Battle Royale: The Last Generation Of An SNES-CD Saga

[CaseMonster]

If we do see Castlevania mixed in with a Ubisoft property, might I suggest crossing it over with Zombi, and calling it Castlevania: Attack of the Zombis?

I’m in favor of a game where all the enemies are Rabbids dressed as Castlevania monsters personally.

 

[RySenkari]

"It might be a few years removed from the peak of the roller derby craze, but Psyonix's new Rocket Derby combines the excitement of roller derby with the fun and brutality of car combat games like Twisted Metal. It's the successor to their previous car combat title, Battle-Cars, and it plays much like roller derby, with simplified rules. There are four players to a side, who cruise around a circular track, with one player on each team designated as the jammer. The jammer scores points by passing cars from the other team, while the blockers attempt to stop them... and here's where things get really chaotic, as cars can ram into one another and shoot missiles in an attempt to stop the opposing team's jammer! Games take place in tightly confined arenas, and usually degenerate into melees of exploding cars and flying missiles. It's quite easy to learn and play, but getting good takes lots of experience, and with games lasting only a few minutes, it's easy to jump in and start playing. Rocket Derby is already rising in the digital download ranks since its release in January, and at only $9.99 to download and play, it's quite cheap to get in on the action. It's becoming one of the most popular competitive online games on both console and PC, and with decals and custom designs available for players to purchase and win, the game has the potential to become quite addictive as well, as players compete to own the best skins for their cars. It might still be a ways away from becoming the next big e-sport, but it's definitely one of 2016's most popular new games, and its popularity is rising with every passing day.

Joining Rocket Derby as a potential future e-sport to look out for is Ant Agonizers, a brand new PC game in which two teams of five battle it out in various arenas, riding giant ants and using them to attack their opponents. The game has a deceptively cutesy aesthetic, with the characters themselves being childlike in appearance, riding ants that look somewhat cartoonish, though things can often get brutal, when riders get knocked off and the giant ants begin chewing on them as the rider flails around on the ground. The carnage is bloodless, and played up for laughs, adding to the game's absurdity. There are also special items based on various ant and anti puns, such as Ant Acid, which can be shot at ants or their riders to damage them. Arenas are based on common roaming grounds for ants, such as kitchen tables or picnic areas, and each arena has its own distinct quirks and attributes, making for a unique match every single time. Ant Agonizers isn't gaining in popularity as quickly as Rocket Derby, but it's been getting plenty of headlines since January, and the first major Ant Agonizers tournaments are set to begin in June."
-from an article in the April 2016 issue of GameInformer magazine

Reality, Nexus, Virtua Boast Nearly Identical Online Player Numbers

For the first time ever, all three major consoles posted almost identical online user figures last month, as the Apple Virtua used its holiday sales push to even things up with the Reality and the Nexus, putting the three consoles within 50,000 users of one another (in terms of the number of users playing competitively online). The Reality is currently the top online console, with the Nexus just 15,000 users behind, and the Virtua about 28,000 users behind the Nexus, but gaining quickly (to the point where it could overtake the other two by next month). Nintendo's online has long lagged behind its competition, with the Wave lagging behind the Microsoft Xbox, and the Sapphire posting inferior user numbers to both the Xbox 2 and the iTwin (at least until the Xbox 2's user base began to collapse in 2010). However, the Reality was actually the top online console for much of 2015, owing to its rapidly expanding user base and the launch of hit online titles such as Elemancers and Super Smash Bros. Reality. The Google Nexus, with its family-friendly online community and slew of online games (many of them being free to play), as well as its larger install base through much of 2014, led until the beginning of 2015, when it was overtaken by the Reality. Apple, on the other hand, has heavily focused much of its strategy on online play, with the SegaNet service (currently in its 5.0 iteration) still setting the gold standard for online play on consoles. However, thanks to the Virtua's initial slow sales and the Nexus' surge, the Virtua had the smallest online community throughout its entire lifespan, and is still in third, though as mentioned before, that gap has rapidly narrowed. All three consoles have their pros and cons when it comes to online play (we broke these down in our Online Gaming User Guide last November), but have all cultivated their own distinct base of loyal users, with Nintendo's Reality focused more on the hardcore gamer market, the Apple Virtua focused on longtime users and a different kind of hardcore gamer, while the Nexus focused on casual players, mobile users, and families. Each console has an outstanding lineup of online games for hardcore gamers and casual players alike, and each console has largely succeeded in pushing its online service with promotions and exclusives, which has led to this... the closest online userbase battle in history.

And 2016 could prove to be a huge year for the consoles and their online landscapes. Nintendo is launching its battle royale title, Rare's Battle Buddies, in May. A year after the launch of Elemancers, the game looks to cater to a more hardcore audience, but could have extremely wide appeal thanks to its colorful characters and easy to learn gameplay. Apple is launching Strikeback on the Virtua. Less of a battle royale game, and more of a massive "army battle" simulator (compare to a sci-fi Battlefield type game), Strikeback is definitely aimed toward more hardcore players, with Apple's John Carmack personally consulting on the game design. Then, there's the two huge shooter games coming to the Nexus this year: Nephilim and The Covenant Zero. Nephilim could be the year's biggest FPS title and in addition to its campaign, it's leaning heavily on its online multiplayer element to create a true old school style sci-fi FPS in the vein of Quake or Unreal Tournament. The Covenant has always been one of the biggest online multiplayer franchises, and The Covenant Zero looks like one of the slickest third person shooters ever made, continuing the series' reputation for deathmatch fun. Players hoping for some competitive online action this year will be satisfied no matter what console they own, and each console's online numbers should see their biggest jumps ever, though only time will tell who wins this latest round of the console wars.

-from a March 12, 2016 article on Gamespot.com

-

Cyberwar 4 remains the most popular competitive first person shooter on the market, even in front of the slightly more popular Call Of Duty games (it does help that the competitive Call Of Duty landscape changes from year to year with the release of each new game, whereas Cyberwar 4 was released in 2012 and has been played heavily since). The game's larger variety of combat modes, its use of drone warfare to mix up the traditional FPS combat, and its different types of unique weaponry have attracted a larger and more diverse player base, helping it to become not just the most popular competitive FPS, but the most popular competitive online console game overall. Amongst fighting games, Super Smash Bros. Clash has been king for some time, though Unleashed has also been extremely popular. Super Smash Bros. Reality is gaining rapidly on both, with a userbase expanding much faster than that of Unleashed, thanks to the greater character selection and what most longtime players consider improved combat mechanics compared to its predecessors. It can also be patched much more quickly for balance, aiding diversity in the metagame (though there are still fairly clearly defined character tiers). Super Smash Bros. and its ilk haven't quite been able to top the great FPS titles for overall online popularity, but as a mainstream e-sport, the Smash Bros. games have proven significantly more popular. The community weathered a sex scandal in 2012 involving numerous top tier players, but has been able to recover fairly quickly, and now sees more support than ever thanks to increased oversight and prize support from a new Nintendo and Sony supported Professional Smash Bros. League, which has established strict rules for player conduct at the highest levels of play. The first PSBL Super Smash Bros. Reality tournaments were held in January, and numerous major events are expected to take place this year, with greater prize support than the top Cyberwar 4 and Call Of Duty tournaments. On PC, however, the e-sports scene has been even bigger: games such as Leveler, in which teams of four attempt to complete a dungeon on the same map, leveling up and collecting treasures before battling one another on an open battlefield, have proven intensely popular. Leveler was released in 2013 to little acclaim, but has rapidly blown up in 2014 and 2015 thanks to numerous content and battle patches that have turned it into one of the most fun multiplayer titles on the market, and it continues to grow its userbase to this day, with highly lucrative tournaments and professional Leveler teams competing in front of thousands of people. Google has done some incredible things with the Android platform in recent years, and their Wakfu battle game has been one of them. Teams of four battle each other in various environments with powerful special techniques, all done with a simplified mobile interface that's easy to learn but very hard to master. Online card games such as Hearthstone and Apple's Shining Force Warpath have generated billions in revenue for their parent companies, and both are now staples of the e-sports circuit, with the latter surpassing the popularity of any of the original tactical RPGs that preceded it. E-sports have blown up enormously in the last few years, and Nintendo, Apple, and Google have all produced hits. As the viewership and prize pools of e-sports grow, it might be only a matter of time before one of these games challenges the big four sporting leagues for profitability.

-from an article on Zzzando!, posted on February 29, 2016

 

[StomperYoshi]

Is the Strong Museum's World Video Game Hall of Fame any different ITTL?

 

[TheFaultsofAlts]

Is there any differences between the PSBL and how Nintendo treats professional gaming IOTL? For example, are there some legitimate prizes from winning in a league match?

 

[RySenkari]

At the start of the decade, the WWE was going through a time of transition: though the company had bounced back somewhat from the tragic deaths of Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, and Kurt Angle, there were still some doubts that the company was doing enough to take care of its wrestlers' well-being, and in Mark Cuban's TAW, the company was facing its biggest competition since the WCW days, with numerous veteran wrestlers as well as some intriguing new wrestlers joining the upstart company. Despite the troubles, WWE remained the biggest company in the business, and headed into the decade on a fairly positive note. Over the next couple of years, the company would see the debut of some very popular new wrestlers, while also dealing with the retirements of Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and The Undertaker. Michaels would be retired in 2011, after an epic pair of matches with The Undertaker at Wrestlemania, in which Michaels would eventually pit his career against the Undertaker's legendary streak. 2011's Wrestlemania match between the two men would be one of the biggest the company had ever seen, as it would be not only Shawn Michaels' final match, but also the retirement match for the Undertaker, who had decided not to renew his contract after that year's event. After the death of Kurt Angle, Undertaker had realized that he'd been using a lot of painkillers as well, and retired to avoid suffering Kurt Angle's fate, leading to Michaels and Undertaker walking down the ramp arm in arm, walking off into the sunset together. As for Stone Cold Steve Austin, a career of injuries and brutal matches had taken its toll, and though he didn't want to call it quits, he ultimately decided to do so following that year's Summerslam. He would wrestle his final match against Robert Roode, a No Holds Barred Title vs. Career match that would turn into a ferocious 40-minute brawl that would see both men bloodied and broken by the end of the match. The match had been preceded by almost a year long feud in which Roode, playing an arrogant, rich heel character, had delivered insult after insult against Austin, while costing him numerous title shots and interfering in his matches. Austin would get his revenge numerous times, but Roode gave as much as he'd gotten, leading up to a non-title match at Wrestlemania that saw Austin defeat Roode, only for Roode to continue his vendetta against Austin, winning the title at Judgment Day, while Austin would eventually win a title shot with the condition that he'd have to risk his career. In the end, Roode defeated Austin cleanly, and despite his heel character, the two showed respect to each other at the end, shaking hands, hugging, and even drinking beers together, only for Austin to get the last laugh by giving Roode the Stunner and a pair of middle fingers, ending his career in the only way the Rattlesnake knew how, and leaving the arena having not won the title but getting a massive ovation from fans.

Fortunately, the WWE would get plenty of new talent over the next few years to replace the talent that was retiring. Windham Rotunda would enter the federation as Husky Harris, a bar brawling redneck character meant to be "sort of" a replacement for Austin, though with a bit more silliness to him... though when that gimmick failed, he reinvented himself as the creepy cult leader Bray Wyatt, and would become a top heel in the company for years to come. Kenny Omega would enter the WWE in 2011 with a somewhat silly gimmick: a professional gamer, making the jump to wrestling but still using gaming lingo and being obsessed with video games, playing them backstage between matches. Surprisingly, this gimmick actually made him somewhat popular as a face, and he got a major push in 2012, winning the Intercontinental Title twice and the tag team titles once, but after the gimmick got stale, he was rebranded as a heel, and his popularity resurged, especially after feuding with John Cena throughout 2014. Perhaps one of the biggest stars to come to WWE during this time would be Seth Rollins, who started off as an arrogant heel managed by Paul Heyman, though he quickly took over and spoke for himself, and also let his wrestling do the talking, carving a path through a number of popular face wrestlers of the time and even becoming world champion in 2013. He would turn face in 2014, briefly feuding with the likes of Bray Wyatt and Kenny Omega, though he would also feud with long time heel wrestlers Muhammad Hassan and Samoa Joe. Seth Rollins brought attitude and charisma that helped fill the hole left by the retirements of Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold Steve Austin, and he would establish himself as one of the top draws of the decade. Of course, there were plenty of outstanding veterans remaining on the roster. Triple H continued to wrestle as a heel well into the decade, though after 2015 he would begin to fulfill more of a backstage role. John Cena was one of the strongest faces in the company, though he never quite achieved the same level of popularity he did IOTL. And Brock Lesnar, who'd left to play football and try out MMA, was ready to return to the WWE, and his return in 2014 coincided perfectly with Seth Rollins' face turn, allowing the two to feud for a brief time, though Lesnar got the better of Rollins and would begin feuding with John Cena soon afterward. By the end of 2015, Lesnar was world champion and a dominant force in the company, having beaten Owen Hart at Wrestlemania in 2015 to retire him, but new challengers were slowly being built up to take him on.

Meanwhile, TAW, which enjoyed a two hour show every Friday on Fox Family, as well as a monthly pay-per-view, was thriving, even in WWE's shadow. Owner Mark Cuban did a good job of bringing in talent, both veteran talent and new talent, while also appearing occasionally as an on screen authority figure. Unlike Vince McMahon, who usually played a bombastic heel and involved himself physically with the wrestlers, Cuban always appeared as a face, and only appeared rarely, and never wrestled any matches. Though criticized for being somewhat of a "deus ex machina" when he did show up, Cuban was mostly praised for his on-screen role, as he was entertaining enough to make crowds cheer for him but wasn't so arrogant that he had to be involved in everything. TAW's biggest stars of this half of the decade were Bryan Danielson, CM Punk, and Angelico. Angelico was a high flying face character in the vein of a Rey Mysterio, CM Punk excelled in his role as an excellent heel, and Bryan Danielson went back and forth as a tweener, feuding with both Punk and Angelico, and even ending up in an epic feud with Hulk Hogan in 2012. TAW also enjoyed a thriving women's division. There were no "Divas" or T+A here, TAW featured excellent matches between highly talented women, and also featured smart storylines for them, eventually inspiring WWE to do the same. Trish Stratus even jumped to TAW at one point to wrestle for a couple of years, and Asuka got her start here as well, wrestling an epic 28-minute match with Stratus in 2013 that Dave Meltzer awarded five stars to. TAW was solidly TV-PG, but still featured great storylines, intense matches, and well booked feuds, with announcers Joey Styles and Tazz calling the action. Sheamus and Dean Ambrose would also wrestle on TAW, with Sheamus being a major heel throughout the first half of the decade, and Dean Ambrose mostly wrestling as a face and providing an intense brawling style that complimented his fellow wrestlers well (he'd have some memorable matches with Danielson, for example). There were some dud gimmicks here and there, including Cody Runnels being forced into a gimmick that saw him wrestling as the Archie Comics inspired character Arnold, a somewhat dorky wrestler with a 1950s "aw shucks!" gimmick that made him come off as a lamer version of Kerwin White, if that's even possible. He was even accompanied by two female managers who feuded over him, Betty and Veronica style, and he drew X-Pac Heat even when he was heavily pushed by the company (even winning TAW's equivalent of the Intercontinental Title). He spent 18 months as the character before the gimmick was mercifully shelved. Still, TAW proved incredibly popular, with ratings eclipsing anything TNA produced IOTL, and even at its peak coming within striking distance of WWE. As of the end of 2015, TAW was starting to decline in popularity a bit, but was still quite financially successful.

 

[eldandythedoubter]

Cody Runnels being forced into a gimmick that saw him wrestling as the Archie Comics inspired character Arnold, a somewhat dorky wrestler with a 1950s "aw shucks!" gimmick that made him come off as a lamer version of Kerwin White, if that's even possible. He was even accompanied by two female managers who feuded over him, Betty and Veronica style, and he drew X-Pac Heat even when he was heavily pushed by the company (even winning TAW's equivalent of the Intercontinental Title).

Okay, this gimmick needs more detail just for the failure of it all. Who's playing the B and V with this gimmick and is there a wrestler playing a jughead character?

 

[rick007]

I don't remember if Gina Carano was mentioned at all, but how is she doing ITTL?

 

[Neoteros]

Okay, this gimmick needs more detail just for the failure of it all. Who's playing the B and V with this gimmick and is there a wrestler playing a jughead character?

Still better than Beaver Cleavage.

 

[TheFaultsofAlts]

There were some dud gimmicks here and there, including Cody Runnels being forced into a gimmick that saw him wrestling as the Archie Comics inspired character Arnold, a somewhat dorky wrestler with a 1950s "aw shucks!" gimmick that made him come off as a lamer version of Kerwin White, if that's even possible. He was even accompanied by two female managers who feuded over him, Betty and Veronica style, and he drew X-Pac Heat even when he was heavily pushed by the company (even winning TAW's equivalent of the Intercontinental Title). He spent 18 months as the character before the gimmick was mercifully shelved.

Let me just say that if it wasn't for Welcome to Riverdale being such a hit ITTL, I think that it would have lasted even less then 18 months. Nevertheless, I'm surprised that it lasted that long with a gimmick like that.

 

[rick007]

​

The Amazing Race: Season 28: Going online.

This season was interesting. CBS wanted to try an experiment and, according to Bertram van Munster, it was suggested to bring in younger viewers who may not have been born when the show first went on the air. I can see that. Anyways, this led to the use of internet celebrities to make up at least one person on each team. This was in an effort to generate interest in the show and possibly in earlier seasons. Whether this worked or not I don't know. Anyways, this season was filmed from mid November to early December.

The Cast

Doug and Rob: Brothers. The Nostalgia Critic and his brother provide some good commentary on the proceedings.

Scott and Blair: Father and Daughter. She does makeup tutorials on YouTube. I find her whining annoying.

Brodie and Kurt: Friends. They play pro Frisbee, but they are good competitors.

Tyler and Korey: Friends. I haven't seen their YouTube shows so I don't know what they do exactly but they are fun to an extent.

Zach and Rachel: Married. He performs "Digital Magic Tricks" online. I find them cute and entertaining.

Jessica and Brittany: Friends. They are both Instagram models. They seem ok.

Marty and Hagan: Mother and daughter. Marty was in this viral video of her doing an entertaining passengers on a flight she was an attendant on.

Cole and Sheri: Mother and Son. Cole is a YouTube star and both are incredibly entertaining.

Erin and Joslyn: Friends. They are gamers with their own YouTube channel.

Dana and Matt: Engaged. They are dance instructors and fun.

Cameron and Darius: Brothers. They mostly do stunts and post them online.

(OOC: Doug and Rob replace Burnie Burns and Ashley Jenkins. Too be fair, I wrote this before what happened with Channel Awesome came out.)

The Race

Leg #1: "This is Boy Scout stuff."

Original Air Date: February 12, 2016.

Starting at the racers own houses, (great start there guys), teams are told to fly to Mexico City, Mexico and find the Monumento a la Revolución. Here they pick up $230 and the Detour: Mariachi Madness or Great Bulls of Fire. In Mariachi Madness, teams go to Garibaldi Square and search through 350 Mariachi performers for one that is faking playing and take them to a judge. In Great Bulls of Fire, teams make a paper mâche bull called a torito as part of a fireworks display and light it when they get it right.

Teams then go to Cuevas de Parque Temático Tialocan where they spend the night. The next morning teams are given the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to go into the nearby caves and look for 13 pieces of a Teotihuacano mask. However, not all the pieces are for the same mask. Teams then go to the Pit Stop: Museo Soumaya.

1. Tyler and Korey 2:10 P.M. Won $2,000 each.

2. Dana and Matt 2:13 P.M.

3. Doug and Rob 2:43 P.M.

4. Zach and Rachel 2:50 P.M.

5. Darius and Cameron 3:01 P.M.

6. Brodie and Kurt 3:15 P.M.

7. Jessica and Brittany 3:51 P.M.

8. Sheri and Cole 4:09 P.M.

9. Marty and Hagan 4:10 P.M.

10. Scott and Blair 5:00 P.M.

11. Erin and Joslyn 5:02 P.M. NOT ELIMINATED/SPEEDBUMPED.

Leg #2: "It's the Gollum thing to do!"

Original Air Date: February 19, 2016.

Getting $30, teams fly to Cartagena, Columbia. On arrival, teams have to go to El Totumo. Here teams hit the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to go into a mud bath at the top of El Totumo, submerge, grab a satchel that contains an emerald and then wash it off. When they hand it in they have to swim for the next clue. Teams then go to Terraza Melló Farándula Jugos Naturales at Manzanillo del Mar.

Teams then go to Playa del Mar where Erin and Joslyn get their Speedbump. In this Speedbump, Erin and Joslyn help local fishermen haul in a dragnet then take out all the fish. They can then join the other teams at the Detour: Pop-up or Parrilla. In Pop-up, teams have to properly build a shelter with provided wood and tarp. Once that's done, teams then have to park a car under it. In Parrilla, teams have to properly cook three fish dishes on a Parrilla grill. Teams then go to the Pit Stop: Plaza Bolivar.

1. Brodie and Kurt 10:10 A.M. A trip for two to Saint Thomas

2. Doug and Rob 10:19 A.M.

3. Tyler and Korey 10:59 A.M.

4. Scott and Blair 11:17 A.M.

5. Zach and Rachel 11:34 A.M.

6. Sheri and Cole 12:03 P.M.

7. Erin and Joslyn 12:35 P.M.

8. Dana and Matt 1:20 P.M.

9. Jessica and Brittany 1:59 P.M.

10. Marty and Hagan 2:10 P.M.

11. Darius and Cameron 2:31 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #3: "Bros become jocks."

Original Air Date: February 26, 2016.

Getting $252, teams stay in Cartagena and go to the Plaza de San Diego where they will look for a group of pollera dancers for the next clue. Teams then head to Castillo San Felipe de Barajas and search the catacombs for the Detour: Tickets or Tejo. In Tickets, teams act as bus conductors and collect at least 20,000 Colombian Pesos (about $5.98US at the time) to get the next clue. In Tejo, teams played Tejo a traditional Colombian game involving hitting targets filled with gunpowder with stone disks, with teams hitting three to go on.

Somewhere around here there is a U-Turn but it goes unmentioned and unused. Teams then go to Calle San Juan de Dios, in front of Museo Naval do Caribe and find a vendor for the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to take a traditional Colombian knapsack called a mochila that has a design on it and find two exact matches among the nearby merchants. Teams then go to the Pit Stop: Baluarte de Santiago.

1. Tyler and Korey 11:00 A.M. Won a trip for two to Mykonos, Greece.

2. Brodie and Kurt 11:04 A.M.

3. Doug and Rob 11:31 A.M.

4. Sheri and Cole 11:45 A.M.

5. Zach and Rachel 12:13 P.M.

6. Erin and Joslyn 12:34 P.M.

7. Jessica and Brittany 1:12 P.M.

8. Scott and Blair 1:33 P.M.

9. Dana and Matt 2:10 P.M.

10. Marty and Hagan 3:00 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #4: "Trending my ass!"

Original Air Date: March 4, 2016.

Receiving $150, teams fly to Geneva, Switzerland. Once there, teams get to the Jet d'Eau then going to Chocolats Rohr where they spend the night. The next morning, teams get the Detour: Work Bench or Bench Work. In Work Bench, teams correctly make a Swiss Army Knife from premade parts. In Bench Work, teams go to the Promenade de la Treille and determine how many people can sit on the longest bench in the world, measuring by alternating sitting and a newspaper. If they are between 190-197, they get the clue.

Teams then head to the Broken Chair, after which they go to the Palace of Nations, where the Roadblock is. In this Roadblock, one team member has to identify the flags of 10 of the founding nations of the United Nations: Belarus, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, India, Liberia, The Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Turkey and Uruguay, in the correct order. Teams then take a train to Chamonix, France. Here they go to the Place du Triangle de l'Amitié where they search the grounds for the Pit Stop.

1. Brodie and Kurt 3:14 P.M. Won $3,000 each.

2. Doug and Rob 3:47 P.M.

3. Tyler and Korey 4:10 P.M.

4. Brittany and Jessica 4:11 P.M.

5. Erin and Joslyn 4:12 P.M.

6. Dana and Matt 4:13 P.M.

7. Zach and Rachel 4:14 P.M.

8. Sheri and Cole 4:15 P.M.

9. Scott and Blair 4:16 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #5: "This is some really weird stuff."

Original Air Date: March 11, 2016.

Getting $201, teams have to search nearby for an SUV with a specific French license plate number. Then they tell their driver to get to Les Grands Montets. Teams then go to the top of a gorge to get the Detour: Dynamite or Campsite. In Dynamite, teams have to take a bag, with some dynamite and some baguettes in it, down a via ferrata to a mountaineer. In Campsite, teams have to pitch a tent and then put a wall of snow around it.

Teams then go to the Planpraz gondola station, where they have to do the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to ride the gondola to the top then, one team at a time, get a running start on paragliding with an instructor, getting to the back of the line if they fail. Once in the air they have to spot a yeti waving a French flag. On the ground, they have to answer France to the question: "Who's flag did you see?" Teams then go to the Pit Stop: The Dr. Paccard Statue in Place Balmat.

1. Doug and Rob 12:22 P.M. Won a trip for two to Boracay, The Philippines

2. Tyler and Korey 12:23 P.M.

3. Brodie and Kurt 12:54 P.M.

4. Sheri and Cole 1:12 P.M.

5. Brittany and Jessica 1:34 P.M.

6. Erin and Joslyn 1:59 P.M.

7. Zach and Rachel 2:11 P.M.

8. Dana and Matt 2:56 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #6: "Let's get this show on the road!"

Original Air Date: April 1, 2016.

Receiving $230, teams fly to Yerevan, Armenia. On arrival, teams go to the Yerevan Opera House where they are treated to a saber dance while they search for the clue (all they have to do is ask the janitor and he'll give it to them). Teams then have to climb all 500 steps of the Yerevan Cascade for the Detour: Bread or Thread. In Bread, teams have to go to a local bakery and make and bake 15 loaves of a traditional Armenian bread called lavash in an underground oven. In Thread, teams have to go to a carpet factory and make a row of 200 stitches on a carpet following a pattern.

Teams then go to Republic Square and catch a bus to Hatsavan where, on the roadside, they find the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to choose a taxi, get it on a ramp and then change the oil. Teams then use the taxi to go to the Pit Stop: The Temple of Garni where they are told to keep going.

1. Brodie and Kurt 1:12 P.M. Won the Express Pass.

2. Zach and Rachel 1:56 P.M.

3. Doug and Rob 2:10 P.M.

4. Sheri and Cole 3:05 P.M.

5. Tyler and Korey 3:45 P.M.

6. Brittany and Jessica 4:32 P.M.

7. Erin and Joslyn 5:00 P.M.

Leg #7: "Not slow enough!"

Original Air Date: April 8, 2016.

Getting $300 at the end of the last leg, teams travel by train to Tbilisi, Georgia. Once there, teams go to Freedom Square and look for the St. George Statue. Teams then go to Narakala Fortress and take a gondola down to Jvari Monastery. Here teams find the Detour: Clean or String. In Clean, teams head to Iago's Winery and wash out an enormous clay pot buried in the ground. In String, teams go to Arsekidzis 15 and thread five strings of 20 hazelnuts, then dip them in pots and hang them to dry.

Teams then go to Rustaveli Theatre for the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to learn and perform a very fast dance with members of the Georgian National Ballet. Teams then head to the Pit Stop: Rike Park.

1. Zach and Rachel 10:10 A.M. Won a trip for two to Turks and Caicos.

2. Doug and Rob 10:34 A.M.

3. Tyler and Korey 10:37 A.M.

4. Brodie and Kurt 11:04 A.M.

5. Brittany and Jessica 12:07 P.M.

6. Sheri and Cole 12:15 P.M.

7. Erin and Joslyn 1:00 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #8: "This is not what I had in mind."

Original Air Date: April 15, 2016.

Receiving $200, teams fly to Dubai, UAE. Once there, teams drive themselves to a Bedouin camp, with the men greeted nose to nose as per tradition. There they get the Detour: Races or Oasis. In Races, teams go to a racetrack and race against a camel on a bike for 1.2 mi. (2km). If they finish ahead of the camel, they get the clue, if not they get an advantage on their next attempt. In Oasis, lead four camels across the desert of another camp, where they pick up some bread and camel milk.

Teams then go to Atlantis, The Palm Aquaventure, where they get the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to put on a wetsuit, go into an aquarium, and get a canister containing a puzzle. Once out, they solve the puzzle, which includes floating letters that spells out RACE. Teams then, in a shout out to season 15, go down the Poseidon's Revenge waterslide. Then they go to the Pit Stop: Deira Old Souq Station.

1. Brodie and Kurt 12:01 P.M. Won a trip for two to Helsinki, Finland.

2. Doug and Rob 12:17 P.M.

3. Zach and Rachel 1:10 P.M.

4. Tyler and Korey 1:43 P.M.

5. Brittany and Jessica 2:14 P.M.

6. Sheri and Cole 3:46 P.M. NOT ELIMINATED/SPEEDBUMPED.

Leg #9: "Let's go fly a kite."

Original Air Date: April 22, 2016.

Getting $235, teams fly to Denpasar, Indonesia. Once there, teams go to Tanah Lot, where they spend the night. The next morning, teams deliver a gebogan to one nearby temple, then deliver a live python each around their necks to another nearby temple. Teams then head to Banjar Belatung Kusama Beach where Sheri and Cole find their Speedbump. In this Speedbump, Sheri and Cole go to Goa Lawah Temple, find a marked food vendor, and sell 10 bowls of a traditional Indonesian meatball dish called bakso. Once that's done, they can rejoin the other teams at the beach for the Roadblock.

In this Roadblock, one team member has to collect seawater in two baskets, shake out the water onto a bed of volcanic sand, go to a work station and scrape enough salt out to fill four plastic bags. Teams then head to Mertasari Beach, where they run into another Roadblock. In this Roadblock, the team member who didn't do the first Roadblock, has to assemble a traditional 30ft kite and then fly it along the beach with a team of kite enthusiasts. Teams then go to Semawang Beach and paddle an outrigger canoe to the Pit Stop: A Pinisi sailing ship.

1. Zach and Rachel 1:12 P.M. Won $5,000 each.

2. Tyler and Korey 1:15 P.M.

3. Doug and Rob 2:10 P.M.

4. Sheri and Cole 2:59 P.M.

5. Brittany and Jessica 3:21 P.M.

6. Brodie and Kurt 4:44 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #10: "Monkey Dance!"

Original Air Date: April 29, 2016.

Receiving $290, teams go by boat to Mushroom Beach. Here, they dive for their next clue in one of three boxes. Teams then go to Pura Puseh where they put on sarongs and follow a man in a monkey costume to their next clue. It's then Detour: Haul or Harvest. In Haul, teams carry 50 coconuts and four chickens across a congested bridge and load them onto a truck. In Harvest, teams propel a canoe through a marked course, picking up enough seaweed to cover a tarp along the way.

Teams then go to Warung Sunrise where they find the U-Turn, which no one uses. Teams then go to Pande Curly Paddle Shop where they find the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to ride a jet ski to Blue Lagoon where they climb a four story high cliff. Then, after loosen up with yoga, then jump off from a height of 40ft. Teams then take a boat back to shore and head to the Pit Stop: Bajra Sandhi Monument.

1. Zach and Rachel 2:59 P.M. Won an Alaskan Cruise for two.

2. Doug and Rob 3:12 P.M.

3. Sheri and Cole 3:33 P.M.

4. Brittany and Jessica 4:10 P.M.

5. Tyler and Korey 5:00 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #11: "It's nothing."

Original Air Date: May 6, 2016.

Getting $400, teams fly to Shenzhen, China. On arrival, teams have to search the upper floor of the departure hall for the next clue. Teams then head to the Window of the World station by bus and train and look for the scaled down version of the Eiffel Tower for the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to search the grounds of the park, which contains 130 scaled down miniatures of real landmarks for: The Pyramids of Egypt; The Coliseum; The Taj Mahal; Notre Dame Cathedral; The Merlions of Singapore and St. Peter's Square.

Teams then head to the Moon Bridge in Lychee Park where the find the Detour: Commuter Cycle or Master of Arts. In Commuter Cycle, teams dress in business attire and learn how to ride a self-balancing unicycle. Once they are comfortable, they have to do a marked course down a busy street, while holding a coffee cup and a locked briefcase, the combination of which they'll get at the end of the course. In Master of Arts, teams had to search for a plaza filled with painters at the Dafen Oil Painting Village for one who held a marked paintbrush. The painter would lead them to a shop where they found disassembled pieces of art. After bringing the pieces of art to another shop, they then had to properly install the artwork using hammer and nails to hang it on a wall. Once the art was properly assembled to the satisfaction of the judge, they received their next clue. They are then given a photo of the next Pit Stop: Shenzhen Civic Centre.

1. Sheri and Cole 3:12 P.M. No prize given.

2. Doug and Rob 3:13 P.M.

3. Brittany and Jessica 4:00 P.M.

4. Zach and Rachel 4:44 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #12: "The only first that matters."

Original Air Date: May 13, 2016.

Receiving $200, teams fly to the final destination city: Los Angeles, California. On arrival, they go to Angelus Plaza. Here they find the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to choose a safety person, go to the Penthouse Suite, get tethered to a rappel line, and jump to their clue which is hanging in midair. If they miss they have to rappel to the bottom, come back up and try again, with each failed attempt bringing the clue closer. Teams then take a helicopter to Santa Barbara.

Once there, they make their way to the Santa Barbara Marina where the Theresa Ann is. Then they go to Gibraltar Rock in Rattlesnake Canyon. At Gibraltar Rock, teams had to take part in synchronized mountaineering. While one team member traversed horizontally across a suspended line to grab one half of the clue, this would cause their partner to descend down the face of the cliff to pick up the other half. Once returned to safety, teams had to join the two halves to read their next clue. Then teams go to Grassini Family Vineyards for the final Roadblock. In this Roadblock, the team member who didn't do the first Roadblock has to arrange wine barrel lids with letters and hashtags on them to spell out the names of the cities they visited in order. Then they search the grounds for the finish line.

1. Doug and Rob WIN

2. Brittany and Jessica PLACE

3. Sheri and Cole SHOW.

The Review

This season was seen by many as a ratings grab by many, myself included. However, the personalities involved, along with the locations and the tasks, made it slightly more bearable to watch. It's my number 18 season. Up next more from the Great White North.

-Globetrotting: An Amazing Race Blog by R.C. Anderson for the website Reality Rewind, April 3, 2017.

​

 

[RySenkari]

Dragonslayer

Dragonslayer is an open world RPG developed and published by Squaresoft. It's the company's first true open world RPG (other RPGs by Square have had open worlds, but this game plays very much like a WRPG, an Elder Scrolls or Witcher III type game), though it features plenty of classic Final Fantasy-style quirks and twists, a hybrid of the Japanese and Western RPG styles. It takes place in the world of Rindonia, a heavily stratified medieval-type world in which most people are peasants or tradesmen scraping out a meager living, and the true money and glory is in the slaughter of beasts, particularly the dragons that terrorize towns. Slaughtering dragons can bring in huge bounties that allow even the lowliest of peasants to rise to the noble ranks, and the game's protagonist Rath, who witnessed his family die of starvation as a youth, now seeks to become a dragonslayer himself in order to become a wealthy noble and perhaps claim a measure of revenge over the people who looked down upon him and his family. Dragonslayer's basic gameplay is a sort of hybrid of Monster Hunter and Nier: Automata (the combat system draws very heavily from the latter, and many people who worked on the OTL Nier series are part of the Dragonslayer staff, including Yoko Taro. Rath can wield a variety of weapons in combat, and though he starts with a sword and shield, later on he's able to dual wield weaponry. Dragonslayer is heavily loot-based, with a wide variety of loot able to be purchased from shops, found in the world, or dropped from enemies, and the Weapon Stories system from OTL's Drakengard and Nier also shows up in Dragonslayer, with unique, powerful equipment having a unique story attached to it. Rath can also use a variety of magical attacks, and these attacks follow the Fire/Fira/Firaga system of naming seen in the Final Fantasy series, one bit of lore the game shares with that title. The game has a wide variety of enemies, both human and beast, with an enormous variety of beasts able to be encountered and slaughtered in the world. There are bounties galore, with many of the game's side missions and even plenty of main missions revolving around the hunting and killing of beasts. Dragons also take many forms, ranging from small baby dragons to enormous dragons that are many times larger than Rath and must be killed in segments or killed with the aid of an NPC party. Dragonslayer doesn't actually allow the player to party up with other players online, but there are online features where players can leave signs or even certain loot items in other player's games for them to find, and also a combat arena where players can battle it out with one another for prizes and glory. Rath is able to move around quite fluidly, jumping and climbing on ledges, running and crawling and even riding on mounts that include horses or some other creatures, including a flying dragon and a chocobo (another allusion to the Final Fantasy series found in the game). Combat itself is fairly fast-paced (unlike the Monster Hunter series, most battles are over fairly quickly, even bosses, though there are a few larger beasts that can take more time to kill), and strategies can vary: a player can go for a slow, deliberate strategy involving single strikes, or they can use a faster strategy with dodging, weaving, and combo attacks with light weaponry. The battle variety in Dragonslayer is one of the most highly praised aspects of the game, allowing for a variety of flexible play styles. As for Rath himself, he can be customized in a variety of ways, from hairstyle and beard to costume, with the player able to choose between displaying Rath's current armor layout or wearing "vanity" armor that doesn't reflect the player's actual equipment. Dragonslayer features some of the best graphics of any open world RPG in its generation, a rich tapestry of sights and details and environments (it helps that the world isn't quite as big as some of its contemporaries, though it is quite big). The game has a sweeping musical score composed by Takeharu Ishimoto, and its English language voice cast features several popular veteran voice actors, including Keith Ferguson as the voice of Rath.

The game begins in a small, derelict village, in which people are struggling to survive as food and resources are few and far between. The village has a few hunters who bring in some bounties, but it's barely enough to keep the village going, and Rath's meager catches are also quite poor. He agrees to join a hunting party to take down a moderate sized dragon, and this is the game's first boss fight/tutorial, in which a more experienced hunter named Sunan takes Rath under his wing. After taking down the dragon, Rath is able to provide for his village, only for it to be raided by a group of elite knights who accuse Rath of hunting on the local lord's sacred grounds. This leads to Rath being forced to perform some missions for the lord, though the game does open up at this point to allow for proper exploration of the world, with Rath allowed to take his time and given a large area to roam in. Though working for the lord, Rath realizes that money and power are the only things that matter in Rindonia, and one can acquire that power by becoming a dragonslayer. At the end of his time working for the lord, the player is given the choice of leaving or returning to slaughter the lord. Slaughtering the lord causes Rath to earn more notoriety, though it also cuts off a future series of lucrative side missions that allow Rath and the lord to work together to cull a large dragon's nest overlooking the lord's territory. Eventually, Rath's dragonslaying earns him an audience with the High King of Rindonia, who tasks Rath with investigating the lair of a dragon high up on a mountain. This dragon turns out to be one of the Seven Sovereigns, seven dragons who represent a different force of nature, and whose awakening portends a great omen of death and destruction. Rath is eventually forced to kill the first of the Sovereigns, and before the main quest is done, Rath will have to kill the other six as well. Rath also makes the acquaintance of a man named Nogilus, who works as the king's court mage and who believes that dragons have special powers that restore life and create abundance, and that the world is balanced between this secret dragon power of life and the dragons' ability to cause great death. Rath also meets a young dragonslaying woman named Ailan, who starts as a rival but teams up with Rath for a few missions, and a noblewoman named Jade with a special connection to the dragon power mentioned by Nogilus. As Rath journeys through the realm, collecting bounties and killing more of the Seven Sovereigns, his legend grows, and he becomes a hero to more and more of the people, eventually sparking a peasant revolt that is aided by the appearance of the final Sovereign, a mighty dragon named Bladul, who is more intelligent than the other dragons and who sees Rath's talents as a threat, not just to dragonkind but to all living things. The peasant revolt causes the destruction of the king's castle, the death of the king, and chaos throughout Rindonia, while Bladul flies about the realm, causing destruction wherever he goes. Rath and Nogilus, who survived the revolt, agree that Bladul is a threat, and must be tracked down and slain. Rath engages Bladul in a mighty battle and defeats him, but as he does, Nogilus absorbs the power from the fallen sovereigns, setting in motion his plan to become the Dragon God, the returning deity that will conquer the world in the name of dragonkind. Nogilus offers Rath a place of power at his side, but Rath refuses, and ventures to the highest mountain in Rindonia to confront and destroy Nogilus once and for all. In a great battle that nearly shatters the mountain, Rath defeats Nogilus, ending the threat of the Dragon God and saving humanity. He retires to his village, and though there is peace in Rindonia, prosperity is uncertain. Rath is now known as a legendary hero, but this burden weighs heavy on him, and as dragons are all but extinct in the realm, he wonders if it was truly worth it. Dragonslayer also has a pair of storyline DLC packs, including a mid-game quest sequence and a sequence intended to take place in the postgame, in which Rath hunts down several more legendary dragons and monsters while also aiding Ailan and Jade in various endeavors. It provides a more satisfying ending to the game, though it still leaves a few questions unanswered.

Dragonslayer is released on March 1, 2016, for the Reality, Virtua, and Nexus. It gets mostly positive reviews at the time of its release, averaging in the mid 8s and earning praise for its combat and thematics, though it's not quite the revolutionary WRPG that some expected it to be. It's definitely a fun game, and quite ably combines the best elements of WRPGs and JRPGs, but it's slightly small world and its somewhat repetitive enemy encounters dull the experience a bit. However, the game would get a ton of pre-release hype, leading to huge sales in North America, Europe, and Japan. It's not quite a Final Fantasy game, but it does outperform pretty much everything else Square has going, making it probably their most successful original IP ever (outside of the Final Fantasy series). The game would spawn tons of online discussion and plenty of memes as well, becoming one of 2016's most talked about games, and putting Squaresoft's name at the forefront of gaming for a good while. Of course, with Final Fantasy XIV coming later in the year, it builds up hype for that title as well, and Squaresoft isn't done putting out hit RPGs before then...

 

[TheFaultsofAlts]

I'm sorry for saying this later than usual, but I actually like that Doug and Rob won in their season of The Amazing Race. However, I must ask this, but did they win by cheating, or did they win fair and square?

 

[RySenkari]

I would like to see someone like John Madden, Terry Bradshaw, or Howie Long take the reigns.

Willie Davis retires in the early 2010s, and is replaced by Howie Long.

If we do see Castlevania mixed in with a Ubisoft property, might I suggest crossing it over with Zombi, and calling it Castlevania: Attack of the Zombis?

Mm, it's not going to be Zombi, I'll say that much.

Is the Strong Museum's World Video Game Hall of Fame any different ITTL?

Doom, Pac-Man, Pong, Super Mario Bros., Tetris, and SimSociety make the initial list, the same as OTL's list but with SimSociety getting in over World Of Warcraft.

Is there any differences between the PSBL and how Nintendo treats professional gaming IOTL? For example, are there some legitimate prizes from winning in a league match?

Big differences. There are significant cash prizes. Sony aids Nintendo with the administration of the league.

Okay, this gimmick needs more detail just for the failure of it all. Who's playing the B and V with this gimmick and is there a wrestler playing a jughead character?

Brie Bella is the Veronica character (who's named Valentina), the Betty character (who goes by Bonnie) is an original TTL female wrestler, Elle Saunders. There's no Jughead.

It should be known that all three would go on to recover from this gimmick and have decently successful post-gimmick careers, with Brie joining her sister Nikki in TAW to form a version of their OTL tag team (going by the Garcia sisters instead of the Bellas), and Elle joining the WWE and having a REALLY good singles career and winning multiple women's titles.

I don't remember if Gina Carano was mentioned at all, but how is she doing ITTL?

Jumps from MMA to acting, same as OTL.

 

[rick007]

I'm sorry for saying this later than usual, but I actually like that Doug and Rob won in their season of The Amazing Race. However, I must ask this, but did they win by cheating, or did they win fair and square?

Fair and square. If they had blatantly cheated, they would have been kicked out. What they do with the money I leave up to Ry and Nivek.

 

[TheFaultsofAlts]

Mm, it's not going to be Zombi, I'll say that much.

Big differences. There are significant cash prizes. Sony aids Nintendo with the administration of the league.

Well, you can't blame a guy for suggesting an idea.

I'm glad that you can make a legitimate living off of playing Smash Bros. ITTL.

Fair and square. If they had blatantly cheated, they would have been kicked out. What they do with the money I leave up to Ry and Nivek.

That's even better! Especially because of the popularity at the time that the Nostalgia Critic series has garnered.

 

[StomperYoshi]

Doom, Pac-Man, Pong, Super Mario Bros., Tetris, and SimSociety make the initial list, the same as OTL's list but with SimSociety getting in over World Of Warcraft.

Nice. Looking forward to what else gets inducted as TTL goes by!

 

[RySenkari]

Metroid Quarantine

Metroid Quarantine is a third person shooter/adventure title exclusive to the Nintendo Reality. It's the third game in what's considered the "Starfall Trilogy", consisting of Metroid Starfall, Metroid Gravity, and this game, and while it has a lot of gameplay and presentation similarities to those titles, there are also many ways in which Quarantine differs from not just those games, but every previous Metroid game. In some ways, it's closer to Metroid Fusion than it is to any TTL game, with Samus navigating a somewhat narrow space station (though it's more open world of a game than OTL's Fusion was) and absorbing viral particles from enemies to recover and enhance her powers. However, in Metroid Quarantine, there's a bit of a random element to these upgrades. There are no Energy Tanks in this game, or Missile/Super Missile upgrades. Instead, Samus can absorb viral particles to increase her health, weapon capacities, defense, and attack level. While some of these have definitive spots in the game where Samus can find them, most of them are found randomly, giving the game somewhat of an RPG-like feel. Samus' weapons and movement abilities are also bestowed by these particles, though these are found in defined encounters with certain boss enemies or sometimes simply found inside of rooms. Enemies can also acquire viral upgrades, and these can also be random, causing different mutations in various enemies that Samus encounters throughout the ship. Samus herself will acquire most of her familiar upgrades in this game, including things like the Morph Ball, the Charge Beam, the Grappling Hook, and the Space Jump, but there are, as always, a few new upgrades in the game (not nearly as many as there were in Metroid Gravity), including the Vacuum Gun that can suck in power ups/viral particles and can also suck armor and parts off of enemies, and the Drone Ball, which allows Samus to clone herself in Morph Ball form with various effects. Despite the game taking place inside a space station, there's plenty to explore, with a wide variety of areas inside the station. Eventually, Samus is able to disembark from the station onto a nearby planet about two thirds of the way through the game. Metroid Quarantine is the first game in the series designed to take full advantage of Nintendo's VR, and the game can be played in first person or in third person, with some of the most impressive VR visuals of any Reality title. Samus has up to six different visors, which can gather information, view virus particles, or view enemies in a variety of ways, similar to the visors in OTL's Metroid Prime. Kenji Yamamato returns to compose the score for this game, while Anna Gunn voices Samus for a third time (though this will be her last time voicing Samus in the series). With the game taking place in a space station during a viral outbreak, there are more human characters this time around, though Samus still spends a good deal of the game in isolation, and much of her human interaction is via radio chatter.

The game takes place primarily aboard a space station, with Samus hired by the Federation to guard a top secret shipment that turns out to be a strain of Metroid DNA. The shipment is attacked by Space Pirates led by a new commander (with Ridley still presumed dead): a female alien creature named Grexla (voiced by Julia McIlvaine). Samus holds the space pirates and Grexla off, and forces them to retreat, only for another emergency to begin as a resident of the space station has begun attacking people. Samus tries to talk the person down, but they seem to be unable to control themselves, and soon, several more people attack Samus. Samus, refusing to fire on human civilians, locks the attackers in a room, but seems to be having some strange physical symptoms, and collapses near the infirmary. She awakens to sirens, red blinking lights, and no civilians in sight, stumbling out of the infirmary in a damaged, altered Power Suit with barely any functionality. Her radio comm activates, and she hears from a young scientist named Dr. Morganstern (voiced by Mae Whitman). Morganstern tells Samus that she was forced to alter Samus' suit to save her life, and that she's been infected by the same Metroid virus that has infected many of the other people on the space station, forcing the remaining survivors to quarantine themselves in their quarters. Morganstern tells Samus that she has to find a way to expel the viral particles from the space station. Samus also hears from the station's director, General Bregg (voiced by Wade Williams). Bregg is much more stern and tries to boss Samus around, but she doesn't want his orders, only his help, and says that she'll stop the virus in her own way. Samus must navigate her way through the ship mostly on her own (though Morganstern, Bregg, and one or two others occasionally radio to her), battling virus-infected creatures that have escaped from the ship's science lab, and also battling Space Pirates, both infected and otherwise, that showed up with Grexla. Samus realizes that Grexla's attack caused the release of the DNA particles, which were actually a new virus being studied by the Federation. Samus also realizes that there is at least one Metroid on the ship, and that Metroid is Grexla's true target. There are four main sections of ship that Samus must explore: the Arboretum, where the ship's food is grown and which has become infested with giant creepy mutant bugs, the Armory, where the ship's weapon systems are stored and where Samus must beat back a massive Space Pirate incursion, the Laboratory, where much of the ship's scientific experimentation takes place, and finally, after Samus clears the station, she has to pursue Grexla to the nearby planet of Aster-7, where Grexla hopes to introduce DNA from the Metroid she stole to the planet's wildlife to create a biological weapon for the Space Pirates. There's a climactic scene in the Laboratory where Samus must battle an infected Bregg (representing the final boss of the space station itself). After Bregg is killed, Samus heads to Aster-7 (though it's possible to return to the space station to explore and collect various things). Samus explores Aster-7, battling more mutated creatures, and pursues Grexla to an ancient temple, where she finally battles the mighty Space Pirate boss on even terms. Grexla is defeated, and tries to mutate herself with the virus, but is shockingly killed by a returning Ridley, who absorbs the virus into himself and mutates into PLAGUE-Ridley, the game's true final boss. Samus defeats Ridley in an epic final boss fight, and now, the only remaining source of the Metroid virus is inside her. She is met by Dr. Morganstern (in person for the first time), as Aster-7 begins to come apart. Morganstern begs Samus to return to the space station, but Samus realizes that if she does so, there's a chance the virus inside her could begin spreading again, and she refuses to come on board. As the space station leaves, Samus disappears in a bright flash of light as the planet explodes around her, leaving her fate unknown.

Metroid Quarantine is perhaps the best reviewed game of the Starfall Trilogy, coming in with review scores in the low to mid 9s. It's released on March 4, 2016, to very strong initial sales, the best of any Metroid title since Homecoming in 2004. The game's graphics, gameplay, and voice performances are all praised, and the game's VR mode is especially highly praised, becoming one of the best reasons to pick up the VR headset for the Reality if one doesn't yet have one. Fans do criticize the apparent "death" of Samus, but it's clear that she'll return somehow, even as the series itself once again embarks in a new direction, and may not return for several more years...

-

James Cameron's Metroid: Proliferation Trailer Promises An Exhilarating Sequel

Metroid: Proliferation, the sequel to James Cameron's hit 2012 adaptation of the classic Nintendo series, is on its way, set to be released this July 4th weekend. With the main cast from the original film (Taylor Schilling, Bill Paxton, and Rosa Salazar) all returning, and the return of Samus' nemesis Ridley (Andy Serkis) also heavily implied, the film will see the Chozo homeworld invaded by both the Space Pirates and the Federation, all clashing over the last Metroid, which Samus still has in her possession. The trailer reveals that Samus will be returning to her Chozo roots to evade Federation capture, while the Federation deploys bioweapons infused with Metroid DNA to battle the Pirates and hunt Samus down. The film also teases Salazar's character Martina donning an altered version of Samus' classic battle armor to aid the film's protagonist (who gets separated from her suit at several points in the movie during her Chozo training ritual). We're definitely getting Kraid in this movie, with the massive beast deployed as a Space Pirate bioweapon designed to counter the Federation's assault, though it looks like Samus herself will be the one forced to put Kraid down, as we got a few quick snippets of Samus (back in her classic armor) shooting a few missiles at the mighty lizard. We didn't QUITE get confirmation that Ridley will be back, though some keen-eyed viewers spotted a shadow that looks like it could be Ridley's tail. Metroid: Proliferation is expected to be one of the year's biggest blockbusters, and has a good shot at dethroning Pixar's Sonic The Hedgehog as the highest grossing video game film.

-from an article on Yahoo! News, posted on March 17, 2016

 

[Nivek]

March 4, 2012

we're not on 2016 already Ry?

 

[CaseMonster]

Metroid feels like it has more of Sony’s influence ITTL than Nintendo’s other IPs from OTL, especially this one. Light RPG elements, cinematic focus, big voice talent. Seem like neat games I’d love to play either way but I feel I’d prefer Prime. That could be 100% bias talking

 

[RySenkari]

(Here are the rest of the notable games from January 2016 to March 2016!)

-

Nintendo Reality-

Ninja Gaiden Unforgiven

An action beat 'em up developed by Tecmo, Ninja Gaiden Unforgiven is a Reality game that looks to take the series somewhat back to its roots, but also looks to take advantage of Nintendo's latest hardware. This game is packed with challenge across more than a dozen difficult missions, with a simple but very skill-focused combat system. There are few upgrades, save for some health and ninjutsu increases and some new skills, and the game mostly involves some basic combat and simple platforming designed to test players' reflexes and skills. The plot is also fairly simple, with Ryu Hayabusa out to stop an old friend turned enemy who slaughtered a family that Ryu was tasked with protecting. It's a very basic game, but quite beautiful and difficult, and though it's not for everyone, it's perhaps the closest a game in this series has been to the NES classics, giving them a new look for a new generation. Sales are modest, while review scores average right around 8/10, with the biggest criticisms being the short campaign and the steep learning curve.

Detective Club: The Reality Files

A story-based puzzle/detective game, Detective Club: The Reality Files tasks the protagonist, a young university student, with solving a series of murders (nothing too gruesome, but the game is rated Teen due to the subject matter). You'll have to gather clues and talk to lots of different people to solve the crime, while solving a number of smaller mysteries along the way. This game is fully voiced (with the English version performed by the usual group of Los Angeles based anime dub actors) and looks very much like a modern anime, with the Reality's VR used quite effectively to give players a first person perspective as they wander the game's large city setting in search of clues. It's quite a fun game, and does very well in Japan, though North American and European sales are significantly worse. It is a critical and financial success, and leads to some smaller DLC-sized games for both the Reality and the Connect.

Surface

A puzzle game combining numerous elements, Surface has some really spectacular production values, and involves both logic and physics puzzles, as the protagonist must find out how to delve into the secrets of a lost temple in search of a way to save his dying grandfather, and also to track down a mysterious spirit woman. With brain busting gameplay and a story that encourages the player to push forward, Surface is one of the best puzzle games of the year, and a major critical and commercial success.

Path Of Kroaira

A JRPG intended to take advantage of a lot of the Reality's technical features, this is a big and pretty game and one of the best looking JRPGs outside of the Final Fantasy series. It also introduces a lot of new elements to the genre, including a unique blend of turn-based and action combat gameplay, a hybrid exploration system, and dialogue trees more suited to Western RPGs. Its protagonist is a man named Mada who must go on a sacred pilgrimage, the expected custom for his people (somewhat like the pilgrimages in Final Fantasy X and Tales Of Symphonia). Along the way, he encounters friends and foes and unravels an ancient conspiracy that reveals a dark side to his journey. Combat itself takes place right on the open field, with the game entering combat mode once Mada and his party discover enemies, and then movement and attacking being free but some attacks involving a turn-based combat gauge (somewhat reminiscent of the combat system in the Final Fantasy VII remake). There are six total playable characters, though combat parties are limited to three. Eventually, Mada and his friends discover that the pilgrimage is meant to serve as a way to raise an army against a rival country that sends its soldiers to attack people on their pilgrimages in order to protect their ancient goddess. Mada eventually finds himself caught between warring deities, and decides eventually to fight them both to bring piece to the world. Path Of Kroaira is a very good game and some consider it even better than Final Fantasy XIV, but sales are a bit disappointing, especially compared to the game's sizable budget.

Apple Virtua-

Breath Of Fire: Undying Dragon

A traditional turn-based RPG for the Virtua, Breath Of Fire: Undying Dragon is Capcom's attempt to revive the series as a modern IP. The game's setting is more contemporary than the medieval style settings of previous games in the series, but its protagonist is still a young man named Ryu with the ability to transform into a dragon to battle the forces of evil. The Dark Dragon Gang returns in this game, taking the form of a Yakuza-like group of criminals terrorizing Windalia City, the game's main population hub, where Ryu meets a girl named Nina with the secret ability to become a winged bird-like creature. Ryu and Nina must recruit allies and journey through the world together, battling the Dark Dragon Gang and discovering more of Ryu's secret powers. The gameplay is fairly traditional, though there are some motion control mini-games here and there, and some fully voiced CGI cutscenes as well. It's a decent RPG, and does well in Japan, though reviews (especially in the West) are somewhat middling.

Captain America

Based on the popular Marvel character, this beat 'em up retells Captain America's origin story, and it's somewhat similar to the OTL film, with Steve Rogers becoming Captain America and fighting Hydra soldiers in World War II. The game can somewhat be compared to OTL's Spider-Man for PS4, though it's less of an open world title and more of a God Of War-style brawler, with Captain America able to throw his shield at enemies and learn a wide variety of skills to take them down. The graphics are excellent, and so is the voice acting, with Steve Rogers voiced by Nolan North, Peggy Carter voiced by Camilla Luddington, and Red Skull voiced by Rutger Hauer. Captain America is definitely a high quality game, and one of the more fun and exciting Virtua titles of the season, but it wasn't quite the hit that OTL's Spider-Man was, either in sales or in critical reception. It turns a solid profit for Apple, but isn't quite the definitive comic adaptation some were expecting it to be.

Inaflash!

A fast-paced, high energy, slightly retro styled anime fighting game, Inaflash! focuses on counters and special moves that can turn the tide of battle in an instant. It's not balanced for competitive play, but it's still a ton of fun to play online, and while sales are only mediocre, reviews are quite good and it becomes one of 2016's most successful and memorable fighting games.

Mystical Ruby

An anime-style JRPG with some similarities to OTL's Neptunia games in terms of humor, Mystical Ruby is a fairly simple game with a lot of sidequests, twists, and turns. It features a group of school girls who find an ancient treasure, but it's somewhat of a cursed treasure, forcing them to become magical girls to battle an ancient evil. Essentially, the plot is OTL's Madoka Magica, but played much, much, MUCH more lightly (TTL critics/analysts consider it a subversion/parody of Shadow Ocean, TTL's “dark magical girl” series). It's a hit in Japan and becomes a sleeper hit in the West, with memes and fanworks galore.

Panzer Dragoon Online

A rail shooter MMORPG, Panzer Dragoon Online is essentially Panzer Dragoon Saga combined with Phantasy Star Online, with its interface and combat system based heavily on the Panzer Dragoon Zeta/Phanta titles. Like Panzer Dragoon, players ride dragons in rail shooter-esque combat, building their skills by defeating enemies, leveling up, and finding loot. The game is mission-based, with small environments to explore rather than the big open worlds of most contemporary MMORPGs, and players are tasked with things ranging from finding a special item (or multiple items) to defeating a certain enemy. There's plenty of loot to be found and levels to be gained in Panzer Dragoon Online, expanding upon the combat and exploration of Zeta and Phanta, and players will typically need to team up to take larger bosses down, with parties being the preferred way to play. The game's graphics are comparable to a slightly upgraded Panzer Dragoon Phanta, so it's not the prettiest game on the Virtua, but it does take advantage of both VR and motion controls to make for a more immersive experience. The plot is focused on a war between two armies of dragon riders, with all the player characters on the side of the Daragon Republic, battling the evil Argulian Empire. It's a fairly basic storyline and serves mostly as a backdrop to the gameplay, which is pretty solid and quite addictive. Reviews for Panzer Dragoon Online are mostly positive: lots of people liked Panzer Dragoon Zeta, and this game has a lot of what made that one so fun. Sales actually start off fairly slow, especially in the West, but as the game's price comes down and more content gets added, a lot more people decide to buy in (it helps that there's no monthly subscription fee).

Google Nexus-

Hyper Light Drifter

A Zelda-like action RPG, Hyper Light Drifter was developed ITTL with help and funding from Google, making it a Nexus/Android exclusive. It's pretty much the same game as OTL's, with similar gameplay and story, and becomes a pretty significant critical and commercial success for the Nexus console. It's released at a $14.99 budget price on the digital store, but also gets a premium physical version for $39.99 including some goodies and a retro strategy guide. It's one of Google's more popular new IPs of the year, and would remain on the digital charts for the remainder of 2016.

Imaginary Friend: The Wandering

Imaginary Friend: The Wandering is the sequel to 2013's successful action/adventure title, and though it features similar gameplay and themes, it has a new protagonist, a boy named Angel who is later revealed to be the imaginary friend of an unknown child. Angel must find artifacts to piece together that child's past while fighting through a place called the “Dream Realm”, against mysterious enemies representing the various negative elements in the child's life. The player eventually learns that the child is a girl named Ally who created Angel in order to cope with the aftereffects of a tragedy, and that Angel must then piece together enough positive thoughts and memories to allow Ally to let him go. Like the original game, it's poignant and profound, though it's not quite as well reviewed as the original. It does include some unique new gameplay elements, including the use of the second screen to collect objects and re-watch memory snippets, and also some creative bosses that require different kinds of gameplay strategies for each one. It's definitely a successful game, with similar sales to the original, though the development studio has expressed a desire to move on from the IP in order to use concepts from the two games for something different.

Nintendo Connect-

Princess SaGa

Princess SaGa is a JRPG developed by Squaresoft exclusively for the Nintendo Connect, featuring seven princesses as protagonists, each one with their own 5-10 hour quest, and then once all of those quests are beaten, players can have all seven of them team up to battle a powerful final boss. The game uses a “storybook”-style graphical presentation, with lots of anime-inspired 2-D art, while the combat system is turn based, similar to other SaGa titles. The seven princesses include a traditional noblewoman princess, a black haired ninja princess, and even robot and monster princesses, giving this game a feel very close to SaGa Frontier. Princess SaGa definitely isn't a mainstream hit in the West, but it's a fun niche title with some of the better reviews in its series.

Boil

A fun little puzzle game where you have to redirect water and then heat it to a boil. Filled with humorous visuals and some surprisingly tricky puzzles, this one is pretty well reviewed and a decent digital hit.

Goblins: The Secret City

Developed by Naughty Dog, this is the fourth game in the adventure platformer series that last saw a release with Goblins 3 in 2005. This game has been a long time in the making, and is meant to be a sort of “wrap-up” game for the series, with Puckle and Luna returning as fully adult goblins with families of their own, trying to find an ancient city with an artifact that can save their realm. Their human friends Billy and Ava, also adults now, return as significant side characters, while a new generation of goblins and other mystical creatures are also introduced to the story. Puckle and Luna still have their magic and sorcery skills from Goblins 3, but are a step slower than they were as kids, and have learned some new tricks to help them keep up, including more powerful magic and also ranged attacks with whips and bows. The eldest children of the two goblins, Finra and Elb, are playable starting about halfway through the game, and though they have a lot less magic, they can move a lot better and attack a lot quicker. Despite the handheld release, this game has better graphics than even Goblins 3, with the Connect being a more powerful device than the Wave, allowing for better detail and animation than ever. The game also comes to a conclusive and happy ending, with the secret city serving as a new hub for goblins and humans living together in the underworld, becoming a place of peace and harmony for all. This is a fun family platformer for sure, but sales are slightly disappointing, better than Goblins 3 but not quite as good as the first two games. However, Naughty Dog North would take the lessons of this title and apply them to future platformers, starting with 2018's Anna Goldstar game.

Apple Gemini-

Danielle's Declination

This sequel to 2012's cult classic story-based game sees the titular protagonist Danielle return, this time to answer an extortion attempt against her family. Her amnesia from the original game has returned as a response to her trauma, and in order to save her family, she'll have to piece together her memories and figure out a way to save her family without giving up everything she cares about. This is definitely a niche digital game, but like its predecessor, it achieves excellent reviews, and features a VR mode for players to immerse themselves in Danielle's story (though one needs a Virtua to utilize this connectivity feature).

Gunstar Heroes Universe

A new Gunstar Heroes game for the Gemini, taking place across several planets and featuring the classic Gunstar Heroes gameplay with a new exciting anime aesthetic (similar to games like Star Siren). Unfortunately, this game doesn't quite hold up compared to either its predecessors or its digital contemporary Laser Star (and unlike that game, this is a full priced retail title). It's a solid run and gun with some really creative boss fights and better graphics than Laser Star, but it's not as good as it should be, and ends up being a critical and commercial disappointment.

Mega Man Battle 2

The sequel to the hit crossover fighting game title features more than 80 different playable characters right from the start (including all the returning characters and DLC from the original game). Like the original, it's a Smash Bros. esque title where characters from the Mega Man series battle it out across dozens of different arenas with a huge variety of weapons and special attacks. It's a really fun game, and with graphical and gameplay improvements over the first, it's a worthy sequel and one of the most successful Gemini titles of the year.

Multiplatform-

Mechatos 3

The third game in Squaresoft's giant mech RPG series, the Gemini gets this series for the first time (though it also got a port of the first two games via a digital re-release), while it also comes to the Connect. Developed by a new team at Square consisting of many of the people who worked on Final Fantasy XIII, it has a similar combat system, ditching the traditional turn based system for something akin to OTL's Final Fantasy XII or Xenoblade Chronicles X, with human fighters and giant mechs battling in real time against enemies. The game is more open world than ever, with a less defined main storyline path and plenty more side missions, though the typical method of equipping one's mechs (with scrapped parts, able to be equipped to a variety of places on the mech's frame) remains intact, and indeed, expands in this game. This game takes place a few years after Mechatos 2, but features a brand new set of protagonists who are oppressed by a group of warlords in powerful mechs of their own. The first half of the game is spent searching for a powerful mech that's said to have enough strength to battle back any foe, though the big reveal is that this “mech” is actually Annabeth, the Alita-like synthetic human/mech hybrid who was a major character in the last game. The second half sees Annabeth assisting the heroes in their fight against the bad guys, who have begun using retrofitted Purger tech on their combat mechs, inadvertently unleashing a terrible evil into the world. In the end, Annabeth seemingly sacrifices herself, but the ending reveals her to have survived, and she reunites with the protagonist (who declares his love for her and begins dating her). Mechatos 3 enjoys better reviews and sales than Mechatos 2, and ultimately sees more sales on the Gemini (it sells better on the Connect early on, but once people realize the improvements of the Gemini version, it becomes the preferred version to purchase). Overall, the game is a success, and the Mechatos series remains one of Squaresoft's most popular handheld IPs.

The Gobbler

A handheld indie platformer about a big creature who eats everything in sight. The creature is much bigger than Kirby, and instead of absorbing powers from eating creatures, he gets stronger (and clears his path) by eating objects and buildings. With eating and environmental destruction a big part of the game, it's a somewhat unique sidescroller, and gets some measure of success, with good reviews, decent sales, and some nice fame from let's play streams and memes.

Locked And Loaded 2

This sequel to the decently popular Reality launch title would come to all three consoles this time around, and would feature some significant improvements to the original third person shooter, including twice as many levels, a significantly improved movement system, loads more weapons, and of course it supports VR on all three consoles. It's one of the more fun titles of the year, and is released at a somewhat low price ($39.99), helping it to score lots of sales even if it's not a complete runaway success.

Soshiki

A puzzle/life-sim/adventure game for the Connect and Gemini, taking place in a big city and featuring mini-games, it's about a young man who performs various odd jobs to win love and respect. It's a bit of a quirky game and makes heavy use of motion controls, and with a total of five different love interests in the game, it gives players some intriguing story choices as well. It's definitely not a big commercial hit, but it's one of the more popular digital indies of the year.

Dungeons And Dragons: The Wizard King

Dungeons And Dragons returns to the video game realm with this WRPG title for the consoles in which the protagonist (which can be extensively customized using the creation system from the recent pen and paper games) must battle his or her way through a world full of danger and mystery. Unlike a lot of other WRPGs, the player is expected to party up in this one, and there are a lot of side quests in this game, attempting to re-create the feel of a pen and paper campaign by allowing for improvisation and going off the beaten path. The combat system and graphics, however, are somewhat on the simple side, making it a somewhat lesser experience than its contemporaries. Critics praise the high level of customization, and the fact that the game itself is one of the best attempts to actually bring the feel of a Dungons and Dragons campaign to a game console, but overall reviews are mediocre and the game ends up being a sales disappointment.

Tamagotchi Heroes

This is an action RPG in which the protagonist must raise up a Tamagotchi creature to become a great fighter and battle against the forces of evil. ITTL, Tamagotchi sort of occupies the niche that Digimon occupied IOTL, and the gameplay of this title can best be compared to the Digimon World series. It's a fun little RPG that comes to the Google Nexus as well as the Connect and the Gemini, and despite being somewhat low tech, it's really fun to play and captures the spirit of the Tamagotchi IP quite well. It doesn't quite bring back the series in a major way, and it's not quite as good as OTL's recent Digimon RPGs, but it's a solid game that sees good sales, especially in Japan.

The Numbers Game

An addicting puzzle title that's all about numbers and making them bigger and bigger. Essentially, the player must roam around a 3-D space, finding objects with numbers on them and bringing them together. Mathematical functions such as multiplication and even exponents add to the fun, and it can be quite exciting to see the numbers get huge as an enormous combo is racked up. Another of the year's biggest indie hits, it also does quite well on mobile.

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Top Selling New Console Games In North America (in terms of sales over the first four weeks of release):

January 2016:

1. Expedition (Google Nexus)
2. Captain America (Apple Virtua)
3. Ninja Gaiden Unforgiven (Nintendo Reality)
4. Mechatos 3 (Nintendo Connect)
5. Mechatos 3 (Apple Gemini)

February 2016:

1. Social Network (Google Nexus)
2. Surface (Nintendo Reality)
3. Laser Star (Google Nexus)
4. Laser Star (Nintendo Reality)
5. Laser Star (Apple Gemini)

March 2016:

1. Metroid Quarantine (Nintendo Reality)
2. Dragonslayer (Nintendo Reality)
3. Dragonslayer (Apple Virtua)
4. Dragonslayer (Google Nexus)
5. Castlevania: Nightshade Of The Witch (Nintendo Reality)