This is to continue last week’s Breth of Fire Dragon Quarter talk about my slump with games.
I got Crash Nitro Kart for one reason: I missed Mario Kart but I had no Nintendo system. Considering this game is pretty much Mario Kart in disguise I thought I could live with this. Bad mistake again.
To give it its own right Crash Bandicoot started as a platformer and made his way onto different genres of games over the past 12 years. The series has pumped out more than 10 titles over pretty much every mainstream system within this period of time. It’s a worthy franchise. On the other hand, Mario Kart as a Mario spinoff series single handed overshadowed Crash by running for over 15 years with its SNES debut in 1992.
The fact is I didn’t enjoy Nitro Kart that much, despite being pretty much the same thing at its core. So what was the problem?
Obviously it’s not the gameplay part. Nitro Kart features offensive/defensive items that you gained by running into question mark boxes, on top of the regular track racing. Offensive items are like bombs and missiles you get to toss at your opponents similar to what turtle shells do in Mario Kart, and stuffs like turbo boosts that function exactly like the mushrooms. The game even features a somewhat story-driven adventure mode where you race to unlock key items that open up more rooms of exploration. As a baseless feeling I think that Mario Kart paces more smoothly, but that’s about all I can force out as far as difference goes.
I found myself casually using those items as soon as I got them just to see what they do, and I was busy naming which is compared to which item in Mario Kart. Of course the next round up I got the exact same items, but I still had to toss them around casually to remind myself what they do. And so on.
My lack of enjoyment has everything to do with the icon association of these items. I am more comfortable shooting red shells than an actual missile in a cartoonish driving game. Somehow that idea gradually translates into that I am more comfortable driving with a chubby plumber than a pointy nose fox with big smile. I’ve seen the pointy fox a few times here and there, but it surely is no comparison with a pop symbol that I grew up with.
The drivers aren’t familiar, the items aren’t familiar, the stages aren’t familiar. I rejected the Nitro Kart disc from my PS2 and since then it’s been collecting dusts.

Tell us about games that you just can’t continue?

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Plot
The typical princess meets countryside farmer core gets a contemporary overhaul with lots of otakus. An accidental encounter at the subway becomes a key to open up two troubled human beings. Yamada Tsuyoshi relies on his cyberspace buddies to overcome the gap between himself and his love interest Aoyama Saori. On the other hand, obstacles in front of Saori include a sour history with man and her royal surroundings. This premise builds up expectations of both comedy and anxiety. Pretty much near the end of each episode I found myself worrying that Yamada’s first romantic attempt would get expelled at large, and each time Yamada survives with lots of things to laugh at. Yes, there were a lot of mental torment and yes, the show did a good job.

4.5/5

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Lead Characters
We have two extremes here. Yamada (Densha) was a traditional otaku who dug action figures, video games, animations, and cosplays. Most brutal of all was that he didn’t look much better after a so-called appearance revamp. Saori (Hermes) on the other hand was everybody’s dream girl. Grew up in a wealthy family with top manner and classy tastes; extremely gentle and tender. However, Saori’s finest attribute had been her ability to see through Densha’s poor packaging for the gold. Since the story was told more through Densha’s perspective, Saori’s role was more compromising. Aka, a lot less interesting.
Together they become the extreme measuring stick to each other. In most cases the uneasiness of the differences was pure comedy, and in other cases, that’s what the world calls love!

4.5/5

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Supporting Cast
The chatroom is spectacular. This is probably the best acting towards computer screens any TV show has to offer, and probably the widest character collection you’d see in the shortest cuts. I am sure you’d feel like a member of the chatroom at one point of the show. Web surfers aside, main side characters such as bossy Jinkama Kisuzu and dreamy Sakurai Kazuya had all been called favorites. The show is full of sharp personalities and the show even granted each of their small storyline a feel good conclusion. There are characters you can relate to, characters you love, and characters you’d want to be. The ultimate full package.

5/5

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Presentation/Style
The approach of the chatroom again comes into the highlight. Densha’s mouse click turning into a spread bomb with the Japanese map is truly a great visualization of cyber chat. And then the text formation of user windows makes you busy checking out your favorite member’s reaction. The rapid cutting of each member saying his/her own line is as severe as how a real chatroom can go at its busy hour. Of course lots of hands down on decorating each member’s room with style.
Sakurai’s “perfect proposal” fantasies are all together its own creative mini series.

5/5

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Music
Great selection of songs and great matches with personalities. Easily I can’t think of any theme that matched Jinkama better than Darth Vader. “Sekai wa Sore wo Ai to Yobun da ze” is such an explosive song that swears to courage at the end of each episode.

5/5

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Finale
Maybe it’s just me but I felt the series could have ended at episode 10 if it was given 30 extra minutes just like finales usually do. Instead, the show utilized another full length episode just to wrap things up. There are just too many flashbacks and back-and-forth chitchat to fill in the blanks. Even the supposed feel good dream date of Densha felt tiring at the end. Easy to loose your attention here, just went too long.

3/5

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Rewatchability *Spoilers
For what it’s worth it’s always great to revisit the chatroom folks. May as well just take a fresh member as your new favorite and try to follow his/her own growth. Not to mention the need to pick their window out from the large group shots and letter shots. As far as Densha and Hermes go now we all know that there will be a happy ending so there is no need to stress on Densha’s screw ups. Sit back, have another good laugh at Sakurai. Don’t forget to dance with Sambomaster.

4/5

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Conclusion
New package of a proven fairy tale formula delivers in splashing styles and enough of extras that never retire from entertaining.

31/35

Recommanded Episodes by Max: Ep. 7 Getting Rid of my Nerdiness!! Birthday of Tears Ep. 10 The Ending Chapter! A Miraculous Change of Events

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If you’d like to have your artwork showcased along with these awesome entries, there’s only a few more days left.

CLICK HERE for full views of the entries and contest guidelines.
Polls will open around the 21st.
As I mentioned in the forum, we’ll be doing something special with all the submissions.

Is anyone already leaning towards a favorite?

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Natural skills!

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OOC:

Well the 4th Catigorical RP awards Awards are now over and we would like to congratulate all of our winners. All winners have been awarded cash prizes for their awards.

Due to the pile up on staff work the 259 team has elected to add two helpers to the staff team. These new helpers are Andrew Black and myself. Should you need assistance with any minor issues such as bio approval or purchase confirmation you are more then welcome to approach either of us. In addition to that I am taking over doing RPB Tuesday for 259 in addition to helping Unfettered with the items. Continue Reading »

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THE XIN Role Playing Boards
Public High School #552	Public High School # 259
Hircine High	Mugen Hall
Hallen High

RPBs Under Development
Westbrook Academy

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Animation and story by Bishop Supreme Character guide Discussion

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