VGM of the Day #25 (Dean Edition): Level 1 (Silver Surfer)

Before my time as it were, I can make no claims to have even scratched the surface of the NES library. I may have played a Zelda here or a Mario there, but that is the extent of my escapades into the past. I'm sure there were critically acclaimed titles that I've yet to delve into, grand adventures I've yet to go on, timeless classics I've yet to experience.

This is not such a game.

Silver Surfer was, to summarize the notions of the Angry Video Game Nerd, a fermenting pile of compost riddled with awkward gameplay and controls, most notably obvious during the top-down sequences. The Surfer's board is oftentimes detrimental to navigation in these stages; tight turns and no way to shoot in any direction other than straight ahead of you does not a good cake make.

But yo. The MUSIC.

Tim and Geoff Follin made sure with this piece that, even if the game was the butter in the melting pot of ass, you would at least stick around for the tunes. The Anamanaguchi-esque touches here and there make me smile, strengthening a solid and fast-paced introductory theme. The melody, rising and falling like my motivation, is the heart and soul of the song, and it complements the consistency of the bass and percussion, as well as the mindless shooting the game has to offer.

For the most part I don't regret missing out on the NES age. Surely it has the ups and downs characteristic of every era, but if playing Donkey Kong also means playing Silver Surfer, that's a deal I'll have to refuse. I've never cared to pass the first stage, nor do I plan to, but at least there's SOMETHING I can appreciate about this game.

VGM of the Day #25: Paper Mario New Partner Theme

 
Paper Mario is amazing, isn't it? No doubt about it. If you do doubt it, you're stupid. Paper Mario is one the best RPGs of all time, ranking up there with Final Fantasy and the Tales series. It's just an amazing series with outstanding humor. Though it doesn't have as much character development as many other RPGs, it is still a charming little game for the N64 that will last for a long time with it's simple graphics that look great on the N64. No need for a remake for it for a long time, if ever. Then there's the sequels, The Thousand Year Door and Super Paper Mario. The Thousand Year Door is an amazing sequel and it evenly matched or even surpasses the original! With it's humor at an all time high, and the chapters becoming very creative, what could beat this? Nothing, that's what. Because Super Paper Mario is balls. The end.

Continuing on, the series has always had an unique combat system including endless badges and strategies you can choose, and partner abilities. Man, the partners in the series always leave an impact on me. They do all the talking for their duo (of them and Mario) so you get to know their personality a bit through their speech patterns. Take Parakarry, for instance. He's a boring old mailman who is boring and old and does nothing but be boring and old. Not really, Parakarry is probably my favorite partner from the first game. The speech pattern thing doesn't really occur until the second game where everybody has their own nickname for Mario (ie. Yoshi's being Gonzales).

But enough backstory already, we're here to talk about the theme! Oh man, the music in Paper Mario is AMAZING. But we're gonna talk about just a small jingle today. Whenever you get a new partner in the original Paper Mario it always plays a catchy little tune that the longer you listen to it the harder it is to get out of your head.

Though only an 18 second jingle, it has a lot of joyfulness that just makes you want to pick flowers with puppies running behind you. As I said above it's a very catchy tune. With beautiful instruments playing the joyous melody and a beautiful usage of the accordion keeping the beat in the background, it really makes you happy about getting a new partner. You're just like, 'Yo I got a new partner, even if I hate him I'm still gonna be friends with him because this song makes me happy," or something. It's a really good track, even though it loops every 18 seconds.

Wait, wtf I'm not Dean, why am I doing this.

Psychotic Informer - 8/23/11

 

 1. You know what’s always fun? Official modular game controllers. It’s amazing to have full customizable control over your controller for maximum comfort to get that edge that you can’t get with just a regular controller. And today, a new Xbox 360 customizable controller has been announced by Mad Catz. It gives you amazing customizability as well as weight control. Called the MLG Pro-Circuit Controller, it will be usable on the 360 as well as the PS3, but it mostly resembles an Xbox controller so let’s just call it that for the sake of writing. The controller comes with four joysticks, two PS3 and two 360 in case for some reason you like both on the same controller, and two d-pads, a PS3 and a 360. There’s also a weight pack in the center where you can add up to 70 grams of weight if you’re into that kind of thing. What do you think? Would you buy this Mad Catz controller? (For more information, read the full article) 

 

2. Stop for a moment. Think with me. Could you imagine...a 3DS without the 3D? Yes, a console called the S. No, not really, but it sounds like something Nintendo would do. I’ll get back to that in a second. Usually around this time Nintendo has their annual press conference in Tokyo before their big release season, and this year is no different. But this year, according to various sources, it’s just going to be a 3DS conference. People are speculating that they’ll be announcing a bunch of new games and a new 3DS model. The ‘new model’ is rumored to take out the emphasis on the 3D, or even take the 3D completely out of the system. It would also have a 2nd analog pad. If this is true, I will rage so freakin’ hard. If it’s true then basically Nintendo is screwing early adopters of the 3DS so hard with a new model. But this is just my opinion. What do you think? (For more information, read the full article)

Psychotic Informer - 8/21/11

 

 

1. Wow, first post in a week. First up, some Sony news. Almost directly a year after the last price cut, the PS3 is being marked down by $50 again! The new price of $250 is already in stores, so if you don’t have a PS3 you should buy one. There are a few games I’ve been wanting lately that are PS3 exclusive (God of War: Origins, anyone?) so I might pick one up myself sometime. This news comes after the fact that a new model of PSP has been announced. The E-1000 as it’s called will be like the regular PSP line, except it won’t have any Wifi connection which will mean no Internet Browser or PSN. Now why would you want this? Because it’s only $99! That’s a really good deal considering DSLites run for $120 and don’t have Wifi. What do you think? Would you buy the E-1000 PSP for $99 even though it doesn’t have Wifi? (For more information, read the full article)

2. More new console announcements, but this time from Nintendo! Nintendo has announced that it will be remaking the Wii, sort of like the toploader for the NES. The new version will lay horizontal instead of vertical and will lose Gamecube compatibility. The bundle will come with Wii Party and Wii Sports, a Wiimote Plus and a nunchuk. No price was given in the announcement. What do you think? Would you buy this Wii without any Gamecube compatibility? (For more information, read the full article)

 

 

3. Xenoblade news! The game has gone on sale in Europe, and there is some good news for people who want it in America. The game is being sold out in stores all across Europe and it will be a few weeks until there is enough copies for everyone. So Nintendo has underestimated their fans again and didn’t make enough copies. Excellent. But this is good news for people like me who really want the game, because as I said last week they would sell the game in America if they sold enough copies in Europe, and it looks like that is bound to happen! But in the meantime, you can always import the European version and use custom homebrew to play it. What do you think? Will the game get released in America? (For more information, read the full article)

 

4. Just Dance 1 and 2 are very popular games. So popular, in fact, that 2 was the #1 3rd party Wii game of all time. But this game is going to be better because it is going be on PS3 for the Move and 360 for the Kinect. The game comes out fairly soon, October 11th to be precise. The tracklist for the game has now been revealed! The artists include Kiss, Katy Perry, Queen, Tommy Sparks and Nelly Furtado. For the songs they have in the game and all the other songs, read the full tracklist here.

Psychotic Informer - 8/14/11

 

1. Here’s an interesting question: What if you had a multiplayer game without actually having other players? Sounds kind of dumb, right? Well, everything has to happen eventually, and today it has! Nintendo has filed a patent for ‘Massively Single-Player Online games’, or MSPOG for short. Basically it will work like this: everybody belongs to one big world, but you can’t see anybody else playing. If someone would build a house, you would see the house, but not them building it or living in it. They can add or destroy your world but you never actually see them doing anything. This sounds kind of interesting, and I might pick up the first game Nintendo makes out of this. People have been saying it could be a Pokemon game, where a person’s team of Pokemon gets placed into the game just as a trainer at the side of the road. Or a Harvest Moon game, where everyone has their own farm and you can trade crops or animals. What do you think about the MSPOG? Does it sound interesting to you? (For more information, read the full article)

2. Sonic 4 is a game that people have been waiting for forever. Episode 1 of the game was a success, but now people want more! What’s been taking so long for Episode 2 of this game? Well, that hasn’t been announced, but Sega still says the game is on the road! Some information about the game is supposed to be coming out in the next few days, so just hang tight! Some people were speculating the Sonic 4 project turned into Sonic Generations, but according to Sega this is not true and that is a completely different project. What do you think? Would you want Sonic 4 Episode 2? (For more information, read the full article)

 

3. Operation Rainfall is an organization that is trying to get certain games localized to America, like Xenoblade, the game I featured in my last post. The first phase of it is complete, and that was signing petitions and other stuff like it. But phase two is about to start, and some of you should get in on it! Basically, phase 2 works like this: All Europeans will buy Xenoblade when it comes out in Europe on the 19th, and then all Americans will buy Final Fantasy 1 for Virtual Console on the 19th and make a massive sale peak so Nintendo will notice that there’s a love for RPGs in America. If you already have FF1 for VC, you’re just supposed to gift it to a friend or donate the $5 you spent on it to Child’s Play. So yeah, you should do that if you’re into those games. Or just want Final Fantasy 1. Or something. (For specific details, read the full article)

VGM of the Day #24: Disco a GoGo

I haven't hopped on the First Person Shooter bandwagon. I've never seen the mass appeal in the genre, nor do I find entertainment in playing such a game. With the influx of FPS's that have been crowding the video game market as of late, I should think that there's something that I'm missing here, some driving factor that fuels people to buy installment after installment. Maybe it's that I don't like dying without ever seeing my assailant. Maybe it's that I don't like cooperating with a team, or having an outcome determined that's largely out of my control. I don't get it.

As with most anything I say, there are of course exceptions to this rule. One FPS series that I love to death is TimeSplitters. It's not really an online experience of any description, but more just a great gather-around-with-a-bunch-of-friends-and-kill-each-other kinda game. The plot is fresh, funny and entertaining, the gameplay fast-paced and exciting, and it has great music to boot.

(Speaking of which, I noticed that many FPS's nowadays don't have much music at all, at least during online sessions. I understand that this is mostly so you can hear either the gunshots or footsteps or whatever, but can you freaking throw in some ambiance at least?)

TimeSplitters: Future Perfect's Disco stage is one of bright lights, hectic action and close quarters, nicely accentuated by this groovy number by Graeme Norgate. It's like the '70s all over again, and it captures the vibe it's aiming for in spades. Adding to each firefight in a way I can't really describe, I would pick this stage every time when I had friends over. Good times.

Future Perfect was the third installment in the TimeSplitters series, and to my knowledge the last. Maybe if a fourth entry were released I'd have less to complain about in this genre.

Psychotic Informer - 8/11/11

 

 1. Two 3DS stories are going to be condensed into one clump! First off, getting sick of your black or blue 3DS? Good news, everyone! A new color of 3DS has been announced! Flame Red will be the new design color for the 3DS. As you can see in the picture above, it looks pretty cool. It will be $170 and will hit the shelves September 9th, the same day as Star Fox 64. There are no plans for a Star Fox 64 package, but oh well. The other news is that Nintendo has said that there won’t be a 3DS Lite for a many number of years, if at all, probably because of the crappy sales so far, but they didn’t give a real reason why. So, Flame Red 3DS (It totally would’ve been Fire Red if not for Pokémon) and no 3DS Lite. What do you think? What other 3DS colors should they release? Would you want a 3DS Lite? (For more information, read the full articles here and here)

2. Investors have told Nintendo that they shouldn’t focus so much on their own consoles and games for their consoles but instead focus on making games for the iOS platform. They are saying they should be porting their existing content and making new games for iPhone and Android shops. Other companies already do this, like with Lego Harry Potter and Sonic 4 Episode 1. Nintendo has responded and said they will never make or port content to consoles that they didn’t create themselves. What do you think? Should Nintendo make games for iOS? (For more information, read the full article)

 

 

 3. Does anybody in America want Xenoblade for the Wii? Devastated by the fact it has been said many times that it won’t be released here? Well, after months of protest from gamers, Reggie Fils-Amie (the president of Nintendo) has said that there might be a chance the game will be released here, but only if the sales are extremely good in Europe. So the pressure is on those Europeans to make the game extremely successful so we Americans get it. I really hope the game gets released here because I really want it. What do you think? Will this game ever be imported here? (For more information, read the full article)

4. For people who own 3DSes, this is just a reminder to go onto the eShop today to register yourself for the Ambassador program and get the 20 free games later this year. So go do that. Or go to Wal-Mart, buy a 3DS, then do it. Just remember to do it by tonight or you won’t get your 20 free games!