In Pursuit of Super Street Fighter IV Skills: Fei Long
The Street Fighter series has been a mainstay for me throughout my entire life. Heck, I love it so much, some of its damn fictional characters have shaped my life (I feel a little weird admitting that). So when Super Street Fighter IV was announced, I was determined to get back to a respectable skill level. I'm getting there, one character at a time.
Sure, things like Hadokens and Dragon Punches are so ingrained in my DNA that I'll never be able to forget how and when to use them, but I want to branch out. I want to establish a deeper skill set and I want to be less of a one-trick pony in the game. So I decided to start playing with characters I have little-to-no experience with. First up: Fei Long.
Best of the Rest: Dave’s Picks of 2009
The following is a feature I submitted to Joystiq, reprinted here in its entirety. Also, be sure to check out Joystiq's Top 10 of 2009, where I contributed a piece on Borderlands.
I've long been a fan of the Resident Evil series, and while the campaign here has problems and should never be played solo, the Mercenaries mode is what kept me coming back. Those action-packed levels spent trying to survive while running low on ammo and health were some of my most chaotic, yet highly enjoyable, experiences of 2009.
Values from Video Games: Ryu
In an attempt to get more content here on my personal blog (I can't just write Quick 'n Dirty Reviews forever now, can I?), I've decided to get a bit personal with Values from Video Games, a semi-regular feature on the games and characters that helped shape me as a person. In the first edition, I'll be talking about Capcom's Ryu and how the fictional man taught me to be a real one.
I don't mean this post to be any slight against my own father -- he worked almost 14 hours a day when I was younger to get enough scratch together (not to discount my mom's efforts, which included taking care of us and working) so he could get our family out of Philly and afford us with opportunities he never had. As such, I never had many male role models around me much when I was a kid -- just my evil, manipulative and selfish brother - but I sure as hell had a lot of video games!
Resident Evil (that grows on you) 5
I must admit that RE5 didn't grip me immediately. I plowed through it in 2 sessions with my friend Josh and immediately afterward felt like the experience really wasn't worth the wait. Was RE5's focus on co-op a big enough improvement from RE4? I thought not, then I got into the Mercenaries mode.
Mercenaries mode is a great game mode. 8 maps, each with their own specific set of enemies and challenges, awaited me and Ludwig during my first dabble in the multiplayer mode. We ran through every stage and had a blast. The next day, I started up the single player again with Josh, on the highest difficulty, and I must say that improved things drastically. The game is much more rewarding when playing on a higher level of difficulty, at least I think so. Playing through on Normal never really provided much tension, as two semi-smart human players (see: us) managed to traverse its challenges with relative ease. In the end, however, RE5 has been fun and a worthwhile experience.
I still don't get trying to put versus in the game, though. I can't imagine anyone dying to play that.
Thoughts: Street Fighter IV
So I picked up Street Fighter IV yesterday. I never really followed the game when it was revealed because the look turned me off so much and I thought they were going to EX-it-up again. Thankfully, that isn't the case, and SFIV is actually a pretty decent game. Not as good as the classic games, but a nice installment in the series. Head past the break for a breakdown of its pros and cons, as far as I think.
Resident Evil 5 is not racist
Seriously, people! You're all making a big fuss over nothing! If a WWII game has you in Germany, blowing away Nazis, it's not racist, it's true to life. If a game was set in Poland and you had to wave at one-armed men in trees, that wouldn't be considered racist. Well, maybe that last one. A little bit.
But, the point is, Capcom is trying to make it feel authentic and as real to life as a game of this type can possibly be. Black people live in Africa. Africa has become infected. The people living there carry the infection, turning them into murderous crazies trying to end our heroes. It seems pretty cut and dry to me.
Now, get back to complaining about the controls already!
Poor PSP
My PSP sits on my desk, behind my monitor, and I was clearing some of the clutter today when I noticed the poor little handheld. The dust it gathers is incredible. Of course, this is dust from not having touched the thing in 7 months or so. It just has no games, so I never turn the damn thing on. Thanks to the Circuit City nonsense, however, I got a copy of Ultimate Ghosts 'N Goblins for like 8 bucks. So I look forward to playing that some time in the future.
Mega Man 9 shirt open for preorder
Open for preorder and quite possibly the best shirt EVAR.
Quick bio:Hi! I'm David Hinkle, Contributing Editor for Joystiq, former Lead of DS Fanboy and Wii Fanboy (now known as Joystiq [Nintendo]) and co-host on the Xbox 360 Fancast. Basically, I write about games, talk about games and play games -- all of the time.
This place is mainly a dumping ground for random thoughts, but you can also find links to all of my reviews and my contact info. Email me by clicking on this link.
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