I enjoy the Super Smash Bros. series of video games for a number of reasons:
- The gameplay is very fun.
- It connects lots of things together (I love that kind of thing).
- There's excellent multiplayer for two to four people.
- There are very many things to unlock.
- It's full of nostalgic references.
But none of those things are what I love most about the series.
    What I do love most about the series, and the main reason I would suggest others try it, is that it opens the doors to other games. Before I played Super Smash Bros. I had never heard of Fire Emblem, Kirby, Metal Gear or Metroid but, thanks to the inclusion of characters from those series, I've gone on to play several games from each one and to enjoy them very much.
    I think we're all a bit cautious about trying something new, especially with something as expensive as video games, but Super Smash Bros. rather ingeniously, eases you into these things. You may buy it simply because you’re a Mario fan, but then have a lot of fun playing as Link and decide you want to find out more about him, so you then buy one of The Legend of Zelda games. So, this is why I heartily recommend these games as it may well encourage you to buy and play games which you'll love and which, otherwise, you may never have heard of or given a second look.

(I do not own the copyright of the image)

Last night I was searching on Google for a picture of all the playable characters in the main Pokémon games together, but I couldn't find it. There's something about comparison pictures of that kind that I really like. Since it didn't exist, I decided to make that picture myself, so here is every 2D Pokémon protagonist. Also, the good thing is, with the release of Pokémon X & Y bringing the series into 3D, this image won’t become outdated!

(also, regarding today's title saying 'Pokemon' and not 'Pokémon': Weebly now gives the ability to put é rather than e in a title, but when I do, it then posts this entry with no title at all. How annoying.)

Nowadays, whenever there is an Olympic event, video game producers, Nintendo and Sega are sure to release another instalment in the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games series. This is all well and good until we get to the next one due for release: Mario & Sonic and the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014.
    Why is this an issue, you ask? Well, the laws in Russia are shockingly anti-LGBT and they're not afraid to hide it. Many don't believe it is right for the Olympics to be held there, as it can be seen as a passive form of approval of their discrimination. By extension, people don't think that Nintendo should promote this game, because  they would also be approving the discrimination by not acting against it.
    But, on top of that, having these loveable characters okay with this kind of hatred is completely incompatible with what we already know about them. A good example would be to take one of the most loved Mario characters: Yoshi. Yoshi would be thrown into prison under Russia's laws due to the fact that he is happily in a relationship with Birdo... Who is a transgendered woman. But that's not all.
    Mario himself should feel quite guilty taking part in these games. Sure, Birdo was originally a villainous servant of the evil tyrant Wart, so he may not be too bothered about her going to prison. But what about Mario's old pal Vivian? Vivian is another transgendered female who, actually, was a villain at first as well, but she eventually saw the error of her ways and stood by Mario when nobody else would and basically saved his life. Surely he'd feel at least the tiniest pang of guilt, knowing she'd be arrested if she wanted to join him at the Olympics?
    To take the idea of love only being moral between one man and one woman would actually mean that several more of our heroes would also be thrown behind bars. Sonic once shared a romance with a human being, and Bowser and Peach... Well, they get married in one of the games, and I don't remember it being annulled. It’s Adam and ‘Eve’ not ‘Animal Eve’ after all.
    Finally, it just feels so wrong for these heroic characters to stand by and let this evil happen. For many young people just discovering their sexuality, video games could be one of their escapes when things become too stressful. To have Mario and Sonic happily running around and having fun, while innocent people are beaten and murdered on the streets just a few miles away would be a permanent smear on their characters.

(I do not own the copyright of the image)

As I'm sure anybody who's played a game in the Mario series will agree, the Mushroom Kingdom is a very unusual place. But the thing is, we're never told about how any of it works, it's always just "Here's the strange world, now here's Mario and here's what you're doing" so for today's blog entry, I've decided to make some conclusions about the cultural beliefs of the Mushroom Kingdom people, based on the evidence seen in the games. Perhaps this kind of theorising will become a regular thing on my blog, but also equally, perhaps not.
    Today I'm going to be talking about the fact that, in games such as Mario Kart Wii, Mario appears both as an adult and as his younger self (Baby Mario) at the same time. This doesn't just happen with Mario either: Luigi, Peach, Daisy and Donkey Kong have also played sports with younger versions of themselves.
    One thing that's important to remember is that, in the Mushroom World, science has reached the level where time travel is a reality. Professor E. Gadd built a time machine in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time and a fun time travel adventure was had, but that definitely wasn't the only time machine in existence; Bowser owned  a time machine years before (as seen in the game Mario's Time Machine) and since he's no genius, he probably had it built for him. Now, it may be expensive, but I think time machines are probably commercially available in the Mushroom Kingdom.
    Anyway, before I continue, I want to talk about the real world for a bit. In some cultures it is considered that, during the different stages of life one person will be several other people... Does that make sense? Basically, if you take a person as a teenager and then the same person during their retirement, they'll probably be quite different and so some people believe that you actually ARE a different person, which is fairly reasonable, I suppose. They even have different names at different times of life! So what do you think would happen if a society which had access to time travel believed in this?
    Well, it seems to me that we can reach the conclusion that Baby Mario comes along to most of the events Mario hosts because it is considered polite to invite him. For Mario, Baby Mario will be a person who he knows very well and is separate from him and since he can very easily contact him through time travel, it's only natural that he'd pop back to get Baby Mario for a spot of golf every now and then.
 And so there you have it, one of the mysteries of the Mushroom Kingdom explained! Perhaps I'll do some more over analysing in future...

(I do not own the copyright of the image)

As you my remember, my good friend Rhino Water contributed a countdown to this blog during my week of entries by others. So this gave me the idea that it could be quite fun if the pair of us made our own version of a countdown and then posted them together to see there similarities, and that is exactly what today's entry is! I must admit, I found it very difficult to make this list, when I thought about it, there weren't that many creepy things I'd seen in games. I really wanted to include Slender Man (who's really me, by the way) since he is very creepy in the Slender game, but he's really a game character, I didn't include him. Anyway, without furthur ado, here is our countdown:

Rhino Water: Number 10 is from Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon. It’s the third boss: Scorch. Yeah he was creepy when I first saw him. He was a monster to end all monsters…  he failed. But he was creepy and he can make baby monsters with his mouth. He throws it out and, boom, an egg comes out creating monsters. Still no match for the awesome dragon Spyro though. He no longer haunts me, but the next nine, they do.

Adam:  For me, Number 10 comes from the Pokémon series. My choice is Missingno. I guess this may be a bit of an odd choice, since Missingno is a glitch, rather than something which came about after the game designers sat down and thought “Let’s make something creepy!” But that doesn’t change the fact that Missingno is a creepy creature that exists in a game. Basically, after fulfilling a very strange set of requirements, a battle will start and the wild Pokémon will be a glitched set of pixels called Missingno. You can catch it and it’s extremely powerful, but doing so makes the whole world become very glitchy. All of this is good reason, I think, for this reality warping abomination to be tenth.

Rhino water: Number 9 is from a Donkey Kong game: Donkey Kong: Jungle Climber. It is the ghost. The ghost is creepy:
1) You can't kill them.
2) To not get hurt you have to not move.
3) If they do hit you they go right up to the screen and scream.
Yeah, that made me jump and it does not help the fact that creepy music is in the background.

Adam: My Number 9 is one that people might not think of as creepy at all. From the Super Smash Bros. series, I chose Giga Bowser. Why, you ask? Well, we all know Bowser; he’s that loveable villain from the Super Mario Bros. series. He’s nice, safe and predictable. But then in Super Smash Bros. Melee, all of a sudden he transforms into a horrifying beast with disproportionate body parts. I found that very creepy and unexpected.

Rhino Water: Number 8 is… Hey, Crash Bandicoot! I like Crash but I don't like Fake Crash. I mean, Evil Crash from Crash Twinsanity is cool but Fake Crash, no. I get scared of him.
1) He looks stupid.
2) He appears in some random levels.
3) His eye brows are spooky.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Oh no, this is only Number 8, it is only going to get more creepy…

Adam:  Funnily enough, my Number 8 is kind of an evil copy of somebody too. I chose the SA-X from the game Metroid Fusion. Now, looking at the picture, you’ll see that it is basically just another Samus, and that’s true, but that’s not why it’s creepy. In the story Samus gets some kind of infection and needs to have her suit removed, but it can’t all come off or she’ll die, so they just take off all of the most powerful parts… Which then become possessed and come after you! You’ll be going through an area, then suddenly a wall will explode because an extremely powerful, invincible version of you has knocked it down, and is now heading your way… All you can do is run.

Rhino Water: Number 7 is from Pokémon, and no it is not a Pokémon, it is a Pokémon trainer. From Pokémon XD:  Gale of Darkness, it is Greevil. Yeah, if you see his eyes, you will be creeped out. Man his eyes are creepy! And he is just spooky in a spooky way. Yeah, I don't like people who are spooky in a spooky way and who have creepy eyes.

Adam: My Number 7 comes from Super Paper Mario. I’m sure anybody who’s played the game will know that I’m going to pick Mimi. Now, for those who don’t know, Mimi starts out looking like a regular little girl (or, as regular as Mushroom Kingdom people can look) but then at one point her neck suddenly breaks, giant spider legs come out of her head, and she starts chasing you around a haunted house… That place is huge too, so you spend quite some time running away from this monster.

Rhino Water: Number 6 is… Hey, Rayman. This next creepy person is, well, creepy in a creepy place and his name is Jano. He sends Rayman to the Cave of Bad Dreams and that place is spooky. But it gets worse once Jano has found Rayman; he comes from the ground like a zombie and says in a creepy voice says “uhhhhhhh, your trip ends here”. Then Rayman runs away and your screen shows the view from behind his jaws as he is trying to eat Rayman. But once you are away from him he battles you and he fires fire balls at you. Okay, not scary. But then he throws skulls at you. Yes, creepy again! Jano is very creepy, but he just missed out on the top five…

Adam:  I’m picking another Pokémon for Number 6, but this one is creepy through design, rather than just being a glitch. My choice is Confagrigus. As you can see from the picture, it’s a coffin with four arms, and when you play it’s just moving erratically all over the place with its arms grabbing in each and every direction.  His cry is pretty creepy to. But the best thing is, I can just capture one and then use it whenever I like!

Rhino Water: Number 5 is… Hey, a horror game: Castlevania: Judgement. No, it is not Death. But what is worse than Death or Dracula? Well, something that looks like them both combined. Yes it is the Time Reaper. The Time Reaper is very hard, I mean creepy hard, like “Ahhh, this is hard!” and also it made me jump when I first saw him. But, hey, I beat him. Well, that was creepy too. I mean, once you beat him all that is left is his skull and then it crumbles then it’s just his glowing eyes and then the Time Reaper is dead. Yay a creepy thing is dead!

Adam: My Number 5, is my friend’s Number 6, so, I guess I don’t have to say much, or I’d just be repeating him!

Rhino Water: Number 4 is… Hey, Mario is not scary. I mean, King Boo is not… Well, except in Luigi’s Mansion. King boo is actually scary. Ahh! Just by looking at it, it’s scary. Ahh! Let’s go onto the next one before I get too scared.

Adam:  Number 4… This comes from The Legend of Zelda series, specifically Ocarina of Time. I chose the ReDeads. Now, every other thing on this list is something I think is kinda creepy, but this is the first that actually scared me. I’ll admit that I’m no longer scared of ReDeads, but when I was first playing the game I was terrified of them. They make this really creepy groaning noise, paralyse Link with fear and then jump on his back and start eating him once they get close enough…

Rhino Water: Number 3 is… Hey, who plays Bust a Move 4? What an awesome game. The villain is Dreg, but his robot is creepy. Madame Luna. It may not look scary, but it is a love maniac and ahhhh it scared me! I mean, if you were a kid you would get scared of it. If Madame Luna wins, well, she goes right up to the screen and kisses it. Yeah, I try to beat her because she is scary. Don’t kiss me.

Adam:  I also picked one from the Donkey Kong series. My Number 3, Kackle, comes from my favourite game ever: Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest. In one level you get onto some kind of rollercoaster ride in a haunted house, and then Kackle starts chasing you.  There is a timer that appears on screen, and when it reaches zero, he catches you.  Possibly this is only because I played it when very young, but this is another that actually scared me at one point in my life.

Rhino Water: Number 2 is… Hey Kingdom Hearts! Hey, who likes the heartless? Well, the heartless are cool but what about a ghost heartless? Just like King Boo this thing is creepy. I mean, his eyes have popped out. And, ahhh, it’s scary battling it too. But, wait, something is creepier then this thing? Oh no.

Adam: Number 2 comes from the Metal Gear series.  This is actually the only thing on this list from an ‘adult’ game series, which I guess gives a good impression of what kinds of games we like to play! But anyway, my choice is The Sorrow. In Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater you find yourself wandering through a river in the fog, while The Sorrow flies around just ahead of you, beckoning you onward. It’s a boss fight, but, right from the start The Sorrow’s health gauge is empty. As you walk further and further down the river, the tormented souls of all the people you’ve killed come walking by too… An excellently creepy and atmospheric moment.

Rhino water: Number 1 is... WARNING: this next character is scary and if you get scared easily do not look this up on Google images. This one is from the Sonic series. Hey Tails, how are you? Tails is awesome. I wonder what he would look like if he was a doll. Huh. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.Scary. Yes, Number 1 is the Tails Doll. You won't last a second of looking at the Tails Doll. It’s creepy. Just saying its name is creepy. In fact, it’s so scary that it can make adults cry. I mean, I love Tails. I never thought Tails could be scary. But the Tails Doll is so scary, even just to think about. Why Sega, why did you come up with this Tails Doll? The Tails Doll is in my nightmares. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Yes, the Tails Doll is the creepiest thing I have ever seen in games, and not just games either, but in movies too. The Tails Doll, go away! In fact I am stopping this countdown now. THE END

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH TAILS DOLL

(there is a picture of the Tails Doll below, so, I guess you might like to stop scrolling)

Adam: My Number 1 is another from The Legend of Zelda series, specifically Majora’s Mask, which may well be the creepiest Zelda game. In this game, you can visit a ranch and there’s a little girl on the ranch who acts very strangely.  You also know that something bad has happened there, but you don’t quite know what. Eventually, you can go back in time and see for yourself what happened there, and it was aliens. Referred to only as Them, they come from a strange light in the sky and head towards the ranch all night long, and if you don’t stop Them, they take all the cows and the little girl too, who screams as she’s sucked into the sky… Plus, the music is pretty darn scary too. As of yet, I’ve not seen anything in a game I could call scarier than this.

Balloon Fight is a game where you take control of a man who is attached to a couple of balloons which he uses to fly, and then fight birds who are also flying around on balloons. It's pretty basic, but nice and fun. There are three different game modes.
    The first is the one player game. In this you find yourself in one of several stages. These stages all take up the space of a single screen and you can only move left, right, up or down, they are not three dimensional. Every level will have a certain amount of enemy birds to fight and to defeat them you have to fly over them and pop their balloons, which will cause them to fall to the ground, and then you have to bump into them again, which will knock them into the water at the bottom of the stage. As well as the birds, you also have to dodge bolts of lightning (which will kill you instantly) and a large fish which jumps out of the water in order to try and eat you. These levels go on forever and you are just playing to get a high score, rather than towards any goal.
    The second mode is the two player game. This is identical to the one player game, except a second player takes control over a second balloon fighter. Unlike a lot of NES games, when you play multiplayer, both of you are playing simultaneously, rather than alternately, which makes things pretty fun. The multiplayer mode adds more variety; you can choose to help one another defeat the birds, or you can choose to treat each other as another enemy and fight each other while fighting the birds. This is definitely my favourite of all the modes.
    Finally, there is a mode called Balloon Trip. Here you are put in an infinitely long side-scrolling level where you have to dodge hundreds of little sparks (which will kill you instantly) and the goal is basically just to see how far you can get. This mode is both very frustrating and very addictive. You can be doing really, really well but then one slip and you're dead, so you'll try again and again always trying to outdo yourself.
    On the whole, the game is good for what it is, but what it is isn't much, if that makes sense?
    Rating: 6.9/10

(This game can also be bought for GBA and downloaded on Wii, 3DS and Wii U.)

(I do not own the copyright of the box art.)

(This week on my blog I am posting an entry every day, and each entry will be written by somebody other than me. Today's entry is written by somebody I can't write the name of, so I shall call him Rhino Water. He has a very large number of video game related countdowns and this is one of his favourites. Also, just a quick warning, there are spoilers in ths countdown. Enjoy!)


Number 10 is King K. Rool (don't kill me).

I hate King K. Rool, he is so annoying. All he does in Donkey Kong: Jungle Climber is laugh, talk and have an annoying final battle. His design is bad too, I mean, it looks like he was drawn by a ten year old. Also, he steals crystal bananas, isn’t that more the kind of thing Donkey Kong would do? Lastly, his name. What is the ‘Rool’ about?  King K. Rool. Fair enough with the K, but Rool? Really? Sorry but Rool is a stupid name. But he is not as bad as the next villains…

Number 9 is, a Crash Bandicoot villain, (no it is NOT Dr. Cortex): The one and only Emperor Velo XXVII.

Yes, him. He is in Crash Nitro Kart. I love the game, but the villain sort of ruined it. First he gets the bandicoots, Dr. Cortex, N. Gin  and Tiny just to race. I mean, why them?  Can't he pick Sonic? He’s fast. And another thing, he could use his own species to race instead of going all the way to another planet to get people to do that for him. Also he is mean to his four friends when they lose. Lastly, he is a sore loser, when you beat him he says go home, but then says he will destroy the planet because you’re refusing to race, but he said they could go home if they beat him… But noooo, they have to get the relics then beat him again. ANNOYING. But who is a worse villain than him?

Number 8 is Wario.

I mean, he does not act as a villain. He helps Mario in Super Mario 64 DS. He is supposed to beat Mario, not help him! And all he does is steal money… Wow. Also, he is stupid. In Wario Ware: Smooth Moves, all he does is steal a Wii Remote and then just puts it back at the end. Yeah. He is a stupid villain.

Number 7 is Tabuu.

Okay, his theme and battle were cool, but everything else was awful… First his design, what's that, with a full leg and a half leg? Secondly, how can he beat all the Nintendo characters (and Snake) in one go, but not Sonic? WHAT? It just made the Nintendo characters look bad. I mean couldn’t Yoshi use his speed? Or Pit and Link use their arrows? Or Fox use his gun? Lastly, why is he a villain and what is Tabuu? We don't know what he is, where he came from or even his back story. But he did not get higher because of his cool battle and theme, just everything else was bad.

Number 6 is Baron Dante from Croc.

I mean, really, he looks like King K. Rool’s brother. Also, he is a bully because picks on the little hair ball creatures for no reason which left Croc all alone. He’s also a coward, he gets animals to get rid of Croc for him. Really. When you finally battle him it takes forever and when you beat him, guess what? The final battle it just him as a ghost, but very easy. I only played the first game, not the second one, but he is so annoying though. He’s just missed the top five…

Number 5 is, a Sonic villain, Merlina (from Sonic and The Black Knight).

I mean, the game had weird story, like who could be the villain? First it was the black knight, then Amy for giving him the power, then Merlina’s granddad for creating him and then it was Merlina. Now, let’s see, when she becomes the villain, she looks stupid and then she could have won when battling Sonic: She summoned Sonic  when she could have desummoned him and send him back, then she’d have won. Lastly, her battle is so annoying, it took me lots of tries to do it and the monster looks like Tabuu’s father.  When you defeat her she is happy at the end and everyone is…

Number 4 is, a Pokémon villain, Ghetsis.

He is the one bad Pokémon villain. The others, they’re awesome. But back to Ghetsis, I mean, he walks left and right when he is just talking to you, I am saying time waster! Also, he makes Team Plasma bad by saying we shall save Pokémon from humans when at the end was that only he can have Pokémon and no one else, and all to take over the world. He’s bad to his son and insults him, and he cheats in his battle with one Pokémon. When you beat him he says “I am invincible” (well, something like that). Stupid. But he is only number four…

Number 3 is Fawful.

One word to describe him: annoying. He is the most annoying character EVER! There is one good thing about him: his theme. That’s all. He looks like a yellow blob with glasses and also he makes Bowser look like an idiot; he turned his castle in to a theatre. What? He brain washes his minions too. Also, his annoying voice and he repeats some lines over and over again. His battle is very annoying. Grrr, I hate him! But who can be worse?

Number 2 is Ashera from Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn.

I mean really, her final battle is not fun. She needs to have a hobby, I mean, all she thinks about is war. She also turns everyone except the Fire Emblem characters to statues. I mean, if she had turned  Ike in to a statue she could have won. Also, her voice is stupid, and what’s the point in falling asleep? Okay, Yune falls asleep but she could have kept her awake. But what can be worse than her?

Number 1 is The Dark Master.

Man, I can't stand him! He is from Spyro. Now, first thing, he is hateable and his voice is rubbish. In fact he has one thing in common with each of the other villains.
Let’s start with King K. Rool: both have stupid names:
Velo: Both sore losers.
Wario: Both stupid.
Tabuu: We know nothing about their backstories.
Baron Dante: Both bullies and cowards.
Merlina: Both could have won.
Ghetsis: Both selfish.
Fawful: Both annoying.
Ashera: Both need to think of something else.

The Dark Master has all of them, and he made the Spyro series go downhill, which is sad because I really liked Spyro until The Dark Master showed up. So, he’s not just the worst villain, he also made Spyro bad. I really hate him, and that’s the end of my countdown.

After recently reading The Hyrule Historia I've been inspired to write a little about the world of The Legend of Zelda and to make some theories about the series. As such, I'm going to talk a little about the religious references in the games and to then to look at the implications they hold for the world as a whole.
    As you seen in Ocarina of Time, the world of Hyrule was created by the three goddesses. Since this creation story is known to be actual fact, this means that any real world religions seen in the game are in fact wrong (in this world). I suppose there's a small chance that this could be a little off-putting for any devout followers of a real life religion who happen to be fans of the series, but, I don't think anybody has a real reason to be offended, it's not like anybody's making a serious argument about this.
    It is Christianity which is the religion that appears most frequently in The Legend of Zelda. In the very first game, one of the items you can obtain is called the Book of Magic, which, when you look at it, clearly has a crucifix on the cover and was even called a Bible in the original Japanese. In the second game, you can find a building which is very clearly a church, as well. In fact, the version of Link in these two games is probably a Christian himself since he clearly has a cross on his shield. So, it's quite clear, that, by this point in the history of Hyrule, Christianity is pretty well established. What's especially interesting is that Christianity seems most prevalent in Hyrule during, what The Hyrule Historia calls, 'The Era of Decline'.
    But, actually, Christianity must have existed in Hyrule almost since the very start. In Ocarina of Time (which is, chronologically, one of the first games), while it has been removed from all recent versions of the game, originally, when you went into the Fire Temple you could hear Islamic chanting in the background, which means then, that Islam must exist in Hyrule. Knowing what I do about Islam, it seems to be impossible that there is anyway it could have come to exist BEFORE Christianity and so you must also assume that, by that point in the history of Hyrule, that Christianity did exist but that it simply wasn't seen.
    What I find interesting, is that, when you see all of the strange creatures that live in Hyrule (Octoroks, Zoras and Koroks for example) and you look at the unusual geography such as islands that float in the sky, you can only really conclude that The Legend of Zelda series does not take place on Earth at all. But, since the Bible exists in Hyrule, it must take place on Earth since the Bible contains references to various real life geographical locations. Is Hyrule then, actually supposed to be set in our reality, but in an entirely lost civilisation?
    You could even say that the Christianity in Hyrule actually has its roots in the truth: the three goddesses who created the universe could have become, over the ages, the three aspects of the Holy Trinity. The Christianity in The Legend of Zelda could have started as the true religion of the world, but over the years slowly become corrupted by people and lost most of the aspects of truth.  In fact, the series does acknowledge that there is some REAL power in Christianity, since when you obtain the Bible I was talking about earlier, it allows you to shoot fire. I'd also like to point out, that in the Bible, the Earth is flooded by God because there is too much evil in the world, and then, (slight spoiler coming) in The Wind Waker the Earth is flooded in order to destroy Ganondorf and his evil influence.
    But that's all I have to say really. I do quite like to find small references in things and then to stretch them out in order to come to interesting conclusions about fictional worlds! A pointless exercise, some may say, but for me, this kind of thing is part of the fun of enjoying fiction.

I have recently found myself with a new writer friend and so I would like to draw your attention to their work. Here is a link to her profile on FanFiction.net. Her latest project is a story called My Opposite and is based on the video game The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. It contains a very interesting reinterpretation of the relationship between Link and Girahim, which all starts when Link finds himself having to care for a severely injured Girahim. I shan't give away too many details as I wouldn't like to spoil it. The story is told from the points of view of both Link and Girahim and it is all very emotional, you know everything that they're thinking and what worries them. The style is also very poetic, which sometimes makes it flow very well and also makes it quite nice to read. I was asked to include a quote to hook you all in, so here's quite a nice (utterly context-less) line for you "The moonlight was beautifully blissful and yet blinding at the same time, it made the floating island around me glisten under its seemingly perpetual light." Happy reading :) (I should give a quick warning though, the story is rather an explicit one!)

For Christmas, my brother bought me the game Pokémon White. This is an excellent game, and I've been spending a lot of time playing it lately, as soon as I'm finished I'll most probably post a review on here. Just the other day, I got to an area in the game called Driftveil Drawbridge, and I realised that the music there sounds a lot like the music from the Waterfall area in Super Castlevania IV (a game I'll review if I ever manage to beat the really hard levels at the end of the game!). They're so similar, that I wonder if it might be intentional. But, I'll let you decided for yourself.

Here is Super Castlevania IV's Waterfall music:

Here is the music from Driftveil Drawbridge:

So what does everybody think? Do they sound the same to you? Could it be intentional? Coincidence? I'll leave you to decide.