text:
Giving Back: Dallas Jessup of Just Yell Fire
CAUSE: At age fourteen, Dallas Jessup founded the Just Yell Fire non-profit organization to combat sexual violence against young women. She created a film to raise awareness about the dangers posed to high school girls, and offered instruction on street fighting self-defense moves. The now-20-year-old Vanderbilt University student recently launched her follow-up film, Just Yell Fire: Campus Life, to address dating abuse and violence on college campuses. Dallas has implemented instructional self-defense programs at colleges across the nation, and created a Bill of Rights to empower young women.
EFFECT: Dallas estimates that over 1.6 million girls have seen her films across 64 countries.
GET INVOLVED: Hold a viewing of a Just Yell Fire film for friends, or share the link to the movie (it's available for free online) over your social media channels. Join Just Yell Fire's Train the Trainer program to get certified to teach others self-defense techniques. If you want to get further involved and make a presentation at your school, contact firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
We understand the specialized markets in which you operate and provide tailored solutions to meet your unique business needs.
Our comprehensive suite of business services combines industry expertise, market knowledge and professional insights.
MNP is a leading national accounting, tax and business consulting firm in Canada.
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Find out what the Federal Economic Statement means to you and your business.
Tax Leaders Am Lidder and Kim Drever offer insights and recommendations on the Canada Emergency Rent and Wage subsidy programs for Bill C-9.
Mid-market merger and acquisition activity has rebounded in the third quarter of 2020. Find out more in the latest release from MNP Corporate Finance.
Industry drives every decision you make and every goal you set. We've invested substantial time and resources into understanding every aspect of the client groups we specialize in working with. As a result, we provide customized services, advice and strategies that will position your business ahead of the competition.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
TV reporter Matty McLean has made a personal plea to Parliament to legalise gay marriage so he can fulfil his father's wish to attend his wedding.
McLean told a select committee considering the legalisation of same-sex marriage of the difficulty of growing up gay in NZ and the signal that the government sent by not allowing homosexual couples to marry.
"Put simply, I want the same rights that the majority of New Zealanders are afforded because ... I truly believe that the right to get married is a matter of human rights at its most basic level," he said yesterday.
The Close Up reporter, who previously worked on Breakfast, said writing his submission on the bill had reminded him of his decision to reveal his sexuality to his father - a rugby-playing, Speight's-drinking, construction company owner from Central Otago.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
"That was six years ago, and the first thing he told me was how disappointed he was. Not in me, but in the things that he thought I would miss out on.
"Like any parent, he had dreams of having a beer with me on my wedding day and holding his first grandchild, and he was concerned that I might miss out on those things.
"As it stands, I will. Because at the moment there isn't marriage equality in this country."
He said that coming out as gay did not mean he was deciding against having a family. "So please give me the right to get married. Anything else just won't do. Because when I finally stand at the altar, I want my dad to be sitting there in the front row."
McLean argued that NZ had been a leader in women's rights and anti-nuclear legislation, and should preserve its progressive history by updating its marriage law.
"Let this be the next thing we're known for - giving all our citizens equal rights, and that means letting anyone who wants to, to get married."
Asked by the National MP for Invercargill, Eric Roy, what his father would think about his submission, McLean replied: "I got a text from him this morning. He read my submission, and he said in his text, 'I've never been prouder of you. Go on and make a difference'."


text:
User interfaces
Other features
- It has automatic updates, so you can always have the latest update without having to worry about anything.
- A fast workflow. Convert the files, pack the mod and run the game in just one click.
- Texture viewer, including most of the ones SporeMaster couldn't convert. Supports viewing .rw4, .dds and .raster textures.
- Can convert .tlsa, .pctp, .raster, .spui files.
- Some bugfixes SporeMaster needed. For example, now 'string8s' and 'transform' properties work correctly.
To download the program, you just have to go to https://github.com/Emd4600/SporeModder/releases/latest and download the file "SporeModder.BETA.1.0.0.zip".
To open the program execute the file SporeModder Launcher.exe. This one will check for updates and download them as necessary. Your antivirus/firewall might complain about SporeModder trying to connect to the internet; it's just connecting to GitHub to check for updates, so there's no danger.
SporeModder is still in a beta stage, and it can contain bugs and errors; please, if you have any suggestion or bug report, comment and report it here or in GitHub.
The program is still a bit slower searching files, so it's recommended to use SporeMaster for that instead.
Here you have some example projects (just put them in the Projects folder) so you can see how to use SporeModder: http://www.mediafire.com/file/1wyhirfpp ... ojects.rar
Blender Add-ons
The addons for the 3d modelling program Blender allow us, among lots of other things, to export animated parts to use them in Spore. This is what the addons include:
- A RW4 Exporter, allowing you to export models into Spore to use them for your mods, with lot more functionality than SporeMaster provides. Its features have been listed below!
- A RW4 Importer, allowing you to import .rw4 models into blender.
- A GMSH Importer, allowing you to import .gmsh models into blender.
- A GMDL Importer, allowing you to import .gmdl models into blender, that is, Spore creations. Mind you, texture support isn't available yet.
Support for MORPH HANDLES
Support for MOVEMENT ANIMATIONS
Support for EDITOR BACKGROUNDS
Support for BUILDING/VEHICLE PARTS
Support for OBJECT MODELS
1. Download the .rar provided and unzip it.
2. Go to your Blender installation folder. There, find the folder YOUR_BLENDER_VERSION\scripts\addons, for example 2.75\scripts\addons.
3. Drop the sporemodder folder there (the folder itself, not its contents!).
4. Open Blender, and go to File -> User Preferences. In the Add-ons tab, find SporeModder Add-ons and enable them.
The addons work fine with the latest Blender versions (2.7x).
Download: http://www.mediafire.com/file/6d9hh1o5v ... -01-17.rar
Here you have a basic tutorial about how to use the addons: http://davoonline.com/phpBB3/viewtopic. ... 585#p27572
If you want to see this modding tool in action, check this mod!


text:
Democratic Candidate For Governor Gets Mixed Ballot News
State election officials will consider conflicting recommendations about the future of the Democratic ticket challenging Gov. Pat Quinn in the March primary.
Both a State Board of Elections hearing officer and its general counsel recommended Tuesday that gubernatorial candidate Tio Hardiman be allowed to stay on the ballot after submitting enough signatures to be eligible.
But board members will have differing opinions as to whether his running mate, Brunell Donald, stays on the ticket. The hearing officer found that
Donald filed a false statement of candidacy because she was not registered to vote at her current address.
The board's lawyer determined Donald was qualified to vote in the 2012 primary election, so she did not falsely state she was a qualified voter despite the change of address.


text:
Deal with it.
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 12,550
My Personal Ratings
Here is an index of every review I've done in this section. I've included where to find reviews by other members in my section for fast and easy convenience. At the bottom is a listing of every special I've done, including system analysis and review. I'll keep this page updated.
Dangun Feveron (Japan) - Page #87 - Rating 8
Daytona USA - Rating 8
Final Fight - Page #105 - Rating 5
Magic Sword - Rating 5
Marble Madness - Rating 6 (First Review)
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker - Rating 2
Mortal Kombat - Rating 5
OutRunners - Page #91 - Rating 10
Pnickies - Rating 7
Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon (Japan) - Rating 5
Space Harrier - Rating 8
Spinal Breakers - Page #95 - Rating 2
Street Fighter II - Rating 7
Strider - Page #106 - Rating 9
Three Wonders - Rating 6/7
---Game#1 Midnight Wanderers ~ Quest for the Chariot - Rating 8
---Game#2 Chariot ~ Adventure Through the Sky - Rating 4
---Game#3 Don't Pull - Rating ?
TMNT ~ The Arcade Game - Rating 7
---Re-reviewed on Page #70 - Rating 8
Tokimeki Memorial Taisen (Puzzle Drama) (Japan) - Page #101 - Rating 7
X-Men ~ The Arcade Game - Page #89 - Rating 7
Ultima V ~ Warriors of Destiny - Rating 7
Mr. Do! - Rating 4
Fatal Fury ~ Mark of the Wolves - Rating 5
Ikaruga (import) - Page #67 - Rating 6
Shenmue - Rating 9
Skies of Arcadia - Rating 7
Soul Calibur - Rating 10
Street Fighter III ~ Third Strike - Rating 8 (Sixth Review)
Yu Suzuki Game Works Vol.1 - Page #67 - Rating 8
---Hang-On - Rating 3
---Space Harrier - Rating 8
---OutRun - Rating 8
---After Burner II - Rating 5
---Power Drift - Rating 0
The Legend of Zelda ~ Link's Awakening - Rating 10
GameBoy Advance
Astro Boy ~ Omega Factor - Rating 8
Castlevania ~
---Aria of Sorrow - Rating 8
---Circle of the Moon - Rating 7
---Harmony of Dissonance - Rating 7
Gunstar Super Heroes - Page #96 - Rating 7
Mario & Luigi ~ Superstar Saga - Rating 8
Metroid ~ Fusion - Rating 8
Metroid ~ Zero Mission - Rating 8
The Legend of Zelda ~ Four Swords - Rating 10
The Legend of Zelda ~ The Minish Cap - Page #77 - Rating 8
Animal Crossing - Rating 0
Mario Golf ~ Toadstool Tour - Rating 2
Mega Man Anniversary Collection - Page #49 - Rating 6
Metroid Prime - Rating 7 (Second Review)
Metroid Prime 2 ~ Echoes - Rating 4 - Page #65
Paper Mario ~ The Thousand-Year Door - Page #62 - Rating 7
Resident Evil 0 - Rating 6 (First Review)
Resident Evil 4 - Page #73 - Rating 9
Soul Calibur 2 - Rating 8
Super Mario Sunshine - Rating 5
Tales of Symphonia - Page #56 - Rating 6
The Legend of Zelda ~ The Wind Waker - Rating 8
The Simpsons ~ Hit & Run - Rating 7
Ultimate Muscle ~ Legends vs New Generation - Rating 3
Alisia Dragoon - Page #50 - Rating 6
Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse - Page #48 - Rating 4
Castlevania Bloodlines - Page #82 - Rating 9
Double Dragon II - Rating 3
Forgotten Worlds - Rating 8
--Re-review on Page #104 - Rating 8
Gaiares - Rating 7
Ghouls 'N Ghosts - Rating 7
Golden Axe - Rating 5
Gunstar Heroes - Page #47 - Rating 9
Haunting starring Polterguy - Page #60 - Rating 7
Landstalker - Rating 9
Last Battle - Rating 3
Light Crusader - Page #90 - Rating 8
Lightening Force ~ Quest for the Darkstar - Page #59 - Rating 9
Mortal Kombat - Rating 4
NFL Sportstalk Football '94 starring Joe Montana - Rating 8
Phantasy Star 2 - Rating 9
Revenge of Shinobi - Rating 3
Rocket Knight Adventures - Page #69 - Rating 4
Shadow Dancer ~ Legend of Shinobi - Rating 6
Shining in the Darkness - Rating 8
Sonic the Hedgehog - Page #51 - Rating 8
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - Rating 7
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 - Page #51 - Rating 7
Sonic & Knuckles - Page #51 - Rating 7
Space Harrier II - Page #88 - Rating 7
Splatterhouse 2 - Rating 6
Streets of Rage 2 - Rating 7
Strider - Rating 9
--Rereview on Page #106 - Rating 9
Valis ~ The Fantasm Soldier - Rating 4
Valis III - Rating 6
Mega CD
Annette Again - Rating 4 (Review by Joe Redifer)
Mega Drive
Divine Sealing - Rating 0
Monster World IV - Rating 8
Rock Man ~ Mega World/Mega Man ~ The Wily Wars - Page #49 - Rating 8
Surging Aura - Rating 6
Super Mario 64 - Rating 6
The Legend of Zelda ~ Ocarina of Time - Rating 10
WWF No Mercy - Page #91 - Rating 9
Last edited by Icarus4578; 05-03-2006 at 12:03 PM.
Deal with it.
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 12,550
Neo Geo
Art of Fighting 2 - Rating 5
Crossed Swords - Page #68 - Rating 6
Fatal Fury Special - Page #52 - Rating 7
King of Fighters 2000 - Rating 6
Magician Lord - Rating 7 (Fifth Review)
Samurai Shodown II - Rating 8
Neo Geo Pocket
King of Fighters R2 - Rating 4
The Match of the Millenium ~ SNK vs Capcom - Rating 5
Nintendo DS
Castlevania ~ Dawn of Sorrow - Page #99 - Rating 8
Trauma Center ~ Under The Knife - Page #100 - Rating 8
Nintendo Entertainment System
Athena - Rating 3
Bad Street Brawler - Rating 0
Bionic Commando - Page #56 - Rating 7
Blades of Steel - Page #86 - Rating 6
Castlevania - Rating 8
Contra - Rating 7
Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde - Page #60 - Rating 2
Duck Tales - Page #54 - Rating 5
Faxanadu - Page #47 - Rating 6
Friday the 13th - Page #60 - Rating 1
Guardian Legend (A.K.A. Guardic Legend) - Rating 5
Hydlide - Page #47 - Rating 0
Kid Icarus - Rating 7
Kid Niki - Page #44 - Rating 1
Kung Fu - Rating 6
Legend of Kage - Rating 3
Little Nemo ~ The Dream Master - Page #55 - Rating 5
Marble Madness - Rating 6 (First Review)
Mega Man - Rating 7
Mendel Palace - Rating 7
Metroid - Rating 9 (Second Review)
(Mike Tyson's) Punch Out! - Rating 8
Milon's Secret Castle - Page #90 - Rating 3
Ninja Gaiden - Rating 8
River City Ransom - Rating 10
Rush'n Attack - Rating 2
Rygar - Page #85 - Rating 6
Slalom - Rating 5
Solomon's Key - Page #85 - Rating 6
Super Dodge Ball - Rating 7
TMNT ~ The Arcade Game - Rating 4
---Re-reviewed on Page #70 - Rating 7
Zelda II ~ The Adventure of Link - Rating 7
Kaien - Page #107 - Rating 6
PC Engine
Digital Champ - Rating 3
Heavy Unit - Rating 6
Parodius-Da! - Page #69 - Rating 9
PC Engine CD(SCD)
Dracula X ~ Rondo of Blood - Rating 9
Valis III - Rating 6
Alundra - Rating 10
Brave Fencer Musashi - Page #63 - Rating 3
Breath of Fire IV - Rating 7
Castlevania ~ Symphony of the Night - Rating 9
Dragon Warrior VII - Rating 8
Final Fantasy VII - Rating 9
Genso Suikoden - Page #86 - Rating 9
Irem Arcade Classics (import) - Rating 3
Jumping Flash! 2 ~ Big Trouble in Little Moo/Two Faces of Baron Aloha - Rating 4
Klonoa ~ Door to Phantomile - Page #52 - Rating 8
Lunar ~ Silver Star Story Complete - Rating 8
Lunar 2 ~ Eternal Blue Complete - Rating 9
Mega Man 8 - Rating 8
Mega Man X4 - Page #44 - Rating 7 (Review by Freeman)
Persona ~ Revelations - Rating 7
Persona 2 ~ Eternal Punishment - Rating 8
Rage Racer - Rating 7
Raycrisis: Series Extermination - Page #68 - Rating 4
Ridge Racer Type 4 - Rating 8
RPG Maker - Rating 6
Soul Blade - Rating 4
Strider 2 - Rating 7
Tales of Destiny II - Rating 8
Tokimeki Memorial ~ Forever With You (import) - Rating 9
WILD ARMS - Page #50 - Rating 6
Playstation 2
Castlevania ~ Lament of Innocence - Rating 4
Contra ~ Shattered Soldier - Rating 6
Devil May Cry - Rating 8
Dragon Quest VIII ~ Journey of the Cursed King - Page #99 - Rating 7
Final Fantasy X - Rating 0 (First Review)
Final Fantasy X-2 - Rating 0
God of War - Page #83 - Rating 7
Gradius V - Rating 8
Grand Theft Auto 3 - Rating 5
Guilty Gear X2 - Rating 7
Katamari Damacy - Page #70 - Rating 8
Kingdom Hearts - Rating 3
King of Fighters ~ Maximum Impact - Page #58 - Rating 5
Klonoa 2 ~ Lunatea's Veil - Rating 8
Mega Man Anniversary Collection - Rating #49 - Rating 6
Mushihimesama (import) - Page #104 - Rating 8
Onimusha 3 ~ Demon Siege - Rating 6
Rygar ~ The Legendary Adventure - Rating 4 (Fourth Review)
SNK vs Capcom Chaos (import) - Rating 5 (Review by Freeman)
Shadow of the Colossus - Page #99 - Rating 4
Soul Calibur 2 - Rating 7
Tekken 5 - Page #76 - Rating 6
Virtua Fighter 4 - Rating 8
We Love Katamari - Page #95 - Rating 7
Xenosaga ~ Der Wille zur Macht - Rating 1
Ys VI ~ The Ark of Napishtim - Page #75 - Rating 9
Sega 32X
Knuckles Chaotix - Rating 8
V.R. ~ Virtua Racing Deluxe (First Review) - Rating 5
Sega CD
Final Fight CD - Rating 7
Lunar ~ The Silver Star - Rating 8
Lunar 2 ~ Eternal Blue - Rating 8
Silpheed - Rating 3
Vay - Page #82 - Rating 5
Sega Master System
Ghost House - Rating 0
Heavyweight Champ, A.K.A. James "Buster" Douglas Boxing - Page #88 - Rating 2
Sega Saturn
Astal - Rating 6
Capcom Generations Vol.2 (import) - Rating 7
---Ghosts 'N Goblins - Rating 1
---Ghouls 'N Ghosts - Rating 6
---Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts - Rating 7
Cotton 2 ~ Magical Night Dreams (import) - Rating 6
Darius Gaiden - Rating 9
Dragon Force - Rating 7
Dungeons & Dragons Collection (import) - Rating 6
Galactic Attack - Page #68 - Rating 8
Irem Arcade Classics (import) - Rating 3
Keio Yugekitai ~ Katsugekihen (import) - Rating 7
Legend of Oasis - Rating 7
Lunacy - Rating 7
Lunar ~ Silver Star Story (import) - Rating 8
Lunar 2 ~ Eternal Blue (import) - Rating 9
Mega Man 8 - Rating 8
Mega Man X4 - Page #75 - Rating 7
NiGHTS ~ Into Dreams... - Rating 8
---Re-reviewed on page #77 with Christmas NiGHTS - Rating 9/10
Nightwarriors - Page #79 - Rating 9
Sega Rally Championship - Page #51 - Rating 7
Shining the Holy Ark - Rating 8
Sonic Jam - Rating 8
---Sonic the Hedgehog - Rating 8
---Sonic 2 - Rating 7
---Sonic 3 - Rating 7
---Knuckles & Chaotix - Rating 7
Street Fighter Alpha 2 - Rating 8
Tokimeki Memorial ~ Forever With You (import) - Rating 9
Vampire Savior ~ The Lord of Vampire (import) - Rating 8
Last edited by Icarus4578; 06-25-2006 at 03:40 PM.
Deal with it.
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 12,550
Super Nintendo
Actraiser - Rating 7
Arcana - Rating 7 (Second Review)
Axelay - Rating 9
Batman Returns - Page #61 - Rating 8
Breath of Fire - Rating 8
Chrono Trigger - Rating 7
Contra III ~ The Alien Wars - Rating 8
Demon's Crest - Rating 8
E.V.O. Search for Eden - Page #91 - Rating 5
Final Fantasy II (IV) - Rating 8
Final Fantasy III (VI) - Rating 9
Gradius III - Rating 7
HyperZone - Rating 6 (First Review)
Illusion of Gaia - Page #71 - Rating 4
Legend of the Mystical Ninja - Rating 9
Magic Sword - Rating 5
Mario Paint - Rating 7
Mortal Kombat - Rating 5
Pilotwings - Rating 8
Rock N' Roll Racing - Rating 6
Secret of Mana - Rating 8
Starfox - Rating 8
Sunset Riders (Second Review) - Rating 6
Super Castlevania IV - Rating 10 (Second Review)
Super Chase HQ - Rating 4
Super Mario Kart - Rating 8
Super Mario World 2 ~ Yoshi's Island - Rating 10
Super Metroid - Rating 10
Super Punch Out! - Rating 9
--Re-review on Page #111 - Rating 9
Tecmo Super NBA Basketball - Rating 7
Terranigma - Rating 9 (Review by Magnus)
The Legend of Zelda ~ A Link To The Past - Rating 10
TMNT ~ Turtles in Time - Rating 6
Ys III ~ Wanderers from Ys - Rating 4
Super Famicom
Tales of Phantasia - Rating 7
TurboGrafx16/PC Engine
Alien Crush - Rating 7
Blazing Lazers - Rating 7
Bomberman - Rating 7 (Second Review)
Cratermaze - Page #60 - Rating 5
Devil's Crush - Rating 7
Dungeon Explorer - Rating 5
Keith Courage in Alpha Zones - Rating 5
King of Casino - Rating 6
Legendary Axe - Rating 9
Re-reviewed on Page #106 - Rating 7
Neutopia - Rating 7
Parasol Stars ~ The Story of Bubble Bobble III - Page #68 - Rating 7
Vigilante - Rating 4 (Third Review)
World Court Tennis - Rating 6 (First Review)
TurboDuo(TurboGrafx16 CD)
Dungeon Explorer II - Rating 7
Forgotten Worlds - Rating 8
Fighting Street - Rating 1
The Legend of Heroes ~ Dragon Slayer - Rating 7
Lords of Thunder - Rating 8
Ys Book I & II - Rating 9
Ys III ~ Wanderers from Ys - Rating 4
Castlevania ~ Curse of Darkness - Page #97 - Rating 4
Dead or Alive 3 - Rating 6 (Third Review)
Dead or Alive Ultimate - Page #61 - Rating 5
Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball - Rating 4
Fable - Rating 3
Grand Theft Auto ~ Vice City - Rating 5
Halo - Rating 1
Halo 2 - Page #63 - Rating 5
Max Payne 2 ~ The Fall of Max Payne - Rating 5
Metal Slug 3 - Page #47 - Rating 8
Ninja Gaiden - Rating 8
Ninja Gaiden Black - Page #96 - Rating 7
Panzer Dragoon Orta - Rating 4
Psyvariar 2: Extend Edition (import) - Page #92 - Rating 6
RalliSport Challenge 2 - Rating 8
Return to Castle Wolfenstein - Rating 2
Soul Calibur 2 - Rating 8
Street Fighter Anniversary Collection - Page #93 - Rating 9
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003 - Rating 7
X-Box Music Mixer - Page #53 - Rating 4
Special Features
Are game developers as good as they used to be, or have most of them lost their magic touch?
Game Concepts & Structures That Work - an Analysis
Icarus Editorial #1 ~ Ignorant editors who shouldn't make baseless comments
Editorial #2 ~ Are you getting your money's worth? - Page #64
Editorial #3 ~ Japanese software development on a downhill trend? - Page #64
Editorial #4 ~ Lies, spreading misinformation and uninformed comments - Page #66
Editorial #5 ~ What's next for gaming? - Page #69
Editorial #6 ~ New year, same bull - Page #71
Editorial #7 ~ My little essay on Sega - Page #72
Editorial #8 ~ That New Feeling ~ Games which transcend time - Page #80
Editorial #9 ~ E3 2005 + Next-Generation Hardware = Fancy CG demos, wireless internet/connectivity and rehashes aplenty. Is it really the "next generation?" - Page #88
Editorial #10 ~ A distortion in time/A return to form - Page #92
Editorial #11 ~ Rip-offs - Page #103
Icarus Special ~ Magic Moments in Gaming - Page #108
My brother's point of view on my point of view - Page #81
Silence of the Sequels ~ Games that have been forgotten through time
System Analysis & Review ~ Sega Saturn
System Analysis & Review ~ Sony PlayStation
System Analysis & Review ~ Super Famicom/SNES
The General Mechanics of Game Structure and Concepts - Improving Game Designs
The Icarus Awards for Excellence for the Year 2003
The Icarus Awards for Excellence for the Year 2004 - Page #70
The Top 50 Game Soundtracks Of All Time - Page #102
Transcribed song from Seiken Densetsu 3, 'Innocent Sea', for Guitar
Venting My Frustrations ~ Widespread stupidity is the norm of the day - Page #47
Last edited by Icarus4578; 01-22-2007 at 10:26 AM.
Deal with it.
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 12,550
This is the beginning of my personal ratings section. Each review details my opinions about various aspects of each game title. Preceding each review is a Rating: 0 being the lowest - 10 being the epitimy of quality.
Resident Evil 0 - GameCube - Rating 6
Capcom is probably the most notable third-party developer that develops for Nintendo GC. Whereas many other big name companies are content developing most of their big stuff for other platforms like the PS2 (or even GBA for a quick buck) Capcom has not backed down from supporting Nintendo in the truest sense by developing where it counts most.... on the GC.
Much to my surprise, they added something different for a change to Resident Evil - the ability to switch between two seperate characters on the fly. An interesting addition that is utilized in all too familiar aspects to other games with similar attribute: one character has to stand on a switch to unlock a door while the other makes entry, etc. While this idea is healthy to the RE series, it doesn't make for a drastic enough change in the game mechanics overall. But once you understand it, it works well, to Capcom's credit. The absence of inventory boxes is the most noticeable change. Enemies and bosses are fun to do battle with, though you won't find much difference between this and its predecessors. The graphics are excellent due in no small part to the fact that the only things being rendered are the characters and enemies. All of the backgrounds are stills. Resident Evil 4 is all in-game graphics though and looks fantastic. This verifies what many people already knew -- that the GameCube has remarkable technical capabilities.
The music in this and other RE titles is all very similar to one another. I've always liked the ambient settling calm of the rest area songs. This soundtrack does everything right but lacks any significant memorable tracks. That's ok -- I've never played RE games looking for some incredible music I can listen to. The voices and sound effects are as good as anywhere else.
The third-best experience I've had in the series (behind RE 1 and 2). My first time through was in 4 hours and 24 minues. I beat the sidequest where you collect those slugs with 100% and this opens up infinite ammo on every weapon you get in your next outing, though there's more that can be opened.
Metroid Prime - GameCube - Rating 7
I can't believe it. An American company (Retro Studios) brings a classic Japanese game series, by Nintendo no less, into the 3D realm and does so gracefully. What is going on here!? If you ask me, this is what we need more of: companies that adhere to a higher level of quality. This type of developer is few and far-between, but Nintendo sure knows how to pick 'em out of the pack.
A supremely rewarding adventure that kept me glued from beginning to end. Truly a step in the right direction as far as FPS goes because it does so many things right and doesn't emphasize mindless killing (a-la Doom series and Halo).
Instead, Prime emphasizes what Metroid is best known for: exploration.
All of the weaponry and power-ups that make Samus Aran so uniqe are back and then some, including new types of visors such as x-ray visor which allows you to see through certain things, and the thermal visor which allows you to see how hot/cold things are. It's very useful; if an enemy is hiding, you can see the heat its body is giving off and suprise attack it. Now that's impressive. I was pleasantly surprised to see how well all of my favorite old techniques were executed in a 3D environment, and done from a first-person perspective no less. Only when Samus uses the Morph Ball does it take a third-person perspective, as expected.
The graphics are simply incredible and the detail is astounding on everything, though some of the texture maps could've used a little more work. Most of the enemies from previous incarnations return and there's also some cool-looking new 'faces' as well. And the bosses are impressive and immersive encounters, though I found some of them to be a tad easy.
The music takes a backseat to previous installments in that it's more atmospheric and doesn't have any song in particular that stands out. Actually, what you'll be paying attention to more is the sound effects, which are superb.
This is certainly among the best games ever made by an American company (albeit with much of Nintendo of Japan's support). Definitely worth the trek. I found 98% my first time through. A great game through and through. However, Metroid for NES and SNES still stand above it, undeniably.
Dead or Alive 3 - X-Box - Rating 6
The one thing that kept me coming back to the original Dead or Alive on PS (also SS import) was the massive amount of hidden costumes which could be opened. You'd take a character and run through the game in Arcade Mode and this opened up another costume for whoever you were playing as. While the guys can only get around 5 costumes each, the girls could get 14 each! Then, in DoA2 Tecmo reduced the total amount of costumes for all the girls and guys. And now with DoA3 Tecmo reduced it even further. However, there's a booster disc which adds new costumes for each character.
The fighting in DoA games has steered away from its originally VF-ish pedigree gameplay structure which figures since it was originally built on Sega's Model-2 arcade board, and it was also rumored that Tecmo got to mess around with the VF2 game engine. Therefore, Tecmo wanted to establish its own series; they didn't want to draw up constant comparisons with Sega's flagship fighter. An identity all their own.
I think it's safe to say they found it, though, aside from a few subtle touches here and there, there isn't a drastic difference between DoA3 and some of the other 3D fighters. You still chain attacks together similarly to other fighters, and you use a guard button. The ability to pull off reversals is perhaps the one thing that seperates DoA games moreso than anything else. Ironically, the one feature that does make it stand out the most is also its Achille's heel: using reversals is considered too cheap, too easy to perform. Matches can become nothing much more than reversal contests -- or, who can get more lucky. The other obvious thing that sets DoA titles apart from others is in how it liberally uses the image of female adolescence with rather obvious sexual overtones. Fortunately for Tecmo, I judge games based on an often-overlooked aspect of many games. It's called gameplay and funfactor. Indeed, DoA3 is very fun to play, despite the fact that even an intermediate gamer can master any of the characters.
I've rarely enjoyed listening to any of the music in DoA games, and this one is no exception. Right off the bat I was smacked with an opening song performed by none other than Aerosmith--Wham!--and I knew right from the start not to expect anything here worth taking notice of. It is, admittedly, just fine for while you're fighting, which is good enough I suppose. Sound effects are all well done - every whack, kick, and body slam has a fitting accompanying sound effect, and the voices are also well done. The story mode, well.... you'll have to do some research elsewhere in order to understand any of it. One thing Tecmo doesn't seem to know how to do is write.
Really.... is it that hard Tecmo? Didn't anybody in your offices learn proper writing skills in school or elsewhere? :???:
Immensely fun to play and always great to go back to, this DoA is the best one yet, aside from in the extras department, but according to Itagaki he wants to put the game engine in the forefront. That's fine with me. This was, along with Halo, one of the primary reasons why people originally purchased an X-Box.
Although the game plays like a dream it's also, sadly, a button-masher. No 3D game, save for perhaps Soul Calibur and VF, has had a level of mastery as rewarding as the 2D fighters (particularly Street Fighter). However, DoA is the best-looking 3D fighter available (still) and literally decimates Tekken 4's supposed 3D stages. No matter what you might accuse it of (being just about girls, graphics, button-mashing) it's a very fun game. Flawed, but fun.
Rygar ~ The Legendary Adventure - PS2 - Rating 4
The NES is the original starting point for many of gaming's most illustrious series: Contra, Gradius, Mega Man, Metroid, Final Fantasy, etc. Some titles which were very popular back then never saw a sequel, which is a crime. We'd dream about whipping out brand-spanking new installments to games such as Karnov, Ninja Gaiden, and Adventures of Lolo on the SNES. Unfortunately, this was not to be. (I'm still waiting for another Milon's Secret Castle. ;)) Fortunately, we've seen many attempts to revive some of the most cherished titles. And although there have been few successful attempts (Ninja Gaiden on X-Box comes to mind), there have also been some pretty disappointing attempts as well. Enter Rygar ~ The Legendary Adventure for PS2....
"At long last! The return of Rygar!" At least, that's what I was thinking at first. Where should I start? It's an interesting, unique game in many ways and certainly is taking the right direction. So where does it go wrong? For one thing, although the addition of combos is a good idea Tecmo felt it best to emphasize this element to the point of approaching mundaneness. Not only that, there must be a maximum of 7 or 8 different enemy types, give or take a few color-swaps, throughout the entire game (which isn't long at all). The bosses are a treat in not only the PS2's graphical capabilities but in their design as well. They're also menacingly challenging at first until you get their patterns down. The locales are superb and even have a certain elegance to much of them, particularly the water stage. The music fits the game very well although it isn't the kind of thing I'd listen to for enjoyment (Soul Edge's soundtrack is a great example of how this game's music probably should've been). But, good looks or not, the game suffers from being too repetitious. It would've been better if it were twice as long and had about three times as many enemies. As it is, this is a rather weak effort.
Here is a classic
Magician Lord - Neo Geo - Rating 7
One of my fondest arcade memories is of the first few times I played Magician Lord on the Neo Geo cabinets. As any avid arcade-goer knows, Neo Geo arcade sets usually featured multiple games which you could select from, and each game only costed one quarter to play. I didn't simply remember Magician Lord for its supreme greatness but also for its insane difficulty setting (even harder than at home due to less health!).
Truly classic, this game stands the test of time. 48-MEGS of pure action heaven. The sheer difficulty may turn some gamers off. However, you shouldn't find this to be a problem after awhile. Well, that is until the game realizes how good you're doing and then intentionally makes these floating orb-eye things start coming after you later on to KILL you (should you do so well throughout the first 4 stages or so). Awesome settings, unique enemy design (though there's not a tremendous amount of different types, there's just enough); the bosses and level-designs are what really make this game stand out. You can get this game down to an art form and beat it within about an hour with only 2 continues used (there's infinite, just so you know). What made Magician Lord so different back then were the 6 different transformations you could do. If you weren't really good, though, they wouldn't last long. I must say that it sure doesn't repeat a lot of sprites in the backgrounds, which is especially impressive since this is an older game -- almost everything is unique. The music, particularly the first, second and 5th stage (the one with all the frogs) stand out, even if it's just because they sound so different from other games.
Overall, it's a great game to own and definitely challenging. Its only major flaw is after you've beaten it a few times it gets a little old. However, after a few months you can always go back to it and have a good time. The last boss is a disappointment though. (FYI, you can buy it on eBay for often a slim amount of money, say $30-40 usually.)
Here's some great shots from Magician Lord ~ http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?...M&game_id=8509
Last edited by Icarus4578; 04-04-2005 at 10:29 AM.
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Castlevania IV was great, and boasted superb control, but it indeed was too easy, which crippled the experience, since a game of its pacing (which is shared by the non Metroid-flavored games of the series) demands a modicum of challenge to compensate for said pacing, which isn't exactly SMB-esque. As for the music, well-composed as it was, not only did I feel that the instruments were kind of ill-chosen, mostly lacked the intensity and overall feel of that in the other installments. While I dug the rotating room levels, CV4 seemed more like CV1 with a few added gimmicks, namely the multi-directional whip, which, along with the reduced playing field, was what stripped the game of any difficulty. I was a bigger fan of the multiple characters and branching levels/paths seen in CV3 and PCE Drac X, which added greatly to the playability, which was consequently lacking for me in CV4, given that about 11 levels are overkill for a linear entry in the series.
My rating for the game: 8.0
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Street Fighter 3 ~ Third Strike - Dreamcast - 8
Not since Street Fighter Alpha 2 have I been so immersed into a SF title as this. Everything tried and true from past incarnations is in one way or another represented in this work. God, why does Capcom have to rule so much?
The fighting system has been given a slight overhaul from the other SF3 titles, and there's no more zooming in and out of the screen. As usual, Capcom has done a fine job of creating a polished, well-balanced fighter that is worthy of the SF name. The graphics are tremendously well done for any 2D game, although Guilty Gear titles have clearer characters due to higher resolution. The music and sound work together well too, though you may think the songs in SF2 were more memorable. There are some very memorable pieces here, and just in case you're wondering, yes, this follows the typically classic Capcom forumla of endearing songwriting and composing, if a bit too cliche in parts.
If you are as fortunate as I am you've opened up all 9 pages in System Direction, allowing you to customize the game to fit your every need. All in all, a wonderful fighting game that rewards skill by allowing more experienced players to slam down the less experienced. The only issues are that Q can do way too much damage and absorb so much that it's almost absurd, and, although Akuma can't take as much punishment as somebody like Alex, he can finish virtually anybody in just 2 good combos + a special move or so, making him a powerhouse. Oh, and Gill is the epitomy of cheapness as usual. Plus, some characters now share backgrounds, which is a downgrade from other SF titles. Still, you're getting your money's worth with SF3 ~ Third Strike.
Hey Capcom, what's taking you so long counting to four!?
What can I say?
Final Fantasy X - PS2 - Rating 0
All I can say is what a letdown! Square almost completely disregarded much of what made the series so special to begin with by abandoning the freedom of exploration and all of its merits, and indulging into crappy dialogues, boring plot (attempts), and lack of individuality between characters. You can basically customize them all to play exactly the same, thus defeating all necessity for any one particular character aside from only one, Yuna, because she can summon a full army of 12 or something summons (give me a break) and that's about as close as you're going to get to individuality.
There are many other problems too. Tidus, Wakka and Riku walk around in futuristic-wannabe hip teen clothing which comes off as repulsive in every way, and there's the fact that Auron is a blatant rip-off of a certain character from another game (I'll let you figure it out). Oh, and Tidus is basically a Disney-esque stupid version of Cloud who isn't anything worth note himself. Kimahri Ronso is Chewbaka from Star Wars after he has shaved, pulled an MJ and colored himself blue, uses a spear and now he can talk (though he doesn't talk much anyway, which might actually be a good thing). To Square's credit, Lulu is unique in her own way and Yuna isn't dressed like utter crap (that is until her starring role in FFX-2; another attempt to cash in).
The game plays like any other Final Fantasy, only now you can, throughout most of the game, keep changing characters mid-battle. Whooptie-do! Plus, after battle you'll go to the *new* sphere grid, a good concept gone awry because now every character can be customized to be virtually the same. Whatever happened to 'individuality'? The game plays like any other FF title minus the free roaming overworld, the cool sidequests of yesterday and now the gamer doesn't need to make any decisions since the entire game is linear and the game basically tells you what to do (a one-track mind). This is Final Fantasy, dumbed down. And, hence, so is the gamer. So much for inciting people to actually THINK about things, stimulate a more inquisitive nature in the gamer and to do and make decisions carefully. How sad... Final Fantasy for the mass market. This is the result of Final Fantasy 7's success. It made Square in general decide to become mass-market and abandon any complicating matters so that they wouldn't discourage the average gamer from getting into an RPG.
The strange thing is Final Fantasy VII is such a great RPG, so why deteriorate?
I must mention the music. What has happened? Seriously. Nobuo Uematsu has gone bad ever since part 7 and it shows. If you combined all the good songs from 8 through 10 you'd only have a small handful of memorable songs and all the rest would be horrid MIDI crap, baaad rock/grunge wannabe-sounding stuff, and now we get 'treated' to horrid j-pop. Jeez. Did Nobuo lose interest in good song/melody-construction and arranging and forsake that for trying to be too ambitious or something?
Somebody help me out because I just can't get a clue...
The enemies and bosses are usually well-designed and animated, to Square's credit. However, what a foolish mistake to make a last boss that cannot defeat your party. Speaking of the last boss, what sheer lameness was that! I won't describe it because, after all, this is supposed to be a review and not a spoiler. I will say this much -- the ending made about as much sense as the game: None whatsoever.
Here's what I'll think about whenever I remember playing FFX:
"But dad! I want to play Blitzball!"
"Crybaby! Cry Crybaby!"
"But dad! I want to be a famous Blitzball player!"
"Stupid boy, you'll never be able to play Blitzball because you SUCK."
"But DAD!"
(young hooded child appears in 4 corners of the screen) "It begins... don't cry."
YEAH!!!! What plot!!!! Good thing it wasn't Square who made Soul Calibur 2, otherwise I'd be reading all those posers saying "Cool! Cloud is a playable character!" Hey Square, you wanna abandon quality and pay off people with advertising revenue and other shady deals to give your games high ratings? Don't expect me to keep buying your games if you keep on sucking up to average consumers and abandon what made your previous games so wonderful. Bottom line: Final Fantasy X stole 35 hours of my life and I'll never get them back.
And oh yeah... what about my $50? What about the $100 for part 8 and 9? That's about $150 of my money wasted. I guess that's my fault, somewhat. Square raised my expectations with Final Fantasy VII and then destroyed my faith with these lackluster titles.
Perhaps the best Castlevania ever
Super Castlevania IV - SNES - Rating 10
This has to be the consummate action game. It's over a decade old, it's only 8-MEG (not even half the memory loaded into even the PS2's RAM at any given time!) and yet it's STILL far and away better than every other action game, save for a few which are close. Definitely superior to any 3D action game I've yet played. And I took it all for granted. Back then, who knew? We'd have thought that, given a decade from then, we would've already been blessed with many more superior Castlevania installments. Indeed, we got quite a treat with Castlevania ~ Symphony of the Night. Many feel that is the best in the series. However, in my opinion, even that game has to stand behind the might that is Castlevania IV.
I've played every Castlevania title there ever was, from the NES days to all the GameBoy titles and even the PC Engine Installment (which I own, fortunately), to all the newer ones. And none have done it quite like C4.
Where to start? Let's begin with the gameplay. Everything about the controls shines through in every aspect. From swinging from platform to platform, to fighting against hordes of baddies, the controls never come to falter. Controlling Belmont is simplified and yet has its intricacies which shine through in the layouts of the stages. The only complaint I have is that it's a little too easy.
The graphics, the overall look of the game really works well. Every stage is designed in a unique manner, and the enemies and bosses still are quite interesting to battle. It's apparent that Konami LOVES utilizing special effects --- rotatiing rooms, zooming bosses, transparencies, a 'room' where the walls are circling INTO the screen... all have a certain charm to them and helped make this title stand out at the time. The bosses are standard Konami quality; you know the deal.
The music is so well composed, so well done that even after all this time it astonishes me how to this day no other game soundtrack has been so well composed. Absolutely phenomenal, and not only does it fit the game perfectly, it stands alone as phenomenal music to give a listen to. Baroque, Classical and Romantic influences abound, all of which is extremely well-arranged and composed. I can't believe they fit this in along with the rest of the game, all at a staggeringly small 8-MEGS.
I just don't know where to criticize it. Perhaps it's a bit easy nowadays. Perhaps it's short by today's standards. However... since its time up to this very day no other action game, 2D or 3D, has equalled Castlevania IV. It's absolutely incredible and if you haven't played this game I just don't know what to say.
Games may get better graphics nowadays with these newer, more powerful consoles but great games never diminish. The reason this game gets a 10 is because to this day, aside from a select few (Strider, Contra 3, Gunstar Heroes), there hasn't been a game quite like it, and there hasn't been an action game (including on these new systems) as well done overall as Castlevania IV. It takes its place among the greatest achievements in gaming history.
Here's another review with screenshots from Nintendo Land ~ http://www.nintendoland.com/home2.ht...tlevania_4.htm
Time for another review! This time for the classic NES
Kung Fu - NES - Rating 6
Back around the time when NES and Sega Master System were released, there was an arcade released in 1984 by Irem that was so awesome to play, yet so damn hard that I couldn't get past the second stage. That game was Kung Fu.
Anyone who knows anything about NES has played Kung Fu. When it was first released for NES, I played it at least as much as Super Mario Brothers. To say that I love this game is an understatement; there hasn't been a game like it since. Sure, there may have been a thousand action/platformers with some martial artist protagonist, but this was (and is still) one of the most fun and challenging to play.
Controls are simple - you progress through the stages by punching and kicking all the bad guys that come rushing out, and almost all of them are Grippers; they try to kill you by what can only be described as some kind of hugging technique. And if you really get unlucky you'll wind up in a massive group-4 hug. Beware. The punching and kicking in this game has never been duplicated as well (far as I can tell) mainly because of how lightning quick all your attacks are, and all are accompanied by an all-too-familiar Bruce Lee-ish "A-TA!!!". There are 5 stages, each presenting its own problems in need of recitfication (particularly stages 2 - 4).
I must mention the bosses. They are a very diverse bunch with the magician at the end of stage 4 being the worst to deal with. All of them have a weakness towards one particular attack in general, and they have their own personal means of dishing out punishment. Where the game gets complicated is once you've beaten it a couple times or so because after you defeat Mr X at the end of Stage 5 you return to stage 1 all over again and this time the enemies are less-shy about running up and attacking you while you're trying to deal with the bosses and this can get frusturating. Add to this the fact that as you get further into it the knive-throwers all become Ted Williams and we've got a problem. I've made it to Dragon #5 (meaning I've beaten it 5 times in a row) and got wasted on, of all stages, the second (because of all those snakes! DAMN YOU ALL!!!).
And who can forget that one song that plays on every level.
All in all, this is still a fun game that will give you a hard time later on and challenge you to better your score. If you still own the instruction manual for the game it tells you how to get 5000 points from a normal enemy. But I recommend you focus on staying alive first and foremost.
Oh, and if you own a Turbo-Grafx (PC Engine) get Vigilante which was also made by Irem. That game is about as similar to Kung Fu as I have yet seen, though it's not quite as good.
Last edited by Icarus4578; 09-12-2005 at 10:17 AM.
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I don't want to leave out TurboDuo so...
Lords of Thunder - TurboDuo - Rating 8
When this game first came out the one thing everybody talked about was its metal, almost Yngwie Malmsteen-like guitar-driven soundtrack. And man, THAT moreso than anything else was what made this shooter an experience like no other before.
Hudson Soft is to be praised for their stellar follow-up to Gates of Thunder. This is what shooting games are all about. It plays great, it looks great, it sounds great and it just rocks. I've never seen a shooting game designed quite like this. The controls are effortless and they'd better be since this game takes no prisoners (on the super difficulty setting in particular). Though you can get it down on normal and probably hard without having to continue, I DOUBT you'll do the same on super. No matter what you do (even if you do the trick for 10,000 in money) you're still gonna get whipped. But at least on any difficulty you choose you get the full ending anyhow.
The game starts off by allowing you to select your stage via the world map. From there you will select what armor you want for that particular stage. Pick carefully because some armors are worse in some areas than others (and each one determines what kind of attack you'll do). Then you have to enter the shop where you can buy health, weapon power-ups, shields and continues, and then get into the heat of action.
All great shooters are known for their variety in enemies and bosses. Lords of Thunder has some very cool enemies and some of the best bosses ever for a 2D shooter. And it's not just the enemies that are attacking you. Massive spiked-balls swaying from the ceilings, walls closing in around you, fire swooping up from pools of lava, etc. and all the while enemies are trying their best to bring you down. Sound difficult? It is, but on easy or normal difficulty it shouldn't be that big of a problem since you have an energy meter and you can even buy an extra life so that if you're energy runs out it automatically refills completely. However, you only have one life. If you die you have to use up a continue, and they're sparse. Think Forgotten Worlds and you should have a pretty good idea how this game works.
As I said before, the music is absolutely amazing and will probably make you want to listen to the soundtrack when you're not playing the game. It really fits the game's look and makes tense moments even more tense (put it on super just for the hell of it, start the game, and crank up the volume and tell me that's not an intense gaming experience ). T's Music is to be commended for their fine efforts.
Though there probably isn't a harder shooting game than Pulstar or Viewpoint, there aren't much that are quite as fun or as cool as Lords of Thunder. There really isn't anything the game does wrong. It's more fun to play than any 3D shooting game thus far (yes, including PDO and Starfox) and is proof that you can never underestimate 2D gaming. Now, if Hudson did a 3D game similar to this the right way they could probably have the best 3D shooter ever made.
FYI, you can also find LoT on Sega CD, but the colors have been reduced from 512 on-screen at once to 64. But from what I know it still plays the same so you're really not losing much.
Here ya go sonny. A little somethin' for the ol' sweet tooth ~ http://pcenginebible.roarvgm.com/HTM...of_Thunder.htm
Last edited by Icarus4578; 05-08-2004 at 12:03 PM.
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Boy, you're just a rebel aren't you.
98% on your first try? Let me guess, you miss an energy tank? The one in Magmoor Cavern is one tough s.o.b. You've probably used a guide for this game. ;)
Honestly, what kind of things can they add that will make people play each game in the Metroid series over & over. Its a one way journey through Tallon IV in MP, like the rest of the series. Same thing with Zelda, once you beat it, you really don't want to play it over because you be doing the same thing and there are no suprises.
Atleast I'm gonna play Metroid Prime in hard mode.
When life gives you melons, STFU and eat your damn melons.
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Well there's a few things that plaqued Prime. For one, I felt there was way too much emphasis on analyzing every little thing and this is annoying. Another is the different visions you have, while not bad at all, can make things tedious and unintentionally make you get hit by things you didn't know were around because it was so hard to see them. Not only that, with previous installments the music really made things more moody, interesting and unique while with this one the music is just somewhere off in the distance usually, and when it is in the forefront it's nothing impressive. The controls are stellar, as expected and there's a lot to love about Metroid Prime. But the added hard mode after I beat it does nothing for me. I'm not interested in earning the original Metroid since I own the game and certainly don't care either way whether or not I get to wear the suit in Fusion. Sorry, that just doesn't cut it for me.
Nonetheless, it's a fine product well worth the invested time, as I've said. And no, I didn't have a strategy guide. I always, ALWAYS play through a game alone the first time so as not to have it ruined.
Last edited by Icarus4578; 03-18-2004 at 09:00 AM.
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The scanning isn't necessary or required, I thought it was unique, as most everything can be scanned. Only a few place required you to scanned to unlock doors and stuff. The visor add a lot of twist to the game, especially after the blackout when you first got it, and all of sudden, you're under attack. The visors are there for exploration, which the series is emphasis for.
When life gives you melons, STFU and eat your damn melons.
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A little too much, if you ask me. Oh and, if you are to get a high percentage by the end, it is essential that you analyze every little thing (like I had to do in order to get 98%). At least it's a unique idea implemented for the first time, far as I know, to the Metroid universe. It could've been utilized far better.
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Your percentage is based on how many items you find, not what you scanned, that incudes missiles expansion, enery tanks, etc. If you scanned 50% of the in game enemies, you get a image art gallery, and if you scanned all the creatures, you unlock the second. Though I scanned all the pirate messages and Chozo Lore, to give an idea of what Tallon IV was like. This game mirror OoT in a lot of ways, from the bosses, to the puzzles, and exploration.
When life gives you melons, STFU and eat your damn melons.
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Wow, I DIDN'T KNOW THAT! Well, SOMEBODY owes me for that time, because I had read on-line that you can only get 100% if you analyze everything and get everything. What did I waste my time for?!
Thanks for the info. Much appreciated.
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And now presenting quality gaming...
Phantasy Star 2 - Sega Genesis - Rating 9
Back then, before internet sites like IGN ever had a chance of ruining an RPG by showing you 500 videos of the game, there was a time when you only had pictures in a game magazine and when the entire purpose of game magazines was to take games on each respected platform, rate and review them in a fair, open-minded and professional manner rather than have the graphics and hype overshadow poorly crafted titles. Because back then if the game sucked you knew it, everybody else knew it, and (including especially) game companies all knew it.
Back then, there was a game for Genesis with a sparse 6-MEGS of power (I've heard it's actually 7 but nobody has confirmed this, far as I know) which was so big for its time that it needed to come with a hint book (more like a strategy guide to me). I, like many other gamers who had game magazines back then, would stare at the screen shots and read the same paragraphs over and over again, always analyzing anything and everything I possibly could about it.... and would even bring (sneak) game magazines to school and drool with some of my friends over screenshots of upcoming hot titles.
I remember vividly the day I got Phantasy Star 2. It was like an event. Same goes for my father -- he paid the full $90 for it which, especially at that time, was too much for a game.
Not to me though. This game was worth every penny and then some. Phantasy Star 2 changed the way I looked at RPGs forever.
First things first, the opening was for its time awe-inspiring. For the first time characters were being presented to me in almost full-screen, 16-bit quality graphics and that left an impression that hasn't rubbed off to this day. You begin in Paseo where you are an agent given a mission to investigate certain mishaps that have taken place on the planet of Motavia (your home planet) involving Biomonsters and Mother Brain. Nei joins you and you level up outside the town, gaining experience and Meseta (the currency) so you can buy better weapons, armor and items before you head out on your adventure.
The graphics were, at the time, awesome. In fact, it's still cool to see all the enemy animation, though the fighting backgrounds always consist of a blue grid and that's a downgrade from even the original Sega Master System PS. But I didn't care, and still don't. The locations and such are plain by today's standards. However they get the job done and are perfectly fine for a Genesis game.
The controls are standard RPG fare. You have your menu screens, you walk around and talk to people, buy, sell, fight, etc. The fighting system is simple and intuitive: just set all the characters to do what you want and you fight like basically any other RPG, only you sit back and watch the action unfold until every player and enemy has had their turn and then it's back to selecting what you want to do.
The Phantasy Star series has always had some cool songs and this one is no exception. From Silent Zone to Death Place there are some nice pieces here and there. Some of them sound kinda odd, but for a system with only 6 voices of usually poor quality it certainly isn't music that you want to really get into, though some tunes are undeniably good, and definitely fit the game's locales/moods. I enjoy it. Good music can even be predominantly monophonic, so I guess that 6 voice limit doesn't mean much. Besides, have you ever listened to the first stage song in The Adventures of Bayou Billy for NES (by Konami)? NES is 4 channels and that song sounds VERY cool!
All said and done, the quest isn't super long (about 20 or so hours), there's only 4 bosses which makes boss fighting all the more a dramatic moment to say the least, including one of them being 3 indestructable robots later on (if you don't know what I'm talking about and intend to try the game on Genesis or GBA, you'll see). And, man, what a cool albeit kinda short ending, especially for a Genesis.
Definitely worth the invested time, and you can even find a sound test hidden in a town somewhere which only plays all the songs you've actually heard up to whatever point you're at within the quest itself -- the more songs you hear, the more is accessible. I don't want to spoil anything but there comes a time in the game where there's a sidequest involving something called Moon Dew which can resurrect someone. If you get it, save it for one particular point in time (think Final Fantasy 7 - at the end of Disc 1).
Until next time... happy gaming.
Here's a great RPG site with PS2 ~ http://www.rpgclassics.com/shrines/g...s/part01.shtml
Excellent Phantasy Star-dedicated site! ~ http://www.phantasy-star.net/
More PS goodness ~ http://www.pscave.com/
Artwork ~ http://www.fantasyanime.com/phantasystar/ps2art.htm
Very nice ~ http://www.fantasyanime.com/phantasystar/ps2nei.htm
Last edited by Icarus4578; 08-23-2004 at 10:39 AM.
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Time for another review
Ghouls 'N Ghosts - Sega Genesis - Rating 7
I considered myself pretty good at games by the time I bought the 5-MEG arcade conversion of Ghouls 'N Ghosts. I had beaten some notoriously difficult games previously: TMNT, Blaster Master, Ninja Gaiden, Faxanadu, Life Force... but back then, you just never knew what to expect.
That night was one of those nights.
I had never before, and probably never again thereafter, been wasted so many times within the first few stages than with G&G (save for perhaps the original). And what a lesson in gaming I got. My first night I remember perfectly - it was a school night, and I had stayed up until about 1:30am in the morning trying to beat the third boss (the eye in the floating cloud) over and over again but to no avail.
Eventually I finished the game, only to find myself back at the starting point and now had to do the entire thing again, this time even harder than before before I could fight the last boss. Sir Arthur must save Princess Guinevere from the evil devil Loki because he's 'taken hostage' hers and all the souls of the people in the kindgom.
The graphics are fine and still look alright even today. There's tons of enemies scattered all over, and in the first level when you reach the tree with the huge vultures and you start killing them one of the most impressive graphic displays from those early Genesis days takes place as tons of feathers come floating downward (with slowdown, but who cares?). Back then it felt almost like having an arcade at home. The rest of the stages are nice, especially stage 4 with all the crystals everywhere, and though the beginning of 2 is plain it lends itself well to this game's premises.
I must mention the bosses. These were (and still are) some of the coolest-designed bosses I've seen. And remember, this was before Castlevania IV, Devil May Cry, Axelay, etc. These things were HUGE and, in some circumstances, quite annoying to do battle with. Take the giant hornet boss in the castle. Sure, it wasn't all that hard, but try and say that if Arthur's weapon is the short-ranged sword. I had to reset the entire game all because of that foolish mistake! Fighting against two Lucifers at once in the last castle (the final boss from part 1), the huge larva at the end of the crystal caves taking up more than 2 screens(!), the fire beast at the end of the burning village, and even the first boss... all were impressive to do battle with. And Loki himself takes up the entire screen... unprecedented for the time. Controls are simple: jump, attack (up, down, left, and right), charge your weapon once you get the magic armor and unleash magic attacks (or defenses, depending on the weapon).
The music is pretty good and matches the game perfectly. I particularly like the ending theme. The sound effects are the usual Genesis blangs, blips and bleeps but are well done nonetheless.
Nowadays I can rush through the game both times through without much difficulty. This game helped me become a better gamer. It remains a quintissential action game for any system and is a worthy addition to any gamer's library. Sega did a wonderful job porting this classic Capcom arcade to Genesis.
Last edited by Icarus4578; 05-08-2004 at 12:10 PM.
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Gold & Platinum
RIAA's historic Gold® & Platinum® Program defines success in the recorded music industry. Originally conceived to honor artists and track sound recording sales, Gold & Platinum Awards have come to stand as a benchmark of success for any artist—whether they've just released their first song or Greatest Hits album. Check out our interactive timeline to learn about the program's storied history.
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Theodore Hook was an English author who launched a Sunday paper in 1820
image found here
He was a famous practical joker who perpetrated a jest that disturbed and amused all England. This was the famous Berners Street hoax. Berners Street in 1810 was a quiet street, inhabited by well-to-do families and people of social importance. On the morning of November 26, soon after breakfast, a wagon-load of coals drew up before the door of Mrs. Tottingham, a widow living at No. 54. A van-load of furniture followed, then a hearse with a coffin, and a train of mourning coaches.
image found here
Two fashionable physicians, a dentist, and an accoucheur drove up as near as they could to the door, wondering why so many lumbering vehicles blocked the way. Six men brought a chamber-organ; a brewer sent several barrels of ale; a grocer sent a cart-load of potatoes. Coachmakers, clock-makers, carpet manufacturers, confectioners, wig-makers, mantua-makers, opticians, and curiosity-dealers followed with samples of their wares.
image found here
From all quarters trooped in coachmen, footmen, cooks, housemaids, and nursery-maids, in quest of situations. To crown all, dignitaries came in their carriages,—the Commander-in-Chief, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Chief Justice, a Cabinet minister, a governor of the Bank of England, and the Lord Mayor.
housemaid found here
The latter—one among many who speedily recognized that all had been the victims of some gigantic hoax—drove to Marlborough Street police office, and stated that he had received a letter from a lady in Berners Street, to the effect that she was at death's door, that she wished to make a deposition upon oath, and that she would deem it a great favor if his lordship would call upon her. The other dignitaries had been appealed to in a similar way.
London police women found here
Police-officers were despatched to maintain order in Berners Street. They found it choked up with vehicles, jammed and interlocked with one another. The drivers were infuriated and disappointed tradesmen were clamoring for vengeance. Some of the vans and goods were overturned and broken; a few barrels of ale had fallen prey to the large crowd that was maliciously enjoying the fun.
overturned car found here
All day and far into the night this state of things continued, meanwhile, the old lady and the inmates of adjoining houses were in abject terror. Every one soon saw that a hoax had been perpetrated, but Hook's connection with it was not discovered till long afterwards. He had noticed the quietness of the neighborhood, and had laid a wager with a brother-wag, a certain Henry Higginson, who afterwards became a clergyman, that he would make Berners Street the talk of all London.
Charlotte Bronte's dolls house found here
A door-plate had furnished him with Mrs. Tottingham's name, and he had spent three days in writing the letters which brought the crowd to her door. At the appointed time he and Mr. Higginson had posted themselves in a lodging just opposite, which he had rented for the purpose of enjoying the scene. He deemed it expedient, however, to go off quickly into the country and there remain incognito for a time. Had he been publicly known as the author of the outrageous hoax, he might have fared badly.
available here


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Wake Forest's Institute for Regenerative Medicine, a group of organ-growing, tissue-engineering mad scientists, is trailblazing the cool and creepy future of medicine. Their latest effort is an inkjet-inspired bioprinter that prints fresh cells directly onto wounds.
We talked to Dr Anthony Atala, Director of the Institute, during our "This Cyborg Life" theme week last year, and bioprinting came up in passing as a technique his lab was working on. Now they've got a rig set up, and initial tests on mice show the process healing wounds in just two weeks as opposed to five when left untreated.
A laser scans the wound, determining its shape and size, and then the printer precisely sprays two layers of cells onto the injury, first fibroblasts, then keratinocytes. The cells take care of the rest.
The next phase involves testing bioprinting on pigs and, eventually, humans. The Wake Forest researchers hope the technology can be deployed in the Middle East, where serious burns are common and treatment requires intensive, inefficient skin-grafts to prevent infection. Presumably they'll have worked out the low cellular toner issues by then. [Reuters via Pop Sci]


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Record-Breaking Thread
- Updated
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Ok, the new IR girl needs to learn to give people space, don't stick your face 2 inches away from me. :@2 Replies
Well, traffic hasn't really picked up, besides the blog there are a whopping 5 threads in the forum.
Jordan, just a thought. Officially, backfires has been open for what, two weeks, and there is already 12,100 topics under the main menu. That's 864/day, 36/hr, almost one new topic every two minutes. A bit of information overload, possibly one of the reasons why no one is posting, I did a quick count of pages 1-10 (100 topics), and there were only 11 topics with replies. Might want to consider toning down the rapid topic posting to 5 - 10 per day. With less topics, people might actually read them, and hence respond.1 Reply
The Cars by Make section will never disappear totally. It's an important part of integrating the site and blog's commenting with Backfires. However, soon it will be moved out of the way, and will only serve as a forum section that feeds up into the main car discussion forum.
In other words, Cars by Make will be out of sight, and will just send popular threads to the general car discussion area.
We're building this entire community from scratch, so it's going take a little while before anything's perfect.
Chris Neil is not one of my favourite players - he always looks like a little kid with a pout that's about to burst into tears. Anyway, last night I near fell off the couch when they showed the entire Penguin bench laughing at him. =)1 Reply
Hey. This sucls on the impression.1 Reply


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The university invited the former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State to speak at their commencement this spring, only to have protests force her to bow out of the event.
Universities are places where the free and open exchange of ideas is central to their framework. Students and faculty having an opinion on Rice and the Iraq War is understandable. The fact that they may have an issue with the Iraq War shows that they are thinking about important things.
Where we are in our politics today, however, is a place where if you disagree, you are not welcome. This is a former national leader, not to mention a woman with an inspiring personal narrative.
What has happened in this instance is not hard to figure out. Opposing viewpoints devolved into polarization, which devolved into blatant disrespect.
The Iraq War was a big deal, and it warrants discussion when someone like Dr. Rice is involved. Those opposed could have simply editorialized that although they welcome her, they have an opposing view on a controversial war. It would have been a way to show class and handle it academically.
But many of the faithful at Rutgers (students and faculty) felt differently. This is how universities wind up with speakers like Bruce Willis, by the way. Better to bring in a non-controversial figure that has no connection to anything you've just learned.
Remember, too, that here is a woman that has done all that we would want from a citizen. She built herself up, earned a doctorate, embraced classical music, loves football, and went on to serve her country.
Are we now saying that if a person such as this does not do all that we want that they are not welcome after being invited? Wow. This would be the same article if Hillary Clinton was treated this way - or any other major political figure for that matter.
Rutgers should have been honored that Dr. Rice agreed to speak there, despite misgivings about the war or interrogation policies of the Bush administration. True democracy inspires open debate, not a closed door.
Rice was once provost at Stanford University, and skipping the Rutgers commencement will not dent her armor. An African American woman originally from the south, and a major figure in a party that has not always been warm to such a possibility, is not going to be thrown off kilter by a few heresy hunters at Rutgers University.
The story reminds me of when I once tried to get Tony Danza to speak at an event for an organization that helps autistic children. The organization was on the same avenue where Danza once lived in Queens. It would have been a great fit, and it was a major event (Mayor Michael Bloomberg once spoke at their annual event).
His publicist told me that he was all booked up and to call back in January when they were planning his calendar for the next year. I called in middle of the following January, and they told me that he was again all booked up. "His whole year is already booked up?" I asked. "Someone should remind Tony Danza that he is Tony Danza."
Some people need to get over themselves. A woman of Dr. Rice's caliber – despite politics and the results of foreign policy – deserves a little more respect than that.


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While the world continues to play Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego with Edward Snowden, Congress continues its probe in another area of security and counterterrorism. House Oversight Chair Darrell Issa reprimanded Secretary of State John Kerry's chief of staff for dragging his feet on requests to depose twelve more State Department officials, and issued subpoenas for four of them to testify before they had a chance to be "rehearsed or coached":
House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) on Tuesday subpoenaed four State Department officials as part of his investigation into the administration's response to the Benghazi mission attack.
In a sharply worded letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, Issa wrote that State chief of staff David Wade has been uncooperative since being first approached in mid-May with the request to make 13 State Department personnel available for depositions. …
The newly deposed individuals are Eric Boswell, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security's former assistant secretary and its former principal deputy assistant secretary; Scott Bultrowicz, the director of the Diplomatic Security Service; and Elizabeth Dibble and Elizabeth Jones, the former principal deputy assistant secretary and the acting assistant secretary at the Bureau Near Eastern Affairs, respectively.
Issa has already deposed the two co-authors of last year's Accountability Review Board (ARB) investigation into the attack that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.
There may be eight more subpoenas coming, according to this letter. Only one of the 13 requested officials has been made available to Oversight for depositions, almost six weeks after Issa identified the baker's dozen to State. Issa's accusation of rehearsing or coaching witnesses didn't come out of the blue, either (emphasis mine):
In fact, it is my understanding that interviews will not occur until the middle of July because the State Department is just now preparing documents and other materials for the witnesses to review. I respect the witnesses' interest in preparing to answer the Committee's questions; however, I am concerned that waiting weeks or months to while the Department prepares witnesses to be interviewed creates the risk that their testimony will have been rehearsed or coached. It does not require weeks of preparation to answer questions truthfully.
Two questions arise from this request. First, why are these witnesses only now familiarizing themselves with documents and materials relevant to the Benghazi attack and the security conditions that preceded it? This has been under investigation since it happened. The ARB conducted its entire investigation within three months of the attack. Shouldn't they already be familiar with these materials, as the ARB should have asked about them a few months ago?
Also, what materials are they reviewing, anyway? Does Oversight have access to them? If so, then it should be no problem to make the materials available for reference in the deposition. If not, then Issa's going to need a few more subpoenas to hand out at Foggy Bottom.


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The American DreamJohn Jacobson & Roger Emerson - Hal Leonard Corporation
The American DreamJohn Jacobson & Roger Emerson - Hal Leonard Corporation
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Become a part of American history with this fact-filled and entertaining tribute that chronicles the early years of the United States. Elementary and middle school students will have fun while reinforcing what they study in social studies class. From the earliest explorers through the post-Civil War reconstruction, The American Dream combines music, history and drama to teach important dates, facts and ideas, not to mention crucial documents that have shaped America through its colorful development. This musical features seven original songs, connecting script, choreography and helpful production hints. Songs include: I Had a Dream, We Call It America, We the People, Broken Dreams and more. 40 minutes.
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Student Uses Facebook to Organize Massive High School Walkout
Thousands of New Jersey high school students participated in a walkout today in protest of recent education cuts — all because of a call to action on Facebook. The event was organized by 18-year-old Michelle Ryan Lauto — a Pace University student who once attended high school in New Jersey. Lauto decided to take action after Governor Chris Christie announced that he would be cutting $820 million in educational funding for next year, according to the Hartford Courant.
Nearly 15,000 students RSVP'd "Yes" via Facebook, but we're not sure how many actually participated — still, sources like The Star Ledger report that students from several schools joined in the walkout. Check out footage of the protest below:
|Newark students walk out of school, take City Hall
According to students who took part in the protest, it was largely organized via social networking efforts — texts, MySpace and, of course, the original Facebook Event. Lauto has been tweeting about the walkout all day, expressing her joy at the turnout and excitement about the barrage of interview requests she has received from the media. In fact, we're currently waiting on comment from Lauto, who — last she e-mailed us — was preparing to meet a camera crew at her house.
Indeed, this Facebook-born movement has garnered a lot of attention. Still, this isn't the first time we've seen the social networking site used to orchestrate a large-scale, politically driven event: Minnesota's governor conducted a town hall via Facebook recently.
It's good to see kids using social media in an attempt to do something positive, especially when their compatriots in other states are getting negative press for cobbling together violent flash mobs via Twitter and MySpace. It remains to be seen what kind of impact — if any — this SM-fueled protest has on educational funding. We'll keep you posted should it lead to any measurable action.


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Zindagi abhi khatam nahin hui
bas faraq yeh hai ke meri dairy mein Allah se shikwey kum hogaye hain
Main ne un cheezon pay raazi hona seekh liya hai jo woh mujhey deta hai
aur un cheezon ki talash chor di hai jo lahasil hein…
Not quite sure how and when Kashaf came to this final realization, but somewhere along the way, towards the end of the final episode, the light bulb switched on and Kashaf's journey from shikwa to shukrana came to its predictable end – yes, her life was finally gulzar!
While Kashaf might've thought her life was all hunky dory, and it did seem pretty perfect in the last few scenes, I am not sure how a strong-headed girl like her was able to look past all of Mr. Zaroon's mujh se ziyada perfect mard kahin nahin milega rhetoric. I kept waiting for an apology from our uber cool hero sahab but that seemed to have been deep-sixed somewhere in the euphoria of reunion – after all what living breathing female would not want to wake up and find His Hotness Mr. Fawad Khan in her bed!
Before we got to that point though, in what has now become a trademark of this serial, we got a medley of some brilliantly acted and directed vignettes tossed in with some completely random scenes. I'm still trying to figure out the point of showing the actual meeting with Asmara, except to paint Zaroon in an even darker shade of black.
Basically Zaroon got away with talking smack about his wife, so much so that even Asmara pointed out that he was in the wrong. This is the second time that Asmara's called him out on his hypocrisies, but we still saw no real introspection on Zaroon's part. Rather, all we got were more of his I've-been-wronged and how-dare-my-wife-not-trust-me scenario. Yes, he realized he was in the wrong, but only about hiding the meeting, the rest of his idiocies were all brushed aside. What I missed was a dawning realization that it was not just one thing, but his ingrained chauvinism which lay at the heart of the matter.
On Kashaf's part as well, we heard a lot of thoughts and lot of shikwas. Yes, she realized she missed Zaroon, she acknowledged she loved him, and she agreed with her mother that he was very caring and affectionate husband. Beyond that however, apart from Rafia saying that Kashaf should not let old insecurities come in the way of her relationship with Zaroon, we never saw any engagement with the real issues that had bothered her, and plagued her marriage with Zaroon all along. I don't think it was intended that way, but it sure did seem like Kashaf called Zaroon because of her about-to-be-born children. Would she have made the phone call had she not been expecting, or whether Zaroon would've come if she hadn't called, are questions that are now open to discussion.
Nonetheless, Kashaf did make the phone call and Zaroon did come, and I guess that was that. Zindagi became gulzar and we as viewers are supposed to be happy with that. Why spend time on rehashing issues etc… just mitti pao everything. After the hot n heavy reunion, which was filled with a lot of empty sweet-talk and banter, we had another long scene of basically nothingness. Even after having ostensibly made up, Kashaf and Zaroon were back where they had been since day one – each blaming the other for the misunderstanding and fights.
The larger message of the second half of this serial dealt with how petty issues and misunderstandings if let to fester can cause problems between couples. While in principle this was a commendable topic, one rarely addressed in our serials, what came across on the screen was a jumble of brilliantly executed sequences, which when strung together failed to leave an impact. The jump from Zaroon and Kashaf still arguing, about who left whom first, to the final montage of happy family scenes was beyond abrupt. The final scenes with the two girls were very sweet, but could not leave a lasting impression. The lazy pace of the last two episodes, and the first forty-five minutes of this finale as well, made the ending seem really rushed, and left me with an unsatisfied feeling.
Overall, for me Zindagi Gulzar Hai remained a mixed bag which could never really live up to the pre-release hype. Starting off on a great note it failed to maintain its pace. In trying to address too many issues the story lost focus somewhere along the way. Nonetheless, despite its incoherence, issues with timeline, editing bloopers, loose ends, what made me sit through the entire 26 week run were the undoubtedly brilliant performances. Fawad Khan is fantastic and he proved it yet again with this serial. To sell a flawed character like Zaroon, infuse him with so much charm and personality that one could take him so seriously and put with all his idiocies, is a feat few actors could've managed, and Fawad accomplished all this with almost effortless ease. Matching him every step of the way, actually outshining him in so many scenes, Sanam was brilliant as Kashaf. Before the serial had aired, not many thought she could stand up to Fawad, but she has silenced all her critics with this outstanding performance.
Among the rest of the stellar cast, Samina Peerzada is fabulous and we all know that, but I really hope that she will take a break from these kinds of roles now. Hina Bayat, another great performer, did the best she could do with a character that remained incomprehensible to me from the first to the last episode. Her partner-in-crime Javed Shaikh was charming as usual, but again his Junaid spoke in a language that was undecipherable to me. Shazia Afghan and Waseem Abbas were memorable. Shazia's blue eye-shadowed look will stay with me for a while. While all these are veterans and we expect good stuff from them, Ayesha Omar was the surprise package here. I loved all the softness and vulnerability she was able to convey, and her chemistry with Fawad was very real and made for many tender moments, and I missed her in the last episode. Also missed seing Mansha Pasha, I guess Sidra took all our criticism to heart and decided to stay put in the US and not put in a final appearance.
This serial marked Sultana Siddiqui's return as a director, and there is no doubt that she is fantastic in terms of extracting the best from her actors. Aside from that, I do question her grip over the overall narrative. Many a times there seemed to a lack of vision about where the serial was finally headed, and the first and the second half remained disjointed in terms of pace and story-telling. Shehzad Kashmiri's cinematography remained top-notch. His tight closeups, in particular, were fantastically done, capturing every nuance, every flicker of emotion that raced across the actors' faces. In terms of production values, this serial bore the MD Productions stamp, and that alone made this one stand out above many other serials out there.
The editing though did leave a lot to be desired, as did the background score. To come to the story, the foundation of any serial, Umera Ahmed's script was interesting and had a lot going for it in terms of potential, but the overall execution left a lot to be desired. Hence for me, Zindagi could've been gulzar, but fell short of the high expectations we had going in to the serial.
Finally, as we close the book on Zindagi Gulzar Hai, a huge shout out to all the readers and commentators. Whether we agreed or disagreed it was always enjoyable to read all the comments; the at times fierce debates pointed to all our intense involvement in the serial, the characters and their idiosyncrasies. Whether you loved or hated my reviews – thank you all for reading!!
Written by SZ~
Zindagi Gulzar Hai ~ OST


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Restaurant cancels LGBT fundraiser, compares group to KKK
Group claims discrimination after owner cancels reservation
Organizers with the River Valley Equality Center said their fundraiser was canceled when the owner of Sisters Gourmet Bistro found out what their group supported.
"It was a bump in the road, but it wasn't a slap in the face," said River Valley Equality Center Director Erin Fowler.
The group said those plans changed because the restaurant's owner said he doesn't support their beliefs.
"I called them and told them that I -- we're not going to have that at Sisters, we had no plans for that and there were no reservations to hold any kind of fundraiser or anything like that," said Richard Hodo, owner of Sisters Gourmet Bistro.
Hodo said he doesn't support what the River Valley Equality Center stands for.
"I told them that I do not support their cause, that if they want to do that that's their business. I do not care, but I don't support their lifestyle and their cause," said Hodo.
The organization said they raise awareness for the gay and lesbian community in the River Valley.
Fowler said Hodo compared their group to a white supremacist hate group.
"It felt like he was comparing us as equals with the KKK and we're about completely opposite things," said Sarah Sarrubbo, an organizer with the River Valley Equality Center.
"What I told the lady on the on the phone, look I said if the KKK came here and wanted to hold a fundraiser rally and all that, I wouldn't allow that either," said Hodo.
Hodo said he'll stand his ground.
"This is a private club and I have the right to refuse service to anyone." said Hodo.
The River Valley Equality Center said they needed this event to raise money for their not-for-profit status.
They said because of this incident, they are staging an awareness event on Main Street in Van Buren.


text:
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Voters began heading to the polls on Tuesday in Texas, where Tea Party movement favorite Ted Cruz is hoping to upset Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst in a fiercely competitive Republican primary runoff for an open U.S. Senate seat.
Insurgent Republicans across the country want Cruz to become the latest to topple an establishment Republican, similar to victories in Senate primaries this year in Indiana and Nebraska.
A poll released over the weekend by the Democratic survey group Public Policy Polling showed Cruz ahead by 10 percentage points, 52 percent to 42 percent, an increase from a five-point lead two weeks earlier.
The automatic telephone survey of likely Republican runoff voters, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points, said that Cruz had a 75-22 advantage with voters who consider themselves members of the Tea Party.
The Tea Party emerged amid the economic recession of 2008 and 2009 and seeks deep federal government spending cuts and low taxes. It took its name from the 18th-century Boston tea party protest over taxation by the British king.
"Runoffs are unpredictable and it still seems possible that Dewhurst could win on Tuesday, but for now it looks like all the momentum since the primary has gone in Ted Cruz's direction," Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling wrote in a blog post.
If elected to the seat being vacated by Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Cruz, whose father is from Cuba, would be the first Hispanic U.S. Senator from Texas.
Dewhurst, 66, who presides over the state senate, has put $19 million of his own money into the race, his campaign said. He also has the backing of top Texas Republicans including Governor Rick Perry. Dewhurst is a former state land commissioner who has served in the U.S. Air Force and with the Central Intelligence Agency.
He has dismissed Cruz as not having enough experience and running a campaign that depends on "Washington insiders."
In Cruz's corner are national conservative stars such as former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and national groups such as the Club for Growth and FreedomWorks that have funneled money and volunteers to his campaign.
Cruz, 41, a Houston lawyer and former state solicitor general, says that Dewhurst is not conservative enough and has compromised too much with Democrats in the state senate.
In the final days of the race, the candidates have crisscrossed the state to talk to voters while their attack ads played on TV.
On Friday, Cruz held a rally in the Houston area featuring Palin and Tea Party favorite U.S. Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina.
On Monday, Dewhurst campaigned at an Austin Chick-fil-A - the fast food chain at the center of a firestorm since its president made statements against gay marriage - before holding campaign events with Perry and former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert.
Leppert, who has endorsed Dewhurst, finished third in the May primary election, when Dewhurst was the top vote-getter in a crowded field but did not secure the 50 percent plus one vote he needed to avoid a runoff with Cruz.
Two Democrats are also in a U.S. Senate primary runoff on Tuesday, but Texas has not elected a Democrat to statewide office since 1994.
Reporting By Corrie MacLaggan; Editing by Philip Barbara
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.