Barry: "So like, you're rich, lost your dad, and now fight crime. Sure you don't want to dress like a bat?" Oliver: "I'm not into furry cosplay."

So this tonight, the TV universe of DC that is not, I repeat, NOT smallville, will be expanding the universe with the Flash, and Barry Allen is going to appear in Arrow.

I am awash with excitement. ^_^

If you haven't seen it yet, you really should.  It's on it's second season so you can easily Hulu or Netflix the whole series in a few days.  It's got some great writing and solid storylines and has smart female characters that surprise you.  We all love Felicity and her endearing quirks, as well as her ability to kick loads of computer tail.

What shows are you watching or excited for?

You know how it is, there's that one game, you see it and, AH!  YEAH!  I remember that game!  It was SO much fun!  Why don't they do that anymore? There's some great properties in the past, and seeing as how games are becoming more and more samey, it might be nice to put some of that and redo it for the future.

So many games are getting the revamp treatment, for good or bad, we'll come to that later.  In a long list of older games, there are a good deal that I think would be great to revisit.  Here are the top ten games that need a revival.

10.Phantasy Star

Yes, I know there is a Phantasy Star Universe game. It's great, sure yeah, but I miss the great role playing game it used to be.  Sega needed a win on their Master System.  Nintendo had Dragon Quest, widely popular, Sega turned to a fledgling game designer, Yuji Naka who would go on to be the lead designer of the Sonic series.  Using basic algorithms (tech word for magic) they made 3D dungeons and an expansive world.  The stories and the games themselves were fantastic, excluding the third one.

The main star was Alis Landale, a 15 year old woman who was tasked with saving the world.  She was the original star of the series and is still spoken of in legend in teh Phantasy Star world, pushing the heroes forward in the second game, and having followed by another female hero, Alys Brangwin in the fourth game. The games are still considered some of the best role playing games ever made.


Good old jRPG's still exist here and there.  Would it really hurt Sega's bottom line to release one offline RPG?  Will I have to ask the same of Dragon Quest five years from now since the have now released their series as an MMO?

Closest next gen game: Skies of Arcadia - Dreamcast, Gamecube

9.Battletoads

Is that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?  Not even close.  With the three badical (it was a word in the eighties) toads and an overly judgmental professor, this group would smash and bash their way through an entire world meant to destroy them.  They sold well, but couldn't get the momentum going for the series at the time.  This with the animated pilot (it was pretty terrible), the marketing and some very fantastic villains We all loved the Dark Queen.

Pushing the boundaries of the NES console was one of the big purposes of this game.  With everyone moving to the bigger consoles, Rare tried to push the NES to it's very limits, as well as our sanity.  Seriously, I could barely get past the third level!  Gamers are clawing at games that kick our tails and make us work for a victory.  Push the limits of the Xbox One, make this game the hardest thing we've played and show us our awesome toads in action again RARE!

Closest next gen game: Dark Souls - PS3, 360

8.Tecmo Super Bowl

People tell me that I'm just not a sports game guy.  So not true.  Mutant League, NFL Blitz, Bases Loaded, I enjoy sports games that are a bit more frantic and fun.  Never one for realism.  Unless it's done right.  Take Tecmo's Super Bowl series.  Oh how many many people love this game.  The old NES classic has one heck of a cult following and is one of the few football titles to gain in value even 20 years after it was released!  They kept it going with SNES titles 1,2, and 3, then disappeared for a while.  If you played it, you understand why people love it so much and STILL go back to it even with all the new titles available.  It was tight, it was fun, it actually gave you a sense of accomplishment when you scored, it was good fun and used the real rosters, being one of the first to do so.  I would love to see Tecmo retool this game and spend some serious cash, and make a brand new 2014 tecmo bowl.  After Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden, it would not be that hard to do.  Just do it well, unlike that weird Rygar game.  They would rake in SO much dough.


Closest next gen game: Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff and Throwback - DS, Xbox live

7.Actraiser

Quick!  What would you say to a game that acted like civilization, yet you talked to the people as if you were their patron deity?  Enix broke ground like crazy back in the day. The SNES was its palette or choice and it made some impressive art.  The music was fantastic, the switch out between the genre's was well done.  This was a crazy new game.

This is the best way to describe it.  Imagine that this remake, had the same graphics as say, the newest Simcity or Civilization.  You would fly your little messenger around to point the people in the right direction.  During which you would attack monsters flying the skies until the people on the ground could ward them off.  Then you send down the big guns and it turns into a god of war style action game as you defeat the boss monsters to unlock new lands.  The second game did away with the civilization stuff which took away the point of the game.  To see the original remastered with some next gen graphics?  That would be so awesome to see make a comeback.

Closest next gen game: Nothing I can find

6.Smash TV

Like the predecessor Robotron 2084, this was a run and gun game.  Yet this one has some serious style. A two player game show where you killed and survived as long as possible to collect fabulous prizes from a snarky announcer.  If you want to know what to expect, watch the Schwarzenegger classic, The Running Man.  The game was frantic, silly and fun and seemingly endless.  This game would be amazing to see redone in a third person style with a friend with all the crazy armaments and more available.

Closest Next gen game: Bulletstorm or Armed and Dangerous- PS3,360

5.Saturday Night Slam Masters

Anyone that has played this will tell you tales of wins and losses.  The insane mash up and frantic fun of this game was beyond understanding, you just have to play it.  Most wrestling games rely on button mashing and can be a bit slow.  This was the craziest game to play on the SNES.  You wrestled and fought like a brawling game.  With tons of crazy original and unique wrestlers and multiplayer action, this combined wrestling with street fighter style moves.  Once you started it was just crazy fun rocking in that ring.  The character designs were even made by the artist and writer of the Fist of the North Star series just to add a bit of hulking muscular depth to the fun.

I could see this being remade with character creator, using the same art style and an intense eight player showdowns with online multiplayer ability.  Am I dreaming?  I hope not.  Come on Capcom!  Ducktales happened!  This needs to be made!

Closest Next Gen Game: Fire Pro Wrestling Returns - PS2

4. Star Tropics

While I can question the bizarre storyline and the questionable ending, the fun Zelda themed game was made exclusively for america by Nintendo.  Perhaps that is why we haven't seen ANY sort of development in this game.  It's a strange and silly game that's highly addictive.

You played as a boy, Mike Jones, who finds his Uncle missing and follows clues to track him down.  It was a great exploration game that even had a clue you could only learn by having the game brand new.  You had to dip the letter that was in the box, in water, thereby revealing the secret code needed to continue.  Wild right?  There are a lot of people now who know the thrill of realizing that the letter in the box was more than just a neat bit for the game, but actually made you feel like you were part of it.

With a sequel, this game series was fun and enjoyable, Mike Jones needs to make his way to the current gen sometime soon. There is a good fanbase trying to make a third game, and several game studios like camelot (golden sun) and retro (metroid prime, new donkey kong country) have expressed interest in making a third installment.  Let's get to it!

Closest Next Gen Game: The Zelda series

3.Dungeons and Dragons Arcade

I refer to the Capcom Arcade games, not the strange first person ones.  I could never get into the Bard's Tale or games like it, but the arcade version with the various characters was SUPER fun.  I played it and it's sequel anytime I had the chance to play with friends at the Space Station in town.  A brawler with RPG elements?  add the ability to grow and change to ANY game and you want to play and get further.  Add your friends and it's a Friday night party!

The closest we got to a full release was a Sega Saturn Import.  Now they did make an HD version of it for download, but come on.  With the graphics on the new street fighter, you could easily make this game.  Not only that, but with downloadable levels, characters and such, you'd make a killing!  Online play that D and D game people!

Closest Next Gen Game: Dragon's Crown

2.Street of Rage

Sega. I'm looking at you.  Capcom has it's own issues with Final Fight, but Streets of Rage you have had so so so many opportunities.  I'll give you that you can't make Shenmue as you have lost all of the Sonic Team and to be fair, the game series is slow to start and most people don't have that kind of attention span, and it cost too much to make. . .what was I talking about?  Streets of Rage!  yes! This game was EVERYWHERE and was even the corner stone of your failed action circle thing that was supposed to promote movement in games.  It will make you so much money, just get on it and let us beat up crime and rock it with Adam, Axel and of course Blaze.

Closest Next Gen Game: the downloadable Double Dragon from Way Forward.

1. River City Ransom

I promote this game as often as possible.  It's fantastic.  It's a brawl beat-em-up with RPG elements.  There was a HUGE amount of games tied into this.  From the creators of the Double Dragon series as well as the Super Dodge Ball, and several other Japanese only games, you level up, you gain new skills, take down bosses while scouring the city.  You get to do it with a friend which makes it all the sweeter, even if you do occasionally smack them or throw them at the enemies.  They keep redoing the old game for download and the Gameboy Advance.  There are bands that endlessly play the theme songs, and even an amazingly made Fan Film.  There is a crazy web comic, and even a group that remade it for the 16 bit SNES system online.  The love for this game is huge.  You can download the game on the 3DS, but we need it bigger and badder now.  I could see one long brawler with cut scenes that you could play with a friend, heck lets make it four friends.  Customize them, guys or girls.  Level up, kick butt in a brilliantly huge game with full 3D visuals.

Closest Next Gen Game: Diablo 3

Well that's all I got for you today.  Think fondly on the possibilities, I just know that some things are better left to the past.  What games have had great remakes and terrible remakes?  We'll find out next time.

Later Gamers!

OK, little joke, but to be fair when you type 'Windows 8' in a search engine you get a lot of jokes that pop up in google images.

So yeah, there is a place called project spark that will let you make game for the new Xbox One, as long as you have the current version of Windows 8 on your computer.

Ug. . .

Last year XBLA was the toast of the town, then in a year or two, it became a hassle, and now is non existent.  Even Minecraft had to jump through hoops to get it up with them wanting the developer to sign on with a publisher, rather than produce it themselves.  MINECRAFT!  IT's why the Oddworld series is skipping the console and Final Fantasy online as well.

So I'm a bit hesitant.  However if you are an indie developer, check it out and get back to me. I got some money I want to invest in your games. ^_^

https://joinprojectspark.com/

We all know Virtua fighter by now right?  The blocky weird 3D fighting game from way back.  Were you a fan of the ninja?  The lion head guy?  I've had people mistake it for Tekken at times due to the similarities between characters.  It was the first arcade fighting game to have full 3D polygon graphics and thus is one of the foundations of gaming.

Released December 1993, Virtua Fighter has just hit it's 20th birthday.  Developed by Sega-AM2 by renowned developer Yu Suzuki, known as Sega's Miyamoto who worked on Hang on, Space Harrier and of course the Shenmue series.  Designed in part with the Lockeheed Martin company which works on aerospace technology (no joke)it was a revolutionary 3D styled fighting game that is also recognized by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History like Pac Man and Dragon's Lair as being a landmark of entertainment studies.

Each character used real world martial arts(although the floaty jumping was questionable), and even with street fighter 2's popularity, they limited it to three buttons so it would be easier to program and to force people to remember combinations rather than button mashing.  Even now it is seen as an inspiration to many fighting games.  The refusal to make it online is due to the developers feeling that any lag would ruin the gameplay as they demand absolute precision on the game.

The first game had a limited roster of characters, but the game series has had many new faces appear.  For now, here is the original cast and what style their fighting moves were based off of.

Akira Yuki was the star of the game, using a form of Kung Fu called Hakkyoku-Ken.

Sarah Bryant with her brother, was from California and uses Jeet Kun Do but mixes it with Savate and Taekwondo styles.

Jacky Bryant is a race car driver and like Bruce lee and his sister Sarah, fights using Jeet Kun Do.

Pai Chan, the daughter of Lau Chan, was the 18 year old action movie star using Ensei-Ken or Mizongyi.

Lau Chan was a master chef who also used Koen-ken and entered the tournament as he was a perfectionist by nature.  He was the big villain in the anime.

Jeffry McWild was a fisherman from Australia using Pankration, a combat sport that has boxing and wrestling.

Kage-Maru, the token ninja who fights with Hagekure-ryu Ju-jitsu

Wolf Hawkfield was a Canadian wrestler who wanted to be strong, then had nightmares about the world ending in later games.  He used professional wresting moves.

Dural is the final boss, a shiny female cyborg that uses all the characters martial arts.

While polygon counts disappeared quickly making the first game obsolete, it still stands as a fantastically made game to play, even the current ones.

Sega has a website set up to capture this event here:

Japanese Site Sega Virtua Fighter 20th Anniversary Site

Fighting game fans have a lot to thank the game for when it comes to 3D fighting games.  Go party Virtua Fighter!


Odd Facts:
Siba of Shiba is a character who was never featured in the main series. He would have been from the middle east and used Pencak Silat.  When he finally reappeared in the Fighters Megamix, his move set was closer to Bahn from the Fighting Vipers game. He wielded an unblockable blade.

There is a real life wrestler named Jim Steele who took on the name and look of Wolf Hawkfield during 1994 Japan All Pro Wrestling Tournaments.



As they used real fighting moves, the fighting styles were used for characters in the Shenmue series such as Akira Yuki's moveset was used for Ryo Hazuki, there were several other characters in the second game that you fought against that shared other movesets.

DOA5 ultimate featured Akira Yuki, Sarah Bryant, Jacky Brant and Pai Chan.

In the first game, Dural was actually Kage-Maru's kidnapped mother as a cyborg.

There was an RPG released for PS2 and Gamecube based on the series called Virtua Quest.

OMG Powers!

If you haven't heard, Marvel is unveiling the new Ms. Marvel, a 16 year old girl from Jersey.  Now I will generally blast comic books for being too adult when their market was supposed to be for kids, or badly written or even just plain insane and unreadable, and I'm a fan!  However I am always pleased at how they at least TRY to deal with stereotypes.  Back after 9/11, Marvel added an X-men named 'Dust' to their roster.  It was a perfect time, as mutants were feared and hated, to add someone who was both Muslim and a mutant.

So having the new Ms. Marvel be a 16 year old Muslim from a conservative family is downright interesting and intriguing. It may end up being another tired story line after a while like I felt with DC's New 52 (you had ONE job DC. . .), but for now I'm curious.