Week of Smash Bros. Top 20: Super Smash Brothers Remixes

Super Smash Brothers, there's a reason why its one of Nintendo's biggest system sellers, and throughout the course of this week, I'll be posting why. So sit back, and enjoy the Week of Smash.

Super Smash bros has always had great songs playing in the background of stages. and with 618 songs, not including Super Smash Bros for WiiU yet, there's a lot to listen to. I guarantee there will be at least one song that you'll enjoy in these soundtracks, hell, it might be on this list. There are only three rules for this.

1. The song must be in the games themselves (Smash 64, Melee, Brawl or Smash 3DS). I'm going to do a separate list for songs exclusive to Smash WiiU when I get closer to reviewing it (when I can get a copy of the game (at time of writing, just after the ORAS review was published, the game isn't out in Australia). Project M also will not feature in any of these posts due to the lack of PAL version at time of writing. Smashing Live (an orchestrated version of some of the songs from Melee) also doesn't count.

2. The do have to be remixes made for the games (as far as I can tell). If they are game rips, they do not qualify for this list.

3. Goes without saying, they have to be remixes, original compositions for the individual games are also disqualified.

The way these are name shall be:

Eg. Song (Smash bros game) (Franchise it came from): 

as a heads up.

Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire: May the trumpets be herd, for Hoenn's Out

To say that I was hyped for this game is a understatement. With Pokemon posts taking up a decent chunk of the content here, its safe to say that I'm a Pokemon fan and if you've read my review of Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald, then you'll know that I'm a Gen III fan boy. So of course I was excited for Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (which for the rest of the review shall be referred to as ORAS). After playing it for just over a week, how well does it show off the strengths of Hoenn and how faithful is the remake? Do note, spoilers are plentiful here (unlike the IGN review).

Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald versions: Care for a tropical holiday?

On this day in 1995, I was born. On this same day in 2005, I received what would be the first of many games in this series: Pokemon Emerald version. And it is for that reason why I held this review back an extra day, to coincide with the 9th anniversary of me picking my first starter Pokemon.

Pokemon Generation III was a weird time for Pokemon. A large chunk of its fan base left the series as they thought they were to mature for it or they were "Pokemon'd out" due to the last two generations, while at the same time, a brand new wave of fans started to play the series. If you ask any older Pokemon fan, they'll tell you they either came in during the hype of Pokemon Generation I, or during Generation III more often then not. There were people who hated Generation III during its prime, but what about 9-11 years later? As with all my reviews, no nostalgia goggles here, time to pick apart Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire and in particular, Pokemon Emerald version.

As with Generation I and II, the formula for completion is still pretty much the same: Get starter Pokemon, defeat 8 Gym leaders, stop people who are trying to do evil things, defeat the champion and congratulations, you're done. However there are a few new things to this (for their time) along with gameplay that newcomers would find archaic. This is the list of new features from Bulbapedia:

Top 10: The sounds of Pokemon

To make up for not having a post on Wednesday (to be explained later, trust me there's a reason). I figured there should be something to make up for it, so here are my Top 10 Pokemon songs from just the games, but remixes from the anime are allowed. Yes there are a lot of Battle themes here as I prefer those over the other tracks, not that they are bad. Do note that these songs loop so you don't have to see the full video (assuming you actually play these videos...).

10. Battle Gym Leader (Kalos) from Pokemon X and Y

Kirby Triple Deluxe: Nintendo does have more then one Platformer mascot

Yeah, contrary to popular belief, there are actually more Platformer mascots from Nintendo that aren't Mario. For clarification, a Platformers is a gameplay style, often seen as very arcade in nature as it is getting from point A-B while jumping over obstacles, its the father of Parkour in short.

With every new Nintendo console, you're going to get your staple franchises. You're going to get your new Mario (sometimes 2 in the case of the WiiU), you're going to get your new Zelda, your new Mario Kart and your new Smash bros (I'll get to that one later), Kirby is one of the franchises you don't hear a lot of because it either gets very little publicity or it appears closer to the end of the console's cycle. Kirby didn't get a main series game on the Gamecube (instead we got Kirby's Air Ride) and didn't appear on the Wii until Kirby's Epic Yarn. Portable consoles have been kinder to Kirby as we got 4 Kirby games for the DS. During the wait for Smash 4, Nintendo was kind enough to release Kirby Triple Deluxe, the pink puffball's first appearance on the 3DS (that doesn't include the Virtual Console), how does it compare to its predecessors? Time to see just how big his black hole of a stomach is this time.

Mario Karts 7 and 8: Time to burn rubber again... and again...

With every new Nintendo console, we are guaranteed a new Mario Kart at some point. From its debut on the SNES, Mario Kart is one of Nintendo's safe console sellers with every iteration managing to push units. While I said I was going to do just Mario Kart 8 (even though I still lack a Wii U, thank you to EB games Swanston Street for having the full version available to play), if you're familiar with the Mario Kart iterations, you'll see why I'm grouping Mario Kart 7 for the 3DS in this review as well. Time to hit the track.

First Impressions: Splatoon. Did Nintendo make a new IP?

This is probably going to be the shortest impression here, the reason for this is, like Hyrule Warriors, i'm not keeping up with the news on Splatoon so that i can be surprised. Before I go on though, i'm just going to say these

1. No, I don't intend to do a updated impressions on Smash 4 after the release of the trailer last night. I'll save it for when I do the review. You'll have to wait for my opinions on Lucina, Robin and Captain Falcon's trailer.
2. No, I'm not going to do a new impressions on Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire after its new trailer and Corocoro leaks because I wrote the last one this time last week. You'll have to wait for my thoughts on Mega Metagross and cosplaying Pikachu's (watch the trailer for that one...)

With that out of the way, Splatoon.
From what I've gathered so far of Splatoon, if you've played Team Fortress 2, then you'll feel right at home here (minus control) as its a similar style of shooter (except I think Splatoon is third person instead of first, don't quote me on that one though). The purpose of the game is for your team to cover as much of the arena as possible with your colour ink. You move faster if your in your own colour ink and slower if your in another colour. The way you move faster is by turning into a squid (I swear, I'm not making this up) and in your squid form, you can travel faster, warp from one point to another assuming its covered in your ink, jump higher ect. In your human/ anthropomorphic squid form (still not making this up) you can shoot in using a variety of weapons like a water pistol or a giant roller brush. To say that this is insane is a understatement but seeing as its being tailored for a party game, I don't care, it looks fun. That being said, i'm not going to pay full price for this as I do believe its going to be Multiplayer only so i may or may not do a review on this, it depends on what its going to cost when it comes out here. Up next, contrary to belief I do play other consoles so next is Fable Legends.

The final of the big three:Impressions on the Nintendo Digital Event

 Nintendo Digital Event

1.       Intro Stop motion and filler: the stop motions are comical and shows off the fan opinions of Reggie while also, possibly, highlighting Nintendo’s opinions on franchises the fans want to return

2.       Super Smash bros Mii announcements: It was awsome seeing Iwata fighting Reggie in its intro (the effects were great, purely because they were over the top), then to highlight the Mii use in Smash 4 before Sakurai clarifies. The Mii Fighters themselves look interesting to play as. You can play as a Brawler (fast, but powerful melee combat with little range), a swordfighter (faster, but weaker then the Brawler, but use weapons like swords) and a gunner (great range, sports multiple ranged attacks but they might not have many good melee attacks). (note that this is all speculation). The Mii’s also appear to have customisable special moves, giving players the ability to swap between 36 specials between the three types of fighters. We also have a release day for the 3DS version... October 3^rd 2014. I don’t have high hopes for a Christmas with Smash bros WiiU after seeing this one...

3.       Amiibo: Nintendo’s answers to Skylanders and Disney Infinity. During the direct, there wasn’t a lot shown off but they did mention that they would be discussing it more latter on in E3 so expect a post providing more info latter. The Mario figure looks great though. We also know that Smash 4 and Mario Kart 8 will use Amiibo somehow (Captain Falcon in Mario Kart?). Also, I do believe the Mario Kart 8 footage, highlighting Luigi’s death stare was intentional and another great joke in this (unlike the last two, I’ve already watched this once so I can give more info)

4.       Yoshi’s Woolly World: (Try saying that 3x fast). I haven’t played a lot of Yoshi games (I’m yet to finish a single game...) but this new game does interest me. It looks great and like Kirby’s Epic Yarn, the wool motif works well in this and is incorporated well in the puzzles (from what we’ve seen). The plush Yarn Yoshi’s that were shown off look amazing (both in game and the real life ones that were used as a demonstration).

5.       Captain Toad’s Treasure Tracker: Are you happy Captain Toad fans. If you’ve played 3D World’s captain toad levels, then you know exactly what you’re getting yourself into with this as that’s all that is in this game. It does look more refined as there are more things to do, but it’s Captain Toad.

6.       Legend of Zelda (WiiU): It looks beautiful, from what we saw, and it sounds like it’s going back to a progression similar to the original Zelda. Apart from that, we still don’t know a lot.

7.       Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire: latter...

8.       Bayonetta 2: The gameplay still looks great from when we saw it at E3 last year, the inclusion of the first game was a good idea as there are people (like myself) who will be getting the game but haven’t played the first. There will alos be Nintendo costumes for Bayonetta like Peach, Link and Samus, each with their own added Nintendo touches. Bayonetta also has a October 2014 release so we finally have a release window.

9.       Hyrule Warriors: Zelda and Midna are playable alongside Link and Impa. It looks great (so good its giving me a excuse to play Dynasty warriors). The character designs for Link, Impa and Zelda look great, they are different but you still know who they are if you’re a Zelda fan. All that we have to do is wait until September 26^th, which is its current release day.

10.   Kirby and the Rainbow Cruise: If you have played Kirby’s Epic Yarn and Kirby Canvas curse, then you know what your getting yourself into with this WiiU title. It plays similar to Canvas Curse but also shares a trait with Epic Yarn in the form of form changes like Rocket and Tank. I do like the Clay art style with this but I wasn’t a fan of Canvas Curse, I might pick it up when I get a WiiU but there’s a strong chance I wont

11.   Xenoblade Chronicles X: Another game I haven’t had experience with its predecessor before hand, Xenoblade X does look good, but I’m not sure if it’s a CG trailer or if it’s in game footage. Its supposedly going to becoming in 2015 so I could change my mind between now and its launch.

12.   Mario Maker: Ever wanted to make your own 2D Mario levels? Now you can with this...

13.   Splatoon: A NEW IP FROM NINTENDO!!! Also, “Salty’s Splatoon, how tough are you?” Splatoon is a kid friendly version of Third person shooters. You shoot ink, try and cover the most terrain with your ink to win. You can turn into a squid that can travel fast through your own coloured ink. The concept seems wierd, but I’m curious about it.

14.   Palutena’s reveal: I knew this was coming, Palutena was leaked months ago. But it is a great trailer, not one of my favourites in comparison to the other reveals, but still great. She looks like a great fighter and will all the Kid Icarus Uprising banter that was in it. She is yet another character that I’m going to play as when I get the game. The art style for the trailer is the anime style used in the mini Kid Icarus videos on the, now gone, Nintendo Video app on the 3DS. I’m not too sure what to make of Dark pit at the end of the trailer though...

15.   Miyamoto at the end: On the show floor, I have no idea based on the Digital event.

From what I’ve seen so far of E3, this was better than the last two conferences that I’ve covered. There was a lot of time dedicated to games that needed it and the games that just had a trailer, like Bayonetta 2 and Pokémon Omega Ruby/ Alpha Sapphire didn’t need any more information to be shown off then.  The Stop motion animations were genuinely funny and while it wasn’t a conference. It was still great, even I it was only a portion of the news. I’m going to be doing the last two conferences before I try and collect info on the show floor (which might be limited to Nintendo, but I will try and get more info). The next conference: SPORTS SPORTS SPORTS!!!

E3, the best time of the year for gamers. My wish list/ predictions of the upcoming news

Well folks, its that time of the year again. The time of the year that, to gamers, is better than Christmas even though you get less from it. That time of course is the Electronic Entertainment Expo (or E3for short). With all the theories circulating around the internet at the moment. I thought I might join in on the fun and post a list of games I want to see this year (in some form). This list is in no order, its just what pops into my mind as a write this definitely not filler while I work on the Transformers marathon opinion piece on the matter. With that out of the way...

1.      Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire: in the form of a actual game play trailer. The big thing for me for this game is that I want to see how Brendan and May look in 3D. The only other announcement that I want is a Emerald Story mode of the game, seeing as the first Pokémon game I owned was Emerald Version.

2.      A new Metroid game: I was only introduced to the series recently and, even though I haven’t played the 3D games yet, the series is a really nice adventure game. I would prefer it to be for the 3DS as I don’t have a WiiU at the moment (soon...), wether its 2D or 3D doesn’t matter to me. It would be a new Metroid game, something that hasn’t existed since Other M.

3.      A release day for Bayonetta 2: Bayonetta is another game that’s gotten my attention recently. I haven’t played the original (because I haven’t found a copy of it), but Bayonetta 2 does look, from a gameplay perspective, taking out the way she gets her powers... I don’t care if there’s a trailer for it, the main thing for me is a release day.

4.      Sonic Boom: There hasn’t been a lot of concrete news concerning Sonic Boom since it was officially announced earlier this year. A new trailer showcasing Sonic, Tails, Amy and Knuckles and maybe some other characters would be nice, and maybe a new teaser for the show itself SEGA?

5.      Kingdom Hearts III: This is another, “I just want more info please” game. Square Enix is holding back a lot of information on the game at the moment, and seeing as the last trailer was from the D23 expo, new news would be greatly appreciated.

6.      “Poken Fighters”: Only shown off once as a teaser in a timeline of the Pokémon games last year, Poken Fighters, while hasn’t grabbed my attention like the other games on this list, is still interesting because this would be the first of its kind (officially) in terms of Pokémon Spin-offs, possibly being a Tekken inspired Pokémon themed fighting game.

7.      New Smash bros 4 news: but seeing as there’s going to be a 90 minute press conference on it, I’m guessing it’s a given.

Those are the games on my wish list of E3 News, its alot of Nintendo games, but that’s because I don’t have as much interest with the other companies. I still watch all of them (and give you all my impressions of them) and see what comes out, I might be pleasantly surprised.  Keep checking here when E3 is on to see all the new news (as soon as I find out) and all throughout June for the Transformers Marathon. Up first for it, Transformers Generation 1: First strike

Super Smash Direct: Impressions on new news

I don't think anything I could say could do the Super Smash Brothers series Justice. It is one of Nintendo's most successful franchises considering the number of games it has to date. With Smash 4 on the way for 3DS and WiiU, Masahiro Sakurai announced today, via a Nintendo Direct a lot of information so for today, I'm providing my opinions on the new news and a summary of the news, believe me, THIS IS A SUMMARY.

The first thing revealed is the release windows. The 3DS version's current release window is sometime between June 1st and August 31st where as the WiiU version currently is going to be released in the Christmas window. Its not surprising that this is the case, separating the 3DS and WiiU versions release days so that they don't have to compete with each other and moving the WiiU version to the Christmas window will hopefully help sell more consoles. I'm not going to discuss the technical tidbits as I leave that up to you.

Sakurai confirmed that there won't be version exclusive characters but that there will be unique stages, this was to be expected so nothing new to report there. The WiiU version will have a Brawl styled approach to music where as the 3DS version will use Melee's approach.

Confirmed 3DS Stages: Reset Bomb Forrest from Kid Icarus Uprising, 3D Land from Super Mario 3D Land, Spirit Train from The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, Gerudo Valley from Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Arena Ferox from Fire Emblem (Awakening???), Tortimer Island from Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Living Room from Nintendogs/ Nintendogs+ Cats, Prism Tower from Pokémon X/Y, Rainbow Road from Mario Kart 7, Find Mii from Streetpass Quest II, Balloon Fight from Balloon Fight and Jungle Japes from Donkey Kong Country (it is also a original stage from Super Smash Bros for the Nintendo 64).

Confirmed WiiU Stages: Mario Galaxy from the Super Mario Galaxy games, Pyrosphere from Metroid Other M, Town and City from the Animal Crossing series, Boxing Ring from Punch-Out, Pilot Wings from the Pilotwings series, Skyloft from the Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Windy Hill from Sonic Lost World, Garden of Hope from Pikmin 3, Wii Fit Studio from the Wii Fit series, Palutena's Temple from Kid Icarus Uprising, Wily Castle from Mega Man 2 and Battleship Halbird from Kirby (returning from Smash bros Brawl). Battlefield and Final Destination has been confirmed for both versions.

And now, the bosses in the stage, the only one that was outright confirmed was the Yellow Devil in the Wily Castle stage, when he appears, he will attack all players in the fight. You can hurt him by attacking his eye and when he is killed, a huge explosion, similar to the smart bomb, activates and hurt all players except the one that got the last hit. Ridley was also hinted to be a stage boss.

Through out the direct, Sakurai also unveiled three new collectable trophies which are Tiki from Fire Emblem, Psudo Palutena from Kid Icarus Uprising, King Kihunter from Metroid and Fi from Zelda Skyward Sword.

The Online play appears to be getting a overhall for this new title. According to Sakurai "The WiiU version with have online multiplayer as Brawl did", wether this is better (in terms of lag) then brawl was remains unknown. Like brawl, you can choose to play with friends or with strangers online. While the specifics remain unknown, the 3DS will also have some sort of online play. Based on what Sakurai said, it is likely that a stable and fast internet connection is required to get the best out of these features.

Now the new features for Online Play, "For Fun" and "For Glory" which are replacing the anonymous system used in Brawl and can only be played when you not playing with friends. For fun mode is almost self explanatory, its fun matches online, almost all stages can be played (the exception is Final Destination) and stages are picked at random, items are on, smash matches only (so no Coin or time matches) and only wins are recorded. For Glory mode on the other hand is for the tournament players. Final Destination is the only possible stage, no items are on, it can be 1v1 matches and both Wins and Losses are recorded. The last thing to note about online is that when you play with friends, you can change the rules to how you'd like them to be.

Ah Final Destination, the arena that tournament players only fight on. To provide some sort of diversity, there is a "Final Destination Mode" For all stages, turning them into versions of Final Destination using the palette of that stage. This feature specifically is one I'm excited for because of one reason, there is only so many times you can hear the Final Destination theme before you want to rip your ears out. This feature is enabled in the For Glory mode.

As a part of the Anonymous online match removal, all players will be synced to their Nintendo Network ID and use that name to fight. A code of conduct will be in place for this "to keep things pleasant". Measures are supposedly being put in place to help stop players from

• Starting and not playing in matches
• Relentless targeting of an individual
• Repeated Self-destructs
• Frequent dropping (both intentional or due to technical reasons)
• and other cheats

According to Sakurai, these measures could include temporary bans, with the duration depending on mow much they abuse the other players. Baseless reporting can also result in bans.

A ranking system is also being implemented known as the "Global Smash Power", instead of ranking where you are in a graph, it will display how many people are behind you (in a nut shell). to inprove your score, you complete objectives in solo play (somehow). Match making for online play is affected by this ranking system.

And now the interesting aspects of the direct, first off the items. Items shown off include the Beam Sword (sporting a "katana like" design), the Bumper, The Smart Bomb from Star Fox, the Motion Sensor Bomb from Golden Eye, The POW Block from Super Mario (which acts similar to how it did in the Mario Bros stage in Brawl), the Beetle from Zelda (Which picks up the first enemy it finds and lifts them into the sky), The Fire Bar from Mario (a Beam Sword with limited use), The Back Shield from Kid Icarus (its all in the name, makes a shield behind you), the Bombchu from Zelda (travels until it finds a target, then explodes (can go up walls)), A new restoration item called the Fairy bottle from Zelda, The Ore Club from Kid Icarus (which appears to share similar traits to the star rod but can summon a tornado), The X Bomb from Kid Icarus (upon detination, creates a X/+ that stretches over the entire arena), Hocotate Bomb from Pikmin (flies into the air, fall and then explodes), the Rocket belt from Pilotwings (its a jetpack) and the Steal Diver (fires torpedos).

The Assist trophies, a more diverse version of the Pokeball, what secrets do you hold? According to the direct. I should note that i'll only write the powers of the new characters (if it is a returning character, assume its the same power) Assist trophies include: Andross from Starfox, Devil, Knuckle Joe, Saki Amamiya from Sin and Punishment, Lyn from Fire Emblem, the blasted Nintendog from Nintendogs, Waluigi from the Mario Spin off games, Dr Wright from Sim City, Skull Kid from Zelda Majora's mask (which flips the stage and the gravity upside down), Mother Brain from Metroid (which shoots a beam along with other attacks at opposing fighters), Midna from Zelda Twilight Princess (which teleports and uses her magic arm to attack opponents), "The Great Ashley" from Wario Ware (which creates a area that poisons opponents), Dark Samus from Metroid Prime 2 and 3 (which uses her Phazon cannon and other Phazon based attacks to attack opponents), a Chain Chomp from Super Mario (it behaves like a Chain Chomp on opponents) Isabelle from Animal Crossing (who restores the summoner's percentage), Elec Man from Mega Man (who uses electric based attacks to attack opponents) and a game of Pong (Colour TV-Game 15 as it is called) (this is a self explanatory trophy and if you don't know, PLAY PONG).

What new Pokémon has Sakurai caught and willing to let us use in Smash 4? Well before I tell you, I should talk about a new item: the Master Ball. This is a rare item that when used, summons a legendary Pokémon (like how I suggested on mu Super Smash Bros: Fan Disagreement blog). The Pokémon list for both Pokeball and Master Ball includes (but i'll let their powers remain a surprise until you see the direct for yourself or play the game as it is hard to describe with some of them) Arceus and thanks to Sakurai's Substitute (I kid you not, that's in the direct) Meowth, Electrode, Eevee, Staryu, Metagross, Fennekin, Meloetta, Gogoat, Entai, Deoxys, Palkia, Kyurem, Victini,  Keldeo and Xerneas

The returning fighters and changes to them. Samus's Zero Laser Final Smash now no  longer reverts her to Zero Suit Samus, she and Zelda can no longer change forms now during the fight. Zero Suit Samus and Shiek are now separate fighters. Zero Suit Samus now has Jet boots to increase her capabilities in combat, now that she no longer has the ability to change into her Power Suit. Zelda now has a new down special attack that grants her the ability to summon a Phantom from the Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks to attack or defend Zelda from another attack. But this can be used against her by characters like Mario and the Villager. As for Shiek, her moves have been polished and she now has two new moves: A new Side Special attack called Burst Grenade which blow up once you pull the pin out. Bouncing Fish (dumb name by the way) is her new Down special and it is a kick based attack. Kirby's Hammer attack can now get charged up but at max strength, can hurt Kirby while it is still being held. Kirby's final smash has also been changed from Cook Kirby to Ultra Sword from Return to Dreamland. King Dedede throws Gordos instead of Waddle Dee's (:( ). Lucario's Aura attacks have been given a buff and will do more damage the higher Lucario's Percentage is,this is negated when Mega Lucario is in play (and while Lucario is in his Mega Form, all Aura attacks are at their strongest, regardless of the percentage). Pikmin and Olimar: Olimar can now only have 3 Pikmin at a time but they always come out in a set order. Olimar now also has a better recovery, the Winged Pikmin who will carry Olimar depending on how many Pikmin he has at the time. Pit: the gliding mechanic has been nerfed but his attacks are stronger and the power of flight is more manageable. Pit's new Final Smash is the Three Sacred Treasures. Yoshi has now been confirmed to return. He now stands upright in the fight and is now stronger then previous iterations.

And of course, info on the new fighters and some of their moves include

• Rosalina and Luma: Luma Shot (sends out Luma and brings it back), The luma can wander on its own and attack separately, they have separate moves, Side special attack: Star Bits, Up Special: Launch Star (a long range recovery move), Down Special: Gravitational pull (sucks in items and redirects ranged attacks), Final Smash: Power Star (fires star shaped projectiles around the screen)
• Little Mac: Melee fighter, powerful on the ground, sucks in the air, can shrug off some attacks, Smash attacks "hit at megaton levels", Neutral Special attack: Straight Lunge, connecting attacks and getting hit raise the power metre and once charged, instant KO attack. Side Special attack: Jolt Haymaker, Up Special: Rising Uppercut, Down Special: Slip Counter, Final Smash: Giga Mac. Little mac's alternate costume is the Wire Frame from the original Punch out for Arcade machines
• Villager: Neutral Special: Pocket, Side Special: Lloid Rocket, Up Special: Balloon Trip, Down Special: Timber, Final Smash: Dream Home
• Mega Man: Strong Down: Sliding (MM3), Dash: Top Spin (MM3/Top Man), Strong Up: Mega Upper (MvC), Side Smash: Charge Shot (MM4), Up Smash: Spark Shock (MM3/ Spark Man), Down Smash: Flame Burst (MM6/ Flame Man), Front Air: Flame Sword (MM8/ Sword Man), Back Air: Slash Claw (MM7/ Slash Man),Up Air: Air Shooter (MM2/ Air Man), Down Air: Hard Knuckle (MM3/Hard Man), Grab (Super Arm (MM1/ Guts Man), Neutral Special: Metal Blade (MM2/ Metal Man), Side Special: Crash Bomber (MM2/ Crash Man), Down Special: Leaf Shield (MM2/ Wood Man), Up Special: Rush Coil (MM3), Final Smash: Unnamed attack using all forms of Mega Man
• Wii Fit Trainer: known moves include Deep breathing (a power buff move) and Sun Salutation (a ranged attack that can be charged) which is her Neutral Special move. Male Wii Fit Trainer can be played as a alternate costume

Mysterious move pools: change stats of moves to make them stronger but slower or weaker but faster along with other traits. Known moves include Mario's Fireball, Kirby having frost breath, Pit's arrows changing direction (like it could in brawl), Donkey Kong having a head-butt that slams opponents into the ground .Not usable in online play against non friends.

Smash run was revealed as a 3DS exclusive multiplayer option. Which is a mini game like mode where you collect power ups in a set time limit and then fight your opponents. Pretty simple, looks fun.

And now, finally for the big reveal: Charizard and Greninja are playable characters in the game. Charizardl looks like he plays how he did in Brawl, but like Lucario, is sporting Mega Charizard X as a Mega Form. Greninja looks like a fast character with several Ninja like moves used in combat including his signature move, Water Shuriken.

As for my opinions on the reveal, Sakurai unveiled a lot of information that fans were wanting. A release window was revealed that gives fans confidence that this is coming soon, characters were unveiled to counter the dry month that was march, Fan favourites Charizard, Zero Suit Samus, Shiek, and Yoshi were unveiled and we got a new character in the form of Greninja.While yes, a lot of information was already posted to Miiverse, there was enough new content to make up for it. Will I be getting this game? HELL YES. Midnight Launch? Of course. Review? When I have enough material to review it. In the mean time, there are other things to review including Digimon Tamers, what I am currently collecting material for: K-On and more. Unless something comes up, expect my next impressions to be on E3 in June. Until then, enjoy.

One of the most well known nerdy battles. Pokemon verses Digimon

Well, it might not be a Tamer’s review, but I thought that this might be a good intro to Digimon (my review at the moment has a lot of backstory and it that reason why I haven’t posted it yet). For this, I’m reviewing the Digimon Franchise and its pros and cons over its rival, the Pokémon Franchise.

I should note, before I cover the games, I have only played (and still working on) the DS games, Digimon World DS, Digimon World Dawn and its counterpart Digimon World Dusk so my review might be a bit biased. That being said, the Digimon World games haven’t held my interest like the Pokémon Games have. The plot is pretty simple, you’re a kid who has either been sucked into the Digital World (the world of the Digimon, they are digital monster’s after all) or has been living in the Digital World already (these are for the before mentioned games so intro might be different depending on the game). For World DS, because your being sucked into the Digital World, you can choose your partner, who are the three “In Training” forms of the partners in the, current at the time of release, main members of DATS, the organization in Digimon Data Squad, more on that latter. From there, you complete objectives to improve your Digimon’s residence, collect information about other Digimon and raise your Digimon so that they can “Digivolve”. Dawn and Dusk’s plots might be similar to the late game as DS (again, haven’t played that much of it yet at the time of post). You are a member of one of two organizations (depending on which version you play) and you have to stop something from causing havoc on the Digital World using the Digimon you already have and anymore you collect on the way. While I haven’t played a lot of the games, I do like the evolution method the games use. When your Digimon reaches a certain level and has a specific number of special experience based on the species (Insect, Machine, Dragon ect) it can Digivolve to the next level. In order, these are Baby/Newborn, In Training, Rookie, Champion, Ultimate, Mega and some species have the ability to go further, but I’ll explain latter. What makes this better then Pokémon for me is that most Digimon can Digivolve into multiple forms depending on the circumstances. Take the “mascot” for example, while I won’t explain how, Agumon can turn into either Greymon and from there it can turn into Metal Greymon and then War Greymon, or it can turn into GeoGreymon, RiseGreymon and then ShineGreymon (this is a basic toned down version but you get the point). This gives the game a lot more replay ability because you could choose the same In Training Digimon but get a different Mega.

For Pokémon, on the other hand, you’re a 10 year old kid who gets either a Grass type, Fire type or Water type Pokémon as your first Pokémon (unless you’re playing Yellow in which case you get Pikachu). You go out, get 8 gym badges from other cities, take on the Elite 4, champion, enter hall of fame and congratulations, you’ve beaten the game, go onto post game if you wish. While it might seem that I’m hating on the plot of the games (and I am) for some reason, this keeps my interest unlike the Digimon Games. My guess is because, to me, Pokémon gets to the point faster and lets me play faster than the Digimon World games have. I prefer games that get to the actual gameplay fast (which is why I dropped Skyrim after I left the first town…). It could also be 9 years of playing Pokémon to 2 years of Digimon but I digress. The Pokémon games are much easier to get into unlike Digimon because all the Pokémon games assume you don’t have prior knowledge of games (which is good until you see the “How to catch a Pokémon Tutorial for the 50^th time which often resorts to myself saying to the game “I’ve been catching Pokémon since before you were programed”. I guess the nutshell is, Pokémon is baby’s first RPG with Digimon being the next phase up, they are worth a look but you have to have knowledge of the series (for Digimon’s case anyway) to understand what you’re getting yourself into. One of the things I like the most though in Pokémon is that it feels a lot more like a world then the Digimon games ever did, but I’ll explain why latter.

And now for the ne thing that people remember the most when it comes to Digimon, the anime. I will be looking at the English Dub’s for this so to fans, I apologies. That being said, I really enjoy the anime, it does a lot of things that the Pokémon Anime would never do. For example

1.       Changes the main character. While Ash is STILL the protagonist of the Pokémon anime, the Digimon anime changes its group of lead characters at the end of almost every season and even then, the group is generally larger than the Pokémon series. While there are 3-4 primary characters in Pokémon every season, Ash still gets the most screen time trying to flesh out a character that has run dry in my opinion. Granted I still like characters like Misty, May and Dawn, its primarily due to their personalities and how they grow as trainers. The Digimon group has 3-8 characters per season and they all have decent air time and fleshed out characters by the end of their series. Because of the new characters, it is understandable for them to get information on all the Digimon, even if it is just for the viewers but for Pokémon, it is becoming harder and harder to take ash seriously because he is using the Pokédex on older Pokémon, THAT HE HAS ALERADY SEEN AND IN SOME CASES CAUGHT!!!

2.       Darker themes. While yes, Pokémon has gotten away with some dark themes, a lot of those episodes have gotten banned as a result. Remember when Ash got his 30 Tauros, I don’t. What about when Castelia City was destroyed, nothing comes to mind…. The only dark theme that I remember in the anime was in the first move, in the “Try not to cry, cry a lot when you first see it” scene where Ash dies (And after almost 20 years, spoiler warnings are thrown out the window). But in the Digimon series, they cover death quite a lot in all the seasons. The “Digi-Destined” also have to learn how to live with their decisions “when is it alright to kill”. Family is mentioned constantly in the first season. Digimon Tamers has been regarded as one of the darkest seasons to date for several reasons. In the past seasons, when Digimon “die” their data is reconfigured and they are reborn in a special area of the Digital World. In tamers, that is never mentioned so it is assumed that if someone dies, their dead for good, so when one of the heroes, Leomon is killed, on camera, uncensored (he slowly breaks down into raw data and dissolves, the equivalent of bleeding to death) and then the famous line by the leader of the group “I’ll make you hurt, I’LL MAKE YOU PAY”, which then leads into the final ark where the villain uses the hero’s mental states against them…

Probably my only complaint with the Digimon anime is the fifth season, Digimon Data Squad and its really just a personal opinion. In the past, it has been shown that Digimon are based off of kids imaginations (hence why you can have a giant dinosaur that fires missiles out of his chest) so it seems weird to me to see late teenagers-early adults being Digi-Destined. While yes, the cast of the first two seasons are shown to have matured and become adults while still having their Digimon, they got them when they were kids so I’m willing to let that slide. Again though, its just a personal thing to me

In conclusion, I highly recommend giving both a shot, to get your own opinions on both franchises. I haven’t covered anything about the other aspects of the franchises, including the toys ect and that’s just because of a lack of experience.

A loss of old friends...

A list of the names of the fallen, whose online services shall be remembered for better or worse in the years after their untimely demise.
For the DS: http://en.wikipedia.org/.../List_of_Nintendo_DS_Wi-Fi...
And for the Wii: http://en.wikipedia.org/.../List_of_Wii_Wi-Fi_Connection...

May their losses not be in vein, may developers learn from the mistakes of these fine games and use their knowledge for better or worse

Wii will remember them...

In recognition of the fallen services, for better or for worse. http://youtu.be/2Zj_oZEZcGM

Before I sound crazy... All Nintendo DS and Wii games will lose online features on May 20th worldwide. However, this will not mean other online features will be terminated. The Nintendo DSi Shop, Nintendo DS Browser and Nintendo DSi Browser will continue to operate. Similiary on the wii the Wii Shop Channel, Internet Channel, Youtube and Hulu will continue to work.

On the subject of Pokemon

If you have your club Nintendo codes for your 3DS, 3DS XL or 2DS and a selected few games (Mario Kart 7, Mario 3D Land, DKC returns 3D and Animal Crossing New Leaf (there might be others)) you can get a free download code for Pokémon X and Y. I would say that this is worth it so if you are interested in playing Pokémon X/Y but don't want to pay for it. Use this offer.

First review of a recent game. Pokemon X version and Pokemon Y version

I think a fitting first review would be the recent Nintendo 3DS titles. Pokémon X and Pokémon Y. This review will primarily based on X version as that is the copy that I have. That being said, the information used in this review can be used in Y version. The only differences between X and Y are the Pokémon and items you can find throughout the game. The reason why I start this is because this Pokémon game is the first Pokémon game in several years that I have put in the amount of hours I have this quickly. Pokémon Emerald version (the first game in the franchise I got (review coming latter)) I put in roughly 150 hours (but that save is long gone so I might be wrong), I don't recall the Generation 4 games (Diamond, Pearl, Platinum and Heart Gold) getting close to the 100 hours, the only reason why Pokémon Black got over 100 is because of the Pokémon Bank and White 2 didn't come close. At the time of writing, I am 111 hours in and still going which I classify as a achievement in itself.

In case you are not aware of the series (in which case I ask what rock have you been living under for the last 17-18 years, (to the people who have been following the franchise since generation 1, feeling old yet?) Pokémon is a franchise based around catching creatures called Pokémon, training them and battling other Pokémon to gain Gym Badges and eventually become the Champion of that region and a Pokémon Master. As of Generation 6, there are over 719 Pokémon and your overall objective is to "Catch 'em all". This is pretty much all that you need to understand this review. Be forewarned though, this will contain spoilers.

Pokémon X and Y are pretty much your standard Pokémon adventure but it does introduce several new features. The first one that new players will be introduced to is customizable avatars. Over the course of the franchise, avatar progression has been... slow. Generation 1 introduced Red who was the only character you could play as, Pokémon Crystal introduced Kris who was the first female avatar and then Pokémon X and Y introduced the character customization (wonder why it took this long...). When you start the game, you will have the option to pick your gender (Calem being the male avatar and Serena being the female avatar) from there, you can pick from three stock designs and latter you will have the ability to change your cloths, hair ect.

Other new features that have been introduced into Generation 6 include the Holo Caster, a machine that allows players to receive information about Pokémon events depending on where you are in the world along with plot based communications with Professor Sycamore, your rivals, Lysander and other characters. The Holo Caster is also the connection to the 3DS's Street Pass feature which allows you to generate "Pokémiles" as you walk past other players. The Pokémiles is a form of currency that you generate through communicating with other players (walk past, trade, battle ect) and apps like the Pokémon Bank that you can spend on items like Rare Candies. The Rollerblades are also implemented as a mid form of transportation throughout the world. Using the circle pad, you can use the rollerblades to move faster then running, however you cannot use them in areas like tall grass.

The biggest feature to be implemented into Generation 6 is Mega Evolution. Some Pokémon have a special item known as a Mega Stone which, combined with the Mega Ring, you can make specific Pokémon stronger during a battle. This change affects stats, abilities and even types. I personally love this feature as it make Pokémon like Absol and Venusaur useful again. It is always satisfying to see the Mega Evolution animation play because you get the sense of "you have no chance now". Admittedly, some of the Mega Pokémon are ridiculously overpowered but they are still fun to use (Mega Kangaskhan with Power Up Punch :D). The trick with Mega Evolution though is that you can only use it once per battle so you have to wait for the right moment to strike.

My personal opinion on Pokémon X and Y is that it is very fun and a great inclusion to the series but it is really easy. You get very powerful items like the EXP Share (which received a very big buff now) and Amulet Coin before the second gym and the lucky egg before the fourth. The EXP share now gives 100% of the experience to the Pokémon that participated in the battle and 50% to all the Pokémon in your team that didn't. On top of this, it is very easy to get a lot of money in the game, but this was to encourage buying cloths which are very expensive. The rival characters never feel like a threat and even the Gym leaders feel a bit lack luster. I struggle to take Team Flare seriously thanks to their design. There wasn't a lot of build up during the course of the story. In one trip to Lumiose City, you have to go to Lysander's café (a café run by the inventor of the Holo Caster). The theme of the café, Lysander's design, the way he speaks and the fact that there was a Team Flare grunt outside the café could tell anyone that he's the big bad guy. In another trip, you have to go to Team Flare's base but no one knows where their first facility is in Lumiose. "I wonder if I should check the café with the clearly villainous theme?". The post game is also lacking in the quantity department. You have a side quest in Lumiose, Mega stone collection, you can catch the third legendary Pokémon in Kalos and Mewtwo.

In conclusion, I would still pick up this game. If you enjoy the series prior to X/Y, curious about the series or looking for a time sync on the 3DS, this is worth the purchase. While the game is easy in comparison to the prior titles and doesn't do a lot to change the formula the series is known for, it is still a lot of fun to play.

Also, a side note. For the first time ever, THE MOTHER HAS A BEDROOM!!! Ever since Generation 1, the mother character has never had her own bedroom until now.