on console perfection

A while ago I wrote a post on one of my favorite Super Nintendo games, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.  Not long after that, I asked on twitter and facebook what other people’s favorite SNES games were.  And boy did I get a response.  Before I get to the list, let me laud the SNES some more.

Super Nintendo

Pure Awesomeness

I got my SNES over a decade ago, it was a birthday gift from my friends, and somehow it still works.  It’s on of the original SNES with the two purple bars for power and reset.  These things were made to last.  A library made of greatness (as you’ll see later), it is still my favorite console.  For the record, PS2 is number two (one of the greatest library of games).  Games for the SNES are just flat out fun.  And to make sure it’s not just nostalgia speaking, I recently hooked mine up and played it for quite a while.  Lo and behold, most of the games are still quite fun.  Super Mario World is my favorite Mario game, (I just never could get the hang of 3d mario controls, and I prefer sidescrolling platformers anyways), Mega man X is totally awesome, Super Metroid defined the series, Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past of one of the greatest games ever (my personal favorite Zelda, nothing against Ocarina, just a preference.)  Final Fantasy VI (3 in US) is my favorite FF ever,  etc.  So many classic on the system. So, so many.

Now for the list (in no particular order):

Secret of Mana – awesomeness.

Zelda: Link to the Past – maybe not the best, but my favorite Zelda.

Super Mario Kart – Still the best of the series. (many people agree with me)

Super Tecmo Bowl

Yoshi’s Island – One of the best platformers ever made.

Super Mario World – THE CLASSIC. (many, many, many people on this one)

Mega Man X – (X2 and X3 as well if they weren’t impossible to find)

Donkey Kong Country  (whole series. many, people on this one.)

Final Fantasy VI (III in America) – (IV is also very good, II in America) Also, my favorite Final Fantasy ever.  Terra FTW, Kefka FTW.

Battle Cars

Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen

Other games deserving mention:

Chrono Trigger – One of my favorite RPGs (and games) period. You must play this game.

Super Metroid

Bahamut Lagoon

Castlevania X

Tiny Tales: Buster busts loose – Don’t laugh! It’s a really fun game!

Turtles in Time: A Great beat-up em starring everyone’s  favorite mutant ninjas.

Super Star Wars, Empire, Jedi – These games.  Great games, hard as hell. Not sure if the’re more to say about ‘em other than that, really.

Super Mario All-Stars –  simply a must have collection

Pilot Wings – Surprisingly fun.

Aladdin – Great platformer, despite being a license game.

Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest – Kidding! But I did enjoy it in middle school.

 

Please, let me know if I have left any off this list.  I will gladly add your in my celebration of the Super Nintento Entertainment System.  Goodbye everyone, and good gaming!

–theindiegeek out.

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Worst movie of 2009 (that I actually saw)

Now that 2009 is up and over, time for me to rant and rave about the crappiest movie of the year (that I actually saw).  Now, every year will have its stinkers, but you can usually tell most before you actually go to the show.  Others you expect to be mediocre but fun, and they are.  This one is a bit different.  It is a sequel from a big-name director, and I actually enjoyed the first one pretty much.  Wasn’t the biggest fan of the lead, and thought they could do with more of some things and less of others and had hoped for the sequel they’d listen to feed back and get it right.  Boy was I wrong.

The movie, incase you haven’t guessed it yet, is Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen.

Transformers 2

Seriously, don't see it.

This movie is shit.  There’s no way around it.  It’s a pile of crap.  The only redeeming thing about it is that it has Optimus Prime in it, but (SPOILERS!) they kill him off halfway through the movie.  They kill Optimus Prime.

They. kill.  Optimus.  Freakin’.  Prime.  WTF?

Seriously?  In favor of what?  More screen time for Shia LaBeouf?  Dude was one of the reasons Indy 4 tanked, although that was unsalvageable from the get-go.  Also, the McGuffin (that is, the mystical plot device that will save everybody from the unspeakable evil, AKA, the thingie)  is called the Matrix of Leadership.  C’MON!  That’s one of the lamest things I’ve ever heard.  Should we call in Morpheus?  Or perhaps Agent Smith?  Mouse?

Really, the movie is one big pile of filth from the start to the end.  Sure the robots look cool, until they talk.  Sure the action is nice, all couple minutes of it.  Megan Fox isn’t bad looking, but there’s tons of better looking actresses who can actually act.  I’ll have to agree with a friend that a burning piece of cardboard would be a suitable replacement:  It’s hotter and a better actor.

Really, if you’re desperate to see robots smash each other, go watch the first one, or better off, Gundam.  Just not this movie.  If you just want a decent movie to watch, I can name you dozens.  Zombieland, Dr. Strangelove, The Assassination of Jesse James, and Brick come to mind off hand.

That is all. theindiegeek out.


Other movies in 2009 friends hated:

G.I. Joe

Angels and Demons

The Orphan

Ninja Assassin

Star Trek

Transformers 2

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in which the heat rises in more ways than one

theindiegeek on: Heat Wave by Richard Castle

I recently had the pleasure of reading Mr. Castle’s new book, entitled Heat Wave.  And I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Good to know that old Rick Castle hasn’t lost it.  Heat Wave is a very nice read.  Fast paced, flows very well,  just enough plot twists to have your head spinning and very likable characters;  it’s well worth reading, and perhaps then reading again.

heat wave

I have to be honest, after offing Derrik Storm, I wondered if Castle’s future books could reclaim that sense of awe and trill that made him the Master of the Macabre.  But have no fear, my friends.  Nikki Heat’s just as thrilling as Derrik.  Different, perhaps, but still excellent.  She’s the kind of cop you want on your side, and really not the other way around.  Dangerous, smart, gorgeous, and relentless, she is a hound that sticks with the case until it’s solved.

Now I know that we all know that Castle’s been following (or is pestering perhaps the right word…) one of NYPD’s finest detectives.  Personally, I’m not sure what to think about having a writer on hand at crime scenes, mucking things up, but if this it what comes out of it, and as long as the bad guys still get behind bars, I’m all for it.  Still you have to admit it’s a bit odd.

One thing that’s always made me wonder about Mr. Castle, and that’s his uncanny resemblancethat one actor guy.  Y’know, the one in Firefly.  No, not Alan Tudyk.  Not Adam Baldwin.  Yes, Nathan Fillion. That’s him.  Always thought the similarities in appearance was a bit eerie.  Someday I’ll have to ask either of them about it.

But back to the book.  Please buy it, borrow it, steal it, whatever you have to do, just read it.  It’s well worth the time.

resemblance
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of plumbers and wishes

theindiegeek on: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

A long time ago, before the Wii and Paper Mario, before Tidus and Yuna, even before Squeenix, there was a little game called Super Mario RPG.  I say little, and yet the game was pretty big, and pretty fantastic.  A joint venture between Squaresoft (not Square-Enix) and Nintendo, this game was the grandaddy of all the Paper Mario and Mario and Luigi RPGs.

Let me start out by saying this is one of my favorite games of all time.  It is extremely entertaining, with funny and whimsical characters, great mini games, an engaging combat system, and quite simply it’s flat out fun.  In researching for the article, I fired the game up to see if it was still fun.  Lo and behold it was.

The story starts out with your typical (and by typical I mean every time) Mario beginning.  Princess Toadstool has been captured by Bowser and Mario has to to rescue her.  Shortly after giving Bowser the boot, and just before he’s about to untie Toadstool, a giant frickin’ sword comes down right through the center of Bowser’s keep.  Mario, Bowser, and Toadstool are tossed to the far edges (if an elliptical world can have edges).

Seriously, the world's one giant ellipse...

Seriously, the world's one giant ellipse...

Mario is convenient tossed right back into his house, and at the insistence of Toad (y’know the guy from Mario 2), he runs back to Bowser’s keep, which is apparently only a short ways away from Mario’s house.  This explain alot.  He gets to the keep and confronts the giant sword, only now it’s a giant talking sword.

The Giant Talking Sword (GTS)

The Giant Talking Sword (GTS)

After antagonizing Mario for a bit, the sword destroys the bridge, and given that the world is one giant ellipse, he starts out on his journey the long, aka other, way.  Along the way he finds out that because of the giant talking sword, wishes are no longer granted.  Well, shit.  So he pulls together a motley crew including Mallow, the not-toad magic user, the aforementioned Princess after rescuing her from child-like psycho Booster, the not-evil-just-misunderstood Bowser, and the awesome Geno.

Geno the badass

Geno the badass

Geno is a badass.  He is a doll, possessed by a higher being who tells Mario what’s going on with the Star Road (the thing that grants wishes that the giant talking sword, from here on out referred to as GTS, destroyed).  He is both an adept fighter and magician.  He uses guns and his spells do quite a bit of  damage.  I wish Geno was in other games, but to this day he has not made an appearance beyond his role in Mario RPG.

One of the awesome parts of the game is the extremely varied places Mario has to go on his quest, including but not limited to:  The Mushroom Kingdom, Kero Sewers, a town of mining moles, Yoshi’s Island, a child-like psycho’s (Booster) tower of fun and explosives, Marrymore, a town whose economy is entirely built around weddings, a pirate shark’s sunken ship, beanstalks to climb, a magical kingdom in the clouds, a fiery volcano, a casino, Bowser’s Keep, a town of reformed monsters, and a world of machines.

One thing I found very entertaining is the way the story is told.  Given that this is a fantasy world, a large number of things that shouldn’t normally talk do, i.e., tadpoles, arrows, machines, turtles, etc.  One exception to this rule is plumbers who like the color red.  That’s right, our boy Mario is a mute in this game, but that doesn’t prevent him from getting his point across.  Mario is apparently a mime on the side.  He conveys his story by a series of elaborate and hilarious pantomimes, and is often joined quite comically by his teammates.  A rather unique way to get a point across.

I believe that Mario RPG has recently arrive on the WiiWare network.  If this is so, you have no excuse for not playing it.  If you are lucky enough and your Super Nintendo still works (like me) you really owe it to yourself to find a copy and play it.  It’s truly a great game.

–theindiegeek

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A (short) story

Something different. Felt like writing. Please enjoy.

 


 

The other night I had a dream. In it, I was standing outside my office in the parking lot. Not sure what exactly I was doing at the time, but it doesn’t matter. I was in the parking lot of my office, the white two-story building lay ahead. I started to walk across the street to enter when saw the smoke and then heard the noise. All of a sudden, the building was engulfed by flames. My jaw dropped and yet no sound came out of my mouth. The next was the worst part. Next I heard the screams. Not just any screams, but the screams of children. For whatever reason, there were children in the building while it burned.

I dropped everything and started running towards the door, the whole thing seemed to happen in slow motion. As I got closer to the door, I noticed a woman also running towards it as well. About my age, but I didn’t recognize her.

Then the dream fast forwarded a bit. I was in a burning room by a window. Apparently I’d been helping kids get out of a window when a burning beam had fallen on my back and pinned me to the ground. Despite the kids outside, I was overcome with an immense feeling of failure. I turned to my side as little as I was able and heard more kids screaming, retreating, and the woman stuck under a beam similar to the one on my back. And then I believe I died.

This dream repeated several times over that night. Each time ended just about the same. Different numbers of kids survived, sometimes the woman died with me, sometimes she didn’t, but each time was the same sense of failure and my death.

When I awoke in the morning, I was naturally shaken. Took a shower to try to put it behind me, then went to work as it was a monday. As I pulled up, I expected to see it in flames, but it was normal as ever. Just my coworkers, pulling up at the same time I did. I got to my desk and lost myself in my work, finally able to free myself from the dream.

The day passed on normal as ever. Lunch came and went. As I walked back up the stairs from my local sandwich shop, I noticed some balloons and that the office across from ours was having bring your kid to work day. Rest of the afternoon went as any other monday would have.

Shortly before I was getting ready to do my last rounds for the day, I received a call from my mechanic. Couldn’t hear him well, so I stepped outside to the parking lot to get better reception and some quiet in which to hear him. A few minutes into our conversation I saw the smoke and heard the noise. All of a sudden the building was engulfed in flames. My jaw dropped and yet no sound came out of my mouth. Next I heard the screams. My heart was beating a mile a minute. I dropped my cell phone. I started running. Despite knowing how it would end, I started running. I looked to my side and saw the woman. Despite knowing how it would end, I kept running. I kept hearing the screams. Despite knowing how it would end, I kept running and re-entered the building.

 

 

–theindiegeek

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in which samurai play guitars

theindiegeek on: Six-String Samurai

SixStringSamurai

I love netflix, I really do.  But more on that in a future post.  Over the weekend I watched a (seemingly) random movie that was recommended to me because I liked the following movies:

  • Doctor Who
  • The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
  • Brick
  • A Nightmare Before Christmas
  • A Scanner Darkly

Quite an interesting list to recommend a movie with.  Although those five movies are all pretty awesome, have to say.  It sounded quite interesting.  Here’s the premise:

After the Russians lob an atomic bomb at the United States in the late 1950s, survivors flock to the neon lights of “Lost Vegas,” where Elvis Presley is a bona fide king of music and men, but when His Majesty dies unexpectedly, the city’s shiny throne is up for grabs. Armed with a six-string in one hand and a samurai sword in the other, rock ‘n’ roll hipster Buddy (Jeffrey Falcon) vows to make it to Sin City in time for his coronation

What part about that is not awesome?  I’ll admit, it does sound a bit over the top, and at points it is, but in a good way.  The story follows a young boy who’s fleeing across the wasteland with his mother when they are attacked by raiders.  Buddy (the titular Six-String Samurai) steps in but not before the boy’s mother is killed.  The boy starts following Buddy, much to Buddy’s dismay, as the wasteland is no place for kids, and time is short for a guy who’s got a gig in Vegas to get to.

If you know me, you’ll know that I love dystopia/wasteland stories and video games (see earlier post on Fallout 3).  Not that there’s too many of them, but when I find ‘em, I generally love them. (On a side note, if you know of any, please tell me!).  I love seeing how different people see post-apocalypse life carrying out.  The whole thing combining samurai swordplay with rock and roll is too awesome.  Truth be told, it was the kind of concept that could have failed horribly in many different ways.  But on the large part, I think they succeeded.  I very much enjoyed it.  There’s a good soundtrack, and the action is great.  Jeffrey Falcon, who starred and made a good deal of this movie, was formerly a stunt man, in Chinese action movies, so the action is very much akin to that genre.  Now, something needs to be said about the title character.  I think he’s pretty much made of awesome.  Wearing a black and white tux, glasses, stubble, and a samurai sword duct taped to the back of his classic guitar.  One of those characters where most things out of his mouth could be considered badass one-liners.  Seeing the character in action was my favorite part of the movie.

I will admit, this is very much a niche movie and cult classic.  It’s not for everyone, but if you’re at least a bit like me (and if you’re visiting this site, I would hope you are), please check  it out.  The relationship between the boy and Buddy quite reminded me of the relationship between Jake and Roland in The Gunslinger (Dark Tower book 1), and seeing a guy wield both a katana and a guitar is just too awesome to pass up.

–theindiegeek

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from theindiegeek!

Last Sunday my pastor prayed a prayer that really hit home.  I don’t remember it word for word, so here’s how it hit me.

I am thankful for my student loans, because it means I have an education.

I am thankful for my car repair bill, because it means I have transportation.

I am thankful for my long drive to work, because it means I am employed.

I am thankful for my taxes, because it means I have an income.

I am thankful for having to take my dog outside at 3AM in the rain, because it means I have companionship.

I am thankful for long lines at the grocery store, because it means I am able to eat.

I am thankful for chores, because it means I have a place to live.

I am thankful for my alarm clock, because it means I have something to wake up for.

I am thankful for annoying relatives, because it means I have a family.

 

Happy thanksgiving, everyone.

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welcome to the Freek (Johnson) show

So last night I attended a show at Front Porch Music.  Our entertainers for the night was a local jazz/fusion band called Freek Johnson.  Comprised of Waz Fox (a former piano instructor of mine) on key, Buddy Pearson (a fellow FPM teacher) on bass, Marco Villarreal on guitar and Bill Romer on drums.  Despite having known half the band for several years, this was the first time I’d heard the band.  And I was blown away.

What I think impressed me the most was how in tune with each other they all were.  For example, towards then end of the show, there was a song with a particular phrase that Marco would play, then Buddy would play the same phrase on his bass, then Waz would play, and then Bill would do it on the drums.  Around and around it went.  Most excellently.

The other thing was that it was just fun to listen to.  They had a great sound that was fun to listen to, and as with all good jazz, the music simply flowed extremely well.  It was hard not to get lost in it an find yourself tapping your foot, or keeping time with your hand.

One thought I kept having was that these guys should be way more popular and famous than they are.  Northwest Indiana (NWI) and the greater Chicago area is too small for Freek Johnson.  I’ve heard quite a few popular songs on the radio that were half as good as any Freek song.  Makes me wonder about some people taste.

All in all, a wholly fantastic show.  Me and a friend hung around a bit after the show, talking with the band.  A splendid night was had for all.  Remember: SUPPORT LOCAL MUSIC!!!

–theindiegeek

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of dolls and their houses, and of a Joss and a rabid Fox

theindiegeek on: Dollhouse’s Cancellation

dollhouse

So I’m sure by now that everyone’s heard about Dollhouse’s cancellation.  Now, I enjoyed Dollhouse, but I wasn’t terribly surprised that it didn’t get a third season.  To be brutally honest, I was surprised it got a second season to begin with.  Ratings weren’t that great, and I’m not sure what it was, but to me it didn’t feel as strong as Joss’ other shows.  (Note, I am currently watching Angel and absolutely loving it).

So what was it about Dollhouse that made it different?  Well it certainly wasn’t the cast.  I would like to give special mention to Fran Kranz as Topher, Dichen Lachman as Sierra, Amy Acker as Dr. Saunders and Enver Gjokaj as Victor.  All around outstanding performances from them, not to say the rest of the cast was bad either.  Also, the cameos were fantastic,  Joss really pulled from his past shows and brought in many of his friends: Alexis Denisof, Alan Tudyk, Summer Glau, Felicia Day, etc.

The narrative also had great promise.  The evil Rossum corp enslaving people by wiping their personalities, and yet the leader of the titular Dollhouse, Adelle DeWitt still believe herself a great humanitarian, and the actives Echo, Victor, and Sierra with whom things aren’t just status quo.  Also, probably due to the nature of the characters involved, I quite enjoyed the backstory with Alpha, Echo, and Whiskey.

So if it wasn’t the characters or the narrative, what was it?  I can’t speak for anyone else, but here’s why I didn’t fall in love with Dollhouse as I did with Angel or Firefly.

Joss Whedon’s shows generally start off slow, but with Dollhouse, it really took a while to see where they were going.  The pacing wasn’t right.  Sometimes it fell quite slow, and other times there were plot twits every 5-10 minutes.  There’s a fine line between keeping the audience on their toes, and losing them.  Also, when you have characters whose whole personality changes every episode, it’s hard to form attachments to them, as you don’t really know what they’re like.  The time slot didn’t help either.  Late Friday evening?  When the target audience is mostly out doing stuff?  Not good.  Again, to be brutally honest, I just didn’t like the premise as much as that of Angel or Firefly.

That being said, I would like to specifically mention the episode “Epitaph One”, the last episode in season one.  This episode has been on of my favorite episodes of any show.  Partially due to the fact that I love dystopias,  I absolutely loved this episode.  It shows what can happen when technology goes too far (even beyond that of the dollhouse).  It takes place several years after the rest of the series and the technology has turned the world into ruins.  A group of survivors led by Felicia Day seeks refuge and finds the dollhouse, and with it several memories of the rest of the cast.  These are flashbacks (such as Topher’s first day) and flash-forwards (which I won’t spoil).  Although I must say there is one particular scene with Topher and Adelle that choked me up quite a bit and still does just thinking about it.  And I don’t think I would have enjoyed that episode as much not having watched the rest of the season.  It is worth watching the first season for that episode alone.

So the dollhouse is closed, props to it’s cast and crew on thier accomplishments, and know that fans will continue to follow Joss Whedon and the his crew onto whatever they do.  Dollhouse, you had a fine run.  Too short perhaps, but fun while it lasted.  Cheers!

–theindiegeek

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…cause you ain't seen nothing like the mighty Quinn

So incase you hadn’t noticed, I have recently brought another living thing into our house.  At least this time it was intentional.  Quinn has been with us since last Saturday.  He is a seven month old Pembroke Welsh Corgi.  And he is awesome.

I’ve always liked Corgi’s.  They’ve been on my list of favorites breeds for a long time, up there with Shepards of all nationalities and Collies.  From Ein in Cowboy Bebop, to my friend’s Josh’s corgi, I’ve always thought they were very cool dogs.  So, come graduation and apart from a job, guess what my next priority was?  No, not moving out of the house.  Not getting married (SeeThe Bro Code by Barney Stinson for why not).  Nope, my priority was getting a dog.  And not just any dog, a world-class (or at least midwest-class) Pembroke Welsh Corgi.  That was May.

Now fast forward to October.  The timing was finally right.  Got a steady job, a steady car, steady room at the folks house.  Came time to get a dog.  So I started calling breeders.  Allow me to interrupt myself for a second for a PSA.

When buying a dog, never go to pet shops.  The majority of dogs in pet shops are from puppy mills, which are really terrible things.  You all have heard the stories about chickens on farms.  Like that but much worse.  Go to a breeder or rescue service.  I decided to go with a breeder.

So I started calling breeders.  And I called breeders.  And I called breeders.  And I emailed breeders.  And I emailed breeders.  And I called breeders.  And I emailed breeders and I called breeders.  Get the picture?  Found a few pups, but either wrong color, too far away, too expensive, etc.  Eventually I found a breeder over by Ann Arbor that had (at the time) a six month old red and white male.  She was going to show him, but because of a small defect she couldn’t show him.  See, Quinn had the amazing ability to pull one of his testicles up into his body cavity (past tense, he’s fixed now).  Really, an amazing dog.

So we worked out the details, and agreed to meet midway in Grand Rapids where she had show for some of her other corgi’s (including Quinn’s mother).  Drove up there early on a saturday morning, listening to Guster and Something Corporate on the way.  Sneaked into the show, (really, no joke), and looked for the proper area.  Picked him up, payed, drove home.  This time it was Rilo Kiley and more Guster on the way home.

Then came the week of adjusting.  Y’know, taking him outside every hour or so, feeding him, getting him to not eat our other dog’s food, hoping they play nice, hoping they don’t kill each other, etc.  But really, it’s been great.  He’s a fantastic dog.  Been alot of fun. Very friendly, great looking, probably better looking than me.  He’s like me, but prettier and awesomer.  So yeah,

Come all without, come all within
You’ll not see nothing like the Mighty Quinn

–theindiegeek (and themightyquinn) out.

 

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