After a five year hiatus (if you don’t include the tangentially-related Rock Band Blitz), Harmonix is set to bring the franchise back with Rock Band 4. Poised for release later in 2015, Harmonix has stated that they want all our old instruments to be compatible, that they’re working on allowing players to transfer all of their old music to the new game and that they’ve come up with some ways to really freshen things up. Am I ready to rock out with plastic instruments again?
Aside from Madden, the NBA 2K dynasty is one of the most impressive in video game sports series. They’ve been so dominant that EA Sports went as far as to cancel two years worth of of their basketball games that they felt couldn’t hold their own against the champ. Last year, 2K14 got a graphical shot in the arm thanks to the transition over to the more powerful hardware. Now that the sizzle of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 has cooled, is there enough in this year’s package to justify a return trip to the hardwood?
Mario has been a part of my life for almost as long as I can remember. I vaguely remember playing Defender on a hand-me-down Atari 2600, but when I was just old enough to comprehend what video games were, it was when I was playing the original Super Mario Bros. with an NES controller in my hands. Much has changed since I first played a game with Mario in it, but he’s been with me all the way.
My memories of playing Smash Bros. prior to the Wii U version are hazy at best. I remember having a great time with the Nintendo 64 and Gamecube iterations, though I went cold turkey once Brawl came out. Not to say that the Wii game did anything wrong per se, but I just had my fill of Smash Bros. at that point. With many years of recharging under my belt, now isn’t a bad time to come back.
Samus is one of my favourite Nintendo characters. Sporting iconic armor, an arm cannon and the ability to curl up into a ball and drop rolling grenades, she’s one of the most combat-ready characters in Nintendo’s lineup. The big reveal of her being a she is one of the first breakthrough moments for female characters in video games. She’s even been one of my favourite characters to play as in the Smash Bros. series since the very beginning.
However, the sight of Samus also brings with it a reminder of a gaming Achilles Heel of mine. I suck at Metroid and Metroid-style games.
Finally got around to doing a video for one of my most cherished video games. I go in-depth on the differences between Fire Emblem and Advance Wars, why Awakening isn’t the best Fire Emblem game despite how awesome it is, and some of my hopes for the recently-announced title on the 3DS.
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Decapre does not match up well against grapplers. If she isn’t careful, most of her offense can be immediately nullified by a command grab. T. Hawk has the ability to do just that, and his Condor Dives give him the mobility to chase her down if she should try and get away. This was a back and forth fight right up until the very end.
Having played bit roles in Nintendo games since the original Super Mario Bros., Toad finally gets an opportunity to shine in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. Using the Toad mini games from Super Mario 3D World as a base, Nintendo expands on that experience with dozens of new levels on a disc that’s less than full price. Is Toad’s debut a real step towards stardom?
anon12345678910 does a great job of controlling the flow of this fight with his solid ground game. Relying on well-timed fireballs and pokes, he maintains control of the fight while keeping his jumps to a minimum. I’m forced to fight outside of my comfort zone in a fight that admittedly, isn’t going to be all that exciting for many to watch. Still, if you love watching battles where players are trying to control space from a distance, then this is right up your alley.
The original Peggle caught lightning in a bottle. For a game with such a simple premise, it executed on its Pachinko-like vision perfectly. It immediately became a staple on my iPod Touch and one that I could always come back to. Hoping that PopCap Games would recapture that magic with a sequel is probably a bit unreasonable. However, I was also expecting more out of a game called Peggle 2 than what’s contained here.
In Third Person 