Doc Funky

Someone else mentioned it in the first few pages, but I have to bring up Advent Rising again. Every review I've ever seen bashes the hell out of this game, but I absolutely adore it. From flipping all over the battlefield while wielding dual rocket launchers to using Push to deflect missiles right back at their launchers...the game does a hell of a job of making you feel like the baddest ass ever. I also liked True Crime: New York City despite all its bad reviews. The controls were a little clunky, but I ended up liking the core gameplay a lot more than that of the GTA games.

See? That's the catch. Sure, he's easy as pie once you know what's coming so you can properly prepare for it, but when it's your first playthrough, and you don't know that there's one hell of a battle coming up immediately after the one you've just completed... And, while they're not "hard" by any means, some of Namco X Capcom's bosses can be quite infuriating, what with their ability to spontaneously get their turns all at the same time, regardless of where they actually sit in the cycle of things. It's almost as if the game says to itself, "Whoops! I haven't screwed you over nearly enough yet! I better let all the boss characters have their turns now", automatically boosting them past everyone else that's been waiting when they should be 14th, 15th, and 16th in "line".

Now...I haven't played FFT for a little while now, but I seem to remember that the only NPCs that leveled up along with you were the ones you met in random battles on the world map. It seemed like the ones in story sequences had fixed levels. Because I specifically remember power leveling really, really early in the game (right after you visit the castle, and set out to clear some bandits out of a town) and destroying everyone there with my Calculator, Samurai, and Ninja while Delita and the other NPCs waddled around at, like, level 5. But I might be wrong...and yes, Velius was a bitch and a half. I had to start my entire game over because I saved RIGHT before the fight with him, and (as everyone knows) you can't go anywhere else when you do that. Anyway, to stay on topic... Ricardo Martinez in the Arcade mode of Hajime no Ippo 2: Victorious Road (a.k.a. Victorious Boxers 2) has got to be one of the most impossible "bosses" ever. I've heard of people going through upwards of fifty matches without even knocking him down ONCE. Your punches hardly even faze him, and of course he can send YOUR sorry ass to the canvas with only one or two punches. The only proven solution seems to be to cheese your way past him by initiating your slow-mo special and then throwing nothing but uppercuts to the body. And even then, you need to be landing about fifty to a hundred of those per round, along with avoiding every single one of his punches, before you can even THINK about beating him. What's that, you ask? Have I beaten him? Goodness no. I can't even get to him. I can't even come close to winning the rematch with Sendo, for the Japanese title. As far as I can recall, he's got a height, weight, and reach advantage on poor Ippo (who I suck with anyway!) and can stagger me with just a few hits, while nothing I throw can even slow him down. If I try to dash in, I eat a monster combo. If I try to duck and weave to avoid his punches, he shrugs off everything I send back at him and staggers me with another combo. Lord, Arcade mode is frustrating. I can destroy just about everyone I face in Boxer's Road, but Arcade just kills me.