Epic Rap Battles of History Appreciation

Another YouTube phenomena has caught my attention over the years, and it's called Epic Rap Battles of History. Promising on delivering exactly that, each video represents two sides which are connected in some way, and then they proceed by performing rap battles.

The thing is that although they are structurally called rap battles, as far as lyrics, music and styles go, anything goes! From pop stars to scientists to historical figures to fictional characters, anyone who is well known for various reasons has a good chance to appear, provided that there is a counterpart character well up for the task to oppose him or her!

Being highly popular and promising new content depending on which rap battles the masses of fans want to see next, Epic Lloyd and Nice Peter have been sitting on a mountain of fame and profit, not only because of the idea, but also because of the high productive values, including the music, the costumes, the battle structures, the special effects and so on.

It's not everyone's cup of tea, but I wasn't exactly a fan of actual rapping before this either. Try out one of their videos if you get the chance, you might be surprised at how they are delivered, like I was at first!

My current top 10 favorite Epic Rap Battles of History are currently by the way(in no order):

10.Bruce Lee VS. Clint Eastwood
9.Gandhi VS. Martin Luther King Jr.
8.Rasputin VS. Stalin
7.Sir Isaac Newton VS. Bill Nye
6.Steven Spielberg VS. Alfred Hitchcock
5.Jack the Ripper VS. Hannibal
4.Steve Jobs VS. Bill Gates
3.Zeus VS. Thor
2.Adolf Hitler VS. Darth Vader Round 3
1.Nikola Tesla VS. Thomas Edison

Top 10 Martial Arts Cinema Scenes

Martial Arts is not only spiritual fulfilling and philosophical, and has many benefits such as self-esteem, teamwork and fitness, it also happens to be one of the most beautiful yet violent competition to see in the world.

Cinematic choreographic scenes tend to range from being relatively tame and effective, towards being over the top. My favorite fighting scenes are the ones which are for the most part realistic, fast-paced, unique and whom happen to have a surprise or two along the way.

In no particular order, (except for the last one which is my new favorite), these 10 are truly great, and always worthwhile to rewatch.

1.Tony Jaa VS. an entire evil gang in The Protector(2005)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPne0fXREhY

Otherwise known as the final fight, with it's rather amusing and yet also sad plot of elephants being stolen and "consumed", Tony Jaa fights his way through countless amounts of enemies, and the final fight is so crazy and over the top to watch, it's like a video game beat em'up actually.  Obviously not the most realistic fight scene, but entertaining? Hell yes! Just try to count how many bones does Tony Jaa break.

2.Donnie Yen VS. Wu Jing in Kill Zone(2005)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H-3NKj8yO8

I forget what Yen's weapon of choice is actually called, it looks like a lite version of what police men carry around. That weapon against his opponent's knife makes up for some of fastest attack movements I have ever seen in cinema. Combined with the excellent cinematography and a memorable song, it's a short but great encounter, and it's not even the most important story wise.

3.Sammo Hung VS. Lee Hoi San in The Magnificent Butcher(1979)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebfw8EFghak

To be frank, I have yet to see many more movies of Sammo Hung, but I did see The Magnificent Butcher already, where his final fight is similar to the orginial Drunken Master, going through several fighting styles to defeat his enemy. Comedy value is also to be found!

4.Jet Li VS. Billy Chow in Fist of Legend(1994)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T_UL6GlsnE&list=LLfvQLwgxxUzR6ELoTm_eIYA&index=3

Fist of Legend is already an above average martial arts film with an interesting story, and then it ends with a fight against a brutal Japanese general which literally headbutts and punches his way through objects like glass, furniture and trees in order to knock down Jet Li. It's a long and intimidating fight, and it ends with a whipping belt against a sword, and guess which one wins!

5.JeeJa Yanin VS. Kittitat Kowahagul in Chocolate(2008)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAN1GTRPyto

Often nicknamed the female version of insert any famous martial cinema artist like Tony Jaa or Jackie Chan, JeeJa Yani with her autism in this movie must eventually fight against an epileptic hip hop fighter which looks more fun to watch than to explain. Although a very short fight scene, it does continue to be a unique encounter in choreography. Chocolate also has many other effective fight scenes such as in the warehouse or on the rooftop, but the one I choose happens to be the most memorable for me.

6.Biao Yuen, Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan VS. thugs, smoking boss and Benny 'The Jet' Urquidez in Dragons Forever(1988)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XLXKJMj3aw

Not only does this factory fight feature 3 good friends in real life, it also has destructible environments, somersaults, an annoying smoking coward and it ends with one of the most impressive opponents for Jackie Chan, which is of course Benny 'The Jet' Urquidez, whom happens to be a world champion in real life and whom I have also met briefly last year. Although their Wheels on Meals scene is legendary too, this one simply has more to offer in combination with the rest of the scene.

7.Jean-Claude Van Damme VS. Bolo Yeung in Bloodsport(1988)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXFBggMSgo8

Our Belgian martial artist star was at his prime during his early movies, and Bloodsport just might be his most famous one. Fighting against the intimidating Bolo Yeung in a tournament where you are allowed to die, Van Damme treats us with nice kicks and a few surprises up his sleeve here!

8.Bruce Lee's final fights in Fist of Fury(1972)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ySZkNITezk

Honestly you can include any final fight scene from any of Bruce Lee's few movies and it would still fit with the rest of this list. Enough has been said about the star himself, he was innovative, inspirational and as often said, way ahead of his time.

9.Jackie Chan VS. Feng Tien in The Young Master(1980)
http://killerfrog.com/videos/jackie-chan---young-master,-final-fight-6617.html

Another hard to find fight scene, beware, the screaming at the beginning of it can make your ears go painful. In one of Jackie Chan's earliest memorable fights, he must overcome against an actual master who completely outranks him until he adjusts his fighting style so extremely that he eventually beats him while a very energetic song plays.

10.Iko Uwais VS. Cecep Arif Rahman in The Raid 2: Berandal(2014)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5YeXsK2bMQ

This scene has the tendency to get deleted instantly on YouTube, but you may recognize it as the final fight or the kitchen scene in The Raid 2. This particular video also starts with another entertaining and impressive fight against Hammer Girl and Baseball Boy.

Our protagonist's biggest challenge awaits out of all places in the kitchen, where he engages against the assassin in an amazing, enduring and long fight, upon which the cinematography, music and varied fighting styles all come together to bring in my opinion the best fight scene I have seen so far and definitely the best modern fight scene of cinema.

Retro Blog: Supaplex

 

A very nostalgic title, this is the game that occupied me during lunch times on primary school for a long time, and upon moving on into high school, I simply had forgotten about it, but not before wishing that I could get a full version at home personally.

Around a decade later, the memories returned, and online is where I finally found Supaplex back! Or rather more accurately called Megaplex...but anyhow, I was bursting with joy to return to this adventurous and oh so challenging puzzle game.

Supaplex is actually a clone of Builder Dash, of which the NES version also holds childhood memories for me. You play as Murphy, a red smily ball which navigates through grid levels where he must collect shiny objects while avoiding the stone like obstacles.

Not only that, the relentless scissors also have the tendency to chase Murphy around in latter levels, and the challenge only gets more complex and difficult as you progress in the total amount of 111 levels.

Other objects to be found include exploding floppydisks, maneuverable tubes, lightning and aggressive sparkles. Although not much content is offered, the levels are cleverly designed with variety.

It's now also possible to create your own levels through a floating editor somewhere, and there is even a new graphical boost available somewhere else, also floating around. In fact, Supaplex has such an active cult community, that there exist several versions other than Megaplex around the net.

Simply put, Supaplex is simple to pick up, hard to beat, and it's a very responsive and smooth joyful experience.

Rating: 8.1

Shizmoo

Once upon a time, there was a website called Shizmoo, which offered some of the most addictive free games around in that era, although I am unable to say when this time happened, maybe around a decade ago?

Kung-Fu Chess is the real time variant of playing chess, instead of playing turn-based, here you could move all of your units in relative time, where cooldowns where included. Not only would you have 1 opponent, but instead 4 players at once could wreck the chessboard into pieces until only 1 king remained.

Sumo Volleyball was arguably the most addictive and competitive game provided by Shizmoo, and it was such a simple concept of mechanics. Simply put, two sumo wrestlers would play volleyball on a beach, and the bizarre mechanic of jumping on the pole in the middle and crashing into your opponent with your weight would sometimes mean a point for the other player. There was a time where I would worship and play this in the weekends.

Mini Golf was less original unlike these two, and I could not even find relevant sources back anymore on the internet. Simply put, you would guide the ball from a top down perspective on various wacky courses.

Nowadays, clones apparently exist for all three games, and I'm about to find and try them out and perhaps update this article later on with them included. But for now, I wanted to remember these very entertaining games in an era where life was a bit more simple for me.

One Piece: The New World

You know, up until now I didn't notice it, but I think that One Piece contributed heavily towards my passion and excitement for traveling the world. Seeing all those different locations, cultures, and people. Both in this story and in reality, it's just amazing to see the amount of differences.

It has been more or less 10 years since I started watching this enormous story unfold, and I figured it was about time to pay another tribute, like I did already 5 years ago. Except this time, I'm going all out.

I will talk about everything and anything I love about One Piece, and it's gonna be more detailed than before. Since Episode 700 of the anime recently got released(Haven't had the time to read the manga yet), let's talk all things regarding One Piece.

Let's start with the huge cast of characters. From pirates to marines, and from scientists to assassins, One Piece is nothing short of interesting fellows with many of them having a distinctive personal laugh, or a quirky merit, or a Devil Fruit, which are the special powers divided into 3 categories.

Just thinking of a top 10 character list is difficult because so many of them are likable. Some of my favorites include Aokiji, Bon Clay, Brooke and Luffy, either because of their personalities, or because of their actions.

Recurring and new characters are regularly happening, and each of the story arcs are surely to have lasting appeal for at least several of them for any fan. Another highlight of the series are the battles and the creativity that is behind them, which isn't always present, but I have been pleasantly surprised with many in the past.

Repetition is not really the case with One Piece either, other than a standard formula being present of "Straw Hats discover new island, there is a problem. they solve it, repeat", but the series's constant jokes, plot twists and emotional baggage's just retaliate that thought of ever coming back for me.

The world, including the 4 normal seas as well as the Grand Line and it's New World, still hasn't been completely put onto an actual world map yet. Nor have we seen all of the big questions appearing with the truth yet, including the Will of D, the Void Century, the World Government's ambition, the Revolutionary Army's ambition, if One Piece is an actual treasure or a metaphorical one, and so on.

Indeed, theories towards these large questions, as well as continuous amounts of trivia which are added towards the overall lore make sure that One Piece isn't bland by any means, but rather a large fish with many depths of sea levels to be found, if you know what I mean.

There's also endless amounts of merchandise available around the world, which I personally witnessed at China 2 years ago. This also includes video games, and my favorites have been the 3D Grand Battle titles. The last one appeared in 2005 I believe, and since then, I have been craving for a new one ever since, just thinking of all the characters that could be added now towards that makes my excitement go haywire.

To think that Eichiro Oda, the creater of One Piece, personally said I think a year ago that it's story would continue for at least 10 more years is insanely ambitious. I wonder if we will really see the end, whether that happens at the final island Raftel or not, consider me included alongside this huge ride.

E3 2015 Thoughts: Sony, Nintendo, Square Enix, PC Gaming

This is obviously the better half of E3 :)

Sony:

I like that expression, the video game industry is part of the "cultural zeitgeist" of our time. Instantly starting strong with a much anticipated (almost vaporware) title, The Last Guardian has finally returned and is looking magically wonderful.

Representing the Dutch branch of video game development, Guerilla Games introduces a new IP called Horizon: Zero Dawn, with stunning landscapes, a large scope, mechanical enemies and you play as a prehistoric looking hunter ironically.

Street Fighter 5 remains odd because of it's controversial new way of defining exclusivity, yet consider me interested in seeing how the new features will work out for this fifth title. No Man's Sky is in a similar status for being partially exclusive, and it's hard to judge this one's potential massive scope. Carl Sagan's quote does boost the hype.

Media Molecule's Dreams is an original looking title about creating, sharing and feelings conceptual dreams, or art works. It's too late for me to be excited for Destiny because the vanilla release just simply was a repetitive grind festival as previously reviewed, so it got sold.

Final Fantasy VII remake is finally REALLY HAPPENING! But because this is still the Sony section, let's talk more about this a little more down below here. Shenmue III is another long awaited sequel of which I regrettably still have to start on, but is nonetheless another exciting announcement.

Project Morpheus is another contender for the virtual reality market which is re-opening very soon, and it's just too early to judge which of the devices will be the best one. Call of Duty might be milked to death, but at least it ain't shovelware, so yeah, I will get around Black Ops III sooner or later.

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is a great way to end this conference, but it seems that something went wrong technically for the first round, which is forgivable. And with The Nathan Drake Collection appearing as well, I am utterly content and eager for the ultimate Uncharted experience.

Rating: A

Nintendo:

A Muppets intro, haha my puppet body is ready! Do a barrel roll meme, this was unexpected.

Star Fox Zero is looking like it just saved gaming in general, I really cannot wait to play what seems to be Star Fox 64's successor, FINALLY. The Amiibo expansion is out of control, and with having only Diddy Kong so far personally, I'm definitely not sold out on them.

So Hyrule Warriors Legends was leaked already, but Triforce Heroes seems to be a continuation on the Four Sword formula with an A Link Between Worlds art style, except that this time cooperation is encouraged, and competition is lessened. The totem mechanic is also something unique.

The Animal Crossing spin-offs Happy Home Designer and Amiibo Festival aren't sealing the deal for me, instead, people were expecting a proper Wii U edition. And although Fire Emblem Fates is looking promising, I can't say the same for Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem, as it bores me.

Xenoblade Chronicles X is truly one of the upcoming must have games from Monolith Soft and Nintendo, however it's painful to wait for it. Metroid Prime Blast Ball was previously hinted at, but Metroid Prime Federation Force first of all looks UGLY and blocky, I can't believe I just said this, but it's not looking appealing to me as some kind of Hunters sequel/spiritual successor.

And finally, the celebration of Super Mario Bros.'s 30th anniversary is not only enhanced by the fun looking Super Mario Maker(another spiritual successor, this time towards Mario Paint), but also by Mario Tennis Ultra Smash and surprisingly Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, where the two Mario RPG sub-series merge into one adventure.

So there's great stuff, but also dissapointing stuff for Nintendo this year. Or, perhaps Nintendo has yet to announce something else later on, which they sometimes do. This underwhelming feeling is caused because a real surprise or effective announcement was missing. I suppose Yoshi's Woolly World will keep me occupied and happy soon enough later this month to rebounce this conclusion.

And it was confirmed by Nintendo themselves that Zelda Wii U would be absent at E3 2015. On second thought, and to be fair, we did get a decent Smash 4 Direct earlier, so maybe Nintendo shouldn't had segmented the two events.

Rating: B

Square Enix:

 
With interesting bits of trivia from Square, Enix and Eidos,The press conference started with Just Cause, which I haven't touched upon yet, the same goes for Hitman. And Nier. And Kingdom Hearts. And Star Ocean. Got a lot of catching up to do.

World of Final Fantasy is a cutified tribute and celebration to what the title is saying, apparently from the preview. Similar to Dissidia or Theatrhythm, Squeenix is also having a lot of fun of commemorating Final Fantasy in general

Final Fantasy VII remade is a fan's dream come true, or a generation's dream, for all of us who played their first Final Fantasy back in 1997 on the PSX(Or the PC for me). So this is very exciting for the most popular entry that changed RPG gaming.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is another personal upcoming favorite, with the same team from Human Revolution developing this to expand upon it's design even further. Not too much information was available yet for Project Setsuna.

Rating: C+

PC Gaming:

Honesty, this was the most boring press conference. Although a PC presentation is a good idea, all of the games portrayed were bland, more of the same, convoluted in order of appearance and forgetabble. I did like the presentator being excited in general. Even AMD's graphical cards almost had me yawning. Better excitement for everyone next year. Not even Blizzard could save this.

Rating: D 

Multiplatform:

As an extra paragraph, with exceptions already talked earlier about, here are a bunch of video games which aren't exclusive, yet they deserve to be written about.

Batman: Arkham Knight is having a snowball effect of announced DLC coming up, but ignoring that, I can't wait to delve into the Bat's next-generation struggle against vengeful rogues in the biggest and grittiest Gotham City yet.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain had another stunning long trailer where rather than more questions being answered, new ones have filled up the community which theorize frantically as we speak about the characters, the central theme of language, how big the scope will be and how the hell it will end and transcend over into Metal Gear.

Dark Souls III is a fan favorite because it promises content which ain't broken nor obnoxious yet, and also, people are wondering how the lore will evolve, how the online scene will be, what horrifying bosses await and of course how beautiful the game's world will be. From Software declares it to be the final episode, but just you wait until Dragon or Death Souls comes along, next towards Bloodborne 2.

And that's all folks! Unless someone decides to announce a surprise or two tomorrow at E3's final day, E3 2015 was certainly no dissapointment in general and actually one of the better ones in so far as we can remember the previous ones.

E3 2015 Thoughts: Bethesda, Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft

Bethesda:

So Bethesda is nowadays a publisher of both Wolfenstein and Doom, huh. Both of the franchises have a current strong uprising, what with The New Order and The Old Blood bringing back good old fast paced shooting with armor, health packs and not just 2 guns.

Or what about the upcoming Doom, which seems to be a mixture of Doom 1, 2 and 3 in regards to setting, enemies, guns and multiplayer. For the first official time, a map editor called Snap
map will let the community share their creations.

Dishonored 2 is another title I'm looking forward too because the original was pretty much a successor to the Thief franchise in my eyes, it had multiple paths to take, a good atmosphere, very good DLC and just satisfying overall gameplay.

I have no excuse for not mentioning Fallout or The Elder Scrolls, other than I have yet to start with both franchises. In time, this will happen eventually. But until then, they will have to wait, because other video games are waiting too!

Rating: C

Microsoft:

With Microsoft proclaiming the biggest lineup in the history of Xbox, I wanted to believe them, but crucial titles such as Scalebound and arguably Banjo Threeie missing kind of made the show incomplete. Backwards compatibility is a huge advantage however, and now only Sony is left behind in this field.

We all wanted to see that famous platform duo return, but instead, we get Rare Replay, 30 of Rare's most prominent games from the past, alongside a new IP called Sea of Thieves, promising a lifestyle of pirates.

Rise of the Tomb Raider is looking good, and ReCore is surprising because Comcept and Aramture, or Keiji Inafune and ex-Metroid Prime developers are working together on this one. Halo and Gears of War are simply more franchises I have yet to start with.

I gotta say that last year was most likely more impressive than this one for me personally. But on another topic, with the HoloLens and the Oculus Rift already having been showcased, it won't be too long now until the virtual reality wars start happening.

Rating: C+

EA:

Mass Effect Andromeda is unveiled with a cinematic trailer, and I'm interested in seeing what BioWare has in store for this next generation title. As usual, the sports games continue to be less exciting for pretty much anyone, as even the audience reflects this back each year.

Star Wars Battlefront gameplay looks great! It's been ages since I played a previous Star Wars game, which was Jedi Outcast for me, it's time to attempt Battlefront out just in time before Episode VII is released.

The Swedish Unravel looks promising, the creative developer was brave to speak out for his creation, seeming as he was obviously nervous and excited. Minions Paradise and Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2 both could not hold my interest.

Mirror's Edge Catalyst also looks promising for a reboot.

Rating: C

Ubisoft: 

For Honor is refreshing to see, not for it's setting, but for it's arena/cooperative potential. So we have been seeing The Division for a while, which is another co-op title, yet it will take until early 2016 before we can experience it. It does look solid in a bland sense.

Assassin's Creed Syndicate is the umpteenth title in currently the most milked franchise at the moment, but at least the settings and historical era's keep changing. Personally I have only played 1 and 2, and I am still wondering how much more will be touched by me.

Nice to see Track Mania appearing on the next-gen consoles. Did they really had to bring out Girlwood as the main presentator again? It's becoming an awful meme to be honest.

Ghost Recon Wildlands might be the first GR that pirks my interest for it's presentation, but other than that, yeah, the gazillionth shooter just got announced. Which wraps up a predictable and generic Ubisoft presentation.

Rating: C