‘Marvel Rivals’ is a new multiplayer hero shooter by NetEase games. It was released on December 6th with 33 playable characters to start with (there have been 4 more added since). Outside of skins, the current roster consists of popular Marvel heroes and villains, designed after their comic looks. You play against other players in teams of 6 and each character fits into role categories that are based on what they’re meant to do. Some characters work well with others, and it’s encouraged for players to consider team-ups for more efficient matches. This also gives incentive for people to try out multiple heroes.
When I first started to play the game, I didn’t expect to enjoy it a lot, but so far it’s been really fun, which is a pleasant surprise. Initially, I was leaning towards the option of skipping it since it’s a third-person shooter game, and I usually get tired of them quicker than other games. I ended up getting it just because it’s Marvel. The game uses well-known characters who are superhero icons like Captain America, Spider-Man, and Iron Man, and heroes that aren’t in the spotlight as much such as Psylocke, Squirrel Girl, and Jeff the Land Shark.
So far, I’ve only played in quick-play as Mantis, a strategist/support character, and I think the movement in the game is clean. The locations chosen for battle maps are cool. I’d give the combat a 6/10 for my own personal experience, but that’s likely to change since I’m still not familiar with the gameplay style and how to play optimally. I’m sure someone who actually knows what they’re doing would have a different opinion on it. Also, these types of games with objective-based game modes become repetitive for me. ‘Marvel Rivals’ is still in its early days, so I do have hope it develops well over time.
I give the character design a 10/10. I absolutely love the look of every hero, especially Scarlet Witch, Squirrel Girl, Mantis, Iron Fist, Rocket Raccoon, and Namor. I have no complaints about the designs and each character looks incredibly cool. The designs take from the comics rather than the animated shows or the films. Even with how faithful the designs are to the comics, they still have their own unique feel to them. Players who are fans of the MCU characters can purchase various characters’ movie equivalent designs as costumes.
Due to its similarities with ‘Overwatch’, a popular game, I’ve seen people online refer to ‘Marvel Rivals’ as a knock-off version of it, while others say it has potential to be a hero shooter that won’t decline the same way ‘Overwatch’ does over time.
Overall, I give the game a 8/10 for its initial release. I don’t have time to really play it a lot, and as it is right now, I don’t know if I’ll continue playing but the experience of playing as some of my favorite characters has always been something I really like.
‘Marvel Rivals’ is available on the PS and Xbox systems along with PC.
Hello, and today I will be talking about the ban of TikTok that’s GOING to happen in the U.S.
You may ask why the U.S. government wants to ban TikTok. Well, let me tell you.
The main concern that the U.S. recognizes is that TikTok collects a lot of data on users, including location, browsing history, and even device details and since it’s owned by a Chinese company, critics worry that this data could be shared with the Chinese government. The government could then use that information for spying or to influence American politics. Though TikTok denies sharing data with China, U.S. lawmakers point to China’s laws that could force companies to cooperate with the government. Many of the lawmakers are politicians, particularly from the Republican Party.
Another worry is that TikTok could spread fake news or propaganda, affecting elections or creating social unrest. Though TikTok has taken steps to try and stop the spread of misinformation, many U.S. lawmakers still see it as a national security threat.
The push for banning TikTok mainly comes from conservative politicians like Senators Josh Hawley, Marco Rubio, and others, who argue the app is a threat to national security. They worry that TikTok could be used for spying or spreading fake news for the Chinese government.
TikTok has been told to either sell to an American company, create a new U.S. controlled TikTok, or make sure they store all data safely and away from China. If they don’t do one of those things, they could face a ban in the U.S. The owner tried to file an appeal to the Supreme Court, but failed due to the concern of the information that could potentially be sent back and forth.
In my opinion I find myself stuck between both of their sides.
If TikTok is a way to sell people’s info to the Chinese government I find that troublesome, but I also think TikTok has become a way for people to express themselves and find support, and if it’s banned all of it will be taken away. People’s lives have been changed for the better due TikTok
Environmental storytelling is the use of a game’s setting to convey a story to the viewer, and is often used to give the viewer context to the game’s story. Many games can do environmental storytelling very well, but there is one game that in my opinion, does it the best in one level. That game is ‘Half Life 2’.
‘Half Life 2’ was developed by Valve, or Valve Corporation, you may know them for their online gaming platform, “Steam”, or their other games such as, ‘Counter Strike’, ‘Team Fortress 2’, ‘Portal’, ‘Dota’, etc, but ‘Half Life 2’ will always be the game I will always associate them with, but why is that? I like to attribute it to the game’s unique gameplay and storytelling. I will be going into its storytelling, but more specifically, how its first level is the game’s best example of environmental storytelling.
WAKE UP MR. FREEMAN
You, Gordon Freeman, are woken up by the mysterious entity only known as the G-Man. He appears to bring you back from a long slumber following the events of the first ‘Half Life’ game.
The G-Man calls out to you to “Rise and shine”, he begins to compliment your work during the events of the first game, and how such a task led to your resting period, but now is the time that you are needed again.
In between the G-Man’s speech, we see the testing chambers that started the Black Mesa incident in the first game, but we are also given a glimpse into an area that does not resemble any place on earth. The place behaves like a machine, with futuristic pods being transported to an unknown location as the G-Man calls out to you for one last moment.
The G-Man says to you, “The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world”, an eerie line that both references the events of the first game, but also foreshadows what lies ahead of you. So wake up Mr. Freeman, wake up and smell the ashes.
SMELL THE ASHES
You are teleported inside a train, a passenger looks over and sees you saying that he didn’t recall you getting on, but he shrugs it off as if it wasn’t the most out of place thing in the world. Interacting with the other passenger, he says how he can never get used to being relocated, but what does this mean?
If we look at the two passengers, we see them wearing identical clothing, a blue jumpsuit with what appears to be an identification tag on them. The world that we knew back in the first game seems like a utopia compared to what happens in the present, and as the train halts at its stop, a passenger remarks, “Well, end of the line”.
CITY 17
You are brought into a train station, old and grimey. You’re immediately flashed by a robot drone as it scurries away. Walking down you can see an aged man being broadcasted on a large holographic screen, welcoming you with a smile to City 17, calling it the finest remaining urban center while thanking our “benefactors”, whoever they may be. And as the screen cuts out, his smile goes away in an instant.
Exploring the place, you’re greeted by a truly dystopian sight, it appears earth has turned into an authoritarian police state, as an officer harasses a man who simply wants to get his luggage. But the most surprising thing is witnessing an enemy from the first game, the Vortigaunts, be shackled for force labor as it sweeps the trash littered station.
Proceeding through the station, you witness propaganda pieces of the aged man from before, making it seem like he’s the leader of Earth or as it seems. Multiple NPC’s can be interacted with, a lady waits for her husband, recalling how he was detained and was promised he’d be on the next train, or the train after that.
Another warns you to not drink the water, saying it makes you forget as he doesn’t recall coming to the station. One man talks to himself, mumbling how the trains are always full but no one goes in or out, while another tries to bring up the courage to continue walking.
A pair talks about the aged man, his name being Dr. Breen, they talk of him in disdain, however they refer to not talking loudly of it or being arrested for it. As you walk past, and reach a checkpoint, you’re immediately detained by the gas mask wearing police officers, one calling out to you to follow them.
Proceeding with his orders, you witness another man sitting down in a confined room behind a locked door, saying he didn’t do anything wrong. You’re ordered to enter a room, in it is a chair covered in blood, a torture room you will be in. The cop guiding you is asked by another cop if he needs assistance handling you, but he declines and the other cop leaves the room to the two of you.
In a cheery tone, the cop says how he’s going to need some privacy for what’s about to happen. The cop turns off the cameras, and as you wait to be tortured, you’re greeted by a plot twist.
ABOUT THAT BEER I OWED YA
The cop reveals himself as Barney, an old colleague of yours from Black Mesa, who immediately apologizes for his scary demeanor from before in order to act in front of the cameras.
Barney fills you in on what’s been happening, saying how he’s been undercover with Civil Protection. In the meantime, you’re greeted through a screen by a fellow scientist, Dr. Kleiner, who is surprised to see you alive after the events of Black Mesa.
The two are thinking of a way to get you out of there and to Kleiner’s lab before realizing that another character, Alyx, could be of use, but in the meantime it’s up to you to get there. But soon enough, a knock on the door causes Barney to rush you out of the room, and guides you to jump out of a window leading outside.
Once landed, you’re met by a small corridor and a door that presumably leads to freedom.
FINAL THOUGHTS
That was the end of the first level, or rather the first map of the first level, but in this single map, you are given enough information to digest as a player of the world you’re in. You’re brought back from sleep only to be brought into an entirely different world where it is clearly ruled by an authoritarian leader that uses unethical methods to make its society “better” for the people. But in the midst of this is a secret group that seeks to rebel against this system, and they need you, the player, to help them in their cause.
This, and the little tidbits of detail such as the propaganda posters, Dr. Breen’s slip up of his smile, and the dialogue between NPC’s is what makes this level the best example of environmental storytelling in gaming.
There are more things like this further in the game, and I highly recommend playing ‘Half Life 2’ to not only experience the story it has, but also play what I believe is one of the most important games of all time.
Tangotek, otherwise known as “Tango” for short, is a Minecraft YouTuber most known for being on the ‘Hermitcraft’ server. ‘Hermitcraft’ is currently one of the most popular SMP’s around the Minecraft community along with others such as ‘Lifesteal’ and the ‘QSMP’.
Tango enjoys making a variety of games on ‘Hermitcraft’; one of his most successful and loved ones being in season 9 called ‘Decked Out 2’. All of these games are made in a vanilla survival world usually over the course of a couple of months, to a year, based on the complexity of the redstone.
Tango always streams the process of making the games live on his Twitch channel as he can get tips from his very intelligent viewers in the chat. They’re a huge help at solving bugs and coming up with unique ideas, making his life just a little bit easier.
His most recent game, only to be finished and opened to the rest of the server on December 6th, is called ‘Hungry Hermits’. ‘Hungry Hermits’ is based off of the party game ‘Plate Up’ where you are to serve customers the correct food they order whilst juggling 4 other activities and orders at the same time.
The game ‘Hungry Hermits’ goes by in “days” just like ‘Plate Up’ would. There are 8 days in total, and as each day goes on, the orders and number of customers get harder and harder.
As much as I’d like to sit here and explain every mechanic in full detail, I will do my very best to dumb it down to its simplest form.
The customers are fun and customized with the heads of the other Hermits (members of the server), they can leave a little bit of a mess and all of them have armor stand animations that tell you how much patience they have left. If a customer loses their patience, it’s game over. Your goal is to get their order and make it happen before their patience or the day runs out.
In the kitchen, the basic tools are a crafter, a cauldron, an ordering system, the freezer, a campfire to cook food, and the flood room.
To craft things you may need for food in later days, like gold to make a golden carrot, you must order from the ordering system and use the crafter to break the gold down into nuggets. Or maybe you’re making a cookie, where you will need to craft it using the crafter— but be warned, the crafter is a lot slower than any player would like.
The cauldron is simply used to get water for water bottles when customers order it. Although, once in a while, you just may need to refill the cauldron if it runs out.
The ordering system is a lectern with a book on it. You choose the item you want by going to the corresponding page, and press the button above where it will deliver your item to you in a matter of seconds.
You get frozen meats like cod, pork, and chicken from the freezer by throwing a snowball into a target block. But the freezer, if I’m being honest with you, is a death trap. The freezer is a one-way road where if your partner isn’t there to open the door for you from the outside, you can and will die from hyperthermia. There have already been countless deaths from the freezer in the test runs.
The campfire, as I stated before, is used to cook things that may need to be cooked. Stuff like raw meat or potatoes.
The flood room is how to prevent a flood hazard from happening. An alarm will go off, then one player must stand on a pressure plate near the freezer while the other player must run to the complete opposite end and turn a valve to stop the flood. If you fail to do so in time, the kitchen will be flooded with water, causing a mild inconvenience.
Another hazard is rats. Underneath the restaurant are running hopper minecarts that will suck up any items thrown onto the floor. If sucked up, it will trigger the rat hazard. The rats are really just silverfish, but either way, they’ll drop down into your kitchen and attack you.
The last hazard as of December 10th (Tango is prone to add more updates later on) is the phone. The phone will occasionally ring, if you fail to answer it after the 4th ring, you will lose 4 points from your overall score. Another mechanic for the phone is that you can ring it on your own accord which will make customers arrive to your restaurant faster, making it harder but you will gain more points.
As you work in the kitchen, you may also work in the back area that is the farm. On the farm, you’ll do farm-y things. You’ll collect wheat, carrots, beetroot, melon, pumpkin, potato— basically 70% of the food traffic relies on you. Get it to your partner running the front house, and you can retreat back to your barn and get ready for future orders or work on the load of current orders.
Tango has always had a knack for creating incredible games in vanilla Minecraft, and as much as I also love ‘Decked Out 2’ as much as the next fan, I personally really like ‘Hungry Hermits’ just a bit more.
‘Hungry Hermits’ uses the armor stand mod the server has installed to its fullest extent, along with the disc, note block, and player head mod. The choice of making it a solely multiplayer game is just so enjoyable. I think I like this game a bit more because I really enjoy watching the Hermits interact with each other, it’s really the only reason why I watch ‘Hermitcraft’, and in ‘Decked Out 2’ it was a solely single player game.
As I said before, Tango has only just rendered it playable and open to play on the server, meaning that you can still catch livestreams and episodes actively coming out!
Tango usually uploads the replays of his streams to his second channel “Tangotek2” if you can’t catch them live on your own time. Plus, you’ll really only find Hermits playing rounds of ‘Hungry Hermits’ on Tangotek2 because it’s often easier to just stream it rather than having a 2 hour episode on the main channel. This also happened with ‘Decked Out 2’ where he just streamed all of the runs instead of making episodes— I’m really starting to wonder what the real main channel is.
Visit Tangotek or Tangotek2 for way more information than what I gave you, and have fun watching Hermits play ‘Hungry Hermits’!
For about the last year, ‘Sky: Children of the Light’ has been my favorite mobile game.
It’s a game where you have to find and gather winged light (which take the form of glowing children). After acquiring your first winged light, you form a cape and your first wedge. This wedge is the amount of times you can flap in a row before having to recharge when flying. The amount of times you can flap is displayed on your cape to other players. The cape in this game is key when flying, without one, you can’t fly. Flying is crucial in many parts of this game; you may not be able to get to certain places if you can’t fly. The animation for the capes in this game mimics the way wings flap.
You can gather more winged light as you explore the world and discover new places. In each place, there’s a shrine where you can log down the new area and add it to your map.
There’s a reason why this game is called ‘Children of the Light’, in the game, there are supposedly no adults (they have all passed). All the adults are spirits. Spirits are another important aspect in this game. As you find more spirits, you get to relive a short but important part of their life. After finding out their story, you gain an emote, or in some cases, a new voice (The voice changes every time you “honk”).
Honking can be used to find other players in the game or to summon nearby butterflies. These butterflies can be used to recharge your cape. Another use for honking is to flip over crabs. The crabs in the game are hostile and will attack you, “yelling” to flip them over keeps them from hurting you.
Throughout the game, you’ll find red candles with bits of light/wax floating above the flame. You can collect these and use the wax to forge candles; these candles are your main form of currency in Sky. You can use it to buy cosmetics from the spirits or from temple elders. Cosmetics include pants, masks, hair, capes, and props.
In this game, you can light up other players with your candle to see what they look like; it’s kind of like saying hi. After this, you can spend a candle to either talk to them on a nearby bench (if available) or friend them. If you don’t want to spend a candle to friend someone, you can send them a code which then can be typed into a bar (in settings).
Sky has annual events that last a few weeks. During this time, you can buy limited time cosmetics and props. You can also do this with the seasons Sky hosts. The seasons are like events but last longer and have more things you can buy.
Lastly, there are different realms you can explore. The last one being “The Eye of Eden”. Here, you climb a mountain before giving your winged light away to statues. I think these statues represent fallen skykids. After giving away all your winged light, you die and then get reborn. Part of getting reborn means you get ascended candles, a more difficult form of currency to acquire.
After getting reborn, you will lose all your winged light but you will also gain a new winged light which will be added onto the total count after you regather all your winged light again.
After reading this, I hope you’ll consider playing ‘Sky: Children of the Light’. I would give it a 4.5/5.
You can play ‘Sky: Children of the Light’ on multiple platforms including, the Switch, Steam, and mobile devices (Android & Apple IOS).
‘Marvel Rivals’ is a 3rd person shooter game developed by NetEase Games. On December 6th, it was released on Xbox, PlayStation, and Windows. On release, ‘Marvel Rivals’ has 33 Marvel comic characters to play as, including the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl.
Doreen Green, better known as Squirrel Girl, is a Canadian Marvel heroine in New York who debuted back in 1991. In her first appearance, she is a girl who has various squirrel-like abilities caused by a genetic mutation. Some of her powers are super strength, a strong bite force, retractable claws, and she’s good at tracking things. Similar to other characters like Wolverine, she has regenerative healing.
Squirrel Girl is a character readers find funny, as on her first appearance in the comics, she’s a 14-year-old who teams up with Iron Man, saves him, and defeats Doctor Doom. She didn’t defeat a Doombot, she defeated the actual Doctor Doom. Victor von Doom is one of the most threatening villains in the comics, so people found it a bit odd how a teenager with no training managed to beat him.
Unfortunately for Doreen, Iron Man did not take her as a sidekick and he tells her she’s too young to be a superhero.
Being a character who’s powers surround talking to squirrels and being a squirrel, she’s considered a silly and lighthearted hero. Her beating numerous characters who are definitely stronger than her is a recurring joke. They often work around the strength difference by making the fights off-page/only showing the aftermath. One of her most iconic victories would be her against Thanos, though later it’s revealed by Thanos she actually defeated a perfect clone of him (even though the Thanos who said that is a clone himself with altered memory). Another popular victory would be her convincing Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds, not to eat earth.
Squirrel Girl’s strength level has been a topic of discussion and personally, even though I’m not into her in the comics, she’s been one of my favorite characters since I played her in Lego Marvel Superheroes (2013) as a little kid. I haven’t played ‘Marvel Rivals’ yet but when I do, I’m planning on main-ing Doreen.
Yet again, another ‘Life Series’ article, but this one should be interesting! In the ‘Life Series’, some members are given what fans call “curses”. Curses are what fans discover are repeating to a member in each season, like how Jimmy is always the first one out (putting aside the past 2 seasons).
These curses can get complicated and may sometimes make no sense, so I’m here to save the day and explain them all to you to the best of my abilities!
This one was explained in a past article about “fan designs”, but it’s back again for this article too: the Canary Curse. Jimmy, as spoken about above, has somehow been on a streak of being the first member out for 4 seasons in a row! It’s impressive, really.
The Canary Curse is in reference to when coal miners would bring canaries into caves to warn them of gas/oil leaks (danger) as canaries are very sensitive to gas/oil leaks and would die first before the coal miners. Jimmy, the canary, would die before all of the other members, warning them that things are soon to be in utter chaos.
In connection with the Canary Curse, Mumbo has something called the Coal Miner Curse.
Mumbo is the coal miner to Jimmy’s canary, as in every season Mumbo has been in— minus the most recent one, Mumbo has managed to die minutes after Jimmy. I really hope that makes sense because I’m not sure how else to explain this one.
Grian has the Widow’s Curse. This curse was assigned to him because Grian has always ended up betraying his close teammates or being the direct cause of their death. For example: in ‘3rd Life’, Grian and Scar, who had been allied and teaming together throughout the entire season, had a fight to the death, where Grian won, making him the winner of ‘3rd Life’. In ‘Last Life’, Grian and Mumbo had a dispute, sparking a fight. Grian, knowing full well that Mumbo was the one that he had the strongest connection to in all of his alliances, goes on to take Mumbo’s last life.
These next few ones aren’t really well known throughout the ‘Life Series’ community, as they’re not as “official” as the others, but I thought it’d be fun to include them too.
Impulse has the Winners Ticket Curse. Impulse, in more than half of the seasons, has managed to get his last life taken by the soon to be winner of the season. In ‘Last Life’, Impulse gets shot by Scott at his base, losing his last life and forcing him out of the season. Scott will then later on that same episode go on to win the whole thing. In ‘Limited Life’, Impulse, Scott, and Martyn were discussing a way to have an even deathmatch. Martyn would then go on a killing spree, killing Scott first, and Impulse second. Making Martyn the official winner of ‘Limited Life’, and rendering Impulse as second place.
“Winners Ticket Curse” as in whoever takes his last life, is almost a guaranteed season win. If I’m being totally honest, if my curse was basically the saying “so close, yet so far” I think I’d lose my mind.
Ren has the Blinded Curse. He often dies to things that he doesn’t see. This can mean a trap, an arrow to the back, an axe to the head, or a stone to the skull. Whatever it is, it’s something that he hadn’t seen.
There are many more curses to be given out to the members, some of them blessings. Of course these curses “aren’t real” but they are fun, aren’t they? They’re just things fans came up with to keep themselves entertained and keep a creative mind.
Hello, hello, welcome back to JOYSTiCK Reviews, and today I have a special treat for you: a 2-parter episode! Upon closer inspection of the title, you’ll likely notice a sly “A” next to the episode count. That’s not a misspelling, but instead a notice for you to check out the companion article to this, instead with a “B” next to the 14, along with a new phrase.
Before diving into today’s topic (‘Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’) I should specify that this article will be about general gameplay and characters, while the “B” article will revolve around the game’s “World of Light” campaign, and related items of interest to it. There may be some overlap between the 2 articles, but for the most part they’re separate entities, conjoined at the hip. I do hope you read part 2, right after this 1st part, of course.
Anyways, with that context out of the way, you might be wondering why I’m currently standing in the middle of a field.
Image by Keith Evans via Wikimedia Commons
I don’t know, really; it’s a slow week, and seeing as comedy’s a dying art form, a common substitute for true humor is to put a character in a random place, then have both them and the writers flail their arms around in desperation (just ask SNL). Also, it just so happens that a witch in a gingerbread house beat me up, inflicted a magical curse on me, and then teleported my unconscious body thousands of miles from my house, which explains the odd choice of locale. And the antlers.
…
Boy, it’s hot out here.
…
Anyways, I’ve got nothing better to do than hitchhike home, so I might as well flap my gums a bit longer. Prior to my home invasion of a candy house and subsequent banishment from Minnesota, I was playing a lot of ‘Super Smash Bros. Ultimate,’ a fighting game exclusive for the Nintendo Switch. The 5th game (or 6th, depending on who you ask) in the series, its primary claim-to-fame is its character roster, containing over 80 different fighters to choose from. With every past character in the series returning, this is an extraordinary feat of game design, resulting in the title being a true celebration of video game history.
Meanwhile, I’ve been a little late to the party: I only picked up the game this year. So now, just over 3 years after the final DLC character dropped, I have to ask this: does the game hold up? Is ‘Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’ still the ultimate package, or have the sands of time eroded the marble column this bastion of human effort once rested upon? Like clockwork, let’s find out.
To begin, let’s review the basics: ‘Ultimate’ is a 2D fighting game where your main objective is to knock opponents off a stage using various attacks and button combos. When attacking a foe, instead of losing health, they take a certain percentage of damage. This percentage, located at the bottom of the screen, causes them to take higher knockback as they stomach more and more hits.
The title’s mostly designed around multiplayer, similar to most fighting games. You can play in local or online matches, and in multiple different formats. You could have, say, a 1-on-1 match, a 2-on-2 team match, or a battle royale-style match where a group of players duke it out without alliances.
This isn’t to say anything of the game’s other types of fun. Like I mentioned earlier, the “World of Light” campaign offers bosses, collectibles, and a storyline to follow. There’s also Classic Mode, where each character in the game has their own individual campaign where they fight some pre-selected AI fighters, play through a bonus obstacle course-like mode, and fight 1 of the game’s bosses at the end. Then, there’s the ability to relisten to music, create your own custom stages, practice fighting against CPU’s…there’s a lot!
Before going into any of the extra junk, I believe it’s best to give my impressions of fighting, the main crux of gameplay as a whole: it’s wonderful. I’ve dabbled in fighting games in the past, but ‘Ultimate,’ as well as the rest of the ‘Super Smash Bros.’ series, excel in tight matches and smooth controls that help aid the flow of combat with other players.
There’s a lot of different control types, so I’ll list them here. These might not be all of them, but I’ve tried to culminate as many as I can remember into a handy-dandy chart to reference when reading this article:
Movement– Left Joystick (Up, Down, Forward). Sprinting, running, and walking options available. Tilt up to jump, and down to pass through a thin-enough platform.
Standard Attacks– A Button (Neutral, Forward, Up, Down).
Standard Air Attacks– A Button when midair (Neutral, Forward, Up, Down, Back).
Dash Attacks– A Button while sprinting forward.
Get-Up and Ledge Attacks– A Button while getting up from being knocked down or hanging off a ledge, respectively.
Special Attacks– B Button (Neutral, Forward, Up Down).
Special Air Attacks– B Button when midair (Neutral, Forward, Up Down). These attacks are often identical to their grounded variants.
Grabs and Throws– L or R Button to grab, A to jab, and the right Joystick to throw (Up, Down, Forward, Behind).
Jumping– X or Y button, or Left Joystick Up to jump, with most characters getting 2 max (some more). Also, most characters’ Up Special functions as a third ascension option.
Shielding– L, R, ZL, or ZL to shield, with the former 2 options activating after the grab animation plays. The shield functions as a way to block damage, but is depleted and shrunken per hit. Does not protect against grabs.
Dashing– While shielding, tilt the left stick.
“Smash” Attacks– Right Joystick (Up, Down, Forward). Can be held for a short amount of time.
Taunts– D-Pad. Pressing the up, left and right, or down buttons features 3 different taunts for each fighter. Rarely, taunts can damage opponents.
Short Hop Attack– Quick Press of X or Y for a shorter jump than normal. Combine with A Button for Short Hop Attack.
Final Smash– Once a gauge near your percentage icon is fully-charged, press B without tilting the stick to prepare a powerful, all-out attack that often K.O.’s the opposing player. The caveat, however, is that most smashes for each character rely on timing and physically connecting with the foe.
Hopefully, that gets you acquainted with what we’re dealing with here. Virtually every fight you have, computer or real player, will be unique each and every time. The vast amount of moves, while maybe not anything radical compared to other fighting games like ‘Tekken’ or ‘Street Fighter,’ is certainly ripe with creativity to be found from its user base.
It’s hard to critique this system, really: the games have abided by these controls for decades, so if it works, then what’s to complain about? If there was anything really heinous about it, then it probably would’ve been addressed by now, in my opinion. So yeah: fighting’s great, matches are awesome. I’ll be talking more about stuff like items, assist trophies, and spirits during part 2, so you’ll have to wait for my stances on those later.
I will say that I think that a more viable, more easily-accessible tutorial for your full moveset in game would be great. If you head to ‘Ultimate’s’ official website, clicking on the “How to Smash” prompt takes you to a page that basically sums up fighting as “hit the opponent off the stage to win!” Unless your age is in the triple digits, I think that telling someone this is practically-pointless. Like, imagine if you go to college for, say, astrology, and your first class there just has the professor say “um, just look, like, UP , ya loons!” In-game, there is a video that shows basic controls, but is only accessible by going to…the cutscenes menu?
This is a weird fluke in the title’s accessibility measures that makes me question things, but really, it’s a small nitpick. But with that aside, I think my verdict for the titular fighting in this fighting game is clear: it rocks. Good controls, good learning curve for both new players and old, and an impressive assortment of fighters to choose from makes fighting others always engaging. And speaking of fighters…
I think that talking about combat leads us to ‘Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s’ infantry of potential paladins, and what a roster it is! 82 characters, each* with unique movesets for millions of players to pick their poison with. This is a ludicrous total, and requires some delving into in order to examine the roster’s highs and lows for me.
First, the * next to “each” is no typo: “Echo” Fighters, a concept prevalent throughout the series but only formally-named in ‘Ultimate,’ are characters who’s moves (and sometimes animations) are near-identical to another fighter’s. Their main differences come down to occasional move variations, a new coat of paint through a different model, and an alternative play style to their original root character, providing players a change of pace to their possible mains. I like these guys; obviously, seeing the little E next to an Echo Fighter’s name makes their existence just a little less interesting compared to new, original combatants, but just the fact that people have alternatives to some characters helps the game’s meta remain interesting.
For example, Ryu, a fighter from the ‘Street Fighter’ franchise, has an Echo Fighter in Ken, hailing from the same games. Their playstyles, while similar, are varied enough to give 2 players different potential identities in how they use each, and execute attacks. Echo Fighters, while not the most “exciting” or “insane” parts of the games, have their place in ‘Ultimate’ as different choices for people who like playing their non-Echo counterparts, making gameplay and matches more interesting.
Moving away from Echo Fighters, the majority of the roster is composed of video game characters whose movesets are completely original to themselves, often referencing aspects of their series. There’s far too many to go over individually, but I will mention some of my favorites, or “mains,” as most players say.
There are several types of fighters when it comes to how they fight. Grapplers are characters who specialize in grabs, throws, and even carrying opponents around. Heavyweights are unsurprisingly heavy in the air and fairly bulky, while their opposites, Lightweights, excel in movement and fast aerial attacks. Zoners specialize in projectiles and fighting players from a distance, All-Rounders are universally good and balanced at everything, and Trappers focus on defense and luring players into – you guessed it – traps. These are only a handful of possible archetypes you can choose to spec into, but I think they cover a wide range of different players’ styles.
Personally, I lean more towards Zoners and Trappers; I like characters who use non-physical moves (of which are usually reserved to the Special Attacks) and unique button combinations to pressure others. My mains are Steve (my primary main) from ‘Minecraft,’ Piranha Plant, Ridley, and occasionally Greninja, though I can imagine myself eventually learning to play with Joker, Sora, Pokemon Trainer, and Kazuya. This is just an example of someone’s preferred playstyle, and goes to show that, with over 80 different options to choose from, the vast collection of characters present makes ‘Ultimate’ a spawning ground for creativity in its user base.
. . .
Image by Tim Harrison via Wikimedia Commons
I’ve been walking for a while now, and have come across a lovely field of flowers! It’s quite lovely, and makes you wonder how such a perfect little spot of sunshine can exist only a few miles from the barren wasteland I once skulked in.
My journey’s only just begun, though – it’ll be a while before I’m anywhere close to St. Paul again. After that nice break in the field, let’s continue walking, and this review as well.
After talking about characters and gameplay, let’s rapid-fire through some non-combat related parts of ‘Ultimate, accessible through the main menu!
Clicking on the “Games & More” icon on the Home Screen brings you to a few different game modes to fiddle with. The most prominent is “Classic Mode,” an alternative to the game’s main campaign that harkens back to the series’ initial entries, and how they tackled a story-based option for players.
Classic Mode is a mode that allows each character a small selection of curated CPU matches that players are able to complete for rewards. Each fighter gets their own route and customized CPUs, of which often reflect parts of the games they come from. For example, Donkey Kong’s route has players fight alongside a computer-controlled Diddy Kong teammate, referencing ‘Donkey Kong Country’ and its sequels. Each route has 7 fights and a special bonus stage: 6 normal matches with CPU fighters, a fight at the end with 1 of the game’s bosses from its campaign, and just before the final stage, the bonus stage, where players run through an obstacle course, collecting points as they try to reach the end while escaping a growing black hole behind them.
To be short, I love Classic Mode, maybe even more than the main campaign! Treating routes as individual miniature story modes gives further incentive to play as different characters other than your select few mains, and the variety of unique fights in each is just the icing on the cake. The references are fun, the bosses are a blast, and it’s a great time overall. While I’d still recommend completing “World of Light” before tackling Classic Mode, it’s a wild ride that’ll keep you enthralled for hours.
The other game modes in “Games and More” are less grand, but still fun. Century Smash and its variants have you fight against 100 AI opponents, increasing in the CPUs’ intelligence and difficulty as you progress. It’s fine, but honestly more annoying than interesting.
Home Run Contest also isn’t very fun, in my humble opinion. You get 10 seconds to beat up a Sandbag (a unique character to the ‘Super Smash Bros.’ franchise), racking up damage before Side-Smashing it into the horizon. Depending on how far it goes, you get a score and potential rewards along the way. It’s more fun than Century Smash, but still not super engaging for me.
The Mii Fighter creator is much more fun, though. Mii’s are little Nintendo people that were introduced with the Wii console years ago, taking part in a character creator for it and subsequent systems. In ‘Ultimate,’ not only are you given a portal to create more Mii’s, you can also give them customizable movesets and costumes to play as in-game. It’s really fun to make your own and see others’ Mii’s. On my Switch, I’m literally able to have Hillary Clinton fight Charlie Brown; it’s great. I haven’t tried out Stage Builder, but it looks fun. You’re seemingly able to make your own stages to fight on, which looks cool.
Finally, Training allows you to simply test out any characters, items, and stages you want, letting you practice combos and whatnot. It’s super useful to have, and is a great feature for both newcomers and veterans to the series.
In the end, Games & More is a super fun hub for players who might not want to fight online with actual players. There’s a good selection of fun side activities, and topped-off with the main course of Classic Mode, I recommend checking it out once you’ve gotten used to the game’s controls.
…
Image by “angys” via Wikimedia Commons
O-oh, my gosh! Finally, this iPad’s working again. Um, yeah, if y-you haven’t deciphered already by my, uh, unfortunate location inside of a moving vehicle, I’ve been kidnapped.
Yeah, I was walking along the side of the road, when this white van pulled up and offered me candy. Me, a sensible, venerable fellow, obviously said no, but it turns out that refusing to follow a stranger’s orders is considered null and void in the face of a lead pipe to the skull.
So, now with a swelling welt, broken left antler, and lowered morale, I guess I’ll just have to wait and see where, or who, I’m being taken to. I’ve been Mr. Whatshisname, and this review – and story – isn’t over yet.
Will Mr. Whatshisname escape his captors and return home? Will ‘Super SmashBros. Ultimate’s’ main campaign be fully discussed? And who exactly is this mysteriousvigil that requests our annoying narrator’s presence? All of these questions and more willbe answered in the next episode of JOYSTiCK Reviews, coming to you soon!
Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com
It is very well known that AI isn’t perfect; even simple questions can confuse AI, leading it to spread misinformation. These mistakes have become so common that they have earned their own moniker, “AI Hallucinations”.
Some of these famous “Hallucinations” include using glue to stick cheese to pizza, misspelling words, and the health benefits of eating rocks.
AI formulates answers based on data from all over the internet. There is no way to filter correct information from misinformation, so AI is trained on everything. When AI answers your question it attempts to replicate data it was trained on. AI makes observations on the data it was trained on and forms its answers based on the patterns it finds.
Along with the inability to tell correct and incorrect information apart, AI also has biases regarding race and gender. According to Bloomberg.com when AI was asked to generate pictures of people in different professions, the photos it generated showed harmful biases. For example, AI generated more photos of people with lighter skin tones in higher paying jobs, and more people with darker skin tones in lower paying jobs.
AI also generated more perceived men than perceived women in many high paying jobs including: engineering, architecture, CEO, Doctor, Lawyer, and Politicians. Out of the 100 images AI generated for the prompt “Engineer” only two were not of perceived men.
There are large disparities between the images AI generates and the people in those careers. These images construct a distorted viewpoint of the world. According to Bloomberg.com, by 2025 30% of marketing materials by large corporations will be created using AI like this.
These mistakes and biases will reinforce a lot of these stereotypes. The misinformation AI spreads can undermine education and people’s world views if left unchecked. If people stay poorly informed on AI then there will be negative repercussions in society.
Technology has been advancing faster than ever in the last couple years. With these advancements, the amount of teenagers developing screen addiction has also gone up. Because of this, there have been many policies set and many discussions taken place.
Two Israeli directors filmed a documentary called ‘Web Junkie’, this documentary talked about the screen addiction. They tell us that China is the first country to recognize screen addiction as a medical issue. According to the report, these teenagers spend an average of 6 hours online playing games a day. The parents of these children have tried many different things to try and help their kids with their screen addiction but it never got better. In the end, they sent their kids to a rehab center for screen addiction.
To help teenagers with screen addiction, China has opened over four thousand rehab centers managed by the military. Medical treatment, family therapy, and military exercises are included when treating internet addiction. Sending kids to these rehab facilities costs a lot of money. Every month costs double the average monthly salary. Many households can’t afford this and have to take out loans to meet these expenses.
According to the press (according to my Chinese packet), teenagers have received abuse in forms such as getting shocked or being hit in these rehab centers. This impacts their physical and mental health negatively, making them scared and hate more. As a result of this, some teens who come out of these rehab centers have either killed themselves or others.
There are reasons for the development of screen addiction though, the first is China’s one child policy (which ended in 2016), and the second is the strict education system. Because most families only have one child, that child feels a lot of pressure to “honor” their family. It’s typically the family that places this pressure on the kids to do good. On top of this, some of the kid’s parents fight a lot at home. I think that neglectful parents can also cause screen addiction as well as abusive parents. Turning to video games has become a way to escape the burdens of life for many people.
As technology continues to advance and be used in day to day life, it becomes harder and harder to avoid the screens. I hope after reading this that you’ve learned more about screen addiction and its causes.
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