ENTER THE "TERRORDROME" OR GET ALL "NESTALGIC" ABOUT GAMING!

Though I post about movies and such on this here blog about 99% of the time, today I'm doing something a bit different. I'm going to talk about two independently created video games for your PC that are free to play. (Yeah I know, I should be talking about these over at the Casual Gaming Blog, and I will, but these games are totally up your collective alleys! I just had to share!)

First up is TERRORDROME (visit the official site HERE), a supremely bad ass fighting game created with MUGEN. The creators have designed an impressive cast of fighters featuring a few familiar faces such as.... FREDDY KRUEGER, JASON VOORHEES, UNDEAD JASON VOORHEES (complete with broken chain around his neck), CHUCKY, GHOSTFACE, THE CANDYMAN, THE TALLMAN, ASHLEY J. WILLIAMS, LEATHERFACE, MICHAEL MYERS, and MATT CORDELL (aka THE MANIAC COP). Yes, you read that right folks, its a HORROR THEMED FIGHTING GAME and it is very well done! Despite the fact that Terrordrome's creators took the download link down on the site, due to pressure from several companies that didn't want their licensed characters to be included in the roster of a free, fan-made video game, you can still get your paws on this bad boy. ( ----> DOWNLOAD Version 2.7 NOW! ) Along with a lot of fixes, each character has their own "unleashed move" to deal out some real damage to their opponent. Check 'em all out in the following video.



The game still remains unfinished at the moment as its creators plan on adding Dr. Herbert West and Pinhead as playable characters. Plus there's still some music and sound f/x to add, along with a few new stages, and some more tweaks to the fight mechanics. I tried this out when it was in version 2.3, and I have to say that it has come a very long way. Though it can be glitchy at times, this is a really cool game that should have been snapped up for a legit release, not forced to become a "personal" (i.e. covert) fan project that certain studios don't want you to enjoy. (My sincerest "F*CK YOUS" to Warner Bros. and... Orion Entertainment? I thought they went bankrupt?!) Be sure to download and give it a shot, and share it with a friend.

Next up is a somewhat new MORPG that is rendered in awesome 8-bit graphics! Enter the world of... NESTALGIA! (Think of it as "Final Fantasy" meets" Dragon Warrior 3" meets "World of Warcraft.") Create a character, fully customize him/her, team up with others, go on quests, enter PvP matches, and more.... FOR FREE! The best part of this is that you get the entire game for free, not just MOST of it. (I'm looking at you "Age of Empires Online.") You can buy a subscription to get additional add-ons, but it isn't a necessity in the least, and probably goes towards the cost of keeping the game servers going. Check out the trailer for Nestalgia below, then give it a try, so you can have fun and wax ... nestalgic! (Zing!)



If you like what you see, or are just plain curious, visit the official site and download the game and try it out! It is currently a boring and rainy night here in my neck of the woods, so I know what I'm doing for the next few hours....

My thoughts on Street Fighter IV and future updates at the Vault.

Ok first off, "Street Fighter IV:" It is a beautiful game to behold, especially on an HDTV. The characters look incredible, there's a lot of neat stuff going on in the background as you are trying to beat someone into dust, and the music is great. All the old favorites are back (Chun Li, E. Honda, Blanca, Zangief, Guile, Ryu, Ken, etc.) plus a few new faces make the cut in the list of fighters you can choose from. At first glance, this is a great game.....

Then you play it and soon realize that the combos that everyone boasts about are incredibly hard to pull off (especially the Super and Ultra combos), and that each fight quickly degenerates into "button-mashing." (My f*cking thumbs hurt!) Heck, even performing special moves like Ken and Ryu's Hadoken is a challenge here. Usually I end up doing a Shoryuken instead, which leaves you completely open for attack if you miss.

Then there's the part in the Arcade Mode where you take on your RIVAL (e.g. Ryu and Sagat, Ken and some fat-ass named Rufus). The difficulty during a match with your arch-rival is friggin' ridiculous! I played the game on Very Easy with RYU, just to try and get a feel for the controls. When I had my showdown with Sagat, I slowly but surely began to get pissed off. I had to redo the match FOUR times before I took that bald bitch down! I realize that these guys are rivals and that Sagat would probably put up a tougher fight than most contenders, but c'mon Capcom, this is bullshit!

And then there's "Seth," this bionic, humanoid sumbitch that has the special abilities of every fighter in the game. In your first match, you will probably sweep the floor with him and think "Heh, that was too easy. This guy is a cinch to beat!" Then the blue bastard gets up and unleashes an arsenal of jaw-dropping combos that you are helpless against. I had to redo this battle multiple times as well, and remember, this is with the game on VERY EASY. (There is an even wussier difficulty setting called EASIEST, but I haven't resorted to utilizing that yet.)

Granted I haven't played a fighting game since......... uh..... "Mortal Kombat" for the Gamecube (I think), so I'm really rusty at these types of games. But truthfully, that's only part of the problem. The big one is with the controls. Your character moves fluently enough, and the response to what buttons your hitting is perfectly fine. It's just that the special moves and combos are so hard to pull off, which becomes ten times more frustrating when your opponent is hitting you with brutal combos every ten seconds or so.

Overall, this is a great game and a perfect addition to the "Street Fighter" series, I just wish it was easier to make your fighter do all the cool stuff he or she is supposed to.

When I turn my X-BOX 360 on later (once my blood stops boiling) I'm probably going to go into training mode and see if I can get the hang of all these pesky moves.

Before I move on to anything else, here's a few extra things about the game I want to tell you:
1. Chun-Li has HUGE f*cking hands! They are monstrously disproportionate to her small feminine body.... and is it me or are her thighs ridiculously thick and muscular too?

2. Rufus is a piece of shit. I hate fighting this tub of lard, especially with Ken (mainly because they are rivals). This guy has some of the most devastating combos I've witnessed in any game, but I guess that's to make up for his monstrous case of obesity.

3. Seth seems like a rip-off of Cell from Dragonball Z and is infuriating to fight. As I stated before, he goes easy on you (sort of) during the first match, then goes balls to the wall after that, assailing you with so many devastating attacks that you begin to wonder why you even bought this game.

Yeah I probably just really suck at "Street Fighter IV" and refuse to admit it, but c'mon, I don't recall Street Fighter II ever being this difficult!

Moving on then....

I'm going to be doing some work on the Vault tonight. I didn't really mean to take so long between updates, but it just sort of happened. Sometimes, I would just rather sit and enjoy movies instead of writing about them, but thankfully, I'm ready to get back on track. Expect last week's AND this week's Genre Watch to be posted SOON, along with a capsule review for "Friday the 13th" (2009)!

Blog ya later b-movie (and Street Fighter) fans!

New Angry Video Game Nerd Video: Milon's Secret Castle

I've become a huge fan of James Rolfe, better known as The Angry Video Game Nerd, in the past month or so. The brand of justice he administers to awful video games is entertaining, and his angry reviews are always spot on. To view the entire bulk of his work, visit Cinemassacre.com.

The Angry Video Game Nerd's latest rant is over the game "Milon's Secret Castle." This is probably one of the most difficult games that Nintendo (and Hudson Soft) ever developed and this video had me waxing nostalgic about all the times I tried playing it and ended up losing my temper.

Enjoy the video!

Looking to kill some time? Try out "Warlords: Call to Arms."

While surfing around Newgrounds.com one afternoon, I came across a little flash game called "Warlords: Call to Arms." It is a ridiculously simple and addicting game, though towards the end, it can be quite challenging (i.e. frustrating). I have yet to actually conquer all 25 lands on the map (the best I've done thus far was 22...), but I haven't given up on that quest yet.
To play the "full version" of the game (which allows you to pick from three races that are not available on the Newgrounds version), CLICK HERE. Enjoy!