Top 10 Awkward Video Game Romances Part 1

In Mega Man X4, one of the many boss battles Zero will face is against Iris (who was a female robot that was in "love" with Zero before turning maverick.

You know, it is almost valentines day and I thought I would make a valentines day related post.  You know what that means (at least from a guy's perspective): girls and dates.  I hope you have picked out a gift for your special someone.  Believe it or not, even I had a girlfriend at one time too, back during my senior year of high school.  it was a girl I knew from Christ the King Lutheran church, named Samantha (note: won't give out her last name for privacy reasons).  Long story short, we dated for about a year and then after I went off to college, about a month later, I got one of those "dear john letters", you know those letters sometimes your former girlfriend will  send you a letter that basically says she wants to just "be friends" and found another guy she likes, and that was the end of that relationship (been single ever since).  By the way, Samantha was not my only love interest during my high school career too. For a while there, I was also crushing on a cute blonde girl named Kimberly (aka Kim C, though I won't give out her full last name for privacy reasons, so I will leave it at that), who was the classic hot blonde chick (don't know how else to put it) I knew during my middle school and high school years, though long story short, I will just say that sadly I let my bashfulness get the best of me and wasn't really able to get to know her like I did with Samantha and she ended up moving away (I think she moved to Tacoma last I saw her back in 2002 and btw Facebook didn't exist back then).  Lesson to be learned there kids: if you see a girl you like: don't hesitate to break the ice with her and at least take the time to get to know her.  Wait too long and either someone else will beat you to the punch or life happens (such as graduation or moving away) and you will miss your chance to get to know her.  Luckily I have learned from those mistakes myself.

Anyways, personal stuff aside, in this post I will talk about some interesting and awkward romances and relationships in the video game world (some movies and tv shows too).  Here are the top 10 I have seen:

******Spoiler Alert **********

In the following passages: I will assume you have played through these games or watched these shows and movies.

1. Zero and Iris - Mega Man X4

Here is a video below of the boss fight between Zero and Iris (occurs about midway through the second of the Sigma levels in the game):


If any relationship in the video game world were to resemble that of "Romeo and Juliet", it would probably be Zero and Iris in Mega Man X4.  Mega Man X4 was definitely my favorite of the Mega Man X series (along with MMX, MMX5 and MMX9) and was arguably probably the best of the post SNES Mega Man X games.  It was also the first one where you can actually play as Zero for the entire game (up through MMX3 you mainly played as X, though you do get to use Zero on a limited basis in X3).  Anyways, in Mega Man X4, the game is set several years after the events of Mega Man X3 and while X and Zero thought that the evil Sigma was gone for good, he is back and this time, as a part of his quest for world domination time he basically drives a wedge between the Maverick Hunters and the Repliforce (many of which become maverick during the course of the game presumably due to the Sigma virus which was spreading at the time).  He even manages to turn the Colonel (Iris' brother) against Zero by creating paranoia that the repliforce were turning maverick especially by inciting the Colonel and the General to start a military coup.  Further complicating matters is that Iris (a female cyborg) is madly in love with Zero and is torn between him and the Colonel once the war begins.  Eventually, the Colonel (who is obviously under the influence of the sigma virus and is intent on destroying the human race with a death star type of weapon) does turn maverick and challenges Zero a fight to the death (it is scripted and there is no avoiding it) in a huge boss battle (occurs in the first of the "sigma" stages that appear after you defeat the initial 8 maverick robot masters).  Sadly, Zero is forced to defeat Colonel and that enrages Iris too (talk about woman scorned).  She literally becomes the second boss for Zero to defeat in the following level much to his regret and reluctance.  The story probably could have gone better but she was probably under the influence of the sigma virus too by the time Colonel was gone.  Definitely a short lived relationship for Zero.

2. Mario / Luigi and Princess Peach

Here is a video below from New Super Mario Wii showing Mario defeating Bower for the nth time and rescuing Peach once again:

Princess Peach (aka Princess Toadstool) and Mario / Luigi is definitely another peculiar type of relationship. Both Luigi and Mario like her (though she seems to lean more toward Mario than Luigi as far as I can tell) and are definitely her rescuers and heroes in the games.  Of course, Princes Peach always seems to manage to get kidnapped by Bowser in each Mario bros. and so Mario and Luigi have to go and try to rescue Peach each time too.  It it is almost like Peach likes to get kidnapped by Bowser and have Mario come and rescue her.  How romantic?

3. CJ and Denise in Grand Theft Auto San Andreas

Here is a video of Denise chasing after CJ when he tries to date Millie (note this is from the PC version of the the game and doesn't seem to happen in the Xbox version as far as I can tell).  Pretty funny to watch too
 It is no surprise that in some of the newer grand theft auto games, your character can gain girlfriends.  In GTA San Andreas after the "Burning Desires" mission (happens somewhat early in the game) Carl Johnson (aka CJ) will gain his first girlfriend: Denise (another African american woman who lives in a nearby neighborhood close where CJ lives), how romantic?  She is probably the easiest one to date to compared to the other girls in the game in many ways (for example, she is cool with going to fast food restaurants as opposed to fancier restaurants that other girlfriends like to go to) and sometimes she does a drive by type of date too.  Unfortunately being a typical game like Grand Theft Auto, for Denise, CJ can take up to 6 girlfriends during the course of the game.  Other potential girlfriends for CJ includes: Millie (gained in Las Venturas), Barbara (an ex cop), Katie (she is a nurse lives in San Fierro), Helena (she lives on a farm near the Flint Intersection), and Michelle (also lives in San Fierro and even likes to take CJ for a drive sometimes too).  While you will also automatically gain Millie during the Las Venturas missions (much like how it was with Denise), Michelle, Helena, Katie, and Barbara are all optional girlfriends and normally you have to meet certain requirements and meet them in certain areas before you can date them (see http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps2/914983-grand-theft-auto-san-andreas/faqs/33260 for more info about girlfriends in GTA San Andreas.  In addition, if you manage to find all of the 50 hidden oysters (hidden in the oceans, lakes and rivers in the game) your sex appeal becomes unlimited and CJ can date any of them (or all of them) if he wants regardless on how he looks and all (my guy ended up with 6 girlfriends during the course of the game).  Apparently Denise and other girlfriends can get jealous and chase after you (like in the video above), though while it might be possible to encounter in the PC version, I am not sure how to trigger it in the Xbox version (will have to test it out sometime).  Now that is an awkward moment as not only is CJ dating Denise, he can also have up to 5 more girlfriends too (all at the same time).  Can't you imagine what might happen if you tried that in real life?  They would probably all get jealous and break up with you.  If you were married to any of them, then you would probably get divorced too. What happens in GTA San Andreas stays in GTA San Andreas

4. Nikko and Michelle (and later Katie Mcrerry) in GTA 4

As with Carl in GTA San Andreas, in Grand Theft Auto 4, Nikko (the main protagonist in GTA 4) can date at least 2 different girlfriends during the course of the game (there are probably optional ones too).  The first girlfriend Nikko encounters is Michelle (not the same Michelle from GTA San Andreas of course).  She starts out as a close friend of Nikko and even dates Nikko for a while.  However unbeknownst to Nikko is that she is actually an FBI agent keepin an eye on Nikko and obviously Nikko is a criminal type working for the mafia, drug dealers, and other kingpins that he encounters in Liberty City (btw, doesn't Liberty City feel alot like New York City?  It does to me).  Eventually after several missions, in the aftermath of the the "snow storm" mission, where Nikko is sent to raid a drug warehouse and steal some drugs for his boss at the time (I think it was Elizibetha) , which was definitely a challenging mission to beat in my opinion (especially when NOOSE gets involved), there is a clip scene where Michelle reveals herself basically as an FBI agent and effectively ends her relationship with him.  I guess on the positive note: she doesn't have Nikko arrested for his crimes in the previous missions I guess out of being merciful.  Can't you imagine what that might look like in real life.  Obviously I would never become a criminal type myself (such as joining gangs or the mob), but can't you imagine what it would be like if you were in Nikko's shoes and were dating an undercover cop or FBI agent?  You would probably want to stay on the right side of the law instead considering that she could have you arrested if you do things you shouldn't do like Nikko does.  Ironically it seems like Nikko moved to Liberty City trying to escape the criminal life style and yet he finds himself working for the criminal elements of liberty city.

Of course, Michelle is not the only love interest for Nikko either.  Later in the game, Nikko will encounter several Mcrearys', namely: Frances Mcreary, Katie Mcreary, Packie Mcreary and Derrick Mcreary. Katie becomes Nikko's love interest during the course of the game too.  Anyways, everything seems to be going well for Nikko and Katie at first, however there is a mission toward the end of the game, called "Blood Brothers", which occurs sometime after the "tunnel of death" mission where Derrick makes Nikko assasinate one of his rivals who was headed to prison (which was a pretty insane mission too as you had to bust the guy out of police custody take him to an isolated area and terminate him), where Francis McReary basically pulls a "Cain and Abel" (the story from the bible where one brother kills the other) and makes Nikko shoot either him or Derrick.  While it would probably would have been better for Nikko to stay out of their dispute, the game is scripted so that Nikko kills either Derrick or Frances (which one Nikko kills is up to the player and I went with Derrick myself in the game) and in the following mission (Undertaker), Nikko has to attend Derrick or Francis' funeral (depending on Nikko kills).  Now that had to make things awkward for Nikko and Katie considering that Nikko kills one of ther brothers.  Can't you imagine trying to date someone who killed a family member (even if he/she was forced to do so by his/her brother)?  I know I wouldn't want to date someone like that and I would probably be pressing charges against that person too.  Definitely another awkward relationship in the game in my opinion.


Just for some reference: here is a youtube video of the blood brothers mission (by the way,  the poster also has videos showing the effects of killing either brother, but I won't spoil those for you:


Important disclaimer / warning about GTA 4 and SA: Obviously, the game is rated M being a typical grand theft auto type game and will likely be offensive for some people.  Definitely not recommended for kids or anyone don't like violent video games.  Also, for your own good never try anything you see in GTA at home, ever.  Doing those things can probably land you in jail or worse.  What you see in Grand Theft auto is for entertainment purposes only and should never be done in real life for obvious reasons.

 5. Scott Pilgrim and Ramona in Scott Pilgrim vs the World

Here is a youtube video showing all of the boss fights in Scott Pilgrim (including he 7 evil exes).

 I admit, I have both played the Xbox 360 game, Scott Pilgrim vs the World and later watched the movie version (watched it last year).  It was pretty enteraining in my opinion.  Anyways, talk about "skeletons in the closet". I know lots of people have pasts and sometimes they might even have secrets they don't want everyone else to know about for obvious reasons.  Some girls may have only had one boyfriend in their entire lives, while others might have gone through several.  I am sure the same can be said for us guys too (hey, I only have one ex, just for the record).  Anyways, fellow guys, if you were dating a girl you like, would you beat up her ex boyfriends if she asked you to?  This is exactly the dilema for Scott in Scott Pilgrim vs the world (both in the movie and the video game version).  In the movie version, initially, Scott was initially dating Knives Chau (who was an asian woman Scott liked), but soon into the movie he later meets Ramona, who quickly becomes Scott's latest crush.  Subsequently, he breaks up with Knives and starts dating Ramona.  Unbeknownst to Scott was that she had gone through at least 7 evil ex boyfriends (with their leader being the evil Gideon Graves) and he soon learns the hard way that if he wants to date Ramona, he will have to defeat her 7 evil ex boyfriends (usually in Mortal Kombat style matches to the death where the person defeated literally turns into coins, at least that is how it was both the movie and the game version).  The video game version of the movie plays out much like Castle Crashers and similar arcade style beat em up games, where you can play either as Scott, Kim Pine (a drummer who was also a former girlfriend of Scott at one time and seemed to be indifferent to Scott and Ramon at the time of the movie as far as I can tell), Ramona, or Stills, going through several unique levels with their own unique designs, enemies and obstacles.  At the end of each level is a major boss battle where you fight one of the exes (the final boss is Gideon b the way and is probably the most epic of them). In the end, Scott defeats all of the evil exes (including Gideon though he almost defeats Scott) and gets the girl (Ramona), but it was definitely an experience he will never forget.  By the way, in real life would you do something like that?  How about if your gf had lots of exes and they are all bigger and stronger than you?

Well, that is all for now, and stay tuned for part 2.

In part 2, I will talk about:

1. The Love Triangle in the Mass Effect series
2. Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson in Spider-man Series
3. Anakin Skywalker and Padme - Star Wars Saga
4. Amy Rose and Sonic in the Sonic the Hedgehog series
5. Thor and Jane Foster (from Thor and the Avengers).
Note: this list is subject to change by the way.

That is all for this post.  Do you have any you want to add?  Feel free to leave a comment below.

Scott Pilgrim vs the World review

If you liked Castle Crashers, you will probably love Scott Pilgrim vs the World.

Here is a random screen shot of the game I found on Flickr.  Scott Pilgrim vs the World is a side scoller arcade style beat'em up game

In a previous post I made, I started playing through Scott Pilgrim vs the World, and already beat the game at least once (with my first character of choice being Scott, after all he is the main protaganist), and would be happy to share with you what I know about the game.

Story:

The game is based on the movie/book where Scott develops a crush on a girl he meets named, Ramona, and he decides to start dating her (ending a former relationship he had with Knives).   However, Ramona's 7 evil ex boyfriends don't like the relationship between her and Scott, and it is up to Scott, along with his sidekicks, Kim Pine, Stephen Stills, Knives Chau, and even Ramona her self to battle through 7 unique levels and defeat all 7 of Ramona's evil ex boyfriends (which make up the official boss fights for this game, with Gideon being the final boss of the game) along with the hordes of interesting cronies they send after the protaganists.  There are plenty of pixelated clipscenes too, usually with Scott making love with Ramona between levels, as well as other events that take place.  Note: I haven't seen the movie nor read the book yet, so I wouldn't know much about the movie version of this game, so I wouldn't be able to make any comparisons between the game and the movie version.

Things I liked about Scott Pilgrim vs the World:

• I liked the arcade style game play (similar to games like X-men, Castle Crashers, Ninja Turtles, etc)
• Lots of special moves you can acquire
• The leveling up system is great.  Allows your character to get stronger and stronger, which is pretty useful to have as you play through the game as the levels do get progressively harder as you play through the game. 
• Lots of colorful levels.  The first level has you playing in suburban landscape of Toronto, Ontario (I've never been to Toronto myself, so I wouldn't know how accurate the picture is from the game).  I've doing a replay through the game, this time playing through the game as Kim (yes, I am playing through the game in order, starting with Scott, and ending with Ramona, and Kim is the second player I decided to play as).
• High replay value, especially if you want to play the game as the other characters as well, though the story doesn't seem to change too much on the other characters.
• Epic boss battles.  Yes you will face a good number of boss fights through the game, mostly in the form of the 7 ex boyfriends that Scott and his comrades are up against, each with their own unique characters, strenghs and weakenesses.  By the way, the bosses don't have health bars as you would find in Castle Crashers, the bosses do start flashing (similar to the ones in X-men and Ninja Turtles) when their health meter runs low.  By the way, the higher your level is, the easier it will be to take them out.
• Like Castle Crashers, you can either go solo or play with up to 4 of your buddies.  I've been going solo myself, but it seems to be fun on 4 player too.  By the way, if you think the game is too easy, you can always crank up the difficulty level to the game more challenging. 

Things I didn't like about Scott Pilgrim vs the World:

• The game is a bit short.  The game is only 8 levels long, and you could proably beat the game within a few sittings (you probably won't be able to beat the whole game in one shot since the levels are usually long, but you could probably beat the game within a few days).  On the positive note, you will probably want to play through the game several times as the other characters as well.
• Some of the moves can be tricky to master.  For example, when you use the "counter" move that you can acquire as you level up, the timing can be pretty tricky.  It is a powerful move of course as you can easily devastate enemies and bosses that way when performed correctly, but you are bound to miss a bunch of times and take a good beating when you do miss. 
• Some of the enemies do get repetitive as you will find yourself facing hordes of look alike enemies in the levels.
• Some of the special attacks could be more useful.  For example, if you play as Kim, her special "attack" is to summon some girl (probably Knives), kiss her and gain 15 health points (similar to the King's heal move in Castle Crashers).  In Scott's mode, sometimes you can get more powerful special attacks, but they happen at random.  The best special attack I found is the one when you press the RB button and your guy does a radial attack (such as Kim's spin kick attack). 

Anyways, despide the short comings, Scott Pilgrim vs the world is a pretty fun arcade style game, and this game is bound to be popular among people who liked Castle Crashers as it does have a similar feel to it. 

Fun things you can do in Scott Pilgrim:
- Some levels have special stages you can visit and earn easy coins and power ups.  Sometimes they allow you to skip difficult parts of a level (for example, in level 1, you will be able to bypass the "snowball" fight section if you take the first special stage that you can enter through a hidden doorway).
- Playing the game "Battletoads Style".  One thing you can do on multiplayer mode is to turn on the "friendly fire mode" and if you get tired of fighting bad guys and want to mess around, you can always turn on each other and beat up your buddies.  By the way, if you play as a high level character and your buddy plays as a low level character (for example, I play as Scott at level 16, and you play as Stephen at level 1), your high level character will have an unfair advantage over the other and can easily take out the lower level players.  Did that once myself, playing as Scott (level 16) and having another player play as Kim (level 1) and even one hit on her is brutal on her health.  Even a counter attack proved to be instant death for her too as I found out.  Anyways, it does make the game funner.  Note: if you are trying to beat the game, I recommend you leave "friendly fire" mode off, otherwises if your buddy gets in your way as you beat up bad guys, he or she may take the brunt of the attack as well. 
- Revisiting previous levels.  In Scott Pilgrim vs the World, if you want, you can always revisit levels you were at previously and not only level up more, but do things you couldn't do the first time.  I find playing through level one more than once pretty fun to do.  By the way, as your character makes more money, he/she can buy more expensive items, such as paying "Scott's Late fees" and unlocking some hidden powerups (such as extra lives) that you can buy later.  Also, early level bosses get progressively easier to take out on replays too, usually taking less hits to defeat than they did when you faced them the first time.

Tips and tricks for playing Scott Pilgrim:
- be sure to save up money your character earns as he/she can use it to buy food (replinishes your health, gut points, etc), powerups (such as items that raise your defenses, level, etc), as well as other useful items.
- Be sure to take advantage of moves you unlock as you level up, as the make fighting foes much easier.
- Try to master the art of "countering", especially when facing tough enemies.  If you get their pattern down, you can block their attacks more easily and unleash devestating attacks on them.
- It is helpful to have lots of lives on hand when facing tough boss fights and long levels (especially when you face Gideon, which comes in the form of 3 different boss fights as well as areas that seprate the 3 boss fights).
-  If it is your first time playing through the game, or find the game to be too difficult, I recommend you play the game on the "Average Joe mode" (the easiest mode in the game).  Playing on the harder modes is recommended for more experienced players unless if you want an extra challenge when playing the game.
- Take advantage of items you can use as weapons, such as brooms, swords, etc as they are pretty useful when it comes to tougher enemies, as well when faced with hordes.
- Don't be afraid to use the special attacks when needed, such as the radial attack move your guy has when surrounded by enemies.
- Some levels are much easier played on 2+ player mode (such as the Bus/Japanese garden level). 
- Be sure to buy items like CD's, books, wristbands, etc if you can afford them as they help your character's stats greatly, and can also help you to level up more.
- Most bosses have patterns to them, and can be easy to master (similar to boss fights in most Mega Man games).

Thinking about getting Scott Pilgrim vs the World?  You can buy and download it on Xbox Live.  If you don't have Xbox Live Points, you can always either buy them on Xbox live or get the game cards you can find either online or in stores.

By the way, need Xbox live points, here is a 4000 point card I found at Amazon you might like: