Winter-een-mas - SEGA

What sets SEGA apart from most developers is like Nintendo they also produce great consoles, so like Nintendo non-SEGA games help SEGA's systems so get a mention. On top of that SEGA are roughly 9 brilliant developers (though they've been rearranged loads of times), instead of just one.

The Master System was my first real console. I did get a Spectrum but really it was my Dad who had replaced a broken rubber keys one. I remember actually crying for one. It was sometime around the early 90's. Another of my Neighbours had a Mega Drive and another mate had a Master System. My folks could only afford a Master System, but I instantly fell in love with it.

It had Alex Kidd in Miracle World built in. Possibly one of the hardest games I can think of, also one that I was into a lot. I eventually finished it and remains one of my biggest gaming achievements. Aztec Adventure, The Ninja and Enduro Racer were other highlights besides the one thing I'll mention later.

In 1993 I had played a lot of Sonic 2 and other Mega Drive (Genesis) games and this made me want one. Also the Mega CD (Sega CD) was coming out and I really wanted Sonic CD. I asked for both consoles for Christmas that year but my folks said they could only afford one. On the day I did get both, sneaky getting me to expect less.

My Mega Drive highlights were Alisia Dragoon, Ristar, Mickey Mania, and to a lesser extent Zool. My Mega CD highlights was the Arcade collection including Streets of Rage, Columns and Revenge of Shinobi. Sol-feace was also pretty good. Although again this doesn't include something obvious that will appear later. My Mega CD was also my first CD-player, despite the fact I only ever used it to play Mega CD games and listen to one of the games soundtracks (Guess which one).

The Virus also got a 32x, it got the occasional play but the only real game of note was Knuckles Chaotix.

In 1996 I was following the Nintendo scene a little more closely getting excited about the Ultra 64. When it got delayed I decided to settle with a Saturn at Christmas that year. I wasn't really disappointed. What I hated more than anything was that the PSone was getting so much better sales. This started my fanboyish streak. In the meantime my Saturn go much love. Sega Saturn Magazine pratically excelled my interest in gaming from passive to obsessive (Thanks Mr. Leadbetter).

The Saturn saw the age of Sonic Team's originality. NiGHTS and Burning Rangers would become underappreciated classics. Panzer Dragoon Saga was brilliant but became RARE. The Virtua series, Fighters Megamix and Fighting Vipers made the Beat-em up for me. Resident Evil started a whole new craze and my friends will vouch for my Obsession with Virtual On. Die Hard Trilogy was a surprise hit. Sega Worldwide Soccer 97 is still one of my favourite Soccer games. Sega Rally and Daytona USA was all the racing I needed. Finally Rayman was surprisingly addictive. And this doesn't include a certain Blue Hedgehog.

In 1999 I was getting excited about the Dreamcast. It remains the only console that I've followed from first announcement to death (mainly because all the others have yet to die). The Dreamcast was truely a great console showing off talents from Sega-AM2, Amuze, Smilebit, WOW!, Hitmaker, and of course Sonic Team. Soul Calibur reinvented the 3D beat-em up. The Powerstone Series, well look at the Capcom section. Skies of Arcadia and Grandia 2 started a personal love for Traditional Eastern style RPG's. MS-R is still my favourite racer that doesn't go over the top with crazy stuff. House of the Dead and Marvel vs Capcom were surprise hits.

Crazy Taxi showed that Sega could still produce original and innovative titles, as did the excellent Jet Set Radio. The Shenmue series is often hit and miss, but it was a hit for me. Chu Chu Rocket and Phantasy Star Online properly introduced me to Online gaming. The Dreamcast also allowed me to play the other Resident Evil titles including the superb Code Veronica. Headhunter would become an underrated classic (even though it did have the worst cheat ever created). I even imported Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram and loved every minute of it. Finally over the last two days I've been playing quite a bit of the best Bemani game ever Samba De Amigo. SEGA have created many titles I loved so far and I've yet to mention "him".

Unfortunately SEGA went bust despite their brilliance. They are still going on strong as a Third Party developer though. Panzer Dragoon orta and Jet Set Radio Future showed us that Smilebit are still going strong. Virtua Fighter 4 Evo is a top class 3D beat-em up, even if Soul Calibur 2 beats it (only slighty). Sega Superstars gave me an excuse to get into the Eyetoy Camera, and I was not disappointed (except for it being Blue disk!). Gamecube love came in the form of Amusement Vision's superb Super Monkey Ball and AV's involvement with F-Zero GX. Finally, without mentioning "him" Headhunter Redemption proved to be an excellent sequel to an excellent game.

This of course doesn't include ports of classics like Skies of Arcadia Legends, Headhunter, Grandia 2, and Shenmue 2.

Of course no comment on SEGA would be complete without mentioning a certain Blue Hedgehog by the name of Sonic. He was and still is my Hero, don't ask me why he just is. The Comics and Cartoons are Alright but it's the games that make Sonic what he is. Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Sonic CD, Sonic Jam, Sonic Adventure (DX), Sonic Adventure 2 (battle), Sonic Advance 1 and 3, Sonic Pinball Party and Sonic Mega Collection are all brilliant, in a league of their own games. Even the not so great ones are still very good in my opinion, including Sonic 1 (ms/gg), Sonic 2 (ms/gg), Sonic Chaos, Sonic 3D, Sonic Spinball, Sonic R, Sonic Shuffle, Sonic Heroes, Sonic Advance 2, Sonic Battle, Tails Adventure, and Knuckles Chaotix.

There are some fairly poor ones. The later Game Gear games weren't all that good and Blue Spheres was rather pointless. It is important to note however that the overall effect of Sonic shaped my childhood. In the first year of high school The Virus and I used to draw loads of Sonic comics. His skill far outweighed mine though, and still does. I don't draw anymore and express my ideas as Fanfiction instead. I still listen to a lot of the Sonic Music, Especially the Sonic Heroes, Sonic CD and Sonic Adventure 2 Soundtracks. My Mobile phone has Sonic Heroes wallpaper (which I made myself), the title theme as my message tone and Scrap Brain (GG) as my main ringtone. Then there's TwinSeeds and even at 21 I still watch the Sonic Cartoons.

How can the people behind Sonic not be my number 1 developer? SEGA have a great Winter-een-mas and continue to produce the quality you have done over the years.

Winter-een-mas - Nintendo

As a long time SEGA fan it would seem odd that their greatest rival is my second favourite developer. Then again I don't think there's a gamer alive that cannot see Nintendo's quality. Nintendo have made my Greatest game of all time, despite SEGA being overall better.

I guess my love for Nintendo started at the beginning of the 90's. When I moved to my current home one of my neighbours had a NES. Though I would later go in the SEGA direction I did fall in love with Super Mario Bros and Ducktails. Bloody hell a non gaming franchise game that was good! That was the 8-bit and 16-bit era's for ya. Ducktails should be put on NES classics, and it was only right that I would eventually get Super Mario Bros on NES classics.

It was my brother that eventually owned a NES. More highlights would come in the form of Super Mario Bros 3, Teenage mutant ninja turtles (despite us brits using the term Hero), and Probotector (I never owned it but a mate and I played it quite a lot). I tried playing my NES again but alas it's broke. Not even blowing in the cartridge slot would make my games last long enough to play.

Nintendo made the Mario series which was their only real highlight for me. The NES itself though is enough to show Nintendo's quality early on.

Nintendo only went from strength to strength and later would produce the SNES. Super Mario world, Super Mario Kart, Yoshi's Island, Super Metroid and a Zelda: Link to the Past (which I would get for the GBA) were nintendo's highlights. Not to mention the Donkey Kong Country series and the Megaman series, that although not Nintendo made their system a must own. Nintendo were worthy opponents to SEGA's Mega Drive (Genesis for you Yanks).

It wasn't until the N64 that I actually felt Nintendo could be better than SEGA. Mario 64 took what NiGHTS had done further (even if it does take the credit for being the first to use an analogue stick, it wasn't). After reliving Mario 64 on the DS I remember what was so great and so bad about the game. It was a week of non stop fun, but after that week there was little to bring you back.

Goldeneye, although not nintendo, completely redesigned the FPS. It's still a classic that stands proudly amongst the list of outstanding FPS'. A lot of time was spent on the multiplayer. As was the case with Mario Kart 64. Both of these games became the party games that got me through my first year of uni and filled any gaps Ocarina of time didn't take up.

Speaking of Ocarina of time, remember how I said Nintendo made my Greatest game of all time. Well this is it. This game was the first to make me feel like I was playing in a living breathing world, not just a game. Added to that the perfect game engine, the ahead of it's time graphics, the endless list of classic moments, the wealth of side-quests, and the magically score it's easy to see why gamers rate it highly (if it's not their best game of all time). My only beef with OOT is the slow frame rate, but it doesn't really bother you. In my eyes OOT is perfect and always will be.

Perfect Dark, Majora's Mask and Super Smash Bros wrapped up the N64's highlights. Though I did have to see Donkey Kong butchered with a very poor game.

The Dreamcast may have been my best console of all time but I had to face facts. It was dead and I needed a replacement. Say hello to the Gamecube. It's the best of the three current ones IMO because of it's diversity. Though Nintendo themselves aren't making it's best games. Wind Waker stands out though. Pikmin too was something new and typically great. F-Zero GX is brilliant too, but that's part SEGA.

The Gamecube still has a version of each of my top five (Ocarina of time, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Sonic adventure 2, Skies of Arcadia Legends and Super Smash Bros Melee). It introduced me to the viewtiful, Viewtiful Joe. Metroid prime and it's sequel are top class. And there's the whole Resident Evil thing. I could go on naming quality gamecube games, even though not many were done by Nintendo. The Gamecube is cheap, powerful and full of quality, Nintendo are doing something right.

Nintendo are also the kings of portable gaming. While I was a little late in getting my hands on a Gameboy I cannot overlook it's quality either. Warioland, Megaman 4, Wario Blast and Donkey Kong Land was the gameboy's highlights for me. It's strongest title being Pokemon which I've spent hours playing. I know that anyone who puts down Pokemon do it because of it's reputation, as I doubt they have played the games. No-one who's played the games can deny their quality.

It wasn't until the Gameboy Advance that my love for Handheld gaming took off. I have loads of GBA games, whose highlights include the Sonic advance series with battle and Pinball party, Advance wars series, Pokemon series, Mario advance series, Golden Sun series, the Metroid games and Mario & Luigi superstar saga. There's probably more but I can't remember them right now. Needless to say the GBA has plenty of quality, which shows why Nintendo deserve to be tops in the Handheld market.

Even now Nintendo are still interesting. The DS is an odd direction to take that typically Nintendo. I see a lot of potential in the system already, but only time will tell if it will succeed or not.

Nintendo I salute you. You always concentrate on making good games with your only real folly is that you don't know how the public thinks. We may have had a couple of disagreements in the past but Ocarina of time still gives me goosebumps, which is enough for me to rate you highly. Have a nice Winter-een-mas.

SEGA's going to have to be some company to beat you. They are.

Winter-een-mas - Capcom

In the spirit of Winter-een-mas here is the first in a 3 part series of developer praise. Next will be Nintendo, then SEGA but first is CAPCOM. Here's something I typed last night which I would've posted, had my ISP not been a bitch.

Capcom

Where to begin with Capcom? Perhaps the first capcom game I remember getting into was the Megaman X series. I didn't own them but a friend did and we often went through the games together. Finding all the upgrades and kicking Sigma's arse was a normal night for us. Although that did stop after X3, I still regard the Megaman series as one where you have to own at least two, an X or a normal MM game.

What I love most about Capcom is their ability to look past sales and help every console. Even when the Saturn was dead as a door nail they were still producing games for it. Capcom brought two games of note to the ill-fated console, Marvel Super Heroes which I enjoyed but more importantly a superior port of Resident Evil. The saturn version was my first taste of the survival horror series that would become my second favourite series. My Screen name is inspired by RE as it was chosen when I became a member of Resident Evil Extreme.

More on Resident Evil later. As Sega consoles evolved from the Saturn to the Dreamcast more capcom love came. Marvel vs Capcom was an excellent game, but Capcom's crowning DC moment came with the vastly underappreciated Powerstone series. This fighter stood out from the crowd and still does. The closest anyone's come to making a fighter as fun, not to mention have four players, is Super Smash Bros. Capcom if you're reading this get working on Powerstone 3, it's long overdue.

Unfortunately while Capcom create some of the best games we've ever seen, the word Exclusive seems to have little meaning to them. The Dreamcast did have Resident Evil: Code Veronica as an exclusive until they made a PS2 version with an X added to the end. Same thing happened to all of their GCN exclusive 5, 3 of which is already coming to the PS2. You can look quite the fool when you say a certain game is never going to appear on the PS2, then it does.

Two more franchises appeared next to Resident Evil (which just went from strength to strength). Gregory Horror Show became yet another brilliant game that was vastly overlooked. But above all the greatest new thing to come from Capcom is the superb Viewtiful Joe. If VJ came before Sonic I would probably love it as much as I do Sonic.

Capcom are still interesting me. Viewtiful Joe 2 is coming, Killer 7 sounds like it will be a classic, and of course there's Resident evil 4.

In a nutshell Capcom is a varied developer that continues to impress me. They never overlook a good console and that's what I admire most. There only thing I hate is that they fail to keep their promises, but when the games are this good it's easy to forgive them.

Keep up the Good work Capcom. Have a good Winter-een-mas.

Fic update

For Winter-een-mas I'll be praising my top three developers starting tomorrow. For now though here's a fic update.

I've planned and started chapter 6 of Chaos Demons.

Not all doom and gloom

Saw the doctor, the stuff on the back of my head is probably just some stubborn big spots.

Playing Paper Mario 2. Sheer brilliance.

and I FINALLY FINISHED CHAPTER 5 OF CHAOS DEMONS!!

ARGH! This week has been a nightmare

First off on Tuesday night I was playing Star Ocean, getting into the beginning after the boring first hour, and my PS2 froze. With an annoyed grunt I reset my PS2 and found that it doesn't want to load the game anymore. In fact it didn't want to load anything, including silver bottomed DVD disks.

I left it til the following day in case it was simply an overheating problem. It wasn't, the Disk Read Error message still appeared. Tried it today just to be sure, nothing. Thank god my brother had Paper Mario 2 to hold me over.

Today to add 2 more awful things happened to me today. Remember my Brother's DS, the one I imported for him from America. The one I got in NOVEMBER, 2 MONTHS AGO. Well now it seems FedEX wants to charge an extra £30 for Import tax. That's almost 25% of the price my brother paid.

It's the same as those blasted credit cards. One price no matter how much you have/paid. £20 overlimit charge if your limit is £500 or £5000. Excuse me but those who can get £5000 limits are more likely to feel £20 is not that much!

Even more annoying is that it seems my big boil or cyst whatever you call them has come back in the worst possible place, the back of my head. Underneath my hair (at least it's covered up) lies a huge painful lump, which feels like the one that led to the permanent scar I have on the right side of my jawline. I haven't seen a doctor yet but I will soon. I'm hoping this time they don't have to cut it open and scar me.

I'm also feeling very tired and a bit sick, which could be related to that.

These last couple of days have been a nightmare.

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Fic Progress:

I've almost finished Chapter 5 of Chaos demons. Just have to leave it with a small paragraph or two to make up the length standard I have.

2004, What a year! Part 5

So you may be wondering just where the music, movies, TV highlights were. Well if you've been paying attention you'll find there weren't any. Well hardly any of note.

Movies did the better of the 3. Spiderman 2, Shrek 2 and I, Robot were all great. 21 grams was pretty crap though. Yet another movie that abandons all logic and entertainment so the actors could cry. We also got the final Lord of the Rings which was the end of an era for me. These movies pushed the boundaries of cinema even further, even more so for Return of the King. Truely brilliant.

TV comes in second. The new Sonic cartoon was disappointing but OK (a bit like Sonic Heroes), we saw the end of Dragonball and... Well that's just it I got more excited about kids shows than normal shows. The Auf wiedersehen pet and Friends farewells were the highlights there, with Malcolm in the Middle and The Simpsons still going strong. There was the new short pilot series of Hex and The 4400 on Sky one that showed a lot of promise. Oliver Beene shone a beacon of hope for those who like sitcoms and Hell's Kitchen was suprisingly good. On the other hand Little Britain is a sign that the BBC have lost it, abadoning anything that's actually funny for this crap. Worse thing of all is that it's popular for some reason. The British public are idiots!

Music in dead last. I bought 3 CD's this year. Sonic Heroes Triple threat vocal trax CD, Sonic Heroes complete trinity CD and Headhunter/Headhunter Redemption OST. Hello, good music, where are you? I've had to hear U2's classic "With or without you" butchered by a generic dance group, novelty swearing made it big (Eamon and Frankee), and Band Aid 20 showed us that nothing in sacred.

Thank the lord for Gaming, here's my top 5 that came out this year (that I've played):

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
The Legend of Zelda: The minish cap
Sonic Advance 3
Tales of Symphonia
Headhunter Redemption

and my 5 most disappointing titles:

Halo 2
Sonic Heroes
Final Fantasy X-2
Phantasy star online 3
Jet Set Radio (GBA)

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Fanfic Progress:

I will get back to Chaos demons though I'm in the awkward center of the fic when I really want to be at the already established end.

I also started a separate fic for Sonic's 14th birthday (June 23rd 2005). I will be posting it all in one go.

2004, What a year! Part 4

• November

Two massive things came this month. Samba De Amigo, the big hole in my Sonic Team collection, came early on and my Brother got his Nintendo DS.

Purchase - Samba De Amigo (DC):

The King of Benami. The best rythmn game of all time. There's no doubt in my mind whatsoever. It may have been £163 but was worth every penny. Truely a masterpiece overlooked by many.

Purchase - Halo 2 Special Edition (Xbox):

I am convinced that there's two types of gamers. Those that value a one player more than a multiplayer, and those that are the opposite. I'm definately in the first category and so felt disappointed with this title as it's clearly geared towards the other type. The Campaign was too short and extremely linear. It could've had much better objectives and more good bosses. The DVD was OK but Bungie do seem to be up their own arses right now and those blind fanboys they have on the E3 footage doesn't help either. Halo 2's multiplayer is said to be amazing but quite frankly I don't care. I hope bungie look at other FPS' and see what's missing in Halo 2.

Import purchase - Nintendo DS

My Brother got this and I must say it's simply amazing. They could've got this so wrong but everything works well. It needs to really take off now cause there's only about 2 good games for it, but it is still close to it's launch. The GBA playback is brilliant and the sound is simply sublime.

It came with the Metroid Demo which is pretty good. I don't like the idea of tapping the screen to touch though. It does look amazing and it's great to see a real FPS on the portable console scene.

Import Purchase - Super Mario 64 DS

I had forgotten how brilliant Mario 64 was. This improved on the formula in every single way. The different characters, the new areas and challenges, the brilliant mini games, it's all good. I loved this game but I was very upset when it was all over and I didn't feel like going back to it at all. The ultimate version of Mario 64 and you all should own at least one version of it. You may wish for it to go down in price slightly if you own the N64 version though. Review

• December

Xmas was around the corner and the DS was wearing thin. I mostly played Samba De Amigo this month, and even went back to an old classic Timesplitters 2.

Old Classic - Timesplitters 2 (Xbox):

This is still the ultimate FPS to me. It has loads to do in one player and overall it's fun. Sure it's not as smart as other FPS' but when it's this fun who cares.

Preowned - Timesplitters (PS2):

I saw this in blockbuster for £4. It's pretty bad. I can't believe this was the prequel to the game above. It didn't suit the PS2 controls at all and I just felt very underwhelmed by it

Xmas game - Metroid Prime 2 (GCN):

The last game I played of 2004 is my game of 2004. Simply breathtaking, unique and addictive. More of the same but the original was brilliant anyway. Multiplayer is an OK bonus but when the 1 player is this good who cares. It's one shabby moment comes in the poor outdoor backgrounds that seem to be painted on and out of place. It wasn't an improvement on the original but the original was brilliant regardless.

Xmas game - The Legend of Zelda: The Minish cap (GBA):

I'm not that big a fan of the 2D Zelda's so it was a surprise to me when I played Minish cap and found how great it was. As a Link to the Past was to Ocarina of time, this feels like something similar to Wind Waker. Shorter but still very good. Very enjoyable and well worth the money.

I got three more games this year for Xmas but I didn't play Tales until 2005 and I haven't started the other two yet.

2004, What a year! Part 3

• August

This is the month I got my one week job, which gave me some spare cash and meant I could get games I had to overlook.

Purchase - Sonic Advance 3 (GBA):

It's been well overdue. A fantastic new Sonic game. Those annoying leaps of faith from Advance 2 are gone and it has a pretty good chaos emerald system (for once). It plays of Battle quite nicely and the partner system is a great touch. There's very little to fault Sonic Advance 3 except maybe hunting down Chao isn't the best solution to Special stages. Sonic should have as little exploration as possible.

Purchase - Phantasy Star Online Episode 3, C.A.R.D. Revolution (GCN):

New Sonic Team game, which means it's an instant must own. It feels like PSO out of the battles, but once you get in to the meat of the game it becomes on of stratedgy rather than skill. It wouldn't be a bad thing if it wasn't SO SLOW! Probably would've been better online but I haven't managed to do that yet, and even if I did I doubt I could afford it.

NES Classics - Ice Climbers (GBA):

After playing the brilliant Super Smash Bros Melee I was interested in playing this. To be honest it was kind of boring. Played it for a day and never went back to it.

• September:

After a holiday in Spain I was getting excited. The big hitters that would set this year alight were coming.

2 for £30 Return and repicked - Dragonball Z Budokai - Players Choice (GCN):

Early on my brother bought Need for Speed underground and Simpsons Skateboarding. Unfortunately for him Simpsons was Blue bottomed and so it would be difficult to play it. I said he could keep it and try to load it with difficulty if he wanted to. In the end he thought it would be best to return it and so I did for him and got myself this instead. It's OK but hardly in the same league as Virtua Fighter or Soul Calibur.

Purchase - Headhunter Redemption (Xbox):

Xbox for better graphics and the fact I had been neglecting it for a while. Headhunter Redemption is a fantastic game with a great plot, brilliant characters and decent gameplay. Ok so for a stealth game you don't actually need to use stealth, but when it's this fun who cares. Personally I like the option of blowing apart all the enemies who stand in my way, much more than get caught = game over. Definately worth it, especially since it's only £10 at GAME (I think, I know it's at least £20). Review

• October

The month of the Novelty game. My Bro, who's a big Nintendo fan, wanted Donkey Konga and he even agreed to get me a set of bongos. It turned out that the bongo's + game wasn't much more and so he got me that! This, FFX-2 and Samba De Amigo are all reasons why my brother rocks!

Purchase - Pokemon LeafGreen (GBA):

I jumped into Pokemon Yellow so I never actually owned a proper version of the originals. This remake was more than welcome into my collection. Do not think that Pokemon is just a kids game. The more you get into it the more you see just how deep the game is. I chose green over red as it's usually a second choice. I definately wasn't disappointed with this, just a little frustrated at times.

Purchase - Donkey Konga (+ Bongos, GCN):

These Novelty games have always been one of those genres I overlook. I curse myself for it because SDA would've cost half the price if I'd got it on release. I was getting it for free so I didn't care. I instantly got hooked but found a folly with these types of games. They don't last very long. One week and I had mastered all but 3 songs on Gorilla. By then I had got Sega Superstars.

Purchase - Sega Superstars (+ Eye toy camera, PS2):

Another Novelty game I just had to own. 1) The eyetoy had always intrigued me, 2) it's Sonic team. I was delightfully surprised. Most of the games were excellent. Flying as NiGHTS through a 3D Spring Valley and then Twin Seeds was definately the highlight. It didn't really last all that long but it was a great ride while it lasted, much like Donkey Konga. If it wasn't a blue disk I'd probably play it a lot more though.

NOTE: I did a head to head for these two games Here

Fic update

Just started chapter 5 of Chaos Demons. One page and a bit done out of 6.

2004, What a year! Part 2

• April/May/June

My big birthday party happened this month and I had loads of cash to spend as my aunts and uncles were throwing money at me. Several quality titles that spilled over onto May, aka Exam month, and even into June.

2 for £30 - Final Fantasy X (platinum) and Wild Arms 3

FFX (PS2):

This probably is the best Final fantasy out of the 3 I've played. It may be linear but at no point did I feel it expected me to do more. After playing FF7 and then this I soon realised I had been wrong about the series. These games had more than just turn-based battles. I enjoyed this game a lot.

Wild Arms 3 (PS2):

Definitely a hidden gem. I didn't know what to expect and was simply blown away by this. Excellent twisting plot, good music, and a good battle system. What more could you ask for?

2 for £30 - Gregory Horror Show and Pro Evo soccer 2

Pro evo 2 (PS2):

No Brainer. Basically like Pro Evo without the dreaded blue buttom. I like how West ham (London team, south of England) are named Lake District (aka Cumbria, north west of England. Right at the borders).

Gregory Horror Show (PS2):

One of those titles that you can easily say is vastly underappreciated. If greatness was measured in Sales it would be a chart topper. Quirky, unique, tense and above all fun. A must for your PS2 collection. It's a survival horror game without the weapons. You have to avoid characters by running away from them and hoping not to get caught. They follow you so you have to be fast, quick witted and good a hiding to avoid them. As you progress more and more people will chase you, increasing the tension to unbearable amounts sometimes.

Purchase - Silent Hill 3 (PS2)

After getting back into SH2 recently this was a no brainer. Unfortunately it didn't grip me at all. The plot jumps you straight into the action with little reasoning behind it. I started FFX and needless to say SH3 didn't get a second look.

Purchase - Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA):

I hated the original Metroid. I always found myself coming to a dead end and getting my arse kicked frequently. Zero Mission allowed me to experience the first title without cursing and wandering. A fantastic remake.

Cheap Purchase - Phantasy star online ep I & II

Purely for the collection. Haven't even touched it. After all I've had the GCN version for over a year prior.


Mario Golf: Toadstool tour (GCN):

I missed the N64 version so I can't really compare. It's pretty good. Short but good. The promised wacky stuff doesn't appear until late which disappointed me. Definately worth a budget purchase. BTW this was one of my brother's purchases.

• July

Money was a real problem and Sonic Advance 3 was out. I was in crisis but I did get a couple of great games for £15 or under.

Cheap Purchase - Final Fantasy X-2 (PS2):

I couldn't believe it when I say Games final deal of the day, one day in July, Final Fantasy X-2 for £13. I got my brother to pay because I couldn't. I was severly disappointed. It's like the took every that was said bad about FFX and changed it. Level Based stuff and a non-linear game don't mix. The characters were obviously a response to "Yuna and Rikku is hot, you should make a game with just them and a hot goth chick!! OMG I think I just cum". Gameplay suffered, you cannot finish the story alone you NEED to do the sidequests. Sorry but I want to follow a story, it should be possible to do every boss as soon as you come to them. I got stuck on the Magus sisters and just couldn't bring myself to beat them. LAME! A Poor Sequel, poorly named, of a fantastic RPG.

NES Classics - Super Mario Bros (GBA):

Oddly I never actually owned this classic game. I loved every minute of this, probably the best of the NES classic games.

2004, What a year! Part 1

• January

Back to uni for my second out of 3 terms.

Xmas overflow - Viewtiful Joe (GCN):

A game that should be on everybodies list. A scrolling beat-em up with special effects and puzzles. It's highly addictive, but its difficulty can put you off. My advice, start on kids! Loved every minute of this title and cannot wait for it's sequel.

Purchase - Grand theft auto: Double pack (Xbox):

I wanted to see why everybody loves GTA. I can see why people do. It's very open and the world is huge with plenty to do. A little underwhelmed because although it's a great game it doesn't quite match the reputation it has. I think what puts it over the top is the content, using whores, organising shoot-outs, stealing vehicles, etc. This stuff has very little to do with making the game great.

Cheap Purchase - Futurama (Xbox):

Hardly groundbreaking but worth it for the content. I'm a huge Futurama fan and it does feel like you're playing an extended episode of the underrated brilliant show. Though it's one of those games where the gameplay is an afterthought it's still pretty good. I recommend a rent or two.

• February

Ah the month of my birth. 21st birthday as well so money would be rolling in. Two Sonic games, I must be in heaven!

Purchase - Sonic Heroes (GCN):

It was inevitable that I would get this. While I agree it's no where near as good as the classics it's still a good game. It doesn't deserve the slating it's getting, especially when you consider the good marks the rather disappointing Super Mario Sunshine gets. Disappointing but worth a play. Review

Purchase - Sonic Battle (GBA):

Despite its obvious flaws it's a very addictive title. Customising Emerl and the overal plot, while confusing timeline wise, were the game's highlights. I just feel that the GBA was the wrong format for this. Too many functions, not enough buttons. A tutorial mode would've been nice too. Review

Purchase - Jet Set Radio (GBA):

I don't like this. The Isometric view it tricky to get used to, as is the awful controls. Get the DC version instead and leave this to die.

• March

The month I bought my PS2. It filled quite a big void as I looked towards filling my collection with quality.

Budget Purchase - Beyond Good and Evil (Xbox):

A Quality Action RPG with good stealth elements. Unique and brilliant just a too short. You must own this considering it's cost.

Xmas overflow - XIII (Xbox):

A very good FPS with a nice plot. Just didn't grip me and ended up on the shelf to gather dust. I'll probably get back to it someday.

Preowned purchase - PS2 with two games, mem card and extra pad:

Old model = Disk Read Error with Blue disks. I have been surprised by the PS2, mainly because I've fallen in love with traditional style RPG's. The PS2 is full of these with a few other hidden gems. Also I don't see why you need a PSone memory card to save Psone games. Surely the PS2 card could hold the same data?

Game - Pro Evolution Soccer:

Everyone should own a Pro evo game. If this weren't a blue disk I'd probably have played it a lot more.

Game - Prince of Persia: Sands of time.

A Quality platformer that everyone should own. Cheap and brilliant, much like Beyond Good and Evil. Loved every minute of this game.

Retro Purchase - Final Fantasy VII (Psone)

With my new PS2 I decided to buy another well-known title that I had overlooked. Turned out to be one of those games that was brilliant just too short. 26 hour story? Most Trad RPG's I had played up to that point at least broke 35 hours. Perhaps that's due to the date though. Then again for £15 I can hardly complain.

Cheap Purchase - Ico (PS2)

Yet another, "I wanted to see what the fuss was about", game. I was slightly disappointed. Much like many games I played this year it was too short and gameplay wise felt dated, leaving much to be desired. Yet you'll only be disappointed if you expect the greatest game you've ever played. It's a brilliant game just not to the standard of its reputation (like GTA).

Purchase - Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (GCN):

Everything sounds good on paper. Remake of classic game I got for PC, when it should be played on a console. Creators of Eternal Darkness working on it. What could go wrong? I dunno, I just felt it was too similar. Resident Evil, although a Remake didn't give me this problem. Though the fight with Mantis was brilliant, shame he tried to "Move" my wavebird (they do this via rumble, Wavebirds have no rumble).

Budget Purchase - Puyo Pop Fever (GCN):

Probably my weakest purchase this year. I hated how childish it is and really when you have Sonic Mega Collection, Mean Bean Machine is all you need. Played it for a while but I just couldn't stand it any longer. Says for collection purposes.

Budget Purchase - Resident Evil Code Veronica X (GCN):

Being a resi fan at this point I now had a version of every main resi evil. RE0 and RE1 for GCN, RE2 and RE3 for Dreamcast. I was missing one, Code Veronica. Sure I had played the DC version (Virus owns it) but it just felt right to own it myself. This game is a must own, no matter what format its on. It takes what was great about RE1 and expands it a lot. Shame it was only a port. This game unfortunately was the one I was playing when my Cube broke down. I got it fixed, it wasn't RECVX's fault.

Cheap Purchase - Virtua Fighter 4 evolution (PS2):

One of the first games I got for my PS2 besides the ones that came with the console. A top quality beat-em up that is only beaten by Soul Calibur 2 (for this style of beat-em up). For £15 it would be a crazy of me to not get this game.

Cheap Retro Purchase - Final Fantasy 8 (PSone)

Blockbuster had this at £5 (Without instructions). I'd say it was worth that price. The Junctioning system is unnecesarily complicated and it didn't grip me like FFX or FF7. Seriously don't expect a masterpiece with this one. Looks good though.

The goal that never was.

If you've been reading for a while you would know that I'm a Man utd fan. Let me just start by saying it should've been a goal. There's no denying that.

That's not why I'm posting. The reason why I'm posting on it is because of what that one incident has become. People are acting like this was a first, as if it hasn't happened before. That's bullshit, the only reason it's become such a big deal is simple...

It's man utd.

Any other club and it wouldn't matter. A days report tops. Now people, mainly anti man utd are attacking Roy Carroll. Why? For not owning up!! What the fuck? When has any footballer owned up to doing something wrong. Did Gerrard own up to his two footed lunge during the merseyside derby a couple of years ago? Did Van Persie own up to elbowing Richardson during the carling cup quarter final? Did Henry suddenly say I should be banned too, when he kicked Heinze in the back of the head? Did Ricardo (Portugal Goalkeeper) own up and say the goal that would've knocked them out (and more importantly sent us, England, through) should've stood?

It's a load of bollocks. For those who are on a witch hunt against man utd, fuck off. They are not the spawn of satan. They are a good football side, probably the best.

And don't say the FA favour us. We had 3 penalties denied in the manchester derby. We lost van nistlerooy for 3 matches because Arsene Whinger whined, the FA weren't willing to listen to our defence. Then there's the Rooney incident. Banned for 3 matches for something that probably would've only been a yellow card if the referee did something about it in game. Plus it may have happened a little to quickly to judge but we should've got a penalty at the other end during that spurs game.

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fanfic update: I will get back to Chaos Demons. Minish cap took those hours, but I finished it today. Once I have all the extras I'll get back to Chaos Demons.

Missed one scan!

Finished MP2 with all the items and 98% of the scans. I missed one, Amorbis 2, which is one of the main bosses.

I also wanted to add The Simpsons Season 4 to my list of 2004 Highlights.

Generic New Year Post

Thank good 2004 is over. Here's a list of the highlights and low points of 2004.

Highlights:

- Finally getting Samba De Amigo
- Metroid Prime 2: Echoes didn't disappoint. It's superb.
- The Nintendo DS. Mario 64 DS is amazing.
- A Good Sonic game hurrah (Sonic Advance 3)
- Graduating from Uni
- Getting a PS2 with Prince of Persia: Sands of time.
- Auf Weidersehen Pet's finale
- Man Utd 2 Arsenal 0
- Lord of the rings: Return of the King on DVD
- My CAD shirt
- Hex and The 4400 restored my faith in TV for a while
- Family guy is coming back!

- 21 drinks for 21 years. On my 21st Birthday I drank 21 budweisers. One for every year of my life (ala Time Gentlemen Please). 5 minutes to midnight, one drink left. Finished it then puked. It was worth it

- Spiderman 2 & i, Robot. Fantastic movies
- An Excellent Christmas

- My 21st Birthday Party. I had to go back to newcastle uni the following monday, so I was travelling back on Sunday. On Saturday Night, me and my brother went home to sleep so I could get up early and pack some more stuff. When we got to the door my brother lost the key in the taxi. We went back to the hotel everyone was staying at and decided to go after the key the next morning (we knew it had to be in the taxi).

The next day we got up early, had a breakfest and tracked down the taxi driver. The only Key into the house we had was that one we lost. Now here's the funny part, the taxi driver found the key but POSTED it THROUGH THE LETTERBOX. We had to break into our own house.

- E3 2004 + Zelda + Resident evil 4.
- Sega Superstars
- Donkey Konga
- Zelda: Minish Cap
- Headhunter Redemption

Low points:

- Graduating with an Ordinary 3rd not an Honours 3rd. It was really hard and I felt out of my league. An Honours 3rd would mean I passed all my modules (just barely) but since I failed a few at the end I was given an Ordinary degree. It pissed me off as I had made an Honours 3rd my target.

- Job hunting. Too few prospects here and I can't afford to look elsewhere.

- The lack of dentists here. I'm still registered in Newcastle which means a 2 hour drive just to be seen

- Sonic Heroes. It wasn't THAT bad, it was actually quite good. Just every new Sonic should be a dream to play. This wasn't

- Ico disappointing. I got the impression it was world class, top 10 material. It isn't. It's very good, a must have, just not THAT good.

- Halo 2 disappointing. I have no Live!, my friends are still at uni, the 1 player leaves much to be desired. Not the Groundbreaking game people made it out to be.

- 8 months with very few quality games, 4 months of non-stop quality.

- Too many things ending. Friends, Fraiser, Auf Wiedersehen pet. Yet what do we get to replace them, Little Britain (which is shit). No more Lord of the rings to look forward to either.

- No Money, Friends scattred across country, No prospects. It's not looking good.

- Bad timing for my 21st party meant none of my mates could come (besides one). It was nearly all family.

- Finding a job only to lose it a week later

- Poor music. I bought three CD's of note this year. Sonic Heroes vocal soundtrack, Sonic Heroes complete trinity OST, Headhunter and Headhunter redemption soundtrack. You get my point.