I announced in the RFGO! forums that I wanted to do comics based on Chad and Anthony's fight on a volcano and Here They ARE!


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They depict both likely ecentualities so no side should feel unhappy. Also, when I asked people about how like my ref pics the guys were, many people remarked on how manly/sexy Anthony is.

Colours to be posted in the comments of ep. 80 of retroforce go!


UPDATE:

like... a lot of my Dtoid heroes kinda posted here? I danced with joy in my seat. PURE GLEE.
I felt a lot like this:


Best Week Ever.

yeah, no article today, amma too tired right now, promise it'll be here tomorrow as it just needs finessing

here's some things I has now on my TO DO list.

Firstly, I have a Novella of an essay to do for very soon, I'm working on that at the moment, chipping away at it, having much fun and that is sarcasm. It effing sucks balls, as inclusion doesn't much interest me as a topic, but since it's worth a CHUNK of my grade, it's time to pull my thumb out and try to stay away from this: my new bookshelf of possible win.


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Secondly, I have the Retroforce GO! comic to finish, and that should be worked on tomorrow if I can find the time, which I will have. At present, the comic is two pages long and will definitely be done for episode 80. There may be a third page done If I find time, but that isn't yet worked on. Here's a picture of sonic I did for tomorrow's article, It'll be about "firsts"


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Thirdly, I updated my DS from the phat to the lite and I got it in an obviously suitable colour. As my favourite portable gaming system, It's awesome to finally not look stupid and have a scrathed up DS in public;
The princess peach case holds 8 of my fave games!

I still can't believe It was sold to me in the condition it's in.

notice the burn marks and the sanding marks, DAMN YOU STACIE T!

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I also need to make sure I get an hour of Blue Dragon in every night to keep my interest in the game buoyant. I just hit Disc 3, and I'm liking where it's going and just gone.

So yeah, expect that article on "firsts" up here tomorrow, and I hope you liked this insight into what's taking up my time this week

This image is too good to write on

Earth Worm Jim (EWJ) is a game by Shiny for the Sega Mega Drive. Or Genesis for you yanks. It focuses on the titular hero in his quest to... Actually, I don’t really know his motivation; I looked in the manual and no love. Regardless, you run about from level to level, fighting bosses, platforming and enjoying a surprisingly deep silent story. Over the course of the game you will race psychotic mutant crows, kill a cat 9 times and fight a monkey-with-a-professor-for-a-head. The story, like inmost older games, takes a backseat to fun, a lesson unfortunately forgotten in some aspects of our little sphere.

Controlling Jim around is a breeze in the 2D, yet beautiful worlds. The platforming isn’t as hard as in some other games, you will rarely if ever find a part that requires pixel perfect jumping, and those longer stretches is made easier with the addition of the “helicopter head” which is like a less effective glide. Fighting is controlled with either your gun, which at every point you are reminded to conserve your ammunition, and your head, used in a whip-like fashion. While the gun is easier to use, your ammunition is severely hampered by sporadic and surprisingly few power-ups. The whip is significantly more powerful, but much harder to use; mastering the whip gleans two benefits however, firstly, you are saving ammo, and secondly, you gain a new technique for exploring. Jim wraps his little pink head around Hooks and other hook-like outcroppings to swing from A to B. Regardless, enemies will generally fall in a few gunshots if the whip is too hard.

Level 1: including part of Chad’s Memory Card moment. Sound’s suffering, but this gives you a good feel for what it’s all about.

Between levels you are expected to race Psycrow, the aforementioned psychotic crow. Why? I’m not sure, something about smuggling and such. While this can be a fun diversion and a change to grab a handy continue by collecting at least 50/60 orbs, take care to definitely win. Failure results in a boss fight that TO THIS DAY is still completely unbeatable. I refuse to use the internet and assume it’s the game’s way of saying “you’re shit.” He is immune to bullets completely and almost impossible to hit with your whip, though I remember seeing my dad knock him around like a fish. Thoroughly battered.

The worlds and art-direction in this game is fantastic. Receiving this cart only a week or so ago I was hesitant. “Do my youthful memories cloud what might have been not so good?” in short; no. If you take the time to look anywhere other than 2-3 foot in front of you, you’ll be greeted by animated backgrounds that look paint and masterfully put together. The enemies are all unique and you will draw pleasure from every frame, whether you’re knocking ten shitloads out of them or vice versa. Even the death animation is so good the edge is taken off the pain of losing that 1up. The only downer is that retro-consoles look like a shitty .jpeg of what it should look like.

The music is something I have come to drown out and it is unfortunate; this game has an unbelievably good soundtrack. The video above has the first level’s music in it, though a reduced quality version. So much care seems to have been taken, especially here, in being a game people will always remember. Hitting something will result in a satisfying whip-crack followed by a hilarious death sound. The reverse involves hearing a hilarious enemy-attacking sound followed by “AYE-OW!” in Jim’s distinctive voice.

To put it simply, This game holds so many good memories for me, It’s hard to contain my excitement thinking about playing this game! I remember all the level one secrets in a similar fashion to remembering all of the Sonic codes I ever knew and the Konami code. I’m a saddo, but I can’t give you much better advice than to petition Shiny or whoever holds the rights to put it on Wiiware, XBLA and PSN immediately. I want to see the pixels dammit. Considering the only negative point I can raise is that the Mega-Drive isn’t HDready: at the very least, buy a controller port for your computer and NOT-download it, or eBay the cart. I want to give the developers money, dammit. Capcom, do another Jim!

One of my favourite parts of a game is its soundtrack. Not necessarily a deal-breaker when it’s bad, but a definite plus when it’s good. There are definitely examples of classic tunes in Gaming; anyone could hum Super Mario, any gamer will recognise Legend of Zelda and there’s a good chance that it you heard Metal Gear Solid’s theme, you’d smile knowingly.

There’s a good reason you’ll know these. They’re huge. Which makes you think, how much fantastic music are we missing out on? As someone whose main contact with music as a whole is via games, I’ll try to talk a bit about it.

First off, music needs to be symbolic. It needs to fulfill the mood on the screen, and I don’t think I’ve seen a game do this much better, in recent times, than Phoenix Wright. Whenever I hear those melodic bloops and beeps, my mind immediately takes the appropriate measures. Whether it’s the energetic “Cornered” or the theme of the Steel Samurai, I can’t help but feel energized! Since recent times though, I’ve realized that it doesn’t matter whether it’s this way:

Or this way:

It raises Goosebumps every time.

There are some Games where every song is a gem. Take TWEWY for example. However you slice it, that game is like lovin’ for the ears. Provided that type of music is your thing, here’s hoping it is. I’ve decided not to post any youtube links as I don’t want to post the entire soundtrack. That would be regrettable.
Then there are songs only really there for promotional reasons. Take the Mirrors edge theme for example. Truly spectacular. I listen to it, at least once a week, when I put a mix CD in my CD player or a playlist on my iPod, mostly after I’m finished with the week’s podcasts. I listen to it, and feel like I’m flying without wings. Britons will cringe at the blatant Westlife reference.

Here’s Lisa Miskovsky’s “Still alive”


Ever noticed how songs called “Still Alive” are cool? Portal, easily the most enjoyable game since... I don’t really know when Has a fantastic soundtrack too. Ignoring the highly amusing ending credits theme the game has such a feel about it.... It’s hard to really put into words. Needless to say, listening to it sans-portals makes a very creepy experience out of almost any household chore. On the topic of household chores, there's also the mind bogglingly memorable tunes that seems to haunt you for days after turning off your console. Tetris comes to mind... and surprisingly a few megaman levels, am I alone in the latter?

Regardless of where music stands in these categories, I love it all. I wish all games came with a separate disc with the OST on it or that they at least were easier to get a hold of. Blooping bits to fully orchestrated Present day goodness, I'm simply addicted to it all.

Please excuse the three video embeds in this blog, It won't happen often.
Final note: Hats off to John Williams and the other orchestras who have made fantastic Midi-To-Concert-Hall masterpieces. I love you.

A double whammy this week! There was a tie in the voting last week and so I thought I might do both. Lucky youse! That said, there's no guarantee that they'll both be today: or any promise you will get two.



Lovingly dubbed TWEWY by myself, I refuse to write out it's full name; The World Ends With You more than a handful of times, but make no mistake, is is one of only a few qualms I have with this game.

Let's look first at the story, trying to avoid spoilers:
You are Neku Sakurabi, your clichéd Amnesiac hero drawn into unparalleled weirdness caused by forces beyond your comprehension. Very quickly it becomes apparent that monsters are everywhere and horribly vicious, with no way to defend yourself, you flee the scene and a strange girl calling herself Shiki Misaki suddenly forces you into a "pact" and a few seconds or glowing light later, you find your self knocking ten shitloads out of the enemies who you just took a licking off of.
The aim of the game, it becomes apparent, is to survive seven days of the "reaper's game" with your partner, completing the arbitrary challenges texted to you daily. Sounds easy enough, except you are constantly hounded by harriers, groups of reapers charged with the task of killing off as many as possible.

The game's story is very well done, and uses flashback very heavily, but very effectively. you'll probably be a tad confused at times, and see some of the twists coming, but overall, it's a well done experience. The characters are all likable enough, even if you start off hating Neku, the twat that he is, you'll love him by the end of the week.


look confusing? you're probably right...

The fights in this game, other than a few select battles/bosses, are completely optional. That's right, you have to choose to fight most of the time. It's kind of refreshing to play a sqeenix game where I walk three steps and not have to fight another random battle.
Battles take place over both screens and can be incredibly confusing if you don't know what you're doing. On the touch screen you fight as Neku, using the powers you equip on yourself in the form of badges. Depending on what you equip, you have to use the touch screen in different ways. some badges you have to drag along the floor to make it burst into flame, some badges make you slash the enemies and hit them in swordlike motions and some you have to pick up and throw battle detritus like cars, cones etc to hit the enemy with.
The other screen uses the buttons/d-pad (depending on your handedness) and controls your partner, Shiki. on this screen you play a little card matching minigame to generate points that charge your special fusion move; a deadly and often battle ending special that delivers damage to all enemies unfortunate enough to be on screen.
The challenge here is trying to keep track of what is going on in each area, a skill that I am only a novice with. To help you focus on who you are controlling, there is a mechanic called the "puck" which at the end of a combo, shoots over to the other player. the thing to watch for, however, is as you control one person, the other is still vulnerable. to help people who are poor in this regard (like myself) you can get the game to give AI to your partner which is surprisingly skilled at the game, thank god.

You get stat bonuses by eating food and then battling the calories off, each "bite" means one fight and when you use all of your food slots, you're done for that day. the next real day, you can load your characters up with as much fatty burger and soda as you want. food is you way of controlling another stat that I have no idea what it affects, Sync. eating food makes this go up. This is all I know about it.
Your armour will be whatever hip threads you buy from shops with a twist, if you're not brave enough to be seen in public wearing those new couture pants you can't equip them. brave can be increased by stuffing your face silly however, so that +23 attack bonus can't be too far off, can it?

The soundtrack? AWESOME. I can't begin to express how much I love the music in this game. Long after I completed it, I would boot up my cart just to put "twister" or "calling" on, my two favourite songs, and now have them permanently affixed in my ipod in my "most played" playlist. The field and battle screens all have multiple themes. if you chain your battles, each new round has another feel, another tune to deal damage to. Seriously, even if you never intend to even look further at this game, go and sample the music and feel it's joys.

This game, thankfully was brought out in a time I had no tests, as I bought it on release day and I played this game in any spare moment I had and thoroughly enjoyed it. The battles felt epic, the story was compelling and kpet me going for about two weeks non-stop. It petered out eventually, but my friend deleted my save so I guess I have to go back and enjoy it a second time. oh snap.

I'm left a lot out, because I could ramble on about this game for days and days. I sort of want to, but I'll leave it here with an EXTREMELY strong recommendation that you go out and buy this game. or sit there and buy it.
http://www.amazon.com/World-Ends-You-Nintendo-DS/dp/B00136MBHA/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1233167032&sr=8-1
I wouldn't put that link there if i wasn't serious.

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On a side note, If anyone knows how to embed youtube vids into blog posts, I'd be very thankful if someone could ether email me or message me.
travellors.tale@gmail.com

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That last side-note was resolved by hot sex in the form of a Garison.
May hot ladies aid his cause.

Up until I found people I like on Xbox Live, which still tends to gravitate towards just people I know IRL, I would very rarely play with other people. This is because of two things, 1) I was immensely unpopular and 2) I can't play with a cheat.

To me, Cheating is the worst offense you can perpetrate: If I even have a wiff of you cheating, I'll up and leave the game, hoping that I'm the host. Gears 2 got a patch recently, and that makes it somewhat bearable to play now, even though I'm not very good at it, but the foul taste of bastards still lingers.

Even in family sit down games, there are cheaters, monopoly is almost known exclusively for it in our house! There was a game of monopoly going on between me and the neighbour kid at one point. at the end of each session we played, we'd write our scores down and return the board back for tomorrow. We'd take turns in writing down the scores and It would go back into his cupborad for the night. Except, about 3 days in, I found myself £500 down and a property out of pocket. I took this up with him, noticing my yellow middle card in is pile, and he blatantly lied to me. "you didn't have this one, I did, you only had 1 yellow yesterday, check the paper!" Sure enough, the paper was there, with the information on it, but in attempting to avoid underhandedness, I'd been marking details in my mind. This was a rewritten piece of paper.

As much as I'd Like to say my reaction was to throw the board, scream at him and punch him until my knuckles were bloodied, I just sat there and refused to play another round. No amount of recompense would console me, he offered money from his own set, more properties than just my yellow, but it was dirty money, bribery. Fuck him.

To this day I still can't abide cheats. By all means, use the best guns, use that combo I don't know how to defend against, play it sneakily, but cheating just brings you down. It's a virtual win in a virtual game.

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Any suggestions for my review on wednesday?
Games I'm confident I can review:
Sonic Unleashed (360)
Prince of Persia (360)
The World Ends With You (NDS)
Kira Kira Pop Princess (NDS)
Super Princess Peach (NDS)
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. (GBA)
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (GEN)