Pokemon's best locales #5: Pyrite Town

Pokemon is such a happy and colourful game with many happy memories to take from places such as Pallet Town, Petaburg City, Goldenrod City and New Bark Town. All such wonderful and happy places to go with happy people to talk to and things to do with nice old women and children and...




What is this? WHAT IS THIS!?!/ A Shanty town in Pokemon? Pyrite Town is the strangest place to go to in Pokemon pretty much ever. When you arrive, you're greeted with a dark tune and gritty character designs. These are basically thugs, criminals and although this isn't new to the Pokemon lore with such foes as Team Rocket and Plasma, but these ones are nowhere near as colourful. Pyrite Town is like a Pokemon Redfern. This town also involves corruption, kidnapping (of Pokemon) and even a form of Gambling. Whoa man, gotta catch em all? A strange change of tone from the other Pokemon games makes Pyrite Town one of the best Pokemon Locales ever.

The Top 5 Nintendo Heroes

5.) Kirby.

Kirby

The pink blob, marshmellow thing has been on many adventures throughout his life, never losing his childlike charm and cuteness, even when devouring the bodies of his foes and stealing their souls. This little guy has seen a lot and has done some pretty epic things throughout his life such as blowing up a giant galactic robot and fighting a dark wizard. Yep, this guy is up there, rubbin' elbows with the great. (if he had elbows)









4.) Samus Aran.

Samus Aran

People get mixed up about this bounty hunter. Firstly, her name is not Metroid and she is in fact a girl. That came as a huge surprise to gamers when they discovered the truth, but it was kinda cool. Samus has been through so much and on just so many wild adventures with interesting and varied experiences that you almost wish you could be her (not really because her parents are dead) She's tough, cool and has a lot of epic journeys. Samus Aran...willing to save the planet, even if there's back tracking involved...











3.) Mario

Mario

The Italian Plumber has done it all! He's an adventurer, an acrobat, a golfer, a Kart Racer, a Tennis player, as Basketball player and avid partyer. Yep, this one his been with us for son long, not having him around would be like losing a friend. He's always there, knowing that he has another game right around the corner is so satisfying that it feels like he's your buddy. He adds a bit of theatricality to everything, making his endeavours all the more enjoyable to play through. HERE WE GO!










2.) Link

Link

The time weathered hero has saved the world countless times, without hardly saying a word. His skill is unparalleled and he has been in some of the greatest games of all time, including the highest critically acclaimed game of all time "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" and my personal favourite game: "The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword" There are almost no occasions where this hero doesn't shine, and those where he hasn't are never spoken of. He's such a cool character, with a great sense of heroism about him. He is truly: AWESOME! There is only one greater...








1.) Red

Red.

The King of Kings. The Lord of Lords. The Master of Masters. Pokemon Trainer Red. The most powerful trainer in the whole of the world: Red's sole purpose is to train, and to win. He has never met defeat. It is rumoured that he has a brother by the name of Ash, someone who is nowhere near as talented as he is however. From the beginning, Victory was always his. He never lost a single battle, training his Pokemon to perfection. He has given up the normal life us normal people take in favour of gruelling power that can only come from true dedication. He is perfection.(turns out, he taught Batman how to play Pokemon)
While the other Pokemon Protagonists prefer to smile and laugh, Red prefers not to screw around with pointless socalizing. He is power in it's purest form, ready to win whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Red. The Pokemon Master.

The Doctor rants: Black and White 2

OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH Boy! What happened here. OK  now black and white 2 are far from being bad games, they're actually better than the originals, but it does something so unforgivable, so irritating that i had to talk about it. Pokemon black and white 2 have a hard mode. now I bet you thinking, 'it does?' yes they do. but my gosh its an effort to get. for starters, its only unlock able in black 2 after you beat it. OK hold up. its only unlock-able in black 2 AFTER YOU BEAT THE GAME? AFTER? WHY? WHY IS IT AFTER I BEAT THE GAME? AND WHY ONLY BLACK 2? Really bad choice on gamefreak's part. seriously. if you going to put a hard mode in your game, make it available from the beginning, unless your going for replay value. which is fine, and fair enough if thats why they did it. BUT WHY ONLY FOR BLACK 2? WHY DO THE PEOPLE WHO GOT WHITE 2 GET EASY MODE? you could say that pokemon's style is to make players interact with each other. BUT DON'T MAKE DIFFICULTY EXCLUSIVE! IT ADDS NO REPLAY VALUE IN THIS CASE! 
aaaaand dont you dare get me started on the 4th gym. ITS A LINE! A STRAIGHT LINE! ITS BORING ITS GENERIC IT SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKS! WHERES THE ORIGINALITY? THE 4TH GYM WAS A ROLLER COASTER! IT WAS AWESOME! WHY DOES THE NEW ONE BORE ME TO TEARS?

http://www.scenicreflections.com/ithumbs/Pokemon%20Red%20vs%20Blue%20Wallpaper__yvt2.jpeg
when pokemon games look like this, then you have my permission to die

gamefreak, next pokemon game you make, consider this. if your going to add a hard mode, dont make it game exclusive. And if your going to have an easy mode, make it available from the start for less experienced players. and most of all COLLUSEUMGRAPHICZ I'm sorry that was uncalled for. old wounds guys. old wounds 

Black and White 2

Alright Nintendo. You've released the first true sequel to a Pokemon game and that's fine...but seriously; put the next Pokemon game on the 3DS. That will literally make sales skyrocket as well as give us gamers what we really want; HD pokemon that feel like they're alive. The 3DS is more powerful than the Wii and the gamecube and you know what; Pokemon Battle revolution looked spunky as anythingl so please Nintendo. GIVE US WHAT WE WANT!!

Still going to buy Black or White 2 anyway...

The death of handhelds

The GBA

Remember the days of the Game Boy and the DS? The times when we brought our precious devices with all through right and rain, through thick and thin to conquer all 8 gyms and save the mushroom kingdom while getting the fastest lap time? Those days may be gone with the soon to be "death of the handheld console"

The Nintendo DS

The whole point/advantage of a handheld was that it was a device that you could carry around with you to game, whenever, wherever. In fact, some games like Pokemon or Animal Crossing were better suited to the handheld console because of their pick up and play nature. It also had a great appeal to the more casual gamer including children. It was cheaper than your standard console and served as entertainment wherever you went. The small screen and low costs of handhelds led to causal, yet fun games (sometimes) But that's all about to change.

With the introduction of smartphones, there aren't really any place for handhelds in the market left. The smartphone is a phone, Ipod, news channel and a gaming device all in one. It's just convenient to have one device that does all this than a handheld console to play the games. Thanks to the smartphone gamer audience, the casual, kid friendly games have shifted away from handhelds and have pretty much left the stage destitute. Soon enough, handhelds will be gone. So, a moment for all the fun times we had on these devices, for they won't be around for much longer. They're not dead yet...but you can see it from here.

Whazzis? Playstation...

Companions in Zelda games

Ever since Ocarina of Time, the Zelda games have consistently introduced a helper or companion to assist the player with their exploits. Whether it be direction or Z targeting, these guys have always helped...or hindered your progress throughout the games

First up, we have Navi. The infamous fairy Navi. If there are any claims against Ocarina of Time's perfect game status, it's that Navi is in it. She flies around your head and spouts useless advice half the time. What's that Navi? I need to get to Death Mountain? Well, seeing as I'm two feet away from it, I really appreciate you helping me. I would have never found it otherwise! Thank you Navi!! 
As well as being useless, she also cries out the ever annoying "HEY!" or "LISTEN!" or "WATCH OUT!" After hearing this a few times, you feel like tearing your ears out. On top of all this, Navi is not an interesting character at all, with no story or likeable qualities. 

Next up, Tatl the fairy from Majora's Mask. This companion was a step up in every way from Navi. Instead of being allied with you at first, Tatl is actually part of the Skull kid's crew, until he abandons her. She works with link to reunite with her brother Tael. Geddit? Tatl Tael? Tattle Tale? Ahem...
This companion was interesting as she would often antagonise Link for his slowness or just because she didn't like him. Eventually, the two warm up to each other and become friends. Her advice wasn't great, but it wasn't completely useless as Navi's was. The most refreshing thing though was the bell sound she made in place of Navi's "HEY!!"



Ezlo from Minish cap was an interesting one. As you can see, he's a hat. This allows for Link to shrink down to reach small places. It also made the normal enemies you fought as Link become giant bosses as mini Link. Ezlo didn't offer as much advice, but his banter was enjoyable seeing as link was talking to...well, a hat.




Midna from Twilight Princess is an imp with many secrets. She reluctant;y joins Link for mysterious reasons which you go along with because you want the same goal, but she still doesn't like you that much and often berates you. So, right from the get go, she makes the game a blast to play. She has the most interesting story out of any companion as she is, in fact, central to the plot. Her backstory is slowly revealed to the player throughout the course of the game and she too warms up to Link and the two form a relationship that conquers most evil. The advice she gives is a little pointless, pointing out things you already know or could figure out within moments, but she's not too bad. Her laugh is a little annoying, but it hardly ever gets on your nerves, because you like Midna and want to find out more about her.

Ciela is the Navi-esque companion in Phantom Hourglass. Like Navi, she too is a fairy that often yells out "HEY!" (with much less frequency) But luckily, to prevent this from being a complete disaster, Nintendo took inspiration from the story they told with Midna and gave a story to Ciela that was interesting and made you want to know more about her. Ciela is also a likeable character and becomes essential to the plot as well. Towards the end, she even provides an extra grunt to your abilities which is always nice.



Zelda from Spirit Tracks was certainly different. Throughout all Zelda games, she was mostly a distant figure, someone who you wanted to save, but never really knew that well. This time, Zelda's Spirit follows you around giving advice and story elements. Actually, her advice is non existant. She barely provides any useful information, but you know what? It's so good to travel with her. She is a well thought out character that once again, is useful to you. When in the Tower of Spirits, you can make her take control of a Phantom, helping you solve puzzles and fight. Her inclusion in the game was great and something I wish more Zelda games would do more often.

The most recent companion in a Zelda game: Fi. Fi is part of the sword you have and is sent by the Goddess to assist you on your quest. She speaks with a strange auto-tuned voice and has no understanding of human emotion, yet loves statistics. She may not be the most interesting companion story-wise, but she has great advice. In fact, you can choose which type of information she gives you from her menu. She is nice to have as a companion and in truth is actually kind of funny with the way she acts around the world.

Really? Every time?

If your unsire what im talking about, allow me to elaborate. at the start of each and every pokemon game, excluding the first and second gen games, there is a pokemon catching tutorial. you know the ones, the really boring UNSKIPPBABLE battles that you arent even taking part in. now while this is helpful to newer players, its almost usless to veteran pokemon masters. skip buttons. get them in the pokemon games gamefreak. think about the veterans and not the newbs. (newbs as in new players, not noobs as in terrible gamers).