Poor Little Goombas

As the title says. Let's see... They have no arms nor hands, no legs, they're walking mushrooms. Yet many of them decided to work under a pretty evil turtlelike dragon. And then you wonder why they complain when they get stomped! What, did they believe nothing would go wrong?

Anyway, I'm just saying that Goombas are very weak, to the point that you gotta wonder why they even consider a career as soldiers in an evil military force (That's basically what Bowser's army is, after all). But the weirdest part os that they keep coming back! No matter how often Bowser gets beaten by Mario, there's always gonna be Goombas who'll join his side anyway. Even if it's pretty much a certitude that they'll end up as some crushed remains on the road. Oh, there are some Goombas who were smart enough to avoid this fate, as proven in Paper Mario.

Yep, poor little Goombas.

Schedule

This will probably be one of the last explanation threads, but here goes.

I already established that I post a review every Friday. But that's not all... In fact, I might need to explain how it's gonna work.

So, on Friday, I post a review (or the first part of a multi-part review). On Monday, I post a reflection about video games (the most recent one was "Can the Sonic Series Be Saved?"), OR Part 2 of a multi-part review. Believe me, there will be a lot of multi-part reviews. Of course, if I post the second part of a review, I will not write a reflection.

On Wednesdays, I post a little funny thing, a less intelligent reflection on video games. Or Part 3 of a review (there could be one of those in the future).

And it goes back to Friday, during which I either post a new review (if the preceding one is finished), OR Part 4 of a review (that too could happen, although much rarely).

And the cycle keeps going. I guess that covers it.

P.S. Am I the only blogger here that can only write in HTML? It's impossible to write in "Compose" mode!

Can the Sonic Series Be Saved?

One of my favorite game series is the Sonic series. I became a fan of them maybe four years ago, which means I got into the hype after Sonic started showing up on Nintendo consoles (Not counting the portable consoles, he began on the GameCube, correct me if I'm wrong). First were Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, then Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, then another game that compiled all the older Sonic games from the Sega consoles era. Again, not counting the protable consoles, like those Sonic games on the Game Boy Advance, on the Nintendo DS...

And then, Sonic appeared on the Wii. It's not exaggerated to say that he became very popular among the Wii players, what with his world colliding with Mario's at the Olympic Games (with a fourth game coming up in 2014), and his many adventures: Sonic and the Secret Rings, Sonic and the Black Knight, Sonic Unleashed... after those three titles, Sonic seemed to be back and running thanks to Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations, both of which received great praise. Also, Sonic 4 on the Wiiware, a game I swear I'll buy and review someday here. A game is coming out soon for the Wii U, Sonic Lost World. And though I will probably be unable to play it, I'm sure it's going to be a fun one.

But after this little history, there are other facts to take into account: Many of those games divided the Sonic fandom, to the point that now, whatever gets released by the Sonic Team will get bashed somewhere on the Internet. Can the Sonic series be saved?

Comments

Hello to all my readers! Just a small update to remind everyone that it's possible to post comments on my blog posts. So if you feel like commenting, don't be shy! I'm a nice guy who'll read into every critique and suggestion for the blog, and I'll see what I can do! Also post in question suggestions for those blog posts I spend answering to a tiopic related to video games (but remember that my field of expertise is Nintendo, and I hardly know a thing on stuff like Half-Life, Skyrim or Assassin's Creed).

And of course, if you disagree with me, you have every right to do so. After all, I'm just a normal human being with a website to give my opinions. Nothing more. My opinion isn't worth more than anyone else's, so you have the right to think differently. In fact, it would be awkward if you always thought exactly like I did.

So, comment away, and be sure I'll read every one of your messages!

So, aside from this little note, I will add this: Tomorrow's my birthday, but that doesn't mean I won't post a little something for my readers! Oh, Hell no! But expect me to discuss a subject related to video games, maybe a serious subject, maybe not. It depends on whatever question I feel like answering.

Thanks, Linkara!

I made a mention about it in the Thanks section of the blog, but here goes a longer post about it.

Approx. an hour ago, I tweeted to Lewis Lovhaug, AKA Linkara, a link to this blog. Being a very nice guy, Lewis re-tweeted the link, and suddenly the view count increased by, like, fifty. It shows that with the right contacts, your popularity can increase quickly!

...Anyway, to my readers who do not know who Linkara is, he's a contributor to That Guy With The Glasses. He made it his mission to review comics books, most of them bad... and burn them if they were bad enough. His show, Atop The 4th Wall, is one of the most watched on the site. He adds storylines to his reviews, making a whole continuity, and many story arcs are going to keep you interested all the way through.

To watch his episodes, go here, or just type "Linkara" in the Youtube search bar. If you're a fan of comics, the odds are pretty high that you'll love his show. He also has a blog here.

What else can I say? "Welcome to Atop the Fourth Wall, where bad comics burn!"

(P.S. I know Lewis has already a huge fanbase and he won't gain many fans from me promoting his stuff here; but I'm a man of honor and I'm not the kind of guy who doesn't thank people.)

Small Update

Two official reviews now, one of a GBA game, one of a DS game. This blog is becoming great.

I'm working on the next reviews at this moment. Also, you might have noticed that I tackled the subject of the other major game consoles, the Xbox and PlayStation, on another blog post. I will sometimes post such an update that will reveal my opinion on such video game issues. There will be some about the video game consoles themselves, there will be some about particular franchises, and there will also be some about the other things, such as music, voice acting and bugs in video games. Those will be categorized as "unofficial reviews" on the Reviews page (which yo can cess from the horizontal menu bar just under the title and subtitle of this blog).

There are many games that I want to review. But I try to restrict myself to only one review per week, with occasional updates like this and unofficial reviews. I might also sometimes link to great videos I've seen on Youtube or fan works that are pretty interesting.

Big Brain Academy DS

I consider myself an intelligent man. A tad quirky, with a natural preference for cracking jokes and telling puns, smart enough to know how wrong the world can be, but smart enough to see the good in it. And quite frankly, while I applaud the idea of games with sole purpose to test one's intelligence, it doesn't mean these games are worth this much. I'm not saying they're bad! I'm just saying that people will largely prefer the thrill of a RPG or the constant tension caused by the worlds filled with dangers of a platformer. Not to mention the incredible fun one can have carjacking innocent citizens in Grand Theft Auto, or just shoot around in a war zone.

But Big Brain Academy, as its name indicates, is as awesome as an IQ test. Oh, IQ tests are fun. But not as fun as blowing a monster's head off.

The Other Companies

Just because I play mostly on the Wii doesn't mean I don't listen when we get news from the other major gaming companies.I heard recently about the XBox One and the PlayStation 4.

Personally, I will always prefer the everyone-friendly controls of the Nintendo games, especially the newer  generations (anyone can play a DS game that uses only the stylus, and anyone can play Wii motion sensor games such as Just Dance). And the other consoles cost too much, anyway, and with my financial situation I would be broke buying one of them.

Blog still in construction

Even though I'm going to post a review this Friday, I still feel like updating today with this.
The blog was created last Friday, the very same day I posted the review of Crash and Spyro Superpack. As a result, I still feel the need to change a few things once in a while. You might call this blog "still in construction".

Also, you might have noticed, as you were scrolling down the main page, that I added a section about the upcoming reviews. Note that the dates are subject to change depending on how fast I feel like updating (though there will always be an update on every Friday). This also lets you see which games will be reviewed next, and approximately when.

I think about adding a page about me. Seeing as I write this blog and most of you have no idea who I am, I suppose it's just right to do this. The only problem is that I wonder how I could show this page on a horizontal menu on the blog, just under the title and slogan. And maybe I could add more pages like this afterwards...

I'm also thinking of making a more stylized title. This blog might change quite a bit in the next days.

WeirdWare

I talked about it in yesterday's post, now here it is! An overview of the strangest things you can find in the Wii Shop Channel's Wiiware.

I like to call these jewels of bizarre WeirdWares.

First thoughts

It's always this way with a new blog; you get little views, and it can take a while before you get recognition for what you do. There are blogs out there with even more frequent updates and still get only a few readers each time.

Although, that's not the worst part with a weekly update: I think it's having to wait for the update day to arrive. My review of Crash & Spyro came out last Friday, and I'm already wishing for this Friday to come faster. I actually try not to write too many reviews ahead of time, and this is really difficult.

While it is true that I have many games that do have a story, I try reviewing those without a story first, or an excuse story. That happens especially in videogames that were not made to have a story anyway. And there's a LOT of games like this, especially on the Nintendo DS where gimmick-y games are legions. There's not much of those on the Game Boy Advance, and I have more story-driven Wii games. It seems the gimmick Wii games are found mostly in the WiiWare you can buy on the Wii Shop Channel.

... A software recreating the experience of a fireplace? Really? Remind me to write a post once in a while about the oddities you can find among the WiiWare games...

Small update

For the next review, I'll review a DS game. One without an actual story.

It might go like this: GBA game - DS game - Another DS game - Wii game - Virtual Console or WiiWare game - Top 10 List. And then I'll go back to the GBA games, and then go back and forth.

Another little thing that I have to remember: Some of the reviews will take up more than one blog message. The reason is that there are games out there with increiby complex stories, and writing it all in a single message would make it way too long. However, all the blog messages of these serials will contain elements related to a review.

Also, if you comment on this blog post, tell me which of those you'd like to see me do:
-Write once in a while a blog post regarding an issue related to video games
-Tell ahead of time the games that I will review
-Let the readers decide which game will be reviewed next
-Post sometimes videos of things found on Internet and related to videogames

By the way

While I intend to write this blog as mostly a video game review blog, I might drop once in a while a funny thought on the world, a little reflection on the geekdom, or just a little review of something else I feel like talking about. Don't worry though, I added many labels that will help each and every one of you seeking for true video game reviews and will filter through the useless junk. ;)

So, if I ever feel like writing a film review, you might see it pop up here. I might also suggest once in a while something that I enjoy on the Internet. With such a behemoth, there's got to be a number of things out there that I like that you, too, will like.

Until next time!

Crash and Spyro Superpack

What happens when you try to make a crossover game? If your plan is to have characters from multiple franchises appear in the game, it could become a complete mess. But the team behind the Super Smash Bros. series seem to be doing pretty good. However, there are other crossovers out there that might have been better if they hadn't been.

That's the case for Crash And Spyro Superpack.

This GBA game came out in 2005, and is a compilation of two games: Crash Purple: Ripto's Revenge, and Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy. Those are two games that also came out on the GBA. Heh, both were so short that you can put them on the same GBA cartridge, that says a lot.

For the record...

Just to be clear, here's all the games I presently own.

Intro Message

Hello, and welcome to Planned All Along, a fabulous Web series where I review video games! ...Huh? It's a blog? Eh, it's gonna work anyway.

Okay, the fact is that I would have preferred to make a Web Series, one that I would have created with a big storyline. All this is much easier to do in a video, as it doesn't seem that great when it's just written. The reader doesn't get the direct feeling from the reviewer, because the reviewer is not seen reacting. But I'll have to do with that, because I don't have a camera, and while I do write pretty good stories, it's pointless to put them in a blog that does not center on literary creativity. Maybe my acting alents wouldn't have been good enough. And of course, starting a blog to review video games isn't exactly a fresh idea; I'm not the first one who doesn't have a camera and has to find a way around that problem. Then again, starting a review web series on video games isn't new either, what with the James Rolfes, Noah Antwilers, Justin Carmichaels and Chris Boreses - Okay, bad example for that last one - out there.