.... My head hurts

So I decided to impulse buy a copy of A Witch's Tale for the DS because the atmosphere for the trailers I saw of it were very enticing. And then I ran into this Japanese trailer for the game that had a little surprise near the end of the video:



What shocked me wasn't the fact that the game had some vocal song that was most likely removed from the copy I'm going to be getting (which will probably have me seething in anger later if I find this to be true), but from the fact that Momoi Haruko... produced it. Apparently she started a record label while I was offline or something.

Anyway, if you don't know who Momoi Haruko is, she's awesome.
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDOXui4fDf5WKGt26p-iMmiDU5V4AijPQhSMd9qEPT95W-QOwt7ZIR-gZU7yGDlSgrGfc2RV1V8vlCTWoHvq4dfU5UhYIclRGIFKQnqxpCJbwTC0dwyE9Lf4ClvPy_RjepAPwNCxV8gvY/" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDOXui4fDf5WKGt26p-iMmiDU5V4AijPQhSMd9qEPT95W-QOwt7ZIR-gZU7yGDlSgrGfc2RV1V8vlCTWoHvq4dfU5UhYIclRGIFKQnqxpCJbwTC0dwyE9Lf4ClvPy_RjepAPwNCxV8gvY/" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 128px; height: 128px;" /></a><br /><br />So I decided to impulse buy a copy of A Witch's Tale for the DS because the atmosphere for the trailers I saw of it were very enticing. And then I ran into this Japanese trailer for the game that had a little surprise near the end of the video:<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cK87Zd6kTqU&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cK87Zd6kTqU&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />What shocked me wasn't the fact that the game had some vocal song that was most likely removed from the copy I'm going to be getting (which will probably have me seething in anger later if I find this to be true), but from the fact that <a href="http://www.momoi.com/">Momoi Haruko</a>... <a href="http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=AKCS-1002">produced it.</a> Apparently she started a record label while I was offline or something. <br /><br />Anyway, if you don't know who Momoi Haruko is, <a href="http://www.paranda.net/2007/02/momois_famisong.html">she's</a> <a href="http://famison.com/">awesome.</a>

In Defense of: Bionic Commando (The New One)

It's not technically up on the main page yet, since I'm still working on editing/formatting a few more pieces, but Sotenga's review of the new Bionic Commando is now part of the full article. He gives it a favorable review, despite a detailed deconstruction about how awful the plotline truly is, and his overall assessment is pretty spot on.



I actually really enjoyed this game a lot, although it's easy to spot where the issues are. It made the famous mistake of trying to appeal to everyone and completely failed in the process. Retro fans disliked the complete change in atmosphere and tone, while modern fans were somehow under the assumption that this was an open-ended game, and disliked its linearity, as well as its difficulty. I think two things caused this: GRIN shot themselves in the foot by making Bionic Commando Rearmed (unofficial HG101 Game of 2008) so awesome, so the change was made incredibly apparent, and it had the unfortunate situation of releasing next to Infamous and Prototype, two other games that satiated action gamers in ways that Bionic Commando didn't.

Personally, I'd like to think of this as this generation's PS2 Shinobi, another 3D revival from about six years back that also emerged to middling reception. Both have their own fair set of issues - the pits and checkpoints in Shinobi, the load times in Bionic Commando, the repetitive level designs in both of them - but the core mechanics are just so damned fantastic that, for me, at least, it completely overshadowed any of its other issues. For Shinobi, it was the air dashing and wall running; for Bionic Commando, it's (obviously) the swinging. It doesn't really feel like the older games, but there was never any way it could in 3D. So much of the platform swinging is automatic that it loses that aspect, but it more than makes up for it with its application in combat.


Any of the major battles are made much more exciting when you're surrounded and start getting pelted up bullets, when you can leap off the nearest cliff, turn around in mid-air, latch on to something (hopefully) and slowly regain some health while firing what few enemies you can see. It is, in practice, a variation of the cover system that's been popularized by Gears of War, but infinitely more interesting because it can be used almost anywhere, without having to duck behind designer-placed obstacles. It also makes important use of vertical space and the ability to traverse it quickly, greatly enhancing any strategic combat options.

And for me, latching onto an enemy, reeling in so I slam into them and send myself flying backwards into the air, while spraying fire towards any other enemies - well, that's just as awesome as the first time you launched an enemy into the air and juggled them with bullets in Devil May Cry. It has the same exact impact as not only looking cool, but serving a important function in the game itself.

A few weeks after its release, Gamestop dropped the price to $20, although it's back hovering about the $40 mark now. That'll probably drop again come the holidays, which hopefully will convince more people to give it a go. I know this is another one of those games that's going to be showing up in "LTTP" threads for years to come, and maybe it's only in time that it'll get the respect it deserves.

It's not technically up on the main page yet, since I'm still working on editing/formatting a few more pieces, but Sotenga's review of the <a href="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/bioniccommando/bioniccommando4.htm">new Bionic Commando</a> is now part of the full article. He gives it a favorable review, despite a detailed deconstruction about how awful the plotline truly is, and his overall assessment is pretty spot on. <br /><br /><center><img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/bioniccommando/bc2009-17a.jpg"></center><br /><br />I actually really enjoyed this game a lot, although it's easy to spot where the issues are. It made the famous mistake of trying to appeal to everyone and completely failed in the process. Retro fans disliked the complete change in atmosphere and tone, while modern fans were somehow under the assumption that this was an open-ended game, and disliked its linearity, as well as its difficulty. I think two things caused this: GRIN shot themselves in the foot by making Bionic Commando Rearmed (unofficial HG101 Game of 2008) so awesome, so the change was made incredibly apparent, and it had the unfortunate situation of releasing next to Infamous and Prototype, two other games that satiated action gamers in ways that Bionic Commando didn't.<br /><br /><span class="fullpost">Personally, I'd like to think of this as this generation's PS2 Shinobi, another 3D revival from about six years back that also emerged to middling reception. Both have their own fair set of issues - the pits and checkpoints in Shinobi, the load times in Bionic Commando, the repetitive level designs in both of them - but the core mechanics are just so damned fantastic that, for me, at least, it completely overshadowed any of its other issues. For Shinobi, it was the air dashing and wall running; for Bionic Commando, it's (obviously) the swinging. It doesn't really feel like the older games, but there was never any way it could in 3D. So much of the platform swinging is automatic that it loses that aspect, but it more than makes up for it with its application in combat. <br /><br /><center><img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/bioniccommando/bc2009-22a.jpg"></center><br />Any of the major battles are made much more exciting when you're surrounded and start getting pelted up bullets, when you can leap off the nearest cliff, turn around in mid-air, latch on to something (hopefully) and slowly regain some health while firing what few enemies you can see. It is, in practice, a variation of the cover system that's been popularized by Gears of War, but infinitely more interesting because it can be used almost anywhere, without having to duck behind designer-placed obstacles. It also makes important use of vertical space and the ability to traverse it quickly, greatly enhancing any strategic combat options. <br /><br />And for me, latching onto an enemy, reeling in so I slam into them and send myself flying backwards into the air, while spraying fire towards any other enemies - well, that's just as awesome as the first time you launched an enemy into the air and juggled them with bullets in Devil May Cry. It has the same exact impact as not only looking cool, but serving a important function in the game itself.<br /><br />A few weeks after its release, Gamestop dropped the price to $20, although it's back hovering about the $40 mark now. That'll probably drop again come the holidays, which hopefully will convince more people to give it a go. I know this is another one of those games that's going to be showing up in "LTTP" threads for years to come, and maybe it's only in time that it'll get the respect it deserves. <br /> </span>

The Internet Reacts - New Rocket Knight

So 1up revealed (and confirmed a rumor from awhile back) that Konami and Climax, the same guys who did Silent Hill Origins, are working on a 2.5D resurrection of Rocket Knight Adventures, AKA Sparkster.


"The funny thing about Rocket Knight is that when you look for information on the Internet -- if you can find it -- you never see anything bad about him," says Konami producer Tomm Hulett.

Well, this NeoGAF thread sure put an end to that.

The gist of this is that people aren't very happy about how it looks. The same thing happened with Konami's Rebirth line of games for the Wii, strangely enough. I never understood the hate for Gradius, because it looks exactly as it should. Contra Rebirth, admittedly, did not look great in stills due to some lousy background artwork, but it looked fantastic in motion, and it played astonishingly well.

This whole scenario boggles my mind. Fifteen years ago when all of those fancy 32-bit systems came out and 3D was the new norm, retro gamers (which weren't even technically so old and cranky yet) were clamoring, hey, no, it's not about the graphics, it's about the gameplay! Fast forward to present, and as it turns out, it IS all about the graphics! I guess we were wrong all along!

This also makes me realize that while I browse NeoGAF a lot, the only time I end up posting I end up coming off like an asshole. It's not really intentional, but when people say things like "Contra Rebirth is a terrible game and I know this because I watched the whole thing on Youtube", then what exactly IS the rational way to react?

Anyway, I wrote a majority of this post when I was still behind the work filter but upon returning home, I'm not really sure why people are complaining to begin with. Oh well.

So <a href="http://www.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3176338">1up</a> revealed (and confirmed a rumor from awhile back) that Konami and Climax, the same guys who did Silent Hill Origins, are working on a 2.5D resurrection of <a href="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/sparkster/sparkster.htm">Rocket Knight Adventures, AKA Sparkster</a>.<br /><br /><center><img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/sparkster/rkanew-1.jpg"></center><br /><i>"The funny thing about Rocket Knight is that when you look for information on the Internet -- if you can find it -- you never see anything bad about him," says Konami producer Tomm Hulett.</i><br /><br />Well, <a href="http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=376071">this NeoGAF thread</a> sure put an end to that.<br /><span class="fullpost"><br />The gist of this is that people aren't very happy about how it looks. The same thing happened with Konami's Rebirth line of games for the Wii, strangely enough. I never understood the hate for Gradius, because it looks exactly as it should. Contra Rebirth, admittedly, did not look great in stills due to some lousy background artwork, but it looked fantastic in motion, and it played astonishingly well. <br /><br />This whole scenario boggles my mind. Fifteen years ago when all of those fancy 32-bit systems came out and 3D was the new norm, retro gamers (which weren't even technically so old and cranky yet) were clamoring, hey, no, it's not about the graphics, it's about the gameplay! Fast forward to present, and as it turns out, it IS all about the graphics! I guess we were wrong all along!<br /><br />This also makes me realize that while I browse NeoGAF a lot, the only time I end up posting I end up coming off like an asshole. It's not really intentional, but when people say things like "Contra Rebirth is a terrible game and I know this because I watched the whole thing on Youtube", then what exactly IS the rational way to react? <br /><br />Anyway, I wrote a majority of this post when I was still behind the work filter but upon returning home, I'm not really sure why people are complaining to begin with. Oh well.<br /></span>

A Brief History of Thexder

At TGS, Square-Enix unexpectedly announced a new PSN game for the PSP - Thexder Neo, a 2.5D remake of the old Game Arts action-platformer. Even more unexpectedly, it was just released today, available for $10 even to NA gamers. Many months back I started work on a Thexder article, but never quite got around to it. And so, here's a quick history.


Thexder is a mecha who can transform into a jet, something which was obviously immediately appealing to gamers, especially computer folk who were probably getting sick of the usual adventure games. In mecha form, your laser will automatically target any foe as long as you're facing them, so there's no need to jump up and down to hit them. In jet form, the laser can only fire straight ahead, but it's necessary to travel through narrow spaces and reach higher areas. The levels consist of fairly small mazes consisting of many, many narrow corridors. It's one of those games that somewhat historically relevant - like Hydlide, it was popular during the day for being revolutionary, but the game itself hasn't exactly aged well. It's also brutally difficult.

There were two Thexder games created for Japanese computers - the original and its sequel, Firehawk. Both were ported to DOS and released in North America by Sierra, who also grabbed Silpheed, Sorcerian, and Zeliard. For the first game, the cool theme music didn't make the transition due to the awful PC speaker, and some of the special effects were removed, but otherwise it's a pretty alright port. The second game had its story cut out but actually improved the graphics a bit. Coincidentally, Square also ported the first game to the Famicom. It removed most of the stages and redesigned the ones that were left, so it's only the same four stages that repeat over and over - the original version has many more levels. Sierra also released a new Thexder game for Windows 95 somewhere around the mid-90s, which was dreadful, because the sprites were tiny, the action was choppy, and somehow the level design was even worse than ever.


Anyway, as near as I can tell, Thexder Neo is a remake of the original game. The first level is definitely almost exactly the same, although I can't say any more, because I never beat the first level of the original Thexder. (As I said, it's really hard!) This PSP version adjusts the difficulty level a bit, so it's much easier to handle. It controls much smoother too, and adds in an option to lock your direction, so you walk backwards while still firing forwards. Enemies drop various orbs, some of which will recharge your energy gauge, while others will expand its maximum capacity. You'll want to grab as many as these as possible, because not only does your energy drain when taking damage, but it'll also slowly drain as you fire. There's also a shield, although I never quite figured out its functionality nor how to recharge it.


Now, remaking games always brings up an interesting question - how faithful do you want to remain to the source material? The best, like Bionic Commando: Rearmed, take all of the good stuff and polish all of the bad stuff to make for a game that feels somewhat modern while still maintaining a retro sensibility. Thexder does not do this. The tight corridors and obnoxious enemies, many of which require several seconds of constant lasering to be killed, are still here. Navigating the mazes just isn't any fun, because, naturally, they're full of dead ends, and there's no real benefit to exploring. There's even some cases where you can get trapped and need to die to start the level over. The way to "fix" these problems would be to redesign the levels completely and rebalance the enemies further...but maybe it wouldn't be Thexder then? Game Arts already took the basic concept - the auto-aiming fire, anyway - and turned it into Alisia Dragoon for the Genesis, which would've been a much better game to remake. Of course, she doesn't carry quite the weight amongst retro nerds, and she can't transform into a jet, but she does have tits, which has to count for something.


Thexder Neo feels cheaply put together and not terribly interesting unless you're one of the few that actually has some nostalgia for this game - and if you're not Japanese, then you probably don't.

At TGS, Square-Enix unexpectedly announced a new PSN game for the PSP - Thexder Neo, a 2.5D remake of the old Game Arts action-platformer. Even more unexpectedly, it was just released today, available for $10 even to NA gamers. Many months back I started work on a Thexder article, but never quite got around to it. And so, here's a quick history.<br /><br /><center><img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/thexder/compare-pc88.png"></center><br />Thexder is a mecha who can transform into a jet, something which was obviously immediately appealing to gamers, especially computer folk who were probably getting sick of the usual adventure games. In mecha form, your laser will automatically target any foe as long as you're facing them, so there's no need to jump up and down to hit them. In jet form, the laser can only fire straight ahead, but it's necessary to travel through narrow spaces and reach higher areas. The levels consist of fairly small mazes consisting of many, many narrow corridors. It's one of those games that somewhat historically relevant - like <a href="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/hydlide/hydlide.htm">Hydlide</a>, it was popular during the day for being revolutionary, but the game itself hasn't exactly aged well. It's also brutally difficult.<br /><span class="fullpost"><br />There were two Thexder games created for Japanese computers - the original and its sequel, Firehawk. Both were ported to DOS and released in North America by Sierra, who also grabbed Silpheed, <a href="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/sorcerian/sorcerian.htm">Sorcerian</a>, and Zeliard. For the first game, the cool theme music didn't make the transition due to the awful PC speaker, and some of the special effects were removed, but otherwise it's a pretty alright port. The second game had its story cut out but actually improved the graphics a bit. Coincidentally, Square also ported the first game to the Famicom. It removed most of the stages and redesigned the ones that were left, so it's only the same four stages that repeat over and over - the original version has many more levels. Sierra also released a new Thexder game for Windows 95 somewhere around the mid-90s, which was dreadful, because the sprites were tiny, the action was choppy, and somehow the level design was even worse than ever.<br /><br /><center><img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/thexder/thexderneo-2.png"></center><br />Anyway, as near as I can tell, Thexder Neo is a remake of the original game. The first level is definitely almost exactly the same, although I can't say any more, because I never beat the first level of the original Thexder. (As I said, it's really hard!) This PSP version adjusts the difficulty level a bit, so it's much easier to handle. It controls much smoother too, and adds in an option to lock your direction, so you walk backwards while still firing forwards. Enemies drop various orbs, some of which will recharge your energy gauge, while others will expand its maximum capacity. You'll want to grab as many as these as possible, because not only does your energy drain when taking damage, but it'll also slowly drain as you fire. There's also a shield, although I never quite figured out its functionality nor how to recharge it.<br /><br /><center><img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/thexder/thexderneo-3.png"></center><br />Now, remaking games always brings up an interesting question - how faithful do you want to remain to the source material? The best, like Bionic Commando: Rearmed, take all of the good stuff and polish all of the bad stuff to make for a game that feels somewhat modern while still maintaining a retro sensibility. Thexder does not do this. The tight corridors and obnoxious enemies, many of which require several seconds of constant lasering to be killed, are still here. Navigating the mazes just isn't any fun, because, naturally, they're full of dead ends, and there's no real benefit to exploring. There's even some cases where you can get trapped and need to die to start the level over. The way to "fix" these problems would be to redesign the levels completely and rebalance the enemies further...but maybe it wouldn't be Thexder then? Game Arts already took the basic concept - the auto-aiming fire, anyway - and turned it into <a href="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/alisia/alisia.htm">Alisia Dragoon</a> for the Genesis, which would've been a much better game to remake. Of course, she doesn't carry quite the weight amongst retro nerds, and she can't transform into a jet, but she <i>does</i> have tits, which has to count for something.<br /><br /><center><img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/thexder/thexderneo-5.png"></center><br />Thexder Neo feels cheaply put together and not terribly interesting unless you're one of the few that actually has some nostalgia for this game - and if you're not Japanese, then you probably don't.<br /></span>

Conquering Firmware Protected PSP Games

I figured it was only a matter of time, but now there's a relatively easy way you can hack ISOs to circumvent the firmware check on the more recent PSP releases, including Ys 7, Persona, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, and (I think) Gran Turismo. (There are other ways to make the Peace Walker demo work as explained somewhat awkwardly here.

First, make sure you're using 5.50 Gen-B2. I needed to upgrade from my really old 3.80 M33, which required a few steps, but went pretty smoothly. Next, grab this pack, which includes UMDGen and Game Decryptor.

Rip a copy of the ISO and open it in UMDGen. Export the filelist into "filelist.txt". Now, go into the PSP_GAME\SYSDIR directory, and extract the EBOOT.BIN file. Save it on the root of your memory stick.

Now, copy Game Decryptor to your PSP, and run it. It'll create a decrypted version of EBOOT.BIN and stick in the \Decryptor folder on your memory stick. Copy it back to your hard drive. Now, with UMDGen and the ISO file still open, import the old "filelist.txt" file, delete the old EBOOT.BIN and add the new EBOOT.BIN that was just created. Save it this as a new ISO and you should be set! If you run into any problems, make sure to disable any plugins and see if it works. Make sure you dig into the "Advanced" option in your Recovery Menu (hold R when booting) and disable those too.

I also ran into problems with IRShell, which didn't want to work properly with 5.50 GEN B2. It's not an essential program but I use it to create screenshots. Instead I grabbed Custom Firmware Extender 1.9.2, a plugin which also does screen caps (amongst other things) and works just fine with this firmware. Brilliant!

You can find a lot of useful information in this NeoGAF thread, mostly courtesy of one Mejilan. Our eternal thanks, we give, along with the intrepid hackers that make this possible!
<center><img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/blog/ys7.png"></center><br /><br />I figured it was only a matter of time, but now there's a relatively easy way you can hack ISOs to circumvent the firmware check on the more recent PSP releases, including Ys 7, Persona, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, and (I think) Gran Turismo. (There are other ways to make the Peace Walker demo work as explained somewhat awkwardly <a href="http://forums.gametrailers.com/thread/how-to-play-mgs-peace-walker-o/925936?page=1">here</a>. <br /><br />First, make sure you're using 5.50 Gen-B2. I needed to upgrade from my really old 3.80 M33, which required a few steps, but went pretty smoothly. Next, grab <a href="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/blog/psp_decrypters.zip">this pack</a>, which includes UMDGen and Game Decryptor.<br /><br />Rip a copy of the ISO and open it in UMDGen. Export the filelist into "filelist.txt". Now, go into the PSP_GAME\SYSDIR directory, and extract the EBOOT.BIN file. Save it on the root of your memory stick.<br /><br />Now, copy Game Decryptor to your PSP, and run it. It'll create a decrypted version of EBOOT.BIN and stick in the \Decryptor folder on your memory stick. Copy it back to your hard drive. Now, with UMDGen and the ISO file still open, import the old "filelist.txt" file, delete the old EBOOT.BIN and add the new EBOOT.BIN that was just created. Save it this as a new ISO and you should be set! If you run into any problems, make sure to disable any plugins and see if it works. Make sure you dig into the "Advanced" option in your Recovery Menu (hold R when booting) and disable those too.<br /><br />I also ran into problems with IRShell, which didn't want to work properly with 5.50 GEN B2. It's not an essential program but I use it to create screenshots. Instead I grabbed Custom Firmware Extender 1.9.2, a plugin which also does screen caps (amongst other things) and works just fine with this firmware. Brilliant!<br /><br />You can find a lot of useful information in this <a href="http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=226650">NeoGAF thread</a>, mostly courtesy of one Mejilan. Our eternal thanks, we give, along with the intrepid hackers that make this possible!

Pop'n Music Portable - PSP

Just confirmed in Famitsu. Seems to be based off of Pop'n 15, Adventure.















80 songs, and multiple options for 3/5/7/9 button play. With the PSP being region free, this should be a must-buy for importers, especially since it has around 0% chance of coming out here.

As for the controls, hey, it worked for DJ MAX Portable.
<a href="http://www.bemanistyle.com/images/news_images/multiple/large/1267.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.bemanistyle.com/images/news_images/multiple/large/1267.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 800px; height: 600px;" /></a>Just confirmed in Famitsu. Seems to be based off of Pop'n 15, Adventure.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bemanistyle.com/images/news_images/1514.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.bemanistyle.com/images/news_images/1514.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 216px;" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />80 songs, and multiple options for 3/5/7/9 button play. With the PSP being region free, this should be a must-buy for importers, especially since it has around 0% chance of coming out here.<br /><br />As for the controls, hey, it worked for DJ MAX Portable.

Ice Climber's influence on Wowser cartoon

Was there a connection between Nintendo's Ice Climber on the Famicom and an episode of the children's anime series Wowser?

Originally aired in 1988, Wowser was a Japanese developed cartoon series based on a Belgium comic called Cubitus. The 52 episode series followed the adventures of an obese white dog, Wowser, his owner Professor Dinghy, blonde woman Linda, older woman Beatrice, plus a black cat named Ratso. In Japan the series was known as Don-don Domeru to Ron (どんどんドメルとロン), in France as Cubitus, and in Holland as Dommel. It was your typical, wacky cartoon aimed at primary school kids.


What makes it interesting for gamers though, is that one episode, or possibly two, seemed to be heavily influenced by Ice Climber (アイスクライマ). There's nothing unusual about videogames influencing other mediums: the 2000AD comics featured regular stories about fictional characters getting sucked into real-world games (which was a rather clever marketing gimmick), and TV series The Power Team featured several Acclaim characters pulled into the real world. But this is such hopelessly obscure trivia, I felt it needed documenting somewhere...

Unfortunately, trawling Youtube and torrents for the American, French, Dutch and Japanese versions yielded nothing, and the only episode list I could find was in French, so I don't even know the episode's English name. Reading the French episode list, it could have been "Un monde de glace", but this could just as well apply to the Ice Man Cometh episode, which I did find online. The above screenshots were taken from said episode, which featured Professor Dinghy in exactly the same snow jacket he wore in the Ice Climber episode – it's the closest thing I could find. Unfortunately for most of the episode his hood is down, whereas in the Ice Climber episode it is buttoned up.



THE ICE CLIMBER EPISODE

The IC episode I first watched in South Africa about 18 years ago, so my memory is hazy. Chronologically it came on after I'd watched the Ice Man Cometh episode, and I was at first disappointed at the initial similarities, thinking it was a cheap way to churn out another show. Except I seem to recall it being twice as long as a typical episode, and it was played as a two-parter perhaps.


For whatever arbitrary reason, Wowser, Dinghy, Beatrice, Linda and Ratso all decide to go to a large snow covered mountain. To keep them warm, Beatrice concocts some kind of warming, purple elixir. This seems to exist purely so that Wowser can drink too much of it, get really hot, and then saunter around in purple shorts like on the beach, looking much like the Ice Climber polar bear (at least, I think he wore shorts). Anyway, he ends up going kind of insane and holes himself up like overlord in a giant castle of ice, while Professor Dinghy dresses up like the blue Ice Climber man, and Beatrice dresses up as the pink Ice Climber woman, and together they go on to...


Well, I forget the exact details. Possibly Linda gets kidnapped by Wowser, and there's a vague memory of Dinghy being attacked by a bird – it was all so long ago, my main memory of the episode was that afterwards my brother and I loaded up the Japanese version of Ice Climber on our Famicom and played for hours, babbling away about how we were actually inside an episode of Wowser. Mostly we wasted time until the polar bear came out to knock the stage up.


The similarities are impossible to ignore: Wowser resembling the polar bear, a man in a blue snow jacket with hood, a woman with a pink snow jacket and hood. All of them on a snowy ice covered mountain. Possibly them getting attacked by a bird, but that might be an invention of my mind. With Ice Climber's release in the early 1980s predating the Japanese airing of Wowser, there's every possibility that one of the script writers was a fan of the game and chose to weave a few similarities into it. Now if only I could find the episode on Youtube to grab some screens. If you've seen this episode, or perhaps know where it's lurking, please post in the comments section. I will give you a million dollars. And by a million dollars, I mean my undying, internet-based respect.

Iceman Cometh pt1

Iceman Cometh pt2




<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivJDBVZ1-Uh7qY7Ldkkb0QifnUNViQVL_QHDV7fsecCACBWDIhmWWBN-6sIGwi6pQ95rpQ5uuHYuv7IChaIJPqHntbaacO7r5p5-WXy9bwMmOgEt966kfydsLfdPK3dCdCyWsoNrdirQQ/s1600-h/IChead.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386944096349272674" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivJDBVZ1-Uh7qY7Ldkkb0QifnUNViQVL_QHDV7fsecCACBWDIhmWWBN-6sIGwi6pQ95rpQ5uuHYuv7IChaIJPqHntbaacO7r5p5-WXy9bwMmOgEt966kfydsLfdPK3dCdCyWsoNrdirQQ/s320/IChead.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 235px;" /></a><br />Was there a connection between Nintendo's Ice Climber on the Famicom and an episode of the children's anime series Wowser?<br /><br /><span class="fullpost">Originally aired in 1988, Wowser was a Japanese developed cartoon series based on a Belgium comic called Cubitus. The 52 episode series followed the adventures of an obese white dog, Wowser, his owner Professor Dinghy, blonde woman Linda, older woman Beatrice, plus a black cat named Ratso. In Japan the series was known as Don-don Domeru to Ron (どんどんドメルとロン), in France as Cubitus, and in Holland as Dommel. It was your typical, wacky cartoon aimed at primary school kids.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHpb_GHjScVN7r6TyAyIsIJq2-Acbmo-nt_zmDyD0ArxFI1YvlmPO4ELd8BjuGHJNCQ61bntc2xQHIzhEN1uDQMt2KDlgtY5S1QQ72yUUH45lvvVnrpgO0yZat3tc3i2jfkm34EoklwnA/s1600-h/Cartoon.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386943946444530130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHpb_GHjScVN7r6TyAyIsIJq2-Acbmo-nt_zmDyD0ArxFI1YvlmPO4ELd8BjuGHJNCQ61bntc2xQHIzhEN1uDQMt2KDlgtY5S1QQ72yUUH45lvvVnrpgO0yZat3tc3i2jfkm34EoklwnA/s320/Cartoon.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 236px;" /></a><span class="fullpost"><br />What makes it interesting for gamers though, is that one episode, or possibly two, seemed to be heavily influenced by Ice Climber (アイスクライマ). There's nothing unusual about videogames influencing other mediums: the 2000AD comics featured regular stories about fictional characters getting sucked into real-world games (which was a rather clever marketing gimmick), and TV series The Power Team featured several Acclaim characters pulled into the real world. But this is such hopelessly obscure trivia, I felt it needed documenting somewhere...<br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwMwvVrDx2Gb8mPNpOvN_OykAB6ru-ppg8Dv6k6YzTgXux9UaaecGsx9mODIt5GWwTOo4yiILXsF03WV2IeCb9RF-EWaXetpXA3HAvnBOKaJA-5mZ3HE96KnUqVi9M1m3gCNyfdWEUjGA/s1600-h/Title.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386944302251652194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwMwvVrDx2Gb8mPNpOvN_OykAB6ru-ppg8Dv6k6YzTgXux9UaaecGsx9mODIt5GWwTOo4yiILXsF03WV2IeCb9RF-EWaXetpXA3HAvnBOKaJA-5mZ3HE96KnUqVi9M1m3gCNyfdWEUjGA/s320/Title.png" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 256px; height: 240px;" /></a><br /><span class="fullpost">Unfortunately, trawling Youtube and torrents for the American, French, Dutch and Japanese versions yielded nothing, and the only episode list I could find was in French, so I don't even know the episode's English name. Reading the French episode list, it could have been "Un monde de glace", but this could just as well apply to the Ice Man Cometh episode, which I did find online. The above screenshots were taken from said episode, which featured Professor Dinghy in exactly the same snow jacket he wore in the Ice Climber episode – it's the closest thing I could find. Unfortunately for most of the episode his hood is down, whereas in the Ice Climber episode it is buttoned up.<br /><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrE8mC5si4SzqccHsQpOqWVzo2CBRo1BCGYdpjLUQfxPr89XWUApWlnEti8OhQZfFdvwhSe5LRQhvxwMJ5Akrby8VwBci4X0jIEzAAwNXCqAFetbq_hP5Q_6Z1o3mH4mBaiDa-wAt5V7I/s1600-h/Bear2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386943165860588290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrE8mC5si4SzqccHsQpOqWVzo2CBRo1BCGYdpjLUQfxPr89XWUApWlnEti8OhQZfFdvwhSe5LRQhvxwMJ5Akrby8VwBci4X0jIEzAAwNXCqAFetbq_hP5Q_6Z1o3mH4mBaiDa-wAt5V7I/s400/Bear2.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" /></a><br /><span class="fullpost"><br />THE ICE CLIMBER EPISODE<br /><br />The IC episode I first watched in South Africa about 18 years ago, so my memory is hazy. Chronologically it came on after I'd watched the Ice Man Cometh episode, and I was at first disappointed at the initial similarities, thinking it was a cheap way to churn out another show. Except I seem to recall it being twice as long as a typical episode, and it was played as a two-parter perhaps.<br /><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcWH-Qubni0g6KjifYUuROW9BgTdnTe-cGZ-EHlCd-iUZHR1Po1OtJU69l9eqocULxPGJ1G_EPUNN82cmhG6cwnLd3ThjqHZuv_2N_xyr7LNGtra9CC-T9sa9SfKxejpDi9TsrUR8NLNc/s1600-h/Bear.gif" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386943036064575458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcWH-Qubni0g6KjifYUuROW9BgTdnTe-cGZ-EHlCd-iUZHR1Po1OtJU69l9eqocULxPGJ1G_EPUNN82cmhG6cwnLd3ThjqHZuv_2N_xyr7LNGtra9CC-T9sa9SfKxejpDi9TsrUR8NLNc/s400/Bear.gif" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 80px; height: 128px;" /></a><span class="fullpost"><br />For whatever arbitrary reason, Wowser, Dinghy, Beatrice, Linda and Ratso all decide to go to a large snow covered mountain. To keep them warm, Beatrice concocts some kind of warming, purple elixir. This seems to exist purely so that Wowser can drink too much of it, get really hot, and then saunter around in purple shorts like on the beach, looking much like the Ice Climber polar bear (at least, I think he wore shorts). Anyway, he ends up going kind of insane and holes himself up like overlord in a giant castle of ice, while Professor Dinghy dresses up like the blue Ice Climber man, and Beatrice dresses up as the pink Ice Climber woman, and together they go on to...<br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdf2UdyE9WVTH7QYVfx2osE7XnkNV_sWwKRi_-4oj5XIMlZvVr-Jrs8-LUl9fjwsrK6VMMZNaDKs2DveKrajRq92G2jAb4pUkS-AQbthHem64Mc5bBOP_wBTnj3IxVvpRjN-jOs9LHreY/s1600-h/pink.gif" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386943686065230194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdf2UdyE9WVTH7QYVfx2osE7XnkNV_sWwKRi_-4oj5XIMlZvVr-Jrs8-LUl9fjwsrK6VMMZNaDKs2DveKrajRq92G2jAb4pUkS-AQbthHem64Mc5bBOP_wBTnj3IxVvpRjN-jOs9LHreY/s400/pink.gif" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 81px; height: 108px;" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit8GDLKwnmZZCxwj20HP_tAJ_XCJIcV81BdMcvx-a1SDAfW7CBOYHeXdT2uWDYvcHTGAR-trLxoEXV46WrbM0QUS4Tmy9Z_EjSJsh5lR6ONdMWHdcMhKieOJjwnHLPADvcGkYZdzC1Keg/s1600-h/blue.gif" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386943288713022642" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit8GDLKwnmZZCxwj20HP_tAJ_XCJIcV81BdMcvx-a1SDAfW7CBOYHeXdT2uWDYvcHTGAR-trLxoEXV46WrbM0QUS4Tmy9Z_EjSJsh5lR6ONdMWHdcMhKieOJjwnHLPADvcGkYZdzC1Keg/s400/blue.gif" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 120px;" /></a><br /><span class="fullpost">Well, I forget the exact details. Possibly Linda gets kidnapped by Wowser, and there's a vague memory of Dinghy being attacked by a bird – it was all so long ago, my main memory of the episode was that afterwards my brother and I loaded up the Japanese version of Ice Climber on our Famicom and played for hours, babbling away about how we were actually inside an episode of Wowser. Mostly we wasted time until the polar bear came out to knock the stage up.<br /><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu3xa9ycn9j_Ct2jgjtoqO4ViNIEG9xRYPYmZuHn2AIde_N_PmPjgyWo8kRTtVOwqw0KhwQi0-KcnSJ9mf4Wanqj9KiCEEqAH0xm5FJ-EwSg0c1zqqk1xBZcKnyu9aF5n6WB8Y-06MTC4/s1600-h/cart.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386943528665239106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu3xa9ycn9j_Ct2jgjtoqO4ViNIEG9xRYPYmZuHn2AIde_N_PmPjgyWo8kRTtVOwqw0KhwQi0-KcnSJ9mf4Wanqj9KiCEEqAH0xm5FJ-EwSg0c1zqqk1xBZcKnyu9aF5n6WB8Y-06MTC4/s320/cart.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 207px;" /></a><span class="fullpost"><br />The similarities are impossible to ignore: Wowser resembling the polar bear, a man in a blue snow jacket with hood, a woman with a pink snow jacket and hood. All of them on a snowy ice covered mountain. Possibly them getting attacked by a bird, but that might be an invention of my mind. With Ice Climber's release in the early 1980s predating the Japanese airing of Wowser, there's every possibility that one of the script writers was a fan of the game and chose to weave a few similarities into it. Now if only I could find the episode on Youtube to grab some screens. If you've seen this episode, or perhaps know where it's lurking, please post in the comments section. I will give you a million dollars. And by a million dollars, I mean my undying, internet-based respect.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXqj8F01r5g">Iceman Cometh pt1</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYia1oywKdY">Iceman Cometh pt2</a><br /><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeopHxEUYeH1K8Y5c7kH3jvTJAqJL5DZtw9OYyJA5NZIMyURyvJ-fcRWEIsWzn9-A2s_Jxpq8SCAZ2bmuc9rZrIj2sprUucMQ1tqTxdsFjbixCwocMKTO0Rxc3d4xbqQaETiLnbIwkiVI/s1600-h/ice-climber_02.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386944180120514530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeopHxEUYeH1K8Y5c7kH3jvTJAqJL5DZtw9OYyJA5NZIMyURyvJ-fcRWEIsWzn9-A2s_Jxpq8SCAZ2bmuc9rZrIj2sprUucMQ1tqTxdsFjbixCwocMKTO0Rxc3d4xbqQaETiLnbIwkiVI/s320/ice-climber_02.png" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 256px; height: 224px;" /></a><br /><span class="fullpost"><br /></span></span>

Doujn CD Review - Megalomania

01 Opening / Rockman2
02 Title / Rockman2
03 CutMan / Rockman
04 IceMan / Rockman
05 FireMan / Rockman
06 MetalMan / Rockman2
07 BubbleMan / Rockman2
08 WoodMan / Rockman2
09 ClashMan / Rockman2
10 FlashMan / Rockman2
11 QuickMan / Rockman2
12 Dr.Wily #1 / Rockman2
13 Title / Rockman3
14 SparkMan / Rockman3
15 GetWeapon / Rockman3
16 SnakeMan / Rockman3
17 PharaohMan / Rockman4

Circle: Dangerous Mezashi Cat

VGMDB Entry

I’m really split on this one. On one hand, Mega Man music is tremendously overdone in both Western and Japanese remix circles. Furthermore, they tend to focus entirely on the first three entries. Yeah, everyone likes those more than the later entries, but regardless of their quality/popularity, they still had some excellent music. Megalomania, by Dangerous Mezashi Cat, continues the trend of neglecting these, by focusing on rock remixes on the first games.

Even those are a bit mixed. The music in the first Mega Man was never particularly good, but that doesn’t stop the chintzy, boring renditions here. Mega Man 2 fares quite a bit better, with a decent if typical arrangement of the opening theme. The stage themes are mixed, with Metal Man, Bubble Man, Wood Man, Flash Man and Dr. Wily’s Fortress use live guitars, while Quick Man and Crash Man use synth. I was never really a huge fan of these outside of Bubble Man and Dr. Wily’s theme, although the arrangements are fairly decent. I still can’t believe they omitted Air Man, though.

By far the best track is the rendition of the Mega Man 3 opening theme. It was only a short ditty originally, but it’s been expanded into a full ballad over four minutes in length, and sounds pretty amazing. The “Get Weapon” theme isn’t nearly as rearranged, but is still decent. The Spark Man theme is okay, while the Snake Man one is a bit more interesting. The only representation from the later games is Pharaoh Man from Mega Man 4, and it’s a bit of a lousy arrangement anyway.

So if you haven’t grown tired of the same old Mega Man songs, this is a pretty good album. Although their website lists this album in their discography, Dangerous Mezashi Cat no longer distributes Megalomania. It apparently disappeared around the time that Capcom released their own Rockman 1-6 Rock Arrange Album set. It might be coincidental, or it might be one of the few cases where a company actually blocked a doujin album. I'd honestly say that Capcom's official set is a bit better - the quality is more consistent, the song selection is better (the boss and title medleys are great), and the arrangements are slightly superior.

Samples:

Fileplanet

<img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/doujinmusic/megalomania.jpg"><br /><br />01 Opening / Rockman2 <br />02 Title / Rockman2 <br />03 CutMan / Rockman <br />04 IceMan / Rockman <br />05 FireMan / Rockman <br />06 MetalMan / Rockman2 <br />07 BubbleMan / Rockman2 <br />08 WoodMan / Rockman2 <br />09 ClashMan / Rockman2 <br />10 FlashMan / Rockman2 <br />11 QuickMan / Rockman2 <br />12 Dr.Wily #1 / Rockman2 <br />13 Title / Rockman3 <br />14 SparkMan / Rockman3 <br />15 GetWeapon / Rockman3 <br />16 SnakeMan / Rockman3 <br />17 PharaohMan / Rockman4 <br /><br />Circle: <a href="http://www.komatsuna-ya.com/~nekonomikan/dmc/">Dangerous Mezashi Cat</a><br /><br /><a href="http://vgmdb.net/album/4933">VGMDB Entry</a><br /><br />I’m really split on this one. On one hand, Mega Man music is tremendously overdone in both Western and Japanese remix circles. Furthermore, they tend to focus entirely on the first three entries. Yeah, everyone likes those more than the later entries, but regardless of their quality/popularity, they still had some excellent music. Megalomania, by Dangerous Mezashi Cat, continues the trend of neglecting these, by focusing on rock remixes on the first games.<br /><span class="fullpost"><br />Even those are a bit mixed. The music in the first Mega Man was never particularly good, but that doesn’t stop the chintzy, boring renditions here. Mega Man 2 fares quite a bit better, with a decent if typical arrangement of the opening theme. The stage themes are mixed, with Metal Man, Bubble Man, Wood Man, Flash Man and Dr. Wily’s Fortress use live guitars, while Quick Man and Crash Man use synth. I was never really a huge fan of these outside of Bubble Man and Dr. Wily’s theme, although the arrangements are fairly decent. I still can’t believe they omitted Air Man, though.<br /><br />By far the best track is the rendition of the Mega Man 3 opening theme. It was only a short ditty originally, but it’s been expanded into a full ballad over four minutes in length, and sounds pretty amazing. The “Get Weapon” theme isn’t nearly as rearranged, but is still decent. The Spark Man theme is okay, while the Snake Man one is a bit more interesting. The only representation from the later games is Pharaoh Man from Mega Man 4, and it’s a bit of a lousy arrangement anyway.<br /><br />So if you haven’t grown tired of the same old Mega Man songs, this is a pretty good album. Although their website lists this album in their discography, Dangerous Mezashi Cat no longer distributes Megalomania. It apparently disappeared around the time that Capcom released their own <a href="http://vgmdb.net/album/5138">Rockman 1-6 Rock Arrange Album</a> set. It might be coincidental, or it might be one of the few cases where a company actually blocked a doujin album. I'd honestly say that Capcom's official set is a bit better - the quality is more consistent, the song selection is better (the boss and title medleys are great), and the arrangements are slightly superior.<br /><br />Samples:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.fileplanet.com/hosteddl.aspx?/hst/d/i/discoalu/hg101_megalomania.zip">Fileplanet</a><p><br /></span>

The Dark Spire Is $5 At Gamestop

The word on the street (and their website) is that Gamestop has dropped the price for The Dark Spire to $5. $5! I'm not sure there are any cheaper new DS games at that price, especially for a game that's only six months old. It's a pity it must've flopped so bad, but even the hardcore first person dungeon crawler community agreed that it wasn't so great.

Objectively speaking, the Etrian Odyssey games are both more modernized, less obtuse and way less buggy. But damned if I didn't really have an affection for The Dark Spire. I gave up somewhere after wandering around the second floor (and stumbling through the dark area in the basement), but the aesthetics are absolutely entrancing. There's something about the deeply saturated colors, the slightly off-skew angle, the bits of light peering in from the ceiling, and the enemy artwork that just clicks way, way more than Etrian Odyssey.

It also helps that the soundtrack is fantastic.


Maybe it's an effect of the Japanese industry dwindling, but the game music scene lately has felt a bit underwhelming, with most of the major players (Uematsu, Mitsuda, Sakimoto, Sakuraba) either mostly absent thsi year or past their prime. With Western development pushing the consoles forward, it's actually been the portable systems that have been picking up the slack with its outstanding music. The Dark Spire (along with Sting's Knights in the Knightmare) both sound like the composers sat down and had a healthy chat with Michiru Yamane - they both sound a bit like Castlevania - then each took off in their own direction. I've never heard of the composer, Kenichi Arakawa, but his VGMDB entry shows lots of obscurities. If he ever does anything else in the future, it'd be worth looking out for.


Like the heavy metal barking in the Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne soundtrack, it takes awhile to get used to the weird choir vocals in The Dark Spire, but everything - the main theme, the dungeon themes, all of the excellent battle themes - are outstanding, and definitely one of the best soundtracks released this year. For $5, the game comes in an outer cardboard box and includes a soundtrack CD that has most of the best songs, including a few of the "retro" variations, which are meant to sound like 8-bit chiptunes. Even if you have no interest in the game, it's worth it for the CD, and the cover looks cool anyway, assuming Gamestop hasn't banged it up or covered it with stickers per their usual MO.

Music Samples:








<center><img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/blog/darkspire.jpg"></center><br />The word on the street (and their <a href="http://www.ebgames.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=73784&affID=88888&sourceID=FKSJxY2VJAk-ZA5*UatbT66NAAEa6yrrKQ">website</a>) is that Gamestop has dropped the price for The Dark Spire to $5. $5! I'm not sure there are any cheaper new DS games at that price, especially for a game that's only six months old. It's a pity it must've flopped so bad, but even the hardcore first person dungeon crawler community agreed that it wasn't so great.<br /><br />Objectively speaking, the Etrian Odyssey games are both more modernized, less obtuse and way less buggy. But damned if I didn't really have an affection for The Dark Spire. I gave up somewhere after wandering around the second floor (and stumbling through the dark area in the basement), but the aesthetics are absolutely entrancing. There's something about the deeply saturated colors, the slightly off-skew angle, the bits of light peering in from the ceiling, and the enemy artwork that just clicks way, way more than Etrian Odyssey.<br /><br />It also helps that the soundtrack is <i>fantastic</i>. <br /><span class="fullpost"> <br /><center><img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/blog/darkspire-2.png"></center><br />Maybe it's an effect of the Japanese industry dwindling, but the game music scene lately has felt a bit underwhelming, with most of the major players (Uematsu, Mitsuda, Sakimoto, Sakuraba) either mostly absent thsi year or past their prime. With Western development pushing the consoles forward, it's actually been the portable systems that have been picking up the slack with its outstanding music. The Dark Spire (along with Sting's Knights in the Knightmare) both sound like the composers sat down and had a healthy chat with Michiru Yamane - they both sound a bit like Castlevania - then each took off in their own direction. I've never heard of the composer, Kenichi Arakawa, but his <a href="http://vgmdb.net/artist/3258">VGMDB entry</a> shows lots of obscurities. If he ever does anything else in the future, it'd be worth looking out for.<br /><br /><center><img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/blog/darkspire-1.png"></center><br />Like the heavy metal barking in the Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne soundtrack, it takes awhile to get used to the weird choir vocals in The Dark Spire, but everything - the main theme, the dungeon themes, all of the excellent battle themes - are outstanding, and definitely one of the best soundtracks released this year. For $5, the game comes in an outer cardboard box and includes a soundtrack CD that has most of the best songs, including a few of the "retro" variations, which are meant to sound like 8-bit chiptunes. Even if you have no interest in the game, it's worth it for the CD, and the cover looks cool anyway, assuming Gamestop hasn't banged it up or covered it with stickers per their usual MO. <br /><br />Music Samples:<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ve9EIlwIXIE&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ve9EIlwIXIE&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/MVSVT-VcHMc&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/MVSVT-VcHMc&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FIXedqHyWNY&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/FIXedqHyWNY&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/b28c9blyoi0&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/b28c9blyoi0&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></span>

HG101's Digital Pick of the Week: Shatter (PSN)

Okay, I realize that this is a new thing and I got some 'splainin' to do. What I am attempting to do is create some recognition for downloadable titles that have been released for various platforms. The game horder in me loves retail releases (so much so that I will at times buy an import copy of a title that is download only in the US), but I'm not going to fight the entire trend because at my core I just want to play good games. It doesn't have to have been recently released, it just needs to be good. Furthermore, you will notice that my pics will tend to be console (that is: XBLA, PSN, WiiWare) centric because of my personal gaming habits but are not necessarily limited to consoles or original releases (0pening this weekly article up to the likes of GOG and VC titles). The title simply needs to have a legal digital release. I'm pretty sure this preface is enough so without further ado, my first pick of the week is Sidhe Interactive's PSN exclusive Shatter for the PS3.





Shatter is a Super Breakout-style bat and ball game. This genre is literally decades old and most entries do little to impress the hardcore crowd. Even recent iterations of fan favorites in the genre, namely Devilish DS and Arkanoid DS, presented very few surprises and barely deserved a glance. Shatter however adds enough style, new ideas, and enough presentation to satiate even the more skeptical hardcore palette.

The game starts off rather simply, providing little challenge and little variety from its peers. However, the game's mechanics tipped me off that this game would become more complicated quickly. The title's main gimmick is the bat's ability to suck and blow (I'm sure the devs were Spaceballs fans) wherein the player can add curves to the balls', powerups', and bonus shards' trajectory. Judicious use of this mechanic make the beginning of the game a cakewalk, however upon further play mastering the mechanic is necessary to score high, to complete difficult levels, and to survive. Your suck and blow abilities also affect some of the blocks on the map leaving for the possibility of them crashing into your bat and disabling your bat temporarily.



One of the most surprisingly deep features is the ability to add another ball at anytime: a player-controlled multi-ball if you will. Not only does this feature radically affect the pace of the game, but it adds to your score multiplier and totally affects the tide of the game. You have no certainty that you will not have a game over in any given level. Let's say you have 4 balls in your stock and you deploy 3 (you can deploy as many as 5). Your bat is knocked off the board by a stray block and all of a sudden all three of your balls in play are lost. You have now gone from a comfortable 4 balls to a sweat inducing 1 that you will have to play much more methodically in an effort to procure more 1ups.



Above all else, though, Shatter is a game that proves once again that amazing music can and will enhance a solid game and make it epic. I would go as far to say that Shatter's electronic trance steals the show and almost eclipses the game itself. The beats keep the pace of the game high and every boss battle feels like an epic struggle (and many times is). Like any soundtrack provided by a house DJ, the music cross-fades from that world's them to its respective boss theme and then onto the bonus round seamlessly. In fact, my only complaint on this end is that the music stops between levels for a load screen which certainly kills the player's momentum. In any case, the music is great even without the game and is available on the dev's website for only $10.



High score competition is also a fun aspect of the game. My main issue with high scores in arcade-y downloads has always been the impossibility of having the high score no matter how hard you try. You can even have a really awesome high score in Geometry Wars and only be 2000th in the world. It's discouraging because of the amount of competition and only a very small portion of the gaming population can reap any benefit from this setup. However, Shatter includes semi-local high scores, meaning you are put up against your friends on PSN. Climbing to the top of this hill is a fun (even if you have say 100 friends that play the game) and realistic goal that can create a constant friendly rivalry and add replay value to the game's several modes.

The game isn't without its problems, of course. The level design can become very samey and annoying (rather than simply challenging) with the multitude of swarming blocks that can decommission your bat. Sometimes the game is more fun in the middle levels where the challenge and fun are balanced just enough to provide an amazing experience.



Fans of Arkanoid, electronica, and classic arcade competition would do well to purchase this game in any case. Shatter currently retails $7.99 and with great reinvented classic gameplay, unlockable boss and bonus modes, and a bitchin' soundtrack you couldn't go wrong.

Images lovingly borrowed from www.shattergame.com the game's official website for purposes of review.

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-b_0qZlNvYLxDPuXaLuynHJkXUPzNHPW23VaLOeCvZl4rRIUZSv8nUwXhOjXpT17i6SGkiQuM8IQkINUIhWKqcItXki9XuCFiIMhOf_4Rj2ya179W6OZq9IM96tfgZ9UqnEXYEWU1UMY7/s1600-h/top_banner.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385166399044861666" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-b_0qZlNvYLxDPuXaLuynHJkXUPzNHPW23VaLOeCvZl4rRIUZSv8nUwXhOjXpT17i6SGkiQuM8IQkINUIhWKqcItXki9XuCFiIMhOf_4Rj2ya179W6OZq9IM96tfgZ9UqnEXYEWU1UMY7/s400/top_banner.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 331px; height: 110px;" /></a><br /><br />Okay, I realize that this is a new thing and I got some 'splainin' to do. What I am attempting to do is create some recognition for downloadable titles that have been released for various platforms. The game horder in me loves retail releases (so much so that I will at times buy an import copy of a title that is download only in the US), but I'm not going to fight the entire trend because at my core I just want to play good games. It doesn't have to have been recently released, it just needs to be good. Furthermore, you will notice that my pics will tend to be console (that is: XBLA, PSN, WiiWare) centric because of my personal gaming habits but are not necessarily limited to consoles or original releases (0pening this weekly article up to the likes of GOG and VC titles). The title simply needs to have a legal digital release. I'm pretty sure this preface is enough so without further ado, my first pick of the week is Sidhe Interactive's PSN exclusive Shatter for the PS3.<br /><br /><span class="fullpost"><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAQwjCLnzvmjzls34kq-uZOIhhN1b_kS7o78ZWDtewPGY-PmvynvvVIFIsbzgvNms84lCPZXxu-8hrmvMzdZ1uZBteU7ZzCddNsazrxD6LdgWtn2l5tzZSPlmIVwIBgInqNlRY5_oHXG8O/s1600-h/Shatter_002.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385165716540320962" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAQwjCLnzvmjzls34kq-uZOIhhN1b_kS7o78ZWDtewPGY-PmvynvvVIFIsbzgvNms84lCPZXxu-8hrmvMzdZ1uZBteU7ZzCddNsazrxD6LdgWtn2l5tzZSPlmIVwIBgInqNlRY5_oHXG8O/s400/Shatter_002.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" /></a><br /><br />Shatter is a Super Breakout-style bat and ball game. This genre is literally decades old and most entries do little to impress the hardcore crowd. Even recent iterations of fan favorites in the genre, namely Devilish DS and Arkanoid DS, presented very few surprises and barely deserved a glance. Shatter however adds enough style, new ideas, and enough presentation to satiate even the more skeptical hardcore palette.<br /><br />The game starts off rather simply, providing little challenge and little variety from its peers. However, the game's mechanics tipped me off that this game would become more complicated quickly. The title's main gimmick is the bat's ability to suck and blow (I'm sure the devs were Spaceballs fans) wherein the player can add curves to the balls', powerups', and bonus shards' trajectory. Judicious use of this mechanic make the beginning of the game a cakewalk, however upon further play mastering the mechanic is necessary to score high, to complete difficult levels, and to survive. Your suck and blow abilities also affect some of the blocks on the map leaving for the possibility of them crashing into your bat and disabling your bat temporarily.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggsS8GSI8vRm0kbJNPELbU6qBi3C4143se1gKEo6oXFvk1T4SanCeXWl9nNqjImWw5mFZtHLxrbsi3CT_rrI2kxaq2iIIpnvqKw_-_J8xus7NrTzSFG1R8wlms3HYFM14u1ExuPuKAf19T/s1600-h/Shatter_001.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385165711234401058" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggsS8GSI8vRm0kbJNPELbU6qBi3C4143se1gKEo6oXFvk1T4SanCeXWl9nNqjImWw5mFZtHLxrbsi3CT_rrI2kxaq2iIIpnvqKw_-_J8xus7NrTzSFG1R8wlms3HYFM14u1ExuPuKAf19T/s400/Shatter_001.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" /></a><br /><br />One of the most surprisingly deep features is the ability to add another ball at anytime: a player-controlled multi-ball if you will. Not only does this feature radically affect the pace of the game, but it adds to your score multiplier and totally affects the tide of the game. You have no certainty that you will not have a game over in any given level. Let's say you have 4 balls in your stock and you deploy 3 (you can deploy as many as 5). Your bat is knocked off the board by a stray block and all of a sudden all three of your balls in play are lost. You have now gone from a comfortable 4 balls to a sweat inducing 1 that you will have to play much more methodically in an effort to procure more 1ups.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfukvXgXsEV54tYu40PLBx1Uyv4kWytH4tnSzcOLzvBKdtZsU8EeRLyyDzabskTbMHpcc-3FvJ0q2zUF_zc4gBnnlCBXw3Cf0qZM8GN39HqJ8BJSMEVeAc3F_xiDhXgi3xgWxOBPwePJTK/s1600-h/Shatter_004.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385165727596763538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfukvXgXsEV54tYu40PLBx1Uyv4kWytH4tnSzcOLzvBKdtZsU8EeRLyyDzabskTbMHpcc-3FvJ0q2zUF_zc4gBnnlCBXw3Cf0qZM8GN39HqJ8BJSMEVeAc3F_xiDhXgi3xgWxOBPwePJTK/s400/Shatter_004.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" /></a><br /><br />Above all else, though, Shatter is a game that proves once again that amazing music can and will enhance a solid game and make it epic. I would go as far to say that Shatter's electronic trance steals the show and almost eclipses the game itself. The beats keep the pace of the game high and every boss battle feels like an epic struggle (and many times is). Like any soundtrack provided by a house DJ, the music cross-fades from that world's them to its respective boss theme and then onto the bonus round seamlessly. In fact, my only complaint on this end is that the music stops between levels for a load screen which certainly kills the player's momentum. In any case, the music is great even without the game and is available on the <a href="http://sidhe.bandcamp.com/album/shatter-official-videogame-soundtrack">dev's website for only $10</a>.<br /><br /><br /><br />High score competition is also a fun aspect of the game. My main issue with high scores in arcade-y downloads has always been the impossibility of having the high score no matter how hard you try. You can even have a really awesome high score in Geometry Wars and only be 2000th in the world. It's discouraging because of the amount of competition and only a very small portion of the gaming population can reap any benefit from this setup. However, Shatter includes semi-local high scores, meaning you are put up against your friends on PSN. Climbing to the top of this hill is a fun (even if you have say 100 friends that play the game) and realistic goal that can create a constant friendly rivalry and add replay value to the game's several modes.<br /><br />The game isn't without its problems, of course. The level design can become very samey and annoying (rather than simply challenging) with the multitude of swarming blocks that can decommission your bat. Sometimes the game is more fun in the middle levels where the challenge and fun are balanced just enough to provide an amazing experience.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8oKOvyd_QGDcf-gkLrMaK1FmcWfHFm1pF7Vk3b2W8YWxSUdkFPiQ-C6-IWGQQhTQgq_MfiT9Im90y_W8yKqgJH6A-4f8TXhbmXnJDtL5pQOlkzuicZTOpLeIrLpBsntDxfcXiZnrCNsQd/s1600-h/Shatter_015.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385165724587054242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8oKOvyd_QGDcf-gkLrMaK1FmcWfHFm1pF7Vk3b2W8YWxSUdkFPiQ-C6-IWGQQhTQgq_MfiT9Im90y_W8yKqgJH6A-4f8TXhbmXnJDtL5pQOlkzuicZTOpLeIrLpBsntDxfcXiZnrCNsQd/s400/Shatter_015.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" /></a><br /><br />Fans of Arkanoid, electronica, and classic arcade competition would do well to purchase this game in any case. Shatter currently retails $7.99 and with great reinvented classic gameplay, unlockable boss and bonus modes, and a bitchin' soundtrack you couldn't go wrong.<br /><br />Images lovingly borrowed from <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.shattergame.com">www.shattergame.com</a> the game's official website for purposes of review.<br /></span>