My GOATs Of Gaming

For those who do not understand, GOAT is not the animal in this case but an acronym which stand for Greatest Of All Time, I felt it was time after a hiatus of 2 months or to come back strong, with my favourite games.

Where to start, my first game I ever played was Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on the Sega Mega-Drive or Genesis for the yanks, as a bright (I was told) 2 year old child I was able to understand there was no such thing as a blue hedgehog who could run at really fast speed but it didn't stop me from emulating him down to the trademark red trainers, to this day I still play Sonic 2 and 3 and Sonic and Knuckles on the Xbox Live Arcade, and flip out the music of Chemical Plant Zone, Ice Cap Zone and the always iconic Stage Select screen on multi-player modes. But that wasn't the reason why I fell in love with the game, it just so simple. all you do in the game is run to the right, that's it no real special attacks, just run right, and as a two year old it was and still is highly entertaining.

FYI Tails is useless

Mortal Kombat 1 and 2, are 2 of the greatest fighting games ever in my opinion, even though I should have been playing them I played the hell out of both them and beat any family member I played with ruthless efficiency, Sub-Zero had people frozen with fear, Scorpion would drag his unsuspecting victims halfway across the screen while yelling the epic "Get Over Here", these two just stand for me but there were others like Kung Lao, Liu Kang, Jax, Kano, and Johnny Cage. To be honest I preferred 1 to 2 but is like saying which arm you like best, it is that close to call. Added point fatalies are awesome.

They Never Get Old

Moving on from the 16 bit era, time to get a bit modern, the Playstation, namely the Playstation 2 and there were few games that caught the imagination straight off, what I mean is that all of the good games were in a series or were sequels/prequels like Resident Evil 4 or Grand Theft Auto 3 (both mind-blowing games in their own right) but the playstation created very few good stand alone games until Devil May Cry came along, originally designed as an Resident Evil title the developers of the game decided to make an all new game (good call) and gave birth to the universe of Devil May Cry where you control a half demon/half human mercenary called Dante, who is stuck on a island with the king of the demons wanting revenge on Dante for his Dad's action about 1000 years ago. In the game you have various weapons to choose from like a sword with the power electricity, gloves made from fire and ever growing arsenal of guns varying from shotguns to grenade launchers. I loved everything about the first game, the gameplay was challenging but rewarding, the storyline was easy to get into even if it was nonsensical and characters were great Dante especially look in previous to find out why. But the series suffered a setback with the launch of the sequel, plain and simple, it was crap.

Dante is Da Man

Which leads me into my next entry Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening this was stunning, it made the first game seem like the second. It like the original but 100x better, let me explain, in this game which was a prequel to the first game, you take control of a younger Dante, who is just starting in the mercenary business but is suddenly (and I mean suddenly) attacked by his evil twin brother (I'm sure we all have one those) Vergil and his creepy assistant Arkham, who want to seize their father's dormant power. While this story might not sound like much, playing through it was amazing, this Dante was even more cocky and arrogant than he was in the first game (which is an achievement) which leads for some amusing interactions between characters. The gameplay was amplified about 100x times in this game with the introduction of styles like Swordmaster which was focused on sword and melee based attacks and Trickster which focused on evasion style movements, there were others like quicksilver that allowed you to control time but that is spoiling. The reason why I loved game more than the original was the way you acquired weapons, instead of buying them in the in-game shop or find them lying around some where, you got them beat the boss in the game, similar to Mega Man (the name drop for the old school gamer). Added point they should that in every platform game. Just saying.

Need I Say More

Last one, I promise. Three words are only needed to say my last entry, Marvel Versus Capcom. This series captured everything I love about fighting games, multiple characters on screen at one time, over the top moves, colourful and lovable characters that everybody knows and most importantly a scorecard before each fight. This series start from X-Men Vs Street Fighter and just grew including every and any famous face from the Marvel and Capcom franchises. Characters like Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America and Wolverine just to name a few from Marvel ranks facing or teaming with the like Ryu, Ken, Akuma, Chun Li, Mega Man and countless others from the Capcom class of 2000. There is only one word that can describe the amount of love and admiration I have for this game. Epic. Full stop.

Can't Wait For MvC3

King of Fighters

As long as there has been games consoles, there has been fighting games to play, these violent beat-em-ups (correct spelling) allows you to kick, punch and kill your friends without the threat of criminal repercussions with characters who gain their powers through supernatural means.

But now, next-gen consoles have been flooded with fighting games like Tekken 6 (correct spelling), Street Fighter 4 and the upcoming Super Street Fighter 4, and these are the "western" influenced games. But more recently, there have been some Japanese exports like BlazeBlue and SNK's King of Fighters.

Ryu vs Ken: Good Friends, Fierce Rivals

One thing bothers me with these new fighting games, they tend to be all the same, there is no variety, in the stages, characters and story lines. Street Fighter's plot is simple, an evil tyrant is stopped by a martial arts expert with a evil side who has rival who knows the same martial art as him, Tekken's is a giant tournament held by a evil tyrant who is in constant turmoil with his son and grandson who, both of which, can turn into "devils" plus every other character in the game has their own reason for fighting in the king of the iron fist tournament a.k.a. Tekken in Japanese.

Jin wins, Jin wins, Jin wins.

While these two games highly anticipated games of the past two years, in my opinion, neither of them weren't the best fighting game on the next gen consoles last year, MvC2 was. For those who don't know what MvC2 means, it's not a scientific formula, even though it should be because it is the formula for success. You put Marvel's well known and beloved comic superheroes into a bowl, add several Capcom fighting game veterans, serve in 3 vs 3 portions and deal out to everyone in the world and voila (French Spelling) one of the best fighting games ever.

Iron Man + Cable + War Machine = Instant success

For those wondering, there is a reason I haven't Mortal Kombat (Correct Spelling), since that awful MK vs DC game came I have lost all respect for the series maybe they need to re-vamp the series altogether, add some new characters and bring back old ones, to think of it just re-make MK1 and 2, make them HD and release them on Xbox Live and PSN. Midway are you listening, oh yeah, there is no more Midway. Damn. Okay, plan b, re-launch or make another Killer Instinct, yes I said it.

Rare, you need to make this game!

I know that this game is cheap rip-off of Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat but beat-em-up isn't nowadays as a kid, borrowing Killer Instinct for the week or longer made playing N64 good. it was one of the few games I would swap games like Perfect Dark, Mario Kart and even GoldenEye (Correct Spelling) for this game that is how big this game is.

P.S. For the record, Sub-Zero and Scorpion are Gods among men in Mortal Kombat

3 words: Get Over Here!

And also Capcom listened, they finally listened.

One down, One to go!

Urgent Message: Heroes Wanted

The action/adventure genre of video games has to follow a strict set of conventions over the past 10 years or so, with only a few games straying from these guidelines (the Tomb Raider series come straight to mind), these are:

1.Introduction - the game teaches you how to use your character(s)

2. Conflict - your begin to understand the situation your character is in

3.1st Boss Battle - you face a henchman of the boss character or the boss him/herself

4.2nd Boss Battle - you recover from 1st battle with a new power and face the boss again

5.3rd Boss Battle - you face the boss for the final time, save the world and get the girl

Basically this is a generic sequence of events in any platform, action/adventure and RPG game out right now, also this can be altered for major action films in Hollywood.

I so wish they made a God of War film

But seeing as you have your conventions in place, you need a lead character to carry the game, a protagonist to fight the bad guys with style and charisma to engage the audience. They need to be smart and intelligent to come out with snappy catchphrases or dumb enough so we could at there actions and most of all, they never need a reason to fight.

Uncharted 2, the best movie-esque game since Uncharted 1 and Viewtiful Joe (correct Spelling)

I think that the king of the video game protagonists is Dante from the Devil May Cry Series, he ticks all of the boxes above and the game are not half bad either (except for Devil May Cry 2, it was all bad). The DMC series is the tale of Dante, a half human half demon hybrid, who has a job as mercenary of the supernatural, during the 4 games he has starred in has faced (in no particular order), his father's arch enemy, a giant falcon/hawk thing, a spider made out of fire, his evil twin numerous times, his nephew, his girlfriend/associate, fellow bounty hunters and her father, tanks, helicopters and a slime slug, and they are just the bosses. But a unique thing about this series of games is every time you beat a boss, you gain a weapon from them, a murderer and a thief, that's cool.

They would be so helpful in real life.

As the saying goes, "Imitation is the most sincerest form of flattery." and when you have the perfect formula for an action/adventure game people would to copy it, this is the case with Bayonetta (correct spelling) technically, the same person who came up with DMC concept made Bayonetta, so he is copying himself which is just lazy, smart but lazy.

The female Dante in action.

As long a action/adventure hack 'n' slash (correct term) game follows those guidelines then it will be a pretty sound game, but nowadays nobody really wants a sound game, they want a great game, an excellent game, a gripping game, so game producers dare to be different as Devil May Cry 1 did, as Uncharted 1&2 did, as God of War 1 did and don't forget to be funny.

Soundtracking Progress

Technology in gaming has evolved over the years, from its humble beginnings as many houses had Pong in their living rooms (the game not the smell) to having teenagers locked in their bedrooms playing their Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 'til 4 in the morning (my record is 3:30am) as with other aspects in video games, one thing has remained constant. Music.

Every single game has to have a soundtrack whether it is just a single track played during every fight scene or car chase etc., all games must have one. But the funny thing is, the game doesn't have to be good in order for the soundtrack to be good, it helps but it isn't always the case.

Now, with a sensitive topic like video game music, people are going to be divided on what they think is the best, in my opinion Sonic 2&3 have the best music ever but there other games that have brilliant soundtracks.

Why is Sonic the Hedgehog 10th?

While I don't agree with some of the choices on the list, they have some classics there anybody who has played games as long as I have can appreciate the choices on the list. But what about the games that are music orientated Guitar Hero and Rock Band and their various sequels and spin-offs, they actually have popular songs released to the public but DJ Hero (my favourite game that I can't play) takes it a step further by using these tracks and remixing them together and some are not even the same genre.

Now you can see why I can't play that game.

With the recent increase of celebrity tie-ins with these music games you would be forgiven for thinking that this is a recent trend especially for the musicians who are releasing music anymore (see The Beatles: Rock Band for proof), but unbelievably the king of pop started it all off. Michael Jackson released a little known game called Moonwalker in the early 90's at the height of his popularity. But what wasn't well known was that he was drafted in by SEGA to help with Sonic 3 soundtrack (which was why it was big, meaning good) but due to allegations of his private life, SEGA withdrew from the deal but released copies of his work in the game (well done SEGA) but remade and re-released the game with a different soundtrack (boo, hiss).

By the way, Who Is It is my favourite MJ song because of Ice Cap Zone

So, Michael Jackson wasn't just the king of pop but was the king of video game soundtracks as well, who would of thought it? Also there so many videos like this on youtube, you would think that these people have so much time on their hands.

P.S. SEGA backwards is ages, I played my Sega Mega-Drive for nearly 6 years and didn't notice.

Warning: May Damage Your Health

Video games have taken a lot of stick over the years, and Mortal Kombat (correct spelling) started it all with its excessive blood splatter and the introduction of the FATALITY. They have been taking the blame for the youth culture of today, crime and just a general hatred for authority for the best part of 18 years.

Not all video games are all blood and guts and shooting and killing people, most games develop teamwork and social skills, as well as feeling in part of a group. Problem solving and hand-eye co-ordination are also greatly improved.

But with everything in the world, if something does good, it must do bad, and video games is no different, they are known to nurture violent tendencies such as aggressive and addictive behaviour, a reclusive attitude and a potential loss in academic skills.

But enough of the serious stuff, everybody is different and different things effect different people in different ways, I have been playing video games for the best part of 17 years and i have felt most of the advantages and some of the disadvantages but I know the differences between reality and computer generated imagery.

But everybody needs a release from the real world, some read books, some watch films and others jump off very tall places (with parachutes, obviously) and mine is video games, the more people I kill in Grand Theft Auto IV and Left 4 Dead 2 (correct spelling), the less people I kill in the real world and I think the general public will like that.

Sonic 4 The Win

I want to take you back to when the major console battle was between the 2 super powers in video gaming (at the time), Nintendo and Sega, the Mircosoft and Sony of the early 90s, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (or SNES for short) and the Sega Genesis/ Mega Drive were fighting for supremacy of home entertainment.

Now, of course everybody has their favourite mascot depending on what console they had, if you had a SNES, you were a fan of everyone's favourite plumber and princess rescuer, Mario and if you were like me and had a Genesis or Mega Drive, you were a fan of the blue blur, the fastest hedgehog on the planet, Sonic.

With the launch of the Wii and countless Super Mario games recently, Mario has taken the title of master mascot of the gaming world, with Xbox's Master Chief a distant second. While Sega's blue hedgehog has had string of sub-standard games out recently (excluding Sonic & Sega All-Star Racing) but all might be forgiven with the announcement of the blue one latest 2-d adventure.

Sonic 4, formerly known as Project Needlemouse set to take gamers back to Sonic's side scrolling, fast paced, spin dashing and Dr Eggman beating days with the addition of his new move the Homing Attack which is exactly what is sounds like. While all the action will be moving from left to right, the interactive characters and environment will be 3-d and from the teaser trailer they released earlier this year it amazing compared to Sonic of old.

I know it isn't much to go on but if it beats Ice Cap Zone 1 and 2 then this game is going to be huge.

By the way, Sonic 2 has the video game soundtrack of all time, followed by Sonic 3 and these 2 songs will prove this.

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Achievements vs Trophies

There is one burning questions that divides PS3 and Xbox 360 owners, what is better? Achievements or Trophies?

On the Xbox, the achievement system is a way of tracking your overall progress through a game by giving you points or Gamerscore for all to see, these achievements are graded by difficultly easy achievement are generally given 5G and harder achievements normally given 100G or more but this isn't always the case.

Trophies are unique to the PS3 and is basically the same but instead of a score of points, it just tells you how many trophies you have, there are 4 types of trophies:

Bronze - Easy

Silver - Medium

Gold - Hard

Platinum - Getting all of the trophies

While this seems like a good idea, Sony, kind of dropped the ball with trophies because, the system isn't on all of their games just the later ones.

With Achievements, they give you something to play for, to have those bragging rights over your friends by having a bigger score than them or to have a competition to see who reaches a fixed amount first. You can't really do that on PS3, while Sony are catching up now it still isn't the same, apart from actually the game with your friend, there is no competition with them. But on Xbox Live there are some people who play the game just to get achievements and that ruins the game playing experience for everybody online.

So people on Xbox Live have to remember, Achievements aren't everything but your Gamerscore is and people on the PlayStation Network, good luck on getting your pretty useless trophies.