Sonic Colors- (WII) Review

Yesterday, a good friend of mine “G Man” Greg Johnson asked me what does Sonic need to do to get back to it’s former glory and work in a 3D space. I pondered this for a second and then blurted out SONIC COLORS FOR WII. I truly believe that if Sonic remade Sonic Colors every year and just added new stages, Sonic would be complete and perfect and everything we remember. To quote myself from yesterday, “If Sonic Colors was a woman, I would ask her out on a date, buy her dinner, and invite her back to my apartment to make sweet consensual love.” I like this game that much.

What is Sonic Colors?

This game is a perfect blend of 2D and 3D platforming. Like peanut butter and jelly, this game melds 2 flavors together in perfect harmony. I am so hungry. Sonic Colors is a Wii exclusive game. You control Sonic in the third person and jump and run around stages to collect rings, grab red stars, and destroy bosses. As is a Sonic tradition, each stage has multiple tracks that you can take. Some paths are faster than others while other paths may have more items and hidden collectibles. This game utilizes wisps (more on that later) to gate off certain sections. Sonic earns wisp abilities through out the game and as he gains more abilities he can reach more areas (think Metroid).

How does it play?

It plays like a modern take on classic Sonic platforming. There are moments of pure speed where you can control Sonic blazing through pipes and through space at one point. There are also slower methodical levels where Sonic has to think and be careful to get by. Sidenote: People always talk about how Sonic is all about going fast but in reality that it not the case! In Sonic the Hedgehog for Genesis you blaze through Green Hill Zone but hit a literal brick wall at Marble zone on the next stage. You cannot blaze through Marbe Zone! You have to stop and think and look for the next way to progress. Speed is not what Sonic is all about and this captures that. The jumping in Sonic Colors is floaty but consistent. Sonic has a double jump and can get to pretty generous heights. The physics in this game are consistent as well. Sonic accelerates and decelerates at a good rate.

The Wisps add another layer of control because each Wisp ability has unique handling. Once ability lets Sonic drill underground, while another you control with motion controls as Sonic takes flight. Some abilities shoot Sonic like a laser beam through crystals scattered all throughout the level. Most of these abilities handle well out side of the motion control ones. I also failed to mention the Wisps in my Sonic: Lost World review. They make an appearance in that game as well, but have not been seen since.

How is the level design?

The level design is great. The levels are gorgeous. There is an underwater level that takes place in Japan, a beautiful candy land area. My favorite level is when Sonic goes out into space. The theme of this world is Sonic is in an amusement park and each level feels like a thrill ride. When Sonic is in space, the track builds beneath your feet as you run. It looks soooooo goood. The levels are varied and have depth if you are into speed running or collecting.

How is the story?

Dr. Robotnik invites Sonic for a vacation at an amusement park he built. Sonic goes. It’s a trap. Robotnik is using the park to steal energy from the wisp’s planet. Sonic wins. Riveting stuff. The story is told through mildly humorous cut scenes.

How is the music?

It’s good. I don’t hum it in my free time but there are tracks in that game that I immediately recognize if I hear them out in the wild.

Does this break the Sonic Cycle?

It DESTROYS IT. This game would be great even if it wasn’t a Sonic game. It’s stunning, it’s fun, it’s nostalgic yet new. There is a co-op mode for friends. This game looks almost as good as Mario Galaxy. it looks and plays better than most of my 360 games. This game started a new cycle of good Sonic games.

Are there black people in it?

I can use my Mii in some of the challenges….he’s black. kinda.

In conclusion, this game is the reason I keep a Wii hooked up at all times. I always revisit this game. if my fiance left me and my cat died I would play this game to ease to the pain. This is my feel good jam. I suggest you play this game if you own a Wii or Wii U. It’s a masterpiece. Thank you for reading!

SONIC: LOST WORLD (WII U) Review

To full enjoy this review dig this.

With a new release of a Sonic game comes unbridled excitement from the masses! and by the masses, I mean myself. Sonic BOOM was released for Wii U and 3DS today. This week I am revisiting some old sonic games leading up to my review for Sonic:BOOM. I am going to be fully transparent with you, I am a Sonic lover, apologist, and defender. I love this hedgehog. I think he has been unfairly criticized for some of his previous gaming effort (such as Lost World).

Just for some background, my favorite Sonic game is Sonic Colors for Wii closely followed by Sonic 2 and Sonic 1. Sonic Advanced for the Game Boy advance was a fantastic series and I enjoyed Sonic Generations. My least favorite Sonic game ever is Sonic R for Saturn, closely followed by Sonic ’06 for Xbox 360.

What is Sonic Lost World?

Sonic Lost World (SLW) is the follow up to the critically acclaimed Sonic: Generations (people didn’t hate it). Generations was a 2d/3d hybrid platformer taking players through a greatest hits style selection of sonic levels and music. While Generations played great, it left me a little saddened that there were no new levels. Fast forward to Sonic Lost World for Wii U. This game is fresh. The easiest comparison for people to understand is SLW is like the Sonic version of Mario Galaxy. The idea being that Mario Galaxy excelled at having Mario platform on multiple small planets each with there own unique gimmick. Levels were short but each area is paced very differently due to changes in gravity, enemies, etc. The first level of Lost World (Windy Hill) has Sonic running and jumping in a 3d environment from these small almost planetary chunks of land. It’s very well done. Sonic is trying to get from point A to point B and there are a lot of ways they make that happen in this game. Each world has 4 staged and a boss fight. This is a pretty standard 3D platformer where Sonic can roam the world but there is usually a path or 2 the game wants you to focus on that you aren’t given much reason to deviate from.

How does it play?

For a Sonic 3D game it plays great. As a 3D platformer in general, the controls leave a little to be desired. Part of the issue is hardware limitations (WIi U controller is huge) but also the button placement is awful. Sonic is equipped with a spin dash button, a jump button that locks on, and an attack button where Sonic can jump on and kick opponents. The triggers are used to make Sonic run. Sonic is always walking unless prompt to run. It feels weird, but the decision actually gives the player a lot more precise control over Sonic. My issue with these controls are that I personally had a lot of problems hitting the wrong jump button. I would want to attack but hit the lock on and then while trying to lock on to something I would try and kick it. I am not used to Sonic having so many options but I adjusted. That said, the game is FAST and the framerate is super smooth. Sonic has a floaty jump but it is easy to adjust too. I liked controlling Sonic in this game, and that is a big feat in a Sonic 3D game.

How is the level design?

Level design is so important in a Sonic game. This game has different environments like water, snow, dessert, green, and lava. Each level has moments where the game is like “SONIC IS GOING SO FAST YOU CANT POSSIBLY CONTROL HIM WITH HUMAN REFLEXES SO WE WILL TAKE CONTROL OF HIM AS YOU BASICALLY WATCH HIM FLY THROUGH THE LEVEL”. Where other levels are slow and plodding, where you are pushing switches and solving some puzzles. Some levels have rails to grind on, and some pull out to a 2D viewpoint and things go back to Sonic’s Genesis roots. It almost feels like Sonic Team is using this game to try new ideas out and I love that. After the first stage, anything and everything happens. The game keeps on you on your feet. The boss battles are very easy for a Sonic game but they also feel fair. They don’t expect you to use one time only skills or anything like that. The rules always stay the same for the player and then it’s just navigating the new challenges.

How is the story?

Stupid question. It’s Sonic the Hedgehog. The story is an amazing tale! Sonic has to team up with a past rival and works to stop demons from taking the power from his world. Truly magical stuff, I actually have no idea what happened in the story but the cut scenes were well animated and I smiled a lot.

How is the music?

The music is very good. The opening theme is super catchy. I never left Lost World humming the tunes but I always enjoy the music when I turn the game on.

Does this break the sonic cycle?

The Sonic cycle? You mean the never ending cycle of bad sonic games that include his animal friends and 3D? My friend, the Sonic cycle was broken when Sonic Colors graced our God’s sweet sweet Earth. That said, this is a damn good game. THIS GAME IS HARD. This game was so hard in fact, that the developers went back and patched in a less punishing life system. That said, I always felt like deaths were fair and not because the game was broken.

How is the Downloadable Content?

The DLC is pretty dope! They have a Nights Into Dreams realm level where Sonic revisits a great Sonic Team and Sega Saturn classic and they have a Zelda themed world. All pretty cool additions and they are FREE.

Are there black people in it?

I think Knuckles is black. He has dreads, likes to box, and has an “us against the world” attitude. Knuckles is so freaking cool. So….maybe?

In conclusion, this game is worth the money. I had a great time with it. It’s colorful and vibrant. It plays well. Is it better than Mario 3D world? No, but I think it fills a different niche. This game is breathtaking at times and the level design takes a lot of risks. Play it.

Thank you for reading!

Hair- NBA Jam T.E.

I am going to do some short stories on a topic that is close to my heart…hair. Videogames don’t do a great job with hair but they do a terrible job with black hair. I want to highlight some games through out my life that have had some influential hair styles.

The first game that brought black hair to life for me was NBA Jam Tournament Edition! I had this game for Sega Saturn, Sega Genesis, and Sega Game Gear (I loved it ok…). I grew up in the suburbs. While my other black peers were getting high top fades in the nineties, I was surrounded by bowl cuts and white boys (great people, seriously). Cable TV and videogames were my window into the black hair as a youth. I would watch Wild n’ Crazy Kids Omar Gooding and then pop in some NBA Jam TE.

I’m seeing high top fades, caesars, that part shaved into the hair line. Players are bald, players have buzz cuts, it’s a veritable buffet of black hair (and white hair too!). The best part about this game is that on Sega Saturn they used player photos on the models to have the faces and hair look accurate. The most iconic style for me is Patrick Ewing.

These aren’t just players in the game for me, this is my window into black culture beyond Centerville, Ohio. Games today still can’t produce good looking corn rows but we can have a Ferrari F40 look photorealistc. I wasn’t watching BET growing up, I had my family and my friends but the cartoons I watched didn’t have any black people in them either. The fact that NBA Jam TE took so much pride in replicating the style of the game is monumental. The NBA is defined by its style and hair is such is a big part of that. You can look at the length of a players shorts and his hairdo and know exactly what season you’re watching…. Look at Grandmama below and tell me you don’t know exactly what year this game is from….

Somehow in 2014 few games have done black hair better than NBA Jam and NBA Jam TE. Also, the most iconic image from that game….and the coolest! (his hair changed color every game!!!!)…

Dennis Rodman! and the Admiral….. hair don’t get blacker than that. Peace

Random Thoughts on Sept. 17, 2014- Violent Police and NFS: Rivals

I am an EA Access member on Xbox One and with that I now have access to Need for Speed: Rivals. This game is a cops and robber chase game where you can play as a cop or a street racer. I had a realization recently that I cannot play as the cops in this game.

For context, when you are a cop you are armed with spike strips and EMP blast and other offensive skills to incapacitate racers. There is no peaceful pull over option. I am having a hard time being a violent cop. In a country where unarmed black men are being killed by police, I can not role play that behavior on my own.

The killing that hits home for me right now is the unarmed black man who was killed at a Wal-Mart in Beavercreek, Ohio. I proposed to my finance in a Toy R’ Us near that Wal-Mart. I have been the unarmed black man at that Wal-Mart. It hits close to home, literally for me.

NFS:Rivals is a fun game. It’s almost too real for me right now. Not all cops are bad but in this game they are. Violent police are not something I am comfortable with right now.

Just some thoughts…. Have a good day!

I Have a New Work Out Partner – Jillian Michaels (actually XBOX Fitness on Xbox One)

I need to lose 10 pounds. Because of my back pain (herniated disc, etc…). And my stomach. There I said it. Unbeknownst to me I found a workout plan and a partner who is always ready to work out with me and is very easy on my back.

This is what I think I look like….

One of the features I believe is constantly underrepresented by Xbox is the XBox Fitness app. I hate Kinect. I had a 360 and never bought one. Dance Central is not a game I would buy. Xbox Fitness has me playing and using the Kinect at least 3 to 4 times a week .

The best part about it…..Xbox Fitness is free! (I have purchased 2 Jillian Michaels programs but did not need to). The work outs I use are mostly free and Xbox keeps adding better stuff. Currently I am using 10minute abs, Gatorade presents JJ Wyat working, Russell WIlson’s HIIT program, and I bought Jillian Michaels Kickbox FastFix and 30 minute fat burn. Those are probably not the correct names but that doesn’t matter right now.

I am a male, between 25-30 years who ran track in college and lifts weights regularly and I love Xbox Fitness and it has become a large part of my work out program. Finding back/spine neutral workouts is extremely hard for me, and Jillian Michaels makes it happen.

Dat motivation…

 

To summarize the gameplay experience, basically Xbox has made the work out experience a game.  You are given a scorecard to add levels too. A work out starts and you see the video of the workout on the left side and a yourself on the right side. Underneath the image of yourself (like a mirrored silhouette) you see a score circle that judges and scores your movements. There are also infographics comparing you to other people and your previous scores. The entire experience transcends the sum of its parts. Even on a day when I don’t want to work hard, the score keeps me going. They subtitle the workouts so I can play my music and still know what is going on.

 

 

I would love to be cliche and talk about how hot Jillian Michaels is and I could say that I only do this to look at beautiful women or whatever but the reality is they provide a great workout. Also, nothing has pleased me more than Xbone adding the NFL players work outs. I have been following the NFL for a long time and pro body building. Seeing those guy working out motivates me a lot. It also has a weird way of de-stigmatizing the idea of using workout videos. I feel like people judge me when i say I use workout videos (like it’s a feminine thing to do) but they don’t when I mention Russell Wilson.

 

All of that said, Xbox Fitness is the deal maker for me. I love PS4 but Xbox Fitness and Kinect is the killer app that keeps me with Xbox One. Jillian Michaels is worth the 20 dollars of apps I have ordered. Very rarely has gaming overlapped so nicely with another part of my life that I love, but here it is. Xbox Fitness is legit.   

Black Characters in Gaming- Nilin (Remember Me- PC, XBOX 360, PS3)

Nillin in Remember Me is a mixed bag for me. On one hand I love this character. She’s a strong Halle Berry look-a-like who kicks ass and takes names. On the other hand, she reaffirms many of the negative tropes that female characters fall into. Before we delve too much into this, lets learn more about who Nillin is.

Yeah…. not Halle Berry right?

Nillin is the protagonist (kind of) of Remember Me. She is a bi-racial woman who is an amnesiac. She is working for a terrorist organization seemingly working to bring the class oppressed Neo-Paris down and give the poor a new hope.  The game is a third-person action game involving melee combat and some special moves. The twist is that Nillin has the ability to erase people’s memory and kill them by manipulating special technology that erases people’s unhappy memories. This Sensen technology is problematic because it erases people’s pain and the company that makes this tech is too powerful leading to a surveillance state (think 1984)(the book, not the year)(well think NSA, year 2014).

In my world, Nillin is awesome because she is a strong woman who is the only person able to save the day. This is a rare thing for videogames. I love that she is black or bi-racial. Her mother was black and father was white. I also love that her black mom ran a large corporation (even if it was problematic at times). This game has so many successful black people and they don’t even act like it’s a big deal. There are people in this game and they happen to be minorities. They don’t act like stereotypes, they never pat themselves on the back about it. It is really well done.

This game touches on the importance of relationships and family issues in pathology. Nillin’s mental health issues are seemingly a result of unresolved issues with her parents. Alfred Adler would be so proud of this game. Watching Nillin work through her family issues and come to the realization that people need to embrace their bad memories instead of running from them is so impactful. The moral of this game is that you cannot run away from problems and repress feelings, you must deal with them. It’s so profound, I love it.

Is Nillin a problematic character in games?

She ain’t perfect. Aesthetically, she conforms to white standards of beauty. If her skin wasn’t dark you wouldn’t know she was a minority. This is frustrating. Our people are never represented in games in our natural beautiful state. Why can’t she have braids or an afro? Why can’t she have a different body type? And my biggest pet peeve is why couldn’t they get a black woman to voice her. I’ll chalk it up to baby steps….

Stereotype: Overly emotional woman

There is this idea that women are more emotional than men. A lot of women you know probably reinforce that. Remember that gender is a social construct. In reality, small boys are much more emotionally unconstrained than girls but we socialize men to repress those emotions and allow women to express their full emotional range more. Nillin is constantly emoting in this game, in a way that a male protagonist never would. That is problematic because it reinforces the idea that all women are overly emotional. Nillin is constantly in contact with a “rational” male who “keeps her under control” while going through her terrorist missions.

Stereotype: Black person as criminal

I have spoken on this a lot. She causes tons of civilian death and is at times as bad as the government she is trying to stop.

Stereotype: Damsel in Distress

This is interesting and this point seemingly contradicts my earlier statement that Nillin is a strong female protagonist. Nillin has no memory and is not in full control of her destiny and actions until the end of the game. Most of the game is spent with Nillin working for a terrorist cell with the hopes of getting her memory back and gaining some context for her existence. Most of the game she is a damsel trying to find safety and is led by a man. She is being used at first, avoiding spoilers,  but she does have a paradigm shift where she takes control and it is awesome. I’ll let Feminist Frequency educate you more on the Damsel in Distress trope.

Stereotype: White savior complex

Nillin is blindly following a white man to find sanctity from her amnesic struggles. While the game does not focus on the race of the people involved, it is frustrating that it has to be a white man calling the shots. A man who has Nillin do terrible things for “the cause”. Normally the white savior complex plays out with a white person entering an all black school and they save these misguided ghetto children (sarcasm) with their superior white intellect and problem solving. This time, the school is Nillin’s mind and the savior is a white man named Edge.

It would have been such a cool story to see Nillin come to conclusions on her own.

Stereotype: Angry Black Woman (Nillin’s mom-Scylla Cartier-Wells)

Black women are constantly being portrayed as angry. The angry black women is a stereotype that black woman have been dealing with for years. If a black women doesn’t smile people assume she’s mad, if a white woman doesn’t smile she just isn’t smiling. On television this trope plays out with the neck wagging, finger snapping black woman who can’t be pleased. Reality TV has run with this on shows like Real Housewives of Atlanta and Bad Girls Club. This is problematic because it puts black women at a disadvantage in social interactions. People assume black women are mad before they even know you, if your actions are framed with anger you will always seem angry. In reality, black women have a lot to be mad about! But that doesn’t mean that they are angry all the time. Everybody has emotions, and anger is one of them. To attribute that emotion more to one group is problematic. Nillin’s mother is a heartless boss who is angry (the game gives you the backstory to why). Because Scylla is one of the few black women we see in gaming, making her an angry character (at first) is problematic. 

What does all this mean? It means this is a step in the right direction. Nillin has 2 comic books and had a great web-site dedicated to the game. A black woman being a protagonist in different mediums is awesome. She will hopefully be a role model and hero for somebody. I had black male super heroes to admire growing up and I hope Nillin can be that for some young people too. We have to start hiring more diversity at these companies if we ever want to truly make characters that are real and representative. While Nillin is not perfect, she is a refreshing change from Nathan Drake. Thanks for reading!

 

Freedom Planet- It’s what Sonic the Hedgehog would be if the series never went 3D

A motorcycle!?!?! SHE HAS A MOTORCYCLE!

Freedom Planet is a masterpiece. I love this game so much. I preface this entire review with the fact that I love this game.

My back story is that I am a die hard Sonic fan. Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2 were paradigm shifts for me. They are the games that defined my childhood and got me into gaming. I have bought and re-bought those games on every platform available.

My childhood.

Sonic 3 was good, and Sonic 4 was a disappointment (but I will replay both episodes soon, to make sure). Now fast forward to this Kickstarter project. Sonicretro.org forum member Stephen “Strife” Diduro made this game with a little help from some friends. This went from fan game, to kickstarter funding success, to masterpiece.

 

What is Freedom Planet? Freedom planet is a dream come true to fans of Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis games that never thought they would get a new game. It is a 16-bit 2D platformer with diverging paths to the end of each level. Every level is broken up with mini-boss fights and each level culminates in a challenging boss battle. This game incorporates Rocket Knight Adventure, Gunstar Heroes, Pulseman, and many other classics. Somehow the game still manages to feel unique. There are 3 playable characters as of now, and each character feels like a different game.

Carol plays like a Tails and Mega Man X character, while Lilac plays more like Sonic. Milla plays like….. Mario 2? I don’t know… The goal of the game is to make to the end of each level and beat the boss. There are trinkets to find along the way and multiple paths that only certain characters can access.

How does it play? I used a wired Xbox controller for PC (Steam). Utilizing the d-pad on that controller the game played very smoothly and precise. There is a great physics engine in the game that feels like a Sonic game (weighty, can’t quite stop on a dime) but some liberties were taken. You can walk up walls even when you don’t have enough momentum to really climb up. It’s a nice decision that keeps the game flowing well. You have an attack button, and a special attack button, as well as a jump button. There is a nice focus on attacking in this game. You can dispatch enemies in many different ways. Each special attack has invincibility frames within them that are crucial to learn and utilize if you want to beat bosses. The only weird thing about the controls are that you can’t just press down and roll with all of the characters like in Sonic. It’s a small thing but I kept finding myself trying to use momentum and be in a ball rolling but couldn’t.

How is the story? Weirdly dark tone but fully voice acted. There are 2 modes to play the game in; Adventure mode with the story cut scenes between levels and then Classic mode where you just play levels in order with no story. I enjoyed the story and the voice acting. It’s cheesy and overly dramatic but in a Saturday morning cartoon kind of way and I liked that. It’s violent and get’s a little….weird at the end. I won’t spoil things though.

The music? It’s incredible. Here. Listen, thank me later.

Is it just a lazy Sonic knock-off? Not in my opinion. It might look like Sonic but it so much more than a knock off. It’s a fun unique take on a genre that is in decline. 8-bit games and NES style games seem to get remade a lot but 16 bit mascot platformers have seemingly died out. This is a great revival.

Why do you like it so much? Because I have a soul.

Are there black people in it? Maybe, the Japanese Panda sounded black to me…..

Also, the game features 3 strong female protagonist.

In conclusion, Buy it. Right now. This game seems to have been released without much fanfare, and I hop it doesn’t get lost in the fray. It’s on Steam for $14.99. Worth it.

Black Characters in Gaming- Dwayne Forge (GTA 4)

Footsteps in the Dark – Please click link and have this song playing while reading this post. Thank you!

Here the Isley Brothers crooning in the background, setting the mood. Beauty, sadness, betrayal… and that’s just the beginning of the song. Every time Dwayne Forge had a cut scene in GTA 4 this song played in the background. It sets the perfect back drop for Dwayne’s experience. 

Dwayne was not a playable character in Grand Theft Auto 4, he was a friend you could choose to work with or kill. Spoilers but at one point in the game you have to choose between helping Playboy X (young upstart rapper and former colleague to Dwayne) and killing Dwayne (former crime boss, just released from prison and back at ground zero) or helping Dwayne and killing Playboy X. I don’t know how you could not help Dwayne. He’s so real, he has one hell of a sob story. Gameplay wise if you hang out with Dwayne enough he gives you access to his old gang members and weapons to help you on missions.

Dwayne represented a few major things for me. He is black, he has a moral code, and he is depressed. Full disclosure, I was playing GTA 4 heavily when I had broken up with my seemingly first “love” (wrong.) and I felt like the world was turning its back on me. Dwayne was feeling the same way. Dwayne had it all when he was running the drug game but he took the fall for his friends (loyalty) and realized that when he got out everybody he thought had his back left him behind. His girl left him, his boys wouldn’t associate with him or treat him with respect. He became a pariah (like most released prisoners he was unable to find work and lost his social networks, he was left helpless and hopeless). Dwayne was feeling hopeless but in the game Niko Bellic came along and fought with him and gave him hope.

I have never had a black character in my gaming life that was as multifaceted and relevant to my experience as Dwayne. Dwayne was a guy trying to give it all for his people and he loved his people. That’s how I see myself, and his pain when they don’t reciprocate it is a pain I feel. Yeah, Dwayne is a criminal and a convict but he had feelings. Very rarely do characters in games have real feelings and certainly not black characters. Rockstar, the developers of GTA 4, humanized Dwayne. The problem with stereotypes is that they dehumanize the groups of people they effect. Black men get watered down to statistics and become vehicles that either subvert or reinforce stereotypes and very little else. It is so refreshing to have a character like Dwayne who seems to reinforce these stereotypes while breaking through them all by making us care for him as a person. I would also argue that Dwayne subverts a lot of male stereotypes due to his openness with his feelings. He allows himself to be sad. 

Is Dwayne a problematic representation of black characters in gaming? He showcases emotions, deals with a reality that many black men face post incarceration, and brings light to mental health issues that flare up in our community but go untreated…. it would be too easy to focus on him being a criminal and calling him problematic because of that. In a weird way Dwayne represents old school values preaching loyalty and community where Playboy X represents new self centered values that neglect community. I personally love what Dwayne represents on that level. 

Stereotype: Black man as criminal

That speaks for itself. We haven’t moved passed this trope much in gaming. As always, it’s problematic because it is not juxtaposed with positive black images in gaming. 

Stereotype: Mass Incarceration of black men

I can’t really put it better than this infographic. I will add though that as a country we refuse to acknowledge the disservice we do these men when we let them out of prison. They lose the right to vote and can’t find jobs. Every sentence should not be a life sentence. We need change. 

Stereotype: Mental health issues in the black community

It exist, yet as a community we try to act like it doesn’t. On a broader scale, black people and minorities in general have a lot to be depressed about and we shouldn’t shy away from that reality should embrace it and work through it. 

What does all this mean? In my mind Dwayne is a beacon of excellence in black representations in game. I just wish he was playable….

Abyss Odyssey- A mini review (XBox 360)

What a pleasant surprise. This game is gorgeous, captivating, confusing, sexy, empowering, and a lot of words to me right now.

Yeah…she about sums it up.

This game is a procedural generated 2D action platformer with RPG elements. That is a mouth full. Basically this game is a beautiful Metroid style platformer with randomly generated levels. Death is permanent. You move down floors to reach a final boss at the bottom and every time you play the stages are different.

The art style is amazing. it’s like playing a beautiful painting.

The combat is complex. Every fight feels intentional and significant. You move with the left stick but have normal attacks tied to the right stick. The Y button has special moves you can upgrade. The triggers block. it works really well. After a few minutes you will be rolling around and attack everything. There are fun nuances to the battles! You can buy tokens to turn into the monsters and they each have unique abilities.

The reason this game works is because the leveling system and skill tree balance death out and pace things masterfully.

This game is what I imagine tripping balls is like. some levels have random realistic fish flying through the air and then a topless woman with tentacles will attack. it’s mesmerizing. I beat this game a few nights ago and I recommend it for anybody looking for something different.

Black Characters in Gaming- Balrog

I want to take a look at my favorite black characters in Videogames. I want to parse out why they matter to me, and look at what they reinforce on a larger scale. Let us delve into how they are problematic characters for black people or good for us. I have to start with my first black experience in video games; Balrog from Street Fighter II. Balrog, the boxer turned Shadaloo muscle working for M. Bison in Street Fighter II.

He is named M. Bison in Japan (think Mike Tyson) but that wasn’t going to fly here due to copyright issues etc. Balrog looks a lot like Mike Tyson, big muscles, tough mug, ripped clothes and boxing gloves. Balrog is a charge character with no kicks. All punches, and a devastating headbutt grab. Why does Balrog matter to me? He was my first.

As a young kid (8, 9 years old maybe) he was the first character I have ever seen who looked like me! I’m not a Japanese woman, or a large white Russian man, but I am a black kid and Balrogs looks like me. He was black, he was powerful, he was won fights. Balrog looked like what I thought a man should look like. He was too big for clothes! He was a super hero for me. I could beat anybody with Balrog, and watching my black avatar beat up these other ethnic stereoptypes was a big deal for me as a kid and frankly still holds weight now. When you beat the game (depending on the version) Balrog’s ending animation shows him with riches and white women! Made sense to me as a kid! He was a role model. He is a role model, every once and a while at the gym I look at myself and think, “I am one step closer to looking like Balrog”. Balrog represents pure power to me and he is power I can replicate. He doesn’t shoot orbs or create fire, he uses his fist. I have fist. I can punch. He headbutts, I can headbutt. He is as realistic as a character gets in Street Fighter, hell he looks like a clone of THE Mr. O Ronnie Coleman. As I got older I had to ask…..Is he problematic? Is my hero a mocking stereotype of a black athlete and a black man? Short answer yes, long answer…still yes but that doesn’t mean he is all bad!

What do I mean when I say Balrog is problematic? In the games industry the biggest issue with representations of race is that certain races are represented a very limited basis. If those representations are negative it can have harmful effects. To elaborate, White characters are represented in every capacity in games. They are protagonist, antagonist, drug dealers, and cops. You see enough positive white figures in games that the negative ones don’t stand out. For black characters that is simply not the case. Balrog becomes one of very few black representations we have in gaming. If he was the only black person a white kid in the suburbs saw in ’94 what are they going to think about black people? It’s problematic.

Let’s look closer at who Balrog is and what stereotypes he reinforces.

Stereotype: Lazy Black Man

Balrog got barred from professional boxing due to cheating and gambling. He wanted to get rich the easy way instead of winning and building a career.

Stereotype: UnIntelligent Black Man

In a lot of the versions of Street Fighter II if you beat the game with Balrog they will tell you how he took over Shadaloo and ruined the empire due to his stupidity. Sigh… at least we have a black president who isn’t running the country into the groun…never mind.

Stereotype: Prefers white women

This stereotype is a hot button issue both in the black community and white. The idea is that as soon as a black man gets successful they exclusively date white women. The rationale being they have wanted white women the whole time.  When you beat the game with balrog this image below is your reward….. he finally made it…

Stereotype: Athletically gifted

Think Black men are good at basketball and extrapolate that to other sports. It’s problematic because athletic success comes from hard work, and by attributing it to race it devalues the hard work and training black athletes put into their craft.

Stereotype: Black man as criminal

See mass incarceration of black men in America. Statistically 1 in 3 black men will be arrested in their lifetime. Watch the news….it’s a black prison beauty pageant.

This is problematic because Balrog is one of the few major recurring black figures in gaming. If we had more black people in games, negative images like this would not be so harmful but we are not there yet. As a kid this was one of very few options for me to look up to and that’s a shame. At least the white kids had Mario and Luigi!

That said, like  Tyler Perry film you have to love that he has persisted throughout the years as a main stay character in the Street Fighter franchise. He is still strong and still a menacing character to use in the game. Over the years Capcom has stuck with Balrog and I still use him to this day. I don’t hate that Balrog exist, I just wish he had a positive character to counter him (maybe DeeJay?). I also think it is important that he was made by a Japanese studio, and their perceptions and knowledge of race in America are limited compared to somebody from the states.

That’s all I got for Balrog! Peace.