Friday, 11 January 2013
Beats Face Off
Beats Studio
Thursday, 10 January 2013
The Castlevania Adventure!
The Castlevania franchise has been running for 25 years now, and it is one of the original games that came out on the NES, and since then, has spewed out an insane amount of games, pretty much on every single console. Generally, they have received good reviews and positive feedback, but of course, there are always exceptions to the rule.
Castlevania is a 2D side-scroller, much like Mario, but it’s set more around killing and horror. The objective in most games is to fight your way through a series of levels, using your whip and a bunch of objects that you pick up during the game, like Axes, Daggers, Holy Water etc. to reach and kill Dracula, who has risen. The first Castlevania game was extremely difficult, and was a game where you really had to use strategy and forethought to get through the levels. As I said, it got quite positive reviews and the games are coming out still today. But, of course, there are always exceptions to the rule.
In this case, it’s The Castlevania Adventure. The producers, Konami, decided that the game should be put onto handheld consoles, and soon after that, The Castlevania Adventure was created for the original Gameboy. Now this game, while following the style of its Castlevania brothers, did not come close to the success that the other games got. Not even in eyesight to what the others got. This was because... Well, if you read on, I’m sure you would understand.
The Good:
- Castlevania games have always been well known for their music, and while this game didn’t have the best soundtrack, it was actually pretty good, if you put the Gameboy’s limited speakers into the picture.
- The background on some levels were actually nicely drawn, and considering it is the Gameboy, it looks quite good, even though it is repetitive throughout the game.
- The monsters had well drawn sprites and were well thought out, unlike the rest of the game.
The Bad:
- The speed at which you’re walking at makes it feel like you’re a sloth with broken bones, trying to crawl forwards, it’s ridiculous.
- You and the monsters walk at the exact same speed, which makes absolutely no sense! If the monster is right behind you, then you can’t turn around and whip them quickly, because they either catch up or the speed at which you move makes it impossible to land a hit.
- The jump... Oh God the jump. The only enemy that you can jump over are these little hunched over monsters and actually managing to jump over one is a tremendous feat in itself. There are lots of platforming “puzzles” in the game, and if you don’t stand on the exact pixel at the edge of whatever platform you’re on, you’ll miss it. First of all, the jump animation is ridiculous, as your legs literally collapse into your torso, and the height of the jump is incredibly low also, so that’s impossible. Also in some levels, there are falling platforms, so if you come short of one, then that’s game over.
- Even the speed at which you whip at feels ridiculously slow and 8/10 times when an enemy is right beside you in the opposite direction, you’ll get damaged before you whip him.
- The character looks quite bland and dull. I mean even the rolling eyeball is identified as a rolling eyeball, but you look nearly exactly the same as this weird clay/ zombie monster, with slight differences.
- The level design sometimes is just so stupid that it makes it impossible to complete without dying. They incorporated lots of little platforming puzzles to jump across, except if you’re not standing in the exact position that you need to be in, then you will surely die. They were also extremely repetitive and seemed to have little effort and thought put into.
- Now, in The Castlevania Adventure, they removed all the sub-items, such as the daggers, holy water etc. and replaced them with a power-up that makes your whip stronger and enables you to shoot projectiles when you whip with it. However, as soon as you take a hit, which is pretty frequent, your weapon goes down in power, so really, the process is: Get a power-up, kill a few monsters, lose power-up. Get a power-up, kill a few monsters, lose power-up. It’s pretty annoying as I’m sure you can imagine, and on the really hard levels late in-game, a fully powered up whip is a mandatory item to have if you want to succeed.
- The level design seems to drag on and feel sluggish because of the repetitiveness and the speed which you are moving at, so you lose interest at a remarkable speed.
- While the music was not terrible, the actual amount of tracks that were included in the game was roughly three... Which is pretty pathetic when you think about it. It’s really pathetic actually.
- There is a timer that you have, and if you don’t finish the stage before it reaches 0:00, then you die. And this timer is completely stupid! Since pretty much each level incorporates some sort of platforming or jumping puzzle which is usually impossible, you lose lots of time there, plus trying to kill all of the enemies which are out of range added onto the ridiculous boss battles that are there. It’s just depressing.
- On each level there’s these stupid secret areas, with lives, power-ups etc. but they’re not structured so well. In the first level, if you carry on climbing the rope, you start climbing through the bricks. I mean, seriously, can’t you do any better then that?
Final Thoughts:
The game, to be honest, is just downright bad. I mean this game is just painful to play. With sloppy controls, the speed of Big Foot with broken legs, ridiculous boss battles, useless power ups, stupid level designs, bland characters, average music, this game holds a name as possibly the worst Castlevania game to be released. You quickly lose interest in the game as the pacing is about as fast as downloading a 1gb file at a speed of 8kb per second, the levels are occasionally impossible and the game just feels like no one thought about anything that was going through. My recommendation is that if you’re a Castlevania fan and you’re collecting all the games, spend a bit of cash on it, but don’t get it for ridiculous amounts, because it’s definitely not worth it.
Overall, this game, gets a: D
Tuesday, 1 January 2013
Sunday, 30 December 2012
Beats Pro Reviewed
Beats.
One of the most sought after headphone companies in todays day and age. Controversially popular through the world, there is no stopping Beats Audio. Some casual listeners might expect these 400$ top of the line beats to be audio “nirvana”, or, at the same time, some so-called “serious audiophiles” might be still looking down at the American audio giants whilst sporting their Senheissers and Audio Technicas wondering what Beats has done wrong this time...? Nothing, hopefully.
One of the most sought after headphone companies in todays day and age. Controversially popular through the world, there is no stopping Beats Audio. Some casual listeners might expect these 400$ top of the line beats to be audio “nirvana”, or, at the same time, some so-called “serious audiophiles” might be still looking down at the American audio giants whilst sporting their Senheissers and Audio Technicas wondering what Beats has done wrong this time...? Nothing, hopefully.
Specs:
- Weight (kg): 0.40 (damn that’s heavy, DJ’s might need this)
- Height (mm): 197
- Length of Cable (m): 1.523
- Type of Jack: 3.5mm
- Swiveling cups 180 degrees
Appearance:
This is probably where the beats win. These beasts look stunning and will definitely leave people drooling. Right from the gunmetal finished housing to the full leather headband, these are downright desirable.
Durability:
These headphones are tough and when used, they feel tough. Unlike their rivals, Beats refrains from using any materials that might feel cheap in any way possible. All those plasticky adjusters and driver covers are replaced by beautiful aluminum gunmetal. All of this screams strength and durability, and allows your 400$ to be a long term investment. These should last someone at least 3 years and for people like me that snap their headphones in months, 3 years is a long time.
Accessories:
These headphones come in a giant box, that intimidates bypassers. The box has exactly what someone might need to make these headphones usable.
A 3.5 - 3.5 mm iPhone remote cable (yes, it’s included this time!)
When Beats Audio broke up with Monster Cable, I worried for beats and wondered if they would be able to provide us with great cables with an iPhone remote as responsive as it’s predecessor’s... In a nutshell, they’ve outdone themselves. These cables feel great and the remote looks far sleeker and simpler to click on.
A Lock On Coiled Studio Cable- 3.5mm -1/4 inch-
This cable is fantastic and because of its thickness, it’s virtually un-tangible too. As a “professional” studio cable, this really makes the difference to the volume and clarity of your music. DJ’s would find this particularly useful as this would help them block out the crowd and bring in the loud.
A Felt Beats Carrying Pouch:
When someone spends 400$ on headphones, they would almost be certain that they’d get a sturdy carrying case with their investment, but in this case...Absolutely not. What we are given is a soft carrying pouch that is absolutely useless and will do naught when it comes to protection.
The Sound Quality:
Bass:
Beats Audio are known for their heavy booming bass and as expected, these headphones are bass-head bliss. Unlike the Pro’s younger sibling, the studio, the bass is beautiful, but by no means as overpowering and extraordinarily muddy.
Highs:
At the hefty 400$ price tag, it would be fair for a customer to expect their money’s worth while using these headphones. They’d expect booming bass (check), mids that are “just right” and lastly sparkly and fine highs (not really).... The highs aren’t hidden and being sheltered from your songs, they aren’t really making a difference, much like that kid at school who had friends, but wasn’t exactly popular. The highs can be classified as ideal and okay but by no means “sparkly”, “fine” or any other adjectives that could be used with the ever so blissful Senheisser HD 598s.
Mids:
The mids aren’t really making much of a difference either. Again, they’re present but just not amazing. You feel them, but they just don’t give you the best feeling in the world, it most definitely isn't what you’d expect from 400$ mids.
Conclusion:
After putting these headphones to the test, it’s easy to figure that these aren’t made for serious Audiophiles, but rather, eager listeners and DJ’s who want something that is heavy enough to stay on while they dance and jump around and is also bassy / loud enough to make the difference during gigs.
The swiveling cups and the leather and build all make sense but it may be impossible for these headphones to be regarded as “great” with the price tag being what it is. I’d love these a lot more and would approach this review differently had the price been 200-250$.
Final Scores :
Taking design cues right out of the apple books, the Beats win us over with sophisticated simplicity. These Beats don’t fail to “wow” us. So we award these with a Appearance Score of 9.5
These headphones are tough and will never EVER feel cheap in your hands. A listener might not ever experience creaky noises while adjusting, unstable clicks while listening and the sole fact that these last long, allows us to give the Pros a Build Score of 8.0
The Accessories that come with this headphone are of an ample amount and should do you good, but the carrying pouch was nothing but egg on the customer’s face. The Beats get a shaky score in Accessories 6.5
These headphones sound good, but at the same time, they’re nothing at all like 400$ and luckily nothing at all like a lot of the other beats (that sound terrible). That makes the sound score a acceptable 6.0
All sounds outside are easily blocked with the volume at 70% and the leak is nowhere near as obnoxious as that of its siblings. 8.5
Final Player Score- 38.5/50 = 77% B+
Check out our Beats Comparison Here
Thursday, 27 December 2012
Rayman Advanced
Rayman Advanced
Everybody’s favourite hero... Rayman! Rayman is a person who only has a head, a chest and torso, hands and feet. Thats basically Rayman. Rayman is a platform game that was first released in 1995 by Ubisoft, and over the years, it grew steadily popular. It is playable on literally every single console there is, like Xbox, DS, Wii, PS3, PS2 etc. Anyone who has ever played Rayman knows that it sets the bars for platformers today. And my favorite Rayman game, by far, is Rayman Advance.
Overworld
There are six worlds in the entire game (Dream Forest, Band Land, Blue Mountains, Picture City, The Caves of Skops and Candy Chateau) and on each level there are six Electoons trapped in cages. The actual objective of the level is to get to a sign with an exclamation mark at the end of each level. Obviously enemies and puzzles will be trying to stop you, but unless you suck, that won’t be a problem. But actually, even though the game was targeted for children, the actual game is quite difficult, seriously testing your platforming abilities. The controls, while good, aren’t completely precise, making it difficult to jump and land perfectly, but pretty much everything else of the game makes up for it.
Music
The music. I could go on and on about how incredible the music is. I do not hesitate for a moment to say that this is just one of the best soundtracks from games alone. With incredibly catchy music that instantly makes you want to sing along, the music in the game is hands-down incredible. The quality was slightly worse on the Gameboy Advanced speakers compared to the ones on the PS and PC versions, but still, I cannot express enough how astoundingly beautiful that music really is. My love for the Rayman music cannot be put into words. That’s how good it is.
Worlds and Game
As said, there are six different worlds, all completely different and so unique from different platformers. I’m going to compare it to Mario, as it is definitely the most well known platformer out there. The worlds in a sense (for Mario), are different, featuring an Ice World, Island World etcetera. Whilst the designs are still different and they do feature some different things, they are all relatively the same, in the sense of platforms and levels. No dramatic changes occur throughout the different worlds and the castle levels are always have the same layout, along with the music. But in Rayman, that’s a whole different story. The worlds are obviously themed by their names, but that’s not all. The entire level design changes completely, introducing new things, structures, beautiful music and pretty much all of it.
Mr. Dark resides in the Candy Chateau, which for me, is pretty amusing, since you know, candy is generally viewed as a good thing. The levels steadily get harder and harder, and make no mistake, any gamer in my opinion, will view this game as a challenge. Maybe not in the beginning, in the Dream Forest, but even by the Blue Mountains, the third world, the levels have become a lot more challenging, and you’re scarce on lives. You gain a life like you usually do in platformers, collecting a certain number of items. In Mario and Sonic it’s coins, and in Rayman, you need to collect blue orbs, called Tings. After a 100, you’ll gain a life.
However, Tings are not nearly as common as coins are in Mario. And just like Mario with its 1Up mushroom, in Rayman, there’s the Rayman Statue, which is essentially just Rayman striking a pose on a statue. Grabbing this will give you 1 life. The other thing would be the magical O in a top hat. For a certain number of Tings, he’ll let you play a mini-game, and if completed perfectly, you’ll earn a life. Though the magic O is very rare, so don’t expect him too often.
The statue is the equivalent of the 1Up mushroom, and they’re hidden throughout the levels, along with another item that just gives you extra hp. I cannot stress this enough. This. Is. A. Hard. Game. And, because the developers are incredible and because they love us and games, they decided that this would be one of those games where, if you press the buttons in an order, you’ll unlock some insane cheat. If anybody out there has Rayman Advance and is stuck, you’ll enjoy the next part.
An example of one of these cheats would be the cheat to get 99 lives. You press pause during your game and press Left, Right, Down, Right, Left, R. There are a bunch of other awesome ones that makes the game so ridiculously easy, so if you’re looking for the easy way out, it’s nice to know that there are cheats that you can use to win, isn’t it?
Items
There are only a few items in the game. As mentioned before, the Statue and the Life Orb are in the game, but there are some others. There’s the Super Fist, which makes it so your punch flies at full speed no matter how long you hold it for. The Gold Fist, which does it so you OHKO (one-hit knockout) your enemies no matter how long you hold your fist for. The other “power-ups” are things that Betilla the Fairy, shown above, teaches you.
She basically teaches you new skills that you acquire throughout the game that are needed to advance. The most important one, for me at least, is the Helicopter Hair. Your hair transforms into a propeller, allowing you to glide for a short period of time in midair. There’s also the Ledge Grab, which is self-explanatory, the Punch (you don’t start out with it) and Sprinting.
This game, and the entire Rayman Series (except for the DS version. That one was terrible) is truly incredible. Music, gameplay, characters all comes together into one fantastic game that is insanely fun and, while difficult, is definitely worth the money. Rayman Advance hits a highpoint for Rayman games, giving off nostalgia and definitely following in the success of its predecessors. Sadly though, you can’t really find it so the ROM and Emulator will be provided also. I cannot stress enough that Rayman Advance is an incredible game, one that I would strongly suggest you try out.
Saturday, 22 December 2012
Pokémon Through The Years
Pokemon. A charming game that has long existed, and appealed to a variety of audiences. Yes, its initial design, plot lines etc. was meant to appeal for children. But the game is incredibly complex that many people have gone into and studied. The game itself has undergone many changes under the 14 years that it has been out for. Several games had been out before that, but it was the Pokemon series for the Gameboy that really drew peoples attention to it. It started with the Nintendo Gameboy and Pokemon Red and Blue. These games shaped the future of the Pokemon industry.
At first glance, as stated earlier, people assume it for a child’s game, but even so, the creative, charming and original designs for the original 151 Pokemon is enough to impress any person. Pokemon Red and Blue were the starters for this revolutionary game. For something like the Gameboy, the graphics were actually not bad. It was simple and while good, did have quite a few flaws which they did fix over the years. The bag had no organization whatsoever, so it is difficult to organize and find exactly what your looking for. The Pokemon sprites were strange-looking, but charming still, yet what sets it out was its music.
The music that the producers were able to create was beautiful. Even on the Gameboy’s speakers, which are not so good, they did a great job with using the sound to create the mood and atmosphere of the situation, whether it’s fighting Team Rocket, catching a Legendary or what not. The unique design and music, and graphics (for the time) set it aside from other games, and was the stepping stone to something wonderful.
Next up was Pokemon Yellow. Essentially, the game was the same, yet had slightly better graphics and improved Pokemon sprites. The reasons for the different sprites was because when the Pokemon TV show was created, the many fans of the Pokemon series argued that the sprites from the game did not look like the TV Pokemon. So in Pokemon Yellow, Nintendo fixed it to be more like the TV, even though the games had come out first. Yellow was scratching a surface of what Nintendo later realized was great potential for a new game, which came years later. But these three games, they shaped Pokemon as we know today.
In my opinion, I really enjoyed what they did to Pokemon Yellow to set it apart from the other two games. It made it different, and you experienced an entirely different world through the same plot and story line. However, I didn’t really like how you could only let Pikachu follow you around. I understand why, as the graphics and space were pretty limited back then, but even so, I hate Pikachu, to the end of days. Yes, he may be cute, but seriously, he is just... I mean, every time I get him, I name it Roadkill. You can use that name, I don’t mind.
I understand why they would do that, seeing as the cartridges would most probably not support all sprites of every Pokemon, but oh well, I just hate him. Of course, thats just my opinion, but yea. Getting back on track.
With the launching of the Gameboy Color, a new set of Pokemon games came along, keeping up, if not outclassing the previous games, bringing a host of new things to it. First of all, they changed the Pokemon stats from Attack, Defense, Speed, Special, HP to Attack, Defense, Speed, Special Attack, Special Defense and HP. They broke it up nicely, and this did cause a completely new strategy option, but more on that later. With Pokemon Gold and Silver came great new graphics and color, thanks to the Gameboy Color (obviously) and music.
Being set in a different region, it was still able to keep the old nostalgic feel to it. They were able to mix the two games and story-lines together perfectly. A player could pick up Pokemon Silver and Gold, and understand everything that was happening without ever having played Red and Blue, whereas another could see Gold and Silver as a sequel, and still enjoy it immensely. The introduction of the new type, Steel, gave the game new meaning, sense and more fun, introducing stronger and better combinations for teams.
Again, Gold and Silver brought some of the best music, definitely living up to the standards of its predecessors. While slightly different, it was able to create such a great atmosphere and feeling that it’s impossible to not sing along to it. It introduced more organized structures, moves and the absolute best thing that it did was introduce the new evolutions. Yes, the Pokemon that they created were unbelievably charming and good-looking, seeping originality, and I have my personal favorites from that Generation, like Heracross, Tyranitar, Elekid etc. but they introduced pre-volutions and evolutions. And... It. Was. Glorious.
The introduction of the Steel and Dark-type Pokemon made it so that more evolutions and Dual-typing could be made, and the evolutions made were simply astounding. They all resembled the evolution line, but also looked completely different. A good example of this would be Scizor or Slowbro. You can clearly identify whose evolutionary line they belong to, but still they’re incredibly powerful and look completely different.
The new moves created also added more fun to the game, like Dragon attacks. Previously, there was only one Dragon attack, Dragon Rage, and that attack did 40 damage every time, so really, there was no STAB, critical hits, nothing, but with attacks like Outrage, Iron Tail, Sludge Bomb etc. The game is so much more fun, and more Pokemon become valuable.
But how can we forget about the shiny Pokemon? Thats right, with G/S/C came the great idea. Shiny Pokemon. In case you didn’t know, shiny Pokemon are essentially the same thing as the normal ones except the color of the Pokemon is changed. The chances of one appearing is roughly 1/8104, and really, nothing changes except its aesthetics. But if you do have one, it makes the game all the more valuable.
This Generation was my favorite. I did not actually start out with Red, Blue or Yellow, even though I have played them. My first game was Silver and that may be the reason why that Generation is my favorite. The graphics were cute and not in any means good, but good enough. I really liked this Generation, as it had great Pokemon designs, awesome new moves, amazing evo/pre-volutions and an incredible plot line, it’ll always remain in my heart.
And then the Gameboy Advanced came, and this is where, in my opinion, Pokemon really reached its high point. Because here they introduced... Abilities! Abilities was the start of real competitive and strategic battling. Abilities like Drizzle, Drought and other weather-inducing abilities are my favorite, as they provide such a great strategic offense, each having its pros and cons. Not only those of course, but also things like Arena Trap, Compound Eyes and Effect Spore rocked the new ways of battling. It gave the games so much more life, meaning and overall fun.
Generation III consisted of Pokemon Sapphire, Ruby and Emerald. The graphic change from Gold to Sapphire was astounding, and they did a great job of it too. To me, the plot line of Pokemon S/R/E has always been the weakest, but that is only my opinion. I feel that, while the plot line and idea behind it being really good, I just couldn’t connect with it as I had with the other games. The music that was created was also pretty good, and definitely had some happy jingles, but it was missing some of the things that G/S/C and R/B/Y were missing.
That being said, Nintendo did most certainly not disappoint anyone with the new Pokemon. They again, incorporated charm, strength and originality into the new Pokemon. The designs that were used and the beautiful graphics made the shiny and attacks stand out so much more. I love the shiny sprites for Seviper, Flygon, Aggron, I could go on and on.
But along with that, came the first ever remakes. Fire Red and Leaf Green. These games were the first remakes of Pokemon Red and Blue, and they did everything perfectly. They remade everything perfectly, the Pokemon, the music, everything. It was beautiful, and it was a real challenge. The Elite Four were much stronger than before, and your rival, Green/ Gary was also incredibly hard. R/S/E and FR/LG did still introduce the first step into the newest, best and sadly, last, of the Gameboy franchise.
These games were great, and I loved them both equally. What I didn’t like about R/S/E though was that there was no way to acquire any of the Pokemon from the other Generations, which sort of bummed me out, like you could in FR/LG and G/S/C, but it didn’t take away from great hours of gameplay. My Sapphire is my Pokemon game with the most hours played on. I’m on 300 hours at the moment... I don’t have a life, I know, I know.
And along came the DS. And in my opinion, the worst Generation ever came into existence. Of course thats just my opinion, so don’t take this all too harshly, and I understand you may disagree with me, but to be blunt, Diamond, Pearl and Platinum is just a pile of shit. Excuse my language, but thats basically all that I think of it. The designs are disgusting, like Hippopowdon and Skuntank. The names are terrible and frankly idiotic, not to mention the designs. And the main character sprites were also horrific, looking either super pretentious and obnoxious or just downright stupid.
But the worst crime, the worst thing that they did, was make new evolutions. I mean, I understand what they were going for. They were doing just what Generation II was doing, adding some evolutions. But uggghhh, the ones they made hurt my heart and soul. Literally. Electivire, Mamoswine, Tangrowth, Magnezone. Seriously, what the hell ?! Again, excuse my language. But come on, they made evolutions to already awesome Pokemon, that did not need it!
My next rant will be about the music. And they messed it up in every, single damned aspect. I mean, they even changed the Pokemon Center music! Like, come on! You do not understand, my pure rage and hate for this game. I really do not think you do.
But one thing that I do like is all the moves that were introduced. I’ve got to give them credit for that. The moves they introduced were pretty incredible, some much needed. I didn’t actually realize how little moves were in Generation I, II and III. But here they just went all out, and I loved it. Wood Hammer, Energy Ball, Stone Edge, X-Scissor, I could go on and on. Plus, with more abilities being introduced, and the added Wi-Fi function of the DS, online and competitive battling really took flight, and nearly everyone flew (Apart from those who sucked. Their wings were torn off).
But not all hope was lost, because just like Generation III, Generation IV introduced... Heartgold and Soulsilver! And boy was it glorious. It recreated the old game perfectly, and literally slapped Diamond Pearl and Platinum across the face with a lobster. There’s really not much to say about Hg/Ss, as really, they made it so well, that it was literally just like G/S/C. The graphics were much improved, the levels were swapped slightly, but everything, the feel, the nostalgia comes flowing back when played.
Apart from Heartgold and Soulsilver, as I’m sure you guessed, I hated Generation IV with a burning passion. The designs and names just seemed so incredibly desperate. So that’s that. Oh and again, sorry, thats just my opinion, hope I didn’t offend anyone.
And POW came Generation V, Pokemon Black and White and I have mixed feelings about Gen V. I mean don’t get me wrong, it came with amazing new graphics, sprites, moves etc. And some of the Pokemon that were introduced are pretty good. Some however, are not.
A commonly used Pokemon to berate Gen V is Garbodor. And while I do not agree that all of Gen V sucked, some Pokemon really struggled to make it over the line. I agree, Garbodor was pretty terrible. I mean, stat wise and move wise, its pretty good. But design and name... It’s literally itself. A pile of trash. Another example would be something like Vanillite. Now, in my personal opinion, I love the Vanillite evolution line. Their stats are pretty decent, movepool isn’t bad and, well, they’re just so damn adorable. But I understand why some people hate it, seeing as it is a literal ice cream cone. However, people who think Gen V is bad and Gen IV is good, I counter with Skuntank and Bidoof. I mean, come on.
As said, I think that some of the new Pokemon, while not awesome, were a step in the right direction, like Haxorus, Cofagrigus, Zebstrika and a few others. Their designs were pretty good and I thought that even though they weren’t really like the designs of the first three Generations, it was nice seeing something different that didn’t suck donkey balls, like Generation IV’s Pokemon did (again, really sorry if I’m offending anyone, but I just dislike Gen IV far too much).
The music in B/W was average at most. Sure, some places had some pretty great atmospheres and you really felt like you were in the game, but most of it was pretty bad. But hey, at least it’s not as bad as D/P/Pt music! Really though, I think that they could have done a lot more with the music in B/W, because honestly, I was quite disappointed with it.
Just like Gen IV, it came with a plethora of amazing new moves. My favorite is probably Scald, seeing as it is ridiculously powerful (its base power is 80), plus has a 30% chance to burn. I mean its base power in the rain, plus stab and a water gem would be 240, plus a burn chance! It’s insane! Some moves that were introduced, I must say, are pretty pointless, like Struggle Bug, but some, like Volt Switch just adds more strategies for teams.
One thing I haven’t talked about very much is the new items that have been introduced, and I am impressed at what they came up with, in Gen IV and V. I love Eviolite, Choice Scarf, the new Gems etc. I think that it is seriously the thing that has changed competitive battling the most (besides abilities), because some Pokemon can just become ridiculously powerful and great assets to the team.
To be honest, I loved the plot line of B/W. From what I experienced, I thought it was great, matching the original one. The Legendary Dragons and what not, meh, but actually playing it and advancing was a ton of fun. But I honestly could not take Team Plasma seriously until B2/W2 because of their costumes. I mean seriously, they look like raccoons inside grey pumpkins. It’s like they intentionally designed themselves to look like that so that everyone would just assume that they were gay. Well good job guys, it worked! It’s really just sad. But transitioning into B2/W2, they changed, and instead they just became awesome.
B2/W2 was so good, it’s incredible. The plot line was even better, as just like G/S/C’s plot, a player could pick it up never having played Pokemon before and understand it, or a seasoned veteran of B/W could pick it up and see it as a sequel. And the costumes, oh the costumes, they were so glorious, like really. They’re pretty incredible, now looking like flipping ninjas. And Ghetsis’ costume is just so damn cool it hurts to just look at it. Like the badass cane, and the awesome black cloak/cape, it’s just so great!
The awesome new areas and available Pokemon that were added to the game gave it so much more meaning. A few of my favourites were Twist Mountain and the Marine Tube, and a few others. They also did a lot more work with the character sprites and camera angles, which I really enjoyed. The atmosphere and the music in some places really fitted the mood, and I felt that the music in BW2 was a lot better than its predecessor. Really, I think it was the improved B/W in nearly every single way.
BW2 is probably my second or third favourite, following Crystal and Fire Red. Pokemon has changed so much over the years, and generally I have enjoyed it. Each Generation brings something valuable to it, and makes it better, in one way or another. Even though the plot lines are generally the same, they are completely different and you experience them all separately and in your own way. Pokemon will always sit in my heart as one of the most enjoyable, and charming, games of all time.
--Ttar
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