CPL, CAL, MLG, WGS, TWL, ED, i38.. stop me if you’re getting bored already. Here, I will attempt to provide you all a little insight into what ‘Pro’ gaming actually is, the people– the money (or lack thereof), the fame and the failures.

2009 is the year, and we’ve got teams all over the bloody shop. MeetYourMakers, Fnatic, Complexity 20ID, Salvo, Dignitas, 4K, Reason and the list trails off into the ether with some successful.. and some less successful pro gaming teams. What does this mean? Does this mean professional gaming is now viable as a career? Can you earn money for headshots in todays world? Will I ever stop name dropping? How many commas can I write before you close this tab? Hit the jump to find out. (continue reading…)

Having fun while raging? Possible? Yeah, that describes my childhood alright as it does now when I played Metal Warriors for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System; developed by Lucas Arts and published by Konami. In my own personal opinion, this is has got to be the best mech game for the SNES and within my top 10 of favorite games for the SNES.

The story begins in the 22nd century as you are one of the last survivors of Earth fighting against an evil axis ruled by a dictatorship. You are Lt. Stone and part of team called the Metal Warriors who fly around in mechs or “Space Armors.” You go from mission to mission to stop this evil axis, and you must do it all in one sitting because there aren’t any passwords or save points; you did it all in a single afternoon and you liked it, if not, then I don’t know why you are here – go back to playing your Bejeweled. That’s all there is to say about the story but unless you were playing a RPG, I wouldn’t think most people would care about the story for the majority of SNES games; because back then, all the story was in the manual and no one read those. You will get some story out of this in the cut scenes, but nothing too exhilarating. The cut scenes themselves though were well animated, at least for being on the SNES, so the opening one might be worth watching, while every other is just simply a mission briefing which can be skipped over. (continue reading…)

In my last post, I talked about how I have a horrible compulsion to play long video game series spanning multiple console generations in strict chronological order. Before I begin this post, however, I should really explain why this is necessary for big-name series such as Mega Man.

To put it simply, I never had a NES. A lot of gamers my age who started when I did (late 80s/early 90s) had the NES as the staple of their early gaming years, particularly in America where it sold so phenomenally. Consequentially, a lot of underage gamers who like acting like Internet Tough Guys on forums rag on people who haven’t played certain NES franchises because “everyone had a NES.”

What they don’t seem to take into account is that we had console wars back then, too – and I was young and dumb enough to believe they meant anything. After my initial years with a green-screen PC that could only display ascii and a ZX Spectrum 81, I got a Mega Drive (that’s Genesis to our colonial friends) for my birthday and became a loyal Sega hound-dog. I hated anything Nintendo and wouldn’t even stand for watching the Super Mario Brothers Super Show on TV. They were the devil, they were to be detested and shunned. Everyone knew Sonic was better anyway, right? … right??
(continue reading…)

“Good Games You Haven’t Played – And Why” provides gamers with insight to games that are rarely played gems among the many. This article’s game is Live-A-Live, a turn-based RPG for the SNES. These games are chosen from personal experience, and feedback would be much appreciated.

Live-A-Live

Live-A-Live is a game created by Squaresoft for the SNES in 1994. It was only released in Japan, due to several anatomical jokes that I’m sure if I mentioned would make the editor throw my article into the trash, let alone get past censors. It was a strange game with an odd sense of humor and a battle system unseen before.
(continue reading…)

Most of us, maybe even all of us, have been to a pizza place, either it be Rocco’s, Round Table, Pizza Hut, you name it. There were always several arcade machines in a corner, the handles and buttons having been molested by several greasy hands over time, the coin slot having been eroded by many coins going in, the machine itself being stained over the years by misuse. However, for me at the local Round Table’s Pizza, there was a favorite of mine. The only reason I always wanted to go there. I spent a large chunk of childhood here, wasting several quarters over time, for one game in particular.

That’s right, Sunset Riders. This game was possibly the most mind-wasting and money-burning game I have ever played. I must have given that one machine over fifty dollars in the course of all the time I have played it. Nostalgia goggles aside, this game is a fast-paced shoot-’em-up set in the Wild West. Not much else to it besides playing one of the four main characters, all of them buddies looking for a bit of cash. Vigilantes. There isn’t much anything going on story-wise, and that’s part of the game’s charm. It cuts right to the action. Also, if you notice in the title screen, it properly shows each character. Nice touch.

(continue reading…)

Take a setting like the middle ages, add some magic, some technology and  time traveling, and mix it up with characters designed by the famous creator of Dragon Ball and Dragon Quest Akira Toriyama, and what do you get? One of the most memorable games for the Super NES: Chrono Trigger.

With its multiple endings, side quests and a unique battle system, Chrono Trigger it’s still considered one of the best games in the Super NES library.

Created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, Kazuhiko Aoki, Final Fantasy Music Composer Nobuo Uematsu, Yuuji Horii and Akira Toriyama, (known as the Dream Team) and published by  Square (today Square Enix) on March 11, 1,995 in Japan and August 22, 1,995 in USA.

The story follows a group of young adventurers that were transported through time accidentally and discovered that the world will be destroyed by a parasite-like entity known as Lavos. Swearing to prevent this event, they travel through history to stop it.

There are 7 Characters to play with: Chrono (named Crono in-game), the silent Swordsman is portrayed as a brave and fearless boy; skilled in the use of the Katana. Marle, the princess of the Guardia Kingdom.  An active tomboy capable in the use of Crossbows. Lucca, the mechanical genius and childhood friend of Chrono, is the responsible of throwing Marle through a time warp by accident and starting the whole adventure in the first place. Her weapons of choice are guns (she uses some kind of hammer on close encounters). They compose the first party from 1,000 A.D.

From 600 A.D. we have Frog, the cursed Knight. He is really a Human named Glenn but was transformed into a frog by a Wizard named Magus after killing his friend Cyrus. Magus is a Wizard original from 12,000 B.C. He ends up in 600 A.D. after a portal sucks him up when he was a child.

From 2,300 A.D. we have Robo, a robot repaired by Lucca. He joins when they learn that Lavos destroyed the whole world and so, he has no more use there.

From 65,000,000 B.C. we have Ayla, leader of the Ioka tribe and one of two evolved races sharing the planet (Human and Reptites). She’s incredibly strong, but (like Robo) can’t use any Magic.

The Story goes like this: Crono Meets Marle in the Millennial Fair, they go to a show where Lucca presents her most recent Creation: The Telepod. She uses Crono as a test Subject, then Marle tries it

herself. Her pendant reacts with the telepod, a portal shows up and she ends up in the past. Crono goes after her to bring her back. They mess up the timeline making Marle disappear. Crono and Lucca rescue the queen (who’s resemblance with Marle is uncanny) with the help of Frog to restore the timeline and bring Marle back. They go back to the present (minus Frog). Crono is arrested and put on trial for supposedly kidnapping Marle and sentenced to death. He escapes from prison and escapes with Marle and Lucca to 2,300 A.D. where they meet Robo. With the Help of Robo they discover that the future world was destroyed by a parasite-like entity known as Lavos in 1,999 A.D. Then, they get set to stop Lavos and change the future.

Ok, that’s not the whole story, just the basics; but now that the game has been re-released for the Nintendo DS (with a lot of extras), I don’t want to spoil the rest of the story.

This game has been released 3 times (as far as I know); in the SNES, as part of Final Fantasy Chronicles (along with a remastered Final Fantasy IV) for the PSX, and now for the Nintendo DS. Unfortunately, the game wasn’t remastered (like Final Fantasy III or IV), but it includes many new features like:

• The Anime Opening of the PSX Version
• Several New Dungeons
• Art Galleries
• Bestiary
• Music Box
• And many other things…

One of the main features are the Multiple Endings. It gives the game enough replay value because each ending requires different events to be triggered (even the main ending has two different versions). And the PSX and DS Version have one new ending each. Also, there are no random battles (like in Final Fantasy). You can choose if you battle or not because the enemies are in plain sight (like in Secret of Mana).

All the videos in the PSX and NDS version include animated movies triggered during special events (this can be turned of, however) created by Akira Toriyama and animated by Toei Animation

If you enjoy RPGs like I do, get this game and play it till the end. Of course, it may look short, but thanks to the New Game+ option, you can start again from the beginning with all your items, money, levels and ready to see each one of the endings.

I really enjoyed this game and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.

Fenixwing

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is the third game in the Zelda series and the only game in the series to be released for the Super Nintendo system. It also saw two re-releases recently: The first of which was The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past & Four Swords, released in 2003 the game was almost a direct port save for some minor changes and the addition of a multiplayer mode that contained randomly generated dungeons. The second was for the Wii Virtual Console with a January 22nd 2007 release, this was however identical to the SNES version. A Link to the Past also has a direct sequel which was only released in Japan, The Legend of Zelda: Ancient Stone Tablets, however because this game was only playable through BS-X (A peripheral used to download SNES games over satellite only released in Japan) it is no longer avaliable and was only playable for a month.

The story revolves around a character known as Agahnim, a dark wizard who takes the throne of Hyrule by force whom intends on freeing Ganon from his prison in another realm. The only way to defeat him is by collecting three magic pendants obtained by beating the first three boss’s in the first three dungeons. Once he is defeated, you are subsequently sent to the dark realm where you must free the seven descendants of the Seven Sages in order to face Agahnim again in Ganon’s Tower. After defeating him for a second and final time Ganon rises up from Agahnim’s body, turns into a bat, and flies away. He can then be found in the Pyramid of Power, where the games final battle takes place.

Some would have found this difficult in the good old days…

A Link to the Past was the second game in the series to use the overhead style of play after Zelda II’s venture into the realm of side scrolling, the decision to do this came about from the poor reception Zelda II got for this very reason. The game has a very basic combat system in that one button is used to slash your sword and one button can be used for an item; these vary from cross bows and and boomerangs to bombs and wands. You can also hold down your sword button for a charge attack which swings your sword 360 degrees. Item collecting is also an important part of the game in that, without certain objects such as flippers for swimming or the Master Sword you can’t finish the game. On top of Link’s regular gear you can also find stronger versions of most items in the later parts of the game. Link to the past uses the heart health system which has been a main stay of the series, through out the game you are also rewarded (Or will find) pieces of heart which, when four are placed together, adds to your health bar.

Puzzles within dungeons also return from the first Zelda game. They can range from simple things such as pushing a certain brick in a room to unlock a door after defeating one or two enemies; to the more annoying like having two lasers being fired at you every few seconds while you lift up 10 or so pots to find a button. They do add some spice to the game though as I will admit dungeons would get rather boring if it was just hack and slash the whole way through. On top of that secret rooms also play a big part through out the game as they can be a good source of health or arrows/bombs, alot of the time there’s also alot of rupees to be found. These are usually accessed via the use of a bomb to a cracked wall.

It looked good back then, and still does today!

It’s hard to judge a game on graphics this old, with a title like this it’s more about game play then what the game looks like. However in this case the game does look rather presentable and is probably the best example of a top-down perspective RPG game of this style for it’s era. Beyond the fact that it uses cartoon’ish style graphics and well done 2D sprites, there’s not a hell of alot you can say about it besides the fact that it’s a beautiful, albeit, old game.

While this might be a bold claim i’ve said it quite a few times in the past. Alot of people ask or get asked the question, “Which Zelda game do you think is the best?”. Majority of the time the answer is Ocarina of Time, however i’m not so inclined to agree. Going off game play alone and looking past how old the game is, the top-down style and the fairly average graphics; I find Link to the Past to be the best game in the series bar none and easily one of the greatest games of our time.