Pure awesomeness

This song has to be my favorite! It just hypes me up to the point where I'm just messing around so I can listen to it longer! When I first went into Gerudo Valley I wanted to do everything I could to stay there longer. This score made me feel like a secret agent while sneaking around their camp. It was so much fun to get caught and then do everything all over - just because of this music! Do you have a favorite Zelda song? I do!

Why New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a can't-miss Wii title: A Review

I love having old material to resurrect on my blog, simultaneously saving me a little bit of time! Like this Samba de Amigo review before it, please enjoy this article I wrote for the March 10, 2010 issue of the Lariat, my old high school newspaper:

I am highly aware that many MHS students now own a Wii. So I no longer feel like I'm writing to myself when I review Wii games. For this review, I wish to write about one game that I consider a must-have for all Wii owners. This game is called New Super Mario Bros. Wii (NSMBW), which was developed by Nintendo and released for Wii on November 15, 2009.

NSMBW takes the structure of the oldest Mario games and adds new play options and power-ups, better graphics, and more. The player traverses a total of eight themed worlds, each with a collection of courses, which showcase an enormous variety of different plat-forming concepts. The variety increases as new power-ups are acquired, or even when more players join in. Yes, you heard me right. NSMBW takes the Mario series to the next level by adding a super-fun, multi-player option to the classic formula. Work co-operatively or competitively by jumping on each other's heads, picking each other up, and eating each other with Yoshi. Picking up a comrade can be the key to a secret area, but it can also be a way to throw a teammate into a lava pit or an enemy. The interaction among players is active and fun.

If there's one fault I can find in NSMBW, it's the difficulty of the game. Though I do not have much of a problem with this, I can see the possibility of frustration as some play through the game. Despite that, however, NSMBW is easily one of the best games I've ever played. Whether you want to have a good time with friends or tackle the game solo, NSMBW has you covered. If that doesn't convince you to get this game, think about this: how can you even go wrong with a new Mario game that simply resurrects and improves upon all the great game-play concepts that eventually defined Nintendo as the best game developer in the world?

Not my proudest achievement on any scale, but then you could also say that my whole senior year in high school wasn't a great achievement either. Eventually I'll probably follow this up with a decent review. Cheers!

Why The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword will go down in, well, legend: A Review

Zelda.

The legend was born more than twenty-five years ago. In those twenty-five years, this groundbreaking series has perhaps brought more innovation to the industry than any other. The Nintendo 64 classic, Ocarina of Time, is often lauded as the best video game of all time, and is still revered today for its immense contributions to video games the world over.

Today I'm here to tell you that that bar has risen. Meet The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Exclusive to the Wii console, Skyward Sword has brought us one step closer to a utopia of gaming. How? With expertly implemented motion controls that draw the player into the game world like never before. After all, control is what sets video games apart from other media.

In Skyward Sword, one-to-one sword motion is possible thanks to the Wii MotionPlus accessory. And it works like a charm. I particularly like that it takes more than just a button-mashing fest to take on enemies: now combat is a puzzle in and of itself. The added motion capabilities also translate well to the use of items in the game. You'll find that one item in particular, the beetle, is used quite a bit in this game, due to its amazing capacity for clever puzzle-solving (not to mention the joy it is to control it).

Skyward Sword also goes a long way towards creating a simple, accessible interface. Many casual gamers are frightened away from "hardcore" games like Zelda because of the complex combination of buttons, etc. that are required to play. I believe Skyward Sword is the simplest Zelda yet in terms of control, and that's a huge step in the right direction if you ask me.

Much of what defines any given Zelda game is the world it creates. Skyward Sword has presented what I think is the best world yet in any Zelda game. It has a continuity that I think Twilight Princess lacked. There is meaning and purpose to every place you visit, and with every successive visit you make. Exploration (an important trait in any Zelda game) is at its best in Skyward Sword, with treasure and secrets to be found both above and below the clouds.

Skyward Sword's aesthetic is another source of the game's appeal. Whether the graphics are powerful or not is the wrong question to ask. They may not be technically powerful, but the creativity and imagination evident in them is what sets them apart and gives them a power that even the most realistic graphics can never achieve.

Nintendo has done it again with Skyward Sword. They make changing the face of the game industry look easy. My conclusion? Get this game. Period.

Why Mario Kart 7 is my favorite Nintendo 3DS game: A Review

Have you played a Mario Kart game before? Good! Then you already know everything there is to know about Mario Kart 7 gameplay and controls, and you can skip this next paragraph:

I gather you don't know much about Mario Kart 7, because you are now reading this paragraph. Well, here's the idea: the player takes to the race track as one of the many familiar (or unfamiliar) characters from the Mario universe on a kart (hence the title of the game). These aren't ordinary race tracks, however. Based upon locales from the Mario universe, they vary in zaniness about as much as the colorful cast does. With the madness of item use added to the mix, any Mario Kart experience is destined to be quite a fun time.

So what does Mario Kart 7 add to the tried-and-true formula? I'll give you the list from least to greatest: first, there are propellers that allow the karts to take the race underwater. It's a great feeling, but doesn't add a whole ton gameplay-wise. Second, gliders that allow certain periods of flight within races are activated at every blue jump pad. This adds a little bit of strategy and fun. Finally, MK 7 introduces a few online features that are new to the series. These are what I really want to emphasize. You've got your basic online races with players from around the globe. You've got the usual friend-to-friend mode. Then you've got the online communities. Setting up community nights with friends is a snap. Even more fun is the potential for joining racers from larger interest groups like blogs. You may already know that I'm talking specifically about the Infendo Mario Kart 7 community. This makes for virtually endless replay value.

But none of this would matter if Mario Kart 7 didn't play well. And, if you ask me, it plays better than any other racing game or even Mario Kart game out there. Infuriating blue shell encounters aside, this game nails gameplay and control. I simply can't get enough of it. Get a Nintendo 3DS, get connected to the internet, and get this game. 'Nuff said.

Endings to games

I, Mary, have finally finished my very first Legend of Zelda game! This is a huge accomplishment for me; this is because I have never beaten a Zelda game! Let me just say I'm happy that my first Zelda game was Ocarina of Time! Obviously I can't get over that I BEAT A ZELDA GAME! Sadly, I only beat this game with the help of two things: Ammon and YouTube. Pathetic I realize, but I will eventually try beating a game without the help of those two things; after all that's one of my New Years Resolutions right?

So I beat this game and I watch the ending. Nintendo totally swindled all of us of a truly good ending. Personally I sort of hated this ending; the reason for that is that it was exactly like the beginning. So *SPOILER ALERT* Link beats Ganon and gets sent back in time by Zelda. Link goes back and guess what? Nothing is going to change. Link fixed the future, but in the past he's still practically as weak as before. Ganondorf is still going to chase Zelda, she's still going to get taken by Impa, and everything is going to be exactly the same.

Think about it, how is changing the future going to change the past? Sure Link comes back with the Triforce of Courage, but doesn't that mean that there's two Triforces of Courage in his time and none in the Adult time? There are way too many questions to be answered. If anyone reading this can make any sense of the ending, please help me and all those who are also very confuzzled.

I guess it's also okay since there are more games to Zelda and it just goes ON and ON, still that should be no excuse!

*SPOILER FINISHED* Anyways I guess what I'm saying is that the ending to a video game is VERY IMPORTANT! If the ending isn't good then you feel as if that whole game was a total waste. If you feel it's a waste you won't play it again, you just wasted a bunch of money, and you'll tell other people not to buy it! If you ever want to make a game make sure that the ending totally rocks, or else there will be angry mobs at your front door.