Oh, Mario. The man of many hats, literally and figuratively. In relation to his platforming games, when he gains a new power, his hat changes along with it. Or does his newly discovered powers happen because of his new hats that he collects, like in Mario 64? Either way, his hats have a direct correlation to his enhanced abilities, thus making his "man of many hats" a necessity more than just a fashion statement. He's also donned many different hats in the figurative sense, as this blog has shown over the course of this week, by taking on many different roles in multiple different games over the years. His given profession is a plumber, but he has accepted many different jobs and roles throughout his career. I feel like a broken record at this point to be honest, but this was the best set-up I could think of. I mean really, Mario is addicted to sports, and he's actually quite the jock. I already wrote about him using golf as his hobby, but over the years, apparently golf wasn't enough to fulfill his competitive edge. He has stared in several different sports games since NES Golf, all of which I could have easily wrote about. Well, with the exception of Mario's Tennis on the Virtual Boy, because I've never had the pleasure to own that fantastic piece of Nintendo's history. Regardless, Mario is a stud in all sorts of athletic competition, from soccer, to baseball, to the Olympic sports, both of the summer and winter variety. With that being said, what better way to experience the athlete that is Mario than with a game called Mario Sports Mix? There isn't a better way. Trust me, I looked. So when this game came out, I almost fell victim to the "reviews are bad, I shouldn't buy this game despite how excited I am for it" trap that so many gamers out there fall victim to. I had been waiting for Mario Sports Mix to come out for months, along with my buddy, but on the day of it's release, the reviews came out and they were less than stellar. I seriously contemplated passing up on this game, completely ignoring my desires to play it and my gut instincts that I would like it in favor of opinions of other people. While I read and respect reviews all the time, I try not to let scores skew my own opinions, unless of course there are game-breaking things that damper my overall enjoyment of the game With this game, I almost didn't get it. But I had it pre-ordered, I had waited forever for it, and it had Mario's name attached to it. I just couldn't pass it up. And thankfully, I didn't. And even now, I'm still proud to have it in my collection. Playing this game with my seven year old today made me realize something crucial. We played Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort as well, for no other reason than he wanted to play them, but while those games were special for the innovative game play, Mario Sports Mix is far different from those games. Those games will forever be fun to play, and while I see where Sports Mix falls short, it's the characters that keep this game relevant and worth playing again. The Mario franchise can breathe life into any average game, and right away, I noticed how much more my son was engaged in the characters and the universe from which they came, where as the Wii Sports games were purely about the few games he liked from them. He had no attachment to the Mii characters, other than he still thinks its cool to play as himself. But being able to play as Mario or any of his friends? Oh yeah, sign him up for that. We had fun playing the games, and I enjoyed it more as a father when he said he missed playing the Wii games since he doesn't get to much anymore, but that he was glad he came over to spend time with me since he could play all his favorite games again. For a kid that has been raised to be a FPS kind of gamer, he is still hanging on to his youth and enjoying the simpler, fun games every now and then. He doesn't care about review scores, just like 99.9% of kids out there, as he finds enjoyment in the games he plays, without cynicism or negativity like most reviewers seem to have. Children are pure when it comes to gaming experiences, which is yet another reason to hang on to your childhood innocence as long as possible. Unless you want to just grow up and be a world-renowned athlete like Mario. In that case, you better get training now.
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Games being overlooked or under-appreciated is not an uncommon thing, especially in this day and age where so many games come out so frequently, it's almost impossible to keep up with all of them. Just look at this blog for example, as I am the gold standard right now of not giving the really good games the proper amount of love necessary to fully explain how much I appreciate the really good ones. I try hard not to undervalue a game here, but with the responsibility of playing a new game, a different game, every single day, it has become quite easy for me to overlook games. It's just the truth, unfortunately. Sometimes, games get overlooked because of the console they are released on, especially when they aren't multi-platform games. The Nintendo Wii is notorious and now infamous for having a plethora of great games that completely went under the radar for the only fact that it was on the Wii. Somehow, despite the overwhelming commercial success of the console, the "hardcore" gaming audience never quite embraced the console or it's non-Nintendo published games, thus creating the stigma that the Wii was only good at playing Nintendo games. Excellent third party games got lost in the mix over the Wii's remarkable run in the industry, one of which I decided to go back and play again: No More Heroes. I remember when this game came out, everyone was quite surprised that Suda 51 decided to develop it for the family-friendly Nintendo console. Gamers wanted this game for the bigger platforms, but since it wasn't on the PS3 or the Xbox 360, it didn't gain much traction. This of course is a travesty to the game itself, because for what it's worth, it is phenomenal. I almost forgot how much I enjoyed this game back then until I had the pleasure of going back and playing it again. I couldn't be happier that I did. It is kind of an open-world exploration type of game, except it's not. It has a layout and feel like a Grand Theft Auto title, except it is actually quite linear, which ultimately, is a good thing. It's not a game that I wanted to be open-world, as the it revolves around essentially building up your character's stats and weaponry, if only to conquer the boss battles. That's where this game shines: the bosses, and on a greater scale, the characters within the world. Travis Touchdown is the protagonist in the game, who is one of the coolest characters in a game in a long, long time. He is foul-mouthed, uncaring rebel of a guy, who loves wrestling, martial arts, video games and comics. He is a character that is essentially the encompassing embodiment of the "core gamer" personality time that this game is targeted for. He's not your typical hero, as he sort of falls into his hero role in the game, with of course ulterior motives behind it. The dialogue and art style of the game is electrifying as well. It is clearly a Suda 51 game, and while it definitely lives up to its "M" rating, which the violence, language and sexual innuendos, none of it seems to take away from the game itself, but instead, adding to the universe and the characters that fill it. It's endearing, in a mature type of way. I could go on and on about this game, but really, it's a game that should be played to fully experience it all. If I just told you all about the game, that would defeat my purpose for talking about how under-appreciated games sometimes can be. If you still have a Wii, and haven't played this game, go find it and give it a chance. You owe it to yourself to take a step back once in a while and really appreciate the games that deserve instead of always playing the games you think you're supposed to. I can't even begin to describe to you guys the level of sheer excitement and anticipation I have for the upcoming Pikmin 3 game for the Wii U. There are equal parts of the fact this is biggest Wii U game to be released since its launch, and the fact that I absolutely adore this series, that all make up the cause for my excitement. So because I am extremely hyped up about this game, I wanted to pretty much work myself into an anticipation frenzy by playing the original Pikmin game that first came out for the GameCube, then was re-released for the Wii as part of Nintendo's "New Play Control" series that they released a few different games for. If there is one thing that Nintendo does exceptionally well, it is releasing fan-favorites of their amazing franchises over and over again. It has been a very long time since I played a true Pikmin game. For the NintendoLand game that came bundled with the Wii U system, there is a mini-game in there called Pikmin Adventure, which gives a fairly accurate example of the Pikmin franchise for those unfamiliar with the previous games, but isn't quite the same as the full games. It has most of the basic principles though, trudging through unfamiliar alien landscapes, controlling a space explorer while you direct herds of Pikmin to do your bidding, such as collecting crucial supplies and defeating much larger alien lifeforms. Like I said, it's a good experience for those interested in the franchise, but not completely accurate as to how the actual games play. For that, you just have to go back and play one of the first two original Pikmin games, like I did. It was actually quite fun to go back and dive into the original Pikmin game. Sure, the graphics are a little rough (it is a port from a GameCube game, after all), but the adorable visual style and lovable characters truly give this game its charm. While it seems and feels calming and peaceful overall, the looming 30-day timer is a constant reminder that the game isn't just a tourist experience. Your goal of the game is to recover all 30 missing spaceship parts in the span of 30 in-game days, which seems simple enough, but turns the game into a true challenge. You have a limited amount of time during each day, because as the sun begins to set, you have to scramble to get your squad of Pikmin back to the ship safely before the terrors of the night come through and wipe out your entire army. Essentially, despite the fact that all you want to do is walk around at your own leisurely pace and go sightseeing, their just isn't the time to do so. And that's what I like about the game most. It pushes you into playing how it was designed, even if it relaxes its grip just enough to make you think you're exploring as you wish. If it wasn't for the constant push of trying to complete the mission, it would be a game I could spend countless hours in, walking around and literally accomplishing nothing. Some people may like Pikmin 2 better, but for me, I like seeing how the franchise all began. This is the perfect example of how a crazy idea from a game developer turns into a video game, even with its rough, not completely flushed out ideas. While playing this game made me stupidly more excited for Pikmin 3, it was nice to take a trip back to where it all began. What is the opposite of a pallet cleanser? Usually you use a pallet cleanser to rid yourself of the guilt or shamefulness of enjoying something horrible or socially unacceptable. But in this case, I needed something horrific and brutal to make up for playing Monsters University: Catch Archie yesterday. So with that, I played one of my top 10 favorite games on the Wii system, MadWorld, which for the most part, wen grossly under appreciated an unnoticed from the general population of gamers. But for me, this game was awesome, beautiful and over the top in ways I didn't think were possible coming from the "system for casual gamers," the Nintendo Wii. Playing this game again made me fully appreciate it once again, as I had started to forget just how fun this game is. It is completely designed in black and white, with each color being used perfectly to accent each other and honestly create a fantastic looking game. There is a little more than black and white, however, coming in the color red, which of course, is used to show the pints and pints of blood spilled during the playing of this game. Your character looks like he is straight out of Gears of War, as he feels completely overpowered compared to the enemies he is fighting - which is awesome. In a game like this, you should feel like a completely dominant freak of nature. The game isn't built around stealth or strategy, but straight up violence, carnage and brutality. Oh, the violence. This is not a game to play with, around or in the same city as kids. It is bloodier than you could possible imagine. The ways to kill people is extreme and creative, as you get more points for chaining violence together into crazy, ridiculous and fearsome kills. And it's awesome. I realize I have said the word "awesome" a lot in this write-up, but man, if there is any game deserving of that sort of repetition, it's MadWorld. When people point to Nintendo or the Wii in general as being a "kiddie" system, I always - always - point back to this game as an argument as to what Nintendo is capable of pushing out and allowing, when they see fit. Now can we get a sequel, please? The Wii wasn't exactly designed to be a mature-gaming console experience. It was aimed at hitting the casual gaming market from the get-go, and that it did - and did it well. But that didn't stop Capcom from publishing one of the biggest mature-rated game on the Wii, which of course was Resident Evil 4. The game was originally released on the Gamecube, but was later brought to the Wii, mainly to take advantage of the unique controller that the Wii brought to the table. Playing this game again reminded me of how fun it was, and still is, to the Wiimote to aim and fire your weapon of choice. The controls, especially using the nunchuck to control your character. But honestly, aiming and headshotting zombies using the Wiimote to point at the screen is oddly entertaining. The best part about it is that it works well, with little lag and almost perfect responsiveness. This in its own right was an accomplishment for not only the game, but the system itself. Another memorable thing about this game is a noise. Not just any noise, but THE noise. Anyone who has played this game knows exactly what noise I am talking about: the chainsaw. Oh man, that chainsaw. Easily of the most recognizable sounds in any video game, and after you experience it for the first time, you will never hear that sound again without knowing, and fearing, what's coming next. Spoiler alert: It's a bad thing. For a game that was originally developed to be on Nintendo consoles exclusively, the game doesn't hold anything back, when it comes to mature concepts, blood and gore, that lovely foul language and sheer tension. And I couldn't be happier with it. This was the first game that longtime Resident Evil fans were legitimately up in arms about, specifically for it focusing heavily on action and less on "survival-horror." But much like the evolution of Nintendo consoles to allow M-rated games, the Resident Evil franchise had to evolve as well. Right off the bat, let me explain to you that there is one soul reason I played this game today. Animal Crossing: City Folk was the last addition to the uber-popular Nintendo franchise, but as I write this, the newest game in the series is currently downloading on my 3DS - Animal Crossing: New Leaf. So the soul reason for playing the older version is simple: I wanted a comparison for the two games, so I can truly appreciate the changes made to the series. When this game came out a few years back, I received it for my birthday from the family. I hadn't played an Animal Crossing game since the GameCube version, as I completely passed on the DS game. With the Wii version, I was hooked from day one. I knew the moment I started playing that I would be investing lots and lots of time into the game, for better or for worse. And I was completely right, too. I played that game every single day for well over a year. Every single day. The game itself is set up to punish you for missing days, such as weeds growing all over your town and people in town moving out because they are sad that you aren't around as much as they would like. So when you don't play the game, it is a chore and half to get back into normal operation of your town once you get back to playing. The game is hard to describe to people that don't already know about it. I've tried explaining it to my buddy a few times, and it just doesn't sound right ever. The premise is simple, though. It's like the Sims, but with less realism and more chores. I know, it doesn't sound like a game that the more hardcore gamer crowd would ever be into, but oddly enough, there is enough charm and entertainment to win over even the biggest of "hardcore" players. Because the game runs hand-in-hand with real time, every holiday and special day of the year is celebrated in game. Also, the seasons are highlighted, with certain fish and bugs to catch and collect only available in certain seasons. This led to many people "time traveling," or setting their internal clocks on their Wiis to whatever season or holiday they wanted to check out. I am purist, however, and never once time traveled, for the sake of playing the way it was intended. After playing it day after day, like a ritual or addiction, all of a sudden, I stopped. One day went by. Two days. A week. And I always meant to go back and get back in it, but I didn't. My town turned into a ghost town. When I opened it up today, I was sad and embarrassed. It is the exact reason why I could never drag myself back to town. With that being said, I am excited to embark on this new Animal Crossing adventure. I don't know how long it will last, how much time I will put into it, but I am looking forward to the daily chores. Hopefully, I can keep it going like a certain other daily commitment I have. So as this week of Donkey Kong is quickly coming to a close, I've realized something. There are a lot - and I mean a LOT - of Donkey Kong games that I don't want to play. Not just for this blog, but I mean, ever. And strangely enough, they are all the ones that involved banging on conga drums. Donkey Konga, Donkey Konga 2, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat and Donkey Kong Barrel Blast are all games that you will not see me playing for this blog, or anywhere else for that matter. (DKBB actually used simulated conga drums, but still, the concept is the same.) In reality, when these games started coming out after the Donkey Kong 64 game, I completely lost interest in Donkey Kong as a franchise. Sure, I still played as him in Smash Bros. games, but as far as his own games? Call me disinterested. Now, there was also Diddy Kong Racing, but as much as I would like to consider it part of this franchise, I'm having a hard time qualifying it. So with that, let's talk about the game that brought me, and most likely everyone else who knew how great Donkey Kong Country was, back to the franchise with excitement and appreciation. I played Donkey Kong Country Returns, and I loved it. It came out on the Wii a few years ago, and when it did, it caught everyone by surprise. I remember when it was first announced at the big E3 press conference; the lights went dark, the video started playing and then the familiar Donkey Kong music kicked on. The crowd went crazy, and the footage started showing the beautiful worlds that they were developing, showing off just how far the series had come but how nostalgic it could feel at the same time. Real love and appreciation went into every detail of this game, and it is one of a handful of games for the Wii that truly show off how powerful, captivating and beautiful games on the system can be. Playing this game all over again made me realize how amazing some of the level designs really are. The backgrounds and detail in the environments are breathtaking at times (more often than not, to be honest), but my personal favorite without question is the silhouette level, where the sun is setting and the only details you can see of your primate characters are their silhouettes. Well, the silhouettes and the bright red tie and baseball cap. Another thing I have to talk about is something that I didn't forget, but was still caught off guard by it tonight, and that's how amazingly hard this game is at times. And by "at times," I mean "most of the time," especially when you are trying to get everything in each level. The developers didn't hold back at all when making this game challenging, and that's one of the most endearing aspects of it. Without it's ridiculous difficulty, it would be just another beautiful platformer. Sure, a lot of people complained that it was too hard, but to me, it was never unbeatable, despite how many attempts some levels took. But that just added gameplay and replay value to me, which I didn't mind because of how gorgeous and fun it was, and still is. If there is one Donkey Kong game to show off as the crown jewel of the series, this game might be it. Although, it's not entirely perfect. It is missing something, I just can't put my finger on it... The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. The epitome of a Zelda game, and the first game in the franchise's fictional timeline. It was the last new Zelda game to be released, and critically acclaimed to be one the best ever, receiving perfect review scores from many different video game news outlets. Obviously, this was going to be the last Zelda game I played in my week of Zelda, as I had that planned from day one. But that's not because of how great it is, how new it is or how gorgeous it is. No, I chose to play it because it is the only Zelda game I never finished, and it is the first game in my "pile of shame," otherwise known as the stack of games I own that I haven't played or beaten yet. That's right. Skyward Sword might be the only Zelda game I've yet to beat. And honestly, not for any particular reason other than I just never did. Before the game came out, I was more excited about it than possibly any game that has ever been released that I was excited about before. It came out a day or two before my birthday, so I bought it with the understanding that this was the only birthday present I needed or wanted. When I started playing it, I fell in love immediately, It is a beautiful game, the game play mechanics are fantastic with the Wii Motion+, and the story is unbelievable. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the game that would ever keep me from wanting to finish it. Yet, I put the game down, after playing it only a couple different times, and never returned to it. Never. Until today, that is. Maybe it was because I knew this was the swan song for the Wii, a very important console to me in my gaming history. Maybe I was already mentally and emotionally moved on to the Wii U, causing me to subconsciously dismiss any and all Wii games. Maybe it was because of the impending holiday season, and the hustle and bustle of it all kept me from spending the amount of time needed to keep me engaged, and because it is so story-heavy, it was almost impossible to just pick up casually and play. You need to stay engaged in the story to fully appreciate it's awesomeness, and unfortunately, I lost that connection. I realized this when I tried to fire it back up today after over a year away from the game. I had no idea where I was in the story, what was going on, or why I should care about what I was doing. Even the few cut scenes I came across didn't help refresh my memory. This was disappointing, as I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have, just because of how disengaged I was in the story. I know it's a great story, but without context, it's impossible to get behind. And this is why I think people can't get into Zelda games as I think they should be able to. All the other Zelda games, I have beaten (some several times), and because of that, I have lots of context for the storyline. I also have played so many of the Zelda games and am quite familiar with the overall storyline as well, which helps with whatever game I pick up to play in the series. For someone new to the series, however, I honestly understand now how intimidating it would be to jump into the series fresh, or even worse after a very long hiatus from it. I understand, all you non-Zelda gamers. I understand. So, I already wrote about when I first got my Nintendo Wii for Christmas in 2006. Shortly after receiving it, I went out in search of a second Wiimote, which oddly enough were almost harder to locate than the Wii consoles themselves. On one particular trip out to find a second controller, I noticed a game sitting on the shelf that I didn't even know about. You see, I had taken a gaming hiatus for a couple years, which again, I have talked about here on the blog. In those couple of years, I didn't play games, read about games or even pay attention to what games were even coming out. This dark period of my life caused me to not even realize a new Zelda game had been developed, and subsequently, released. Of course I am talking about The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, the game that was originally in development as the GameCube's swan song, but ended up being released as a port for the Wii before the GameCube version even came out! Anyway, when I saw this game, sitting there on the shelf, I picked it up immediately. Instead of coming home with a second controller, I came home with a game instead. That's kind of how this hobby works. Shortly after getting the game, maybe a couple weeks or so, I ended up losing my job that I had for roughly five years or so. It was the first job I had out of high school, and that was the first time ever I had been an adult and been unemployed at the same time. Basically, I had no idea what to do with myself or my new found free time. Sure, I wanted to go out and join the workforce right away, make myself feel like I was contributing to the family and all that jazz - but let's be honest here. I had unemployment checks coming in and I knew rushing out and taking any old job wasn't something I wanted or needed to do at that time. So in between submitting applications and resumes for jobs that fit my skill set, I had a lot of time alone, at home, to play games. And what was the one that game that I had that was ideal for single-player adventure time? Zelda: Twilight Princess, of course. This game was surprisingly challenging back then, as I remember getting stuck on a few puzzles in the game. To get unstuck, I turned to the internet and found a little site called IGN that had a guide up to help me out. Turns out, they had more than just game guides, including tons of news and features about all aspects of the gaming industry. This is the moment that opened my eyes to video game journalism, and would eventually set me on a path to be where I am now, here, writing this blog. Playing tonight, once again, brought back all these non-gaming specific memories of one of the best looking, most creative and highly thought of Zelda games in the series. I realized it was the first Zelda game to get a "T for Teen" rating because of the more mature theme and violence never before seen in the franchise. Clearly, this was a bold step for Nintendo, but one that was necessary to give the series a shot in the arm and revolutionize it. Transforming back and forth between the wolf is a fantastic game play mechanic, yet one that almost made it feel like it wasn't a Zelda game at some points. The Twilight realm was cool, and played on the concept of light and dark which is prevalent through the whole series. For a lot of people, especially the new Wii owners when it was released, this was the first Zelda game they had ever played. While it is not exactly the most tried and true representation of the Legend of Zelda series, it is one that I could easily see roping people in. Hopefully, players that enjoyed this one went back and rediscovered the beginning of the series to see where it all started and how this new, scary world came to be. Don't worry, I already know what you are thinking and/or wondering. Why in the world would I select Wii Sports, of all the possible games in the world, to play for my 100th game of this blog? Well, because I have a really good story for it, actually. As I wrote about before, there was a couple-year period of my life where I took a sabbatical from video games completely. I was on a total gaming hiatus, and I don't mean not playing any games, but not even owning a single video game or system. I was completely clean. When I started dating the love of my life back then, she had no idea how much I loved video games, because I was game-free at the time. After we moved in together, she started to find out a little bit about my love for games. When the Nintendo Wii was announced, I hardly knew anything about it, or cared for that matter. I knew it was a new Nintendo system, and it some weird new type of controller, but that's pretty much it. The day it came out, I remember her and I were at Toys R Us, doing some early Christmas shopping. They had some right there on the shelves, and I said, "Oh, that's cool. I didn't even know it was out yet." And that's all I said about the system, ever. Until Christmas morning, when I received the best Christmas I have ever gotten in my life. You see, that Christmas, I opened up a present from her, and couldn't believe what I saw. It was a Wii! By this time, the Wii was all over the news and national media, and it was common knowledge that these gaming systems were pretty much impossible to get anywhere, considering the supply and demand and the holiday shopping rush. But there one was, in my hands, bought by the best woman in the world. I asked her how she managed to get one. To be blunt, we were still very early in our relationship with two kids, and didn't have a lot of disposable income at the time. Turns out she had been saving up her tips from the restaurant she worked at during the nights, so as not to effect the money we had for Christmas presents for the kids and such. If that was the only amazing part of the story, it would still be awesome, but oh no, that amazingness doesn't stop there! So then she told me the story of how she actually got the Wii. One day she went to Best Buy to buy me one. They told her they were sold out, but they were getting a shipment that coming Saturday. Come Saturday, she headed down there early with our youngest boy who had just turned one about a month before then. It was a cold, rainy morning, and when she showed up, she was completely shocked to see a massive line waiting outside. She had no idea what she was getting in to, but she was hell bound on getting this Wii for me. She in line she waited, for a couple of hours, with a one year old in the pouring rain. Some kind people in line even bought her a hot chocolate to share with the little guy, because apparently he was super cranky and not enjoying the thrill of waiting in line. Finally, after a long wait, the Best Buy employees came out and started passing out tickets to purchase a new Wii. They, of course, only had a limited amount to sell, so this was their way of keeping track and avoiding madness inside the store. When they got to the people in front of her, they gave out their last ticket. Yeah. Talk about the worst luck ever. She almost broke down. She asked them if there was anything they could do, pleaded her case and played the guilt card to the extreme, making sure they knew how long she was out there with a baby just to buy this game system for the guy she loved. They radioed the employees in the store, asked if there was any extra Wiis laying around the back, and after a long, long wait, finally got the good news that they had one to spare, and she would get it. Lucky her. And lucky me. To this day, because of everything that went in to getting it, that Christmas present remains the best present I've ever gotten (aside from the ring she gave me that belonged to her dad before he died - but that's a completely different ballgame there). So tonight, I played Wii Sports, the game that came packed in with every Wii. I bowled, only because that's the best game on there, and it was fun, But it was more about reliving the good times than it was the game itself. I love this woman, through thick and thin, only because of amazing things like this she has done unselfishly for eight years now. Despite her not being a fan of video games at all, she has still allowed me to enjoy this passion of mine, especially after she enabled me to do so in the first place. Sometimes it's hard to see what you have until you take the time to stop and look. |
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February 2014
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