Stupid Smart Kids

galaxynextdoor:

Another shooting happens in America and right away news outlets sensationalize the massacre, hoping to get the highest ratings possible. It doesn’t help that the number one videogame in the country at the time was a game that allowed you to shoot random people from across the globe. Gamers knew what this would lead to of course, cries of violent video games training the killer and ,”How can we let our children be witness to the type of violence that is perpetrated in video games?”

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I wrote this editorial on violence in video games after what happened in Newton, Connecticut. Hope you enjoy it.

Sonic the Hedgehog was a god in the 90s. When I was chilling on the playground with my friends all we talked about was Sonic the Hedgehog, Super Mario, Batman, Wolverine, and Steve Urkel. All those guys were gods to be praised.

If you remember my review of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, you’ll know that it was actually the first Sonic game that I played. In fact for a while it was the only Sonic game I played. I don’t think I actually played the original game until after Sonic the Hedgehog 3 came out. So when I went to the house of a friend and found out that he had a copy of Sonic the Hedgehog asked to borrow it.

When I finally got home I was surprised, even after all these years the game still looked pretty good. I could understand why Sonic challenged Mario for the throne of platformer king when he first came out. Still, I was spoiled from my experience with Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and 3, so much so that I had a little bit of trouble when I first started to play the game. It didn’t feel as fast as the other games in the series and I noticed that it would suffer from slow down every now and then. It also didn’t help that I was really used to the spin dash move that was in the other Sonic games. For the first thirty minutes that I played the game I would duck then jump in the air. Like I said, I was spoiled.

The level design to the game is very similar to the rest of the games in the series. (The 2D portion of the series, that is.) Yet it’s not as polished as the Sonic 2 or 3. The special stages in the first game aren’t my favorite, you fall into this rotating stage and you have to jump on these little diamonds to get to a chaos emerald. These special stages are either very easy or very frustrating. Notice that I did not say difficult, they’re not hard to complete, but they can get annoying from time to time. Still, at least you don’t have Tails ruining your score by running into stuff.

The music in the game is from Masato Nakamura, the same guy who did the music for Sonic the Hedgehog 2. The music for levels like Green Hill Zone, Spring Yard Zone, and Marble Zone are all now classics among Sonic fans. Although I will admit that I am a bigger fan of Nakamura’s work in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, his music in the first Sonic game was very different from other video game music of that time. The music in Sonic the Hedgehog was much livelier and upbeat, it had this vibe to it that no other game at that time had. It was almost like pop music.

Sonic the Hedgehog is a great game and for its time it really changed the landscape of the gaming industry. It pushed the 16-bit war into full gear now that Sega finally had a mascot that it could rally its troops (AKA: fans) around. However, as I said before I was spoiled on the sequels to the game and to be honest Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and 3 are just better in my opinion. (Although Sonic 3 did have its own set of problems, but that’s an issue for another article.) However the first Sonic game is actual history, it’s one of those games that helped define a generation. Twenty years have gone by since this game came out and there’s still something magical that keeps it from ever becoming dull. I guess that’s why it’s considered a classic.

Turn ons:

Cute face

Cute smile

intelligence

able to hold a conversation

knowledge of music/video games/animation/comic books/movies/literature

glasses

confidence

tattoos

caring

Turn offs:

being too quiet

being cruel

hating my friends

being pretentious

claiming that comic books/heavy metal/animation/video games are a lesser form of art

saying that they think they look “ugly”

Also, being a BBW and dressing up as Velma for me might give you a few extra points. :D

I wrote this for my school newspaper, El Paisano, a few weeks ago. I thought I’d share it with you all.

In 1992 the video game Mortal Kombat was released into arcades. Riding on the shoulders of a fighting craze started by Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat was didn’t do a lot to change the face of fighting games. It did however introduce many kids, parents and congressmen to the concept of violence in video games.

Throughout the 90s Mortal Kombat became a scapegoat for all things wrong in America. However, by the new millennium most gamers had become desensitized by gorier and more violent video games. It also didn’t help that Mortal Kombat had become a shell of its former self by then. With better fighters and gorier games out there Mortal Kombat soon found itself on the back burner when it came to video games.

With a lot of missteps in the series (Including a T rated entry), it was only a matter of time before Mortal Kombat received a reboot. Yet, what could NetherRealm Studios do to bring Mortal Kombat back to its former glory? Get back to its roots.

Mortal Kombat (2011) centers around Raiden receiving visions from a future where Shao Kahn has taken over Earthrealm. (If this sounds too confusing to you don’t worry, you won’t be tested on the material.) Raiden does his best to try to stop the outcome, but no matter what he does the outcome continues to be the same.

The fighting mechanics to the new Mortal Kombat is similar to that of the previous game Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. It feels faster than the prior installment of the series and unlike the earlier games in the series it feels like certain characters, not just bosses, have slightly different attributes when compared to their fellow fighters.

The game adds a meter to the bottom of the screen very much like other fighters such as Street Fighter and Marvel vs.Capcom have. However the meter in Mortal Kombat is broken up into three different uses. One gives an enhanced move to your normal special attacks; the other is a combo breaker that is reminiscent of Killer Instinct. However it’s the X-Ray moves that will keep you coming back for more. The sheer amount of brutality in these moves takes you back to a time when tearing a man’s spine out was still taboo. The glee you feel when you crush a player’s rib cage will take you back to when you were an eight year old hanging out in an arcade.

Fatalities are back and this time they’ve been overhauled in the most violent ways. For a long time Mortal Kombat has felt neutered when compared to earlier installments. However not only are the fatalities in the game filled with more gore, but they are also more creative in their presentation. You get your usual staple of average decapitations, but now the game features more fun and interesting ways to slaughter your opponent. It’s like being a kid all over again!

Mortal Kombat isn’t the best fighter out there, but anyone looking for a nostalgia rush deserves to check this game out. It revitalizes the series while staying true to its roots. It’s a great game without a lot of replay value and is worthy of the Mortal Kombat name.