Hit up The HighImpact!

Whew.. that Blazblue, huh?

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:53:22 GMT

Ragna (AKA Sol GoodGuy) is pretty on the up and up. Jin (AKA Ky Kiske... there's really not much of a difference...) is a bitch, and I mean personality wise. Taokaka is FUCKING adorable and I would feed her all sorts of food on her 'Meow-Plate' (And I think I might be a fan of RagKaKa... *punches self before he goes into detail*)... but unexpectedly... I am maining one of the coolest characters in that fucking game -

DAI! BAN-BAN-BANG!

Part Chipp Damage, part fucking Baiken? What the fuck do you MEAN it's Domon Kasshu as a ninja?! I am there.

Brotha Kyo Retro-Spec: Garou Mark of the Wolves Ten Years Later.

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:36:18 GMT

Around 1999, Capcom came out with the most superior version of Street Fighter III, which was subtitled 'Third Strike'. Gorgeous graphics (You've ever seen at the time.), A very fun fighting system (Parries, baby! Oh yeah!), new characters who fight like old, and vet characters who show up, and was VERY well known on the Dreamcast. Capcom thought 'Dude, now THIS is the fighting game people will be talking about for years to come!' And it is, probably one of MY personal favorite Street Fighters (Alpha 2 Gold is my favorite Alpha.).

But SNK figured 'Why the hell not? We have a legendary fighting series too... and we're going to give you guys a run for your money.' And damn. SNK powerhoused the HELL out of their MVS with their reply...

Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves or GAROU: Mark of the Wolves is the final chapter to the Fatal Fury series released in 1999, on the MVS and later on that year on the Dreamcast. A PS2 version would come out much later with online capabilities and of course if you're reading this and own a 360, chances are you're playing the latest re-release of it on there.

The story goes something like this - At the end of Real Bout Fatal Fury (Or as I call it, Fatal Fury 3 Last Chapter.), Terry finally puts the finishing move on Geese Howard, crazy badass boss and the man who killed his father. In Geese fashion, he is about to careen to what is arguably his final demise, only for Terry to be like 'Nope, fuck that, I'm the good guy so I will show you mercy and shit, punk!' As he grabs his hand to save the same guy he trained for ten years to defeat, Geese smirks and simply tells him 'Take care of my son.' Terry is in shock that Geese actually reproduced and the once legendary Fatal Fury boss slips out of the Hungry Wolf's hand, smiling psychotically as he falls to towards the city of which his evil hand once ruled. Not wanting him to follow the same path of his enemy, Terry raises Rock as his own, a product of his father's blood and his idol's influence.(KOF and FF have two different canons completely, so it is said that Geese is still alive around KOF 2003. I won't count Maximum Impact on the account some sort of 'Farscape' shit is going on in that storyline...)

Anyways, we flash forward to 2008, and yet ANOTHER King of Fighters tournament is being held in Second Southtown (In KOF canon, apparently the Zero Cannon obliterated the original Southtown.). The host of this one is a snide bastard named Kain R. Heinlein, who is Geese's brother-in-law (Yup. Rock's bastard ass has a bastard uncle. Bastard this, bastard that. Bastady Bastady Bastadagoosh. I forget, are we actually using the word Bastard by its true meaning these days? I'm not up to date on this hepcat talk.) and is pretty mad, not with power, but just an angry bitch when he learns his sister and Geese produced a child. And that is how this tournament started.

Crazy story aside, this is perhaps one of SNK's greatest video games of all time, and for good reason it is compared to Third Strike alot. Think about it -

- An advanced guarding system where timing is of the essence. (The Just Defend system can be pretty tricky at times, but becomes a crucial part in gameplay when you get the hang of it.)

- A new generation of characters who fight like their previous counterparts. Kim's sons finally have a role in a fighting game, a student of Shiranui Ninja Arts joins the fray (Oddly enough, a year before she landed a MAJOR anime role, Naruto's voice actress was the role of Hokutomaru.), there's a chick character who oddly plays a bit like Joe Higashi, one of Ryo's students joins the tournament, and of course Geese's son is the main character of the game who plays like both his father and his mentor... which reminds me...

- Veteran character. Well, MOW has only one whereas Third Strike had, what, four? But who cares, cuz TERRY BOGARD WAS BACK! He had his classic 'Burning Knuckle' and 'Power Wave' moves, and THEN some! Plus, the bomber jacket? Yo, Pizza guy turned into 'Danger Zone Dude'. Don't fuck with Terry.

- Customization in your fighting. Third Strike allowed you to choose a super, as well as who you fought next. That was kinda cool. The major customization for MOW was the T.O.P. system, which not only gave you a burst of strength, but allowed you to use other hidden moves. You can change when it activates and the size of the T.O.P. meter. (The shorter it is, the stronger you are.) It literally could turn a match around.

- The move that blew your mind. In Third Strike, fuck Gil. Resurrection, a move exclusive to Gil, was activated when he had fallen if you had a full bar. And while it didn't do damage, HE HAD A WHOLE FUCKING MAXED HEALTH BAR. Again, not an attack, but it blew your mind. Terry Bogard, in MOW, has an attack that not only blew your face clean off if linked properly, but it just started a legendary saying around fighting game fans. ARE YOU OK?! BUSTER WOLF!

- Amazing graphics. Who says 2-D is dead? In both Third Strike and MOW, everything is SO well animated, you're switching your attention from gameplay to just watching your character fall on the ground in alot of freaking in-between frames.... Jeez!

- Finally, both were 'must-have fighting games' if you owned a Dreamcast, and if you never played either or, you're missing the fuck out.

Well, I loved Third Strike, but quickly at the time, I was growing to be a huge SNK nerd, so this game really got my attention more than SFIII: TS did for the following years. This is the fastest I've played a Fatal Fury game (Slightly faster than Real Bout, in fact.), and it's like, you can FEEL your attacks land on the enemies. It's so satisfying.

And the music? Well, most of the tracks, no lie, aren't too memorable, but Rock Howard's stands out. His theme 'Spread the Wings' has a small tribute to Robert Miles' 'Children' in it. (So yeah, the Live House stage is my favorite stage...)

The game, as previously mentioned, was later released onto the Dreamcast. Around 2005 it got released onto the PS2 with online capabilities. Begging for some US of A love, we wouldn't see this game until June 24th of this year. Playing it, I made some comparisons -

- The control, while on the 360 you have to pretty much get used to it, isn't that bad, personally speaking; I'm able to Buster some Wolves, Flatten some Phoenixes, and Rage some Storms just fine. Ok, no lie, trying to do a Burning Knuckle and having him jump across screen with a fist down is a bit annoying, but for the most part, I can't gripe.

- Netcode is dodgy. I never played the PS2 version online, so I'm not sure what it was like, but I will say this; apparently SNK netcode doesn't care for my strong kick button. I hope it's fixed by KOF XII.

- The sound emulation is WAY better than on the Dreamcast! No more delayed 'Hey ,Come on Come on!'

- 800 MS Points? Cooooooooooool, that's less expensive than an old copy for the DC, mint...

Also should be worth noting that for the longest time, SNK has had a sequel planned out (The original version was 70 percent done, but now apparently, they're re-hauling the graphics to today's 2D standards. This was last said later last year.)

No lie, flaws aside, I'm glad this game garnered enough love ten years later to have SNK re-release. I recommend this game to any hardcore SNK fan and -

... wait, just thought of something.

People say, that Rock is too young right now to enter the KOF tournament. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those 'OMG IF ROCK IS NOT IN THE NEXT KOF NOT BUYING' types, but... someone explain Hotaru in XI then? Seriously, I'm pretty damn sure she's younger than Rock... and while we're at it, some KOF XI promo images show Andy training Hokutomaru (The annoying Shiranui brat.), and he SUPER younger than Rock.... Um, what the fuck SNK?

Whatever, I'm pretty sure I just changed the whole point of this post now. Discuss.

Off topic, I'm being interviewed later this week about Banzai Pecan, and the guy is going to help promote it close to demo time. Things going my way? Just as planned.

Pleasent Surprises!

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:50:51 GMT

360 Owners gets your blistered-thumbs ready; King of Fighters 98 Ultimate Match, out of nowhere, hits XBox Live this week!

ALSO.... No More Heroes 2??? Shinobu returns and if I'm not mistaken... IS PLAYABLE.

LOVE.

Whoa, really?

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:46:00 GMT

Really?! Farrah Fawcet?!

Didn't see that coming, mang.

Rest in peace...

Some Midori art~ Whoa!

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 05:53:33 GMT

Applegreen Apathy by ~manic-the-lad on deviant ART

Not my work, but man....

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:06:38 GMT

ryu VS kyo by Sagatt colors by ~aloani on deviant ART

That's some badass 'Capcom vs. SNK'...

Dude.... FUCKING Prototype...

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:03:49 GMT

Run up walls. REALLY fast.

Jump off and spin attack at a helicopter and fuck his shit up royally.

As you glide above town, you see a tank near 45 innocent people and 20 infected people....

Perform a highimpact elbow smash from 600 yards in the air onto the tank.

Take it out, causing the shockwave to wipeout the 65 people around you.

Transform into the fucking Guyver.

I just found my action game of the year.

Do your Serpent Waves online with your Psycho Balls and level up!

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 20:26:47 GMT

King of Fighters Online - A beat-em-up where, in Warriors Orochi style, you can switch out your characters.

I'm dying to see what other characters show up in this; A Kyo, Iori and Shingo custom team is a must for me.

Whoa nellie.

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:09:42 GMT

Just finished watching the Ed, Edd and Eddy movie. Hah, I gotta say what a way to end a ten-year legacy.

Anyways - have you checked out the Gurren Lagann manga?

High school comedies rule.

"THE SPIRIT OF A MAN GRASPS AT THE MASSIVE BURNING SUN AT THE TOP OF THE SKY!"

With his Combat Armor, he vanquishes ALL EVIL! All Hail Takenobu Mitsuyoshi!

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:19:23 GMT

Before I go and post a rather catchy song I need to divulge you into its brief history -

Rent-A-Hero is an interesting video game by Sega released only in Japan on the Sega Mega Drive around September 1991. You were Taro Yamada, an average joe who lived with his folks and little sister. One day, Taro orders a pizza from Sensational Cafeteria (Known as SECA), but instead of getting grub, he got a supersuit by accident known as the Combat Armor. The suit gives him amazing superhuman strength, but literally at a great cost - he has to pay for the suit that was accidentally sent to him! Rather than do it the chump's way by getting a normal part time job like fast food or something, he becomes a 'hero-for-hire', doing heroic deeds and oddjobs, slowly being pull into a deeper evil plot. The game was interesting in the way that it ran on the same graphic engine as Phantasy Star III; it was an RPG but instead of turn-based battles, you were put into a '2D-Fighter' like combat sequence. The game is known for it's off-the-wall Japanese humor with all sorts of crazy malarkey going on, reminding you not to take the story serious... It was obvious that this game will NEVER see the light of day in the West on a Sega Genesis, but thanks to emulation and hacking, there's an English version of the game... It's pretty fun...

However, we almost got the sequel. Ten years after the first game, the series is revived in the form of the one-shot 'Rent-a-Hero NO.1', which was part RPG, and part 3D brawler (Think Shenmue actually.). The game was alot like Sega's other 3D brawler Spikeout (In fact, same engine.). It's pretty much a retelling of the original story, even adding a female counterpart named 'Rent-a-Hiroko'. It still kept its ridiculous Japanese sense of humor (The opening is a complete throwback to tokusatsu...) To say the least, it was an underdog Dreamcast title. Three years later an XBox version was developed, and was even advertised to be released in America... however, that got quickly pulled with distributing problems in the US of A. Well, at least the game came out in Japan, and from what I know? There's a full-English translated version on the net somewhere.

Even the main character, Taro Yamada, was an unlockable character in the Sega fighter Fighters' Megamix, complete with theme song. (The American version had an instrumental version of the song, I recall that.)

Anyways... now that I have the rather wordy back-history out of the way, the game one day popped in my head earlier this week and I thought 'Wow, the main opening, as cheesy as it was, was rather catchy...' Something like this -

Yeah, he looked like the main dude from Saved by the Bell fused with Captain Commando. But I didn't really care; that opening ditty did it for me.

Well, that same tune is referenced again in both Fighters' Megamix and the opening to the 3D revival -

Actual song starts at 24 seconds in. The song is called 'Can You Become a Rent-A-Hero for Mankind's Sake?' and was composed and sung by Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, whose other work includes Daytona USA, Shenmue, and Virtua Fighter series. The style is done in old-school live-action hero fashion. What makes this even greater is he teamed up with Hironobu 'SPARKING' Kageyama to perform a live version of this song -

Yes, Kageyama is a fucking pimp NO MATTER WHAT HE DOES. The lyrics?

Doko no dare demo akogareteru
Kitto kimi nara naritai hazusa
Warumono taosu seigi no mikata
Kimi demo imasugu hero ni nareru come on

Heibonna hito mo fujimi ni nareru
Combat armor souchaku hanshin suru zo

Kyou mo oshigoto buji kaiketsu shita ga
Moraeru houshuu suzume no namida

Ikinari narikiri hero omatasesamedeshita!
Kantan henshin hero sokuseki choujin RENTAHERO!

"RENTAHERO wo chokuyaku sureba, chintai eiyuu de aru.
Combat armor wo rental suru seca wa sekai koufuku wo
negau yume no Hi-tech kikyou de aru. RENTAHERO wa, yo
No tame hito no tame, choujin arubaitaa to shite ugoku no da."

Doko no dare demo nayandeiru
Komatta jiken wo kakaeterunda
Sonna toki tanomu minna no mikata
Itsudemo dokodemo tasuke ni ikunda kedo

Kandenchi kirete hanshin tokeru
Isoge! Juunden koukan fukkatsu suru zo

Kyou mo ashita mo zuutto tatakai tsuzuku
Nenjuu-mukyuu muteki no baitoo

Nikutai roudou HERO otsukaresamadeshita!
Shokuyoku ousei HERO gochisousamadeshita!
Taikan kaikan HERO omedetasamadeshita?
Okiraku gokuraku HERO sokuseki choujin RENTAHERO!

Also, one more thing to mention while on the topic of Takenobu Mitsuyoshi - he's known for his 'wild engrish' in his singing for alot of video game compositions. That said, here's a rare Engrish Vocal of Ryu's theme song. Yes, THAT Ryu -

It's called 'Fist of Wave Motion Emitted' and the lyrics are on the actual video description. The thing about MitsuEngrish - you either appreciate it or you hate it. I personally like it, once I understand what he is saying, literally and figuratively for the message in his music (A good example of this is Daytona USA. ROOOOOOLLLING STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAART!)

Long story short? Great music this guy has composed and Rent-A-Hero should be introduced in America properly. We're seriously missing out.

Why couldn't it be like THIS...............

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 20:18:25 GMT

Is it sad that I am actually looking forward to the mobile version of this over the console version?

Please make a Blackjack II version..... (Or a PC version....)

:D

Sat, 30 May 2009 09:01:58 GMT

'I gotta Kung Fu You Before You FU Me.'

Wed, 27 May 2009 22:11:54 GMT

DUDE~

Mon, 25 May 2009 03:39:18 GMT

IN ENGLISH?!

The origin story of Kenshiro is out!

Writer's Block: Space Wars

Tue, 19 May 2009 20:16:10 GMT

Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Serenity, Alien, 2001—there is a long list of movies and TV shows that take place in space. Which is your favorite?

View other answers

Outlaw Star, bitches. Nuff said.

(Never said it couldn't be animated.)

Before I forget again....

Mon, 18 May 2009 23:26:57 GMT

200 plus new KOFXII screenshots.

Completely. stoked.

A rather cute take on the classic 'DADDY MULK' and then a superiour Mega CD version.

Mon, 18 May 2009 03:02:41 GMT

I normally wouldn't care about Vocaloid (Except for the twins, mind you. Find them interesting.) But fucking shit.

A rather cute take on what I say is one of the catchiest Terrific Taito Tunes (Yes, I just did. So what?) of all time. Seriously, the second DADDY MULK is on my Winamp, I leave that sucker to repeat (The other tracks in the game were MEH to mediocre at best, but that first stage man. Too bad the sequel was a better game though.

Must say Len (The male twin.) does a cool 'DA-DI-DA' for this cover.

Did that give you a sugar rush? Here, have the sugar free version (AKA superior Mega Drive version.)

What's cool about the Mega CD version is it was composed by the original artist of the game (And main of ZunTaTa).

Shit, an acapella version of this song would ROCK MY BRAIN FIVE WAYS TO SUNDAY.

Sham fucking Wow.

Sat, 16 May 2009 19:48:46 GMT

Yeah another one.

Official KOF XII Site is running wild, brothuh.

Wed, 13 May 2009 01:29:20 GMT

I am SO happy with the KOF series lately; it's quickly becoming one of the most anticipated titles this summer!

Time to do some fanart for that contest!

Like a BIG BOSS.

Mon, 11 May 2009 20:20:32 GMT

HOOOOO YEAH BITCHES!

Fri, 08 May 2009 01:54:57 GMT

BETTY AND MATURE SHOW UP IN THE CONSOLE VERSION OF KOF XII!

Elizabeth, I figured but OH SHIT SON! MATURE!!!! And in a new costume as well!

A bit of side note, I dunno whether or not this game is canon considering no cutscenes, but it should be known Mature and Vice aren't dead, it's just they got really really REALLY fucked up by Iori. Remember, Iori has a temper when he loses. They reference this in 2001 when he turns on Vanessa and them.

That said, ho shit, Mature.

God Hand Video Review

Thu, 07 May 2009 21:52:02 GMT

See? It's official. If you hate the game, it's cuz you just suck at it.

Sad that the game garnered attention years after its release... that seems to be the fate of 'rare gems' though.

An oar in one hand, a sword in the other and THE MOST DOPE ASS RAVER PANTS EVER!!!

Wed, 06 May 2009 02:51:04 GMT

You know what?

I don't give a fuck what people say - I fucking enjoyed the HELL out of MUSASHI: Samurai Legend. It's my favorite Squeenix game of all time, and personally, I'd play this sooner than I'd play another Final Fantasy game. You can keep your 'magical summon girl drama' and 'emo androgynous male heroes', Young Musashi had STYLE, ATTITUDE, and the art style was completely fucking out there. Plus the story interested me more.

People will say 'well the first one was deeper, more complex, yada yada....' I agree, but shit, you know what? I LOVED the simplicity of the second one. My buddy kojikatsuya, will have my back on it, too. (We're two of the only three fans of the sequel.)

But one of main freaking reasons I haven't EVER forgotten about this game? The GAINAX-produced opening that debuted before the game came out.

Decided to post the alternative one, however. Young Musashi cracks me the fuck up; he's like Goku with an oar, a sword, and THE MOST DOPE ASS RAVER PANTS I'VE EVER SEEN.

Viva La Legendary Swordsman Musashi Miyamoto!

Asgard hits it up again -

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:08:20 GMT

A small look back on J. Senoue!

With azrael_mr on this one...

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:16:00 GMT

If you're new at something, don't go off thinking you're a gawd-damn hot shit at it, thinking you're better than the people who have been at it forever. Arrogance? It's complete ignorance..... sheesh.