Mega Man 2 Review

Mega Man 2

Publisher: Capcom Developer: Capcom Platform: Nintendo Entertainment System Players: 1 Release: 1989 Genre: Action / 2D Platformer Rating: 7.7 \ 10.0: Satisfactory

Above is a scene from Crash Man's stage



It took me awhile to get into Mega Man, but now I am, and I don't regret it. I decided to play Mega Man 2 first, as it is considered by many to be  one of the greatest video games of all time. The game is set in the year of 200X (Capcom was very bold to assume that there would be humanoid robots, laser guns by the year 2009, but it's past 2015 by the time you're reading this, and we still don't have out hover-boards from Back to the Future Part II) As with the previous game in the series, the dastardly Dr. Wily has created no eight (rather than six) Robot Masters-- Metal Man, Quick Man, Flash Man, Crash Man, Wood Man, Heat Man, and Bubble Man (why they all have must have man in their name is a mystery to me), all of which Mega Man must destroy. Each Robot Master has a stage modeled after them, as has become a staple of the franchise. (Heat Man's stage is full of fire-based obstacles, for example) When you defeat a Robot Master, you obtain their weapon. Each robot has a weakness-- you'll have to use logic to figure out what weapon most affects each robot. After you defeat all eight Robot Masters, you'll have to clear the four stages of Castle Wily. The graphics and sound are all fantastic for a late-'80s game, especially the soundtrack. The game's composer Takashi Tateishi rivals the likes of Koji Kondo at producing memorable tunes. As soon ad you give the OST a listen, you'll understand why it is regarded as one of the greatest ever. With the exception of the themes for Heat Man's stage and Castle Wily stages three and four, there isn't a song in the game you'll soon forget. My personal favorites are the title theme, Metal Man's theme, Air Man's theme, and the theme of Castle Wily's first two stages. Mega Man 2 is fun, but it can be very difficult at times, with the third level of Castle Wily being borderline unfair. At the time of this game's release being subscribed to Nintendo Power was probably the only way you could have possible figured that to beat that stage's boss, you had to grind until you filled up the ammo for the Crash Bomber (the boss's only weakness), let yourself be killed (not enough ammo), grind for ammo again, and finish the stupid thing off! Additionally, there is occasional but brief slowdown and sprite flickering when the action gets too intense. Even so, Mega Man 2 is a classic not to be missed by any fan of the series.

Ups
Solid action
Neat concept
Great late '80s graphics and sound
Amazing 8-bit soundtrack

Downs
Very challenging
Borderline unfair near-endgame boss
Minor slowdown issues

ESRB: E Content: Mild Cartoon Violence Price: $5.00 (Wii) (Download) / $4.99 (3DS) (Download)

Adventure Time: Hey, Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?!! Review

Adventure Time: Hey, Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?!!

Publisher: D3Publisher Developer: WayForward Platform: 3DS Players: 1 Release: 2012 Genre: Action / Adventure Rating: 8.2 \ 10.0: Great

Above are Finn and Jake battling the King Worm

Based on the Adventure Time cartoon series, Adventure Time: Hey, Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage is more than your typical licensed game-- its title, possibly the most humorous video game moniker ever conceived, makes that apparent. It's a full-blown action-adventure game inspired by some of the classics of its genre, such as Metroid and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. For those of you who have never heard of Adventure Time, it chronicles an adventurous teenage boy named Finn and his magic (anthropomorphic) dog, Jake, who can stretch himself into any shape, as they have odd ventures across the land of Ooo. The plot, as the title implies, has the Ice King, Finn and Jakes' mischievous nemesis, steal their garbage. Jake doesn't care, and he thinks it was nice of the Ice King to take out their garbage, but Finn explains that it's against the principle, and that they should rescue their trash  from the Ice King's evil clutches. You traverse a top-down map of Ooo, entering dungeons (which, as well as most of the game, are 2D and side-scrolling) to get from place to place. You have array-like inventory that can hold up to 40 items. You can collect food, power-ups, and condiments. As in most games, food restores health. And it can restore even more health if you combine it a condiment. Even the most revolting of combinations (sea-salted pancakes or ketchup-covered cupcakes, anyone?) can result in your near-empty health becoming fully restored! But beware-- some combinations reduce your health! (So far, I only know that you do not want to put ketchup on an apple or syrup on a cupcake!) Food and condiments are usually dropped from foes, while power-ups are found in chests. Many of them are seen in the show such as the Tiger Claw, Vorpal Hand, and Beatious Wings from the episode The Wizard, the Stars of Frozen Rain from The Chamber of Frozen Blades, and the Spicy Serum from Too Young. Occasionally, you'll discover a chest that allows you to enhance one of your stats. In an amusing reference to Super Mario Bros., the Ice King has left a fake garbage princess before each boss battle. There are several faults, however. For example, Jake, while very useful in the show, is nearly useless in battle-- for awhile. Finn's attacks are overpowered in comparison, and even more so once you recover Finn's gold sword, Scarlett. Additionally, not all of the game's many quests can be completed immediately. For example, the Duke of Nuts has lost his second-born son, and asks you to bring his birth certificate to Peppermint Butler for some reason... and when I tried to do so, Peppermint Butler completely ignored the document, focused on the theft of pantyhose belonging to Princess Bubblegum, ruler of the aptly titled Candy Kingdom. This can lead to being stuck in some stretches of the game for a while. Despite its few flaws, Adventure Time: Hey Ice King, Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?!! is a fantastic game, and it's about as good as licensed titles get.

Ups
Quirky humor
Retro references
Faithful to show

Downs
Jake is useless in combat
Frustrating segments

ESRB: E 10+ Content: Animated Blood, Cartoon Violence, and Comic Mischief Price: $19.99 (Retail / Download)

Super Mario Land Review

Super Mario Land

Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo Platform: Game Boy Players: 1 Release: 1989 Genre: 2D Platformer Rating: 8.0 \ 10.0: Great

Above is a scene from World 3-1

Super Mario Land was a launch title for the Game Boy handheld. Even at the time of its release, tons of people swarmed stores on release day to get there hands on the newest Mario game, so fans of the series were in for a treat. In 1989, the series was probably thought to be incredibly varied, as there had only been a few barely similar games in the series released in North America, one of which wasn't a even real Mario game. However, these day's, the game is critized by fans for being a rather untraditional Mario platformer, but that doesn't stop it from being an absolute blast. This time around, Mario must rescue Princess Daisy, ruler of Sarasaland (seen for the first time), Luigi's love interest (gosh, he's so lazy!) from the evil clutches of Tatanga an alien overlord. The game is rather short-- there are four worlds, each with four stages-- that's only 16 stages! The game plays out similarly to other Mario games, so what made it so unusual? One reason is the odd cast of enemies. Among the adversaries are winged, jumping totem poles and cylindrical robots with floating heads. Nearly every enemy in the game hasn't appeared in any game since. Although, a couple longtime foes got a reboot-- maybe. Goombas (or whatever those lumps on black pixels are) remain mainly unchanged, although Koopas (or some sort of turtle) transform into armed bombs when you stomp on them. Had that feature been carried over to future games, the Mario series would be a lot odder. Each stage has a hard-to-reach special exit, that, if entered, allows you to play a brief bonus game in which you have a chance to earn power-ups or additional lives. After you defeat the boss in a world, you will confront a fake Daisy... who then transforms into a floating octopus-like creature. There are stages in which you navigate a submarine through a forward-scrolling underwater maze and pilot a biplane. But the arguably most awesome feature that isn't in any other Mario title is the Super Flower. Similar to the iconic Fire Flower, the Super Flower allows you to hurl deadly balls that ricochet off walls and collect coins. Also, this game sports one of the series' best soundtracks that can only be beat by the tunes in Super Mario Galaxy and its sequel. Like almost every video game, SML has its share of shortcomings. Although brief, the game can be frustratingly difficult and suffers from occasional slowdown. Also, the black-and-white 8-bit graphics are primitive even for the game's time. I am well aware that this game is nearly a quarter-decade old, but better-looking 8-bit games, games that looked great in comparison, such as Mega Man 2, were released that year, and Sega also began the 16-bit era. But these shortcomings don't prevent Super Mario Land from being a great platforming adventure, and I will always love and admire as a classic.  Now that this oft-overlooked gem is available on the 3DS eShop for a mere $3.99, all Mario fans should do themselves a favor and download Super Mario Land.

Ups
Fun new power-up
Great soundtrack
Odd in a good way

Downs
Primitive visuals
Sometimes frustrating
Occasional slowdown

ESRB: E Content: ??? Price: $3.99 (Retail)

Mario Kart Wii Review

Mario Kart Wii

Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo Platform: Wii Platform: 1-4 Release: 2008 Genre: Racing / Action Rating: 8.5 \ 10.0: Fantastic

Above is a scene from the Mario Circuit track

Mario Kart certainly isn't my favorite Mario spin-off (that would be Mario & Luigi), but it's still pretty darn fun. And I'm not the only person who had fun-- Mario Kart Wii is currently the best-selling racing game of all time, having shifted an astounding 34 million copies! MKW introduces some new racetracks, such as Coconut Mall (one of my favorites) and DK Summit, and also reintroduces some of the best from throughout the series. There are also several new playable characters, such as Rosalina from Super Mario Galaxy, and you can even play as your Mii! In addition to karts, there are now motorbikes (it feels great to pop a wheelie)! One of the biggest new additions to this game is motion control. If you don't fancy a Wiimote-Nunchuck combo or GameCube controller, you can hold the remote sideways and tilt to steer. If you have a Wii Wheel peripheral buried in your closet from the golden age of the Wii, you probably never used it for any game but this. Personally, I find the motion control to be loose and frustrating, and they serves no purpose but to add immersion. This is only a small quibble, and I understand if you prefer this control style. There are two modes-- Battle and Grand Prix. Let's start with Grand Prix-- in it, you must play through in a standard free-for-all, or Teams, in which the racers (both COM-controlled and human, as up to 4 people can play), are split into teams of six, and the team that racks up the most points, based on their finishing positions in races, wins. You can play Grand Prix solo in, ahem, Solo mode, or with friends in VS. By earning trophies, you can unlock more cups, and eventually Mirror mode, in which you can play mirrored versions of raceways. If you're not up for racing, you can engage in Battle mode. You can do a Balloon Battle, in which your team competes to pop as many of the other team's racers' balloons, which serve as health points; or Coin Battle, in which you must collect as many coins as you can to lead your team to victory. As with nearly all games of this style, you'll have much more fun with friends. As always, the multiplayer is chaotic but an absolute blast. There's a good reason that Mario kart is a go-to party game. I must also mention Mario Kart Wii's incredibly catchy soundtrack which floods my mind with nostalgia every time I hear it whether explosions, kart engines, and item warnings are drowning it out or not. But sadly, some courses can be bland and frustrating, and the COM-controlled characters can be overly aggressive, and there's no way top tone them down. Despite these small flaws, Mario Kart Wii is a fantastic game, and you'll enjoy it whether youre both Mario and racing should play it.

Ups
New motorbikes
Abundance of modes
Incredibly catchy soundtrack

Online connectivity

Downs
Motion controls are slippery and frustrating (for me, that is)
Some bland and frustrating courses
Aggressive COM that can't be toned down

ESRB: E Content: Comic Mischief Price: $39.99 (Retail)

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition Review

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition

Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Grezzo Platform: Nintendo DSi Players: 1-4 Release: 2011 Genre: Adventure / Puzzle Rating: 7.6 / 10.0:Satisfactory 

Above is 4-player co-op gameplay

A rerelease of the 2002 Game Boy Advance title The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords and the first Zelda game I ever played, this game was released on DSiWare to celebrate the 25th (Japanese) anniversary of the Legend of Zelda series. The plot has Link remove the Four Sword from its pedestal, releasing the monster within named Vati and creating three multicolored copies of Link. Vati captures Zelda, planning to make her his bride, and it's up to Link and his clones to save her. The game plays identically to its GBA counterpart-- it's a top-down action quest, just like the classic Legend of Zelda titles. The main difference here is that rather than traversing one massive overworld, there are several areas to select from a world map. Any of the stage scan be replayed, and you'll soon realized that the layout changes every time you enter. There are various weapons and gear to find and use, and the stages are filled with clever puzzles. And there's a bonus-- you can play with nearby people via Download Play, which is far more convenient than using a mess of link cables to engage in co-op mode. And although it's fun most of the time, the game has its share of flaws. The stages are sometimes incredibly lengthy, and the puzzles can be frustrating, leading to being dead stuck. And for those of the gamers (including me) who purchased the game  within the first several months of its release got it free of charge, although it's now $4.99, still a bargain. Despite its flaws, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition is an exceptional, fun-filled game, and no Zelda fan should miss out on celebrating the series anniversary a little late.

Ups
Fun action and bosses
Download Play multiplayer
Was temporarily free

Downs
Frustrating stretches

ESRB: E 10+ Content: Fantasy Violence Price: $4.99 (Download)