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Retro Gaming 00’s- Mega Man Zero: (2002)

As many people know the Mega Man series was very popular during the NES/SNES era of gaming from ’87-’96. There also a couple MegaMan games such as X4 & X5 that appeared on the PS1 between ’97-’00 that many people were quite fond of. It seemed like the MegaMan series began to go down downhill following the 90’s. Even though, the series did not receive as much mainstream attention hardcore fans still liked the Mega Man Zero game that appeared on Game Boy Advance back in 2002. Mega Man Zero had an interesting plot were the setting of the game took place a century following the Mega Man series and saw the reploid Zero as the main character opposed to X. In fact, the story for this game was very intriguing because the main villain of the game was a copy of Mega Man X who strived for world peace. Copy X can be seen more as a anti-villain because despite his good intentions he ultimately became a dictator. Copy X wanted to eliminate all Reploids who opposed his will while controlling Neo Arcadia in the process. In order to stop Copy X players control Zero and have to compete various levels before battling the Four Guardians before reaching him.

Despite, its level of difficulty Mega Man Zero was still popular enough to spawn three sequels between ’03-’05. Mega Man Zero was praised for various features such as being able to quit certain missions while progressing through the game along with its visuals. Others from previous installments of the Mega Man series returned in this game such as gaining and utilizing the powers of defeated bosses which would ultimately prove to be helpful against tougher opponents towards the end of the game. It was pretty cool seeing a Mega Man game where Zero was in the spotlight and felt somewhat refreshing to the series in general since he was very popular following his debut in Mega Man X back in ’93. Mega Man Zero was definitely one of the better games within the series that the gaming world got a chance to see during the 00’s; this game looked like something that could have been an attraction on the SNES or PS1 during the mid to late 90’s. While Mega Man Zero was not quite as popular as Mega Man X or the NES titles from the series from the late 80’s-early 90’s it was still a memorable classic for the Game Boy Advance that some people still have fond memories about.

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Retro Gaming 00’s- King Of Fighters XII: (2009)

When we think about cool fighting games from the late 00’s that were memorable classics titles such as Street Fighter IV, Tekken 6 and Soul Calibur IV are all games that instantly come mind. While the three games just mentioned were all fantastic fighting titles there were games such as King Of Fighters XII from ’09 that does not get talked about as much as should. In fact, King Of Fighters XII is a game that was quite possibly underrated and definitely overshadowed during the late 00’s. Despite, not having a storyline similar to that of KOF ’98 or KOF 2002 this game saw the return of three vs three gameplay which has been a feature that has been apart of the series since 90’s. It should also be noted that King Of Fighters XII has removed a gameplay feature that was popular in KOF 2003 known as the “Tactical Shift System”. While SNK had decided to remove a gameplay mechanic they added something new known as the “Critical Counter System” which some would argue was a better feature than the “Tactical Shift System”. While players had limited time to link their attacks ending it all with a special move it was a feature that almost any character could use. The Tactical Shift System from KOF 2003 seemed like it was set up to benefit the leader of a team more than anything since they had exclusive accessories to certain moves during battles.

Also the inclusion of gameplay mechanics such as “Guard Attack” and “Clash Attack” both added to the overall quality to battles that took place in KOF XII. Along with having improved gameplay in comparison to the likes of KOF XI from 2005 King Of Fighters XII saw the return of popular characters such as Joe Higashi, Lori Yagami, Terry Bogard, Andy Bogard, Robert Garcia, Ryo Sakazaki and more. Despite, the fact that SNK was still utilizing 2D sprites for the character models it was perfectly fine since they looked highly refined. In fact, some people would argue that King Of Fighters XII looked nicer and had more robust gameplay than Street Fighter IV from 2008. However, many would argue that King Of Fighters XI was a more solid entry than KOF XII in general. The presentation of King Of Fighters XII was good enough to capture the attention of those who were casual fans of the fighting genre of gaming. Also, SNK did make an effort to apply technical changes in KOF XII opposed to giving us the same exact thing from KOF XI with better aesthetics. While King Of Fighters XII May not have been the best fighting game from the late 00’s its definitely one that deserves more recognition than it receives.

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Should Persona 3 be remastered for the PS4?

When we think about some of the most popular RPG games from the mid 00’s one of the few titles that instantly comes to mind is Persona 3 from 2006. After Persona 3 was initially released back in July 2006 the game was seen as quite arguably the best RPG of that year. While Persona 3 appeared on the PS2 and the PlayStation Vita there are people who always question why the RPG classic never appeared on the PS3 especially considering the fact that the game console came out in November 2006. A remastered version of Persona 3 never happened and we ended up getting Persona 4 on the PS3 later in 2008. Despite, how popular Persona 3 was following its release it seemed like the success of Persona 4 took on a life of its own; we saw television series along with an animated film for Persona 4 between 2011-2015. Also, Persona 5 which came out back in 2016 was very successful and is one that people argue is one of the greatest RPG’s ever made. More people are looking forward to seeing the release of Persona 5: Royal Edition in future even more so than are to seeing a remastered version of Persona 3.

If Atlus wanted to release a remastered version of Persona 3 many would argue that the company could have done so within the past twelve years. Similar to P4 it should be noted that Persona 3 had its own television series and animated film. Persona 3 also had its own manga along with a intriguing plot involving Gekkoukan High School being infested with Shadows after becoming a tower known as the Tartarus. While the story for Persona 3 was one that was fascinating there is no doubt that P4 & P5 had better plots overall. However, a remastered version of P3 is one that fans of the series would have no problem seeing in the future whatsoever; but as it currently stands Atlus has no plans on making that a reality and it seems like something that is unlikely to happen. Maybe if the fan support for a remastered version of Persona 3 was high enough Atlus would take it into consideration but in the meantime we are anxiously waiting for the release of Persona 5: Royal Edition for PlayStation 4 in March 2020.

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Mirror’s Edge (2008) vs Gravity Rush (2012) which was more successful?

When we think about popular action-adventure games from the late 00’s-early 10’s time period both Mirror’s Edge along with Gravity Rush are two titles that come to mind. Both games included female protagonists who were considered to be heroic figures since they battled against oppressive authority regimes within their respective society. While Mirror’s Edge and Gravity Rush had alluring visuals and good storytelling they were both games that were arguably overshadowed in relation to the action-adventure genre following their releases. In 2008, we saw the release of action-adventure titles such as Devil May Cry 4, Tomb Raider: Underworld, Prince Of Persia and Metal Gear Solid: Guns Of The Patriots. There were a bunch of action-adventure titles back in ’08 which were bigger attractions than Mirrors Edge despite it being a high quality first person action-adventure game it was not as popular as several other titles from that genre. Also, during 2012 we saw the release of several action-adventure games from that year that overshadowed Gravity Rush especially considering the fact that it was initially released for the PlayStation Vita. The top action-adventure games from ’12 that we got see on various consoles included Dishonored, Assassin’s Creed III, Darksiders II, Sleeping Dogs and more.

There is no doubt that 2012 was a great year for the action-adventure genre of gaming and a title like Gravity Rush could have easily been overlooked if it appeared on the PlayStation 3. While Gravity Rush was one of the better games for the PlayStation Vita along the likes of P4: Golden it eventually ended up spawning a high profile sequel entitled Gravity Rush 2 which came out back in January 2017. While Mirror’s Edge eventually got its own sequel back in 2016 many would argue that Mirror’s Edge Catalyst was not quite as popular as the original . While the visuals for Mirror’s Edge Catalyst was beautiful the predicable storytelling along with the combat system were subjected to criticism by gaming publications. As far as which game between two titles was more successful overall many people would probably lean more towards the original Gravity Rush game than Mirror’s Edge. Gravity Rush was slightly more interesting than Mirror’s Edge especially since the element of manipulating gravity made it stand out more from typical action-adventure games from the early 10’s.

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Persona 4 (2008) vs Persona 5 (2016) which game was more successful?

When we think about two of the best RPG titles to have emerged from the 00’s and 10’s decade Persona 4 along with Persona 5 instantly comes to mind. Persona 4 was initially released back in ’08 and since then two different television series and an animated film were released based on the game between ’11-’15. We also got to see the PS Vita port of the game known as Persona 4: Golden back in 2012; P4 Golden was arguably one of the best titles in general to have been released for the PS Vita when it was still available. In fact, Persona 4 was named as one of the greatest video games ever made by both fans and critics because it had various qualities that made a memorable classic. Persona 4 was suspenseful and had dramatic storytelling which featured unexpected twists and turns while emphasizing the vices of television. The setting for Persona 4 took place during ’11 and in some ways the game felt like it was ahead of its time considering the fact that it was released in 2008. While Persona 4 remained popular during the late 00’s-early 10’s time period everyone has been talking about Persona 5 since its initial release back in 2016.

While the story for Persona 4 seemingly had a darker tone the plot for Persona 5 also very interesting and focused on unraveling a mystery that threatened Tokyo along with the rest of the world. P5 focused on the roots of malevolent behavior of people while the main protagonist Joker along with a group known as the Thieves Of Hearts steal the “treasures” of the wicked to turn them good. Exploring the Metaverse and entering the subconscious realms of humans created by their distorted perception of the world was one that was intriguing in a different way compared to that of Persona 4. Along with great storytelling telling we got to see improved in game mechanics along with more superior visuals than what we got for Persona 4 back in 2008. Not was Persona 5 praised by various gaming entities following its release but it ended up becoming the fastest selling title within the entire series which started back in 1996. There is no quest that Persona 4 & 5 were two of the best installments within its series and people outside of Japan are currently waiting for the release of Persona 5: Royal Edition in March 2020. As far as which game was more superior between Persona 4 & 5 is one that is questionable and depends on who you ask.

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Retro Gaming 10’s- Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- : (2014)

When we think of popular games that fans out towards the early part of the 10’s decade one few titles that instantly comes to mind is Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- from 2014. This game was developed by Arc System Works and considered to be the first major installment that the series had seen since Guilty Gear 2: Overture which was released between late 2007-late 2009 for the Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- was arguably one of the most popular fighting games of 2014 and ever since its release has been praised for various features including its cel-shaded graphics along with its gameplay. In fact, Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- might have been the first game within the series to utilize the Unreal Engine 3 similar to titles such as Mortal Kombat IX from 2011. Similar to various fighting titles that we have seen throughout the 10’s decade Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- featured both online and offline game modes to keep players busy for many hours. When it comes down to offline gameplay there modes single player modes such as Battle and Story; there was also two-player Versus mode in addition to a Training mode which helped players get better at the game itself.

Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- also featured an online multiplayer gameplay in Network Mode which was something a lot people enjoyed when the PlayStation port of the game was released in December 2014. Since initial arcade release back in February 2014 there have been different updated versions of Guilty Gear Xrd related between the 2015-2017 time period. We got to see Guilty Gear Xrd: Revelator for Arcade, PS3, PS4 and Microsoft Windows between Summer 2015-Winter 2016. After the second version of the game we got see Guilty Gear Xrd: Revelator 2 which saw an arcade release in addition to appearing on the PS3 & PS4. Even though, the Guilty Gear series has been around since ’98 there are many people who would argue that Guilty Gear Xrd was the best installment that Arc System Works has ever made. As it currently stands a brand new installment entitled Guilty Gear Strive is expected to appear on multiple game systems sometime in 2020. While Guilty Gear Strive looks very promising its hard to tell whether or not it will be better than any of the Guilty Gear Xrd games from 2014-2017.

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Retro Gaming 10’s- Persona 4: Arena: (2012)

If you were a huge fan of fighting games during the early 10’s then you probably remember Persona 4: Arena which came out back in 2012. Persona 4: Arena was a game of great significance since it was the first main fighting title outside of the Persona RPG series. Unlike, most fighting games from the 10’s decade Persona 4: Arena included visual novel segments which really made it standout as it pertained to the game’s single player Story Mode. Aside from the main story for Persona 4 Arena the game included various other modes such as Score Attack & Challenge which were offline. Persona 4 Arena also included online multiplayer gameplay similar to many other major fighting games of this day and age. The actual gameplay of Persona 4: Arena was pretty unique with the inclusion of mechanics such as “Instant Kill” and “Awakening State” along with characters having the ability to have their respective personas attack during battles. As far as the actual development of Persona 4: Arena is concerned it began back in 2010 which was approximately two years following the release of Persona 4 back in 2008. Persona 4: Arena was released about a year after Persona 4: Golden was also released in 2012 along with Persona 4: Golden which initially came out in Japan during the Spring of that year.

The Persona 4 series in general was big during the first half of the 10’s decade to a point where the world got to see two different television series along with an animated film within between 2011-2014. In fact, Persona 4: Arena was highly praised by fans and critics alike following its release and eventually spawned a direct sequel in 2013 entitled Persona 4: Arena Ultimax which included enhanced gameplay & features. Also, Persona 4: Arena had received the award for “Best Fighting Game” at the Spike Video Game Awards back in 2012. The art design, storytelling and narrative were all strong points of Persona 4: Arena and was arguably one best fighting games the Atlus had made within the 10’s decade. Nowadays, you do not see too many visual novel fighting games similar to what we got with Persona 4: Arena which makes this game unique. Its possible that Persona 4: Arena could have won more awards in 2012 if the game did not have to compete with the likes of Dead Or Alive 5, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 or Soul Calibur V. Either way, Persona 4: Arena will always be remembered as a memorable classic from the early part of the 10’s decade by fans of the series to this day.