Playing through Metal Slug Anthology

Now that I have beaten Scott Pilgrim vs the World for the second time (this time playing as "Kim"), I started playing through Metal Slug Anthology.  That game is pretty fun too.  It is a shoot em' up game that is alot like contra with obvious differences and features a villian named, Morden, who is pretty much a Saddam Hussein look-alike.

Here is a trailer I found on youtube that shows off the game:


Information:
I have already beaten the Metal Slugs 1-3 since I started playing the game and will play through Metal Slug 4 when I get the time to do so.  Personally, I find the Metal Slug series to be pretty fun with all of the shoot em up action, comedic themes, boss fights and other stuff.   By the way, I decided to play through the game with unlimited continues on since I am not ready to do the game under the other mode yet.  So far, my favorite game in the series is probably Metal Slug 3.  That one is epic.  I got the game for the playstation 2 by the way.

Tips and tricks in the metal slug series:
- consider doing the game 2 player.  The games get progressively harder as you play through them (especially on the final mission) and playing the game on "2 player mode" can make things a little easier for you.
- If it is your first time through or you are a casual gamer, you might want to consider leaving "unlimited continues" on.  A nice thing about Metal Slug Anthology is that not only can you adjust the difficulty level, you can also decide whether you want unlimited continues or limited continues.  Obviously, if you find the game to be too easy, you can always turn off unlimited contines (it is on by default by the way) for a little challenge.  Otherwise, if you find yourself dying alot (especially in the later missions), unlimited continues can be good to have, especially if you are the type that is likely to break your favorite controller when you get game over.
- Be sure to use your grenades and bombs when you are in hairy situations as well as when going up against tough enemies (like boss fights, aliens, tanks, etc).
- be sure to take advantage of the vehicles you can use in the games as they not only give you more fire power, but you can avoid dying as long as you have them. 
- When using the vehicles in the game, if you encounter situations where you are likely to lose them, you can always get out of the vehicle and fight the enemies that way.

Want metal slug anthology?  Be sure to take advantage of these links from Amazon.com below.  Commissions will be used to cover the costs of running this site (having a website is not free you know).

Started a game on Scott Pilgrim vs the world

Hey guys, I thought that I would share with you all that I have downloaded my copy of Scott Pilgrim vs The world via Xbox live yesterday and started playing through the game (in fact, I have already beaten the first 3 levels in the game).  Here is a gameplay video I found on youtube that shows off the first level in the game.


Scott Pilgrim vs the world is pretty similar to Castle Crashers (assuming you are familiar with that game), where it is an arcade style beat em' up (similar to X-men, Simpsons, Ninja Turtles, etc) game where you play as either Scott Pilgrim, Ramona Flowers, Stephen Shields, or Kim Pines in their quest to defeat Ramona's 7 evil boyfriends in hopes of Scott winning Ramona's heart.  In the game, you will go through at least 7 colorful levels that you get to via the map and go through endless waves of thugs, monsters, and even many epic boss battles along the way, and like Castle Crashers, your characters level up and you get more moves, health and powers along the way (in Scott Pilgrim, the game assigns the new abilities and powers for you, saving you from having to decide where to allocate your level up points).   Personally, I decided to play through the game in order, starting with Scott, and then playing as the other characters as I go along. 

Foods for thought:

1) I have never seen the movie, nor red the books, so I don't have a clue on the storyline of the game.  Perhaps once I have beaten the game, I will go to Blockbuster or rent the movie on comcast on demand.

2) Can't you imagine the insanity of Scott's mission?  He meets a girl he likes (Ramona) and when he tries to make a move on her, she asks him to beat up all 7 of her ex boyfriends as a condition of them going out.  Reminds me a bit in games like Grand Theft Auto 4, Bully Scholarship Edition, and Red Dead Redemption, where the game's protaganist pretty much becomes an errands boy for others, doing their dirty work (in Scott's case, he pretty much has to go out and beat up all of Ramona's former boyfriends).  Imagine you were in Scott's situation (from a guy's perspective of course), and you start crushing some lady you meet at your school, and when you do get the guts to make your moves on her (if you know what I mean), she asks you to go around and beat up her exes before she can go out with you, would you do it?  Personally, I am not sure if I would or not as I doubt I would be able to take on all of them.  What would you do if you were in that situation?

That is all for now.  I will post a review about this game after I have beaten it as all 4 characters.

Top 5 best Halloween themed games I have played (under construction)

Image caption: Castlevainia Lamment of Innocents is one of the many chapters in the Castlevania Series, and in the castlevania series, you can expect to fight through hordes of ghosts, monsters, demons, goulish bosses (such as The Forgotten one in Castlevania LOI), and other nightmarish enemies throughout the series.

Ah, another Halloween is fast approaching (this year seems to be going by fast at least in my book), and with it comes all of the classic scares and thrills (i.e., pumkin patches, haunted houses, tricker treat for the kids, etc). In the video game realm, there are plenty of games out there that have some halloween themes. Of course in this blog post, I will post some games I think have some awesome halloween themes (based on the games I've played). Of course, you are free to agree or disagree with me .

Game #1 - Castlevania: Curse of Darkness and the Castlevania Series in General
(the current game I am playing through is Castlevania Lamment of Innocence by the way, which is a prequel to the mainline series)

If you are looking for a Halloween themed game, they do not get any more Halloweenish than the Castlevania series do. The castlevania series started back in the 1980s by Komnai, which is also the creator of the Contra Series, and in the castlevania universe, you usually play as one of the Belmonts (such as Simon Belmont in the original series, with the exception of CV 3, where you play as Trevor Belmont) and venture into Count Dracula's castle at Transylvania usually on a quest to defeat Dracula and his minions as well as saving loved ones from certain death (such as Richter Belmont saving Maria in Castlevania Dracula X). There are plenty of common themes in the castlevania series including: fighting through hoards of vampires, ghosts, demons, zombies, monsters, skeletons and other strange creatures throughout the levels in the series. in addition, there are plenty of equally terrifying boss fights. Some classic boss fights includes: A headless ghost you fight in Castlevania Dracula X, Legion in Curse of Darkness and similar variations in Harmony of Dissonence and Symphony of the night (Legion is that abomonible creature that you fight in some of the CV games that is made literrally by dead bodies and a hideous creature called Nucleous in the middle), a grim reaper called Death, ghosts, as well as sexy demon called Succubus in some games (you will get into an epic battle with her in both Symphony of the Night and Lamment of Innocence) to name a few. Another common theme is that the main villian is none other than Count Dracula (though not always as is the case as is the case in some of the newer titles like Lamment of Innocence and Arial of Sorrow, though Dracula's subtitute in those two games have similarities to Dracula, such as the ability to teleport), who usually shows up in 2 forms: 1) the human form and 2) the demonic/dragon form (the best fight in my book against Dracula is in Curse of Darkness where he has some personality in the first fight and does more than the usual teleportining as well as the second battle where you fight an oversized version of him in a demonic/gargoyle form).

Of course, there are plenty of other timeless classics in the CV series, such as the scene in Castlevania 64 in Level 3 where you go through this maze chasing after Malus (who is really Dracula in child form, though that does not get revealed till the end of the game provided that you don't fight Vincent just before you fight the imposter version of Dracula) and you have a Frankenstein Monster with a Chainsaw in his hand and 2 hellhound dogs chasing after you as you try to reach the exit in the maze (and their attacks are quite brutal to your guy's health). In the Xbox and PS2 versions, the game plays a bit like a movie too, complete with clipscenes, voice acting and all (such as the rivalry between Hector and Issac throughout the game, which ends in a fight to the death between the two towards the end of the game shortly before you fight Death and Count Dracula). One other timeless moment in the game I am aware of is the final showdown between Reinhardt Schneider and the real Count Dracula (aka Malus). First, Malus transforms into Dracula and after the usual first battle with hime (teleportation and all), you will fight a huge dragon version of him in a baron desert, and he does have quite an attude, launching nuclear bombs, fire and other deadly arsenal against Reinhardt throughout the battle. At the end of the battle, Dracula gets dragged into the underworld alive (creepy indeed). If you are looking for a pure halloween themed game, then the Castlevania Series is for you.

Game #2- Halloween town in Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2

Now, while the Kingdom Hearts series is not really a halloween classic (besides the fact that you fight through hordes of nightmarish creatures called the Heartless and Nobodies in KH2 as well as the huge boss fight between Sora and Malificent in KH1 where you fight her in the huge dragon form from Sleeping Beauty), Halloween town is perhaps the classic. Now, this is not to be confused with the halloween town from the Halloween Town series that usually show in October (this is Jack Skellington's Halloween town from the nightmare before christmas). You will play through this level at least once in Kingdom Hearts 1 and twice in KH 2. In both versions, you play through a huge halloween themed world where you fight through hordes of goulish heartless, play through an eerie world and go up against the evil Oogie Boogie (in KH 2, you will also fight The Experiment who gets corrupted perhaps by Organization 13 in the second trip to Halloween town). More will be added later

Top 10 Game Villians That Just Never give up

Image caption: Bowser just before Mario destroys the bridge Bowser is on sending him straight into the lava pit below for the nth time (which happens over 8 times in SMB 1, assuming you play through the entire game).

(spoiler alert: this blog post assumes that you have played through the games mentioned below and so if you haven't played through any of these games and want to be surprised, then don't read below, though most of these game series have been around for quite a while, and so I am assuming that most of you are familiar with these game series)

Ah, sometimes it can be said that one never knows when he/she has been beaten, and when it comes to many platform games, this can certainly be true. Over the years, in many different game series, all too familiar villians have appeared, including Bowser in the Mario Bros series, Dr. Eggman in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, and the like. Of course, in many of these games assuming you play through them properly, the bad guy loses in the end, only to return in the sequel (up to his/her evil deeds once again). I guess the rationale for this pattern is that if the bad guy were to ever fully be defeated or go good, then the series would be over. Of course, that has happened before. In the Austin Powers Saga, for example, in the Gold Member, Dr Evil turns away from his wicked ways and turns to good, and obviously, we haven't seen any new Austin Powers Movies since, and same goes for the Star Wars Movies. In Return of the Jedi, Emperor Palpatine gets defeated, Darth Vader returns to the light side of the force (just before he dies unfortunately), and the empire gets dealt a huge blow by the rebel allience, and so far we haven't seen any new star wars movies that take place after Return of the Jedi (though the saga does not end with Return of the Jedi if you read the books or play the Star Wars themed games, since the bigger story is in the expanded universe (i.e., books, games, and comics). Anyways, here some noteworthy villians (note this post will be expanded over time):

1. Bowser in the Super Mario Bros series -

here is an epic battle between Mario and Bowser in SMW (super mario world). This is one of the many boss fights that Mario and Luigi will face throughout the Mario Bros. series (youtube video posted by NintendoCult)

if you have seen video games since the days of the original NES, I am sure that most of us have played through the Original Super Mario bros series at one time or another, and what more classic of a villian is there than the evil Bowser. Bowser is that evil dragon that is Mario's nemesis throughout most of the Super Mario series (though in the later games, there is also Wario along with Luigi's evil twin), and often plots to kidnap Mario's girlfriend, Princess Peach and take over the world. Unfortunately to Bower's dismay, Mario is pretty good when it comes to ruinning Bowser's evil schemes, and Bowser definately is a glutton for punishment at the hands of Mario. In the first game, Bowser falls into a lava pit that he probably inteded for Mario over 8 times, in SMB 3, he crashes do though the floor of the balcony of his castle trying to stomp Mario, loses his flying machine in SMW, gets egged to death by Yoshi in SMB World 2: Yoshi's Iland, and even gets hurled at bombs in SMB 64, and yet he always comes back in the sequel even more determined to defeat Mario and succeed in his evil plot only to get defeated once again.

2. Dr Robotnik (aka Eggman) in the Sonic the Hedgehog series

watch an epic battle between Sonic and Eggman in his Egg Viper (submitted by roylink on Youtube). The is one of the many battles that Sonic and Eggman will engage in throughout the series (and perhaps one of my favorites)

Famous quote from the Sonic the Hegehog comic series and some of the cartoon series - "I HATE THAT HEDGHOG!!!" (Dr. Robotnik)

Yes in just about all of the Sonic the Hedghog games, Sonic can almost always expect to fight his arch nemesis, Dr. Robotnik on various occasions in most if not all Sonic games as well as his diabolical creations as well (i.e., Chaos, Mecha Sonic, etc). Like many game series, there is usually an evil genius lurking around looking to cause trouble that only the hero(s) can beat, and what is a Sonic the Hedgehog game without a mad scientist, named Doctor Robotnik (also known as Eggman). Eggman has been in the series pretty much from the beginning and has a goal of taking over the world and turning everybody into mindless robots. Of course, there is one person that can stand in his way: Sonic the Hedgehog (along with his side kicks, Tails, Knuckles, Amy Rose, Cream, Big, as well as the rest of the Sonic gang of course). Doctor Robotnik comes up with a diabolital scheme in each game (my favorite is probably Sonic 3 and Knuckles) where he builds hs infamous Death Egg (similar to the Death Star) and you have to blow up the Death Egg before Eggman can use it against Earth dwellers. Of course, if you play the games right, in the end Sonic and his pals manage to foil Eggman's schemes, sending Eggman back to the drawing board where he crafts a new and better plan, only to be defeated by Sonic once more.

Interestingly, in many of the newer games (starting with Sonic Adventure), his plan(s) ends up backfiring (as was the case in the Chaos Monster, who turns into Perfect Chaos at the end of Sonic Adventure, which leads to Sonic morphing into super sonic in order to defeat Perfect Chaos) and must turn to Sonic for help to undo the damage that his schemes have done. Even then, Eggman returns to his evil ways once again in the sequel.

3. Count Dracula in most Castlevania games -

watch an epic battle between Hector and Count Dracula from Castlevania Curse of Darkness. This was one of my favorite battles against Dracula and is one of the many times you will have to face him throughout the series.

If the phrase from South Park, "OMG, they killed Kenny", were to have meaning to any villian in the gaming industry, it would probably be Count Dracula from the Castlevania series. In fact, Count Dracula literaly even goes to h*** and back before facing the Belmont clan (though sometimes other people too, like Hector in Curse of Darkness as well as even his own son, Allucard in Symphony of the Night). Count Dracula is quite a character and is based on a real person from history (Vlad Thepes Dracula from Romania) and has inspired many stories and films in the horror story industry (even his RL castle at Transylvania is rumored to be haunted for real and has been investigated by various paranormal investigators, including the crew from the reality TV series, Most Haunted and you can watch the live episode where they investigated the castle at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTROwmxpj3o). Anyways, the Count Dracula legend has also inspired various games (such as Van Helsing, which was the movie and movie-game that came out several years ago) as well as the hit Castlevania Series, where Count Dracula is the main villian throughout the series (though he does not appear in every game as was the case for games like Lamment of Innocence and Arial of Sorrow). At first, Dracula was known as Matthias (as implied in Lamment of Innocence), and was one of Leon Belmont's closest friends (Leon the ancestor of Trevor Belmont and later Simon Belmont).

At the time, another evil vampire named, Walter was the evil genius who plotted to obtain the Crimson stone (a stone that gives Dracula his power and allows him to be resurrected after being defeated, you can learn more about the crimson stone at http://www.wikipedia.org/, search Castlevania Lamment of Innocence), turn Leon's wife, Sarah into a vampire and become the Dark Lord. Unfortunately for Leon, little did the hero know was that Matthias was secretly planning to become the dark lord as well and was using Leon, Walter, Sarah, and Zaccarias as a part of his plan. By the time Leon was able to defeat Walter, Sarah had been bitten by Walter (forcing Leon to kill her and use her soul to create the legendary vampire killer whip), Matthias had obtained the Crimson stone, and Death had been summoned to the scene where he finishes off Walter and obtains his soul to give to Matthias. Apparently, Matthias developed a hatred towards God (why someone would hate God is beyond me, after all, from a Christian standpoint, he is the Lord of this world and is the creator of all things) and vowed his revenge by becoming the dark lord (later known as Dracula), and tries to get Leon to join in his rebellion, but Leon refuses and Matthias sics Death on him before disappearing into the night (he even turns into a bat to imply that he is now Dracula). Leon manages to defeat Death, and thus the feud between the Belmont Clan and Dracula is born. Since then, Dracula had becomed the main villian in the series with the first big battle posibly being the one in Castlevania 3 with Trevor Belmont (I will need to verify that theory of course).

Of course, like just like Bowser and Robotnik, while Dracula is the evil genius in the Castlevania series, with is goal being to establish his dark lordship over the earth (just like the antichrist will attempt to do during the end times, only to be foiled by God himself) and launches countless of wicked plans to achieve his goal of world domination. Of course, the Belmonts (along with allies like Alucard) will constantly be a thorn in Dracula's side and they manage to foil Dracula's evil schemes and send him to the underworld, where Dracula plots his next evil scheme, be resurrected about 100 years later (sometimes sooner), only to be defeated once again. Dracula also comes with his usual henchmen including the grim reaper, named Death as well as hordes of ghostly, monsterous, and demonic foes that he uses to help carry out his dirty work and defeat the Belmonts (an allies) before they can defeat Dracula once again.

5. Doctor Wily in the Mega Man series

(info will be posted on him at a later date)

6. Sigma in the Mega Man X series

7. The heartless in the Kingdom hearts series

8. the Disney villians from the Kingdom hearts series

9. Vile from the Mega Man X series

10. (TBA)