Video Games That Ruled – Continue? Philly Under Fire

“Continue? Philly Under Fire” is a free game developed by Johnny B. of Lazy Brain Games. This is a single player, single level run-and-gun game that pays homage to the YouTube series “Continue?”, hosted by Paul Ritchie, Nick Murphy, and Josh Henderson.

The game begins much like the show, although the intro has been changed to show Paul, Nick, and Josh on the continue screens. You are then shown the title screen, and an opening cinematic that, again, is much like the show. The hosts start talking about Contra, but get interrupted by aliens attacking Philly. They decide to “attack aggressively”, and you’re given the option to select your character. The differences between them are purely visual, so pick your favorite host and you’re dropped into the game. No offense to Paul or Nick, but I went with Josh because I felt that he’d be able to safely get me through a post-apocalyptic city.

The gameplay is very reminiscent of Contra and Super C on the NES. You begin with a machine gun, but you can pick up various power-ups along the way, like spread guns, shields, grenades, homing missiles, and my favorite – the “X” power-up, which essentially turns your gun into Mega Man’s X Buster.

For such a short game, there are a lot of references to “Continue?” in the game. Large text appearing on the screen has been a longtime gag of the show, and makes an appearance after you beat the bosses. The ground demons (a reference from their hilariously inappropriate “Plok” episode), “You Pauled It”, and the “Pixies Live” concert poster were all nice additions. I think that the only thing that could make this game more “Continue?” than it already is if there was a reference to Josh’s dad, the drummer from Aerosmith (watch the “Revolution X” episode, it’ll make sense. Then watch “Kiss Pinball”).

As they do on the show, if I was given a choice to continue or game over, it’s a solid continue. This game may be fairly easy to play through for Contra veterans (I beat it in 10 minutes or so), but will definitely be playing this again when I have 10 minutes to kill. It controls well (I used a PS3 controller hooked into my computer), the retro music and graphics are really good, and it’s a pretty fun game even if you’re not familiar with the show.

You can find the game at Lazy Brain Games’ website.
Check out “Continue?” on their YouTube channel.

The Isometric Perspective #32 – Video Game Cover Musicians

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Skeletroy, Grant, and JimmyTR talk about some of their favorite musicans and bands who make music based on video games. NOTE: Episodes 30 and 31 were recorded after this one, so any mentions of “the last episode” refer to episode 29.

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Why I Think The Joker Should NOT Be In Arkham Origins

Oh yes, you did read that correctly. I honestly don’t think The Joker should be in Batman: Arkham Origins. Don’t get me wrong, I love The Joker, but I’m not blindly going to get something because The Joker is in it. Also I’m not saying they should take him out last minute or anything, or generally saying they should undo all of their hard work; though I will concede that this is basically “he never should’ve been in it in the first place”. I also will make a follow up article after I have played the game stating whether I hold true to this opinion, or if the game has made me change my mind. Remember, this is written having not played the game yet, so my opinion could easily change once it’s released.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand exactly why The Joker seems to be in everything and is everywhere; he’s an iconic villain and the character has earned that spot. However Joker has been the main focus of both previous Arkham games. Sure, he was the main villain in Arkham Asylum, so that gets a pass, however he also hogs the spotlight in Arkham City; a game where the main villain is SUPPOSED to be Hugo Strange (or Ra’s Al Ghul, or both). Don’t believe me? His story ends AFTER the main plot does. I will admit it worked due to how they handled the conclusion of that story, but the fact remains that a sub-plot concluded after the main story.

Now, we come to Arkham Origins, where the main villain is supposed to be Black Mask, which automatically drew me to the game out of curiosity as to how that would play out, with Deathstroke’s inclusion being what sealed the deal for me. But what will most people like me (comic adaptation fans) most likely care about? The Joker is in there! Come on guys! Even Batman Begins didn’t have Joker! Why should this? I get it, I get it…”Joker sells”, fine, but come on guys, if you’re going to include him, make him a flat out side villain with guys like Anarky, or flat out diminish him to a cameo appearance like Mad Hatter got in Arkham City.

Hell, think about it. If they’re trying to “fall back in mainstream known villains”, and that’s their logic for using Joker in every game, guess what? THEY DID A POOR JOB OF THAT IN ASYLUM!

  • Riddler – voice only
  • Two-Face – only verbally mentioned right at the end
  • Mr. Freeze – no verbal mention
  • Catwoman – no verbal mention (Yes I know she isn’t always a bad guy but still)
  • The Penguin – no verbal mention

They didn’t seem too preoccupied with trying to throw in a bucket load of well-known (mainstream wise) Batman villains. Hell, even the biographies in Arkham Asylum are filled with a bunch of villains I had no idea existed at the time (Great White Shark, Tweedledum & Tweedledee, Killer Moth, etc.). Honestly I wish that trend had continued with the Arkham City biographies, but oh well, a man can dream.

Actually, that’s a whole other thing I’d like to bring up. Fine, Joker’s in it. But guess what? I actually find myself being drawn towards EVERY OTHER VILLAIN more than Joker, purely because I don’t know as much about the other villains. Does that mean I’ll necessarily like all of the other villains? No. But to me the unknown is a lot more fascinating in this sort of case. Mad Hatter was a case for this in Arkham City, and he turned out to be one of my favourite villains despite only making a cameo appearance, so I’m excited to learn he’s having a (probably only somewhat) larger role in Arkham Origins. As far as Joker goes though, I honestly do not care about Joker’s storyline at all as of writing this. He wants to blow up a bunch of buildings on Christmas Eve? Seems more like a Calendar Man scheme to me. Seriously, switch out Joker for Calendar Man in that scenario and see if it changes anything. Makes more sense with Calendar Man doesn’t it?

Going along with that, Joker’s sub-plot seems entirely tacked on and pointless to me. Here we’ve got a game where the main plot is that, for some reason, Black Mask has hired eight assassins to try and kill Batman; so Batman has to survive their attacks and find Black Mask, also trying to figure out why this is even happening in the first place. Sounds like a basic, yet strong, story to base a game around to me. If Joker is a major player then it just throws everything out of balance, considering we have NINE main villains already. There are enough characters to focus on without needing Joker as a major player, or even a minor player. Once again, Batman Begins didn’t need The Joker, so why does Arkham Origins? As of now it’s a completely unnecessary addition to an already appealing game in my eyes; whether it’s handled well or not

That aside, I realise I could actually end up being wrong about how large a role Joker even plays in this game. For all I know, he could actually just be stuck in the same boat as Anarky and be a side-mission villain (ala Riddler, Zsasz & Bane in Arkham City), rather than a major sub-plot villain. If that’s the case? Then fine, I won’t mind as much, and I’ll admit that in a follow up article. But as of right now, I firmly believe this game does NOT need The Joker. And I honestly doubt that his story being well done will change that. Whether it does or not, I do intend to do a follow up article.

Does anyone actually agree with me? Do you disagree? Either way leave your opinions below (Negative wise only if you actually have something constructive to say) and I’ll see you all again next time.

The Isometric Perspective 28 – Tokyo Game Show 2013

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While Troy is battling some Gremlins, Grant and Jimmy recap this week’s Tokyo Game Show.  Did Sony deliver the goods?  Find out!

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The Isometric Perspective SPECIAL: Sony confirms gameplay capture via HDMI

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Jimmy and Troy briefly discuss the breaking news that Sony is allowing gameplay capture through HDMI. 

Source:

http://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2013/09/19/ps4-hdmi-game-capture-confirmed-by-sony-likely-coming-after-console-launch/

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The Isometric Perspective #25 – Video Games Based on TV Shows

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Skeletroy, Grant, and JimmyTR discuss some of the games that were licensed from television studios, and Skeletroy has a field day talking about Capcom games based on Disney cartoons.

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The Isometric Perspective #17 – Portable Gaming

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Skeletroy, Grant, JimmyTR, and Graham the Re-Animator talk about portable video game systems and the potential future of handheld gaming.

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The Isometric Perspective #01 – Favorite Generations of Video Game Consoles (part 1)

The Isometric Perspective is a discussion about video games. In this episode, Skeletroy takes you on a quick trip through all of the different generations of video game consoles, and poses a question for next time.

The Ring Of Fyre – Episode 22

This time on The Ring Of Fyre……..just…..what the hell happened?
Super Sintendo