"I am of truth and light. I protect Earthrealm." Raiden is joining the Injustice 2 roster this October as part of Fighter Pack 2!
As cool as that trailer was, I still have to say NO MORE Mortal Kombat characters in this game as DLC. Seriously, what is up with that shit on Raiden's face though? Other than that, I think he looks pretty awesome in this game. NetherRealms seems to be going all out on these DLC characters for this game.
I'm going to guess that CW's Black Lightning TV show is going to debut on television soon or we would not have seen a skin for him in this game already.
WWE’s Women’s Evolution (if you could call it that at this point...) passed a new milestone in Las Vegas as Kairi Sane prevailed against former UFC fighter Shayna Baszler to clinch victory in the first-ever Mae Young Classic.
This is going to be a rather short and sweet write-up as there's not much to talk about here.
The match took place immediately following the end of SmackDown! Live following a brief intermission to change out the ring and get straight into this match. I didn't bother watching the Red Carpet special before SmackDown! Live, but I suggest checking it out for various interviews with the cast of Netflix's GLOW, Stephanie McMahon, Dana Warrior, and various women from the current WWE roster on their thoughts on this tournament, hosted by Hall of Famer Alundra Blayze (she'll always be Madusa to me, dammit).
As for this match, I thought it was pretty straight forward and to the point. I'm glad that WWE made the right call here in two occasions - one for not turning this final into a gimmicked spectacle to setup that Horsewomen vs Horsewomen match that has been leaving a bad blimish on this tournament and secondly, letting Kairi Sane actually win this tournament. I won't lie, there was a point at the end where I thought Shayna was going to reach up and pull Kairi Sane back into the Rear Naked Choke after the last Diving Elbow Drop, but she sold her ailing ribs enough to make it believable that she didn't have anything left to fight back with after the second one. Sane was the better choice to win this thing from the get-go and I was dreading that WWE would give Shayna the win in hopes to brown nose Ronda Rousey and her crew to sign WWE contracts.
To say that Shayna Baszler was the least experienced of the two in these finals, WWE definitely did a great job of hiding her lack of experience. She didn't do anything outside of her comfort zone and worked with Sane to keep the match pretty simple. They didn't even have to do a dive or a flip to get people hyped about this thing. There was at least one moment during the match when Shayna had the Rear Naked Choke applied was when I thought we were going to get a wardrobe malfunction on Sane from how Shayna had the hold applied. Sane might want to slightly modify her ring gear as an added precaution in the near-future.
From the reports going around, WWE made a last second decision to make Kairi Sane the winner instead of Shayna Baszler, who surprisingly hasn't signed with them as of this posting. It looks like they had another Kota Ibushi situation on their hands like they did during the Cruiserweight Classic last year. They wanted to name him the winner, but went with TJ Perkins at the last second when he refused to sign with them. After seeing the current state of cruiserweight division, I bet he's singing the praises to the heavens that he didn't take them up on that offer... That's definitely a discussion for another day for sure.
The late Macho Man Randy Savage would definitely approve of the InSane Elbow Drop.
This special ran for roughly 30 minutes - give or take - as they didn't want to keep people waiting too long for the live taping of 205 Live afterwards. I got to admit that it was a pretty ballsy move to book this match right after SmackDown! Live where the crowd has to be already tired, but have to stick around for the cruiserweights after this. They could have spared themselves the possibility of the crowd shitting all over this by simply taping this at Full Sail, but they already have their next set of NXT TV tapings to record later this week. I'm glad for the change of scenery as Full Sail circle jerks themselves off a bit too much for my taste in terms of crowd reactions.
In terms of the overall impact and response of this tournament, I think that it was a milestone for WWE in terms of women's wrestling, but I felt that it pales in comparison to the hype that the Cruiserweight Classic or even the UK Championship Tournament brought to the table. That being said, this was still an experiment worth executing. Even if WWE doesn't hire all of these women in this tournament (FYI a lot of them were signed prior to the start of this tournament, including Dakota Kai, Rhea Ripley, Abbey Laith, Bianca Belair, Sage Beckett, Zeda, Reina Gonzales, Kavita Devi, Xia Li, Taynara Conti, Lacey Evans, Sarah Logan, and Kairi Sane) they have already excelled at showing that women's wrestling is alive and kicking, literally. If they do this again, I don't think they need to do 32 women again, especially if they are going to do the Netflix binge-worthy format as 8 hours of wrestling is a bit much to digest on top of WWE's weekly 7+ hours of programming.
Whether those women get signed or not, this is a golden opportunity to show the world what you're made of as a women's wrestler. TNA/Impact Wrestling has been doing this for the past few years now with their annual all-female tournaments and before that, there were ChickFight Tournaments as well (at least up until 2008), highlighting the best the industry had to offer, but weren't the cup of tea that WWE were looking for when Johnny Ace had his eye on hiring strictly lingerie models. It's great to see them have a change of heart roughly two decades later and we're seeing a lot of these ladies getting a chance to shine on a mainstream level of exposure for the first time for a lot of them, especially for veterans like Kairi Sane (Hojo) and Mercedes Martinez; while others like Piper Niven (Viper), Toni Storm, Santana Garrett, Mia Yim, Candice LaRae, Nicole Savoy, and Jazzy Gabert have been on fire on the independent scene lately and people have been dying to see them compete in a WWE ring.
It was announced that Kairi Sane will challenge for the vacant NXT Women's Championship at the next TakeOver event in November, but no idea who her opponent is going to be (my best guess is Ember Moon or Nikki Cross/Ruby Riot, pick one). They should have an answer to that question for the next set of NXT tapings going on this week anyway. I don't think it would be a good idea to give the title to Sane right away like this, and I doubt they will as I'm sure that Triple H would have handed the title to her at the end of this tournament. Besides, NXT needs a break from another Japanese sensation dominates their women's division for another record breaking 500+ days.
Don't worry, Kairi Sane's going shine in WWE and she knows better than anyone that the sky's the limit.
The next four episodes of the Mae Young Classic are now available on demand, exclusively on the award-winning WWE Network.
With 16 women remaining in this historic tournament, viewers can now watch all eight Second-Round matchups along with the Quarterfinals and Semifinals in episodes 5-8.
As the historic Mae Young Classic continues, the competition heats up with the following Second-Round bouts:
This all leads up to the highly anticipated finale streaming live from Las Vegas Tuesday, Sept. 12, at 10 p.m. ET on WWE Network.
Episode 5
I'm still not feeling that they darkening the arena during matches. It makes this show look low budget when we know that's not the case with WWE backing this thing. On the plus side, at least this looks like a different crowd, but still at Full Sail.
Abby Laith def. Rachel Evers
Kassius Ohno is shown in the crowd to support his girlfriend, Rachel Evers. I didn't know that until I googled it during this match that they were dating. It seems weird that WWE would acknowledge that she's Paul Ellering's daughter, but don't allow her to use that last name.
Much like in Round 1, the story here continues to play up Abbey as the babyface underdog with Evers being the powerhouse. Evers is no Alpha Female, but there were some good spots in this match, with the colliding Yakuza Kick spot. Too bad that Abbey's Suicide Dive out of the ring was a bit sloppy on execution prior to that spot. Rachel put the exclamation point in this match on her offense with a sick top rope Powerslam, but ultimately fell to a Pop-Up Powerbomb followed by an Alligator Clutch for Abbey to pick up the win.
Definitely not a bad match to kick off these 2nd Round bouts.
Piper Niven def. Serena Deeb
There were tons of heavy hitting reversals in this match (no pun intended there) with Piper playing up her weight and size to her advantage over the scrawny looking Deeb. I hate to ask this again, but was Serena Deeb sick or something? I honestly don’t remember Deeb being this skinny prior, even without the implants when she was on the indies for last few years.
That being said, this was a fun match from bell to bell, despite having far too many rest holds for my taste. I thought it was very predictable that Piper was going to counter the Spear when Deeb went for it at the end, only to counter with the Michinoku Driver for the win. I know everyone keeps saying that Serena Deeb was the Brian Kendrick of this tournament, but I'm inclined to disagree with that logic. She's been in WWE previously, yes, but her return wasn't hyped up and showcased in a powerful manner like his was. That's not her fault at all, that's on WWE's behalf with their shitty narrative for this tournament for everything that's not related to MMA's Horsewomen. I want to add that this was another strong showing for Piper Niven in this tournament.
Mercedes Martinez def. Princesca Sugehit
The whole dynamic of this match had Mercedes' shoulder targeted by Sugehit over the course of this match, only for Mercedes to hit a Fisherman’s Buster and landing on her shoulder in the process, but still managed to pick up the win.
My only gripe here was Mercedes had no problem pulling that finish off after her shoulder was affected. At least she did sell it though. With Sugehit eliminated this early into the tournament, I guess we can pretty much rule her out from being signed. She's more likely set to go back to CMLL to make waves in that promotion after getting some mainstream exposure in a WWE ring.
Kairi Sane def. Bianca Belair
Okay, I changed my mind on what I said about Belair in the first round. She had a great showing here against the veteran Kairi Sane, especially for rookie at the Performance Center learning wrestling from scratch. If she can continue to work great matches like this then she definitely has a great future ahead of her in WWE.
Belair has an impressive power game on display in this match - stalling suplex, multiple Oklahoma Slam reversals, and even busting out a 450 Splash for a near-fall towards the end, even though she hesitated so damn long. She looked as nervous as Alexa Bliss does doing that Sparkle Splash from the top rope. Bianca Belair shouldn’t have repeated the hairwhip attack so much throughout as they completely exposed it. At one point I was stumped on how she was making that "crack" sound, but now I can see that Belair’s CLEARLY slapping her thigh for the sound effect.
My feelings on the overuse of slapping the thigh for moves in wrestling is a much needed discussion for another day though...
Kairi Sane's offense was definitely on point for sure. She landed a sick spinning backfist rebuttal on her comeback. I doubt she slapped her thigh upon impact either as that hit was loud enough to make me cringe. That being said, I felt that her Diving Elbow looked a lot safer here on the landing than it did the first time.
By the way, did anyone else notice how much athletic tape that Kairi Sane has covering up her neck and shoulders hidden underneath her hair? That makes me even more scared for her longevity in WWE.
All round solid match to end these first set of Round 2 bouts.
Episode 6
Toni Storm def. Lacey Evans
I swear this gif is hypnotizing me...
This was a pretty short and sweet match with both ladies getting their spots in. Lacey Evans performed an amazing ring apron sweep and Slingshot Elbow Drop combination that I don't think I have ever seen anyone else do before. Despite having a losing effort here in this second round I thought Lacey Evans did fine here. She had nothing to be ashamed of from her two performances in this tournament. The folks at the Performance Center must think highly of her and Belair to be able to make it this far in this tournament, especially for being one of the two rookies.
Toni Storm gave me another reason to love her even more (other than her bootilicious appeal) with her Strong Zero finisher.
Shayna Baszler def. Mia Yim
Fun fact: Shayna’s first wrestling match after her shift from MMA was against Mia Yim. So you could say that this was a rematch of sorts.
Bayley, Charlotte, Becky (no Sasha for some reason) were at ringside for this match along with Baszler’s friends (Ronda Rousey and the rest of MMA's Horsewomen). WWE clearly teasing a Horsewomen vs Horsewomen match at some point. You know WWE is making a big deal out of this when they had to move Izzy out of the way and had to pull Bayley off a house show appearance to be on this show.
That being said, this was a great 2nd round opponent for Shayna as they each compliment each others’ styles with the reversals and counters. Mia Yim carried Shayna throughout this match for a much better spectacle than what Shayna had against the rookie Zeda during the first round. The finish came in the form of a 450 Splash by Mia Yim being countered into Shayna's Rear Naked Choke for the win.
Dakota Kai def. Rhea Ripley
Don't ask me why, but for some reason I was confusing Rhea Ripley with Rhia O'Reilly. They don't even look the same but I kept confusing them for some odd reason. Rhea Ripley was formerly known as Demi Bennett before signing with WWE. Gosh I feel stupid for confusing those two ladies...
Somebody call a dentist for Dakota Kai, please.
As you can see from the image above, Rhea delivers a vicious Electric Chair Drop into ring apron to Dakota Kai. I'm shocked Kai didn't spit out a few teeth after a bump like that. The story of this match is pretty much that Dakota Kai is here to take all of the punishment that Rhea dishes out, only to sneak by with the win at the end.
Dakota Kai didn’t get in as many strikes as I would have liked here since both were hyping up their striking game prior to this for all of this tournament up to this point. Dakota Kai got the win with a Diving Corner Foot Stomp out of Rhea hanging in the Tree of Woe position for the win.
Candice LaRae def. Nicole Savoy
Nicole Savoy dominates bulk of this match with her technical, submission game with Candice barely hanging in there with last minute reversals and her sheer determination. Up to this point, I have to admit that I was not really too impressed with Gargano’s wife in this tournament, Nicole Savoy vs Shayna next round would’ve been the better bout for the Quarterfinal next round for the former Trifecta stable mates as Jim Ross pointed out on commentary.
I thought the match was fine for the most part, outside of their hesitation on setting up Candice’s finisher made the finish rather awkward in the end.
Episode 7
Mercedes Martinez def. Abbey Laith
I felt that the psychology here was off a bit. Abbey wasn’t the underdog here, but was working this match like she was the heel aggressor trying to exploit Mercedes’ “injured” shoulder. I'm not saying this was a bad match; it just seemed odd that they would change up Abbey's psychology at this point when she was doing well as the underdog babyface.
I don't know if it was planned or what but there was an awkward landing/fall off ring apron by Mercedes mid-match. With that spot in mind, I thought it was rather lame that Mercedes' shoulder “injury” had no impact on this match. If I'm being honest, I REALLY didn’t agree with the result here, as I felt that they should’ve went with Abbey in the finals but I believe WWE already signed her anyway. My only guess is that since Nicole Savoy is out, they wanted someone else who Shayna was familiar with work with her in the semi-finals.
Shayna Baszler def. Candice LaRae
This match opened with Candice LaRae hitting Suicide Dive to a Tornado DDT (Sami Zayn style) on the bottom of the entrance ramp. She follows that up with an Octopus Stretch a la AJ Lee (at least she applied it properly here unlike she did it half-assed against Savoy).
I want to add that Shayna’s doing better selling here than Mercedes Martinez was in the previous match. This match wasn't long at all but it's easy to see that WWE are clearly setting up Shayna as the top heel here much like Pete Dunne in the UK tournament.
Candice LaRae met her end as Miss LaRae’s Wild Ride was countered into the Rear Naked Choke by Shayna. Shayna Baszler maintains the hold post-match, while Johnny Gargano is struck with grief for heel heat. I'm pretty sure that Baszler could've taken Gargano too and that would've been a pretty fair fight too, but I'm just saying (laughs)!
This was pretty cool for getting heel heat on Baszler by kayfabe injurying Gargano's wife, who was the token babyface for Full Sail at this point since Abbey Laith already got eliminated earlier, but I was stomped on why the referee and officials on hand didn't simply reverse the decision and disqualify Baszler? They don't have to have her win the tournament if they want to establish her as a monster heel. The point was already made here. That being said, I guess it would be FAR too obvious if Kairi Sane won this thing at this point.
Toni Storm def. Piper Niven
I hope WWE signs Toni Storm just for I can oogle at her booty meat on the regular. Just DAYUM, girl.
Eye candy aside, this was my favorite match out of these next few episodes thus far. It was a fun match to watch, thanks to the chemistry between Toni and Piper. I hope people would cut Piper a break too. She's cute too for a "thick" gal. I hope WWE signs her too as they could use more "big girls" who can move and work like a powerhouse. I think the only thing that's stopping WWE if they haven't signed these two already is their commitments to both the UK promotions and STARDOM currently.
That was a impressive top rope back toss by Toni Storm to remove Piper from the top rope towards the end of this match, but I found the finish with the top rope leg drop to be pretty bland. That left me saying “That’s it?” when Toni Storm got the win off that. Other than that minor gripe with this match, I humbly suggest going out of your way to watch this match.
Kairi Sane def. Dakota Kai
I was glad to see more striking from Dakota Kai but much like Abbey/Mercedes it seemed like she was the heel aggressor here from the vibe that made this another odd match to watch.
The change in Dakota Kai's demeanor was obvious too as she changed up her hairdo, traded in her Bayley-esque ring gear, and wasn’t all smiles here.
Kairi Sane got her shots in too, so it’s wasn’t one sided in terms of offense.
There was a crazy reversal exchange towards the end of this match where Sane fell back into the Tree of Woe to avoid Kai's Diving Foot Stomp, only for Sane to get the Alabama Slam in rebuttal and follow up with the Diving Elbow Drop of Doom for the win.
That’s all she wrote here for this match as there was a bigger story to be told in a segment backstage.
So, the WWE Horsewomen and MMA Horsewomen stand-off backstage to tease a potential match for the near future. I'm guessing they are saving that for Survivor Series, but I could be wrong. Sue me, but I felt that the placement here was in really in bad taste. The focus of this tournament should be on the tournament entrants, NOT some celebrity outsiders and folks on the main roster already signed. Hype up a match between these two parties on RAW and SmackDown!, there's more than enough time on those two shows for that instead of taking time away from the hard-working women in this tournament. This would be like Gregory Helms getting in the face of Neville during the Cruiserweight Classic to egg on a future title match in the middle of that tournament.
Episode 8
Shayna Baszler def. Mercedes Martinez
The two remaining Trifecta (for some reason, Solomonster was convinced on his podcast that this stable didn't have a name since Lita and Jim Ross made no mention to it...) members going at it here, exchanging and matching each other hold for hold and strike for strike. Lita made her only keen observation of this tournament here on commentary, mentioning that Mercedes Martinez was the only person in this tournament that Shayna Baszler has bothered to shake the hand of out of respect.
The whole match saw Shayna selling the shit out of everything that Mercedes threw at her until Mercedes ultimately fell to the Rear Naked Choke from out of nowhere for the win. At this point of this tournament, this pattern is getting old with Shayna getting beat on the entire match just to lock in her submission for the win. I didn't like it when AJ Lee made a record-breaking career during her Divas Championship reign and I sure as hell don't like it here. I would love to see how this is going to play out in the live final with the crowd’s split between Shayna Baszler and Kairi Sane.
I wasn’t too crazy about Triple H, Sarah Amato (who was dressed like she never wore a dress or wore make-up a day in her life), and Stephanie McMahon running into the ring to raise Shayna Baszler’s arm like she already won the entire tournament. It irked me even more to see Stephanie posing with Baszler like she already won.
Kairi Sane def. Toni Storm
I mentioned this during Episode 7 but I'm going to repeat myself here. Kairi Sane is wearing a TON of athletic tape behind her hair on her shoulders and neck. That makes me worry about the long term effects of her landing from executing that spectacular Diving Elbow Drop even more.
Toni Storm came closer to beating Kairi Sane in a believable manner than Mercedes did in the previous bout. The Bridging Armbar and the focus on her ailing shoulder and arm after the ringside spot (landing on the ramp grate) was all great psychology here. From reports online, this was the match where Sane suffered a concussion from that spot where she bashed her head against the side of steel grate at the bottom of the entrance ramp. I can believe it as it seemed like Sane was thrown off her game for the rest of the match that followed. These two have fought each other in a much better match in Stardom, so I'm inclined to believe that Sane's concussion here had an effect on her performance here. Don't get me wrong - this wasn't a bad match, but it wasn't the best performance for these two ladies to this point.
I’d hire Toni Storm just from how well she is as a worker and her ability to adapt to a variety of styles in this tournament. That would be a huge asset to the NXT women’s division in Asuka’s absence. I hope WWE gets with the program and opens their eyes to not only Toni Storm, but to a lot of the talented women in this tournament.
After the match, Sarah Amato, Stephanie McMahon, and Triple H congratulate Kairi Sane but none of the theatrics of Shayna’s victory. That alone left a bad impression on me as they have their favorites pegged out on who's going to win right off the bat before the finals.
Road To The Finals Special
This special aired after the September 11, 2017 edition of Monday Night RAW, exclusively on the WWE Network recapping the tournament up to this point and providing an exhibition match for the entertainment of the Full Sail crowd.
Jazzy Gabert, Kay Lee Ray, and Tessa Blanchard def. Santana Garrett, Sarah Logan, and Marti Belle
Just about everyone in this match came off like a stars in this match. If WWE doesn't sign the bulk of these ladies, then they are fucking nuts. I'm glad to see that Tessa and Santana toned down the spray tanning or at least wiped off the excess off, so they don't look like Oompa Loompas here. The only person who seemed to missed a few steps was Marti Belle, but this match was a far cry from that colossal failure that was her match in the first round.
I thought the girls did great here with Jazzy Gabert being the shining star out of the entire thing, but if I had any complaint with this match, I thought it was too short. If they really wanted to make a statement with Jazzy's dominance, they should have had her lay waste to all three members of the opposing team in convincing manner instead of having Sarah Logan sliding in at the last second trying to break the pin.
If WWE does the Mae Young Classic again, I hope they use this commentary team of Nigel McGuinness, Tom Phillips, and Beth Phoenix. Beth Phoenix was a massive improvement over Lita in the insightful role as the veteran female talent. In all due respect to Jim Ross' legendary commentary status, but this tournament was not his best work. With one match, this team did miles above and beyond the work that the team of Lita and Jim Ross have done as a whole with this tournament. I'm honestly dreading going back to them calling the finals after SmackDown! live.
Following the match, the Full Sail crowd is chanting "Please Sign Jazzy" towards Triple H, who asks them to stop doing that as it cost him too much money during the Cruiserweight Classic, but adds that he wanted to take a moment to thank the WWE Universe for making this opportunity possible for women's wrestling.
That moment was all well and good, but it's times like this is where I feel like the Full Sail crowds come off extremely moronic. There were 5 other talented women in this match (Okay, Marti Belle not so much...) that deserved to be praised for their performance in this match and this tournament as well.
The Mae Young Classic is an ongoing special event, promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion, WWE. It will be constituted by a 32 competitor tournament exclusively for women from both NXT and the independent circuit. The tournament took place on July 13, and 14, 2017 and the final match will take place on September 12, 2017.
WWE announced that a women’s tournament would be taking place in the summer of 2017 at a press conference during WrestleMania 33 weekend. There will be a total of 32 wrestlers competing. The name of the event is in honor of the late WWE Hall of FamerMae Young. It was announced on their official website that the first four wrestlers to be competing would be Sarah Logan, Lacey Evans, Princesa Sugehit, and Toni Storm. The second set of names announced were Tessa Blanchard, Abbey Laith, Taynara Conti, Jazzy Gabert, and Kavita Devi. On June 26, 2017, Lita and Jim Ross were announced as the commentators for the tournament. The third set of names announced were Kairi Sane, Dakota Kai, Piper Niven, and Bianca Belair. The fourth set of names announced were Rhea Ripley and Sage Beckett. The fifth set of names announced were Kay Lee Ray and Ayesha Raymond. Later in the day, Vanessa Borne qualified to the classic. On July 13, 2017, WWE held the Mae Young Classic: Parade of Champions, a pre-tournament event streamed live on YouTube and Facebook and revealed the remaining tournament participants. The Mae Young Classic also featured WWE's first full-time female referee, Jessika Carr.
The first four episodes of this tournament were made available on the WWE Network on August 28, 2017.
Episode 1
Right off the bat, I have to ask this question... Why the fuck is the arena so dark? I’m guessing they didn’t fill up Full Sail University for this show. Otherwise, it's in bad taste to darken the arena like it's a low budget indie show that couldn't fill up all of the seats for every match.
JR should’ve called this solo or with Renee Young. Lita we love you, but commentary is not her cup of tea. Lita adds next to NOTHING to this as his broadcast partner, even more so to say that they re-recorded some lines. I know that Renee Young wasn't too crazy about doing commentary from her NXT days, but I firmly believe that she couldn't have been any worse than Lita here.
I love that freaking theme song for this tournament - I need a copy of that on YouTube or something.
Take a listen for yourself if you haven't had a chance to check out this tournament yet.
Princesa Sugehit def. Kay Lee Ray
I vaguely remember Sugehit from old ChickFight DVDs. Didn’t know she was so “thick” and “juicy” though. Is this a first for a wrestler in WWE wrestling with braces? I know Vince wouldn't have let that fly if he saw her beforehand. I was surprised that let KLR beat on Sugehit so long, even hitting most of her signatures/big moves before the finish
I can easily see WWE hiring Kay Lee Ray at some point if they haven't signed her already. There was some solid ring work from bell to bell from both ladies and this served as a great opening bout to kickstart this tournament. Sugehit was a little sloppy in a few spots but that’s to be expected for international talent making the shift to getting used to WWE style.
Serena Deeb def. Vanessa Borne
Serena’s had her implants removed since the last time we've seen her in a WWE ring as she's looking obviously flat as a board. I know that's bad that was the first thing I noticed, but she's still gorgeous nonetheless. Same goes for Vanessa Borne - isn’t she related to The Rock or part of the Samoan family tree? Looks like her and Nia Jax could be sisters.
I couldn't help but notice that Vanessa Borne had that huge distracting scar on her shoulder. I would've designed my ring gear to cover that up or wear tape or something. I swear WWE needs to have a special aesthetics department with quality control on informing their roster on what's going to look good or bad in HD.
I thought it was cool that they switched to a female referee for this match. I’m guessing they went with male for the previous match since Sugehit only speaks Spanish?
This match wasn't bad, but I was not too crazy about this match. Even Lita said it - they kept it very basic.
Seriously, why does EVERY Samoan wrestler has to use a damn Samoan Drop? That’s as stereotypical as every foreigner (especially Muslims/Arabics/Indians) wrestler using the Camel Clutch.
I was surprised that Deeb went with a Spear as her finish, but I guess that's she's been using on the indies lately right? I could have sworn she used to do something else for her finish, but oh well.
Shayna Baszler def. Zeda
Major props go out to SHIMMER for sharing match footage for Shayna’s in-ring history, along with other women in this tournament. I wonder how much WWE could have had to pay for that "favor" along with getting Allison Danger to call this event with Jim Ross instead of Lita?
I hate to say it, but Butterface has to be Shayna’s middle name with a capital B. I thought Zeda had a pretty good backstory for an underdog babyface that would have sold that she was winning in this first round against anyone else, but nope. Even Ray Charles could see that Zeda’s losing here.
First mention of Ronda Rousey and the other Horsewomen at ringside, Izzy’s on the row BEHIND them. Dafuq? Who is that kid's parents blowing to get front row tickets to almost EVERY live event?
Pretty cool intro theme for Zeda, very anime-esque and I'm loving her ring gear. I hope we see more of that girl after this tournament since she's already down at the Performance Center training.
I had one huge issue with this match and it's with the message that WWE is conveying here. Zeda's backstory is that she has endured bullies all of her life to come here in WWE and to compete in the Mae Young Classic. WWE promotes the "Be a Star" campaign and all of that shit by WWE, but they have the story here have Zeda get bullied by Shayna the ENTIRE match and get nothing off and LOSE? Talk about inspiring women... That's just epic fail on WWE's behalf. The whole thing here came off like they were circle-jerking about having Rousey's group there instead of telling the story with Zeda standing up against this bully. It just disgust me that WWE put off the message that literally said, "Cool we made Shayna look strong at the expense of killing off the girl with a good backstory that could’ve made a great narrative versus someone else. Meh, fuck it. She's already down at the Performance Center so we can do it later..."
I get it, they want to make a huge deal that they got one of MMA's Four Horsewomen into a WWE ring, but they didn't have to chop out Zeda's legs out from underneath her without even giving her a chance to prove herself.
Abbey Laith def. Jazzy Gabert
For those who aren't hip to these ladies, it's Kimber Lee vs. Alpha Female. Kimber Lee was trained by 205 Live's own Drew Gulak and renown for her work in SHINE, Shimmer Women's Athletes, and Chikara. Most people may remember Alpha Female as the towering female enforcer Chris Sabin "hired" to deal with Velvet Sky after their break-up on Impact Wrestling during one of their tours to the UK. She has made several tours of Japan and currently works for the all-women's promotion, Pro Wrestling: EVE, when she's not working on her budding MMA career.
This match served as the main event for Episode 1 and the best match to this point. It was appropriately well-placed as a main event bout, with this match serving as a hard-hitting affair with Jazzy running a clinic on how to be a female powerhouse/wrecking machine. Hey Nia Jax, take notes please.
Jazzy with those mounted punches towards the end that would make AKI Man proud. I wonder how many people will get that reference...
Abbey pulled off the upset win of the tournament so far with Abbey getting the win off a roll-up into the Alligator Clutch (tribute to Mae Young) after Jazzy dominated 90% of this match. To be honest, I'm not too crazy about that finish, but whatever, the roll-up is the most devastating finisher in WWE after all...
I wasn’t crazy about Jazzy breaking character and hugging Abbey post-match either, but truth be told, there ends up being a LOT of that as this tournament goes on.
Episode 2
Mercedes Martinez def. Xia Li
On paper, this seems pretty stupid to have a rookie having their FIRST match versus a multi-year veteran and title holder in a first-round match in this tournament.
This was not a bad first showing for Xia Li, but her snapmares/hip tosses definitely need work. I thought she was going to break Mercedes’ neck at least twice there from how she was carelessly tossing her around the ring. Her striking game is superb but other than that this has been the most lackluster 1st round bout to this point. Xia Lia is kick away from a wardrobe malfunction with that short skirt and that thong-like panties
Boy, times have changed when WWE wouldn't have dared let Mercedes in a WWE ring looking like she does (covered in tattoos and piercings). Fast forward a decade later, we have her here in the flesh. I'm glad to see her finally get some mainstream exposure for once, that's for sure.
Rachel Evers def. Marti Belle
Give or take a few months but this match could’ve taken place back in TNA/GFW if Belle, Evers, and Yim stuck around after Anthem buyout.
Marti Belle is still kinda sloppy at spots in this at several points of this match. Correction.... hell BOTH of them are sloppy. With the addition of Marti Belle, there’s TONS of bootilicious girls in this tournament, good Lord that's getting distracting at this point.
Sloppy match, sloppy finish - moving on… Seriously, if you're pressed for time, do yourself a favor and skip this one. I can totally see why Triple switched the finish on this match halfway into this.
Rhea Ripley def. Miranda Salinas
The height difference here is crazy. Miranda looks like she’s shorter than AJ Lee AND Alexa Bliss
At this point, they’ve made a lot of these matches a bit TOO predictable in terms of vets versus rookies. Miranda had little chance here, despite being one of Booker T’s students. It felt like she didn't have a chance at all here, despite her video package that kinda sold me onto her character/personality.
Mia Yim def. Sarah Logan
Up next, we have the woman formerly known as Crazy Mary Dobson versus the former TNA Knockouts Champion, Jade.
Logan looks like she’s wearing Nikki Cross’ top. According to a friend who is a native to that area, WWE might want to change Logan’s hometown if they want to sell people on her country girl/redneck gimmick
No joke, but I never heard Sarah Logan speak before seeing her video package. I've seen some her bouts on YouTube and Dailymotion here and there, but never heard her do an interview. That being said, I'm completely sold on that gimmick after actually hearing her speak. She's got the Southern accent down to the tee.
This wasn't a bad match at all, definitely better the rest of the matches on this episode. A solid Ep. 2 main event for a pretty meh series of matches on this episode. I enjoyed Mia's shout out/tribute to Gail Kim by finishing Sarah Logan off with the Eat Defeat. Thank god she didn't botch it like Enzo Amore did on RAW last week...
Episode 3
Toni Storm def. Ayesha Raymond
Lord, forgive me, but that facepaint wasn't doing Ayesha Raymond any favors at all in the looks department.
Thanks to Toni Storm's lovely rear end, there was so much booty meat in this tournament that even Naomi tweeted about it.
On top of that, I loved every second of Toni Storm's ass-based offense. I swear there was a point where I didn't know what that girl's upper body looked like for the bulk of this match. As much as I loved Toni's ass along with the bulk of this match, that finish was ass though.
Dakota Kai def. Kavita Devi
I wouldn’t be bragging about Great Khali trained me about shit if I was Kavota Devi. That dude is fucking horrible. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised and VERY impressed with KD’s offense. She should go back to India and start training Khali on how to be an impressive powerhouse. Hell, give Nia some pointers too while she's at it.
I haven't seen Evie/Dakota Kai wrestle in what feels like forever from the old Shimmer DVDs. I remember having her on my old Fire Pro Wrestling Returns (PlayStation 2) saves with the rest of the Shimmer roster at the time. I'm glad she got her chance to shine as part of this tournament. Kai busts out a sweet Running Kenta Kick into the corner and finishes Devi off with a Diving Foot Stomp for the win. I wouldn't mind seeing more Devi if they want to bring her up to NXT down the road.
If WWE ends up signing Dakota Kai (if she's not already signed), I wonder if they are going to keep her with her Bayley-like gimmick here?
Bianca Belair def. Sage Beckett
I'mn not really feeling this “shaman” gimmick for Sage but I guess they are practicing for her NXT debut as a regular in the coming months. In my opinion, Sage's weight loss story would have been more inspirational. For those who don't know, she was formerly Rosie Lottalove in TNA before she lost 130+ lbs. She's also credited as the same wrestler who sidelined Daffney with the injury that forced her to retire from in-ring competition.
From what I have seen here, Bianca Belair isn’t as good as people online have been hyping her up to be from house show events. I’m not impressed at all. Is that supposed to be a big fucking deal that she whips people with that long piece of weave? That weave looks more like a liability long haul if someone trips up or chokes on that damn thing from being wrapped around their neck from the ring work.
Belair picks up the win after being the second person to have a Spear finisher. I'm wondering if the road agents did NOT go over finishes before this tournament? Gotta be honest here, but I wasn't too crazy about this match as a whole as it seemed like they didn't have good chemistry with each other.
Santana Garrett def. Piper Niven
Santana, girl we love you, but you need to lay off the spray tanning. She was looking like that Hulk Hogan/Ric Flair orange here in HD.
This was the best match out of these three episodes so far. Do yourself a favor and watch this one for sure. Piper can really move for a big girl. I have only seen her wrestle a few times out of the few times that I have checked out matches from the STARDOM promotion, but I'm glad to see Piper (known as Viper on the indies) get a chance in this tournament to show off her skills. It was cool to see Santana bust out the 2nd Eat Defeat in this tournament a as tribute and shout out to Gail Kim in this tournament.
Even though I read the spoilers (much like most people) beforehand, I was still shocked to see Santana take the L here, but I'm happy that Piper got to advance.
To the folks on social media giving Piper a hard time about her weight need to lay off. That girl is doing amazing things for someone with her size. If you're bitter that WWE let her beat the living Wonder Woman, Santana Garrett, I wouldn't be surprised that both of these ladies end up getting signed in the near future. They would be crazy not to.
Episode 4
Candice LaRae def. Renee Michelle
I’ve seen a few of Renee’s matches prior to this and she doesn’t come off nowhere as green as she does here. I'm just in awe on how sloppy this match is. It's nowhere as bad as that Rachel Evers/Marti Belle match on Episode 2, but it's hard to ignore here.
You could even tell from Candice's facial expressions that she is even pissed off by the end of this match from Renee’s inexperience. She was struggling to keep this moving along to say she’s the veteran here. They managed to pull it together at the end with the sweet series that lead to the finish though.
Lacey Evans def. Taynara Conti
Sorry folks, I gotta cheer my fellow SC native in this one in Evans. We went to the same college too.
I couldn't help but laugh at Evans’ classy hairdo coming undone over the course of this match. What is up with Conti’s resting bitch face? She’s got that going better than Bliss does. Conti’s got some natural talent as striker given her background. I'm hoping we see more of her on NXT TV soon since they signed her already at the Performance Center. She just needs some polish to her work. Let it be known that Lacey Evans was the wrong person to be carrying another rookie through a match too.
I was pleasantly shocked that Evans actually won a match for once instead of jobbing as usual. I kinda got used to seeing her on the losing end of things on NXT over the last few months.
Nicole Savoy def. Reina Gonzales
I have to wonder if Reina had Bell’s Palsy since she was wearing the half-face mask. Sarah Stock/Sarita did the same thing when she had paralysis on a side of her face at one point when she was wrestling for TNA Wrestling.
There was not much to write home about here outside of Savoy controlling the pace from bell to bell. Savoy ends up being the last member of the Trifecta (stable between Baszler, Martinez, and Savoy in Shimmer and SHINE) to advance.
I could see WWE signing Savoy easily at some point, but Reina needs some polish if she’s already at the Performance Center. She's just another choice in this opening round where I felt like "yeah, she's just here to lose in the first round..."
Kairi Sane def. Tessa Blanchard
Tessa, you're a beautiful woman, but please lay off the spray tan. Much like Santana in the main event of Episode 3, she looks like an Oompa Loompa here in HD.
Kairi Sane is going to have to kick it up a notch if she’s to be as much of a “rockstar” as Nakamura and Asuka on NXT. Her entrance needs and deserves something MUCH better for a star of her caliber in this thing. I keep saying it on social media, but she needs to make her entrance a tribute or parody of Gokaiger (Super Sentai) or something. She already looks like Luka (Gokai Yellow) from that series, so I don't know... Maybe she could do something like that? Have Nakamura be Captain Marvelous for fun at some point. He's already got the look down.
Sane's Diving Elbow Drop is amazing but goddamn that scares me how she lands. She’s just begging for lower back and hip problems when she’s older.
This is easily the best match out of these first four episodes and they definitely made sure to save the best for last. From how well Tessa worked with Sane here, I'm sad to see her get eliminated this quick in this tournament. To say that her and Sane have dodged each other from their various tours of Japan, it was great to see them finally get a chance to test their skills against each other in a WWE ring no less.
From Saturday, September 2nd to Sunday, September 3rd, 2017, the Gundam Versus Open Beta was made available for all players willing and able to download the application from the PlayStation Store. I was able to pre-load the beta earlier in the week (after attempting multiple times from crashes from the PS Store for roughly 4+ hours... Seriously, Sony fix your shitty store!) and was able to get a bit of time with the game.
Unfortunately, this is Namco Bandai and all of the beta's gameplay was blocked from streaming via PlayStation 4, so I wasn't able to capture any footage of the gameplay. Let's hope the retail release later this month won't have this problem. Fingers crossed, folks.
Controls
The first few matches I wasn't really feeling the controls, but after I was experimenting during matches (you're going to be doing this a LOT actually as most suits feel different despite the similar control scheme). Double tapping the Jump button and holding any direction on the analog stick will Boost Dash in that direction as long as you have energy left on the Boost gauge, which refills automatically as soon as your Gundam's touches the ground again. Tapping the analog stick in any direction twice will perform a quick sidestep evasion. This is extremely helpful for evading melee attacks upclose as it tends to make the tracking properties of those moves whiff when they would normally catch Boost Dashes.
Your ability to Switch Targets on the fly as fast as possible is going to be essential for surviving battles against multiple opponents at once. Your "Striker" acts as an assist in this game, offering a limited number of times that support character can assist you with their special attack or utility functionality. Last but not least, there are "Awakenings" that power up your mobile suit for a limited time, but offer extremely powerful measures for dispatching foes in one fell swoop. These attacks are only available when there's at least 1 bar full on the Awakening gauge.
Mobile Suit Selection/Variety
Nothing from Mobile Fighter G Gundam here, but the Universal Century timeline is VERY well represented here, outside of some surprisingly glaring omissions, but I'm guessing those will be free DLC or pop up as bosses in Ultimate Battle Mode in the full retail release. I was very pleased to see both signature mobile suits from the Thunderbolt OVA were in this, but Iron Blooded Orphans only seemed to have just two suits to represent that series. That threw me off to say that Barbatos is on the damn cover of the game and in the opening cinematic with RX-79 Gundam.
Gundam Wing has several suits, available with even the Sanc Kingdom specialized Torres units as support types. Gundam SEED has fewer suits than I would have imagined from that series (Athrun Zala's two Gundams from that series is one HUGE omission along with Buster Gundam, but the Blitz and Duel are in?)
I'm crossing my fingers that more suits from other series outside of the U.C. timeline are included in the retail release later this month or this roster is going to be pretty biased.
I thought it was pretty cool that players were allowed to mark and favorite mobile suits for quick selections before missions. I hope those favorites carry over from the beta to the retail release later this month. There's a LOT of mobile suits to browse through to find your preferred favorites, despite being able to cycle through the selections by specific Gundam series though.
Overall Gameplay
The best way to describe the action in this game is to compare it to the Virtual On series. Your weapons recharge/reload on a specific timer depending on how powerful they are in terms of balance, while players must regulate and manage their Boost gauge supply for movement and other special options, all while keeping up with this frantic gameplay that each Mobile Suit (MS) provides in this game.
There's no in-game tutorial (it's actually grayed out on the main menu), but it's simple enough to get the hang of over time after viewing the controls in the settings menu. I find it crazy that some people actually play this on an arcade fightstick like it's Street Fighter.
Free Battle allows players to "practice" in teams of 2v2 matches. This isn't a "true" practice mode, but you can tweak the AI from brain-dead easy to extremely hard as you test your skills or try out various mobile suits. This was the best you had to offer in terms of practicing offline and testing out the various MS types that are available in the beta.
Multiplayer Matches come in two flavors - Casual Battle and Player Battle, both of which I really didn't bother to try out during the two days of the beta this weekend. Ranked Battle was unavailable of course, but will be available in the retail release.
Most of my free time was spent playing the Ultimate Battle mode. This mode is reminiscent of Gears of War or Halo's Horde and Firefight modes, pitting players against waves of opponents with a boss wave coming up after every five rounds. As an added bonus, every interval intermission between the sets of 5 has a bonus "Extra Wave" that gives players a chance to get more reward points working together to defeat a special boss encounter or competing with each other to defeat as many enemies as possible or inflict the most damage within a set time limit. These bonus waves are completely random and even bring in various other players online if you are playing online with a friend. Offline, you are joined by AI companions as your partners. This mode alone got me really excited for the retail release as I could see myself playing this mode exclusively online or offline with friends and/or randoms. 15 waves was simple enough but the farthest I got on the 30 waves was up to 29 solo while the highest I got with a partner online was the mid-20s, so it's definitely no cakewalk.
One thing players are going to be doing for the first few days of with the game is going to be trying out all of the various mobile suits in the game and seeing how they fit to your preferred play style. Some of them are strictly long-range attackers, others are strictly close-range with all melee weapons, while most mobile suits are a hybrid of both, bringing the best of long and close range combat. If that wasn't enough, each mobile suit has a unique moveset, which can be viewed by hitting the pause button and checking out the command list. Some of these movelist are pretty short and bare bones, then others, such as Gundam SEED's Strike Gundam has a multitude of special moves due to the fact that Gundam can transform into 4 different configurations (Aile, Sword, Launcher, and IWSP). This isn't the only mobile suit capable of such functionality either as all of these playable mobile suits have an impressive amount of depth that they each bring to the table.
Char's Zaku IIS can transform into a Z-Gok to either fire it's Mega Particle Beam Cannon (seems to have super armor on this move) or throw a tank, Wing Gundam Zero, Zeta Gundam, along with a few other mobile suits can transform into their mobile armor/fighter modes as long as they have meter in the Boost gauge to do so.
For those thinking that there's not much to this being a "legit" fighting game, I hate to be the one to inform you for being sadly mistaken. There's a lot of depth in terms of "Boost Canceling" - as in every action in the game can be cancelled with proper Boost Dash timing during the animation. That alone opens up a world of new combos that I'm sure fans familiar with with the Naruto games and of course Virtual On (in terms of how the targeting system works) would feel at home with. Every character has their own levels of mastery with some easier than others to utilize to their full potential.
Closing Thoughts
To be quite honest, Ultimate Battle mode completely sold me onto my purchase for later this month. Otherwise, if this was team-based and entirely multiplayer oriented like the Dissidia Final Fantasy NT closed beta left the impression of on that front, then I would have cancelled my pre-order reservation by now. Don't get me wrong, Dissidia fans, but I'm not looking for another Overwatch-style multiplayer focused game in my life. Gundam Versus' beta made me happy that the entertainment here isn't only limited to Versus gameplay. There's more than enough here in this single mode to make me happy as a Gundam fan and as a fan of single player content. With the Mission Mode(s) (which would allow players to relive key moments from throughout the Gundam franchise) and other various co-op content that is going to be available at launch, I can see myself being preoccupied with those modes for months to come, with or without friends to play them with in co-op or in the event the online scene for this game goes dead after the Week 1 hype dies down. We all remember what happened to Anarchy Reigns after the initial launch of that title... That still makes me sad to this day thinking about it.
I think this is in a great place going into the North American release of the game (FYI the game is already out internationally in Japan) with something for all Gundam fans to enjoy here. I was surprised at the netcode being stable for this too. It wasn't nowhere as clunky nor as buggy as the Dissidia Final Fantasy NT closed beta was. My only gripe is that newcomers might be in a little over their head in terms of accessibility and learning how to get the swing of things starting out. This game isn't as daunting as Virtual On was back in the day, but there's a few small things that will be completely over players heads that I hope won't turn them away from embracing this game in the long haul.
I plan on streaming a lot of it if Namco Bandai allows it anyway on PS4... I guess we'll find out when it launches later this month.
Not the REAL NES box art, folks. Cool nonetheless though...
AM2R (also known as Another Metroid 2 Remake or AM2R: Return of Samus) is a fan remake of Metroid II: Return of Samus, developed by Argentinian independent programmer Milton "DoctorM64" Guasti. The game updates the 1991 version with color, a visual style similar to Super Metroid and gameplay similar to Metroid: Zero Mission. After years of development, the game was released for free to Windows-based computers on August 6, 2016, coinciding with the Metroid series' thirtieth anniversary. However, one day later, Nintendo sent DMCA notices to websites hosting the game, including the official blog and the Metroid Database, forcing their removal. The game is still available through torrents.
On June 13, 2017, Nintendo announced an official remake, Metroid: Samus Returns, for Nintendo 3DS. Some fans have speculated that this was the true reason AM2R was shut down by Nintendo. DoctorM64 stated in response: "N won E3 for me, #SamusReturns looks like the Metroid 2 I always wanted to play. Looks like the ANOTHER part of #am2r still makes sense now."
Plot:
"Metroids.
Numerous incidents in the past have brought to light the highly destructive power of these life forms, spreading fear across all known planetary systems.
Hoping to secure peace in the galaxy, the Galactic Federation orders the extermination of the Metroid species. I was the best candidate for the job.
Once again I find myself standing alone against the Metroid menace. What horrors await me within the depths of their homeworld? „—Samus Aran
The game's plot is largely unchanged from Metroid II. It now features a Super Metroid-style introduction narrated by Samus Aran (narration above), about the nature of her mission on SR388. Over the course of the game, Samus's scanners automatically download Logbook entries similar to the Metroid Prime series that reveal additional lore about areas and bosses. She can uncover optional areas that include the landing sites of the G.F.S. Thoth and an Anhur-class patrol ship carrying the two ill-fated Galactic Federation teams sent to rescue the previous research team. Metroid II did not feature the final resting places of these Federation teams, despite mentioning them in the manual. Samus also encounters surviving Federation Marines battling a Zeta Metroid that metamorphoses into an Omega Metroid before effortlessly killing them. The mysterious earthquakes linked to the deaths of Metroids are insinuated to be caused by the Queen Metroid herself, as her cries can be heard during the last few in the game. The Logbook reveals that the cave system is located between two tectonic plates on SR388. The game ends with Samus killing off the remaining Metroids, the Queen, and discovering an infant Metroid she later calls the baby.
After the credits, Samus speaks the famous introductory phrase from Super Metroid: "The last Metroid is in captivity. The galaxy is at peace." In the best ending, Samus is seen in her Gunship calling the Space Science Academy about the baby, leading into Super Metroid. EndingsEdit
The endings were conceptualized, drawn and detailed by Azima Khan, an artist who has created several 3D models pertaining to Metroid including the Samus Aran model seen in Rainfall Films' short film Metroid: The Sky Calls. More endings were planned for a future update before development was forced to end. The images below are high definition versions of the endings; ingame, they are pixellated.
The "worst" ending, which depicts a fully-suited Samus and the baby returning to her Gunship. Appears with over 4 hours of play time.
The "middle" ending, where a helmetless Samus observes the baby in her Gunship. Appears with between 2 and 4 hours of play time.
The "best" ending, where Samus sits in the cockpit of her Gunship, clad in an Ending Outfit similar to that from Zero Mission and calling Ceres Space Colony about the baby. Appears with under 2 hours of play time.
Gameplay:
As stated, the gameplay has been updated in the style of Super Metroid and Zero Mission, and now allows for some Sequence Breaking in the way of hidden paths to skip otherwise required items. A Map system, stacking of beams (thereby removing duplicates from Metroid II), the Power Grip and the previously mentioned logbook have been added, as well as the new abilities to automatically morph into tunnels, autoclimb small ledges, dedicated keys to morph and aim lock, and an Ukemi ability to breakfall an attack that knocks Samus off her feet in similar manner to Super Smash Bros.' teching. Moreover, the remake allows abilities to be toggled on and off at will - a feature formerly exclusive to Super Metroid. The Five-Bomb Drop technique from Super Metroid and Other M returns, and when used in midair, causes a triangle of Bombs to appear and propel Samus far into the air when they explode.
Unlike in the Metroid Prime series, Logbook scans are obtained automatically upon entering new areas, and defeating Metroids and bosses. Items that were not present in Metroid II but later became series staples now appear in AM2R, such as the Gravity Suit, Charge Beam, Speed Booster, Super Missiles and Power Bombs. The "tractor beam" effect from the Prime series is present in AM2R, which allows Samus to use her Charge Beam to draw in nearby pickups.
The game also features two new areas and several new non-Metroid bosses, including Serris and Genesis, creatures that were present on the Biologic Space Laboratories research station orbiting SR388 in Metroid Fusion. Curiously, Blob Throwers and Septoggs are completely absent from AM2R, and were planned for a future update before the game's cancellation. The number of Metroids has been slightly increased from 48 to 55. The Metroid Detector rises up to 1 after the baby hatches, unlike the original game.
Several changes have been made to the Power Beam. In addition to stacking, the Spazer Beam and Plasma Beams are now stackable, a feat not possible in Super Metroid without glitching. However, as a result of stacking, the beam's rate of fire decreases as the more beams are stacked together, for balancing purposes. Also, the Ice Beam has notably undergone a complete revamp, mirroring Metroid: Other M: instead of freezing enemies in place to be used as a suspended platform like in other 2-D games, almost all frozen enemies would fall to the ground and shatter or if frozen on the ground they would simply shatter after a few seconds. This change was made as there was no situation where the platforming feature could be used, and was quickly rendered irrelevant with the Spider Ball and Space Jump being acquired shortly after. As the most powerful weapon in the game, the Ice Beam was moved from Phase 2 to a new area between Phase 7 and Phase 8 as the final suit upgrade.
Missile Batteries and Big Energy Balls were removed; Save Stations will now replenish Samus's energy and ammo while simultaneously saving the game. However, Save Stations will automatically save the game when stepped on without providing any prompt.
The Verdict:
Speed Booster in action...
What can I say? I freakin' LOVED this game. There's a reason that most hardcore Metroid fans prefer Super Metroid as the best that the series had to offer in it's 2D outings and that is on full display here. Nintendo better hope and pray that their own upcoming Metroid: Samus Returns is even a fraction as good as this title was. Simply put, this game took everything that players loved about the original Metroid II: Return of Samus and added the graphical style of Super Metroid along with those various improvements to the gameplay.
I know it's hard to see in this darkened cavern, but YES, that's Samus facing TWO Metroids at once!
The gameplay differences were specified above, but I want to sound off on a few things that I really enjoyed about revisiting this game. First of all, I loved the improved AI for the Metroids. That added a new layer of depth to these "mini-boss" encounters, especially with Zeta and Omega Metroids that felt like they were entirely new creatures in this game. The multiple bosses fights throughout Samus' journey through SR388 were a welcome addition which definitely gave the vibe of Super Metroid even more, along with the increased number of Metroids to hunt down on the planet. Every Metroid encounter kept me on my toes, especially those with multiple Metroids at once.
The "tunneling" sewer fast travel chain that you find towards the end of the game was a nice touch as well, especially for completionist who want to explore every corner of SR388 and collect every beam upgrade, missile tank, energy tank, and item power-up available for Samus in this adventure. Speedrunners might detest that as there's a bit in terms of progression through the game where you can't skip over particular events to save time since some of the adventure is linear to an extent, but there's still enough freedom (like the original Metroid II) to hunt down the Metroids in that particular area at your leisure. Much like Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate HD (Ironically the same studio, Mercurysteam, is working on the Metroid: Samus Returns revamp for the Nintendo 3DS), I loved the inclusion of an in-game map. That minor addition helps tons while traversing SR388 and helping players figure out where to go next, instead of a lot of the guesswork that the original Metroid II (along with most of Samus' 2D outings) was known for.
If I had one very minor grip about the game, I will admit that I wasn't particularly keen on most of the remixes to the original tracks from Metroid II: Return of Samus. To be fair though, a lot of the music was more than appropriate though. I would have been fine if they didn't change the original music at all.
Play It or Don't Bother?
Go ahead and take a chance at this reimagining of Samus' adventure on SR388... Just don't get carried away like I did here.
I think most players will enjoy the added challenge.
Definitely go out of your way to play this revamp of Metroid II: Return of Samus. The game is pretty old now in terms of it's release, but you can still manage to find copies pretty easy online despite the DMCA notices from Nintendo. Go out of your way and show your appreciation for DoctorM64 as he responds to his tweets regularly. Nintendo's Metroid: Samus Returns releases on September 15, but this will easily keep Metroid fans busy by the time that drops. On the plus side, you don't have to own a 3DS/2DS to play this adventure. The only downside is that if you're one of the few Metroid fans who detest Samus' 2D outings, then this isn't for you in the least.
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