Laboratory of Mathematics and Writing

Come Out to Play I remember playing The Warriors on the Playstation 2 when I was in high school with a buddy of mine. It was an absolute blast. It's definitely one of those nostalgia trips whenever I think about it or begin playing it. Interesting fact: I played the game before I watched the awesome movie. I just played through it again on the original Xbox and I must say that it's great. However, the combat didn't exactly age well. Everything else about it absolutely stood the test of time, just not the combat. A Grim Setting Despite not watching the movie first, I was immediately drawn into the world of The Warriors. It's world of gangs, crime, drugs, and violence in abundance. The homeless people walking around exclaiming "What do I have to do to make a living around here?!" adds to the dark and gritty setting. It's a hopeless world with almost no economic opportunities. So, the only way to ma...

The Ascent I'm a sucker for cyberpunk settings. I love both of the Blade Runner movies as well as Akira. I also enjoyed Cyberpunk 2077 and the old Shadowrun on the Super Nintendo. In fact, I would compare The Ascent to Shadowrun the most. Sure, Shadowrun is old as hell and the art direction isn't the same at all, but it is an isometric shooter just like The Ascent. They both take place in a typical high-tech, low-life dystopian world. They both have non-human characters that you can interact with. You get to roam around freely in a neon city environment. You can cybernetically enhance your character in both. They both allow the use of a variety of weapons; although the variety is much greater in the Ascent. They both make use of hacking; although, Shadowrun opens up a mini-game instead of the single-button press in The Ascent. Cyberpunk Setting Perfected An absolute win for The Ascent is the overall setting and atmosphere. It tot...

Cel-Shaded Xtreme Sports Saga I love the "Cel-Shaded Xtreme Sports Saga". That's what I am going to call it. I am not an authority in any capacity, but I am going to make up my own terminology anyways.The Cel-Shaded Extreme Sports Saga consists of three games: Jet Set Radio, Jet Set Radio Future, and Bombrush Cyberfunk. There's probably many more games out there that can be included in the category of Cel-Shaded Extreme Sports, but these are the most obvious selections and they are intimitely linked to one another.All three are absolutely worth playing and among my favorite games ever. If I where to rank them from best to worst, it would be thus: Jet Set Radio, Bombrush Cyberfunk, then Jet Set Radio Future. Jet Set Radio Future Jet Set Radio Future is my least favorite. It's still an amazing game that I will always wholeheartedly recommend it. I just prefer Bombrush and the original Jet Set Radio. A big reason is that the story ...

Seiken Densetsu 3, If You Prefer Reproductions There's a local video game store that sells reproduction Super Nintendo cartridges. I am indeed grateful for reproduction cardtridges or CDs for any console. Well, maybe not PC because it's largely unecessary nowadays. But I am definitely glad about reproduction cardtriges and have no issues with them as long as they are of top quality. There are certain games, like Earthbound, that are obscenely expensive. Some people prefer physical games and don't want to spend over $300 on a single cartridge. The next best option is to buy a reproduction for $35. There are other games, such as Secret of Mana 2 (Seiken Densetsu 3, if you prefer), that never saw a North American release. Actually, it never had an English translation. Fans had to perform the translation for us Yankees. A reproduction with complete to-English translation of Secret of Mana 2 provides a great opportunity to own a ...