Donkey Kong Country: The Original Four

    It is no secret that I am a massive fan of the Donkey Kong Country series of games. It will be no surprise that one day I will have reviewed them all on this blog. I have spent a lot of time since my last blog making a blog that holds just my thoughts on all of the games in the Donkey Kong Country series leading up to Retro Studios's Tropical Freeze on Wii U. Upon completing that blog I realized that it is super long and nobody is going to want to read such a lengthy blog, so I've decided to post it in installments. These are my thoughts upon playing these games for the first time and what I think of them now. The Donkey Kong Country series greatly opened my eyes to gaming and the awesomeness that certain games contain by looking deeper than what they appear to be. I hope you enjoy these blogs and if you haven't tried these games, perhaps you'll be wanting to try them out or if you have already, revisit them.

 2014 marked the 20th anniversary of Donkey Kong Country. The game that started it all. The first time we got to see Donkey Kong really doing more than throwing barrels at a guy in overalls. The first time we'd see not as a villain, but as a hero. The first time we would ever see the character as the legend that he is now. My first experience with Donkey Kong Country was not my first experience with the franchise. Nonetheless, the game really blew me away. I can remember a young me grinding away at the first mine cart level, the first real challenge I encountered in the game. From there on I realized that I was in for one crazy game. I distinctly remember a few feeling while playing. Anytime I was without Diddy Kong I felt like I needed to slow it down a bit. Not because Donkey was just slower than Diddy or that I knew that one more hit would be the end, but for whatever reason and to this day, I just felt more comfortable with the smaller and faster guy. I remember the feelings of accomplishment each time I saw the characters do their level complete dance on stage. There was no high score or achievements and that was totally fine. I can remember finding an animal buddy and feeling a sense of security that I had a powerhouse at my disposal, only to see it run away the moment I got hit causing a wave of stress to hit me. Despite my love for the game and the challenge it brought, it would not be the first I finished. Despite not finishing it first, the game is my second favorite in the whole series. 

    Today I can beat this game in under an hour. That being said, it is still a blast for me. I never find myself getting bored and every time I play though, something new happens. Either I die in a random way or I find a new way to fly through a level. Whatever I'm doing in this game, I'm having fun and that is what matters most in a game. Many of people have risen up against this game and it's sequels. Why? I honestly couldn't tell you. Some say that the game is too challenging for what it is. Others say the graphics have not held up. Whelp personally I think those people are wrong on both fronts. First of all why does a 16 bit systems graphics have to hold up to the Wii U or Switch? Last of all, why is a games challenge now an issue? Pretty sure a game by the name of Shadow of the Colossus would like a word with anyone complaining about a game being too hard.  If you have lived under a rock and never given the original Donkey Kong Country a try. Believe the hype, not the haters whom have recently risen against this series. Remember this is a Super Nintendo game and for it's time, it looks brilliant and plays better than most platformers today.

    My first experience with Donkey Kong Land was actually from playing it at a friend's on my original Game Boy. My first impression was along the line of. "Wow, no matter how I adjust the contrast I just can't see.". 

That was my reaction the first time playing. It was a headache. Other than not being able to see, the camera was way too zoomed in and me being used to Donkey Kong Country 1 and 2, ran into unseen enemies constantly. Seriously though, take a look at the image above. Even now it is difficult to really see DK on the screen. I was finally reintroduced to the game a couple years ago when I picked it up at a flea market. I got it just to have it, but with it looking like this on the Super Game Boy...

I was able to do far more with the game. I'd say the best system to play this on is the Game Boy Advance SP though. Moving on... This game I was surprised to see was not a port of Donkey Kong Country. Rather the game was filled with all new levels and enemies which was nice to see. It was also cool to see there be a bit of a story with Cranky egging the Kongs on to do the adventure on the colorless Game Boy. That being said the camera is still horrendous and the gameplay is slippery and leaps of faith occur almost constantly. If you are a fan of Donkey Kong Country, try it out, but do not expect the same experience as the original SNES game. If you are new to the series do not start here as it can be a big turn off. Still though, this game did a lot of cool original things that would be forgotten or expanded on as more Donkey Kong Land games came out.

    Where oh where do I begin here? If you've lived under a rock reading this site at all, you may have missed that Donkey Kong Country 2 is one of, if not my favorite games of all time. That being said it was my first experience with a Donkey Kong game and it was the second title I got for my Super Nintendo (not counting the Super Game Boy here). This game beat me up, chewed me up, spat me out, and was nothing short of a battle. That being said it was the most entertaining and fun battle I've even played. This was the first Donkey Kong Country game I played, and it was the last one of the original trilogy that I actually beat. There were so many levels in the game that threw a young me for a loop. Bramble Scramble, Red Hot Ride, and Animal Antics are just three names that come to mind as the banes of my young gaming career's existence. So what can I say about the game. The music, gameplay, graphics, mood, speed, and virtually anything else I can think of is brilliantly done. I felt that way then, and I still feel that way today. So many little things about this game have always stood out for me that are just so creative and fun. As an example, the honey in levels such as Hornet Hole that stick the Kongs to the wall or floor is a prime example of something the young me simply did not see coming. The bosses, while not overly difficult, were so much stronger and better than the original game that I hadn't played yet. That being said it was a disappointment for me to experience the first game's boss battles after having beaten a few of this game's. 

    Outside of nit picking tiny, tiny things such as one last level before the showdown with K.Rool being awkwardly placed, I have never really been able to find anything wrong with this game. Sure a couple of the levels some may call a bit unfair ( Web Woods, and Animal Antics are two I hear people rage about constantly), and the true final battle with K. Rool isn't anything overly exciting (which after what happens following the first fight with him, it's not all that surprising), and I'll even list that some say the lack of DK as a playable character hurts the game. I can't really agree with any of the complaints. Sure there are brutal levels, but they are by no means unfair or unbeatable. Yes the final battle is basically one more round of the first fight but to not give away what happens at the end of said first fight I'll just say Rareware was more than justified doing it the way they did. Lastly, I think DK in this game would have hurt more than helped. Diddy and Dixie are designed in such a way that enables a real high pace in any direction. DK and for that sake Kiddy Kong from DKC3 would have drastically changed the game with their slower pace and larger bodies. Not to mention if Dixie were omitted, the helicopter hair spin would have been lost and if Diddy was omitted, the game would have as much speed only as the first. If you've never tried it. Do yourself a favor and do! That being said be prepared for a game that will increase in difficulty at a regular pace. By the time you reach the half way point, the game jumps into a higher gear and never really comes down. 

    My experience with Donkey Kong Country 2 is what got me into gaming as I am today. Before that the majority of my gaming was on the Game Boy. This game catapulted my interest in gaming and I still play it almost constantly. Nowadays I can beat the game without the use of shortcuts or warps in a little over an hour. I've still got a lot to learn about all the tricks of the game, but finding different glitches and shortcuts has been a fun experience, but playing the game straight through with no shortcuts or glitches is just great fun. Rare and Nintendo struck gold here in a way I think they never fully struck again.

    So with Donkey Kong Country 2 being my favorite in the series, I was interested to see how I'd feel about Donkey Kong Land 2. Sadly young me never had a chance to play this game as I was not old enough to visit Funkoland and grab a game. So a few years ago I picked this game up at a flea market. Remembering my first experience with the Donkey Kong Land part of the series I was not expecting much. In the end I wound up getting a little more than I expected. The game does not feature all new levels and enemies like the first game. Instead, to my surprise I found myself in a somewhat of a port of Donkey Kong Country 2. The levels have all the same names, but the layouts are all different, but the gimmicks are all the same. It was quite weird to see levels like Red Hot Ride that had given me problems as a kid suddenly be completely different. That being said though, the level didn't give me near as many problems this time around. I never played this on my original Game Boy. I never really felt the need to, especially since I feared that the same visual issues would exist in this game as the first. 

    That being said, you can clearly see that I was wrong with that. Rare corrected the visual issues by lightening up the backgrounds and shrinking some of the sprites. Still though, I think the game looks awesome for a Game Boy Game. Despite it's looks though the camera, while not as bad as the first game, is still a bit of a mess and leaps of faith are still a plenty. Despite that issue, I still really enjoyed a different take on the SNES game here. It was sort of refreshing really to have Diddy and Dixie in what felt like a different adventure while still being the same kinda. 

    By no means is this an amazing game, but I enjoyed it a lot more than I did the first Donkey Kong Land, but wish it had more originality like the first game did. The level layouts are different which is great and the boss battles are changed up a bit, which again is good, but that's about the end of the positives. I would have loved to have seen some of the baddies from the original Donkey Kong Land return in this game to kind of separate the series and further solidify these games as pseudo-sequels. Also as much as I love the DKC2 soundtrack, I was sad to hear that only a few of the tracks actually made the transition to the Game Boy. That's a shame because the ones that did make the jump actually sound really cool. In conclusion, if you are a fan of the Donkey Kong Country games, check this game out. If you are a big fan of the Diddy and Dixie combo of Kongs, check it out for a newish adventure. If you can deal with the camera issues and plan jumps accordingly this game can be enjoyable, but I personally do not suggest newcomers starting off with this game. Play the SNES version or even the Game Boy Advance version (will discuss later) first before trying to tackle this game.

    So that is my take on the first four games in the Donkey Kong Country series of games. The second game on the Super Nintendo is really what jump started my entire gaming career. Kicking it into full throttle mode. Donkey Kong Country is the one that started it all in what I would call a barrel of monkeys good time. Donkey Kong Land is a game with some real cool ideas, but a game severely hampered by a just awful camera. Finally Donkey Kong Land 2 is an improvement in some spots on the original in regards to the camera, but a step back on the amount of originality. Looking at the timeline, Donkey Kong Country 2 marked the peak of the mountain for Rareware and Nintendo's work on series in my honest and humble opinion. Looking back at the first time I encountered these games I could only imagine what else Rareware had in store. Sadly young me was blissfully unaware that Donkey Kong Country 2 would be the last real masterpiece in the series. Two other monsters lay in wait in the future. One took the Rareware team into Nintendo's next big console, and the other.... is a discussion for another blog... My next blog will be part 2 of this Donkey Kong Country reflection and opinion blogs. I'll be thinking about my experiences playing Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble, as well as Donkey Kong Land 3, and Donkey Kong Country on the Game Boy Color. As always. Thanks for reading!

Diddy Kong Racing vs Mario Kart 64

    Hello everyone and welcome back. Today I'm going to be taking a look at two games that are both similar and yet very different from one another. Those two games judging from the title of this blog would be Diddy Kong Racing and Mario Kart 64. Both of these games came out for the Nintendo 64, but it was Mario Kart 64 that was the first of these games to hit the store shelves. Both of these racing games are very good, but it is Mario Kart 64 that garners by far more attention. Personally I contribute much of that to the name. Mario of course is Nintendo's mascot while at the time Diddy Kong had only seen himself as the lead hero in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. Mario is obviously the more familiar name, so it's no surprise to me that many people gravitate towards Mario Kart for that reason alone. That being said there is a lot to look at with both of these games and depending on how you look at things, one is not always better than the other.

 

    On the surface these games are very similar. Both are kart racers that see the players battling it out on the track by collecting powerups and racing to victory. Both games feature eight racers per race and a default roster of eight characters (Diddy Kong Racing has a total of ten characters thanks to two unlockables). One was made based off the massive success of it's previous installment on a previous system and the other was originally slated as a sequel to the NES game R.C. Pro-Am. Not hard to tell which one is based off the success of it's predecessor, but it is not a well known fact that Diddy Kong Racing came to be out of a Pro-Am sequel after Rare had to delay Banjo Kazooie. So the fact that both of these games have some kind of history (not directly in Diddy Kong Racing's case) and that the roster is similar in size about sums up the similarities. 

    When you go to a party and there is a Nintendo 64 in the room, Mario Kart 64 is usually near by. That is not always the case for Diddy Kong Racing and here is my thoughts on why. Mario Kart 64 is a very easy to pick up and play game. The courses aren't especially difficult (except for a few), the characters are all well known, and the game's battle mode is actually quite good (something that can't be said about recent Mario Kart games). It's a user friendly pickup and have a blast game. Anyone who can at least keep pace in the race has a chance to win thanks to last lap, race breaking items such as stars that cause your speed to increase and make you invulnerable, and lightning bolts that shrink and slow down all the other racers on the track. Of course first place is not even safe thanks to the introduction of the infamous blue shell. Yes Mario Kart 64 can get real dirty, but that helps to make it such a great party game. You can be head and shoulders above everyone else as a driver, but a well timed item could see you in big trouble late in a race. In Diddy Kong Racing though, the odds of that happening are much less.

    The way the item system works in this game is that players need to hit three of the same colored balloon to fully upgrade a weapon. For example. Pop a red balloon and you'll have a missile. Pop a second and that missile upgrades to a homing missile. Pop a third red balloon in a row and that missile becomes ten non-homing missiles. That being said, the items, even when fully upgraded, are not all that game breaking. There are no major items like stars or lightning to really screw with other players from afar. It's just as safe to be in the lead as it is near last place. You are able to get the same items, which is really not the case in Mario Kart 64 when getting a star in first place simply does not happen. So in Diddy Kong Racing, the name of the race really is skill. That's not to say that it doesn't take skill to win at Mario Kart 64, but again, there is no aid from weapons. Another thing in Diddy Kong Racing that is kind of a call back to Super Mario Kart are bananas. In Super Mario Kart you needed to collect coins in order to reach max speed. In Diddy Kong Racing bananas serve the same purpose. Coins however, do not appear in Mario Kart 64 and you can hit max speed from the race start. 

    As I mentioned earlier, Mario Kart 64 has a very familiar cast to gamers and even non gamers alike. All of the characters in this game have had at least one major title that they have been involved in and one both of the mega stars of the Super Nintendo era are in play in Mario and D.K.. It's also easy to take a guess at what the different weight classes are. You can probably guess that Bowser, D.K. and Wario are heavy weights and that Mario and Luigi are middle weights and that Toad is tiny. Compare this to Diddy Kong Racing's roster and you'll probably quickly realize why Mario Kart 64's is more appealing.

    Taking a quick glance, Diddy Kong himself is the only really recognizable character when the game came out. Krunch, the Kremling on Diddy's right I would venture to guess was also recognizable from the Donkey Kong Country trilogy despite Krunch not being an actual character in the series. That being said, there are a couple more now well known characters that are in this game. Conker, the star of Conkey's Bad Fur Day actually made his debut in Diddy Kong Racing on the lower left part of the screen. Banjo from the then delayed Banjo Kazooie is also playable and stands on the top right of the screen. The rest of the characters are fresh new faces and outside of a DS remake of the game, have not been seen since. Originally, Timber the tiger was supposed to have the lead role in the game, but Nintendo suggested that Rare go with a more familiar character, thus Diddy Kong entered and became the star of the game. So the roster was not something that Diddy Kong Racing really had going for it popularity wise, but it still featured heavyweights, middleweights, and lightweights. It also had a kind of grey area in Bumper, the badger looking character next to Banjo, who is more of a middle/heavyweight. 

    Based on the rosters and items, many people call Mario Kart 64 the better of the two games and it is the more popular of the two. As I mentioned earlier, the game can usually be found at a party where a Nintendo 64 exists. Beyond the pick up and easily have a chance at winning if not by skill then by luck, does Mario Kart 64 beat out Diddy Kong Racing? If you look beneath the surface of both games you might be in for a surprise. Both are racing games, both can be challenging, and both offer very different experiences. 

    Mario Kart 64 in all it's simplicity is mostly just a racing game. You race through the Mushroom, Flower, Star, and Special Cups with three different motor sizes as well as a mirror mode where the tracks are flipped around. Each motor size increases the speed of your cart and the difficulty of the computer racers. 150cc races tend to be hectic and a bit of luck is usually needed to come out on top, especially if another human player is in the race. There is also a Time Trial mode where you can race without opponents and see how quickly you can make it through a race. You can also race "ghosts" in this mode (the ghost is the current best time on the track). Lastly there is the battle mode which is available for 2-4 players. In this mode players battle it out and the player with the last balloons wins. That is a quick overview as to what Mario Kart 64 is. As a single player game, it's a lot of fun, but once you've unlocked mirror mode, there really isn't much else to do besides practice the tracks for future multiplayer experiences. Graphically the game isn't bad by any means and the soundtrack is a lot of fun

    Diddy Kong Racing on the other hand is quite complicated in comparison. The game has two default modes, Adventure Mode and Tracks. In Tracks you can race any of the tracks, battles, or trophy races that you have visited in Adventure Mode. Speaking of Adventure Mode... Yes, Diddy Kong Racing actually has a story. Wizpig has invaded Timber Island and enslaved some of it's inhabitants. In a panic, Timber calls on Diddy Kong to race and help save the island. It sounds silly, but it actually works quite well. I'm not going to go into too much detail here about the Adventure Mode, but I'll outline it to give you a better understanding. There are 5 worlds consisting of 4 tracks. To get to a world you'll need to travel the overworld of Timber's Island. Upon completing the four tracks you will race on of the island's enslaved inhabitants in a boss battle style race, Once you defeat it, you'll be challenged to go back through the four tracks again and collect eight silver coins and win each respective race. After that you will need to face off against the inhabitant again, although it will be much tougher. Once you beat it a second time you will free it from Wizpig's grasp and a traditional trophy race will open up for the world that has a similar point system to Mario Kart 64. In this trophy race though, the computer opponents are much more difficult. Also hidden somewhere in each world is a key that will open a secret level. These levels are not races, but rather levels that are similar to Mario Kart 64's battle mode, or a pseudo battle/collectathon hybrid. Upon completing the four secret stages you'll be able to reach the final world and rid Timber Island of Wizpig for good. Along the way you'll explore a somewhat open world, race a genie, and switch between the three vehicles the game has to offer. Yes, three vehicles.

    Unlike Mario Kart 64 you are not confined to kart racing. Diddy Kong Racing offers races in cars, planes, and hovercraft. Each vehicle is very different from the others. For example. Lightweights in the plane and car are able to get up to speed and turn corners better than any other class. However, in the hovercraft lightweights will almost come to a stop when turning. Heavyweights act almost as lightweights in the hovercraft. The plane is able to perform tricks and the up and down axis is inverted in a similar fashion to Star Fox. The car is well, a car. It handles similarly to a cart in Mario Kart. So in order to really get good at this game you need to be able to easily tackle all three vehicles and what makes them unique.  

    Upon completing Adventure Mode, you'll be invited to play Adventure Mode Two. This is similar to Adventure Mode but all the tracks are flipped around. You'll also be able to race a secret character in Tracks mode. In addition to that secret character, there is one more to find as well so that brings the roster to ten characters. For a lot of people though, all of this does not necessarily make one game better than another. Sure one is more complex, but for many people, graphics seem to make it or break it.

    Before I go into detail as to why I like the way each of these games look I want to say that I don't think either of them look bad by any stretch, but I do believe one has held up better against time. The image above is from Diddy Kong Racing. The game showed the power that the Nintendo 64 had as Rare once again busts out bright vibrant colors, and plenty of environment on screen. For a racing game on the sixty four bit system, the game is beautifully bright and full. This is really shown off as you race through towns, caves, bays, windmills, etc, etc, etc. 

    The above picture is from Mario Kart 64. Here the colors are not as bright and vibrant, but the attention to detail is there, but for a game that came out earlier, it appears less. Take a look at the trees and backgrounds here versus the above picture. They just do not pop as much as in Diddy Kong Racing. That being said though, Mario Kart 64 is the older game. There are plenty of awesome looking tracks to behold, but for me personally Diddy Kong Racing graphically has held up better over time.

    If anyone who knows me is reading this then you probably know that I love music in games. So I have to throw this in there. When it comes to the two games soundtracks I put them both on a similar level. Both have great tracks. They really do. That being said, my favorite video game music composer, David Wise, did the music for Diddy Kong Racing. Wise struck gold again with this game as I think Diddy Kong Racing has a slight edge in music. This isn't so much due to a head to head with Mario Kart's tracks so much as it is the variety. Keep in mind that Diddy Kong Racing is not just a racing game, so there is music that extends out of the tracks including character dialogue, overworld themes, and even boss music.

    So the grand question which one of these racing games is the better? For me it's really, really tough to tell. Both have their upsides and downsides. Since I do not have a large friend circle, I would give the nod to Diddy Kong Racing for the following reasons. Mario Kart 64 I have always felt is best played as a multiplayer game. While I love multiplayer Diddy Kong Racing, it just, for whatever reason, does not bring out the intense friendship ending chaos that Mario Kart is so well known for. I feel like this is partially due to the item selection and ability to never really be out of a race unless you mess up big time. In addition, I love the variety of the car, hovercraft, and plane. It breaks up the monotony of having to race the same way race in and race out. Having the heavyweights get the ability to do some tight turning in the hovercraft was a great touch and something that would appear in later Mario Kart games once kart customization was introduced. The real thing though that tips the hand in Diddy's favor for me though is the Adventure Mode. The story, while simple, is actually a lot of fun to play through. Yes, the silver coin challenges can be frustrating, but having the mode gives a sense of accomplishment that simply isn't in Mario Kart 64. Sure you can collect all the gold trophies, but you can do that in Diddy Kong Racing as well. Honestly, I wish that more racing games came out with something like this. Granted, nowadays the internet takes care of not having many friends, but still, I'm sure solo players like myself would love more of this style racing game that allows them to do more than just race for trophies. 

    In the end, both of these games really are incredible and in my opinion, both are must have games for anyone who has a Nintendo 64. Without a doubt Mario Kart 64 is the go to to play with friends, but for those times when nobody is around or if you and a friend want a more skilled based racing experience, but still have some fun items and stage gimmicks, Diddy Kong Racing takes point. For solo play, Diddy Kong Racing is my go to. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day! 

    

Looking Back at Jurassic Park for Super Nintendo

    Well it has been quite a while and I must say that I really do owe a sort of apology for those who had started reading this whole thing only for it to basically vanish. I had a whole bunch of stuff going on in life that I needed to attend to and 2016 became quite a busy year. Not trying to make excuses, but that's just the way the pieces fell. I simply did not have the time at all to play video games as well as blog about them. So needless to say if I had to pick one.... I'd pick gaming itself. Will that be the case in the future? Who knows. Now though I do have a bunch of recent gaming experiences and thoughts to look back on and share with all of you and I'd like to start off with one of the many video game adaptations of one of my all time favorite movies, Jurassic Park. 

    The game starts off with Jurassic Park having already fallen into chaos. The dinosaurs are all on the loose and danger lurks everywhere. There is no story that plays out before the game begins so you will literally be tossed into the heat of the game. Your objectives, while not really explained at all, are not complicated in nature. You need to find the I.D. Cards of the various Jurassic Park employees and visitors from the movie (Ellie Sattler's is the only one not required to beat the game), collect all the raptor eggs, prevent the raptors from entering the visitor center, destroy the raptor nest, contact the mainland, escape from the island. Doesn't sound all that difficult right? Well the game really doesn't point you where to go so first time players will be spending ample time exploring which I don't see as bad thing to an extent. Of course it can eventually get frustrating as you wander the park and it's buildings trying to figure out where to go.

    Graphically this game is a huge improvement over the NES version of the game. 

The dinosaurs all look impressive, the jungle looks lush, and Dr. Grant looks human. The game features two very distinct views. You have the sorta top down view as seen in the image above and then you have a first person mode that activates while you are in buildings which I'll get back to. I've heard some people say that the controls in this game have issues. That being said, the only issue I had control wise was during the first person segments of the game. The sound effects and music are all fine. Nothing spectacular, and nothing from the movie music wise really, but the music I think does it's job. 

    So I mentioned that the game has two modes, the top down and first person. The top down mode is what you will be in as you explore the island and collect raptor eggs. Enemies encompass a variety of dinosaurs with Velociraptors lurking seemingly everywhere. On a side note, I never understood in this game why the raptors are so numerous and such a major thing when the T-Rex was kind of the dominant dino in the movie. Continuing on... Other dinos to watch out for are the little Compsognathus, you know, the little compys that brutally killed Dieter in The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Oddly enough the compys are not seen at all in Jurassic Park, but were apparently housed on the island somewhere. You'll also encounter the stampeding Gallimimus, spitting Dilophosaurus, and charging Pachycephalosaurus, whom are also not in Jurassic Park, but are in The Lost World: Jurassic Park. There are also a few not sick Triceratops around and the T-Rex is also in the game. The most confusing enemy however to me is the presence of a large insect that darts around the screen in short bursts. Looks like a big prehistoric dragonfly or something. All of these dinos with the exception of the T-Rex and Triceratops can be killed.

    Dr. Grant by default carries a taser on him. This weapon is great for wiping out compys, but that's about it. In addition to the taser Grant can find, but only carry one at a time of these weapons... The shotgun, rocket launcher, tranquilizer gun. In addition to one of those guns he can also carry chained bolas or gas grenades. Personally I never saw a reason not to stock up on the rocket launcher and bolas. The rocket launcher kills any dino besides the ones that can't be killed in one shot. The bolas does the same thing except it continues on so it can wipe out multiple dinos potentially in one shot. the only other notable weapon is the tranquilizer gun which can stun the T-Rex for a very short time. Along the way you can also pick up health packs to restore lost life. 

    The first person mode is where I find this game to really be the most interesting. The first time I played Jurassic Park I was amazed when I went into a building and all of a sudden this is what I saw.

I had no idea I was going to playing Doom with dinosaurs! Well it turned out that this was far from Doom with dinosaurs. While the first person mode is extremely interesting, it is not all that intense. The music is pretty ominous and all the buildings have a number of raptors and Dilophosaurus, but once you wipe them out they do not respawn at all. So once you clear out a building it's basically an empty building save for the number of ammo pickups and health that do respawn. Even if you leave and come back, no new enemies appear. Personally I find it amusing that one of the objectives of the game is to stop raptors from getting into the visitor center because once you clear the visitor center, no new raptors appear anyway...

    As you explore the buildings using I.D. cards, night vision goggles, and basic navigation skills you'll encounter some control issues. The majority all circle around the movement of Dr. Grant in this mode. Some dinos are placed in a position that is slightly off the the left or right. Problem is if you want to shoot them you need to act like you are backing into a parking space because one move to the left or right could be too much. You may need to back up or move forward as well. The SNES mouse may help with this, but I do not own one so I cannot say for sure. Also Dr. Grant seems to get hung up on plants, walls, etc from time to time. Another frustration, though not control related, is that you'll be needing to enter several of the buildings multiple times. That'd be fine if the dinos returned, but they don't so you treck across the island dealing with all kinds of threats outside to basically walk through an empty building until you open a door that you didn't have a I.D. card for and a raptor jump scares you cause he was just out of your vision field. Long story short there is that it can get boring trying to find your way through a building you know is basically void of life minus you. 

    Now I don't want to spoil the ending, so all I will say is that I was underwhelmed by it. I was hoping that all the hard work I did figuring out all the tasks to finish the game would be worthwhile, but it was kind of underwhelming in the end. I'm a die hard fan of pretty much anything Jurassic Park so for me this game was still a good deal of fun any time the dinos showed up. I really wish they returned in the buildings though. Overall I think this is an okay Jurassic Park game. It is a big improvement over the NES and I think the flipping between top down and first person is really neat. That being said, I cannot deny that the game gets a bit tedious and I can see how a lot of people lose interest before the end. I'd recommend this game to any big Jurassic Park fan but outside of that, probably not too many people because I just can't see all that many people sticking it out till the end and here is why. The number one biggest flaw this game has is that it has no save feature at all. No save, no password system, nothing. If you don't know where to go, and what new player would without some kind of guide, this game can take hours to complete, which for a lot of people is a big problem. That being said once you know the game you can beat it in about an hour if everything goes well for you. 

    I hope you enjoyed this blog. I tried to do something different here with my reviews. I've got a lot more game reviews coming in the not too distant future and I may also look into doing some gameplay videos along with them so you can get a good look at the games themselves. If you are interested in seeing Jurassic Park on SNES being played, for now head on over to Youtube. If I do a gameplay of Jurassic Park I'll be sure to post it here! Thanks for reading!!!!

 

House of the Dead 2 and 3 Return Quick Review

Hello everyone. Tonight I'm going to be taking a look at a collection of two of my personal favorite light gun games, the House of the Dead. For those of you who may have never had the chance to be in an arcade about five to ten years ago, let me fill you in... The House of the Dead 2 was an incredible rail style shooter.

I cant tell any of you how many quarters I sank into these machines. Whether it was at the boardwalk or at the movie theater or at Six Flags, it didn't matter, House of the Dead 2 was my go to game. Then came House of the Dead III (now called House of the Dead 3). 

To be honest with you. I did not play much of this game in the arcades. For whatever reason it did not appeal to me as much as HOTD 2 did. Still the game was quite fun and again I spent a decent amount of money. Then nothing. House of the Dead 4 came out and was around for a little while, but then silence in the House of the Dead series. House of the Dead 2 and 3 would be remade for a few different platforms, including the PC and Sega Dreamcast, but then in 2008 The House of the Dead 2 and 3 returned to glorious form on the Nintendo Wii.

When I saw this game shortly after getting my Nintendo Wii, I nearly fell over with excitement. I hadn't kept up with was going on with the Wii/PS3/Xbox-360 at the time, so once I got my Wii and was looking at games I really couldn't contain myself. I always felt that the Wii could really excel at these rail shooting games. So I booted up The House of the Dead 2 to start and basically relived the glory that the game was back in 1998.

The game takes place in the year 2000, roughly 14 months since the Curien Mansion incident of 1998 (the events of The House of the Dead). The game starts off with AMS agent G missing in Venice, Italy. The city has become overrun with zombies created by a man named Caleb Goldman and it is up to the AMS agents to stop him. The game has multiple ending depending on if a player 1 beats the game, player 2 beats the game, if both players complete the game, if you used continues, or if you collected a certain number of points. 

There are a couple game modes for The House of the Dead 2 portion of the game. Arcade Mode is the version of the game that was seen in arcades. Original Mode is a deeper version of the game. The voice acting is hilariously bad and unchanged from the arcade. Memorable quotes such as "suffer like G did?" just scratch the surface of how bad the lines in this game are. Still it's easy to put the story together despite the terrible acting. The graphics look dated, but the original game came out in 1998, and this is a port of that game with no graphical improvements which is actually a welcome sight in my eyes. The levels of the game can actually be quite interactive. Zombies will pick up and toss objects at you, you can shoot the bulbs out of lights, shoot objects to open new routes, etc etc etc. 

The soundtrack is pretty good and holds up well in this port. The Wiimote acts as a perfect light gun. I mean I feel like the Wii was literally designed with games like this in mind. Pretty sure that's not the case, but still, the calibration in this game is spot on and the Wiimote is a wonderful controller for this game. Overall the House of the Dead 2 on the Wii is just as good as the arcade original. The House of the Dead 2 and 3 Return was originally priced at $30. Many people felt that this was too much for a port of two older arcade games, but I've easily poured more than $30 into the arcade machine of House of the Dead 2, let alone 3. Speaking of 3...

The House of the Dead 3 takes place 16 years after the events of The House of the Dead 4. AMS agents Thomas Rogan and Dan Taylor infiltrate Curien's EFI Facility Center to figure out what brought an apocalypse upon mankind. Along the way Rogan's entire team, besides himself, is wiped out by a massive mutant security guard, "Death". Two weeks after, Lisa Rogan sets out with AMS agent G to find out what happened to her father and rescue him while uncovering Curien's secrets. 

Similar to the House of the Dead 2 port in this combo of games, the House of the Dead 3 has a couple different game modes including Arcade Mode and Extreme Mode. Arcade mode is the direct arcade port while Extreme Mode features an increased difficulty and quick motion slices. 

Graphically, the House of the Dead 3 looks overall better than the House of the Dead 2. That being said, on the Wii these graphical improvements and the Wii's limited abilities cause the game to slow down when large groups of zombies are on the attack. The soundtrack is the same as it is in the arcades, but personally I think the House of the Dead 2's is actually better despite being older. 

Similar to the second game in the series, the House of the Dead 3 allows the player to choose a variety of directions to get to the end of the game. Much like 2, there are several different endings for the game depending on the choices of the player along the way. Unlike House of the Dead 2, the third game does not always feature a boss battle at the end of a level. In fact, the security guard I mentioned before, "Death", basically chases the heroes throughout the level. Later "Sun", a massive plant, attacks the player throughout the level until the heroes finally discover it's layer and destroys it. After it's defeat, the players must continue through the bio-research plant. Lastly "Fool" is found towards the end of his level. I always found that to be pretty cool about this game. 

Overall though I do prefer House of the Dead 2 to 3. I've had a lot more experience with the game and on the Wii, the game performs much better than 3 does. The random slow downs is a reminder that this is a port of an arcade game on a system that apparently couldn't muster enough power to run the game with no issues. The story of both of these games are by no means spectacular, but again I liked House of the Dead 2's more. In addition I prefer the boss battles of 2's as well. I felt that in some cases, 3's boss battles were quite long and drawn out. In particular the fights against Fool and Death seemed to go on forever in comparison to the fast paced fights in 2. Either way I think this combo of 2 classic games is worth the price tag. This was one of the first things I got for my Wii and it is still one of my most played titles on the console. Looking around on ebay it seems like the price of this game is now between 15 and 20 dollars. That is more than fair I think for the price of the game. Especially considering when one play of 4 hits costs 50 cents in House of the Dead 2 alone... You can easily blow through 15 to 20 dollars after a couple playthroughs. If you've never given these 2 classic games a chance, I strongly recommend this 2 pack for the Wii. In my opinion this is the best porting for these two games together and it will help to preserve these two games for another generation of gamer!   

Donkey Kong Country Original vs Remake

Welcome everyone to a different type of blog. Tonight I'll be looking at two version of the same game. So lets get right to it. No introductions are probably needed.

Similar to the Super Mario games that were released on the Game Boy Advance, the Donkey Kong Country trilogy was also remade on the same handheld system. Similar to the Super Mario games, the Game Boy Advance games came under some criticism, especially from people who love the original. Some gamers who've only played the GBA versions also criticize the game for it's graphics and other things. I'm going to take a look at both of these games here and try to see if the Game Boy Advance game is up to par with the original on the Super Nintendo and if it may even surpass the original in any aspect. First let's take a quick look at the game that started it all. 

Donkey Kong Country is easily one of the best games on the Super Nintendo.

Right from the opening screen seen in the video above you know that you were in for a great experience. In fact it was Donkey Kong Country that really showed off what the Super Nintendo was capable of. Revolutionary graphics, incredible and lively looking levels, and all kinds of small effect put this game way ahead of it's time. For example, the second level of the game features a thunderstorm, later levels include a blizzard the increases and decreases in intensity, clouded waters, and misty mines. All of these little things help to add to the amazing look that Donkey Kong Country has.

Visually I really have zero complaints about the game. It's simply beautiful and if you look at the above screenshot you can even see that the game actually has layered backgrounds that look really life like. The controls are pretty tight as well. The biggest frustration I've ever had with the controls is that sometimes when I use one of my Kong's roll attacks, he comes to a dead stop breaking my momentum. It's a tick annoying, but doesn't really hamper much unless I stop at the feet of an enemy. Each Kong's got it's advantages. Diddy's quicker in all aspects, but DK himself has the power to defeat enemies Diddy cant and he also has a ground slap ability that can defeat enemies and uncover hidden goodies. There's plenty of really well hidden bonus areas to find in this version of the game so you'll want to explore high and low to find them all... You may also find yourself dropping off the level in vain hoping for a bonus barrel to appear. 

Also to find in each level are the letters K O N and G. Find all of these and you get a 1-up. The game really eases you into itself as well. The first world is really simple and introduces you to a variety of level layouts including barrel canyons, caves, underwater, and the jungle. All places you'll see again. By the time you finish world 2 you'll be starting to see the difficulty rise. Personally I think world 4, Gorilla Glacier is the hardest in the game. It's here that you'll deal with intense blizzards, slipping on ice, and a crazy barrel canyon where you'll need pin point timing to carry on. From there the difficulty stays at a real good level, but I still feel that Gorilla Glacier is the biggest nightmare the game has to offer.

It's in this world that you'll also run into Squawks the parrot. This is the only of the three games that he's actually not playable. Instead he'll cart around a light for you in a dark cave. Speaking of animals... The Kongs can ride a few different animal buddies. Winky the frog, Rambi the rhino, Enguarde the swordfish, and Expresso the ostrich can all be ridden and all have their own unique styles of play. Rambi is well a rhino that mows everything down, Expresso has a lot of speed and his height allows smaller enemies to pass between his legs, Winky can jump really high, and Enguarde makes water levels a breeze. Also hidden throughout the levels are animal tokens. Collecting three of the same animal will send you to that animal's respective bonus room where you can earn a bunch of extra lives. Only downside to doing this is upon returning to the main level, you'll be starting at the nearest checkpoint and not where you collected the token.

 

Another major high point of this game is it's soundtrack. Donkey Kong Country, while I think having the second best soundtrack out of the three games, does have a very good soundtrack. I won't put it in the top three of the Super NES, but it is still very good. My personal favorite of this soundtrack is Aquatic Ambiance. The soundtrack has a few tracks that are just ok I'd say including Tree Top Town and Mine Cart Madness. That's not to say that they are bad tracks, I just don't find them adding to the experience as some of the other tracks. 

One of the more common complaints people have about this game is the boss battles. I'll go out and say not a single one of the bosses are particularly difficult and a couple of them will actually in a sense, repeat. Even the final boss of the game, King K. Rool, is not really difficult to defeat at all once you figure out his basic attack pattern. Really I find the bosses probably the least challenging aspect of the game.

Lastly I want to address what I find to be a very silly complaint that a lot of people have with this game. For some reason a lot of people do not like the save function in this game. In order to save the game, the player must reach Candy's Save Point. The save point varies from world to world in it's location. Sometimes it's early, other times it's late. 

In the above photo you can see it on the top right. Right at the halfway point of Gorilla Glacier. I feel like a lot of gamers today have kind of an odd mentality when it comes to side scrolling games. Not to go off in another direction here, but with being able to save constantly I felt like there was no fear of a game over in Donkey Kong Country Returns on the Wii. Same goes for the New Super Mario Bros series. I feel like there is no threat at all. Playing through Donkey Kong Country, and I'll even through Super Mario World in there, myself and countless others feared that game over because that meant it was back to the last time you saved. In this case that could be potentially half a world or more if you live on the edge. I almost feel like there's a lot of hand holding when after every level you just pause and save the game so if you die you lose zero progress. Yeah in theory you could do that in Donkey Kong Country as well, but in some scenarios like just entering a world, you could get to the last level before a save, get a game over, rage, and work back to it cause you had to go back to the last save point. So personally I really, really like that you don't have the option to save at will with this game. 

So what do I see as the pros and cons of Donkey Kong Country on the Super Nintendo? For starters the game is beautiful and plays amazingly. It's got a top notch soundtrack and the difficulty scales quite nicely. The cons are that the boss battles are really lackluster, difficult to locate bonus barrels where you have to take a leap of faith, and honestly the punishment of having to go back to a check point for collecting three animal tokens. 

Now to look at the game that's got a bit more controversy. Donkey Kong Country on the Game Boy Advance. 

Much like the remakes of the classic Super Mario games, the Donkey Kong Country remake on the Game Boy Advance gets a lot of flack and also gets ignored a great deal. Personally though I actually like the remake for what it is. Is it Donkey Kong Country? Yes. Is it different? Yes. Does it look the same? of course not. How could it when you look at what the SNES was capable of versus what the GBA could do... Does it play as well? Well..... Let's start talking about some of this stuff...

Donkey Kong Country on the GBA graphically is..... well.... great! Many people say the game looks like trash. Well if you play it on a regular GBA, yeah. The system with no back-light is a royal pain to work with in general let alone try to bring the bright world of DKC to life. Play it on the GBA SP which has a back-light and suddenly everything looks a lot clearer. Also, keep in mind the size of the GBA's screen compared to a TV... All of the other small effects such as weather are all still in the game and look very repectable for what the GBA could muster. 

 

Does it look as good as it's SNES cousin? No, but who really expected it to? The controls do have a bit of a learning curve. If you grew up playing the game on SNES and are trying the GBA game out you might find that the controls feel almost slippery. I had several instances where I thought I had plenty for a jump but fell short, or thought I had more running room than I actually did. These things I got used to though, but it was a bit annoying when I jumped from the same location I jumped from on the SNES and made 100 times, only to miss it on the GBA. At the same time though Rare corrected the little rolling problem I mentioned earlier so you can actually keep moving after a roll that didn't hit anything. That was a real nice change to see.

Musically the soundtrack I think is again right up there among the best of the system. Here's a sample, the main theme. So this is the same song that starts off the SNES game, but on the GBA.

Does it sound as good? Some people say yes, while I think it does sound great for the GBA, I prefer the original. That being said though the soundtrack I think actually improves on some of the tracks in the game. While I feel that Aquatic Ambiance is better on the SNES, I think that other tracks such as Mine Cart Madness are actually improved a great deal. So as is kind of becoming the theme here, I feel like the soundtrack on the GBA is pretty spot on for what the GBA is capable of doing.

So comparatively on the things the games have in common the SNES version I think is the better game, but there is some things that have changed about the game on the GBA from the SNES game that have actually improved the game. The biggest of those is that some of the boss battles have been improved... Big time... For example, in the SNES game the battle against Queen B. involves hitting the queen Zinger with a barrel, then dodging her when she turns red and flies around the screen. Rinse wash repeat until she's defeated. On the GBA though, after taking enough hits, a new phase is introduced where the Kongs have to defeat a bunch of small Zingers protecting their queen before being able to damage her. This phase is similar to the battle against King Zing in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. Other boss battles including the battle against Master Necky Sr. which sees Master Necky joining the the fray. The bottom line here is that the boss battles are much improved.

For the perfectionist, there is something new collect. Now included in the game are little photographs of enemies that you'll add to an album. Some of these pictures are pretty well hidden so much like the DK Coins in later SNES games, you'll need to search high and low. In addition you'll have to play a few new minigames that are hosted by both Funky and Candy Kong. You may recall that I said that Candy Kong ran the save point. Well... Rare changed this up here and made the game a bit easier by allowing the player to simply save at any time on the world map. This save also preserves the lives a player has unlike the SNES version. Candy's minigame is basically a DDR game with the buttons on the GBA. I found it quite annoying and really a waste outside of trying to collect stuff. Funky's function has been changed in the GBA version as well. In the SNES he ran Funky's Flights which similar to Candy's Save Point could be found in one location in each world. The flight allowed the Kongs to travel to any level they had already beaten. Now that flight can be called in at any time on the world map similar to saving the game. So traveling between worlds is simply made a bit easier. Funky now runs a fishing minigame that I actually like. One Kong rides Enguarde and the other is in a boat. The Kong on Enguarde fishes and brings the catch to the Kong on the boat. Depending on the required catch, bonus time can be gained or time can be lost for wrong catches. Again this minigame is a must play if you want to collect everything in the game. Oh yeah. Both mini games are found on each world so...... Be prepared for them again and again and again.

Another improvement in the GBA version is that Rare made the bonus barrels far more visible. There is also a time attack mode that was added into the game so the speed demons can go for personal bests whenever they want. Outside of the listed changes, the game is pretty much the same that it was on the SNES.

So what are my final thoughts on all of this? I think that the Gameboy Advance game is a very respectable remake of the original. While it doesn't have the graphics the SNES game has, it does add a bit to the game while keeping the main game intact. Sure the controls are a bit slippery, but the effects and music of the game can and at times do rival those of the SNES. What's more is that the inner collector of a player is tempted with the new photo album. The increased variety of the boss battles is also a very welcome addition to the game. Despite these improvements though I give the edge to the SNES game. It really is one of the best platformers I've played and it really has stood the test of time.

If you have never played Donkey Kong Country. Do yourself a favor. Look for it on the Wii, Wii U, or 3ds virtual console. If you have an SNES or a GBA hanging around, pick the game up and give it a shot!

Heroes of the Storm Thoughts: Zagara

Hey everyone and welcome back. I actually had a lot of fun typing up my last blog on Azmodan that I decided to do another Heroes of the Storm blog pretty much right away. After this blog I'll probably go back to retro stuff for a bit. So today I want to offer up some thoughts and share my favorite build on the brood mother named Zagara.



Zagara first made her presence known in Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm as a brood mother who would defy the queen of blades until she realized that the Kerrigan was stronger than her. She would eventually join Kerrigan's brood and help lead the Zerg to many victories.

When I got into the alpha version of Heroes of the Storm I wanted to play Zagara right off the bat since her talents revolve around spawning minions and spreading creep. So I saved up the 7000 gold and got her. Since then I've basically mained her and have had quite a bit of success with her as well. I picked up a lot of what I do with Zagara from watching Grubby on Twitch. Back in the alpha/beta phase of the game he released a nice one stop Zagara guide on Youtube which is literally loaded with information on how to play Zagara well. She is one of the Heroes who has not really seen much in the way of change since her original release, but I think she is a character that needs to change a bit because there are only 2 real viable builds available to her and many of her talents just don't have much use.

The one build is a build focusing on damage, the other is focusing on utility via increasing creep tumor effectiveness. This allows for Zagara's team to see a large portion of the map which provides a big advantage. She's also got a bit of a gimmick with Abathur in which she uses her Nydus Network (R) to appear near a placed Toxic Nest of Abathur's behind enemy lines. She comes out and begins attacking the fort while Abathur clones her. So basically two Zagara's assault a fort and the real Zagara escapes before the enemy team can defend. Problem is this can be easily scouted by a team that is paying attention.

I mentioned that she doesn't have the greatest of talent choices and I'll touch more on that in my build, but there is a reason that several of her talents have over an 80% pick rate. Despite not being the most diverse hero, Zagara has hovered between a 50% to 53% win ratio pretty much since I've started playing the game. To say that she's pretty balanced I think is fair, but still I think a rework of some of her talents are needed while not crippling her current state. Though she's seen a couple small nerfs over the past few months Zagara remains a force and that force is spearheaded by her Heroic Ability, Devouring Maw (R). So those are a couple thoughts on Zagara. My favorite Hero in the game and a force to be reckoned with too. So lets look at my build...... and maaaaany other people's build cause as I mentioned earlier, there's really only 2.

Level 1:Reconstitution 

Reconstitution increases Zagara's health restoration while standing on creep by 200%. Honestly I feel like this is the only viable level 1 talent Zagara has. Her other talents simply do not stack up. Corpse Feeders (E) increases roach health which is nice for tanking turret fire or getting mercs, but it does nothing attack wise and roaches do their job without this upgrade as well. Demolitionist is another useless ability. While it does take an additional shot away from structures each time Zagara hits it with a basic attack, there is a big problem. That problem is a basic attack is needed. So for the first couple minutes, sure it looks good, later when you're trying to defend yourself from enemies, not so much. Corpse Feeders (E) does Demolitionist's job better than it does I'd say. Centrifugal Hooks doubles the range of your Baneling Barrage (Q). Another talent with little point. Baneling Barrage (Q) already outranges buildings and if you are in a team fight, the double range of Centrifugal Hooks will never be used as you'll be out of range to use any of your other abilities and gives the opponent more time to dodge. Level 1 is a seriously weak spot for Zagara's talents that needs addressing.

Level 4: Envenomed Spines 

Envenomed Spines increases Zagara's basic attack range by 20% while also dealing an additional 42 damage over 3 seconds. This ability I would not be surprised if they gave a small nerf to as it is easily the best choice unless you are going for a creep build in which case Tumor Clutch (decreases the cooldown on Creep Tumor (D) to 10 seconds and removes the mana cost) is better. Envenomed Spines outperforms Medusa Blades, which allows basic attacks to hit 3 targets for 25% damage, in every way. Envenom, while not a bad talent, puts Zagara, who has no escapes, into a very dangerous situation as it has a very short range. Envenomed Spines can do more damage at a much safer distance. Infest powers up lane minions by 400% damage against non heroic units for 30 seconds. Problem is they just get mowed down by heroes and again, Envenomed Spines is better. This is another talent tier that needs a rework on Zagara as there is only 1 real choice outside of the creep build.

Level 7: Rapid Incubation 

Finally a level with a couple options. My favorite here is Rapid Incubation (#) which Zagara channels to restore 25% of both health and mana over 3 seconds. This talent is extremely useful in a couple situations. One is that it gives Zagara the potential to never have to go back to the base to restore health or mana. The other is that it can save Zagara from potentially fatal damage. The only downside to this talent is the channeling that needs to be done while it works. If doing a creep build, Endless Creep, which spreads creep 50% farther and gives tumors 100% more health, is the way to go in most cases. Another interesting choice here is Swarm Momentum. This ability reduces the cooldown of your basic abilities by 0.75 seconds for each basic attack Zagara performs. This makes Zagara very dangerous in battle, but also makes her a very heavy mana user with no way to recover it besides going back to the base. Volatile Acid increases Baneling Barrage's (Q) damage against non heroic units by 50%. This only slightly boosts Zagara's wave clearing ability which is quite strong already. So personally, this talent is basically useless in my eyes. Ventral Sacs also is another ability to ignore in almost all cases. This ability causes Infested Drop (E) to spawn 3 roaches instead of 2. The plus to this isn't the damage the roaches do, but the vision they grant and that they can dismount heroes.

Level 10: Devouring Maw 

Devouring Maw (R) is one of the most game changing and dangerous Heroic Abilities in the game. Devouring Maw (R) devours enemy heroes for 4 seconds. Initially the ability does 307 damage (+0.03 per level), prevents your team from attacking the trapped heroes, prevents the trapped heroes from attacking, and adds an additional 43 damage (+0.03 per level) over the 4 seconds. This is one of the few abilities that can be used on unstoppable enemies as well. Devouring Maw has the ability to completely turn a game around. Even more scary is it's ability to combo with several other heroes's heroic abilities including E.T.C., Jaina,Chromie, and others. This talent also can act as an escape weapon for Zagara. Of course you'd rather use this offensively, but if needed the maw is a great escape tool. Her other heroic, Nydus Network (R) I touched on earlier. It has it's gimmick uses such as teaming up with Abathur and it can also be used to split push which can be helpful. It also gives Zagara somewhat of a global presence. It's nowhere near as effective as say Brightwing's or Dehaka's or even Falstad's but it does offer the threat of global presence. Devouring Maw (R) is clearly the better of the two in nearly all situations.

Level 13: Mutalisk 

Back in alpha and beta Mutalisk played second banana to the grooved spines ability. Nowadays it is really the far and above best talent of yet another tier that needs some help. Mutalisk changes Zagara's Hunter Killer (W) into a flying Zerg called a Mutalisk (W). The Mutalisk hits the target twice. First for 60% damage, then 30% damage. The Mutalisk also lasts 50% longer than the Hunter Killer, flys over walls, and will not stop hunting the target until it dies or times out. Also in this tier is Grooved Spines and Bile Drop. The first increases the damage of Hunter Killer (W) and the second increases Infested Drop's (E) impact damage by 100%. In both cases Mutalisk ends up doing far more damage. Giant Killer is another option here, but it often puts Zagara in risky situations as once again, she has no escape and Giant Killer is solely reliant on the user's ability to auto-attack. In the end, Mutalisk is the safer option and again, the stronger talent when looking at pure damage. Spell shield is also an option in this tier, but chances are if your opponent sees you with the talent, they will be using their weakest ability to activate it. Again, this talent tier needs looking at.

Level 16: Brood Expansion 

Level 16 is yet another no real option talent pick for Zagara with the exception of one. Brood Expansion adds an additional charge to Hunter Killer (W) or Mutalisk (W) depending on the build path you take. This means that you can have 2 Hunter Killers or Mutalisks on the battlefield focusing one target or going after 2 different ones, either way, it's double the damage. Also in this tier is Baneling Massacre which causes Baneling Barrage (Q) to spawn 8 Banelings This can double the damage of the barrage if all the Banelings hit. That in itself is difficult to do as they can be dodged and the talent also causes Zagara to be immobile for 2 seconds. Stoneskin (#) in general is not a bad ability as it adds 30% of your health as a shield. The problem here is that Zagara does not have much health so the shield is not that much. This talent is far better on higher health heroes. Unless you are 100% dedicated to creep, Metabollic Boost is just not viable as you will not always be on creep. The talent allows Zagara to move 40% faster on creep, which is nice for escaping, but again Zagara is often forced to be off creep. There's a reason that Brood Expansion currently has a 90% pick ratio. This talent tier needs help. Badly.

Level 20: Bolt of the Storm 

Bolt of the Storm (#) is Zagara's get out of jail free card. The ability allows Zagara to teleport to a nearby location. This means Zagara can teleport out of danger or chase an enemy down easier. Bolt of the storm has a ton of uses and is one of the best talents in the game. Zagara's other level 20 talents are pretty lackluster. Fury of the Storm adds wave clearing ability, but by level 20 Zagara literally rips through waves anyway. Broodling Nest causes the Nydus Network (R) to spawn 6 Broodlings when Zagara exits the network. The Broodlings attack the nearest lane, but the ability can only activate every 20 seconds. This gives more pushing power to Zagara, but again by the time level 20 hits, pushing down keeps and forts should be close to over. Tyrant Maw upgrades Devouring Maw's (R) damage by 50% and if it kills a hero it reduces the cooldown by 25 seconds. That can stack so, 2 kills would be 50 seconds. Chances are though if you land a good maw, you'll not need a second and would probably be very close to winning. Also notable is that the death times are so long by the time level 20 hits that if you die, Devouring Maw (R) will be nearly off cooldown or at least half way through the cooldown. Tyrant Maw is not a bad talent by any means, but the sheer utility Bolt of the Storm (#) offers is way too much to ignore.

That's what I will normally do with Zagara. As I've mentioned, there are several talent tiers that need a real looking at. I don't want Blizzard to damage Zagara's current popular build much at all, but I would love to see some use in the Roach and Baneling talents to be specific. So in closing, Zagara, my favorite hero is a real monster when left unchecked on the battlefield. However, she has no escape, is squishy, and her minions can be blown away as well which I think really balances out her power quite nicely.

Heroes of the Storm Hero Thoughts: Azmodan

Hey everyone tonight will be my first blog offering my thoughts on Blizzard's Heroes of the Storm heroes. By no means do I consider myself a pro. These Hero thoughts are what have come to my mind from both playing Heroes of the Storm and watching a probably disgusting amount of the game as well from casuals to pros to championships all over the world. So take these thoughts as you will, but just remember, these are my thoughts about a Hero and they may be quite different from your own or what they actually are... Tonight I will be looking at a hero that I think is often times overlooked and if played right can be a serious threat, Azmodan.

First appearing in Act III of Diablo III, Azmodan commands the armies of Hell. Depending on what you want to do with him, you can kinda do the same thing in Heroes of the Storm. Many people see Azmodan as a pure lane pusher. A hero that can push lanes real hard, but is basically useless in a team fight, A hero that can demolish fortifications, but get squished by almost anyone. Well there is a reason that he is currently sitting at a comfortable 50% win rate and believe it or not, it is not thanks to his builds that allow you to spawn many demons of Hell to the battlefield. I'll get back to that build in a bit though.

When I was first introduced to Azmodan back when I first got into Alpha for Heroes I was impressed. I loved the idea of spawning a bunch of minions from Hell and literally plowing down lanes unopposed. I noticed me doing that though led to a lot of teamfights where I felt like I was basically useless. I'd use Azmodan's E ability (All Shall Burn) which is basically a lazer that burns things down, only for an opponent to simply walk out or stun me and well I felt like I was pretty much useless. I feel like while Azmodan has tremendous pushing power when talented into it, his missing of other talents hurts him in fights than a lot of other heroes.

That was the first few times I played Azmodan. It was fun to play that way, but my real fun began recently from watching several streamers and pros play Azmodan and that is what I want to focus on here. That fun is in what a lot of people call his Dunk Build. Basically you play basketball and the enemy is the basket... Sort to speak...

The basis of this dunk build rests in Azmodan's Q ability (Globe of Annihilation). The level 1 Quest Talent states that any enemies killed within 1.5 seconds oh taking damage from Globe of Annihilation increases it's damage by 2, up to 500. At first it sounded like a big task with the stacks becoming meaningful late in the game until I really saw how it was supposed to be done. 

Seeing Johanna and Kaelthas in particular pair up with an Azmodan early game was eye opening as to how quickly Azmo can gather stacks. With enough stacks, Azmodan is free to clear minion waves in a single shot, powering up the ability even more. I've watched Azmodans roam across all three lanes getting set up to deliver a shot to clear a wave and gain stacks. By the time the level 16 talents come into play, Azmodan can really through out some sizable numbers with his globe, especially when combined with his Black Pool heroic.By the time the game ends, that Hero who is terrible in team fights is winning them for the team with one well placed dunk that can take out multiple enemies at a time.

Azmodan's current state I think is a lot of fun. He's fun to play and it does take some teamwork to get his true potential to shine.  So here is my favorite Azmodan build. It's pretty standard in terms of what a lot of people do with Azmodan. I'll also include my alternate build which again is fairly standard.

Level 1: Taste for Blood 

This talent is the meat and potatoes of the build. It is the quest talent that I made mention of before that increases the damage of Globe of Annihilation (Q). With or without a partner, it is not overly hard to collect stacks quickly and really beef up Azmodan's damage. If it doesn't look like a game where I'm going to be able to stack as I want I'll sometimes trade this talent out in favor Master of Destruction which increases All Shall Burn's (E) damage to structures by 25% and reduces it's mana cost as well.

Level 4: Army of Hell 

Army of Hell increases Summon Demon Warriors (W) Demon Warrior damage by 20% and reduces it's mana cost by 20 as well. Early game I like Army of Hell a lot. It does a good job at helping to clear waves and get stacks for Globe of Annihilation. The increase damage is nice, but the mana cost reduction really makes the talent usable as early game Azmodan can run into mana problems if using all three abilities due to their costs. My alternate to this talent is usually Gluttony which allows All Shall Burn (E) to heal you for 15% of the damage dealt.

Level 7: Infernal Globe 

Infernal Globe causes Globe of Annihilation's (Q) cast time and traveling speed to increase by 40% in addition it causes enemies hit to burn for 4 seconds, taking damage over that time. This talent is awesome. Without this talent, the globe travels pretty slow and takes a while to cast, so the increased speed ramps up it's effectiveness. The key is to master both speeds to be able to deal with the early game casting speed and then the faster version at lvl 7. Level 7 is one of the more interesting levels for Azmodan as there are a few talents I think are worth picking here. While Infernal Globe is my go to, if I'm not dunking, I'm looking at Bound Minion or Infused Power. Really the choice is based on how the game is going. If I feel like there are a lot of fights with little to no stuns I'll take Infused Power which increases All Shall Burn (E) damage to 150% after channeling for 4 seconds. If there's a lot of stun (such as Muradin, Tyrande, Uther for example) I'll often pick Bound Minion which allows a minion Azmodan casts General of Hell (D) on to take 75% less damage from non heroes and deal 75% increased damage to non heroes (including structures).

Level 10: Black Pool 

Black Pool (R) is a pretty unique Heroic ability. It creates a pool for 5 seconds at a location of your choice (hopefully under Azmodan). For those 5 seconds all damage Azmodan or any of his minions does while in the pool increases by 75%. What that really does is turn Globe of Annihilation (Q) into a powerhouse. With Black Pool (R) you should be able to clear minion waves on your own mid game leading to fast accumulating stacks. There is little need to worry about a cooldown on this ability as it holds 2 charges and it only takes 20 seconds for a charge to become available again. The combo of pool and globe is what makes Azmodan so dangerous, especially late game where you can do just a ton of damage to enemy heroes. At this point I'll only use the other heroic, Demonic Invasion (R), if I'm just going for an all out push build and am not worried about team fights at all.

Level 13: Hedonism 

This is probably the one talent I prefer that many people opt out of. Hedonism simply reduces Globe of Annihilation's (Q) mana cost by 30. While it seems kinda lackluster by looking at it, I've found that the mana reduction further allows me to spam Summon Demon Warrior (W) more often and make more plays before needing to hit a fountain for mana. In general though, this is not the favorite of most people and I admit that Hedonism is probably not the best talent out of the options that there are, but it really works for me. The most popular one is my alternate one called March of Sin. This ability allows Azmodan to move at 75% speed while channeling All Shall Burn (E). This talent is really good and allows Azmodan to keep pressure on enemy heroes by slowly chasing while damaging or maneuvering around mercs or structures. The pick rate for me is really close prolly like 48%-51% in favor of Hedonism for me lately. Both are good, March of Sin has more impact while Hedonism gives you a bit more freedom.

Level 16: Battleborn

Not going to lie here. I think all of Azmodan's level 16 talents have some form of use. The two most useful I find though is Battleborn, which causes Globe of Annihilation (Q) to spawn a demon warrior on impact. This basically turns the globe into a 2 for 1 which there is nothing wrong with at all. This talent really wraps up the whole dunk build. By the time level 16 hits you should have enough stacks to be a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield between your globe talents and the effects of Black Pool (R). The other ability that I'll pick is Demonic Smite. This talent allows your demon lieutenant spawned by General of Hell (D) to blast non heroic units with strong demonic energy. This turns the lieutenant into a mini hero, allowing him to quickly break through waves, allowing minions to eat up the ammo on turrets and forts. If you're looking for more global presence, Demonic Smite is the way to go.

Level 20: Fifth Circle 

Azmodan has a few pretty good level 20 talent choices. My favorite is Fifth Circle. This talent powers up Black Pool (R) in that Azmodan's basic attacks and abilities while he's in the pool cause enemies to be slowed and reduces their attack speed by 40% for 3 seconds. This gives Azmodan some really nice crowd control and allows his allies to get a big upper hand if a well placed dunk can hit multiple heroes. If you take the level 16 talent, imposing presence, it's possible to reduce the opponent's attack speed by a great deal. There are a couple other really good choices here. Bolt of the Storm (number) is a great get out of jail free card as Azmodan doesn't have another quick escape. It can also be used offensively as well. Overall I feel that Fifth Circle provides a similar effect in many situations, though Bolt is certainly the better escape option. Forced Recruitment adds a ton of global pressure by reducing the cooldown of General of Hell (D) by 10 seconds and giving it a second charge. When used with Demonic Smite it can be really, really strong.

So there you have my Azmodan build. Like I said before it's pretty standard. Despite that though it is a lot of fun and if you have Azmodan, give it a try if you haven't tried something like this yet and if you haven't played Azmodan, then give it a try on a free rotation week! He's certainly not going to be for everyone, but personally I think Azmodan is one of the more fun heroes in the game.