X6 And The Cursed High Max

Damn, this game is kicking my ass more than I thought. I have no idea how many times I have tossed my controller in frustration to getting my ass kicked by the final battle with High Max. I swear, I've gotten soft. I used to be so good at these games, but now I'm just really rusty!

Curse you, High Max!

I guess that's what happens in an era where platformers are rare. But once I'm done with this, I'm already selecting my next retro challenge.

Megaman X5

Out of all the games in my entire X Series Challenge, the first one to be beat was X5. Why that one? First off, X5 is my favorite of all the Megaman X games. It's got a lot of throwbacks to previous games of the series, as well as throwbacks to the original Megaman series.

One of my Top 10 games of all time.

So it's no surprise that it's the first one I beat. However, I'm still tempted to replay it already in Hard Mode, but I have yet to finish the other X games yet. X4 has been done so many times, it's stuck in my memory, but hasn't been passed this time around. X2 is still in the process of getting all the items, while X3 is in similar steps just so I could get the Gold Armor. And as for the first X, I'm still trying to jump over to try and get that head armor. It's a nasty jump, that one.

Best armor for this boss.

But for some reason, X5 was that one game I was really into from start to finish. Something about it (besides the throwbacks) made the game quite the experience every time. Plus, I have learned to love the Gaia Armor. Even though you can't use other weapons and have reduced speed, your increased toughness and power make it for quite the armor that makes you want to challenge the game with nothing but it. Well, except the first Virus Stage.

I saw this game from a different strategical point of view that just might tempt me into playing it in Hard Mode sooner rather than later. But for now, I'm trying to pass X6 (even though we all know the real ending was in X5).

Toonami's April Fools Return

(I originally posted this on my humor blog, but it also applies to this one so I will post it here too.)

Last night was just like any other, me struggling in my bed as I tried to find some sleep. And suddenly, at midnight, I get a message from La Barba.

"Dude, TOM is on TV!"

I didn't know what to make of it, especially since that character hasn't been on TV in ages. For those who don't know TOM is a character from the old Cartoon Network who hosted the Toonami block of japanese animation, as well as other cartoons based off comic books. During the 90's and early 2000's, it was the best time to be watching TV while we were growing up. So when I heard it was back, I was a bit skeptical.

And behold, I turned on my TV and saw that some shows I watched in high school were once again airing that night. I quickly celebrated, but was somehow surrounded with confusion. I started to get skeptical. Especially when earlier in the night, I was almost the victim of someone else's April Fool's prank. So I watched on to see if it was true.

And time passed, giving me more signs of hope. Dragonball nearly gave me a seizure, as I quickly realized why I never watched the show in the dark. The rest of the shows continued my nostalgia trip, but also started to fuel my slumber. And so, eventually my slumber won and I was asleep. And once I woke up, I see a message from La Barba which read: "worst prank ever!"

Turn the lights on! This scene is gonna make my head explode!

April Fools wasn't even starting, and already we had fallen to a massive prank. I gotta say, everything for the rest of the day will be assumed it's a prank. I'm even gonna be watching Wrestlemania with expectations of someone coming up and shouting "April Fools" at the end of the show! Gotta love April 1st.