On-Rails Blogging: STARFOX 64

Miss me?
I've been absent for a minute, out of sheer laziness and procrastination I suppose. HEY! I have a job! Don't give me that look...I've just been distracted is all.

With anime and video games okay! Stop badgering me!

So yeah, let's get back on track, let's get a few blog posts up here!

TITLE: Star Fox 64 (3D)
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Star Fox 64 is the On-Rails shooter game, without being fully on rails! It was my first experience with the Star Fox series, and basically the only reason I played the games that followed in its footsteps. Star Fox has kind of stuck around in my head since then, and even the games that I've had minimal exposure to I've enjoyed for the most part, but none have compared to the original (my original, not the SNES title that I've barely been exposed to at all.)

There's not a lot I can really say about this game, it didn't have a big compelling plot, super difficult levels, or even a lot of thrilling gameplay. It's just you, piloting the machine of choice for the level, and shooting down enemy ships. I say there aren't super-difficult levels, but then I never beat the "real" ending of the game, couldn't get past the Star Wolf team, but I beat the easy path of the game hundreds of times.

I can remember replaying the entire game a dozen times to get perfect medals on every stage, and then never being able to take down the final Star Wolf team, it was...really annoying to say the very least. I'd like to pick this sucker up for the 3DS just to give it one last try, really show Star Wolf what I'm made of! YEAH!

A Side Tangent: POKÉMON FRANCHISE (#CWShermanFlint)

Ditching Theme for a Moment
Don't worry, I've not abandoned the current theme, I just had a sudden urge to do another post regarding a gaming idea I've been working on for a bit, and have thought about on some level or another for years.

Cool?
Okay, there are some things that simply don't go the way the world wants it to with certain people, with me and a lot of other people, one of those things is outgrowing video games. Now, that's not to say that people are supposed to outgrow video games, there are actually a lot of games intended for adult audiences, and some that get relegated to adult audiences due to some specific content. But there are some games that adults simply don't outgrow, even though the world very often expects them to.

One example of this is Pokémon, despite clearly being designed for children, with the generally cute design of the titular creatures, and the focus on pre-teens as the main characters, many adults, particularly those who grew up with the games, simply have not given up on the games. Myself? Well obviously I fall on the fans' side, I love Pokémon, and I'm not of the opinion that it's necessarily something that you can or should outgrow. I mean, outgrowing Pokémon is sort of like outgrowing chess or checkers or even sports on some level. I mean, there are national Pokémon championships. There are grown men who are super proud of their baseball card collections, if they can be proud of that, why can't I be proud of my Pokémon card collection? (I don't have one of those...sort of by choice, they're expensive.) Adults can love their real animals, so why can't I love my fake animals? They're definitely easier to take care of, and on some level more fun. People can join gardening clubs and book clubs, why can't I join Pokémon clubs?

Did I...did I get off on a tangent, in a tangent? Sorry. I didn't mean to, really.

Flint.
So here's the thing, I've played Pokémon games a lot, I've beat all of the games in Generation 2 and 3 at least once. I've beat one game from Generation 5, and one from Generation 6, and I've played a game from Generations 1 and 4, so I'm not the biggest fan, but I definitely enjoy the game. For anyone reading this who is for some reason completely unfamiliar with the concept of a Pokémon game, you play as a kid in the fantastic world of Pokémon who sets out on a Pokémon journey to collect all the Pokémon, defeat the Elite Four and become Pokémon champion, or even just to raise the cutest, coolest, or toughest Pokémon (clever or beautiful as well).

The general idea is that by the end of the game you can really do just about whatever you want except get a real job or become a gym leader. From what I understand, X and Y actually allow you to get pseudo-jobs too, apparently.

Anyway, all of that aside, the games are filled with archetypal characters: youngsters use easy to train small Pokémon, bug catchers use bug type Pokémon, beauties use cute Pokémon, swimmers use water Pokémon, hikers use ground and rock type Pokémon. On some level, I typically build a team in an archetypal fashion as well, the best example being my first Pokémon Sapphire play through, where I completed the game using a full water type team (Swampert, Wailord, Sharpedo, Ludicolo...and I don't remember the others...whoops). On the other hand, I've also always had sort of...favorites. It happens when a game gives a lot of options, you get favorites. For instance, Aggron, the steel-ground type Pokémon, has always been cool to me: you pick up this adorable little metal coated creature, he evolves into this quadrapedal metallic dinosaur thing, and then it evolves into this gigantic horned dinosaur thing. Like a T-Rex and a Triceratops had a baby and it fell into molten steel and survived! Look at this:


LOOK UPON HIM AND DESPAIR! Seriously, possibly one of the coolest Pokémon they've come up with, in my opinion. Also of note (on that note) was my steel team! Mawile, Aggron, Metagross, Steelix, Magneton and Skarmory! So awesome, you have no idea. At least...in my head.

So that idea right there gave rise to my latest character idea: Flint.

I don't have all the background details for Flint that I came up with, but I can tell you that Flint (as his name might imply) is a Rock/Ground/Steel type trainer. So he doesn't fall into the Hiker category, he's actually more similar to...I don't know...a generic Pokémon trainer, or a Pokémon league champion (like Steven Stone). Or maybe he would be classified a rider, since several of his Pokémon are rideable at some point in their evolutionary cycle, and his favorite is a Rhyhorn who he does ride everywhere. Here's the sort of idea I've had for his team so far:

Steel                    Stone                   Scales           Scar                   Sting

I realize of course that there's one missing, and that's kind of open to a potential story based legendary (Groudon or Zygarde maybe). Scar is his Charizard who he caught after it became enraged by a Sandslash in Mt. Moon, of course it has a scar across its jaw from the fight with Sandslash, who would be raised by Brock until Flint felt he was capable of training it himself and returned for it.

Additionally I have some ideas for various special team comps, like a sandstorm team that relies on Tyranitar's SandStream ability to activate other sandstorm based abilities, like Sand Veil and Sand Rush.

So yeah, there's that, and I'll probably have several more posts about Flint.

Also, that whole Sandstorm thing? Check that out, it's like advanced strategizing or something. Like chess or something.  Having to learn to accommodate for weaknesses in your team, or optimize for certain advantages, clearly a children's game only.

By the way, thanks to the contributors to the Bulbagarden at bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net for the sprites I displayed above, they're all great rips from the original games!

As a side note, just used a trainer creator on deviant art to get a rough idea of what Flint might look like:



That's not exact but definitely in there. Thanks Joy-ling!

A Classic Classic: SUPER MARIO 64

SO GOOD
So obviously this blog is going to get a little more attention than My Cinema for the moment, because I just love these games so much! I currently can't get my head out of my console long enough to watch another movie to do a review of, so until then, just stick with me here, in my arcade.

TITLE: Super Mario 64
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Oh, those two are sized perfectly, thanks wikipedia contributors! Okay, so this one I'm honestly less enthused about the remake, and more so just love the classic! On the other hand, there is Super Mario 64 DS's multiplayer mode where you can competitively seek out stars with your friends, so that sounds cool. I'm sure it also looks a bit better graphically, but then again Mario doesn't seem like something that benefits from a lot of graphical improvement, in fact I kind of think the original game has aged pretty well.

 (thanks themushroomkingdom.net)

So this game was Mario's first leap into the third dimension (right?) and it was probably my first real experience with Mario. Now, I can't say I've outright completed the entire game myself, I'm no great completionist, however, I can say that I've beaten the entire game at least once by myself. There are a lot of things that made this game great, but come on, do we need to go over anything other than this was Mario's first foray into 3D platforming and frankly THE launch title for what could be Nintendo's greatest console.  Yeah, okay, the original NES is the epitome of Nintendo consoles, and the Wii introduced "amazing motion controls" or whatever, no. The Nintendo 64 is the ultimate Nintendo console and frankly I probably prefer that to any current gen console. So take that Sony and Microsoft!

Honestly I'm watching some let's plays of the game on youtube, and the graphics don't appear to have been improved that much. There's apparently some added gameplay elements in the main game, along with a few bonus levels and 30 extra stars, but I suppose the most exciting thing about the remake has to be the ability to play as different characters, and of course play with friends.

Maybe in the near future I'll pick this little gem up, but until then...YAHOO!

 (thanks smashboards.com)

As a side note (sort of post script if you will) I've noticed what looks to be rom hacks and remakes of the game running around on the web, so I may check those out. If not, I may just pop that cartridge back into my 64 and get started on a new, old quest.

Can I Just Hide My Face: THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: MAJORA'S MASK

WHOOPS!
I wonder if anyone else who reads the blogpost prior to this one will realize what a huge mistake I made, I left out a key remake that I actually wanted to have remade longer, and desperately want to play, and may well do so in the near future: Majora's Mask! Come on now Caleb, isn't that rather obvious?

TITLE: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D
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Okay, here we go, that game that I already have two posts about, why not tackle a third? Mechanics of the game, covered. Possible secret lore of the game...covered. So let's just tackle the sheer impact it had...wait...that's covered...sort of.

Anyway, this is one of THOSE games. Those games that I feel like were essential to growing up, like Kingdom Hearts and frickin' Banjo-Kazooie...wait...Kingdom Hearts didn't make my list? What's wrong with me?! It's like...I could do a whole second list on these games or something-hint hint. Onward, Majora's Mask is the quintessential Zelda title for me, sure, Ocarina of Time had more dungeons, a more complex set of items, and possibly a deeper story, but I just spent more time in Majora's Mask and frankly I feel like it actually challenged me less, while still being semi-difficult. I mean, not Dark Souls, don't misunderstand that, this is a pretty straight-forward game, easy enough to beat in four or five sittings if you don't want to complete the entire game, or even a single sitting according to speed-runners.



I actually just looked up a play-through of the new 3D game, and it seems to maintain the same wondrous feel of the original, and the graphics are delightfully well-updated. Not cell-shaded either, I can't explain my hatred for Wind Waker, but I do, and it's art style sticks with me as a sign of a bad Zelda game. So, it should be noted that I don't have a particular love of 3D, in fact I generally hate it, and I despise it on the 3DS. But, the graphic update itself appears to be worth it.

Did I mention I actually still own the original version of this game? Well not still own, I recently picked it up from Replays, and have started a 100% play-through, which you cannot view on youtube because my capture card won't capture it! I may have to get a new capture card and retry -_- at which point of course it'll hit the youtubez. Love it, just love it.

Can I rate this? Please? Cool:

RATING:
Nine out of Ten distressed souls trapped in masks would give this Six masks of enormous power, out of Five.

There, I rated it! This game is amazing and I simply cannot wait to pick up the 3DS remake, but even without that, I'm still going to enjoy the heck out of the original game.

Remakes Galore

Change of Subject
I know, I know, I was supposed to drop a series of AI based posts last week, I didn't, I can't really tell you why, I just wasn't feeling it. I had a pretty good idea of what I was going to do, mostly the AI of strategy games and how ridiculous their ability to micromanage is, but I just sort of...lost interest.

Instead, this week, I want to hit a few high spots in my own experiences with gaming and the things that have come of them from the gaming scene as a whole, most notably: video game remakes.

Obligatory Bold Text Followed by Images

And there you have it, five games that I think definitely deserved a re-release, got that re-release, and I have yet to beat said re-release. Now for the most part, these are games I have not played at all, the exceptions being: I own the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, have not beat any game on it yet; I emulated both Pokémon SoulSilver and Super Mario 64 DS, but only played them for a brief moment to test the waters, a sort of demo, if you will.

Now, the original idea was that I would list five games that I had beaten in the past, and for the most part this is true: I beat Silver, Gold and Crystal for the Gameboy Color, alongside my aunt and mother I completed all of Super Mario 64, later playing back through a majority of it myself, and of course I've beat Star Fox 64 multiple times. Metal Gear Solid 2 was a huge game for me, probably only the third rated M game I played (next to Mortal Kombat Trilogy and Halo), and one of my favorite games of all time, alongside introducing me to the idea of playing games stealthily, prior to that I always sort of pictured games, particularly games with guns, as something you rush through and just gun people down in. Then there's that last entry, Rare Replay.

Let's be honest, unlike Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, Rare Replay embodies several generations of games and several types of game play, and unfortunately, I was not exposed to most of them, and did not beat those I was exposed to. I can really excuse my way through putting it on a list of games I've completed and anxiously awaited a remake for like I could Metal Gear Solid 2, because I never beat any of those games. To be fair, I completed arcade mode in Killer Instinct Gold...so I guess that's like beating it...right? Please don't go all Fulgore on me.

See, Rare created what is, in my opinion, the two greatest platformers of their generation, Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie, and that's just it, I've never really played a platformer after that which really drew me in as much as Banjo and the bird did. That's why, when I heard there was an official console sequel coming out, I couldn't contain myself, and after it released, despite the horribly weird vehicle based gameplay of Nuts'n'Bolts, I still played it all the way through, collected as many upgrades as I could, and never gave up on it. Loved every minute of it. Plus, there's games in there that I really wanna try out like Perfect Dark, Kameo, and Grabbed by the Ghoulies, and I always enjoy classics so the older games on the list I'd definitely like to try my hand at as well.

Anyway, that's a brief update on what to expect from me over the next several days, and I promise at some point we'll touch on AI again, but not this week.



Game cover images courtesy of Wikipedia contributors
Banjo thumbs up courtesy of RetroGamer: the greatest video game intro you'll ever see.

Stalled AI: LEAGUE OF LEGENDS

DELAYED, JUST LIKE SOMEONE ELSE.
Okay, so I haven't posted on My Arcade yet, but don't worry, I'm still going to keep up with my objectives. Five posts a week, this week themed around AI (just like I said My Cinema at the beginning of the week).

TITLE: League of Legends


Why not use one of those fancy other covers with all the characters and the Riot Games logo and the League of Legends logo? Well, to put it simply, I don't want to talk about all of the AI in League.

For starters, most of the AI is pretty well done, I mean, at least on the Intermediate level, I haven't touched beginner in a while, but most of the time the characters will attempt to dodge when they can, and they'll aggress when they think they can win, and will back off as soon as they start losing, sometimes a problem because occasionally they'll back away from a fight they've already won, but whatever.

What's notable is Soraka, the hoof-footed, horned Goddess above, she is an example of Artificial Stupidity, but even more-so than normal. Soraka has a lot of problems, from not aiming very well, to not managing her resources well, right down to...STANDING PERFECTLY STILL FOR THE ENTIRE GAME! Seriously, she'll glitch out and just stand in the middle of the jungle for ten minutes at a time, won't even respond to being attacked or anything. Now, this isn't necessarily all her fault.

Soraka is a champion designed with the intention of supporting other champions, she has a heal, a silence, and another heal. Because of this, her AI is actually harder to optimize than others, because she can't just optimize for her own survival, she has to ensure her partners survive as well, and she only has one source of damage. Combine this with her heal actually requiring her to give up her own life-force, and she becomes a force to be reckoned against. Seriously, she'll sometimes get as close as she can to death, and then just keep going.

That's a short post, I know, but these kinds of things have a few bases that need to be covered, and then you're done.

Wrapped up in Game-Breakers: POKÉMON GENERATION 1

SO CLOSE!
I nearly finished all five posts last week, I was short one and this one was it. I was having a bit of trouble figuring out what exactly my next topic ought to be, and Pokémon just kept jumping out at me. But, I couldn't really legitimately call much of anything game-breaking. I mean, aside from them giving away legendary Pokémon left and right nowadays, but that's more lore breaking than game-breaking. Then I remembered a little rom hack I played...

TITLE: Pokémon Rocket Version


So yeah, for clarity, it's not like this isn't available in the original games, but the only time I've experienced it was in Pokémon rocket version, and it's a pretty simple concept for brokenness. I'm not going to reveal it just yet, let's look at something else real quick, provided that your foe isn't a martial artist, the most dangerous thing you can do outside of injuring them, is disarming them. Post generation one, the Pokémon games only have status ailments and a select few lockdown moves that prevent the use of certain abilities, even then there are work arounds for things like that, but generation one, there was a set of abilities that ruined competition, I'll call them "binding" moves.

During my short experience with Pokémon Rocket version, I only encountered one of these moves, Wrap, Ekans' default move, but Pokémon can also learn fire spin, clamp and bind in order to break the game. In Pokémon Rocket version, I feel like I shouldn't need to point out why this is so broken, you have the opportunity to start the game with Ekans, making basically everything from that point on a cakewalk. It's a pretty simple pattern, make sure Ekans has high speed and attack, then open every fight with Wrap, follow up with whatever attacks you prefer, and when the opponent is freed from Wrap, reuse it. Rinse and repeat.

I was thinking about using my favorite Pokémon from Gen V as this example, Krookodile, as his Moxie ability, combined with his high attack stat and speed, allow him to sweep most enemies away, even at the occasional level disadvantage. Really, I swept the Elite Four in Black with just Krookodile. But, in reality, that's not nearly as broken as a complete lockdown pattern that requires no effort. The hardest part about winning the game with Ekans in your party, is choosing not to delete such a low damage ability when better attacks come along.