Throwback Thursday: (7/3/14)

Pokemon

I had to make this one pretty quickly since I'm working all day today, so I decided to go with one that I know like the back of my hand. I have grown up with the Pokemon series, playing every single generation out there and even the remakes as well. Although some people say that these games are repetitive, these games have been the most addicting games I have ever played and they are still one of my all time game choices. With the release of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire coming out this fall, let's take a look into the past games and generations

The main games in this series have always been for the Nintendo handheld systems, from the GameBoy Color to the Nintendo 3DS, but there have been numerous spinoffs to the original games, such as Pokemon Stadium and Pokemon Ranger. As well as these spinoffs, tech-savvy gamers have also made ROM Hacks for these games as well, where they will either change up the story a little bit, like in Pokemon: Dark Diamond, or they will make a completely new game based off of the series, like my all time favorite Pokemon: Zeta and Omicron.

The gist of the games go like this, you pick a starter from the region of the game you're playing from a Professor. You train and capture your Pokemon and try to beat the 8 gym leaders in the region to have a chance to go through Victory Road to reach the Elite 4 and finally the Pokemon Champion. In each region, there is a gang of evil doers that try to either capture the Legendary Pokemon in the region or just to cause a nuisance. Throughout the game, you will fight your rival multiple times and it can become a pain but it moves the game along.

Gen 1: Red, Blue, and Yellow

This generation has the games that rocketed this franchise to one of the most well liked games of all time. These games were for the GameBoy Color and were all essentially the same, with the exception of Pokemon: Yellow having Pikachu as the starter and adding more Team Rocket fights. In Gen 1, the starters were Charmander the Fire Lizard, Squirtle the Tiny Turtle, and Bulbasaur the Seed Pokemon and in Yellow, a Pikachu the Electric Mouse was the players and your rival took an Eevee. The region of Kanto is the one that we all know well, with Pallet Town, Cerulean City and so on and is the home to the original 151 Pokemon. When remake for the GameBoy Advance with Fire Red and Leaf Green, they added Gen 2 and Gen 3 to the Pokedex to obtain, and added the Sevii Islands for some extra gameplay towards the end of the storyline.

If you're like me, these are the first Pokemon games that you ever played. The low-level graphics were all that we could ask for in the earlier time of gaming and when it came to gameplay, this game had it all. Looking at the picture below, you can see how much the game improved in just a few years and how the Pokemon franchise knows how to hit our nostalgia.

Gen 2: Gold, Silver, and Crystal

These games, just like the first gen, were made for the Gameboy Color. However, these games utilized the color aspect a lot better than the first gen, with having everything in color. The story for these 3 games takes place in the Johto Region, to the left of the original Kanto Region, and after the Elite 4 is beaten, you can actually travel to Kanto and fight those Gyms. These games are all similar to each other, except Crystal added an extra mini quest to capture the Legendary Pokemon, Suicune, and was the first game of the series to implement gender picking when it came to the avatar. These games also added 100 more Pokemon, including the starters, Cyndaquil for Fire, Chikorita for Grass, and Totodile for water and also 2 new types, Dark and Steel. These games were my favorite of all of them, since they added 2 regions to the game, and they also had my favorite Pokemon of all time in there, Espeon the psychic version of Eevee. This is also the first game for the infamous Youngster Joey. This gen also added the first use of time, using day and night to be able to catch different Pokemon.

The remakes of this game came a few years ago for the Nintendo DS called Heart Gold and Soul Silver. These remakes added my favorite feature of letting your Pokemon follow your avatar during gameplay. Unfortunately, this feature didn't move to the 3DS console, which is why this remake is still one of the better games out there. Like the other remakes, this one added a side feature of the Safari Zone, which was unavailable in the original gen 2 games, and Pokemon all the way up to the 4th Gen.

Gen 3: Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald

These games were the first ones to come out for the Gameboy Advance and added even more Pokemon to the mix, adding 135 new ones, making the grand total 386. In the region of Hoenn, you can pick from these three Pokemon, Torchic for Fire, Mudkip for Water, and Treeko for Grass. The main thing that this gen added was double battles, where the player can use 2 of their Pokemon at the same time in a battle to add to the strategies in the game. They also began to add natures and abilities into this game to have added effects on stats and other random tid-bits. The remakes for this game will be talked about at the end of the article, just because most of the new added features are explained in future generations.

Another great addition in this game was the secret bases. They had nothing to do with the story and you can easily complete the game without doing them, but they were a fun little addition added. They were areas scattered around Hoenn where the player could decorate their base with various furniture to get their own unique look.

Gen 4: Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum

This generation was the first one to be put on the Nintendo DS console and like the generations before, added a whole new set of Pokemon to choose from. This generation added 107 new Pokemon to the ever expanding Pokedex, making a total so far of 493 playable little creatures. Located in the Sinnoh Region, the starters here were Chimchar for Fire, Turtwig for Grass, and Piplup for Water. This is the first generation to have all 3 starters with dual typings for their final evolutions, which helps with matching against opponents. 

This gen added onto the time feature from gen 2 and added more time periods. Instead of just Day and Night, they had Morning, Day, Afternoon, Evening, and Night. Each of these periods had different Pokemon available in them and you have to plan accordingly to catch them all. This gen also added an online feature where you can battle and trade with people wirelessly all over the world. This new aspect brought the battling masters out of the woodwork and were able to test their skills with other great battlers around the globe

Gen 5: Black, White, Black 2, and White 2

Out of all of the generations in the series, this is probably my least favorite. I don't have a specific reason why, this gen just didn't cut it for me. And the addition of Black 2 and White 2 made no sense to me, just another reason for them to get money I guess. Bitching aside, this gen added a whopping 156 new Pokemon, including the starters Oshawatt for Water, Tepig for Fire, and Snivy for Grass. In the Unova Region, the graphics and battle style changed dramatically since the last gen, and definitely for the better. The fighting now makes it look more like the Pokemon are in combat, like flinching when they get hit and making movements when attacking.

A few new things were added to this gen, like instead of just time, now the season change, changing the Pokemon available. One of the better things added was the introduction of Triple Battles (3vs3) and Rotational Battles (3vs3 rotating). These battle are always fun to do and add more fun game play. Another thing added was the rustling patches in grass. These patches can either have an item in them or a rare Pokemon, so it is important not to miss any of them. Comparing between the first and second version of this game, not much has changed except where you start and a few added extras like the cinemas, but overall I would give this gen a 6/10.

Gen 6: Pokemon X and Y

As the newest release, these games had the most hype of them all and with good reason; they were the first to be put on the Nintendo 3DS. The graphics on this console alone opened up a whole new world for the players and the addition of the 3D fighting made the game even more fun than before. Not only that, but another whole bunch of Pokemon were added to this game as well, 70 new Pokemon as well as the new Fairy Type making the final grand total of 718 (719 if you count Diance which is currently unavailable). This new type made it so Dragon Pokemon weren't unbeatable juggernauts like they were in the previous games by being super effective against and couldn't be damaged by them.

In the Kalos region, the player starts off with one of 3 Pokemon; Froakie for Water, Chespin for Grass, and Fennekin for Fire. Not only these starters, but the players can also a little later on obtain a starter Pokemon from the Kanto region as well. From here, the player was also able to customize their look from various shops around the region, making no two characters look alike.

Many new features were added to this game. To start it off, they added in Horde Battles, which was a random battle event in the wild against 5 somewhat weaker Pokemon. These Horde Battles could also be activated by the move 'Sweet Scent' and definitely helped with the training. The online play for this game was improved as well. Not only did it have the GTS, or the Global Trading System, but it also included Wonder Trading. This is where the player picks one of their Pokemon to be traded with a random Pokemon from a random trainer, which became a huge hit. Lastly, the addition of 'Mega Stones' changed the game for ever. This is when certain Pokemon holding their specific mega stone 'Mega Evolve' into a much stronger Pokemon for the fight. Although it seems to take a page from Digimon's playbook, it was still a great addition to the series and it made some Pokemon that weren't used as much, like Mawile and Banette, useful again.

Future Release: Pokemon ORAS

Last but not least, the soon to be additions to our favorite series, Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. This game is going to be a remake of the Gen 3 games, Ruby and Sapphire, and should be adding a whole new element to that generation. From what I can tell from the E3 trailer, the Mega Stones are going to have their own part of the story added on to the original story line. There is also going to be a different type of Mega Evolution so far called 'Primal State'. Only so far being for the Legendaries, Kyorge and Groudon, this new evolution should make them more powerful than ever before.

 

That is it for Throwback Thursday, if you have any suggestions of a game series you want me to cover, either tweet at us or comment on this thread and have a great 4th of July weekend.

Throwback Thursday 6/26/14

Super Smash Brothers

With the new Super Smash Brothers game coming out for both the 3DS and the WiiU in the up coming fall and winter respectively, I thought it was best to do a look back at our favorite games as kids. There's only a few games in this series, but it's a game that everyone loves and cares for and, of course, fights over with friends and family.

A quick synopsis of the series, these games take our favorite video game characters from all our favorite Nintendo games and pits them against each other in either a single player mode or with your friends in a co-op mode. Each character has attacks that are related to them from their other games, such as Pikachu's thunder bolt or Mario's fire ball. And for each game, there are secret characters in the game that can be unlocked meeting certain criteria. Each match is held in an area that matches one of the character's home turf and during these matches, items can fall from the sky that the players can use to aid them in their fight.

Super Smash Bros.

The first game in the series is the self titled Super Smash Bros. It was made for the N64 and was originally only going to be released in Japan. The first game of its type, it has ruined many friendships but it has become one of the best games to still play with friends even today. This game starts off if several characters that we all know from their own games, including Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Samus, Yoshi, Kirby, Pikachu, and Fox as well as the four secret characters; Jigglypuff, Captain Falcon, Luigi, and Ness.

In this game, only the main characters (the original eight) have stages that correspond with their games. There are a total of 9 stages, one of which is unlocked during game play. Each stage has different features on them to give the players more to think about when they are playing, but overall they are all around the same size in this game.

The single player in this game had the player fight through a set amount of matches against computer players throughout almost all of the stages. The player can pick from Very Easy to Very Hard difficulty and can pick from 1 to 5 lives. When the player beats all of the computer players, as well as the bonus stages, they go against the Master Hand. He is the final boss throughout the entire series and once the player beats him, they win the chance to unlock a character or the Mushroom Kingdom stage.

A few things that some people don't know about this game, there were a couple of intended characters for this game that didn't show up but showed up in the other games. These characters include Mewtwo, King DeDeDe, and Bowser, all big power house characters in the later games. It is believed that they weren't added into the game because the movement was harder to make for these characters and it would have taken a longer time to release, but the actual reason is unknown.

Super Smash Bros Melee

The second installment in the series is personally my favorite of all of the games, mainly because it included some of my favorite characters from my favorite series, Roy and Marth from the Fire Emblem series. This game includes all of the characters from the previous game and a few of the stages that can be unlocked during game play. This game was made for the GameCube and became one of the most popular games for this system, aka if you didn't have this game, you shouldn't have a GameCube. It added a lot more stages and characters and a bunch of new single player game play and other extra features.

The game starts with 14 playable characters, already almost double the entire cast of the previous game, and comes with a total of 25 playable characters. All of the characters from the old game are in this one, including a few stages as well. Newly added to this game are Bowser, Peach, Zelda/Sheik, Ice Climbers, Dr. Mario, Young Link, Ganondorf, Falco, Pichu, Mewtwo, Marth, Roy, and Mr. Game & Watch. Even some of the new characters come with their own stages when they are unlocked, such as Mr. Game and Watch and its Flat Zone. The new stages now vary in size and shape from the very large Hyrule Temple to the much smaller Yoshi's Island and come with a few added surprises.

This game includes the same single player mode as the previous game, called Classic Mode, but also includes an Adventure more and an All-Star mode as well. The Adventure Mode takes the player throughout a multitude of stages where the player either walks around to complete the stage, kind of like the original Super Mario Brothers games, or fights an enemy or two. Each stage compliments one of the starters for this game, going through 12 stages and a final boss of Giant Bowser. A bonus boss, unlocked if this mode is beaten under 18 minutes on Normal or harder without using a continue, is Giga Bowser. Giga Bowser is about 3 times harder to kill than Giant Bowser; trust me, I only played against him once but it was the hardest thing I have ever done. The other single player mode is All-Star Mode, This mode is unlocked once the player clears Classic Mode and Adventure Mode with all characters, including the secret characters. This is the hardest mode in the game, where the player goes against every character in the game, finishing off with a team of 25 Mr. Game and Watches, and the damage from each battle is carried over.

Some added features to this game are Trophies, Events, Home-run Contest, Multi-man Melee, and Target testing. Trophies are collectables in the game that are unlocked doing random events/matches. Events are set matches that have certain rules that the player must abide to pass and can lead to unlocking trophies, stages, or even characters. The rest are kind of self explanatory so if you don't understand them, oh well.

Super Smash Bros Brawl

This game was a highly anticipated game for the Wii, due to the success of the earlier games, but in my opinion, it is not as good as Super Smash Bros Melee. A good amount of characters got the cut from Melee, but they were quickly replaced with some new up-and-comers. The characters that got cut were Dr. Mario, Mewtwo, Pichu, Roy, and Young Link. The added characters include Pokemon Trainer (with Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard), Diddy Kong, Ike, King Dedede, Lucario, Meta Knight, Olimar, Pit, R.O.B, Snake, Sonic, Toon Link, Wario, and Zero Suit Samus (like Sheik to Zelda, its a transforming character with Samus).

The Classic Mode and All-Star Mode are the same as before, but the Adventure mode was changed to the Subspace Emissary. This new mode has the chance of unlocking every character during one play through. It is a more expansive adventure mode with bosses every so often and the player goes through playing all of the characters. There are a lot more different stages in this game, some can be seen in the Subspace Emissary. These stages are more expansive and some can be systematically destroyed when playing them. The other mode in this game is the online play where the player can play against any other player online at the time through a WiFi connection, which is the first game of the series to be able to do so.

A new concept added in this game was called the 'Final Smash'. It is an item that can unlock a secret move that can instantly defeat an enemy. Each of these move are unique to each character with a few exceptions, like Link and Toon Link. This is one of the cooler features of the game that adds a whole new aspect to the fighting.

Super Smash Bros Wii U and 3DS

These upcoming titles are the games that are expected to bring Nintendo out of it's slump and perhaps save it from having another bad fiscal year. The game for each system is supposed to be exactly the same when it comes to players, but I believe that for online play, 3DS players can only play against other 3DS players and so on. The 3DS version of the game is also expected to be released much earlier than the WiiU version, with the 3DS version out by 10/3/2014 while the Wii U date is during the holidays of 2014.

There are also some exclusive stages for each system with only 3 stages that are found in both consoles. Each of the exclusive stages are mainly made after games found on those systems, such as for the 3DS, Arena Ferox found in Fire Emblem: Awakening and for the Wii U, Skyloft from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. The main reason for the different stages for each system is due to the graphics of the consoles, with the Wii U being more advanced in the graphics department.

So far, the only confirmed returning characters are Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Yoshi, Link, Zelda, Sheik (confirmed being a separate character in this game), Toon Link, Samus, Zero Suit Samus (also confirmed separate), Kirby, King Dedede, Fox, Pikachu, Charizard (confirmed not a part of Pokemon trainer, as he wasn't confirmed), Lucario, Marth, Ike, Pit, Olimar, and Sonic. For newcomers, the following have been confirmed officially from the official site; Rosalina, Greninja, Palutena, Little Mac, Villager, Wii Fit Trainer, Megaman, you Mii, and Pac-Man.

From the looks of it, the game play on the 3DS does look like it will be a little bit harder, but overall these two games look like they will be the games to get this holiday season. From polygon features in the first game to 3D characters in the last, this game has certainly gone a long way. We can only hope that the financial issues with Nintendo don't hurt the company too much so we can continue to get this series in the future.