Streets of Rage

I'm trying to go play Streets of Rage and Streets of Rage 2 on my Wii. Both are awesome games, especially for fans of the genre. I found this Streets of Rage Online fansite, and for the last hour I've just been looking through their info. They have all the info. 

Also searching around I found some cool fanart. Tons of dedicated Streets of Rage players, and with good reason. Streets of Rage is one of the best Beat 'Em ups of all time and it was released very, very early in the Genesis's life, in 1991. It would beat out Final Fight to the arcade, although it seems likely that somehow one dev team spied early versions of the others's sprites. I don't know for sure who ripped off whom, but both games defined a genre more than Double Dragon and River City Ransom ever did.

Not that the Technos games are bad, and both Final Fight and Streets of Rage rip plenty of things from both games, while introducing the idea of multiple characters instead of RPG stats (later games like The Bouncer would hybridize the two formats, having multiple characters and allowing the player to level them all up).

The Bouncer also included the traditional 1v1 mode that some many games have. I picked up The Combatribes for a few bucks a month ago and it's versus mode is just awful. All the 1v1 modes were total shit.

Back on topic: Streets of Rage kicks ass and the music kicks ass. 

Below: fan art.

Interview with Yuji Naka: the creator of Sonic the Hedgehog

I found this interview with Yuji Naka in Sega Visions Issue 9. Sonic 2 hadn't come out yet, and this guy was at the height of his powers.

Phantasy Star II -- Part Four

The dams proved to be a challenge. These dungeons have some of the most sadistic mazes ever created by human beings. It took several days of playing, but eventually I opened each dam and flooded the canals on the planet.

But just when I thought the job was finished, security robots attacked and captured my party. We were taken to a space station orbiting the planet, and couldn't attack or use items.

The space station crashed, killing the entire party and destroying the planet entire planet Palm. Our bodies were salvaged in space by an outlaw, Trevor, and he cloned us back to life. We thanked him and headed back to Mota, beaten and unsure of what to do next.

Our headquarters offered further support by loaning us the use of the last spaceship on Mota. It is automatic, so anyone can drive it. Without a second thought we went to Dezo, the other planet in the system. Alis and her friend had done much the same thing 1000 years ago.

Dezo is desolate. A mysterious fog envelops the entire planet, and the inhabitants speak a different language. I had to find the Mogic Hat before we could communicate with the Dezoians. There are two species of Dezoians, one appear to be hardy humans, the others are rabbit-like creatures.

After exploring the space station for a while, I found the two towns of Zosa and Ryuon. I've upgraded all my gear, and the only thing left to do is figure out where to go...

Phantasy Star II -- Part Three

Read: Part One
Read: Part Two

It was several months since I last adventured on planet Palm. I had destroyed a bio-lab, but the Climatrol system was malfunctioning, and I had to explore it. However, the journey wouldn't be easy because I first had to invent a way to breath underwater.

By chance, a scientist in Kurei was working on just such a device--all he needed was a certain type of leaf which only grew on a certain island. The only problem: the people of Palm quit using vehicles years ago when teleportation was perfected.

However, in the same city some old jerks mentioned a jetski that they used to get drunk on and seduce women with in the old days.

The only other building I had access to was the gigantic garbage facility of Roron. Maybe the jetski was there? It was, and I now had the coveted RPG-boat! Also we ate poison cake in Roron. Good times.

I was using Rolf, Rudo, Nei, and Amy; exploring the mountains required several trips to gain a few levels. Eventually I could pimp out all my dudes and dudettes with the hottest gear. Rolf began to get more powerful that the others... Rudo's laser cannon made the leveling process bearable, but Rolf now holds the edge with his attacking magic, healing, higher damage, and teleportation. This isn't to say laser guns don't come in handy--defense has no effect on a motherfucking laser, so when physical attacks do a measly 8 or 9, Rudo always hits for 50-58.

Eventually I found the leaf, got the underwater-breathing gum, found the oceanic entrance to Climatrol, and broke into the facility. At the top was another catgirl, like Nei. She revealed that both Nei and herself were genetically engineered people (because that was not obvious). Her name was Neifirst and she attacked and killed Nei. Storydeath.

My team avenged her death, unsuccessfully. Neifirst kicked my ass. So I did it again, but this time I removed all of Nei's gear because $$$$ rules everything on Palm. I died again... The third time I was more cautious, walked through the dungeon collecting all the treasure, got to Neifirst, warped out, saved, went all the way back, and--finally--defeated her.

The cloning labs wouldn't bring Nei back to life. They had already done it a dozen times, but somehow they knew she was a bio-engineered person and refused to do the job. This fits with the harsh, apathetic world. Very few people have helped us, and a lot of people have already died.

Mother Brain declared us criminals. Her robots were sent to destroy the team. No longer would I be fighting bio-monsters...the world had changed.

My organization stood gaping in awe. Too afraid to arrest me themselves, and realizing Mother Brain's sinister intentions, they agree to let me do whatever the fuck I want on Palm.

Mother Brain outlawed all spaceflight.

I'm going to break into the damns and lower them.

There used to be a spaceport on Palm.

Continue Reading in Part 4!

VG Music: Sonic 3 vs. Pop Music

Christina Aguilera and Sonic 3, could it work? It does.

The mash-up has some rocky moments, but overall it's pretty interesting and worth a listen for Sonic fans.

The lesson everyone should learn is that Sonic has some of the best music of the last 20 years.

VG Music: Sonic Star Light Zone

After Laybrinth Zone, the open air in Star Light zone are quite welcome. Star Light zone perfectly captures the sense of adventure found in the original Sonic.

The levels were longer, you weren't always fighting Robotnik... most of the time you're just running around.

Despite this, there is a sense of anticipation and tension in this song that drives the player to continue on and hints at future challenges.