Pokemon's top 5 Toughest Gym Leaders

Pokémon’s top 5 Toughest Gym Leaders

Pokémon Gym’s act as the boss levels to Pokémon games. They usually have an interesting design and puzzle inside and usually each gym leader has a unique and memorable design. There is a problem of course. Gym leaders are usually pretty weak. This is partly due to only using one type and partly due to and let’s be honest, being accessible to kids. The GameCube games were noticeably harder with some tough fights but the main series of handheld games are mostly filled with battles that are pretty easy with a team of properly levelled Pokémon. Occasionally however you stumble across a pretty difficult gym leader who poses a good challenge. I list what I think to be the five toughest below.

 

5. Misty, Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

If you look at the tough battles from online lists Misty is barely ever mentioned yet I’d often have massive trouble with her. Staryu wasn’t much of an issue, Starmie on the other hand was a massive pain. Starmire is a fast Pokémon for a final evolution meaning it can out speed pretty much everything at this stage of the game.

 

Its main attack was water pulse which was not only a move with a decent damage output for that stage of the game but also has a chance to cause some really irritating confusion. The other move of note to be used by Starmie is recover, which instantly recovers half its hp. Take into account its high special attack, decent defensive stats and good typing for what you can throw at it at this stage of the game and you have one tough customer.

 

4. Whitney, Pokémon’s Generation 2

We all know this one and Whitney’s infamous Miltank needs no introduction. Countless internet memes have been created in this things honour and it’s perhaps this that makes her so satisfying to beat as afterwards she runs of crying. Yeah nothing quite makes us happy than making a little girl cry.

 

Whitney’s Clefairy isn’t really an issue. It goes down fairly easily and while it can occasionally do some annoying stuff with metronome but it doesn’t have the offense to pose a problem. The problem as everyone knows is Miltank.

 

Miltank has tank in its name for a reason. This dumb thing will sometimes just not die. Being a normal type means if you don’t have a fighting type of something with a fighting type move you cannot abuse any sort of type advantage which can after be key in gym battles. Then there’s its moveset. Attract will prevent you from attacking if you are using a male Pokémon. Defence curl boosts its already high defence and then rollout can do some serious damage. There’s nothing I can say that hasn’t already be said, that cow is a massive pain.

 

Why is she not higher up? Honestly I never had that much of a problem with her. Look at me, such a Pokémon master but while I can see the frustrations that are without a doubt possible with her and in later play trough’s with strange team ideas I did sometimes have an issue, in my first few journeys in generation 2 I took her down without being sent back to the Pokémon centre once.

 

3. Clair, Generation 2

This to me is the toughest gym leader in generation 2, not Whitney. Clair uses dragon types which are well known for being pretty over powered and notably in the time the generation 2 games were made only had 2 weaknesses, ice and other dragons, two typed Pokémon that are difficult to obtain.

 

Clair’s Gyarados could be a pain without an electric type on your team but a quick swift thunderbolt would take it down without issue. She also had Dragonairs, that being dragon type had some very useful resistances, including to what your starter Pokémon could throw at them.  They also like to paralyse and thus slow your Pokémon down.

 

Finally there’s a powerful Kingdra to contend with. It uses a powerful water and dragon attack that grants is a same type attack bonus as well as hyper beam, a very high damaging normal type move, meaning your Pokémon probably doesn’t resist all its moves. Water and dragon type also means its only weakness back then was dragons as dragon slaying fairy’s hadn’t been thought of yet. The only dragon type Pokémon in the game is the Dratini line that you find in the dragon shrine, a place you cannot enter yet and another Kingdra, something that evolves in a really awkward way involving trading a Seadra with a dragon scale.

 

This is all well and good but its Kindgra’s final move that really makes it insufferable. We all know the most annoying thing in a Pokémon battle is messing with accuracy. Naturally Kingdra uses smokescreen. Want to whittle down its health and be one hit away with your best and final Pokémon only to miss because you have smoke in your eyes? If yes then this is the battle for you.

 

2. Norman, Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire

Firstly it’s important to note that the Ruby and Sapphie version of Norman was more difficult for one reason that second Slaking. Terrible ability aside Slaking is a beast, its stats are absurd, surpassing those of many legendries. Its ability is atrocious, making it attack only once every other turn however at this stage of the game it’s naturally got enough defences to take some hits as well as its normal typing only having 1 weakness. You are also at a point in the game where moves are not that strong meaning taking down these guys is a real issue.

 

The first time I fought Norman his Slaking wiped my whole team. Since Slaking is surprisingly fast I decided to paralyze it, not realising what façade did. It didn’t go well. I beat Norman eventually and it was a fantastic victory for my 7 year old self but I never forgot how tough Norman was and all because of those damn Slaking’s. Oh yeah he had a Vigoroth too, it was decent enough I guess. Whitney may the well-known tough normal type gym leader but Norman was always the toughest in my eyes.

 

1. Fanitna, Pokémon Platinum

Seriously, how come no one ever mentions this battle and more specifically her Mismagius? That thing was ridiculous. I’ll discuss her other Pokémon first. They were decent but nothing special. She had a Duskull that could use will o wisp as well as take a hit with some decent defences. She also had a Haunter that was a little frail however could hit hard and fast as well as use hypnosis to put anything it fought to sleep.

 

The big problem however was Mismagius. I had such trouble with this thing and unlike Nroman’s Slakings, this was a problem to me at an age where I was old enough to actually use half a brain cell and I still couldn’t take this thing down without more grinding than I’d like to admit. Was I really the only one to struggle with Fantina. Her Mismagius was very fast, hit like a truck with plenty of good coverage moves and good take a hit from an unevolved Pokémon that you were almost certainly using. Down to her tough Pokémon, difficult to counter ghost types and being in shcok that the French person didn’t immediately surrender, Fantina was definitely the toughest gym leader in the history of Pokémon.

 

 

Top 5 Favourite Metal Gear Solid Bosses

Top 5 Favourite Metal Gear Solid Bosses

My original idea for a post today was to do a top 10 favourite video game boss battles. I started listing off bosses and realised most of them came from just two game series, one of those series of course being Metal Gear Solid. So here’s my top 5 (Sort of) and bare in mind there will be spoilers.

 

5. The End / Crying Wolf

Okay before pressing the cross in the top right of the screen to close this page hear me out. Technically speaking The End is probably the best boss fight on this list and while the two are similar basically a more vast and difficult version of Crying Wolf. You’re probably thinking “It’s just because you can’t do it”. Honestly … you are completely right. I suck so much at The End boss fight it is so incredibly frustrating. Crying Wolf always seemed like a dumbed down version and that’s why I like it, because I can do it.

 

That’s not to say Crying Wolf isn’t a good boss fight in its own right. The nostalgia it pulls on you is great and the snowy and decently sized battle ground makes an excellent location for a sniper duel. You are required to enforce your stealth skills to the max for the fight with the roaming soldiers and the Crying Wolf herself and like the rest of the Beauty and the Beast units the fight ends on quite a sombre note putting a tragic and mentally destroyed women out of her misery. Even if I didn’t suck at The End and put it higher I would still include Crying Wolf.

 

The End is a masterfully crafted Boss Fight. Many consider it one of if not the best Boss fight of all time and I completely understand why. The vastness and varied nature of the jungle you fight in is a fantastic setting, the End himself is an intriguing yet creepy character who remains mysterious to us and the battle itself for someone who can actually do it takes tactics, intelligence and all you’re survival instincts in a raw and intense experience that can feel like the ultimate game of cat and mouse. It is so incredibly satisfying to sneak up on him and point a gun at him and even things like ways of missing the fight through leaving the game or shooting him outside a warehouse are ingenious editions to make the game feel so much more real. I appreciate and respect this boss fight a whole lot, I just hate it because I can’t do it properly.

 

4. Metal Gear Ray

What do you do when you’re series have awesome futuristic walking tank / robot type things in your game series? Make them fight of course and what better way to do it than after a daring and thrilling escape from a crumbling facility. This is probably the most explosive and action packed battle in the entire series but that is certainly not a bad thing.

 

Not many things in general can appeal to my inner child quite like this boss fight. I love deep and intelligent storytelling along with symbolism and metaphor but that doesn’t mean that I can deny that giant robots are awesome. It felt like something out of a Godzilla movie, especially with the height and size of the structures. The weaponry feel immensely satisfying to use and the battle has an epic and grand feel to it in terms of attacking power and significance.

 

Honestly there’s not that much to say about this one. I just feel that joyous and giddy feeling inside because I was fighting a cool giant robot inside another giant robot. It’s a similar feeling I had to watching Pacific Rim or like watching Robot Wars back in the day. Entertaining and awesome, the best way to describe fighting Metal Gear Ray.

 

3. Psycho Mantis

This fight sure is infamous. Perhaps one of the most unique gaming boss fights in gaming history, we all know how this fight works. Metal Gear has never been afraid to break the fourth wall and this battle emphasises this point to the full. Switch the controller into the second port, what an amazing idea. I can’t imagine how great it would’ve felt to figure that out when the game first came out.

 

Him vibrating the controller and reading your memory card was also a brilliant piece of bizarre Metal Gear humour and this fight was full of bizarre personality. This fight is great for it’s being unique and incredibly clever. It’s so off the wall when you compare it to your standard boss fight, I really enjoy boss fights that you defeat with your brain and not brawn and this does this perfectly.

 

Psycho Mantis is such a fantastic moment to play through, I’m the kind of guy who loves clever and interesting atmosphere and personality to a boss battle and Psycho Mantis has it in abundance. I have no complaints for this at all, the only thing stopping it from being higher up isn’t even a criticism of the game, it is in fact that I played Metal Gear Solid 1 years after it had been released and because of the years each game came out it was in fact the last of the four original Metal Gear Solid games I managed to play. I already knew about Psycho Mantis when I played MGS 1 and while it did blow my mind I can’t begin to imagine how much it would’ve blew my mind when the game came out. This takes away nothing however, Psycho Mantis was a spellbinding experience and one of the most innovative things I have ever done in a video game.

 

2. The Boss

The word emotion is throw around a lot. Here it couldn’t be more appropriate, throughout Snake Eater we go through Snake’s journey, we feel the confliction about having to kill his mentor and friend. The connection between them is more than just a romance thing, they’re buddies, friends, and comrades. They’ve been through a lot together and Snake would’ve trusted the Boss with anything and here he is fighting her in a fight to the death.

 

This battle is full of touches that make is magnificent. The white flowers and the silence at first really highlight the difficulty in what Snake has to do. The lack of music says so much in its ambience and atmosphere is such an emotional journey to go though. You then get the kick ass Snake Eater song playing out in the background and the intensity of the battle really shines through and only receiving 10 minutes before you’re bombed to hell adds a new level of urgency to the fight.

 

I’ve been talking about this fight like it’s a cut scene, this fight in terms of gameplay is excellent. It puts all your CQC skills to the test against probably the toughest opponent in such a battle you could probably ever be pitted against. You can’t simply overpower her with weapons she’s too good for that and I love how you need to have mastered the superb CQC controls to take her down. It’s true what she says, there is only room for one Boss and it makes you feel like you have surpassed her when you finally defeat her. Then they makes you press the button to fire the final show and that killed me, it was such an emotional and tragic moment to have to be the one to fire that bullet from her gun, especially if you go through the whole game without killing anyone as you still have to kill the one you’d like to least. The battle is so fitting for such an incredible game and really it doesn’t get much better … only very slightly better.

 

1. Metal Gear Solid 4’s final Boss fight

Forget favourite Metal Gear boss fight, this is my favourite boss fight period. I have no idea how to put how much I love this battle into words but I’m going to give it a go. I talked about emotion in this post. This battle gives you that emotion more than any other I’ve experienced. As the final event in the Metal Gear Solid events with everything with the patriots over there’s one thing left to settle. A great rivalry between two men who despite their fights have the greatest f respect for each other.

 

First things first I really enjoyed the gameplay here. It’s simple but that’s the point. Neither have weapons other than their own bodies and all the fancy gadgets have been thrown out the window. This is a bare knuckle battle to the death between two rivals who are on the brink of death. There’s nothing left to do but have this one last fight, that moment where liquid injects Snake with the nano machines for me was a huge moment, it signified the beginning of the end.

 

The fight itself is so atmospheric. Things like the health bars that change thought the health bars from previous games and the previous sound tracks playing created an extremely fitting and incredible experience. This for me was the ultimate closure of the characters involved, especially Ocelot who gradual retains control as the fight goes on until eventually as Snake Eater starts playing he does his signature little salute thing and settles the one final score. Talking about this makes me want to go and play Metal Gear Solid 4 again, it’s so hard to talk about it without wanting to gush a bunch of incomprehensible words.

 

I wanted to applaud when this fight was over, that’s how much it impressed me. What this fight did was stir the emotions can be described as truly epic. It took something truly special to end the Metal Gear saga and this boss fight certainly did that.

 

Time for a little self-promotion so I’d understand completely if you don’t want to read although I would appreciate it massively if you did. I’ve had a bit of a spike of views lately and far more than I ever thought I’d get, I figured I’d be getting like 3 view a post, one from me and 2 from my parents. In all seriousness it makes me feel great that people out there I have never met actually enjoy reading some of my posts. I would love a little feedback on the blog both on the quality of the blog (Constructive criticism is welcome) as well as what people would like to see on the Blog.

 

Finally I’d like to say that next week I’ll do my Top 5 favourite boss fights from another game that has incredible boss fights. Meanwhile did you agree with my list? If you enjoyed this click one on the sharing / social media type buttons below.

Top 5 Favourite Animated Films

Top 5 Favourite Animated Films

Animated films are a splendid form of entertainment. While often branded as children’s films, the more sophisticated can appreciate them as good film. A large number of animated films are targeted at those horrible childlike creatures known as children but there are plenty out there aimed at all ages or even solely adults. Of course some animated films use being animated as an excuse for a lack of creativity but some films are full to the brim with interesting characters and creative influence. These are my personal top 5 animated films.

 

Number 5. The Jungle Book

Whenever I make a top 5 or 10 list I always myself putting something on there that is really nostalgic. Here is no exception. My young self watched a video of The Jungle Book to a point where it stopped working. However despite the fact that it delights my inner child there are good reasons to enjoy The Jungle Books.

 

The thing that stands out most in the film is the villain, Sheere Khan. Like a majority of Disney villains his motivations weren’t exactly complex. Kill the man cub … that’s basically it. What stands out is his sophistication and presence. I love how he walks around with such a swagger. He is kind of like Scar from the Lion King except he doesn’t go all whiney. Instead he is always sophisticated and always intimidating. The snake Kaa is also an interesting villain, instead being slightly more comedic in his attempts to eat Mowglli.

 

I also thought Baloo the bear was an enjoyable character. He wasn’t as developed as he could be but he was a lot of fun to be around and I enjoyed how loyal and caring he was. On top of this the songs are catchy, it has some funny moments and the ending is quite fitting and heart-warming.

 

Okay this probably isn’t Disneys strongest film but I certainly enjoy it. It hasn’t aged as well as the other films on this list but if you’re just looking for a colourful and pleasant adventure with a really cool villain then this film is definitely worth a watch.

 

Number 4. Up

I didn’t cry when I watched Up. I thought I should put that out there. I didn’t cry at the start when the wife dies but I can still acknowledge how powerful the opening is. Through very little dialogue but instead gestures and actions we see a couples life, both the highs and the lows and it’s wonderful to see.

 

I expected it all to go downhill from there but the rest of the film was still very entertaining. I enjoyed the friendship between Mr. Fredrickson and Russel, I thought the dog was really funny and even the side villains in the other dogs were funny in just how absurd they were. But what really hits home with this film is the drama and emotional moments. The main protagonists were relatable and enjoyable and I really felt for them through their endeavours. This made it extremely satisfying seeing their progression and when they do the right thing at the end. Equally it made it satisfying to see them happy and enjoying life as well as Mr. Fredrickson moving on from his wife’s death.

 

The only issue I have with the film really is that the archaeologist guy is a bit bland. He’s just a typical greedy man who wants to complete his life’s work and while the dogs were just his minions seeing them flying planes or the sped up voice box was actually funny. But to be honest if the only negative I can find is one character who isn’t really the focus of the movie then it must have done something right. The important areas of the film as in the two main protagonists are interesting and identifiable and the film all around is just a heart-warming and joyous experience. That’s good enough for me.

 

Number 3. Toy Story 3

It was tough choosing which Toy story film should go on this list because I really enjoy them all. I almost feel like this is the wring pick too for the simple reason that I find the ending where Andy gives away his toys to be as cheesy as a huge block of mature Cheddar. I know we got nostalgic but to a point to be going to College and talking about these toys like they’re individual people? Come on movie, that’s stupid.

 

I can’t ignore the rest of the film however. What I love most about Toy Story is each film has an interesting dilemma where there isn’t really any right or wrong, or at least you can understand the characters actions. Toy Story 3 is no exception, I can understand perfectly why each toy does what it does. However it never takes its self too seriously all the time. The light hearted moments are light hearted and funny but what stands out in this film is the darker places it goes.

 

The films pushed more what it could get away with and I though for the most part it succeeded. It has the most intense moments of any of the trilogy and them breaking out of the day care centre was action packed and quite suspenseful. But you don’t lose out on the interesting and relatable characters from the older films. They’re just in a new situation and honestly it’s where I wanted them to go with how they react to Andy going to college.

 

So the ending sucks. It cheesy and corny and so overdone, I was sniggering throughout at it. The rest of the film however stands up really well. It looks great, the characters are memorable and overall it’s a great watch.

 

Number 2. Kung Fu Panda 2

Kung Fu Panda is the most ridiculous name for a film and I thought it would be terrible. To my surprise the first film was a highly enjoyable full of character and fun humour. But surely the sequel would be bad? AS it turns out, it was even better.

 

 

Kung Fu Panda is the ultimate don’t judge a book by its cover story. Kung Fu Panda 2 steps everything up to the next level. Let’s start with our main character Po. He thankfully is a badass at the start of the film in Kung Fu but most importantly we learn more about him and he faces new challenges but still retains his fun and enjoyable aspects of his personality. He can be childish, but he’s endearing for it as he’s always trying to do the right thing and protect those closest to him.

 

I particularly enjoyed the relationship between Po and Tigress in this film. It was refreshing that it wasn’t an unnecessary romantic relationship, rather we got to see their friendship strengthen. They are very different and watching them bounce off each other was very enjoyable as well as the powerful scenes when they want what’s best for each other.

 

All the characters are strong, even the ones that aren’t in the film much are very distinct and memorable. Po’s relationship with his adoptive Father is good to see as there’s clearly a respect and huge amount of care there. Po is such a developed character, especially in this film. His backstory is tragic but hopeful, he is such an enjoyable character to watch but he can also kick ass when things go down. The dramatic moments in this film I thought were highly effective, Po’s struggle was interesting but also emotional to watch. What’s so great about Po is that he’s like having us in this intense world of Kung Fu.

 

The villain was far better in this film than the first one. The Peacock has his comedic moments and intense moments but I found watching him go crazy was more enjoyable than Tai Lung from the first film who was a basic revenge hunting villain. The Peacock pushed Po to his limits and posed new challenges he’d never seen before.

 

Finally I want to mention that Kung Fu Panda films look superb. The animation style is beautiful, it really gets across the Chinese feel they are looking for. China looks great and unique and the characters themselves are all animated fantastically well.

 

I could say so much more but I’ll finish by saying this is a brilliant film and without doubt worth watching if you haven’t already. If I’d written this list a few months ago it’d be top but I re watched a film that just surpasses it.

 

Number 1. Shrek 2

In my opinion not just one of the best animated films ever but one of the best films period. I’m not really a fan of flat out comedy films but this one changes my mind completely. Shrek 2 is a masterpiece and I will now explain why.

 

Let’s get this out of the way, the film is hilarious. I laughed out loud multiple times during the films but what was best about the comedy was it does have its simple humour but it also has some really intelligent comedy.  So many times though out the film they have a simple scene that not really much needs to happen for the film to progress but they do something really funny with it. A great example is when the Kings men come to the swamp to invite Shrek and Fiona to Far Far Away. That guy goes off on a trumpet solo and it’s really funny.

 

I love the satire of fairy tales going on here, especially the villains of the film who do a great job of having distinguishable personalities and being funny as well as also being diabolical and scheming. I’m not one for soppy romance but Shrek and Fiona’s relationship is so well done in this film I can’t help but mention it. It’s great because while slightly strange, it’s believable and actually enjoyable to watch. They genuinely Love each other and want the other to be happy, so they makes sacrifices to make it work. I actually want them to stay together unlike most boring romance films where I just don’t care.

 

The other characters are also memorable, in particular Donkey who is a lot funnier in this film and Puss in Boots was a great addition to the cast as a satire of Zoro. The story is not overly complex but is enjoyable and interesting. My favourite part about it is seeing the characters grow and seeing what they will do for their loved ones, both from the heroes and even villains. Seeing character relationships grow and evolve is great because the characters are so well written and despite being in a fairy tale, human. They have their flaws but this makes them more human and relatable. Sure they can act greedy or selfish but this is never because they are bad people with our heroes and thus they are never unlikable. This means the dramatic moments are intensified and the happy moments more touching as a result.

 

The set ups were clever, the characters memorable with Puss in Boots being perhaps the best thing that could’ve happened for the franchise. The jokes consistently made me laugh and the story is unique and heart-warming with a touching and fitting ending. Shrek 2 is without doubt my favourite animated film.

Top 5 Games that should be made

Top 5 Games that should be made

Every year many new games are released for the public to buy. Unfortunately the market becomes saturated with the same games. Gamers often speak of innovation and these are the games that I think would be great to see.

 

5. A Pokémon game with every region

Pokémon games come out every year and they’re always great. Every game feels like a grand adventure and what better way than to improve on a grand adventure than to have the player explore every region. People loved HeartGold and Soulsilver and one of the reasons was because you were able to explore multiple regions.

 

The biggest issue many have with Pokémon is how easy it is. With six different regions by the time you were at the sixth region you could be fighting incredibly high level opponents. We’d no longer have a relatively easy stroll across the land before waltzing through the elite four. The opponents could be strong and powerful.

 

Another issue people have is ‘catching them all’. The only way to get certain Pokémon is through special events. No one wants to have to go to a nearby game store just for one legendary Pokémon. Making every Pokémon available in game would make completing the Pokédex an actual realistic possibility for the average player.

 

What else would I like to see? Personally I’d like to see the feature from HeartGold and SoulSilver when you can see your Pokémon following you around. It’s not a crucial feature that has a huge effect on gameplay but it was an enjoyable feature. Another thing I’d like to see is a more mature pot. I get that Pokémon is aimed at kids but it’d be great for a Pokémon game to have a plot that people of all ages can enjoy. Also I’d like to customizable trainers return. This was a good feature in X and Y as it made your character feel more personal.

 

While slightly personal something I’d like to see is some more insight into the backstory of the Pokémon world. A lot of people, myself included have theorised about this world and it would be great to see some actual insight into the backstory. There are so many hints and secrets scattered around the world and it would be amazing to understand what some of these things mean.

 

Perhaps not the most creative thing I’ve come up with but still something I’d love to see. It’s not likely we’ll see this game admittedly but if it was ever announced I would definitely buy it.

 

4. Growing up animal

When I was younger a friend and I discovered a game on the internet where you played as a growing up Allosaurus called Al. It was similar to a board game, you moved across different squares of the map and hunting and fighting was based off numbers. This was a great idea, you could really feel your progression as you could hunt different animal as you got bigger and travel to new places.

 

I always imagined how much fun this would be if the game wasn’t stupidly hard and if instead of a turn based style gameplay, you actually played as the Allosaurus. It wouldn’t just be a typical open world game where the open world has no real purpose since you just have missions to complete. Here we could have a game with a completely unscripted experience, where everyone would have a different story to tell after playing.

 

The game would be unpredictable since life is unpredictable. I think it would be better to avoid missions completely and the aim of the game should be survival. One big survival mode would make the game extremely tense, especially when your creature is young and weak but especially rewarding when becoming the top creature in the surrounding territory.

 

Earlier I mentioned the dinosaur Allosaurus. This game would be perfect for a dinosaur and on top of this there are a very small number of games involving dinosaurs. It would be exciting to explore a prehistoric world through the eyes of a dinosaur. However the game could work in the modern day too. There are many wondrous settings and creatures in the modern day and including Human Beings in the over world would be an interesting dynamic.

 

This is a very unlikely game to be created but to me it sounds great. Who wouldn’t want to feel the experience of controlling a fantastic creature through its epic struggle being its own life? We all like adventure and this sounds like a great adventure to me.

 

3. The Police Officer Game

There are so many games where we play as criminals. While games like Grand Theft Auto are incredibly popular something recently occurred to me. I don’t like crime. Sure it’s fun to play but we don’t get many opportunities to take down these criminals, especially from inside the law.

 

There are such a small number of games to play as the Police. I’ve always been someone who enjoyed being the Hero in games. I will often take the good choice in moral choices for the personal gratification as oppose to mindless villainy.

 

This I imagine would not be difficult to make. Side missions could be stopping random crimes. You could be arresting criminals and see the impact on the city as crime decreased. That’s an issue with many sandbox games, there is very little impact on the surrounding world from your actions.

 

For a setting I’d like something a little different. A large world with both city and more rural environment would be good as staying in a city can get zany. It would also give you the chance to take car journeys to quickly arrive to a crime scene. I’m English so I’d like to see an English city. Somewhere such as London would be an interesting change.

 

A good thing about playing as a police officer could be that you would need to solve crimes rather than just fight villains. It would add a puzzle aspect to the game as well requiring you to use your brain. On top of this putting a criminal away would be far more satisfying if you had to discover their whereabouts first.

 

In video games the Police are often seen as uncool compared to those badass criminals. This would be a great way to change that as well as producing a super fun game.

 

2. The Super - Villain Game

Okay so discount everything I just said. Screw the law, let’s play as a comic book style villain. I would really like a game where you play as a villain. However it wouldn’t just be like a GTA. This would be like a villain from a Saturday morning cartoon.

 

This game could have something very few games do. Comedy. Playing as a cartoon villain could lead to hilarious consequences. For a main storyline you could do something ridiculous like create a doomsday device, perhaps a giant laser from space to hold a city to ransom where you could use weapons to make it that you could use far easily to achieve your plan. The game would be over the top and if nothing else fun.

 

We get a lot of gritty story arcs, this would be a good change of pace. The game could be a satire of the super hero genre, you could take on a super hero trying to foil your evil plan. I think a cartoony art style would be the best visual style for a game like this. The idea is to not take it too seriously, a realistic graphics engine would not fit the style at all.

 

The gameplay could use an array of crazy gadgets to use in combat. Normal guns are boring when compared to lasers and shrink. I’d also like to be able to release hounds to attack the enemies. While this would not be the most complex gameplay it would certainly be enjoyable. Even better would be to be able to create your own gadgets for battle. You could find parts scattered across the world and upgrade them as you level up. This would make levelling up rewarding as it would have in game bonuses.

 

This game would simply be fun. If someone could write some funny lines this could be a light-hearted romp through a colourful world full of ridiculous characters.

 

1. Robot Wars

There are console Robot Wars games. Unfortunately they’re not particularly good. They’re okay and they have their merits they never feel like you’re actually fighting a Robot Wars battle. These game decided that the laws of physics weren’t particularly important. Robots fly all over the place and weapons will just bounce off the Robots. Worst is seeing powerful Robots such as Hypno Disc and seeing its savage fly wheel weapon cause no physical damage ridiculous.

 

The problem with these games honestly is that they were simple cash grabs. With a bit of care and effort I think this could be a sensational game. Building your own robots was not good. The designs in the show were creative and fun and in the games you had block with axes sticking out of them. It would be amazing to be able to construct creative designs, not just set shapes. Creating Robots to battle is probably the biggest draw to playing a Robot Wars game and being free to customize as you please would be a huge improvement.

 

As I stated earlier, an improvement to the physics engine is a must. In the Old games he Robots did not play like heavy machines at all. It was like they were made of cardboard as they appeared to have no weight at all. It was a similar story with weapons. Powerful weapons would hit the opponent but it never felt like they were connecting. Crushing weapons should actually crush things, discs should either cuts or spin off the Robots armour. Armour shouldn’t randomly fall off, it should be damaged accordingly to what was attacking it.

 

While an issue in many games, the commentating was awful. Obviously the lines will be repeated but Johnathan Pearce’s commentary was simply annoying. His commentary on the show was great, so it was very disappointing to hear about five uninspired lines repeated over and over again. Sports games have improved commentaries and I see no reason why a Robot wars game couldn’t too.

 

Another improvement could be time in the pits. Rather than just automatically repairing your Robot there could be different mini games, perhaps using the damage cam from the show. This would add another layer of authenticity to the game. To add to this authenticity, the Robot wars arena needs to be the same as it was in the show. However it would also be good to have a wide variety of arenas with different challenge and obstacles to overcome.

 

Let’s face it, the people who would buy this game would be fans of the television show. It is unlikely we will ever see a good Robot Wars game but if we don it needs to be made for than fans, not a general audience. Perhaps then everyone can experience the thrill and excitement of battling in Robot Wars.