 

“Let me talk with her about it alone.” He said as he took my hand and led me to the corner. I bit my lip. I didn’t like where this was going. Kenny never had a problem with me working around other men before, so why now? Why Jon? It couldn’t be just because they had a rivalry on the show. That was planned to be over soon.  

“I don’t want you helping Jon anymore. He can do great promos on his own. We are supposed to be against each other. It looks bad with you helping him if others see that they might think something of us up. Besides, he might be using you. You know, as a way to get into my head. He is just using you to get to me. He might think that he can use you as a way to get me jealous or something stupid like that.” My mouth dropped at his words, “What, you don’t think he would actually ask for my help otherwise?” I couldn’t help the small tinge that his words made me feel. Kenny shook his head, “You're a great writer in all, but he has said a million times he doesn’t want writers' help with his promos. Why would he pick you out of all the writers to help?  I think it’s better if you stay away before you end up getting hurt in this mess.” 

I shook my head. I didn’t want to believe the words he was saying. Jon treated me like a friend. It was no lie, I had been a huge fan of his when I found him during my research of the WWE. I might have developed a small crush on him. The fact remained he was married and I was with Kenny. It was nothing more than a harmless friendship where we help each other. “I don’t think Jon is using me to get to you. Maybe he is actually genuine. Maybe he actually likes my writing.” 

“That man doesn’t have a genuine bone in his body.” Kenny sneered. “Whatever he made you think is a lie.” “Why are you acting so jealous, Kenny?” This wasn’t like Kenny at all. I didn’t know what was going on here, but whoever this man was it wasn’t Kenny.

Kenny cocks his head to the side, “Is there something I need to be jealous of? I am just trying to protect your feelings here. I know what a big fan of his you were and it's easy to get caught up in, but is there something I need to be jealous of now?” His eyes darkened a bit as he looked at me. “

“Of course not. He’s married.” I snapped. “Why do I need protecting? I can take care of myself.” “I don’t care if he’s married or  not. If there is something I need to concern myself with tell me!” Kenny hissed. 

“No, Kenny, you are acting ridiculous.” This was so out of character of him to be like this. He never cared who I was around before. I could be around tons of different guys and he never cared. Why now? And why with Jon?

“I gotta have you on my side, (Y/N),” Kenny told me. “You’re my number one girl and I want to show you off. I have plans of you coming out with me on stage.” He wrapped his arm around me. 

“Why?” I asked. He had never wanted me part of his act before. Why would having the belt make any different. I looked down at my outfit. I wasn’t exactly wearing something you could go out on stage with. It was office casual at best. “What would I wear?” 

“Don,” He called Don back. “Show her the outfit.” He said snapping his fingers. Don nodded as he pulled out the outfit. My mouth dropped. It wasn’t a bad outfit by any means. It just wasn’t..something I would wear. It was a tight black dress that was very short with black sparkly pumps.

“Uh, babe, I like it, but it’s not something I would wear.” I said biting my lip. Heels and me had never done good together and that dress was so short. I was nervous that I was going to embarrass myself on national tv. 

“Come on, you will look great in it.” He said with a smile. “Go try it on for me.” 

I sighed and did that to make him happy even though I was not in this dress at all. I did my best to walk in the heels but my ankles bent all around in them. It was not comfortable at all. 

Did I wear it for Kenny that Wednesday night? Yes, of course I did. I allowed him to show me off as well like I was some trophy wife with his new belt. I didn’t know who I hated more, the belt or Don for changing Kenny. Kenny never cared what I wore. He never wanted me to dress up so he could show me off. He was proud of who I was and wouldn’t have ever made me wear that dress. 

I left Kenny in catering to go get some air after his bit with the belt. I leaned against the wall and slid my way down to the ground, kicking off my shoes as I did. I didn’t mean to start crying. It kind of just happened. Kenny was acting like an asshole and I just wanted the Kenny I loved back. I would have been fine if this was just an act on stage, but he was changing off stage too. 

“Hey,” came a voice. I looked up to see Jon come out of a puff of smoke. “You know crying in the alleyway isn’t the best idea.” He said sitting down next to me. He let out a slight groan as he got down. I rolled my eyes at him. “I would hate to see what would have happened if it wasn’t me that stumbled onto you. Now, what's wrong, kitten?” He asked me. I don’t understand why, but anytime he called me kitten butterflies flew around in my stomach and a small smile came on my face. 

“Nothing, it’s just Kenny is being...an asshole.” I sighed. “He doesn’t want me working with you anymore.” Jon raised an eyebrow at me. “Why not?” He asked. 

I shrugged, “You are using me as a way to get in his head to make him jealous.” 

Jon let out a low chuckle. “Oh, wow.” He shook his head before taking another puff of his cigarette. “I didn’t know he thought that little of me. I don’t use people. I work with you, because you actually have good ideas unlike some of the other crap writers they got around here.” I let out a small giggle. “So, you aren’t using me?” I asked him. 

“No! I would never use someone just to make someone jealous and if I wanted to make Kenny jealous.” He looked over at me, but his eyes didn’t meet mine. They were looking down at me in the dress. “It wouldn’t have gone like that.” His eyes met back up to mine. “Besides, I think you need to reevaluate who is using who here. That’s a nice dress, but it doesn’t seem like you.” 

I shook my head. “No, I hate it. I don’t mind skirts or dresses, but I can’t wear heels and it felt like he was showing me off like a trophy. Like look guys, I have a hot young girlfriend you wish you had. I don’t like that side of him. He used to like me for who I was not because he could show me off.” I said letting another tear fall. Jon reached up with his rough and calloused thumb and wiped it away. “Thank you, Jon.” I said resting my head on his hard shoulder.

“For what?” He asked. 

“For being my friend and not using me.” I said. We sat there in silence for a bit before Jon spoke again. 

Well, he opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Before I knew it his lips were crashing onto mine. I couldn’t believe it. My heart did somersaults as his scent hit my nose. Cigarettes and mint. A spark hit me as we kissed. Something I never felt kissing anyone before. That was how my affair with Jon Moxley all began. He kissed me in a dirty alley and after that we couldn’t get enough.

[daleisgreat]

30 Years of Super Nintendo - Flashback Special

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) recently celebrated its 30th anniversary of the North American launch, so it seems the perfect time to post a Flashback Special honoring it! Suppose you have not perused a past Flashback Special of mine (all linked at the bottom of this entry). In that case, they are essentially my history with the platform over the years, with a little bit of history thrown in, and recounting all my favorite games, accessories, memories, and moments with the system.

Odds are for the average gaming enthusiast reading this, and you probably are familiar with the core details of the SNES launch stateside (if not, then I highly recommend CGQ’s video on it for a quick breakdown). The SNES launched in 1991 when I was eight. I did not have a subscription to any gaming magazines yet, so I most likely first found out about the system around that time from classmates at the time at school, the infamous Paul Rudd commercial, and the fourth season of Roseanne that transpired from 1991-92. I vividly remember the Roseanne episode with her son, DJ, pleading with his parents for the brand new SNES for his birthday gift and how his parents dreaded not being able to afford the system. I covered that episode when I did my Roseanne complete series re-watch here in the year leading up to the relaunch of the show several years ago. It brought back memories of how that was the story with my parents also denying me the much sought-after SNES, saying it cost too much and that I already have an NES to tide me over. ”But mommmmm, the SNES is 16-bits!!!!” Yeah….playing that angle got me nowhere. Kiosks & Friends The first couple of years for the SNES, I mostly remember playing at store kiosks. Super Mario World blew me away from the brief time I played it with it being such a leap from the NES installments. I always ate up the precious few minutes I could procure at a store kiosk if no one were playing Super Mario Kart. One last store kiosk memory was eye-gazing over the impressive WWF Royal Rumble. I loved WWF WrestleFest in the arcade, and for a couple of years, it was the only WWF game that offered up WWF’s marquee over-the-top rope elimination match, the Royal Rumble, and it was endlessly fun to play in the arcade. Fast-forward to playing it on console kiosks around its 1993 release, and I could not eat up enough of that game’s Royal Rumble mode either, and at the time, the graphics seemed like a huge step up from the wrestling games on NES. One of my favorite issues of Nintendo Power is the 50th issue that did a several-page spread on WWF Royal Rumble that I must have thoroughly re-read at least a dozen times.

I read this NP spread of WWF Royal Rumble many times, and it was one of my initially most desired SNES games! Around 1993/94, a couple of friends and classmates started to get the Super Nintendo. An early SNES memory that stuck with me all these years is my grade school friend, Jon-Paul, having me over for his birthday where he rented a SNES console and Street Fighter II: Turbo from the video store, and we played it for several hours straight. Another is spending a lot of 1994 at my neighborhood friend’s place, where we played countless sessions of NBA Jam and Mortal Kombat II. Both games were big on codes and secrets and perfect two-player games. I was just regularly getting into video game magazines at this time and ate up issues of Tips & Tricks, Game Players, and Electronic Gaming Monthly to see what kind of hidden character and other much-rumored codes were making the waves each month for both of these games. Mortal Kombat II especially dominated the code-fervor that season with trying to uncover how to face off against secret characters like Jade, Noob Saibot, and Smoke, and trying to memorize all the input sequences for the game’s infamous Fatalities. Fast forward to late 1995/early 1996, and I still did not have a SNES, but a new neighborhood friend, Rich, just got one and the next several months at his place introduced me to so many SNES games. Rich kind of got me somewhat into RPGs at the time, and while it may not sound fun on paper, there were many times I recall just kind of embracing the role of “armchair gamer.” I did this for games like EVO: Search for Eden, and Eye of the Beholder while keeping an eye out during gameplay to offer whatever suggestions seemed viable.

FFVI was eye-opening to me at the time of what video game narratives were capable of, and I devoured the latest secrets for FFVI discovered in the latest issue of my Game Players subscription that was delivered. The RPG I felt like that I contributed something to was the game that was originally released as Final Fantasy III. That game featured two-player support for battles only, so it was refreshing to help Rich with progressing through the game finally. My two favorite characters to use were Sabin and Cyan. That game especially blew me away with its larger-than-life story with two different game worlds, the momentous opera scene with Celes, the dazzling mode-seven graphics when traveling via airship or Chocobo, constantly getting irked at Shadow whenever he deserted the party, and so many other priceless moments. Over the years, I tried restarting the GBA version on a couple of occasions and regrettably have yet to finish it. Finally Owning a SNES….in 1996

Growing up with divorced parents put me in a unique childhood when it came to gaming. I lived with my mom, who provided for us as best as possible for the three siblings I grew up with, so we only had an NES for us for the longest time. However, when visiting my dad on weekends, he would always be big on hitting up as many garage sales and second-hand stores as possible and would acquire whatever he thought seemed like a bargain. Games-wise, this usually meant he lagged behind a generation because everyone was offloading their Atari VCS/2600s at garage sales for cheap when the NES was king, so I could have a great couple of years to become familiar with the pioneering-era of games on Atari. He then got into the NES scene when the SNES hit in 1991. Sure enough, the same month the N64 launched in America in September 1996 was when he bought a Super Nintendo for the family used at our local Premiere Video. The game we picked up with it was Street Fighter II: Turbo. My dad instantly remarked upon booting it up the noticeable jump in graphics. We played nothing but Capcom’s second Street Fighter game on SNES for a few weekends. I could only finish that game by button mashing into a victory against the final boss, M. Bison, once….with M. Bison. I still have a lot of love for this era of Street Fighter - whether it be for the roster, every character’s stage and theme music, and receiving Nintendo Power’s strategy guide for the game for Christmas and studying it regularly to improve.

After a few weeks, we realized we needed something else than a fighting game, and after another trip to Premiere Video, we came home with Super Mario All-Stars. It felt like the easy choice to go with 16-bit remakes of all four 8-bit versions of the core Mario Bros. games. Every game felt like a whole different game with all-new graphics and sound, and more importantly, being able to save progress midgame. This was a bigger hit with the entire family, and it provided many days of taking turns in its alternating two-player mode to see who could get the farthest in the four Mario games included.

Make sure to have some tissues by your side as you witness FFIII/VI's infamous "opera" scene. Seriously, this was mind-blowing stuff to 13-year old Dale in 1996. 16-bit Sportsball Fun

After playing a lot of those first two SNES games, I went into this stretch for the next several years, where most of what I played was sports and wrestling games. I attribute this to many multiplayer sessions with Rich, my brother, Joe, and my dad. I know my dad was not all that into sports other than a passing interest in rooting on hometown Minnesota pro-sports teams. Still, I have to give him credit for spending as much time with us and taking the time to learn and become a pretty solid player at teaming up with me in many sports games. It is worth noting that I feel the 16-bit era is probably the last-gen where most of its library of sports games had a relatively simple pick-up-and-play feel that NES games had. That changed a little bit in the final SNES years, where it was usually EA’s games that started to incorporate more realism in their sports games and make use of most of the buttons of the SNES controller. For football, Madden NFL ‘97 was the one I played the most. I played plenty of the Genesis version at Rich's place, so much so that I noticed too many little differences with the SNES version to make it stand out on its own. For 16-bit sports nuts that want to know, the Genesis version had the better playing version, but the SNES had a better overall presentation and more popping audio and visuals. I was part of a small slice of sports gamers big into NES Play Action Football, and the 16-bit version played almost exactly like the NES version, but with a 16-bit upgrade and also has a nifty feature to play games at the high school, college, or NFL level.

NBA Jam and NBA Hangtime dominated my 16-bit sports lineup. The code scene for these games were so intense at the time I had to keep my own binder of notes on them all that I still have today as seen above! As I alluded to earlier, when it came to hoops, I played way too much NBA Jam the first year it was out at my friend’s place. However, the arcade hoops game I played the most on SNES was NBA Hangtime, which was developed by the same people who made Jam. I got that game new for Christmas in 1996 and must have played it regularly with Rich for nearly a year straight. I do not hear that game receive the same level of praise as Jam, but it added a few new fun layers to freshen up the gameplay, like being able to do co-op dunks and earn “Team Fire,” and being able to create players. For more simulation-focused hoops, I played a lot of NBA Live ’96 with my dad, in addition to Nintendo’s NCAA Basketball which appeared like a technical marvel to me that was ahead of its time with the mode-seven camera allowing constant 3D rotation whenever possession of the ball changed and foreshadowed what would become the go-to camera perspective for the next-gen of basketball games. Finally, I will cherish my time with Bill Laimbeer’s Combat Basketball for it being the only hoops game I ever had to consult a guide to figure out how to shoot the damn ball….and for its surprisingly rocking soundtrack. Find out all about it when I broke that game down with the Your Parents Basement crew on their penultimate podcast.

Nintendo incorporated the same camera style into its hockey game, NHL Stanley Cup. Its graphics also impressed me, but it was rather challenging to score a goal, and I did not have as much fun with it. I played EA’s hockey games more on Genesis than SNES, but EA’s baseball game, MLBPA Baseball, was the hardball game I spent the most time with on Super Nintendo. Many years later, I picked up Nintendo’s Ken Griffey Jr. Presents: Major League Baseball, and had some fun with it, but already played the Game Boy version of it to death by the time I picked up the SNES version, and thus did not invest as much time with it as I did with EA’s game. Wanna Wrassle!?

I must have read through this review of WWF RAW countless times in my youth, and seeing how this essentially is a bigger and better version of Royal Rumble only increased my desire to one day own a SNES! The North American wrestling library was a significant step up from the bottom of the stairwell where most of the NES games hung out….but on the SNES, it only made it roughly halfway up the stairs. The aforementioned WWF Royal Rumble provided many hours of fun for its day, but it has not stood the test of time with the button-mashing grapple meter it featured that will obliterate thumbs on the normal difficulty level! Its sequel, WWF RAW, was noteworthy for having more match types available and being one of the first games to have a selectable female wrestler in Luna Vachon, but it too used that same ill-fated grapple meter that has not aged well. WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game is a fun little hybrid of Mortal Kombat and wrestling, but the SNES version is notorious for lacking two wrestlers compared to all other home versions.

For non-WWF games, WCW SuperBrawl Wrestling is rather unremarkable….except for its exceptional wrestler select screen.There were a few interesting unlicensed wrestling games in America. Natsume Championship Wrestling featured a solid wrestling engine but removed/altered the AJPW wrestlers from the Japanese version of the game. Hammerlock had a promising concept of having part of the screen dedicated to nonstop Tecmo-esque cinematics. In contrast, the other half of the screen featured 2D gameplay, but the cameras constantly flipped on screen, to which half was dedicated to cinematics or gameplay. It resulted in it being a jarring mess. Saturday Night Slam Masters is no such mess, however, and is a better hybrid of fighting game meets wrestling game, with this one done by Capcom. It features larger-than-life character sprites, full-on ring entrances with laser lights, and is a fun-playing combination of wrestling and Street Fighter. To top it off, Slam Masters has Final Fight’s Mike Haggar on the roster to boot!

Joey Pink does a fine job detailing why Capcom's "Street Fighter" in a wrestling ring should not be missed! Ensuring RPGs are here to Stay Aside from watching Rich play some of the RPGs I listed above, and of course, playing Final Fantasy VI with him, I did get a chance to play a few other RPGs on the SNES over the years, and it was not until the last few years that I finally finished a couple of them. In the late 1990s I first started two RPGs that stood out to me at the time because they broke out of the medieval fantasy mold most other RPGs at the time took place in. Shadowrun on the SNES was drastically different from the Genesis version I first encountered at Rich’s. This one still had the same futuristic cyberpunk world setting and terminology, but there were many more dialog options with NPCs that were pivotal in asking the right questions to progress the story. Additionally, the hacking games played out differently and had more of a puzzle theme to them than the action-oriented ones in the Genesis version, and the combat had kind a PC interface where a cursor had to be dragged across the screen on which target to aim at. I still wound up being totally into it and became stuck in the back half of the game before my save data became corrupted. I thought that would end my days with Shadowrun…

SNES Shadowrun remains one of my all-time favorite RPGs as of this writing! The final gauntlet tower was an ordeal and a half to work through, only to face off against a dragon as the final boss! …until nearly two decades later in 2016. I mentioned on past flashback specials how I occasionally guest host on the Your Parents Basement podcast, where they cover a random retro game per episode. In 2016 they asked me if there were any games I had in mind to cover, and Shadowrun felt like worth revisiting and possibly knocking off the “must beat this game” bucket list. I progressed until about a little over halfway through by the time we all met to record and broke down the game, but by that point, I just started to make further progress than my last effort and was determined to see this one through! I was playing on actual SNES hardware and was surprised that the battery still held a save but ran into trouble in the final tower with a gauntlet of enemies on each floor to overcome before the final boss. I looked up a walkthrough and discovered an exploit to grind experience to beef up my character. Eventually, I managed to persevere and finally conquer the final boss, a fire-breathing dragon, to cross finishing Shadowrun off my bucket list! I had a riot podcasting with the YPB crew about it too, so please click or press here to give it a listen if you want to know more about this under-the-radar 16-bit RPG.

Fast forward three years later in 2019, and the awesome YPB hosts of Steve, Huell, and Todd helped me once again restart and finish another SNES RPG that I came close to finishing in the late 1990s before evil corrupt save data reared its ugly head again. This time the game of choice is the uber-expensive Earthbound. Like Shadowrun, that game stood out to me because its setting went against the grain of fantasy settings and instead took place in modern times as grade school kids. The opening levels felt like getting lost in your neighborhood and using childlike items as weapons like Yo-Yos and baseball bats. I do not own that ridiculously expensive game, but by 2019 I did own a SNES Mini (more on that in a bit) that I made sure to abuse the save state and the rewind functions it provided to overcome some troubling bosses in the back half of the game. That final act of the game certainly goes places with its sci-fi twists and feels like an entirely different game, but I still loved it all the same! It felt exhilarating to finally knock this one off my “to do” list as well, and I had just as much fun dissecting it to pieces with the YPB crew that you can check out by click or pressing here. Unfortunately, this is where my extensive hands-on time with SNES RPGs comes to an end. I played a lot of FFIII/VI, and finished Earthbound, and Shadowrun. Sure, I dabbled in several other games but did not put more than an hour or two into them. One of those games is the much-heralded, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and I have no excuse for never sticking with it because I loved the NES original. It was the GBA re-release I played, and I think I was spreading myself thin while playing and reviewing too many games simultaneously. Lufia and Breath of Fire II were another pair of RPGs I put a couple of hours into that both left me with promising first impressions, but there was a whole other reason why I did not go back to those again, and that is because then I was waist-deep at the time in….. Discovering Emulation Right around the time my family acquired its first computer in the fall of 1997 was when I found out about emulation. It seemed way too good to be true to easily download and play games right on the computer, especially when factoring in the SNES was at the tail end of its lifecycle, and there were still new games releasing for it. As an unemployed 9th grader at the time, I sampled countless 8- and 16-bit ROMs with the SNES games I was the most curious about. A few of the RPGs in the previous paragraph being prime examples of the ones I invested the most time into. It proved to be overwhelming with so many choices, but I took a long sabbatical after a year or so of taking in the emulation scene after the family computer crashed and I lost all the save data I had amassed in so many games.

It has been interesting to see how emulation has evolved over the years from programs like SNES9X and Retroarch to being incorporated into machines like the MISTer, RetroPi, and Retron 5. Nintendo has learned to embrace official, legal emulation over the years with purchasable digital classic games on systems such as the Wii, WiiU, and 3DS. Having a stable income as an adult now many years later, I feel guilty for embracing the emulation scene so hard in my teenage years, so much so that whenever Nintendo re-releases one of its classic hits several times over, I choose to purchase it again (well…usually at a sale price) to redeem myself. Keeping SNES Alive Today

Over the years, I find myself diving into retro games versus the latest and greatest coming out. I am a fan of the various SNES hardware updates/clones, both officially from Nintendo and unofficially from other companies, which has kept my SNES and other retro game fandom blood flowing over the decades. I am unsure if it feels right to lump it in here, but the Super Game Boy lead to me getting a lot of extra life out of my SNES. Playing Game Boy games on the big screen was a big deal to me back then, considering it was always a pain to make out what was happening on the non-backlit handheld. For some reason, those special border screens that would eventually have funny animations after being left idle for so long made an impression on me. Game Boy games with the “Super Game Boy Enhanced” logo on the front of the box usually have their own exclusive border and special color palette. I loved the Mole Mania and Donkey Kong Land borders the most! I thought it was rad that around 15-20 special enhanced Super Game Boy titles featured multiplayer support with two SNES controllers. They consisted almost entirely of Bomberman and fighting games, but it was still a cool feature nonetheless. The handheld Hyperkin SupaBoy is the unauthorized SNES take on the Sega Nomad by having a portable SNES. It is a bit on the bulky side, but it has a rechargeable battery, and its support has been flawless with my entire SNES library. Another Hyperkin product I got a lot of use out of is the Retron 5. I know that particular clone system is controversial with retro game enthusiasts based on the unauthorized emulators it implements. However, the user interface and emulation support made it possible for me to make record progress in many SNES games by taking advantage of save states and its optional Game Genie-esque cheats library. The SNES Classic Edition is an excellent official piece of hardware from Nintendo that has the pint-sized SNES pre-installed with 21 SNES games, one of which is previously unreleased Star Fox 2. It has an adorably intuitive interface and supports game rewinding and save states, which made it the way I was finally able to finish Earthbound. It was also surprisingly not-so-difficult to plug into a PC and import a bunch of SNES ROMs into. Other companies like 8bitdo made that system extra convenient by making their recommended wireless controllers compatible with it!

If you did not grow up with the SNES, then both of these options are great entry points for those looking to move on beyond emulators. The Analogue Super NT may have been pushing it too much price-wise. When it comes down to the nuts and bolts of emulation tech, I am not a wizard by any means, except that by all sources, it sounds like the Super NT offers the best hardware emulation with its FPGA technology. It makes SNES games appear as pristine as possible on an HD/4KTV without any or as minimal of the fuzziness that happens whenever I try plugging in the composite/RCA cables from a base SNES system into a 4K/HDTV. For those unfamiliar with the Super NT, this video from the My Life in Gaming crew does a thorough dissection of everything it has to offer. The list of options in there is intimidating to mess around with, but this sounds like the way to go if one wants to keep playing their cartridges……although I have to admit I am pretty satisfied currently with the Retron 5 and SNES Classic Edition.

Odds are some of you are quite a bit younger than me and grew up post-SNES lifecycle. Not interested in going down the pricey road of hunting down old cartridges and hardware, and do not want to dabble on the dark side of illegal emulation? Then a terrific alternative is if you have a Switch with Nintendo’s $20/year online service membership and taking advantage of the Nintendo Switch Online and Super Nintendo Switch Online digital game portals. It has unlimited access to the slate of games on there, along with save points as long as your membership remains active. The implementation of save states and the user interface has also improved noticeably over the emulation used for NES & SNES Classic Editions. More importantly, it adds the feature to play online with a friend. Last year I played online SNES games with my nephew, who was wrapping up 6th grade at the time, and this was his first time playing SNES games. He loves Mario Kart 8 on Switch, and so when the first game we played was the original Super Mario Kart, I could not help but crack up when he instantly remarked, “Dale, this looks old!” He eventually came around, and then we had some fun playing co-op , Joe & Mac . A couple of years ago, on my Genesis Flashback Special, I made sure to reminisce of my fond memories of the summer I spent playing nonstop Sega Channel. These NES/SNES Switch portals are essentially the Sega Channel, but far better because it does not cost $15 a month (in 1994 dollars which equals $27.63 today per Google), offers multiple save states, and ability to play online for only $20 a year!!! Kids, get your parents to hook you up now!!! Miscellaneous Quick Hits

SNES games were the most common denominator on six of the 13 episodes I guest hosted on the retro game podcast, Your Parents Basement. Check out their full archives by click or pressing here. -Turns out I did quite a few guest hosting spots on Your Parents Basement Podcast for SNES games. For those that are podcasting fiends and dug the three episodes I linked to already, then I will link you to three more SNES themed episodes I appeared on where I breathed in the Mode 7 skies of Pilotwings, embraced Capcom’s action-platformer prowess in X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse, and made sure not to miss any Gatorade and Wheaties health pick-ups in Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City.

-The SNES controller is my favorite pre-disc console era controller. It kept the similar button layout of the NES controller but rounded off the edges into its iconic “dog bone” feel so the controller no longer cramped in your hands! Throw in the two extra face buttons and two additional shoulder buttons, and it opened up all kinds of deeper gameplay possibilities! It made it perfect for most fighting games that used almost all the face and shoulder buttons. I found the shoulder buttons were also smartly implemented in NBA Jam/Hangtime for being assigned to use for turbo speed functionality. As far as other SNES controllers/peripherals go, since I loved the NES Zapper, I always wanted to try the Super Scope, but as a kiddo, its bazooka-sized proportions were kind of intimidating. It still kind of bums me out all these years I never got to experience it with epics like Yoshi’s Safari, T2: The Arcade Game, and Tin Star. I never had an opportunity to use the SNES mouse either, which I kind of regret all these years later after seeing all the marvelous creations from experts at Mario Paint, and it was cool to see some PC ports like Civilization, Doom, and Wolfenstein 3D take advantage of SNES Mouse compatibility.

-The 16-bit era was when fighting games exploded, and as you can tell above, I spent a lot of time with Street Fighter II: Turbo, and the first two Mortal Kombat games. Other than that, though, the only other fighting game on SNES I put significant time into was TMNT Tournament Fighters. It was released at the tail end of the TMNT-mania when the cartoon peaked at its popularity. The game itself was a surprisingly competent licensed fighting game from Konami, and tried its best to feel like a solid Street Fighter-clone. Speaking of them pesky turtles… -…TMNT IV: Turtles in Time was the only beat-em-up brawler I put considerable time into on the SNES. I have vague memories of trying others out once or twice like The Peace Keepers, and Super Double Dragon, but Turtles in Time was the one I frequently revisited over the years. It is a superb rendition of the arcade game, with SNES-exclusive levels like the Technodrome that had a fantastic first-person boss fight against Shredder, where lowly Foot Soldiers had to be chucked right at him to defeat Shredder. The soundtrack is one of my favorite SNES scores, so much so that I went all-in to get the for it! I have so many great memories of this game, with the highlight being my friend Matt and I revisiting this for complete runs of it once every year or two for about a dozen years.

Turtles in Time and FFIII/VI are my favorite SNES soundtracks, but Turtles in Time I own on vinyl so I will embed it here in all its glory for you to enjoy as well!

-The SNES library had a quality slate of racing games. Super Mario Kart quickly rose to the top of the ranks and was always fun to bust through a GP with a friend. Street Racer was one of the first kart-clones to hit in 1994, and for some reason, that one always stuck with me. As did it being one of the few games to have four-player split-screen support with all four screens being horizontal! Rock ‘n Roll Racing is another killer arcade racer on SNES; think of a more beefed up RC Pro-AM, but with a good dose of heavy metal mixed in. This past year saw it re-released as part of the Blizzard Arcade Collection for everyone to experience it! I remember trying out F-Zero at a store kiosk around SNES launch, but was too young at eight years old at the time to fully grasp its style of futuristic racing (or that the name was a riff on F1 racing until a couple of years ago). I was more into a game similar to its style that was the trilogy of Top Gear titles. Uniracers was a quirky racer I enjoyed with its unique aesthetic and one-wheeled racers taking advantage of their nature in races filled with jumps and loop-de-loops….too bad about Pixar holding a grudge against Nintendo and legally forcing them to yank it off shelves. Nintendo’s other racer, Stunt Race FX, was ahead of its time with the polygonal FX-based graphics running pretty chunky on the SNES. Still, it is a commendable piece of 16-bit tech they were just barely able to keep running at a passable-enough framerate. Another FX-chip game that did not originally gel with me was…

-…the original Star Fox. Being 10 when it released in 1993, I thought those polygonal graphics looked blocky and horrendous and would have none of it! Many years later, I would revisit it and rightfully come around on it! -Another Nintendo-published game that received a lot of hype was Donkey Kong Country with its cutting-edge 3D models. They were plastered all over gaming mags at the time. I briefly recall trying out the first and second of the three Donkey Kong Country games on SNES. However, I did not put more time into them because I beat Donkey Kong Land on Game Boy before our family got a SNES, which was just a watered-down port with some remixed levels for the handheld. I enjoyed my time with it, but its disappointingly blunt ���congratulations” ending left a bad impression on me, and I never felt like giving the other entries a serious go all these years.

-Some may be wondering why there has yet not been anything dedicated to the pair of Super Mario World titles and Super Mario RPG? Super Mario World was probably one of the first SNES games I tried when I visited my older brother at his first apartment in the early 90s. I think the heavy-duty graphics and trying to comprehend attacking with Yoshi proved to be too much for eight or nine-year-old me at the time. I played it a few other times in my 20s, hanging out with coworkers on retro game nights, and had fun with it, but I think since I was exposed to the NES trilogy more and played the hell out of All-Stars, that those were the versions I preferred more. I appreciated how Nintendo stepped up to Sega’s edgier marketing at the time with Nintendo’s “Play it Loud” marketing campaign. Unfortunately, I think their ad for Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island was a bit too extreme for 12-year old Dale at the time. That ad (click here for it if you are feeling daring)was forever planted in my subconscious and always crossed my mind and indirectly caused me to avoid Yoshi’s Island for all these years. I did pick up Super Mario RPG and it is on my “bucket list” of games to play as well. I am holding off on it all these years because I was hanging out with Matt one day, and he explained how he was having a tough time with the final boss, Smithy. Well, he wanted to give me a quick demo to show how unforgiving of a challenge the boss was….but for some reason his clutch gaming skills kicked in right then, and he beat Smithy and was exposed to the ending right then and there!

-As far as other tough SNES games go, the two most challenging for me are easily Contra III: The Alien Wars and Zombie Ate My Neighbors. Contra III is like the first two games on steroids. I love the boss battles and intense walk-n-shoot chaos, but do not love constantly dying in one shot! Zombies Ate My Neighbors is another fun action-platformer that is also equally tough to make it farther than a few levels in unless you seriously dedicate yourself to it. Hey, both of these games also saw re-releases this past year on current consoles with the Contra Anniversary Collection and Zombies Ate My Neighbors & Ghoul Patrol set for those wanting to experience 16-bit nail-biting difficulty (but with save state support!).

I hope this excellent video review from the quintessential retro video game source, Jeremy Parish, suffices for my lack of any meaningful Super Mario World memories here. -In 1997, I was hyped for a late SNES release, the original Harvest Moon. The farm/life/dating-sim series is still around today from publisher Natsume (as well as the original developers parting ways with Natsume and delivering their own competing Story of Seasons series). During the SNES era, I spent several summers out on a farm. I appreciated rural life's solitude and free spirit lifestyle, and that first Harvest Moon game perfectly encapsulated that. Trying to determine the best way to spend the day tending to the fields, livestock and managing a social/family life was surprisingly fun and engaging! Harvest Moon remain one of two games that I submitted a blurry Polaroid photo to Nintendo Power’s “Arena” high score section. I cannot recall if my score got posted or not.

-The original Sim City port on SNES received a lot of love around the SNES launch window, with Nintendo giving it a unique makeover with bonus Nintendo characters in it and an exclusive tutor in the form of Dr. Wright to ease everyone into the simulation gameplay. I never played too much of that version, but one night at Rich’s, the game we decided to rent that night was Sim City 2000. That one was released way late into the SNES lifecycle and lacked any Nintendo extras the first SNES game had. Still, we stayed up all night playing it and looking at our daily news recap and mayor approval ratings and trying to figure out where to stop underwater pipe blockages! It ran slowwww on the SNES, but we tolerated it fine enough at the time because I had yet to play the PC version. Eventually, I would check out the PC version and came away surprised with so much I had to put up within the SNES game. -For those wanting to dare the Super Famicom scene, there are a plethora of great games that never made their way stateside, and better yet, a hearty chunk of them have received English fan translations. I am partial to the FirePro wrestling games that never made it here that are vastly superior to all the American wrestling games I broke down above, BS Out of Bounds Golf is an addicting take on miniature golf, the original Star Ocean, and the Back to the Future platformer that was not a five-star classic by any means, but blew away the poor NES and Genesis games that did release here. If you are not that familiar with the Super Famicom library, this top 50 list from RVG Fanatic is a great place to start your research and very much helped clueing me into a bunch of Super Famicom games I had little-to-no knowledge of. Conclusion

If you are around my age reading this, you may be wondering why I have not gone on about the fabled “16-bit Wars” by now. Rest assured, I experienced it in the lunchroom and at recess and in gaming magazines at the time. I devoured all the side-by-side screenshots in gaming mags of dual-platform releases to see if I could spot which version was better. I want to say back then, I sided with the SNES because I grew up with the NES, but that does not seem like a fair choice since I did not own a SNES until 1996. Reflecting on it, although I experienced a fair amount of RPGs and other games on SNES with Rich, I primarily played endless hours of Genesis games with him back at the time. So whenever I hung out with Rich, I considered myself a Genesis fan, and when I finally got a SNES and grew my SNES library, I considered myself a SNES fan and avoided a lot of the “console wars” trash talk. For younger readers here who want to learn more about the fervor of the 16-bit wars, the book, Console Wars, and its corresponding documentary (which is currently only available on Paramount+/CBS All Access sadly) are my recommended ways to absorb all that hoopla. I will cherish all of the past 30 years of SNES memories and hope you have enjoyed reminiscing with me for the last several thousand words. If you want to hear more of my SNES memories in podcast form, I have a few SNES-centric episodes of my old podcast I recently un-vaulted and have embedded below for your pleasure. They have some of the friends I repeatedly mentioned above as co-hosts that share their SNES experiences and memories, so please load up a random SNES “podcast game” and boot one of these podcasts up for fitting background noise….

10 years ago I did a 20th anniversary SNES special with Matt!

Here is the history of RPG series episode dedicated to the 16-bit era.

Finally, here is Matt and I hosting the 16-bit installment of our history of comic book games series. Bonus Overtime

It would not be a Flashback Special without one random oddball bonus story to wrap it up with. The only Kirby game I ever finished receives that honor. One day, my brother and his friend Jake were over at my place. We were discussing SNES games at some point, and Jake mentioned how Kirby Super Star is his all-time favorite. I said how I never played it and did not think anything of it at the time, but the next time I met up with him and my brother, Jake had the copy of that game with him and insisted on borrowing it to me and said not to give it back until I finished it. I felt this sudden obligation to play through it as a priority, so I did not feel like I was keeping his game hostage. Luckily, Kirby Super Star is a damn fun game, which the front of the box labels as “8 Games in One!” Most of the games are abbreviated-length adventures of only a handful of missions in their unique theme of levels, and a few of the games are mini-games like a race against King DeDeDe. Regardless, almost every game provided that trademark Kirby lighthearted fun and was hard to put down! Kirby’s Dream Course is also a lot of fun on SNES, and is an interesting take of Kirby meets miniature golf! With that anecdote, I will wrap up yet another Flashback Special. Thank you for sticking with me this far, and If you dug reading about my trials and tribulations with Nintendo’s 16-bit machine, please take a look at the other Flashbacks I have linked below!

My Other Gaming Flashbacks Dreamcast 20th Anniversary GameBoy 30th Anniversary Genesis 30th Anniversary NES 35th Anniversary PSone 25th Anniversary PS2 20th Anniversary PSP 15th Anniversary and Neo-Geo 30th Anniversary Saturn and Virtual Boy 25th Anniversaries TurboGrafX-16 30th and 32-X 25th Anniversaries Xbox 360 15th Anniversary

[mhall070]

MY SUPER SMASH BROS STORY

I first played super smash bros in 08, when brawl was new. It belonged to my mom's ex's nephew's friend, me my brother my mom's ex's nephew and his brother all played for countless hrs (funny with the 4 of us it really was super smash BROTHERS). Now I first played smash before I new what smash was so it was really just a fighting game with a bunch of familiar faces to it. My mane was Mr game & watch I only played him because he was visually the most impressive character (being flat and all), my brother played snake because he was a solder the nephew would play sonic and his brother would play rob cuz he looked like wall e.

Unfortenently this fun would not last for I had forgotten all about it in the 3 yrs it was absent from my life. 3 yrs later in the last month of of middle school I did not rediscover smash but it was first introduced to me. It was super smash bros 64 I fell in love instantly with its bizzar game play and mechanics, but most importantly with the characters and settings. The first character I played was jigglypuff because no one else played her and she was the only unlocked character. The connection with jigglypuff and I was strong and would be indefinite because she was so quirky and fun, I enjoyed being a nuance to my friends while having my ass handed to me. Note ssb64 is when I first met my partner so you could say smash is a love story. After a while I new I had to own this game so I asked my mom for super smash bros, yep those were my words, I never specified I wanted ssb64. On my next birth bay I received a videogame as my gift it was super smash bros brawl (in my opinion the most ambitious game in the series). As I played through with my brother we shuffled through an onslaut of options like music choices and modes like saving photos and replays it was amazing, and don't get me started with subspace emissary. The story mode was almost to much fun being so dramatic and hilarious, it really was something to behold. In super smash bros brawl there were a few more characters I found I had a great fondness for. They were Zelda & sheik, falco, marth, and the ice climbers whom I would not learn were from the previous instalment for some time and the newcomers were zero suit samus, Lucas, pit, toon link, and rob. It was also brawl that introduced me to my favorite video game franchises, like metroid, star fox, zelda, and f zero. When we first returned to the fighter select screen a memory from the past suddenly changed the way I looked at this game series. My life was suddenly just like the entangled crossover mess that was the game, it was like meeting an old friernd who had always been there, and it was then I decided super smash bros was the greatest video gaming experience of my life. Not long after completing brawl I discovered super smash bros melee instantly I new I had to own it, so I bought a copy and a GameCube cuz I didnt own one. It took me a stupid long time to unlock every character and stage (melee stages explained). I was surprised to learn that some characters in melee didn't make it to brawl, only one of wich I really fall in love with. Roy was one of many characters that were sadly cut from the next instalment. And I mean clones they were everywhere in melee and all but absent from from brawl. As for other characters I grew especially fond of the ice climbers and their gimmicky play style. Unfortunately super smash bros melee modes were a bit lackluster compared to brawl. Say for adventure mode wich was surprisingly deep, it really made you feel as if you were traversing through the games the characters belong to, unlike subspace emissary. But where I believe super smash bros melee really shines is in its game play and mechanics. It feels like a movie hopping around with explosions and lightning fast movements and it's technical input options that make the competitive scene so alluring (I'm a casual player BTW), unlike brawl wich is slow and sloppy and ssb64 wich in my opinion is worse. All things considered it is perhaps the most well put together game in the series.

Some time later super smash bros for Wii u and 3ds was announced, I was shocked, I believed ssbb was to be the last game in the series. I couldn't believe it, smash for handheld and home it was unreal. The first installment in the series I could truly enjoy the hype for, it was fun aside from being a skeptic of all the leaks that would later turn out to be true. First I shall say I accurately predicted paluteana would be a playable character, second the biggest surprise was definently pac-man (didn't think he'd  be possible), and third I was crushed to learn ice climbers would not make the cut because of the 3ds and I'd resent it for that reason. Not only that but I new the 3ds version would be inferior so I waited for the Wii u version. I stood out side the game store late at midnight to get my copy early. And I played for hrs, my favorite addition to the game had to be 8 player smash I allways wanted more action. I must say the roster of this game is one of if not the strangest with the cutting of semi clones like wolf and Lucas and the return of clones, specifically Dr Mario, of all the melee characters you'd choose to bring back why him over mewtwo, and the inclusion of dlc later. Nonetheless I did receive a few new characters to enjoy in paluteana, villager, the mii fighters, and corrin. Speaking of dlc I was not surprised by the announcement of mewtwo as dlc and I am glad both Roy and Lucas returned and Ryu I new you couldn't represent capcom with just megaman. The other game modes in Wii u and 3ds were interesting to say the least, target blast was fun but I still prefer target smash, master and crazy orders were amazing but hard, smash run was certainly the best thing about the 3ds version oh yah I did get a copy and a 3ds because I didn't have one. Oh and people, smash board isn't comparable to subspace emissary or world of light so, stop comparing them. The inclusion of amiibos really can make the game interesting but ultimately (pun intended) aren't very fun, however that won't stop me from buying all the amiibos I want. Now taking all this into account super smash bros for Wii u and 3ds allthough is flawed is also endlessly entertaining.

Then one day my partner came up to me and said, MERDY (thats my name) there's a new super smash bros game coming out. We watch the teaser and the thoughts just start rolling in, what characters will there be, what stages, what items, what modes, I was ready for all the answers but I would have to wait. I can say before the big "everyone is here" reveal I knew the ice climbers would return I also new there was no way they'd pass up another chance to add a story mode. World of light and spirits for that matter are probably the best thing to happen to smash, it's so complex and in depth it's creative and bewildering, it may not be as enveloped in worlds as adventure mode and we may not be able to enjoy the creative level design Masahiro Sakurai brought to subspace, however world of light has one thing the other two don't, customisation and the choice to play how you want, it's not as linear as adventure mode or subspace, and your fights aren't chosen for you. As for other game modes, I should first say 2 great new additions are video editing and vr mode, anyway you might as well go back and play some of the earlier installments in the franchise because ultimate leaves a little to be desired. Say for smash mode wich has lots of fun and well we can't talk about smash mode or super smash bros ultimate as a hole without mentioning it's shining star. The characters in super smash bros ultimate really make the game, I always dreamt that all the character from past installments would be in one game together. Of course I still had my predictions and surprises, first I accurately foresaw chrom, Simon, king k rool, technically hero (I really predicted erdrick only), and banjo & kazooie. Second I did not suspect, daisy, dark samus, and incineroar, although it was not a surprise ridley's presents in the game is highly appreciated for I am a huge metroid fan, BTW inkling was a no brainer. And I should mention the only new character I really enjoy playing is king k rool. Before the last section I wanna reminisce the things I'll miss about super smash bros. I'll really miss board the platforms, race to the finnish, 3d models of the characters and stages on select screens, event matches, coin launcher, boss battles, master and crazy orders, trophy rush, trophies, smash run, and good online gameplay... oh wait that was never a thing. I must state I'm sorry this story kind of turned into a critique, but super smash is first and foremost an experience and looking back now my life has be influenced by it, learning to grow strong and live big, and I can tell you super smash bros still is both a brotherly and love story for I still play with my brother and partner frequently. As for the future I can't say, ssbu is still growing and I personally believe it'll be Sakurai's last game in the franchise and video games are starting dwidle out of my life. Nonetheless it will be an unforgettable experience and I plan to continue to share it with all the world as it should be, being the largest crossover event in the history of entertainment, how can you even avoid it.

Waluigi for smash!!

 -------------------END-------------------

[charmspoint]

I know you said they don't have a concrete story yet, but would you be ok with telling us more about Zan and Ghost? They seem really interesting

Anon you don't know what you unleashed its like past 1am here but I could talk about them forever.

This is gonna be under the cut because nobody has to be subjected to this.

General quick point: Both of these started off as bnha oc's but then reached that point where I was like 'yeah, I want them in their own story' so rn their powers are just powers with no wider context since I aint got that story

I'm gonna start with Zan cuz he's older by creation and my fav oc atm. For him we have TW's of child abuse and neglect, familial death, trauma, drug abuse, depression and anxiety, though I'll be running through this points as quickly and non graphically as I can cuz...I'm not gonna make you read my thesis so it should be fine.

His full legal name is Kazuya Moriyama but he goes by Zan Mori, he's 24. Zan was created to be two things 1. Character design with a fully body tattoo 2. Someone to use a power I came up with but didn't match with a character yet.

Here's that power, yes I have a copy paste off it:

Nightmare fuel is a power that terrorizes everyone, including its user. Zan’s sweat contains a special kind of chemical that when smelled causes mild to severe hallucinations, paranoia and other fear responses by interacting with victims brain chemistry. However, this chemical is only contained in sweat that he produces as a result of fear so, for example if he goes running in the gym, nothing bad will happen. The strength of the power depends on how much Zan himself is afraid and how much sweat he is producing. A weak dose will only result in sense of unease, a feeling of being watched, escalating through general paranoia, with its worst manifestation being complete loss of touch with reality and intense hallucinations. It's odorless and since it’s a chemical can be stored for later use. The last stages of it are very hard to reach because they require for Zan to be at similar levels of severe distress. It affects him as well, often resulting in endless loop of him being afraid, activating his power because of his fear, the power causing more intense fear and so on.

So here is where we start to build.

Zan's backstory hinges on him developing this power very early on in his life, as a result of mutation that his parents were not ready for. Kids get scared of things, a lot, especially when their own power feeds back into that fear. His family quickly spiraled from it, going from trying to figure out how to help him to neglecting him to dying very bloodily in front of him as a result of the constant psychological distress. After that he was cycled through different foster and youth homes with pretty similar result before striking it on his own basically as soon as he could.

Zan's main motivation is to find a way to get rid of his power. He hates it, hates what it represents and how it essentially stripped away his ability to connect with anyone. He doesn't control it, he doesn't activate it, it simply happens to him whenever he gets distressed and as someone with deep seated anxiety caused by that very same power, he gets distressed a lot.

He self-medicates. He self medicates a lot. I don't really have the world planned out but it's very much a world where powers are a new thing and the society just doesn't have systems in place to catch people like Zan. So he basically keeps himself high as much as he can, to numb himself out so he doesn't feel anything so he doesn't get scared so his power doesn't get activated.

When I created Zan, I expected him to be a very jaded, angry, abrasive character and in some ways he is. He's very slow to trust and tends to keep away from people. His first instinct is to mock and insult, he dresses like an emo reject, he's absolutely covered in tattoos, he's a dark humored pessimist and just not the kind of person you want to be around for long. He's also probably one of the most empathic characters I have on the roster atm. He's like, a natural big brother. Any kids younger then him, fuck older than him but awkward and unsure, he's instantly adopting. Fuck everything else, his kids now, he'll make them lunch and make sure they get to school. Zan is more so abrasive out of need than out of actual malice or bad attitude. He does want to be close to people he just knows how that always ends so keeping away is a lot safer. He is genuinely very loving and soft when he lets himself be. He's not great about advice but he's a good listener and the type to throw everything on the backburner to come and help a friend out. He is inherently kind, he just doesn't allow himself to be so very often, unless someone damn well takes a chisel and digs it out of him.

Fun fact time:

He's got a knack for painting and idolizes Van Gogh

He's got a cat named Shikei who he picked up after it got run over by a car, it likes only him and wants to see the rest of humanity burn

Here are his established tattoos, yes I have a copy paste for that too:

Full body tattoo in shape of a jungle of thorns crawling over his entire body, save most of his face. The whole piece is done in eerie, cold colors, with a sudden splash of warmer color here and there, the thorns themselves being colored in misty and muted blues and greens. Over his heart, there is a tattoo of a birds nest, but the nest is breaking apart, suffocated by the thorns clustering around it and breaking into it, its branches drenched in blood, the baby birds in it barely even noticeable. Along the length of his spine and over the width of his hips an ornate cross of st. peter is painted, also crumbling, red spider lilies breaking through the frail rock. His shoulder blades are covered in sunflowers, strikingly bright on the cold surface of the thorns and painted in Van Gogh style. There is a chain of daisies lines across his neck and down to his chest, covering an old scar and a tiny ring of roses over his ring finger. On the nape of his neck, two butterflies are pinned by the thorns, appearing to still be alive and in agony as their bodies are pierced. A silver snake slithers through the thorns on his right arm, though its shade helps it blend in with the color of thorns, it’s body a tiny bit coiled, considering should it strike or not. On the back of his left hand there is a tiny leaf bug, trying to hide amidst the bare thorns and on the outer shell of his ear, mostly hidden from view by his head, is a ladybug, wings spread like it is about to fly away. A swarm of blue butterflies paint the silhouette of his lungs across his skin and two koi fishes circle each other endlessly on his hip. In thorns climbing up and down his neck, there are tiny fireflies, just barely bright enough to be seen. Two thin thorn branches separate themselves from the cluster on his neck and climb across his temples, their thorns appearing to be piercing through his skin and letting blood flow.

The tattoo is still in progress.

This was the brief summary.

Ghost! Ghost is a lot newer than Zan, I only made them at the start of this year so they are a lot less detailed but they hit the ground running. Their tw are mostly prostitution and existentialist feelings but I'm not getting into anything in detail.

Their full name is Ghostown Verb and yes they did name themselves that. They are 27 and their power is Forget me not, as I said previously, as soon as they are out of someone's line of sight, to that person it's like they never existed. The memories of meeting them return as soon as they are back in the field of vision but uhh you can see how it would be super easy to lose a child like that.

Ghost grew up on the street in a kind of do whatever you can when you can how you can attitude. Turns out it's really hard to get help from anyone when they can't remember you as soon as they stop looking at you, which includes but is not limited to social workers, well meaning passerby, police, foster homes and landlords. The name and face for the paperwork doesn't exist and people just find themselves grasping at nothing, feeling like they are forgetting something but not knowing what it is. It works in some ways, shoplifting is a lot easier when you're sure that you can just turn a corner and be safe, but it's mostly just a hassle. Ghost is homeless most of the time and when they were old enough for it their career of choice became prostitution simply because it's pretty much the only job where the customer doesn't need to remember you after they're no longer looking at you and it's not like Ghost has to answer to any boss who would have to either.

They had not had a kind life but they are the let and let live type. They don't stress a lot about things and generally take everything in a fly. They are very extroverted, very loud, very friendly. They form friendships fast because they know they'll lose them fast and same goes with love affairs. They live in the moment because for everyone else the moment is the only place where they exist. Loud fashion, loud words, loud actions, provocative and noticeable, they just want to be seen by people, remembered by people, they want the attention on them even though they know it's useless. Much like Zan they also have no control of their power so all they can do is live with it. At least it doesn't bring anyone any direct harm, they are grateful for that much.

But it does leave them displaced, unanchored. They don't have any support system, no family, no long term friends. The system can't even remember them for long enough to decide it isn't equipped to deal with them. They flitter through peoples lives, there one moment and gone the next. The biggest impact they can hope to have is the nagging feeling of having forgotten something.

It's not like they are exactly sad about it, their main mentality is just not to worry about things they can't change. These are the cards they've been dealt with and play those cards they shall. At the very least they are having fun with their life, doing whatever they want with no one remembering them long enough to stop them.

But it's a lonely existence with no viable human connection. That much does get to them.

Fun facts!

They have a tattoo of a forget-me-not on their shoulder, I haven't decided do they have it before the plot whatever it is starts, or do they get it cuz Zan's influence.

They like to make their own clothes when they can, though having a stable enough place to be for a long enough time is rare.

Their biggest fear is that when they die nobody will remember to look for their body :)

That was a brief rundown of these two! If you made it to the end damn congrats I love you

[dirigeant]

Best 3 Upright Vacuums For Pet Hair Reviewed

Your cute little fur ball is the star in your loved ones. Odds are he gets the majority of the attention when compared with all other household members in your family.

Among those matters he gets care for is his lovely coat and long hair, making him seem extra cute.

But it is not so cute when all that fur is stuck into your garments and furniture. How frequently have you ever gone to function with pet hair on your clothes? This sort of scenario has generated lots of pet parents to hunt endlessly for the very best vacuum for pet hair.

Bissell PowerEdge Pet Hard Floor Corded Vacuum

The Bissell PowerEdge is your best vacuum for pet hair and hardwood flooring which we will review this listing. This is a pole vacuum cleaner that's designed using a V-shaped foundation.

This layout permits you to pick up each the debris, dust, and furry hair on the ground with pure suction rather than a brush rolls.

Additionally, it has a swivel head, making it easier to move around and Wash in tight areas. This vacuum cleaner doesn't use a bag, meaning it is not difficult to use, and cleanup the dust cup requires very little time and energy.

Additionally, due to the exceptional design of the design, it works well on hardwood floors in addition to carpeting that's somewhat thin.

This is a vacuum cleaner which uses a cord, Meaning That You'll Be tethered Into an outlet, but this cable is approximately 20 ft in length, which means you ought have no difficulties reaching the most distant regions of your house.

Pros

This vacuum cleaner has a fantastic deal of suction, particularly on bare or hardwood floors.

The swivel system that's made to the vacuum's layout is fantastic for maneuverability.

This vacuum cleaner is made with no brush roll, so pet hair cannot get tangled about it.

Cons

The dirt cup isn't the largest choices, meaning it will have to be emptied more frequently.

The exceptional V-shape makes it hard to vacuum up from a wall socket or even a floorboard.

Bissell 1650A Pet Hair Eraser Vacuum

Do you wish you could eliminate pet hair out of your Residence And automobile?

This Bissell 1650A vacuum cleaner gets the job done every time. Your home will be spotless, and you will bid farewell to those awkward days when people arrive and eventually become covered with pet hair.

This unbelievable vacuum cleaner includes a brush roll that's tangle-free. This Means you won't need to spend time pulling out hair from the brush . In addition, it has a spooling system that's especially designed to manage pet hair.

The 30-foot power cable Permits You to achieve a broad surface with no Unplugging and finding a new socket. The rapid release wand also offers you an elongated reach so it's possible to remove pet hair in the tiniest regions readily.

Your Home will smell great because of this Febreze pet odor eliminator that too Includes a wise seal allergen system built for extra convenience.

Pros

Sturdy construction

Stores readily

Simple to wash

Simple to use

Removes deeply embedded pet hair

Tangle-free brush roster

LED light

Smart Seal allergen system

Febreze pet odor eliminator

Hands-free empty choice

Cons

You want to recharge the batteries

You need to plug in the cable once you move to various chambers

You want to take the vacuum when utilizing the removable hose

Tight hand traction must control the vacuum through usage

Shark NV501 Corded Upright Pet Vacuum Cleaner

The Shark NV501 Isn't the sleekest vertical sweeper We've encounter however, Providentially, the vacuum's somewhat old-school layout didn't come in the manner of its cleaning operation.

The numerous attachable tools which follow this vacuum really impressed . With heavy-shedding pets round, we needed something which would enable us to gently eliminate stubborn hairs embedded onto the sofas and the soft-bristled upholstery brush did come in handy. Along with this, you obtain a suction nozzle which gobbles up bigger detritus, a power brush for crossing pet hairs from carpets, along with a multipurpose instrument for ridding all from car seats to carpeted staircases.

The best thing about this Shark vacuum cleaner is how simple it's to change from a canister vacuum into a vertical vacuum. That is precisely why it's known as 'lift-away;' it is only a matter of lifting the vacuum out of 1 caddy to another and you're all set.

We utilized the canister variation to clean hardwood flooring and after that for the carpeted areas we seamlessly shifted into the vertical manner, which rolls up effortlessly as well as swivels in a 180-degree angle, which makes cleanup a comprehensive breeze.

Pros

Includes a number of helpful accessories for each task

A flexible vacuum which readily converts from canister to vertical when desired

Strong construction

The swivel head makes cleanup hard-to-reach areas simple

Extra-large dust may means fewer trips into the garbage bin

Cons

No instrument storage to attach Many attachments at Precisely the Same time so components can easily get lost

Removing the canister may require a little bit of Work

Conclusion

Whether You're Looking to complete large tasks or to wash up little messes, Each vacuum we've advocated here will act as a reliable sweeper.

However, the Shark NV501 brings top scores for choosing up pet fur and Other debris out of hardwood flooring. It boasts lots of accessories which come in handy for sprucing little corners and sweeping off pet hairs fragile upholstery.

And Needless to Say, the best part about this sweeper is that you can handily Use it in the vertical and canister style to fit your cleaning requirements, giving it a border overall as the ideal vacuum for hardwood flooring and pet hair.

[junker-town]

Miami can win with a steady QB – just like it could’ve last year

First-year coach Manny Diaz has done his best to bring a spark to The U in his first offseason. Will it last into the fall?

Bill C’s annual preview series of every FBS team in college football continues. Catch up here!

Up, down, down. Up, down, down, down. Up, down, down. Miami’s recent trajectory has been like an old Nintendo cheat code.

You know the story pretty well by now. Miami, a smallish private school that in the late-1970s and early 1980s lurched from weighing whether to drop football to becoming an unstoppable football powerhouse, has been on a pretty constant search for an old spark.

The Canes finished in the AP top three eight times in 10 years in the 1980s and 1990s, crumbled briefly under the weight of NCAA sanctions, then went on another run of four straight years in the top five at the start of this century. They won five national titles and came up just short of another four or five.

From the moment things began falling apart under Larry Coker, however, the flailing began. Former Miami linebacker Randy Shannon took over in 2007 but managed just one ranked finish in four years. That was one more than successor Al Golden managed in five. The NCAA was endlessly sniffing around, and the number of Miami greats on the sidelines at games was far greater than the number on the field.

With its more immediate history and a base of former players nearby who act like fans, mentors, boosters, and everything in between, the University of Miami is a FAMILY, in all caps and italicized.

This can be both a blessing and a curse. It can mean your heroes are guiding you from just a few feet away. It can also mean that you are constantly getting measured by the standard of the greats who came before you.

History isn’t in the past at The University of Miami. It’s right there on the sidelines.

Even worse than the constantly mediocre records (Miami has won between six and eight games for seven of the last 11 years) have been the occasional glimpses of hope. Shannon’s 2009 team beat three ranked opponents and rose to No. 8, only to to lose to two unranked foes late in the year. Golden’s 2013 team started 7-0, then lost four of six.

Then came the ultimate tease. Miami won its final five games of 2016, Mark Richt’s first season in charge, then won the first 10 of 2017. The Canes were No. 2 in the country, and gimmicks like the Turnover Chain made it seem like the swagger, long missing, was all the way back.

And then they lost nine of their next 16 games. Swagger gone.

Rather than try to make the changes necessary to rebound — which would likely have required him relinquishing his play-calling duties and firing his son, a.k.a. the QBs coach — Richt shocked many by retiring. It certainly caught Manny Diaz off guard; Richt’s defensive coordinator from 2016-18, Diaz had taken the Temple head coaching job a couple of weeks prior and was interviewing offensive coordinator candidates when he got the news.

Within hours of Richt’s retirement, however, Diaz was back in Miami, hired as Richt’s replacement. And now he becomes the latest man to attempt rejuvenation.

Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Manny Diaz

The hire certainly made sense. Offense was the problem under Richt, not Diaz’s defense. The Hurricanes improved from 54th to 11th in Def. S&P+ in his first year in town and held steady in the teens the next two years, too. Though a Florida State grad, Diaz is extremely Miami (his father was at one point the mayor), and he has spent his first offseason as head coach doubling and tripling down on basically two things: swagger and competition.

There are certainly reasons for optimism. But there were for Richt, too, right up until the late stages of 2017. With the right recruiting and the right quarterback, Miami can surge upward pretty well. But it can fall apart pretty well, too.

Offense

My 2018 Miami preview basically focused on two ifs: if quarterback Malik Rosier (or anybody else at the position, really) could take a step or two forward in his development, and if star receiver Ahmmon Richards could stay healthy, the Hurricanes’ offense could move beyond 2017’s up-and-down ways and provide a steady threat. And if it did that, then with another good defense and a manageable schedule, virtually every game on the slate was winnable.

Richards played in one game and caught one pass in 2018 before not only succumbing to injuries again, but retiring from the sport. Meanwhile, Rosier did not develop in any visible way. After producing a 131.1 passer rating and a 54 percent completion rate in 2017, he sank to 111.7 and 53 percent, respectively. He was surpassed by redshirt freshman N’Kosi Perry, who fared no better. Perry provided a brief spark (158.5 rating, 57 percent completion rate) during a 5-1 start but cratered quickly and comprehensively (88 rating, 46 percent the rest of the way).

Miami not only didn’t get good answers to those ifs. The Canes got the worst possible answers. And they head toward 2019 with all the same questions as before.

Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images

Tate Martell

The names are different, at least. Perry is back, as is No. 1 receiver Jeff Thomas (who would have made one hell of a No. 2 behind Richards) after considering — committing to, actually — a transfer. But Diaz hired former Alabama assistant (and Arkansas offensive coordinator, and CMU head coach) Dan Enos as both coordinator and QBs coach, then brought in as many new faces as humanly possible in the name of competition.

The primary names in the QB race are Perry, redshirt freshman Jarren Williams (a Richt signee), and another former blue-chipper, Ohio State transfer Tate Martell. Martell completed 23 of 28 passes and rushed 19 times for 147 yards as Dwayne Haskins’ backup in Columbus last year, and he was miraculously granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA’s Wheel of Destiny. The three youngsters battled throughout the spring and will continue to do so in fall camp.

Diaz also added a MAC ringer: Buffalo grad transfer K.J. Osborn. A key piece in the Bulls’ MAC East title run, Osborn was, per marginal explosiveness, more of a big-play threat than anyone on Miami’s roster, and while he’s not a surefire No. 1 target — you never know how the transition to higher competition levels will go — he is at worst a great complement for Thomas, tight end Brevin Jordan, and slot receiver Mike Harley.

Enos couldn’t save Bret Bielema’s job at Arkansas, but he coaxed efficient passing numbers out of QBs like Brandon Allen and Austin Allen. Miami doesn’t need its QB of choice to become Tua Tagovailoa (not that the program would object to it), but the Canes haven’t cleared the bar at the position since Brad Kaaya left.

Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images

DeeJay Dallas

If the passing game can pry some opposing defenders out of the box, DeeJay Dallas could thrive. The junior averaged 5.7 yards per carry last season thanks to random explosions, but the Canes struggled in run efficiency. (They struggled in everything efficiency.) He is a home run hitter, as are a pair of blue-chip sophomores (Cam’Ron Harris and, if immediately eligible, Auburn transfer Asa Martin*), but improving consistency could depend on a drastically redesigned line.

Guard Navaughn Donaldson is the only full-time returning starter up front, while sophomores DJ Scaife Jr. and Corey Gaynor and Butler grad transfer Tommy Kennedy also have decent experience. But offensive line coach Butch Barry could turn out to be as important a hire as Enos.

* It doesn’t appear Martin will be eligible, but with the NCAA, you never, ever know for sure.

Defense

Having a disappointing offense is bad enough. When it’s wasting a good defense, it makes everything even more frustrating.

Granted, Miami’s defense wasn’t perfect under Diaz — it did, after all, rank in the teens in Def. S&P+, which more or less matches its recruiting rankings. The Canes were merely good against the run, not great, and gave up a few too many big plays (mostly against Wisconsin in the Pinstripe Bowl).

That said, the pass defense was dynamite. The U led the nation in sack rate and havoc rate, dominated third downs, and did about as good a job as anyone in FBS at leveraging you into passing downs (fifth in Standard Downs S&P+).

Diaz loves himself some TFLs (first in FBS last year) and forces the issue to grab some. Upon his promotion, he brought in a kindred spirit as his defensive coordinator: former Louisiana Tech DC Blake Baker, with whom he coached in Ruston in 2014. Tech was fourth in sack rate and 13th in TFLs last season.

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Jonathan Garvin

Miami will boast as many play-makers as ever this fall. End Jonathan Garvin logged 17 TFLs, 5.5 sacks, and five pass breakups in 2018, cornerback Trajan Bandy combined 11 passes defensed with 4.5 TFLs, “striker” back Romey Finley had five TFLs and six PDs of his own, and somehow linebackers Shaquille Quarterman and Michael Pinckney (combined: 25 TFLs, 9.5 sacks, six PDs) still have eligibility remaining. Seems like they’ve both been in Coral Gables since about 2007.

If there’s a concern, it’s depth. The linebacking corps is stocked, but only six linemen recorded double-digit tackles, and just three (Garvin, end Scott Patchan, and tackle Pat Bethel) return; in the back, only four DBs logged double-digit tackles, and only Bandy returns.

Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Trajan Bandy

Granted, tackle Gerald Willis III, now a Baltimore Raven, came out of nowhere to dominate last fall, and there are plenty of breakthrough candidates: redshirt freshman end Patrick Joyner Jr., sophomore tackle Nesta Jade Silvera, junior safety Amari Carter, and sophomore DBs Gurvan Hall Jr. and Al Blades Jr., to name a few. And maybe we see a late-career explosion from someone like Patchan or linebacker Romeo Finley. Still, depth is a point of uncertainty until proven otherwise.

Diaz also brought in some ringers on defense as well: Virginia Tech pass rusher Trevon Hill, UCLA OLB and former No. 1 overall recruit Jaelan Phillips (who will apparently sit out 2019), UCLA tackle Chigozie Nnoruka, and USC safety Bubba Bolden. Hill has 20 career TFLs, and Phillips and Bolden are both former blue-chippers whose careers were derailed by injury out west. Nobody hit the transfer market harder than Diaz this offseason.

Special Teams

You know what compounds offensive efficiency issues? The worst punting in the country. Miami was 130th in punt efficiency, which, combined with offensive woes, meant opponents’ starting field position was the 33.5, seventh-worst in the country.

Enter Scary Tattoo Guy. JUCO transfer and converted Aussie Rules semi-pro Louis Hedley has almost no choice but to put up better numbers, but we’ll see how much better.

The rest of the unit is decent. DeeJay Dallas and Jeff Thomas are both dangerous return men, and Bubba Baxa (62nd in field goal efficiency) was solid for a freshman.

2019 outlook

2019 Schedule & Projection Factors

Date Opponent Proj. S&P+ Rk Proj. Margin Win Probability 24-Aug vs. Florida 6 -10.7 27% 7-Sep at North Carolina 61 8.2 68% 14-Sep Bethune-Cookman NR 46.2 100% 21-Sep Central Michigan 122 34.9 98% 5-Oct Virginia Tech 30 5.8 63% 11-Oct Virginia 41 8.5 69% 19-Oct Georgia Tech 89 19.9 87% 26-Oct at Pittsburgh 59 7.6 67% 2-Nov at Florida State 28 0.5 51% 9-Nov Louisville 87 19.2 87% 23-Nov vs. Florida International 88 17.3 84% 30-Nov at Duke 65 8.5 69%

Projected S&P+ Rk 19 Proj. Off. / Def. Rk 60 / 12 Projected wins 8.7 Five-Year S&P+ Rk 14.7 (21) 2- and 5-Year Recruiting Rk 23 2018 TO Margin / Adj. TO Margin* -1 / -2.1 2018 TO Luck/Game +0.4 Returning Production (Off. / Def.) 60% (63%, 57%) 2018 Second-order wins (difference) 8.8 (-1.8)

For the second straight year, Miami’s prospects hinge primarily on the QB position. The Canes will have another dangerous defense, and the offensive skill corps has everything you need. Granted, the line is a question mark, but if Perry, Martell, or Williams can provide reasonably solid efficiency and decision-making, Miami is once again in position to win a lot of games.

Even with their offense projected just 60th overall (they were 66th last year), the Canes are projected favorites in 11 of 12 games this fall. After the season opener against Florida (in which they are a 10.7-point projected underdog), they don’t play anyone projected higher than 28th, and they are favored by at least 7.6 points in nine games. They get Virginia Tech and Virginia, probably the two most dangerous Coastal rivals this season, at home in Hard Rock Stadium in back-to-back weeks. The table is set for a strong record and division title run.

Of course, the table was last year, too, and Miami went 7-6. It seems the most dangerous thing Miami can do is actually have expectations. We’ll see if Diaz can change that.

Team preview stats

All 2019 preview data to date.

[63824peace]

Tuesday, 11th of october 2005

The usual pain around my shoulder blades ripped through my back at dawn. It immobilized me. I knotted a fist, put it between my back and the futon, and pushed through the suffering.

I endure these spastic attacks from time to time. I can't recall when they started though. I've had them for several years at least. Once an attack starts, I can't move for roughly one hour. Sometimes they occur even while I am at work.

The pain is indescribable. I have undergone several physical examinations, but I have always come away with a clean bill of health. A+. I'm quite healthy. The cause for the pain is still a mystery. At first I thought my pancreas was the source, but there aren't any internal organs at the locus of the pain. The doctors were befuddled. They concluded that stress ignites the attacks.

I glared at the ceiling while I waited for the pain to subside and eventually dozed.

A tropical depression has spun into a cyclone off the southern coast of Japan. On the weather map the pattern of the depression's movement as it gains cyclonic momentum resembles a whirlpool. I visualized the pain in my back as a whirlpool. I felt that the stress of my spastic attack was lending strength to the power building within the cyclone. Of course these things aren't really related in terms of cause and effect... it is just a matter of my associations.

The typhoon and tropical depression advance hand-in-hand from the southern ocean. We can expect rain all week.

Yesterday (the 10th of October) was National Physical Recreation Day. The athletic festivals will continue at schools across Japan until next week. A lot of people must have been disappointed with the rain for interfering with either their attendance or performance at the athletic festival. It is doubtful that my son's school will be able to host the festival at all.

I loved the athletic festival when I was a boy. Other children disliked it though. They often wished, "Please let rain fall during the athletic festival!" These children might not have been good runners. Also, parents wished for a postponement of the festival because they cannot fit attendance into their work schedules.

The majority of people bemoan the typhoon's interference and sigh, "Why a huge storm at this time of the year?" The rest of the people react differently though. What do the people in the minority expect from this northering storm? What are their thoughts? Each person's reaction should be different from the others'.

Yesterday I finally had the chance to go to the HMV music store in Shibuya (a district in Tokyo), so I bought some CD singles. I bought Block Party's new single Two More Years; Editors' bullets; and Starsailor's first release in two years, In the Crossfire.

New Order's single Waiting for the Siren's Call wasn't yet on sale, and I didn't buy Franz Ferdinand's single since it had neither a remix version nor a rare track. I didn't buy the Depeche Mode single since I want to be patient for a few more days until their new album hits the shelves on October 13.

I listened to my new singles on my way to the office this morning. Block Party's Two More Years is really cool. I recommend it. My favorite on the walk to work was Editors' bullets. The single came with a promotional movie, and I could see the band in motion for the first time.

Starsailor's In the Crossfire will touch a listener's heart in autumn. I remember the fall of 2003 when I first discovered them. I'm anticipating the release of their new album.

I would really like to go to HMV daily if that were possible. There used to be a WAVE music store in front of the Roppongi Hills train station. There aren't any big name stores in the Roppongi area that sell imported albums now. I'm rarely able to go to Shibuya though, and that's why I'm always late buying new albums and singles. I hope that either an HMV or a Tower Records opens in Roppongi someday.

I burned a copy of the Existence disc and commenced its final test on the PS2. I first checked the Secret Theater and everything looked fine there. I'm relieved; no worries now. Then I moved on to check the main story. I already proofed the sound in the studio, and today I performed the final check on the DVD.

At noon I ate a fried cake of minced meat at the restaurant Mikawaya. Delicious!

In a bookstore I saw Takuro Nukui's latest novel "Akutou tachi wa senri o hashiru" [The Bandits Run for a Thousand Ri]. I also saw Jeremy Dronfield's latest, Resurrecting Salvador. Dronfield also authored The Locust Farm. I want to read them but I already have so many books backlogged on my reading list. I controlled my impulses and left the books on the shelves.

Unfortunately I'm not in the position to read a lot these days. My situation isn't very flexible. I don't feel like reading on the train, so I naturally take shelter in my iPod.

I bought the October issue of Eureka magazine. It features an article written by Yano, a special feature covering Ghost-in-the-Shell: STAND ALONE COMPLEX. I started flipping the pages. Surprise! Even Miyasho wrote an article.

Kenji Kamiyama is the director of Ghost in the Shell: STAND ALONE COMPLEX. He's an old war buddy of mine. We fought beside each other in a certain hellish affair over ten years ago in Nerima, a district in Tokyo. Mr. Kamiyama was already established as a highly intellectual and talented man. I commuted to work from Kobe to Tokyo back then, so I could talk only about work with him.

Some time after moving to Tokyo I ran into him at the preview for the film Jin Roh by Mamoru Oshii. Not many people in either the game or the film industries possess solid character, and Mr. Kamiyama shares his character with both. He is a rare man: one who possesses talent as well as charisma. I would like to work with him again.

I gave an interview for the new magazine Dengeki Maoh right after lunch. They will publish the interview on October 27. For one and a half hours, I talked about the Metal Gear Saga. They asked me: "How would you describe each game in the Metal Gear Saga, using only one word per game?" I couldn't comment on each of those games using only one word apiece. Could a parent describe each of his children using only one word?

I was intent on watching the third disc from start to finish without breaking for the restroom or a drink of water.

Naturally I didn't allow my email or the documents awaiting my signature to distract my attention. "Right now," I thought, "I'm only living for the third disc of Subsistence."  Even so my mind shuttered through memories and thoughts.

Has it already been one year since the release of MGS3? A whole year!

How have I filled the past year? What has really changed during this time? I risk lapsing into self-pity if I think about this too much.

Yet one year later Snake and the Boss remain the same. They are unchanged. They fight for their survival and their innocence. Their creator has aged but they are ageless and shall not fade.

I think about how we create immortal lives that exist eternally.

I felt the stress dissipate while I thought about this. When I finally reached the end, I heard a noise coming from somewhere.

TAWN, TAWN, TAWN!

Was that a hammer? Perhaps there was repair work going on in the office. But nobody told me about that.

I strained my hearing. The hammer's rhythm was not the rhythm of a professional. Somehow it rang awkwardly: a staccato rhythm hammered from the hand of a man not used to recreational weekend carpentering. I wanted to locate the source of the noise, but I refused to turn my attention away from Existence.

Somehow I managed to finish watching the third disc. Having just sat through the whole thing from start to finish, I concluded that we only need to make a few adjustments to the sound. Existence is almost done.

Emotion overwhelmed me as I watched the credits roll to Starsailor's Way to Fall.

Still… the noise continued endlessly. TAWN, TAWN, TAWN!

"Does it need to be that noisy!?" I flustered.

I finally decided to hunt for the source… and I found one of my staff members grappling pieces of wood.

"What is all this?" I asked.

"This is one of our targets for field training," he said. Toyopy smiled at me as he stopped hammering. "To be honest with you, this is sort of a secret. Doesn't it look nice though?" His face beamed.

Well… if Toyopy says so, I suppose you could call that… "nice."

Only managers like Toyopy and Colonel know the details of our field training. As with Psychological Boot Camp the schedules remain confidential until the very day of field training.

There's a rumor floating around that Mr. Mori and his company have prepared a large variety of weapons and equipment for our field training camp. I wonder what they are plotting. I should approach the training with determination.

I heard that we will split into teams of four people in order to accomplish the training missions. My team's roster reads: Kojima, Shin-chan, Kenichiro, and Murashu.

I'm looking forward to Monday and Tuesday of next week.

I ate Nikujiru Oudon (with two portions of udon) for dinner at the restaurant Tsrutontan. Kenichiro ate Curry Oudon.

A type of Japanese noodle is called udon. At the restaurant Tsrutontan they call it Oudon. Since the dish is the restaurant's specialty they give it an idiosyncratic spelling.

When the letter O is placed in front of udon and soba (two kinds of Japanese noodles), the dish names sound more sophisticated, refined, and graceful.

It seems like putting an O in front of the names increases everything about the food: the taste, the pleasure of the meal, even the price! As I think on it now, anything becomes classier if we add the letter O as a prefix.

Sushi becomes Osushi. Sakana becomes Osakana. Nabe becomes Onabe.

We only need to add the prefix O to transform a simple side dish like souzai into a main course: Osouzai! Even a simple snack like tsumami gains a rank and becomes a side dish: Otsumami! Koge, charred food, becomes Okoge, grilled food. (We could probably find this on the menu right now if we looked closely.) A takeout lunch like bento becomes Obento, as hearty and warm as home cooking.

People tend to dislike vegetables, but when yasai becomes Oyasai, everyone will want second helpings. We feel happier when the celebratory dish sekihan becomes Osekihan.

The fulcrum is the feeling we have toward our food. A meal changes its character according to the attitudes and feelings of the person who is eating. Students eating dormitory food and family men living in another city because of their work ; all of them should preface their foods with O at a lonely table. I believe that even the table will become more luxurious.

Regrettably, ramen is the exception. No manner of spelling will improve its taste.

By the way… why does oden already have an o in its basic spelling? Even with the native o it isn't classy. Things could be worse though: if we removed the o then all we have left is "den."

Den? What does that even mean? Now we can have nothing to do with the dish.

At all costs we must avoid appending an O to nigiri even by mistake. Then our nigiri zushi will turn into Onigiri: our sushi will transform into rice balls!

When I returned home at night I saw that a new tropical depression and cyclone had appeared on the weather map.

[williamsjoan]

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Review — World of Fight

When I think back on the original Super Smash Bros., I reflect back to when I was a kid, roughly around elementary/middle school age, and when I would play that Nintendo 64 classic endlessly. Those where the days when after getting home from school, I would spend hours in a bean bag chair in the basement, N64 controller in hand, and continue battling it out match-after-match against the Nintendo characters that I knew and loved. Whether I played as my favorite characters like Link or Ness, or spent hours mastering the art of perfectly landing a Falcon Punch or Jigglypuff’s Rest, Super Smash Bros. and its 12-character roster, at the time, felt like a Nintendo fan’s dream come true…or at the very least my own.

In the span of almost two decades, it’s incredible to look back and think of where the series started and where it compares now with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the fifth installment in Nintendo’s massive fighting game franchise that draws nearly all of its characters together, along with plenty of new challengers that have appeared. While I think back on the fact that I’m now far closer to adulthood than I am from my childhood and when I first played the N64 original, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate recaptures that same sensation that I had as a kid of seeing my favorite characters duke it out and then some.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, like its name implies, is anything and everything that a Nintendo fan could want not only from the series as a whole, but from its meticulous details and features that are drawn from across the entire Nintendo catalog of characters, places, and memories. While a few nagging features hold it back from perfection, Ultimate comes pretty darn close to being the perfect Smash Bros. game, and at the very least is a game that I can’t imagine any Switch owner going without adding to their roster of games to play with friends for years to come.

“Super Smash Bros. Ultimate recaptures that same sensation that I had as a kid of seeing my favorite characters duke it out and then some.”

Coming just about four years after the release of Super Smash Bros. for 3DS & Wii U, the focus of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is placed on the fact that “everyone is here,” with the game bringing together every playable character that has ever appeared in a Smash Bros. game alongside a small (but notable) collection of characters that are brand new to the series, including several long-requested fan favorites. From series’ veterans like Mario and Link, to third-party characters like Snake and Cloud, to the roster of newcomers such as the Inklings, King K. Rool, and Ridley, there’s no denying that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has a little bit of something for everyone, whether this is your first game in the series or (like me) you’ve been playing them all since the series’ humble beginnings.

As far as the core gameplay of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate goes, little has changed surrounding the basic idea that you and a group of friends (or CPUs) gather together on the battlefield and try to knock your other opponents off the stage to be the last one standing (or rack up the most KOs). However, while Ultimate doesn’t make any drastic changes to the gameplay formula that has kept players smashing for nearly two decades, the experience feels even deeper thanks to the game’s massive roster (and as a result, the many different fighting styles) that players have at their disposal.

“With a total of 70+ characters currently in the game, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a feast of different combat styles for players to experiment with.”

With a total of 70+ characters currently in the game — not counting the upcoming arrival of Piranha Plant and DLC characters like Persona 5‘s Joker — Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a feast of different combat styles for players to experiment with. While plenty of characters like Mario, Link, and Pit offer playstyles that are a bit more well-rounded and versatile, playing as each and every character to discover their strengths, weaknesses, and very particular movesets feels incredibly rewarding, especially once you land on your “mains” that you might favor over other fighters.

A large part of that sense of discovery can be drawn from the brand new fighters that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate introduces, many of whom I think are some of the most varied and enjoyable fighters to play as yet. Characters like King K. Rool and Ridley not only have been long-requested by the Smash Bros. fan community, but add some welcome variety to the class of heavyweight characters. The Inklings from Splatoon bring one of the most unique fighting styles to the table centered around the use of their paint-based weaponry, while Castlevania‘s Simon Belmont (and his Echo Fighter, Richter) utilizes a combination of powerful projectiles and deadly ranged weapons to make him formidable at a distance, at the expense of mobility and recovery.

While the new fighters in Ultimate bring plenty of variety to the roster, many of the series’ veteran characters have also gotten some mechanical tweaks and changes that almost make them feel new again and worth replaying for longtime fans of the series. Link, for example, donning his appearance from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, now has remote bombs in place of his explosives from previous titles, along with his grapple hook being removed for a more traditional grab. Ganondorf has also gotten some new abilities to distance him a bit more from Captain Falcon’s moveset, while characters that have been away from the fight for a while, such as Metal Gear Solid‘s Snake, have been welcomed back to Ultimate with a few new tweaks and changes from when we last saw them.

“The brand new fighters that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate introduces…are some of the most varied and enjoyable fighters to play as yet.”

Though the roster now encompasses an intimidating number of characters, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate hasn’t forgotten that the heart of the experience is simply about the fun of seeing these characters duke it out together in fantastical settings. As the series has ebbed and flowed from the more competitive, fast-paced experience of Melee to the slowed-down, more accessible gameplay of Brawl, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has found just the right balance of gameplay that gives the series’ most devoted fans what they want from a Smash Bros. title, while not straying away from those that simply just want to play the game with friends without the stress of competition at higher-level play.

Mechanically speaking, Ultimate definitely feels like a bump up from the last installments of the series on Wii U and 3DS in terms of technique and the range of combat options at players’ disposals. While it still doesn’t quite stack up to the momentum of a match in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Ultimate feels like a solid middle ground between that game and the recent Smash Bros. titles by reintroducing some of the more technical components of the series like directional air-dodging, perfect shielding, and more. Even aside from these mechanical changes and tweaks, presentation-wise Ultimate adds a number of small (but appreciated) new details to the gameplay mix. This includes a new (optional) window that pops up when a fighter is knocked off-stage that shows their character’s distance in relation to the stage, while an awesome new slo-mo, zoom-in effect occurs when a player lands a finishing KO on another combatant, giving a nice sense of feedback to finally besting a tough opponent.

“The creativity of each fight [in Spirits Mode] makes its slightly repetitive nature worth your while.”

Outside of the enhanced character roster and bevy of new features and options, one of the biggest additions for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the new “Spirits Mode,” which brings players into a massive RPG-esque mode that is focused around the collection of “Spirits” representing different characters from across the Nintendo universe (and beyond). In a similar vein to the Subspace Emissary campaign from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the centerpiece of Spirits Mode is the World of Light story campaign, where players start out as Kirby (clearly the GOAT in the Smash Bros. universe) and traverse a massive world map to take on a variety of battles, free the captive Spirits of other fighters, and even engage with several climactic boss battles.

The core experience of World of Light in a lot of ways feels like a blend of Adventure Mode and Events Mode in past Smash Bros. titles, with the idea being that players engage in battles with dozens of different characters from Nintendo franchises (and other outside gaming franchises as well), whether that’s well-known faces like Rayman, Bomberman, or Hal “Otacon” Emmerich, to far more obscure characters pulled from the deepest cuts of Nintendo’s history. Each of these characters is represented by a Spirit, which essentially takes the place of the collectible Trophies from past titles, but adds the ability for players to level them up and enhance their powers over time.

“[Spirits] takes the place of the collectible Trophies from past titles, but adds the ability for players to level them up and enhance their powers over time.”

Given that most of these characters don’t actually appear as playable fighters (or even as Assist Trophies), the Spirits that you are fighting against are instead represented in clever ways through the playable fighters, Assist Trophies, items, and stages available in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. This makes each fight in World of Light incredibly unpredictable, but a lot of fun to discover how each character is represented in-game. For example, a fight against Pokemon‘s Latios & Latias has players taking on a red and blue Charizard at once, while the Bomberman fight puts players to the test against Young Link, the Bomberman Assist Trophy, and a ton of different bomb items constantly spewing across the map. Likewise, the fight against Metal Gear Solid‘s Otacon tests your abilities against a black-suited Dr. Mario and a sleek grey R.O.B., among the dozens of other battles that World of Light will put you through against its dizzying number of Spirit Battles.

While World of Light is a lengthy endeavor that will take players upwards of 15-20 hours (or more) to complete, the creativity of each fight makes its slightly repetitive nature worth your while, especially for the sheer delight of seeing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate draw from the deepest wells of Nintendo fandom. Many of the characters referenced in World of Light are the kinds that only the hardest of hardcore fans of Nintendo’s numerous franchises would recognize, and while some of the fights can feel a little cheap or unnecessarily difficult (especially the 1v4 battles), World of Light at least offers a welcome change of pace from the core multiplayer focus of Smash Bros.

“Super Smash Bros. Ultimate draws from the deepest wells of Nintendo fandom.”

Outside of Spirits Mode, Classic Mode also returns to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate with a bit of a remixed formula. While the basic structure remains where players go through a series of matches against opposing fighters, this time around Classic Mode is curated a bit more to each specific character with themed matches and encounters, making it less of a slog if you’re trying to get through Classic Mode with every single character. Likewise, other mainstay modes like All-Star Smash and Cruel Smash also return with some welcome changes but are no less of a challenge than when they first made their appearance in the series.

That isn’t to say that Ultimate has run out of ideas for new gameplay modes though, as the game introduces some welcome new modes with interesting twists to the traditional Smash Bros. format. Squad Strike is among the new multiplayer modes that effectively blends Smash Bros. with a Marvel vs. Capcom-like experience, giving players the option of either 3v3 or 5v5 battles with tag-team-style gameplay. The Smashdown Mode, in particular, is one that I think Smash Bros. players should regularly put into rotation, as it gradually eliminates characters from the roster after each round, forcing players to get outside of their comfort zones and having to select new characters to challenge their opponents with.

“Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is impressive in scope, detail, and the sheer breadth of options that it offers to players.”

Alongside the larger changes and new modes and features that have been added in Ultimate, there are also dozens of smaller quality-of-life adjustments and tweaks the game makes that will especially be appreciated by longtime series’ fans. One of the most notable is the fact that Smash Mode now offers the ability for players to create their own own custom rule presets, making it a breeze to select a game type — whether that’s timed matches, stock matches, or otherwise — and hop into battles right away without fumbling through the menus to change options.

However, I wish the same could be said for the game’s assortment of maps, with the collection now spanning over 100 in total. This time around, players have the choice of playing Normal, Battlefield, and Omega (aka “Final Destination”) versions of each map, giving some welcome variety to where you choose to fight. In my many hours with Smash Mode however, I wish choosing maps before each match had a more elegant solution to picking them (such as organizing them by type or game franchise) than either scrolling through each small map tile in the hopes of finding the specific one that I wanted to play, or just giving up and choosing to play a random map.

Though Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is impressive in scope, detail, and the sheer breadth of options that it offers to players, a few nagging issues hold the game back from being a perfect culmination of the series as a whole. Notably, that is apparent from the beginning with the fact that the game’s roster starts out with just eight fighters: the series’ original characters of Mario, Link, Kirby, Pikachu, Samus, Fox, Donkey Kong, and Yoshi. After that, players will have to go through and unlock the remaining 60+ characters through a few different methods, whether that’s through playing the World of Light campaign, Classic Mode, or playing an abundance of Smash Mode matches.

“Super Smash Bros. Ultimate‘s method of character unlocks, as limiting as it may be at first, does carry with it a sense of reward and accomplishment over time.”

The new character unlock system for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is one that I’m sure will be divisive among fans of the series, and one that I’ve been conflicted on myself. In the past, typically each Smash Bros. game offered a fairly sizable roster of characters to draw from and play with, while the remaining characters required more specific ways to unlock them across the various game modes. Generally speaking, this system gave players a decent enough stable of characters to start out with, while taking the time to then fill out the rest of the roster over time. This time around though, players in Ultimate will probably have to put in around 10 hours or so just to unlock the full roster, which may come as a disappointment to those looking to hop into the action with their friends right away.

However, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate‘s method of character unlocks, as limiting as it may be at first, does carry with it a sense of reward and accomplishment over time. As I started to unlock new characters, it gave me the chance to really go back and see the major and minor changes that been made to long-standing vets like Mario or Link, and to hop back into matches with characters that I never really clicked with like Snake or Palutena. So while there is a give-and-take at play in having to unlock the majority of the game’s roster, there also comes with it a chance to really branch out and get a deeper appreciation of each character’s playstyle.

“Having the ability to play Smash Bros. in any setting — and have it look as good as it does — is a marvel.”

The other major component that fans will likely find hit or miss is the online experience of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Though the online components and matchmaking have come a long way from when the series first dabbled with online modes in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the integration of Nintendo Switch Online is a slightly better (but still not ideal) solution for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Notably, input lag is still very prevalent despite the shift to a paid online service on Nintendo’s part, and with a game like Smash Bros. that demands precision and fast reflexes, succumbing to network lag and delayed inputs is a major challenge if you’re looking to get competitive against others worldwide.

At its best, the online portion of Ultimate proves inconsistent in delivering a steady connection, with some matches having little lag in the way of victory, while others made it incredibly difficult just to get through a match. It’s still an improvement, for sure, over Brawl and the Wii U/3DS games’ online offerings, but not the monumental shift that I was hoping for from both more capable hardware and a newly-invigorated online system from Nintendo. The online functionality is serviceable and gets the job done, but local multiplayer is still where Smash shines the brightest and where (I think) Ultimate players will probably find the most enjoyment from the game.

Despite these few weak points in Ultimate‘s design, the game more than makes up for that in how it looks and plays. Combining the best of both worlds from the spectacle of the console Smash Bros. titles with the convenience and accessibility of Super Smash Bros. for 3DS, having the ability to play Smash Bros. in any setting — and have it look as good as it does — is a marvel, thanks to Ultimate‘s wealth of playability and control options. Whether in handheld mode or surrounded by friends on a big-screen TV, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate looks incredible and has little in the way of visual impairments to slow it down with its smooth and precise gameplay. The character roster comes alive with tons of expression and impressive details, and the maps are all full of life from the series that they are based on.

“Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is truly the complete package for Smash Bros. fans.”

Likewise, the controls and responsiveness in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate feel as tight as the series has ever felt, and with so many different control options available between the Switch Joy-Con, Pro Controller, and GameCube Controller support, players will easily be able to hop into the battle. While I had a preference for playing Ultimate with the Pro Controller on a bigger screen as opposed to using the Joy-Con, having the ability to play Smash on-the-go and throw down a match wherever you want — as I did just a week ago at a bar with friends — feels just as satisfying as playing on the big screen.

While the saying goes that “bigger” isn’t necessarily “better,” Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is one of those very few exceptions and is truly the complete package for Smash Bros. fans. As the culmination of a series that has been seen on nearly every Nintendo console for almost 20 years, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate successfully delivers a comprehensive Nintendo history lesson, one of the largest rosters ever built for a fighting game, a vast amount of content for players to dive into, and of course, the sheer delight of its endlessly playable multiplayer matches. Where the series goes from here is unknown, or if it will even continue given how exhaustively that Ultimate collects everything from Smash Bros.‘s past. However, there’s no denying that Super Smash Ultimate, despite its few flaws, truly earns its title.

The post Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Review — World of Fight by Ryan Meitzler appeared first on DualShockers.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Review — World of Fight published first on https://timloewe.tumblr.com/

[joshwrites]

Persona 5

Persona 5 asks the powerful question of what if you had the power to make a difference? It’s not new territory for the nearly 15 year old series, but for it’s first outing in a while it asks the question with a renewed sense of vigor. We’re far removed from the sleepy small town of Inaba and are asked to navigate Tokyo and track down villains with far bigger ambitions than a murder mystery.

Persona 5 starts you off on the downturn. Your protagonist is framed for a crime he didn’t commit and has his life uprooted when he’s expelled and has to find a different school. You’re dropped into a high school where you don’t know anyone but everyone seems to know you. Your supposed criminal record is common knowledge and you’re met with stares and whispers as you walk the halls. But everything changes when, in typical Persona fashion, you discover an alternate reality that manipulates the real one. The rules are completely different here; when you’re held down by the powerful and pushed to your limit you rise as a Phantom Thief swashbuckling antihero with a myriad of monsters from the Shin Megami Tensei series at your command. You’re a phantom thief now. You may not be able to budge the higher powers in the real world, but here you’re on an even ground with them. Success in the “Metaverse”  will affect the real world in positive ways: criminals and the corrupt lose their ambitious edge and will feel the full weight of their actions and how they affect others. Their minds will be broken, and they will turn themselves in. 

Combining this setup with a tale of a few key students being tortured by an abusive teacher in a situation that’s happening under the school’s radar and you have a spellbinding first chapter. It introduces the mysterious Anne and the rebellious Ryuji to your party as you help them fight back against their abusive gym teacher both in the school and in the metaverse. The game takes a while to get going during this layered introductory chapter, but once it does you can feel the time Atlus spent during these 10 years improving the mechanics. The dungeons have moved away from the dull corridors and randomly generated mazes of previous games, opting for deliberate design and navigation puzzles instead.  The “heist” aesthetic contextualizes a stealth attack mechanic which cleans up the imprecise act of attacking enemies in the overworld in previous games.

The UI in combat treads the knife’s edge between gorgeous and efficient. Streamlined button commands and an expanded “baton pass” system that allows you to chain attacks of different party members together combine with insanely satisfying feedback in terms of sight and sound to make turn based combat feel better than it ever has before. Stunning all the enemies with their weaknesses to execute the series trademark All Out Attack has never been more satisfying. Finishing the fight with this mechanic even rewards the player with a stylish victory pose featuring the party member that lead the charge as a cherry on top. The aesthetics work together with the systems to make for a satisfying gameplay loop even as the enemy mobs you tear through start to repeat. But the game doesn’t stop when you’re not in the Metaverse. Persona 5 continues the series’s themes of duality and asks you to live the most convincing day to day life you can inbetween heists. The game asks you to keep up on your studies and continue to maintain a growing list of relationships. In the same way the Metaverse can interact with your day to day, the reverse is also true. Doing well to maintain your relationships rewards you with bonuses to take with you into the fight, whether that be a growth in power from your party members, discounts in shops, or new side missions to tackle within the metaverse. Who you’ve chosen to spend time with factors into a variety of things up until the game’s finale, encouraging the player to interact with those systems. It makes for a good supplement to the dungeon gameplay that suits the game’s themes of duality.

There’s one final pillar of Persona 5’s systems: Momentos. A randomly generated dungeon in line with the previous games. Side quests, items, and enemies that wouldn’t fit into the game’s main dungeons end up here. Side conversations exclusive to this mode make navigating it more interesting than it ought to be, but it comes up short compared to the game’s main dungeons. It’s nowhere near optional either, despite my initial impression, so it’s in the player’s best interest to put time into it. It’d be unrealistic to expect the game to maintain a perfect momentum over it’s runtime of more than 100 hours, but unfortunately key parts of the game start to decay as time goes on. The fires of rebellion that the first chapter spark lead to an emotionally satisfying conclusion, but cutting so deep in the first chapter means that the game can never measure up to pack the same punch in the future scenarios. Some come close: The fourth arc deliberately flies in the face of the structure of the first 3  and asks you to use the Metaverse to accomplish a completely different type of goal. It combines a unique setup with some of the most interesting dungeon design in the game and a strong central character to create one of the series’s standout sections.

But some arcs falter, especially later on in the game.The basic premise of taking out a corrupt public figure largely remains the same from chapter to chapter, but the game racks up a roster of increasingly lacklustre villains as it progresses. As the scales become less personal and grandiose, the impact of their actions lesson. The game alleviates this around this by throwing out a couple of chapters where the situation is really close to the protagonists: The Casino arc and the above mentioned Pyramid, but others can’t help but feel like a slog. The space station is a notoriously poor example of the gameplay loop falling apart. An unconvincing premise combine with some of the most dragged out dungeon design and some really poor character writing to create a legitimate low point, but the game dips into all of these pitfalls in other places.

Characters seem to pick up and drop traits entirely depending on certain contexts. I was a little relieved that Ryuji seemed to be dodging most of the traits that defined the typical Persona “best friend” character before he goes full tilt into those traits later on and becomes more and more used for comic relief. A similar thing happens to Yusuke, a character that gets a surprisingly touching arc in his debut chapter early on but is practically considered disposable by the game after that. The game doesn’t seem to have an idea of what to do with these characters after their(usually) strong initial debut, so it ends up treating them as a loose end aside from exaggerating their worst traits for comic relief or to manufacture drama in the game’s lowest points. It may not seem like a big deal at first, but the sheer amount of time you spend reading listening to these characters means these issues stick out in an RPG more than they would in a traditional action game. I did get attatched to some of these characters, so I know the writers aren’t completely clueless, but it makes it all the more frustrating when they get shortened or recieve unsatisfactory development. The biggest example of this lies in one of the plot’s key players. The game’s recurring antagonist from early onward is aGoro Akechi. He’s a young detective with a strong moral code: That justice should always be put in the hands of the professionals that lead society’s judicial systems. This puts him at odds with our protagonists in a simple but intriguing way as slowly works his way into the group and even gets close to stopping their activities. He’s a great foil that puts a lot of pressure on the heroes. The game decides to throw this all out for the sake of a twist that reduces Akechi’s character to a series of poorly fleshed out tropes that moves him closer to the game’s other antagonists but further from it’s themes. It’s one of many disappointments that make up the game’s plot in it’s latter half. The dungeon and combat design also takes a hit in the latter half of the game. It leans less and less on interesting visuals and design and more on the corridors that made up the older games. The combat encounters get more grindy and repetitive up to and including some overly long boss fights. It feels as if the game was prioritizing reaching a certain playtime average over actually making a product that stays tight and engaging. It would explain the contrivances in the plot later on too. This filler is unfortunately really frustrating in a game that gets so much right.

The game manages to wrap itself up well enough. The lengthy encounters continue up until the final boss, but the story ends on a surprisingly heartfelt note that makes you reflect on the high points of your adventure. The game has a powerful message of how we should try our best to make a difference and not succumb to apathy, and despite the shortcomings in the latter half I think it gets this idea across well. The characters have “awakenings” before they get their powers: Moments where they snap, exhausted of being pushed around by higher powers and give into a newfound rebellious rage. The fantasy of becoming a powerful phantom thief and tearing apart society’s most powerful with sheer willpower is endlessly appealing, and the game is careful to make sure the player understands that making a difference in the outside world matters just as much, even if it’s a little more difficult.

On the whole it’s a game that’s more than the sum of it’s parts. Despite it’s shortcomings, Persona 5’s heart is so firmly in the right place that it’s likely to steal yours.

[nofomoartworld]

Hyperallergic: In Hiroyuki Doi’s Tiny Circles, Expanding Miniature Universes

Hiroyuki Doi, “Soul II (HDY 3014)” (2014), ink on washi, 37.5 x 38.25 inches (all images courtesy Ricco/Maresca unless noted otherwise)

In Japan, Hiroyuki Doi enjoyed a successful career as a master chef at some of Tokyo’s top restaurants and, in his spare time, began dabbling in art by producing small spot illustrations — simple line drawings of common subjects, like flowers or everyday objects — for assorted publications. Then, suddenly, life’s unfolding drama led him to remove his toque, leave the kitchen, and devote his energy full-time to making art, a decision that eventually brought into being one of the more unique bodies of work to be found anywhere on the art scene today.

Now, Hiroyuki Doi: Soul, a presentation of Doi’s newest ink-on-paper abstractions at Ricco/Maresca, a gallery in Chelsea, offers an opportunity to catch up with the latest developments in the sprawling clusters of minuscule circles that have become this Japanese artist’s signature creations, and the determination with which he has continued to explore the expressive power of this distinctive formal language. (The exhibition will remain on view through June 24.)

The Japanese artist Hiroyuki Doi at a café in Tokyo, summer 2014 (photo by the author for Hyperallergic)

As a young man, Doi, who was born in 1946 in Nagoya, was interested in gastronomy, art, and culture. He made his way to Tokyo, where he perfected his cooking skills and became a chef, using his savings to fund fact-finding vacation trips to Europe. “I did some serious research about art and food, going to museums to see great Western art and eating meals whose recipes and ingredients I carefully studied,” Doi told me a few years ago during a visit with him to a Tokyo seafood restaurant operated by one of his friends. It was one of those tiny Japanese eateries that seat eight people at the most, the kind passersby who are not regular customers either overlook or hesitate to enter without being accompanied by an habitué known to the chef.

“I can cook Japanese and Asian food, of course,” the artist said as he poked his chopsticks into a doll-size serving of a delicate crab-brain omelette, “but it’s French, Italian, and Spanish dishes that long ago seized my imagination and became my specialty.”

Hiroyuki Doi, “Untitled (HD 2210)” (2010), ink on paper, 18 x 15 inches

Several decades ago, Doi was comfortably settled into his career in Tokyo when, suddenly, his younger brother died from a brain tumor. Devastated by his loss, the gastronomic adventurer turned to art-making for solace. He gave up his work as a chef but felt unsure about where his change of direction might lead him.

His close friend Yoshiko Otsuka, who later became his Tokyo-based business manager and art dealer, recently recalled, “Doi had been making paintings in oil or watercolor of flowers, foods, and other subjects; his circle drawings evolved slowly. He started making his circle drawings around 1985, but I did not see them until some time later. At first I thought they were weird, because I had never seen anything like them, but then I began to appreciate their energy, sensitivity and movement.”

The artist Hiroyuki Doi at work on one of his circle-based drawings in his studio in Tokyo (photo by the author for Hyperallergic)

Doi has written that “using circles to produce images” provided him with “relief from the sadness and grief” he felt following his brother’s death. Since that time, his circle motif has alluded to such themes as “the transmigration of the soul, the cosmos, the coexistence of living creatures, human cells, human dialog and peace.” Of course, the circle is one of the most basic shapes in nature, art and design. Powerful in its symbolism, it represents such resonant themes as fullness, unity, vastness, and even the fecundity of the protective, enveloping womb. Zen Buddhism’s influence can be felt in interpretations of the circle as a symbol of the universe or, by contrast, of the void.

Doi uses the Japanese-made Pilot brand’s DR Drawing Pens, whose polyacetal tips keep their shape. Unlike felt-tip pens, they do not become thicker with use or dry out, but instead dispense their oil-based ink smoothly until their last drops. Doi prefers a pen with a super-fine, .005-millimeter tip. Normally he draws on Japanese washi (handmade paper), including sheets made with fibers from the barks of such shrubs or trees as kōzo (“paper mulberry” in English), ganpi or mitsumata, which he buys at Ozu Washi, a specialty shop in Tokyo that has been in business since 1653.

Detail of one the artist Hiroyuki Doi’s drawings-in-progress, showing the tiny circles of which his images are composed (photo by the author for Hyperallergic)

Several years ago, Otsuka, a professional counselor for children, parents, and teachers, began showing Doi’s abstract circle drawings to just about anyone who would take a moment to examine them. Otsuka’s on-the-job training, gumption (which is not always appreciated in reserve-respecting Japan), and art-biz smarts became as integral to the chef-turned-artist’s tale as his decision to change careers and the peculiar evolution of his art. Today she runs Yoshiko Otsuka Fine Art International, a Tokyo-based company.

In 1999, Otsuka, who had lived in the United States as a high-school exchange student and later earned a degree at Columbia University’s Teachers College, traveled to New York in search of galleries to approach on Doi’s behalf. She knew little about the structure and dynamics of the art world. One of her New York friends recommended that she visit the SoHo gallery of the now-retired Phyllis Kind, who had long been recognized as a doyenne of the art brut, outsider art, and self-taught art fields. “I went to her gallery, but it was closed,” Otsuka told me in a recent e-mail exchange. “Still, through the window I sensed its atmosphere, and it felt good.”

Hiroyuki Doi, “Untitled (HDY 0315)” (2015), ink on paper, 15.25 x 18 inches

Two years later, Doi and Otsuka headed together to New York, where, with New York-style chutzpah wrapped in impeccable Japanese politesse, they showed up at Kind’s gallery without an appointment and asked to see the legendary dealer. Last week, by telephone from her home in San Francisco, Kind recalled, “The gallery had a full roster of artists, and I wasn’t looking at anything. But these Japanese visitors had come a long way and were carrying an intriguing, brown-paper package. I looked at Doi’s drawings and was astonished by the obsessive intensity of his work. Somehow he had made that intensity visible. His art offered a great example of something I had always looked for in any artist’s work — it was genuine.”

Hiroyuki Doi, “Untitled (HD 2210)” (2010), ink on paper, 18 x 15 inches

The drawings Doi showed Kind depicted swelling, churning agglomerations of tiny circles resembling celestial constellations or billowing cloud formations. Painstakingly executed, their character was serene and meditative. At first glance, they seemed to share formal affinities with classic East Asian ink-wash painting, but their mode of production was completely different. Kind went on to show Doi’s art at her gallery and the Outsider Art Fair. His works were included in the American Folk Art Museum’s Obsessive Drawing exhibition, which opened in 2005.

Since the closing of Kind’s gallery several years ago, Doi has been represented by Ricco/Maresca in New York; he has also presented exhibitions at venues in London and Tokyo, including Pilot’s Pen Station Museum, a company-sponsored art space in the Japanese capital (although the artist has no business relationship with the writing-utensils manufacturer, nor does he endorse its products).

Hiroyuki Doi, “Untitled (HDY 0115)” (2015), ink on paper, 15.25 x 18 inches

The images on view in Doi’s current exhibition offer some of his most voluptuous compositions ever, all of which seem to float and spread like galaxies expanding endlessly in the far corners of the universe. Doi’s strange, voluminous forms seem simultaneously alive and tactile. The fluffy subject of his “Untitled (HDY 0115)” (ink on paper, 2015) resembles some kind of bulbous plant slowly opening its protective husk to reveal an exotic, scaly core, while the jewel-like encrustations at the heart of “Untitled (HDY 0315)” (ink on paper, 2015) appear to swipe at the heavens with a right hook — or spill out from a tornado’s blustery cone.

“Soul (HDY 0413)” (ink on washi, 2013) may be the most luxurious doughnut ever to have emerged from the unknowable ether (or else it’s one of the universe’s more seductive, all-consuming black holes). Its fuzzy, round form finds its inverse reflection in the hydra’s tangle of outward-reaching, lacy tentacles of “Soul II (HDY 3014)” (ink on washi, 2014). By contrast, with their blobby charm and sprays of errant circles shooting off from their sides, “Untitled” (ink on washi, 2010) and “Untitled (HD 2210)” (ink on paper, 2010) possess both the sturdiness of otherworldly bowling balls and the gossamer lightness of big, overblown puffs of cotton candy.

Hiroyuki Doi, “Soul (HDY 0413)” (2013), ink on washi, 38 x 37 inches

In an e-mail message, Doi noted that he keeps up with current events, and that sometimes a bit of news inspires him to begin a new drawing. He indicated that his circle-making technique has evolved: his tiny circles have become even smaller, and his circle-derived forms have become more three-dimensional in appearance. Doi continued, thoughtfully, expressing the humanist spirit that pulses through his art, “Nowadays, people depend on technology too much. I know it’s important, but sometimes people rely on machines and do not believe in people.”

Through his own art, he explained, he strives to express a sense of soulfulness and peace, adding that he remains an ardent believer in the value and expressive power of handcrafted works of art. Then he signed off with some quick-note jottings that reminded me of the time he told me how glad he was that he had discovered art — and that art had found him, too. He ended his message graciously, writing, “This is my philosophy. Thank you very much.”

Hiroyuki Doi: Soul continues at Ricco/Maresca (529 West 20th Street, Chelsea, Manhattan) through June 24.

The post In Hiroyuki Doi’s Tiny Circles, Expanding Miniature Universes appeared first on Hyperallergic.

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