Video Game Musings...
So. In all the hoopla of getting caught up in newer fandoms--Doctor Who last year, Gilligan's Island this year, and a Monkees revival with the upcoming concert tour, I tend to forget about my other fandoms.
First of all, Legend of Zelda. I got the "Link Between Worlds" game last year when it was released. I adore it; as a sequel to my favorite game in the series, "Link to the Past," it's amazing and though I'm not very far in it, I'm enjoying it very much. I'm finding it a lot easier than "Ocarina of Time," no doubt due to the fact that I'm more used to the top-down view in here and in LttP, rather than the head-on view in OoT. And I've made progress in OoT, too--I finally got past that insane, stupid fish!
And then, Pokémon. I got Pokémon X when it was released last fall, as well, and am in the midst of a very good Nuzlocke run (Doctor Who themed, 6 badges, no losses so far). I got sidetracked, however, by restarting HeartGold, and now I'm getting sidetracked again because it was *just* announced that there will be remakes of the Hoenn games, Ruby and Sapphire, as OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire. I'd had a feeling that something Hoenn was about to be announced since they did promo that special Torchic when X and Y were released. *Very* much looking forward to these! Though it's a long wait--not until November...
...Which is fine by me, because I am now in the midst of rediscovering the wonderful game series that is Super Mario. Oh, goodness, the nostalgia! Okay, so... I've often said that Carmen Sandiego was my first fandom. Well, Super Mario was my second (well, tied with Scooby-Doo); my elder sister and I had the Mario Bros arcade game for our ancient computer (which is long gone now), and she would always play as Mario, leaving me to play as Luigi. This, however, quickly made me adore Luigi, and he became my favorite, along with Yoshi; I was introduced to Yoshi through the cartoons. Before I played any of the other games, I watched the cartoons. Looking back, these were made before the brothers received their distinctive, in-game characterizations, but it's interesting to see how they were interpreted before in the cartoons (and the movie, which I have no shame in admitting that I liked, even if no one else did), and then later on in the games. The sibling cuteness, however, is constant throughout the cartoons, movie, and the games.
At any rate, I sort of pushed the Mario Bros to the side when I got caught up in Doctor Who last year--to the point that I didn't pay too much attention to the Year of Luigi last year, since, for me, it was Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary year, too. Now, though, I'm realizing just how awesome it was, with Luigi getting a whole bunch of games starring him, two of which were for the 3DS and that I have now bought; I got "Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon" and "Mario & Luigi: Dream Team," both of which have promises of much sibling cuteness!
The sibling cuteness is, naturally, my favorite part about the series; in the classic platformers, there isn't really much due to a lack of cutscenes, but the Mario & Luigi RPG series has tons of it; I only have the 1st installment (Superstar Saga) and the 4th (Dream Team), but I intend to get the 2nd installment (Partners in Time, which is basically applying a Doctor Who plot to the Mario-verse. No, seriously--it's time travel and alien invasions. Though the Doctor would be horrified at the paradox of the brothers carrying around their younger selves).
As I delve into these games, I'm probably going to revisit the cartoon series as well. Yes, the characterizations are different and seem strange (Luigi has the most striking difference--he's tougher and ready to dive into the action in the cartoons, but is adorably shy and a reluctant hero in the games with a phobia of ghosts).
Expect more posts as I further delve into my Super Mario Renaissance.
First of all, Legend of Zelda. I got the "Link Between Worlds" game last year when it was released. I adore it; as a sequel to my favorite game in the series, "Link to the Past," it's amazing and though I'm not very far in it, I'm enjoying it very much. I'm finding it a lot easier than "Ocarina of Time," no doubt due to the fact that I'm more used to the top-down view in here and in LttP, rather than the head-on view in OoT. And I've made progress in OoT, too--I finally got past that insane, stupid fish!
And then, Pokémon. I got Pokémon X when it was released last fall, as well, and am in the midst of a very good Nuzlocke run (Doctor Who themed, 6 badges, no losses so far). I got sidetracked, however, by restarting HeartGold, and now I'm getting sidetracked again because it was *just* announced that there will be remakes of the Hoenn games, Ruby and Sapphire, as OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire. I'd had a feeling that something Hoenn was about to be announced since they did promo that special Torchic when X and Y were released. *Very* much looking forward to these! Though it's a long wait--not until November...
...Which is fine by me, because I am now in the midst of rediscovering the wonderful game series that is Super Mario. Oh, goodness, the nostalgia! Okay, so... I've often said that Carmen Sandiego was my first fandom. Well, Super Mario was my second (well, tied with Scooby-Doo); my elder sister and I had the Mario Bros arcade game for our ancient computer (which is long gone now), and she would always play as Mario, leaving me to play as Luigi. This, however, quickly made me adore Luigi, and he became my favorite, along with Yoshi; I was introduced to Yoshi through the cartoons. Before I played any of the other games, I watched the cartoons. Looking back, these were made before the brothers received their distinctive, in-game characterizations, but it's interesting to see how they were interpreted before in the cartoons (and the movie, which I have no shame in admitting that I liked, even if no one else did), and then later on in the games. The sibling cuteness, however, is constant throughout the cartoons, movie, and the games.
At any rate, I sort of pushed the Mario Bros to the side when I got caught up in Doctor Who last year--to the point that I didn't pay too much attention to the Year of Luigi last year, since, for me, it was Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary year, too. Now, though, I'm realizing just how awesome it was, with Luigi getting a whole bunch of games starring him, two of which were for the 3DS and that I have now bought; I got "Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon" and "Mario & Luigi: Dream Team," both of which have promises of much sibling cuteness!
The sibling cuteness is, naturally, my favorite part about the series; in the classic platformers, there isn't really much due to a lack of cutscenes, but the Mario & Luigi RPG series has tons of it; I only have the 1st installment (Superstar Saga) and the 4th (Dream Team), but I intend to get the 2nd installment (Partners in Time, which is basically applying a Doctor Who plot to the Mario-verse. No, seriously--it's time travel and alien invasions. Though the Doctor would be horrified at the paradox of the brothers carrying around their younger selves).
As I delve into these games, I'm probably going to revisit the cartoon series as well. Yes, the characterizations are different and seem strange (Luigi has the most striking difference--he's tougher and ready to dive into the action in the cartoons, but is adorably shy and a reluctant hero in the games with a phobia of ghosts).
Expect more posts as I further delve into my Super Mario Renaissance.