I think I'll use this blog for some game reviews too, I don't really use it a lot otherwise lol.
-Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure-
After a little drama of trying to find the wireless link (it was hidden in the battery compartment), I started playing this game today. I bought the Wii version, so no achievement things for me :P (logic: I'm getting Sonic Generations on 360)
The game isn't that bad. Nothing too complex, but not too easy either. It's not what I'd call a Spyro game, and calling it 'Spyro's Adventure' is a bit of a rip since they deliberately make the PLAYER the main story point, but treated as a game of it's own, it's really quite cute.
There's a few older Spyro references; fairies, the Balloonist, Spyro (of course), the sheep, a character that resembles a younger Professor; as well as newer Spyro references; Cynder (as a Skylander figure) and some other characters are apparently in there (though I've yet to see mention of them). Some characters seem to be blatant references to other franchises Activision's acquired too. I am however extremely disappoint that Crash Bandicoot isn't in there XD
You can't jump. It's mostly a puzzle-combat type thing, with an angled top-down prespective, I'm not sure how to categorise it. You can switch characters any time in gameplay by swapping the portal figures though!
For a completionist, this game will become very expensive. It is possible to play straight from Story point A to Story point B using just one Skylander, but to get additional power ups and explore the entire levels, you'll need at least one of each element figure. To get all the bonus character boosts, you need ALL 32 figures. At approx £5-£7 each (MUCH more for level sets) this racks up.
The figures are cross console compatible though, so if you've got a Wii version and you have a friend with the 360 version, you can put your figures on their portal and play with them. All character progression is stored inside the figurines. So you better not lose them or the game will be unplayable (major drawback, that).
I can see it being quite a fun little game for children, and I'm enjoying it too, but to treat it exclusively as a Spyro game will be asking for disappointment if that's what you expect. The story isn't about Spyro.
I'm about four levels into the game, but it's quite enjoyable. If you're willing to spend the money on the starter set, go ahead and give it a try ^_^ I hope it becomes harder as it goes on though! Gimme a ragequit moment please! (Yes, I like those XD)
I'll do a more complicated review once I beat the game :P
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Monday, 30 May 2011
4: Fans and their bases
(this is a long post, scroll to the end for the tl;dr bit. Also it may not make much sense/be a bit wrong in places as I wrote it as it came to mind. PS: I am aware I may sound like a hypocrite to some people reading this lol. My blog I'll ramble how I want!)
The first thing I do most mornings when I turn on my PC? I check various Sonic message boards. And laugh at them.
Now, being a Sonic fan myself, the things I usually see in forums make me roll my eyes. People taking things so bloody seriously!
Sonic the Hedgehog is a game primarily aimed at children/young teens. But an alarming amount of the fanbase forget this and read far too deeply into the game canon. I suspect it's like this with any fandom, but honestly, it just makes me shake my head.
It's a bloody game about a blue, super fast, HEDGEHOG. WHY are you even TRYING to take it seriously?!
I'll leave the various comics/books/etc out of this argument, as they're all off in their own little world (and Chaos knows I have a dislike of certain ones and their soap operas) but the games are pretty much apart from each other. You can fan up your own storylines for linking them together all you like, but bloody hell people, your fanfics aren't canon, stop thinking Sonic 3 and Knuckles links PERFECTLY to Sonic Adventure 1 or whatever order the games actually go in (because it sure as hell doesn't).
The storyline after Sonic Adventure becomes slightly harder to define, because with the three main SEGA departments becoming linked, we all got the stories from the west and east together and ended up with a lot of confusion at first (SA1: OMG His name's Robotnik NOT EGGMAN BAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW). But now they settled I'll try take a guess at the story order.
Sonic Adventure 1 leads to Sonic Adventure 2 (but I don't think the stories are actually related. Like, at all), Sonic Heroes follows on from SA2 in what I'll call the Shadow Arc, with Rouge finding Shadow in it. Also there's some Chaotix and Sonic and Amy flirting. Then it's Sonic Battle, followed by Shadow the Hedgehog.
Sonic Advance 1, 2 and 3 are all over the place I think, but Advance 2 must be before Heroes with Cream being a main character in it.
Sonic Rush and Sonic Rush Adventure are kind of on their own, with Blaze the Cat being an interdimensional travelling princess that has her own set of emeralds, her own Eggman, and the 'must stop dimensions going boom together' storyline.
Sonic the Hedgehog on the Xbox 360 ended up standing on its own, as it didn't really... fit in with anything, being the first attempted re-boot for the series. Sonic is a hero, sure, Shadow works for GUN like at the end of ShTH, and there's Silver, who... uh... travels from the future with Blaze. Wait. Blaze is from another DIMENSION what?! Yeah, Sonic '06 wiped itself from history at the end of the game so I guess it's okay to ignore it haaaaaaa.
Sonic Rivals and Sonic Rivals 2 I can't really comment on as I haven't tried playing them, but pretty sure they aren't related to the main storyline.
Sonic Riders, Riders Zero Gravity and Free Riders are a bunch of racing games that have no relation to ANYTHING hahah.
Um, then there's the Storybook games, which again, have no relation to anything, just fun stories on the side.
Then the series reboots again! Sonic Unleashed brought back the 'only Sonic' formula, split between faster daytime and slower night time modes with the Werehog. It was a pretty game and I liked it, but much like the two different forms of Sonic, there's a marmite divide on this game. But it leads on to Sonic Colours (apparently), which is hailed as one of the better games.
The less said about Sonic 4 Episode 1 though, the better. Nice nostalgia trip, but I wouldn't count it as part of the original series yet.
And as for Sonic Generations, back to my initial point of the stories being in different sets and pretty damned difficult to link together post Shadow, SG is going to be one big fat nostalgia trip and it's un-clear whether it'll fit in with the current storyline or be a stand alone game of it's own. With the writers from Sonic Colours on board, I suppose it'll be the former, BUT I'm not willing to play with the story in my head unless I find out more about the it before it's released. I'd prefer to wait until I get to play the game though XD
If the bad guy is Silver or an older Sonic, I will laugh at all the fan bitching, I really will :P Especially when they try think of OMG WHATS CANON IT HAS TO BE IN RELEASE ORDER (no, it doesn't. Sonic Battle and Sonic Heroes plotlines are in reverse to their release order, and as I pointed out, the storylines, or what little there are, are in different chunks). Also OMG SRS STORY NUUUUUU D:
So... Uh...
tl;dr
SO YEAH. Fanbases can take things far too seriously, I'd rather people enjoy games on a game by game basis instead of trying to think how each game links to the last one released :P Oh, and to stop bitching games because it's cool. I liked Shadow and 06 myself, and I didn't like Sonic CD. TAKE THAT BITCHES :D
The internet is srs bzns. for reals.
The first thing I do most mornings when I turn on my PC? I check various Sonic message boards. And laugh at them.
Now, being a Sonic fan myself, the things I usually see in forums make me roll my eyes. People taking things so bloody seriously!
Sonic the Hedgehog is a game primarily aimed at children/young teens. But an alarming amount of the fanbase forget this and read far too deeply into the game canon. I suspect it's like this with any fandom, but honestly, it just makes me shake my head.
It's a bloody game about a blue, super fast, HEDGEHOG. WHY are you even TRYING to take it seriously?!
I'll leave the various comics/books/etc out of this argument, as they're all off in their own little world (and Chaos knows I have a dislike of certain ones and their soap operas) but the games are pretty much apart from each other. You can fan up your own storylines for linking them together all you like, but bloody hell people, your fanfics aren't canon, stop thinking Sonic 3 and Knuckles links PERFECTLY to Sonic Adventure 1 or whatever order the games actually go in (because it sure as hell doesn't).
The storyline after Sonic Adventure becomes slightly harder to define, because with the three main SEGA departments becoming linked, we all got the stories from the west and east together and ended up with a lot of confusion at first (SA1: OMG His name's Robotnik NOT EGGMAN BAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW). But now they settled I'll try take a guess at the story order.
Sonic Adventure 1 leads to Sonic Adventure 2 (but I don't think the stories are actually related. Like, at all), Sonic Heroes follows on from SA2 in what I'll call the Shadow Arc, with Rouge finding Shadow in it. Also there's some Chaotix and Sonic and Amy flirting. Then it's Sonic Battle, followed by Shadow the Hedgehog.
Sonic Advance 1, 2 and 3 are all over the place I think, but Advance 2 must be before Heroes with Cream being a main character in it.
Sonic Rush and Sonic Rush Adventure are kind of on their own, with Blaze the Cat being an interdimensional travelling princess that has her own set of emeralds, her own Eggman, and the 'must stop dimensions going boom together' storyline.
Sonic the Hedgehog on the Xbox 360 ended up standing on its own, as it didn't really... fit in with anything, being the first attempted re-boot for the series. Sonic is a hero, sure, Shadow works for GUN like at the end of ShTH, and there's Silver, who... uh... travels from the future with Blaze. Wait. Blaze is from another DIMENSION what?! Yeah, Sonic '06 wiped itself from history at the end of the game so I guess it's okay to ignore it haaaaaaa.
Sonic Rivals and Sonic Rivals 2 I can't really comment on as I haven't tried playing them, but pretty sure they aren't related to the main storyline.
Sonic Riders, Riders Zero Gravity and Free Riders are a bunch of racing games that have no relation to ANYTHING hahah.
Um, then there's the Storybook games, which again, have no relation to anything, just fun stories on the side.
Then the series reboots again! Sonic Unleashed brought back the 'only Sonic' formula, split between faster daytime and slower night time modes with the Werehog. It was a pretty game and I liked it, but much like the two different forms of Sonic, there's a marmite divide on this game. But it leads on to Sonic Colours (apparently), which is hailed as one of the better games.
The less said about Sonic 4 Episode 1 though, the better. Nice nostalgia trip, but I wouldn't count it as part of the original series yet.
And as for Sonic Generations, back to my initial point of the stories being in different sets and pretty damned difficult to link together post Shadow, SG is going to be one big fat nostalgia trip and it's un-clear whether it'll fit in with the current storyline or be a stand alone game of it's own. With the writers from Sonic Colours on board, I suppose it'll be the former, BUT I'm not willing to play with the story in my head unless I find out more about the it before it's released. I'd prefer to wait until I get to play the game though XD
If the bad guy is Silver or an older Sonic, I will laugh at all the fan bitching, I really will :P Especially when they try think of OMG WHATS CANON IT HAS TO BE IN RELEASE ORDER (no, it doesn't. Sonic Battle and Sonic Heroes plotlines are in reverse to their release order, and as I pointed out, the storylines, or what little there are, are in different chunks). Also OMG SRS STORY NUUUUUU D:
So... Uh...
tl;dr
SO YEAH. Fanbases can take things far too seriously, I'd rather people enjoy games on a game by game basis instead of trying to think how each game links to the last one released :P Oh, and to stop bitching games because it's cool. I liked Shadow and 06 myself, and I didn't like Sonic CD. TAKE THAT BITCHES :D
The internet is srs bzns. for reals.
Sunday, 29 May 2011
3: Ahh the internet.
What would the world be like without your constant network across it?
Umm... Probably the 80s or something. (I have no idea if the internet was actually around then.)
There's so many good things about the net, but there's bad things too. So the world is connected all over, you can talk to people literally on the other side in a split second via email or a chat program, even mobile phones are connected nowadays. Then you get the people who use the internet to try and work their way around rules that are applied in reality for a reason.
Why do I bring this up? Oh, just the typical thing of DeviantART, and its double standards when it comes to its own rules. Yes, I regularly enjoy seeing pictures of random genitalia that are being called 'artistic nude'. I've seen flat out pornographic pictures on there even. But of course, the internet is for porn, allegedly.
I could turn my mature filter back on, but then half these pieces; I won't call them art; aren't even tagged as mature. It's quite sad really that one can't browse the site without stumbling across this type of thing. I could report it, but it never really does much good.
Oh, and fetish art. Yes yes, you all have your personal tastes, but for crying out loud can you keep them to sites that accept pornographic fetish material? Like FA for example. I don't want to see your hyper inflation mpreg Sonic vore all over my goddamn search, guh.
Wow I lost my train of thought. Oh, yeah, basically, the internet is for porn, you try and do a damned thing to make it safe for younger people to view and nothing happens, so we're all supposed to live with it I guess hurr.
Seriously, would it kill people to stop thinking with the groins for once?
Umm... Probably the 80s or something. (I have no idea if the internet was actually around then.)
There's so many good things about the net, but there's bad things too. So the world is connected all over, you can talk to people literally on the other side in a split second via email or a chat program, even mobile phones are connected nowadays. Then you get the people who use the internet to try and work their way around rules that are applied in reality for a reason.
Why do I bring this up? Oh, just the typical thing of DeviantART, and its double standards when it comes to its own rules. Yes, I regularly enjoy seeing pictures of random genitalia that are being called 'artistic nude'. I've seen flat out pornographic pictures on there even. But of course, the internet is for porn, allegedly.
I could turn my mature filter back on, but then half these pieces; I won't call them art; aren't even tagged as mature. It's quite sad really that one can't browse the site without stumbling across this type of thing. I could report it, but it never really does much good.
Oh, and fetish art. Yes yes, you all have your personal tastes, but for crying out loud can you keep them to sites that accept pornographic fetish material? Like FA for example. I don't want to see your hyper inflation mpreg Sonic vore all over my goddamn search, guh.
Wow I lost my train of thought. Oh, yeah, basically, the internet is for porn, you try and do a damned thing to make it safe for younger people to view and nothing happens, so we're all supposed to live with it I guess hurr.
Seriously, would it kill people to stop thinking with the groins for once?
Saturday, 28 May 2011
2: Rain~
Yeah, I love the rain, it's about bloody time we got some again! The grass was getting all horrible and crinkly brown. Like a crisp :<
It's been a horribly warm spring for the most part, been driving me crazy! I just HAD to stand outside in it yesterday. In the middle of my shift. At work. But pfft no one cares, I wasn't doing anything anyway so I took my break damnit!
It seems to have cheered up the local wildlife a little too, less birds dozing and more cats going ¬_¬ at everyone XD
I love the rain.Sometimes people give you a funny look when you say that but it's awesome. I like full blown thunderstorms the most :D
Yeah ♥
It's been a horribly warm spring for the most part, been driving me crazy! I just HAD to stand outside in it yesterday. In the middle of my shift. At work. But pfft no one cares, I wasn't doing anything anyway so I took my break damnit!
It seems to have cheered up the local wildlife a little too, less birds dozing and more cats going ¬_¬ at everyone XD
I love the rain.Sometimes people give you a funny look when you say that but it's awesome. I like full blown thunderstorms the most :D
Yeah ♥
1: Time to upgrade my phone.
Well, it's getting to time to upgrade my phone, and my little pearl is showing it :<
Problem is, I have no idea what to upgrade to.
I need a phone with good battery life, twitter and a word processing application, and, obviously, the ability to send and receive texts and phone calls (shock horror phones do do these things :O) I'd prefer ones with a keypad instead of a touch screen but that doesn't matter so much (as long as the screen is very durable!)
I currently have a BlackBerry Pearl.
Here's a list of what I can upgrade to:
BlackBerry:
Blackberry Pearl 9105
Blackberry Curve 8520
Sony:
Sony Ericsson Zylo
Sony Ericsson Xperia X10
Sony Ericsson Xperia X8
Nokia:
Nokia C1-01
Nokia C2-01
Nokia E5
Nokia C3 touch and type
Nokia X3 Touch and Type
HTC:
HTC Wildfire S
HTC Wildfire
LG:
LG Optimus 7
LG Optimus Me
LG Optimus
LG Optimus One
Samsung:
Samsung Tocco Quick Tap
Samsung B2710
Others:
Motorola Flipout
Doro PhoneEasy 410gsm
San Francisco from Orange
Any advice or tips guys? I'm rubbish at this phone lark :<
ps: no, the operating system doesn't matter, as long as it works properly.
Problem is, I have no idea what to upgrade to.
I need a phone with good battery life, twitter and a word processing application, and, obviously, the ability to send and receive texts and phone calls (shock horror phones do do these things :O) I'd prefer ones with a keypad instead of a touch screen but that doesn't matter so much (as long as the screen is very durable!)
I currently have a BlackBerry Pearl.
Here's a list of what I can upgrade to:
BlackBerry:
Blackberry Pearl 9105
Blackberry Curve 8520
Sony:
Sony Ericsson Zylo
Sony Ericsson Xperia X10
Sony Ericsson Xperia X8
Nokia:
Nokia C1-01
Nokia C2-01
Nokia E5
Nokia C3 touch and type
Nokia X3 Touch and Type
HTC:
HTC Wildfire S
HTC Wildfire
LG:
LG Optimus 7
LG Optimus Me
LG Optimus
LG Optimus One
Samsung:
Samsung Tocco Quick Tap
Samsung B2710
Others:
Motorola Flipout
Doro PhoneEasy 410gsm
San Francisco from Orange
Any advice or tips guys? I'm rubbish at this phone lark :<
ps: no, the operating system doesn't matter, as long as it works properly.
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