ThrashMetallix

I had to write this entire thing out twice because it got lost the first time, so I’m pretty annoyed, but regardless... I play Super Smash Bros now and then. I’m not nearly as into it as I once was, but still, I do enjoy it whenever I play it. I am still unlocking characters in Ultimate, and I play online now and then when the internet isn’t complete garbage. And of course I am always interested when they announce new DLC characters... as long as they aren’t all from fucking Fire Emblem (seriously, enough Nintendo). With another pass recently announced, here’s ten characters I hope either potentially make this pass... or a future appearance period.

(But seriously Nintendo... enough Fire Emblem)

10. Sora (Kingdom Hearts)

It’s time to give the KH fans their bone. I’ll be completely honest, I don’t give a rat’s ass about Kingdom Hearts. I think the story is way too convoluted, I think the company baited and switched their fans for far too long with all the spinoff games that did little to aid the story, and I think that all resulted in a very disappointing entry for Kingdom Hearts III for a lot of people. But I’m not gonna sit here and say that Sora doesn’t belong in Smash Bros, because quite frankly, I’d just be feigning ignorance. He might even be fun enough to play for me to maybe finally try the franchise out.  Probably not, but I’d still try him out. And apparently, they tried to get him in only to be vetoed by Disney Japan? Bit of a dick move but I don’t really know the whole story.
Stage: Destiny Islands

Theme: youtu.be/ANqZFxJCxlY

9. Ryu Hayabusa (Ninja Gaiden)

I haven’t played a lot of Ninja Gaiden, but know that Ryu more than deserves enshrinement in the Smash Roster. There’s no reason he shouldn’t be here, especially since they’re letting in characters Ike Simon from Castlevania now. Ryu would be pretty much the ultimate ninja character here.
Stage: Hayabusa Village

Theme: youtu.be/f5PCpVdTI_I

8. Lara Croft (Tomb Raider)

I need no real explanation for suggesting Lara Croft be brought to Smash. She’s one of the most iconic video game characters in history, I bet she’d be a ton of fun to play, she’s appeared on Nintendo Platforms before, really not much else needs to be said here.
Stage: Venice

Theme: youtu.be/dJiXk2s6X6Q

7. Doom Slayer (DOOM)

What’s that? Too extreme for you? I don’t care. Doom Slayer definitely belongs in Smash. Why? Because for one thing, he’s been on Nintendo Platforms before, he’d be super fun as hell to play with the arsenal he’d likely bring to Smash, and he wouldn’t even be the first character to arrive in Smash from an M-rated series. No one complains about Snake. Why shouldn’t Doom Slayer be here? That and until the Halo rumors come true and Halo is brought to Switch, we’ll never see Master Chief around here so... I’ll take this guy.
Stage: The Argent Tower

Theme: youtu.be/q657rEkgfKs

6. The Dragonborn (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim)

Why not? Skyrim is on the Switch, and this character again, would be really fun to play. Who wouldn’t want to Fus Ro Dah Mario into oblivion? Not to mention the cosmetic variations this character would have. Male and female variations, different races, maybe different weapons, it be very fun.
Stage: The Throat of the World

Theme: youtu.be/AVy7YPNP_zI

5. Crash Bandicoot (Crash)

With Crash Bandicoot games finally appearing on Nintendo, and the surprising return of him to the pop culture realm, I can’t help but feel it’s only a matter of time before he makes his appearance.
Stage: Wumpa Island

Theme: youtu.be/BsmnKerF4Mk

4. Princess Ruto (The Legend of Zelda)

Ruto was a character I held hope for in the previous games, before they seemingly gave up on that entry. I still hope she’ll eventually make the roster since she was playable in Hyrule Warriors, and I feel she’d just be an overall great character to play as opposed to someone like Greninja or whatnot. Nothing against Greninja, I just fail to see why he’s in the roster.
Stage: The Water Temple

Theme: youtu.be/liIKClrVQo8

3. Rayman (Rayman)

Throw my friend his bone already. I know nothing about this guy, but the design of this character alone makes me believe he’d be a perfect fit for the roster. So make it happen and stop teasing C with the trophies and spirits. Just put him in. Just... do it!
Stage: I have no idea heh
Theme: youtu.be/YMJDzLfZuIc

2. Sub-Zero and/or Scorpion (Mortal Kombat)

More extreme choices because I’m evil like that. Not only do I believe these two should be together, but they should be the representatives of one of the most iconic fighting games of all time. And yes, I get that they wouldn’t be able to fight nearly as extreme as they would in their home games, but seeing as how Mortal Kombat has been on Nintendo platforms before there’s really no reason this wouldn’t work out. That and you know the move sets would be beyond fun to play.
Stage: Khan’s Arena

Theme: youtu.be/EAwWPadFsOA Because why not???

1. Grovyle (Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky)

If there’s one character that has absolutely no excuse not to appear in this game, it’s Grovyle. The fact that Pokémon Mystery Dungeon has absolutely no representation in this game is absolutely criminal. It’s time for this to change. This isn’t so much a wish for him to appear more than it is a demand. With Rescue Team DX coming to the switch and giving PMD a little more life blood, there’s no better time to bring Grovyle in not only to represent the games he’s in, but Pokémon in general. I cannot think of one character in all of PMD that would deserve a spot on the Smash Roster more than Grovyle. This needs to happen.
Stage: Temporal Tower

Theme: youtu.be/gp9ivQLZFaQ or youtu.be/mESYM4qSGKA (Honestly it’s just criminal the music isn’t even in the game, what the hell Nintendo)

So there’s ten characters I wouldn’t mind seeing in Smash. Thoughts? Let me know what you think down below and as always, thanks for reading.

This wasn’t tedious to write all over again ><

So with the remake of this game coming out, I gotta get myself all pumped up and ready for a little newly redesigned nostalgic gaming, and ironically enough, I didn’t start playing this because of the remake at all. I actually started this play through of the game the literal night before Pokémon Direct announced it. Maybe I should work that same magic next year and see if they’ll announce a new Mystery Dungeon game, or remake of Sky. Why not test the luck again?

So yeah all snark aside, I decided to write this out a while ago, and I just finished the main storyline, and I decided to see how well it held up. I’m happy to say that for the most part, most of the Mystery Dungeon games have held up surprisingly well. It’s still a bit of a shocker to me that the spinoff Pokémon game has the better story and whatnot than its core repertoire. In fact, as I sit here writing this, a lot of people have taken to comparing Gamefreak to EA in its monetization of Sword & Shield. I don’t know if I’d go that far yet, but I don’t play those games and don’t have much of an opinion on the matter.  I’m here to talk about good old Mystery Dungeon.

So while I give serious props to this game in its heart, and challenge (seriously, there was one point where I was very close to breaking my 3DS in my hands, I was so frustrated with Moltres), I cannot say that Mystery Dungeon is a perfect game through and through. I think most of the Mystery Dungeon fans agree in that the best entry of the series is of course Explorer’s of Sky, but I tend to be in a minority on what comes in the second place spot. Most people tend to put this first game up there with Explorers of Sky, and I tend to reserve that spot for Super Mystery Dungeon. It’s a bit of a close call all around, but I do prefer the overall story of Super Mystery Dungeon a bit more, as honestly, as passionate as this story is, I can’t help but find it rather underwhelming, so you are gonna see me give it some tough love. Fair warning.

My first criticism here in this aspect is that your partner Pokémon really doesn’t have much of a personality. I get that it’s the first game of the series and all, so I probably shouldn’t harp on it too much, but even when I first played this game, I never really got emotionally invested in him to the point where I actually cried tears at the end. Hell, after the main storyline, your partner barely contributes to the story at all in post-game sequences. If I want to take him into a dungeon, I have to continuously go to his friend area, recruit him, and it takes away the charm of him sticking by your side through and through. Why should I care about him at al if he becomes essentially just another recruited Pokémon? Even in the main story, he’s not much of an actual character. He’s just kinda there to be there and support you when you’re supposed to feel down. I’m not trying to rag on this guy, but I mean if this is a definitive personality trait, your partner is either the most indecisive Pokémon on the planet, or carefree impulsive. This could be interesting, but again, the game just doesn’t really do much to develop him, and when you compare him to the next games of the franchise in Explorers of Time/Darkness, the difference is night and day. There’s a reason why when those games end, I am on the actual verge of tears. Your partner in those games is actually given a personality, one that you grow attached to, and relate to, get immersed in. By the time Rescue Team ends, I’m just not as invested as I want to be.

This is something I really hope the remake fixes. The demo has already shown it’s not afraid to expand a bit in certain areas. If they can revamp the personality of the partner a bit, I will be all for it.

But if the partner has flawed, that’s nothing compared to the game’s laughable antagonist in Gengar. I get that this is a kid’s game and that the antagonist needs to be really bad for their sake, but I almost feel like Gengar is a completely wasted character here, especially when you take into account what happens in the post-game story. Gengar leads Team Meanies (with a name like that, who wouldn’t trust them as a rescue team???), and I kid you not, this team might be the biggest joke of the entire story. They want to take over the world, and it’s just so... laughable. Again, I get that it’s a kid’s game, but I can think of a hundred better villains that are better written and executed compared to this. I don’t wanna keep doing this, but if you compare Team Meanies to Team Skull of Explorers, the difference is again night and day. Team Skull is much more down to earth in that they’re mainly just a team that wants to mess with you and sabotage your efforts because they’re the equivalent of bullies. And while I wish you could fight Team Skull in the Explorers games, nothing changes the fact that I’m just not as immersed with Meanies as I probably should be, and I think it stems from the fact that honestly, Gengar and his team have no real motive for going after you. He just kinda decides out of the blue to go after you. Team Skull has a better connection since you give a rough pounding to Zubat and Koffing in the beginning of the game, giving you more of a personal connection to that team, and giving them more of a reason to mess with you. Gengar just kinda goes after you because he’s supposed to, and his goals feel tacked on since his goals of world domination are kinda forgotten about. He’s not the main threat of the game, and having such goals would likely mean he has a very real way to accomplish that goal and that you’d be working to stop him. This isn’t the case. And more potential for Gengar is lost when his backstory is revealed in the post-game, which is nice in and of itself, but I never thought it had the same emotional punch as the main story did.

Speaking of which...

Another criticism I have of the story is again, just how underwhelming it kinda feels on a whole. Admittedly, it has a great setup, and there’s a reason I keep playing it, but honestly, after Groudon gets defeated, I honestly feel slightly disappointed by the game’s final level. Throughout the game, your spirit guide, Gardevoir constantly hints at you that you’ve come to complete a role, and by the time that role is revealed, it feels like the ending just kinda gets rushed. She tells you what your role is, you accomplish said role, which really isn’t anything spectacular honestly (I wonder why they even needed me when you think Rayquaza... the denizen of the sky, would notice a star on a collision course with the world. All you do is tell him about it pretty much...), the game ends. I’m sure I’m making a few people angry with this assessment, and yes, the game is full of great moments, and the very end does tug at the heartstrings, but I mean when you compare what you do in Super Mystery Dungeon and the Explorers games, telling Rayquaza to stop a star from destroying the world just doesn’t feel very impactful as an all around goal. That’s just me.

That said, the story again, is told very passionately. There’s a reason I say these games tend to entertain me more than the core games. And while the story has it’s ups and downs, it’s fair to say that the story has far more ups than downs, and still makes me genuinely chuckle with some of the things you can do or say. I get a chuckle when I end up trying to explain what the balance of the world is to my partner, only for him to ask Pelipper if he can carry us both into space. The story is full of innocent moments like this that never fail to make me smile, and a really damn good middle-story arc with your character being accused of being connected to why everything is going wrong in the world. (The resolution of this arc remains one of my all time favorite moments of this entire spinoff series.)

Gameplay is a bit of a mixed bag for me. On one hand, the Mystery Dungeon formula is a nice spin to the turn-based rpg fighting system that Pokémon is known for, on the other hand, it can get a bit repetitive, and once you find certain moves or get certain strategies into your game, the game can be a bit of a walk in the park. For example, as I said above, I was struggling furiously with the Moltres boss in this game for over an hour. But once I came upon the TM for Bullet Seed, it was only a matter of time before I eventually overcame Moltres. I dare say that Bullet Seed is borderline broken in this game with how incredibly OP it is. I never liked the limited size of the toolbox either (a problem that was fixed in later games). Without game-breaking moves like this, you could end up nearlly filling your entire toolbox up with supplies you’d likely need, and that prevents you from likely claiming useful items in the dungeon. And while I do enjoy the challenge of losing half your items and all your money in a dungeon for a little difficulty, the Fugitives Arc of this story practically renders the point of gathering money in these dungeons as pointless, especially since you are practically guaranteed to run out of reviver seeds at some point in this part of the story. I do appreciate the slight tweak of this in Explorers of Sky.

The only other gameplay factor really worth criticizing is that it’s not exactly invigorating. In fact, a lot of the gameplay is very repetitive, ad if the story weren’t there to distract you, I likely would have abandoned the series long ago. There’s a reason I tell others that this is definitely a game to play for story. The gameplay is a fun approach to Pokémon battles, but I mean can you arguably say that the gameplay is solid through and through? The layouts of the dungeons aren’t very creative, the backgrounds can be pretty bland and dull, and the fact that some of these dungeons are massive can probably turn the average gamer away. This is a problem that kinda stuck with these games until the 3DS era, so I can’t harp on it too much, but I do believe some of these dungeons could have been made just a bit more interesting.

But for what it’s worth, I do find a lot of the gameplay to be pretty fun when it comes to considering your approach to certain things. The challenge of these games reallly reinvents strategy in Pokémon for me in a lot of ways. There will be moments where you’ll be able to see certain Pokémon coming, and will have the option of taking another route to potentially avoid confrontation. There are moves that either hit multiple times, or hit everyone in the entire room (and again, some of these do feel very game breaking, but the concept is solid). And the dungeon terrain can be interacted in numerous ways to navigate in ways the dungeon probably wan’t meant to be navigated. It’s always fun to swim through water as a water type or walk on lava as a fire type. Heck, later in the game, you get a scarf that lets you walk through walls. That’s pretty fun stuff. And the music of this game? It gets its own paragraph.

This series is home to some of the absolute best video game music I’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing. While I can’t say it’s on the same levels of certain music I’ve heard from games like Halo or whatnot, some of the themes that loop in this series are absolutely incredible. I can only imagine what a more cinematic approach to this game’s score could have been like, because this game in particular has a LOT of ear worms. From the Pokémon Square theme, to the themes of Mt. Blaze, or Sky Tower (which is a piece so good, I would have liked to hear it on its own in Explorers of Sky). Even the closing credits of this game has incredible music. You can bet I am itching to hear this music in the remake. I expect nothing but greatness.

All in all, Red & Blue Rescue Team are far from perfect starts and I do have my quarrels with its story and characters, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a solid way to kick off the series. Some might say I’m a little ignorant of the fact that without this game, I wouldn’t have excellent games like Explorers of Sky, but with me, I don’t really give a lot of brownie points for being the first at something. There’s a reason as a Trekkie, I think that “The Cage” is one of the worst episodes of Star Trek out there. Granted, this game is solid so yeah, I love playing it, and if you think it’s the second best of the series, or even the best, then all the more power to you, I won’t put you down for it. I only have high hopes that the remake blows me away in all the right ways, and hopefully fixes a few personal issues I myself have with it. Time will tell I guess.

For what it is, it’s a game I look on with favor, and that’s more than I could have asked for.

It has been five years since the spinoff Pokémon game, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon was touched, and after a small break, one that many thought would be the end of these games, we've been surprised by the powers that be with a remake of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red/Blue Rescue Team in the form of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX. There's currently a demo available to download for free, and I did the only logical thing, and played it.

Now if you're somehow unclear about my feelings for Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, the long story short is that these games have entertained me so much, that I barely even touch the core Pokémon games anymore, because I find the storytelling of those games to be very lackluster and not very invigorating, where as with Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, the first time I played it, I was actually very shocked at how much passion was clearly put into the story. "Explorers of Sky" is still one of my all time favorite video games out there for this very reason.

Now the story of Red/Blue Rescue Team isn't exactly flawless, and I have a few issues with it, but that's not what I'm here to talk about. I'm here to talk about how this demo plays and feels, and I'm happy to say that my overall impressions leave me very optimistic.

I was very nervous that we'd just get a line for line remake of the Mystery Dungeon game it's based on, and I'm glad to say we didn't. While most of the game's lines are word for word the same, there are new bits of added dialogue, added to better enhance new features and whatnot. I am hopeful that there will be dialogue that enhances the story a bit, but time will only tell there. I'm hopeful, but in the same way, cautious because I don't want it to feel tacked on. One such moment comes when you and your partner form your rescue team, and your partner gives you a pair of scarves that he or she says they wanted to wear when starting a rescue team, and it feels like a cheap tack-on from Super Mystery Dungeon. I'm willing to bet those scarves will serve a similar purpose to the scarves in Super Mystery Dungeon. Don't just tack these things on, Nintendo. I'm begging you.

Thankfully, we don't have very long to wait for this game to see if my fears are justified there.

It starts out the same as you'd expect, you are given a personality test, and you are assigned a Pokémon that best fits your personality, but of course you can choose a different one if you're not happy with the choice assigned to you. Though the entire roster is available from the first game, I do wish it had been expanded. I think it would have been cool to be able to play as a Pokémon from Gen IV, onwards, but that's just me.

One thing I need to say about this game is that I absolutely love its presentation. The visual asthetic of this game is spot on practically perfect. While a lot of the animations aren't any different from those of Super Mystery Dungeon, the textures, layout of the maps and town, character models, and artistic presentation blows Super Mystery Dungeon out of the water. I love Super Mystery Dungeon, but its graphics leave a bit to be desired for me, as they didn't look much better than that of the Wii. Here, everything looks like it's straight up been painted on a canvas, and it is gorgeous to look at. I'm not one to always praise good graphics, but this game looks beautiful. It's a perfect balance of color, texture, and whatnot to showcase how far we've come, yet highlight a little nostalgia along the way.

The same can be said for the revamped music. I recently ranked some of my favorite tracks from the Mystery Dungeon games, and a lot of those tracks come from this game, and it was nice to hear familiar tracks in this demo. Thunderwave Cave was a perfect balance of revamp clarity and nostalgia, and Pokémon Square's theme was as grand as I remember. I cannot wait to hear how the fugitive theme, themes to Mt. Blaze and Sky Tower, and the closing credits sound. I'm expecting greatness there.

The gameplay feels smooth as well. It hasn't taken too many steps away from the formula we use in Super Mystery Dungeon, and thankfully, your partner's AI is just as good from that game. Though strangely, there are a few things I really find myself scratching my head at. One is that the basic attack is completely gone. You used to be able to just tap A for a basic low damage attack, and now, you tap A, it automatically does the last move you used. This is slightly disappointing as the basic attack would help you conserve PP needed to use your moves. Thankfully, the moves upgrade system from SMD has been incorporated here, so PP does increase over time, but honestly, your probably going to find yourself bringing in more elixers to combat low PP. I also don't care for the fact that the push mechanic has been brought in from SMD. Granted, you can still walk through your partner by holding B down in the dungeon, but I really wish that if they were going to include pushing, that you'd hold B down to do that instead of the other way around, as I find pushing to be a rather stiff mechanic, and there's no way to set it this way from what I can tell.

Thankfully though, combat is very fluid and fulfilling. I do believe that it'll be on a relatively same difficulty as SMD, since the damage I was doing was again relatively low, but that's not a bad thing. Though if they keep the size of these dungeons the same, expect a very large challenge by the time you reach Sky Tower. I love the incorporation of the dialogue in battle sequences. You and your partner now give little 'Hah!'s or whatnot when using moves, or an 'oof' if hit by an attack, and little celebratory 'I did it!' lines if you defeat an opponent. Little additions like this are welcome and honestly pretty cute.

There isn't much else to say at this point since this is again, just a demo, and it doesn't go very far in the story. But from what little I played, I'm very much looking forward to a full release. I like what I've seen so far. I'm very optimistic for what's to come. It looks very familiar, but shows that it's not afraid to give a little something new as well. If it can revamp a few things I didn't like about this first game, I'm sure it'll be a blast. If anything, I'm very happy the Mystery Dungeon games aren't dead. This gives me hope that we'll perhaps see a potential remake of the Explorers games, or even a brand new entry altogether. I really am one of this series' biggest fans out there, and I know a lot of my friends here are as well, from to . I know my sister who ironically got me into it wants to try it out. I'm even trying to get my girlfriend in on the fun (x3). With everything I'm seing here, there's a lot to look forward to in Mystery Dungeon's return, and I couldn't be happier to see it back.

... You know, unless Sky was getting remade. Make it happen, Nintendo! And I still wanna play as a Buizel! Make it happen!

If you've been living under a rock foot the entire time I've been present here on DA, I love Pokémon Mystery Dungeon. A lot. It's not only my favorite Pokémon Spinoff game series, but my favorite Pokémon game... period. One of these games is easily in my top ten favorite video games out there. I can't get enough of this series, and sometimes, I just gotta do something to highlight just how much I love these games. Like this journal entry. Is there any particular reason I'm talking about the music? No not really. It's just awesome and deserves to be talked about, so let's just get on with it. These are the best musical selections of the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games.

I've included YouTube links to each, and some have awesome fan renditions that are worth checking out!

25. Through the Sea of Time (Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky)
youtu.be/WKLBhjeN27o
Awesome Remix: youtu.be/b6HExZMjKFM
Yeah, we're starting off strong here. This is the theme most commonly recognized as the track music that plays when SPOILER ALERT GUYS, THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT, IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED THIS, I WOULDN'T RECOMMEND READING ON, Grovyle sacrifices himself to ensure that you and your partner can continue your crucial mission to stop the collapse of Temporal Tower and save time as you know it. If you don't know how much I praise this game for its story, I wrote a review that you should read right effing now, and go play right away. Personally, I don't think this particular track selection is as emotional as some might have you think, but with the recurring theme that you hear throughout this entire game, a bit of heart wrenching dialogue, and the stakes all present, it's enough to really be memorable for the series.

24. Team Skull Theme (Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky)
youtu.be/6Ho11u2fS04
There's something pleasantly charming about a theme that's so obviously meant to symbolize trouble. Team Meanies had a theme in the first PMD games, but it pales in comparison to Skull's bombastic "Get out of my way, wimp" theme. Just listen to that brass. It's commanding you to listen.

23. Let's Go to School! (Super Mystery Dungeon)
youtu.be/TQ1MfQZmYso
Similar to how charming an evil theme can be, the sweet innocent theme can be just as charming, like this ear worm of a tune that plays in Super when you're simply going to school. This music perfectly portrays the innocence, happiness, and occasional mischief one might have in school, and is a nice tune to listen to while you and your partner walk together.

22. Gates to Infinity Opening (Gates to Infinity)
youtu.be/HsO69f4XbNI
If you know me, you know I have a lot of not so good things to say about Gates to Infinity. It's not a very good game. You won't see me defend it. Thankfully... it's music is actually pretty dang good. So good in fact that a good chunk of themes from Super Mystery Dungeon come from this game. It's opening theme is in a game that doesn't deserve such a bombastic intro. Really.

21. Thunderwave Cave (Red/Blue Rescue Team)
youtu.be/YP0K406LcPs
The first Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games have a LOT of earworm material. This stuff sticks to you like glue, and won't ever leave you. I may prefer later games for story but I'll admit that the music from the first games can be pretty hard to match. Thunderwave Cave comes towards the beginning, during your team's first official rescue if I remember correctly. And the theme to the dungeon is very fitting. A perfect melody to delve into danger.

20. Stompstump Peak (Gates to Infinity)
youtu.be/Dqj79YKNgdI
I can't take the name of this track too seriously, but it makes up for that ridiculous name by being a completely awesome track which is of course used in Super Mystery Dungeon. This track just screams adventure from the first note. It makes me feel the need to walk somewhere.

19. Dialga's Fight to the Finish (Explorer's of Time/Darkness/Sky)
youtu.be/je9movOcDow
Awesome Remix: youtu.be/mESYM4qSGKA
This might be on my list for some of the best boss fight music out there. It's easily the best boss theme of the entire PMD series, it's energetic, it's fast it grips you, and incorporates a familiar melody you'll often hear in your playthrough of Explorers. There's a reason this theme sticks with me more than the boss fight music of SMD or Red/Blue Rescue. Listen to it and see for yourself.

18. Temporal Spire (Explorers of Time/ Darkness/Sky)
youtu.be/iw3T_SMWnO4
Awesome Remix: youtu.be/RUSEtu7OsAw
The calm before the storm. That's what this track is. You're in the final level, you're minutes away from facing the being that governs time, and you know he's not going to go down easy. And with him losing control of himself, he'll only be that much harder to beat. As the seconds tick away, you can't help but feel time slowing around you, you don't want to face this being, but you know you need to, or the world as you know it ends. That's everything this music embodies.

17. Time Gear (Remix) (Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky)
youtu.be/2s3uLEmw8fM
Awesome Remix: youtu.be/IqdmZsZTahE
Time Gears are the central plot MacGuffins of the Explorers games. What do that do? Who knows? All I can say is that they kinda help keep time in check and flowing regularly, like a cog in a fine-tuned machine. Mess with one, and things can get pretty bad. We don't know how exactly these things work or how they keep the flow of time properly flowing, but it's the intrigue and mystery, and sense of anxiety that everyone feels when gazing upon these, which makes them so fascinating, and their theme perfectly shows that.

16. Northern Desert (Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky)
youtu.be/IX4r69JvgZs
Awesome Remix: youtu.be/qKXq0yppHuE
The beat of this song perfectly feels like you're slowly pushing through a blistering hot desert with an aimless goal. You may have no idea where you're going, yet you push on. Much like the level you play while this plays. You're searching a scorching desert in search of something that may not even be there. But it's essential that you try and get the answer.

15. Partner's Theme (Super Mystery Dungeon)
youtu.be/CoQNUP9cblc
You might remember my review of Super Mystery Dungeon, and you might recall me saying how I believe that this game's partner is the best of the PMD games. And I honestly still hold to that stance. Their personality, their eagerness, their drive to keep going forward makes for one of the most lovable characters of the entire series, and this theme perfectly fits with them, fits their personality, fits the bond the two of you will form, and fits in the story for what eventually must happen. DON'T GET ME STARTED THERE...

14. Explorers of Sky Intro (Explorers of Sky)
youtu.be/FjMymhZkUVk
Awesome Remix: youtu.be/6fbhS4e-dEE
This is easily the best intro music of the series. It perfectly gives you the feeling of who you are, what you do, what's at stake, and what you need to accomplish. I just wish that the game version didn't abridge it so much, because the anime version of this song is even better. Go figure...

13. Chasm Cave (Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky)
youtu.be/yXBWSGdgl0o
Awesome Remix: youtu.be/y0mJNrPp2cQ
One of the absolute best bits from the Explorers games is when you and your partner are flung into the distant future; a future of darkness. People you thought you could trust you can no longer trust, you're in a future where your friends are gone, and your only option is to run, and this is the first bit of music you hear where you play. It's a perfect bit of music that perfectly embodies the fear that you and your partner must be feeling in the heat of the moment.

12. Hidden Highland (Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky)
youtu.be/NvGA_p9wsi4
Awesome Remix: youtu.be/7HLvXwvcaW0
Hidden Highland plays at two parts in the game. One is during the final act where you've reached the Hidden Highland inn the Hidden Land (I didn't name the place). But it also plays during one of the best video game twists I've ever had the pleasure of playing. I will not dare spoil it. You need to experience it.

11. Fire Island Volcano (Super Mystery Dungeon)
youtu.be/62ep8uK8nfQ
There are times I simply cannot get enough of this song. If you thought the bombastic intro to Gates to Infinity was good, this just blows it out of the water. The composition of this music makes it one of the most interesting tracks of the series, starting with this upbeat didgeridoo tribal drum beat, before practically blasting into this explosion of strings and bagpipes which I immediately took a liking to when I first heard it all. Much like Stompstump Peak, this is a track that just screams adventure.

10. Temporal Tower (Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky)
youtu.be/9hSrrXJkHjQ
Awesome Remix: youtu.be/ws-kAjExgME
Music for the final level always has to be good, and Temporal Tower's music is no different. It rocks. It's melody is incredibly with how chaotic, yet memorable it is. This is a melody I expect to hear in a typical metal song. With the familiar melody and the perfect blend of chaotic notes I can't really think of much else to describe how epic it is.

9. Ragged Mountain (Gates to Infinity)
youtu.be/jmJvO2ZSNBA
Gates to Infinity's finest musical selection comes from Ragged Mountain, and much like some of its other music... it's heard in Super. Why does such a meh game have such a great soundtrack? This is a major ear worm of the PMD songs out there. Every time I hear it, it's impossible not to listen. It easily immerses me in the environment, takes me to a far off forest, or high mountaintop, and I just get lost in what will obviously become a fun adventure.

8. Mt. Blaze (Red/Blue Rescue Team)
youtu.be/5x9h_8ELES8
Awesome Remix: youtu.be/PFK8hIxD9t0
This might be the music track that told me that PMD's music was going to be special. At this point in the story, you and your partner are being shunned by everyone you know. You've been accused of causing the world's balance to become unstable, and that you are responsible for all the disasters that are occurring. You and your partner are forced on a long treacherous journey which takes you up the slopes of Mt. Blaze, an erupting Volcano, and the music is perfect. It's the perfect audio to represent what it must be like to slowly trudge through a hellish landscape of molten rock and ash, against all odds, while you're being chased by those who seek to end you.

7. Don't Ever Forget (Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky)
youtu.be/mH_Zl2Rgl5M
Awesome Remix: youtu.be/kF9hKO9j184
SPOILERS AHEAD
If you know the PMD series well enough, you know that the end of each game is going to tug, if not yank, on your heartstrings. Each game will give you something to get teary eyed over. And well... I think the Explorers ending hits the hardest for me personally because, honestly... you effectively die. There's really no other way to describe it. The first game, you are taken back to your home, I don't know how Gates really ends..., and Super... well you don't die, I'll say that much. But you effectively die here. And this music that plays while you share your final moments with your partner, well has called it the most emotional piece PMD has ever done. Do I agree? Not necessarily, but it's definitely up there.

6. Run Away, Fugitives (Red/Blue Rescue Team)
youtu.be/YBXBDqaIL28
Awesome Remix: youtu.be/BrrYpSqe84M
As I said up above, in the first games, you embark on a very long and treacherous journey when everyone you know shuns you. Well, at the start of this journey, after an emotional goodbye from a few who remain your friend, we get this tear-jerker of a song as you leave your home in a likely futile effort to find the truth. This song becomes a bit of a recurring theme through the game. Like Explorers, the melody can be heard in this game's final boss music. And this plays during the game's emotional climax at the end of the fugitive arc. I don't have a lot to say other than this is an absolutely beautiful piece.

5. Wigglytuff's Guild (Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky)
youtu.be/1CyLFyT05Nk
Awesome Remix: youtu.be/2SUbG_OUt4Y
One. Don't shirk work. Two. Run away and pay. Three. Smiles go for miles. The Wigglytuff Guild music is glorious in all the right ways. Not only is it the perfect amount of optimism to embody the pink ball of happiness that is Wigglytuff, but it just screams home in ways not even the Team Base of Red and Blue Rescue Team can scream.

4. Sky Tower (Red/Blue Rescue Team)
youtu.be/tKMWMS7O50g
Awesome Remix: youtu.be/0t9fFsbvSwQ
If you wanna talk about final level music that is incredibly epic, look no further than that of Sky Tower, which is epic in more ways than one. As much as I love Temporal Tower, Sky Tower feels more like an Explorer's theme. I hear this, and I hear music that perfectly portrays the essence of going where no one has gone before. And since you're of the land, you're essentially an explorer, going where no one has ever been able to go before. I personally find the endgame of the guest games to be a bit underwhelming, but the same cannot, and will not be said of this spectacular music. It's phenomenal.

3. Pokémon Square (Red/Blue Rescue Team)
youtu.be/shZJxS-2Rrc
The music for Pokémon Square feels grand, feels welcoming, feels alive which is really saying something. It's a true feeling that cannot be captured in even my beloved Explorers games (much love to Treasure Town's theme, but it pales in comparison to this). I hear this and it immediately screams that an adventure is looming on the horizon.

2. Staff Roll (Red/Blue Rescue Team)
youtu.be/yUX4ldp7TmM
Awesome Remix: youtu.be/q79DomGTHkc
Where Explorers has the best intro music, Rescue Team definitely has the absolute best credit music, and it's absolutely KILLER. It perfectly embodies the emotional story, embodies the feelings you're likely feeling, and is a joy to listen to. This is a track I put on quite often when getting immersed in the PMD world. And why wouldn't I? It's capable of just putting me there so easily...

1. Memories Return (Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky)
youtu.be/YS4kljcJ-fw
Awesome Remix: youtu.be/RMpa3u0q7qg
This to me takes the cake for the best piece of music, and the most emotional piece of music from the PMD series. This comes again SPOILERS towards the end of the game where your partner is just remembering the adventures they had with you. And you need to remember that SPOILERS, in this game you're essentially dead. By the time this moment comes in the game, you've been gone for months. So strong your partner reminisce about the time you had together, and watching them break down in tears by the time it all ends... pass the cleanex.

And there you have it. What I believe to be PMD's best music. Agree? Disagree? What would make your list that isn't here? Let me know!

Haven't done one of these in a while, so why not?

A few days ago, my friend asked me if I wanted to go to a place called Buyback Games. It's a local video game store I've been familiar with all my life in Colorado. I haven't really gone there a lot, mainly because I never thought its selection was anything great, and I thought their prices were a little high, but I decided to tag along because apparently, it's going out of business, and I thought it would be nice to see it one last time. Well, I found a game there that I've had my eye on for some time now called ABZÛ,  mainly because it's an underwater game, and if you know me... I'm an underwater lover. I write it, draw it, and would live it if I could.  I picked up the game, because i was curious (and at $15, it felt like a good enough investment), and last night, I finally sat myself down to play it.

Honestly, I was pretty surprised. As an indie game, you gotta tell yourself not to expect the same experience a typical AAA game will give you. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, and truthfully, going into the game, I wasn't entirely sure what to do, what my objective was, or what the point was. I just kinda found myself in the ocean, floating around, and.... swimming. I was given a brief description of the controls, which were easy to learn, and then just kinda had to shoot from the hip on what exactly I needed to do. Arguably, this is the game's biggest flaw. There isn't exactly a lot of urgency to what it is the game wants you to do. A lot of the stuff I found out about, I very much just had to find on my own.

Right now, I still wouldn't be able to properly describe to you just what it is that ABZÛ is about. There isn't exactly a story here. It's mainly an underwater puzzle game... an underwater puzzle game with absolutely BREATHTAKING visual aesthetics.

No joke, this game is absolutely positively breathtaking to look at. The game does not at all fail here. There are so many moments in this game where the visual appeal just took my breath away. From a moment where I was seeing in a current next to a pod of dolphins, to a moment where I was right next to a large Blue Whale, there are just so many moments of WOW in this game. The flourish of color, the scale of the sea life, the level design of this underwater world is absolutely incredible. There were so many moments where a cutscene would happen, and I just had to bath in just how beautiful it all was. This game's art design is flawless, succeeding on every delivery with flying colors.

The soundtrack is also really well done, reminding me a lot of soundtracks like "Finding Nemo". I can't think of one moment where the music didn't fit whatever was going on. It's on Spotify, and is worth the listen. It's very nice background music. Might be lightening to it while I write my story honestly.

I guess a little conflict appears in the game in the form of this nameless enemy thing, which honestly is just a bunch of triangular mines that look like they belong in Destiny or Anthem more than in this game. The mines can hurt you, but not once did I ever die in this game, more than I was briefly stunned, which honestly makes the game lack a certain challenge, aside from avoiding mines and trying to master these underwater movement (at times, the camera angles and movement genuinely threw me for a loop, which could get a little frustrating).

But honestly, I think that's kinda the point of this game. It's not really meant to have a live or die challenge. It's vague story is arguably very charming, and by the time I finished it, I was feeling all warm and fuzzy. And yeah... I finished it. The game isn't very long at all. I finished it in under two hours. But again, for an indie game I picked up for $15, that's not a terrible length. It could have been longer undoubtedly, but to say I didn't have fun would be a lie. I was strangely satisfied with this entire experience by the time the credits started rolling.

ABZÛ is incredibly simplistic, but it's the simplicity in which ABZÛ really soars.  It didn't need a grand story, it didn't need action, it didn't need the AAA experience, and by the time I figured out what I was doing, I was having a blast. Easily enough to scratch that underwater lover side of me. With incredible art, wonderful animation, and a world that truly feels alive, I can't say it was $15 I regretted spending. I could say that replayability may be kinda lacking, but it's certainly a game to help me mellow out to. Perhaps you'll find some charm in that as well.

If you're curious about it, you can view my stream of the game here for a limited time:
mixer.com/ThrashMetallix

GRADE: B

PROS:
- Breathtaking art design
- Great music
- Fluid animation
- Incredibly relaxing

CONS:
- Not very challenging
- Very short
- Not a lot of replayability
- Occasional camera angle issues