Platform – Ellison Gamer

May 5, 2018

Video Game #21 (Mario)

The iconic character in video game history made its mark in a Donkey Kong arcade game as the ID of Plumber. He became more than that in the decades to come. From Platformers, any sport in the books, RPG’s even, you name it and they have it in store for you to try.

Mario transcends in the world phenomenon to be engaging to video game goers alike including myself. One of many was Super Mario 64 that taught children how to learn basic instructions. A simple matter of review, using it to progress through the game to defeat a long stride video game bad guy Bowser to save the princess. Toadstool was its original which still is used from time to time, but now she is namely Peach as many of you know her by.

Super Mario RPG was the first RPG in the Mario series in my opinion to show off that part of the generation of traditional games such as Final Fantasy and various others. You get a sense that Bowser isn’t really a bad guy in this one, better yet he joins you to take out a sinister threat that made his castle not usable for his evil ways. To make matters more interesting, a non-Final Fantasy character to this day I am not sure where he came from goes by the name Culex. It ironically plays Final Fantasy music when being fought which at the time was really cool. Onto the next genre of the series.

Super Smash Bros. is accountable as one of the best things to happen in video game history. It brought characters from iconic to unknown individuals that would end up eventually in their own game to become popular for a time. Various companies competed with this with games such as Soul Calibur, Mortal Kombat, and more. A world phenomenon saw an even bigger picture on this given game that it made gaming communities to come together to create branches of various communities which is amazing.

Returning to RPG’s, Paper Mario really out done itself in its time. The 1st one is what you could expect: memorable Mario characters, areas, Bowser himself, and others. In the 2nd Paper Mario (known as Thousand Year Door), things took a very different turn which makes it the most intriguing thing in a Mario game. Very sinister plotting in this game was really something. When you come across something that is dangerous, they really mean it. When you successfully collect all seven relics known as Crystal Stars, the Thousand Year Door opens in a dark and disturbing matter. When entered, it plays a stinger that says you should not be here. Even your party members say something feels wrong and we probably shouldn’t be here. That means something in a video game, but you continue onward to see horrors that will transpire at the end of the tunnel. It turns out there was a being known as an Eldritch Abomination that came out of the tomb. It took over the host (that being Peach), and became the one thing Mario wanted to save only to see her as this thing taken over. For the first time in his hero career (and plumber), he lost. Eventually something remarkable happened. The people including his brother Luigi were encouraging him to not give up on the struggle against the ancient being known as the Shadow Queen. Mario did succeed but made it so he got help by others to guide through the fight. So it comes to show you that even Mario cannot always be on a winning streak and must call it quits from time to time.

I name many others but I would be ramble on and on so I made it clear that Mario became an icon in many ways in every video game goer’s view. To the question being what did you see when Mario came into the world of gaming? What is your favorite Mario genre and game thus far? Do you think it will continue to strife through more decades to come?

Thanks for your time and have a great week.

April 28, 2018April 28, 2018

Video Game #19 (Donkey Kong)

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Donkey Kong is an extravaganza to behold. From the arcade to the long platformer of the decades to racing for a time to various cameos. Aside from Mario as the plumber to save the distressed Princess Toadstool (eventually would be called Peach), Donkey Kong left himself a mark in video game history.

It begins in a arcade room filled with wonders beyond imagining. I was considered to be the last generation to witness such toys to see and play with at that given time. It was a good feeling, because now looking back it took away the activeness of going somewhere and play round after round and have a good time. Doesn’t seem the case nowadays, however parties are gathered from peoples houses to play this given genre and many others from that arcade room. Over time it would consider to be history in the making as they all say. Back to the present.

My story really starts at a game of this given franchise called Donkey Kong Country. Whether it was day time or night time, Donkey Kong Country rings sounds to my ears. Very memorable platformer in its prime (still is to this day). Made various sequels to which I did not play because it felt not the same to me. Still great games, just the first one was enough.

Jumping to the second generation of Nintendo, the N64. Good old Donkey Kong 64, a game that always has something fun and entertaining to see, watch and play of course. From levels, mini-games, multiplayer, bosses, puzzles, you name it, it was all presentable very well. The only thing to this day is how I never understood this was the case, but you have to do those very old arcade games to get those N64 coins to just to complete the story to fight the final boss (granted he was worth the patience). People are glad that those are still presented from time to time in current video games.

I like to finish up by saying Diddy Kong racing would have been a fantastic spin-off if it kept going instead of disconnected from being bought out by another corporation. But at the time, it was what it had to be done I guess. Still bothers me that it could have been more if it was just their own corporation to be left alone and continue without interruption. Sadly, I am just one individual and have no control of that kind of stuff. So we are presented of what we have and enjoy it.

What was your most memorable moment of Donkey Kong franchise from its birth in the arcade room? Is it still doing fine in the gaming industry today in your mind? As always, have a great week.

April 27, 2018

Video Game #18 (Yoshi’s Island)

A classic platformer of the ages made this game title a nostalgia train ride. Yoshi makes a solo game debut about his adventures with baby Mario to get him home and move through various obstacles. What I enjoyed about this game was that revisiting old levels, unlock the bonus mini-games in each world. etc.

One of the things I applaud for was its difficulty. Each level of every world gets gradually harder. Get a selection of enemies, obstacles, and eventually see all of them put together in a massive cluster of fun. Each boss of course made things unique by doing a certain action or strategy developed by you as the player. It does give hints on every boss, but won’t give you the answer unless you try it. At first you don’t succeed, try it again.

A platformer such as Yoshi’s Island took a few years to beat. It makes you want to have a break from it then eventually come back to it later. In the end, this was the case because you as the video game player see what cool mechanics and crazy strategy presented in other video games as to apply to this given game. Looking at it as a hard core platformer gamer, there have been times that it turns out all you had to do was do this action rather than develop your own. Sadly it is a long time habit to just complete the game and move on to the next thing which is beyond your control.

How has platformer games changed over the years? A question asked from time to time. But anyways, see you next time.

April 21, 2018

Video Game #17 (Wario Land)

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It was first under the “Super Mario Land” sub franchise but quickly became its own game genre. Wario Land was the bomb back in those days. A game so that everything balances out gameplay wise so you know how that goes on platformer games.

In Wario Land 2 (my personal favorite Wario Land game), it is firstly play it through and see what you as the player can do. Because there are different routes that triggers different endings. The game will show you the timeline of events of the levels that you did and did not complete. Guess what, discover them to explore different results and it is fun and funny all in a good time.

Wario Land 3 and the most frustrating thus far, this particular one makes you visit the same areas from time to time to extend more of the level. Whether weather change, more obstacles, or reach for previous things that were out of reach unless you had an ability to do it. Bosses were a pain, however fun, just hair pull every failed attempt. Great game, just a lot of backtracking as you progress through the game.

The last Wario Land I played was obviously the fourth installment. In this one is memorizing the level because there’s a game mechanic called time, cause it based around the story. It gets harder every level and if you screw up, it’s back to the beginning of the level and that can be frustrating. Fun installment, just a lot of time constrains to get through each level.

There were other Wario Land games but did not continue with it after the fourth one. Four Wario Lands as enough for me. So, what was your experience of Wario Land as a whole to take a break from Mario? What was favorite one of the series? As always, have a great week.