Best Arcade Style Rain Gun Wii Games

I recently started playing my Wii I have had for almost two years yet never really used.  I bought to to play Super Smash Bros and Mario Kart, but apparently newer Wii models do not include Gamecube controller ports, so it has been a paper weight since I bought the thing!

Anyway, I decided to give a few rail shooters a try.  Now please keep in mind, there very well might be an amazing rail shooter on this system I am missing.  If this is the case, please please please let me know.  I've been Googling around for a list, but they all include games I don't consider arcade style rain gun games.  Either these games really don't feel like arcade games, or they are mainly a different type of game with a rail shooter mode.

In my mind, a rail shooter is a game where you don't actually control the movement of the character you play as, like you are on rails.  These games typically involve your character advancing through a stage while shooting at things that appears in front of the screen.  Popular examples include Time Crisis or House of the Dead.

The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return

We will start off with a classic!  This game compiles The House of the Dead 2 and The House of the Dead 3 onto one disc.  Both games feature arcade mode, original mode, boss mode, and training. Should be around $30, which is nothing compared to the huge amount quarters I have pumped into the House of the Dead 2 in my lifetime...

House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return on Amazon

The House of the Dead Overkill

Now if you were disappointed by the lack of updated graphics and features in House of the Dead Returns, you should be quite happy with this installment.  Now it might just be the hours of playing House of the Dead II, but the graphics here are quite nice for the Wii.  It plays just like the older titles.  It is extremely violent though, but what did you expect from a zombie rail shooter?

House of the Dead Overkill on Amazon

Heroclix Organization

I started off with $7.88 worth of tape for the label maker.  It is not my label maker, so I'm not sure how much it was

.

I had a few of these lying around, I bought more today.  I have eleven total, at $3.88 a piece.  $42.68 all together.

I labeled each tote of the top and both sides.  Probably overkill, but I didn't want to change my mind later.

I had just been kind of putting them into random ones for a very long time now.  I never use most figures, so many have been in the same tote for months.

These aren't much, but I'm proud of them.

I also have a binder with pages that hold a few hundred cards.  I got in the bad habit of never putting them back, or in there at all.  So I have this mess.  It takes longer to find cards than it does to play a game!

I organized them all by sets.  Until I can afford some nice card boxes, the $.97 rubber bands will have to do.

I began sorting all the figures by sets, I had more sets figures from different sets than I remember...

A few things like Hammer of Thor and Giant Size X-Men I only have a handful of figures, so I began combining them into the same totes.  Kind of cheating, but I'm over it.

I ended up going through my entire ribbon of tape, so I had to tap into the owner of the label maker's stash.

Here is the end result!  Thanks for reading.

In total, I spend $51.60 on everything.  Much more than I wanted to spend, but I wish I would have done this months ago!

Tales From the Mojoverse #1

Gears of War Series 1 3.75 Inch Figures

Today I had the pleasure of opening up the new Gears of War 3.75 inch figures.  This is by far my favorite scale of action figures, and these seems to fit in quite well with other figures in this size, be it GI Joe, Stars Wars, Marvel Universe, etc.

These figures are extremely detailed, this pictures don't necessarily do it justice, but they look great.

Apparently this line has variants.  My store had two different Marcus figures, one with red on him and a gold lancer, and a normal one.  I chose red for whatever reason.

 Overall, I like these a lot.  I will definitely be pre-ordering the next series as soon as possible.  Some enemies would be nice, but I have plenty of galactic creatures for them to battle in the mean time.  Action shots coming soon!

Action shots here! Frost giant invasion...

Recommended Resident Evil Playing Order

Resident Evil has become the example of the survival-horror genre.  The game has some strange numbering at times, and numerous spin-offs and unrelated titles.  This is my recommended playing order, but not necessarily the best or in release order.

1. Resident Evil
2. Resident Evil 0
3. Resident Evil 2
4. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
5. Resident Evil Code: Veronica
6. Resident Evil Gaiden
7. Resident Evil 4
8. Resident Evil Revelations
9. Resident Evil 5
10. Resident Evil 6

Resident Evil (1996)

It would be obvious to start with the first one, right?  While technically it takes place second in the storyline, it would make vastly more sense to start here.

In this game, you play as either Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine.  They are both members of an elite police squad, STARS, and they are dispatched to investigate some killings that have occurred.  Bravo team has already been sent in, but nobody has heard from them.  Alpha team is dispatched and attacked by dogs, and runs into a nearby mansion...

Other Resident Evil 1 options:

• Resident Evil Director's Cut (1997): The Director's Cut is the same game with a few items and enemies moved around.  There are two versions of the Director's Cut, one with dual-analog support and one without.
• Resident Evil (2002): This is an enhanced remake for the Gamecube.  the graphics are far greater, controls are better, and each character now has their own extra weapon.  The game also slightly changes the story to mention some future game characters.
• Resident Deadly Silence (2006): This is a remake of the first game for the Nintendo DS.  It has some new gameplay mechanics and features inspired from Resident Evil 3 and 4.
• Resident Evil is available on the PSN as a PSX Classic.
• The Gamecube version of the game was ported onto the Wii.

Resident Evil 0 (2002)

Now you might think this game should come first, as it is a prequel to the first game.  I really think it works better after Resident Evil 1.  While the gameplay mechanics are going to be much better than the next few games on the list, the game is going to be the most relevant after finishing the first one.

The story is about Rebecca Chambers, a medic from the first game, and Billy Coen, an escaped convict.  Rebecca was part of the first team that went missing in the mountains before Alpha team arrives.

Other Resident Evil 0 options:

• The game was released on the Wii.

Resident Evil 2 (1998)

This is probably considered the best "classic" Resident Evil game.  It takes place shortly after the events of the first game.  To keep this spoiler free, the mansion from the first game had some zombies in it, they got out and found their way to Raccoon City.

In this game, you can play as either Leon Kennedy or Claire Redfield.  Claire is the brother of Chris in the first game.  Claire comes to town looking for her brother, not knowing their is a zombie apocalypse occurring.  Similarly, Leon is on his way to town for his first day on the job as a Raccoon City police officer. The game features two storylines, one for each character.  Their stories are taking place simultaneously, typically at different sections of the game.  The majority of the game takes place in the police station and surrounding areas.

Other Resident Evil 2 options:

• The game was ported to the Gamecube.  To my knowledge, it is no different than the original release of the game.  It's not like the enhanced version of the first.
• Resident Evil 2 is available on the PSN as a PSX Classic.

Dark Horse Omnibus List

While Dark Horse comics is a much lesser known company than say Marvel or DC, they certainly have some very recognizable characters in their comic series.  While most of these are not original characters, don't expect non-original content.  Each book is well over a couple hundred pages, full color, and extremely cheap by today's standards.  To my knowledge, most of these are still somewhat available.

Anyway, I never could find a definitive list of all these.  I can't imagine anyone collecting them all, but they really are worth the price tag!  Please let me know which ones I have missed in the comments!

1. Indiana Jones

 Indiana Jones is of course the famous explorer, archaeologist, and professor that about everyone knows of. Currently, Dark Horse has two volumes of Indiana Jones Omnibuses, and three Indiana Jones: Further Adventures Omnibuses.

1. Indiana Jones Omnibus Volume 1
2. Indiana Jones Omnibus Volume 2
3. Indiana Jones: Further Adventures Omnibus Volume 1
4. Indiana Jones: Further Adventures Omnibus Volume 2
5. Indiana Jones: Further Adventures Omnibus Volume 3

2. Star Wars

Alright, so there are about 1005 of these Star Wars Omnibuses, so hold tight.  (Deep breath).  

1. X-Wing: Rogue Squadron Volume 1
2. X-Wing: Rogue Squadron Volume 2
3. X-Wing Rogue Squadron Volume 3
4. Tales of the Jedi Volume 1
5. Tales of the Jedi Volume 2
6. Droids
7. Early Victories
8. Rise of the Sith
9. A Long Time Ago... Volume 1
10. A Long Time Ago... Volume 2
11. A Long Time Ago... Volume 3
12. A Long Time Ago... Volume 4
13. A Long Time Ago... Volume 5
14. At War With the Empire Volume 1
15. At War With the Empire Volume 2
16. The Complete Saga: Episodes I though VI
17. The Other Sons of Tatooine
18. Droids and Ewoks
19. Clone Wars Volume 1: The Republic Goes to War
20. Clone Wars Volume 2: The Enemy On All Sides
21. Clone Wars Volume 3: The Republic Falls
22. Infinities

Okay, so not quite 1005, but that's a lot!  I personally can't vouch for any of these, but it's Star Wars, and there has to be a reason they have made so many, right?

3. Aliens

Here we have one of my personal favorites.  From the classic science-fiction film Alien, comes these wonderful books.  Some are based loosely around characters from the movies, but many are original stories in the same universe.  Honestly, I've enjoyed the story in all these more than I have in any Alien movie.

Recommended DC Comics Based Games

Last week I did a list of my recommended Marvel Comics based games, so I figured I might as well do a DC one too!  I admittedly haven't played that many DC based games that I have enjoyed, but I'll go ahead and list the ones I found memorable.

The Adventures of Batman & Robin

This was the first DC game I ever played.  I had this for the Sega Genesis, and apparently is different on the Sega than it is the SNES, so this is for the Sega version.

The game is based on Batman the Animated Series and has matching art styles.  It is a side-scrolling "shooter".  You run from the left of the screen to the right shooting batarangs at enemies.  If they get close, you punch them, but it's mainly a "run and gun".

Honestly, it isn't a perfect game, but I would play anything related to the animated series.  It is very difficult though, I just recently got passed the first level, and I've been trying for years!

Superman 64

Hahaha, no.  Just kidding.

Justice League Heroes

I played the PSP version, so I can't speak about the console version, but the portable version was great.  In each level, you battle a number of villains and henchmen, all Justice League themed of course.  You are partnered up with another Justice Leaguer and can switch between then at any time.  You have seven characters to chose from in the beginning:

1. Batman
2. Superman
3. Green Lantern (John Stewart)
4. The Flash
5. Wonder Woman
6. Zatanna
7. Martian Manhunter

Bad Game Reviews: Lord of the Rings Conquest

Assuming most people played Star Wars Battlefront, you should theoretically enjoy this game, right?  The basis of the game is simple, fight off the enemy and hold locations.  You have multiple classes to choose from: archer, warrior, mage, and scout.  Each class has their own powers and abilities.

The game made from the creators of the Star Wars Battlefront series, and plays just like one. While I had heard horrible things about this game, I'm thoroughly enjoying it.  This is the closest to a current generation Battlefront game as we can get.

The game really has the large scale battles you would imagine it having.  The game has all the battlegrounds from the game you would think, plus a few others such as Rivendell and the Shire.

The game really lacks in combat, which is probably the most important part of the game.  At times, the sword swinging feels sluggish, but I do think it brings a degree of realism.  It's tough to take down more than a few guys at once, I often feel overwhelmed.

The game also has "vehicles" like Battlefront.  Wargs, horses, ents, trolls, catapults, even Oliphaunts.

Recommended Iron Man Reading, Watching, and Playing!

Clearly everyone who is an Iron Man fan knows about the movie coming out in a few weeks, but what if you can't wait?  What if you need more Iron Man right now?!  This is a list to hopefully keep you busy until May.

Comics

I know plenty of Iron Man fans who have never read a comic before in their lives, as a comic fan, I try not to be smug about it.  I give recommendations and usually get laughed at, but for those of you who haven't, read one!  Give it a try.  This recommendations list is found comic books subreddit's suggested reading.  I can't agree with it more, so why bother creating a new one?

Invincible Iron Man Volume 1: The Five Nightmares

This compiles the first six issues of the most recent Iron Man (not counting Marvel NOW) and it a wonderful read.  Obadiah Stone, the bad guy from the first movie, has a son named Ezekiel, and he wants revenge!  Ezekiel is described as Tony Stark's equal and opposite, younger, faster, smarter.  Besides all these things, he has the Iron Man tech!

Iron Man: Extremis

This book is actually had a re-release to go with the movie, as the movie takes some of its storyline from here.  This book compiles the first six issues of the 2005 Iron Man series.  A new technology is released and threatens all of man kind.  While I haven't seen the movie, I highly recommend reading this before you go watch it.

Iron Man: Armor Wars

This is a little less modern, but still good.  It collects Iron Man 225-232, and follows some deadly villains who get hold of the Iron Man technology and begin making their own. This is a very intense Iron Man story that is always remembered as one of the greats.

Iron Man: Demon in a Bottle

This is the classic Iron Man story.  It collects Iron Man 120-128, this one is about Justin Hammer, from Iron Man 2, arranging an entire army of super-villains to take Iron Man down.  Really should have been read years ago, but if you haven't, read it now!

Film

Do I need to discuss the Iron Man live-action films?  I'm not going to, I'm assuming the only reason people will be looking for more Iron Man is because they saw those films.  Let's cover some lesser known ones.

The Invincible Iron Man

This was a direct to DVD movie in the same style as Planet Hulk.  While probably the worst Marvel Animated movie, I think it does have some redeeming qualities.  This film involves Tony Stark in China working on some kind of underground resource thing, a dragon attacks that is preventing the return of the Mandarin.  Being as the Mandarin is the villain in the new movies, I would recommend giving this a watch before hand, but don't expect a whole lot.  Watch it while it is still on Netflix!

The Invincible Iron Man Streaming Options

Iron Man: Rise of the Technovore

This is the second Iron Man animated movie by Marvel Animation.  While I haven't seen it yet, it is apparently like the Iron Man Anime in style and story telling.  Norman Reedus of Boondock Saints and Walking Dead fame is voicing Tony Stark.  Weird.  Apparently it is about Ezekiel Stone developing a new bio-technology for Iron Man to take care of.

Iron Man: Rise of the Technovore Streaming Options

Television

Iron Man has been showing up on the TV for decades, I'm just going to cover what I have personally enjoyed honestly...

Iron Man

To fit in with the popularity of X-Men and Spider-Man, Fox began airing numerous Marvel cartoons in the 1990s.  One of these was Iron Man.  The shows follows Iron Man and his friends, which are pretty much the West Coast Avengers.  These include War Machine, Century, Scarlet Witch, Spider-Woman, and Hawkeye.  The first season is pretty atrocious  but the second reason really started to get great before it was cancelled.  The show had a few crossovers with other shows like Spider-Man and the Hulk.  Worth watching if you are a huge 1990s Marvel fan.  Currently available on Netflix!

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

Don't let the fact that this is a modern cartoon fool you, I've enjoyed this more than the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far.  While not solely an Iron Man show, Iron Man is obviously a prominent character.  The show is great for so many reasons, it might need it's own post.  Just watch the first few episodes and tell me I'm wrong.  Both seasons are currently on Netflix.

Iron Man Anime

I've never been an anime fan, I've tried so many times and never really found something I thoroughly enjoy.  I did, however, like most of the Marvel Anime available.  Iron Man is in Japan to build an arc reactor when the evil organization Zodiac intervenes he has to stop them.  I sat down and watch this entire series from start to finish.  It's not perfect, but certainly better than any other standalone Iron Man series.  It was streaming for free on Crackle recently, but appears to be off of that now.  I'm sure it will be back.

Video Games

There really haven't been too many Iron Man video games, especially ones that don't suck.  While he has made very notable appearances, he is rarely the main character.  He is a playable character in X-Men Legends II, both Ultimate Alliance games, and has been playable in all Marvel VS Capcom games to date.

Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects

This game kind of sucks, but Iron Man is a prominent character.  The game is about some aliens that come crashing down to Earth, and begin infecting everyone.  The game is a fighting game with level in between that involve fighting footsoldiers.  It's not great, but there are not many Iron Man games, so I'm listing it.

Iron Man 2

Sega has released two Iron Man games that coincided with the release of the films.  The first one was horrible, and the second one isn't much better, but still better.  I really felt like Iron Man during this game.  The game takes place after the events of Iron Man 2 and stars Iron Man and War Machine as playable characters.  The game takes place in the air for the most part, and has a huge selection of weapons to choose from.  It is far from perfect, but at this point it is the best Iron Man game we can get.