SomeKindaBlog

Here is where I'll post random things, I guess that doesn't make it different than any other tumblr page. I am a father, husband, and podcaster. I like music, video games, pro wrestling, baseball, hockey and food. Expect posts pertaining to all of that

[s0mekindabl0g]

Top 25 Favorite Video Games of All Time

14. Halo 2 -

Halo is a franchise I didn't experience at launch. I didn't get an XBOX until April of 2004. Microsoft released a translucent green Halo-themed XBOX that included the first game. Plugging in that beautiful green machine, firing up Halo, and hearing that Gregorian-style monk chant was a hell of an experience. I proceeded to beat the entire campaign in one sitting, then I bumped up the difficulty and did it again. Despite having just played the game for the first time, I couldn't wait for the sequel to arrive in November of that same year. I suddenly felt the same anticipation that longtime fans had already been feeling for the past three years.

Halo 2 introduced gameplay changes that really shifted the pace of combat. Being able to dual wield smaller weapons, hijack enemy vehicles, and take control of the Covenant energy sword were all literal game changers. Using the energy sword is super satisfying. It has a lunge attack that will one-hit kill small and unshielded enemies while breaking the defenses of larger armored ones.

The story of Halo 2 deals with some pretty heavy stuff. Religious fanaticism, betrayal, and blind loyalty are a few key themes this sci-fi first-person shooter attempts to tackle. You control two characters, which was a huge surprise at the time, starting with Master Chief, the returning spartan super-soldier from the first game. After a few missions, you are introduced to the Arbiter, a shunned Covenant Elite Commander who you take control of in a mind-blowing reveal. Eventually, both characters cross paths and work together, but go on separate missions. The two ultimately stop the activation of Delta Halo and the credits roll.

The reception to the story wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. Many fans felt deceived by the marketing of the game, where you were promised to "finish the fight." Instead, it ends on a cliffhanger with Master Chief jumping on a Forerunner ship heading to Earth, vowing to finish said fight. This left a bad taste in player's mouths.

However, on the bright side, the online play was revolutionary. Through automated matchmaking, clan support, and voice chat via Xbox Live, it turned online console gaming into a viable option for us non-PC-owning dorks. There's nothing quite as satisfying as playing a round of Slayer or King of the Hill with energy swords only and completely cleaning house. Talk about a dopamine hit.

Some of my favorite memories are packing up my XBOX and going to my buddy Joe's place. Along with our friends Lawrence and Jason, we would plug the XBOX into Joe's 15-ish inch CRT TV and play four-payer Slayer, King of the Hill, and Capture the Flag all day long. Lawrence was a notorious screen-looker and also a habitual noob-cannon user. Most of the time, our matches devolved into the three of us taking out Lawrence first so we could have a fair fight. Those were some great times. I hope the boys read this, and I hope looking back on those weekend gaming sessions brings smiles to their faces like it does mine.

[s0mekindabl0g]

Top 25 Favorite Video Games of All Time

15. Borderlands 2 -

Released in 2012, Borderlands 2 was yet another sequel on this list that took the solid base built by its predecessor and improved upon it by leaps and bounds. Small quality of life changes such as removing fall damage, adding dedicated loot drops, and improving vehicles led to a greatly enhanced experience. One particular QOL change that I liked the most was being able to mark loot as junk in your inventory which allowed you to sell in bulk at vending machines. This was an important change because a lot of time is spent in your inventory doing what I like to call "Borderlands Math." The amount of time I've spent staring at two guns' attributes, comparing the numbers of each until ultimately deciding what to keep or sell should be studied. Being able to mark items as junk and bulk-sell heavily cut down the time spent in menus in a big way. These changes and updates helped to make a near perfect game.

Borderlands 2, and the series as a whole, has a very distinct cel-shaded art style. It's one of the most charming aspects of the game. Each area you go to has its own unique look and vibe. The ambient music has a very western-infused sound while major fire fights and boss encounters have a heavy electronic-influenced sound. Aside from the music, the weapon sounds, enemy chatter, and wildlife noise is top-notch and mixed well.

The story starts with you choosing one of four vault hunters, each featuring a three-pronged skill tree with unique passive and active perks. The vault hunters are ambushed by Handsome Jack, a psychopathic yet very charismatic villain. Jack is trying to open a vault to free an ancient monster called the Warrior to do his bidding. Meanwhile, all you're looking for is some sweet loot in the form of guns, grenade mods, shields, and class mods.

Jack's ambush made it personal and now you're out for revenge. You start taking missions from NPC's in order to build XP and use it to get points to fill your skill tree. Making your way through the story introduces you to a wild cast of characters that all have their own motivations for stopping Jack. There's a lot of twists and turns throughout the campaign and you eventually make it to the vault, fight the Warrior, and take out Handsome Jack.

The post-launch support for Borderlands 2 was insane, releasing four big story-based expansions and adding two new vault hunters. Later, they released smaller, story-based add-ons called Headhunter Packs that expanded upon the already deep lore of some of the game's characters. Additionally, multiplayer raids and a higher level cap were also added. As you can see, there's a lot to talk about when it comes to DLC, but I'd like to focus on one in particular.

Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep is a story about loss, grief, and letting go. In it, Tiny Tina has to come to terms with the loss of a major character from the main story. It does such a great job of hitting all the serious notes while still maintaining the humor of the base game. I'm not ashamed to say that any time I revisit this expansion, I shed several tears and downright ugly cry. During this time, Ashley Burch, Tiny Tina's voice actress, was going through some real-life trauma with the loss of a significant other and that grief really came through in her performance. It truly is some of the best storytelling in the medium.

As time has gone on, the writing of Borderlands 2 has taken a lot of criticism. The main critique most of its detractors have is that it leans too heavy on internet humor and meme culture. While that may be true today, in 2012 we weren't oversaturated with that stuff yet. It was there, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't excessive. I might be in the minority, but I enjoyed the writing then and still do to this day.

I have so many great memories playing Borderlands 2, both solo and with friends. One of my favorite things to do was to join up with my buddy Bryce—who is editing this—hop in a vehicle and lay on the horn till he got in. It always made me laugh even though I knew it was obnoxious. Being able to go through the entire game in co-op was so much fun and something I'd love to do again. What do you say Bryce, you in?

[s0mekindabl0g]

Top 25 Favorite Video Games of All Time

16. Portal -

Portal and it's development has an interesting story. It originally started as a project by a group of students attending DigiPen Institute of Technology. The team consisted of seven people and was discovered by Valve developer, Robin Walker, at a career fair. Walker was impressed by the foundation of the prototype and invited the students to Valve's headquarters to present their game. Gabe Newell watched the presentation and offered the entire team jobs. Valve added a few internal writers to help shape the game into a sci-fi story that takes place within the Half-Life universe. Even with these additions, the team still had fewer than 12 people on it.

The insanely small team built an absolute masterpiece, one I didn't experience myself until the release of The Orange Box on PS3 in 2007. The story begins with your character waking up in a small glass chamber and being tasked with solving some puzzles by a computer system named GLaDOS. The levels consist of you using a portal gun to escape test chambers. You shoot portals at different surfaces to avoid traps and advance to the next area. The rooms become more involved and difficult as you progress.

Eventually outliving your usefulness, GLaDOS attempts to kill you, but you escape and head through the forbidden areas of the Aperture Science Enrichment Center. As you attempt to shut down GLaDOS, she apologizes, offering cake and a party for how well you did on her tests. Refusing her offerings, you destroy all her personality cores, cause an explosion, and are blown to the surface. The credits roll and you are treated with the iconic song Still Alive. It's sung by GLaDOS and is essentially a post fight villain monologue. At this point, in 2026, it's way overplayed but it's still very charming and equally funny.

I've played through Portal at least 20 times, and to this day, the puzzles still fuck with me. It's a lot of trial and error, followed by the big 'aha!' moment—and then immediately feeling like an idiot for not seeing the solution sooner. Great for self-hating masochistic people like myself. I'm about due for another playthrough, so when I finish writing about these top 25 games, I'll probably do that. One of the main reasons I keep coming back is how well-written Portal is overall and the voice actress for GLaDOS, Ellen McLain, delivers her lines perfectly. If you haven't played it, you should.

[s0mekindabl0g]

Top 25 Favorite Video Games of All Time

17. Blaster Master -

Some of my earliest video game memories are of Blaster Master. The other games that occupy that space are Super Mario Bros. and Double Dragon. I didn't own this game for awhile though. I played it at a friend's that lived 2 doors down from my grandparents. As a couple of 6-year-olds we fuckin' suuuuucked at this game. We had trouble getting out of the first boss fight. I eventually got a copy of my own and it left my NES only on the rarest of occasions.

The music and sound design is among the best the NES and video games in general has to offer. Naoki Kodaka, the composer for Blaster Master, is also responsible for other amazing soundtracks for games such as Spy Hunter, Batman, and Fester's Quest. Hats off to Kodaka and the rest of the audio team because the sounds of Blaster Master lives rent free in my head and always brings back fond memories.

Blaster Master treats you with a sweet intro that offers up some early plot points. With some ominous music playing, we meet Fred, your pet frog. Fred is seen jumping out of his jar and landing on a radioactive crate in the backyard which causes him to grow into a giant version of himself. Side note: What the fuck was that crate doing there? Anyway, big ass Fred then jumps down a massive hole with Jason (your character) following behind. Jason finds a tank-like vehicle with a space suit inside. He puts on the suit, jumps in the tank, and is off to rescue Fred. You hit the "start" button and the game picks up right where that intro left off. Now the music changes to a rocking ass tune and as it reaches a crescendo, the tank blasts off.

There's two separate styles of gameplay in Blaster Master. One has you exploring in the tank which you can upgrade throughout your quest. Those enhancements help with durability, mobility, and fire power. The other has top-down action areas where Jason walks around and takes out enemies and bosses. Upon beating said bosses, you get those tank upgrades alluded to above as well as some equipment for Jason.

Blaster Master has 8 distinct exploration areas with their own set of on-foot levels. As you make your way through them, you get closer to locating Fred. After reaching the final area and beating the main boss you are reunited with Fred back on the surface and live happily ever after.

Blaster Master is one of those games that when I talk about it, I instantly get transported back to my grandparents den. It's like that scene in Ratatouille where the food critic tastes the titular dish and finds himself back in his childhood kitchen. Even as I'm writing this, the sights, sounds, and even the smell of that room all come back to me. It brings back memories of simpler times and I can't help but smile.

[s0mekindabl0g]

Top 25 Favorite Video Games of All Time

18. Skate 2 -

In 2009, some huge gaming franchises released their second entries, blowing the originals out of the water. Games like Assassin's Creed 2 and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves took the fantastic base built by their initial offerings and improved on them in a major way. Skate 2 was no different.

EA Black Box built an incredible foundation with Skate that turned the skateboarding video game world upside down. By this point, the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series was in a death spiral and Skate took over as the number 1 series for fans of skateboarding and games based on it.

The game opens with a very Spike Jonze-esque opening cinematic with ELO's Showdown playing, setting the soundtrack mood perfectly. The way the game handles music is very original. Rather than playing at full blast the whole time, you hear it in the world ambiently. As you skate around the city, music plays that matches the vibe of your environment. It feels like you're there and experiencing the music as you would in real life. Alongside ELO, there's a wide variety of music stretching across a shitload of genres. It consists of artists like Black Sabbath, LL Cool J, Nas, Sly and the Family Stone, Black Tide, and Public Enemy. That's just a small taste of the variety the soundtrack has to offer.

Skate 2 takes place in New San Vanelona, a rebuilt and retooled city that was ravaged by massive earthquakes. That aspect of the lore is covered in Skate It, a Wii exclusive game that was released in 2008. Anyway, the city was reconstructed by the corporate douchebags over at MongoCorp. They littered the city with skate stoppers and security everywhere. Your character comes back to New San Van after spending 5 years in jail. In the story, your skater was arrested for trespassing while trying to land a trick down the city dam.

Upon returning, you take on missions from photographers and videographers that represent the Skateboard Mag and Thrasher Magazine. You also complete challenges from well-known pro skaters like Danny Way, Rob Dyrdek, and Marc Johnson.

Before moving forward, I'd like to say rest in peace Marc Johnson. You were an absolute legend and super influential to a lot of people. Now back to the missions.

The reason you take them on is to revive your skate career and become a skateboarding legend. It all leads you back to the SV Dam, where you finally get your trick and land the cover of Thrasher.

Aside from the main objectives and pro challenges, there's plenty of other activities to do. Death Races make a return. I know they are divisive at best and hated at worst, but I really enjoy them in this game. Games of S.K.A.T.E. which are equivalent to playing HORSE are also here. Street and Vert contests are pretty self explanatory. Get the highest score and you win. Own/Kill the Spot rewards creativity and degree of difficulty at specific locations throughout the city to get the best score.

The aspect of the game that saw the biggest overhaul was its online functionality. There are jams, spot battles, and games of S.K.A.T.E., but my favorite thing added was Free Skate Challenges. These take you and the people in your lobby on a set of multi-objective missions where you all have to complete certain tricks on specific obstacles. If you've ever played Burnout Paradise you understand that these are Skate 2's version of the awesome Freeburn Challenges. Unfortunately, one of the best aspects of this game is no longer accessible. The MongoCorp-like asshole executives at EA shut those servers down at the end of 2021.

I have a ridiculous amount of hours spent in New San Vanelona and I wouldn't trade them for anything. Even without the online play, I still revisit this game pretty regularly. I delete my save and play it from scratch every time. I consider Skate 2 to be one of my comfort games and I'll continue to play it over and over again.

[s0mekindabl0g]

Top 25 Favorite Video Games of All Time

19. The Messenger -

By the time 2018 rolled around, I'd had enough of pixel art. So many indie studios were using it that the space had become oversaturated. Whether it was 8, 16, or 32-bit I had hit my limit. Then, out of nowhere, The Messenger showed up and made me completely rethink my feelings.

At first, it presents as a 2D action platformer, but you very quickly learn about time portals that change the look and sound from 8 to 16-bit. When you meet the Shopkeeper the realization hits that there's far more depth here. You are hit with a skill tree that has three distinct upgrade paths. Using time shards (the game's currency), you can boost your mobility, combat, and survivability.

You play as a young ninja who is tasked with delivering an ancient scroll to a mountain top in hopes of saving humanity from the curse of the evil Demon King. It's pretty straightforward. You go from area to area defeating grunt enemies and big bosses. Once you get to "the end," you realize that this was just a test to prove you are the one that can take on the Demon King.

The game then shifts into a Metroidvania with all the previous levels and areas being linked together. The task this time is to collect 6 music notes that are part of an ancient melody that can break the curse of the Demon King. Without getting into heavy story spoilers, let's just say things go less than smooth. There's a major final battle, you come out on top, and save the world.

The writing in this game is very clever and genuinely funny. There's a lot of references, homages, and parodies of other video games. Some of the most entertaining parts are the rants the Shopkeeper will go on when you try and open his forbidden cabinet. Similar to the story, I don't want to spoil any of the banter or conversations you have with the Shopkeeper here. Hopefully my beating around the bush will entice you to pick this one up and give it a go.

The Messenger initially launched on the Nintendo Switch in 2018 and I immediately bought it there. I played through the game in it's entirety and got 100% completion. A few years ago, I got the itch to play it again and by that time it had been released on the PlayStation. So, I bought it there and now I am the proud owner of its platinum trophy. This is truly a special game and I wholeheartedly recommend it.

[s0mekindabl0g]

Top 25 Favorite Video Games of All Time

20. Saints Row: The Third -

I'm very aware that I'm in the minority here, but I think Saints Row: The Third is the best in the franchise. I won't sit here and tell you why I think the other games aren't as good. Instead, I'll tell you why I love this one so much.

The tone of the story is a pretty big departure from the first two games in the series. Saints Row 1 and 2 definitely have more grounded and serious stories. There's still some ridiculousness in them though. Side activities like Sceptic Avenger and Insurance Fraud allow for some levity when the darker moments come around. The Third, however, opens with you robbing a bank wearing giant Johnny Gat mascot heads and it never backs down on the absurdity from that point on. 

Side activities are back again but this time they don't gatekeep story progression. If you want to level up your character, these diversions become priorities. The ones I like the most are Insurance Fraud, Mayhem, and Trail Blazing. Insurance Fraud has you rag doll around in oncoming traffic and cause as much damage to yourself as possible. In Mayhem, you are given specific weapons to do as much destruction as you can in a certain time limit. Trail Blazing are a series of checkpoint races throughout the city you have to complete before time expires. 

There's three separate factions that you feud with in order to build your empire and take over the city of Steelport. The Morningstar are corporate assholes that control the guns and prostitution in the city. The Luchadores run around in wrestling masks and are in charge of the gambling and drugs. Then we have the Deckers who are cyber hacking digital anarchists. This group is responsible for one of my favorite missions in the game. It's called "http://deckers.die" and it's bonkers. You jack into a cyber world Matrix style and have to go through several different scenarios to beat the leader of that gang. It culminates with you having to outsmart said leader, Matt Miller, in a text adventure.

After you take out all three gangs and a fourth that shows up at the end, you take over Steelport, rebuild your empire, and become bigger celebrities than before. If you had done all that fun side shit, you could have some sweet perks like unlimited ammo, invincibility, and even run around Steelport as a fucking toilet.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! I spent at least 100 hours playing this game online with friends. Not only can you play through the entire story in co-op, you can also do free roam activities like vehicle thefts and assassinations. 

As juvenile as it is, I really enjoy the humor and the writing. Saints Row: The Third is the video game equivalent to a summer blockbuster movie. You can turn off your brain, enjoy the soundtrack, and blow shit up.

[s0mekindabl0g]

Top 25 Favorite Video Games of All Time

21. Days Gone -

I never understood the massive hate boner for Days Gone. I get that review copies went out without the day one patch. I'm also aware that without said patch it had its issues. Bend Studio should have never sent it out in that state. In a world where live service games get "ongoing" reviews, it baffles me that not one "journalist" who shit all over the pre-release build wouldn't go back and play it after the update came out.

I'll step down from my soap box now and talk about why I love this game so much. I'll also cover the one major design choice I still consider a miss. Even with that, this remains one of my favorite games of all time.

Let's get the negatives out of the way. The ONLY in-game thing that bothers me is the antiquated nature of going from gameplay to cutscenes. Fade to black, fade into cutscene, cinematic happens, fade to black, fade into gameplay. This is a very story-heavy game and sometimes it really fucks with the flow when cutscenes happen. Then there's the fact that this game sets up an amazing premise for a sequel and Sony squashed Bend Studio under their thumb and said, "Nah, do something else." That's it. Two things that bother me. One of those things the studio couldn't even help and the other was a strange choice that disrupted the flow of the game, but never became too much to look past.

Back before its release if you said, "Mike, there's a game in development right now that takes Sons of Anarchy, Uncharted, and The Last of Us and smashes them all together," I would have shit my pants with excitement. Those are three properties that I absolutely love, so getting a game that brings bits and pieces of each together into one package felt as if it was made specifically for me.

The TL;DR of the story is as follows: There's a zombie outbreak and you get separated from your wife during evac. She was stabbed and taken off in a medic helicopter. You are left in the shit with your good buddy and MC brother, Boozer. You've almost given up hope that she survived, but still spend your days looking for her or any trace of her survival.

As far as the gameplay goes, you play as Deacon St. John, a biker that hasn't let go of his MC roots. You complete missions for other groups to build up loyalty and earn currency to upgrade your abilities and Motorcycle. When riding around the map or even when using the fast travel option, you consume fuel. You have to be on the lookout for gas stations and gas cans to continually fill up your bike. This is one of my favorite aspects of the exploration, especially early on when the map has so much left to be uncovered. A mission will take you across the whole damn thing and you won't know when or where you'll be able to fill up.

Freakers, this games' goofy name for zombies/undead have different types and behaviors. There's Swarmers, which are dangerous in big groups. We also have Breakers who are your heavies that do massive damage. Screamers make loud noise and alert all the other types of freakers nearby. The last variant I want to talk about are Newts.

Newts are very disturbing because they're children. The first encounter I had with killing a Newt left me feeling gross. Afterwards, I had to stop playing for a bit and come down from that experience. It's very rare that a video game allows the killing of children or childlike stand-ins. I absolutely hated coming into contact with groups of Newts. Luckily, unless they are provoked or your health is low, they don't bother you.

Those are your main points of combat and conflict, so bringing enough equipment on your travels is always a must. There are various locations on the map where you encounter massive hoards of all types of freakers. You are tasked with taking out what can feel like thousands of them. In reality, it's probably a few hundred at most, but the game does a great job of making it feel like so many more than that. If you don't strategize properly you're a dead man. These sequences are some of the most impressive things about Days Gone.

The camp leaders have so much depth to them. There's a woman named Ada Tucker running a work camp that is more of a human trafficking/slavery camp. Mark Copeland runs a survivalist camp, but is also the conspiracy theorist. He spews his propaganda over an open radio frequency called Radio Free Oregon. Iron Mike is a father/mentor figure for Deacon. He's basically the only level-headed redeeming character in the entire game. Deacon eventually gets the boot from that crew for constantly going rogue and not listening to Iron Mike.

Then there's Sarah Whitaker, the mild mannered botanist and research scientist. She inevitably falls in love with our main protagonist Deacon. Throughout the game there are several flashback cutscenes that show you how smart, tough, and resourceful Sarah is. All of that stuff ends up seeming like small potatoes when you eventually learn more about her towards the end of the game.

In 2024, I played through the entire game again from start to finish to get the platinum trophy. It was still an amazing experience and it reaffirmed my love for it. This is one of those games where I wish I could erase all memory of it so I could experience it for the first time all over again.

[s0mekindabl0g]

My Top 25 Favorite Video Games of All Time

22. Katamari Damacy -

Picture this... you get completely shit faced and go on a Miracles rant, ICP style. Not only do you not know how fucking magnets work, you also can't figure out how all the beautiful stars exist in the sky. While admiring the stars and the moon, you accidentally destroy them. Sounds like you're out on a bender with the King of all Cosmos.

If none of this makes any sense to you, don't worry. We were all baffled too. This is the start of the story that sends you out on a mission to remake all the stars and the moon. You play as The Prince and you roll a giant ball (Katamari) around a bunch of different levels to collect enough earthly objects to satisfy the King's requirements. These specific stipulations can be things like making the Katamari a certain size or collecting a certain amount of a particular object.

Katamari Damacy is one of those games that I like to say is really chill and then it suddenly isn't. What I mean by that is that you can just relax, roll the big ass ball around, and collect things. Then as the timer runs down you start to get frantic, lose all momentum, and completely shit the bed. That might sound frustrating, but it's not. This game is ridiculously replayable and restarting a level because you fucked up is part of the fun.

The goofy story, Japan centric levels, and the catchy music have definitely left a lasting impression on me. Katamari Damacy is one of my favorite video game franchises and the subsequent games did not disappoint. I love the PSP game Me & My Katamari and the Vita's Touch My Katamari, but the original stands a little bit taller than the others to me.

[s0mekindabl0g]

Top 25 Favorite Video Games of All Time

23. Super Mario Bros. 3 - 

There's only one game on NES I played more than this and that's further up the list. This was a hard choice to make because I have an arbitrary "one per franchise" rule. I am in the minority and enjoy Super Mario Bros. 3 more than world, hell I like Super Mario Bros. 2 (USA) better than Mario World. Again, I know I'm in the minority, but fuck 'em this is my list 

From Giant Land, to the Fortresses, to the Airships, every level in every land is perfectly designed. There's nice diversions like card games and the damn sliding picture toad rooms that are the source of my childhood anxiety. I'll never forget the adrenaline rush I got the first time I got the star to match up in that room to get 5 fuckin' free lives, absolutely exhilarating. 

Getting the Tanooki Suit and Kuribo's Shoe for the first time was fucking mind blowing. Those power ups were amazing additions to an already stacked list of cool shit you could get to help you through the harder sections of levels.

Hearing about how to get the first warp whistle on the playground as a 8 year old kid was crazy. "Crouch on this random white block on level 3 of world 1" sounded like some "my uncle works at Nintendo" shit and was super hard to believe. I went home and tried it and promptly shit my pants when Mario fell behind the block and I couldn't keep running to the right. Shit like that doesn't happen anymore because of how ubiquitous the internet is. I miss those days of bullshitting with friends on the playground, telling stories that sounded like lies, and proving each other right or wrong the next day. Super Mario Bros. 3 holds a special place in my heart because of moments like that.

Take the time one day and beat the game without using ANY warp whistles. Don't be a lame ass, you can do it.

[s0mekindabl0g]

Top 25 Favorite Video Games of All Time

24. WWF No Mercy -

What can be said about the AKI engine wrestling games that hasn't already been said numerous times by a shit load of people. Actually, probably nothing, but here it goes. 

When us plebs on N64 finally got a good WWF wrestling game it was fucking glorious. There was no way it could get better than WrestleMania 2000, right? In steps WWF No Mercy and completely crushes it.

No Mercy added so much to an already amazing base. Backstage fighting, a championship mode with branching paths, bigger roster, and so many other improvements. One of those was the creation suite. I spent countless hours creating wresters that weren't in the game or even in the WWF. Creating a moveset was probably the most time consuming, but it was always worth it. Getting that stuff right is just as important as getting the appearance locked in.

The Championship mode is super deep. Each belt has its own career and each one has its own set of branching paths that lead to different stories and outcomes. I've never 100 percented any of the stories, but I had this huge stack of papers printed out with exactly how to get each story to play out. Going through those was some of the most fun I've ever had in a wrestling game.... actually in a video game PERIOD. That's why it's on this list. One of these days I'd like to plug in my N64, throw my original copy of No Mercy in that bad boy and really go for that 100 percent. I'd wipe the memory first of course. Gotta start with a fresh save.

[s0mekindabl0g]

Top 25 Favorite Video Games of All Time

25. Crush -

Crush was one of those games that I bought on a whim. I was at Game Crazy killing time and saw the box art and thought "this looks cool." I had become friendly with the people that worked there and asked about it. One of the guys had played it and loved it. He proceeded to explain what type of game it was to me and I knew it was right up my alley.

Crush is a puzzle platformer that plays with perspective and dimension. It also has a very interesting story. It's about a guy named Danny who is a chronic insomniac and is basically on the verge of a mental breakdown. He's in a psychiatric hospital and uses a machine called C. R. U. S. H. to recover some memories and figure out what is actually causing his issues.

Each puzzle has a set amount of orbs to collect to open the exit. It also has jigsaw puzzle pieces and trophies to collect. Figuring out some of the earliest puzzles can be really challenging. The game doesn't really have a difficulty curve so much as it has a fucking cliff you fall off of right after the tutorial.

I spent a lot of time playing this game and I really like the dark nature of the story mixed with the bright colorful levels. It's a really cool contrast. The music is great and moody, the writing is really good, and the characters have depth. It's crazy that in 2007, a small puzzle game had all this going for it, yet nobody talks about it. If you have a PSP or Vita this is a must play game. Stop sleeping on it.

[yorickharris]

Netflix Step Sisters Movie Review | SSWL Ep. 259 - Clip – Mike Reviews a movie from the director of Drumline 

[s0mekindabl0g]

Yeah, I totally reviewed this movie, It was a short review but Rick hadn't seen it so there was nothing to banter back and fourth.

[s0mekindabl0g]

My son wanted to walk to school today, no biggie, only a few blocks away. So I have a 90's Alternative station to keep me company on the walk. I drop him off and it starts raining on me. 90's rock and a rainy morning walk, I love it. #DadLife #MusicInTheMorning #90sAlternative

[s0mekindabl0g]

Still on the grind, still sweating, still chasing a better me. #GetFit #DoinWork #GetInShape #ProgressDaily

[s0mekindabl0g]

Walking the boy to school today, here's my music mood this morning. #BloodhoundGang #HoorayForBoobies

[s0mekindabl0g]

Just because, enjoy!!! #RalphWiggum #RalphieGetOffTheStageSweetHeart #YVANEHTNIOJ #GoBanana #ImIdaho #IHeardAFranensteinLivesThere