Within five years time, beat ‘em up videogames like Double Dragon and Final Fight grew in both the number of gameplay features and also in popularity. Players on both consoles and at arcades loved kicking lots of ass and more importantly to the success of the genre, they loved doing it as a team.

By now the definition of the genre would take shape: A Player(or players) would fight waves of enemies in either unarmed or melee combat and would have to defeat them before moving on to the next section of the level. Usually at the end of a level would be a boss, or master enemy, that must be defeated before going onto the next level.

Beat ‘em ups were popular for the ability for friends to play together, but they were also simple to learn. Almost every game in the genre as the eighties transitioned into the nineties would only have two or three buttons, usually two attack buttons and a jump button. Anyone could figure out how to play them!

Konami’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was the most popular game in arcades for at least two years after it was released. Because of this, all sorts of developers and publishers cried out “me too!” and started pumping out more beat ‘em up games than ever.

So everything would be okay, right?

Read the rest of this entry »

A fire for justice has lit up in my stomach once again as I have returned to the streets to kick ass and take names! And then kick some more ass! Girlfriends are being kidnapped by gangs all over and it time to open a can on every eight-bit thug crawling the city streets like cockroaches.

No, I am not telling tall tales of my bizarre adventures. Rather, I am recalling a time when some of my favorite games were fresh and prominent and were the talk of the schoolyards, arcades, and convenience stores across the country.

They are called Beat ‘Em Ups- games about players taking matters into their own hands when there was no law and destroying armies of foes in hand to hand(or weapon) combat -that ruled arcades and Nintendo in the late eighties, died off in the early nineties, and after several failed attempts, have begun to make it back into the spotlight.

Many of you may remember those golden years of gaming when real bros were going around the shady parts of town beating on punks until the girl was rescued. Therefore, you will be nodding in agreement and feel nostalgic for much of the following article. Others may have just discovered the genre through recent downloadable games like Castle Crashers and Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game. I’ve played through those games during the past month while sticking to many of the classics that influenced them.

For those you who have never played older beat ‘em up games, I want to let you know that there is a rich history of how the genre developed. A lot of games from several different game developers helped establish the genre and many of the core mechanics and clichés that beat ‘em ups are known for. But where did it all begin and what games would contribute something fresh to the genre as it grew?
Read the rest of this entry »

The day after I saw the movie Scott Pilgrim vs The World, I got the game that was based off the same comic the movie was. After playing the demo, I was convinced it would be a good game to purchase and I was right. It is a throwback to classic beat em ups like River City Ransom, Double Dragon, and the Konami games. It’s not just nostalgia factor; it takes a lot of game mechanics that worked for beat em ups and puts them into one nice package for up to four players to enjoy. (I hope to write a retrospective on the genre in the near future.)

Anyways, this post isn’t so much about the game as it is the music for the game, composed by chiptune punk band Anamanaguchi. (Man, has the definition of “punk band” mutated heavily.) Anamanaguchi makes music that sounds very similar to what you would hear while playing an NES videogame. It’s very synthesized, using a hacked NES and Game Boy to create those sounds, with live electric guitar, bass, and drums added in. It has an upbeat pop feeling to it, as you can hear it in the above piece, Another Winter, which serves as the theme for the first world of the Scott Pilgrim game.

Another World is my favorite theme in the whole game. It plays with changes in tempo and volume while you travel the streets of Toronto while beating up bros, hipsters, punks, and emos to make it to a concert in time for the boss battle. It has more variety in composition than the melodies that loop in most NES games and it also puts out this surreal feeling that you are in a familiar world yet at the same time, you are not.

The music sounds kind of like something you may hear in a Capcom NES game like Megaman or even Duck Tales, but the high pitches of the synthesizer and the addition of live instruments make Anamanaguchi’s music sound unique. It’s the same thing with the game; it feels a lot like a classic beat em up- and there are plenty of homages to many of those games -but something about the scenery and the characters you play as and fight against are not what you would be used to if you played beat em ups twenty years ago. (Of course, fashion and society has changed significantly since then!)

Another Winter may go down as one of the greatest game compositions of this generation. It’s not only has a memorable pop sound that serves the purpose of capturing nostalgic feelings for classic gaming, but it is lively, uplifting, and full of heart. It is the exact opposite of everything the movie is, which may be why I love hearing it so much.

On a whim, I decided to see Scott Pilgrim vs The World yesterday to determine whether it was the movie that defined our generation(or is it the one following me since I am now officially “old?”) as some fans have proclaimed or if it was “the most obvious exploitation of geek culture as a shallow fashion trend for posers if there ever was one” as I have stated before.

The answer is… both.
Read the rest of this entry »

It was announced today that one of my favorite anime directors, Satoshi Kon has passed away at the age of 46. He directed several anime movies that were all critically acclaimed. Not one movie he made was ever mediocre or worse. The first one he directed was also one of the first anime movies I had seen, Perfect Blue.

It was so crazy at the time. It wasn’t about robots, or magical girls, or super powered martial artists with spiky hair. It was about this pop singer, whose poor career was devoted to captivating small groups of lonely nerds throughout Japan, deciding to move onto acting.

During that transistion, she has to deal with a rabid fan boy who stalks her and murders people around her, an obsessed manager who lives vicariously through her(to the point that her manager tries to BE her), and then the dark world of breaking into mainstream entertainment. There is a lot of surreal imagery in that movie and it launched Satoshi Kon as a director.

From there, he directed Millenium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, and Paprika. All are beautiful films that challenge the mind and ideas about society. He also directed Paranoia Agent, which I have yet to see but it was on Adult Swim many years ago. (Here is hoping for a re-release.)

Satoshi Kon was working on a movie called Yume-Miru Kikai, which was supposed to come out this year, but who knows now. It was to be his first effort at making a family film which has a lot of people interested considering all his movies have been psychological affairs for adults.

His death could have not have come at a worse time for the anime industry. This is a time where anime’s “cool factor” has cooled off greatly in America as the industry struggles both financially and creatively in Japan. Whenever a new Satoshi Kon movie came out, it always gave a boost of attention to anime, especially from critics who are not really anime fans. His movies are that important.

You were great at what you did, Satoshi Kon, and you will be missed!

Yesterday had a fantastic turnout for Cure for the Run, a series of chairty sprint races to benefit New Hope For Kids. I have never done a charity race before so I am glad that I finally did. It was not only fun, but a rewarding experience as well!

As you can see in the above picture, I did not become champion. I did race the champion Ross who had retained his Cure for the Run title yesterday, along with Felix from Prime Time Geek, who was also a formidable opponent. That race was very close and man I would like to challenge them both again! Since nobody else could beat me in the races, I suppose that makes me third place. I shall win for sure next time!

However, Cure For The Run is not about winning; rather, it is about helping kids with life-threatening illnesses by raising money for the New Hope for Kids chairty. I am happy to say that I raised $130, which includes my donation, but is still awesome nonetheless! So with that, it’s time to give some thanks and shout outs!


First off, I want to thank my super-sponsor Naja Muay Thai and their head instructor, Jensen “Kru” Hendriks. Not only for sponsoring me and donating to the cause, but for also training me for many months so that I can be in good enough shape to do as well as I did yesterday. I have mentioned them a couple times on this blog. Naja Muay Thai is within less than a mile from Full Sail University and all the classes that happen at the gym are free for the first week. There is no excuse not to give it a try! Going has benefit me so much and it will do the same for you!

I also want to give shout outs to Brenna Mae Brown and Vincent Anderson for their contributions as well. That means a lot to me and I give my greatest thanks!

There are two more people I want to thank! One is Felix from the aforementioned Prime Time Geek podcast. Without him, I would not have even known this event was happening. The other is a friend for about three years now, Corey “Waldo” Waldusky! I had discovered that there was a dunk tank set up and people could donate money to the charity in exhange for balls to throw at the dunk button. So I called Waldo up and he came down to help out by getting dunked… for the children! Awesome work dude!

Next time I do a charity race, I would like to raise more money. If anyone doubted I would do this, I hope that you can now see that I am for real when I make these commitments.

For ten years, never has there been a more important weekend to decide the fate of America through movie theaters than this most recent one. We had a chick flick based on a book Oprah liked, a movie starring Micheal Cera that I’m supposed to like becuase I get all the videogame references, and then- OH MAN -the manliest movie of the year.

The Expendables: #1 Box Office grosser this past weekend getting more revenue than that chick flick and awkward kid movie COMBINED. That is REAL JUSTICE, America. I am proud of all the men who stepped up this weekend and went to the movie theaters and all the women that happily seduced them afterwards.

We let Hollywood know this weekend that we want movies with REAL MEN kicking ass and not some dork kids who sparkle in the sunlight!
Read the rest of this entry »

This Saturday afternoon will be a charity event called Cure For The Run. There is nothing grueling about the run itself but it is for a good cause. The charity that donations go to will be New Hope for Kids. Their mission is to support children and families grieving the death of a loved one and to grant wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses in Central Florida.

Thanks to an episode of the Prime Time Geek podcast, I was able to find out about this event and I really want to help. It’s the right thing to do. However, I need donation sponsorship to really make a difference. That’s where you all come in! I can pay for myself but that won’t make a huge enough difference. However, if we all work together, then we can really do something great here!

Anyone who donates to me will be mentioned in a special post about how I totally rocked the event. It’s guaranteed to happen for I am mighty! (And besides, it’s for the children. If Kenshiro can kill armies of mullets for a cause like that than I can certainly run for one.)

So if you have a business, a blog, a podcast, or just a name that you want mentioned on here, then you will be on my list of sponsors just by donating! If any of you want me to wear your business’s shirt or anything like that to show the community that you care, then that privelege will go to the highest bidder.

Make sure you list your name in the donation and that it’s for the Cure For The Run event. Please comment on this post so that I have full information that you want for me to post for you so that my readers can see what kind of champions support a great cause.

The event starts at 4pm at Wall Street Plaza in downtown Orlando with registration starting at 2pm! Please give me as much support as you can so I can run with everything I have!

It’s time MEN. The wait is over. The MANLIEST movie of the decade is finally out in theaters at midnight tonight. Will you be seeing it this weekend? Yes you will, if you dare call yourself a REAL MAN.

This weekend is a big deal because THE EXPENDABLES- starring Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Terry Crews, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Jason Statham, Gary Daniels, Randy Couture, Mickey Rourke, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis -goes up against a chick flick starring Julia Roberts and Scott Pilgrim vs The World, the most obvious exploitation of geek culture as a shallow fashion trend for posers if there ever was one, featuring the always awkward Micheal Cera. (There’s also a Studio Ghibli film coming out but only myself and ten other people care.)

MEN, we are taking back theaters this weekend. This is not something we bootleg. This is something we pay to see. In a fucking theater. Where VIOLENCE belongs.

Whether it be at midnight tonight or anytime throughout the weekend, you MUST see this movie. There is NO excuse. You have a date with a lady doing something else? Dump her. Have kids to watch? Tie them up and throw them in the closet. (Cheaper than hiring a babysitter.) Boss made you come in to work? TOSS HIM THROUGH A WINDOW!

This is where we stand as TRUE MEN and let Hollywood know that TRUE MEN still watch movies.

They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, but this works just as well. With that said, I want this Kenshiro Revoltech #21 very badly.