Who Killed Mario?
‘When people ask the question, “what is the greatest game series of the past twenty years?” you expect the generic answers; Mario, Sonic, Final Fantasy, Zelda, among others. Me, being my usual alternative self, disagree. Yes, they’re all great games, but, they have nothing on what I would class as the greatest game series of the past twenty years.
It was in the year 2000, when Christmas actually meant something to me, that I discovered the brilliance that is Dynasty Warriors. I can remember ripping open the wrapping, knowing that it had to be a game for our brand new PlayStation two, (not the slick, slim version, but the full, two tonne weighing eyesore version) and seeing a picture that can evoke so many emotions in an eight year olds head; it was a collage of warriors wielding more weapons than I knew existed at that age, and underneath a spear in blood red characters was “Dynasty Warriors 2”. Little did I know when opening it, that it would change not only my view on gaming, but also my views on culture.
At this point, it’s best if I give you a little background knowledge on Dynasty Warriors. The games (there have been 6 main versions, many with spin offs of their own) are based around the period in China known as “The Three Kingdoms”; China was split into three main areas, Wei (blue), Wu (red) and Shu (green). Each battled, and formed alliances to unite China under one rule.
In the games, you pick a warrior from one of the factions and battle enemies to conquer China for your leader. In some versions you could customise your own faction, which was epic. What could be more fun than giving your character a massive sword, a slightly racist name, and seeing upon the screen, “Maso Wang is the greatest warrior in the Three Kingdoms”? Many amusing childhood hours were spent doing so.
With all action games, you have a “the big bad guy” and Dynasty Warriors is no different. If you choose to battle for Wu or Shu, then the baddie is “Cao Cao”; he’s your generic bad guy, poor voice over, daft name, he even has a trident beard, can you think of anyone who has a trident beard, who isn’t either desperately evil or a slightly gay pirate? But regardless of which faction you decide to fight for, the character you have to beat, you feel is your duty to China to beat, is “Lu Bu”. Lu Bu, is the hardest character in the game, (think of Bowser from Mario, Ganondorf from Zelda and Eggman from Sonic. rolled into one giant endgame boss),he is almost impossible to beat one on one. And the annoying (or great) thing is, he appears in the second level. The toughest boss in the game, is in the second level, that’s how Koei rolls. When you become man enough to face him, you do feel as though you are fighting for your life, he is that bloody scary, you spend hours trying to think of a strategy to beat him. I came up with the cowardly hit and run tactic, I’d run in, attack him, run out, get some health, and repeat. When you do finally kill him, (after respawning fifty gajillion times) the surge of emotions you get is unreal, and so far unmatched in any game I’ve played. Not even when you become adult link in Ocarina of Time. You feel as though you have taken up the honour of being the greatest fighter of the age, “you keep what you kill”, if you will. Perhaps that had something to do with me being eight, but I feel if I did kill him now, I’d still feel the same.’
The critics out there will be saying, but the game play was terrible, all you did was hack and slash. And while this may be the case, there was a defined artistic nature to it. It was this nature that made the game brilliant. In most games, if all you did was kill enemy after enemy, it would get boring, but with this, it got funnier. I could, and did, spend hours killing as many as I could, (Record is 1567 for those asking) without it getting repetitive. That is what made the game great to me. Those with a hatred of video games, and what they stood for, said what is the good of a game, where you go around killing hundreds of people? In my eyes, I was helping to keep control of the population levels in the highest populated country on earth. I was helping save the planet.
Since playing on Dynasty Warriors 2 and the whole series, I have gone on to love anything that is Asian. My favourite films are Asian, one of my favourite bands are J-Rock. It shows how much these games have influenced me as a person. And, surely that is the making of a great game series?
Also, a spear wielding ninja, would beat a jumpsuit wearing Italian plumber any day.
Retro Corner
Last time I spoke about the brilliance that is Dynasty Warriors, this time I shall be speaking of the best console ever created. Forget your PS3’s, your Xbox360’s, even your SNES, for this console passes them all; I am of course talking about Nintendo’s N64. Everything about this console oozed sex, the games, the look of it,. Hell, even the name is sexy, like some sort of alien sexbot, just not as advanced as the N69 model. There are of course many other reasons as to why this console rocked my socks, if the name isn’t enough to satisfy you.
When I received my N64 from yet again good old Santa (notice a pattern with brilliant things I get?), I didn’t quite know what to expect. I mean, I had had the wonderful creation that is the SNES, which tragically lost it’s life in a ferocious battle with the vanguard of Orange Squash, and I believed nothing could surpass that. So, I apprehensively plugged the console into my tele and inserted the game that came with it, Mario 64. As the screen turned black my heart was beating wildly, (obviously I can’t remember it doing so, but thought a bit of emotion would add something to this text, bring it too life as they say. If it isn’t doing so, please message me @IliekMudkipz.com and we can come to some form of bribery to keep you quiet) and then a massive moustache wielding, hat wearing face appeared on the screen, and the immortal words followed it, “It’s a me Mario”. But, there was something more epic than a camp looking Italian plumber was on the title screen; you could play with his face! I mean, you could pull his nose, stretch his facial hair, in fact, you could do anything up to violating him, perhaps you could even do that if you collected all the red coins and stars. Can you think of a game on the PS3 or 360 allowing you to do this?
The N64 is regarded to have many of the must have/best ever console games: GoldenEye (yes based on the James Bond film starring the one voice actor Sean Bean) is regarded as the best fps (for those not literate in computer gaming terms, it stands for “First Person Shooter”) ever made. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is one of , if not the, greatest Action-Adventure games of all time. Mario Kart, the lightest yet amazing racing game of the last 20 years. Hell, even Pokemon Stadium was an amazing single/multiplayer game. Yes, there were some fails of games for the console, but what console doesn’t have these? And, in the case of the N64, these games were certainly in the minority. Every single one of these games could be played now, yes they’ll look slightly out of date, but the game play of them would be able to stand tall against the games of today.
The power of the N64 was something incredible. I’ve read in one my geeky computering magazines, I mean, I only read them when I’m not reading through Nuts or FHM magazine, that the power of the N64 was far more advanced than the power in the space rocket that took Armstrong and co to the moon. Now, that’s out of this world! I apologise for that, but it needed to be said. This meant the games could be pushed to the limit graphics and content wise. Sometimes they looked blurred, but when they worked, by god they worked. Mario 64 is the perfect example of the graphics getting it right.
The characters in the games were exceptional, so subtle and lifelike in both appearance and character. Yes, this is the games not the console. But, without the console, the games wouldn’t have been created, so I’m counting them for the console. I’m the writer, so deal with it sucker! Mario has to be one of the best characters created, in the history of gaming. His commitment to saving Princess Peach, despite her needing saving every bleeding day, I’d have left her by now, he still goes after her, regardless of how often she gets kidnapped by a stalker dinosaur, is just lovely and heart-warming. Despite Link, From Ocarina of time, never speaking, you do feel as though you know him. And, through his trials to save the land of Hyrule, from a child to an adult (the part you grow up is so damn cool), you grow with him. The characters of the console add so much towards the elegance of the console.
Lastly, the N64 is able to bring so much joy by simply playing it. The playsation’s, xbox’s, and any other console you can think of, were all so impersonal, where as the N64 was like your best friend, always there in your time of need. It had a game for every occasion, every emotion. If you couldn’t find a game on it you liked, or one that suited you, well, you have no soul, and need to be exorcised immediately, God save us all.
If after reading this you still do not want to play on the N64, then go outside and socialise man, I’m off to kick some Bowser Butt, and you’re dead to me.
It’s a real sport I tell you
Ping-Pong! (2002)
Sport is one of the few things relatively untouched by the Hollywood effect; this is down to the fact that sport itself contains enough drama to satisfy it’s audience. On the few occasions when Hollywood manages to foray into the sporting arena, the product is often on a par with England’s attempt at achieving glory in a world cup. So when I was informed of a film based not only sport, but on the sport of Ping Pong, and that it was based on a Japanese Manga comic, I viewed it with apprehension. I certainly did not expect to be blown away.
The key thing separating Ping Pong from most films based around Sporting events, is that the sport takes a back-seat to the storyline, with the focus being centred around two characters and how through the medium of Ping Pong, they and their friendship develops. The two friends are teenagers Peco, and ironically named Smile (He has only smiled once). You learn that the two became unlikely friends when Peco saved Smile as a child from bullys. It is from here that Smile began to see Peco as a “Hero”, and Peco longs to uphold the image. The bonds between the two grew as Peco taught Smile how to play Ping Pong. As they grow older, it is Smile who becomes the better of the two at the sport; however we learn that Smile allows Peco to beat him, as he doesn’t want to upset him. The main focal point of the story is the inter-school championships. Both Peco and Smile lose in their matches, with Peco being thrashed by Dragon, the best player of their age range (Dragon is from a strict school, set out to appear much like Shaolin Monks in their training), and Smile loses to China, a failed Chinese National team try-out; yet it is set out to suggest Smile allowed himself to lose, as China’s coach was threatening to drop him if he lost. Peco’s defeat shows to himself that he was not as good as he was led to believe by Smile, and he stops playing Ping Pong, and instead spends his time in arcades. Smile though is set a strict training programme by his Coach, a former Ping Pong player nicknamed Butterfly Joe. It is through this training regime, that Smile begins to develop the ruthlessness he lacked before. Peco eventually regains his passion for Ping Pong, and both characters enter the next inter-school championship, vying to win.
The camera shots used in the film are superb. With the film based around Ping Pong, it was key that the shots of the matches were of the highest quality, and it has certainly fulfilled that aim. At the key moments in the matches, the camera follows the ball as it is hit between the two combatants, and you are able to see every revolution, every ounce of spin placed on the ball. When the camera isn’t focussed on the ball, it is on the movement of the and the wonderful choreography of the players. The two come together perfectly, and it can justifiably be compared to the camera work used in the Matrix films.
The film also features many symbolic moments, in which the Ping Pong is used to show key moments and meanings in everyday life, there are three scenes which spring to mind: Peco is seen to be a hero by Smile, this is shown by flashbacks to a sepia tinned world when they were children, and Peco, who is wearing a mask, is seen to be standing protectively above Smile; another key scene is when Peco, who has given up Ping Pong, realises he lives for the sport. He goes to a bridge, and is about to jump off when a policeman stops him, thinking he is suicidal, Peco states he isn’t, and that “I can fly”, he then proceeds to jump off the bridge, and into the water below. This shows how he is being reborn, and re-entering the world of Ping Pong; the last key scene features near the end, in the match between Peco and Dragon, who had once comfortably beaten Peco. Halfway through the match, the background is blanked out, and the two characters are just alone, playing in a white space. This is symbolic that shows both characters have reached the stage where they are just enjoying the game, and that neither cares who wins, just that they are playing. They have reached Nirvana. This three scenes, while based on the sport of Ping Pong, can be transported into the real world. We all strive for a hero, someone to look up to, someone to protect us. If you have lost yourself, you are able to be reborn, able to reignite your passion. And in the end, all we long for is to find our Nirvana, to be happy with what we are doing, and who we are.
This isn’t a film you would go and watch with “the lads”, and this isn’t a film which would win an Oscar; this is a film which you’d want to watch with someone you care for greatly. The Wire didn’t win any awards, yet is widely known as the greatest TV drama. This is a film in which you genuinely feel privileged to have seen. The script is superbly written, the camera work on a par with major Hollywood productions, and the acting is warming. All in all, it is a very good film, and well worth a watch.
