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Should Mario Kart games include story modes?

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The Mario Kart series has been around since the early 90’s and almost every game that has been released since then has been considered a classic.  When it comes down to racing titles the Super Mario Kart series is the best in regards to Nintendo based game consoles.  The Grand Prix and the Battle modes for various Mario Kart games were exciting which contributed to the replay value of many titles in the series.  Despite, the Mario Kart series being around for a very long time some people cannot help but notice that Nintendo has never developed any type of story mode for any of the games.  Some would argue that the lack of story modes contained in the Mario Kart games contributes to appeal of the series since Grand Prix mode gives players more freedom opposed to being forced to choose certain characters in a campaign mode.

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When it comes down to racing titles there have been some from the past  such as Sonic Riders that were able to successfully develop interesting stories along with having a variety of different game modes to choose from.    The original Sonic Riders game allowed players to complete the Heroes and the Babylonian story arc with characters from each group.  In addition with completing the story mode of Sonic Riders players had the ability to unlock more hidden characters along with bonus racing items which felt very rewarding afterwards.   Many people would agree that there is nothing wrong with the formula that Nintendo has used for many years to make the Mario Kart series appealing in regards to game modes and gameplay.  However, if future Mario Kart games featured story modes with cinematic cutscenes in addition to the usual Grand Prix and Battle Modes it would look amazing especially on the Nintendo Switch game console.

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Should there be a new game based on the Power Rangers movie?

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When it comes down to the Power Rangers series the first two seasons are among the many that instantly comes to mind.  The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series was legendary and was arguably one of the best television shows of the early 90’s.  When Mighty Morphin Power Rangers became popular back then there were several games that were developed for various consoles such as Super Nintendo and the Sega Genesis.  When it comes down Power Ranger video games many of the titles that were released during the Mighty Morphin series were hit and miss. While some people loved the side scrolling beat em up genre better others preferred the head to head fighting titles.

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If there were a new game made for the most recent Power Rangers movie one of the questions that many people have is what genre would it be.  The side scrolling beat em genre is one that has declined in popularity since the 90’s.  Despite, its decline in popularity side scrolling beat em up games are generally fun to play and does a decent job in terms of storytelling.  While one on one fighting titles are also fun the storytelling elements of that genre might not be as good as the side scrolling beat em up titles.

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When Banpresto had developed a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers game for the Sega Genesis in 1994 they found a way to maintain a healthy balance between the fighting and storytelling aspects of the game.  However, when Natsume had developed the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Fighting Edition for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in the early 90’s it was just a regular head to head fighting game.  There was no story included in the MMPR Fighting Edition game but was still a fun title to play.   While the one on one fighting genre is a good option for any type of Power Rangers title having side scrolling beat em up gameplay would probably be a better fit.  But there could be some additional options such as developing a MMPR role playing game.  Since the RPG’s are more popular now than it has been in recent memory there are many fans of the series who wouldn’t mind seeing the Power Rangers Movie return within genre.

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Will we see a new Metroid game for the Nintendo Switch?

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As many people know the Metroid series has been very popular on various game consoles since the very original game was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System back in the 80’s.   The idea of not having a Metroid game on any type of Nintendo console seems hard to imagine for some people who grew up loving the series.  Since its release there have been many Metroid titles that fans and critics alike approved from Super Metroid to Metroid Prime.  While countless gamers loved the 16 bit Super Metroid game which was released in the early 90’s for the SNES others belive that Metroid Prime was quite possibly one of the best 3D action adventure games that one could play on the Nintendo GameCube.

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Not only did both games provide excellent revenue through sales for Nintendo but many fans would also agree with that both titles had a high replay value.  While some may argue that Metroid: Other M was a pretty cool game they might not agree that it was not quite as good as  Metroid: Fusion.  However, graphics and the gameplay for Metroid: Other M were both amazing for the Nintendo Wii.  Since the release of Metroid: Other M the game has sold over one million copies worldwide. In terms of overall sales everyone knows that Metroid 3: Corruption for the Wii was the best selling game in the series.  Since the Metroid series is still popular and have continued to do great in terms of sales it probably would not surprise to many people if Nintendo made a new game fore the brand new Switch Console in the near future.

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Retro Games- Shining In The Darkness: (1990)

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The RPG titles for the Sega Genesis were always special especially those that were featured in the Shining series.  One of the many games in the Shining series for the Sega Genesis that some people found interesting was Shining In The Darkness which released in the early 90’s.  The plot for Shining in the Darkness is very basic and has the main character rescuing a king’s daughter along with his father while going on a journey to discover the Arms of Light.  The plot for Shining In The Darkness takes place in a place known as the Kingdom of Thornwood and has people playing throughout the game in various 3D Dungeon Mazes to thwart the plans of the main antagonist known as Dark Sol.  While Shining In The Darkness is an adventurous turn based RPG title for the Sega Genesis its also known to be one of the first games in the Shining series.  The visual design, sound and gameplay for Shining In The Darkness were all qualities that made the game itself appealing.

The graphics for the Shining In the Darkness was probably one of the best in terms of RPG games back in the early 90’s especially in comparison to games such as Final Fantasy III & VI for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.  While the Sega Genesis was not well known for being a console that specialized in role playing games Shining In The Darkness was a game that paved the way for other titles within its genre during the early 90’s .  Even though, Shining In The Darkness was known mainly as a dungeon crawler game for the Sega Genesis it was still considered to be an excellent prequel to the Shining Force I & II.  When it came down to popular RPG titles of the 16 bit era Camelot Software Planning  was responsible for developing one of the coolest game series for the Sega Genesis along with the likes of Phantasy Star.

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Will There Ever Be A Sequel To Soul Calibur 5?

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As most of us know it has been at least five years since Soul Calibur was released for various game consoles including the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360.  While many people have different opinions about the story and the characters included in Soul Calibur V they could all mutually agree that the game deserves some type of sequel.  While the improved in game mechanics in Soul Calibur V were amazing there are a few things that many people would love to see in a potential sequel if Project Soul ever decides to make one.  If Namco & Project Soul ever decides to make another Soul Calibur title they should definitely bring back some games modes that were popular in some of the previous installments. In terms of offline gameplay some of the coolest game modes that were featured in the Soul Calibur series included “Tower of Souls”(from SC IV) , Chronicles of the Sword (from SC III) and Quick Battle mode (from SC V).  Along with the gameplay, story mode and visual designs the offline content in many previous installments of the Soul Calibur series each game very fun to play.

Along with having great offline content many people are anxious to see certain characters return if Project Soul ever decides to make a sequel to Soul Calibur V. While many would agree that some of the most popular characters of the Soul Calibur series such as Ivy, Mitsuugi and Siegfriend and Nightmare should be in the game they would also like to see the return of other characters that were not included in SC V.  Characters that many people would love to see make a return includes Sophitia, Taki, Cassandra and others that many people were looking forward to seeing in Soul Calibur V before its release in 2012.  While many fans of the Soul Calibur series would love to see the return of characters from the older installments it would be questionable whether or not Namco & Project Soul decides to include some of their newest characters such as: Patroklos, Pyrrha, Viola and Natsu.  If Namco & Project Soul ever decides to make a sequel to Soul Calibur V it would be a dream come to many people who have been waiting for another  game for the past five years.

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Role Playing Games- The Legend of Zelda: (1986)

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There were many cool things about the 80’s including music, culture, movies and games such as The Legend of Zelda.  When this game was first released during the 80’s many people were interested about various aspects of the game including Link’s quest to retrieve pieces of the Tri-force as he travels throughout various dungeons in Hyrule.  The Legend of Zelda was a very significant game because it paved the ways for many RPG games during the 90’s and the 00’s with the inclusion of overworld map features. Also, many people know that the Legend of Zelda was the first game to ever include a battery powered save feature which would allow people to continue where they left off following a previous play session.  The features included in this game was groundbreaking especially for the Nintendo Entertainment System because during the 1980’s platform games such as Super Mario and MegaMan was very popular and the The Legend of Zelda provided something that was just as good but different.

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The Legend of Zelda you with the experience of traveling throughout many different dungeons while utilizing many secret underground passages in order to collect different parts of the Tri-Force.  Around the beginning of the game the obstacles could prove to be a bit overwhelming since one must battle various creatures at once while controlling Link.  There are nine dungeons that Link must explore the complete his quest but it would be considered a task which is easier said than done.  The Legend of Zelda is a game where players can become better through trail and error since there are so many ways for one to lose in this game.  However, despite the obstacles the game presents Link has the opportunity to gain various weapons such as his sword, boomerang, and his sword.  While gaining the sword is optional in this game it would almost be considered a necessity considering the amount of opposition one faces in this game.

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Even though, The Legend of Zelda presents numerous challenges players also have the opportunity to expand their health bar throughout the duration of the game if they are very careful. Once you got towards the end of level 9 and defeat Ganon it feels like a weight has been lifted because since it was probably one of the toughest dungeons in the whole game.  While the ending doesn’t seem like much after Link rescues Zelda the amount of time invested into completing the game was a reward of itself.  After the initial release of the original Legend of Zelda game many people could not have predicted that the game would spur a series of titles sequels for over the next two decades following its release in 1986.   At this point it has been at least 30 years since the Legend of Zelda series began. Considering  the impact that The Legend of Zelda series had on the gaming industry since its inception many would be inclined to agree that it would be one of the greatest RPG creations of all time.

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Retro Gaming- Fable: (2004)

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We all remember the original Fable title when it was first released for the Xbox game console in 2004.  The original Fable game was  developed by Big Blue Box Studios & Lionhead Studios along with being published by Microsoft Studios. Fable was such a great role playing game since it included the freedom of choice in this game allowed players to do almost anything they wanted.  The alignment system in Fable is one of the key features that stands out because the actions of the main character affects not only their appearance but also the story itself.  Fable also included realistic features such as the characters health being affected by their diet along with appearances having the power to either attract or repel other individuals in terms of interaction.

The main character of Fable is assisted by a famous hero known as Maze after his village was invaded and all of his family were seemingly killed in the process.  Eventually, it was discovered that the Hero’s sister survived the invasion and was living in a bandit camp after being accepted by the leader who was known as TwinBlade.  The irony about this was the fact that the Bandit King was also considered to be a hero prior to his current lifestyle. After infiltrating the bandit camp and defeating Twinblade  the player as the option of either destroying him versus sparing his life.  The same option is also give to the main protagonist when they cross paths with an old friend named Whisper after defeating her in an arena battle ran by Jack of Blade.  As the story continues the main character makes some shocking discoveries such as Jack of Blades being responsible for the attack on his village along with is mother being imprisoned.

To make matters worse the main character is betrayed by his trainer Maze only to discover that he was working for Jack of Blades.  However, the main character eventually got his revenge on Maze which was great especially since it happened after he was imprisoned for a year and kidnapped his sister.  After defeating Maze the main character eventually defeats Jack of Blades but his victory is bittersweet since he ended up losing his mother in the process. Following Jack of Blade’s defeat the player has the option of keeping the Sword of Aeons versus destroying it which was interesting since the game had multiple endings depending on the choices one made throughout the game.  The inclusion of multiple endings based on choices made was great because it would urge people to play throughout the entire game more than once to see each ending. Along with the inclusion of the multiple endings and the freedom of choice there were various side quests players that players could participate in that would allow them to get additional hours of gameplay.

About a year after this title was made its debut a re-release of the game entitled Fable: “Lost Chapters” had featured an extension of the story.  In Fable: Lost Chapters players were charged with the task of defeating Jack of Blades a second time.  The only difference with Fable: Lost Chapters is that the player must capture Jack’s soul in a mask and is then given the option to destroy it or not.   The cool thing about Fable: Lost Chapters is that the player can ultimately decide their fate along with gaining possession of another sword that is just as powerful as “The Sword of Aeons.” When Fable was first released in 2004 many people thought that it was quite possibly one of the best RPG titles they have every played on the Xbox.

Based on the great qualities that Fable had featured including concept, gameplay, and graphics this game was without a doubt a legendary RPG title in the making that people had to play if they owned an Xbox.  After its initial release GamePro came very close to giving Fable a five star rating while IGN scored this title in the nine point bracket out of ten.   While the original Fable game along with “Lost Chapters” was very popular in 2004 & 2005 the series would only improve when Fable II was released for the Xbox 360 in 2008.

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Retro Gaming- Star Wars the Old Republic: (2011)

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There have been many cool games in the MMORPG genre for over the past fifteen years specially in the 00’s decade.  Various titles such as World of Warcraft, Phantasy Star, StarCraft II, and Lords of the Rings Online are the type of games that we normally think about in regards to popular MMORPG’s.  It was throughout the 00’s decade along with the early 10’s when online gaming started to become more popular especially for PC users because of the amount of social interaction that usually occurred. While there have been many great MMORPG’s that were popular in the 00’s we have also started off the 10’s decade some very exciting titles.  Star Wars the Old Republic was an MMORPG that was developed by BioWare  and published by Electronic Arts almost five years ago in late 2011.

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As many of us know the Old Republic is the second Star Wars game to be released in the MMORPG genre following its  prequel Star Wars Galaxies in late 2003.  The Old Republic is a very exciting yet challenging game that has a lot to offer in the areas of gameplay, graphics and storytelling. When the Old Republic was first released many people were blown away by the artwork & visual design the Hero engine had produced.  Considering the fact that Star Wars the Old Republic was the first MMORPG that Bioware had produced  many people were thoroughly impressed by various aspects included in this game. First, players had the option of choosing their alignment between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire.  Second, players had freedom of choice throughout the game leading to interesting developments such as branching storylines which would affect the overall direction the character would take.

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Making decisions early in the game had a significant impact on various aspects throughout  the story such as character type.  An example, would be the idea that there were various species types such as Mirilan, Miraluka, Rattataki and Chiss.  However, certain species types were only playable depending on what one’s alignment whether it be with the Galactic Republic or the Sith Empire.  This game had also included a variety of classes for each faction which was affected by the player’s actions along with his alignment resulting from branching storylines.  Along with having various classes to choose from players are also assigned specific ships depending on their rank ranging from Bounty Hunters to Jedi Knights.

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Since its release Star Wars the Old Republic has released five different expansion packs including Rise of the Hutt Cartel, Galactic Starfighter, Galactic Strongholds, Shadow of Revan and Knights of the Fallen Empire between the years of 2013 and 2015.  As of right now many people are anticipating the release of the “Knights of Eternal Throne” pack sometime later in 2016 while playing through more recent releases such as  “Knights of the Fallen Empire.”    Along with great gameplay SWOR included some challenging boss battles with the likes of Subject Alpha, Battledroid R4-GL, The Primal Destroyer, and the Nightmare Pligrim.  However, the world  boss that was arguably the toughest was Gargath from planet Hoth.  Gargath was hard to defeat for many people because his melee & earthquake attacks took a lot of damage from players.  Also, Gargath has a very high level of endurance and which would require an entire army to destroy him.

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Almost everything about SWOR  was great from visual design to the storytelling aspects of this game. Sometimes its hard to believe that budget for Star Wars the Old Republic was over $200 million because the quality of the game made many people think it was at least twice more than it actually was.  After its initial release G4 gave this Star Wars game a perfect five star rating while IGN scored it nine out of ten.  There have been many adventurous Star Wars games in the past but Old Republic is quite possibly one of the best MMORPG titles to be released so far.

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Retro Gaming- Phantasy Star Nova: (2014)

As many of us know Phantasy Star Nova is one of the latest titles that was published by Sega and developed by Tri-Ace over two years ago for the PlayStation Vita.  Phantasy Star Nova diverted from the Multiplayer Online Role Playing format used in some of its previous games.  The Phantasy Star Online titles placed heavy emphasis on MMORPG where multiple players can interact and battle online.  Fortunately, Phantasy Star Nova also includes multiplayer gameplay but in a slightly different format.  The PlayStation Vita allows people to utilize ad-hoc Wifi to play under the same game.  Another cool thing about Phantasy Star Nova includes fact that there are twelve new characters added including the main protagonist Lutina, Seil, Phildia, Izuna, Sharon and many more.

Similar to the Phantasy Star Online series the game includes different races and class types.  The race types in this game consists of Humans, Newmans, and CAST’s while the classes are made up of Hunter, Ranger, Force and Buster.  Each class in this game is considered to be unique because they have their respective characteristics which allows them to stand out. This game also features an in-depth customization option and fantastic level designs that would players busy for many hours.  Along with those additions Phantasy Star Nova includes a newly added feature that allows players to capture creatures known as gigantes which can be used in battles in future battles.

There is also a vast amount of options in regards to weapons that characters can utilize from melee to mechanical.  Some of the options included for weapon choice involves Double Sabers, Swords, Knuckles, etc. Despite, how fun Phantasy Star Nova  is there was only a Japanese version of this game that was released in Asian markets.  Over time people many people wondered whether or not this game will ever be released in English for countries such as America.  Even though, this game is not as popular as Phantasy Star Online I & II it still has a lot of potential.  Phantasy Star Nova looked like it would have a made decent game for a home based console such as the PlayStation 3 and maybe the PS4.  Seeing that Phantasy Star Nova is one of the most recent  games in the series time can only tell on how long it will be before Sega decides to release another title.

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Retro Gaming- Final Fantasy XIII: (2009)

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As many of us know Final Fantasy XIII was released by Square Enix in late-2009.  What was cool about this game was that Square Enix decided to divide this game into two parts.  Final Fantasy XIII is one of the many games in the Fabula Nova Crystallis series along with titles such as: Final Fantasy XIII-2, Lightening Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, and Final Fantasy Type-0.  Final Fantasy XIII was a game that Square Enix has worked on since 2004 and it would be safe to say that many people were satisfied with the finished product of this game.  Similar to some of the previous games Final Fantasy XIII maintains the Active Time Battle System that was introduced in FFIV. Another similarity to some of the preceding Final Fantasy games includes the amount of characters one can have during battles.  Similar to titles such as Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XII players are only allowed to have a maximum of three characters during each battle.

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Along with a refined battle system the game includes an new leveling system know as the “Crystarium.”  This leveling system made Final Fantasy XIII more exciting to players since it contained ten levels that were unlocked throughout key points of the game.  Some would argue that the  developers used a creative approach to implement this new feature.  Others might argue that the Crystarium is similar to the Sphere Grid introduced in Final Fantasy X but with fewer options. Either way it added some variety to this title along with many other in game elements.  During battles players are only allowed to control the lead character which can seem frustrating since it would have a profound effect on different strategies players would use to defeat their opponents.  Speaking of opponents there are various bosses that many people struggle with while playing Final Fantasy XIII.

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Most of the difficulties that people have in Final Fantasy XIII are usually in Chapter eleven.  Without a doubt Barhandelus is the toughest boss in the entire game along with Hecatoncheir and Dahaka.  As one progresses throughout the game they learn more about the main characters Lighting, Snow Villiers, Sazh Katzroy, Oerba Yun Fang, and Oerba Dia Vanille and how to master their abilities to defeat fearsome foes.  After its initial release Final Fantasy XIII sold millions in Japan its first week.  Many critics and gamers approved of the outstanding graphics and fast paced gameplay. Gaming publications such as Eurogamer, Gamespot, and IGN scored part 1 of  FFXIII in the eight point bracket while Game Informer’s rating was in the nine point bracket.  Overall, Final Fantasy XIII is a very fun title that people will spend hours trying to complete due to its level of difficulty.