Okay, so this whole Bad Box Art Mega Man being in Street Fighter X Tekken? Totally awesome. I'm still not thrilled with Legends 3 getting canceled and the series as a whole kind of being shit on lately, but here's how I think Capcom could fix everything:

They should make a game starring Bad Box Art Mega Man (just as he appears in Street Fighter X Tekken) as a washed up TV actor named Rocky Rollington who once starred as Mega Man in a live action superhero show. It's been years since the show got cancelled and time has not been kind to Rocky. On the first night of his new job at a gas station in a bad neighborhood, some street punk tries to rob him at knifepoint and he recalls the extremely limited fighting skills he learned on set to defend himself. The kid isn't especially tough, so Rocky scares him off easily by screaming "WHACK!" in a very comic-bookish manner and administering a disarming karate chop to the kid's wrist.



Brimming with false confidence, Rocky goes home that night, breaks out his old Mega Man suit, and puts up an online ad, offering his services as a superhero-for-hire. He contacts his old friend, Tommy Lightning, who designed prop weapons for the show and has him modify the Mega Buster ray gun into a stun gun.

The premise is somewhere between No More Heroes (a game in which an anime nerd buys a beam katana online and sets out to become the number one assassin) and Bored to Death (a TV show where a writer puts up a Craigslist ad offering his services as a private detective), so it's not exactly original (and I can't recall any specific examples, but I know the whole washed up actor gone vigilante has been done before), but I think the fact that it's a Mega Man game changes everything.



The missions would range from silly and mundane tasks (acting as entertainment for a child's birthday party) that could go south (the kid's abusive father crashes the party and Mega Man has to stop him) to shit that puts Rocky in way over his head (someone framing him for murder). Somewhere in between, there could be some crazies that want to do him harm (obsessive nerds that want the Mega Man costume for their collection, so they dress up as Robot Masters and lure him into traps), help him out (an overweight Roll cosplayer that bakes him cookies and owns a handicapped dog named Rush), or just steal his thunder (Peter Bluth, the actor who played Protoman on the show, breaks out his own costume and attempts to settle their long-standing rivalry). The psychopaths from Dead Rising are kind of what I have in mind for these characters, just (debatably) normal folks gone crazy over a show that they like (or hate) a lot.



The game would probably play something like No More Heroes, with a limited city area to roam around in and missions taking place in smaller stages. I also think back to Dead Rising in terms of gameplay, with Mega Man being pretty slow and clunky at first, like Frank West, but learning new skills that make him a little more badass. Mega Man only has to shoot targets and the like during early missions (like the birthday party one), but when things get more demanding, he'll have to use his stun gun to blast enemies and knock them unconscious with his cheesy superhero moves (complete with the embarrassing comic book sound effects). Because he's only human (and an overweight one at that), the game would pull a lot of inspiration from classic Mega Man in the way that it's really damn hard. Rocky can take a quite a few punches, but when guns get involved, it won't take much to put him in the hospital. Despite all the danger, however, Rocky will remain dedicated thanks to a strong sense of justice (and concern that he can't afford his cigarettes or beer without the mission's pay).

Pulling the strings on the whole "nerds pretending to be Robot Masters" deal would be the president of the Mega Man fan club, William Albert, who (unintentionally) bears resemblance to Dr. Wily and wants nothing more than to wear the costume himself. His fandom transcends simply wanting an autograph from the man who played his hero; He wants to become the hero. The story would culminate with Tommy and "Roll" being captured by William and Mega Man would have to beat him down once and for all.



So yeah, this is what's been eating at the back of my brain since I saw the video of Bad Box Art Mega Man in Street Fighter X Tekken. This game is probably be the coolest thing that will never happen, but I'm going to dream, anyway. If nothing else, I hope Capcom at least gives something new (that's not a fighting game) with Mega Man in it soon! As much as this game would be awesome, I would never actually wish such a sad fate for the Blue Bomber. As it stands, though, I kind of feel like this is a pretty accurate depiction of our hero.

It's been a hell of a year, Destructoid.

I haven't been quite as active on my favorite gaming website as I would have liked to be, but that doesn't mean I haven't been gaming like a mad man. As 2011 comes to a close, I'd like to share my year with you. But first, a little backstory.

Ever since I was a little kid, I've loved video games. My first system was an NES I got for Christmas when I was maybe five or so and my first game was Bubble Bobble. It didn't take long for me to get hooked.

Across the rest of my childhood, many other systems and games came and went. Being a dumb child, I must have pissed away dozens of excellent (and now rare) games that I thought were worth the pennies of store credit Gamestop or my other local game store offered me. I think the one that stings the most is the boxed copy of Earthbound (strategy guide and all). I still vividly remember resisting the urge to vomit after pressing my nose against the slime scratch and sniff card. Good times.

I only still own a handful of gaming items from my younger years (my N64, 3DO, Genesis/Sega CD, and my boxed copies of all the original Genesis Sonics), but I've been trying my damnedest to remedy that. A little over a year ago, I got a shitty little retail job selling used video games which is made a lot less shitty by not being a GameStop and carrying even the most retro of games.

Today, my video game collection has exploded. I've done away with temptations to sell my games (unless they really suck, and even then I might keep them if they're a part of a series I like) and have been slowly seeking out all the games I love.

Of course, what's the point if I don't play them?

This year, I set a goal for myself: Play more games! In 2010, I only saw a handful of games all the way through. That was a shit year. In 2011, I played more than 50 different games all the way to the credits. This was an awesome year.

Now, I don't think there's a direct correlation here and I'm not of the belief that video games should be used for escaping the hardships of real life, but I do believe that they're damn fun and can be just what you need after a rough day at work. Also, I think learning to stick with something until the end, even a video game, is an important skill that I didn't really have until now. I feel more focused in other aspects of my life. I've learned that nothing is impossible, from beating Panzer Dragoon to creating a musical montage.

Anyway, getting back on topic, I'd like to wrap up the year by sharing what I think were the best games I played this year. This gets kind of tricky, however, as it's one thing to pick the best out of the games that came out in a year, but what if you played so much more than that? I played so many fantastic titles that didn't come out this year, but I wish so dearly that they had so I could crown them with the honor of being better than all the fancy new bullshit that's come out this year.

It's simply too hard to pick one game that's the best out of such a large pool, so I'll be picking two winners for each category, one out of the 2011 releases and one out of everything else I played.

Best Game That I Did Not Expect To Be That Good
2011 Winner: Catherine (PS3/360)
Runner-ups: Shadows of the Damned (PS3/360), Sonic Generations (PS3/360)

When copies of Catherine first showed up at the store, my co-workers and I enjoyed poking fun at it. It looked like Q-Bert with sexy a sexy anime lady whose only personality trait was that she really liked extra cheese on her pizza. Despite being a huge fan of puzzle games, I enjoy a good story more, so I brushed it off as something shallow and not worth my time.

A few months later when we had some used copies to rent, I took it home for a couple nights and fell in love. Uh, not with Catherine. I mean, with the game, not the girl. Uh......

The story in Catherine was a hell of a lot more interesting than I expected. After the main character, Vincent cheats on his serious business girlfriend Katherine with sexy blonde Catherine, his entire world goes to shit. When not in the puzzle sequences, Vincent hangs out with his bros in a bar and texts his lady friends, all of which you get to control him for and influence his faithfulness or lack thereof to his original companion.

The gameplay in Catherine was really unique (not like Q-Bert at all) and I never stopped being amazed at how complex the maneuvers could become despite the basics being so simple. Even late in the game, I was still learning crazy new techniques that I could never actually remember long enough to get much better at the game. I actually had to turn it down to Easy to make it through, something I generally refuse to do, but I think that just goes to show how desperate I was to see how the story ends.

Catherine blew me away with how interesting the story was and how addictive the gameplay was. After finishing it, I realized that the saucy packaging had a lot more to do with getting sales than showing what the game had to offer. I think the old saying "Don't judge a book by its cover" is pretty fucking relevant here.

Retro Winner: The Legend of Zelda - Oracle of Ages/Seasons (GBC)
Runner-ups: Metroid II - The Return of Samus (Game Boy), Castlevania - The Dracula X Chronicles (PSP)

I had never been a huge Zelda guy up until this year. I had played a little bit of almost all of them, but there was something about it that never quite clicked with me. I think it may be that they all just have such slow and uninteresting beginnings with no exciting items or weapons to play around with.

My distaste changed with Link's Awakening, which I forced myself to sit down and play before Ocarina 3D came out (which I hated, but I wanted to finally give it a chance). I was blown away by how much I liked Link's Awakening. In fact, I was so enamored with it that I rushed right into the Oracle games not too long after, which were somehow even better.

I started with Seasons and enjoyed it enough to play Ages right afterwards, which really cemented the games' place in my heart. It's really hard to consider these two as separate games, because they compliment each other so well and really feel like one giant adventure. The weapons and items were super cool (changing seasons, going back in time, and also MAGNET GLOVES) and the dungeons (in Ages, anyway) were some of the toughest I've faced in the Zeldas I've played so far.

While I really loved Link's Awakening and later, The Minish Cap, I have to put the Oracle games up on the pedestal for doing the whole "two versions of one game" thing better than maybe even Pokemon has. I was really expecting to go into Ages and feel like I was playing the same game over again, but I was completely wrong.

Best Game That Put A Big Stupid Smile On My Face
2011 Winner: Sonic Generations (PS3/360)
Runner-ups: Kirby Mass Attack (DS), Portal 2 (PS3/360), Child of Eden (PS3/360)

As you might have guessed considering the only games I never let go from my childhood were the Sonic the Hedgehog titles, I'm kind of a Sonic fan. My bedroom back home is covered in Sonic merchandise (which my mom put up, I swear I didn't leave it like that) and I own a Sega Saturn mostly so I can play Sonic R.

Of course, my love is not unconditional and I hate pretty much everything Sonic related that's happened in the last 10 years. The last game I truly enjoyed was Sonic Adventure 2 and even that was pretty obviously the beginning of the end for my childhood hero. I thought he was doomed to be the star of furry soap operas for the rest of his career....until Sonic Generations happened. I was skeptical at first, as I had been for every other Sonic title since Adventure 2, but I still gave in and picked it up day one. I'm so glad I did. The moment I got to Chemical Plant Zone, I was sold.

The story is complete bullshit, but I wouldn't really have it any other way. Something about time being eaten or whatever. It doesn't matter. What does matter is that adorable and chubby Classic Sonic has to team up with gangly and green-eyed Modern Sonic to save the day. Awesome.

Classic Sonic's levels feel pretty similar to the good old days while Modern Sonic's feel more similar to the good parts of Unleashed (or Colors, I think, I haven't actually played it). Both sections are pretty fun, but sometimes Modern Sonic's can get a little frustrating with constant falling of edges (which has been a problem since Adventure, so I'm not surprised). Classic Sonic's are a lot more manageable, but I can't deny that blasting through at high speed as Modern Sonic is pretty fucking fun (especially through the Genesis Era levels).

My only real complaint about Generations was the boss fights. The levels (Crisis City and Planet Wisp aside) were fantastic, most of the challenges were the right level of difficult, and the unlockables were worth the playtime (I can play any level with Sonic Boom in the background? Cool. I can play any level with Super Sonic Racing in the background? AWESOME.), but the boss fights were horrid. I had a little hope after the first one, as it's a Classic Sonic boss and pretty straight forward (though a little buggy), but the three Modern Sonic bosses afterwards were pretty frustrating (in a "broken mess" kind of way, not in the "difficult" kind of way).

Despite the stupid grin I had on my face the entire time I played, the part that almost made me snap the game in half was the final fight against the Time Eater. Everything is wrong with that fight. There's almost zero sense of progression ("Am I moving forward at all? I can't even tell."), you play as Super Sonic, which is fine, but it makes you worry about rings too damn much ("Oh great, I missed the only tiny row of rings that's going to show up in the next five minutes."), and to top it all of, the ENTIRE supporting cast feels the need to tell you what to do ("WHY IS CHARMY THE FUCKING BEE TELLING ME IT'S A HOMING ATTACK? HOW THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW THAT?"). The most baffling thing is that I failed the fight a dozen times before finally S-ranking it by doing the same damn thing that had been making me fail. BROKEN BULLSHIT.

ANYWAY. That fight is garbage, but at least I can play the Metal Sonic level and feel happy again (why couldn't all the fights be like that?). Regardless of the total shit turn it takes in its very final moments, the rest of the game gave me the warm fuzzies.

Retro Winner: Kirby's Dream Land 3 (SNES)
Runner-ups: PaRappa the Rapper (PS1), Elite Beat Agents (DS), Gitaroo Man (PS2)

Mario is all fine and good, but I'm not sure I've ever played a Kirby game I haven't liked. Kirby's Adventure on the NES was my first and was certainly not going to be the last.

I've always considered Kirby Super Star to be the best of the series (and one of the best games ever, for that matter) and while I've enjoyed later titles, they've all generally been pretty different and not overshadowed completely by Super Star. All except for Kirby's Dream Land 3.

Dream Land 3 came out on the SNES about a year after Super Star. A year after. Why is this a big deal? Because it's not Super Star!

I finally sat down and gave Dream Land 3 a chance this year, despite it not looking as good as Super Star (though I do appreciate the art style) and not being as complex as Super Star (only 8 copy abilities instead of 23 with no button combos?) and not being as varied in content (Super Star was 8 games in 1!). What did I find after giving it a fair chance and completing it, good ending and all?

Okay, it's actually pretty fucking awesome. Super Star might have been badass, but Dream Land 3 has its own adorable charm. The thing I wasn't really sensitive to was that it's a part of the Dream Land series, which had only seen Game Boy titles until now. Those games were obviously a bit less graphically and mechanically intense on that hardware. Dream Land 3 is a great successor to those games, but it does feel a little out of place on the SNES.

Even so, I couldn't stop playing it. Kirby's animal friends did add a bit of depth to the abilities and some of the side tasks required to get the good ending were pretty difficult. What really made it for me, however, was the final battle against Dark Matter, which brought back fond memories of the Nightmare battle in Kirby's Adventure. I always loved that fight and Dream Land 3's take on it was just as cool.

I still think Super Star is the pinnacle of Kirby platformers, but I appreciate Dream Land 3 a lot more now that I've taken the time on it. I liked it so much, in fact, that I went back and did the boss rush (which I beat in one try, somehow) and then proceeded to spend a month trying to do the mini-game rush.

I still haven't 100%ed that game. Fuck you, Chef Kawasaki. Fuck you and your stupid pots and pans mini-game.

Best Game I Played
2011 Winner: Portal 2 (PS3/360)
Runner-ups: Dead Space 2 (PS3/360), Sonic Generations (PS3/360), Child of Eden (PS3/360)

Of all the new releases I played this year, Portal 2 was the only one that I ordered long in advance and made sure I would have it at my doorstep when I got home from work that day. I picked it up on PS3 mostly for the PC copy, but also because I really wanted it to be a big screen experience. After I popped the disc in, I was glued to my seat for the eight hours it took me to beat it.

It was quite a few months ago, but I still remember quite well how wonderful the whole experience was. I really liked the first Portal, but I couldn't believe the jump in quality for Portal 2. The story was a lot more complex and engaging, the characters were hilarious, the music was awesome, and the gameplay stayed fresh and varied throughout, even having played the original Portal already.

The day after, I played the co-op in another insane one-sitting run with one of my roommates. After that six hour experience, I had more or less exhausted what the game had to offer (outside of achievements, which I did spend a little time going back for), but that combined total of 14 hours was probably the most enjoyable I've had with a game in years. Quality over quantity, right?

While I'm on the subject, actually, I'd like to note that I while I didn't play Skyrim (nor do I really have too much interest in the Elder Scrolls series), I don't think I would have given it my game of the year award even if I had. It's not that it doesn't seem like a fantastic game, but hasn't it been done before? Has it really pushed the envelope in a unique way? A game that can entertain me for 300 hours is good and all, but shouldn't we be commending games that think outside the box and aren't on their fifth installment?

I dunno, just my two cents. Also, I'm aware that Destructoid is awesome and Portal 2 won their GOTY award, so I don't know why I'm bitching! I might just have a little pent up rage after having to sell so much Skyrim at work...

Retro Winner: The Legend of Zelda - Majora's Mask (N64)
Runner-ups: Super Metroid (SNES), Snatcher (Sega CD), The Legend of Zelda - Oracle of Ages/Seasons (GBC)

This is probably no surprise if you know me in real life (since you probably hear me gush about it all the time) and also to those who read my last blog post, but it has to be said again: Majora's Mask is fucking amazing.

While I do have a much greater appreciation for the series now that I've played more Zelda titles, I still don't know that I'm a huge fan of it in the most traditional sense. Sure, the "young hero saving the princess" trope is kind of what Zelda is all about, but personally, I find that the best adventures Link has are the ones that don't take place in Hyrule. Link's Awakening, the Oracle games, and Majora's Mask are easily my favorites, and each of them take place in fancy new lands with unique objectives (though the Oracle games do come back to saving the princess at the end of the linked game).

Now, maybe most people like Ocarina of Time or A Link to the Past better, and that's fine, but I hope those people are still giving games like Majora's Mask a chance. It's a little weird and not very Zelda-like in a lot of ways, but that certainly doesn't make it any less phenomenal.

I'm not going to rant and rave about it again, because I already did that once at work this week, but like I said, I wrote a whole damn post about how much I love it if you need any convincing. I desperately hope that the 3DS remake happens, because I can't wait to experience it all over again. There are very few long, story-driven games I've liked enough to play more than once (Earthbound is the only one that currently comes to mind and I want to play Mother 3 again), but Majora's Mask is undoubtedly one of those games. It's really that good.

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All in all, it's been a pretty bitchin' year. Was it the same for you? Did you play some awesome games, old or new? What are your picks for each category?

Over the past couple months, I've been giving some much deserved attention to a series I've brushed off for years. It's not that I dislike Legend of Zelda games, it's just that I could never find the drive to actually play one long enough to get into it. After conquering Link's Awakening in anticipation of the 3DS remake of Ocarina of Time, I finally realized that once you get past the boring stuff at the beginning and get all kinds of cool gadgets, the game gets a lot more fun.

Well, Link's Awakening did, anyway. I still hate Ocarina of Time.



When I said earlier that I don't dislike the series, I mean just that; I have found what little I've played of most of the Zelda games to be solid experiences. I do, however, dislike Ocarina of Time. I didn't like it when I was a kid and I haven't liked it any the numerous times I tried to drudge through it over the years. I've always felt my hatred was a little unjust, considering the most time I had actually spent playing the game was at the fishing hole (the princess can wait, I have fucking fish to catch) and never even finishing the third dungeon as child Link.

Now, more than a month after I shelled out $40 for a prettier version of a game I hate, I can finally tell the world that I have completed Ocarina of Time. I dragged my feet through the first two dungeons, told the fishing hole we should see other people, made my way into adulthood, and defeated Ganon.

Did it get better after I broke new ground? Yes.

Is it the best Zelda like everyone says it is? Hell no.

I know "everyone" is a broad term and there will probably be a number of you (especially on a gaming site) will tell me that I'm preaching the the choir and it's not your favorite either. Good for you. There will also probably be a number of you that will tell me that Ocarina of Time was your first truly epic 3D experience when it came out in 1998 and that I should have my gaming privileges revoked for thinking it's anything short of a masterpiece. Good for you, too. I'm not trying to tell you your opinion is wrong. An opinion is an opinion. What I do hope to accomplish with this post, however, is to bring to light a somewhat less revered title in the series that has very recently become my favorite Zelda (one of my favorite games, even).

I want you to play Majora's Mask.



Ocarina is what I consider the baseline of what Zelda is. The environments are kind of bland (seriously, walking across an empty Hyrule sucks), the story is overdone (you are hero, go defeat great evil, save princess), and the gameplay is solid (but nothing special). Now, this is speaking in today's terms. In 1998, Ocarina was probably pretty justified in the praise it received. The environments were huge, the story was epic, and the gameplay was surprisingly competent in 3D during a time where a lot of other games were not so lucky. Toss in the fact that it's a game in an already beloved series and it's impossible for it not to print money.

Majora's Mask, on the other hand, is different. It's not the same quest to defeat Ganon that Link takes on in most of his other games. It's not trying to push the Zelda series onto an unknown territory (as A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, and Wind Waker did). It's a unique story paired an improved version of an already solid engine. It's what I would call a masterpiece.



In Majora's Mask, young Link leaves Hyrule in search of a friend (assumedly Navi) and runs into a Skull Kid wearing a strange mask and two fairies. The Skull Kid steals the Ocarina of Time, Link's trusty horse Epona, and turns Link into a Deku Scrub. Tatl, one of the fairies hanging out with the Skull Kid, gets separated from her brother, Tael, and reluctantly becomes Link's companion for the quest in hopes that she can reunite with her brother.

Right away, it becomes pretty obvious that there's a lot more going on here than in Ocarina. The opening cutscene instantly sucked me in and had me playing for 12 solid hours my first night, with the rest of my free time following suit until yesterday when I finally finished the game.

Once Deku Link and Tatl make their way out of the cave the Skull Kid leaves them in, they find themselves inside a clock tower in the middle of Clock Town, which is the centerpiece of the parallel world of Termina. The Happy Mask Salesman from Ocarina is the first familiar face to greet you and certainly not the last. It's obvious that a lot of elements from Ocarina return for the sake of cutting development costs, but it's forgivable with how cleverly they write the characters into the story.



You see, Termina is filled with people that resemble the citizens of Hyrule, but with a lot more depth to their characters. Remember that lady in Ocarina who was allergic to her own runaway chickens, forcing you to retrieve them for her? In Majora's Mask, her name is Anju and she runs the town Inn. She's a troubled woman who is engaged to a man named Kafei, who is nowhere to be found. Anju's grandmother won't eat anything she cooks because she's a terrible cook and her mother suspects Kafei ran away with Cremia, the adult counterpart to Ocarina's Malon who also works on a ranch.

Are you lost yet? I hope not, because that was only a brief summary of one character and there are a lot more. Most of them are alternate universe Hylians and they vary depth-wise, but they all have their time to shine. There's a lot of subtle nods to Ocarina that fans especially will like, such as the minor event that involves Link getting a room key thanks to a reservation he didn't make. If you hang around for a couple minutes after receiving the key, you can catch a confused conversation that a Goron named Link (sort of like the son Daruna named after you in Ocarina?) and Anju have about the status of his room.



The game is ripe with these moments, both subtle and important, but many still pass it off as too hard or frustrating. Why? Well, the biggest threat that the Majora's Mask-wearing Skull Kid imposes on the land of Termina is the angry moon falling from the sky and Link has only three days until it hits.

Only three days? How could anyone enjoy all the intricacies of this world if you have to beat it in three in-game days?

I think this is a pretty common misconception about Majora's Mask (or at least, one that I had before I started it). Once Link confronts the Skull Kid as the moon is about to fall on the third day, he retrieves the Ocarina of Time and gains the ability to speed up, slow down, and restart the three day cycle. The only catch to this is that restarting a three day cycle will send Link back to the Clock Tower with the world mostly as if he had never touched it. The townspeople no longer remember him and any story arcs are reset.



It's not as though you can't make progress, however. All of your key items (such as weapons and gadgets acquired from temples), heart pieces, masks, and songs you've learned persist through each restart, making it easy to blow through parts you've already done in a different cycle. Also, once you beat a temple in one cycle, you're never required to go back unless you want to for sidequest reasons. Really, all that's lost in restarts are rupees (which can be placed in a bank), ammo for your weapons, and stuff you have in bottles.

Another complaint that seems common is about the save system, which is also unfounded. Every cycle restart saves your game and a number of owl statues spread equally around Termina will offer a quick suspend save if you just want to give it a rest without halting your cycle completely. Hell, after I got the Song of Soaring (which allows you to teleport to any visited owl statue), I thought the save system was even more intuitive than Ocarina's (which usually dumps you in one of two predetermined locations, often forcing you to make a long trek back to where you need to be).

Finally on the list of excuses I usually hear from my friends is that the game is simply too difficult. Well, if you were expecting another cakewalk like Ocarina, then yes, it is too difficult. Majora's Mask does a perfect job of picking up right where Ocarina left off in terms of challenge. Link's grown up a bit since his last adventure, which is pretty evident when he holds his Hylian Shield like a man rather than strapping it to his back like a toddler. If you want any more proof of Link's maturity as a warrior, just watch him jump a big gap. Link has some sweet moves now. Moves that seem much cooler than anything adult Link can do, because he developed them himself (rather than timeskipping his way to badassness).



The game really just continues the difficulty curve expecting you just beat Ocarina (which I did) and doesn't waste time teaching you the basics. Some of the crazy mask abilities you gain as you change into the other races may take a little getting used to, but the basic dungeon crawling and boss fighting is about where it should be at this point.

There's a whole second layer to the game that was also derided as being impossible to manage without a guide by a few of my friends, but I think a lot of that thinking can be chalked up to age. You see, the people you're trying to save are troubled. Not solely by the moon's decent, but also by their own personal problems that Link has to fix. Ocarina's main goal was pretty straightforward and simple, but Majora's is quite a bit more convoluted.

This is made easier thanks to the Bomber's Notebook, which records key interactions with the people of Termina and helps you figure out when and where you need to talk to them in order to help them out. This, I think, is the main reason I love this game so much. Termina is not a static world like Hyrule was. It's people move and interact with each other on a schedule that repeats every three days. Old ladies are mugged. Concerts are cancelled. Toilet paper is needed. Townspeople argue. Mail is delivered. Fiancees go missing. Shit happens. A lot of shit happens.



Helping the people with their problems using various masks rewards you with even more masks, heart pieces, and sometimes just simple character development. No matter what the prize is, I found all these sidequests more rewarding than anything I did in Ocarina. More heart pieces and more item collection didn't really matter outside of completion percentage in that game, but in Majora's Mask, every thing I do is emotionally rewarding. I found the characters interesting and healing their wounds was always worth the effort.

From a more gameplay-oriented standpoint, I was also always excited to get new masks. Some of them serve no other purpose than to communicate a point to the characters (an interesting way to bypass Link's muteness), but a lot of them to fun little things that have varying usefulness. Obviously, all the different race masks were fun to fool around with (Deku Mask allows flying from predetermined locations, Goron Mask allows high speed rolling, and Zora Mask allows some really fluid swimming), but some less important masks got a lot of use as well. The Bomb Mask lets Link explode at the push of a button, which was nice when I had more health than bombs. The Bunny Hood let me move double speed though areas I had already visited. There were even a few masks that would make a specific group of Redeads dance, which was pretty funny (these masks have other uses, obviously, but that was a fun little bonus).



I won't spoil all of them for you, but there are 24 total masks and a lot of them are really neat. I managed to finish the game with all of them (though the final mask you receive for obtaining every other mask disappointingly makes the final boss a huge pushover) with minimal use of guides. There were four at the end that I didn't have (excluding the final one) and once I looked them up, I found that I was on the right track for two of them (had I wracked my brain for another hour, I probably would have figured them out) and the other two were a little out there (both were from characters outside of town, one literally invisible and the other a little hard to see with the N64's limited draw distance).

Majora's Mask is easily one of the best games I played this year and probably would have been the best I played in 2000 had I been a bit older. I think it's a lot harder as a kid to wrap your head around some of the interactions in a living, breathing world like Termina and the relationships therein (I think the description for the Pendant of Memories described it best, saying something like "As a child, you don't really understand these adult matters, but you had better give this to Anju anyway"). Today, however, being able to take something away from all the hints the characters give me in their dialog and understanding that I can follow them to key events if need be, my experience was nothing short of magical.



There's a lot of humor, sadness, even life lessons to be taken away from Majora's Mask, making it a much more engaging experience than Ocarina. Even in the main quest to the four temples, there's a lot of fantastically emotional stuff going on with the different races (especially during the events that grant you the Goron and Zora masks, I was close to tears for both of them). I do feel sort of like the ending message they were going for (at least the one I took away) was kind of lost in it being a family-friendly Nintendo game, but Majora's Mask certainly makes you think about what you're doing. Are you accomplishing anything by helping these people? Especially when your good deeds are reset every three days? There are also instances where you need to let misfortune befall others if you want to see one person's happy ending, so there really isn't a way to save everyone in some masterful three-day speed run.

In the end, Majora's Mask isn't really about Link, but about the people that he helps. Honestly, I think it's one of the best uses of a silent protagonist in a game I've ever seen. The journey isn't quite as epic as Ocarina, but it plays up everything else a lot more. Fantastic plot, fantastic characters, fantastic challenges....really, everything you could want from a video game. It's not anywhere near as accessible as Ocarina, but if you stick with it, I think you'll find it's one of the best Zelda experiences around.



If Nintendo decides to go through with a Majora's Mask remake on the 3DS, I'll buy it on day one without regret. Ocarina of Time 3D was a solid game, but no more so than it was in 1998. The game is still a landmark title in the series, but I don't think it's aged well. Don't get me wrong, fans of the game who played it when it came out can praise it all they want. I think it's fine to relive fond memories of a good game. But I also hope those same people will give Majora's Mask the attention it deserves now that they've grown up and can appreciate all it has to offer. It's a solid sequel, one that I personally think outdoes its predecessor in every way, but maybe it was just released a little too soon after Ocarina to avoid being overshadowed.

Majora's Mask is nothing short of fantastic. If you like Zelda, you owe it to yourself to play it. Even if you don't like Zelda, there's a lot to love here (just take me for example, this was the first Zelda title to break into my very exclusive favorites list). Dig up a copy for your N64 or wait for the 3DS remake. Either way, make it happen. You won't regret it.

Before reading this review, I would highly suggest you check out Rez HD on the Xbox Live Arcade if you haven't already. I'm going to make a lot of comparisons between Rez and Child of Eden below, as they're pretty mechanically similar (and in that respect, Rez HD may also serve as a demo of sorts).

When I first played Rez on the Dreamcast, I was floored. The visuals, the music, the gameplay...they were all there and they were all fantastic. I've always liked rail shooters, but no other glued me to my seat like Rez did (and still does). There are few experiences in gaming that really get under your skin (in the best way possible) like that, but I may have to add Child of Eden to that list.

Ubisoft's announce at E3 last year pushed Child of Eden past most any other title I had been anticipating for 2011 and I'm happy to say that the wait was worth it. I was a little hesitant about the focus on the Kinect controls at first, but after playing the whole game through with both Kinect and the standard controller, I think my fears were unfounded. Before I get too in-depth about the control methods, though, I should probably talk about the game itself.



Child of Eden is the spiritual successor to Rez, so of course it would be an intensely aural and visual rail shooter. However, the fact that it's not a direct sequel means that it's not necessary more of the same as far as aesthetics go. You'll find Child of Eden to be a lot more colorful and detailed than its wireframe predecessor, both musically and graphically. This is where some may be turned away from the game, as the music is mostly comprised of Genki Rockets (a band that you may be familiar with if you've played some of Tetsuya Mizuguchi's other games) remixes. You could almost say the game is just one big Genki Rockets advertisement, considering the band's fictional lead Lumi is the girl you're saving, but it's hard to say that cheapens the experience at all when the band was seemingly developed for Mizuguchi's music games anyway.

The music may not be quite the same style of Rez, but it does well to compliment the vibrant environment (just as Rez's soundtrack did for its environment). The visuals are nothing short of breathtaking every step of the way. Wild shapes and colors fly around you while you try your damnedest to keep up. It can get a little overwhelming when you're trying to shoot everything down (certainly much more so than Rez), but key points to attack are usually marked in obvious orange or purple. This color difference, however, is one of the biggest gameplay differences that Child of Eden has over Rez.



The basic lock-on beam is back, allowing you to lock-on to up to eight targets before shooting, as is overdrive (now called euphoria), which is a limited use move that kills everything in sight for a few seconds. The new weapon at your disposal is the purple rapid-fire laser, which is weaker than the lock-on beam, but the only option for shooting down purple enemies as well as all forms of missiles. This is probably one of the harder parts of the learning curve, as you'll need to switch often to keep opposing fire under control with the rapid fire while still hitting hard with the lock-on beam. There are also some parts where you have to shoot orange and purple targets with their respective beams, which reminds me a bit of Ikaruga.

The game is, like Rez, only five levels long (plus a sixth bonus stage), but there's still plenty of incentive (and desire) to go back and play every beautiful level again. Every time you complete a level, you can choose one of three or four items that appear on the level select screen. It'll start out pretty vacant, but after a few levels, you'll start to populate it with some of the game's trippy wildlife and assorted structures that get more detailed and complex as you reselect them upon finishing levels again. They're pretty frivolous rewards, but they're more than enough excuse to blast through the trippy levels again and again. There's also an art gallery with a number of pictures to unlock along with some visual filters, but overall the unlockable aren't quite as interesting as the ones in Rez.



As far as the controls go, I think this game may have made me sold on Kinect. My first playthrough was done entirely on the controller and I didn't feel like any part of the experience was lost for that, but when I played it with Kinect, I fell in love with the game. It only took one level to get used to the control scheme and I finished that first level with my first four star rating. After all the two and three star runs I had with the controller, I was convinced the scale went no higher!

I don't doubt that it's possible to do just as well with the controller (I'm sure more competent Rez players could five star most of this game easily), but with Kinect, I could feel the rhythm a lot better and unlike Rez, that really matters. Getting a octa-lock (max eight lock-on) and releasing in time with the beat of the music rewards you with a "Perfect" message (or "Good" if you're a little off) and a score multiplier. Being able to manage perfect octa-locks is the key to a high score and it's something I just couldn't manage most of the time with the controller. Moving my hand in time with the music on Kinect, however, I got the achievement for 10 perfect octa-locks on the first level.



Despite my night and day difference in skill, I still don't think the experience is any less impacting with the controller. It's a bit easier to control at times (your view can get a little screwed up when you try to switch hands or clap to change beams) and you get vibration, which is important (Child of Eden on the Playstation Move could fix both these issues), but the Kinect support is still solid and easier for me to excel at. It's really personal preference and not at all a right or wrong situation (as, say, playing DDR without a pad or Rock Band without an instrument would be), so I wouldn't discourage anyone without a Kinect from playing it. If you do own a Kinect already, though, you'd be a fool not to play Child of Eden, as it's probably the most enjoyable experience available for it right now.

Child of Eden is a fantastic experience no matter what control method you use. It is, however, a slightly different beast than Rez. If you haven't played Rez (which is unacceptable, go buy it right now), then you won't know the difference and you'll have a blast anyway. If you have played Rez, you may not dig the busy art direction and Lumi's upbeat singing. Either way, Child of Eden is a great game that isn't just a graphically superior sequel to Rez, but a unique and enjoyable trip of its own. It makes a lot of nods to Rez in terms of both story and level design, but never tries to replace what Rez was. They're both graphically and musically impressive games that I wish we saw more of these days.

After catching this post about Wizorb, an Arkanoid-like game with role playing elements, something occurred to me: I really dig it when two different genres make sweet love to each other and have a baby. Sure, that baby may grow up to have all kinds of problems stemming from its parents' socially unacceptable relationship, but it could also get past those issues and become a unique and totally kickass game.

The following list of games are such strange children. Most of them are pretty awesome games and worth checking out, especially if you're tired of stale releases that are too stuck in their genre's tropes to keep your interest anymore. Sure, there's always a lot of potential for things to go sour, but there's also always a chance that something fantastic can emerge when two of your favorite games collide.


RPG + Platformer = Castlevania Series
This may be the most well known and least risky hybrid on this list, but that doesn't make it any less worth mentioning. Castlevania's roots started in pretty standard platforming action on 8-bit and 16-bit consoles, but later the series evolved into something greater on the Playstation: a side-scrolling RPG. Taking a page from Metroid with a emphasis on exploration and hidden upgrades while adding RPG-like leveling and equipment, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was the definition of hybrid.

The series' first foray into this mix is still considered one of the best of the Castlevania line by many and even one of the best games of all time by some. It's certainly a different beast than its predecessors, with much more puzzle solving going on, but there are still plenty of monsters to slay with a wealth of different weapons. Exploring Dracula's giant castle and finding all the secrets within is still one of my fondest gaming memories.

The series has kept this formula intact for its newer titles on the Gameboy Advance and DS, all of which are pretty fantastic as well (though still not quite as good as Symphony, in my opinion). I've heard arguments that the classic platformer style is better than the "Metroidvania" style because the new style is too easy, but I think that's a fair argument for pretty much any newer incarnation of a classic series. Granted, most of them haven't had such a complete change of style, but I still don't think any less of the Castlevania series for evolving the way it did. I really liked games like Super Castlevania IV, but I can also get into a game that takes that style and expands it into something sprawling and magnificent without forgetting its 2D roots.




RPG + Puzzle = Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
When I first loaded up Puzzle Quest on my PSP, I was hooked. I've always been pretty enamored with puzzle games, but I probably wouldn't have gotten quite as addicted to this particular title if it lacked the RPG-elements.

In Puzzle Quest, you navigate a world map and fight monsters in puzzle battles that play a lot like Bejeweled. Depending on what kind of colors you match, you'll gain mana points that you can spend on special abilities that give you the upper hand. Some deal straight damage to your opponent, while others may alter the playing field in some way. You can also match gold and experience pieces that allow you to buy better weapons and level your character respectively.

The story was kind of unremarkable as far as I can remember (in fact, I don't remember it much at all), but I think that's to be expected. Sure, the main draw of your standard RPG is usually the epic story that unfolds and the underlying mechanics are just the busywork that takes place between cutscenes, but as time goes on, we get addicted to grinding for levels and searching for better equipment to aid in the grinding process. Seeing that experience bar go up, which in turn makes your character's level go up, seems to be just enough of an accomplishment to make our brains pat us on the back and make us feel like we've done good. So why not mix the addictiveness of senseless level grinding with the never ending appeal of simple puzzle games?




RPG + Mario = Mario RPGs
Yeah, I know: Mario isn't a genre, but his spin-off series of RPGs is still a very good example of the overall theme here. I just thought "RPG + Mario" looked better than "RPG + Series of games that normally doesn't have much of a story to speak of".

It all started with Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars on the Super Nintendo, a strange lovechild between Nintendo and Square, two companies known for making two very different types of games. Nintendo's lovable plumber Mario and the Mushroom Kingdom suddenly came to life thanks to Square's experience crafting interactive stories with the Final Fantasy series. It seems like an odd mix, but there's a lot of personality to love in Mario's world that we just don't see in his more impersonal platformer offerings.

This trend continued on with the Paper Mario series, which wasn't made by Square, but still carries on the spirit of the first Mario RPG. The Nintendo 64 and Gamecube titles were every bit as charming and the storybook theme makes them stand out visually. The Mario & Luigi games on the Game Boy Advance (Superstar Saga) and DS (Partners in Time, Bowser's Inside Story) also lay on the charm of a lively Mario universe to explore while giving Mario's brother Luigi his long overdue time in the spotlight.




RPG + Disney = Kingdom Hearts
Speaking of opposites attracting, I can't possibly mention Nintendo and Square's strange union without also touching on the latter's more recent odd combination. When I first heard that Square was teaming up with Disney to make a game, I was sure it would be awful. Man, was I wrong.

Kingdom Hearts thrusts you into the role of Sora, who is aided by Donald Duck and Goofy in a quest to save the world from dark creatures stealing hearts. Their journey takes them to a variety of worlds based on Disney movies and it's a pretty fantastic experience. By playing as Sora and helping the heroes of each world defeat their respective evil, it's almost as if you're a little kid again, pretending to be in the movies with your favorite characters. I'm not a Disney fanatic by any means, but I couldn't help but smile every time I entered a new world and met timeless characters in a completely new context.

That said, I must note that I feel as though the series has taken a turn for the worse with later games, as they begin to add a lot of non-Disney characters that seem to do nothing more than complicate the story and give the fangirls something pretty to look at. I swear, I played the first 60 or so in-game days of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and all Roxas did each day was talk about how confused he was or eat ice cream on top of a clock tower.




RPG + Trading Card Games = Mega Man Battle Network Series
There may well be better/more popular examples of this type of game (Lost Kingdoms and Pokemon Trading Card Game come to mind), but I'd rather use this particular hybrid to give mention to a series very close to my heart. Far too many people shrugged Battle Network off when the first game hit store shelves so many years ago, but luckily, I was still young enough at the time to think buying the first new Mega Man title I saw when I walked into Gamestop was a good idea.

In Mega Man Battle Network, you play as a boy named Lan (get it? LAN?) in a futuristic world filled to the goddamn brim with bad computer puns like that. In this future, pretty much everything (from your oven to your doghouse) is controlled by computers and almost everybody carries around a PET (PErsonal Terminal) with a NetNavi (Network Navigator) installed. These avatars have AI and act as friends to the humans that control them as well as extensions into the digital world. Lan's NetNavi is MegaMan, who was custom created by his father, Dr. Hikari (or Dr. Light).

As you probably noticed, there's a lot of reference to the main Mega Man series, complete with Dr. Wily as the head of the net terrorist organization, but that's where the similarities end. Battle Network has a unique vision of the future, with viruses taking the form of digital avatars as well that need to be faced by heroic NetNavis. The combat takes place on a grid that MegaMan can navigate in real time, while using various BattleChips (the collectible card aspect that I only just now quietly nod to) to deal with enemies.

Anyway, I could write a whole post about how good the Battle Network series is (and I might!), so I'll keep my unintended gushing to a minimum (hopefully I actually tell you something relevant to the topic on the next game). Just know that you're robbing yourself of a great experience by not checking these games out (especially if you like collecting cards, bad networking puns, and a very interesting take on the future). Also know that the first three games are fucking awesome, 4-6 are a mixed bag, and Star Force can eat a dick.




RPG + Shoot 'em Ups = Sigma Star Saga
Here's an odd one (implying most of these games aren't odd ones), mostly because it's the only game on this list that isn't getting my praise. I desperately want this particular mashup to work, though, so I'm highlighting this game in hopes that someone can point me in the direction of a better example.

Sigma Star Saga for the Gameboy Advance is your standard, top-down, 2-D RPG at first glance, but when you face your first random encounter, you'll find yourself being transported to your space ship in order to fight the game's evil alien force R-Type style. While the concept is cool, the execution is poor. The battles are frequent and annoying, bringing on the realization that shoot 'em ups are only fun when you get to play them for more than 30 seconds at a time.

To make matters worse, the story is nothing to write fanfiction about. Remember how I forgave Puzzle Quest's lack of engaging narrative? I'm not doing that here. The gameplay is not nearly enjoyable enough to keep my attention when everything else is dull as well. The sad truth is, not all babies grow up to be winners, but I have to hope that somewhere there's a cooler baby born from this hybrid that's grown up to respect its heritage.




RPG + Car Combat = Car Battler Joe
Here we have a much better (and earlier, even!) Gameboy Advance offering that does a hybrid right. Once again, I could complain about a boring story or character development or whatever, but who plays RPGs for that stuff, anyway?

Car Battler Joe is a bit on the bland side when it comes to pretty much everything except the combat, which is enough to keep you playing. When you're not walking around town and scrolling through text boxes, you're tearing ass in a Mode-7 wasteland and blasting the shit out of everything with your pimpin' ride. You can buy all kinds of cool weapons and assorted upgrades for your car, which is basically all I remember about this game, but I remember it being AWESOME.




RPG + First Person Shooters = Doom RPG
This is another one of those combinations that have been done left and right, but perhaps not quite in the way this one was. Possibly the only cell phone game I've ever enjoyed (and played to the end!) enough to recommend to anyone, the Doom RPG.

If you took a classic turn-based RPG that had you exploring dungeons in first person (Phantasy Star comes to mind) and replaced everything but the "first person" and "turn-based RPG" parts with Doom, you would know exactly what I'm talking about. It makes a lot of sense when you think about it that way, considering all that really needed to change with Doom was making the movements and shooting turn-based. The end result is a game that's perfect for mobile phones, since you can pick it up and play a few turns at a time (and not have to kill your thumbs making any quick movements).

I played this little title to 100% completion on my old LG flip phone and loved every minute of it. Again, the story wasn't memorable (it is Doom, after all), but I do remember getting a few chuckles out of the messages that scientists left behind. I think giving the game a funny story to compliment the gameplay was a much better idea than trying too hard on a good story.



So there you have a nice little list of games that break down the barriers of a single genre and reach out to become something a bit more memorable. Not all RPG hybrids are good, but sometimes they turn out pretty alright, even if the story isn't quite there. If the combination works and all it needs is a better story, it could potentially pave the way for better titles, right? The simple act of rubbing one type of game against another until they make fire isn't hard to do, just hard to do well. But that doesn't mean nobody should try!

Does anyone else have some hybrids close to their heart? They don't necessarily have to be RPG-based, just anything that mixes two genres in some way. Maybe a RPG/Shoot 'em Up hybrid that isn't Sigma fucking Star Saga?

Only a few days ago, my awesome Virtual Boy arrived in the mail thanks to my friend who found it in Japan. I actually had one when I was a kid and they had just come out, but tossed it aside pretty quick after seeing a commercial for Kirby Super Star (which is still an awesome game). I missed my 3D face attachment, though, so I'm thrilled to have another one finally, even if it doesn't have a stand.

So, while all you losers are grooming your cats and spamming Hadokens on your 3DSes, I've been having a blast with the red and black wonder that is the Virtual Boy. Don't let the name fool you. They should have called this thing the Virtual Man. Mine came with Golf and Galactic Pinball, so I'm knocking all kinds of balls around in glorious 3D! I'm sure you pansy 3DS owners could only dream of playing with a manly pair of balls like I do every night rather than the lame monkey-filled ones of Super Monkey Ball. Better yet, I get to do it while laying face first on the floor like some kind of pampered royalty in one of those sex tables you find at massage parlors.



I also managed to dig my old copy of Teleroboxer out of my closet, which, sadly, does not involve balls, but instead three of my other favorite things: robots, boxing, and telecommunications. That's right. All three. In one tiny little cartridge. They even managed to pack it all into the title so you know exactly what you're getting into! I'm sure you 3DS owners are envious of that kind of candid entitling. I bet you didn't know what the hell was happening when you picked up Tom Clancy's Shadow Wars and it wasn't all first person shooter-y like you thought it would be.



Don't get me started on the pricing, either. I got my Virtual Boy system for $30 of pocket change while you dumb jerks forked out $250 for your shiny paperweight. And then you spent another $40 on some lame launch title like Pilotwings Resort that only lasts you as long as the battery in the system (which, by the way, is not very long)! My Virtual Boy has that beat in both respects: I can get some of the best titles on the system for only $30 and play for years with my AC adapter! And if I want to play on the go, I don't even need to dock it in some cheap charging station, I can just pop a handful of AA batteries in it and hit the road!

Now, I bet you're going to feed me some bullshit about the Virtual Boy being less portable than the 3DS. Well, I've got some news for you, Mr. 3DS (btw, the DS part stands for Douchebag Stupid). The Virtual Boy is every bit as portable as your dumb handheld with a little creativity. I know you babies like everything handed to you, so your video games are quick and easy to use right out of the box, but real men buy unintuitive technology and bend it to their will, just like I did with my now-portable Virtual Boy:



Choke on that. So goddamn portable that it'll make your eyes bleed the same color as the wonderful 3D you'll be enjoying as you walk down the street. Heads will turn. Small children will cry in envy and adults will toss their smartphones in disgust. Yeah. What up now? All you failures can pretend to enjoy your 3DSes while I endure more robust headaches than you could ever hope to experience on your baby toys. Headaches so deadly that Nintendo had to include an Automatic Pause feature (a feature I always turn off, mind you) so you wouldn't die playing. I bet that's why they discontinued it so quickly, because people of all ages were dying from brain explosions caused by Mario Clash. Nowadays, Nintendo is just too afraid of killing off its fanbase, so they scaled back the deadliness of the 3DS to a level that can only blind kids seven and under (who don't pay for their own video games anyway, so why should Nintendo care?). Blindness is for casuals. Hardcore gamers need their brains displaced.



In summary, Nintendo had it right with the Virtual Boy. Wicked red and black color scheme, monster headaches, and dual d-pads (that's right, who needs a touch screen? Or a slide pad? These are tools for the weak). All the ingredients required for a hardcore gaming machine. Just add your face and heat it at 450 degrees. Instant win. What do you get with the 3DS? The ability to put make a Mii jump out of your cat's butt? Fuck you, casual. Play a real man's handheld. A manheld.



The Nintendo Virtual Boy. Shit just got real. As real as it gets.