A Love Letter- Super Mario Odyssey- Review

  Wow, what can I say. I don't often agree with unanimous  praise, but every now and again, it is warranted. I've also been a Super Mario fan since childhood, and the series has never once disappointed. I believe both Super Mario Bros 3 and Super Mario World, deserve their GOAT stamps. I played very little of the Galaxy series on the Wii, but I do recall that it was an unsung great series. When I heard they were releasing Mario Odyssey for the Nintendo Switch, I was salivating, and to be honest, that is partially what sold me on the system. I still can't believe the quality of a handheld that Nintendo has produced. I commend them for their effort. It's almost contradictory, but very uncharacteristic of them historically. In fact, growing up a Nintendo handheld fanboy, I grew to resent the way they shut competition down without ever raising their own standards- just using their name.

  In fact, if you go online, and look at the sales figures, the Nintendo DS is second behind only the Playstation 2 in global sales. That is absolutely ridiculous. And all the console did was under perform, and release a one-sided library, including horribly watered down knock-off ports of console games. That still blows my mind. Anyway, they have turned over a new leaf as a company. I still support the fact that the Playstation Vita is a legendary handheld that is console quality and well supported by the Indie community. And for all the tech heads that dispute that, I have one simple fact for you to analyze- Why would PS2, PS3, and PS4 take direct ports from the PSP and Vita to release as full fledged titles, if they were incomplete and not console worthy on the handheld? Enough said. However, the Switch is truly breaking ground with the scope of things that it can do. It even has an HD rumble feature built into the game pad itself.

  In the preview videos, Mario was shown running through what looks like New York City, and everyone was completely stoked about the release. One of the main new features is the ability to take control of certain enemies using a special hat accomplice that Mario meets in his adventures. Aside from that, the mechanics from Super Mario 64 have been brought back. Every move besides Mario's punches and kicks, is back here again. The swim mechanics have been changed however, and now Mario just falls in order to dive, and cannot swim as long. I guess his conditioning is failing in his old age. There is still the ability to take control of a fish enemy, however, to swim indefinitely during water levels.

  In this game, Bowser has kidnapped Peach yet again, and this time, aims to marry her, with the assistance of a Bridal crew, that help him acquire items from various worlds for the wedding, such as a cake, a soup, and flowers. With the help of his new friend, who's sweetheart has also been kidnapped, Mario chases Bowser across all of these worlds, trying to stop him. You face various bosses and challenging enemies, in beautiful, and lush worlds. Each world has several levels and areas, that become available as you complete major missions. The maps themselves are quite big, which was very refreshing. It's as if each world you travel to, is it's own huge sandbox game.

  There are puzzles to solve at various points, and bosses to fight, to collect power moons, which are used to power Mario's ship in his pursuit of Bowser and Peach. One thing I have to get out of the way right now, was the criticism I heard about the game, despite its perfect 10's across the board. Most people keep saying that the game's one flaw, albeit forgivable, is that it is too easy. I was relieved to find that they are completely wrong. Whether they are trolls or just autistic, that accusation is way off base. The game's difficulty is perfectly fine, and even has harder levels upon completion. In fact, the game got downright frustrating at times. It's way harder than Super Mario Sunshine, and that game was decent difficulty-wise. They criticized this along with a supposed lack of platforming in the game being the culprit. That is also completely wrong. You will be using the transformation ability often, and you will have many huge structures to platform across. I totally don't understand that criticism, because it isn't even remotely right, so it feels like trolling to be honest. But these same reviewers gave the game a perfect score.

  I really enjoyed how musical the game got. The soundtrack is amazing, but moreso, they really paid tribute to classic Mario games in so many ways during the levels, especially the later levels. I heard about surprises later in the game, and at the end, and let me tell you, they are just as amazing as they are said to be. Between the last level/scene's music driven gameplay, and action, and the way it all came together, I was actually fighting back tears at the very end, just for how gorgeous it was, and how special of a game it is. It pays tribute to the series in a way that feels like a perfectly written love letter. And just like Ratchet and Clank on PS4 was a grand tour with more to offer, so does Super Mario Odyssey offer tons more gameplay after you are done with the main story. I will definitely be playing this game indefinitely.  During the credits, the song that plays sounded like a remix of an old Mario tune, but as I kept listening, it sounded like the Monster Hunter theme, and then a Zelda theme mixed in. I'm not sure if I'm hearing things, or it it was a combination. Anyways, perfection.10/10

Capcom, I Salute You!!- Street Fighter V -Review

 Okay, I'm finally ready to write this review, and the timing couldn't be better. This marks the 30th anniversary of the release of Street Fighter. That's right going back to 1987, when I was a toddler, and only watched street fighter curiously over the shoulders of older siblings- the game was born. Pioneers like James Chen, would go on to compete in the very first tournaments in 1990, and still be commentating today. I can understand why he breaks down in tears over the game. It truly is beautiful to see something survive for so long, continuing to evolve, yet keeping the core structure that makes it what it is. And I feel privileged to have been both an active and involved kid, and gamer very early, and consistently over the years to see it all unfold. This is the review of Street Fighter V.

  It wasn't until recently that I discovered that the same man just happened to make what I thought were rival franchises growing up as a kid. Street Fighter is a Capcom game designed by Takashi Nishiyama in 1987. It pitted the player as the lead character Ryu against a horde of opponents in a street fighting tournament, where you made your way to the final boss- Sagat. It was one player mainly, but supported a type of co-op where you played as his friend and rival Ken. It was actually quite deep, and ahead of its time in my opinion. It was the sequel- Street Fighter 2, that most people remembered, which was released in 1991. This was a full fledged fighting game, with a roster of 9 characters. The premise inspired so many games. You toured the world and fought opponents in various countries and with various cultures. I still think that is one of the biggest strengths of the game. Each character depicts their country and culture so well and memorably. And the core gameplay mechanics varied. Yet at the same time, it was very simple, and was the kind of fighter that the casual player could jump into and compete. Personally, that began to turn me off after a couple of years. We used to play the game incessantly at friends' houses and have fun on the weekends, but there wasn't much depth to it in my opinion.

  Around that time in the early 90's SNK had a slew of fighting games that they released, such as the King of Fighter series, which was a yearly release, and Fatal Fury. There were others, such as Samurai Showdown, but the former 2 were the big titles. I had no idea that Nishiyama left Capcom, and was responsible for every last one of those competitors from the rival company SNK. And it makes sense. That game cured every itch that Street Fighter didn't for the savant. It has super combos, EX specials, textbook combos, juggles, etc. And the roster of characters was always huge in King of Fighters. The main thing, was that there was variety in the character mechanics. It wasn't charge or quarter circle all the time. It was also directional inputs for some characters. I admired that, and spent the bulk of my arcade days as a kid playing those games.

  Street Fighter tried to improve it's mechanics with some of the things they did with Turbo, and the Alphas, but to me, they were still a step behind when it came to depth, when compared with what SNK was doing with both movesets, and rosters. I played and owned Alpha 3, but really didn't get back into Street Fighter until 4. Even then, I played just a bit. It was after debate over some time, that I purchased a PS4, and I did so for one game specifically- Street Fighter 5. I remember seeing the trailers, and the tournaments, and I liked the fact that they were refreshing the approach completely. I was very interested, as fighting games seemed to be in a fog. When I purchased it at first and loaded it up, I was blown away by the detail and color palette. Ultra 4 was gorgeous as well, but there is a certain vibrance to 5 that I love. Characters animate well, and the setting seem very alive and interactive.

 It had a tutorial, and it explained the system of fighting, with your standard normals, command grabs, and EX specials on 3 levels. Then you have a V Trigger system, with a V-skill that builds it's meter.  Damage is scaled accordingly for combo streams, but each character has an Ultra, known as a Critical Art that can be executed on full meter, which is often augmented marginally when in V Trigger. This allows for set ups that can lead to triggering into a lengthened combo with a CA at the end for huge damage. Set ups also allow you to chain normals into combos, as well as set up combos with Crush counters, which are fierce and roundhouse counters on whiffs.When I saw the combos possible and how it worked. That peaked my interest. The game received much criticism for its roster and catering to new players, and I understand that. This review is prior to a release of an Arcade edition that everyone is looking forward to. I personally like the roster as it is now. When Balrog, Guile, Ed, and Akuma were released, I felt like the roster became legit. Also, movesets were tweaked to allow for smoother resets and transitions. The key is that the game allows the kind of depth in combat that I always sought, yet still keeps its tradition.

 The music and sound effects are there. It's amazing to see so much attention paid to the history of the game. The story that began with M. Bison using his Shadoloo company to capitalize on the participants of the tournament is right in sync with the canon. Apparently, the story for 5 fits in between 3 and 4, or slightly before 3- I can't recall. It's cool how they take every move into consideration, and it feels as if an old player from the 90's can pick up their character again, and feel like they are playing the exact same game, just with added dimensions. That means a lot to me, and it really adds weight to the universe of the game itself. Many strikes against the game were fixed over time. I would probably slam the vanilla version, but we got many more needed characters, and where there were no single player modes at all, we got a cinematic story mode, to accompany the individual story modes, which tie in cute little details to the mission mode that continuously updates. And importantly, we got survival modes that push the player. That is the heart of fighting games- worth its weight in gold. I can't tell you how many hours I spent playing and enjoying Dead or Alive 3 survival mode. It was the same here, with its own supplement system, similar to King of Fighters. When the environments  and aesthetics are designed well, you will throw most of you time into those modes,  and that's why it's so important to have them.

  I played online for some time, and I don't like how victory points are scaled. I feel as if you can win most of the time and still lose points for losing 1 or 2 critical matches. But where Capcom really brings it home, is in the same place every time. Just like Megaman, and Monster Hunter, Capcom has a way of evolving you as a player through a painful gauntlet of failure and growth, where you emerge on the other side, a completely enlightened player. When I played Monster Hunter, and found that I was completing hunts with relative ease, that I couldn't hope to survive earlier in the game, it became clear that every little mechanic and technique I was taught, was for a distinct reason. The same applies to Street Fighter V. It's like learning martial arts, which I can relate to. That's the beauty of it all. When you go to the dojo, you learn basic moves and set ups and techniques, that seem idle, or bland in the early goings. It isn't until later on, when it is all put together that you see how beautiful it is.

  One example is the most important mode- Survival. As I went through training mode, I  saw how difficult it is to master the timing and  coordination of some of the complex combos and techniques. Then after trying over and over again, you slowly see your muscle memory developing, until you get the move down, and it isn't about getting 1 execution. It's about developing the ability to do it at will. And you see that in the process, the game is developing your ability to transition to moves and maneuver on the battlefield. So when I went to survival, an awkward character, slowly became a weapon. It's a very basic fighting game concept, but SFV executes it so well. I didn't feel right writing the review until I completed my quest of finishing Survival on Hard, which not many can do. In the process, you become a more comfortable player, and I now see, that's what the purpose of the game is. It has been, and always will be, a franchise that welcomes newcomers into the genre of fighting games and makes them grow. And with that, I salute your efforts Capcom! 10/10