HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Amethyst Anne here, wishing all of you readers to have a very happy Halloween and lots of your favorite candies!

Some favorite things about Vector Man

I've only played this game on the PSP.  I could never get into it while I had the SEGA Genesis and was on a Sonic-only diet in terms of that game console.  After some experience playing it, though, I have some favorite things about the Vector Man video game:

• I like he way I try to make Vector Man go against a wall, and he puts his elbow against the wall and leans against it.  He's looking at the player (me) as if to say, "I can't go through that wall.  You have to make me do something else."  And then he throws some of his orbs up in the air, catches them, and then looks at me again, appearing very annoyed.  Nyaw. (I want to find a picture of that, but it's not so easy.)
• I like how I can make Vector Man shoot right, left, straight upward and even diagonally at his enemies.  It's so fun that way.  It also makes fighting bosses easier.
• I keep thinking he's a robot.  Of course, he is called an "Orb-Bot" according to GiantBomb.com here (as well as what the little in-game story's prelude includes).
• The little cry he makes when he loses a life (it sounds funny).
• Collecting those little white circles is fun!!!
• Why is he green?????  (Idea: he is eco-effective for the ruined planet he is trying to help clean up?)

An old Shadow the Hedgehog sketch

I realize that Shadow is missing his left arm.  Needless to say this drawing is incomplete, but I still want to share it.  I used a reference, obviously...




Drawing by Amethyst Anne, November 24 and December 18, 2001
Shadow the Hedgehog belongs to SEGA.



     2001 was the year that I got the SEGA Dreamcast for the reason that I wanted to play Sonic Adventure 2.  The Sonic the Hedgehog Archie comic book series did a brief thing on SA2 in issue #98.  It is one of my very favorite issues of the comic book.   I ended up getting the Dreamcast with a Sonic Adventure Bundle (SA, Sonic Shuffle, and a demo of SA2).   By December 2001 I was about half done with finishing the game, and even though Shadow was a villian, he was growing on me, probably because he was a hedgehog like Sonic.  So I wanted to draw him.

I drew this picture during winter break from high school.  I'd feel bad drawing him when I'd have homework to do, so winter break was a nice time to do it.  :3  It took a few days; I left it and got back to it again.

Yay Shadow!!!   ^,^ 

An Anniversary (if anyone rembembers...?)

Today is the 16th anniversary of the release of the video game Sonic and Knuckles for the SEGA Genesis.

I remember this date because it was on an ad in a video game magazine my dad used to buy for me when I was in third grade.  Or fourth grade.  One of those.  The Sonic and Knuckles logo was on this black page and it said the release date on it: 10-18-1994.

I'll include a link to a Wikipedia page on the game.  It says that the North American release date was October 17th, but I REMEMBER in the magazine ad it said 10-18.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_&_Knuckles

Dissidia on October 12th

In Dissidia Final Fantasy I just concentrated on leveling up the characters on Bonus Day.

• Zidane ------30

• Bartz---------19

• Onion Knight--------8

I found out by playing that the Onion Knight is probably the best fighter against The Emperor, because the Emperor’s attacks are powerful but slow, and the Onion Knight is fast. Sometimes I call him “the boy who is fast on his feet.” Maybe not quite like Sonic the Hedgehog, but still fast. Also, Onion Knight doesn’t jump very high, but he makes up for it by jumping up to five times in the air, more than the three that Zidane can do.

Cyborg Haven Update: Jak and Daxter Artist Bob Rafei has a website!!

The following website has been added to my list of favorite websites:

• Bob Rafei Concept Art and Illustration     http://www.bobrafei.com/home.htm

Bob Rafei is the concept artist behind the Jak and Daxter series, one of my favorite video game fanchises for the PlayStation 2.  There is concept art and illustrations included in galleries for:

• Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
• Jak II
• Jak 3
• Jak X: Combat Racing
• A couple of Crash Bandicoot titles
• Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

I couldn't help it and had to look at the character art for Jak and Daxter: TPL and Jak II, and I love those galleries a whole lot!!  I have yet to look at the art for Jak 3 and Jak X.  Bob Rafei's artwork inspires me to want to draw my own artwork of Jak, but I don't know which Jak to start drawing.  I could start with Jak from the first game because he's Bambi-eyed and there are less details to worry about  :3  Plus which ever game he is in, he has a cute nose.  Why did I say that?  Maybe because I like the way Rafei draws his nose/nostrils.  0__O   Anyway, I got to know more of Rafei's art  years ago when I got the Jak 3 official strategy guide book.  The book features a lot of his art and I fell in love with it.  I didn't know he had the website back in 2004.  Now I know about it.  I'm so happy I stumbled upon it today!

So fans of Jak and Daxter series, if you love Bob Rafei's artwork, go check out his gallery website.  A lot of the pieces he did will surprise you, especially the very early concepts of Jak, what is called "Pre-Jak."  Wanna know what I'm talking about?  You'll see on page 2 of the gallery for Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy.

I'll just say that I am very pleased with the way Jak finally turned out...   :3 

Art by Bob Rafei

This image is from the Jak 3 strategy guide.  I wanted

to include this here to give my readers an idea of what

Bob Rafei's art style is, at least for Jak 3.  To see more of

his artwork, check out http://www.bobrafei.com/home.htm .

Mega Man X5 on September 30th

So here we are, at another Mega Man X game in the collection, Mega Man X5.  I thought I'd use the audio recorder as I played the game because since it is sort of "new," I wanted to take note of the things that were different in this sequel, without having to write it all down on paper.

I decided to play as X again, because since Zero mode is fun but frustrating, I shall stick to the tried and true that is X mode.  Besides, X keeps his Fourth Armor (only if I chose X’s story) and I can still have him hover and shoot his plasma Charge Shot.  But now he needs new weapons.   :O

Here is a short summary of what the story in MMX 5 is about so far: After the Sigma Virus is released, this space colony is on its way towards Earth and is going to collide. The old weapon Enigma is the only thing that can destroy the falling Space Colony, but it needs some upgrades. You start out with sixteen hours until collision, and I found out the hard way, whether you complete the mission or fail it, it is minus one hour each time. At least, if you lose all your lives, you can continue from the last quarter of the stage that X lost a life. That’s pretty darn helpful, because it seems that each game in the Mega Man X series gets more difficult, and so far, X5 is pretty wild.

The first stage I tried was Squid Adler, but it was another Land Chaser stage, so I immediately sucked at it. This was the stage to which I unwittingly lost an hour of the collision time, so I was left with 15 hours. I was successful for the next two stages that I tried out. I have to say, I love the boss fight music from Mega Man X5. I heard it first when fighing against Axel the Red. It is the coolest-sounding boss battle song in, I think, the whole MMX series. My next favorite boss battle song is the one when X is fighting against Dr. Doppler in MMX 3.

Axel the Red (I called him the Flower Rose Robot cuz he’s pretty)

14 hours til Collision. Clear time: 14min 23 secs

Total Mavericks defeated:137 Total damage received: 365 Total Rank: B

Alia: “You got DNA from the boss you have just defeated.” And that attack is…. Alia: “From this DNA the special weapon has become yours.”

What is it?!!! (Sis laughs).

Alia: “Equip the weapons using the L1 and R1 buttons.”

I know that! What is the weapon?!

Alia: “Every enemy has a weak point.” Thank you, but I know that!

Alia: “Find the most effective weapon for each enemy…”

Weapon: You got the Spike Ball and Twin Dream.

Orbiter Engine, for the Enigma weapon.

The next stage I tried was for Duff McWhalen in the mission, “Obliterate the Battle Ship”. This stage was actually both challenging and fun, and the music is a remake of the water level in MMX 2.  That brings back some fond memories of playing MMX 2 this past March and April.

13 hours til collision.                          Clear time: 34min 10secs
Total Mavericks defeated: 292          Total damage received: 704        Total Rank B.

Weapon: G-Shaver F-Splasher.  Energy (Uh...energy what?)

Hydrogen, needed for the weapon Enigma.

Next, X fights Dynamo. An interesting, curious character…He’s bored and he wants to play… O__O

12 hours til collision.   Clear time: 3 min 39 secs     Total Mavericks defeated : 1 (duh!)

Damage received: 93 Total rank: B

NO DNA/WEAPONS RECEIVED

Complete energy up.   "Alright!!!!!! I will save, and stop. Rest my fingers, hee hee." 

@.@   

Mega Man X4 progress…complete September 25

This post is a few days late.  Internet problems also extended the delay.

Sis finished Zero’s story in MMX 4 before I finished X’s story. She reeeeeeally wanted to defeat that Sigma.

Then five days later I finished X’s story in X4 and I dunno why, but I should’ve felt euphoria. Am I getting tired of playing the Mega Man X series? I don’t want to believe it. I mean, it was fun, and it is a rewarding feeling to finish playing a video game, but I’ve done it before three other times, it felt like.

But each game in the Mega Man X series has more story that is revealed, and new characters to introduce. That’s what keeps the series fresh. And Zero is still going to be playable in MMX 5. I’ll let Sis take care of Zero again, because I tried it out as Zero first, and it is frustrating. I am so used to the long-distance fighting that X is so good at. Since Sis is a huge Zero fan, I am more than happy to let her take over the Red Reploid again.

My favorite level in MMX 4: The Snow Base stage. I love the music and the icy colors in the environment. It is also a good stage to fill up X or Zero’s two Sub-Tanks.  There are five medium-sized energy pills near the beginning of the level and two extra-life items I can pick up, escape the stage, and then return to the same stage to pick them all up again. 

I still have Mega Man X: Command Mission and Mega Man X8 to continue. In fact, I think the first time I tried MMX 8, I had an epic fail and lost all of Axl’s lives. So I will have to start over again for that game.

The adventures of Mega Man X continues...at some point.