Philippines Photo Blog Part #1

I might as well start this thing up rolling in the photos from my time at the PI.

I'm on a boat!

Walking the Boracay beach - Wish you're there?

Boracay from a distance at its highest view.

Next part will showcase more of the scenery instead of me.

What I missed out while on vacation: Gaming

While I'm still going crazy with the official MvC2 announcement, I should of posted this yesterday oh well.

UFC 2009 Undisputed Demo - Good thing a demo for this game came out to get players used to the controls especially controlling the ground game with the right analog stick. It is about time a good UFC game came out with the sport being very popular now. The tempo is very Fight Night-ish in terms of being methodical and picking your spots to take out opposing fighters rather than mashing away with strikes praying you get a knockdown. The demo only has Shogun Rua and Chuck Lidell playable, but there's local multiplayer for two players to try it out. There's also a helpful tutorial in the demo to learn the controls especially when on the ground pounding away or going for submissions. I haven't grasped those controls yet, but eventually I will and use them to my advantage rather than winning by striking. The game is out next month and I'm now excited because I'm a UFC fan and seeing a good game out of this makes it better.

Street Fighter IV Championship Mode Patch - I messed around with this for a little bit as it is just another online mode for Street Fighter IV for players to play for bragging rights and more. Replays are also available in this mode only to look at matches learning what you did and what you need to improve if you lost. Anyway, I need to sharpen my skills again since the Arcade Infinity Ranbat 2.2 tournament is this Sunday and I should use a different character to try my luck.

Red Faction Guerrilla Demo - Quick one here as I played it once and it is another third person shooter with neat explosions and physics. Maybe I'm not a fan of these anymore due to the genre being unsaturated and I rather play an AAA one like Uncharted 2 (Multiplayer confirmed by the way).

I also bought PikelJunk Eden and its Encore expansion recently (Also finally) as it is another reason why I love downloadable games especially on PSN where quality > quantity compared to Xbox Live Arcade. So far, I barely started the game as I only played the first two gardens and not the new Encore content yet, but I can see why this game is pretty awesome right off the bat and picks it up later on. It's always nice to play some unique games once a while compared to your generic stuff you see at retail these days. (By the way, I almost bought Afrika and Aquanauts' Holiday to increase my random PS3 game taste at the Philippines, but decided not to). I look forward to play more Eden likely at a slow pace and hopefully have a review of it along with the Encore content soon.

Updating LittleBigPlanet and Noby Noby Boy - I just updated them and didn't mess around yet. Noby Noby Boy now has local multiplayer, so that's cool for such a trippy game.

That's it for now as I'm still excited for downloadable MvC2, but I might take a field trip to Arcade Infinity later this week to check out the arcade versions of BlazBlue and King of Fighters XII along maybe getting some practice in for the SF4 tournament, so look forward to impressions of those and the MvC2 Demo on PSN Thursday soon.

Its Mahvel Baybee!!!! Finally official on XBLA & PSN

It is only a matter of time with all the rumors and leaks, but Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is finally confirmed for release on Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network sometime this summer. Excitement is at an all-time high as I still play this game from time to time at arcades and never owning a console version (Dreamcast, PS2, or Xbox). Also cool is that an exclusive PSN Demo is coming out this Thursday with six characters playable (Spidey, Strider, Chun-Li, Iron Man, Ryu, and Wolverine) and local multiplayer. Here's the other stuff these new versions will offer according to all the major sites.

• Dreamcast version
• Online play similar to SSF2T HD Remix
• HD upscaling
• 16:9 widescreen support (4:3 also there)
• Custom music/soundtracks for those who hate the original soundtrack (I'm keeping it)
• 1200 MS Points / 15 bucks on PSN
• No character unlocking = Yes!!!!
• Exclusive PSN Demo as mentioned earlier this Thursday

I'm gonna take you for a ride online when this comes out. Trailer is below...

Oh yes, it is not a MvC2 blog post without this...

What I missed while being gone on vacation: Music

So I came back from the Philippines yesterday - blog about that soon when I have time (???). I might as well try to catch up on what I missed. First up is the music, which is not much other than two anticipated videos.

Amazing from kwest on Vimeo.

Kanye West - "Amazing" feat. Young Jeezy... Kanye has done it again with this video showcasing Hawaii and how beautiful (Or amazing as the song is) it is.



Black Eyed Peas - "Boom Boom Pow" Well they did deliver on the futuristic stuff as they promised (Blame it on the Ayo Technology) and I surprisingly think this video could of been better as it doesn't get u hyped up like the song would at a club or something like that.

That's it for now I guess as I continue to try to catch up with reality.

Retro reviews showcase...

Okay, not really a retro reviews showcase, but here's some reviews I done earlier in this generation of consoles that I didn't link up here.

Prey (360) - 7.7/10: This long-awaited FPS came out in the summer of 06 and didn't really deliver in the hype. I remembered called this a FPS and Magic Mountain combined into one, but then again that's the case with most FPSs today.

Legend of Zelda: Twlight Princess (Wii) - 8.6/10: I remember getting hate by fanboys for this one as it didn't recapture the magic previous Zelda games did by sticking to an old formula that worked in Ocarina of Time. In the end, I think the crowd eventually thought the same way that TP is overrated and it can't top OOT or even A Link to the Past as the best Zelda game.

God of War II (PS2) - 9.4/10: I actually had to borrow my cousin's PS2 just to play this game back in March 2007 and it was indeed worth it. Another brillant game from beginning to end especially in the last years of the PS2. Obviously, I'm looking forward for the third game to end the story with a bang.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (XBLA) - 8.9/10: I missed this wonderful gem when it first came out for the PS1 in 1997 and it was also my first Castlevania game even though I respect the franchise what it is, but never interested in playing them. SOTN is still considered one of the greatest games of all-time by being perhaps the perfect "Metroidvania" game and still a classic among the hardcore crowd.

BioShock (360) - 9.5/10: While I probably got caught up in the hype in this review because it was something else at the time, BioShock was indeed an unique FPS. Even though the sequel is looking too similar to this one according to the first gameplay footage, I'm still hoping it will deliver in the end.

Super Metroid (Wii VC) - 9/10: I never beaten Super Metroid until its re-release on the Virtual Console and it is still indeed an amazing game in the early 90s. Definitely worth playing if you're a fan of games period.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii) - 9.0/10: I would rank this one better than Echoes, but the original Prime is still king even though the Wii controls for Corruption work mostly well. Even though it was a change of pace compared to the previous games, Corruption is still one of the better Wii games around.

Kung Fu & Physics = A Deadly Combination... The Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic Review

Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic has been one of the highly anticipated downloadable titles for the Playstation Network. It is made by Tarsier Studios, which consists of former Media Molecule guys that brought us LittleBigPlanet. For those who never played the PC original, Rag Doll Kung Fu is a four player free-for-all fighting game in the vein of Super Smash Bros. and Kung Fu Chaos. It has the charm that LittleBigPlanet along with a physics system that similar to that game in terms of platforming. While a simple free-for-all fighting game seems fun on paper, Fists of Plastic does not really offer enough value to keep players coming back even though it is ten bucks. Instead, this game is somewhat of a disappointment despite some neat ideas to the combat and the special charm.

The main modes in Fists of Plastic are a standard free-for-all mode and a challenge mode testing your skills in the game earning medals and unlock more stuff like characters and extra outfits for a customized character. Even though the combat seems simple at first with punch, kick, jump, and block buttons, the advanced tactics, especially the ones that require Sixaxis motions, have a steep learning curve and will take players some time to master them effectively, but at least the challenges are there for players to practice those skills. Other than the punching and kicking, there are items and weapons to use, which are similarly used in Super Smash Bros. to throw at opponents and cause more damage. I appreciate the effort that the developers took with the Sixaxis controls such as tilting upside down to recover health while losing magic, shaking the controller to use a lightning ball, and tilting it towards a certain direction for a lunging attack, but since they are motion controlled, at times they do not feel precise and could be frustrating when things get chaotic. The challenges range from a basic survival mission, target practice that you have to keep a combo alive for higher scores and medals, and so on. The standard free-for-all mode is just a quick match offering that consists of a normal deathmatch, king of the hill, capture the fish, and dodgeball. The non-deathmatch modes do offer the game a little more variety, but it is just a small twist to the core fighting. The character creator also does not do anything special other than dress characters up in different clothes with no effect to the action. Even though Fists of Plastic can be played with up to four players locally, there is no online multiplayer at all present and it is indeed a bummer since games like this demand something like that. The only online support in this game are just leaderboards for the challenges.

The game itself looks fantastic running at a smooth 60 frames per second with no sense of slowdown. The characters actually do feel like rag dolls and this game heavily relies on physics for the game to function effectively. Even though these characters feel somewhat generic to the theme, their charm does set them apart from other games like this. The sound is also remarkable stuff especially the soundtrack having that similar style LittleBigPlanet had. Fists of Plastic is arguably one of the most polished games on the Playstation Network representing a certain graphical style and great sound.

Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic is still an enjoyable time if you like free-for-all brawlers and have local friends to play this with. There is enough simplicity there to go pick up and play, but the advanced skills do in fact have a steep learning curve to master. I like the fact that some games like this are taking an effort to have effective Sixaxis controls as there are neat ideas how they are implemented in the combat, but they can be imprecise at times when you need them the most especially in the challenges. While the game looks stunning and charming, it is unfortunate that it has no online multiplayer at all, which hurts its replay value, but hopefully it can be added in a future patch if the developers are able to add it in effectively. For ten dollars, Fists of Plastic is still a good game and worth checking out, but it could have been so much better with more content than the initial package.

Score = 6.5/10

Pros:

• Great graphical style running at 60 FPS with no slowdown
• Filled with charm from the characters to the soundtrack like LittleBigPlanet
• Neat ideas with Sixaxis controls
• Still a fun game to have around to play with local friends (if you have more than two controllers).

Cons:

• Not enough replay value - Lack of modes
• Advanced tactics require a steep learning curve to master them effectively
• Sixaxis controls can be frustrating when you need them most
• No online multiplayer

Appreciation for the 1st Mortal Kombat movie...

Remember when the first Mortal Kombat came out and shook the video game industry up a bit in the mid 90s? These were the good old days when arcades were still relevant and it is about the gameplay and graphics before it went 3D. Randomly, I watched the first Mortal Kombat movie again today and reliving some of my 90s childhood. I did watch this and the sequel, Annihilation, at the movie theatres when they came out and while the sequel is somewhat of an abomination, the first movie is actually still good to this day. Honestly, it is still the best movie based on a video game ever.

Mortal Kombat pretty much satisfied both the average movie crowd and fans of the franchise when it came out in the mid 90s by being perfectly accurate to the game with the characters, their personalities, the fight scenes, and the story. Pretty much all characters from the first game were in this movie from Liu Kang, the main character, Johnny Cage, Sonya, Raiden, Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Kano, Goro, and Shang Tsung while some characters from MK2 were in as well like Kitana, Reptile, and Jax. If u have seen this movie, you can tell it is pretty accurate to the first game in terms of story from Liu Kang's quest for revenge against Shang Tsung, Sonya's goal to kill Kano, and so on. While some fight scenes could have been better, the fight between Liu Kang and Reptile (video of that above) was the best one of the movie.

I would also like to mention the awesome soundtrack for this movie too, which brought us the Mortal Kombat theme and other techno songs like the one played during the Liu Kang/Reptile fight. It was such an energetic soundtrack that makes u want to beat up somebody and also can be played at random raves.

While recent video game based movies suck (Max Payne, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li), the first Mortal Kombat movie is arguably still the best movie based on a game because it flat out didn't suck as bad as other movies. It actually felt like a video game done right from the action as it was accurate incoporating the characters' special moves from Liu Kang's Bicycle Kick, Scorpion's Spear, and Cage's Split Punch to the balls. If any upcoming game-based flick is coming soon, they should learn from Mortal Kombat of what to do right and please the fans.