Lurker > Paratroopa1

What about Baba Is You, which was originally a fully playable game jam game that got turned into a much larger project later

Does something like Divinity: Original Sin count where they re-released it as an 'enhanced' edition two years later

It's gotta be 1-4, although 3-3 is really close behind.

I wonder what will even be the first MCU thing that doesn't reference the events of IW/EG explicitly in the text

FFH, Wandavision, TFATWS, and Loki are all direct sequels to Endgame

I feel like basically every MCU thing from this point forward is going to be Infinity War/Endgame spoilers

today, the day you created this thread thinking that anything good could come of it

Yes

And Endgame I guess.

CoolCly posted...

i fell off on Falcon and the Winter Soldier - is there anything in this Loki episode that might spoil me or is it safe to watch?

You're totally fine, only spoilers here are for Infinity War.

I just want to gush about how much I love the localized graphics in this game. The Moozilla vs Gourdy pic is perfect and I really appreciate how they went the extra mile to make this seem as if it was an official localization - it's so seamless. "Mighty Moozilla" is a fantastic localization choice too.

Unless we're gonna go down the Minecraft and/or Angry Birds road, I can't think of anything that would top Halo for the 00's. Thing is, I don't even know if that theme would be very well recognized today, but the competition is lean - nothing from the 00's ever became even remotely a cultural institution in the way SMB did. Nothing ever has. So the Halo theme it is.

I've gotta say no to the Skyrim theme, by the way. I think even most gamers would have a hard time pinning it down to the right game - it's a pretty generic theme that doesn't really stand out a lot from its contemporaries. I've played Skyrim and I honest to god don't really recognize it that quickly.

Wow, fuck me, Angry Birds came out in December 11, 2009

Minecraft has the same problem, although I'd still probably count it for the 10's

The thing that's fucking buck wild about the 10's is that I think it might be either Megalovania or the Angry Birds theme.

Oh lol I'm not even the first to mention that.

I do think the Pac-Man theme is the only other thing I'd put in even the same breath. MAYBE the Zelda theme, but I don't really know if that's on the same level. I think the A theme from Tetris GB is somewhere up there but not really on the same level of cultural penetration as any of the others - I think people would have a ping of recognition if you referenced the theme alongside a reference to Tetris, but that's about it.

I can't think of anything worth mentioning in the same sentence, honestly. I do not expect a layman to recognize any themes from Pokemon - I think they are well known, but not on the level of 1-1 where that's just cultural shorthand for Mario even to non-gamers. Same goes for anything else I can think of.

Not only is 1-1 the clear runaway favorite, but I think 1-2 is probably #2.

MoogleKupo141 posted...

the idea that Samsung would need to spend money to get internet weirdos to make porn of a character is really funny

theyll do that pro boner whether you want it or not

I have never been more mystified by what a missing post could possibly say more than #342 right now

+3 Falco Lombardi (Star Fox)
+2 King Dedede (Kirby)
+1 Alucard (Castlevania)
-1 Sarah Kerrigan (Starcraft)
-2 Kuja (Final Fantasy IX)
-3 Sam Fisher (Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell)

The most surprising thing about this is that I thought I would easily have a go-to "funniest game", but now I'm stopping to think about it and I have no idea, aside from Jackbox which I'm not really counting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6ST9g8VAT8

I'm not sure what happened but here's the not-broken video link to Yamato Man

35. Yamato Man (Mega Man 6)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6ST9

Is this a spicy pick for best Mega Man 6 theme? Honestly, I have absolutely no clue what the consensus best theme from this game even is. If I asked a bunch of people who have played MM6 I have no idea what answer would come back. Probably not Centaur Man. That's about it. I think Yamato Man's a pretty crowdpleasing theme, though? This one always instantly energizes me to want to play this stage - the melody hooks are good and memorable but the real meat here is the harmony. The second square wave spends almost the entire time harmonizing the lead square wave, and yet not only does this track not sound all that sparse, it provides a lot of pleasant surprises in this track. For repetitive stage themes like these, something I ask for is a reason to keep coming back to the theme - some particularly interesting element that tickles my ears and drives my curiosity. In Yamato Man, it's the harmonies. Everything up to :12 and then from :37 onwards is an interesting instructive lesson on two-part harmonies for the NES, and isolating that underlying second line is a nice exercise for would-be transcribers. Anyway, those parts really keep me coming back to this theme.

Final Mega Man 6 Ranking:

1. Yamato Man (35)
2. Blizzard Man (40)
3. Centaur Man (47)
4. Flame Man (57)
5. Plant Man (62)
6. Wind Man (65)
7. Tomahawk Man (80)
8. Knight Man (88)
9. Mr. X (98)
10. Dr. Wily (99)

Thoughts: Oh, yeah, I guess that's it for Mega Man 6, huh? Nothing scratching the top 30, but nothing falling below the top 100 either. High floor, low ceiling is how I feel about this one. It's a really good soundtrack, nontheless, especially once boss themes and the like are accounted for. Lots of good writing, although it's not as brilliant as 5 while also lacking the sheer creativity of 4. Of the first six games, I guess it just narrowly edges out 1, but I like the rest more - 6 stands out the least. But it's still good! All the NES-style MMs are treasures.

Regrets: None whatsoever. 98 might seem harsh for Mr. X, but top 100 is all songs I like and I merely like Mr. X. I wouldn't change this ranking one bit.

34. Top Man (Mega Man 3)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dgtHw-uAxY

Someone's gonna have to help me out here, because I swear to god this theme reminds me of some particular genre of music, but it's escaping me. It's definitely a rock 'n roll vibe, but it reminds me of something more specific and I can't pin it down. Like every 3 theme, it's good. I've overlooked it for a while, hasn't really been one of my particular childhood favorites, but something about it has kind of grabbed me as of late as I've realized that all of the elements of this theme really get their hooks in me for some reason. Moreso than any other track from 3, this one really relies on repetition, each little bit getting played out 4 times before moving on, but it certainly makes each part memorable. I like that sort of tremolo (I feel like there should be a better word but I'm blanking) effect on the lead at :18 that leads into that very 3-characteristic vibrato, it has a lot of character.

33. Heat Man (Mega Man 2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIDIZKVjmR4

This may be only a 25 second loop or so, but goddamn if it doesn't make the most of those 25 seconds. There's not really a lot here - half of those 25 seconds are basically an introduction section, then an A section, then... back to the intro! It always seems kind of like it's building up to something but never gets there. But goddamn, it rocks. The bassline is just so ahead of its time - I like how the triangle wave continues it into the "A section" - and the use of the square wave to create that weird tom-like percussive effect in the intro is rad. Very MM2 thing to do. What's really cool about that is that it seems like the theme was kind of designed for the yoku blocks in this stage - the fact that the square wave plays a secondary role means it can be used for the yoku blocks instead, which I'm not sure they intended but it works well. My favorite thing about this theme, though, is that it sometimes gets kind of fucked up when you play the actual game - the sliding effect on the sound of the yoku blocks doesn't get fully overwritten, and it starts to slur the notes of the melody sometimes, and it makes it sound really cool for some reason and it's always a weird, pleasant surprise when it occurs - it gives the theme some variance in an unexpected and unpredictable way.

32. Dr. Wily 2 (Mega Man 2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MROwI0bwAb8

Welcome to the very hottest take on my list! Finally, we're here. If all this song does is give you a headache, that's fine, I admit it's not for everyone. But I always look forward for the part of the game where this theme kicks in. This one's all about texture and about the psychological effect it creates. It's just so different from all the other music in the game - you've got all these jamming themes, and then here's Wily 2, and it's just this nonstop, repetitive motif that keeps rising and escalating, and I don't know why but I love it. It just winds up for so long, by the end of the loop the tension is just ready to snap like a rubber band pulled too taut, until there's that sudden release of pressure with that loooong slide back down to the start. I don't know what to say except that it tickles my ears just right, and it seems all too appropriate for the latter Wily stages. It's a really defining part of Mega Man 2 for me.

31. Dr. Wily (Mega Man 5)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5YIJ_-WlNM

Another undeniably cool MM5 track and another undeniably cool Wily theme. Like most Wily themes, it isn't the most memorable theme from its game (I have a feeling that a lot of people might find this to be kind of strange but I do think it's the case), and I don't have a lot to say about it specifically. It's got a great opening hook and a lot of really cool harmonization and yet I find myself forgetting why I liked it so much about halfway through sometimes before that transition into the C section at :40 that really gives it an extra burst until the end. Like every MM5 theme, it's gratuitous in a good way - it's a nice, long loop, and I could almost imagine it coming back to the start at :40, but then it turns out the theme still has a lot left in it. A more than suitably climactic final stage theme.

I'm generally not a very vocal player, but when Edgeworth was revealed at the end of 1-4's intro, I let out an audible gasp. I don't think any other intro has had that effect on me.

+3 The Goose (Untitled Goose Game)
+2 Mario (Super Mario Bros.)
+1 Blue (Pokemon)
-1 Naked Snake/Big Boss (Metal Gear)
-2 Mythra (Xenoblade Chronicles 2)
-3 Snow Villiers (Final Fantasy XIII)

I actually probably would have given it an eight but I felt like giving it an extra point out of spite lol

Yeah, I don't like E2-4. The murder and characters aren't very interesting, and the Kay amnesia setup falls flat for me - in particular, the way the evidence on her was just planted and didn't mean anything. I think it would be interesting if the amnesia led to more of a setup where like, Kay did stuff but she doesn't remember, and the evidence she had on her did actually mean something, and you had to logic together Kay's actions that day and how they related to the murder. But there wasn't anything like that at all, Kay didn't do anything and she's just being accused of murder based on basically nothing.

If a game doesn't have any meaningful story-related things I can engage with for the purposes of this topic I just wouldn't rate it

9

It feels like Japanese media has a bad habit of overexplaining or calling attention to jokes, so it delights me that aside from Edgeworth explaining that he put the money in the suitcase, he never says a word about it. The joke would be less funny if Edgeworth made an aside, like, "it's a going thing that flight attendant gave me this ugly suitcase, it's perfect for delivering the ransom money," but they just leave the obvious implication hanging wordlessly and it's so well executed.

Really good lineup here. 1-3 is a classic, especially as the first case intro that doesn't show you the killer. I'm not really huge on the fully animated anime cutscene style of AA5 and AA6 as much as the more minimalist and artsy style of the other games, but they're pretty good. E1-3 never fails to make me laugh with the suitcase. E2-3's is great, and I love the work the fan localizers put into the graphics, voices, and translation for it. And L-3 just has a great hook with Layton being turned into gold.

But I have to give it to 3-3. The music is so well done and the imagery of the hand and the teacup is so memorable, it just has a really great buildup to the climactic reveal of Phoenix losing a case to Payne. I just sort of wish it hadn't revealed the killer.

+3 Mae Borowski (Night in the Woods)
+2 Kyle Hyde (Hotel Dusk: Room 215)
+1 Palutena (Kid Icarus)
-1 Jill Valentine (Resident Evil)
-2 Commander Shepard (Mass Effect)
-3 Jak (Jak and Daxter)

LeonhartFour posted...

Weird, I think 4-2's might be the worst one. The writing is pseudo-deep, and the presentation isn't all that great.

The writing is basically nonsense, but that works for me - I prefer the intros that are weird and moody and give just enough of a mysterious little hook to get you wondering what happened.

4-2's is one of the best despite being the most boring case in the entire franchise imo

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney 9

78 percent of people thinking that there might be some risk of an innocent person being put to death is utterly mortifying

+3 Isabelle (Animal Crossing)
+2 Bowser (Super Mario Bros.)
+1 SHODAN (System Shock)
-1 Emily Kaldwin (Dishonored 2)
-2 Squall Leonhart (Final Fantasy VIII)
-3 Mewtwo (Pokemon)

8/10

really solid for a JRPG, the fact that people talk about it so much indicates that there's something of worth imo

Keep in mind that Summoning Salt is limited to games that he personally knows about or at least has interest in doing research on.

10

Olivia Aldente is genuinely one of the best breakdowns in the franchise

No

It will never make sense to me that anyone wouldn't support Naomi Osaka in this situation, even if you believe that press conferences are something that the players should reasonably be expected to do (which is not an unfair position to take). It's really not clever at all to point out that Osaka is contractually obligated, and that it's part of her job. You think she, and everyone else in this discussion, isn't aware of that? The fact that it's part of her job doesn't mean that it ought to be, or that the French Open and the press are actually facilitating an environment that has her best interests at heart. And shouldn't they? Why does it make any sense for the French Open to be an environment where one of the biggest stars of tennis isn't having her needs met? Why would you side with the French Open and their ability to make whatever demands they want out of players on the basis that "well, they don't have to participate if they don't want to" - but NOT side with Osaka's ability to use her leverage as one of the best tennis players in the world to get what she wants out of this arrangement? Spare a thought for the possibility that the pressure of having to face the media constantly, a media that doesn't always have the players' interests at heart, might actually affect her ability to play a very mental and emotional game at the highest level. Does she not have every right to negotiate a situation in which she doesn't face extra pressure on top of the already crushing pressure of winning tennis matches? As a tennis fan and a fan of Naomi Osaka herself, I want nothing more than for her to be 100% going into every match and to be able to play at her best without petty distractions getting in the way of her preparation. Any fan should want that. I can't understand why you would be against this, unless you're simply bitter and petty about the fact that Osaka has more leverage over her profession than you do.

Hi! I'm back. Sorry, I had one bad week, and that was somehow enough to make me run out of steam and totally crash and burn on this for a while. But no more of that! Even if I've kinda lost my momentum I'm going to force myself to get through the rest of these. So here we go!

40. Blizzard Man (Mega Man 6)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93q61LT2Vuk

Is this a sleeper? I have no idea if this is a sleeper. Do people like this track? What do people even think of MM6's soundtrack? Hell if I know. I like this one a lot and I've always gravitated towards it for some reason, probably because I really like dramatic tracks with a lot of fun harmonization and even by MM6 standards this one has a noticeably sweeping, operatic flair to it. It really sells the hell out of that climactic section, just standing atop the mountain and singing it with as much grandiosity and sincerity as it can muster and I can really respect that. I also just think the rhythm of the melody in the introductory part's cool. Doo... doo... doo... DOOOOOO doo doo

39. Crystal Man (Mega Man 5)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNMI-Vkrp_Q

A little slower and shorter than some other tracks in MM5 but I love the foreboding, mysterious vibe of this one, and it shows off a lot more of that great lead shaping that I know MM5 for. Listen to that really insane vibrato in the lead in the first 10 seconds of the track - I don't know if I've ever heard anything that sounds like that on NES. Then, during the main body of the track at :16, really watch for the way the attack of each note changes, basically from note to note. It starts with this very legato (smooth and flowing) note that sweeps slowly up, but then follows with these two staccato (short and sharp) notes before another legato sweep upwards. More than the melody or the rhythm here, it's that articulation on the notes that make this really worth coming back to for me.

38. Bomb Man (Mega Man 1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SITeW1GIj3k

It's Bomb Man, my favorite MM1 theme! I feel like poor Bomb Man is always the most forgotten of the MM1 robot masters. All the others are used for stuff all the time but nobody remembers poor Bomb Man. He's not even in the GB game! His stage is my favorite in the game though, and so is his stage theme. I can't stop humming this motherfucker, it's got such a catchy melodic motif. Despite the fact that the bassline isn't moving around a lot and the second square wave is only used to harmonize, this track still comes out sounding really 'full' and not too static at all, and I dunno how it does that, it's impressive. I think the harmonization stays interesting enough to keep my ears entertained - that major 2nd at :10 is a ballsy choice (although the decision to have both square waves overlap on the same note afterwards is really strange - generally not great practice imo). The B section is pretty high concept for something written in 1987 when most composers were still getting a hang of making any notes play on the NES at all.

Final Mega Man 1 ranking:

1. Bomb Man (38)
2. Fire Man (43)
3. Cut Man (79)
4. Elec Man (96)
5. Ice Man (100)
6. Dr. Wily 1 (127)
7. Guts Man (150)
8. Dr. Wily 2 (155)

Thoughts: Even though Mega Man 2 gets all the credit for really launching the Mega Man series in earnest - well deserved, mind you - Manami Matsumae deserves all the credit in the world for getting it all started and setting the tone of the franchise. Mega Man 1 is a good game with a good soundtrack! It gets a bad rap for not being Mega Man 2, but I think this game is still way ahead of its time - NES games just didn't have soundtracks this deep and involved at the time, some games had a few good tracks but that was about it. The sheer amount of polish that this soundtrack delivered to the game can't be overstated. Other NES games of this day were lucky if they even had more than one stage theme at all but here's Mega Man 1 with beautifully detailed designs for each stage and a unique, thematic theme to go with them. Most of these tracks hold up today... even if that's like only 5 or 6 of them but that's pretty good!

Regrets?: I could have ranked Dr. Wily 1 a bit higher - even though it's a pretty short theme with a weirdly offkilter rhythm, I was always really excited to get to the Wily 1 stages in this game as a kid and always found this theme memorable. Everything else seems about right.

37. Uranus (Mega Man V)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-WYgc2HPNw

Hey check it out everyone, it's Mega Man's first and only ska-themed track! Jealous of Sega's collaboration with Michael Jackson on Sonic 3, I guess Capcom got The Mighty Mighty Bosstones in for a couple of tracks on Mega Man V or something. This one's a pretty short loop but it's undeniably cool. The vast majority of Mega Man tracks have a pretty strong commitment to four-on-the-floor type rhythms that this one really stands out as a breath of fresh air - that offbeat 2-and-4 rhythm is cool as hell. It occurs to me that I haven't actually looked into MMV's composer at all but I'd bet money on the ska influence here. Extremely weird and funky track that's right at home in the rest of MMV's soundtrack.

36. Burst Man (Mega Man 7)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QvVL4Xk3ZE

I realize that this is pretty much the furthest thing from what you'd expect to be in the top 50 (well... aside from maybe one other track that people probably expected to be out in like the bottom 10) but you have to hear me out on this one. First of all, I have to owe Mega Man 7 a really big apology here, because I have not really given it a lot of credit up to this point, but I've also been sleeping on what is easily the soundtrack's best asset - percussion. I don't think I've talked about it even ONCE this entire ranking, but MM7 has a strong percussion game - crisp samples and a knack for writing that strongly implies to me that Toshihiko Horiyama probably has seriously played the drums before - I'd bet a few bucks on it least. It's present in the entire soundtrack, but Burst Man is really a tour de force. For this theme, don't listen to the main melody, which is fine, but nothing special. Instead, listen to two things - the harpsichord-like accompaniment which creates a really nice rhythmic texture, and listen to those fucking drums. He really goes hog wild with them here and they sound great - crisp snares, beautifully panned toms, and everything from that fill at :34 onwards is great. It's honestly taken a few listens to really notice these details but god help me, I'm starting to actually come around on MM7. Always liked this theme and I think it deserves another look.

StealThisSheen posted...

I think it's seeing all the missing posts that sets him off.

well I blocked him so hopefully that makes him really mad

wouldn't it make him more mad if he knows

I'm going to do a nice thing for my own mental health and put black turtle on ignore lol

Ringworm posted...

I can see both sides to some extent. Post match interviews are just part of her job. She is fine to do the glamorous part in playing matches, but doesn't want to do the less glamorous part in interviews. Unfortunately most jobs don't work like that, you can't just pick and choose what parts of your job you want to do. Try that, and I guarantee most bosses will either dock your pay (fines in Osaka's case) or sack you (tournament bans). If you can't cope with your job mentally, take some time off, or find something else.

I do agree post match interviews are pointless though and that the French Open is easily the worst of the majors.

The fact that you think she doesn't want to do it because it's "not glamorous" is such a horrendous indictment of the way we treat social anxiety

BlackJackCat posted...

Not to be flippant

It's black turtle, please be flippant by all means

He IS holding the bible as though he's never touched one in his life before though

It's true, he didn't hold the bible upside down. I think it must have just looked like he did because of the bookmark that was hanging down from the pages.

Kenri posted...

Ever since I realized that most games phone in their endings because the average player doesn't make it that far, it feels like I can just see the quality drop as I approach any given game's end game. This is especially true for games' stories (even stories that are really good/interesting for the first 90% often fuck up the dismount) but it even creeps into the gameplay pretty often, and it really hurts the experience to end on a sour note all the time.

I think also that in a lot of games earlier parts of the game get more attention and later parts get rushed just due to impending deadlines and the scope of the game needing to be dialed back as a result

I actually have a CRT that I took off of someone's hands like eight years ago but I've never hooked it up because it's fucking huge and I don't have a good place for it if I can even move the thing lol