Showing posts with label Top 10. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Top 10. Show all posts

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Top 10 Creepiest or Weirdest Moments in Gaming

Halloween's coming around the corner, so I have decided to put together ten of my creepiest moments in gaming. Please note that they are in no order.










My first creepy moment in gaming I'm talking about is the River Twygz in Super Paper Mario. It appears in chapter 7's The Underwhere, which is basically a gaming underworld. Early in the chapter, you come across a gondola over a murky River Twygz. For a price, the creepy figure will take you across the weird body of water.





However, you have to dive to the bottom of the river to continue the story. Sounds okay, until you see and hear the horrors.




When you get to the middle part, around the area in the picture above, the music turns from dramatic to rather creepy and spine tingling. It doesn't even sound like something from a Mario game, more like Nightmare on Elm Street. It barely has any instruments in it but faint, but still loud enough to hear, screeches and blowing (or is it whispers) sounds. Seriously, if you are playing this game and about to get to this area at night, you might as well either stop or turn your tv volume down to zero because you may (actually you will) lose sleep. It also doesn't help that ghostly, undead hands invade the river bed (see picture below the title cover). Each and every one of them slowly and limply float toward Mario and try to hold him down. Definitely my all time creepiest moment in any Mario game.














The next creepy moment I'm talking about is Bogmire, the second boss of Luigi's Mansion. Like I probably said in many articles already, almost every creepy thing was pretty much removed from Luigi's Mansion. Well, I think they left one thing behind. The first thing I want mention is his freaky appearance. He looks a little like a Purple Puncher ghost that got mangled and had its arms ripped off. Second, I want to mention when he appears. First off, he appears in a rather creepy graveyard. You suck up three skeleton ghosts, then the main headstone starts glowing. When walking up to it, this happens:




You then get warped to a graveyard-like arena with creepy music. In battle, Bogmire makes shadows of himself, varying in size. When you are sucking one up, it lets out otherworldly moans and howls, which Bogmire will let out a few times while getting captured, too. While weird, it is still an overall fun battle.











Next is the Old Chateau in Pokemon Diamond, Pearl and Platinum Versions. It rests in the deepest parts of the Eterna Forest. I may be repeating myself since I wrote an article on it a while back, but I guess I just have to repeat myself. Old Chateau is and old and rather small mansion. Not much is in it but some Gastly and the Old Gateau. A ghost of a girl and a butler appear, but you can't interact with them. After completing the Sinnoh Pokedex (in Diamond and Pearl), you can catch the Ghost/Electric Pokemon, Rotom. You can only do it during night hours, or you can forward your DS clock. It's a lot more fun to do it at night, in a dark and silent room. For anything I have failed to mention, refer to this article I wrote about the Old Chateau:
http://thisisnintendo.blogspot.com/2012/07/place-of-day-old-chateau.html










Creepy Steeple is the location of the fourth Crystal Star in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Judging by the picture, yes, this place is rather creepy. First off is the music. It's not as creepy as River Twygz, but is still bone chilling. The music is pretty much stereotypical Halloween music with a few spine tingling, radiant sounds. The appearance is overall dark and devious. In the foyer, Boos float throughout the area and will throw him out if he stays around too long. However, they are an optional boss battle, which is an Atomic Boo.

The boss is the shadow thief, Doopliss, whose name is not known yet. During battle, he appears to take the form of a shadow version of Mario. I want to save the rest, but here's Doopliss:





He doesn't look all that threatening, he actually isn't to be honest, but he does make the steeple fairly stranger.











Next is a rather creepy character. He's not exactly an important one, but I still felt like he should be mentioned  here. He is Ghost T. from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. He appears in chapter 6 on the Excess Express. He appears in cabin 004, which at first appears vacant. Mario later gets a report from the conductor saying that a passenger without a ticket is in there and is holding onto a blanket. Mario goes in to find nothing, or so he thinks. If he uses Vivian's Veil to hide, this specter appears, causing many kid's hearts to nearly stop. He tells Mario that he died on the Excess Express a long time ago, apparently from some sort of food poisoning. He offers Mario the said blanket, but for a price. Ghost T. left his diary on the train and wants no one to read it. Mario gets the diary, but he dares not read it. If he does read it, Ghost T. immediately knows and kills Mario instantly, giving an automatic game over. If you do want to read it, just at least save first. Mario gives him the diary for the blanket. Ghost T. is then ready to go "above", but decides to stay because the train is comfortable. Though a light hearted character, his appearance and the music that plays when talking to him is overall creepy.


































Lavender Town is a small town in Pokemon Red, Blue, Yellow, Firered and Leafgreen, along with a small appearance in Gold, Silver, Crystal, Heartgold and Soulsilver. It is rumored for various ghost sightings. In it is the Pokemon Tower, a pokemon graveyard. Ghosts appear all around and are fairly disturbing at first.

















Most of the ghosts are simple Gastly, Haunter and strangely Cubone. They can be seen normally by using the Silph Scope that you find in Team Rocket's hideout. Near the end, a real ghost makes an appearance. Using the scope identifies it as a ghost Marowak that was killed by Team Rocket. It must be beaten in battle in order to continue. The ghosts can be a little creepy at first, but they just take a little getting used to. What I thought was weird was that nearly every trainer in the tower was possessed until they are beaten in battle. In Gold, Silver, Crystal, Heartgold and Soulsilver, the graves in the tower were moved to turn the tower into a radio tower. I wonder how many angry ghosts are there now?











Here, I'm going to talk about a small incident in Luigi's Mansion. When going into the Telephone Room and talking on the phone, look carefully at Luigi's shadow when the lightning strikes. The shadow looks as if Luigi is hanging from the ceiling. It's not even in the same formation as Luigi, but instead looks rather limp. It has not been confirmed if this was a mistake by Nintendo or intentional. Many believe that it was to be a warning from the Boos.










This isn't really much of a creepy moment but more of an unexpected experience. I remember getting used to catching regular ghosts, until I got to the Study. I walk inside to see this guy sitting in his chair and minding his own business. I was all like "What in the world?!" and ran off instantly. After gaining some bravery, I walked back inside to try to catch him. After he gave nothing but a simple yawn, I was able to catch him. I then knew that there were more like him. He and the other ghosts were not as creepy as Bogmire, but I still remember this fully well.











The next creepy moment in my little list is the World of Nothing from Super Paper Mario. If anyone has played the game, you already know about the void that is supposed to swallow everything. However, when you get to chapter 6's Sammer Kingdom, the void is unexpectedly closer. When Mario reaches the second part of the chapter, the void is ready to consume the kingdom. Mario is instantly warped back to Flipside, but the door to the kingdom remained. He returns to find a lifeless, white world. Pillars from the castle still appear poking out of the ground and are rather sad looking in appearance. The music make the mood rather worse with its creepy sounds, though not as creepy as River Twygz. You then have to walk across this lifeless world for I say around a boring and depressing seven minutes. Once you meet the end, you have to battle Mr. L once again. After defeating him, you find the sixth Pure Heart, but it is lifeless and made of stone.












The final creepy moment I will talk about is the Ghost Ship from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. You first learn of it in the pictograph shop on Windfall Island. Supposedly, a man created a chart to track the Ghost Ship, but he died after he finished it. The ship is the location of one of the Triforce charts, so it must be vistited. However, when you see it and try to board it, you pass right through it. You must find that chart I mentioned earlier.




According to the chart, the ship will appear in certain places depending on the lunar phase. I expected the Ghost Ship to be creepy and filled with ghost pirates. I was half right, but the ship looked more like a small submarine. There are many undead enemies, but no pirates. The mainly creepy enemy was this thing:




That's a ReDead, something worthy of mentioning on this list. Whenever it attacks, it lets out a haunting, ghostly scream that paralyzes Link in his tracks. If it is close to Link when it does this, it will jump onto his back and gnaw on his head until he's weak. While I'm still talking about the ship, I might as well mention this:






If you look into the room in which the treasure chest is held, a haunting smile is staring at you, however, if you are close to it, it is nothing more than a bleak face.





That wraps it up for my creepiest and weird moments in Nintendo gaming. Thank you and have a happy Halloween.











Monday, September 24, 2012

Top 10 Favorite Mario Kart 64 Tracks

Today, I would like to show you my favorite Mario Kart 64 tracks of all times, so sit back and enjoy.


10. Wario Stadium




Number 10 goes to Wario Stadium in the Star Cup. The track appears to be a motocross styled track
completely surrounded by walls. It's a fairly long track with barely any obstacles, so it may get a little dull in Time Trials, but you may enjoy it when playing with friends. As I said before it is a stadium surrounded by walls. Pictures of Wario are seen on the outer walls and a large screen can be seen, usually showing your racer and all your actions, including if you pause the game. Overall, you may enjoy Wario Stadium, but it may also get a little old after a while.


9. Royal Raceway






The nine position goes to Royal Raceway in the Star Cup. This track is fairly interesting track.
Piranha Plants chill on sides of the track, waiting for you to run into them. Near the end is a pond that is nearly impossible to dodge. While the track is fun, joyful and upbeat, there is one main reason why this track is up here. Why, well, here you go:





If you look to the right, you see the castle. You may think I just blew a gasket, but the castle model and area are the exact same from Super Mario 64. I felt that it was a very neat easter egg. It's also explorable, so you can look through it in Time Trials just to do so.



8. Frappe Snowland





Eight is Frappe Snowland of the Flower Cup. The track is a snowy field with some snow filled trees. Two ice sculptures, one of Mario and one of Yoshi, appear on the track. The Mario one is seen in the main picture above, so here is a picture with the Yoshi one in it:


Yoshi was definitely ready for winter.



Throughout the track are snowmen that will toss you in the air if you hit them. They tend to get annoying, especially if you reach the end of the track.







This track is pretty fun, if you don't mind armies of motionless snowmen. It is still fun to play on this track with friends or by yourself.



7. Kalimari Desert




Seven goes to Kalimari Desert of the Mushroom Cup. It is a large, vast desert with a railroad in the middle. The train on it will tend to block your path, but a good challenge is to try to make it across the track before it hits you. If it does run into you, you will go flying into the air. It is also very fun to watch your no brain computer opponents run into it while you watch them suffer. The railroad and tunnel on it also acts as an alternate route to the finish line, not so much of a shortcut if you don't have a Star. The track returned in Mario Kart 7, without the ability to enter the tunnel. 



6. Yoshi Valley





Six goes to Yoshi Valley of the Special Cup. It is a large maze-like canyon. Due to its many paths, it is not known who is in what place, have the 1st through 4th place tiles showing a question mark instead of the racer's face. Throughout the course are hedgehogs that can cause the racer to spin out of control. Near the end of the course is a giant, spinning Yoshi egg, which can crush the racer flat. The best tactic for this maze is to know the quickest route to the finish line. 



5. Bowser's Castle





Five is Bowser's Castle of the Star Cup. It is basically Bowser's Castle, only as a race track. It is surrounded by lava and is filled with Thwomps. Strangely, the bushes in the courtyard cause you to spin out of control. Running into a Thwomp causes you to spin out of control and getting crushed causes you to, well, get crushed. Near the beginning of the course, there is a green Thwomp.





It serves no threat or purpose to the racer, though it was nicknamed Marty by fans.




4. Choco Mountain






Four is Choco Mountain of the Flower Cup. This track always caught my good side. It is a rather laid back track with barely any obstacle, upbeat music, and good scenery. Running into walls while in the air can cause you to crash, but that is only possible if you are too careless. Near the end, boulders crash onto the course and can run into the player, but they are rather easy to dodge. Overall, this track is rather enjoyable and was good for Mario Kart 64.



3. D.K.'s Jungle Parkway





Number three goes to D.K.'s Jungle Parkway of the Special Cup. This is a pretty fun jungle themed track that is very laid back. On the side, a paddle boat can be seen throughout the track's river. Something also lurks the jungle, because if your kart hits the grass, something constantly throws something at the racer. Besides that there are pretty much no obstacles.



2. Rainbow Road



Number two goes to the long, colorful Rainbow Road of the Special Cup. While some scoff at it for being incredibly long, I love this course for many reasons. These include the beautiful music, the colorful drive and these wonderful things:







Easily the neons, which give the track a wonderful touch. The track is a fairly enjoyable ride. There is barely any gravity on the track, so it is very easy to fall off of it when doing big jumps. Chain Chomps also invade the course so try to dodge those. Anyway, that's about it for this course, so here's number one.


And here it is, but many may be shocked.




1. Toad's Turnpike





The final track that gets the 1st place spot is Toad's Turnpike of the Flower Cup. This course always was always on my good side, mostly because I like the theme. It is an interstate at night filled with cars, trucks and buses. Getting hit by one causes the racer to fly into the air. Throughout it are graffiti spray paintings of Toad, pretty much why it gets the name, Toad's Turnpike. The track's in a simple figure eight style, but the vehicles still give a small challenge. In mirror mode the vehicles race toward you, giving you more of a challenge.


Doesn't look too bad






Alright, are you ready for a challenge?


And that concludes my favorite racecourses from Mario Kart 64. Thank you for reading and please stay around for more in the future.



Saturday, June 23, 2012

Top 10 Favorite Things About New Unova

As we know, Black 2 and White 2 will have plenty of new features. Since it was released today in Japan, I feel like it should be time to say my 10 favorite things that will happen in the new games in no order.

10. More Areas

If anyone else has played Black and White, many of us would agree that Unova was nothing more than a large oval, but we now know that there will be plenty of new areas to explore in Black 2 and White 2. Finally found a good map with only Black 2 and White 2 locations thanks to Bulbapedia.

Old map
New map













Looking at them, the map to the left has a lot more to explore compared to the original. Many new areas include Aspertia City, Virbank City, a new cave that is made of magma in one version and just a cold wet cave in the other and may more to know.

9. New Leaders

New leaders are to be in the game. I expected there to be many, but there are only going to be three. The last five are all from Black and White. Still new challenges, so game is still refreshed.

8. World Tournament

This is a new feature where tournament is held consisting of past gym leaders which you get to battle. It feels to me like a good replacement to the Battleground in Platinum. Supposedly, Gym leaders will be downloaded to the game when they are released.

7. Pokemon Dream Radar

The Dream Radar is the upcoming app for the 3DS that allows you to catch pokemon and transfer them to your copy of Black 2 or White 2. It is unique because it is 3DS exclusive, giving 3DS users something to be proud of. I can't wait to download it and try it.

6. Frozen Unova

When I saw the frozen map, I thought it just covering up things that Game Freak was hiding. Apparently the region is frozen in certain parts according to pre-released pictures. Since all technical difficulties have been eliminated, I can finally put up this frozen picture and I will try to find more in the future.

5. Continuing Story

In Black and White, many answers were untold, like where N went, who is the Shadow Triad, what happens to the Sages after they are arrested, what is the complete backstory of the two women in N's Castle, and many more. According to what I see, many of these questions will be answered.

4. Exclusive Pokemon

The three pokemon, Keldeo, Meloetta and Genesect were known before Black and White were released, but were never revealed. According to Game Freak, Black 2 and White 2 will be the right time for these pokemon to come around.

3. Pokewood

Pokewood is a new movie theater in which you can help make movies. To me, it sounds like a fairly good alternative for Musicals, which get fairly boring after a while. While I am not sure how it will 100% work, I'm sure it will be great.

2. Black and White Kyurem

Kyurem's new forms are very exciting for me since they are the new mascots. They are always welcome in my book. Also, they are rather interesting to see and make me wonder what is going to happen.

1. Expanded Pokedex

To me, an expanded pokedex is always welcome. Compared to before, the pokedex will have 300 pokemon, consisting of pokemon from previous generations. Some pokemon I wanted made it in, some did not, either way, I'm happy that more older pokemon are going to have another appearance (but Zubat?!).


And these are why I can't wait for Black 2 and White 2 (but seriously, Zubat??!!).