There are some game sequels and reboots that no one would've ever expected to be created, so I'm making a blog post dedicated to those unexpected sequels and reboots.

To start off:

Mega Man 9

I'm not a fan of the Mega Man series so I'm only assuming that this was an unexpected sequel. It came out 10 years after Mega Man 8, and it even had 8-bit visuals and music. But like I said, I'm not exactly sure if this was unexpected or not, I'm mostly assuming it was for the reasons I just stated.

Final Fantasy X-2

Again, this is more of an assumption. I'm not a fan of the Final Fantasy series so this is just a guess. I'm guessing it was unexpected because it was a sequel to a sequel, which is not something that usually occurs in the Final Fantasy series.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4

After New Super Mario Bros. Wii came out, a lot of us Sonic fans thought: "Please Sega, give Sonic that treatment!" And this was Sega's answer to that. We knew we'd be getting a 2D Sonic game when Project Needlemouse was announced, but some of us weren't quite expecting a sequel the Genesis games, including myself.

Donkey Kong Country Returns

I was actually really surprised when this was announced at E3. A sequel to the DKC trilogy was really unexpected because DKC was made by both Nintendo and Rare, and Rare no longer works with Nintendo because Rare whored itself out to Microsoft. Nintendo has no need for Rare anymore though, becuase we have Retro Studios who is helping to make this game.

GoldenEye 007

I was really surprised when this was announced at E3 as well because Rare made the original, and like I said before, Rare whored itself out to Microsoft. E3 2010 really showed that Nintendo has no need for Rare anymore because Activision is making the remake.

Super Mario Galaxy 2

Now THIS was unexpected. Mario usually only had one 3D platformer per console, and most of us not only didn't expect to get another 3D Mario game, but we also didn't expect it to be a sequel Super Mario Galaxy. It was a great sequel though, and GameSpot even gave it a 10.

And that concludes this post. Are there any games that I'm missing?

Hey everyone, sorry about my last blog post. I was having a bit of a rough time but everything's fine now.

Anyways, I have loved being able to use the Virtual Console because it's given me a chance to play games that I missed out on the first time through, so I'm making this blog post about the games I've downloaded from the Virtual Console along with my thoughts on them.

Here are the games I have downloaded (in the order of which they were purchased):

Super Mario Bros. 3

What I'm about to say may shock some of you, but I don't like this game at all. It may have revolutionized Mario, but I find it to be incredibly frustrating. I expected to like this game, but it just didn't click with me. I've attempted to try and beat it several times, but it gets too frustrating to keep my interest. Like I said though, it revolutionized Mario, so I have to give it credit for that.

Super Mario Bros. 2

I used to own the GBA port of this game many years ago, andso I decided to download the NES version from the Virtual Console. I completely forgot how much I like this game! I know this is going to sound crazy to some of you but it's my favorite Super Mario Bros.game (though I still have yet to play Lost Levels but I don't think I'll like it more than this). I like it because it's unique! It frustrates me when people complain that it's nothing like the other SMB games but you know what I think? Enjoy the frickin' game for what it is. If you want the real SMB2, then just go downloadSMB: The Lost Levels so you can truly enjoy the American version for what it is.

Donkey Kong Country

Now THIS is a fun game! It may be very difficult, but it's also really fun. The graphics are really good compared to most SNES games, and it has a good amount of variety. If you're a fan of platformers and you've never played this game, do yourself a favor and go download it from the Virtual Console.

Super Mario World

This is easily the best old-school 2D Mario platformer out there. It's practically overflowing with fun and chaotic levels of goodness, and it's challenging too. I know many prefer SMB3 over this, but think that this is a lot better than SMB3 (sorry SMB3 fans).

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

I haven't played too much of this one yet (mostly because I can't get past that stupid Croco guy), but it seems like it's going to be a great game. The plot is actually somewhat interesting so far (Gasp! A Mario game with a decent plot? BLASPHEMY!), and it will be intersting to see hwo the rest of the game turns out).

Super Mario Bros.

If I've been told correctly, this game changed and revolutionized the gaming industry forever. It's pretty good game, I must say. It's pure simple goodness. It's still fun and challenging to this day, and it will be forever remembered as one of the most revolutionary games of all time.

As of right now, I don't plan on getting anymore Virtual Console games until I beat SMW and SMRPG, but when I do buy more VC games, I'm planning on getting games like DKC2, DKC3, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

I haven't really been myself at all lately. I've actually been rather... depressed.

It started last week when I was spending a lot of time with my "friends." They claim they're my friends, but they just push me around, walk over me, treat me like I'm stupid, and they just overall treat me like dirt. They are constantly insulting me, and exclude from nearly everything they do and ignore me when I talk to them. They're always telling me that I'm annoying and I need to shut up. I usually don't even know if they're joking when they insult me, it seems like they're usually serious. The strange part is, if I try to distance myself from them, they freak out and wonder why I'm wanting to distance myself from them.

All this made me come to a realization: I have hardly any true friends. True friends don't exclude you and insult you constantly. This realization has now made me depressed. School starts again near the end of this month, and I don't even know if I'm ready for it yet because I'll have to deal with the bullying and exclusion that goes on all the time.

When school starts, I'll be on the swim team, so maybe that'll help with my period of depression, but I just don't know. I've always had problems with being excluded by my "friends" in sports.

I don't know what to do anymore about my situation with friends. I try to find other ones, but the majority of the other people out there won't accept me either.

Right now I'm probably coming across as nothing but a whiny teenager that can't handle a bit of teasing, but what my "friends" do is beyong teasing; it's almost like they're trying to destroy every last bit of self-confidence I have. I just don't know what to do anymore.

As of right now, I probably won't be as active on GameSpot as I used to. I'll still get on here and there, but I won't be doing much reviewing or blogging for a little while. I need some time to think.

This is the third and final part of my top 15 most nostalgic games. I'll start out with this:

5. Super Mario Advance

This was the game I got with my Gameboy Advance (the original model) for Christmas one year, and I played the heck out of this thing. If ever my family was going on a long car trip, I always brought this along to play. Back when I was younger, I didn't know the Super Mario Bros. series existed, so I didn't give a crap that you didn't get to stomp goombas and what-not. It was extremely addicting too. This port is also one of the reasons that SMB2 is one of my favorite games to this day. I still can't beat SMB2 though, but with the GBA port I got as far as world 7-2 (the final one) and I ended up getting a game over. I was stupid enough to give this game away and I greatly regret it. Recently, however, I bought the NES version of SMB2 from the Virtual Console, and as I played through it I had a nostalgia overload. SMB2 is so underrated that it's not even funny. Learn to enjoy games for what they are folks; you'll enjoy gaming more if you do...

4. Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

Back when I was younger, you were automatically favored by your friends if you had this game. This was one of those games that my friends would come over to my house just to play. The common link between my friends and I was video games I guess you could say. We mostly played this game during the summer when it got too hot outside. We played this nonstop for hours on end. Just thinking about this game makes me want to go out and buy Mario Kart Wii.

3. Paper Mario

Paper Mario was the first video game I actually beat (mostly) bymyself. Whenever I replay it, it always brings back a ton of memories. This game has the best soundtrack of any N64 game, and it's so memorable. If you don't like this game, you don't have a soul.

2. Pokemon Sapphire

This was the first Pokemon game I played, and I can't go back and play this game without the urge to cry because I have so many frickin' memories with it. Whenever my friends and I would get together, we would literally just play Ruby and Sapphire the whole time we hung out. Sometimes we would link up our GBAs to fight and trade Pokemon and other such activities. Not to mention that this game is addictive beyond self-control. I have 150+ hours of playtime on it, and I'm not proud of it, but oh well. This will always go down as a game that brings back A TON of memories to me.

And now for my #1 most nostalgic game...

1. Super Smash Bros. Melee

Wow... where do I start?

This was one of the games I got with my GameCube for Christmas one year (Super Mario Sunshine was another game I got that Christmas with my GameCube), and upon playing it, I was AMAZED at how much it improved over the original one. It had numerous improvements such as the grahpical update, improved battling mechanics, more stages/better stage designs, and a huge roster. And just like Double Dash, if you had this game, you were automatically favored by your friends. My friends and I played this game to no end. And surprisingly enough, I also played it with family a few times. I played it with my brothers a few times, my uncle and I once played it together (he later on demanded a re-match (we tied)), and so on. Heck, I even played this game with MY MOM. Nowadays, I literally can't go back and play this game because it makes me too sad from all the memories I have with it. Nowadays we have Brawl, but I'm going to be honest here: I think Melee is one hundred times better than Brawl. Don't get me wrong, I think Brawl is awesome, but I will never have nearly as many memories with Brawl as I did with Melee, and I think Melee had better stage designs. Besides, my friends I never play Brawl these days because we're usually off doing things like swimming and going to parties. Sure I play Brawl by myself sometimes, and I'll occasionally get a friend to play it with me, but it still won't make memories likeMelee did. Anyways, this game will always bring back a ton of memories to me.

And with that, I end this blog post.

The second part of my top 15 most nostalgic games. I'll begin with this:

10. GoldenEye 007

Let me start off by saying this: I'm not a big fan of FPSes. At all. However, I'll make an exception for this game. It's one of the only FPSes I can stand at the least. I'm not saying I love this game, but I don't dislike it either. I'll admit it: it had some fun missions, and the multiplayer was great. The multiplayer is the biggest reason why this game brings back so many memories. My friends used to come over to my house just to play it because their parents wouldn't ever buy them the dang game (or an N64 for that matter). I didn't like it nearly as much as my friends did, but I still liked it, just not a lot.

9. Mario Tennis

Ah, Mario Tennis... One of the Mario sports/party games that didn't suck. Every once in a while, when I was a child, I played it with friends and family and I had fun with it. Whenever I went back and played it I was always hit hard with nostalgia. Just remembering this game makes me want to out and buy the New Play Control for Mario Power Tennis.

8. Sonic the Hedgehog

Back when I was a child, my family didn't own an NES or SNES (sadly) but we did own a Sega Genesis, and we owned this game. It was one of the first video games I ever played, and I still love to go back and play it. It's just as fast as it was when I was a child. However, when I was a child I couldn't get pass the dang Marble Zone... Thank goodness for the save feature on the Mega Collection Plus, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten far at all in this game. Anyways, it brings back its fair share of memories, and I will always remember it well.

7. Super Smash Bros.

The original Super Smash Bros. hasn't really aged very well due to its superior successors, but that doesn't stop it from being nostalgic. Back when I was a child, this was a great game to play with friends. I mostly played it with family because I generally didn't play video games with friends when it came out (it came out when I was in kindergarten), becuase my friends and I were off doing silly children things. There were a few times where I did play it with friends though, and those memories are fond ones. Besides, who can forget the awesome commentator and his epic voice? "BOARD THE PLATFORMS!!!!!"

6. Sonic the Hedgehog 2

"Sonic peaked at Sonic the Hedgehog 3!!!" Pfft.... such lies! THIS is where Sonic truly peaked. My friend I used to play this game nonstop back when I was younger. We'd play the single player mode, and he'd be Sonic and I'd be Tails and we would always get as far as the Sky Chase Zone and die... I still haven't beaten this game all the way through, sadly. This still remains as my favorite Sonic game, and I've played almost every old 2D Sonic game (I still have yet to play Sonic CD), and this is where Sonic peaked. If you haven't played this game, then go do so right now and get one of the umpteen Sonic collections or just download it from the Virtual Console.

And that concludes this blog entry. And a quick heads up: I'll be extremely busy next week so I won't be on often but if I can I'll try to squeeze in the final part of this blog if I can find time. Until then, good bye everyone.

There are many games that bring back tons of memories, so I'm here to post 15 of those games. It's going to take three blog entries to post them all because it would be one huge blog entry if I just posted it all in one huge blog post. Anyways, I'll start off with this:

15. Majora's Mask

Back when I was younger, my brother had this game and he had beaten it once and I remember my friends and I used to go on his file and mess around on it and such. I never actually tried to get into the game though until just recently. Watching the introduction brought back a lot of memories. I don't really like this game very much in truth, it's my least favorite Zelda, but that doesn't stop it from being nostalgic.

14. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

This was the first Zelda game that I actually got into when I was younger, but I was not the smartest child back then so I didn't really get very far, so I had to use my cousin's guide book to get me through some parts. I remember I hit a stupid glitch in the game where the boss key in the wind temple wouldn't open the boss door and I had to restart from the very beginning of the whole frickin' game; otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get very far at all. I beat this game just recently, and it's currently my favorite Zelda and my third favorite video game. I'll always have fond memories of this game.

13. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

I know you're all sick about me blabbering on about how this is my favorite video game of all-time, but guess what? I don't care. You get to hear me blabber on about it even more. Back when I got this game, I played it non-stop and I loved it to death. I literally would ignore friends and family for this game. After I first beat it, I went back and did almost every side-quest possible just to squeeze every last drop of enjoyment out of it. I've beaten it at least 3 or 4 times, and when ever I'm re-playing it, I remember all the good times and memories I had with this game. If you haven't played this game, then go play it right now! I mean it too! Especially if you're a Mario and/or RPG fan!

12. Star Fox 64

"Do a barrel roll!" This game isn't remembered for its gameplay, but rather its memorable script and characters. It also has a nice soundtrack. I remember it took me a few years to realize Slippy wasn't a woman. This game also had some pretty memorable boss fights. Does anyone recall the "secret weapon" with pointy boobs?

11. Super Mario 64

EVERY Nintendo 64 owner should have this game. This game is revolutionary! It properly showed all of us how 3D platforming should be done! It's legendary! If you don't own an N64 and you still haven't played this game, then go download it from the Virtual Console or get the DS remake ASAP. Only then will you realize Mario's contribution to the platforming genre. Afterall, this was the first 3D platformer. Whenever I go through and play it again, it always brings back fond memories of playing it as a child.

And that concludes the first part of my top 15 most nostalgic games, so keep your eyes peeled for 10-6, but it may not come for a couple of weeks becuase I'm going to be extremely busy next week.

Ah... Good ol' Pokemon. I have many fond memories of watching the TV series and playing a game or two.The early seasons of Pokemon still remain as one of the animeI can really stand these days. It was different from most anime because the filler episodes were actually good. Most filler episodes of anime shows these days are just boring and terrible, but Pokemon had entertaining filler episodes. The TV series has had at least 13 seasons now, and most of them have been complete garbage. Pokemon was great for the first 2 or 3 seasons, and seasons 4-5 were decent, but once season 6 rolled around, Pokemon had officially gone down the crapper. Seven seasons later, Pokemon has never been so bad. I've attempted to try and watch the Diamond and Pearl series but it's just gotten so ridiculously bad that I can't even stand to watch it.

The D&P series is on its last season now (thank goodness), but that's not going to stop the TV show from having another craptastic season. As most of us know, Pokemon Black and White were just announced, and when a new set of games come around, a new set of seasons also come around, which means the Pokemon series is just going to get worse.

At this point you're probably thinking that this is just a bunch of rambling over obvious things, but if Pokemon continues to go like this, the franchise we know it could possibly come to an end. Pretty soon Pokemon is going to be running out of names for the games as well. They've pretty much used up all pairable gems and colors possible. Black and White are probably the last thinkable titles that don't sound ridiculous. If they continue making games int he main series, they'll have to venture outside of gems and colors and have to come up with ridiculous names. What's next? Pokemon Fruits and Vegetables?

Another issue is that they'll eventually run out of ideas. There's well over 400 Pokemon now, but it's not going to be much longer before the franchise will eventually just run out of ideas for Pokemon. The creators of the games will eventually have to turn to scribbling whatever comes to their mind. If the series continues on for another 20 years, we'll most likely end up with oddly deformed creatures.

Another issue with Pokemon at this point is the formula. Nothing has drastically changed the formula over the past few years. It's always the same story, it never changes. I'll be honest here: Pokemon games are still addicting, and the formula still works, but it's starting to show its age and it's going to eventually grow boring if the main series doesn't have any changes to the formula in the near future.

I haven't gotten around to getting any of the Pokemon DS games, but I plan on it, and I will most likely get Black or White, but if the Pokemon franchise keeps going like this, it probably won't go on much longer.

And with that, I end this overly long blog post.

I came back from my trip just a few hours ago, and on the trip I went to the northwestern coast. My family and I stayed at a campsite, and it was close toa beach that I went to well-over a dozen times. On the trip I was able to see some of my relatives that I hardly ever get to see, and I had a lot of fun hanging out with them. The trip was fun and all, but I'm very glad to be back because I was beginning to sick of the trip, but it was overall a good trip.

On my trip I played Sonic Advance, Sonic Rush, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, and Pokemon FireRed. Here are my impressions on them:

Sonic Advance

It was a bit on the easy side, but it's better than most of the new-ish Sonic games these days. I only beat it with Tails, so I didn't get to see any special ending.

Sonic Rush

This game would have to have the creepiest, yet catchiest soundtrack of any Sonic game to date. The soundtrack is a bunch of cheerful chanting and random noises that were clustered into songs. I'm guessing nearly all of the songs were written on ecstasy or the creators of the game were sucking too much helium.

Unlike Sonic Advance, this game is anything but easy. It gets tough right from the get-go. The only easy zone in the game is the Leaf Storm Zone. It's very hard, but it's also very fast and fun, so I'm willing to forgive the occasionally punishing difficulty.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

Eh... Well... I let my brother play it because I got bored of it and he liked a lot more than I did. He's a lot farther than me on it, and to me, the game just didn't live up to its hype. I would enjoy it more if I wasn't forced to play as Bowser, because I find playing as the Bros. to be lot more fun than playing as Bowser.

Something I must mention is that my brother got stuck on the carrot digesting minigame part and didn't pay attention to the small, but important, details. He was stuck on it for quite some time and he didn't know about the special digestion thingies and he made my mom try it but she couldn't do it. I did it on the first try when I was at the part, so my brother made me do it for him.

So far I guess it's an okay game, but I don't like the addition of playing as Bowser.

Pokemon FireRed

I used to own LeafGreena long time ago, but I sold it to a friend (which was a VERY stupid idea), and my brother let me usehis copy of FireRed, and I forgot how much fun Pokemon games are. They suck you in and went let you go until you've beaten the whole dang thing. I ended up playing this game most of the time and I have enjoyed it quite a bit. Playing this makes me want to out and buy Platinum, but I made a deal with myself that I can't buy anymore games until I've beaten the ones I already have, which means I need to beat Twilight Princess, Bowser's Inside Story, Sonic Rush, Okami (even if it kills me...), Majora's Mask, and a couple of others.

Anyways, it's good to be home...

Just so everyone knows, I'm leaving on vacation tomorrow. I'll be going to the western coast and I'll be gone for eight days. It's going to take two days to get there by car, and to prevent myself from being bored to death, I'll be playing Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Sonic Rush, and Sonic Advance.

I'm excited for this trip, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it. I'll be close to a beach, and I'll be meeting up with family members I haven't seen in a long time.

I'll be back on the 18th. So until then, so long everyone.

There are some games that don't age well. Games like these show age in more than just their graphics and sound. Gameplay itself can show age. Sometimes it can be due to the fact that later installments in the series can add onto the core gameplay of its predecessors, making the predecessors feel dated and not as "cool" or enjoyable as they used to be. Other factors can contribute to making gameplay feel dated simply due to the fact that the gameplay just doesn't hold up very well because the concept is no longer exciting. I decided to make this blog entry to point out some of the games that fall under this category. I'll start the list with this:

Ice Climber

I know I'm going to get a few hate comments for this, but in my opinion this game hasn't aged well because the "jump-and-break" concept isn't all that exciting today. Not to mention that the controls are more slippery than the iceyou run on. It's so dang hard to actually get the Ice Climbers to actually jump in the direction you want them to, and this makes the game very hard and frustrating. It would be nice to see a new sequel to this game though, but for now we'll just have to enjoy the Ice Climbers in the SSB series.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

This game doesn't as well as the other Zelda games because this one mostly contained side-scrolling as opposed to the top-down view that the others had. Not to mention its insane difficulty level. I actually think they should do a remake of this game where the enemies actually drop you hearts when they are killed to make just a bit easier and actually possible to beat.

Sonic Adventure

I'm probably going to get a lot of hate for this one especially, but I don't think it has aged very well. The GameCube port didn't do it any favors at all. All of the gameplay elements just don't hold up as well as they used to (emerald hunting, fishing, shooting, hubworlds), and the GameCube port really made that show. Nearly every gameplay element just felt dated. My guess is that this game was fun when it first came out, but it just isn't as fun as it used to be. I don't dislike this game or anything, but it just feels dated now.

Mario Kart 64

If you compare it to the GameCube and Wii installments, you'll find that you'd much rather play those than this. Many things in this game don't hold up quite as well as they used to, such as the tracks and graphics. The track designs are bland by today's standards. Not to mention that it gets very frustrating sometimes due to the random spin-outs and other annoyances. It still can be a decent amount of fun today, but you'll find that you'd rather much be playing the later installments.

Super Smash Bros.

We all have fond memories with this game, and it's still fun to go back and play, but let's face it guys: it doesn't hold up as well as it used to. Just like Mario Kart 64, if you've played the GameCube and/or Wii installments, you'd rather be playing those. Some of the single player elements of this game still hold up somewhat well, but the multiplayer elements don't due to the small roster and limited number of stages. The GameCube and Wii installments have far larger rosters and lots more stages. Not to mention that they both have better battling mechanics. Whenever I go back and play the original N64 version, I find myself wishing that I was playing the other installments. This game is still a blast to playthough, and if you have never played this game back in the N64 days and are curious about how the series started out, then it's worth the 1,000 Wii points to get it from the Virtual Console. Just keep in mind your friends would rather be playing Melee or Brawl.

And with that, I end this blog entry.