How WWE's Divas Division Went Forward & Backwards Within 24 Hours

I was in a GREAT mood after Sunday's Tables Ladders & Chairs Pay-Per-View event, with both AJ Lee and especially Naomi getting notable pushes that evening. I was preparing to do a write-up on the event overall, but my instincts said, "Wait until you see Monday Night RAW..." And what do you know? I was right. WWE drops the ball, as usual.

I'm really starting to lose hope on the WWE Divas for the most part. There's still hope for the girls on NXT of course, but let's go over what happened over the span of 24 hours.

What Happened At TLC

#1 Contender "Santa's Little Helpers" Diva Battle Royal: Layla El, Aksana, Natalya, Tamina Snuka, Rosa Mendes, Kaitlyn, Alicia Fox, Cameron, and Naomi. 

It was reported earlier this year that Naomi had one of the best Diva matches in recent memory against Natalya at house show, but no one has managed to upload the footage. It was surprising that WWE never took the ball and rolled with it from the buzz that this matter caused and gave her proper push. Well, the stars have smiled on Naomi tonight as she walked out as the winner of this YouTube exclusive Pre-show match.

WWE Divas Championship Match - Eve Torres (champion) vs. Naomi

Naomi continues to turn heads in this chance of a lifetime opportunity to dethrone reigning Divas Champion Eve Torres. At one point, it seemed that Naomi would capture the gold, but a costly mistake by Naomi with a high-risk maneuver from the top rope proved to be her downfall as Eve quickly capitalized to retain.

I have been saying it since NXT Season 3 that Naomi has potential to be a strong competitor in the division. For the record, she was my first pick to win NXT Season 3, followed by AJ Lee taking second. I love watching her work it as much as any other warm-blooded male when her and Cameron accompany Brodus Clay to the ring, but she can be used for so much more.

Somebody Better Call My Momma when she gets a Divas title reign!

Main Event: John Cena vs. Dolph Ziggler - Ladder Match for Money In The Bank Briefcase

At first glance, it seemed like AJ Lee was coming out to Cena's aid to save him from the wrath of Vickie Guerrero, who was armed with a steel chair. AJ puts Vickie's plans to a screeching halt as she takes her out with a flying clothesline and delivers Cena's own signature Five Knuckle Shuffle. She then urges Cena to set up the ladder and grab the briefcase while both Vickie Guerrero and Dolph Ziggler were out of it. Cena began to climb to the top of the ladder while AJ skips around the ring with glee in anticipation of his victory. To the entire WWE Universe's surprise, AJ shoves the ladder over, knocking Cena down to the floor and allows Dolph Ziggler to retain the Money in the Bank briefcase. 

I was completely overjoyed that AJ stabbed Cena in the back. There was no need for Cena to have Money in the Bank. He already cashed in and failed earlier this year, so why give him a second chance? But back on topic, heel AJ Lee opens the door to so many new opportunities to her character. 

What Happened On Monday Night RAW (12/17/2012)

AJ Lee interrupts the Slammy Awards to seduce Dolph Ziggler with a "Ho-ski" oriented kiss that just digs her deeper into this label of being WWE's resident whore. Vickie Guerrero watches from a distance shouting "NOO!!!" reminiscent of Darth Vader at the end of Star Wars: Episode III - Return of the Sith.

Later that evening, AJ teamed with Dolph Ziggler against the team of Vickie Guerrero and John Cena. AJ seemingly abandoned Mr. Ziggles only to return with "Big E" Langston from NXT, who quickly makes short work of Cena to end RAW.

Meanwhile, back in the Divas division, Kim Possible -errr Kaitlyn, gets a non-title match against Eve Torres. She manages to pull an upset victory over the Divas Champion, which will more likely put her back into the #1 contender saddle.

Where does that leave Naomi Knight then? She was seen back to her usual routine, escorting Brodus Clay, along with Cameron, to the ring for one of his weekly scheduled squash matches. Yeah, she's watching the action from the outside rather than being a part of it.

Really, WWE? It's as if last night was in Bizarro World and we're back to Earth Prime tonight. Why can't the WWE Divas have good things? It's bad enough that they are still using that butterfly belt as the main representation of the women of the company. 

I know how you feel, Vader. WWE always finds a way
to screw up the Divas one way or another.

Naomi Knight's push could have carried over onto tonight's show, granting those who didn't have the chance to see her excel at the PPV, could do so in a non-title rematch on RAW. Kaitlyn has had multiple opportunities to take the gold from Eve, and has failed on every occasion. WWE needs to drop her back down to NXT to hone her skills if they ever want to groom her to fill in the rather big shoes that Beth Phoenix has left behind. Why WWE's creative team continues to have such high hopes for her is a mystery all on it's own.

Here's another plot hole that no one seems to remember about - Tamina. I thought Vickie Guerrero had her groomed as hired muscle to deal with AJ Lee? Tamina has suffered a few fluke loses to AJ over the last month or two, but those victories for AJ Lee don't merit the means for her just to move onto the next best thing. Tamina could easily be groomed as a constant roadblock in AJ's way - regardless of her being heel or babyface. Tamina can just simply express she doesn't like anything about AJ. That being said, this would be a proper platform to prove AJ has more to offer WWE than just being a typical horny teenage girl who just happened to have a job in WWE and is traded off in the locker room like baseball cards.

If AJ Lee's only asset to the company is being its resident whore that's traded off to every Superstar on the roster then I would rather that airtime be devoted on the other Divas on the roster gaining a more recognized and regular role on WWE programming.

The Aftermath on LIVE Super Smackdown (12/18/12)

A huge brawl between AJ Lee and Kaitlyn broke out backstage. It seems that WWE are trying to take this angle with AJ Lee's heel turn down the road of familiar territory seen in both Lita and Stephanie McMahon's heel turns. AJ attaches herself to the next pending 'next big thing' in the main event scene and hopes to garner more interest because she's attached to it. At the end of the day, this is a repeat of her involvement with Daniel Bryan, only that she's heel here instead of babyface.

Divas Championship Match - Kaitlyn vs. Eve Torres

Kim Possible fails to topple Eve Torres yet again. Are we surprised? Not in the least.

If WWE are gung-ho about keeping Kaitlyn, Eve, and AJ as the focal points of the Divas Division then focus on that, instead of AJ having her hands into everything. I will elaborate more on my distaste of Dolph Ziggler assembling a mock faction prior to obtaining the World Heavyweight Championship after cashing in Money in the Bank in-depth on a later date, but I will say this - thank god that he finally has dropped Vickie Guerrero as his manager. He's been needing to drop her for a LONG time now.

What WWE needs to do to step the Divas Division up in 2013 is realize that they have more than just 3-4 girls. Tamina can easily fit into the mold of a monster heel type, modeling herself much like how Jazz was during the Invasion storyline. For the love of all things holy, call up Paige or some of the other NXT Divas (Summer Rae notably) up to the main roster to liven up things while allowing Natalya, Naomi, and Cameron to compete regularly as well. It's clear that Layla and Aksana are quietly easing back into more backstage roles, but they can be still used as filler in tag team matches and battle royals.

You can't call Trish Stratus and Lita back to save it at this rate. Any 'return' of either of those Divas will drag this division back down farther than it already is. Let's not forget that Trish Stratus doesn't know the meaning of putting people over. Want proof? Look at how she killed Beth Phoenix's momentum during her initial title run with Glamarella. I don't even want to see neither of them back for a piss-break of a Divas Match at WrestleMania either. WWE, heed my words: Much like your Superstars, focus on grooming the NEXT generation, instead of has-beens and veterans who are working injured or walking extremely close to retirement just because WWE as a company is too lazy to put in the effort to establish new homegrown talent.
If anything good comes out of the feud between AJ and Kaitlyn, it would possibly be the first Divas-related storyline to have an actual build-up to WrestleMania in last several years. Otherwise, WWE has to take the time and rebuild the Divas Division from the ground up - give some of the girls waiting on the sidelines and on the bench a chance to shine and allow the veteran Divas to step back a bit and allow them to build up newer faces.

REVIEW: Street Fighter X Mega Man

It's time to charge up those Mega Busters and fire up those Hadokens as Street Fighter X Mega Man has arrived. Is this labor of love worth the hype? It's time to find out whether or not if this was worth Capcom renewing interest in the Blue Bomber.

If you haven't received your FREE copy go here: http://www.capcom-unity.com/mega_man

For those interested, the original soundtrack is available for download FREE as well: http://rivalrivalrival.bandcamp.com/album/street-fighter-x-mega-man-ost

Overview:

When you first load up the game, long time Mega Man fans will be shocked to look at the Stage Select screen replaced with the faces of several familiar faces from the Street Fighter series instead of the Robot Masters and Mavericks of previous iterations.

Each Street Fighter has a unique stage tailored to that fighter's own stage that they call home in the Street Fighter series, but in this case, it's with a Mega Man flavored twist on them.

Upon the defeat of each Street Fighter, Mega Man learns one of their special attacks and adapts it into a weapon of his own in typical Mega Man fashion. Some of these weapons are amazingly cool to use, while others just fall flat from the lack of creativity and use outside of using them on the Street Fighter(s) that is weak to that said weapon.

The boss battles are a pleasant treat outside of the norm, as each of the Street Fighters have a Super Meter that fills as they execute attacks and take damage. Once filled to capacity, they can unleash their Super Moves, which are equivalent to their Super Arts/Ultra Moves in the Street Fighter series. These attacks do devastating damage if they come in contact with the Blue Bomber.

Feel free to shoot those spinning orbs above
your head for a much needed gift.

After defeating the 8 Street Fighters, you are dragged down a trip down memory lane as Shadowloo's best aim to challenge you next. First up is Balrog (Boxer), followed by Vega (Claw), and last but not least, the evil M.Bison (Dictator) himself.

The Verdict:

I love the fact that this new Mega Man title came to the fans free of charge, but there's a few issues I have with in this game. 

The lack of Save/Password Option - Hitting the Esc button on your keyboard exits the game completely and upon reload it starts you all the way back at the beginning. This could prove frustrating for players who are trying to minimizing the window or looking to take a break. Without save option, you are forced to finish the game all in one sitting. Capcom has stated in an interview that they are looking to do an update that remedies this problem.

Not enough Mega Man series representation - I understand that this is a mash-up between series, but Street Fighter's cast got more love in this game than Mega Man's cast of lovable characters. Rush had a VERY brief appearance at the beginning of Rose's stage and afterwards we don't get any Rush power-up or vehicles to use at our disposal. The lack of Beat is sad too. His only appearance is on the World Map when you challenge the members of Shadowloo at the game's finale. Outside of that, there's no appearances from Dr. Light, Dr. Wily, Protoman, Roll, Auto, or even Eddy (Flip-Top).

Vega, I HATE you so damn much in this game...

The Robot Masters (Street Fighters) have completely random patterns - That was the main part of your mastery of previous Mega Man titles. Once you memorized that Robot Master's pattern, there was no way to that he could catch you off-guard. Here, each of the Street Fighters have no sense of logic to their actions as if they are trying to random you out in an actual match from Street Fighter. Sure, some of them are less random than others, but it's going to prove to be rather annoying for those skilled Mega Man players who seek to attempt a no-hit run. 

The game is VERY short - The first attempt through the game may take a few hours, but after encountering each of the stages' hazards a few times, players will be able to breeze through the game in roughly an hour or less. 

At the end of the day, this is still a Mega Man game. It has the Blue Bomber's charm - characters with personality, challenging platforming, and addictive gameplay. It made me rage at times, but laugh and smile even more at the Street Fighter references and cameos. I won't deny that I had a blast playing it.

I give this an 8 out of 10. 

REVIEW -- Metroid: Other M (Wii) -- REVISITED

It's time to rewind the clocks back to 2010 as we take a look at Nintendo and Team Ninja's joint project, Metroid: The Other M, which was exclusively made available for the Nintendo Wii console.

This said title received a ton of critical reviews, ranging from long-time fans being upset and others expressing their distaste for Samus Aran's devolving from her roots as a strong female heroine. I managed to breeze through the game over the weekend and I'm going to share my own thoughts on this title to see whether or not the bad press was necessary or not.

Revisit Note (8/12/17): In August 2017, I streamed this game in its entirety on Twitch TV (with the archive uploaded to my YouTube Channel) and I thought it would be fair to revisit my thoughts on this game after revisiting it five years later.

The Plot (contains full spoilers)

As much as I enjoyed Samus' solitude in her gameplay, I thought it would have been a welcome change if Nintendo kept the
Galactic Federation soldiers around throughout the course of the game outside of the first boss fight. I think a squad-based
Metroid game could be fun if done right. 

The game begins with a dream recounting the climax of Super Metroid, where Samus battles against Mother Brain and watches the baby die. After giving a mission report, Samus departs for space. Weeks later, she picks up a Baby's Cry distress signal from the derelict BOTTLE SHIP. Samus is compelled to follow it.

Soon after landing on the seemingly deserted BOTTLE SHIP, Samus encounters the Galactic Federation 07th Platoon, and is greeted by Anthony Higgs, an old friend from her days in the Federation Army. Leading them is Commander Adam Malkovich, her former commanding officer. Adam refuses to divulge why they are on the station, but Samus decides to stay on board for the sake of the platoon. The team discovers the body of a Lab Worker, and are soon attacked by a collective mass of purple insects. Samus and the platoon work together to take it down.

Adam tells Samus the conditions of her cooperation in the mission.

Adam allows Samus to cooperate in their mission, under the condition that she obey his orders and refrain from using certain weapons and equipment until he authorizes them. He orders Samus to find the Exam Center in Sector 1. On her journey through the tropical area, she encounters a small, furry creature that begins to follow her.

Samus later reaches the Exam Center, and finds James Pierce doing something under the desk of the main computer. The rest of the platoon then arrives, although Lyle Smithsonian is missing. Investigating, Samus discovers the cybernetic body of a Space Pirate Zebesian with the Galactic Federation insignia on its chest. The platoon discovers that the purpose of the BOTTLE SHIP was to conduct research on bioweapons, a practice that is illegal within the Federation. They learn the person in charge of the project was Dr. Madeline Bergman.

A large purple creature launches itself at Samus from the Exam Centre's tower.

Outside, the Platoon is attacked outside by a large lizard-like creature, who viciously attacks Samus when she comes to assist them. After being wounded by Anthony Higgs' Plasma Gun, the creature flees. The group discovers the bodies of Lyle and the skin of the creature Samus encountered, "Little Birdie". She is ordered to follow the lizard creature.

A Federation Trooper operating a large Ferrocrusher machine attacks Samus in the Cryosphere Warehouse.

Midway into her search for the Mystery Creature in Sector 3, Samus is redirected to the icy Sector 2 to search for survivors. While there, she discovers the body of Maurice Favreau and spots a young woman in the Materials Storehouse, who flees. Samus gives chase and tries to talk the woman down. The woman refuses to cooperate, fearful that Samus is here to silence her, and implies that Maurice was killed by a fellow soldier. The two are then attacked by a soldier wearing a Galactic Federation Power Suit driving an RB176 Ferrocrusher, and the woman is separated from Samus. Samus destroys the machine, but the operator escapes.

Returning to Sector 3, Samus concludes that there is a traitor within the 07th Platoon, and nicknames him "the Deleter" until she learns his true identity. Back in Sector 3, Samus encounters Anthony. He explains he was sent to open the magma-eruption port in the Geothermal Power Plant, along with the rest of the Platoon. However, none of his comrades showed up at the rendezvous point. Parting from Anthony, Samus continues until she finds the empty husk of the lizard creature. Samus enters the dimly lit Geothermal Power Plant and reunites with Anthony. The monster, now winged, ambushes them. Samus, confronting it alone, opens the magma-eruption port and brings light into the room. To her horror, the creature is revealed to be none other than her nemesis Ridley, whom she believed to be permanently killed with the destruction of Zebes. Overcome by posttraumatic stress disorder, Samus is unable to save Anthony when he is seemingly killed by Ridley. Samus's anger empowers her to battle Ridley once again. He escapes.

Samus is forced to battle Ridley again.

Leaving the Pyrosphere, Samus realizes she cannot contactAdam, and fears that the Deleter may be or already has targeted him. She then spots one of her comrades entering Sector 1. Samus pursues him to the Bioweapon Research Center, where she instead finds the young woman again. After calming down, the woman introduces herself as Madeline Bergman. She reveals that the Federation was gathering Zebesians and other deadly organisms to enhance them through cybernetics to serve as a special-forces unit for the Federation, modelled after the original Space Pirates. The project became disastrous when a "certain presence" (Samus assumes she is referring to Ridley) caused the life forms to suddenly become aggressive beyond their control.

Madeline reveals more; the scientists were propagating Metroids as well, cloned from remains of the baby found on Samus's Power Suit after her return from Zebes. They unknowingly recreated Ridley as well. Madeline also reveals that an AI named "MB", modelled after Mother Brain, had been created for the purpose of controlling the Metroids. MB and the Metroids were stored in Sector Zero. Madeline goes on to say that Adam is behind Project Metroid Warriors. Samus leaves for Sector Zero. Afterward, Madeline is approached by the Deleter, who shoots her.

Arriving at the entrance to Sector Zero, Samus encounters a Baby Metroid that reminds her of the hatchling from SR388. Before she can kill it, she is struck from behind, disabling her Power Suit. Samus recognizes her attacker as Adam, who kills the Metroid just as quickly. Adam claims that Metroids in Sector Zero were genetically manipulated to be unfreezable, while assuming that infant Metroids have not grown into this invulnerability. He also explains that he had written the Metroid report against the idea of using Metroids; although the Federation agreed, a small faction of the Federation went ahead with the project.

Adam reveals that he plans to enter Sector Zero to set off its self-destruct mechanism and cause it to detach from the BOTTLE SHIP. He shot Samus to render her unable to storm past him. Before leaving, he orders Samus to locate a survivor in Room MW, to divert the BOTTLE SHIP off an intercept course with Galactic Federation Headquarters and to defeat Ridley. Despite her pleas, Adam leaves Samus for Sector Zero, which detaches with him inside and explodes.

Swearing to finish the mission, Samus returns to the Bioweapon Research Center, and finds the body of James Pierce, as well as the mummified remains of Ridley. She later discovers the survivor Adam mentioned, who opens a large, dark room. A Queen Metroid emerges from the chamber. Samus faces the Queen in a difficult battle when the ship's emergency brakes suddenly become active. Samus resorts to an old tactic and grapples into the Queen's mouth to obliterate it with a Power Bomb through its stomach.

Samus dodges the Queen Metroid's flames.

The survivor absconds. Samus chases the woman down, who identifies herself as Madeline Bergman. She explains that the woman Samus met earlier was actually MB in an android form. At first, the android displayed amazing skill and learning capability, and developed a consciousness of sorts with the Metroids and a mother-daughter relationship with Madeline, but soon became self-aware. She began to disagree with the scientists, to the point where they thought it was necessary to alter her programming. Feeling betrayed by the scientists and Madeline, who did nothing to help her, MB unleashed all of the experiments to run rampant throughout the station, leading to the current state of the BOTTLE SHIP.

Samus and Madeline are then confronted by MB herself. Madeline attempts to negotiate with MB, who insists that all humans should be judged. MB is then frozen by a group of invading Federation Marines, but she quickly thaws off. MB summons the BOTTLE SHIP's most dangerous creatures to attack. Madeline stops the battle by freezing MB again. On The Colonel's orders, MB is killed by the Marines. Madeline, devastated and heartbroken, is quickly restrained. The Colonel compliments Samus' efforts but orders a Marine to escort her back to her ship. Much to everyone's surprise, the soldier reveals himself to be Anthony. He and Samus are thus allowed under the Chairman's orders to take Madeline with them. The trio leave for Galactic Federation Headquarters. On the journey home, Samus questions whether MB was truly evil all along, or misunderstood.

Samus recovers Adam's helmet.

Days after the incident, the Galactic Federation decides to destroy the BOTTLE SHIP by utilizing its self-destruct mechanism. Before this, Samus returns to recover an important treasure, Adam's helmet, which she finds in the Control Room. The ship's self-destruct sequence is activated shortly afteward. Samus quickly escapes the BOTTLE SHIP with the helmet before it is destroyed.

The events of Metroid Fusion follow. 

The Verdict: 

My Thoughts: 

The plot is what other reviews note as the reason why this game received such a bad reputation. There was this anti-feminist vibe that is understood between the lines of this game's narrative, starting with the fact that Samus deactivates all of her powers and abilities just because a man, namely her former superior tells her to.

On one hand, I can understand where this harsh critique, especially where these restrictions make little to no sense. The common example that I have seen people cite is Samus' journey through the Pyrosphere. Samus treks through this highly dangerous territory that damages her from the extremely high temperatures in the volcanic environment and she doesn't activate her Varia Suit until AFTER Adam authorized it, even though she is risking her life without it. This decision makes no sense at all. I can understand she is having "daddy issues" between Adam and herself, but this does not seem like the same intelligent, courageous woman that has saved the galaxy on multiple occasions prior to this adventure. Even after losing contact with Adam, she seeks his approval in her actions, namely when she activates both her Space Jump and Screw Attack abilities, she clearly states, "Any objections, Adam?"

I think all players were thinking the same thing at this moment of the game where you encounter Ridley...

I couldn't fathom why Samus Aran, who has defeated Ridley on MULTIPLE occasions now, would drop to her knees and tremble in fear as she metaphorically becomes a defenseless child in the face of this creature. It was as if she was begging for Big Daddy Adam to tell her it was okay to fight back. This moment alone is the embodiment of how weak Team Ninja as managed to pull Samus' character development back another decade. I can't say I'm surprised with Team Ninja's portrayal of Samus here, as this is the same company that produces the Dead or Alive series and Ninja Gaiden series, where women have no other role in gaming than being eye candy or a damsel in distress with a sprinkle of bad-assery.

On the other hand, when Samus is in the player's control, she contradicts every weakness that she expresses when she is taken out of the player control. She is still the same Metroid slaying bad ass queen that we know and love. There is not a mere moment of the gameplay where she is deemed inferior to any adversary she faces in this title. To be honest, during the last half of the game, Samus' weaponry easily outshines anything the game tosses in your direction save for the boss encounters. And even those few annoyances are minimal threats to Samus' dominance on the battlefield. That being said, Samus' dominance is properly displayed when the player has the means to immerse themselves into the title by controlling every fiber of her actions. Otherwise, when that said control is taken away as the player is forced to sit through one of the many lengthy cutscenes, the player feels betrayed at the portrayal of Samus Aran in cutscenes where Samus, as a character, does not equal the warrior-like presence she displays on the battlefield. Instead, she comes off as an inexperienced, cowardly, and foolish individual - a complete opposite of the character we have known over the course of Nintendo's flagship series.

Revision Note (8/12/17):

In a September 2011 interview with G4 TV, regarding of Ninja Gaiden 3, Other M producer Yosuke Hayashi explained that the game's story was entirely written by Yoshio Sakamoto, not Team Ninja:

“ The story for Other M was definitely the product of Mr. Sakamoto at Nintendo. We definitely worked with them on the project, but that was all him. [...] There are definitely things we learned from Other M by working with Mr. Sakamoto and with Nintendo that we’ve applied to the NG development. „
—Yosuke Hayashi

With that information in mind, I had to think about this...

Let's face it, Samus has been a blank slate to this point (the Prime trilogy is considered mostly non-canon from what I have been reading online so correct me in the comments if this is not true). In Metroid Fusion that this title serves as the prequel of, Samus is characterized as hating to follow orders, but I can see why everyone is in an uproar playing this game in contrast. Her character depicted here is like day and light in these stark comparisons. I don't want to make any exceptions for Nintendo, but as a one-off story (or rather a sidebar entry in contrast to her other adventures), this narrative isn't THAT bad. If you make it through the opening hour(s) of Samus taking orders from her former superior without question and her long drawn-out monologues, her motivations actually make sense. The only thing she wanted was to make the one person she felt that completely understood her see her in a positive light. Haven't we all been in place before? Humanizing Samus isn't a bad thing, especially if you want to show some vulnerability in these heroes. This game's biggest problem is presenting Samus here in a fashion that it gives off the wrong vibe that she's not independent female bad-ass but her actions in this game are a weakness of being a woman. I think that's the wrong message that was portrayed here by most gamers and were immediately turned off to this game despite the gameplay.

Gameplay

If you have played Team Ninja's recent new direction with the Ninja Gaiden series, then you won't be surprised in the least here. Samus moves as fluidly as Ryu Hayabusa in battle and the simple, yet easily accessible control scheme adds to the charm. You hold the Wiimote sideways like a NES controller for most of the game, but point the Wiimote at the screen to switch to first-person mode dubbed the Sense View and view the action from behind Samus' battle visor to use missiles and scan objects, much like in the Metroid Prime trilogy. This is truly an unique experience on it's own, as this layout allows the combat in this game to exceed any previous Metroid title to date. I personally felt that the Sense View was a little cumbersome to control (much like the motion controls for most Wii titles) and left Samus vulnerable to attacks since she was left stationary while implementing this feature. Sadly, this is Samus' only means of using Missiles (and their upgrades - Super and Seeker Missiles) in this game. Fortunately, there's not a heavy demand of using Missiles in this title (your beam attacks are devastatingly more powerful than Missiles by the end of the game outside a few select rare enemy encounters) outside of the opening hour(s) of the game.

Instead of a block button found in the Ninja Gaiden series, Team Ninja have given Samus a different means of defense to aid her in combat. Enter the Sense Move, where Samus evades out of the way of a incoming attack if you hit any direction on the direction pad. Samus is completely invincible during the animation of this move and can repeat it multiple times in succession. Mastery of this technique will be highly beneficial at the beginning of the game, as it would make the later half of the game much more easier as several bosses have devastating attacks that need to be evaded with Sense Move to avoid taking massive amounts of damage. It is a very powerful tool when mastered as Samus' adversaries will have little to no means of dealing damage to her. I think critics were far too harsh on their judgment of this ability. It's not as overpowered as one would think as you can't trigger it unless an enemy attacks Samus; otherwise, she moves around normally.

Speaking of Ninja Gaiden, Samus takes a page from Ryu Hayabusa's playbook to finish off stunned/weakened foes with her Lethal Strike finishing moves. These easy to execute maneuvers allow Samus to dominate even more in combat, making some encounters that were taxing to endure normally, much more easier to defeat after neutralizing the threat with a Lethal Strike after dealing significant damage to the foe. This addition allows the Metroid series' combat to have a bit more depth than the simple run and gun gameplay that we have been accustomed to for the last few decades in this franchise and the Mega Man series.

Boss battles are reminiscent to those found in The Legend of Zelda series - large in scale and monumental. Samus' and the player's skills are constantly being tested as each boss encounter requires your mastery of her weaponry and abilities. As Samus Aran's weapons and abilities are unlocked, you get a sense of growth as Samus' power grows with your own mastery of the game. This is definitely the main thing that both Nintendo and Team Ninja have gotten right here. It's that feeling of accomplishment that drives one to keep on playing, anxious to keep acquiring and mastering the new weapons and abilities. I thought it was a nice touch that even bosses can be stunned/disoriented enough to allow Samus to perform a Lethal Strike on them as well for massive damage. These bosses will test your mastery of the Sense Move as well.

On the downside, the game is very linear all the way up until it's finale. You have little to no means of free exploration like previous Metroid titles. The option to freely explore the Bottle Ship is not unlocked until after completing the game, where Samus acquires Power Bombs (usage is authorized while triggering a new enemy type upon using Power Bombs on special doors/walls that require them to be opened). Afterwards, you're allowed to backtrack and explore to reach 100% completion. Since the narrative shows Samus without her armor on multiple occasions, there is no extra bonus for clearing the game in speedy fashion either.

Revision Note (8/12/17): The game does offer a final challenge after the credits roll in the form of an extra boss battle against Phantoon from Super Metroid when Samus Aran returns to the Bottle Ship to reclaim Adam's helmet. Acquiring the helmet after defeating Phantoon triggers the traditional Metroid series "escape" sequence where Samus (in her Zero Suit armor) races back to her ship within five minutes on the timer.

As for the extreme details of the gameplay, hardcore Metroid series purists have sounded off in the comments with their thoughts and weighed in. Truth be told, I'm not a speedrunner nor am I a "hardcore" Metroid player. I have played the bulk of the series over the last few decades and there's things that I like from both Samus' 2D and 3D outings and others I didn't like. This game brought the best of both worlds, while trying something different. It could use some polish but I have played far worse games than this.

Play It or Don't Bother?

Given Samus Aran's portrayal in cutscenes, I could easily give this game the thumbs down. No, that would be too easy, and besides I have played FAR worse games than this. This definitely isn't at the top of my list of favorite adventures with Samus Aran, but it's definitely not the worst game I have ever played. If you can stomach the "teenage girl diary" style cutscenes and melodrama, you will definitely find the some of core elements that make up the Metroid series we all know and love. The first few hours of the game give off a bad impression, but this is one of those titles that rewards its players for sticking through the rough beginning hours.

I give this one a 7.5 out of 10. The story for me hurt the score more than anything but the gameplay makes up for its shortcomings. I humbly suggest that Metroid fans old and new at least play this game at least once to see what Nintendo did well here and what they could improve upon with future Metroid titles.

As a fan of the Metroid series, I want to say that Nintendo were very bold to take a shot in the dark and do a title like this. It's far from perfect but it's definitely a step in the right direction if they want Samus Aran to last in gamers' hearts for another decade or two. There are going to be long-time fans that will be upset on how Samus was portrayed here, but at the end of the day, the actual gameplay speaks for itself. This is STILL a Metroid game and it's far from being a bad one. All that I ask is that my fellow Metroid fans support this title by giving it a fair shot from start to finish before passing the final judgment.

** Update (5/1/2014) ** I humbly respect the feedback that I'm getting on this review out of nowhere lately, but I want to clarify a few things. This game is "good" at being a 2D Metroid game. I get that it's linear, but I'm not faulting the game for that because the number one complaint for most newcomers to this series is that it's so easy to get lost unless you are already a fan and will take the time to find the proper direction on where to go and what to do. This game remedied that in manner than held players' hands more than Metroid Fusion ever did and constantly kept you moving in the right direction.

Is The Other M good in relation to the Metroid Prime series? Hell no. Given the bare bones that this franchise has come from in its beginnings, this was a barely passable attempt to a revision the franchise. Were Team Ninja and Sakamoto Yoshio's combined efforts were at fault for the faults in this game? Of course.

I respect each and every one of your comments below, but in turn, I ask for your respect and don't vent at me like I was responsible for your personal distaste with this game. I honestly enjoyed actually playing this game, but wasn't too crazy about the narrative. I like seeing Nintendo trying new things with this series for it can continue to be a staple of the Nintendo family like the Mario and Zelda series.

Revision Note (8/12/17): After revisiting this game for the first time in five years, I feel the same way as I did from the first time playing this game outside of a few minor tweaks and additions I made to this review. Give this game a fair shot - most will hate and loathe it, others will tolerate it, then a select few will find something to enjoy here. 

Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Finals: Infiltration Defeats Daigo AGAIN

It's finally the end of this LONG series of tournaments sponsored by Capcom to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Street Fighter. The finals took place this weekend in both Street Fighter X Tekken and Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition Version 2012.

The top three names in this tournament are no strangers to anyone who follows the competitive scene of Street Fighter, so it's no surprise to see Daigo Umehara (multiple time EVO Champion), Infiltration (EVO 2012 Champion), and Fuudo (EVO 2011 Champion). 

Here in Winners Finals, it seems that Daigo has learned from his mistakes that gave him such a hard time against Infiltration's strong Akuma game. Regardless, Infiltration's Akuma looks just as strong as he did at EVO this year, if not stronger. Daigo manages to pull the win and send Infiltration into losers. 

Fuudo is starting to turn heads again and reminding people that he was the EVO 2011 Champion for a reason. After the nerfs that Fei Long has received in the Version 2012 update, Fuudo still manages to make him work for him. At the same time, Fuudo still relies on Fei Long's high damage output and his nonpunishable specials to save him more than pure technical skill. Get the fuck out of here with spamming Rekkas for a damn easy cheap victory. That's online scrub tactics 101. Fuudo had a few good reads, but Infiltration still managed to secure his spot back into a rematch against Daigo in Grand Finals. 

This is where things got interesting. Infiltration turns things around completely and beats Daigo in 6 sets straight to nothing. Daigo had some moments, but I don't know. It seems like Infiltration has his Ryu figured out and Daigo may want to consider switching to Yun against Infiltration. Being overly defensive does not seem to be effective in the least against him and with the entire first set advantage that he could have just thrown to the wind, Daigo would have been able to benefit from more gutsy play than rather in those small bursts that he displayed throughout these two encounters. 

That being said, Infiltration continues to impress me with his continued dominance in this game. Most players don't know that Infiltration is well-versed with multiple characters in this game, so there is little he does not know about the various character match-ups and their individual strengths and weaknesses.  With the announcement of Infiltration's interest being peaked in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 as well, we can continue to hope to see more variety from this skilled player. 

Video Game Buzz: Hot Trailers from VGAs & SF's 25th Anniversary Weekend

The VGAs have come and gone, with some rather questionable winners this year. Seriously, Borderlands 2 as Best Shooter and Best Multi-Player? I'm not bashing that game at all as I haven't played that to garner an opinion, so I don't know what to think. It's odd to see something without Call of Duty or Halo in the title win - especially on how biased SpikeTV and G4 are, but at the end of the day it just seems a bit surreal.
Okay, now for the REAL reason that gamers check out the VGAs - the awesome, exclusive teaser trailers to those new games they didn't know they wanted. 

Phantom Pain is supposedly dubbed as the "future of gaming" at the VGA Awards when it was teased, but call me nuts, but this seems TOO familiar to Metal Gear Solid. There's a lot of speculation that this teaser is pretty much Metal Gear Solid V in disguise. I honestly find it to be too convenient that the protagonist here is missing an arm, much like that corpse of Liquid Snake that Solid Snake used to fake his death in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. He is supposed to be dead at the hands of the FOXDIE virus from the original Metal Gear Solid, but that doesn't mean the Patriots couldn't revive him or cure him from the virus destroying him completely. More on this game in 2013 as I look into the evidence...

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 seems to pick up immediately following the teaser trailer at the end of the first game. No gameplay hasn't been shown but I'm definitely pumped to play as Dracula himself this time around. 

BioShock: Infinite showed off some more gameplay to say that they keep constantly putting this title's release date back. I enjoyed watching my buddy in college play this when we would skip class and I might definitely have to pick up this one as that boss fight with the Handyman looks pretty damn amazing. I'm a sucker for the escort/buddy dynamic in gaming. I got a feeling your relationship with Elizabeth is going to be a strong emotional attachment, much like in Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and Ico. 

The Last of Us has wowed me since this summer when it was first announced and it definitely doesn't disappoint here. I would honestly purchase a PlayStation 3 just to experience this journey. I honestly burst out laughing when I realized the female lead is played by Ashley Johnson, who voices Gwen Tennyson on Ben 10: Alien Force, Ultimate Alien, and Omniverse. 

Tomb Raider is looking like it will definitely change the way that we will see Lara Croft, but this is still not high on my must-haves for 2013. Regardless, the gameplay looks top notch, though. Apparently, everyone has seemed to forget about that Miss Croft going to be 'raped' in this said title too. 

Dark Souls II is the series' first 'mainstream' release as the series is departing from From Software's roof. No actual gameplay is shown, but my biggest concern like most fans of this series is that I hope the game doesn't deter from what makes it great. It's actually a "fun" hard game and if they dumb that down then it's going to lose that magic that sparked the interest in this title in the first place. 

Street Fighter X Mega Man was a welcome surprise at Capcom's Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Finals this weekend. What a delightful way to show that they still care about the Blue Bomber as well as show homage to the Street Fighter series! I know most fighting game fans are pissed that they didn't announce anything special like Street Fighter V or a new update to Street Fighter IV, but this is better than nothing. 

Velvet Sky Returns To TNA: What does this mean for the TNA Knockouts in 2013?

Impact Wrestling fans were granted an early Christmas present, in form of Velvet Sky returning to the Knockouts division. She warned the reigning Knockouts Champion Tara and #1 Contender Mickie James that she has her eyes on the winner of their match as she promised that 2013 will the be the year that Velvet Sky returns to the top of the Knockouts Division.

At Final Resolution, Tara managed to retain the title after another rather questionable defense, thanks to her Hollywood boy toy Jesse's interference. Velvet Sky is set to return into the ring, starting on the December 13, 2012 episode of Impact.

My Thoughts: 

- On Velvet Sky

She definitely came onto her own after breaking away from The Beautiful People entirely over the last two years and beginning to grow as a singles competitor, but at the same time, she has a LONG way to go before she is in par with Gail Kim or Mickie James in terms of in-ring ability. I hope she has been taking pointers from her current boyfriend, Chris Sabin, to hone her talents. 

Velvet Sky left at the worst possible moment in 2012, allowing Brooke Tessmacher to take the driver's seat and stole Sky's momentum as she worked hard to earn her first Knockouts Championship reign this summer. In comparison in 2012, I really have to give the most improved medal to Tessmacher. She really pushed herself to an entirely different level to prove her worth as a credible champion. Velvet Sky stepped up her game a bit but not to the extreme margins that Tessmacher did. 

TNA would be foolish to drop Tessmacher's push and popularity at this stage. The ideal direction would be to either pair her and Velvet Sky together in the Knockouts Tag Team division and generate interest back into that title while Tara continues to look strong by going through the other Knockouts, much like Gail Kim's reign last year. Eventually, Tess and Sky agree to a 'friendly' rivalry as they vie for #1 contender spots back at the gold.

Alternatively, they could continue the program that was started between Mickie James and Velvet Sky during the summer. They planted the seeds of Mickie James going heel at one point, but Velvet Sky asked for her release from her contract and Mickie James was left in no man's land until recently. If TNA wants to continue this program then that would be stellar as Mickie James would benefit from a breath of fresh air pumped into her character.

Both of these options are better than dropping her right at the top of the division. The thing that made Tessmacher's rise to stardom more beneficial is that we saw her growth over the summer as she rose through the competition and proved that she had what it takes to be champion. She first competed with Tara in the Tag Team division before migrating into singles competition. Racing Velvet Sky immediately to the top is dooming her to a quick fall from grace. See Taylor Wilde, if you want proof. As much as I was personally behind her work in the indies, after losing the Knockouts title, she failed to keep momentum going, with the only notable exception was her period where she teamed up with Sarita and later Hamada.

At the end of the day, rehiring Velvet Sky was a stellar business move by TNA. She's still one of, or if not the most gorgeous woman in professional wrestling today. That asset alone gives her a ton of marketability. Only time can tell if she can do for TNA's Knockout division for what pioneer "pretty faces turned wrestlers"  such as Trish Stratus, Kelly Kelly, and Candice Michelle have done for the mainstream interest of women's wrestling in the past. 

- On The Knockouts Divisons in General

The ideal situation for the Knockouts title to keep it fresh and interesting, is continue to give the champions notable title reigns. That way, when the said champion does lose the title, it's a big deal rather than a fluke/joke title reign - very reminiscent of Velvet Sky's initial title reign. The veteran Knockouts can continue to compete with other mainstay Knockouts, helping to gradually help bring the lackluster Knockouts up to par with the veterans on terms of in-ring ability.

With Eric Young on the bench with a kayfabe injury at the hands of Aces & Eights, this would be prime opportunity for ODB to find herself a REAL partner and stop treating the Knockouts Tag Team Titles as a comedy prop. The ideal partner(s) for her would be either Mickie James or Tessmacher. Hardcore BAM! or new variation of T & A, if you get my drift there. 

When she's not competing with Tara in title matches for the Knockouts Championship, Gail Kim could reunite with Madison Rayne and return as regular competition for this division. Hell, drag Rosita and Sarita back from out of the country and back into regular competition. 

Scarlett Bordeaux

Or here's a better idea, they could give the several HOT women that they have in development in Ohio Valley Wrestling regular air-time on Impact.

Sure, we have seen the only female Gut Check winner, Taeler Hendrix, wrestle ONCE on Impact since winning a contract, but I think all of these girls would benefit with an opportunity on mainstream programming. Hell, pair her up with her fellow redhead BFF, Scarlett Bordeaux and they could take the KOs Tag Team scene by storm. TNA could also take a page from WWE's playbook and market off the Blossom Twins, much like how WWE did with the Bella Twins. 

The Blossom Twins (Hannah & Holly)

Both the Knockouts and Knockouts Tag Team titles can benefit with new faces being injected into the divisions.

Josette Bynum (SoJo Bolt)

SoJo Bolt is no stranger to competition in the division as she was a former member of the Kongtourage and narrowly missed the margin to capture the gold from Awesome Kong back at Destination X 2009. She is still quite rough around the edges, but I'm confident that a strong feud with either ODB, Tara, or Gail Kim would definitely shape her up into championship material.

Jessie Belle

Jessie Belle is the kayfabe sister of Mickie Knuckles (better known as The Beautiful People's short-lived bodyguard "Moose"), sporting a redneck/country girl gimmick. She could benefit from a rivalry or team-up with Mickie James to gain further experience.

Epiphany

Epiphany is a woman that it seems that TNA are grooming to follow in Awesome Kong's footsteps. Dubbed the "One Woman Wrecking Machine" she has been plowing a warpath through the men and women of OVW, TNA's developmental territory. Injecting her into Impact in 2013 would definitely set the Knockouts apart from the WWE Divas with a woman who isn't afraid to mix it up with the boys and the girls. She has a power and submission game to set herself far apart from being labelled instantly as a carbon copy of Awesome Kong/Kharma.

Heidi Lovelace

Heidi Lovelace is fairly new to OVW, but she has been competing at the SHINE iPPV events. She shows potential and would benefit from more exposure in the ring with more veteran Knockouts.

That being said, from Velvet Sky's return to the possibilities of more Knockouts being injected into the Knockouts division, things can only get better for the Knockouts in 2013. 

REVIEW: Tekken Tag Tournament 2

It's that time again. We Are Tekken.

The Mishima family rivalry never seems to come to an end to their bitter family disputes and here comes another King of Iron Fist Tournament. Unfortunately, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is NOT canon to the official Tekken series storylines. This is regarded as a fan-service title that pretty much packs roughly every Tekken character to date into one title - the only notable absence is Gon (Tekken 3 on PSone) due to licensing issues.

Note: This review is strictly geared towards the PS3/Xbox 360 versions, with online experiences noted from the Xbox 360 version.

Gameplay Modes:

I. Fight Lab

This is the new mode that replaces the mediocre Tekken Force/Scenario Campaign from the previous entries in the series. Instead of a few pointless storyline narrative battles in a poor attempt to weave the Tekken story onto players, this time Namco has taken a new approach. Fight Lab exists to educate newcomers and veterans on various changes brought in by TTT2's new system.

Fight Lab takes a comical approach in educating players by following the routines of Lee Chaolan/Violet as he constructs his latest line of Combot attack drones. He goofs up and ends up deleting it's core AI and memory. As the player, it's up to you to customize your Combot as you see fit and master his fighting techniques in 5 stages. There a lot to learn here, and even more laughs to be had. Fight Lab takes a few cracks at Street Fighter and it's own whacky cast of characters during it's many lessons.

Your customizable Combot can be used in other modes as well, with the exception of Ranked Match for proper balance of course. To my knowledge, there's still a glitch that freezes the game if you assign any DLC character moves to Combot, though.

From my personal experience, the lessons go from extremely easy to the point of tossing your controller in frustration on the next lesson a few minutes later. In the long haul though, I have benefited from what these lessons educate you in. It's even more of an asset if you assign Combot with moves from characters that you are interested in mastering, then you gain even more experience on learning on how to properly construct combos, juggles, and the core mechanics of the Tag Assault system.

If you are new to Tekken or a veteran looking to hone your skills to perfection, this is the perfect place to begin since the Tekken series demands such strong fundamentals to survive at all levels of play.

II. Offline Modes

- Arcade Mode

The pure arcade experience of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 that players who had the rare opportunity to play the demo of this game on Tekken Hybrid or the Japanese arcade cabinets of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Unlimited will feel right at home with. Arcade Mode takes your team of 2 characters or just one solo fighter, through several fights before ending with a boss rush sequence of the team of Jinpachi/Heihachi Mishima first, then Ogre solo, and finally Jun Kazama as the final boss.


I enjoyed this mode thoroughly until I got to Jun. It sickens me to see Namco still resorting to tactics from PS2 era gaming, whereas the AI reads your button inputs and counters accordingly before you have any indication to prepare or mount an offense. That being said, there's still a few exploitable moves per character that can be spammed to net an easy victory against her. Regardless, I still find this difficulty, even on the default setting, is a bit much for newcomers of the game if Namco expects people to keep with this title for the long run.

You can set the difficulty down if the Final Boss if giving you too much trouble. Regardless, this isn't enough to ruin the overall experience of this mode.

- Time Attack Mode

The same thing as Arcade Mode, but this time you're trying to clear this mode in the fastest time possible. There's a few preset records, but you can set a few personal best records to conquer as well.

- Ghost Battle Mode

My personal favorite mode from Tekken 6 returns in TTT2, pitting the player against the ghost AI of some of the most talented veterans of the Tekken series. These ghost AIs can range from the infamous FilthyRich to Mr. Harada (creator of the Tekken series) himself. They provide a healthy dose of competition and you're always downloading more of these ghosts into your game when you connect your console online. Other players may encounter your ghost as well in their game.

- Team Battle

Pick a team of up to 8 max fighters against the opposing team and fight until the last man is standing. This is a definitely a fan-favorite mode from Soul Calibur players. It's a great addition to see this mode here with such a vast roster to experiment with.

- Pair Play

Pair Play allows two players on the same console to pair up on the same team in Tag Mode in other game modes, including Arcade Mode and Versus Mode. This mode supports up to 4 players on the same console for Versus Mode. Sadly, this mode only works when the same players are playing on the same console and that team is only limited to playing as a team online together. As it stands, Namco has no initiative to patch this feature for online multiplayer and party settings online.

- Versus

2 Player versus mode. Controllers are set to the corresponding players and they head straight into the action. A lack of a button-check option for a tournament environment is rather questionable to say that this title is expected to replace Tekken 6 in a lot of major fighting game community events.

- Practice Mode

Veterans to any fighting game in this generation will feel at home here. It's not as in-depth as UMvC3's training mode, but TTT2's Practice Mode has more than enough tools to keep even the most hardcore of Tekken fighter satisfied.

III. Online Modes 

- Ranked Match

I covered my gripes about this mode in detail here, but I will take the liberty to express what it right. When you do experience a match with a stable connection and adequate opponent of proper skill, you can find yourself to thoroughly enjoy this mode. A vast majority of the competition here only care about their win/lose records, so legit competitors are far and in-between until you reach the much higher ranks of play. Many of you should be able to expect this with other current fighters on the market today - you have your spammers, the complete n00bs who have no idea of what they are doing, and you have the godlike players, who have refined their skills in every Tekken title to date.

Much like other online game modes, your win/lose ratio is displayed prior to every match - along with your team affiliation (more on this below), so you have an idea of what you're getting yourself into before the match starts.

A proper patch to give players more of an idea of how they are progressing forward, a general fix to the stability of the netcode/connectivity, and more precise and accurate filters will benefit in the long haul if Namco expects players to hold out until Tekken 7 - whenever that is going to drop in the far off future.

- Player Match

Much like Tekken 6, if you want to test your skills in a less taxing/spamming environment, then this your place. There's Quick Search options available for those of you who just want to jump immediately into the action.

Currently, this is my preferred online mode of choice. Players are free to compete and experiment, without being burdened by the high stakes of your ranking status being consantly being on the line. Win/lose ratios are not displayed - it's just like the arcades, players jump in and out of the action. You win some, you lose some, but it's all a good time here.

- World Arena

World Arena is pretty much Player Match, but divided into individual lobbies separated by specific countries. Players can gather in this huge lobby and chat, accept/make open challenges, and simply spectate other bouts going on.

During the first few weeks of its debut after the October patch, these rooms were full to capacity, but now they are showing little to no players at all. I don't know what going on here, but I'll look into it and update you guys with a follow-up article.

- World Tekken Federation

Inside of every copy of Tekken Tag Tournament 2, is an online pass/code that is required to tie your XBL/PSN account to the official WTF (couldn't they think of a better acronym LOL?) site. Here, you can create teams and accept invites to other teams. Sadly, you can only be a part of ONE team at a time. Your online win/loss records are tied to your Player Card, along with your achievement progress and character usage.

For newcomers and veterans alike, your WTF account also grants you access to the official Tekken forums to discuss anything Tekken - local/regional matchmaking, tutorials, or simply customer service and troubleshooting. It's amazing to see that Namco put so much time into a social media environment for the Tekken series like this, instead of Capcom and other properties allowing sites like Eventhubs or Shoryuken govern and dictate their core fanbase.

My only gripes with the site is that it's VERY slow to load on any browser, due to the sheer number of people accessing it regularly. Then there's a few glitches and hiccups on loading pages periodically, but I'm sure they are working on these improvements even as you are reading this review.

IV. Customize

Character Customize pretty much replaces the alternate costumes for Tekken in previous iterations. There's few characters that received special 3P costumes that were created by the renown artists of popular anime series. For that full list, go no farther than here.

Other unlockable parts for costumes can be obtained from defeating particular opponents (read - much TOUGHER opponents) in Ghost Battle Mode, that drop Gold Boxes upon defeat. These Gold Boxes unlock items, such as custom character panels, endings, and even unique costume parts. Generally, every character can purchase roughly the same items in the shop, but there are a FEW unique items to be had per fighter.

The October patch added the ability to customize your fighters with unique logos/emblems as well.

I wish Namco would have put a bit more thought into some of the costumes, as a lot of them are palette swaps from other characters and vice versa, while others are cheap imitations of alternate costumes dating as far back from Tekken 3, 4, and 5.

Plus, someone explain to me the point of having Eddie Gordo being able to be customized as Tiger Jackson when Tiger is actually already in the game as FREE DLC? Again, pointless addition.

V. Tekken Theater

- Tekken Tunes

If you wish to have your fighters fight to a different beat, then TTT2 allows you to do so by customizing the tracks with any music you have on your console's hard drive. I'm personally running a mix of Tekken 3 (Arcade) tracks with a bit of Bushido Blade, Killer Instinct Gold, and S-Cry-ed. Yeah, I know I'm weird...

XBL/PSN have added the feature to purchase the soundtracks to EVERY Tekken entry to date to add into the game. Honestly, this is a complete rip-off as you can easily find these tracks online, rip them to a CD, then upload to your console, without the need to purchase them individually.

- Movie Theater

Much like the option to exchange the music, both XBL/PSN have the option to download all of the character endings from the entire Tekken franchise to date to view in-game. Another rip-off, especially in this day and age, you can easily view this stuff on YouTube.

Presentation

From the easy to navigate menus to the gorgeous backgrounds and character models, Namco definitely doesn't disappoint in the slightest here. Visual effects can be adjusted in the Options menu for those with unique TV sets.

There are a few moments of slowdown during intense battles, especially when triggering the Tag Assault system, where both characters on a team are on the scream simultaneously, but it is not enough to ruin the overall experience.

The game looks beautiful on standard TV sets, while HDTVs just adds more visual flavor to the eyes.

Audio

Snoop Dogg offers his own original track, created specifically for the game, "Knock 'em Down", that plays on his featured stage.

Every hit, clash, and impact is beautiful to the ears, while the whimsical background stage themes and menu tracks suit every occasion. I personally found the final boss theme to be far more than appropriate to suit Jun and Unknown's good/evil sides of the coin. That track alone just really sets the tide of the battle. 

To be honest, the Tekken series, nor Namco in general, never sells themselves short when it comes to excellent audio tracks and TTT2 is no exception. They definitely delivered in the audio department.

The Verdict?

As of today, anyone who picks up Tekken Tag Tournament 2 will receive ALL of the pre-order DLC and bonuses, along with the additional DLC characters, free of charge. This brings the roster to the biggest arsenal of characters in a fighting game to date - at least since Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Take notes Capcom, THIS is how you please your fanbase. 

If you own Tekken 6, then you shouldn't expect much more from TTT2. This game is pretty much Tekken 6.5 (or Version 3 if you want to count Bloodline Rebellion as the 2nd release) with the Tekken Tag mechanic added in. It's enough to make the game fresh again from the various balances and tweaks done to all of the various fighters. It is a welcome addition to see so many Tekken characters - old and new back under one roof. The team-up combinations are near-endless as one could spend years experimenting and trying out various combinations or learning the various match-ups. 

Whether you're a King (or Queen) of the Iron Fist nor just a fan of the series looking to have some fun with friends, this is definitely worth a look. There's enough here to keep veterans invested for next few years until Tekken 7 drops, but newcomers need to be wary as Tekken is a VERY difficult game to pick up - even more so if you expect to excel well at it. The brutal single player difficulty, coupled with at times frustrating Fight Lab lessons only add to the burden of learning this game.

That being said, there's still some fun to be had with this title. Assemble the crew and you can have a blast, grinding for hours end in Pair Play and Versus Modes. Those solo warriors will spend hours on Online Modes or unlocking the various Customize parts and character endings. There is a lot to offer in this game for both veterans and newcomers alike, so I'm definitely giving this game the thumbs up. This is one of the few current-gen fighters (outside of MK9) to offer something for everyone of all skill ranges to enjoy for the long haul. 

If Namco can iron out the online issues and fix the few minor bugs, this will definitely be a mainstay in any fighting game enthusiast's collection, but for now, I'm giving it a 9 out of 10.