Blueflower's Gaming Blog and Reviews

[SlowPokemon]

I haven't forgotten about Off I'll finish it sometime before Pokemon X and Y are released (because that's when I'm going to lose anything resembling a life).

[Yugi]

HELP

But in all seriousness, I've been playing some games that you may want to play/review.

• The Binding of Issac (Can be Bought from the steam shop)
• FTL: Faster than Light (Can be bought in a Humble Bundle)
• Barkley Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden (Free, I can't link you to the site though).
• Megaman Unlimited (Free)
• Eversion (Free, although there's a HD version avaliable on steam for $2.00)

[blueflower999]

Blueflower's Top 100 Video Game Songs

Numbers 100-91

#100

Underworld Theme
Kid Icarus

Oh come on, you knew I had to start with an 8-bit song. You'll probably get a lot more variety in game franchises this far down in the list. There's really not that much I need to say in comments on this song. It's just catchy and pretty. Nothing all that special and that's why it's this far down, but it's still a nice overworld theme. That is, until you see a Reaper and the music changes to something far more disturbing. If my memory serves me, it was Hirokazu Tanaka that composed the music for this NES title, and if that's the case, it shows.

Favorite part: All of it

One down, 99 more to go. This might be more difficult than I thought.

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#99

Ice Climber Theme
Ice Climber

Ice Climber was one of the first NES games I ever played, and it was on the Wii virtual console (mainly because I found the demo in Brawl to be interesting). Having such a catchy title theme was common for the NES, and this one is pretty decent. The theme I've posted above is the version from Brawl because it extends it a little bit and adds a nice guitar solo. I like how jazzy it sounds.

After reading the top YouTube comment, I can finally hear what they're saying in the first few seconds: "Hey guys! It's Ice Climbers, wow. All you have to do is get rid of your friends and survive the ice crash." What...?

Favorite part: 0:00-0:47

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#98

Vs. Ridley and Vs. Meta Ridley
Metroid Prime Series

Now, I apologize for listing a tie so soon in the list, but I thought that these two songs were so similar that it warranted it. Besides, I can't really decide which I like better, so there you go. I'm not a huge Metroid fan, so some of this might be a little off, but from what I can understand, Ridley is a recurring antagonist in the Metroid series that has appeared in nearly every game in some form or another, whether its his normal, Meta, or Omega form. The music linked above is, predictably, the song that plays when he's being fought. He's essentially Samus' arch nemesis, so the songs are appropriately intense. In the only Metroid Prime game I own, the third one, the later theme plays when falling into a pit and fighting Meta Ridley at the same time, and the music reflects that intense atmosphere.

Favorite parts: Can't really pick one for the first song just because it's so intense all the way through. For the later, it would be 0:38-106.

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#97

The Amazon
DuckTales

Admit it, DuckTales had a fantastic soundtrack for the NES. Wait, why's that? Surely Capcom has other franchises out there with really well composed music! *Hint hint* For those among us that don't appreciate or enjoy 8-bit music as much as I do, I've included a link to the recent remake of DuckTales, which I may get a chance to play someday. All of the remixes in Remastered that I've heard so far are phenomenal, and this won't be the only time one shows up on this countdown. The Amazon theme has that perfect combination of a catchy song and an adventurous tune that just make it fun to play the game, even if you suck like me. The melody is simple, yet catchy, just like many NES songs.

Favorite part: 0:08-0:25

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#96

Ragnarok Cavern
Battletoads

Oh boy, where to start with Battletoads? Probably the hardest game ever made, Battletoads gets a lot of unfair hate. Sure, its hard, but so are so many other popular NES titles, so why is this the one that gets all the hate? Personally, I sort of have a soft spot for it because it was the second NES game I ever owned. The soundtrack is also underrated. I mean, listen to this. It's freaking epic. The first level is so ridiculously easy compared to the rest of the game that it sort of makes you feel that maybe this game will be possible after all. And then you get to the third level where all those hopes are shattered in an instant.

Favorite part: First 22 seconds or so

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#95

Bubble Bobble Main Theme
Bubble Bobble

Bubble Bobble is probably the cutest game on the NES. Want to know why? Listen to the music. Imagine happy little dinosaurs jumping around shooting bubbles everywhere while that plays. Adorable! Some games have songs that get really old when they play for the entire game, like Ghostbusters on NES, but this one never really did. It always gets stuck in my head after I play the game for a good amount of time.

Favorite part: All of it

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#94

Clu Clu Land Theme
Clu Clu Land

Now THIS is some smooth jazz! Seriously, this is so freaking catchy! It amazed me when I was first discovering video game music how intricate this song was for such an old game. The Brawl remix is really nice and adds even more to the song. It's also pretty cute in its own right. I love the instrumentation in the song as well.

Favorite part: All of it

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#93

Wookie Hole
Battletoads

Last Battletoads song to appear on the list, but this one's really intense. You're falling into a pit attached to a cable while fighting birds, piranha plant rip offs, and the most annoying enemies I've encountered in the game; evil cameras that are almost impossible to kill without getting hit. It's fairly long for an NES song as well, and I always appreciate the developers taking the time to make a song complicated enough that it doesn't feel bland when it repeats. Overall, nice soundtrack, but I can't really put anymore songs on this list from the game because I can't get past the third level legitimately.

Favorite part: 0:27-1:15

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#92

Bout Theme
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! And Punch-Out!! Wii

Punch-Out!! is another ridiculously hard yet doable and very fun NES game, as long as you're willing to put in the time and effort to learn how to beat everyone. It's one of those games where every boxer is hard until you learn their pattern, and then you can beat them pretty much every time afterwards. Of course, because you're fighting intimidating boxers that are all like 8 feet taller than you, this intense and catchy theme is really fitting and makes the matches much more enjoyable for me. The Wii version adds some great instrumentation and makes an already great song even better.

Favorite part: All of it

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#91

Mice on Venus
Minecraft

Several things are special about this song. For one, it doesn't loop. Also, it's the only Minecraft song to make this list, and for a reason. Minecraft has some really good music, but this one is just really pretty and adds mood to certain scenes in the game. It's just really pretty. The only reason it isn't higher is that it gets kind of weird after a certain part.

Favorite part: 1:51-2:18

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And there we go. That was an endeavor.

[Yugi]

hey guess what

you're going to have to do that

9 times over

[FireArrow]

hey guess what

you're going to have to do that

9 times over

Great encouragement. 

[UnknownKirbyMan]

The poll needs to be updated.
Played MM 9, as you recommended, Blueflower. Very nice game. Three stages till Wily.

I personally would have suggested the PC freeware version of Cave Story.
I like the graphics better, and the translation feels off in the newer versions.

Suggest you try VVVVVV. Also, ASMBXT. The site's down for that though.
Binding of Isaac was very good gameplay-wise, but I don't like the way it's presented. Also, it seems to run slow on many computers.

Dungeon Crawl: Stone Soup.
If you can learn it. Rougelikes tend to be rather complicated.
One of my very favorites.

[blueflower999]

I've played both versions of Cave Story, and tbh I like the one on the 3DS much, much better.

I'm not really familiar with any of the games you mentioned, but there are a few that I might look in to. Thanks!

[SlowPokemon]

I don't recommend VVVVVV at all. I didn't enjoy it

[blueflower999]

I don't really know what to expect from a title like that. Going to watch a demo for it on the eShop now.

EDIT: Just saw it, doesn't look like the kind of game I'd pay 8 dollars for. Unless there's a freeware version, it just doesn't look very appealing. 

[SlowPokemon]

I got it because it was recommended for people who liked Cave Story. But it wasn't that similar beyond simple controls.

[blueflower999]

Away from home, I'm bored to death, I need to do something. So here I go.

Professor Layton and the Last Specter

Gameplay: 9/10 Out of all the Layton games I've played thus far, popular opinion was correct with this one. Well, at least in this sense. The puzzles in this game are probably the least annoying and the most fun out of all the Layton games I've played thus far. The series continues to polish up more and more, and from what I've been seeing, it looks like Miracle Mask is going to be even better. Some game series out there just make the same games over and over, but few improve the same concept so much in between games as Professor Layton. We've come a long way since Curious Village, and to be honest, I'm anticipating a difficult time if I ever decide to play the older games over again.

Addictiveness: 8/10 One of the things I noticed with this game is that it cuts right to the chase. Literally, there's no boring intro. You seriously click "New File" and are immediately shown a cutscene. Have you ever read a book that has the first chapter, or the first couple sentences, about a really intense event, and then it goes back in time to tell you how that happened? Well, that's what this is like. The opening cutscene actually takes place a few chapters into the game, and to be honest, I like it. It really grabs your attention. Unfortunately, the whole concept of the plot isn't quite as attention grabbing as Unwound Future, but it makes up for it with beautifully intense cutscenes.

Story: 9/10 Unfortunately, this Layton has the weakest story in the series. Well, second weakest behind Curious Village. But you know what? Don't let this discourage you from playing it. The game's still fantastic even though the reveals on a few of things are a bit anti-climactic and not quite as mind-blowing as you might expect from the previous titles. Still though, it's well worth your time for the epic music and the incredibly funny characters.

Music: 9/10 I'm going to get a lot of hate for this, but I wasn't a huge fan of Unwound Future's soundtrack. It could be that I was just so captivated by the story that I didn't have time to listen to the music, or it's just that I didn't like it. Regardless though, this game has a fantastic soundtrack and maybe the best in the series. This isn't to mention that I LOVE the puzzle theme in this game.

Misthallery Theme

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Best Puzzle Theme Ever

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Special Puzzle Theme

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Main Villain's Theme

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Don't really know what to call this without spoiling something

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Character Design: 10/10 My favorite characters in the Layton series by far reside n this game. While my favorite all time character is only in the original trilogy, I felt that the overall NPC and main character designs in this game were the best yet. Professor's assistant Emmy is awesome, the main villain is classy and awesome, there's an NPC that only meows to talk, there's an NPC that tries to hide but is always sticking out, and all other sorts of silliness like that. Layton and Luke are their normal selves, but I sort of liked how Luke was such a dynamic character in this game. You could see how being around the Professor changes his character for the better.

Humor: 8/10 A few really funny moments in this game. One of my personal favorites is watching Emmy beat people up. The wacky NPCs cause some awkward "what the heck" moments as well, especially the one that only meows. To put it in context, he was the owner of a archaeology museum and most would expect him to be an intelligent man, so the irony is that he doesn't even speak English over the course of the game.

Difficulty: 8/10 Nothing all that bad in this game, occasionally a difficult puzzle or to, but most of them are guessable and nothing really stuck me for a long time. As long as you have enough hint coins and occasionally buy the Super Hint, you should be fine. There are a few moments where the puzzles are pretty difficult, but the hints are fair enough that all of them a re solvable with enough thought. Which is how it should be.

Other Memorable Features: Now I get to mention London Life! If you like Animal Crossing and Professor Layton, then this is the game for you! Unfortunately I haven't really had the time to dig into it yet, but I like what I see. (Plus the fact that it has so many cameos from the previous games automatically makes it awesome!)

Overall: 9.5/10 A fantastic game that is more than worthy of being in the series. Much better than Curious Village, but not quite up to par with Diabolical Box and Unwound Future. Despite this, I felt completely satisfied when I finished it, and any criticism that it is the worst game in the series is far more than undeserved. Can't wait to finish this series.

[SlowPokemon]

Gameplay: 9/10 Out of all the Layton games I've played thus far, popular opinion was correct with this one. Well, at least in this sense. The puzzles in this game are probably the least annoying and the most fun out of all the Layton games I've played thus far. The series continues to polish up more and more, and from what I've been seeing, it looks like Miracle Mask is going to be even better. Some game series out there just make the same games over and over, but few improve the same concept so much in between games as Professor Layton. We've come a long way since Curious Village, and to be honest, I'm anticipating a difficult time if I ever decide to play the older games over again.

Yep, I totally agree with everything here. It only gets more polished with each game, and Last Specter is definitely the shiniest and best in terms of gameplay. Everything is remarkably fluid. It's true that Miracle Mask only gets better, and honestly is probably my favorite of the series simply because of how improved everything is. I am surprised you didn't mention the minigames here though--even though the ones in Miracle Mask are undoubtedly the best minigames in any game ever, I really enjoyed solving the Train and Fish puzzles especially.

Addictiveness: 8/10 One of the things I noticed with this game is that it cuts right to the chase. Literally, there's no boring intro. You seriously click "New File" and are immediately shown a cutscene. Have you ever read a book that has the first chapter, or the first couple sentences, about a really intense event, and then it goes back in time to tell you how that happened? Well, that's what this is like. The opening cutscene actually takes place a few chapters into the game, and to be honest, I like it. It really grabs your attention. Unfortunately, the whole concept of the plot isn't quite as attention grabbing as Unwound Future, but it makes up for it with beautifully intense cutscenes.

Yeah, the first time I played Last Specter I was hooked from the beginning, mostly because I was wondering how the story escalated to that point. This game has very very good pacing, setting you up immediately and not slowing down the whole game, which unfortunately is kind of an issue in Miracle Mask.

Story: 9/10 Unfortunately, this Layton has the weakest story in the series. Well, second weakest behind Curious Village. But you know what? Don't let this discourage you from playing it. The game's still fantastic even though the reveals on a few of things are a bit anti-climactic and not quite as mind-blowing as you might expect from the previous titles. Still though, it's well worth your time for the epic music and the incredibly funny characters.

I think that's a bit generous, but I can't deny the story is good. The plot was going really well until the introduction of

Spoiler

Jakes

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which was a bit over-dramatic and then additions like

Spoiler

Loosha and Luke relying on Toppy for the water levels

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made the plot seem silly and too far-fetched. That's just my complaints. But on the plus side, at the end you have

Spoiler

Descole's introduction

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which honestly made up for the plot holes, and the after-credits sequence where

Spoiler

Arianna kisses Luke on the cheek

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was really, really cute. And I'd be lying if I said that the plot didn't hold my interest the whole time. So I think I can justify 9/10, even if I personally wouldn't have scored it so high.

Music: 9/10 I'm going to get a lot of hate for this, but I wasn't a huge fan of Unwound Future's soundtrack. It could be that I was just so captivated by the story that I didn't have time to listen to the music, or it's just that I didn't like it. Regardless though, this game has a fantastic soundtrack and maybe the best in the series. This isn't to mention that I LOVE the puzzle theme in this game.

I think this game's soundtrack is much better than that of Unwound Future, simply because more of the pieces were memorable. Unwound Future had some really great songs (some of my favorites were "More London Streets" and "The Research Facility") but it was also loaded with syrupy ones like "Sorrow" and "Suspicion" that were really forgettable. Last Specter is a pretty tight package soundtrack-wise, not a weak track from start to finish. Besides, "Misthallery's Many Canals" alone is actually one of my favorite pieces of music from Professor Layton, if not my favorite.

Character Design: 10/10 My favorite characters in the Layton series by far reside n this game. While my favorite all time character is only in the original trilogy, I felt that the overall NPC and main character designs in this game were the best yet. Professor's assistant Emmy is awesome, the main villain is classy and awesome, there's an NPC that only meows to talk, there's an NPC that tries to hide but is always sticking out, and all other sorts of silliness like that. Layton and Luke are their normal selves, but I sort of liked how Luke was such a dynamic character in this game. You could see how being around the Professor changes his character for the better.

I really enjoyed the inhabitants of Misthallery as well. I know we talked about how I found Mido and Aunt Taffy amusing, but one that I think I forgot to mention was Clarence, that creepy old guy who hits on Emmy. His lines were really funny to me. And even the characters that you don't see much in the story are given more screen-time in the Special Episodes, which makes for a really great snowflake cast.

Humor: 8/10 A few really funny moments in this game. One of my personal favorites is watching Emmy beat people up. The wacky NPCs cause some awkward "what the heck" moments as well, especially the one that only meows. To put it in context, he was the owner of a archaeology museum and most would expect him to be an intelligent man, so the irony is that he doesn't even speak English over the course of the game.

Yeah, this game wasn't particularly humorous, but then again Layton games aren't really meant to be. The writing is really clever (Nintendo has a fantastic localization team), but not always funny. I did think that the eccentric NPCs were especially eccentric this time, making for some great "what the heck" moments as you put it. Goosey is another one that I found myself chuckling out loud at, especially when you find him in

Spoiler

the Abandoned Factory

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where he has no business being. xD It reminded me of seeing

Spoiler

Pavel in the tower of St. Mystere

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in the first game.

Other Memorable Features: Now I get to mention London Life! If you like Animal Crossing and Professor Layton, then this is the game for you! Unfortunately I haven't really had the time to dig into it yet, but I like what I see. (Plus the fact that it has so many cameos from the previous games automatically makes it awesome!)

Overall: 9.5/10 A fantastic game that is more than worthy of being in the series. Much better than Curious Village, but not quite up to par with Diabolical Box and Unwound Future. Despite this, I felt completely satisfied when I finished it, and any criticism that it is the worst game in the series is far more than undeserved. Can't wait to finish this series.

London Life is for low-key people who like RPGs without battles haha. It's a cute little experience and it works really well as a contrast to the main story. I think it's better to play in small doses though.

Anyway if you liked Last Specter this much I just know you'll love Miracle Mask, and I'm excited for you to play it. Hope you enjoyed my commentary!!!

[blueflower999]

Blueflower's Top 100 Video Game Songs

Numbers 90-81

#90

The Roost
Animal Crossing Series

Brewster has always been one of my favorite characters in the Animal Crossing series. Maybe it's the fact that he's so shy at first and then warms up to you the more you buy his coffee. After you go to his place 20 or so times, you're like best friends forever, and I really like seeing his change in personality. This song sort of fits the calm atmosphere of the Roost quite well. It's not incredibly long or creative, but it fits very nicely.

This song isn't really long enough for me to pick a favorite part.

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#89

Tetris A Theme
Gameboy Tetris

I'll admit it, I'm freaking addicted to Tetris, so much so that I play it in my mind when I don't have access to a console. As I'm sure many of you have experienced, sometimes when you play a game for extended periods of time, the music gets really stuck in your head, as is prime case with this song. The B and C themes are really good as well, but the A theme is so classic that I think it represents the series best on this list.

Favorite part: 0:00-0:25

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#88

Brinstar Theme
Metroid Series

Metroid is one of the loneliest games ever made, and has one of the best atmospheres on the NES. This I will admit. However, it's really not anywhere near my list of favorite games on the console because I simply don't enjoy playing it. Whenever you die, you respawn with 30 life and need to essentially grind off of enemies for long periods of time to have any chance on the upcoming areas. That being said, the music for the game is composed by Hirokazu Tanaka, one of my favorite music composers of all time, and Brinstar is one of the many crowning achievements that he is recognized for.

Favorite Part: All of it

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#87

Main Theme
Zelda Series

What?! Blueflower, how could you?! Zelda is the best series ever and this song is the best video game music ever composed!!!

Well, sorry to disappoint, but I disagree. I can't say I dislike the Zelda series, because I don't. But is it fair to say that I don't think it's quite the pinnacle of the video game industry. Some of you would argue that I need to play Ocarina of Time to judge that, and maybe that's valid, so I'll just hold off on the bashing of the fans until then.

So why is this music so low on the list? Well, because it's not my favorite Zelda song, of course! The games may not be the greatest adventure games ever made in my opinion, but the music  certainly ranks up there with some of the best, so expect to see more on the list. The original Zelda game had an enormous impact on the video game industry, and you essentially heard an 8-bit rendition of this song throughout the entire game. It's quite a triumphant adventure song, and I really like it. There are just better songs in the series that will appear later on this list!

Favorite Part: The first few seconds

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#86

Jungle Level
Donkey Kong Country

Donkey Kong Country... is an interesting game. It's relentlessly difficult, but overall a great platform game in its own right. Not only that, but the music is freaking fantastic. I've posted the Brawl rendition of this song because it's probably more well known, but the original was pretty long for SNES standards! I really like how jazzy it gets at some points and then immediately turns environmental.

Favorite Part: 1:04-1:22

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#85

Shampoodle Theme
Animal Crossing Series

I really don't know what it is about this song. I just... like it, you know? It's sort of a guilty pleasure too, and I honestly have no clue why. It's just sort of that mixture of catchy and pretty that I like. A lot of people really hate Harriet because she gives you ridiculous hairdos, but I never had a problem with her. I guess I just like those wacky haircuts!

Favorite Part: 0:03-0:20

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#84

Contra Base Theme (2nd and 4th Stages)
Contra

If you disregard the Mega Man series, Contra is in my top 10 soundtracks on the NES, mostly because the songs are catchy and intense. They suit the gameplay quite well, and a lot of them really get your blood pumping in the moment. I could say this for pretty much any song in the game, but three of them in particular really shine. This is the first of those three.

Favorite Part: 0:31-0:44

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#83

Kid Icarus Title
Kid Icarus

Did I mention I love Tanaka? Seriously, this song is freaking gorgeous for NES standards, even though it hurts my ears a bit when I listen with earbuds. Unfortunately, this game is so relentlessly difficult that I can't get very far to hear the rest of the game's soundtrack, but what I have heard I'm pretty impressed with.

Favorite Part: 0:00-0:25

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#82

Dragon Warrior/Quest Theme
Dragon Quest Series

Yet another gorgeous title theme on the NES. While I haven't played enough Dragon Quest to judge the series, it's a fine RPG for the time and worth trying if you're a fan of classics. Some of the modern games have really awesome orchestral versions of this theme, and I really like those too, but I couldn't quite find my favorite rendition of it, so I just posted the original.

Favorite Part: All of it

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#81 Yoshi's Island SNES Final Boss Spoilers

Final Boss
Yoshi's Island

Here we are, the first song I post that contains spoilers. Because I've marked that this post as such, I assume that by reading it you've either played Yoshi's Island all the way through or don't care if it is spoiled. However, some of the future songs must not be listened to if you haven't played the game, whether you want spoilers or not.

Anyway, the final battle of this game is among my favorite in the Mario series just because of how intense it is. A giant Baby Bowser rushes at you from miles away as he slowly gets bigger and bigger, and you have to throw eggs into the background and hit him in the mouth. All this time the platforms are collapsing around you. Yeah, it's really not that generic of a Mario final boss battle, and I this rock and roll music makes it that much better.

Favorite Part: The introduction

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[blueflower999]

Well I was going to post something tonight to kick off my Christmas Marathon, but as luck would have it I accidentally closed the window and deleted my post. So I'll just have to deliver two tomorrow.

[Yugi]

Was it a review?