Everyone reading this likely already knows that Nintendo has just confirmed Lucina, Robin, and Captain Falcon for the upcoming Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U. I'm unfortunately not as familiar with the Fire Emblem cast, so Captain Falcon does a bit more for me in the excitement department. If you haven't checked out the reveal trailer somehow, it's definitely worth watching:
In a recent edition of "Boss Rage," Youtube gamer Maximilian took on the DLC Evil Ryu and Oni battle from Asura's Wrath. As the fight with Oni drew to a close, he threw Stan Bush and Vince DiCola's "Dare" from the Transformers: The Movie soundtrack over the action. Despite its synth-fueled 1980's cheesiness, the song actually manages to fit the game quite well:
July 13th brought us the final day of the Evo 2014 fighting game tournament. With the grand finals for BlazBlue, Killer Instinct, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, and Ultra Street Fighter all lined up, it goes without saying that there was an absolute barrage of intense matches on display. Here are a few key highlights:
The day kicked off with the BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma finals. Garireo (with Litchi) ultimately defeated Dogura (with Azrael) after a difficult climb out of the losers bracket. If fighting games have taught us anything, it's to never give up!
Tekken project leader Katsuhiro Harada took the stage at Evo 2014 alongside designer Michael Murray to do a bit of damage control over the Tekken 7 announcement leak. Based on Harada's statements, the reveal was actually meant to take place at a later date (perhaps at this year's San Diego Comic-Con.) He handled the situation gracefully however, even joking that perhaps Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono was behind the leak. Despite whatever plans may have been in place before, the following announcement trailer was shown:
While it was quickly taken down, AOL leaked a news video meant to reveal Tekken 7 earlier today. It's assumed this may have been meant to coincide with a special announcement at the Evo 2014 fighting game tournament, but the gun was jumped somehow.
In a nice surprise, the Super Smash Bros. Melee finals at the Evo 2014 fighting game tournament were introduced by a video from Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime. I'm pretty sure it was a heartfelt message thanking the Smash community for supporting the series for so long, but I have to admit I was pretty distracted by the Twitch chat going absolutely insane at the mere sight of the guy:
With that, a new First World Problem arises:
Sigh. Life is so cruel.
The end. These italic words aren't part of the post at all. Shh. If you enjoyed this silliness, be sure to watch out for more via my Twitter & Facebook profiles!
As you might expect, the second day of Evo 2014 was filled with many hours of fantastic high-level fighting game matches. There was even a bit of upcoming game news sprinkled in! The whole event can be a lot to take in, so let's look at a handful of highlights:
Super Street Fighter II Turbo proved yet again that it still has some life left. The match above is the 3 on 3 "X-Mania USA" grand final featuring Team M3 versus Team Japan 2. There was some solid play here, especially from Mao: a Vega player with a personality the size of the moon. Like many, I still absolutely adore this game, and it does the heart good to see it get a bit more time in the spotlight.
After the evening's final Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 matches, Evo 2014 Day 2 finished with a screening of Chubby Boy Films' short film Matador, an origin story for Street Fighter II boss character Vega (or Balrog if you prefer the original Japanese name.) If such things interest you, a Youtube upload is already available:
I love fighting games, and I love The Powerpuff Girls. As I watched a bit of Evo 2014 today, I saw the two worlds collide. I almost can't believe I'm posting about such a trivial thing, but I have to give props to player JuniorSauce666 for rocking a Powerpuff Girls shirt while playing Killer Instinct:
The first day of Evo 2014 is now behind us, and among its highlights were a ton of exciting Ultra Street Fighter IV matches. Interestingly, many of the game's most well renown top players were eliminated earlier than most would have predicted. Examples include:
Momochi (Ken) eliminating Dieminion (Guile)
In honor of the Evolution 2014 fighting game tournament (taking place this weekend, July 11-13), it seemed appropriate to showcase characters from some of its featured games in the latest edition of FanArt Frenzy. No need for flowery, silly text up front — let's just jump right in!
This gorgeous illustration of Jin Kazama from the Tekken series comes from DeviantArt's istdog.
In another adventure through the Youtube vortex, I came across an incredibly fun Ultra Street Fighter IV match featuring Hugo vs Zangief from a semi-recent "Wednesday Night Fights" event. Ch-check it out:
In one of my most recent battles with the Youtube vortex, I found myself watching a Mega Man X5 speed run. I owned all of the Playstation released Mega Man X titles, and I was certain I'd beaten them all. After admiring the pretty, glowing Tron-like backgrounds, it dawned on me that some of the bosses were completely unfamiliar as the game reached it's end. Despite knowing otherwise, it became clear I'd never actually gotten that far in the game.
Mortal Kombat creator and creative director Ed Boon recently "re-tweeted" a fan image of Scorpion staring down a Predator, complete with Mortal Kombat X logo. As you might expect, many of those that follow the goings on of the fighting game world found the idea rather exciting. The re-tweet got plenty of attention:
The Steam Community Discussion forums have been abuzz with a myriad of cheat codes for Shovel Knight, Yacht Club Games' popular new indie platformer. Of the 300 plus codes, the most attention grabbing is undoubtedly "Butt Mode." When activated, select parts of the game's text are replaced with the word "butt." The resulting giggles can be heard far and wide.
I've only just now learned about the Luigi Nendoroid figure. Of course, after the well deserved hype surrounding the Luigi Death Stare bestowed upon us by Mario Kart 8, the first thing that ran through my mind is that I really wish it was present here. Its absence is easily explained by the year or so of production time needed for toys like this, but it's a bit of a letdown all the same.
It's an unpopular stance that was widely dismissed, but I've already gone on about the importance of single player modes in fighting games. We're not all in a town with a competitive scene, and many of us lack the time for serious practice. Should those of us in that situation just bow out of playing fighters altogether?
Of course not! While single player focused features like Street Fighter Alpha 3's World Tour Mode and Dramatic Battle are becoming rarer these days, there's still some fun to be had. The new SF4 update Ultra Street Fighter IV is no exception. Look no further than Maximilian's Oni "Boss Rage" video!
While the Beast's Fury Kickstarter was a success, stretch goals such as the attention grabbing inclusion of characters like Benny: The Dog of Hype (voiced by Maximilian) and Ego: The Cyber Raptor (voiced by Egoraptor) were unfortunately unfulfilled. In the midst of their post-campaign update, the developers promised to put in the additional work to finish the characters all the same. Maximilian and Egoraptor are also fully on board!
While Yoshi's Woolly World doesn't look to be the most original concept, its basic aesthetic is crazy cute. In the onslaught of further E3 2014 news, the game may have been quickly pushed aside, but I've actually found myself thinking about it again as of late. More specifically, I've been greatly looking forward to the possibility of owning some yarn Yoshi toys!
I'm clueless as to how easy it would be to mass produce a stuffed yarn Yoshi like the one seen in the Nintendo E3 Digital Event, but I certainly hope it's possible somehow. Even if it takes creating faux versions that merely match the look without the worry of an expensive and time consuming handmade manufacturing process, I just know that I want one. Stuffed yarn Yoshis are where smiles are born.
