Back by popular demand (well, actually back by lack of ideas), here’s another list of five of Cary’s top five favorite stuff. Don’t worry, folks. I won’t do this again for a while. Don’t want to overdo it, you know?

Cary’s Favorite Simpsons Characters
I’ve been thinking about The Simpsons lately because I finally beat The Simpsons Xbox 360 game. I think I may have listed my favorite Simpsons characters before, but I can’t remember. Hopefully you can’t remember either. So here they are again maybe:

1. Mr. Sparkle
I guess he’s not much of a character, just a subplot they used to make fun of wacky Japanese commercials. But it cracked me up so much. Plus one of my friends on the Internet that I’ve known for more than ten years used to go by the name Mr. Sparkle (don’t be a stranger now, hear?). I love the Mr. Sparkle stage in the 360 game because it makes fun of all sorts of Japanese games I like to play: Katamari Damacy, Okami, Pokemon, Final Fantasy, etc. There’s another stage in that game called NeverQuest that makes fun of Gauntlet and Joust.

2. Ralph Wiggum
My favorite main reoccuring character. He has the best lines. I love the new episode where they elect Ralph to be a presidental candidate. “Pick a winner!”

3. Homer
His dumb antics have taken over the show, but eh, he still says funny stuff.

4. Lisa
I know what you’re thinking. “What? Lisa?” But hear me out on this. I don’t like her character NOW, but back when the show first started out, she was a more believable kid character who was smart, but made mistakes and still got in trouble sometimes. I always liked that because when I was a kid, I was labeled ‘smart’ and ‘gifted’ but whenever I made a mistake or got in trouble, everyone acted ten times more surprised that I messed up over some other kid. So I liked that a character on TV showed that even smart kids can make mistakes and mess up sometimes, too. Of course, now Lisa is a left wing liberal who doesn’t even act like a kid anymore so they kind of ruined that. On the old Simpsons arcade game, I always played as Lisa because her joystick was in the same place as Raphael’s in the TMNT arcade game, and I always played as Raph in that. Their joysticks were on the right side so I never had to squeeze in between fat smelly guys to play.

5. Maggie
She’s a cute little baby. Who doesn’t like babies?

Runners Up:
Even though Flanders kind of portrays Christians as being goofy and annoying, I like the fact that he sticks to his guns and stands up for what he believes in. And when his wife died (because the voice actress quit), it showed that bad things do happen to good people and nobody’s perfect. And even though I can’t stand Jerry Lewis, Prof. Frink is also funny sometimes.

Cary’s Favorite Game Consoles
Someone requested that I do this. I had a hard time listing the best five, and this list could change at any time depending on my mood, but as of right now, here’s my five:

1. Super Nintendo
All the fun of the NES with more refined 16-bit gameplay. I think my best gaming memories stem from this console. All the great 16-bit Square RPGs, Mario platformers, Link to the Past, Mario Kart, Super Metroid, and many more. At the time I was so impressed with the graphics and sound and Mode 7 effects. Such a big jump from the NES. I could go on and on about how great I think the SNES is. So many stories and fun times. I could make a single blog about it alone. But I won’t right now.

2. Sony PlayStation (PSOne)
When the first PlayStation came out, I wasn’t interested for about a year because I was still happily playing great SNES games like Yoshi’s Island and Chrono Trigger. But when I started college and the N64 came out, I was writing game reviews for The Dallas Morning News. The state paid for my college tuition because of my disability, and Social Security helped pay for my room and board. But my game reviewing money earned was my spending money, and the lack of N64 games to review wasn’t cutting it. So even though I couldn’t afford a PSOne, I bought one anyway so I could review more games. Best gaming purchase I ever made. After that I was reviewing games left and right. I think most would agree that the first PlayStation really changed the gaming industry, and there were a lot of great games for it, too. And as I said before in a previous blog, Namco totally rocked the first PlayStation. It’s strange that now, I have next to no interest in the PS3.

3. Game Boy Advance
It’s bascially a portable SNES, which I like. Some SNES to GBA ports were good, some were not. But there were a lot of great original GBA games as well, like Metroid: Zero Mission, Astro Boy, Wario Ware, etc. When the GBA first came out, I was really impressed with the graphics and sound jump from the old Game Boy.

4. Nintendo DS
OK, the DS is probably going to surpass the GBA on my list real soon, if not already. It’s also basically like a portable SNES with creative touch screen control, but some games are like the N64 as well. The thing I really like about the DS is that publishers seem to be more willing to put creative and unique games on it, as opposed to the GBA. I don’t think we’d ever see a Cooking Mama GBA game when it was big. And while the Phoenix Wright games were originally on the GBA, they never made it to the US until the DS came out, and now they’re big!

5. NES
I think most people my age will say the NES is their favorite. But it’s not my favorite. It had a lot of really bad games. But there were a lot of good ones, too. I loved the first Zelda, Mario 2, and Capcom’s Disney games. I just like the SNES better.

Runners Up:
Every gaming console I’ve owned, I’ve liked in some way or another. My first gaming ‘console’ wasn’t a 2600, but an Apple ][+ PC, which I loved. Even though the joysticks were crappy, the Atari 5200 was my first TV console, and it had better games than the 2600 did. What the N64 lacked in quantity, it had in a few quality games. And for the short time it was out, I liked the Neo Geo Pocket Color better than the Game Boy. The PS2 carried on the legacy of the original PSOne and was also my first real DVD player. The Dreamcast finally earned Sega some respect from me, and the GameCube was full of Nintendo goodness. The Wii has a good amount of fun and creative games, and the Xbox 360 does online console gaming right.

Cary’s Favorite Saturday Morning Cartoons
I think Saturday morning cartoons are a lost ‘art’ for lack of a better word. Nowadays, kids have several channels devoted to them and they can watch cartoons 24 hours a day on several networks! When I was a kid, the only times you could watch cartoons were for a couple of hours after school, a select few prime time holiday specials, and then there was Saturday mornings. Several networks showing nothing but kids shows all at once. It was like, after the morning news and Peppermint Place, kids OWNED the airwaves until Sooooouuuulllll Train came on in the early afteroon. Sure they still show Saturday morning cartoons now, but it doesn’t seem as special. Here are some favorites that I grew up with:

1. Muppet Babies
Stop looking at me all weird like that. Muppet Babies was a great show for kids because it was all about encouraging them to use their imaginations. And it had some great parodies that adults would like, too. Such as the Star Wars parody episode. And later on they even did a video games episode. Plus the show was really well written and I just like the Muppets. And who could forget the Baby Animal “Goooooo bye bye!” taglines? I wish they would put Muppet Babies on DVD, but I doubt they will. Too many 80’s pop culture references.

2. Pac-Man
OK, I’ll admit it. The Pac-Man cartoon was CRAP! But in Hanna-Barbera’s credit, they really didn’t have much to work with. Back when I was a kid, I loved Pac-Man and video games. Of course I still do now, but also back then, it was rare to see anything about video games on TV, so seeing a Pac-Man cartoon was pretty exciting. You can actually download episodes from the first season of Pac-Man on the Xbox 360. Just go to the TV shows section of the Xbox Live Marketplace and look for the Hanna-Barbera section. Even though the cartoon is really bad, I recommend downloading just one episode so you can see what I was really into as a kid. In fact, let’s make it a DARE. Whoever watches the Pac-Man cartoon this way, I’ll give them a power pellet.

3. Garfield and Friends
Say what you will about the rather cookie cutter comic strip, the Garfield and Friends cartoon was full of witty and intelligent humor that still stands up well today. But it was also a good Saturday cartoon because you didn’t have to think TOO hard while watching it. And as opposed to the other cartoons on my list, you can get the complete Garfield cartoon series on DVD (What? Jim Davis turn down making money? Never!). Watching the cartoon REALLY makes me miss Lorenzo Music, the original voice for Garfield. He did such a good job with that. Bill Murray and Frank Welker do Garfield’s voice in the newer crappy CG movies.

4. Eek the Cat
Kumbaya, it’s another cartoon about a fat cat (The Terrible Thunder Lizards were cool, too). Eek the Cat relied more on slapstick humor, biting sarcasm, and pop culture parodies. It was almost like The Simpsons of Saturday morning. Celebrities even gave their voice talents and likenesses in the show. The creator of the show, Savage Steve Holland, also did the animation of the Whammies in Press Your Luck, as well as directed some 80’s comedies like Better Off Dead (I still need to see that). I wish Eek the Cat would come to DVD, but I doubt it will since Disney now owns all the cartoons that were on the old Fox Family channel. “Ahhhhhh! Getemoffgetemoffgetemoff!”

5. Bobby’s World
For a while in the early to mid 90’s, Fox had some of the best Saturday morning cartoons. Along with Eek the Cat, Bobby’s World was another great one. Like Muppet Babies, Bobby’s World was geared toward little kids and encouraged them to use their imagination. But there were jokes that the whole family would enjoy. I don’t know much about Howie Mandell, but he was kind of the brains of Bobby’s World. When I was a kid, there was a younger kid that I knew who was EXACTLY like Bobby, and he was one of my best friends.

Runners up:
A lot of good cartoons were not on this list because they were originally on weekday afternoons, not Saturday morning. So stuff like Disney’s DuckTales, Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin, etc., and later Warner Bros. stuff like Animaniacs and Batman were not here for that reason. I enjoyed the Mario 3 and Captain N cartoons, but only because they were about video games. They were crap otherwise. Later on, when I was in college, I usually slept in on Saturdays, but there was a funny short lived Sam & Max cartoon that I caught a few times. Makes me want to download the game!

Cary’s Favorite Street Fighter Characters
I’ve always stunk at Street Fighter games. I’m lucky if I can get Ryu to poop out a fireball. I don’t see how the pros pull off all those moves. But I do like some of the characters. I think I can name at least five I like.

1. Cammy
My best friend was really good at fighting games when we were kids, but one time I picked Cammy and actually beat him, so she became my favorite. She has a cool red hat and a little more interesting background story than most. In the Alpha ‘prequel’ games, she’s a bad guy and wears a Krispy Kreme hat. She was also in a Dreamcast shooter game called Cannon Spike that had another one of my favorite Capcom characters in it (classic Mega Man). Cammy is actually one of my favorite female video game characters in general, too.

2. Dan
I love joke characters. I think Capcom made him to make fun of one of SNK’s characters. He throws autograph pictures as one of his moves and poops out a puny fireball that goes nowhere. And his super move is a super taunt. And he has a bright pink karate suit.

3. Chun-Li
She’s just cool for no good reason. And at least she looks like she could fight stuff. I think they should make a 2-D platformer starring Chun-Li. Raise your hands if you would play that.

4. Juni and Juli
Yeah I know they’re two different characters, but I can’t tell them apart. They’re M. Bison’s evil sidekicks, and I love bad guy sidekicks. Especially dumb, bumbling ones like Bebop and Rocksteady from TMNT. I think Juni and Juli are suppposed to be brainwashed, cold blooded killers, but wouldn’t it be cool if they were stupid and bumbling instead? If I were an evil mastermind dictator, I wouldn’t mind having a couple of sidekicks like Juni and Juli around.

5. Blanka
Actually Blanka isn’t one of my most favorites, but he’s weird and green so he’ll do. Plus I couldn’t think of any more Street Fighter characters.

Runners Up:
Rainbow Mika has a funny outfit and Ibuki has funny hair. I liked that some Final Fight characters like Guy, Cody, and ANDORE were in some of the Street Fighter games because, well, I like Final Fight! I wonder if any of my favorite SF characters will be in Street Fighter 4?

Cary’s Favorite Comic Book Type Super Heroes
I’ve never been into comic books. I have friends who are, and I’ve tried to get into them at several points in my life, but I could never get into them. I think it has something to do with that I didn’t want to pay for a little book that was halfway filled with ads. So I think I can name at least five I like.

1. Batman
It may be a surprise that I like such a dark, brooding, ‘goth’ hero since most of the stuff I like is usually colorful and cheery (and I HATE the more colorful 1960’s POW! SMACK! Batman). But Batman is cool because he has no super powers and still fights all these wacky villans. And he has a neat car. And he bosses around all the super heroes in the Justice League and they obey him! And I liked the mid-90’s Batman cartoon. And some of the movies (notice I said SOME). I can’t wait to see the new Dark Knight movie and play LEGO Batman (and LEGO Indiana Jones, too).

2. GamerDad
If I didn’t say GamerDad was one of my favorite super heroes, the head GamerDad guy would fire me! Ha ha! Just joking! Anyone who lets me write game reviews for them and help fulfill my dream is a super hero in my book. I think it would be cool if someone with drawing talent made a GamerDad comic book. I can draw, but I don’t think you’d want me making a GamerDad comic book. It would look like “GamerDad Babies” if I did it. And nobody wants that!

3. Superman
The only things I like about Superman are the silly stuff associated with him. Like the fact that he wears bright red underwear on the outside of his costume and has a big S on his chest. Or that nobody recognizes him with glasses on. Or that he puts out fires by freezing a lake and then throwing the frozen lake on the fire. Or that he changes in telephone booths (what does he do now that everyone has cell phones?). Plus my best friend is a big Superman fan, so everytime I see Superman, I think of my best friend.

4. The Tick
Well, the Saturday morning cartoon was funny anyway…

5. Power Girl
Actually I don’t know anything about Power Girl. I just like her name because it’s easy to remember. If you’re going to be a super hero, you need a name that people can remember so they know what to yell out when they’re in trouble.

Runners up:
The Powerpuff Girls cartoon is funny, do they count as super heroes? What about video game super heroes like Sonic Blast Man, Bravo Man, or Wonder Momo? Or Japanese characters like Astro Boy, Ultra Man, or Godzilla? Do they count? One comic book hero I just remembered seeing in the new Justice League cartoon is Hawk Girl. She has no super powers other than flying, but she had this neat bonk stick that she clobbered everything with and I thought that was cool. If I were a super hero, I’d want a bonk stick, too, except my bonk stick would look like a giant Pac-Pix DS stylus. And of course I can’t talk about super heroes without mentioning real life heroes like God, my parents, teachers, firefighters, police officers, and troops in the army who fight for my country. They are the REAL super heroes in this world!

Gimmie Five More!
Your turn again:
Who are your favorite Simpsons characters?
What are your favorite game consoles?
Who are your favorite Street Fighter characters?
What are your favorite Saturday morning cartoons?
Who are your favorite super heroes?

Misc. Conclusions
This past weekend I visited my best friend who lives in Houston. We went out to eat and played games and had fun like old times. I wish I could visit him more often but he has to work all the time. He let me borrow a couple of his Xbox 360 games. One was Superman Returns. I think he really liked it because he played through it all and got all the achievements, but I dunno. When I played it, it felt like yet another crappy movie to game tie-in. I didn’t like the controls and how you had to remember every button to use all of Superman’s powers. And normally I don’t complain about bad graphics, unless they keep you from seeing what you’re doing, which is the case with this game. Definitely the worst looking Xbox 360 game I’ve seen, visually. And I don’t remember Superman getting sucked into space by aliens in the movie either. But oh well.

OK, Superman fans who have played through the Superman Returns game! I gotta know this. Is Lex Luthor’s sidekick from the movie in the video game at all? I loved her in the Superman Returns movie, everything that came out of her mouth was hilarious. Again, remember that I like stupid bad guy sidekicks, and I’d be willing to play more of the game if she was in it. Even better is if you could play as her (but I don’t know what you would DO). If I were a bad guy, she could be my dumb sidekick if Juni and Juli weren’t available.

But you know, I played through The Simpsons Game and it had crappy controls and derivative gameplay. But I liked the gags. And my best friend liked the Superman game since it had stuff for him as a fan to look forward to. Every now and then, I think it’s OK to like a crappy game if you really like what it’s based on.

Another 360 game my best friend let me borrow is Dead Rising. I couldn’t get into this game either. While it’s fun to beat up zombies with any items you come across (like soccer balls), it got monotonous after a while. And since this is one of those games that you’re supposed to play over and over to get the best ending, monotony is a big no-no. And the text was WAY too small. It was almost like the words in the game were scared of the zombies! I wonder if it looks better on an HD TV? I did like walking around the mall, though, and seeing all the stores. I especially liked the toy store with the Servebot heads and the Jill’s Sandwiches restaurant. I wish I could do nothing but put Servebot heads on zombies and have Jill serve me sandwiches! But if all you did was walk around the mall, it would be a Mary Kate and Ashley game, and NOBODY wants that! Plus, Dead Rising’s kinda violent. Nothing wrong with that, but it’s just not my cup of tea.

I guess Dead Rising’s not a bad game, it’s just that there’s a bunch of other upcoming games I’d rather be playing, like Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney and Patapon. My friend let me borrow those 360 games so I could get more achievement points. But for me, getting achievement points is fun only if you really like the games you’re playing.

Well I think that’s enough for now. Next time I won’t do any more top five lists (unless you REALLY want me to). I think for my next blog I’ll do little reviews of the seven XNA games you can download for the 360. Later! –Cary

Tags: Misc