Throwback Thursday Kirby 64:The Crystal Shards

Throwback Thursday Kirby 64:The Crystal Shards

Robert Knuckles

Hey guys I’m back with another Throwback Thursday game. Today I’m going to talk about one of my favorite N-64 games and that’s Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.

Kirby 64 was released in America on June 26, 2000 on the Nintendo 64. Now although Kirby is a playable character in Super Smash Bros which was released a year prior to Kirby 64, Crystal Shards is the only Kirby game on the N-64.

Kirby 64 is the sequel to Kirby’s Dream Land 3. The story starts off on a planet called Ripple Star, a planet that is populated by fairies. The planet is invaded and soon controlled by Dark Matter. One of the fairies named Ribbon runs away with the crystal but is soon chased by three Dark Matters and they soon shatter the crystal into pieces throughout the galaxy. Ribbon falls onto Pop Star where she meets Kirby. Kirby agrees to help Ribbon find the rest of the crystals. On their adventure they get the help of Waddle Dee who helps you with rides, Adeleine the painter that sometimes gives you health or a clue to get a crystal shard and King Dedede who Kirby rides on his back to destroy walls using his hammer. They are all at first controlled by Dark Matters and Kirby has to defeat them first in order to get their help.

Kirby 64 is a 2.5D platform game. The gameplay is similar to early Kirby games. Kirby still has the ability to copy enemies abilities but the interesting feature in Kirby 64 is that the player is able to merge enemies abilities. For Example Kirby can have a double fire and he shoots out almost like a phoenix. Another interesting thing is that players don’t need to have double of the same ability to merge. Players can merge cutter and fire and Kirby will have a flame sword. A funny merge is lighting and ice makes refrigerator Kirby. Refrigerator Kirby shoots out food which can really help when players run low on health. One of my favorite merges is cutter and lighting makes Kirby have a dual light-saber so players can go Star Wars on enemies.

Not only are these merges great but you need certain merges when trying to find crystals. Each level has three crystals. Some are easier to find than others. Some you can get after defeating a mini boss but some like I said before require different merge abilities. One thing that can help the player is looking at the colors of certain walls and cages. If there is a cage that is yellow and green means Kirby needs cutter and lighting in order to break it.

The player will travel to six worlds each containing it’s own boss one of my favorites is Aqua star. I really like the music and being able to go on a beach is pretty cool. Another favorite is Shiver Star. It contains a toy factory and an underground experiment lab.

Kirby 64 has three mini-games that are up to four players but it’s really nothing to brag about. Players can either choose hop racing where players hop to the finish line, bumper crop bump where players try to get the most fruit dropped in their basket or checker board chase where players try to make other players fall off the board by using their color blocks which is probably the best one out of the three mini-games.

In the end Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards is a really fun game. I don’t think it gets enough credit it deserves and this is actually the first Kirby game I played so it definitely plays a huge part of my childhood. If you’re a Kirby fan I would definitely give this game a shot or if you’re a Nintendo fan. Now it might be difficult to find this game on the N-64 but players can download this game on the Wii Virtual Console or Wii U Virtual Console.

Throwback Thursday Capcom vs. SNK

Throwback Thursday Capcom vs. SNK

With my recent Street Fighter V vs. The King of Fighters article now would be a good idea to do my throwback thursday on a great fighting game by Capcom. Capcom vs. SNK

Two of the biggest fighting game in a huge crossover. Would you even imagine that? Talk about a surprise. Capcom just finished with their crossover battle with Marvel and now they battle SNK.

Capcom vs SNK was released in 2000 in the Arcades and on the Dreamcast. There was an updated version called Capcom vs SNK Pro which added two characters and updated the current roster moveset. Back in those days if you wanted to play a fighting game on these two systems.

Now with two fighting game companies the question comes to mind is that which company would make the game? Capcom vs SNK was developed and published by Capcom. SNK characters were featured in Capcom sprites and I have to admit they look pretty good. Some Capcom characters like Ryu, Ken and Bison had new sprites. Other Capcom characters used their character sprites from the Street Fighter Alpha series.

Since we're on the characters players have to know that the title can throw people off and the reason why I say that because it’s called Capcom vs SNK people would imagine characters like Megaman or Marspeople would be in the game but they are not. The Capcom roster consist of Street Fighter characters such as Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Sakura, Cammy and also Morrigan from the Darkstalkers series makes an appearance. SNK characters consist of characters from The King of Fighters series such Kyo, Iori, Terry, Mai, Kim and Nakoruru from the Samurai Showdown series.

Capcom vs. SNK has some interesting features. One interesting feature is that players can choose between two grooves one from Capcom and one from SNK. The Capcom groove features the meter from the Alpha series where players can perform level one,two or three supers. The SNK groove is meter featured from The King of Fighters 94 where players have to charge up their super meter to perform a level one super. If the player's health is low and blinking players can perform unlimited level one supers without their meter being filled but if they charge up their super meter and their health is low and blinking they can perform a level three super.

The gameplay of Capcom vs SNK featured a four button layout similar to The King of Fighters but there is one feature I wasn’t too much of a fan was and that was the ratio system. Capcom vs SNK is a team fighting game. Characters ratios are rated on their strength ranging from 1 to 4. You can make a team up to four people but their combined ratios must equal and go no higher than four. For example Ryu has a ratio of 2 and Kyo has a ratio of 2 as well for a total ratio of 4 so that team will only consist of these two guys. Sakura, Cammy, Yuri and King only has a ratio of 1. If players have a team of four people their strength and defense are low. If players form a team of 2 people they have an average strength and defense. Now in versus mode characters aren’t ranked in the ratio system. My main problem is that I didn’t like how characters were ranked on their strength. If you want the ratio system that's fine just don’t rank the characters strength.

In the end I still believe Capcom vs SNK is a fun fighting game. The music is good, the stage intros are incredible and the roster is pretty good. Players can have dream matches with Ryu vs Kyo or Ken vs Terry or even evil bosses like M. Bison vs. Geese Howard. If you’re fan of Capcom or a fan of SNK or a fan of fighting games Capcom vs SNK is the game for you.

Throwback Thursday Super Mario 64

“It’s me Mario”

            Today’s Throwback Thursday game is a legend.  A must had game for anyone that had a Nintendo 64. That game is Super Mario 64.

            Super Mario 64 was released on the Nintendo 64 on June 23, 1996, September 26, 1996 in America and March 1 1997 in Europe. This was one of the first games released on the Nintendo 64 and not only was it one of the first games released on that system but it was also one of the first games to introduce gamers to a 3D world. . Of course many gamers would say the graphics weren’t that great in the 90s but looking at the year it was you can say that Nintendo did a great job. During that time places like Wal-Mart, Toys R US and many places that sold video games had this game on display.

            Players take controller of everyone’s favorite Italian hero Mario. He is invited to the castle by Princess Peach where she has baked him a cake but as soon as Mario arrived to the castle he notices that Peach has been kidnapped by Bowser and it’s up to Mario using the power of the stars to save her.

            Now the biggest difference between Mario 64 and his past titles is that it’s no longer a 2D side plat former and it gave players to walk around in a 3D world going wherever you want to go and with that Mario can do a lot more than what he can do in previous games. He can punch, kick, jump, long jump, flip, back flip, wall jump, swim underwater and many more.

            The objective of the game is to collect the stars by traveling to different worlds by having Mario jump through paintings and completing certain objectives such as fighting bosses, solving puzzles, collecting red coins and many more. In these levels players will run into familiar enemies such as the bomb-ombs who will chase Mario as soon as they see him, Goombas who will run into Mario but just like other Mario games they are defeated the same way by simply jumping on them. As players complete the objective they are awarded with a star. Mario can use the stars to unlock more levels and getting to the bad guy himself Bowser. By defeating Bowser the first time gives Mario a key to unlock a different floor in the castle. There are three sections of the castle the player will have to explore. Take note that certain levels can only be unlocked with a certain number of stars and also take not that not every level contains a painting. That’s up to the players to try and find all of them.

            There are also secret rooms in the castle that players can find. In those secret rooms players can also unlock hat abilities such as the Red Wing Cap which gives Mario the ability to fly around and glide through levels. The Blue Vanish Cap makes Mario immaterial and gives him the ability to walk through certain walls and cages. The Green Cap transforms Mario’s whole body into metal making invincible, walking underwater, withstanding wind and many more.

            The reception for Super Mario 64 has been nothing but great. Receiving nothing but 90s and almost received a perfect score. The only downside with this game is the camera control. Take note that is one of the first games to give players free control of the camera. It was a bit difficult to control the camera especially with the c buttons. But Nintendo learned from their mistake and later used the c stick for future generation games.

            The soundtrack for this game is amazing as well. My favorite soundtrack of the game has to be the water music. It’s so calm and relaxing. A soundtrack for this game has been released but players can find all the tracks on YouTube.

            The impact Super Mario 64 has been huge. There are gamers that have performed speed runs and still to this day there are many gamers on twitch TV setting records and it’s really enjoyable to watch. They definitely take their time and practice a lot to beat the records.

            To this day many gamers say that Super Mario 64 is their favorite Mario game of all time or greatest video game of all time. This is definitely one of my favorite games of all time and I never get tired of playing it. Gamers can download Super Mario 64 as an emulator or they can be it brought on the Wii’s virtual console. The Gaming Advisory gives Super Mario 64 9 out of 10.

           

            

Darkstalkers Series

Throwback Thursday: Darkstalkers series

Robert Knuckles

Time for another Throwback Thursday folks and this time we’ll talk about Capcom’s famous monsters fighting it out in the series called Darkstalkers. In this throwback I’m going to talk about the series as a whole and not just one specific game.

Darkstalkers is a 2D fighting game that features monster characters such as a Vampire, Werewolf, Zombie, Mummy and many more. Darkstalkers was released in Japanese arcades in 1994 then a year in a half later Darkstalkers was released on the PS1  in America in 1996.

Now when players first get a glimpse of Darkstalkers many of them would say “oh this is Street Fighter with monster characters” well part of that may be true but Darkstalkers features a very fast paced fighting game. It also features chain combos meaning that players can connect a light punch to a medium punch and end it with a hard punch. Darkstalkers also features air blocking. Now just like Street Fighter Darkstalkers has a super meter but what makes it different is that once it's filled players have a certain amount of time to perform a super combo or a powered up version of a normal move.

Darkstalkers story is about the evil non-playable alien Pyron whose collecting planets as he devours them and now he has plans set on Earth. The only thing that can stop Pyron are the 10 playable monster characters that the player picks. Darkstalkers features interesting characters such as the Vampire Demitri who claims to regain his throne of the dark world. Another great character Morrigan the Succubus who’s a princess of the demon world Makai. Morrigan neither good or evil she just wants to have fun fighting strong opponents. Morrigan still today is one of Capcom's famous characters and she’s in a number of different fighting games outside of Darkstalkers.

Darkstalkers continued to grow with the sequel Night Warriors: Darkstalkers Revenge. This was basically the updated version of the first Darkstalkers. Players can now stock up to unlimited number of gauges. The two types of super moves players could do which are ES Specials which are enhanced regular special moves and EX Specials. Players can also play as new characters Donovan Baine the demon hunter and Hsien-Ko the Chinese Ghost. Players can also play as the boss characters; Huitzil the robot and alien boss Pryon.

In 1998 Darkstalkers 3 was released. Darkstalkers 3 removed veteran fighters Huitzil, Pyron and Donovan (but available on the console version PS1) but introduced four new characters Q-Bee, bees that crave souls, Lilith Morrigan's other half, Jedah demon the (new boss for most characters) that's trying to recreate the demon world and the famous B.B. Hood whose appearance looks innocent but deep down there's a monster inside with no heart.

Now the gameplay has changed quite a bit. Gameplay is a bit more faster than the previous Darkstalkers games. There is only one round with characters each having two life bars. First play to knock down both life bars win. Definitely similar to Killer Instinct. Sometimes matches can end pretty fast. Darkstalkers 3 features the new Dark Force where players can perform unique abilities such as Felicia gets a little kitty helper or Lilith having a double copy to give out multiple hits.

Another unique thing about Darkstalkers is that the animation that the characters perform is amazing. The faces they make getting hit, getting frozen, burned or getting hit by Demitri's Midnight Bliss (which is probably one of the most famous special moves ever) when he turns everyone into a beautiful girl and drains the life out of them.

There have been other Darkstalkers titles after the third game. Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower for the PSP came out in 2005. It featured all 18 characters and now players can choose a different playstyle from all three Darkstalkers games and the Chaos tower also features Tower mode where players fight CPUs under certain conditions. Another Darkstalkers game was released in the same year called Vampire: Darkstalkers Collection for the PS2 that was only released in Japan a collection that featured all five Darkstalkers arcade games.

In 2013 Darkstalkers made a comeback with Darkstalkers Resurrection. A downloadable game for Xbox 360 and PS3. It features Night Warriors Darkstalkers Revenge and Darkstalkers 3 both featuring online play.

I’m a fan of the Darkstalkers series and really love the characters. Some people can argue that the characters are more popular than the actually game. Now the question comes to mind is that will there be a brand new Darkstalkers game? It’s hard to say because Darkstalkers Resurrection sales didn’t do so well. If sales did well we possibly could have seen a new Darkstalkers game. I would really love to see a new Darkstalkers game. I’m still hoping for a new one. It might not be as famous here in America but in Japan it gets a lot more love. Darkstalkers is a really fun game. If you love fast paced fighting games with monsters then this is the throwback fighting game for you!

Throwback Thursday Megas XLR

Throwback Thursday Megas XLR

Robert Knuckles

“Chicks Dig Giant Robots”

            “You Dig Giant Robots, We Dig Giant Robots, Chicks Dig Giant Robots!!!!!” This was the theme of one of my favorite shows Megas XLR. I’m doing a different route this time with my throwback Thursdays. Today I want to talk about one of my favorite TV shows.

            Megas XLR is an action comedy show that use to air on Cartoon Network during its golden years. It first aired on Cartoon Network in 2002 as a pilot short on the Weekend Summerfest. It was a contest to see which pilot would be the next new show on Cartoon Network. It was very popular with the viewers. Its Original debut was supposed to be December 2003 but was delayed. It finally had its debut episode on Toonami on May 1, 2004.

            Megas XLR focuses on a skilled video game player Coop who lives in New Jersey. Coop is a grown man but acts like a kid. He is also joined by his best friend Jamie who is also a slacker but unlike Coop he can be a bit selfish and is slightly a little smarter.  Coop stumbles upon a robot from the future named Megas in the Junkyard. Coop manages to make a few modifications to Mega changing its paint job and having a car as its head.

            While on a test drive Coop and Jamie are later confronted by a woman named Kiva. Kiva is from the future where during that time Earth is losing a war against the alien race known as the Glorft. They managed to steal their robot which was Megas at the time. As a last minute defense Kiva attempts to use a time drive to go back two years into the past with Megas to prevent this war. But when the Glorft attacks they managed to damage the time drive and Kiva and the Glorft are sent way back into the time around our time. Now it’s up to Coop to stop defeat the Glorft and save mankind.

            Megas XLR is a very fun show especially for gamers. Coop manages to put his video game skills to pilot Megas and some driving skills as well. Viewers will also see 8 Bit video games which will remind gamers of the Nintendo and Sega days.

            One of the funny things about this show is that every problem that occurred in this is mainly Coops fault. One of the best episodes probably had to be “All I Wanted Was a Slushie”. While performing a systems check Coop accidentally hits an invisible barrier which causes the alien robot R.E.G.I.S mark five to break free. Every time viewers see R.E.G.I.S they starting hearing the Opera singing and every time Coop is about to drink a slushie R.E.G.I.S always prevents him from drinking it. You really need to watch that episode.

            There are so many funny moments from this show. The credits are also funny as well. Megas XLR make fun of other popular series such as the Science Ninja Team Gatchaman when they introduce the S Force who looks similar to the Ninja Team. They also made fun of Godzilla when they had the Mecha Megas.

            The interesting part about this show is that some viewers can relate to Coop. I mean I would love to save the world using my video game skills. Coop may be a lazy guy but his pilot skills are amazing.

            The show was met with positive reviewers and it was ranked at Number 4 on ToonZones Toons of the 2000s: Top 5 Cartoon Network Originals.

            Sad part is that Megas XLR didn’t last very long. Despite it having a large fan base it only had two seasons due to low a rating which is a surprise with the great reviews it received. There was an online petition to try to revive the show but sadly there was no luck. The best is to find episodes online. There are also episodes found on YouTube. Gamers should definitely watch a couple episodes of this show and you’ll enjoy it.

             

            

Throwback Thursday X-Men Legends

Throwback Thursday X-Men Legends

Robert Knuckles

            “Alone you are mighty together you are legends.” A quote from Professor Charles Xavier from one of the most popular X-Men games around and that is X-Men Legends.

            X-Men Legends was published by Activision and released on September 21, 2004 on the Xbox, Nintendo GameCube and PS2. X-Men Legends is an action RPG game where players take control of 4 out of 15 X-Men on an adventure to stop the evil Magneto and his Brotherhood of mutants and Sentinels. Players can play by themselves with three controlled AI’s switching characters at any time or team up with three friends.

            Gamers can choose between their favorite X-Men such as the leader Cyclops, the animal Wolverine, weather control woman Storm, the joker Iceman and many more. Players can also level up their X-men and upgrading their powers by finding items as the player’s progress through the game. Teamwork is a big component in this game. Players must always work as a team combining their powers to defeat their enemies. Later throughout the game players can unlock their X-Treme Mutant Power when they reach level 15. Players can also buy items from the mutant Forge and the Healer.

            Now the Story of the Game doesn’t really focus on any comic book arc. The story first takes place in NYC where a girl name Alison aka Magma is discovering her mutant abilities and at the same time The Genetic Research and Security Organization (GRSO) are getting ready to abduct her and then the Brotherhood appears to stop kidnap her but soon after Wolverine and Cyclops are able to rescue her in the nick of time. Allison is then taking to the Xavier Institute to help control her powers. Throughout the story players will meet up with more Brotherhood members such as Toad, Blob, Mystique, Juggernaut and many more, Sentinels and even Marrow and her Morlocks and of course an epic final battle.

            X-Men legends also feature comics and danger room simulations where players can fight each other or work together fighting an army of enemies.

            In the end X-Men Legends is an enjoyable throwback Thursday game. Like I said Teamwork is important in this game. If you have three friends with you it’s even more fun. Now the graphics are definitely not the best but it makes up for its awesome gameplay, long decent story, great cooperative play, awesome cast to choose from and so much more. This is definitely one of the best X-Men games to date. If you are a fan of the X-Men or a fan of Co-Op than this is a must buy.