Why is SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom loved so much?

Nowadays most games that use a license from a TV show or a movie end up not being that great. There are a lot of examples, such as Defiance for example. But the truth is that you will rarely have games that deliver on the license, and SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom is one of them. One of the reasons why this game is so popular is because it was designed from the ground up to be insanely fun and rewarding. It’s all about pushing the boundaries and bringing in a creative set of ideas. Plus, the main focus is on quality.

In SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom you have pretty much all the important locations from the SpongeBob SquarePants TV show. Not only that, but they went beyond that with 3 original bosses too. The game design itself is made to be as close to the originals as possible and yes, it still manages to impress with its great ideas and cool little nods you can find here and there. Another important aspect here is the fact that the gameplay is very fluid.

They did a very good job at creating a powerful, exciting and easy to play game that everyone loves. The license is used really well, the missions are fun and you do get to explore the spongebob lore at your own pace. It’s a great achievement and one that really helps enhance your experience in great ways.

It’s nice to see that they also have multiplayer too, which is great. This was not in the original, but it’s nice to see anyway. The multiplayer is basically a horde mode that puts you in multiple islands as you fight hordes and hordes of enemies. And yes, you can play as one of your favorite characters.

SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom is also beloved by a lot of people because it was designed from the ground up to bring in great challenges. You can play as many of the characters in the game, you have a lot of props and you will also get character abilities too.

All these little things really add up to give a lot of character to the game and provide you with some cool moments. We already have a great connection with the characters, so being able to control them in a vibrant Bikini Bottom world is what really sets things apart. You will also get to collect all kinds of items, which is very cool in the game.

At the end of the day, SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom is a very fun game, with a great story and a wonderful world to explore. It’s fun, easy to play and enjoy, and the cool thing is that it constantly encourages you to push the boundaries and come up with something new. You do want to check it out for yourself and in the end it will be insanely fun. There’s a reason why we are getting a remaster now, because the game is very good and it has created a cult community around it!

8-Bit History - Episode 5 - Robin Williams The Gamer!!!

Robin Williams The Gamer!!!

By: Jose R Cordero Ladner (Joey 6'1'')

Robin Williams was a great man and a very good actor. But despite the fact that he is known for all the movies and charitable events he was a part of, Robin Williams is also quite famous for the fact that he was one of the few actors which actually had a passion for video games.

In fact, Robin Williams considered himself to be a great gamer. He actually spent a lot of time playing video games. He was so esthetic about that to the point where he actually played a lot of Zelda and he even named his daughter Zelda. He admits that he ended up playing Legend of Zelda for hours upon hours, and that on its own offered him plenty of fun and allowed him to fight depression!

According to Robin Williams, he also liked Mario a lot. In fact, he did want to call his son Mario or Luigi, yet another thing that people just don’t know about the fabled actor. It’s safe to say that Robin Williams was and still is a very important person in the acting world.

Ever since he passed away, a lot of people wanted to remove the fact that he was indeed a great man and his work has constantly showed us that. But the fact that he continually played video games to have fun and fight depression is nothing short of amazing. It clearly shows that everyone, including people that don’t really like video games in general will end up having plenty of fun with them!

But Robin Williams wasn’t like that at all. He adored video games and he liked the idea of playing them a lot. In fact, video games were his life when he was a bit younger and as he got better and better at acting, he worked extremely hard to figure out a way to balance gaming and acting as well.

He was particularly a fan of Zelda at first. But he did realize that there are lots of great games that he should try. And this is why Robin Williams wanted to focus on some other types of games.

This is how he got into World of Warcraft. According to many interviews, Robin Williams considered the game to be very addicting and just a ton of fun. It’s easy to see why he would think something like that. The game was and still is very fun and it did receive numerous upgrades all the time. However, Robin liked the interaction between people and the fact that the gameplay was always unique and diverse.

This is pretty hard to find in the gaming world, especially for an MMO. But Robin Williams also enjoyed playing puzzle games like Portal. He particularly found them revolutionary and very good to keep a true focus on your mind’s capabilities. He liked playing these with other people, and that’s what made Portal one of his favorites. As we all know, Portal was and still is a revolutionary game in this perspective and one that did end up with quite the interesting gameplay and unique ideas to say the least.

Moreover, Robin Williams also liked Half Life. He was a fan of the story and setting, which is exactly what he wanted in his games. But that wasn’t the only shooter he enjoyed. During an interview, Robin Williams shows that he actually believes Call of Duty is Cyber Cocaine. Why is that? Because the game is too addicting and it makes you play again and again all the time. That’s exactly what happened here and in the end that was quite impressive to be honest.

Knowing Robin Williams, you will most likely see him as a family guy. Yes, he really was one and he focused a lot on spending a lot of time with his kids. This is how he actually managed to shared his passion for gaming with his daughter and son as well. He was very competitive and he always wanted to find some new, creative ideas and projects to focus on. That’s what really shined and it brought that sense of perspective into the mix for him.

It seems that Robin Williams was particularly into military games. He liked Battlefield a lot and he always tried to play some of the newest shooters. He liked that sense of action, the intense gameplay and the unique arsenal that gamers had in the game. He also focused on finding a new set of tools that would allow him to play better and faster. It’s clear to see here that Robin Williams was not only a great person, but also an avid gamer.

He was a very avid gamer and he inspired a lot of people to start playing games. His time with Zelda and World of Warcraft was amazing and he always talked about games with a lot of love. They did help him go through plenty of dark times and they really showed him the way towards a better and more enticing life as a whole.

It’s safe to say that Robin Williams was very important for the WoW community as well. They actually created a funeral in the game after he died, a testament to what he meant for the community and how important the community was for him to begin with.

Being dedicated to games as a celebrity can be quite interesting. More and more celebrities like Robert Kazinsky for example talk about their addiction to games like World of Warcraft, but there are still many of them that do play games despite not admitting that. One thing is certain here, Robin Williams was and still is an icon for the movie industry and he still is one of the best gamer celebrities out there. It’s definitely an amazing thing to have such a major actor in the gaming world. At the end of the day, he was and he will always be an icon, so we are definitely glad to welcome people like him in the gaming industry.

Top 10 - The Legend Of Zelda - Breath Of the wild Armors!!!

Best Armor in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Many different pieces of gear and armor are available to you in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and it can be overwhelming to decide what to use. Whether you want to focus on a specific activity or find a good set of armor for general use, here are some to keep in mind.

Climber’s Armor

Planning a long climb? Whether there’s a mountaintop shrine you’re struggling to reach or you just want to explore the heights of Breath of the Wild’s world, each piece of Climber’s Armor will increase your climbing speed with Climb Speed Up. Once you have the entire set, you can wear it in its entirety to gain Climb Stamina Up and make your climbs even easier.

Zora Armor

Meanwhile, if you need to spend a lot of time swimming, the Zora Armor set is exactly what you need. Each piece of gear in the set grants you Swim Speed Up for faster swimming, but there’s more to it than that. The Zora Armor piece also includes Swim Up Waterfalls, the Zora Helm gives you a Spin Attack to use, and wearing the entire set gives you a set bonus of Swim Dash Stamina Up.

Flamebreaker Armor

Having trouble with fire? Each piece of armor in the Flamebreaker set grants you Flame Guard, and the set bonus is Fireproof.

Snowquill Armor

On the other side of the temperature spectrum, you can get Cold Resistance from each piece of armor in the Snowquill Armor set. The bonus for wearing the entire set is Unfreezable, which makes it even more helpful against ice-based attacks.

Desert Voe Armor

The Desert Voe Armor Set is helpful because each piece has Heat Resistance, but what makes it stand out even more is your bonus for the entire set. If you wear the entire set of Desert Voe Armor, you’ll also gain Shock Resistance, making this armor invaluable for facing heat and electricity.

Champion’s Tunic

The Champion’s Tunic may not be part of an armor set, but it has the highest defense once it’s fully upgraded. Not only that, but it also includes an ability that lets you see the enemy’s health. Since it isn’t part of a set, you’ll miss out on any set bonuses if you use the Champion’s Tunic, but it’s still a useful piece to match with others.

Armor of the Wild

Similarly, each piece of armor with “of the Wild” in its name offers a fair amount of defense. None on its own reaches the same level as the Champion’s Tunic, but the full Armor of the Wild set is formidable. However, they have no additional effects and no set bonus. You might consider matching them with the Champion’s Tunic.

Stealth Armor

If you’re planning to sneak around enemies, each piece of equipment in the Stealth Armor set grants you the Stealth Up effect. When you wear the entire set, you’ll also get Night Speed Up as its set bonus. This increases your movement, climbing, and swimming speeds at night.

Barbarian Armor

Then again, maybe you want the exact opposite of stealth—you just want to effectively attack everything. The Barbarian Armor set is an excellent choice for an offense-focused playstyle, as every piece provides Attack Up. This set comes with two set bonuses, as well, Charge Attack Up and Stamina Up.

Fierce Deity Armor

The powerful Fierce Deity Armor is another offense-focused set, as it brings with it increased attack power, Charge Attack Up, Stamina Up, and a fair amount of defense as well. However, the Fierce Deity Armor can only be unlocked through use of an as-yet-unreleased amiibo figurine.

The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Review

The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Review

Breath of the Wild is a remarkable accomplishment in terms of gameplay, depth and art direction. I recently played it on Nintendo Switch and was compelled to write what I felt about it. The beautiful plot of the game mesmerizedmethe moment Istepped into it.The diversity of the location and its vastness leftmein awe. Let’s take a look what it has for you.

Thisopen world game puts you in the shoes of ‘Link’ the protagonist, gives you sheer freedom to explore and discover Hyrule and complete dungeons in any order without disrupting the main flow of the game. You can climb any surface and travel in any direction you want. What I found most interesting is the fact that it does not dictate or guide you in any way. You learn through trial and error, build your own path and follow it to discover hidden secrets.

Another feature worth mentioning is its connection with real life. For example, your weapons are perishable just like in the real world;they can break or wear down with usage or environmental hazards. Metal weapons attract lightening and can get you killed. You should dress according to the climate to save yourself.

Like in any other action game you have to kill enemies, solve complex puzzles, discover mysterious landmarks, find enemy camps and get rewardedin the form of hearts, increased stamina bars, and weapon upgrades. As your skills and stamina improve, you can reach more locations, but be prepared for rains, thunderstorms andother random natural catastrophesthat could slow you down. The wild combats involve swords, spears and axes with archery playing the major role. Youcan use variety of arrow types to conquer yourenemies.

Ah, I forgot to mention about ‘Cooking’.It might delight you. When you don’t have any recipes to consult, you can simply experiment with ingredients and pray that the outcome is edible. Different mixtures of the ingredients yield different rewards like they may replenish yourhealth or give youextra resistance to a specific climate. I ended up producing rotten things most of the time, so be careful about the elements you are mixing.

Playing Breath Of the Wild is an amazing experience. 50 hours into the game and I am still encountering dozens of new tantalizing things to explore and can happily play for 10 more hours without getting bored. The textures of the game may seem blurry on Switch’s6.2” display,and the game also suffers brief frame rate hiccups in heated situations. But these factors do not spoil the spirit of the game.

8-Bit History - Episode 4 - Why Did Hudson Soft Die?

How did Hudson Soft die?

By: Jose R Cordero Ladner (Joey 6'1'')

Hudson Soft was a very popular video game company. They released a lot of games during the 80s and up to 2012. The company had its headquarters in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo, and they also had an office in Sapporo.

The company was founded in 1973 and it dealt with personal computer products at first. However, it soon expanded to publishing video games, creating mobile content and recording music. They did become a videogame publisher and they are the ones that published series like Bonk, Bomberman, Adventure Island, Bloody Roar and so on. They also made the TurboGrafx-16 alongside NEC, and they completed against SNK, Sega and Nintendo that also had consoles at the time.

They were a second party developer, but at the same time they were constantly trying to adjust the way they created consoles and published games. Not a lot of people know this, but Hudson Soft had a great relationship with Konami. They did end up getting hit by the collapse of the main bank they had at that time, Hokkaido Takushoku.

When they tried to find some new financing alternatives, they decided that the best thing they could do was to enter the stock market for the first time. This brought in Konami that purchased around 5.6 million shares from them. In those terms, Hudson ended up acquiring the Konami Sapporo division, and they renamed it Hudson Studio at that time.

In 2005, things became clear that Hudson did end up being a part of Konami when they still allowed Hudson to stay as a video game publisher, but Konami worked close with them all the time.

It was in 2011 when Hudson Soft turned into a wholly owned Konami subsidiary. The California subsidiary ended up being liquidated during this process, a very important thing to keep in mind in this regard.

It was on March 1 2012 when Hudson Soft creased to exist. They merged with Konami Entertainment, and their music business was absorbed into KME Corporation.Yet despite all of that, Konami still uses their brand name to share stuff online and stuff like that. It makes a lot of sense, because they are the ones that still own the brand name in the first place. However, since 2014 the Hudson website was retired, and now you can’t find any mention of Hudson Soft anywhere unless it’s a part of Konami, and that’s from many years ago.

As you can see, Hudson Soft is one of those companies that died because they became a part of a larger corporation. And that’s ok. All you can see there is that it does matter how a company manages itself, because situations such as this one can appear out of nowhere. And you really need to be in control, otherwise you can end up dealing with various issues all the time. That’s why Hudson Softdied, because they ended up selling to a larger company that ended up not having any use for their brand anymore. Which is a shame, because they were a great publisher!

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy3DkIKjT90&t=111s

8 Bit History - Episode 3 - Mega Man X: Who was Vile?

Mega Man X: Who was Vile?

By: Jose R Cordero Ladner (Joey 6'1'')

Mega Man X was the first Mega Man game to be developed in 16-bit however, it's not one of the main games. This game is a spin-off from the main series and was released for the SNES in 1993. However, the game has been ported to PC, the Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2 and also the Nintendo Virtual Console for download on the Wii, Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. There is also a remake for the PlayStation Portable which is called “Mega Man Maverkic Hunter X”.

Like previous Mega Man games, this one was developed by Capcom and published by Nintendo.

One if the most iconic villians from the game is Vile. He appears several times and is even a mid-game boss. Unlike many other characters we've covered, Vile is a character in various Mega Man games. He appeared in: Mega Man X3, Mega Man Xtreme, Mega Man X8 and was even a playable character in the PSP remake, Mega Man Maverick Hunter X.

Vile was an A-Class Maverick Hunter originally but he collected a large amount of disciplinary charges for his reckless and bloodthirsty behaviour on missions. When Sigma took hunters with him for his war on humanity, Vile followed him willingly.

While Vile is a recurring villain in the Megan Man X series, his time in the spotlight appears to be over now. This game series seemed to 'end' in 2004 with Mega Man X8 and Mega Man X: Command Mission. However, there have been several remakes since then which feature this powerful villain.

It's currently unknown if Vile is alive or not as he was defeated at the end of Mega Man X. The full ending for the game also leaves this open so it wasn't surprising when he made several re-appearances in different Mega Man games.

It's possible that this villain will return to other games in the future but for now, Vile is currently resting and waiting for his chance to strike once again.

Videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egN3QvTW0vg&t=8s

8- Bit History - Episode 2 - Turok The Dinosaur Hunter

Turok The Dinosaur Hunter: Origins and development story!

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgHj-3Nzy-Y&t=106s

By: Jose R Cordero Ladner (Joey 6'1'')

Turok The Dinosaur Hunter is one of those games that impressed all of us when it came out. And for an excellent reason. Not only is it a delight to play, but it has the uniqueness, distinct visual appeal, and features that make it so interesting and rewarding right off the bat. This is a very goodgame and it manages to easily integrate all the features that you would want to have from a dinosaur game!

The beginnings

The character of Turok was initially a part of the comics published by Dell Comics and Western Publishing. He appeared in one of their comics in 1954. Valiant Comics soon ended up revamping the series, and they brought the character back in 1993, also in comic format. But as you can imagine, this was set to become a game, and that’s what made it so unique, to begin with.

Acclaim Entertainment ended up purchasing Valiant in 1994, and they also acquired Iguana Entertainment, a developer, a year later. Acclaim was focused on creating great content and video games based on comic books. So, it was only a matter of time when Turok was announced to be released rather soon. The announcement took place in August 1994,and the game was set to be an exclusive for the Ultra 64 console, which ended up being called the Nintendo 64 in the end.

What made the game distinct was the fact that they wanted to bring in the full array of powers and stories from the comic books inside Turok The Dinosaur Hunter. And that was hard to pull off, especially with the technology at that time.

Development

The development process for Turok The Dinosaur Hunter started in 1996. At its core, the game was based on the comic book, but Iguana Entertainment went ahead and tried to make the game a lot more action oriented. This was a great idea and one that would ultimately bring in front a multitude of nice ideas.

At first, Turok The Dinosaur Hunter was supposed to be a side scroller. However, the idea did wear off very fast, as the developers knew that there were too many of those already. They did want to create something in third person similar to Tomb Raider and Super Mario 64, but in the end, they decided to go for a first person shooter. It was the only way to showcase the power of the Nintendo 64, so opting for an FPS was the right pick.

Most of the developers working at Iguana at that time were inexperienced, and that did show. Even if they have complete support from Acclaim, it was clear that the gameplay ideas weren’t 100% going to stick, so trying to find another approach.

Since there was a lot of violence in Turok The Dinosaur Hunter, this game was pushing the limits of that console, but Nintendo didn’t want to check the console nor did they want to focus on anything for the time being. But once Iguana started to talk with them. Nintendo was supportive in the end. However, Iguana still had to create all their development tools, and that was certainly very time-consuming in the end.

The primary challenge during the Turok The Dinosaur Hunter development was the fit the game on the 8 MB cartridge. The game was larger than that. So they had to find some creative ways to deal with that sort of problem. They ended up reducing the music quality, and they also compressed everything.

Yes, some specific measures and issues weren't exactly helpful for the development team. Yet despite that, they did use particle systems, real-timelighting, and many other features., They even used the motion capture studio at Acclaim tomake the humanoid characters more convincing and entertaining.

The problem they encountered was that Acclaim had some major financial issues later during the game’s development. Even if they were publishing lots of 16-bit games, they did want to focus on something else other than SNES and Genesis. People were not ready, and obviously this did come as quite the shocker.

And while the game development process ran well, albeit, with its challenges, the reality is that the marketing for it ended up being extremely hard to do.In fact, Turok The Dinosaur Hunter was the major hope that Acclaim had at that time, and a lot of pressure was on the development team to deliver. Based on the cash flow issues, the marketing was weak.

In fact, Acclaim relied mostly on the sales of Magic: The Gathering: Battlemage. The lack of a good marketing was indeed a problem. And then you had a very high price for Turok The Dinosaur Hunter, which was $79.99 in the US, around 130 dollars in Australia and 70 pounds in the UK. Obviously, the addition of a Mature rating also meant that the sales would not be good, simply because parents would not get this for kids.

The game was initially set to appear in 1996, but they pushed the release date to January. As soon as the title started to get close to its release, presales started to show that Turok The Dinosaur Hunter did entice a lot of people and people were very positive about the idea of a dinosaur hunting game. In fact, they announced a sequel that was set to come later in 1997 as well.

Closing thoughts

Thankfully, the reality is that Turok The Dinosaur Hunter was and still is one of the best dinosaur hunting games, and it was remastered so new generations can play it too. But the legacy of Turok The Dinosaur Hunterstill remains, and it shows that even a very violent game can still have a chance on the market. It all comes down to the way you approach it and howopen your audience is about things. It’s certainly one of the most interesting things to note is that the new concept and incredible graphics managed to make the game a success and a cult classic. In fact, the game even received a sequel, and a few other games inspired by it appeared too, a legacy of its success!