SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs - Off to the Races Edition

Welcome, SuperPhillip Central readers-- both regular and new, to SuperPhillip Central's weekly look/listen to some of my favorite video game music tracks. This is a special themed week that is based on arcade-style racing games. There is no need to slow down on these turns! Such games featured this week include Super Mario Kart, Crash Team Racing, and Sonic R! If you'd like to travel back in time and visit past VGM selections, race on over to my VGM Database!

v756. Super Mario Kart (SNES) - Rainbow Road

The original Rainbow Road delivers high speed thrills and chills, as there are no rails to keep you from falling into the abyss below, adding a lot of unneeded seconds to your overall time. Rainbow Road from Super Mario Kart is such a popular track that it has since appeared in three Mario Kart games: Super Circuit, Mario Kart 7, and Mario Kart 8's DLC. Its luxurious theme plays during all iterations of the track, but I prefer this classic version.

v757. Crash Team Racing (PS1) - Crash Cove

Crash Team Racing has many fantastic attributes to it. Its track design is splendid, its shortcuts are cleverly crafted, its item balance is fair, its challenge is adequate, and its adventure mode is terrific. One thing that isn't so amazing is the soundtrack. While there are a few standouts such as Crash Cove, the first major track of the game, a lot has the ears leaving much to be desired.

v758. Diddy Kong Racing (N64) - Boulder Canyon

Diddy Kong Racing is still my favorite kart racer ever created. Rare really got onto something good by introducing adventure elements into the kart racing genre. In fact, Crash Team Racing would be quite different had DKR not laid the foundation beforehand. Boulder Canyon has two parts to its theme. One plays when you're riding the rapids in your hovercraft, while the other plays when you're inside the interior of a castle and accompanying caverns. Dave Wise, I bow to you! *bows*

v759. Sonic R (SAT) - Back in Time

A cheesy soundtrack for sure, Sonic R's music has that feeling of charm (and awesome vocals, too) that makes it work somehow, even if the actual racing wasn't the top of its class. You still have to give Sega credit for making an adventure out of racing, with multiple shortcuts, extra areas, and much more. Back in Time is a uptempo Euro-pop tune, a definitive artifact of when it was originally released.

v760. F-Zero X (N64) - Dream Chaser

Nothing like speeding down a zero G track at highly dangerous speeds to get the blood pumping. It's even better when you have Taro Bando's rocking F-Zero X soundtrack to accompany you! Just don't go too far over the limit, or you might find yourself careening off course... and off the course, too! F-Zero X has one of the best soundtracks for the Nintendo 64, and just hearing this theme again makes the thirst for a new F-Zero oh-so real.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Danger of the Ooze (PS3, 360, 3DS) Review

There's a special announcement for SuperPhillip Central coming this week regarding the yearly award show, the SuperPhillip Central Best of... Awards, so please look forward to that. Nonetheless, time for the first of many reviews for this last month of 2014. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been with me since birth, and I have been entertained by the four brothers and their wise sensei to this day. Here's my review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Danger of the Ooze. The PlayStation 3 version was the one I played for this review. 

Boo to the yakasha!

Ever since I could talk, I've been a big fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The now insanely cheesy '80s cartoon and subsequent movies from when the turtles with 'tude were at the height of their popularity were highlights of my childhood. Now, a whole new generation is growing up with the Turtles with an awesome Nickelodeon cartoon, which Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Danger of the Ooze is based off of. Is the game a win for Turtles fans, or will those who play it l-ooze?

Danger of the Ooze would fit just fine as an episode of the cartoon. A container of mutagen has been found within New York City, and the Turtles are required to obtain it before it falls into the wrong hands (i.e. Shredder's). Starting off in Danger of the Ooze, you control Michaelangelo, the goofball of the four turtles. After a fairly brief training lesson with Splinter, the sensei and father figure, you're let loose in New York City's sewers, able to move around as you please. 

A chance to kick Shredder's butt?
You didn't even have to ask!

Danger of the Ooze is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles meets Metroid. It's a 2D side-scroller where earning new abilities from special statues and conversations with characters from the cartoon like Casey Jones, April O'Neil, and Slash allows our heroes in a half-shell to reach and access new areas on the map. Wayforward emulated the style of Metroid games to a tee, even having different shuriken types act as the game's Metroid missile equivalent to open different colored doors.

They're named Foot Soldiers as a suggestion to what
part of Mikey's body he should hit them with.

At the beginning of Danger of the Ooze, the turtles are capable enough, but they are missing a number of moves and abilities that make traversing the expansive series of areas like New York City, the sewers, and Dimension X much easier and quicker. For instance, there are abilities like the always helpful yet scientifically impossible double jump, a speedy dash maneuver, or the simplistic skill to climb certain walls. 

Shoo fly, don't bother me! ...Even if you
were a human at another time.

Much like any Metroid-styled game of worth, there are a bevy of optional upgrades to acquire, not only to beef up each turtle's health and shuriken supply, but also to achieve 100% completion in the game. Many times you'll need to backtrack to previously ventured to locations on the map to utilize recently acquired abilities that open the way to once inaccessible areas. 

All four turtles can be switched out on the fly, as long as the current turtle isn't in mid-jump. Each has their own bar of health, so when one turtle is dangerously low on health, he can be exchanged for another. This showcases one of the most likely unintended design flaws with Danger of the Ooze. You see, each time you switch out one turtle for another, the turtle that enters into battle gets two or three seconds of invincibility. There's no cool down time to switch between turtles, meaning you can keep switching between turtles for complete invincibility. This exploit makes boss battles incredibly easy, and makes it so all attacks can be avoided by simply switching turtles at the right moment. 

You can easily cheese your way
through most boss fights.

If for some reason a turtle does lose all of his health-- which is hard to do considering how generous the game is with health-restoring pizza dropped by enemies-- he gets captured, placed in one of the many jail rooms around the game map. It's such an annoyance and inconvenience to track down a captured turtle that you might as well quit the game if a turtle's health hits zero. The map is large, tedious to travel back and forth through, backtracking in it to reach a turtle is a pain, and you'll save time just reloading your last save. 

Danger of the Ooze is a very short game, which makes the $29.99 MSRP less of a shock to the system than it would have been at full price. There is even a trophy/achievement for beating the game under one hour, showing that if you know what you're doing, where you need to go, and don't mind plowing through enemies, this game can be over before you blink. If your aim is to obtain every item and get a full completion percentage, especially the first time through the game, you'll most likely find Danger of the Ooze as a 4-6 hour experience.

I would have been just as happy
with a postcard from Dimension X.

Wayforward has done excellent work in the past with giving each of its products an impressive presentation package. Unfortunately, Danger of the Ooze is one of their weaker efforts. The visuals, backgrounds, and character models don't do much to excite, with many areas looking quite muddy and hard to fully see. Character mouths do not sync up with the dialogue whatsoever, and the actual music is ho-hum at best. The only really clever part of the presentation is when a collectible is acquired. A short jingle from the series plays; during it the controller rumbles rhythmically to the theme. 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Danger of the Ooze isn't a poor game by any means, but if you're looking for something that shows off the heights of Metroid-style games, this ain't it. There are far better examples to be found, and many more well designed with less tedious backtracking and other gameplay mishaps. There is indeed some turtle power to be found with Wayforward's latest, but it's more of a whimper than a bang.

[SPC Says: 6.0/10]

Tearaway: Unfolded (PS4) PlayStation Experience Trailer

One of my favorite PlayStation Vita games is Tearaway. It's an amazingly innovative and creative experience that didn't get much in the way of commercial success. With its jump to the PlayStation 4, with all-new content and reworked gameplay, here's hoping Tearaway gets the attention from consumers that it deserves.

SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs - Back from Cybering Edition

The most important unofficial holiday of all time was yesterday, so SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs had to be out of the office for that! Of course, I'm talking about Cyber Monday. How else do you expect SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs to get half price cutting boards shaped like ducks?! Do you think that kind of deal happens any other day? No way!

Nonetheless, this favorite music-related feature of mine is here for your Tuesday instead of Monday this week. Such games featured this week include Shadow of the Colossus, Tales of Legendia, and Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean. Let's go!

v751. Shadow of the Colossus (PS2) - To the Ancient Land

I start off this edition of my favorite VGMs with the introduction song of Shadow of the Colossus. The composer of this game, Koh Otani, might be familiar to anime fans, as he wrote the music to both Gundam Wing and Outlaw Star. Those are two of my favorite non-Yoko Kanno anime soundtracks. Regardless, Otani-san's (I don't usually do the "san" stuff, so beg my pardon this one time) approach to the Shadow of the Colossus soundtrack is a soundtrack full of raw emotion. It's as moving as the game itself.

v752. Tales of Legendia (PS2) - Enemy Attack

Before Motoi Sakuraba became pretty much the de facto composer for the Tales series, Go Shiina had his talented hands on the Tales soundtrack with Tales of Legendia for the PlayStation 2. This lively and energetic Enemy Attack theme is showcased by a brilliant, fast-paced piano melody, followed by lovely strings. It's a gorgeously designed piece, for sure.

v753. Hot Shots Golf 3 (PS2) - Main Menu

Moving away from epic scaled games to the links for a short respite here, the Hot Shots Golf series is one that rarely disappoints. The music also stays strong game after game in the series. Rather than choose a theme from one of the golf courses in the game, I figured I'd share the main menu theme. Not only is it heard a lot obviously while playing, but it constantly gets you in high spirits and in the mood to play another round of golf.

v754. Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (GCN) - House of Cards

We return to "epic" games and sounding stuff with Baten Kaitos's House of Cards, composed by a name I mentioned in the Tales of Legendia Enemy Attack VGM, Motoi Sakuraba. Not only does this fantastic and masterful composer get around, he consistently makes quality soundtracks. I guess that would be a great reason as to why he gets around so often!

v755. Breath of Fire (SNES, GBA) - Battling

Breath of Fire was one of my first RPG's I ever played. Thus, it has a certain nostalgia I appreciate, but even then, the game still holds up rather well-- at least much better than its poorly-translated sequel. Battling is the second battle theme that plays after Ryu's party has reached a certain point in their adventure. Its much more uptempo than the first battle theme, making it my personal favorite from the game.

Review Round-Up - November 2014

Nintendo's all-star fighter leads the
charge this month at SuperPhillip Central.

SuperPhillip Central didn't just stuff its gut with food this past month. No, the site also filled itself to the brim with reviews-- 11, to be exact!

Over half of SuperPhillip Central's November reviews was dedicated to Wii U eShop games from indies, such as Stealth Inc. 2: A Game of Clones (9.0), Art of Balance (8.25), Teslagrad (8.25), Ping 1.5+ (7.25), The Swapper (8.0), and Tengami (7.0). Following the indie Wii U eShop titles, I turned to the Virtual Console offerings the system possessed with two offerings, Super Mario Advance (7.25) and Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land (7.0). After that, I posted a fashionably late review of Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call, giving it a 9.25. Little Deviants on the PlayStation Vita didn't review as favorably, getting only a below average 4.0. Finally, one of the most compelling and content-heavy multiplayer games, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, brawled its way to a near-perfect 9.75.

That's the Review Round-Up for November 2014! If you ever want to look back in SuperPhillip Central's past at one of the previous 500 or so reviews, check out the review database here!

Stealth Inc. 2: A Game of Clones (Wii U eShop) - 9.0
Art of Balance (Wii U eShop) - 8.25
Teslagrad (Wii U eShop) - 8.25
Ping 1.5+ (Wii U eShop) - 7.25
The Swapper (Wii U eShop) - 8.0
Tengami (Wii U eShop) - 7.0
Super Mario Advance (GBA, Wii U eShop) - 7.25
Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land (GBA, Wii U eShop) - 7.0
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call (3DS) - 9.25
Little Deviants (Vita) - 4.0
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (Wii U) - 9.75

While Smash Bros. celebrates Nintendo's history,
Theatrhythm celebrates Final Fantasy's.