Chris's Blog

Since I have little to post about lately, I'm just going to do a series of Top 10 posts of various systems I own or have owned in the past. I'm going to do them in installments (though not the GCN as I just did a Top 25 for that system) so I probably won't ever finish. But hey it's something to do.

Top 10 NES Games

1. Super Mario Bros. 3

Quite possibly the pinnacle of NES platforming. Lots of variety in all respects. Lots of power-ups, fantastic level design, great music, etc. There is really nothing all that bad about SMB3 that anyone who isn't reaching could find.

2. Legend of Zelda

The original game in my favorite franchise. While definitely dated by todays standards, the overall gameplay and feel of the game are very impressive in its day and age. The ability to explore at leisure and experiment around is something that everyone should be able to enjoy even if the game is 21 years old now.

3. Mega Man 2

What Mega Man was, Mega Man 2 took it and shifted into overdrive for what is in my opinion the best Mega Man game ever (this includes every franchise variation available). It expands on the level design, power vs. power system and improves the gameplay to a point where improving on it was very difficult to do.

4. Super Mario Bros.

The game that saved the industry. Another one of those games I'd think you'd have to be insane to hate. One of the first games to bring about the concept of non-linear (warp pipes) gameplay and still just a joy to play for even people who don't play a lot of games. I know lots of people who don't play videogames on a regular basis who love SMB. Few games have that sort of reach.

5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Games

Port of the awesome arcade game which had a great co-op beat-um-up gameplay and a fairly decent challenge. Always fun for a quick run through. Of course this game really takes me back to the days of the original TMNT which is still one of my favorite cartoon shows back when I was a kid.

6. Crystalis

A very Zelda-ish title with a RPG leveling up and equipment style. A bit underrated and had one of the worst commercials ever (check out You Tube, ugh). I didn't really appreciate the game till just recently, no one should miss this game if they have a chance to play it. It almost feels more like ALttP than the original LoZ actually.

7. Ninja Gaiden

Hard as nails. Is there really anything more to say about this game? It'll drive you insane I tells ya. But despite some of the seemingly poor programming inherent with it, the game's challenge and just overall fun is not to be missed.

8. Mega Man 3

The last real great NES Mega Man 3. Even a bit harder than MM2 and while improving on the first two a bit, missed a little bit of what made 2 special for me. What that is, I'm not sure. It is hard to put those kind of feeling into words. Of course this is another one that shouldn't be missed.

9. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Grossly unappreciated for what it introduced to the overall Zelda formula: magic, towns, NPCs, and a more complicated story. With a decent difficulty it is probably the biggest challenge in a Zelda game, particularly from having no knowledge of the game.

10. Kirby's Adventure

A great late gen NES game (1993) which brought along Kirby's famous suck and steal ability. Some very creative level design and a decent challenge makes for one of the last great NES games.

Labels: Capcom, Kirby, Konami, Mario, Mega Man, NES, Ninja Gaiden, Nintendo, TMNT, Top 10, Zelda

Sometimes.

Labels: flamethrowers, Hank Scorpio, Insanity

Since the Cube is all but dead and buried (hell it might be dead and buried) I've decided to rate what I think are the best looking GameCube games. Yay!

Resident Evil 4 - Probably the GCN game that makes the most robust use of the system. Lots of great effects going and showed that the system was probably fairly underutilized.

Metroid Prime/2 - I put these two together despite Echoes' looking better than Prime, they still pretty much look the same, the difference is relatively marginal. Prime was for a time the best looking GCN game on the same level as RE4 is now. It showed the systems potential power. Echoes merely improved on it.

Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - Probably my favorite game artistically for the GCN. I believe this to be the best use of cel-shading in a game yet and while it doesn't push the system as far technically as it's predecessor it still makes great use of the system. I don't know if this is true or not but I remember reading that the GCN was made to use cel-shading but that may be just a myth like blast processing.

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - While not the artistic marvel that The Wind Waker was (though it had its moments), it did more to push the system farther than Prime but not as far as RE4. In the end the game is rather stunning and a great end for the system.

Super Smash Bros. Melee - As far as I'm concerned Melee has aged wonderfully. For a game that can have so much on screen and for it still to keep a smooth framerate it was an early graphical showcase for the GCN.

Star Wars Rogue Leader - The GCN's launch graphical showcase still manages to look pretty impressive now

Viewtiful Joe - Artistically this is another great use of cel-shading. The comic book look is great and excellently executed.

Killer 7 - Once again, another artistic merit. While probably not pushing the Cube that much the game's super stylized looked perfectly matched the rather psychedelic storyline.

In the end I feel the GCN was not a fully utilized system that had a bit more under the hood to show us. Which is a result of its being in 3rd place and caused people to think the PS2 the more powerful machine. Either way I believe that the Cube had some excellent looking games and these are some of my favorites. Also aside from Star Wars, it seems to me that only Capcom and Nintendo were willing to really see what the system could do.

Labels: Capcom, GameCube, graphics, Nintendo

I'm glad the Colts won the Super Bowl this year. Lots of great guys on that team. I'm glad Peyton finally got his ring so people can now stop saying he can't win the big game. I never believed that crap previously (for all the times they call football a team sport they tend to blame one player for everything) and I still don't. It takes a team to win a championship and you can't put all the blame on one player.

Now I've got to hope that maybe the Vikings will improve next season. God I hope so.

It has been a month since I last posted. Just haven't had the time it feels like.

So what have I been doing? Well playing Guitar Hero, Silent Hill 3 (found it for a good price for once), playing more of my Wii, attending my anime club, watching, reading manga, watching playoff football, etc. Nothing too interesting.

Now that 2006 is over with, time for me to give my list of my favorite games of the year. I try to keep it to only games released this year but I'm making an exception.

10. Star Fox Command (DS) - A return to the flying excellence of the series while throwing in a strategy gameplay that is also very enjoyable. I'm still looking for a return to the classic Star Fox 64 on-rails style that made the series great but the core gameplay of Star Fox is present and stills feel excellent, even with steering with a stylus.

9. Okami (PS2) - One of the more unique looking games introduced last year and though I am not close to beating it, I've still enjoyed it enough to put it up on my list. A great artstyle, with a charming story, funny characters, and great Zelda-like gameplay. Too bad Clover studios got shut down.

8. Mega Man X Collection (GCN) - The 2nd iteration of one my most favorite franchises. Though I prefer the first three over the last three all of them give good Mega Man action. As it is, X2 ranks as one of my most favorite games of all time.

7. Trauma Center: 2nd Opinion (Wii) - I missed this on the DS (well I played a little) but the Wii version looks like it improves on some things. Provides a decent challenge and some really addicting challenges.

6. Brain Age (DS) - The real oddball on my list. Never thought a game based on mental exercises could be so addicting but for about 2 and a half months I played all the games regularly and still play the Sudoku game, which comes as a bonus but is better done than other stand alone versions.

5. New Super Mario Bros. (DS) - A return to the classic style of Mario platforming with some 3D touches thrown in to make for a very entertaining and memorable game. May not pack as much of the charm of it's SNES/NES brethren but it has enough to really stand up as a great platformer.

4. Madden NFL 2007 (Wii) - It's amazing what a change in control scheme can do to help revitalize a franchise (and potentially an entire genre) stuck in the slight graphical and roster updates. I've got a season in and sure it looks like a nice XBox or GCN version but with the new controls I'll take them over playing the old way any day. And this is coming from EA, not exactly well known for doing things even slightly differant.

3. Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (PS2) - Probably how the game should have been in the first place. Pretty much everything I loved about the original version with the benefit of a controllable camera. Plus the original versions of the first two Metal Gear games. I've beaten the first but have yet to get to the 2nd.

2. Guitar Hero (PS2) - My exception to my released in 2006 rule. I got this in late October and have probably put more hours into this game than any other, except my number 1. I'm not a big music fan (or music game fan for that matter) so for this game to grab me like it has, speaks volumes for its quality. I do intend to buy the next one soon.

1. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (GCN/Wii) - Beaten both and find neither is particularly superior to the other. They each have their strengths which make them both fine choices depending on your situation. It doesn't matter though, this is the first game I've beaten in less than two weeks that last this long (Wii version) since probably Metroid Prime and the first game to grab me by the collar and not let go until I finished since quite possibly Ocarina of Time back in '98. Best Zelda ever? Hard to say. I'll tell you if I've beaten it 20+ times like OoT and ALttP or even 10+ like Link's Awakening. But whichever way you intend to go, whether you want to start your Wii collection off right or end your GCN collection right, this game is good for both.

Honorable Mentions

Metal Slug Anthology - Another compilation but since the true value of the games are in the multiplayer, I haven't played enough of it.

Tetris DS - I love Tetris. Everyone loves Tetris. If you don't love Tetris, you probably suck.

Metroid Prime Hunters - Graphically this game impresses me. Sadly it breaks my fingers when I try to play which isn't the games fault.

Wii Sports - The perfect showcase for the Wii. Even though the games are relatively very simple, they are also very addictive. My favorites would be bowling and baseball.

What I look for in 2007

Super Smash Bros. Brawl - I don't think there can be anything else really. I loved Melee and even tiny improvements should make this great. Just don't lose Zelda/Shiek, I loves them.

Metroid Prime 3 Corruption - I've loved the Prime series so far, can't imagine why I won't love this.

Super Mario Galaxy - I really have no doubts that this will be another great Mario platformer.

Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass - Though I know little about this other than it is the sequel to The Wind Waker, I can't wait to see what Nintendo does with it.

No More Heroes - Made by the guys who did Killer 7. If it can match the plain off the wall nature of K7 it should be good.

Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles - RE though C:V scenarios with a RE4 style gameplay? Count me in.

Metal Gear Solid 4 - If it is going to be an 360 game I may go for it eventually.

More great Virtual Console games. So far the releases have been solid (for the most part, there are some NES additions that are not too hot). With a huge library of games for all 5 of these systems, Nintendo (and Sega and Hudson) really doesn't have an excuse to not give us a great selection of old school games.

Games Released in 2006 that I want to play

Rayman: Raving Rabbids - Those quirky little rodents.

Guitar Hero 2 - Only played a little bit of this but I wants it.

Yoshi's Island DS - I loved the original and I'm hearing lots of good things about this sequel.

Labels: DS, Games, GCN, PS2, Top 10, Wii

I just had to get a picture of this:




















My dog Dirk and one of our cats, Chico. Chico is almost as big as Dirk is.

Labels: cats and dogs living together, mass hysteria

Merry Christmas anybody who may find his or her way here. Hope you had a good one.

It's been 10 days since I last posted. Mostly just hanging out at home. Playing lots of the GCN version of Twilight Princess and finding more stuff than I had my first time around on the Wii. Also playing lots of Madden. Throw in Guitar Hero, Virtual Console games, and other games I'm just relaxing and enjoying my vacation.

Had a normal Christmas. Got a new sweatshirt like my old Vikings one. I've worn that Vikings ones almost every day since I got it some 3 years back so it is a tad worn. Got Metal Slug Anthologies, particularly because I am a sucker for anthologies plus the games are pretty damned fun. Really want to get back to school and play with my suitemates. Those were from my parents and my brother and sister got me gift cards to Best Buy and Wal-Mart respectively.

Christmas is more to me about being with my family than the presents so I'm happy with how things have gone. Got to see my sister for the first time in 4 or 5 months. Really wish my other brother, his wife and son could have come. But thems the breaks.

So all you people have a nice holiday and a Happy New Year.

Glad to be done with school for the year. I just felt stressed and pissed off. But now I can stretch and relax with the family for 3+ weeks before next semester. My final one.

Also bought Madden on the way home for the Wii. Actually very fun with the new controls. I'm impressed with EA.

Funny and true. And a tad creepy.

h/t: Kotaku.com

Since the GameCube era is essentially over for me (though I have intentions to pick up some of the games I missed in due time) I figured I’d do my Top 25 GameCube games.

25 – Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes – Underrated remake. Added in some of the better aspects of MGS2 while improving the graphics and overall gameplay of the original. I’d say the original holds a higher place in my heart but this does a fine job of replicating it.

24 – Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell – Very well done spy action. More realistic than Metal Gear Solid with a more grounded in reality plot. Dunno why I never picked up the sequels.

23 – Animal Crossing – While addicting for a short while, the charm the game exudes is wonderful. Plus I got all the NES games opened up. Which turns my house into a veritable arcade.

22 – Pikmin 2 – Retained and expanded on the original in so many ways. Co-op element was also very well implemented. Also playing the multiplayer and sending hordes of Pikmin after each other is very entertaining.

21 – Super Monkey Ball – A great action puzzler. Some very tough levels and some very entertaining mini games. My favorite in particular was Monkey Bowling.

20 – Ikaruga – Old-school shooting at its finest. Very tough and I have yet to beat it still. I’d love to see games like this continue to be made.

19 – MVP Baseball 2005 – Probably the best baseball game I’ve played. Had lots of options, a great pitching game, and a great franchise mode.

18 – Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem – A very good horror story with a great plot and one of the few games with honest to goodness good voice acting. Playing the different styles of characters was fun as was bashing up the demons of whatever those things were supposed to be.

17 – Resident Evil 0 – A bit underrated in my view. Brought some very good tag team elements to the franchise and set up the first in a convoluted way.

16 – Skies of Arcadia Legends – The first of these kinds of RPGs (post-FFVII 3D RPG) I really liked. Fun story with likeable characters and some decent over world gameplay and the tried and true RPG gameplay everyone loves.

15 – Madden NFL 2005 – I’d still be playing if my game hadn’t decided it was going to lock up every half time. Featuring the always enjoyable Madden gameplay with a decent franchise mode. Really interested in picking up the Wii version of 2007.

14 – Mario Kart Double Dash – In my opinion the most underrated Mario Kart and far better than 64. The double cart gimmick was fun and some of the course designs are just fantastic. Plus it also remided the pitiful Rainbow Road from 64. Thank god.

13 – Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door – Added on to and improved the stellar gameplay of the original Paper Mario and provided just as good humor to boot. I was at the end when my memory card crapped out on me. Grr.

12 – Metroid Prime 2: Echoes – Great sequel to original Prime. Added some more classic weapons and added to the interesting plotline. Suffered similar fate as PM2.

11 – Super Mario Sunshine – Didn’t feature the variety of locales of SM64 but did do very in bringing the overall feel of Mario 64 and improving on it in some places. Plus I’ll go on record to saying I thought the commercial for the game was hilarious.

10 – Pikmin – The 2^nd game I ever bought for my Cube. Excellent game and very original. Too bad some people dismiss it for the 30 days mechanic. It was a story vehicle and made sense to the game.

9 – Tales of Symphonia – One of the best RPGs I’ve ever played. Fun battle system, good story, and enjoyable overworld gameplay. Couldn’t really ask for more from an RPG.

8 – Resident Evil – Improved in so many ways from the original it isn’t even fair. Added new story elements and some interesting bad guys to the mix. Wish they’d give the treatment to RE2. Now that’d be fantastic.

7 – Soul Calibur 2 – The sequel to my favorite Dreamcast game. Very deep and enjoyable fighter. Plus it has Link in it. Can’t go wrong with that.

6 – Mega Man Anniversary Collection – A true testament to the fantastic NES Mega Man series. All 8 are very solid games that hold up fairly well even today.

5 – Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker – The most controversial Zelda ever and for very stupid reasons. A great story, great gameplay, and the best overworld for a Zelda when it was released. A tad easy but that doesn’t matter that much to me.

4 – Viewtiful Joe – Old school platforming mixed with new school gameplay mechanics. One of the more original games to be released on the GCN and still just as fun to play as it was back in 2003.

3 – Resident Evil 4 – A necessary update to the franchise. Some of the beat graphics of this generation, mixed with intense gameplay and sets up for the rest of the franchise. Nobody can tell me that they don’t think Wesker has something up his sleeves.

2 – Super Smash Bros. Melee – The first game I ever got for my GameCube. Easily my most played game to. Got a big boost the last year and a half finally getting roommates who are also SSBM players. Hopefully Brawl is jut as excellent.

1 – Metroid Prime – Brought the franchise to 3D in a spectacular way. Kept the feeling of the classics while adding new things to the mix.

I really loved my GameCube. All in all I had 43+ games for it and none of them I think would fall under the realm of bad in anyway. I’m sure some would disagree though. And for the end I’m doing one last list. The Top 5 I’d like to pick up eventually.

5 – Chibi Robo – I loved the concept when it was introduced a few years back but never got around to getting it.

4 – Splinter Cell sequels – Why I never picked these up I don’t know.

3 – Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat – I’ll give Nintendo a lot of credit for making use of the bongos for a unique platformer idea.

2 – Luigi’s Mansion – I only played the demo during the launch and I liked what I saw.

1 – Fire Emblem – Been wanting to play this since I heard about the series when it wasn’t being released here.

I'm just shy of 26 hours in and I'm only four dungeons in. This game is fantastic.

Seriously, I can't remember the last time I played a game this diligently. Probably not since OoT have I done this.

I think my game of the year is already wrapped up.

I sat outside Wal-Mart for 23 hours to get my hands on a Wii. It was fun and miserable. Cold weather sucks. Now I may have a flu.

Some funny stuff from 1-up.com.

My personal favorite.

http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/ps3/wikipedia-locks-down-nintendo-sony-entries-214496.php

I guess people have something riding on whether or not the Wii or PS3 do well if they feel the need to vandalize the companies Wikipedia entries.

But seriously, don't people have anything better to do than participate in flame wars?

Most of those were pretty easy though. I did get stuck on the geometry question, the grammar one about dangling modifiers, and the Shakespeare one. I got them all and missed the one on Columbus. Going to fast, I suppose.

You Are 20% Republican

If you have anything in common with the Republican party, it's by sheer chance. You're a staunch liberal, and nothing is going to change that!

You Are 4% Democrat

If you have anything in common with the Democrat party, it's by sheer chance. You're a staunch conservative, and nothing is going to change that!

So I'm neither. Good.

Seriously EA? Calling out someone else for not being innovative? Look in the mirror for Christ's sake.

I don't necessarily know what is the big deal with Gears of War either but jeez. People hate EA a lot. Don't allow more to be shoveled on.

With Halloween dead and gone, I figure it is time to list my 6 favorite "horror" games. I put the quotation marks around it because whether they are scary is up to discretion. Also my list may be dominated by 2 certain franchises.

1. Resident Evil 4 - Intense, fast, and really really awesome. Scary? That's hard to say. I do believe the first part of the game where villagers are chasing after you in a murderous frenzy could be considered scary. Though when I started playing and Chainsaw Sackhead (whats his name?) took me by surprise to lop my fool head off did shock me. The bastard.

2. Resident Evil - The remake not the original. Gritty, violent, some scary moments I believe. Maybe not as big a scare to me as the original when I was 14 but it improved the game. Though the originals first zombie's cutscene still freaks me out in ways the reamake couldn't.

3. Silent Hill - Honestly, scared me at some parts. I may have been 15 or so but when that hospital went hell on me, I was freaked out. Of all horror games, this has probably the most overall scare feeling. You aren't a supercop or something, you are a regular guy in a bad situation trying to find your daughter. How universal.

4. Resident Evil 2 - Not as overall creepy as the original due to the larger spaces but gave you some good frights. I'm still not sure why I didn't see the Licker come through that window in the interrogation room.

5. Eternal Darkness - Broke the monopoly. Had it's moments and some cool stuff. Some creepy passive sanity effects and one moment that actually made me yell out in shock. When you happen upon the bathroom and see the main character dead in a bathtub filled with blood. Didn't see it coming.

6. Silent Hill 2 - Two words: Pyramid Head. Seeing him the first time gave me some sort of freak out. He was raping a fucking mannequin! How sick and twisted is that? Not as scary to me as the original because I was 23 when I played SH2 and 15 when I played the original. Age matters.

Now there is debate whether horror games are really scary, at all. I don't know. I don't care. They are fun. Though I might throw Doom/II in the mix. When I first played that I got honest too god scared by Cyberdemons and Barons of Hell. Something about those bastards.

They aren't anywhere near being a top team in the NFL. Not close. They may have jumped up on a beat up Seahawks team but they were made to look like fools on their own turf by the Patriots, 31-7 and that 7 was because Mewelde Moore's punt return.

That was just painful to watch. In fact I stopped watching after it became obvious about how the game was going to turn out.

Note to the Brad Johnson lovers in the Vikings sports fandom: he does not have a future as a starter. Hell, he barely has one as a back-up. The dip and dunk offense is all he can do. We need a QB who can air it out and not underthrow it horribly. Who that'd be? I don't know but we need one.

http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/bully/jack-faces-jail-over-bully-209583.php

First Jacko possibly getting a taste of his own medicine.

2nd, a comment in their comment section.

Why is that these morons tend to forget that the person Jacko is most aligned with is none other than the wife of every left-wingers favorite president, Hillary Clinton? In fact the the biggest names I can think of in this whole debate are her, Joe Lieberman, and Tipper Gore. All liberals, though of differant stripes. I'm fairly certain that there are plenty of right-wingers who are also on that badwagon but unlike this moron, I'm not stupid enough to pretend that this is a right or left wing issue. This is most certainly a bi-partisan thing but the main politicans behind it are solidly (well it depends on what you think of Joe) left-winged.

As a gamer of over 20 years now, I have a certain fondness for the games that developed my personal gaming habits when I was kid. I've gone to getting myself a SNES and NES over the last summer with several games for those systems. But since they can be difficult to find and sometimes expensive, compliations are something of a god send to me. I can play the games I loved and still love without the hassle of having to find them one by one. So I felt I'd list my five favorite Game Compliations.

My 5 Favorite Game Compliations

1. Legend of Zelda Collector's Edition (GCN) - As being a compliation of 4 great games from my favorite game series I feel this deserves to be my favorite. And for the low, low price of free of charge. Sure I have all 4 of those games (LoZ, AoL, OoT, MM) on their respective systems and others but this is a great deal.

2. Mega Man Anniversary Collection (GCN) - Probably my 3rd favorite franchise also gives me my 2nd favorite collection by just strength of numbers. 10 games spanning 4 systems (I guess if you consider arcades systems, kinda) all solid enough games which suffer a bit from being too much the same. Which is good and bad. But for always solid platforming fun, Mega Man is as good as they come.

3. Super Mario All-Stars (SNES) - The first compliation that I can think of it updates the 4 pre-SMW Mario games but doesn't change them aside from adding a save system. No where else are you going to be able to get Lost Levels in this country aside from emulation and if you don't have SMW you can get also add to value by getting the version with SMW also.

4. Animal Crossing (GCN) - While technically not a compliation, the fact that you can open nearly 20 NES games, with many being veritable classics is good enough for my standards.

5. Sonic Mega Collection + (PS2) Another veritable bevy of games on this one. The first four Sonic games for the Genesis are all excellent but sadly the other games don't quite match those games and are only decent filler. I wish they would have included Sonic CD instead of the rather poor non-Sonic games.

Fortunately this won't make it to our shores in retail. Which doesn't matter since the Wii and DS are region free. Good for sickos I guess.

One of the funniest damned things I've seen in awhile. What with its World of Warcraft theme and all. I don't play WoW and don't have the urge to play it at all actually but damn was that good.

And that is all really.

Three weeks ago if you would have told me that I'd be addicted to Guitar Hero enough to buy my own copy I probably would have called you crazy. But here I am. I first really got play time with the game at my local Best Buy where they've had it on demo for ages. I played about a half an hour to 45 minutes playing the game waiting for Okami to come in at Software Etc. This Saturday I bought my own copy and have probably already put in ten hours.

Sure I'm not very good. I can barely beat some medium level songs but man is it fun.

Also Okami is great to. You should also buy that.

http://gamepolitics.com/2006/09/27/brownback-proposes-game-ratings-bill-in-senate/

There are how many games released each year? And to play them all to completion? Are they insane?

Well yes, they are. But still.

But they could have very easily been 3-0.

I'll give them a lot of credit. They proved they are at least defensivly capable of keeping up with the Bears and if not for a few tough breaks (and some real shitty referees) they could have won the game.

But still they didn't score an offensive TD all game which needs to change. They have no red zone offense and they still make many of the same mistake they used to on offense. Though that offensive pass interference was complete BS on I believe Troy Williamson. That could have been a differance maker.

I got to figure though the Bears are as good as advertised. The came through in the clutch and I don't think they would have won this game last year with Kyle Orton at the helm.

About midnight me and my suitemate Mike finally did our eagerly wanted to do race through Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for the SNES. Obviously we had two SNES systems, 2 copies of the game, and two TVs put nearly side to side.

In the end I started out in the lead (he took a longer way off of the hill Link's house sits on and I took a shorter way) and never looked back. I finished off Ganon around 5 am (we took an hour or so for a pizza break) while he was just finishing off Turtle Rock. There were no rules as to what we could collect and I spent several minutes on the shovel game to get that heart piece and still beat him by a dungeon and half or so.

It really showed that I knew ALttP far better than he did as I had beaten the game around 20+ times by now. He had tendencies to get lost on some puzzles which also gave me time.

All in all it is a silly way to spend an early morning but it was fun.

The Vikings are showing they may be on to something so far as they are 2-0 after today's game against the Panthers. At least on defense they are playing very well and the offense is keeping them in the game and not losing it for them.

I'd like the offense to put together and finish a few more drives (they've been shooting themselves in the foot in the red zone) and I'll be a bit less concerned.

Do what you want, cause a pirate is free! You are a pirate!