Top 5 Nostalgic Nintendo Video Games

I may not be a "90's kid," but I have a brother who was. His childhood was filled with many fun times. This included lots of excellent video games which should never be forgotten. He has passed many of the games off to me, and let me tell you, I find them just as amazing as the ones there are today. I'm beginning to notice how they were nostalgic and rememorable to him and I thought I should form a list of my top five most nostalgic video games.

5. Mario Kart 64

Number five on my list is Mario Kart 64 for the Nintendo 64. Mario Kart 64 is a racing game designed for single and multiplayer modes. It was released in 1996 and developed by Nintendo. What makes the game very memorable is the classical, simple platforms, the original items, and the themes. Kenta Nagata composed the catchy themes for this game which adds the perfect effect to each individual stage. The producer, Shigeru Miyamoto and director, Kenta Nagata did a very great job adding the best possible graphics and effects for the Nintendo 64 at its time.

http://images.wikia.com/mario/it/images/1/1b/Nintendo_64_-_Mario_Kart_64.jpg

In this game, players race around a course throwing items at each other, including turtle shells and banana peels. Each course had unique terrains, turns, and obstacles. One moment you're on mud, the next you're in water. Sharp turns with trucks on highways also added some challenge. The goal is to get to the end of the finish line in the highest place possible, first being the best.

4. Super Smash Brothers 64

Again, this is another Nintendo 64 game. It was released in 1999, produced by Hiroaki Suga, Satoru Iwata, Kenji Miki, and Shigeru Miyamoto. Also, it was developed by HAL Laboratory. Super Smash Bros. 64 is a fighting style game, somewhat bringing back the arcade fighting style games at the time. This game was very popular at the time, especially since it allowed players to choose their desired favorite character from their other games they had. Characters included Link, Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Pikachu, Yoshi, and Fox. The wide range of characters from many different games made this game a great start to a wonderful series. This game had awesome successors to follow including Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Each successor made new advancements including adding more characters to the selection, adding new playing modes, and a wide selection of items to use during battle.

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/eaDQDScS5YM/0.jpg

Players choose a character and fight on a selection of different stages with different items. Each character and item has its own special abilities and the stages have obstacles that can affect players either positively or negatively. Since this game led to many sequels, it has a strong sense of nostalgia because when I play one of the more recent versions, it makes me think of this game from the past.

3. Super Mario World

Number three on my list is Super Mario World which was released on November 21, 1990 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It was directed by Takashi Tezuka, produced by Shigeru Miyamoto (again), and had an amazing composer by the name of Koji Kondo. Let me tell you something about Kojo Kondo... He is FABULOUS at creating video game music. He adds the correct musical effects at the perfect time which fits into every stage. In some of the more recent Mario games, he has composed all of the music in them.

http://watchplayread.com/files/2009/12/250px-Super_mario_world_box-640x466.jpg

The evil Bowser captures Princess Peach and is keeping her locked up in his castle. Mario must travel the world to get to Bowser's castle to defeat him and save his princess. That is the main gist of the storyline.

In Super Mario World, a player chooses either Mario or Luigi. They go from level to level via a world map, running from left to right through each level getting ot the flagpole at the finish. The world map wasn't a new edition to a Mario game, as it was seen in Super Mario Bros. 3 for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES); however, this map was much larger and had many more levels. The levels had creative enemies, platforms, and much more. All of this added to a challenging, yet exciting game.

To here some of Koji Kondo playing some of his video game music, CHECK THIS OUT:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VoctM_gfCo

This is a snapshot of the whole world map from the game (it's zoomed out the whole way to fit all stages, but during the actual game, it zooms in on specific areas where you are located):

http://images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/Super-Mario-World-super-mario-world-112617_580_435.jpg

2. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

Donkey Kong Country 2 (DKC2) was released on November 21, 1995, developed by Rare, published by Nintendo, directed by Tim Stamper, produced by Gregg Mayles, composed by Dave Wise, and had artists Steve Mayles and Mark Stevenson. Its platformer was the SNES. If you could tell by my other blog posts or maybe even just this one, I love music; specifically video game music. Its amazing to me how people can think of the right music at the right times, and this game is a PERFECT example as to what I'm talking about.

http://smokensnes.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/dkc2.jpg?w=538

DKC2 is much like Super Mario World; you pick between Diddy Kong or Dixie Kong, travel across levels via a world map, and finish at the end. Now the reason this game tops Super Mario World is because of the music. They have music for dense jungles, slippery iceland, muddy swamps, and much more. All of the themes fit perfectly. When you die in a level, there is a short tune you hear. This tune fits in to the stage as well. What I'm about to show you is exactly what I mean how it fits in. This video will display the name of the current stage's biome such as jungle, fortress, etc. All of the tunes have a similar jingle. For each death tune, try to imagine yourself in the area:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85zufbN_qBI

Now do you know what I mean? Now, you may have noticed that this is Donkey Kong Country 2, and not the first. The first is very good, but it didn't have the various tunes for each death theme and the different themes for each stage. But, here is the cover picture of Donkey Kong Country (1):

http://img.brothersoft.com/screenshots/softimage/d/donkey_kong_country-158565-1.jpeg

In DKC, the storyline is that King K. Rool stole the Kongs' bananas. In DKC2, Donkey Kong is taken hostage, so Diddy and Dixie must rescue Donkey Kong. You may not believe it, but yes; there was a third DKC. DKC3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble, has Dixie and her cousin, Kiddy must rescue Donkey Kong AND Diddy Kong. 

1. Super Mario 64

Ah, Super Mario 64 (SM64)... It was developed and published by Nintendo, directed and produced by Shigeru Miyamoto, and had composer (yet again), Koji Kondo. It was released on June 23, 1996. Here is the cover picture:

http://media.photobucket.com/image/sm64/Nintendoo64/260px-Super_Mario_64_box_cover.jpg

This game was advanced for its software at the time. It is a single player game and players run around freely through a 3D world from level to level. You progress through the game via collecting stars from each level. At the end, you save Peach from Bowser who yet again, steals the princess. Seems like he never gives up, right?

Now you probably know what I'm going to say next. The music (here's where you say, "here we go again...") in this game is absolutely fantastic. Again, it matches the theme in each level. Let me show you example instead of wasting my time typing away:

This is a watery stage where you rome around a vast sea. The title of the level this music comes from is called "Dire, Dire Docks."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vtSHKE3R_E

The music still isn't the whole reason I find this game nostalgic, but the successors of these games were just as amazing as this! This game led to Paper Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy, and many more 3D games! This game is just the very original of all the successors! All of the successors had great editions to the musical aspect of the games. Some remixed the original compositions while others may have created a medley of themes together for each level.

Words do not explain how awesome, fabulous, wonderful, or amazing these two people are at creating video game music: Dave Wise and Koji Kondo. Koji Kondo I must say has been one of the greatest human beings alive right now. He created an amazing era of epic music (and so has Dave Wise). Here is his outstanding orchestra while they play their music to Super Mario Galaxy, one of the successors of Super Mario 64:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKlJmUg5uZU

I want to briefly touch of Paper Mario 64. It is near the top of my list of favorite composed music. This game is another successor of Super Mario 64. Everything looks 2D, but everything travels in a 3D world. The vast variety of areas, large world map and  excellent composed music makes this game very fun. Mario travels around the world and if he bumps into an enemy, he must battle them. this style of gaming really catches my attention for some reason. Here is the catchy music every time you hear when you battle a minor enemy:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh5Lh2gTwpg

Now you know my top five nostalgic Nintendo video games!

My question for this week is...

Have you ever played any of these games I've mentioned? Seriously, if you haven't, try buying them on the Wii Shop Channel on your Wii or buy a used system online!

My Lemonade Stand

Ever since I was a young kid, I've loved the idea of money. Don't mistake me as a penny pincher, but I always try to find a way to make money, whether it be selling lemonade at a lemonade stand, selling gum at school, or simply finding loose change. The idea of collecting, saving up, and spending money thrills me for some reason.

Ever since 2006, I've ran a lemonade stand for supporting Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, a foundation for supporting research for children with childhood cancer. I was around 7 years old at the time, and all of my earnings went to charity. All I sold was lemonade, lemonade, lemonade. Nowadays, 20% of my earnings go to the charity. I sell much more items now; take a look at this: I've created quite the creative menu for this stand. It includes the items I sell, information on my stand, etc. (click on it to expand the size)

Here's me with my current lemonade stand sign:

It doesn't hurt to have a paper-folding artist as a mom! :) So I lug up my cooler with all of my supplies up my hill with a table and the sign. I usually have a friend help me carry everything up and help me out as we make money. Seems that my cookies and fudge are a hit! People just pass by to grab more and say "those are amazing!" It's a good start for this Summer!

Being a teenager, you always want to have money, so I still donate to charity, but I have 80% going to me. Don't think me selfish just yet, because I ask every customer if they want the money to go specifically to the charity.

I have currently made around $10 for Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation at the moment and I've only been up and running for a week so far this year! Wish me luck as I try to get more money for the foundation!

My question for this week is...

Have you ever had or been a part of a lemonade stand before?

The "John and the Lunch Box" Story

I'm going to tell you a story about my ex-friend, John, and his lunchbox. My whole family and many of my family friends have heard this story before and they are sick of hearing it. So, how about I tell you guys? Let's begin.

This story takes place in second grade when my friend (at the time), John, was eating lunch. We were sitting together at the table. It was Trix Day at school, which means packaged cereal and milk. I bought the platter, Trix, that day and John had packed.

Lunch went on normally, including random, uncalled-for jokes and immature laughter. But, it came time for lunch to end. At the end of the lunch period, the lunch aids told us to empty out trays and we did. While I emptied my tray into the trash can, John was walking with me to chat as I dumped my trash in. But somehow, John did the strangest thing: He dropped his lunch box into the trashcan! It looked like he did it purposefully! I thought it was his, but I didn't bother.

John went into line to be dismissed back to class. I saw he didn't have his lunch box. While I still stood by the trash can, I saw another friend, Max, who was emptying his trash in as well. He bought the platter too, and all I could see was this milk just splattering and pouring down on his lunch box. I was shocked and I ran into line to tell John.

In line, I explained that I think I saw his lunch box. John is still confused, as he has convinced himself that he didn't pack that day. I turn around and see a teacher holding a soaked, smelly, lunch box while saying, "Is this anyone's?" I said, "JOHN! That's yours!" and sure enough, he's just like "Oh my gosh!" and is brought somewhere else that I wasn't sure of. All I knew was I was cracking up!

He comes back about ten minutes late to class and I saw his lunch box tied up in a bag. That sure would take a while to clean! It was such a funny experience and I still remember it even after five years!

My question for this week is...

Do you have any funny stories like the "John and the Lunch Box" story?

Avatar: The Legend of Korra

Water. Earth. Fire. Air.

Avatar: The Legend of Korra is an animé TV series which premiered on April 14th. I was going to do a post about it on April 14th, but I had others planned. Anyways, This TV show is the PERFECT combination of compassion, action, drama, comedy, and much more. It is everything a human can ask for in a cartoon. When some people think anime, they may think it is only for nerds, but this show is for EVERYONE with a great imagination. There is a whole lot to explain before I tell you any more, so bare with me as I attempt to tell you all about The Legend of Korra's predecessor, Avatar: The Last Airbender/The Legend of Aang:

In the beginning, God created the heav- wait --Wrong beginning. There are four nations which include the Air Nomads, the Water Tribe, the Earth Kingdom, and the Fire Nation. All of the nations lived together in harmony, until the fire nation attacked. A war has erupted and the Avatar, who is the master of all four elements is the only one that can possibly help save the world. When the world needed him the most, he vanished. 100 years go by and a young girl, Katara and her brother, Sokka, both members of the Water Tribe, find the new Avatar named Aang. Aang was born as an Air Nomad and knows airbending, and must master the other three elements, water, earth, and fire.

Now a little explanation; you may be wondering: benders? Yes, benders are people who have the ability to control one of the four elements including air, water, earth, and fire. However, what makes the Avatar special is that he/she has the ability to bend all of the elements. Depending on what nation a bender is born in, it usually determines what element they can bend. Whichever nation the Avatar is born in is their (as I like to call) original element, which is the one element they master first.

The cycle of the Avatars. When the Avatar dies, that instant, another baby is born and that baby is the next Avatar. Seems to be a slim chance, right? So there cannot be more than one Avatar alive at a time. The past Avatar's spirit is reincarnated in the next Avatar. That Avatar has the opportunity to spiritually talk to their past lives for advice and other reasons. There is also a defence mechanism of the Avatar called the Avatar State where they gain all of the power of themselves and every past Avatar which gives them much more power. While they are more powerful, they are also at their most vulnerable. If the Avatar is killed in the Avatar State, the reincarnation cycle is broken and the Avatar will cease to exist ever again. This foreshadows some problems that happen during the series.

The main antagonist of the whole story is Fire Lord Ozai. He is the "king" of the fire nation, so everything that the fire nation does to others is an order from him. In the beginning of the series, we are told that Ozai's son, Zuko, was banished after calling him out at a meeting. He has a scar on his eye to prove it too. His father says to regain his honor, he must capture the Avatar. Zuko is positive that capturing the Avatar is his destiny, but will soon realize he is wrong. His uncle, Iroh, who is Ozai's brother, was supposed to inherit the fire lord position, but it was a time when his only son, Lutin, died when fighting a war. He completely fell apart and was upset. At the same time, Ozai and Iroh's dad, who was currently known as Fire Lord Azulon, passed away. Since Iroh was not there to claim the throne, Ozai did. Now, Iroh helps out Zuko. Iroh has a lot of wisdom and loves tea. Zuko tries to find the Avatar (Aang) before others in the first book. In the second book, he is an Earth Kingdom refugee and starts to become independent. In the third and final book, he becomes the Avatar's friend and teaches him Firebending. Here is a picture of Zuko:

http://images.wikia.com/avatar/es/images/6/64/Zuko119.jpg

Throughout the series, Avatar Aang is taught Waterbending by Katara in the first book, Earthbending by Toph in the second book, and Firebending by Zuko in the third book. A little information on Toph; she is part of the richest Earth Kingdom family. She was born blind, but taught herself Earthbending by observing badgermoles (in the show, they combine animals into one), who were the original Earthbenders. You may think her Earthbending is limited since she is blind, but when you see her, she is one heck of an Earthbender. Her feet are an extension of her senses and she can "see" with her feet by using Earthbending. She senses vibrations in the ground and knows where everything is. She is also the inventor of Metalbending, which she discovered when she was trapped in a metal cage. All metal has pieces of earth in it, right? Here is a picture of Toph Bei Fong:

http://images.wikia.com/animebaths/images/2/2e/Toph.png

Katara and Sokka lived in the Southern Water Tribe. Their mother died in a fire nation raid, sacrificing herself to save the last waterbender of the tribe, Katara. Their father, Hakoda, is fighting in the war. Sokka does not bend anything, but Katara can bend water. Sokka chooses to use his boomerang, and later in the book, he creates his own sword out of a meteorite. Here is a picture of Sokka (left), Aang (middle), and Katara (right)

http://images2.fanpop.com/image/photos/13800000/Katara-Aang-Sokka-katara-aang-sokka-13818216-480-486.jpg

Zuko also has a sister named Azula who works with her father, Ozai, to take down the nations. She has two friends named Ty Lee and Mai. The three travel together to try and capture the Avatar as well. Zuko and Azula absolutely hate each other. Ty Lee is a nimble fighter, but is not a bender. She joined the circus when she was younger and learned balance and agility. She invented a technique called Chi-Blocking, which makes people lose their bending for a period of time. This technique is carried out by throwing quick jabs, almost like pressure points. For Mai, her fighting style is unique also. She uses daggers and throws them at her enemies. Zuko and Mai end up being a couple in the story. Here is a picture with Ty Lee on the left, Mai on the right, and Azula in the middle.

http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/20900000/azula-ty-lee-mai-azula-mai-and-ty-lee-20927694-1902-1157.png

Here is a very cool fanmade montage of Avatar. Watch it!!! It's dramatic and exciting!

So, a VERY quick synopsis of the whole series: Aang masters all of the elements and confronts the Firelord (Ozai) and takes his bending away. The war ends, and Zuko and Aang restore balance to the world. They create a nation where benders and nonbenders can live together in peace. The capital of the city was named Republic City. This act was called the Harmony Restoration Movement. At the end of the series, the fans are left with one question: What happened to Zuko's mother? Honestly, you must watch the whole series to understand everything I'm saying. Right now, I'm going to talk about what I REALLY wanted to talk about, the new series, Avatar: The Legend of Korra.

This series takes place 70 years after the war. The main problem of the story is that benders and nonbenders cannot get along. Some nonbenders believe that benders are a threat and attempt to oppress others. Benders have to fight to keep their bending. The next Avatar's name was born in the Water Tribe, and her name is Korra. The only remaining character from the original series (that we know at this point) is Katara. She is in her 80's. Most of her other friends are gone, but their kids are still alive. Remember Toph? Her daughter is the Chief of the Police. Toph invented metal bending and taught it to her daughter. Her daughter taught it to the police, and now metalbending is commonly used. Also, Ty Lee (Azula's ex-friend) used Chi-Blocking to prevent benders to bend for a certain amount of time. This technique has carried on into this series and it is used by the nonbenders to defend themselves.

The antagonists of the series come from a group called the Equalists. Their leader's name is Amon, who is like the Ozai of this series. In the last episode that I had watched, called "The Revelation," Amon reveals that he can take benders' bending away. This is extremely strange, since only the Avatar is able to possess that ability. The very last episode of the original series showed Aang taking away Ozai's bending. Now, Amon goes around willy-nilly taking away people's bending to stop them. His family was killed by a firebender, and now he's after all benders. This will stir up PLENTY of issues for the series to last very long.

Korra's friends include an earthbender named Bolin and a firebender named Mako. They are both guys, and there are already fan names for the love birds including Makorra. Korra must learn airbending from Aang's son, Tenzin, who is the only master currently. The weird thing about this is, Korra is spiritually related to Tenzin, and technically Korra is Tenzin's father. Weird right? This works out because Korra is the past life of Aang, so she's related to many people.

Here is a picture of Korra (top) and Amon (bottom)



http://avatarthelastairbenderonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Korra-Official-290x280.jpg

http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1gcayT1cT1rss05ao2_500.png

The combination of every character's thoughts, feelings, likes, dislikes, and actions makes this show SO interesting to watch! Not much is revealed yet through the story, but I'd just like to get everyone caught up on the series so that they can jump in and get ADDICTED TO THIS SHOW!!!!!!! (like me) New episodes are currently on Nickelodeon every Saturday at 11:00 AM EST.

My question for the week is...

What do you think of the series?

Summer is Near!

With Summer coming quickly, people are making plans to go on vacation and all sorts of activities. Summer is the time for relaxation, family time, and more. There is an endless number of activities to do during summer. Beach parties and gardening are two of my favorite.

School is still going on for me and most others. My school year ends on June 5th. It's hard to keep my focus in class since what's on my mind is SUMMMER SUMMER SUMMER. Teachers will say, "Summer's not here yet! You're still in school!" when in my mind, I'm thinking, "It's here." It just irks me when teachers say that sometimes.

The hardest part of Summer vacation is having to say goodbye to all your teachers and friends for three months. With the lovely power of social networking, most people are able to stay in touch via phones, FaceBook, Twitter, etc.

I went to our school dance last week (alone, since you know I'm against dating in middle school). Half the songs the DJ played I didn't know, but there was one I liked. This currently describes me at the moment! (thanks to YouTube user "thisismytofu" for the lyrics and "Fun" for the song!)

Some of the lyrics don't interest me, but it was really catchy when I first heard it; nice beat.

So my question for this week is...

 What is your favorite part of summer?

1,000 Pageviews!!

I've reached a (somewhat) noteworthy milestone! I have received 1,000 total views of this blog from family, friends, relatives, strangers, aunts, uncles, cousins, SECOND cousins, and many more! Now, how many of those pageviews are from ME? Haha, just kidding. There is a setting in Blogger that allows them to not track my pageviews, so this is a legit 1,000 views I've achieved.

I did not expect this blog to be popular (and it still isn't), but it seemed that I needed an adition to my YouTube account and ta-da! -- here we are!

So, I'd like to stretch a big THANK YOU to everyone who supports my blog and enjoys reading it! What surprises me though, is that, on every post I try to have a question-of-the-week sorta thing... And nearly NO ONE responds to them. Guys, you don't need an account of anything to post a comment! Just try it! In fact, I'm not going to have a question of the week this week, but post a random comment if you really read my blog!

Peace out everyone! ^.^

Spring Break Bloggy!

Yay! Spring break is here! Except for me... it's just four days... Apparently our school thinks we need to jump right back in to education while other districts have nearly ten days of spring break. Oh well.

So, this weekend is Easter Sunday! I believe from what I know, Easter Sunday is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ according to the Christian belief. He was crucified on a cross on Good Friday and died. That Sunday, people claimed they saw Jesus's soul and he was resurrected. At this point, many believed he was the messiah.

Ironically, I'm Jewish as you all are WELL aware of if you have read my last couple of posts. Easter falls on a day during Passover, a Jewish holiday. Passover is a holiday that comes from a story from Exodus. In Exodus, it tells us how Israelite slaves in Egypt were freed by pharaoh. Have you ever heard the saying, "let my people go"? This is where that saying is derived from. After ten plagues on Egypt, the Israelites were freed by Pharaoh. As the Israelites were being led by Moses out of Egypt, they did not have time to properly bake bread to eat. So, on the go, they carried dough on their back which turned in to unleavened bread. Unleavened bread today is called matzah. Matzot (plural of matzah) is eaten during the week of Passover. Passover lasts for 7-8 days and during those 7-8 days, Jews cannot eat anything that isn't kosher unless matzah is used. NO bread products. Only matzah. So, instead of a nice, PB&J sandwich, we must eat PB$J on hard, crunchy, breakable, flaky unleavened bread. It's like this for a whole week. The point is to show how others suffered. Also, you can't have anything with corn syrup, no chips, no pasta, the list goes on and on.

However, with this holiday, I've found a loophole. Matzah meal is a product you can buy from a store which is basically kosher "flour" that you are allowed to use during Passover. I've figured out by reading the ingredients on the side of the container that matzah meal is just very finely crushed matzot. So, I save our family about $30 every year now by making my own matzah meal for our family to use. With this, we can make nearly anything. In fact, last year, I made kosher brownies for Passover and they were BETTER than regular brownies! Very chocolatey and delicious! So, this loophole has completely changed how our family celebrates Passover. Hopefully, what I am doing is still kosher.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Passover-Brownies/

Here is the recipe for the brownies that we made:

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup butter, melted
• 6 tablespoons matzo meal
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
• 4 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate, melted
• 1 tablespoon butter, softened
• 1/8 teaspoon water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8x8 inch baking pan.
2. In a medium-size mixing bowl, blend eggs, sugar, and butter. Mix in matzo meal, cocoa powder and walnuts (if desired). Transfer batter to prepared baking pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.
4. In a small mixing bowl, blend chocolate, butter or margarine and water. Spread over cooled brownies.               
5. Makes 16. Enjoy!

Credit: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Passover-Brownies/

These are really messy.

So my question of the week...

Do you think you could last a week during Passover?