This is My Life, Part 2

In celebration of the Jeff of All Games turning 30 (yikes) on August 1st, I will dedicate a post per day in lead up to the fateful day, to a few things that influenced me in my 30 years on this planet, from the nostalgic to the tragic. 

Part 2 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Oh man, where to even begin. This was everything to me as a child.

The Turtles began as a dark and gritty comic back in 1984, a whole year before the world was blessed with my presence. Since I wasn't a comic book reader until around my double digit years, my first exposure to The Green Machine wasn't until the late 80's/early 90's with the cartoon. Whenever it was on, I stopped whatever I was doing, because I fell in love with this show immediately.

Four teenage brothers, each with their own likeable personalities, mutated by special ooze, trained by a rat in the way of the martial arts, who kick ass and crack wise, this show was made for me!

When I talk about Ninja Turtles, anyone from my generation immediately thinks of the cartoon that ran from 1987 - 1996, which only kept the brand's train rolling. Pretty soon, my entire life was surrounded by Turtles. I needed it all, toys, games, costumes, plastic weapons, bedsheets, VHS tapes (remember those?) figures, everything that had a Ninja Turtles name to it, I had to have it.

The show was fantastic. There was something to like about every Turtle, whether it was Leonardo's loyalty, Mikey's "big kid" attitude, Raphael's one-liners, or Donatello's nerd tendencies, you just wanted to hang out with these guys all the time. I wanted to be an honorary Turtle more than anything. In fact, there was an episode where a kid got to become an honorary Turtle, and I was actually jealous of that kid..."It's a cartoon, moron" I'm telling younger me.

The voice acting in the cartoon was superb from top to bottom. Besides the Turtles themselves, the stand-out to me was Shredder, voiced by the late James Avery (Uncle Phil from Fresh Prince of Bel Air). The acting was the right mix of smart and lighthearted and I loved every second of it.

Of course, the success of the Turtles on the small screen helped propel it to the big screen. Of the 5 movies that currently have been made, I personally enjoy 4 of them. We won't talk about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, because ugh....gah....bleh...barf...you get the idea.

Which always leads me to one of the coolest things the Turtles ever did, the Coming Out of Their Shells Tour. Oh man!

In 1990, the Turtles decided to take their talents to the stage and formed a band. Touring the country and putting out a cassette (remember THOSE?) and VHS tape, which is probably still in my parent's basement. If this sounds super cheesy, don't worry, it was, but oh man I ate this up and loved it!

This is the equivalent of taking your kids to see The Wiggles now, I suppose, but I have pure, nostalgic love for this, and I do recognize that, yes, this was terrible, but I still love it!

The world domination also bled into the realm of electronic entertainment with MULTIPLE video games, with mixed results. The original Turtles game for NES is a game I played a lot of, but it was a really bad game. The follow up: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game, still stands as one of my favorite games of all time!

The Ninja Turtles are still a big deal to this day. The cartoon has gone through a few changes and reboots over the years, with a new cartoon being made now that includes...dinosaurs...sure? Of course, there was the recent Megan Fox/Will Arnett movie with a sequal planned for next year bringing in Arrow's Stephen Amell to play Casey Jones, and WWE's Shaemus playing Rocksteady. Just talking about that is getting my stoked for that movie. Personally, I thought the recent movie was fine, inoffensive, and made me look forward to the sequel.

Alright, let's wrap this up because, honestly, I could talk about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles all day. This brand, and these characters, have been such a huge part of my life, even up to today, whenever I talk about them, or hear the theme song, or see anything with their name on it, I turn into a 5-year-old boy again. I watched the trailers for the recent movie over and over again and got goosebumps. Turtle Power, bitches!

Oh, and also...#TeamDonatello

This is My Life, Part 1

In celebration of the Jeff of All Games turning 30 (yikes) on August 1st, I will dedicate a post per day in lead up to the fateful day, to a few things that influenced me in my 30 years on this planet, from the nostalgic to the tragic.

Part 1 - Carmen Sandiego

In 1991, I would have been 6 years old, in 1st grade at Granger Elementary (now called South Union Elementary) with a young and eager mind excited to learn new things. By this time, I had already taken a liking to detectives, crime-solving, and was a fan of Dick Tracy. So when I saw this new game show that combined learning with crime-solving while presenting it in a fun and exciting way, I knew it was something special.

Just looking at that logo is causing the nostalgic vibes to rush back to me.

You know how nowadays, when we watch a show like Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy!, we yell the answers at the screen, showing everyone in the room how much better we are than them? That was me for Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?. Especially if they were dealing with North America, cause I knew I had that shit ON LOCK!

The show was hosted by Greg Lee, who I first saw on Double Dare and later heard via his voice work on Doug. He now works in Nashville, TN in a variety show called Tokens. I may have to go check them out and try to get a picture. Hmm.

"The Chief" was played by Lynne Thigpen, who was a well decorated stage and screen actress. This would be my first observation of her talents, later on, I watched the movie version of Godspell that she was in religiously (pun intended FOR SURE) in preparation for our high school's production of it, and she is also the voice of the Radio DJ in The Warriors which would become one of my favorite movies ever. Sadly, Ms. Thigpen is no longer with us after passing away in 2003, just months after the release of her final film, Anger Management, appearing alongside Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson.

 The big star for me, however, was Rockapella. The house band/comedy troupe who found there way in more and more parts of the show, always brought a smile to my face and began my interest in a cappella music. Also, no matter how old I get, even after I show signs of Alzheimer's, I will always remember every single word to the theme song.

You're welcome for getting that stuck in your head.

The voice acting was superb as well. Since every criminal had to make a phone call to Carmen, giving the Gumshoes a clue. I always loved Double Trouble since they talked like Jack Nicholson. Every character was unique and added a lot to the show.

I always wanted to be a Gumshoe. Usually the age of the contestants was around 10 - 14 years old. Unfortunately for me, when I became 10 in 1995, the show was in its final season and I missed my chance. Of course, I thought I could just send a letter and be on the show. We did have a contest in 4th grade to potentially win a spot on the show. We had to solve a few geography questions and hope we got them all right and selected to be on the show. I was so proud that I was the first in my class to get it done and was VERY confident I had all the right answers, but I was never selected. It's ok...I'm not repressing any anger or disappointment or anything...

Of course, Carmen Sandiego began as a video game. There are around 20 or so iterations that cover the PC and older consoles. Young Jeff never got into those games, though. They involved reading and patience, two things that Young Jeff didn't have yet. The Jeff of NOW enjoys those games a lot.

By the time Where in the World became Where in Time, I had moved on to other things and it did not hook me the way the original show did. There was also a cartoon called Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego that I watched occasionally, but again, that original show grabbed me and never let go and I will always cherish those years. I will also thank the good Lord for YouTube, which still has full episodes. Enjoy one!

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? was absolutely one of my favorite shows and really helped me and my growing mind. I will always be thankful to have experienced this in my youth and will always jam out to that theme song. You should also search YouTube for more of Rockapella's stuff. The lineup may have changed over the years, but they are still fantastic musicians.

What I Think Of...Rocket League

Ah, The Beautiful Game. Soccer is the world's sport, millions of fans are glued to their TV's and stadiums around the world are captivated by two teams of eleven men or women as they run around a field ("Pitch" if you will), in an attempt to kick a small ball into a big net (or not, with all those exciting 0 - 0 games), flopping, whining and crying all the way.

I make fun, of course, but Soccer is the biggest sport on the planet, and while it may not be the biggest sport in America, it's a downright way of life in other countries. I myself am a fan of Soccer and its many video game iterations. I buy FIFA every year and have a fondness for Mario Strikers Charged for the Wii, and so on. The question at hand, however, is how can you make the game of Soccer more exciting?

Horsepower!

Enter Rocket League. Where the rubber meets the grass. Where the athleticism and finesse of Soccer gets smashed together with the carnage of a destruction derby. Sounds fun, right? Well, here is what I think of Rocket League.

It's a simple, yet unique concept: instead of people playing Soccer, let's have cars do it. You can have a 1 vs 1, 2 vs 2, 3 vs 3, or 4 vs 4 style matches. Personally, I feel 3 vs 3 is the right fit for a competitive team match, but I do love the chaos of a 4 vs 4 match. You also have the option of a single player season, or taking your skills online for ranked and unranked matches against people from all over the world, and also cross-platform between PC and PS4.

The most important thing about this game, though, is how much fun it is when the action gets going. The ball is placed at the center of the pitch, a countdown commences, and both teams turbo boost to the center to begin play/crash into each other. The ball is scaled accordingly, which is to say it's much bigger, and it can take some crazy bounces depending on how it hits the cars, side walls, etc.

The cars themselves are very agile and fun to maneuver. It's very easy to pull a slick 180 or boost into a somersault or a bicycle kick. You can also drive on walls or, if you decide you want to play defense, throw some sick car checks or even boost into an opponent, blowing them up and taking them out of the match for a couple seconds. Also, it's not called ROCKET League for nothing, since you can blast up in the air and kick on the rockets to begin an aerial assault.

While the game of Soccer has a lot to do with skill, Rocket League is a little skill, but mostly luck. Whether it's a lucky bounce off the wall, or you being luckily in the right place at the right time to slam home a goal, the action stays fast and chaotic and tons of fun.

The length of the match helps this frantic feeling along, as it is one 5 minute period as opposed to two halves, so it's GO GO GO and then on to the next one, which works for a game like this and reminds me of the fast pace of Splatoon. This also helps make the highlight moments stand out, cause every goal, every save, every block, every shot on goal, matters.

It also factors into your personal points and XP. As you make big plays you are awarded XP to level up and unlock new car features, such as decals, antennae accessories, hats, and even new body styles. Obviously you get the most points for scoring a goal, but things like assists, bicycle kicks, saves, centering the ball, and so on, get you points, so you always get something for participating, which is always nice.

The rewards for that are nice too. Right now I have a beefy SUV body style with a wizard hat on, a dollar sign antennae, sick stripes, and lowrider wheels, cause that's how I roll when I be scoring Golazos! Also there is a fez, because fezzes are cool.

There are a few stadiums in the game, but just like the customization options, it's all just cosmetic. No insane obstacles or traps to worry about, and that's really for the best. Though I do hope (and look forward to) more options for stadiums and accessories now that the game is out and getting attention.

While the single player mode can be useful for practice, and a nice diversion, the real meat of the game, and the main draw, is the online multiplayer. When the game was first released, there were some major server issues, but thanks to some hard work, patches and fixes, I have had no problem finding a game fast! What's also nice is that the game will search for a match while you are playing the single player, so you can queue up an online match and go do something else, which is handy.

While voice chat is certainly an option, there is also a quick chat option, where hitting a direction on the d-pad or a hotkey will bring up some pre-made chats. Also, the PC version does have controller support and I highly recommend it.

Rocket League is turning out to be one of my most addicting games of 2015. It's a 5-minute fury of chaos and finesse that gets your blood pumping and gives you super satisfaction when you somersault and slam home a goal, or make that last second save that gives your team a win. While it may be short on content right now, there is a great shell here that updates will hopefully fill with new accessories, new stadiums, and more, and the player base on this game is in full force. Sure, you can describe this game as "Car Soccer", but when you actually play it, it is much more than that, and an exhilarating rush of a good time.

Rocket League is available on Steam ($19.99 as of this writing) and PS4 (Free for PS Plus members in the month of July).

What's Coming Up in July, 2015?

It's the beginning of Q3 in the video game world which means....not much. The month after E3 is usually a ghost town as far as big releases go, and this year is no exception. Let's look at July, 2015.

July 14th:

God of War III Remastered - (PS4)

The angriest man in video games is back! Celebrating the franchise's 10th anniversary, this remaster will be 1080p and be 60 frames per second. I've gone on record and said I am getting tired of this generation's fascination with "Remasters", "Remakes", "Definitive Editions", and so on, but, sure, I'll play through this game again.

Rory McIlroy PGA Tour - (PS4, Xbox One)

EA's golf franchise returns, this time sans Tiger. This also marks the first use of the Frostbite engine in the series, using the Frostbite 3 engine. There will be 8 real world courses in the game, as well as fantasy courses (one even inspired by Battlefield), and will include a presentation overhaul thanks to The Golf Channel.

Other Notes:

- Windows 10 will be released on July 29th, and is a free upgrade for Windows 7/8 users within the first year. Already have my copy reserved and will be ready to download the second it is available.

=============================================================

That's pretty much it. Kind of scarce, eh? This is good though, take some time to play games you maybe hadn't had the chance to get to, or save some money since August and September is going to start rolling out some hits. In the meantime, I will be updating my YouTube channel with more entries into my Let's Play series and will get back to live streaming via Twitch soon.