Sean Akizuki's Fantasy Critic

Mortal Kombat X is yet another game without the stage fatalities.  In Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, we had none of the at all and all characters only had one fatality.  In Mortal Kombat: Deception and Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, we had death traps which was like the "Ring Out" function in Virtua Fighter, albeit bloodier.  In Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, again no stage fatalities so maybe, it's not all to surprising that stage fatalities were omitted from Mortal Kombat X and I do have my possible assumptions. Mortal Kombat X introduced the Brutalities which was a radical departure from the UMK3/MK Trilogy version which required a long button press.  While carrying the name, Brutalities is when an enhanced version of your special moves kills your opponent whose life bar is flashing except, there are several conditions that must be met before it can be done.  For example, Dualist Liu Kang's massive fireball must require TEN solar flare shots at the oppo...

It's already noticeable that fighting games do copy each other. Now one can see how Liu Kang and Ryu end up having similarities. Liu Kang is Chinese and Ryu is Japanese, both of them are the heroes of their respective series. Liu Kang ended up having similarities with Ryu as Mortal Kombat progressed. Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat II had some similarities with Ryu. Kung Lao was made his best friend and friendly rival at the same time, notice Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat II has a red gi like Ryu does. I guess they were inspired by Street Fighter II to create Kung Lao as a Ken-type character and giving Liu Kang his gi was part of it. After the first Mortal Kombat, Liu Kang and Shang Tsung ended up having a Ryu vs. Akuma/Gouki type of rivalry. Shang Tsung plays the dark malevolent force, equivalent to that of Akuma who was a hidden boss in Super Street Fighter II Turbo.  It was more or less a dishonorable rivalry. After that, Liu Kang would also beat the main antagonist for most games, Sh...

The success of Robocop in America as a movie in 1987 would later create a phenomenon of Robocop influences with Toei.  So where do we start? In 1989, Toei responded to the success of Robocop by creating the monster-exterminating android known as Jiban.  Jiban was once a human being named Naoto Tamura but after being killed by the Biorons, he was revived as a cyborg to counter their evil organization.  Unlike Robocop, he would beat monsters-of-the-week and he could revert back to his human identity. By 1994, Toei spawned another Robocop type of character known as Janperson.  Compared to its inspiration, Janperson was a purely mechanical character, he was never human.  But like Robocop, he would fight against criminal groups that threatened Tokyo.  He was also introduced as " the new guy in town "... Robocop style.  I felt this was the true Asian Robocop.  If America has Robocop in the 80s, Asia has Janperson in the 90s.  I personally th...

Well Goro is the sub-boss of Mortal Kombat X aside from the fact he is DLC only playable (BOO), so what's his possible role in the game?  Now the last time we knew was that, Kotal Kahn defeated Goro, disarmed him and sent him back to Kotal Kahn.  Remember the MK X comics is a prequel to the game.  So what in the world is Goro doing in Mortal Kombat X?  Perhaps he will get his arms back in the comics via mystical means. Mortal Kombat 4/Gold featured Goro as a sub-boss who you can play as via a secret code.  The bummer was however that Goro would only fight against characters in Goro's Lair even when you use him and two, he has freaking NO character ending.  In his bio, Goro had returned from Outworld seeking to crush Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat.  He also appeared in Kung Lao's ending where he faced his other rival Kung Lao.  He defeated the original Kung Lao in Mortal Kombat, now both of them face a truce. In Mortal Kombat X, he neither appear...

Back in Mortal Kombat II to 3, there was a lie that somebody else was above Shao Kahn, there was a bigger bad above Shao Kahn.  Rumors went from Noob Saibot to some unnamed character.  But later, the rumor was made real in one form or another.  It was said that this character possessed all the movesets of the other characters. The idea that Noob Saibot was the "bigger bad" was disproven in his MK Trilogy bio data.  He was first made playable in some versions of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.  In MK Trilogy, Noob Saibot's bio data said that he was a member of the Brotherhood of the Shadow, where they worship a fallen Elder God known as Shinnok.  He made his first appearance in MK Mythologies: Sub-Zero (a stupid game I hate to mention) and he was in Mortal Kombat 4/Gold as a way too easy final boss (boo) but his moveset involved mimicking the other characters.  Too bad the CPU Shinnok never used that ability at all, thanks to the limited PS1 memory.  ...

So I'm hoping to get this game soon.  So here's what I thought.  I had a series of expectations that came along the way that didn't match with reality: I expected Mortal Kombat X to be heavily based on Mortal Kombat 4.  However, it turned out that the story spanned a total of 25 years.  I expected lots of MK4/Gold cast members to return but it turned out that Cyrax, Baraka (might be DLC though), Reiko (he was only in the comics), Jarek (good thing Kano is in his place), Tanya (she will be DLC), Kai and Fujin aren't in the regular roster. When Kotal Kahn first appeared, I assumed he might either be the main boss or the sub-boss.  My reasons were he just freaking looks like Ogre in Tekken right?  When I first saw Kotal Kahn, I thought he would be either the main villain, sub-boss (considering he freaking sliced off Goro's four arms) and because he's the new emperor of Outworld, that he'd surely be the sub-boss.  However he is demoted to the positio...

I thought that while Megaforce really mega-disappointed me, I can still rewatch MMPR's first 40 episodes, even if Bulk and Skull are there (they're useless) but here's some reasons why I can still rewatch MMPR: MMPR has a better main cast.  Now MMPR may not be the best acting but hey they can act.  While I'd admit that the Zyuranger cast were mostly better but the miles are very short.  There's even a better mix of characters whether you like it or not.  Trini's not a stuck up bitch even if she's badass, Jason isn't robotic, okay Billy's nerdy but he was my first favorite, Walter Jones can act Zack well... not spectacular acting but it's passable.  My bias is only though I think Amy Jo Johnson can act better than Reiko Chiba.  Just a minor bias actually. ;) Comparison between Kimberly and Emma is VERY LAME and FORCED.  Yeah, that was bad writing and as I said, I freaking dislike Emma .  Even if eveyr body wants her, Kimberly doesn't ha...

What I find weird in Mortal Kombat is that although the game is usually based on Taoist/Buddhist concepts, the names of some characters are in Japanese.  So here's what I hope would be help to how their names are in Chinese: Raiden's name ( 雷電 ) in Chinese would be Lei Dian.  However I would have preferred him to be named Lei Gong, after the Taoist god of thunder. Fujin's name ( 風神 ) would be Feng Shen (Wind God).  There is also a Taoist temple in real life called Tainan Fengshen Temple. Jinsei ( 人生 ) would be Ren Sheng or human nature.  This may also be viewed as Qi in Taoism.

Tekken is a great fighting game series but it had a trashy Hollywood production, that you might as well not watch.  But one Tekken movie, a CGI animated one, really took a much better execution than the Tekken movie or the Tekken cartoon movie.  I mean, come on, Tekken is a great game, why give it such a bad movie?  Fortunately, the Tekken Blood Vengeance film may not be the best but it really creates a good, solid story together with high-quality 3D graphics, a narrowed-down storyline, and some possible explanations for the Mishima bloodline. So the story might not be canon but tries to fit in Tekken 5 and Tekken 6 .  Again, we see much of the father/son feud with Heihachi, Kazuya, and Jin (the Mishima bloodline).  In the middle of the father/son feud they have hired the rival siblings Nina (for Jin's side) and Anna (for Kazuya's side) for their petty feuds.  At the same time, it involves Ling Xiaoyou, a student named Shin Kamiya (who is not part o...

So I have a PS3 not a PS4 (again while I do have money, I refuse to squander it left and right), so I'll have to wait for Mortal Kombat X to come out by June 2, 2015.  On the other hand, I have the option to pre-order but... I prefer to try and wait for a discount before I get jealous of people who are able to get it at a lower price.  At the same time, I will have ample time to self-study the game before sitting down or two, I might consider going head to head against my peers.  Meanwhile, the game itself looks pretty good if you ask me. Twenty five years later, we get a Mortal Kombat version of The Avengers... the new generation warriors are here! The story of Mortal Kombat X takes a span of 25 years (shades of Tekken 3).  After the tragic events of Mortal Kombat 2011, a lot of the good guys were reborn as members of the Brotherhood of the Shadow.  It seems like an Avengers movie... only bloodier which I hope Marvel Comics will be with Netherrealm S...

So you might want to think which game would I suggest for XBox One owners assuming you don't have any of the games yet. We have Killer Instinct (2013) which now has a Season Two vs. Mortal Kombat X. Mortal Kombat (2011) had really been so far very impressive, that it basically rebooted the whole Mortal Kombat franchise to a whole new level of innovation. While the PS2 games were fun, Mortal Kombat (2011) was indeed a great game. Now with the release of Mortal Kombat X, some may also have considered Killer Instinct (2013). What I Think Went Wrong With Killer Instinct 2013 Last 2013, Killer Instinct "3" was launched only as Killer Instinct under Microsoft. Season One presented only eight playable characters namely Jago, Saberwulf, Glacius, Thunder, Sadira (new character), Orchid, Spinal, Fulgore and the bonus final boss Shadow Jago. Wow, pretty anemic with a lack of modes. Sure you get a cool combo system, get a lot of hits but the problem lies with its lack of conten...

I would admit that I am a very stubborn guy... which is both good and bad depending on the situation. So I'm more of a Super Sentai fan and I currently  dislike Power Rangers, I mean Power Rangers is not exactly my cup of tea. I mean, while I don't hate Power Rangers, I do dislike the current state it's in but I'm looking forward to a Lost Galaxy marathon after I'm done with Gingaman. Now moving on, this is probably one of my most unshakable opinions or not really. So I did become a Sentai purist, I got into stages of denial then... I just can't shake it off huh? So I just was pretending over all the years to find Mei and Lin hotter than Kimberly. Now some people do, that is THEIR OPINION and I respect that. In my case, I was just riding on the opinions of Super Sentai purists because I joined their ranks for a short time. While I would prefer to watch Zyuranger over MMPR Season 1 and Dairanger over MMPR Season Two, I cannot deny that I still found Kimberly ...

Call me crazy but I do have my latest dream DLC which may not really come to pass considering Eidos may not agree with it.  But here's my dream DLC that I have thought of for some time namely Lara Croft.  I sort of thought of it that maybe, I'm not all that fond of Cassie Cage, so I dreamed up of making Lara Croft my DLC.  She will possess moves such as the use of her guns, a knife slash, grappling rope, while she may also use a three hit kick attack and a dashing punch attack.  My X-Ray move for Lara Croft will be brutal.  First she uses her grappling rope then she breaks the ribs, she gets her uzis and shoots the stomach with both of them then she slams the opponent away. My ideal variations for Lara Croft are Explorer, Raider and Adventurer.  Explorer variation will allow Lara Croft to pull her opponents towards her.  The Raider variation will use her rope away from the opponents plus she can fire her guns in three directions, plus she can use a ...

Kotal Kahn himself appears as the emperor of Outworld after Mileena was overthrown.  I have noticed that he not only looks like Ogre in Tekken 3, he is also having a lot of shoutout to Meso-American history in these days. Kotal Kahn's background is that he comes from the Osh-Tek race in Outworld, one that is dependent on the sun for powering up.  The Osh-Tek is an obvious shout-out to Aztec.  Later he became a Mayan war god, calling himself a blood god.  What he also did is that he performs the traditional Meso-American pull out the heart sacrifices, complete with his war knife called a tecpactl.  His first fatality uses that Meso-American human sacrifice method. His variations also provide shoutouts to Meso-American culture.  In his Blood God variation he uses blood, crystal and obsidian totems.  In his War God variation, he uses the Aztec war saw called a macuahuitl into his special moves.  Either way, the use of the totems and the macuahui...

So I started to hear that Mortal Kombat X will have no stage fatalities.  If that's true then I started to think of the possible reasons.  I guess Ed Boon may have wanted them but... remember the game itself will have plenty of features.  I mean, you already have Living Towers, Endless Mode, Brutalities (which are combo enders to kill an opponent), Character Variations, it can be understood to why there won't be Stage Fatalities in Mortal Kombat X so I guess they couldn't be programmed anymore right?  It had me thinking that while I think this game will be better than Killer Instinct Season Two, but I cannot deny that I'm quite disappointed that Stage Fatalities won't be included. However, let us just think of Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance (I personally HATE that game), it did not have the stage fatalities yet it did pretty well to spawn its much better sequel Mortal Kombat Deception.  I thought of it that Mortal Kombat X's exclusion of stage fatalities is no...

So here's what I learned about Mortal Kombat X... unlike Street Fighter IV which tends to be anemic (but I still like the game, but now I am seriously mad at Crapcom for making Street Fighter IV too exclusive for the PS4 console), now there is the Endless Mode which allows you to play as long as you want.  You know where that mode comes from right?  Knowing Ed Boon is a Tekken fan, I really wish he placed that in Mortal Kombat 2011 and I guess either fans demanded it or he just thought it would be a great inclusion.  I mean, later Mortal Kombat games draw influence heavily from Tekken.  I mean, think Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe started the one button per limb and it still remains in Mortal Kombat X.  So I guess he wanted to put Endless Mode in the Towers, just so you can get more bloodlust or he caught Tekken fever again.  I mean, why in the world is Kotal Kahn looking like Ogre from Tekken 3?  Now we get Endless Mode?   So it had me...

Tekken itself had a history of having ridiculously hard bosses. So let's get started shall we? Heihachi Mishima - He was the main boss of Tekken 1, the sub-boss of Tekken 3 (except if you are already playing as him then Jin Kazama becomes the sub-boss), the final boss for most characters in Tekken 4, a sub-boss in Tekken Tag Tournament 1 and 2. This Dr. Wily lookalike was so darn hard in Tekken 1 but the problem was soon solved by making him a more balanced character for later games. Tekken got popular but had a lot of complaints that Heihachi was so hard. Later Tekken games make him still a difficult opponent to beat but without the unbalanced strength he had in the first game. Kazuya Mishima - In Tekken 2, he was the final boss and defeating him once would unleash his Devil form in the next round. Devil Kazuya had to be a real pain in the ass. Devil not only flies up for a few seconds giving him room for the laser beam which requires a well-timed dash to avoid. He also has ...

Yes Mortal Kombat X will be released on April 14, 2015 for the PS4 and XBox One while I'll have to wait for summer to get the PS3 version.  On the other hand, I felt like I should write this rambling on Mortal Kombat X's predictable vs. unpredictable side. The predictable stuff for Mortal Kombat X: Liu Kang had joined Shinnok's Army.  In Mortal Kombat 2011, Liu Kang was electrocuted by Raiden's carelessness.  Now he is part of Shinnok's Army as an undead together with all those whom Quan Chi turned into zombies. Shinnok is the main villain and is responsible for most of the events.  The ending in Mortal Kombat 2011 easily gave out the main villain.  He masterminded all the events such as the deaths of the heroes (so he can use them as his undead warriors) and now is leading a war against the Elder Gods. Goro is the sub-boss of Mortal Kombat X.  Goro was the sub-boss of Mortal Kombat 4/Gold and so it's not surprising Goro is the sub-boss of the up...

Mortal Kombat X is Mortal Kombat 4's events repeated in the next life.  For some reason, we don't see the reincarnations of Cyrax, Baraka, Reiko, Jarek, Tanya, Kai and Fujin as playable characters.  However we do see Reiko in the comics, having some bizarre relationship of convenience with Mileena.  Now if you look at this video... you'll notice something different about Shinnok! So what challenge am I expecting?  So after you defeat normal, playable Shinnok (most likely DLC), I think Corrupted Shinnok won't be a playable character due to imbalance.  It's like in Tekken 3... I mean do you remember the time you beat Ogre?  Ogre after you beat him one round, he becomes True Ogre in the next round or in Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Jun Kazama becomes Unknown.  In here, Shinnok becomes Corrupted Shinnok. Woah, Corrupted Shinnok looks like a badass combination of Soul Calibur's two infamous bosses Inferno and Abyss.  He takes on this really badass...

Looking at Mortal Kombat X's Arcade Tower (I took the screenshots from here ), I am getting a really very good impression.  Here's what I think... Here could be the topmost part of the tower with Shinnok as the big bad (looks like the initial non pre-order version may not have him playable except via DLC) and Goro is the sub-boss.  Does not that sound like Mortal Kombat 4/Gold? Looks like we have a "Choose your Destiny" here which originally took place in Mortal Kombat 3... these are screenshots of D'Vorah, Reptile and Erron Black.  Apparently Erron Black has replaced the less popular Jarek.

I remembered watching Machineman as a child and man that show is pretty weird. It all starts with an alien who disguises himself as Ken Takase. At first, I enjoyed it until I found it's one show that really got so bad. I mean, I even WTFed to discover a lot about the show's term. I mean, I even find the idea of making a thesis from a distant planet to Earth an EVEN STUPID PLOT. So I did get entertained with its stupid dub back then. I didn't get to see more of it and later, read more plots to discover the show wasn't worth it. I could remember Professor K and his stupid schemes for world domination. The only episode I could remember with Machineman was where Professor K injected poison into sweet potatoes where the lesson was not to accept things from strangers. What I thought is that either this old is super senile or he's really dumber than your average Tokusatsu villains. I mean, the show doesn't even explain why he hates children so much and his stupid n...

Okay I don't like Power Rangers (and I still don't), it isn't exactly my cup of tea but let me tell you this truth... POWER RANGERS DOES NOT RUIN SUPER SENTAI. Now let me tell you why that is the truth. For one, whether you like it or it, when Power Rangers is adapted for American audiences (and it's an adaptation authorized by TOEI to whoever handles it, as of current Mr. Krabs), and two, it becomes a different category in Toei's list of properties (although Saban co-owns it according to contracts). Yeah I know Saban must do his part in the greed share or Toei revokes his rights, right? Now moving on. When Power Rangers came, it became a huge hit that Toei couldn't afford to shut it down. I mean, it was giving a lot of moola or money to them. Why shut down a project that's feasible? Let's just do a bit of MMPR/Zyuranger comparison. Now I know it's upsetting for others that Zyuranger didn't air in ABiaS-CBN but this must be understood. MMPR...

Here's a look at Prince Goro of Mortal Kombat X... somehow I think he almost looks like the movie version of Goro.  Heck, even one of his intros feature him wearing a cape and removing it like the first Mortal Kombat movie.  What do I think of it?  It's badass awesome to see Goro in action.   Is Goro's appearance that surprising for me as a DLC for me?  Not really considering that if you played Mortal Kombat 4, Goro was a sub-boss before you fought Shinnok.  Here he is a DLC character (available immediately IF you pre-order) and since I am a PS3 owner, I'll have to wait until June before I get the game.  I think Goro might be the game's sub-boss although I am wondering, how did he get all four arms back when Kotal Kahn cut them off?  How I wish the game will explain it. On the other hand, characters NOT returning in Mortal Kombat X from Mortal Kombat 4 for the regular roster are Tanya (she will be DLC), Reiko, Kai, Jarek (never cared ...

I looked at the Mortal Kombat X trailer and I thought of Liu Kang's evil mode... and I thought it could be cool if a DLC called "Evil Liu Kang" would be possible.  This Evil Liu Kang character is a vengeful Liu Kang, undead version who is devoted to destroying Raiden.  After his Ryu/Akuma type of rivalry with Shang Tsung, he has now to control his evil urges. For this DLC, I have thought of three variations possible namely Dragon Fist, Zombie Mode (gives him his MK Deception appearance with the chains as weapons) and Evil Force Liu Kang.  He will play similar yet different from regular Liu Kang.  This version of Liu Kang had become Shinnok's champion, formerly Earthrealm's champion but he became the champion of darkness instead. How will he differ from regular Liu Kang in gameplay?  For Dragon Fist, he will possess a Shoryuken like move as part of his roster.  The Zombie Mode Liu Kang will possess his chains which he uses as weapons.  The Evil Force ...

Mortal Kombat X features the old generation and the new generation, so here's the complete cast of characters.  One sees from left to right at the top are Kung Lao, Jax, Sonya, Kenshi, Kitana, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Mileena, Takeshi Takeda (who looks like Liu Kang), Jacqueline Briggs, Kung Jin and below are Shinnok, Kano, Johnny Cage, Erron Black, Liu Kang, Ermac, Kotal Kahn, Reptile, Ferra/Torr, D'Vorah, Raiden Quan Chi and Goro assuming this was the pre-order edition. So what's my view of how this game will be? So here's a bit of a contrast between the old and new generations.  I feel it this way. Liu Kang is a last-generation hero of sorts, Takeshi Takeda though the son of Kenshin is like a new-generation Liu Kang. So you have two Ryu-type characters except Liu Kang is Chinese. Kung Lao and Kung Jin, are both White Lotus members.  Though Kung Jin feels like Nightwolf's replacement. Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade have the first child born from two Mortal Kombat ...

Liu Kang is a pretty honorable man so I thought that I had found ways to fight as my favorite character with honor when playing against human players.  Here they are. 1.) NEVER spam a fireball cheaply.  I know it's quite an easy win with high fireballs and low fireballs BUT it's better to use them defensively. 2.) Use the bicycle kick and flying kick defensively. 3.) Use the X-Ray move ONLY as as a counterattack.  X-Rays can be a very cheap way to win though his is blockable.  It's best to reserve the X-Ray attack only as a counterattack or better let as a last resolve. 4.) Be a defensive player.  I know Liu Kang is a combo machine but, be careful not to be too aggressive or win cheaply. 5.) As much as possible, DO NOT THROW.  His throw moves have a huge hit mark and they can be very, very cheap way to win. With this, I seek to become an honorable Liu Kang player!

Another nostalgic game is is Street Fighter/Darkstalkers/Red Earth crossover featuring a game of super deformed characters.  You have Ibuki's first appearance (she later made her first appearance as an adult in Street Fighter III), Tessa (Red Earth), Ryu, Ken, Chun Li, Sakura, Zangief, Morrigan, Hsien Ko and the easily accessible secret characters Akuma and Dan. You have the buttons namely Punch, Kick and Special.  In this game, combos are very much child's play in contrast to the traditional Street Fighter where you needed to practice more of them.  Along the way, combos will have your characters do crazy stuff like change clothes, release weapons and do a lot of stupid stuff you don't normally see in a Capcom fighting game.  You knock gems out of your opponents to improve certain moves in the process and you have your Super Moves as well. When you play as a character, you get a Story Mode like in the Street Fighter Alpha series.  Each character has a star...

Looking at Janperson's transformation of Ryuzaburo Tatewaki into the more sinister Billgoldy, I thought what if Omni Consumer Products decided to take Clarence's body parts and created him into a cyborg?  I would imagine the mayhem that would cause in the Robocop universe.  Too bad, the concept never happened in Robocop to Clarence.  I think he would have been a cool concept if Clarence Boddicker became another Billgoldy in some other version of Robocop. So let's just think what if Clarence Boddicker's body parts were fitted into a Robocop-type body and you get an evil version of Robocop?  In Janperson, they refined the Robocop 2 concept when Cain's brain was transferred into the new Robocop model.  I thought that the producers of Janperson imagined what if Clarence Boddicker underwent a transformation, turning him into a cyborg criminal?   I guess that's what the producers had in mind when Tatewaki became the more sinister Billgoldy who voluntarily had ...

Street Fighter Alpha 3 in itself happens to be a huge mix of Street Fighter II series and the Street Fighter Alpha series.  Just in case you didn't know this, Street Fighter Alpha is a prequel series to Street Fighter II in spite of having an advanced fighting engine.  Street Fighter Alpha 3 (especially the home version) is a huge return to much of the previous games along with new characters.  In Street Fighter Alpha 3 home versions, Guile is an unlockable character and so is Evil Ryu, which Guile belonged to the Street Fighter II series. Street Fighter Alpha 3 itself is a huge mix of Street Fighter II series and Street Fighter Alpha series for these reasons: 1.) Since Street Fighter Alpha 3 allows you to play with both X-Ism and A-Ism (V-Ism is the custom combo mode), you get a bit of Street Fighter Alpha AND Super Street Fighter Fighter II Turbo.  X-Ism is a one level super meter that allows fighters to do only ONE super move and play much like their Super Str...