Visual Connection: Tony Hawk:Downhill Jam Soundtrack

June 27th, 2009

Not very visual, I know, but I’ve recently decided to go back and hunt down some licenced music tracks from the DS version of Tony Hawk:Downhill Jam. The skateboarding franchise usually combines a flavoursome mix of rock, metal, rap and hip-hop music to form the OST. Although the DS iteration was limited to a handful of compressed music tracks, most of them were pure awesome like the game itself. Here’s some of my favourites;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsFhbtT6rJY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cruGi0XwpoQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezqAOI3L70o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbD7V9i6YyE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mANK9DSalRs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRYVlz_oIN4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T5YySGNTpA

Super Happy Pleasant World

February 11th, 2009

Wonder Boy in Monster World strikes a strong nostalgic chord with me. Growing up my brother and I never owned a Sega Megadrive instead we spent countless weekends at my cousin’s house playing games like Sonic, Golden Axe, and the fantastic series of first party developed Disney titles. Even though I still don’t own a Megadrive, I’ve had a surprisingly good history with the system and its games, with the newer compilations used to pick up the slack.

All of the games I’ve listed are all particularly nostalgic to me but none more so than Wonder Boy in Monster World. I delightfully picked up a copy from the Wii Virtual Console recently and have been savoring the delights of this adorable title.

There are two things which I love about the game and they fittingly go hand in hand together. That is the slower paced movement and larger sized sprites. Usually I can’t stand slow moving 16-bit platformers, they either lack challenge or feel cumbersome, but Monster World is a little different. Different because it encompasses more Metroidvania-esque qualities to it instead of being a typical platform affair. The more so RPG-like elements are basic, simplified and low fuss, just like the platforming. So neither component is fleshed out enough to really require much strain on the brain. This makes playing Monster World pretty breezy.

Now the bulky sprites are great because they accommodate the perky expressions that emit from every single ounce of life in this game. Every place is decked in plushness, every created crowning googly eyes that scream cuteness. The slower speed of the game acts to reinforce your role as a tourist of Monster World, merely a spectator to the cheerful grins and dashing animations. I just love the adorable nature of this game in both looks and simplistic (yet managably elegant) design.

Now this post is part of the Visual Connecton regular features which means beyond wasting this space with text that beats around the bush I also need a handful of pictures. So here we go, cuteness galore.

wonder-boy-in-monster-world

wonder-boy-sprites

wonder-boy-castle

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Tags: wonder boy

Tamer: The Original Xbox Mascot?

November 30th, 2008

I was looking through some old media on my computer some time ago and I came across these images from back in 2000 when the Xbox was first released. These are images of the first Xbox mascot, put out the same time as the original press release first announcing the console. I can’t quite remember much about what was said about the this mascot lady; even after reading through those early press releases she isn’t mentioned. The images are named Tamer, so I guess that’s her name or the name of her robot companion. In anycase, it’s interesting to look back on these. I also included a picture of the original Xbox console design, which I wish they went through with.

x shaped xbox silver