Dancing With Smurfy Metaphores

Ace Combat 6 carries a long tradition, from its roots in PS1 (or PSX if you prefer) on up to the current generation of consoles, for fantastic gamepley. The presentation is very realistic and you almost forget the arcade handling. There is no point it should feel realistic to fly into combat with 190 missiles to use against 20 bandits. Yet, the game is so believable you don't care that your weapons reappear after a few seconds. You even have unlimited guns. This is all to let you feel like you're Maverick from Top Gun. Some missions are rediculous, like flying against 20 bandits, flying through tunnels, and attacking sky carriers. Yeah. Then there's the in flight dialog. There is so much radio chatter you tend to filter it out because you know what's going on. It does serve the purpose of fleshing out the battles knowing that other people are counting on you. Where the game gets on my nerves are the cut-scene movies. In between missions you are treated to the ongoing drama of a couple people on the ground. For the most part its entertaining and it helps the story feel more epic, until the English dubbed dialog begins. I wish the option to hear this in Japanese was available. And most of the dialog surrounds the metaphore, "Dancing With The Angels." It's Ace Combat's version of "Smurf". It goes from meaning "flight" to "see you later" to "go screw yourself." Uggh. I would like to point out that the dub of the radio chatter is perfectly fine. Just ignore the 20% of the game you don't play, anyway.

I am becoming more obsessed with Guitar Hero III. By weeks end (aka Payday) I will own one. I've been researching the music of the game and not only are there over 70 songs available (not to mention downloadable content) but they are based on the original masters, unlike the first two. I realized the addictive quality of this game is the simplification of musical talent. This turns the ability to play guitar into an arcade twitchy experience that makes you feel like a "rock star." And the difficulty level lets you set the "realism," metaphorically like the difference between Ridge Race to Grand Turismo. The highest setting, while not enough to teach you guitar, at least feels like an accomplishment of the grandest gaming order, and one probably gets an appreciation of the real talent. And now with Rock Band on the horizon I may have to go back to GameStop and pre-order a copy. The super-copy with all the instruments. It's been a lifelong dream I developed this past week to be the best drummer I can. Look out Neil Peart and Dave Grohl, Fox is on the virtual drum kit playing your songs.

"Back in the day," when gaming was simpler, we had a choice, Street Fighter 2 or Mortal Kombat. Those are two separate camps. You could claim to like both, but its a lire. You either like one or the other. It's okay to sneek into the other camp and play a couple games, but you are loyal to one (or none) but not both. What differentiates the two? The controls. The graphics are a close second, but what makes or breaks your first impression are the controls. Every fighting game since has copied on or the other, sometimes both at the same time. I "heart" Mortal Kombat. I found it easier and the more realistic character animation just made it more entertaining. Which is odd, because Street Fighter looks like you're playing anime. And don't forget Fatalities (Friendships & Animalities) which SF2 didn't have. Hah. I could never play SF2 for the controls. For a brief, nostalgic look at some of my favorite fatalities see this movie from gametrailers.com. I want Mortal Kombat: Armageddon but I understand it doesn't work on the 360. I'll have to do more research.

Back to one of my favorite topics, Star Wars. Many talented fans love Star Wars and one guy made a movie poster representing All 6 movies. Since we already have two LEGO Star Wars games covering Prequel and Holy Trilogy, what will the new game do that the others haven't? On that note I want more Rogue Squadron or Jedi Starfighter games. I just want to fly around and shoot stuff in the Star Wars universe, and I want it to look as good as Ace Combat 6. The makers of the greatest Star Wars RPG are looking for writing talent. As soon as I figure out what they want, I am so there. Smurf you next broadcast.