Press Start

Anyone else remember wondering why the pause button was called Start? I mean, you used the pause button all the time. And what the hell was Select anyway? Well, it is a long celebrated tradition to press the Start button to go into the main menu of a game. Creepy enough, I cannot find any information on it. I will keep looking, but I got nothing. However, the Start button just happens to be the button to start the game. Live with it. Logic assumes: in the interest that the Start button actually be worth making in the first place was to let it be the pause button too. Now, Ninteno seems to be trying to break that by making the 1+2 or Plus+Minus button combo count as the start button for many games. Select is a strange one though. In the early NES, the only way to navigate the main menu was to press the Select button.

Today, I want to talk about Scott Pilgrim: The Game. It is a download title that happens to be a throwback game in 16-bit. Hell, it is even an old genre from the SNES days: the beat-em-up. Complete with the obnoxious elevator gauntlet (that I mentioned earlier), endless enemies that just will not die, and the highly repetitive but irritating bosses. It basically plays like the old Turtles in Time. They even spiced it up with a slight RPG system. You can buy stat upgrades, but they are expensive and time consuming to grind for. So, of course I grinded for them. The killer funny part is the 8-bit chiptune music. I do not mind hipsters getting into retrogaming if it means more games like Scott Pilgrim. I said it when Mega Man 9 was announced: this is going to mean more old-school games. Even if Sonic the Hedgehog 4 failed ro live up to the boasts of Sonic Team, I am OK with the attempt. I played what they released so far and I would not mind seeing more of it. Playing games that have existed for 15-20 years is great, but I need a new spice to my old-school games. Honestly, if you have  not seen Scott Pilgrim: The Game or Mega Man 9 and you remember old-school gaming, get into the retro thing for a little bit. You will thank me to dust off those old consoles.

GAMING MUSIC:

I do not know if you guys knew this, but I listen to the Song of the post while writing it. It sets the mood for what I want to say. This choice I am presenting to y'all is the Brawl version of King Dedede's theme. I have this one play every time I play the Halberd stage, because dammit, it gets the group focused. King Dedede is my favorite Kirby character, because he is edgy, he the is villain, he is the nemesis, and he is the anti-hero. Rolled into a platformer obviously suited for new gamers and younger gamers, I can still celebrate Kirby games. I am so happy that Nintendo obviously celebrated Kirby games as well. The franchise gets to sit among the king, the hardcore, and the obscure, and beat the hell out of them. Kirby gets to be redeemed as a status in gaming thanks to Super Smash Bros. and I would like it if you also recognized that.

You require additional Pylons.

So,  I was bored the other day and loaded up StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty. This game is a work of art. I feel it deserves 2010's GOTY. It was definitely awesome to come out on my birthday (or the day after). So which race did I pick to main? Terran. Back in the day of StarCraft: Brood War, which I still play, I played out Terran pretty hardcore. Marine/Medic balls and Battlecruisers are a force to be reckoned. It is pretty hard to kill a group of Marines with healers in the middle of the mass. Of course, I was passing up the Dark Archon,  but I can deal. A Dark Archon takes too long to get up and running and hardly feasible in a real match. However, it was definitely fun to toast my brother with a mass of Mutalisks as Protoss.

How does SC2 compare? I cannot bring myself to say it is better, but I also cannot say it is worse. Many people complained upon release that they did not change enough about StarCraft in the sequel to merit the achy wait. Twelve years is a long time. People were also concerned that only a third of SC2 was released in 2010. Honestly? The changes are barely noticeable beyond the major graphical overhaul to a person who has not played SC maybe. The pacing is completely different. SC favors slower, longer games. SC2 favors quick, cheese matches. It is only apparent from the difficulty in countering cheeses (cheap, throw-in strategies). However, that is the best way to separate the men from the noobs. If you can overcome the horrid cannon rushes, you are already a step above your Protoss opponent. The flaw in this matter is that if you are placed in a lower tier for competitive play, then you will get cheesed a lot. It is not as common in the high tiers. But hey! Cest la vie. As for it being a third of a game: this third is no shorter than original SC or its expansion. I am safely happy to say that once the last installment is released, it will be an epic game. It is a strong stand alone title. There are at least 30 missions, some training missions, and endless multiplayer fun.

What is it missing? LAN. I am truly sorry for putting up a typical complaint, but where is the LAN? To be fair, I did share two copies of SC with 20 friends. I do not blame Blizzard (especially after the Acitivision takeover) for being a careful. The strange element is that this is hardly a cash cow for them. All the eggs are in World of Warcraft's basket. Why punish us for that? I think SC2 retains SC's longevity. Once I get bored and still need some of my SC fix, I will use the wonderfully organized map-maker.

Too bad Battlecruisers are lame now. Thors for life?

GAMING MUSIC

Remember Top Gear for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System? I bet not. Hopefully this track will soothe your soul like it did mine. It's a par-rate racing game from the 16-bit era. I would be lying if I did not say I only played it for the soundtrack. I bet everyone can remember playing bad games with good music. You know? Before the internet.