It's been hectic. I was hoping that life was going to slow down at some point but apparently it had other plans. After returning from our Philippine vacation, life has been...tumultuous. Way too much to even get into but it involved lots of stress in all corners of our lives. Fortunately, 2010 ended with a whimper and not with a bang, which I'm very thankful for. It was just my sister and I watching movies until the year changed. Nice and relaxing and, most importantly, no stress.
In the middle of December, Courtney and I got to spend time in NorCal with my family. It was my god-daughter's 18th birthday and she had a debut. I love spending time with the fam and this was no exception. Even got to see a bit of San Francisco, and a bit too much of SFO.
Christmas was also kind of a laid back affair, with lunch for my sister's b-day at the Aria Buffet and then a Christmas lunch the following day as prepared by me and my lovely wife. The loot we got was pretty awesome with obvious standouts being Donkey Kong Country Returns and the Lost Blu-ray boxset.
2011 hasn't really been any more restful or stress-free. I've been doing training classes at work again which I absolutely love. However, that means I get to work odd schedules which really throws by body out of whack. In other news, Courtney and I are in the process of trying to buy a house. The back and forth between builder and lender is really frustrating but we love this place so we're really going all in.
If you haven't heard already, Casper and I have returned to our Level Up: the Show roots with Level Up: the Podcast. If you haven't given it a listen, please tune it at Level Up Films.
And today, we are going to be celebrating my birthday a bit early with some dim-sum. Hmmm...time to get me some shrimp balls.
Hopefully the rest of the year will start to slow down but I highly doubt that. At least no one can ever accuse me of leading an uninteresting life.
Or can they?
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Death of an Icon: 2D Capcom Fighters
I was originally going to call this article "Death of an Icon: 2D Fighters" but I realize that that would do a tremendous disservice to the fine folks at Aksys Games/Arc System Works and SNKPlaymore, makers of Guilty Gear, BlazBlue and the King of Fighters games who are still pumping out 2D sprite based fighters that are fantastic to play. But as much I like playing these games, the fighting system just isn't up to the same caliber, in my opinion, as classic 2D fighting.
Now don't get me wrong. I love me some Super Street Fighter IV (SSFIV). I am actually surprised that Capcom was able to pull off the hit detection, speed, and combo system to a near flawless degree. It is a game that I hold in very high regard, right up there next to Street Fighter 2 Turbo: Hyper Fighting. But I will be the first to say that it's just not the same.
There is an incredible level of artistry in sprites. If SSFIV is like a Pixar movie, the very best of Capcom's sprite based work is like classic hand animated Disney. It just looks and feels different. Maybe it's all psychological but at times it feels like playing an animated movie. There's a level of fluidity that isn't too perfect, like that you'd get with polygons, where it seems almost too smooth. No. With sprites, sometimes you can see the individual frames, which gives the work a different feel.
I hadn't really thought much about this until the announcement of the newest entry in the Marvel vs. Capcom series. I must admit, I wasn't a huge fan of this series. The gameplay was too fast, too chaotic, and seemed to focus more on big super moves rather than pure combos. I don't mean to demean it in any way. Whereas I had many friends who were in love with the Vs. games Capcom was churning out, I was more into Street Fighter 3, a more methodical approach to fighting. To each his own.
But I must say that I was excited to hear that Capcom was bringing back the franchise after a 10 year break. Until I learned that it would be polygon based with cel shading, a la SSFIV and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. I don't care how much you try to texture map a polygon model, it's never going to look like a cartoon-y sprite. And that was one of the best parts about Marvel vs. Capcom. The sprites allowed the Marvel characters to stay very true to their comic book counterparts, 4-color shading and all.
The look also helped sell the chaos going on in the screen. It was so over-the-top that the cartoon look really lent itself to it. Seeing gigantic guns pop out or huge pink optic blasts were satisfying in their cartoon-y way. But alas, Capcom has decided to go another way with this franchise, as they did with Street Fighter before it. Could this signal the end of 2D Capcom fighters?
I hope not. As the previously mentioned games developed by SNK and Arc Systems show, great 2D fighting games can still be made for today's audience. I am secretly hoping that Capcom goes the way of Megaman 9 and 10 and goes back to making a very retro styled 2D fighting game. It could happen. Kind of like Disney trying to do another 2D animated movie in The Frog Princess. And maybe then, reports of the death of this icon may be greatly exaggerated.
Hmm...maybe they should work on a new Darkstalkers game.
Now don't get me wrong. I love me some Super Street Fighter IV (SSFIV). I am actually surprised that Capcom was able to pull off the hit detection, speed, and combo system to a near flawless degree. It is a game that I hold in very high regard, right up there next to Street Fighter 2 Turbo: Hyper Fighting. But I will be the first to say that it's just not the same.
There is an incredible level of artistry in sprites. If SSFIV is like a Pixar movie, the very best of Capcom's sprite based work is like classic hand animated Disney. It just looks and feels different. Maybe it's all psychological but at times it feels like playing an animated movie. There's a level of fluidity that isn't too perfect, like that you'd get with polygons, where it seems almost too smooth. No. With sprites, sometimes you can see the individual frames, which gives the work a different feel.
I hadn't really thought much about this until the announcement of the newest entry in the Marvel vs. Capcom series. I must admit, I wasn't a huge fan of this series. The gameplay was too fast, too chaotic, and seemed to focus more on big super moves rather than pure combos. I don't mean to demean it in any way. Whereas I had many friends who were in love with the Vs. games Capcom was churning out, I was more into Street Fighter 3, a more methodical approach to fighting. To each his own.
But I must say that I was excited to hear that Capcom was bringing back the franchise after a 10 year break. Until I learned that it would be polygon based with cel shading, a la SSFIV and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. I don't care how much you try to texture map a polygon model, it's never going to look like a cartoon-y sprite. And that was one of the best parts about Marvel vs. Capcom. The sprites allowed the Marvel characters to stay very true to their comic book counterparts, 4-color shading and all.
The look also helped sell the chaos going on in the screen. It was so over-the-top that the cartoon look really lent itself to it. Seeing gigantic guns pop out or huge pink optic blasts were satisfying in their cartoon-y way. But alas, Capcom has decided to go another way with this franchise, as they did with Street Fighter before it. Could this signal the end of 2D Capcom fighters?
I hope not. As the previously mentioned games developed by SNK and Arc Systems show, great 2D fighting games can still be made for today's audience. I am secretly hoping that Capcom goes the way of Megaman 9 and 10 and goes back to making a very retro styled 2D fighting game. It could happen. Kind of like Disney trying to do another 2D animated movie in The Frog Princess. And maybe then, reports of the death of this icon may be greatly exaggerated.
Hmm...maybe they should work on a new Darkstalkers game.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
My Apologies and Skimpressions
I have been very remiss in updating the blog. Work and life have been incredibly busy. For that, I apologize. I will be rectifying that quite soon, however. Like now.
I'd like to start a new article that will hopefully the start of a series called Skimpressions. Basically, instead of doing a full review, I want to give general impressions of games I've been busying myself with.
First game: Donkey Kong Country Returns
Ok. I'm over halfway through the game. First things first. If you are familiar with the series of Donkey Kong Country games on the SNES, then you'll be right at home. The only difference is that the graphics are fully rendered polygons done in real-time instead of the pre-rendered sprites on the originals. You will get a severe case of deja vu playing this game. It is fitting that it has been developed by Retro Studios since retro is what it is.
Also, this game is hard. Really hard. Like really REALLY hard. It's what I like to call "old school hard". The Wii has really been the home for old school games and remakes. Not only has the Virtual Console been a veritable treasure trove of classic gaming, games like NBA Jam and New Super Bros. Wii completely play like old school games with updated graphics. For a retro-loving geek like me, it is heaven. And we can add DKCR to the list.
I do want to make it clear how HARD this game is. So if you are a newer gamer who is used to tutorials and regenerating health and other such new nonsense that holds your hand through the game, this probably won't be the game for you. You will die. A lot. There will be time that you will totally feel like throwing the controller at the wall (remember to keep the wrist-strap on!).
So in short, if you loved the original Donkey Kong Country games or just love old-school platforming and up to the challenge, you should pick this game up. Well worth your time.
Well, that's it for me. Until next time.
I'd like to start a new article that will hopefully the start of a series called Skimpressions. Basically, instead of doing a full review, I want to give general impressions of games I've been busying myself with.
First game: Donkey Kong Country Returns
Ok. I'm over halfway through the game. First things first. If you are familiar with the series of Donkey Kong Country games on the SNES, then you'll be right at home. The only difference is that the graphics are fully rendered polygons done in real-time instead of the pre-rendered sprites on the originals. You will get a severe case of deja vu playing this game. It is fitting that it has been developed by Retro Studios since retro is what it is.
Also, this game is hard. Really hard. Like really REALLY hard. It's what I like to call "old school hard". The Wii has really been the home for old school games and remakes. Not only has the Virtual Console been a veritable treasure trove of classic gaming, games like NBA Jam and New Super Bros. Wii completely play like old school games with updated graphics. For a retro-loving geek like me, it is heaven. And we can add DKCR to the list.
I do want to make it clear how HARD this game is. So if you are a newer gamer who is used to tutorials and regenerating health and other such new nonsense that holds your hand through the game, this probably won't be the game for you. You will die. A lot. There will be time that you will totally feel like throwing the controller at the wall (remember to keep the wrist-strap on!).
So in short, if you loved the original Donkey Kong Country games or just love old-school platforming and up to the challenge, you should pick this game up. Well worth your time.
Well, that's it for me. Until next time.
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