Tag Archives: rayman legends

Unforgettable: Castle Rock

Screenshot from Flickr User: PSMANIA
Screenshot from Flickr User: PSMANIA

Every once in a while, there comes along something in a video game that is just so great and so unforgettable, you must share it with everyone you know.  Sometimes, there is just a certain awesome cut scene or epic challenge or a particularly enjoyable level that sticks with you, that stays in your mind so well that, even after you haven’t played that game in years, you still remember that one thing as a point of greatness.  And that is the focus for this new series of posts I recently came up with, inspired by two amazing platformers, “Rayman Origins” and “Rayman Legends” (maybe they haven’t had enough time to stick with me for years yet due to them being fairly new, but there’s no doubt in my mind that they will).

These particular games not only stand out in the beautiful artwork and fun, challenging gameplay, but they also are unique in how goofy and different some of the levels are, including levels where you fight undead grannies that try to whack you with their purses or where you must defeat a boss that was simply minding her own business painting her nails in “Rayman Origins” or levels in which you must direct Murphy to eat the cake blocking your path or spread guacamole on things to make platforms for you to cross in “Rayman Legends”.  Such things are quite difficult to forget, not to mention a group of levels in “Rayman Legends” that I found particularly entertaining. Continue reading Unforgettable: Castle Rock

The Return of Side-Scrollers and a Quick Discussion of Other Trends in Gaming

Not long ago, I was playing a game on the Wii called “Muramasa: The Demon Blade”.  This game is a side-scrolling action game, and it got me thinking about something likely much more than a normal person should have.  But, since I’m already thinking about it, I may as well drag you into my thoughts, as well.

We’re all familiar with side-scrollers, right?  Lots of old games were this format.  “Mario” and “Metroid” and “Sonic” and “Donkey Kong”.  And I can keep going to take up space, but I shan’t.  These games were often like this on the old consoles, such as the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis, but then that began to change.  I remember when the Nintendo 64 came out, we started to get these fancy, new 3D games, like “Super Mario 64”, “Donkey Kong 64”, and a new series I found superbly delightful, “Banjo-Kazooie”.  You didn’t really see side-scrollers so much anymore, except on handhelds and the “Kirby” series, which has remained in that format to this day.  And as you’d expect, side-scrollers that became 3D continued to be 3D down through the years because, well, what’s new and fancy usually becomes commonplace.  We haven’t seen a decline in graphics over the years, and a series that gains the addition of voice acting usually doesn’t lose it.  Nevertheless, I’ve been noticing a trend lately. Continue reading The Return of Side-Scrollers and a Quick Discussion of Other Trends in Gaming