Saturday, December 31, 2016

Video Game Review: Double Dragon

Double Dragon
Nintendo Entertainment System



Double Dragon was one of the very first games I ever owned for the Nintendo Entertainment System. I can trace some of my earliest memories back to playing this game. I was not only a master of the single player mode (I could almost beat this game in my sleep), but I was pretty good playing with a friend as well. I was unbeatable in the head to head game modes.

I played this game with my friends, my brother, my uncles, everyone. Heck I even remember playing the arcade version of this game a few times as well. Unfortunately I traded this game in when I got a Sega Genesis and haven't played it since.




Let's see, so I got my Sega Genesis the same year that Sonic 2 came out. That was 1992. I was 10 years old. Assuming I even played this game in 1992 (and it wasn't festering in a pile of games I didn't play anymore) that means it has been at least 24 years since I have played the game.

I actually found this copy of Double Dragon in 2015 at a used game store, but didn't play it until 2016. I don't know what took me so long to finally fire this game up, but when I did I was very happy to be playing.

I used to know this game inside and out, and it was funny being reintroduced to things 24 years later. So many memories came crashing back almost immediately. Every enemy I encountered, every environment I came across was instantly familiar to me. This game is filled with so many moments I had completely forgotten about until now. The nostalgia factor alone was enough to make the purchase and play through worth it for me.




Nostalgia aside though, the game is still a lot of fun. There isn't much of a story line to speak of. The bad guys have kidnapped your girlfriend, and you embark on a quest to save her. Super uncomplicated, right?

Gameplay consists of simple beat em up tactics. You start on the left side of the screen and move to the right, taking out any enemies you come across. Mainly I found myself kicking and jump kicking, as the punch move is pretty limited in its range. You can move up and down, you can pick up weapons to fight your enemies. Each stage usually ends in a boss battle. The more experience you earn while fighting the more moves you learn, which definitely comes in handy as the game progresses.




If you've played other titles of the genre like Final Fight, TMNT, or Streets of Rage, you should know what to expect here. But Double Dragon isn't just a mindless clone of those games. I am pretty sure it was the first, or one of the first of its kind. Just like games such as Wolfenstein and Doom were pioneers of the first person shooter genre, Double Dragon was a pioneer of the arcade style beat em up.

The graphics aren't much to look at by today's standards, but by no means are they ugly. In fact, I find them to be quite charming. What really stands out to me in this game is the level design. Considering this game's age and the fact that it is one of the first titles of its kind, you might expect things to look repetitive or dull. But no. This game's stages are all super colorful and vastly different looking in both appearance and theme.

The first stage is a simple street level. The second level is an abandoned construction site. The third level takes you through an ancient forest into a complex cave system (the caves are probably my favorite part of the game, by the way). And the fourth and final stage takes you to the enemy's lair. The design of these stages are brilliant. Nothing ever feels or looks the same.




While beat em up games like this are often repetitive button mashers, each stage has its own variations that add an extra lair of strategy to them. For example, in the caves there is a certain way you must go or you end up looping back to the beginning of the stage and having to start over again. There are platforming elements in some of the levels as well. Certain traps you have to avoid. Each stage has its own level-specific enemies. Like I said, nothing ever feels the same here.

The game is just a blast to play. I did encounter some frustration at the end of the game, when I kept repeatedly dying while fighting against that boss character with the machine gun. When you run out of lives, you have to start the game over again from the beginning. That was a little irritating. I don't ever remember struggling as much to beat the game when I was a kid. But at least the game is fun to replay. If it wasn't, I would have been really pissed. And the game is short too. Each play through took me about 20 minutes to complete.




Whenever I review a classic title from an old console, I always wonder if the nostalgia factor influences my final score. Like, would I have enjoyed this game as much if I didn't grow up playing it as a kid? Maybe. Probably not. But at least I own up to the fact that my nostalgic feelings play a major role here.

I consider Double Dragon to be the definitive beat em up side scroller for me. Several games have come close to matching this game's brilliance, but nothing has surpassed it. Could be I am allowing my sentimental feelings to cloud my judgment. Could be that this is just an amazing game. I like to think it is a combination of the two.



Overall:
A


Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Special Guest Video Game Review: Earthbound

EarthBound
Super Nintendo


Alright everyone, Almighty Wisk is here again to give your brain boner some sweet satisfaction. Dan the Man with a plan lets me review games on occasion and today is no different. This review is special though. I'm gonna need you strap on your red ball cap, grab your baseball bat and hop in the phase distorter to travel back in time with me. The year is 1994. The Lion King destroyed box offices, the number 1 best selling game was Donkey Kong Country, and OJ Simpson was still considered guilty. Buried deep in the wonders of media, there existed a tiny game that got so much marketing, but just couldn't measure up in sales. Buried deep beneath Donkey Kong Country, Mega Man X, Final Fantasy VI, and Super Metroid there was a gem of a game struggling to breath. This game was Earthbound for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. I have no stories of Earthbound besides I went to Blockbuster Video, saw the box art and just had to try it. This was 22 years ago. I remember playing through this game and getting so frustrated that I eventually quit. Little did I know, I gave up one of best games ever created.


Some backstory. Earthbound is not the original title or even the first game in the franchise. The series is called Mother and the first game was released in 1989 for the NES. It was a huge success. No one really comprehended an RPG taking place during contemporary times and they loved it when it was shown to them. The issue was it was supposed to get a release in North America, and although the game was translated and ready to go, the Super Nintendo was announced and it was feared that the game would be overshadowed by the SNES. So they decided to work on Mother 2 or as we all know it: Earthbound. Without further ado, lets get into the review shall we? The game from start to end is unconventional. You fire up that new game and all of a sudden you're asked to name each character (Let's call him Ness for the sake of that being his real name). Not only that but you name your dog, your favorite food, and your favorite thing to do. The game takes place in the year 199X, and you're a normal 10 year old kid sleeping in bed. You are awoken in the middle of the night and forced to answer the door even though your mother is right there. Bursting through the door is this chubby little bastard Pokey. A loud boom is heard on top of the hill you live on and you gotta check it out. Pokey decides to join your party and (optional) you can take your dog. It's time to get dressed, eat some (favorite food) and play the game.


The game leads you to a meteor that crashed and then eases you into the battle system. Turns out Ness is the chosen child to stop the evil Giygas from destroying the world. He must travel the world to find the 3 other chosen children to battle with him: Paula, Jeff and, Poo. Defeating Giygas also involves going to eight locations and recording the sounds on the sound stone given to you by another character automatically in the beginning of the game. Earthbound doesn't make it that easy, there's something to do in each town to get to the special locations. In the first town for example, you have to stop a street gang called the Sharks who are causing trouble in the city because the mayor refuses to get involved. Your first real boss battle is Frankie, the leader of the Sharks, and he is tough. This is where level grinding is important - the bosses in this game are on a whole different level. When you think you finally have the hang of it you get creamed. Once you manage to defeat Frankie you get a key to go to the area where you record the sound, which is protected by a guardian. Once you whip the guardian you get the first "My Sanctuary" location and record the sound. This is how the game works.


The battle system is like that of Dragon Quest - you don't see your characters. Just the name, HP, and PP, with options to either Hit, use PSI, Goods, or Run Away. The enemies are right in front of you and start off simple: stray dog, snake, crows. The battle system honestly speaks for itself. Hit is for physical attacks, PSI is for your Psychic abilities (the game's equivalent of Magic), Goods are items. Overworld monsters are abundant and there are no random encounters, but dodging fights is the illusion of choice honestly, you need those fights to level and grind. The unique part is the HP rolling meter which is a bit hard to explain so let me give you a solid example. Let's say you have 100 HP and you fight a monster that deals 101 damage. You don't instantly die. Instead, the meter rolls down and if you can manage to use an item or cast a spell within that roll down period you will live and recover your HP. As for the difficulty, this game starts hard and ends harder. While not the most difficult game on earth, this game is a true challenge. You are level 1 with 30HP and 0PP. You grind to get those levels up, but even in the beginning the monsters don't give enough experience. You have to have the patience to power through the first few levels, you will (and I repeat, WILL) get your ass handed to you for the first hour.


Luckily you are right outside your house and your mother heals you by giving you your favorite food and sending you up to bed. Over time the redeeming grace of this game is instant win battles. When you become strong enough you run into enemies you don't battle - you run into them and it just says victory. Now what do you do when you're finally tough enough to make a difference in battles? You save. There is a phone in your house and you call your dad, who records your state, gives you experience to next level, and gives you money. Money is earned through battling but you don't get it - your father deposits money in a bank account for you depending on how much you grind. Earthbound pokes fun at western culture from an eastern stand point, and it's hilarious to watch without too much offense. This game does not leave you wanting, from beginning to end. From meeting aliens, to insane cultists, fighting crime bosses at a flea market, there are many unique characters you will meet along the way. Conventional is not in this game's dictionary, there's always something that mocks the traditional JRPG system. Instead of potions you eat food, instead of swords your main weapon is a bat.


Earthbound's music is incredible, bottom line. Every boss and area is unique and amazing. Each town has a new theme, each boss has an appropriate battle theme for the visual. The music is such a huge part of the game that it takes up 8MB of cartridge space, OUT OF 24MB, that means 33.3% of the game's space is it's music. The music provides the atmosphere for the game. Without the unusual music the game wouldn't be what it is. This game has a few downsides. The game is full, all space is used and at times the enemies on the overworld map cause a stutter on the screen and the game slows down to a crawl. This is easily remedied, though. Just walk and despawn the enemies and you're good. This game is HARD when you start and progressively gets easier when you have all of your party members, up until you get to the last portions of the game where the difficulty goes from a steady incline to a mountain.




I was in the 80's when I made it to end, and was still struggling to beat enemies. Once more it is time to level grind, that's almost all the game is is level grinding. You get your main character and Paula and you get them in the 20's, or in my case 30's, then you meet your next party member across the world and have to travel as him alone, and catch him up in levels to yourself. When this happens, you're about 6 or 7 hours in the game, and used to having 2 party members. The same happens with the 4th character around 15-20 hours in the game with the exception that after he completes his in game training he gets a huge boost in levels but not enough to catch up to your party, which at my point was in the 50's. What's funny though is that even though it's a pain, the game itself does an amazing job easing your annoyance when this happens. The game will always leave you smiling or just plain cracking up with the goofy humor and enemies you fight. Earthbound is truly a classic that needs to be appreciated and it was a shame that it didn't get the praise it deserved when it was launched. If you haven't played it, then you truly are missing out.

My Overall Score?
A+++


Thursday, December 8, 2016

2016 Movie Ranking Countdown: November

The year is coming to a close. Just one more month after this and I can finally begin ranking my top 50 favorite movies watched in 2016. But first - the small matter of which movies are going to make the top 50 to begin with. Let's begin breaking down everything I watched in November. There were 10 movies in all. Only 5 will make the cut!



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I recently ran across a list online of the most disturbing movies released in the past ten years or so. Funny Games topped the list. Being the sick, twisted individual that I am - what I read about the movie interested me greatly. So I decided to check it out.

Without spoiling too much, the movie focuses on two unhinged individuals who go around terrorizing people. Things start out innocently enough. One of these two fellows shows up at the door of the main character, played by Naomi Watts. He just wants to borrow some eggs. Everything goes south quickly as the creep refuses to leave, and is soon joined by what appears to be his brother. These two hold the family captive and terrorize them. And the way they do it is unsettling because they are unfailingly polite almost the entire time.

The film focuses less on shock value and violence and more on the threat of implied violence. Not to say that violence doesn't occur, but it isn't the focus of the movie. I did find the movie to be very disturbing and psychologically unsettling. It isn't necessarily the most original concept ever, but I enjoyed the movie a lot. It should make my top 5 for the month, barring a major upset (I write these as I go, so I still haven't decided what is going to move on and what is not).





This was another film on the disturbing movies list that I decided to check out. Unlike Funny Games, however, I thought this movie was terrible.

I can only vaguely tell you what it was about, because I mentally checked out of the film halfway through it. It focuses on a small city populated by inbred looking rednecks. Apparently the city had been decimated by a major storm several years ago, and they were now trying to put the pieces together. The movie is comprised of several different story lines all going on at the same time. Most of them focusing on different disgusting, trashy people and what they are up to. There is no real plot to the movie. Gummo is like a behind the scenes look into poor white hillbilly trash and what they do to keep themselves entertained.

I hated it and was bored to tears.





I have seen this movie before, but I had the random urge to pick it up and watch it again, so that is what I did.

I am not a huge Tom Cruise fan but I do really like this movie. In it, he plays a soldier in the middle of a war with aliens who finds himself repeating the same day over and over again. Each time he dies, he starts the day over again. Eventually he discovers that he holds the key to defeating the aliens, and uses his power to relive the same day and keep trying until he gets it right.

Great movie, really keeps you on the edge of your seat. If you're a sci fi fan you are doing yourself a disservice by not watching this. The only thing working against it is the fact that I just watched it last year, so the "wow this is really good!" factor has warn off for me. It's a toss up as to whether it will make my top 5 for the month or not.





I never thought that a documentary could actually scare me, but this one did the trick. The movie is all about night terrors and sleep paralysis. A group of people are interviewed and share their stories.

Each story brought chills to my spine. And I don't scare easily. There is just something about hearing these normal people relay their nightmares to the viewer. I never took sleep paralysis or night terrors seriously before watching this movie, but now I am forced to look at them from a new perspective. It really seems like something dark and malevolent is behind them.

I'd definitely recommend this for anyone interested in the subject, or even anyone just out looking for a good scare.





I thought that the movie Foxcatcher was boring, but it was recommended to me that I would find the documentaries more entertaining than the actual movie. And this proved to be true.

This movie is all about John Dupont and his eccentric behavior, as told through the eyes of several people that were around him during the whole Team USA wrestling debacle. I didn't like Foxcatcher because it depicted Dupont as some kind of serial killer-esque psycopath. But this film shows that he had some kind of clear mental illness and paranoid scizophrenic tendencies. It was interesting watching his slow decent into madness, and equally interesting hearing what the people around him thought of his odd behavior.

Definitely worth a watch. If you are interested in the whole Foxcatcher thing, I would recommend watching this (Team Foxcatcher) rather than the Hollywood movie that is based around these events.





People like to knock this movie, but I have always really enjoyed it. Yes it is kind of silly, but I find it to be silly in a good way. Charming, even.

This is just a fun, good time movie and that is all there is to it. If you come into it expecting a serious, dark, and intense thriller, you will be disappointed. Judge Dredd is all about big action scenes, fun characters, and an over the top plot infused with humor. I never understood the hate it received. OK, the acting isn't perfect, but it fits the fast paced and fun tone of the film perfectly.

I have always liked this movie. It is just flat out fun. Relax, people! Sit back and enjoy this for what it is and lighten up a little bit.





I keep going back and forth as to whether I actually like this movie or not. When I first saw it, I was extremely disappointed in it. I was a huge fan of the original Indy trilogy, and I absolutely couldn't stand what they did to the franchise with this film. It is so completely different in tone from the original movies.

Over the years I have relaxed my stance a little bit, though. When I watched it in November, I just tried to kick back and enjoy the film for what it was. Campy, sure. Not up to the standards set by the original films, sure. But still a relatively fun time.

I think my opinion will be forever influenced by my thoughts on the original movies, but I have to admit that I kind of liked the movie this time around. It's not the best film out there, but it was entertaining.





I think I might be burnt out on Gremlins. I watched this movie dozens of times as a kid. As an adult, I usually pop it in around the holidays every couple of years or so. It has been a few years since I have watched this movie, so I figured I was due this year.

But I just couldn't get into it. I think this is a case of "I've seen this movie way too many times and now I can't enjoy it anymore". It happens. I feel the same way with Jurassic Park and a few others. Great movies, yes. But hard to get into because I have seen them so many times.

I love Gremlins, but it may be hard for the movie to crack my top 5 for the month. I do still love the scene where the mom fights the Gremlins in the kitchen, though. That is probably my favorite part of the whole film.





I've enjoyed watching this movie every couple of years or so for the past 15 years. The first time I saw this movie, I remember being really freaked out at how over the top and repulsive it was. Admittedly, the movie has lost a bit of that shock value for me.

Watching it this year, I was more annoyed than anything. Good lord, some of the members of that psycho family are annoying. The old guy who yells at everyone, the dude with the metal plate in his head.... like, shut the hell up already! There was simply too much yelling and stupid chatter going on for me to really enjoy the movie.

And I didn't think it was as disturbing as I found it in years past. The only part to really repulse me was when Leatherface put the mask of human skin onto that girl's face. Ew. But for the most part I actually found this movie to be kind of stupid.





I had never heard of this movie until just a few months ago, and when I did hear about it, the concept intrigued me. I finally got around to watching it this November, and I can say that I really liked the movie.

Blake Lively plays a woman who has recently lost her mother. She sets out to find the beach where her mom used to come to unwind. When she does find it, she heads out to surf the waves and enjoy the beauty of the landscape. Maybe reflect a little bit on old memories.

When out on the water, she encounters a giant floating whale carcass. Before she realizes that this probably isn't a good sign, she is attacked by a shark. She loses her board, and the whole movie becomes one big fight for survival. She has to do whatever it takes to survive. And one of those steps involves climbing up on the massive, rotting whale carcass. Ew.

I am a fan of man vs nature movies.... or in this case, woman vs nature. I thought this was really good. I was riveted the whole way through. Very intense, very well done. This film should be a lock to make my top 5.



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All right, that wraps up my thoughts on all 10 movies I watched this month. which 5 will make the cut? Let's get to it. Moving on this month are:

The Shallows
Funny Games
The Nightmare
Edge of Tomorrow
Judge Dredd

It was a close call as to whether Team Foxcatcher would make it or not. Excellent documentary, yes. But in terms of excitement and entertainment it comes up just short of the 5 that did make it.

11 months down, 55 movies have moved on to my year end ranking. At the end of December, 60 will stand. I will immediately cut that number down to 50 - and then begin ranking my 50 favorite movies watched in 2016. Are you excited? I am. Here are the 55 movies, with November's offerings included:


Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Cake
American Sniper
Predator
Friday the 13th Part II
Locke
Evil Dead
Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter
Elysium
Snowpiercer
Room
Manson Family Vacation
Deadpool
Goodnight, Mommy
Unforgiven
Big Driver
The Martian
Pixels
JFK: The Smoking Gun
Crimson Peak
It
Creed
The Revenant
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
No Good Deed
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Krampus
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Night of the Living Dead
Mad Max: Fury Road
Forrest Gump
The Little Rascals
Deliverance
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Zombieland
Coming to America
American History X
Ghostbusters (2016)
Darkman
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
ARQ
Quills
The Visit
Platoon
Saving Private Ryan
Green Room
Captain America: Civil War
10 Cloverfield Lane
Circle
Would You Rather
The Shallows
Funny Games
The Nightmare
Edge of Tomorrow
Judge Dredd