#be something that sonic would probably help kickstart

[son1c]

Did Nine make Prism just as a weapon...? Or did he also want someone to just hang out with... Watch a movie, play a game, talk about current events with... A friend...? 🥺👉👈

nine's workshop isn't build-a-bear, he made prism as a weapon to be sicced on the chaos council 👍 seeing him as a "person" and befriending him is a character arc for later

[aforrestofstuff]

Okay! I have a burning question for you, my dude. Music is my life, and I wanna know what kind of music the OPM casts listen to. Thanks, my guy!

I had a feeling this would be inevitable lol. I don’t really know a whole lot about music or genres or anything like that so I’m just gonna give you a rundown of each character individually and some song recs along with that just to smooth things out a little. Thanks for your ask, by the way! ❤️ Now my playlists will be put to good use.

A Brief Rundown of the Major OPM Characters’ Music Tastes:

Blast: hc that he doesn’t even have ears since he never fucking LISTENS

Terrible Tornado: Stuff that makes her feel powerful. Loud vocals and good instrumentals. Also, she’s a little angsty since she’s saltier than the gotdamn Pacific almost all of the time. (Recs: Florence and the Machine - How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, Susanne Sundfør - Delirious, Florence and the Machine - What Kind of Man, Kali Uchis - Dead to Me, Let’s Eat Grandma - Falling Into Me)

Fubuki: some of that real classy shit. Slow songs that are nice to just have a cup of tea with. Nothing too meaty or fast-paced, she enjoys taking a moment to breathe every once and a while since life gets pretty hectic when you’re managing a gang of some 30 hooligans. (Recs: Wes - Midnight Low, any song from Lana Del Rey’s entire discography lol, Florence and the Machine - Grace, The Marìas - I Don’t Know You, Yellow House - Ain’t Gonna Call, Feng Suave - Toking, Dozing)

Silverfang: Stuff from his time. I hc that he was a bit of a party animal back in his prime so he’s gotta have those grooves. Disco to the extremo. Also, another hc: Garou absolutely hates his music. He would play it during training and Garou would contemplate homicide. (Recs: Frankie Valli - Grease, The Edgar Winter Group - Free Ride, KC and the Sunshine Band - I’m Your Boogie Man, Matthew Wilder - Break My Stride, The Main Ingredient - Everybody Plays the Fool, Andrea True Connection - More, More, More)

Bomb: save as Silverfang, although I hc that Bomb was a little more of a nerd growing up. Still, he never missed out on a good party. (Additional Recs: KC and the Sunshine Band - Get Down Tonight, The Trammps - Disco Inferno, Tierra - Together, Cornelius Bros and Sister Rose - Too Late to Turn Back Now)

Atomic Samurai: Old shit. Shit older than Silverfang. He’s really not that old, but his soul is fucking ancient and he’s got that classic “grrr music these days sucks” kind of shithead attitude. (Recs: Jim Croce - Time in a Bottle, Dion - Runaround Sue, The Carpenters - The End of the World, The Band - The Weight)

Child Emperor: Upbeat synth. Stuff to listen to while he’s working on his machines and whatnot. Probably has meaty beats to keep him in tune with what he’s doing, like working around a clock. Probably some groovy citypop in there too. (Recs: Taeko Ohnuki - 4:00 AM, Junko Ohashi - Telephone Number, Tatsuro Yamashita - Magic Ways, Hiroyuki Sawano - NEXUS, Superfly - Kakusei, Mariya Takeuchi - Plastic Love)

Metal Knight: Intrumentals that Disney villains listen to. Deep, dark shit that makes you feel sad. He probably feeds off of negative emotion. What a toolbag. (Recs: Lucas King - Sociopath, Abel Korzeniowski- Table for Two, Max Richter - Never Goodbye, Max Richter - She Remembers, Evelyn Stein - Quiet Resource, Mac Quayle - Adagio in G Minor)

King: video game soundtracks, obviously. Might be some electro funk in there too, as a treat. (Recs: Metal Gear Solid 3 OST - Snake Eater, Mick Gordon - Rip and Tear, Xenoblade Chronicles OST - Main Theme, Persona 5 OST - Last Surprise, Daft Punk - Verdis Quo, Toby Fox - Hopes and Dreams, Disasterpeace - Prologue, iamthekidyouknowwhatimean - Run, Darren Korb - Old Friends)

Zombieman: Dad Music. Old rock that makes you wanna rail some lines of white thunder and dance on top of a car. He’d be reluctant to try out new stuff but does so nevertheless. Just a little bit of weird alternative here and there. (Recs: Poison - Unskinny Bop, Mötley Crüe - Dr. Feelgood, Black Sabbath - War Pigs, Def Leppard - Animal, CRX - Walls, MGMT - Little Dark Age, Pink Floyd - Money, Queens of the Stone Age - Villains of Circumstance)

Drive Knight: Dark synth, obviously. Need I say more? (Recs: El Tigr3 - She Swallowed Burning Coals, Trevor Something - Enjoy the Silence, Greg Drombrowski - Devour, GUNSHIP - Woken Furies, GUNSHIP - Thrasher, Carpenter Brut - Invasion A.D., Kavinsky - Nightcall)

Pig God: this guy probably just listens to ASMR of people eating food lol.

Superalloy Darkshine: Upbeat stuff that’s good for exercise; loving those new jams along with some of the old. He’s got a pretty groovy style. (Diane Ross - Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, Saint Motel - Puzzle Pieces, CRUISR - All Over, Barry White - Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up, Sade - Kiss of Life)

Watchdog Man: 10 hour loop of wolves howling on a summer night.

Flashy Flash: classical. Some nice instrumentals to listen to while training. Stuff that preferably doesn’t have any or very little lyrics so it’s not too busy on his ears while he’s fantasizing about killing someone. (Recs: Vaughn Williams - The Lark Ascending, Debussy - Rêverie, Grieg - Peace of the Woods, André Laplante - Une Barque sur L’Ocean)

Metal Bat: Modern alternative. A little bit harder than say, Mumen and Kama, but not as hard as Zombieman or Death Gatling. He’s that middle ground where he’s still got some real bangers, but Zenko can listen as well. He’ll play this stuff loudly as he’s doing chores and working out, no headphones ever. It gets pretty annoying. (Recs: Foals - Exits, The Blue Stones - Black Holes, Solid Ground, CRX - Broken Bones, Jungle - Happy Man, The Strokes - Reptilia, We Are Trees - Girlfriend)

Genos: synth. But not just any synth, some heavy, fast-paced synth that’s just like him: speedy, relentless, and powerful. He listens to shit that’ll make you wanna get up and start killing Terminators. Probably. There’s some other synths in the mix too because we love a three-dimensional king. (Recs: Carpenter Brut - Division Ruine, The Protomen - I Still Believe, Carpenter Brut - Leather Teeth, Gunship - Tech Noir, TWRP - Phantom Racer, Le Castle Vania - Red Circle)

Tanktop Master: Dad music but the type of dad music that makes you think your dad was a sappy nerd back in the day. Long tracks that are good for workouts. (Tears for Fears - Woman in Chains, Pink Floyd - Us and Them, Duran Duran - Ordinary World, Billy Idol - Eyes without a Face, A Flock of Seagulls - I Ran, The Alan Parsons Project - Eye in the Sky, Tears for Fears - Sowing the Seeds of Love)

Puri-Puri Prisoner: Pop. Dance music. He doesn’t really get to listen to a lot of music in prison, so he holds on to whatever he can and savors every second of it. (Coldplay - Talk, Bruno Mars - Runaway Baby, Lady Gaga - Bad Romance, Flo Milli - Beef Flomix, Doja Cat - Say So)

Mumen Rider: Hes a lighthearted, soft boy. Likes some fluffy indie tunes. It helps to motivate him when working out or doing hero stuff. He might need to cry every once in a while though, so there’s some sad songs in the mix too. (Recs: Varsity - The Dogs Only Listen to Him, The The - This is the Day, Amarante - Don’t Look Back, Alvvays - Saved by a Waif, The Monkees - As We Go Along, Acid Ghost - Hide my Face, Mogwai - Take Me Somewhere Nice)

Sonic: same as Flash. He’s a little more hip with the times however, so he’s got some more groovy, electronic instrumentals to listen to in addition to some elegant stuff and isn’t opposed to having a little bit of lyrics sprinkled in there as well. In fact, he’s not opposed to uppity pop either. He thinks dancing is frivolous but he secretly does it when he thinks nobody is looking. (Additional Recs: Odesza - Bloom, Pretty Lights - One Day They’ll Know [Odesza Remix], BØRNS - Electric Love, Hembree - Culture, The Cinematic Orchestra - Arrival of the Birds)

Garou: same as Metal Bat. Bang let him have a little MP3 player during his time at the dojo and has since collected a few songs on there. They’re very near and dear to his heart since it’s one of the few good things that came from his absolute disaster of a childhood. (Additional Recs: Foals - Inhaler, CRX - Slow Down, Deep Sea Arcade - Close to Me, Gorillaz - Empire Ants, The Fratellis - Chelsea Dagger, Glass Animals - Take A Slice)

Death Gatling: Shit your old Vietnam-vet grandpa would blast on the back of his F150. He gives me self-righteous asshole vibes, if I’m honest. Like, don’t get me wrong, I like Death Gatling, but he seems like the type of trailer park-dwelling sewer rat to carry a revolver into a Walmart for “self defense” and that’s probably the type of music he listens to, too. (Recs: Megadeth - Trust, Megadeth - Angry Again, Creedence Clearwater Revival - Fortunate Son, Glen Campbell - Southern Nights, Mötley Crüe - Kickstart My Heart, Quiet Riot - Cum on Feel the Noize)

One-Shotter: I hard hc that he had an emo phase he never quite grew out of. He doesn’t quite listen to emo anymore but he’s still into that alternative shit. Homeboy also likes some slow tunes every once and a while because he’s an emotional dude who’s not afraid of a good cry. (Recs: Anything from Blink-182, Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know?, MGMT - When You Die, Mazzy Star - Fade Into You, Cigarettes After Sex - Dreaming of You, Yon Ort - Other Matter)

Lightning Max: Same as Genos but without the terminator-killing. Fast-paced stuff because he’s a fast lightning dude. A little more upbeat because he’s not as much as an edgelord as Genos, however. (Additional Recs: Carpenter Brut - Hang’em All, The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize, Worn Tin - Sensitivity, B.E.R. - The Night Begins to Shine, Martin Hall - Different Kind of Love)

Stinger: he’s all about that FUNK! Stuff that gets him moving! Stuff that makes him wanna dance! (Recs: Daft Punk - Doin’ it Right, TWRP - Body Image, Wild Cherry - Play that Funky Music, Chemise - She Can’t Love You, Saga - Wind Him Up, Saga - On the Loose, TWRP - All Night Forever)

Okamaitachi: they give me electro vibes! New, modern shit that’s good to dance to or to just sit down and have a listen! Also, some shit that’ll probably play in a coming-of-age teen movie or something. They don’t really vibe with heavy music and that’s alright, babey! Keeping it light and bouncy. (Recs: Tei Shi - Bassically, Varsity - Must Be Nice, Class Actress - Weekend, CHVRCHES - Richard Pryor, Alvvays - Marry Me, Archie, Sobs - Telltale Signs, Goth Babe - Sometimes, ALASKALASKA - Meateater)

Iaian: Nice, low tunes that are good for meditation and to be used for background noise during training sessions. He never really sits down to listen to music, it’s always in the background of something else he’s doing so he prefers to have some soft beats that don’t really interfere with his senses. Tunes so quiet, he sometimes uses them as lullabies; especially since the trauma of losing his arm has since made it hard to sleep. (Recs: Boy Scouts - Saddest Boy, Susanne Sundfør - Mantra, Vashiti Bunyan - If I Were the Same but Different, Starman Jr. - Blue Fairy, Patrick Watson - Je te Laisserai des Mots, Sibylle Baier - I Lost Something in the Hills)

Bushidrill: same as Atomic Samurai just without the shitty attitude. He’s happy to listen to some newer stuff, he just doesn’t like it and that’s okay, baby! Probably some classy shit your wise old grandpa would listen to. (Recs: Dean Martin - Volare, Dion - The Wanderer, Peppino Gagliardi - Che Vuole Questra Musica Stasera, anything from Luis Miguel lol, Franco Micalizzi - Sadness Theme)

Amai Mask: probably just listens to his own music like a putz. If not, he’s listening to the sound equivalent of glittering diamonds. He’s probably got this shit playing at the end of a long day while he’s chilling in a hot bath or something. (Recs: Fergie - Glamorous, Rita Ora - Hot Right Now, Lana Del Rey - Freak, Lana Del Rey - Art Deco, Tame Impala - Feels Like We Only Go Backwards)

Saitama: He doesn’t listen to music much anymore, sadly. He did, however, have a killer motivational mix to get him through his vigorous training prior to becoming a hero. (Recs: Paul Engemann - Push it to the Limit, Journey - Don’t Stop Believin’, College & Electric Youth - A Real Hero, Joe Esposito - You’re the Best Around, Survivor - Eye of the Tiger, The Bee Gees - Nights on Broadway)

Here’s the playlist with all of these songs in order (mostly):

It’s on YouTube because I’m allergic to Spotify. I’ve got a doctor’s note. Also, all of my other playlists are on my little profile thingy so if you want to listen to my pile then go right ahead.

Thanks for your ask, my dude! ❤️ this took up ALL of my energy lol but it was fun.

[bltngames]

SAGE 2020: Fan Games

I’d hoped to have this article out a little bit sooner, but I overestimated how long it would take to write about some of these games. Whoops! Like I said when I outlined the posting “schedule” on the first day, we’re playing it fast and loose, so this is just what you get.

Today is the day I talk about fan games! And even though SAGE has “Sonic” right there in the acronym, it’s always hosted fan games from all types, so today we’ve got Mega Man, Mario, Rayman, and even fan games of fan games, if you can believe it.

Sonic Pinball Panic!

Pinball is one of those things where I’ve always been obsessed with it, but never very good at it. And now, with access to digital pinball collections like Pinball Arcade and Pinball FX, I don’t actually find myself playing as much pinball as I thought I would when I was 14 years old. Still, I find myself fascinated by a good pinball table, and this honestly caught me off guard. This could very easily be an official DLC release for one of those aforementioned pinball collections and I wouldn’t even bat an eyelash (in fact, if you ask me, this is better than Pinball FX, which has always had weird ball physics). This looks, sounds, and functions exactly like a real pinball table should. My complaints are minor: for starters, the table feels kind of easy. I’ve never been a pinball wizard, but I was losing balls left and right here and it still took a good 15 minutes before I finally got a game over. Score accumulation is also pretty slow; most pinball tables will dump millions and millions of points on you, but here, it felt like a struggle just to reach the 379k I finished with. Both contribute to the fact that the table feels a little flat, like it’s missing a spark to really put it over the top. And, third, it would be nice if it had controller support. The keyboard works just fine, here (it’s just pinball, after all) but I find that the triggers on a controller feel really good with pinball flippers, and mapping the plunger to the right stick is great, too. This is a Unity game, so I wouldn’t think it’d be that hard to hook it up to the controller mapper. Still, I came away impressed.

Mega Man: Perfect Blue

There are two things out there that always give me pause: fan-made Doom level packs, and Mega Man fan games. Fan made gaming content generally has problems when it comes to difficulty balancing anyway, but these games have earned a certain reputation for their difficulty, which creates a problem when you have content made by fans, for fans. This insularity means these things are usually way too hard for what I would consider “normal” people (read: casual fans and outsiders). Add on to the fact that I’d even say that there are official Mega Man games with bad difficulty balancing, and you have a recipe for frustration. Sadly, this is how I’d characterize Perfect Blue: though this introductory level isn’t impossibly hard, it’s definitely pushing that edge where it’s not very accommodating to someone who hasn’t played and finished every Classic Mega Man game ever made. It almost immediately throws you into scenarios where you have jumps you can barely reach, insta-kill spikes, and enemies that not only actively dodge your shots, but invincible enemies that launch counter attack homing missiles. And then it starts making you juggle all of this stuff, together, at the same time. None of this is insurmountable as long as you’re paying attention, but as a very casual Mega Man fan, it’s an unfriendly first impression and makes me worried about what the rest of the game is going to be like as the challenge naturally ramps up. For those hardcore Mega Man fans among you, the rest of this is solid, at least. The presentation and controls are excellent, and the new sprites are beautiful. It’s a game I’d love to enjoy when it’s done… but I’m assuming I’ll be left out in the cold. A shame, really, because there’s so much promise here.

Sonic and the Mayhem Master

There’s a lot to like about this game, but there’s a part of me that really wonders if this should even be considered a Sonic fan game. Mayhem Master’s depictions of Sonic and Amy Rose are atypical to put it mildly. Here, Sonic seems to be a bookish nerd of sorts, a sidekick to Amy Rose, who has been turned into a burnt out, cigar-smoking detective. Most of the game plays out as half an adventure game, half an RPG, where you roam around the world talking to NPCs and gather clues while being assaulted by random battles. The battle system is super off-the-wall, too, perhaps taking inspirations from games like Mario & Luigi and Undertale. This means that battles aren’t passive -- you spend most of each fight dodging or nullifying incoming attacks with simplistic action-based commands. It’s weird, and different, and occasionally even a little bit overwhelming. That’s kind of the whole game, really. It’s the sort of thing that really doesn’t feel like a Sonic game at all, but it also doesn’t feel bad. The artwork is very charming, I’m interested in seeing the characters develop, and there’s plenty of worldbuilding and mystery. Would this still be as intriguing if you removed the Sonic connection, even if it’s so threadbare? That’s a hard question to answer. I know that some of my interest in this game is seeing how it spins more familiar Sonic elements into something that’s completely different. Worth checking out, for curiosity’s sake if nothing else.

Sonic and the Dreamcatcher

This is a fairly brilliant little game with two unfortunate quirks. If you didn’t know, the special stages in the original Sonic the Hedgehog were inspired by an arcade game of the era called Cameltry, published by Taito in 1989. Now, Sonic’s special stages were different enough from Cameltry that it wasn’t a case of Sega outright stealing the gameplay, but there’s a clear lineage there, and it only becomes clearer when you compare the special stages in Sonic 4 Episode 1 to Cameltry (spoilers: in that game, they’re nearly identical). Dreamcatcher is also from this lineage, but is infinitely more charming than either Sonic 4 and maybe even Cameltry itself. The idea is that you must collect a specific number of blue spheres in order to reveal the Chaos Emerald, after which you have a limited amount of time to find and collect it. It’s very simple, but the presentation really sells the game’s charm. It’s just a game that looks good and sounds good, with an interesting premise executed very well. Also, you get a dedicated “& Knuckles” button to spawn infinite Knuckles to help you collect blue spheres and bash enemies. Being able to have unlimited numbers of these guys sounds like it would break the game, but once that countdown clock begins, the last thing you need is 20+ echidnas clogging up the route back to the emerald. The first quirk this game suffers from is that there’s only two levels. Parts of this have a very “game jam made in a weekend” vibe to it despite the rock-solid music, sound, and gameplay, and only having two levels contributes to that. Hopefully more are coming in the future. The other quirk? You can’t actually download this game -- it’s embedded in a webpage. I’m sure this is to make it easy to play on any platform with a web browser (phones, PCs, etc.) but I find myself greatly desiring a hard copy of this game that can live on my computer forever.

Sonic Galactic

Now here’s just a good old fashioned Sonic fan game. Though it clearly takes inspiration from Sonic Mania’s aesthetics in some places, it’s clearly doing its own thing, featuring not just the core cast of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, but also Fang the Sniper, and even a brand new character named Tunnel the Mole. Unlike a lot of Sonic fan games at SAGE, this appears to be using something besides Clickteam Fusion, Game Maker, or Unity. Here, it’s the “Hatch Game Engine,” whatever that is. Whatever the case may be, the game runs very well and is basically indistinguishable from just playing Sonic Mania. Visuals are sharp, music’s good, the two included boss fights are surprisingly fun to fight -- everything seems to be in order. As a result, there’s not really a lot to say. This is just a good, fun game. Anything else I’d say would come off sounding like nitpicks. For example, there’s no way to set graphics options yet, so the game is stuck in 2x Windowed mode. Fang and Tunnel are cute additions, but I wonder how much utility they have as characters. Unless I missed something, Fang’s pop gun is mainly for a weak double-jump ability, and Tunnel’s ability to dig and ricochet off floors, walls and ceilings is cool, but it doesn’t have quite the universal utility of Tails’ flight or Knuckles climbing and gliding. It’ll be interesting to see how or maybe even if their abilities have a chance to grow into something special. Anyway, like I said, those are nitpicks, so try to give this a shot if you can.

Sonic Robo-Blast!

Remasters seem to be a bit of a theme this SAGE, between Sonic Triple Trouble 16-bit, Sonic 2 SMS, Sonic 1 Revisited, but this is perhaps the most surprising of them all: a loving remaster of the original Sonic Robo-Blast. SRB1 was perhaps one of the first true “landmark” fan games, given that it was basically a whole entire game that people could play. It's not a stretch to say that SRB1 probably helped kickstart the fan gaming community that still survives to this day -- I certainly owe my involvement in the community to seeing SRB1 for the first time. The problem is, as historically significant as the game might be, it’s nearly impossible to go back to nowadays -- it’s much, much too dated to be any fun. This remaster completely re-envisions SRB1 as a regular Sonic game, while also pulling in gameplay elements from Sonic Robo-Blast 2. It’s a bit of a time paradox mindwarp, but it helps give it a bit more personality than just making a bog-standard 2D Sonic. It works, aided by the fact the sprites, music and overall presentation are fantastic. The only downside is the Act 2 boss, which commits the cardinal sin of taking away player agency and making you wait around far too much. Here’s hoping this gets finished, because it’s definitely on my radar now.

Super Mario Flashback

This has been floating around for a few years now and I’m glad to see it’s finally starting to get some more substantial content as it moves towards becoming an actual game. That being said, this is also one of those games that’s kind of hard to talk about because it’s just… really polished. The art is incredible, it controls exactly like a Mario game, and there’s already a decent mixture of ideas at play in the demo. Anything else I’d say would sound like nitpicking -- like, for example, the backseat game designer in me wonders if maybe the game is prioritizing aesthetics a little too much. This is a wonderfully animated game, absolutely gorgeous, but some actions, like the butt-stomp and the wall kick, feel a bit sluggish, and I think it’s because they show off fancy animations. Even if it’s a split second, waiting for Mario to attach to a wall to kick off of it feels slow. Really, though, that’s an insignificant complaint. This demo is still well worth checking out.

Sonic Advance 4 Advanced

This game seems like a greatest-hits of Dimps best ideas, spanning the first Sonic Advance all the way to Sonic Rush. There’s just one problem: the game seems broken. Now, my desktop PC is starting to show its age. I built it four and a half years ago, and though it can handle game like Gears of War 5 on high settings at 60fps, slowly, newer games seem to be leaving it behind. That being said, I don’t think a game like Sonic Advance 4 here should be running at what appears to be half its intended speed. It also originally launched in a teeny-tiny window (we’re talking, like, smaller than a postage stamp) and even though the options menu has a toggle for full screen mode, it doesn’t want to work. Something about this game under the hood seems to be struggling very, very, VERY hard. It’s a shame, because if this actually played at the proper speed, it seems like it might actually be an alright game, if a bit complex and busy.

Sonic 2 SMS Remake

Here’s a game I was all buckled in expecting to enjoy. Like it says on the tin, this is a remake of Sonic 2 for the Master System (and Game Gear), but with wide screen visuals and huge expansions to the mechanics, roster of playable characters, and levels. On the outside it seems really impressive, and to a certain degree it is, but something about the controls feel a little off. Sonic’s heavier here than he is on the Master System, perhaps to simulate “real” Sonic physics a little more accurately, but you can also pretty much stop on a dime, and the combination of the two feels awkward. The camera also needs a lot of work, as it’s basic at best and does a poor job of letting you see what’s below (to the dev if you’re reading this: there’s actually video tutorials out there on how 2D scrolling cameras work, it might be worth looking a couple of them up). It also leans into some of the tech limitations of the Master System, like how you aren’t given any rings for boss fights (and even hiding the HUD, a move done to save on resources for the large enemy sprites). I could be picky on a bunch of other little stuff, too, like how the flight mechanics feel, but there are other games to play at SAGE and I’ve got at least two more articles to write. Needless to say, this is a solid (impressive, even) foundation but it’s missing a lot of late-stage polish to clean up the tiny little rough edges.

Rayman Redemption

I tell this story every so often, but it was about three quarters of the way through Rayman 2 on the Sega Dreamcast when it struck me, suddenly: I love this game. I was being chased by a pirate ship through some rickety bridges and even though I was dying over and over and over again, I realized I had been enjoying Rayman 2 enough that I might put it in my top ten Dreamcast games. But that was 2002, and the years haven’t been so kind to ol’ Rayman. From the strangely celebrity-infused Rayman 3, to the tragedy of Rayman 4 (eventually becoming Raving Rabbids) to the endless, careless ports of Rayman 2 to every platform under the sun, one gets the impression Ubisoft maybe didn’t know what to do with Rayman. Especially now, when most of Ubisoft’s games are some form of online live service or cookie cutter open world experience (or increasingly both). But the fans know what they want. Rayman Redemption takes the original 1995 Rayman game and lovingly gives it a fresh coat of paint. The results are akin to what Taxman and Stealth did for Sonic CD in 2011, with wide screen visuals, improved controls, touched up level design, but gameplay that still feels faithful and accurate to the original experience. Except that Sega charged money for that, and here, fans have released this for free. Ubisoft’s loss, I guess. I didn’t play Rayman 1 until well after I’d finished Rayman 2, and I’ll admit, I kind of bounced off of it back then. It felt slow, and awkward, and when the difficulty ramped up, it got very hard, very quickly. Now, admittedly, I’ve only put about 30 minutes into Redemption here, but just the addition of a run button is incredibly welcome, and the retooled level design and powerup mechanics helps the game feel way less obtuse overall. It’s just a cleaner, tighter, more accessible and more polished version of Rayman.

Stay tuned for the next article: Indie games.

[altalksaboutstuff]

My Top 5 Games of the Past Generation Youtube Script Plus Notes

This is, more or less, the script for My Top 5 Games of the Past Generation video that I just published on Youtube: With the Xbox One and Playstation Four about to head out of the door to make ways for the Xbox Series X and the Playstation 5 respectively to lead us into the next generation of consoles were only Nintendo has been sitting comfortably with the Switch, the Wii U has been long gone and Nintendo also recently announced the official end of the Nintendo 3DS line cutting all the ties to this last generation.  With that almost everyone is now releasing their lists of the best games of the current generation, myself included, I couldn't help but notice a lot of same-soundy lists such as Game Informer's top 5 list.  I myself have to disagree with these, not to say that any and/or all five of those games on Game Informer's Top 5 aren't good, important or worth playing just that I don't think they are the best representative of this generation in terms of impact and wide appeal, so much as had the most money backing them. That these games on the list are more the best representative of the biggest Triple A titles.  The games that I had in mind are more impactful on how this generation swayed and set new standards.  I want you to keep in mind that while I liked some of these games, these aren't my personal top 5 of the past generation either but I think closer to what best represents our closing era of gaming, when I say the “best games of the current generation.”

First off I'd like to make an honorable mention of PT.  PT or playable trailer was supposed to be a demo for the new Silent Hill S game that unfortunately never came to be for the Playstation 4 from Konami.  A joint venture between film director Guillermo del Toro and the famous creator of Metal Gear Solid, Hideo Kojima, this demo spooked the pants off of everyone and was probably the reason a lot of people decided to buy a Playstation 4.  Unfortunately Konami let Hideo Kojima go under less than favorable conditions and the demo vanished with him in time.  Since then the immersive, first person perspective horror game demo changed the landscape of what survival horror could be.  We then saw Resident Evil VII by Capcom, the Park by Funcom, Layers of Fear by Aspyr and Death Standing by Hideo Kojima's new studio Kojima Productions that were all heavily influenced by PT (this point made more obvious for Hido Kojima's Death Stranding) and the future of Survial Horror / Suspense games seems to be headed there with upcoming games like Resident Evil VIII: The Village.  The only reason this isn't officially on the list is because, well, it was sadly never a game but its influence was too important for me not to mention.

Number 5: Sonic Mania.  Ok so Sonic Mania isn't anything new but it is very important in the sense that it is a major franchise, Sonic, by a well established publisher, Sega, and they had officially given the keys of Mobius to the fandom to make a new game and it was fantastic. While that's oversimplying things a bit errr a lot, since Sega just didn't come out of the blue offering that opportunity.  Rather Sega saw a Sonic game pitched by Christian Whitehead, aka Taxman, who worked on porting previous ports of Sonic games to Mobile platforms. Why I think it is important is that this validating the bridge between fandom and passion projects in world where game hacks and fangames are traditionally shut down almost immediately after gaining the slightest attention.  While Sonic Mania isn't a fangame, its roots were deep from the Romhack community.  This represents cracking the door between what the fandom produces and what the corporate offices allow being available to consumers in a world were popular fangames and hacks result in cease and desist orders - which is why I think is very important to put Sonic Mania as the number 5 game of this console generation.

Number 4: Rocket League.  As of today, Rocket League is a now free to play game for better or for worse.  Rocket League is high-octane fun, blasting balls across various courts and fields such as basketball and football with fast automobiles but what it is most well known for is basically soccer with cars.  Rocket League is a lot of fun to play and has a large audience of  in the streaming and esports field which would be reason enough to put this game in a top 5 but what this game marks maybe even more importantly is cross console online play. While other games have and do continue to have online play across systems, back in March of 2016 Microsoft was very interested in allowing online play between Xbox One and other consoles them being extremely hopeful for Playstation 4 in particular, however Sony was holding out.  Sony was hesitant, citing their emphasis on providing a certain quality online experience but finally came to the party and in 2019 you could finally play Rocket League online with all your friends whether it be on PC, Xbox One, Switch, or Playstation 4. Since then we have had other games slowly roll out this feature such as Wargroove and the trend seems to be expanding.  I hope to see all games adopt this in the future and since Rocket League “birthed” this concept coming to the table for cross console online play for us all to enjoy, this is why I think Rocket League deserves the number 4 slot.

Number 3: Bloodborne/Dark Souls III.  This past generation and hell even to some extent decade, spanning to the PS3/Xbox 360, has lead us to compare every challenging game that comes out to Dark Souls.  Cuphead is the Dark Souls of run and gun shooters, Dead Cells is the Dark Souls of Metroidvanias, Celeste is the Dark Souls of platformers, etc.  While the meme of “X is like the Dark Souls of” is hard to find a concrete start, according to Google Trends this first seemed to spike in April of 2015 around the release of Bloodborne, the PS4 game created by FromSoftware.  While not technically a Dark Souls game, it was made by the same team and the game play and feel is very Dark Souls in the sense that I feel the phrase is used today, in contrast to the first two Dark Souls games.  Then we can see that in/and around October 2017 the trend has risen to its peak a little after a year and a half of the release of Dark Souls III.  While this justification may seem more flimsy and ultimately the Dark Souls brand was established in 2011, I do think Bloodborne/Dark Souls III is more in the zeitgeist, if you will, of the “X is like Dark Souls” comparison that has shaped the conversation of so many games today.

Number 2: Undertale.  Undertale is perhaps the darling of this generation. A game chock full of charm with multiple ways to approach it.  Will you save everyone, sacrifice everyone, or something in-between?  This game does look next gen, current gen or even comparable to past gen games until you hit perhaps the SNES or even late NES.  Maybe a number 2 spot is too high on list – this game didn't revolutionize the industry in ways that the other games on this list did nor was it the first anti-RPG of its kind, that would probably go to MOON, but Undertale just had such a powerful impact on gamers when it came out and became so unforgettable.  I feel like Undertale will be a game that we remember for a long time and to not include it in this list because its an indie game would be a real tragedy which segways me to my number 1 game.

Number 1: Shovel Knight.  Shovel Knight is the indie game that, I think, lead to the current boom of retro inspired indie games we have been enjoying.  A love letter to the NES games of the past such as Castlevania, Mega Man and Ducktales to name a few.  Shovel Knight wasn't the first retro inspired indie games but I feel like the attention to detail in trying to stay as true to what the hardware could run in terms of look, color, sound and pixel art with its overwhelming success showed that there was a market for these type of games.  Its success kickstarter in 2013 also showed that Kickstarter could be used as a viable platform to create indie games for a wider audience without having to rely on that Triple A model of good gaming synonymous with big budget corporate funding.  I firmly believe that we wouldn't have the great retro inspired games like Celeste and Dead Cells or the Kickstarter'd Yooka Laylee and Bloodstained or games that did both like Blasphemous if it wasn't for the hard-work and ingenuity that Yacht Club Games paved with Shovel Knight.

To use a popular Youtube cliché to conclude this list, “At the end of the day” I didn't make this list to put Game Informer or anyone's personal preferences down.  If you believe that they got the Top 5 games of the decade right that's perfectly ok and valid too, to have as your opinion.  I also want to reiterate that those five games – The Last of Us Part II, the Witcher 3, Red Dead Redemption 2, Zelda Breath of the Wild and God of War are all important to this generation coming to a close as well in their own way.  While this list isn't my favorite games of the past generation, maybe I'll do that in the future, they are my subjective “best games list” of the past generation for what I think they did to the industry and you are free to agree, disagree, pick and choose between my list and Game Informers list or make a completely different list of your own.  I'm personally excited to see what the future of gaming has for us in this coming generation and optimistic for what's both around the corner and late into the next systems' life-cycle.  Happy gaming to you however you play.

Webpages noted: https://www.polygon.com/2020/9/17/21443683/nintendo-3ds-discontinued-lifetime-sales-hardware-software-units

https://www.fandom.com/articles/sonic-mania-just-nostalgia

https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/15/15807138/sony-playstation-cross-network-play-xbox-block-response

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/were-ready-microsoft-says-about-xbox-one-ps4-cross/1100-6438654/

https://www.rocketleague.com/news/full-cross-platform-play-now-live-in-rocket-league/

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/yachtclubgames/shovel-knight

https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DavidDAngelo/20140625/219383/Breaking_the_NES_for_Shovel_Knight.php

Games shown/referenced in the video:

The Last of Us Part 2

God of War

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Red Dead Redeption II

Witcher 3

PT / Silent Hill S

Sonic Mania

Rocket League

Blood Borne

Dark Souls III

Undertale

Shovel Knight

Shantae: Half Genie Hero

Cuphead

Celeste

Yooka Laylee

Mega Man 2

Ducktales

Castlevania

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Blasphemous

Dead Cells

Resident Evil 7

Resident Evil 8

Moon

Layers of Fear

The Park

Death Stranding

Bonus Footage:

Xbox Series X reveal trailer

PS5 reveal trailer

Also note: I messed up in the original video and said the phrase, “X is like Dark Souls of” spiked in April of 2015 when I should have said first peaked in January to April of 2015.  I noted it in the video but wanted to note it again, sorry.

[oc-character-development]

Alright so at Doctor Who society this week we had a pitch your own adventure night and I thought I’d share my pitch.

Rules of the episode:

It could be literally anything. Any doctor, any setting, any companion, copyright laws were not applicable so you could have the Doctor vs Voldemort if you wanted (we had worse or better, depending on your point, one idea was the Doctor teaming up with Sherlock Holmes and Watson, Jeeves and Wooster to fight Cuthulu, the master and Moriarty in 1940 and another was the Doctor VS demonic Teletubbies)

So here’s my pitch (and prepare for ANGST I’m warning you. It’s full of it! oh, and some details are left out/ under developmened/ rushed as my notes got deleted on my phone literally right before I pitched the story) OH AND SPOILERS FOR ANGELS TAKE MANHATTAN, WEDDING OF RIVER SONG AND GOOD MAN GOES FOR WAR:

Title: Time Trap/Chaos (its a two parter)

Characters:

11th Doctor- Post Angels Take Manhattan and Pre Snowmen.

10th Doctor- Post Journey’s End and Pre Next Doctor

Captain Jack Harkness- Post series 2 Torchwood, pre Children of Earth.

River Song- Pre Angels Take Manhattan, during the time she’s investigating Angels and writing the Melody Melone novels.

Plot:

Part 1: Time Trap-

Starts with 11 distracting himself from the loss of the Ponds, Eating Jammie Dodgers, admiring Fezzes and Bow ties and what not above 19th century Earth and trying to have one last bit of fun before he retires.

Cloister Bell starts ringing and the Tardis is suddenly pulled forwards in time towards 1930s New York (that’s bad by the way if you haven’t seen the episode, it could cause a paradox and blow up the whole planet apart) and there’s nothing the Doctor can do to stop it.

So naturally he rings up the only person he can think of who is in the 1930s at this time who could help. His wife.

River immediately assumes it’s another attempt on the Doctor’s life by the Silence and so tries to send a message to some archeologists from the 52nd century who have some experience in stopping the silence and could help her with this problem. The message goes haywire and ends up being sent to the 10th Doctor who is taking Jack on a trip to cheer him up after the events of Torchwood series 2.

Ten, knowing who River is, but not who she is if you get my meaning, delays their trip and immediately goes to help, because it’s River and he always comes when she calls.

Jack and River flirt.

River explains the situation

The ground shakes, turns out this ‘meteor’ (really the Tardis) that is heading to earth is causing natural distaters and a paradox is already happening making reapers to appear.

The 11th Doctor meanwhile figures out its not the silence as they would not use this method of stopping him reach trenzalore. It just didn’t fit.

Ten realises that he needs the help of eleven and so he creates a ‘timey-wimey loop machine’ to get eleven out of there by using both River and Jack’s vortex manipulators (as they are the exact same device). This doesn’t work as something is blocking the signal.

Meanwhile the TARDIS enters earths atmosphere and starts burning up.

Ten realises this is something far bigger than the silence based on River’s explanation and realises there is only one being who lives to create this much chaos.

The Trickster.

Episode ends.

Part 2: Chaos-

Episode starts with Ten explaining to River who exactly the Trickster is (Jack and torchwood has had a run in with the Trickster brigade before) and how he works

Ten then realises that the Doctor is being targeted which means his future self must had been close to death and said yes and that they are in a lot more danger than just reapers and natural disasters.

Eleven meanwhile, realising that this is the trickster. calls the being forwards for a chat and comes to realise that the trickster had planted a subconscious message in the Doctors mind in his moment of desperation and grief for the Ponds. The choice to save them and condemn hundreds and thousands of people or grieve them and lose them forever. The Doctor had unknowingly said yes to the first option. The Doctor tries to trick the trickster to go back on his own deal to at least get some time for the others to fix it.

Ten reverses the polarity on his device, allowing him to come on board the TARDIS with River and Jack, without causing more chaos but accidently destroying River’s vortex manipulator in the process.

Upon getting there, Jack tries to trick the Trickster, by shooting the creature (which doesn’t work) and is ultimately killed because of it. He comes back to life instantly because, 1, he’s immortal, and 2, it just wouldn’t be a cap Jack episode of Doctor Who without him dying now he’s immortal 😂.

Eleven tries to break out of the Deal but is finding it harder than usual because he still desperately wants the Ponds back.

Ten realises that him, and Jack are both at risk from being manipulated as they are all at vulnerable places in their lives and that River is the only one who isn’t and is probably the only one capable of convincing eleven to go back on the deal.

River, who has at this point has realised something has happened to her parents considering they aren’t there and eleven is acting like he would if it had but she’s not entirely sure what, convinces the Doctor (along with Jack who reminds him that he lost Rose and got over it with time), that he has to break out of his deal or the world is at stake, people will die and that Amy would do the same thing if she was there and the Ponds would definitely not approve of his actions. Eleven says no to the trickster. The trickster goes away, hinting that he is going to Bannerman Road (implying he is kickstarting the events of unaired planned episodes of SJA titled the battle of Bannerman road) and the TARDIS stops hurdling towards earth.

River and eleven have a quick heart to heart as eleven is obviously distressed by this. Jack celebrates as well. Ten looks at the scanner and points out the reapers haven’t gone away. The Trickster has tricked them and got another hold on someone or someones in the 30s.

It’s the Ponds. He’s got a hold of the Ponds. Rory as an old man, has been given the choice of being young and seeing Amy again but at the cost of thousands or dying and Amy in the second she’s sent back in time, has been given the option of getting Rory back and staying in the present time happily or dying in the past.

Eleven has a chance to say goodbye to the Ponds. Convincing Rory that they’ll get him out of there and that he’ll see Amy again. Oh and River stays in the TARDIS with ten and jack to avoid spoilers.

When he arrives to Amy, it’s her who reassured the Doctor that it will be alright and that he shouldn’t travel alone echoing her words that will be on the last page. But now both the Ponds are free from the Trickster.

All is well. Time has fixed and they land in Victorian London where the tenth Doctor’s TARDIS had followed them to, ten questions eleven on who River is, Jack and River flirt again and then Ten and Jack leave.

River questions the Doctor on his choice and what exactly happened, knowing that they wouldn’t remember the exact events once they leave and he fixes her vortex manipulator telling her he would have condemned the universe if she hadn’t kept him grounded (earning a snarky remark from River) he tells her to go finish that book and that she’ll understand what happened soon enough. But River tells him to listen to Amy and not be alone. She goes off back to 1930s New York.

The episode ends with the Doctor sighing, looking back at the TARDIS, sonicing it away to the cloud in the sky he’d created and turning around just in time to see Vastra, Jenny and Strax heading towards him where as he’s just forgotten the events that have just happened, he informs them for the first time that he has in fact, retired.

Roll credits

Yeah, there’s a few plot holes and development is rubbish but like I said I lost the actual document with the whole idea on. But yeah, I just wanted Jack and River to meet and the actual Trickster in an episode of Doctor Who and a bit more closure on Rory’s departure. Oh and I love it when the Doctor is vulnerable in an episode.

[theautisticgamer]

Why Evening Star’s 3D Platformer is a Risky Endeavor

On October 1st 2021, Evening Star finally teased its first project as a 3D Action Platformer. The thoughts I had on this announcement were the fuel that drove me to start a Tumblr blog and now I’m finally getting around to addressing my concerns.

I am very excited to see the team behind Sonic Mania doing a project on their own. They are truly capable of amazing things, and now that SEGA is not restricting their creative input (as SEGA has a track record for doing...an article for another time...), Evening Star can work without their hands tied behind their back.

I don’t believe this game will be a guaranteed success, however. This team’s experience- particularly team member Christian Whitehead’s experience- is with 2D platformers. There’s nothing wrong with Evening Star trying new things, if anything it is a healthy decision for their creativity. However, history has proven this doesn’t always go well.

Playtonic’s infamous title Yooka-Laylee had aroused high expectations among the gaming community. Playtonic’s staff was composed of a lot of some former Rare team members, so when they sought to make a game like Banjo-Kazooie, it seemed at first glance like this game was an ace in the hole. Rare has an amazing reputation after all, and Rare was the team that made the original Banjo-Kazooie games. These former employees hadn’t worked on those titles, however. They were trying something new as a passion project, and their struggle amidst the learning curve was apparent in the final product. Gamers and Kickstarters couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed with the result. When Playtonic produced the sequel, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, they made a game based on what they were experienced with. The side-scrolling platformer was a higher quality game and it sold much better too.

I can’t judge one studio by another studio’s struggles. I’m not saying Evening Star is doomed to repeat what happened with Yooka-Laylee in their upcoming 3D platformer. What I am saying is that this outcome is highly probable. A talented team doesn’t always mean a polished game. While Evening Star may no longer have their hands tied by SEGA, they may have tied their own hands in their attempt to try new things.

It seems like Evening Star is treading their new waters cautiously; they’re still hiring for the project and the release seems a long way away. They have plenty of time to get people with the right experience for this particular project on-board before the ship sails very far. My concerns may be completely unfounded; I would certainly hope so.

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #492

Top Ten Team 17 Games

I’d already been thinking a lot about old Amiga games this week, because news came out of the blue that some kind of Zool update was on its way. Now, I really liked Zool back in the day, and I thought that it was fondly remembered, but if the comment section on that Eurogamer article is anything to go by, I seem to be in the minority. I don’t care; Zool rocked and I’m glad he’s on his way back, with his sticky hands and feet and gloriously sugar-coated levels. Frankly, in a world that seems mostly populated by people who spent the entire 1990s playing Metroid or Zelda, I could do with an Amiga renaissance.

This was exacerbated when I discovered that Team 17, beloved purveyor of 16-bit computer classics, has an office in Media City. Quite how this passed me by I do not know (I, er, guess I just didn’t see the Tweets), but all the same it’s very good news; perhaps I’ll stop some of them in the piazza and bore them about the good old days. Especially if they’re, like, 25 or something.

Anyway! All this is a boring preamble to me listing my ten favourite Team 17 games. If you don’t remember, T17 was a major player on the Amiga: tons of classic games, phenomenal graphics, and – something I didn’t quite appreciate properly at the time – a nice Northern sense of humour. I don’t want to do much more preamble, because really I wanna let the games do the talking. One thing I will say, however, is I’ve taken advantage of their more recent moves as a publisher to include some games that they didn’t develop too – because I do feel like they’re really good at picking publishing projects that reflect the core tenets of their “brand”, such as it is (as opposed to Core tenets, which is probably something to do with Chuck Rock).

So here we go: my ten favourite Team 17 games. Enjoy! And bring them all out on the Xbox.

Alien Breed: Tower Assault (1994): the Alien Breed games were almost platform-defining, atmospheric blastathons that evoked the tension and exhilaration of Aliens, with superb (and difficult!) twitchy gameplay. Tower Assault, with its less linear, more explorative gameplay, was the best of the bunch. Back in the day, this was the equivalent of a Mass Effect or BioShock to me: an intense action game coupled with an enjoyable amount of back-and-forth. One thing I’ve always been a bit sad about is never having played the 3D Alien Breed games; I graduated to PC just as they were coming out, and I’m not even certain if they ran on an ordinary A1200. I wonder what they’d be like to play nowadays…?

Worms World Party (2001): how do you differentiate between the Worms games? I mean, I’m old enough to remember the “Total Wormage” demo that marked the first appearance of the little critters. But there was a point there when the gimmicks were still new, but they’d had a couple of releases under their belt, and there was a short run of games that were utterly hilarious, gameplay out the yazoo, and still a slight air of rough-edged weirdness. Can you still get the Yorkshire “Tykes” voice set in new Worms games? I mean, the formula is still unbeatable, but the Golden Age of Worms will be the World Party era for me, when my brother and I played it all the blinkin’ time. Get under that.

Assassin (1992): if Zool was the Amiga’s Sonic, then arguably Assassin was the platform’s equivalent to Strider or Shinobi (er, despite those games actually being released on the Amiga; never mind, just go with me on this). I remember the game mostly for its acrobatic movement, allowing you to climb walls (hey, shades of Zool again!); also, you had a boomerang, which is really cool, apart from when they re-released the game after two years and got rid of the boomerang. Basically, I really dug it for a lot of reasons. I also think it’s the Team 17 game which had an hilarious spoof of the “Reg” ads for Regal cigarettes, a joke I thought was incredibly clever thirty years ago but which I can find no evidence of on the internet.

Body Blows (1993): back when Street Fighter II ruled the world, and everyone was going gaga over the Super Nintendo, the Amiga suffered in comparison; it couldn’t do the multiple parallax layers of animated backgrounds, and most common joysticks didn’t have the button configurations to do the special moves justice. Step up Body Blows, a gorgeous, chunky, responsive fighter that’s still probably my favourite beat-em-up (I’m not the biggest fan of the genre, to be honest). One of the few games I remember really trying really hard to complete it, but I’m pretty sure I never saw the final opponent (some kind of Terminator-style robot, if I remember right). I always wanted the sequel, but never played it.

Yooka-Laylee (2017): feels a bit of a cheat, as this is really a Playtonic game, but they published the physical release, so it counts! And in many ways the cheeky British sensibility of the game fits right into the T17 ethos. I remember getting so excited for this game – I backed it on Kickstarter, in fact – and it didn’t disappoint: a colourful, meaty-looking platformer with a nice line in terrible dad jokes and a slowly-unfolding roster of abilities. It might not quite coalesce the way the old Rare platformers did in the late nineties, but it’s still fun; and it was a very popular game in our house with my wife and daughters.

Superfrog (1993): would probably be higher, as it’s thought of as one of the classics, but it didn’t quite hook me the way it seemed to everyone else. But even back then I could see everything about it that worked even if I didn’t fall in love; a beautiful, colourful world, with a tremendously designed lead character who looked like he’d leaped from a Cosgrove Hall cartoon. It also had a pretty naughty sense of humour. All in all, a good game, and one I’d love to revisit with a more refined palate.

Overcooked (2016): I think I first started to fall in love with this game when I saw it on Go 8-Bit; an anarchic and crazy-looking multiplayer fun-fest. And, sure enough, it’s a delightfully chaotic experience, really funny, with colourful and nicely-designed characters. However, it loses points for being one of those games that give you an odd-numbered Achievement. Multiples of five, people! Multiples of five!

Arcade Pool (1994): this one feels a bit niche, but I loved this back in the day. After the full-3D polygon wonderment of the Archer McClean pool and snooker games, going back to a simplified top-down aesthetic might have felt like a step back, but for me it was an excellent and really, really fun pool game. It’s the sort of experience I’ve chased in years since – a totally hassle-free arcade pool game – but nothing’s quite scratched the same itch (or, at least, the itch I remember, if that makes sense).

Golf With Your Friends (2020): the most recent game on the list, and another one that’s just damn fun. A wild and rather weird crazy golf game, with a succession of increasingly-bonkers courses, but one that’s easy to get into and – yes – persistently entertaining. I started playing it due it being available for cloud streaming on Game Pass, and it’s a pretty good phone game, even if the touch controls don’t give quite the nuance needed for some of the trickier shots. Also it’s worth saying that I am just terrible at the game. Really, the worst.

Project-X (1992): a bit like Superfrog, this is a game I respected rather than adored, hence it being a bit lower on the list. I think the big problem is just that I was utterly shit at it; I mean, I was flat-out rubbish at all these side-scrolling shooters, even if I really wanted to be good. But this game was a stunner way back when, and I think one of the ones that really cemented Team 17’s reputation as a graphical powerhouse of a studio. It also had a tremendous score from Allister Brimble, T17’s resident maestro. It’s funny, because I remember this as being heralded as “the new masterpiece from Team 17” upon its release, but it was actually one of their first titles; so either they hit the ground running or this is one of the games that secured their reputation. Either way, it’s still a classic of its type. And apparently there was a sequel on the PlayStation. You learn something new each day.

So I hope you’ve enjoyed this trip down Commodore Memory Lane. Yes, I know, some of the games are a lot newer than that, but I’m afraid I’ll always think of Team 17 as “an Amiga studio”. They did sterling work back in the day, they really helped define the Amiga and give the platform its own identity, distinct from consoles (even though a lot of their games were, obviously, ported to other systems). And thanks to the success of Worms, they’ve endured, even as most of their contemporaries have fallen by the wayside. And now they’re in Salford! A Yorkshire invasion of Lancashire. What could go wrong?!

[attract-mode-collective]

"THE FUTURE KICK YOUR ASS"

Christmas is finally here, and like many others, I’ve been busy celebrating the holidays with friends and folks I consider family, hence why this update is being filed later than usual I’m afraid.

Which means by the time most of you have read this, it’ll be too late to head on over to the latest King of Games’s holiday pop-up shop. Though considering how Hedgehog Books & Gallery is a bit out of reach for most folk, thankfully miki800 snapped took some pics…

The featured item this year was their new sweatshirt, inspired by the original Super Famicom packaging…

Though if given the chance, I probably would have picked up the pin set…

Actually, what I really wish I could get my hands on is this all-purpose King of Games shirt…

As well as a bag of their coffee (I’ve quite the java junkie)…

Right now, some folk are doing some last-minute holiday shopping, and miki800 is definitely the place to get idea, despite the fact that at this point, it’s more or less impossible to obtain the following attire.

Then again, the following Sega candy cab shirt is making its debut at Comiket at the end of the month, so you have just enough time before Christmas to book those flights and hotel rooms…

Hardcore Chocolate is doing shirts based on SNK! I picked up a few of their 80s American wrestling themed tees when I was in Japan ten years ago and have been dying to get something new from them. Like…

Now, given that it’s also winter, perhaps t-shirts might may cut it. So for those wanting something warmer, we’ve got a new batch of PaRappa sweatshirts and hoodies…

Sorry, but I’m so over gaudy Christmas sweaters. Though that being said, I really dig this one that’s Space Invaders themed. Maybe because it’s actually super stylish?

Yet what I really want is this Space Invaders jacket that was recently posted on Twitter…

Though the next time I’m in Japan, which is hopefully soon, my priority is to track down this Gamest jacket (via peazy86)

Perhaps a full on track suit is something I should explore? This illustration certainly has given me some ideas (via thewonderjar)…

And speaking of illustrations of a woman from behind who clearly enjoys a good game, here’s a really nice piece from amidstsilence…

Back to belated holiday gift ideas, something that’s finally coming out is 8 BIT MUSIC POWER FINAL; it’s publication date is on the 25th and most importers are shipping it in early January…

Speaking of music, remember that analog synth take on The Link To The Past’s soundtrack that I haven’t been too keen on? Well, for those did enjoy it, originalsoundversion reports that one can nab a physical version on cassette!

Though I can’t help mention the Luminist yet again, whose analog synth take on Super Metroid continues to progress quite nicely, but he doesn’t just do video game covers! The guy does original pieces as well, like…

Back to game music on tape, I wouldn’t mind finding out what else is on this (via charliecoffin)…

As you may have heard, there’s a brand new game cartridge being assembled for the Sega Genesis (provided it makes its Kickstarter goal and if everything else falls into place)…

hibachicandy recently shared some beauty shots of fight sticks that they’ve put together…

And speaking of shmups, here we see a configuration for Radiant Silvergun that you don’t see very often (via aaronkraten)…

And sticking with shmups the Tumblr, as well as RS, I’d love to get my hands on this superplay VHS tape…

Plus this DoDoDonPachi DaiOuJou superplay DVD disc…

Here’s a Gradius illustration that’s totally new to me (and I’d like that I’ve seen every last bit of officially imagery, provided that’s what it is), so perhaps it’s new to you as well?

No R-Type Final, thank YOU…

I also wouldn’t mind getting my hands on this R-Type model…

Since I’m fantasy shopping, please include this Panzer Dragoon model as well please (via galaxynextdoor)…

Please enjoy this classic commercial for the Famicom version of Xevious starring a member of Yellow Magical Orchestra…

Which animated gif starring the Mega Drive do you prefer? This one (via nctryzob)…

Or this one (via contac)…

And speaking of Mega Drives that can transform (via techturd)…

videogamesdensetsu recently posted some imagery associated with the game Last Bronx that I easily recognized, along the name of the artist, one that I’m very unfamiliar with! Apparently it’s Yoshitsugu Satō and “Little is known about him. It seems that he worked as a graphic and character designer at Sega AM3 then left the company sometimes around 1999”...

I also wonder who’s responsible for the artwork on the box for this Legend of Zelda board game (via mondo80s90spictorama)…

Thankfully I know who did this neat Metroid illustration; it’s droolingdemon…

tinsil explains: “when you’re a super hot super famous intergalactic bounty hunter with an image to maintain but also you were raised in isolation by birds and so you don’t know how to talk to girls”...

Meanwhile, here we have the ladies of Street Fighter doing what ladies do, which is train for the next big fight (via grrlmusic)…

Whereas the the boys of just like to bro-out (via hichamkiy)…

Though the absolute best cover to Club Capcom is obviously this one…

Which other couple do you prefer; Mario & Pauline, from the commercial for Donkey Kong cereal (via suppermariobroth)…

Or Sonic & Madonna, or at least a woman that resembles the pop singer, who was supposed to be a love interest once upon a time (via sonicthehedgeblog)…

Hey it’s Sonic as a mech, being controlled by Sonic (via sufami64)…

And it’s Sonic as a human being (via sonicthehedgeblog once again)…

Naturally, Sonic the Human has fan art; in this case, courtesy of drawloverlala…

As does Alex Kid (via segamastersystem)…

Moving from line art to pixel; here’s a wonderful piece by eto2d…

And here’s the Fresh Prince on the move (via it8bit)…

Longtime friend of Attract Mode, Kyle Fewell did this piece entirely on his Note 8!

Yup, that’s Moebius alright, who did the box art for the Matra & Hachette Alice personal computer, which was a French TRS-80 clone (via tvgame)…

No idea who did the following cover, but it’s a safe bet that whomever was behind the iron curtain at the time (via c86)…

Kinda/sorta speaking of the iron curtain, here we have Tetris being played at some mall in Japan, where they know how to celebrate Christmas proper...

Whereas I celebrate every Xmas with a few rounds of Christmas NiGHTS...

Though here we have Sonic Team’s more famous creation, also high above the ground (via sonicthehedgeblog, once more)…

But this time next year, I might have another Christmas themed game for my Saturn, which I had no idea existed until I saw @kingmonkey25’s tweet about it…

As for other recent Santa sightings in games, tvgame is back with the observation: “Plotting mischief in Street Fighter III”

Finally, here’s a video that explores all the different takes on Christmas music in video game music…

And that’s not all! Cuz it’s the holiday, and I finally have some down time, will be passing a second massive round-up of game culture nonsense tomorrow! Until then…

Don’t forget: Attract Mode is now on Medium! There you can subscribe to keep up to date, as well as enjoy some “best of” content you might have missed the first time around, plus be spared of the technical issues that’s starting to overtake Tumblr.

[terryblount]

Shenmue III – PC Review

The height of the console wars between Sony, Nintendo and Sega was undoubtedly a trial by fire for developer and publisher alike. These companies had invested huge sums of money in the promotion of their respective platforms, and studios hired the most creative minds in the business to develop that one game that would rise above their competitors. It is here that Sega deployed Yu Suzuki.

Now while gamers enjoyed an idyllic time in which studios created brilliant games to gain market dominance, one fact had become clear: Sega was falling behind. Nintendo had the mascots and Sony had massive 3rd party support, but Sega was stuck with a library for their Dreamcast console that just couldn’t gain a foothold. Sonic and the gang simply failed to bring in sales from this volatile market.

The opening of Shenmue with the murder of Ryo’s father

Fortunately, Yu Suzuki had been developing an idea since the previous generation for not just a new IP, but a new kind of game that didn’t really have a genre yet. Yu Suzuki had been at the frontline of the console wars for some time, but the game he was about to pitch for the Dreamcast had grand ideas worthy of Sega dropping an initial budget of a whopping $47 million. This game was Shenmue.

Sega’s killer app

Whereas Shenmue is more typically remembered for introducing modern, quick time events to the gaming world, which indeed it did, its true legacy lies in how Yu Suzuki had conceived the world’s first, 3D, open-world game. His team at Sega AM2 used their astounding pile of cash to invest not in action or explosive set pieces, but in pushing the boundaries of the player’s immersion.

When their masterwork finally released in 1999, gamers found themselves entering a world that was more than just a digital playground for the protagonist, Ryo Hazuki. The town of Yokosuka was a fully-realized, mini-universe filled with distinct characters, various side activities, and a day-night cycle which was all woven into the core of a beat-‘em-up, kung fu adventure. Truly a feat for the 90’s.

In short, Shenmue’s world and its revolutionary graphics felt like a reality not just to play in, but to live in. Yu Suzuki had a vision of making players a part of his game by giving them the freedom to progress at their own pace. Shenmue had therefore become a paradigm for how a new generation of games should represent the open-world genre, and its legacy is clear in everything from Grand Theft Auto to Assassin’s Creed.

Today this looks rather sterile. In the 90’s this blew gamers away

The neverending story

In terms of the actual narrative, Shenmue shares many characteristics with those 80’s Jackie Chan movies I used to watch as a kid on Friday nights. You play as Ryo Hazuki, a budding martial artist who witnesses his father being murdered over an ancient artifact named the Dragon Mirror.

The murderer in question is the formidable kung fu master, Lan Di, who journeyed to Japan from China once he learnt of the artifact’s hiding place in the dojo under the tutelage of Ryo’s dad. After forcing his father to hand over the mirror with his dying breath, Lan Di then returns to China with his prize, leaving the fire of vengeance burning strong in Ryo’s heart.

Ryo and Shenhua in a cave next to huge depictions of the dragon and Phoenix mirrors

The stage is set, and Ryo pursues his father’s killer starting with only the scraps of information he can salvage from the villagers of Yokosuka. He eventually picks up the trail of breadcrumbs and encounters some nasty people willing to defend the secret of Lan Di’s whereabouts with their lives. So, like Jackie, Ryo uses kung fu to pound some answers out of them, and thus improves his own fighting techniques along the way.

Sadly, our hero appears to be broke, which is where the infamous forklifting gameplay came in. Shenmue used its open-world as something of a pragmatic diversion where Ryo could earn some moola by doing mundane chores, such as forklifting for cash. Yet all work and no play makes Shenmue a dull game, which is why Yu Suzuki filled the game with various side-missions also, such as going to actual arcades in the town.

Enter Shenmue III

Again, this was the nineties and the first time gamers of the day could switch seamlessly between the game’s key story missions, the monotony of work, and fun side-activities within a single, cohesive package. It was far from perfect, as the tedium of just waiting or working did outweigh Shenmue’s fun factor (and the core gameplay) at times. The novelty of it all did make plenty of room for misfires.

Yet, the substantial following garnered by Shenmue and its sequel is testimony to how innovative the experience was. Yu Suzuki could not save the Sega Dreamcast, but droves of gamers loved the freedom of just exploring unrestrained through both games, helping Ryo with his detective work, practicing kung fu moves, or just trying their hand at all the mini-games. People wanted more.

So why the drawn-out pre-amble you may ask? Well, it has been 18 years since the release of Shenmue II, but I have to say I have never played a game released this many years after its forerunner, only to resemble it so closely. Shenmue III is such raw, undiluted fan service, so devoted to its source material that it seems utterly inseparable from the bigger picture.

Tranquil village life. This is probably the best world in the Shenmue universe thus far

Seriously, I played both the remastered ports last year to see what the fuss was about, and rather than feeling like a separate game, my time with Shenmue III often felt like an expansion pack, or perhaps a upscaled textured pack. On the one hand, this works in the game’s favour since this really is a true sequel in this eleven-part saga. On the other, certain aspects of the game should have been modernized a bit.

Why it works

As if nearly two decades haven’t passed, Shenmue III takes off right where players were left hanging with the previous game. Ryo has since made it to China in his search for Lan Di and finds himself in Bailu Village, a remote little hamlet nestled in the mountains known for its culture of martial arts and stonemasonry. It is also here where both the Dragon Mirror and its companion, the Phoenix Mirror, were created.

Ryo has also befriended Shenhua, the daughter of a stonemason involved with the mirrors’ creation, and in the words of the only friggin’ loading screen, “their fates becomes entwined”. As is the modus operandi from both prequels, the gameplay is once again centered around searching the village one small clue after another taking Ryo ever closer to Lan Di.

Shenhua

The Dragon Quest games are more generally regarded as by fans as the most chilled franchise and I have played almost all of them, but for me it is Yu Suzuki’s beloved series. Every time I launched Shenmue III I inhaled, exhaled and just relaxed as I luxuriated in the bliss that is fundamental to how the game unfolded before me. It is like Tai Chi transformed into a game.

Bailu Village is one of two main hub worlds that the game opens with and it is an absolute Shangri-la of green mountain fields, majestic peach trees in blossom, and villagers just going about life. While lacking the the more complex textures of a AAA title, the Unreal Engine 4 does the job beautifully here, and it it augments the game’s tranquility and total lack of stress.

Such tranquility

As Ryo continues his search of Lan Di’s whereabouts, and learns more of how this opening setting is a crucial component in the path leading to his father’s murder, the player is never rushed, or urged to progress. If you get tired of talking to people, or beating up the thugs harassing the villagers, go fight some of the monks at the local dojo, help the old shopkeeper chop some wood, try your luck at the various ‘pop-up casinos’ to buy Ryo some new threads, or… drive a forklift hahahaha.

Like I said, this is a thoroughbred entry in the Shenmue franchise and these fun (if perhaps somewhat meaningless) mini-games one again reinforce the idea that the player has left the real world behind.

You get to see Ryo not in over-the-top action scenarios, but is a variety of smaller, more routine situations that we ourselves could actually relate to, bringing the player closer to his character.

Yes you can race turtles!

There have been a few minor tweaks to the formula as well. Aside from the obvious graphical upgrade, Shenmue III sometimes lets the player skip ahead to an objective’s location and time. The fighting also feels much more responsive and easier to master since Ryo now executes moves automatically with deadly force once the player becomes skilled in executing a technique.

Why it doesn’t work

For all the occasional forklift driving, quick time events, casual character interaction, kung fu and other staples of the Shenmue franchise on display, the very character of the third installment also represents its biggest weakness. While Shenmue III smashed Kickstarter records, and while a dedicated fan base still upholds their beloved franchise, this game belongs mostly to them.

See, the problem with this kind of sequel where the only true change lies in the presentation is that the game very easily succumbs to its forebears’ weaknesses and shortcomings. Shenmue III is no exception.

Turtle racing!

I get that Shenmue was originally conceived as a sixteen-part epic, which was later cut to an eleven-part story covering four or five games, but the narrative just does not feel like it moves much further from square one. Ryo hardly makes any substantial progress towards avenging his father, and the overall plot is beginning to show signs of fatigue. I think Suzuki needs to consider wrapping things up.

The relaxed and tangential gameplay is also likely to ring hollow with players who like to see their grinding translating into something more substantial as with more modern RPG’s. It is true that the martial arts training is useful to Ryo to a certain extent, but even my nostalgia failed to cover up how I was often doing something in the game only to wonder what the point of this activity was.

Again, it must be remembered that Shenmue III is attempting to make a seamless transition with the first two games which took shape in a climate that had never seen any of this before. Bringing this forwards to the current generation creates a charming sense of continuity, but also gives Shenmue III a noticeably asynchronous feeling when placed next to the hoards of games it inspired.

I don’t really have an issue with the graphics given that this game’s budget places it on the lower, middle shelf. In fact, at times it even puts other releases with five times its budget to shame. Yet, I imagine many players would likely be put off by the slightly robotic look of the NPC’s regardless. Where I see old-school charm, others are guaranteed to perceive certain aspects of the visuals as dated.

One for the fans

So there you have it. Despite the community thinking Yu Suzuki’s most passionate project had died with the veryconsole it was trying to preserve, here we are, eighteen years later, thanks to the magic of crowdfunding. Instead of trying to establish itself as a new JRPG force to be reckoned with, Shenmue III seeks to pay tribute to what players loved and remembered about it.

Unfortunately, to those that have never played the first two Shenmue games, or have little interested in the legacy of this series for our beloved pastime, this very fact makes Shenmue III a hard sell to newcomers. Standing by itself, this game is bound to raise more questions than answers, and looking at several early reviews, it seems that players just weren’t feeling it.

As a recently converted Shenmue fan, however, I enjoyed my time with it in spite of a few frustrations. It was so relaxing to play and I can practically sense Yu Suzuki’s passion within every aspect of the gameplay. They will not get away with this formula for a fourth time though, so Shenmue IV had better try to introduce a few modern, open-world mechanics to bring it up to speed. For now, we can allow one last homage to the past I think.

Pure fan service

Decent variety of mini-games

Tranquil tone

Looks good for AA game

Needs more fast travel

Some boring grinding

English localization sucks

Dull side-missions

          PC Specs: Windows 10 64-bit computer using Nvidia GTX 1070, i5 4690K CPU, 16GB RAM – Played using an XBox One controller

The post Shenmue III – PC Review appeared first on DSOGaming.

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[battleborntap]

We all have those games that we would love to see a sequel for. That game we grew up with as a child. That popular franchise that has been in retirement for the last decade. That cult classic you found while browsing the Steam Summer Sale that you beat and want more.

  In some cases, these games might not get made for various reasons. Sometimes the company who originally made it no longer has the rights to that game. Sometimes the development team doesn't want to ruin a franchise by simply making a new game for the sake of making a new game. Whatever the reason, we all have those games that we would love to see get a sequel...and I am no exception.

  Before we begin, I would like to clarify a few things. First off, this is not a list of the most popular games that I feel need a sequel. There are plenty of people doing just that on YouTube. This is a personal list of games that I have played that I would love to see continued. This list will also not include anything that, as far as I'm presently aware, already has a sequel in development. This is a list of games that I have not seen anything related to a sequel out there outside of rumors and wishlists, much like the Kingdom Hearts 3 wishlist I posted two weeks back. And finally, this list is in no way a definitive list. While I would probably want some of these games more than others, I would be happy to get any of these.

  So, without further delay, here's my Ten Games That Need a Sequel

#10. Battleborn (2016)

The one is a cautionary tale to people looking to release a game; make sure you see what else is coming out around the same time to determine if this might be a problem for your release. Battleborn seemed like a done deal; the Borderlands team making a Moba-Shooter Hybrid with a fun cast of characters and a unique setting. It had a weird learning curve, especially between the variety of playstyles in each of the characters, and if you're thinking this sounds familiar, it's because that basically the description of the game that released less than three weeks after Battleborn; a little known title called Overwatch.

  Thanks to Overwatch releasing three weeks after Battleborn's launch, much of the player base for the game dropped off within one month, presumably to play Overwatch, something that I myself am guilty of doing. It became so problematic for them, Battleborn as now basically become a Free-To-Play title. But where Overwatch falls short, Battleborn thrives.

Yeah, but Blizzard gave us a talking Gorilla...so...

Battleborn, among other things, offers a full single player campaign, the option to choose what play mode you want to play, and a story that can actually be seen in game rather than animations and comics online. It has the strong humor of the Borderlands team and a lot of possibilities for what can be done, and that's why I feel it needs a sequel.

  Given enough time and effort, Battleborn could be salvaged and turned into something worthwhile. More games modes, an expended roster and story, as well as a better launch window, and Battleborn could truly be a contender for Overwatch. Let's just hope they don't release it three weeks before Overwatch 2: Electric Boogaloo.

  #9. Jet Set Radio (2000)

Rollerblading is “cool.” Spray painting graffiti is “cool.” Combining the two is KEWL, and that's what Jet Set Radio provides. Released for the SEGA Final Nail In The Coffin (You may know it as the Dreamcast), Jet Set Radio sees the various gangs of Tokyo-To roaming the streets and spray painting everything while running from the cops. You play as a variety of characters in a new gang called the GGs, lead by Beat, compete against rival gangs for turf, and run from Captain Onishima, who has way more power than he should as he sends riot police, tanks and helicopters after you.

  It was the definition of the Counter Culture, going against the man and doing things that look cool. It had pretty fun gameplay, despite a variety of controls that can be complicated to get the hang of, and a unique art style that helped it stand out from other games by being one of the first games to feature cel-shaded graphics with exaggerated shapes, thin lines and flat bright colors. So in a way, Borderlands has this game to thank for it's art style.

Hmmm...you could do with some more blue...

The problem here is the current state of skating games in the industry. After the massive failure that was Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5, we haven't heard anything about a new game in that franchise, the Skate franchise, or anything new in the vain outside of indie games like side scrolling skateboarding game Olli-Olli. Now that doesn't mean we won't get anything like this; there have been rumors of a new Skate game from EA for a few years now, and people have been clambering for that for a while.

  Jet Set Radio is also owned by SEGA, and recently, they have mentioned they will be reviving a bunch of old franchises for re-release or reboots. While games like Road Rash and Crazy Taxi are more likely to get reboots, I would love to see Jet Set Radio come back. Who knows, maybe they could even pull a Tony Hawk and include “guest” characters, including Sonic the Hedgehog or Bayonetta. That would be fun.

  #8. Brutal Legend (2009)

Tim Schafer is one of the industries greatest comedians, having helped bring us such classics as The Secret of Monkey Island, Grim Fandango and Psychonauts. One of his other games, developed with his studio Double Fine Productions, was Brutal Legend, a metal heads fever dream mixed with a somewhat mediocre real-time strategy component. It featured heavy metal legends like Ozzy Osbourne, Lita Ford, Rod Halford and Lemmy Kilmister, and the world looked as if it were ripped straight from the album covers of some of the greatest cover art from the 80's.

  The story was pretty basic and the game completely changed genres half way through which threw some people off, but the aesthetic and world itself was a beauty that hasn't really been matched by other AA or AAA games. The humor is a bit more mature than some other games that showcase themselves as humor based, the references to the genre were wonderful, and the amount of love and attention this game holds is almost beyond comprehension.

It also made Jack Black's humor bearable for several hours!

Unlike many of the games on this list, this one might already be underway, though nothing official has been announced. During some in-development streams for Psychonauts 2, a game that I am highly anticipating more than almost anything shown at E3 2017, Tim Schafer has said that if there's enough interest and Psychonauts 2 does well, they might work on Brutal Legend 2. Jack Black has said that he would like to come back, and you know there's a large number of metal artists who would like to cameo in something so devoted to their genre.

  All in all, this one is just a wonderful experience from start to finish...if you can get past the sometime clunky real-time strategy portions of the game. We don't get many games that incorporate humor into their overall structure much outside of kids games and the LEGO games, so having one thhat's aimed more at adults would be fantastic. Plus, the soundtrack for this game alone is worth the price of admission. Just sayin'.

  #7. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003)

Star Wars has a massive expanded universe through books, TV shows, comics and games, the vast majority of which Disney would like you to ignore. Knights of the Old Republic and Knights of the Old Republics 2 are two of the better parts of that expanded universe, and is the only game on this list that actually does have a recent release, but not in the way that I would like.

  The Old Republic MMO, released by EA and BioWare, lets you explore through the world of Star Wars years before the events of the first few films. It plays like a combination of KOTOR, World of Warcraft, and Mass Effect (Fun Fact: Mass Effect happened because BioWare lost the rights to Star Wars when trying to make KOTOR 3). Playing as one of eight classes, only two of which really matter, you can play the first Star Wars MMO that actually had people excited since Star Wars Galaxies.

You said it random Star Wars Galaxies player.

No, what I want is not that game. While it has it's moments, the overall experience is more WoW than Star Wars, let alone KOTOR. No, what I'd like is KOTOR 3; a return to the massive experiences provided to us in the first two KOTOR games. The biggest hurdle now, of course, is that Disney owns Star Wars, and they are calling the shots. But here's the thing; EA has a contract with them to release Star Wars games!

  BioWare is owned by EA, and that means that if they wanted to, and Anthem wasn't taking up all their time, BioWare could easily bring us another entry in the franchise. They already have an offshoot studio working on the MMO, so why not give us another main series single player entry?

  #6. Undertale (2015)

Undertale is one of the few massive success stories from KickStarter, with an original asking price of $5000 but earning over $51,000 by the end of it's one month asking time. It was mostly made by Toby Fox, who wrote, programmed and wrote the score for, and has callbacks to Earthbound and Shin Megami Tensei as an NES era stylized game where you can befriend everyone or murder them brutally.

  You play as a young person who falls into a mountain into the world of monsters and interact with them by either helping them realize that violence isn't the only answer or by showing them just how wonderful it can be. The story is full of emotional points, and depending on how you play, you can have one of three major outcomes, commonly referred to the Pacifist, Genocide or Neutral routes. And that's pretty much all I'll say about the games story; while the game has been out for just under two years now, there is still a decent portion of people who have not experienced it, and this is very much a game to go in blind with regards to the story.

Trust me! Do I look like I'd lie?

The obviously problem with making a sequel is those last two facts: the desire to go in blind with regards to the story and the multiple ending types based on how you play. The first one makes it hard to do a sequel for the simple fact that you usually have to showcase some of the story in the trailer and promotional materials. This can be combated by the simple fact that while the trailer for the first game does show gameplay, there's very little context for what is shown and basically just shows us what I've mentioned here. The second issue is which ending do you go with? Well, why go with a sequel at all?

  The overall story of Undertale has some pretty good back story, including a war between humans and monsters which could be explored further. It might not give us the same emotional level as the first game, but exploring that part of the series might help better showcase the strife we see from the monsters in the game. If nothing else, this would give the people who play Genocide runs a reason to feel like a monster...if they didn't feel like that from the first game...

  #5. The Stanley Parable (2013)

Games have had narrators in them since the first time we heard a narrator in a video game. They are there to help deliver exposition, to guide the player, and tell us more about what we are seeing on screen. The Stanley Parable likes to take that notion and turn it on it's head. While the story of the game is silly, it can be completed in only a few minutes if you simply follow the directions of the narrator. Bu this game is best when you don't.

  One of the first major choices you are given in the games is a series of two open doors. The narrator, trying to guide you through a story, tells you to enter the door on the left. If you disobey, he then makes up an excuse and tries to get you back on track. Depending on how often you disobey, things can go from standard to surreal fast. From breaking the game down almost entirely to being forced to play a game where you try and prevent a baby from walking into fire for four hours to standing in a broom closet simply because you can, the game is a wonderful commentary on first person perspective games and narrative driven ones as well.

This game asks questions, like what if we made a game about a baby crawling towards fire?!

The things about making a sequel is that what more can be done? Sure, there can be more paths added, or a new narrative setting can be used, but making the overall premise of the game about a guy who listens or disobeys the narrator would simply be rehashing a concept from the first with a new coat of paint. Narrative games are unique in that you usually don't need to replay them unless you want to, but games like The Stanley Parable is unique in that you can replay it and not get the same result twice.

  The real challenge for making a sequel is not even making new narrative arcs for the player to take; the first game shows that just about anything can happen in a video game with little incentive or force. What the real challenge here is making a game that can commentate on other parts of first person narrative mechanics, or even other genres and mechanics, that the first game didn't touch on. It'll also help if they get Kevan Brighting to return as the Narrator...He was just a delight.

  #4. Bioshock (2007)

The Bioshock series are some of the most well-regarded in gaming, so long as you don't include the Bioshock 2. Between Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite, these games have ingrained themselves in the minds of gamers thanks to engaging gunplay, unique powers and settings, as well we smart story telling and situations. It's also a spiritual successor to System Shock, which makes it all the more better.

  The first game takes place in an Ayn Rand wet dream of an underwater utopia run by a man who constantly reminds you that “a man chooses, a slave obeys,” and is filled with magic fueled homicidal maniacs, giant mechanical living bathyspheres, and cute monster children you can either save from horror by “saving” them or sucking the ever loving life force out of them as they scream in pain and realize that hell is real when they are “harvested.”

You can Harvest them or force them to watch Cars 2...your choice, but either way, you're a monster.

Then in Bioshock Infinite, you play as a man who has a shady past, saving a Belle like character from a floating city, a giant mechanical bathysphere bird, and a racist man with the ideals and principles of a 1870's preacher. Using a spinning hook on your hand and more magical abilities that you drink like scotch, you help liberate this floating city by shooting every cop in sight and getting a very basic understanding of quantum mechanics, string theory and the many worlds interpretation along the way.

  A new game in the series would require a few things, chief among them Ken Levine, the man who helped give us this new classic. But to make it better, we'd need a newly enhanced system for combat, a wonderful new world to explore, and possibly a potentially racist author to pull from...let's try Harper Lee. Because who wouldn't want to shoot an allegory for racism and bigotry in the face while trying to champion the ideas of inclusion?!

  #3. Castle Crashers (2008)

Castle Crashers is one of the first majorly successful indie titles to appear on the Xbox Live Arcade for the Xbox 360, and helped bring the studio The Behemoth to the forefront of the indie scene. With simple controls, four player same screen co-op, a variety of unlockable players, weapons and companions, and a sense of humor that just about anyone can enjoy, it's no wonder this game became a hit.

  You play as one of four knights (to start) trying to save four princesses from a variety of villains by doing things like running from a giant forest troll while riding woodland deer, interrupting a wedding for a lightsaber wielding knight and fighting a fire breathing dragon that has a side job as a sock puppet ventriloquist. Also, sandwiches can turn you giant; so remember kids, eat healthy, and you to can grow three times your size and punch your way out of any situation!

Don't run, Is just Ham!

Now, The Behemoth has launched two new games since this one has come out; Battleblock Theater, a side scrolling platformer where you survive a death trap for cats, and Pit People, a turn based strategy game about a world thrown into hell by a giant space bear crashing into it.. They also released Alien Hominid, a side scrolling shooter starring a sharp-toothed Pac-Man headed alien, which helps showcase that The Behemoth likes to change genres between releases. This doesn't mean we won't get a new Castle Crashers; it may just mean we won't get it from them, or in the same fashion as the first.

  A sequel wouldn't really have to change much, which makes this one even easier to conceive of. If anything, much like the Super Smash Bros series of games, you would only need to keep the core mechanics of the game while adding new content like players, levels, items and more. With the Behemoth's pedigree for making consistently fun games, I don't think it's impossible to see it coming, but at the same time, we'll unlikely see due to their desire to expand and change genres. Until then, let's all look forward to their fifth game about a sitcom family forced into a world full of strange llama creatures, all with an 80's rock music aesthetic and made to play as a dating simulator.

  #2. Sunset Overdrive (2014)

This is easily one of my favorite games from this generation, and a lot of the people I've talked with who have played with can agree that it's a fun, heavily stylized game. With the genius weapon design and humor from Insomniac Games, a punk rock setting in a post apocalyptic environment about an energy drink turning people into zombie monsters called OD'd. So, you know, a standard release video game.

  The unique thing about this game is that it was the first game in years to release exclusively on a non-PlayStation console, specifically the Xbox One. When you compare the overly colorful and humorous world of Sunset City to the environments you explore in other Xbox Exclusives, specifically Halo and Gears of War, it's a very different type of game. When some of the weapons launch Records, Exploding Teddy Bears and the severed heads of the zombie creatures, it certainly seems a bit more silly than Gears of War's chainsaw gun. The story is also equally silly, with you bringing together a few groups of stereotypes to help retake the city of a corporation that makes guns, drugs and energy drinks that turn you into zombie things. It also ended with a bit of a cliff hanger, leading to the possibility of a sequel in the future.

Let's just have some freaking fun!

Insomniac has said that they would love to make a sequel, and to that I say Insomniac...PLEASE CONTACT ME! I have many ideas for this game and am looking for a new job! But for everyone else, let's talk about what it could be. First and foremost, we'd probably go to a new city that the drink made into OD, as well as new weapons and enemies, groups to interact with, more varying quest types and even more humor based on popular culture and some current events.

  Honestly, I want this game much more than I would want Beyond Good and Evil 2, Star Wars Battlefront 2, and just about any other game that was showcased at E3 2017 that has a 2 in it's name! The games is just crazy fun, with Ratchet and Clank inspirations throughout, and just in general makes me happy to be a gamer. It's actually one of the only reasons I still own an Xbox One! Now THAT'S an achievement, if you ask me.

  Now, before we get on with the number one pick, here's a few honorable mentions:

  Super Meat Boy – A fun, challenging platformer with cute references to classic games and ever changing tasks to overcome. A sequel could make it harder and introduce new mechanics like a jetpack! Cause why not?!

  Fez – This is one that a lot of people want, but Phil Fish got mad at the internet as we probably won't ever see. That said, imagine going from four sides to sixteen, because, again, why not?!

  Grim Fandango – One of the last great adventure games from an era long since past, Grim Fandango is a silly concept to begin with; reapers in an office setting. Imagine what Tim Schafer and crew could do with that concept now!

  Spore – While it's not as well loved as The Sims and didn't deliver on all the promises is had, Spore was still a fun alien builder. Expand the gameplay beyond a few genres and give more freedom, and BOOM! There you go.

  The World Ends With You – A fun and unique Nintendo DS game from Square Enix. With the 3DS and Switch technology, the gameplay could be expanded and improved to tell a new story.

  And finally...Number One

  #1. ANYTHING THAT ENDS IN A 3 FROM VALVE!!!

Seriously, Valve, the Steam OS can wait a while while you make another game that will make you two billion dollars. With Half-Life 2, Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Portal 2 and Half-Life: Episode 2 all being the end of those franchises currently, gamers have been begging you for a new entry in just about every one of these series! So let's go down one by one and look at each of these, shall we?

  Half-Life 3could finish the story that the first two games started. Team Fortress 3 could introduce new characters to give hats to while letting players occasionally shoot one another or push a bomb down a track. Left 4 Dead 3 could give us more zombie mobs ripping at our throats and new special infected all trying to shut up one of the characters with a plethora of annoying lines. Portal 3 could see us dealing with a homicidal robot trying to kill us in a testing chamber, only to be revealed that it's been us the whole time! Half-Life 2: Episode 3 could be a prelude to that of Half-Life 3 because seriously, just give us Half-Life 3 already!

Please? I mean....just....just please?

Much like Kingdom Hearts 3, Half-Life 3 is one of those games that may never actually come out, but that won't stop people from wanting it even more, myself included. And by holding out for a good idea or the right technology or whatever, Valve is making the expectations of gamers rise practically by the day at this point. When Game Informer had their 200th issue, one of the eight variant covers included Gordon Freeman, leading players to think they were getting Half-Life 3. They were, of course, disappointed that all it was was a list of some of the greatest games ever, and Game Informer was flooded with disappointed emails telling them just that! Over a magazine cover!!!

  Look, we probably won't get any of these anytime soon, simply because Valve really doesn't need to. With all the money they make from games Like Team Fortress 2 and the taxes they collect through the Steam client itself, they could easily get out of game development al together and still make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, especially right now when the Steam Summer sale is going on, and while you might only pay $5 for that game you always wanted, you'll end up doing that eighty four times a day, which can add up to a lot of money!

  So, there you go. A list of games I want sequels for. I'll get back to analytical discussions next week, but I want to know if there's anything you'd like to hear me talk about! Please, leave a comment of send me a message and we'll see what happens! But either way, thanks for reading, and I'll see you all next week!

source : http://ift.tt/2sLeS9l