Critical Hit: A Tribute to the Macho Man

OHHH YEAAAAAHHHHH!!!!

The Macho Man Randy Savage was one of the most influential, charismatic, and talented performers in wrestling history. That's why when tragic news hit of his untimely passing, the wrestling world was halted dead in its tracks.

Randy Savage was, indeed, a performer deserving of the many tributes and celebrations that fans and wrestling publications have bestowed upon him since his death and this humble video game blog will be no different. Despite being a King of the Ring winner, a former WWF Intercontinental Champion, and a two time WWF champion (and his inevitable induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2012) he also has a well defined video game career as well. So, as we mourn this legend, let us be reminded of some of his appearances within the virtual realm.

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In the rather unorthodox 1987 title, MicroLeague Wrestling, Randy Savage made his first video game appearance. While the style may have been awkward and forgettable, it certainly held the Macho Man's likeness in pixelated promos.

This 1988 NES title was not only the first Randy Savage appearance in a game that was actually labeled as a WWF game but also one that contained actual animated wrestling instead of moving pictures.

WWF Royal Rumble for the Genesis and SNES, released in 1993

1997's WCW vs. nWo: World Tour for the Nintendo 64 not only brought the Macho Man into the 3D era of video gaming but also gave the fans a look at his time with the WCW.

WCW Mayhem for the Playstation, Nintendo 64, and Gameboy Color, released in 1999.

After a 12 year hiatus from the video game world, Randy Savage is back in 2011's WWE All-Stars. In, perhaps, the most fitting of such a flamboyant performer, Savage was able to pull off his moves with animated ease. OHH YEAHH, the Macho King is back!

Lest we forget his awesome promos for the game.


Randy Savage, with his showstopping performances and charismatic promos, will never be forgotten and will forever live on the hearts of millions. Not only will he be hailed as one of the all time greatest to step into the squared circle but he has been immortalized in an art form which captured his legend and greatness for generations upon generations to witness and enjoy.

And not only should you always SNAP INTO A SLIM JIM but you should keep in mind that . . .

Glitch City: End of the End the World

In the first edition of Glitch City, where I take games and I break them to find the delicious glitches that rest inside; I decided to take a look at a glitch I happened to stumble upon without any prior knowledge of it. There's a way to leave the Destiny Islands portion of End of the World and have Sora walk on sky and water alike! Not only can you take a look at what's behind Destiny Islands but you can also bury Goofy's stupid face in the sand.

Here's how you do it:

• Beat the game. The glitch is in the Destiny Islands portion of End of the World where you fight the first round of the final boss battles.
• As soon as Haley Joel Osment says "Is this, is this my island?" run directly behind you and jump onto the wooden shack. Going near the shore (or was it the hidden cove?) will trigger a cutscene.
• On the wooden shack, go to the far right corner of the roof and start jumping around.
• Eventually, you should have landed Sora on an invisible platform.
• Spam the jump button and watch as Sora crab walks to the heavens!
• Keep jumping until you're above the trees then head towards them. This insures that you will not fall back into the game's boundaries.
• You are now free to traverse the empty world of Destiny Islands. Not much to do really but mess around behind the island and to see how far away from the island you can get.

It's definitely a neat little trick to do and just proves I played this game too much when I was 10. I mean look at how high I got Donald's magic . . . seriously?

The V Files: The Castle in the Wall

Here is a bit of a head scratcher. Kingdom Hearts brought a light hearted look at the intertwining dimensions of Disney and Square Soft. Most of the game was a bright look at Disney's masterpieces through the eyes of the JRPG juggernaut. But as all KH players know once they reached the final level all that color and cheer is snuffed out. The appropriately named End of the World are the where the remnants of worlds lost gather in an abysmal black hole. The entire level is full of odd and creepy sightings but there's one thing that seemed eerily out of place.

After the World Terminus area of the level there lies the Linked Worlds area which consist of purple oozing walls and what appear to be remnants of an old pueblo scattered about. In one of the hallways there is a picture of a mysterious castle skewed about 45 degrees counter clockwise on the wall. It got my attention for being such a small, inconspicuous, detailed picture embedded into a wall that consists of just purple, blue, and black goo.

The only information I found on the matter was at the Kingdom Hearts wiki article on End of the World which states:

"If you look at the wall in the second part of the path to the Linked Worlds section, you can see what looks like part of the forest in Enchanted Dominion, as well as pieces of what looks to be Castle of Dreams and Dwarf Woodlands."

What's weird is that all three of the worlds mentioned only appeared in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, about 8 years after the original KH was released. Now it's possible that these worlds may have been beta levels or even levels that never left the conceptual stage of development. Here are my thoughts about the meaning of the mysterious castle in the wall.

• However, I don't think that they were intended to be castles exactly from these levels. All three of the suggested worlds have castles, which well, look like castles. The castles of the worlds look like your typical castle in childhood stories as does the castle in the wall. There are no distinctive features that would prove the castle in the wall is indeed Snow White's, Beast's, or Cinderella's castle.
• Perhaps maybe it was a conceptual sketch of The Radiant Garden before being finalized in KHII.
  
  
• It's definitely not the famous Disney Land castle as the number of towers of each castle don't match up with each other when a picture of both is put together.
• It could be a prominent castle that existed in one of the worlds lost to the heartless and now only exist in as a engraved remnant.
• It might have once been a portal to an area of End of the World that was cut from final game called Crumbling Islands. The area would have had Sora battle Riku for a final time. The area can only be accessed through a hack that will teleport the player straight to this cut area.

It's an intriguing mystery that remains locked away in the bowels of the Kingdom Hearts lore. Hey, maybe it will be revealed in Kingdom Hearts 3 . . . which unfortunately means that we will never know the truth.

My Dream: WWE All-Stars

My Dream:

WWE All-Stars

Developed by THQ San Diego

Published by THQ

for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, PSP, Playstation 2

Released March 29th, 2011

In the first edition of My Dream, I take the newest WWE game and turn it into something that I, as a wrestling fan, would have been proud of. WWE All-Stars began as a step in the right direction. It gave fans the ability to pit current superstars and legends against each other in a digital squared circle. It brought the fans an almost cartoonish, larger than life interpretation of the WWE programming that we knew and loved as children. It also brought back the retro gameplay and health meters featured in wrestling games of the past. It should have been the greatest video game tribute to the WWE ever released but in the end it didn't quite meet up with the hype.

What Went Wrong?:

So, why didn't this game meet my expectations. All of the factors were there that would have made All-Stars an absolute blast; only if they were fleshed out a bit more. There were a limited number of matches to perform in, a boring and unnecessarily long story mode, and most importantly boring repetitive and sometimes awkward gameplay. I should have loved All-Stars but instead I'm constantly thinking of how I would have made the game much much better not only for myself but for any wrestling fan.

The Graphics:

I loved the action figure like, anatomically defying muscular character models of All-Stars. Aside from the poorly detailed fans, what I didn't like were some of their animations. Why would Kane show of his physique by doing push ups on his downed opponent? Or why would Jake Roberts, or The Undertaker do it for that matter. It's like they gave everyone a set of victory poses and didn't think of the superstars that would be performing them. I would have had unique and signature victory poses; Randy Orton heading to the top rope with his arms spread out, Undertaker doing his signature darkness kneel, Hulk Hogan trying to listen to the fans cheer him on as if he were deaf. Seriously, why don't any of the wrestlers have unique victory poses!? I'm baffled by this.

It would be a nice touch if they had included numerous different titantrons. For example, they could have Edge's current titantron depicting him as the Rated R superstar but also a titantron showing him with Edge and Christian from the past or even one of the Brood. Of course, this would really only apply to the Superstars as some of the Legends didn't even have titantrons.

Alternate costumes. There should have been way more alternate costumes than what is offered in the game (most of which being palette swaps of their main attire.) I loved how they had unmasked Kane and old masked Kane but how about more. How about half masked Kane or the first Kane with one arm exposed. How awesome would it be to have a black and white Hollywood Hogan alt costume. Just take every important persona the wrestlers went through and put them in the game. My eyes are watering from the pure excitement of seeing The Ringmaster Stone Cold and the American Badass Undertaker (with customary bike entrance).

Now for the arenas. The number of playable arenas in All-Stars is simply pitiful. If you're going for over the top, cram as many venues as possible. Get all of the versions of the Raw and Smackdown! arenas, as many notable PPV venues such as Summerslam, Royal Rumble, or Survivor Series (at least), and every Wrestlemania arena to date. Hey, maybe even throw in Nitro or Bash at the Beach (or even the Hammerstein Ballroom of ECW fame). Now that's thinking of the fans.

Damage wear on the wrestlers and the ring itself would be an awesome touch as well.

Sound:

Much like the titantrons, why can't we have various versions of each wrestlers theme music. How about including both of John Cena's theme songs "My Time is Now" and "Basic Thuganomics." Or maybe Triple H's "Blue Blood" and "My Time" instead of just "The Game."

Now I understand that you can't get all of the actual wrestlers to play themselves but at least make them all sound different when they're being given a Boston Crab or some other submission. They could even hire to people to play late legends such as Andre the Giant or even use archived data.

Gameplay:

I would keep most of the wrestling intact. I would maybe increase the room for reversals (not by much). It may also make the matches more intense if a player that has no more health left to be able to recover up to one full bar over time. This one make the gameplay more varied instead of the simple signature, signature, reversal, signature, finisher that plagues almost every match.

Story mode is a mess. Story mode consists of ten matches where you end up fighting either Randy Orton, The Undertaker, of DX. It's awesome how after every few matches they show a cutscene of the respective "final boss" giving a speech about how your journey to the WWE Championship (or tag championship) is futile. Unfortunately, the "journey" takes forever with too many uninspired matches that are either single matches or triple threat matches. There's rarely a cage match thrown in. Instead of the whole fighting for the belt idea, I thought it would be best to take each superstar and go through their career. They would have a set matches, against set opponent, and then face a designated final opponent. Taking Rey Mysterio for example, the first match could be a singles match from his days in the AAA (or a no DQ match in the ECW if there is some legal issues). This would take him to high flying matches against Eddie Guerrero in the WCW, all the way up to his triple threat match at Wrestlemania 22 against Randy Orton and Kurt Angle where he won the World Heavyweight Championship. After each match there would be live action clips of his career that would introduce each match to come. Or how about the Heartbreak Kid with his first match in the late 80's to him winning the WWE title against Bret Hart to his final match against The Undertaker at Wrestlemania 26. It would bring a much needed boost of fan service to a game that is in dire need of it.

It would be a nice touch to be able to reverse Finishers if the opponent has a Finisher ready to go. Each special would have its own unique animation (Such as Stone Cold catching Shawn Michael's leg from the Sweet Chin Music and spinning him around for the Stone Cold Stunner.)

And for God's sake, more damn matches. I want ladder matches, table matches, TLC matches, Hell in the Cell matches, Iron Man matches, Bra and Panties matches (if we would actually add some Divas), Elimination Chambers, Royal Rumble, First Blood matches, Casket matches, inferno matches, buried alive matches, ambulance matches, I Quit matches, Last Man Standing matches, hardcore matches. COME ON GET WITH THE PROGRAM THQ!!!!!!

I would keep the Dream Matches just add more when more wrestlers than the meager amount that is present in the actual game.

I have so many ideas for All-Stars. I absolutely love wrestling and I have the greatest respect for all of the performers who put their bodies on the line when they enter the ring. To me wrestling is an physical art form that cannot be mimicked. It's like a live action comic book with larger than life human beings playing the roles of villains and heroes in (sometimes) exquisite story lines. There's a reason why I've been a fan of wrestling non-stop for 13 years. The performances, the music, the writing, the characters, and the atmosphere are combined in such a way that i have yet to find a media form that can match its electrifying feel that the WWE and other wrestling promotions have given their fans for generations. Alas, my dreams for the perfect wrestling game stay within my head (unless THQ or the WWE wanted to hire me then I would be more than happy to quit whatever McJob I have and go work for Vinnie Mac.)

Details:

Genre: Wrestling, Sports, Fighting

ESRB Rating: T for Teen (Alcoholic references, mild language, violence)

Player Options: 1-Player, up to 4 players and online (recommended)

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Curve: 30 minutes

Stats -

Graphics: 3/5

Sound: 4/5

Playability: 3/5

Lasting Appeal: 3/5

Fun: 2/5

21 Hit Combo

Decent

Review Descriptions

Full Review: Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds

Full Review:
Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds

Developed by Capcom
Published by Capcom
for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3
Released February 15th, 2011

"Let's go on another wild ride!"


After a long decade and countless MvC2 tournaments later, Capcom brings back one of its most beloved Vs. series. This time around, Ryota Niitsuma, the mind behind Street Fighter IV and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, takes the reigns and steers it in the right direction. MvC3 is a perfect blend of fan service and gameplay that lives up to the vs. franchise.

The first thing everyone will notice are the aesthetics. Cutscenes, menus, and gameplay are displayed in beautiful comic book styled cel-shaded graphics. The cutscenes are gorgeous as are the menu screens. The fights flow smoothly with vibrant colors and showcase equally awesome battle animations. The only problems that exist are the choppiness of the character models and the lack of detail of some of the background designs and animations. But of course the action moves so fast and flows so well, you're not going to notice unless you're intentionally nitpicking.

The music is surprisingly good. All of the music is some sort of techno or trance mix which I'm not much of a fan of. However, each character's theme music is composed well and end up bringing a lot of depth to each battle (especially the themes of Amaterasu, Deadpool, and Captain America). It's a nice touch how the music changes when certain characters are switched out. It makes the battle feel more quickly paced and ensures that you won't get tired of any single song. The voice acting is top notch and bring every hero and villain a unique personality. I can't quite put my finger on why but Iron Man's VA sounds brilliant. Wesker, Chris, and Jill's VAs are brought straight from Resident Evil 5 as are Ryu, Akuma, Chun-Li, and Viper's VAs are brought from Street Fighter IV. I just can't get enough of the voice acting and I'll be replaying Deadpool's sound test for quite a while just to hear all of his quirky and fourth wall breaking catch phrases.

The controls feel pretty tight. Just like the previous entries in the Marvel vs. Capcom series, each player picks three heroes or villains to battle. By attacking or receiving damage, the Hyper Meter will fill up and allow you to do devastating Hyper Combos. New to the series is X-Factor which overpowers your character and can turn the fight around. Like any fighting game, the controls may seem unresponsive even though you were absolutely sure you did a half circle light medium for that hyper combo. The controls are much more easy to grasp this time around with punch/kicks replaced with light/medium/heavy/special attacks. Also, every character does a launch by doing the same button combination unlike MvC2 where every character is confusingly different.

Even if the simpler controls don't seem simple enough, you can just switch the gameplay to simple mode! This is helps in giving a novice player a fighting chance against a pro. In simple mode, single button combinations will result in massive ground, aerial, and hyper combo maneuvers. This increases the opportunity for more players who are inexperienced with the game to jump in and play all the while feeling like a badass pro.

With all 38 characters, each having their own specific arcade mode ending, unlockable artwork, and mission modes single player has a lot to offer. Or if you're not a complete loner, play locally with friends or play online. You'll spend a lot of time playing online and ranking up your fighting card.

MvC3 is an absolute blast but there are a few things that may make you Shoryuken anyone within a close proximity. The online is fairly smooth with some laggy matches here and there. The game even lets you practice playing with a horrible connection to better prepare yourself for the lag. But all the practice in the world won't stop you from fighting wave after wave of broken characters such as Sentinel, Dante, and Magneto. These characters (allow me to further emphasize Sentinel) who are much too overpowered and can attack from long distances. You'll find these characters a lot online among players trying to increase their rankings. X-Factor, although a pretty cool addition, can allow a character with only half of their health to pretty much take out a perfectly healthy threesome. I also found it much more difficult to break an enemy's combo that wasn't a team aerial combo . These are but a few things that will bring your wonderful experience with the game to a screeching halt.

Marvel vs. Capcom 3 has an incredible amount of personality. Each character with lore, a technique, and a style that's so unique. The artwork and cutscenes are beautiful and bring the fans a special comic book feel that's almost as if the Capcom world had merged with the colorful and gritty universe of Marvel. The fighting is an absolute blast with its stringing aerial combos and animated hyper combos. Even if you're not a fighting game fan (like me) you'll find yourself unable to put the controller down. Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is the perfect blend of accessibility and hardcore depth that any fighting game can possibly hope to offer.

Details -

Genre: Fighting

ESRB Rating: T for Teen (Mild Language, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Violence)

Player Options: 1-Player (arcade), 2-player (local and online) [recommended]

Difficulty: Hard

Learning Curve: Harsh

Stats -

Graphics: 4/5

Sound: 5/5

Playability: 4/5

Lasting Appeal: 5/5

Fun: 4/5

32 Hit Combo


Superb!


Review Descriptions

Countdown: Top 25 Epic Boss Battle VGM

Here is a list of the top 25 VGM that made fighting bosses that much more memorable. The characters, the dialogue, and the action do make the boss battle but without the right music the entire feel of the battle could be lost. Here's a tribute to the best boss VGMs of all time.

Part 1 (25 - 16):



Part 2 (15 - 6):



Part 3 (5 - 1):

Quick Review: The 3DS Launch

Quick Review:

Super Monkey Ball 3D

Developed by Dimps

Published by Sega

for the Nintendo 3DS

Released March 27th, 2011

Sega's favorite simian foursome are back and in 3D but unfortunately they do not bring much else along for the ride. Super Monkey Ball 3D offers three different modes; monkey ball, monkey race, and monkey fight. Monkey Ball and Monkey Race bring the most quality to the game but end up getting repetitive and bland. Monkey Fight offers a watered down Smash Bros. coin battle to players looking for a fight. Unfortunately, it's not much fun either. It's basically a button mash minigame. The online is almost non-existent as the system could not find anybody playing the game. Is it a flaw in its online mode or is it just that no one bought this game; who knows. The music and sound effects are generic and forgettable and the graphics are unimpressive. The 3D even seems stiff with nothing really ever popping out. Super Monkey Ball 3D is fun in a few doses but does not offer much more than a few unlockables in the long run.

Details -

Genre: Minigame, puzzle, racer,

ESRB Rating: E for Everyone (Cartoon Violence)

Player Options: 1-Player, 2 - 4 Player Download/Online Play recommended)

Difficulty: Easy

Learning Curve: Pick-Up-And-Go

Stats -

Graphics: 3/5

Sound: 2/5

Playability: 3/5

Lasting Appeal: 2/5

Fun: 2/5

18 Hit-Combo

Weak

Quick Review:

Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition

Developed by Capcom

Published by Capcom

for the Nintendo 3DS

Released March 27th, 2011

This installment of Street Fighter IV is an incredible port that is true to the original game in almost every way. The music and voice acting are just as great as the console versions but of course the 3DS speakers take a little away from quality but not enough to not give the 360 and PS3 versions sound a run for their money. The graphics look beautiful in all its cel-shaded glory. It's nearly impossible to tell the 3DS' versions visuals from the consoles'. 3D Edition loses little from its console iteration. The characters, the venues, the costumes, the missions, and the cutscenes are all crammed intact into the handheld. The online is rather impressive. There were a lot less laggy matches than I expected there to be and most of the matches flowed wonderfully. Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition is the one game that defined the 3DS launch. It single-handedly demonstrated its graphical ability, its online capability and its all around power. If you've bought a 3DS there should be no excuse not to own Super Street Fighter.

Details -

Genre: Fighter

ESRB Rating: T for Teen (Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence)

Player Options: 1-Player, 2-Player (recommended)

Difficulty: Expert

Learning Curve: Harsh

Stats -

Graphics: 5/5

Sound: 5/5

Playability: 3/5

Lasting Appeal: 5/5

Fun: 5/5

32 Hit-Combo!!

Superb!

Quick Review:

Nintendogs & Cats

Developed by Nintendo EAD Group No. 1

Published by Nintendo

for the Nintendo 3DS

Released March 27th, 2011

It's Nintendogs . . . with Cats now. What else do you want?