Yes, I know what serious gamers are going to say: there are no real games on the App Store. Well, I'm here to contradict them. There are indeed some quality games on the App Store. So in this article, I'll prove that there are some great games available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod users. I know there are popular games like Angry Birds and Draw Something, so I'm going to stay away from those. Instead, in typical Now That's Pop Culture fashion, I'll be identifying games that may not be as well known. Also, most of these games are free.
1. High School Story- I'm kind of ashamed to admit that I play this game, but it's a fun game. There are plenty of high school games out there, but this is by far the best. It's a fresh take on high school and a lot more fun than the other ones. If my high school experience was anything like this game, I would have enjoyed it a lot more.
2. The Silent Age- This is one of the more recent games on this list. Only Episode 1 has been released, but the developers are currently working on Episode 2. The game stars a janitor named Joe, who works at a big corporation. He happens upon a time traveler, who then gives him a time machine. This provides for a great story. One more note: when playing the game, wear headphones. It really enhances the experience of the game.
3. Secret Passages: Hidden Objects- There are a lot of hidden object games on the App Store, and this is undoubtedly my favorite one. What's different about this game is the gameplay beyond just finding the objects. There are also a few minigames that are quite fun.
4. Dark Nebula- There are two episodes for this game, the first one is free. While there isn't any real storyline to the game, the gameplay is excellent. It can be very challenging at times, though it is definitely beatable.
5. Real Soccer 10- There are a lot of soccer games on the market, including newer ones such as FIFA 14 by EA Sports and Real Soccer 2013", but I believe this is the best one. While the other games can be a little complicated (especially for casual soccer fans), Real Soccer 10 is very user-friendly. On top of that, there are so many modes and tournaments to play, it's hard to get tired of the game.
6. Real Racing 3- Like with soccer games, there are a lot of racing games on the market, such as Asphalt 8: Airborne and CSR Racing. My favorite racing game: Real Racing 3. Not only is there a wide variety of cars to unlock and race with, there are dozens of races and tournaments to compete in.
7. Can You Escape Games- This is an entire series of games, including Can You Escape- Adventure, Can You Escape- Tower, and Can You Escape 2. The whole series is very fun and can be very challenging at times.
8. QuizUp- Out of all the trivia games on the market, this is by far the most popular one on the market. Because of that, there is almost always an opponent to play against. Another good point: the developers are continuously updating the game and adding new topics, which means that there is everything from Famous Duos to Nelson Mandela.
9. Donut Games- Once again, I'm going to bend the rules a little bit and have multiple games in an entry. All of the Donut Games are simple, but are a lot of fun. I personally recommend Traffic Rush, Spikey's Bounce Around, and Rat on the Run. One note: most of the Donut Games are not free, but the ones I recommended are.
10. Two Fingers, but only one brain- This is one of the newest best-selling games on the market, and it sure is a good one. The main idea behind this game: two different games being played simultaneously. It makes for a challenging game, but it is a lot of fun.
Hopefully, you like these games. If you know any other great games, comment and let me know.
Friday, July 11, 2014
Monday, July 7, 2014
Pokemon: Ash's Seven Best Battles
Yes, I do watch the Pokemon TV show. I know a lot of people will scorn that, but it's true. I know that a good chunk of my audience watches it, and I try and cater to my entire audience, and that includes having some articles on things other people might not watch. So, I decided to start some Pokemon articles, mainly about the show, but also about the games and movies.
I decided to start with Ash's best battles. The battles are the best part of the show, as opposed to battles in the game, which are turn-by-turn and can get boring. The battles in the show can be extremely entertaining. Instead of all battles in the show, I decided to focus solely on Ash, seeing as he is the main character. Coincidentally, his battles tend to be the show's best ones. Note, there are SPOILERS ahead, so be careful. If you haven't seen these battles before, I recommend you watch them online.
7. Ash vs. Brandon II (Battle Frontier)
In his quest to beat the Battle Frontier, Ash takes on the Pyramid King, the last Frontier Brain. The two of them have three battles. In the first battle, Ash is possessed by an ancient king and uses Sceptile to take on Brandon's Regirock in a losing effort. In the second match, Ash's Torkoal loses to Brandon's Registeel. In the last match, Ash uses Charizard, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Pikachu to beat Brandon, who uses Ninjask, Dusclops, Solrock, and Regice. In this entry, we're focusing on the second battle.
Brandon told Ash before hand that he would use Registeel, so Ash got to choose his Pokemon beforehand. At the beginning of the battle, we found out that Pokemon was Torkoal. While expectations weren't high (Ash's Torkoal had a limited moveset), the match was great. The writers really outdid themselves here.
6. Ash vs. Mandi (Indigo League)
This match (the best of the first season) took place in the first round of the Indigo League. It was Ash's first official tournament battle and it was exciting. Mandi was very popular with fans and was convinced that he was going to dominate Ash. Our hero on the other hand, was quite confident.
Ash completely dominated the match, as his Krabby/Kingler took out all three of Mandi's Pokemon. Earlier in the episode, we weren't even sure Krabby was going to put up much of a fight, let alone sweep the battle. While sweeps aren't always exciting, this one was presented masterfully. It seemed like each one of Mandi's Pokemon would succeed, but Krabby/Kingler won out every time. It was an awesome way to kick off Ash's tournament bid.
5. Ash vs. Blaine (Indigo Gym Battle)
In pursuit of his seventh gym badge, Ash traveled to Cinnabar Island, where he took on Blaine. Their first battle (which Ash lost) took place on the gym battlefield. The battle was three-on-three, with Blaine's Magmar, Ninetales, and Rhyhorn defeating Ash's Charizard (who refused to battle), Squirtle, and Pikachu. After Ash and his friends stop the volcano from blowing up, Blaine grants Ash a rematch.
The rematch takes place on the summit of the volcano and is a one-on-one battle between Magmar and Charizard. This is the first time that Charizard and Ash work together and the effect is truly cool. Granted, Charizard refuses to listen to Ash for the rest of the season, but this effort was awesome. This battle was one of the coolest to watch.
4. Ash vs. Brandon III (Battle Frontier)
As I said before, Ash and Brandon had three battles. While the second one was great, the third one was the best of the series. Not only did Ash win, but he did so in a tightly contested four-on-four battle that had some twists.
The match started with Charizard and Dusclops. Charizard was Ash's ace, and everyone was surprised that he was using his strongest Pokemon right from the start. It was even more surprising when Dusclops beat Charizard. In classic Ash fashion though, he came back and won the match.
3. Ash vs. Gary (Johto League)
Eventually, Ash takes on all of his major rivals and wins. Gary was Ash's biggest rival of the first three seasons. They finally clash in a six-on-six battle at the Johto League, with a spot in the next round against the line.
From the start, Gary dominated the battle. At one point, Gary had lost only one Pokemon while Ash only had three left (one of whom had already battled). The final showdown was between Blastoise and Charizard, and it was an epic one. If you don't want to watch the whole match, at least see the showdown between these two.
2. Ash vs. Drake (Orange Island)
At the end of Season 2, Ash takes on Drake, the undefeated champion of the Orange League. While many fans of the show were disappointed with Season 2, but this battle saved the entire season. I recommend you pause and go watch this battle immediately. Otherwise, the rest of this entry will spoil it for you.
Ash had Pikachu, Tauros, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Charizard, and Lapras while Drake had Ditto, Gengar, Dragonite, Electabuzz, Venusaur, and Onix. Dragonite was by far Drake's strongest Pokemon, and he took on four of Ash's Pokemon. The final showdown between Dragonite and Pikachu was one of the coolest moments of the entire series.
1. Ash vs. Paul (Lake Verity)
This is the first match between Ash and Paul and definitely the better one out of the two. Their second match was for a spot in the Best Four of the Sinnoh League, the first was nothing more than a grudge match between the two rivals.
If you haven't seen this battle, let me spoil it for you: Ash gets absolutely destroyed. He loses all six of his Pokemon while Paul only loses two. So why was this such a great battle? For one, it was surprising. Ash is the hero of the show, it was shocking to see him lose to badly. Still, the viewers expected Ash to win, even when he only had one Pokemon left. The whole battle was extremely exciting from start to finish. It's definitely the best battle of the entire series.
Like I said before, it's definitely worth your while to watch these battles, or at least highlights of them. Even if you're not a Pokemon fan, they sure are exciting.
I decided to start with Ash's best battles. The battles are the best part of the show, as opposed to battles in the game, which are turn-by-turn and can get boring. The battles in the show can be extremely entertaining. Instead of all battles in the show, I decided to focus solely on Ash, seeing as he is the main character. Coincidentally, his battles tend to be the show's best ones. Note, there are SPOILERS ahead, so be careful. If you haven't seen these battles before, I recommend you watch them online.
7. Ash vs. Brandon II (Battle Frontier)
In his quest to beat the Battle Frontier, Ash takes on the Pyramid King, the last Frontier Brain. The two of them have three battles. In the first battle, Ash is possessed by an ancient king and uses Sceptile to take on Brandon's Regirock in a losing effort. In the second match, Ash's Torkoal loses to Brandon's Registeel. In the last match, Ash uses Charizard, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Pikachu to beat Brandon, who uses Ninjask, Dusclops, Solrock, and Regice. In this entry, we're focusing on the second battle.
Brandon told Ash before hand that he would use Registeel, so Ash got to choose his Pokemon beforehand. At the beginning of the battle, we found out that Pokemon was Torkoal. While expectations weren't high (Ash's Torkoal had a limited moveset), the match was great. The writers really outdid themselves here.
6. Ash vs. Mandi (Indigo League)
This match (the best of the first season) took place in the first round of the Indigo League. It was Ash's first official tournament battle and it was exciting. Mandi was very popular with fans and was convinced that he was going to dominate Ash. Our hero on the other hand, was quite confident.
Ash completely dominated the match, as his Krabby/Kingler took out all three of Mandi's Pokemon. Earlier in the episode, we weren't even sure Krabby was going to put up much of a fight, let alone sweep the battle. While sweeps aren't always exciting, this one was presented masterfully. It seemed like each one of Mandi's Pokemon would succeed, but Krabby/Kingler won out every time. It was an awesome way to kick off Ash's tournament bid.
5. Ash vs. Blaine (Indigo Gym Battle)
In pursuit of his seventh gym badge, Ash traveled to Cinnabar Island, where he took on Blaine. Their first battle (which Ash lost) took place on the gym battlefield. The battle was three-on-three, with Blaine's Magmar, Ninetales, and Rhyhorn defeating Ash's Charizard (who refused to battle), Squirtle, and Pikachu. After Ash and his friends stop the volcano from blowing up, Blaine grants Ash a rematch.
The rematch takes place on the summit of the volcano and is a one-on-one battle between Magmar and Charizard. This is the first time that Charizard and Ash work together and the effect is truly cool. Granted, Charizard refuses to listen to Ash for the rest of the season, but this effort was awesome. This battle was one of the coolest to watch.
4. Ash vs. Brandon III (Battle Frontier)
As I said before, Ash and Brandon had three battles. While the second one was great, the third one was the best of the series. Not only did Ash win, but he did so in a tightly contested four-on-four battle that had some twists.
The match started with Charizard and Dusclops. Charizard was Ash's ace, and everyone was surprised that he was using his strongest Pokemon right from the start. It was even more surprising when Dusclops beat Charizard. In classic Ash fashion though, he came back and won the match.
3. Ash vs. Gary (Johto League)
Eventually, Ash takes on all of his major rivals and wins. Gary was Ash's biggest rival of the first three seasons. They finally clash in a six-on-six battle at the Johto League, with a spot in the next round against the line.
From the start, Gary dominated the battle. At one point, Gary had lost only one Pokemon while Ash only had three left (one of whom had already battled). The final showdown was between Blastoise and Charizard, and it was an epic one. If you don't want to watch the whole match, at least see the showdown between these two.
2. Ash vs. Drake (Orange Island)
At the end of Season 2, Ash takes on Drake, the undefeated champion of the Orange League. While many fans of the show were disappointed with Season 2, but this battle saved the entire season. I recommend you pause and go watch this battle immediately. Otherwise, the rest of this entry will spoil it for you.
Ash had Pikachu, Tauros, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Charizard, and Lapras while Drake had Ditto, Gengar, Dragonite, Electabuzz, Venusaur, and Onix. Dragonite was by far Drake's strongest Pokemon, and he took on four of Ash's Pokemon. The final showdown between Dragonite and Pikachu was one of the coolest moments of the entire series.
1. Ash vs. Paul (Lake Verity)
This is the first match between Ash and Paul and definitely the better one out of the two. Their second match was for a spot in the Best Four of the Sinnoh League, the first was nothing more than a grudge match between the two rivals.
If you haven't seen this battle, let me spoil it for you: Ash gets absolutely destroyed. He loses all six of his Pokemon while Paul only loses two. So why was this such a great battle? For one, it was surprising. Ash is the hero of the show, it was shocking to see him lose to badly. Still, the viewers expected Ash to win, even when he only had one Pokemon left. The whole battle was extremely exciting from start to finish. It's definitely the best battle of the entire series.
Like I said before, it's definitely worth your while to watch these battles, or at least highlights of them. Even if you're not a Pokemon fan, they sure are exciting.
Saturday, July 5, 2014
Entourage (TV Show) Review
I could review a show currently airing (such as The Big Bang Theory or The Blacklist) or a show that just ended (like How I Met Your Mother or Breaking Bad), but I'm not one for conventional posts. Instead, I'd like to introduce the readers to shows, books, and other things they would otherwise never try. So to kick that off, I'm going to be pitching Entourage, a comedy than ran for eight seasons on HBO from 2004-2011. Throughout its run, it was nominated for 14 Golden Globes and 26 Emmys, and a movie based on the show will be released later this year. Note: there will be some SPOILERS, so be careful.
Entourage is loosely based off the experience of Mark Wahlberg (one of the show's executive producers) and his friends. The main character is Vincent Chase (played by Adrien Grenier), an up-and-coming actor in Hollywood. He lives with his older brother, a less successful actor known as Johnny Drama (played by Kevin Dillon), and his two best friends from back home in New York, E (played by Kevin Connolly) and Turtle (played by Jerry Ferrara). E is Vince's manager and Turtle is his driver. The last main character is Ari Gold (played by Jermey Piven), Vince's agent. Other notable characters include Sloan, the daughter of Ari's boss, and Melissa, Ari's wife. The cast may not be very well known, but they all played their roles perfectly and worked very well together.
The story revolves around Vince and his career. Much of the other character's actions depend on what Vince does. After all, he is the main breadwinner of the group. The personal lives of the main characters also comes into play. Vince is a womanizer who sleeps with a lot of different women. Drama and Turtle are the same way, but with less luck as Vince. E on the other hand, tends to get emotionally invested with any girl he spends time with. Ari is married to Melissa, a former actress with whom he has two kids. One of the continuing storylines of the show is how he tries to balance his career and family life.
All eight seasons of the show are good, but the best one (at least in my opinion) is Season 7. That's where we get to see a whole new side of Vince. Before, he was always a very optimistic, happy go-lucky guy. It's endearing, but it gets tiring after a while. The change in Vince's demeanor brings a whole new edge to the show. The only problem with Season 7: it's the third shortest season, besides Seasons 1 and 8. The other seasons either have 12, 14, or 20 episodes.
Of course, there are some negatives to the show (as there is with every show). One problem is that stories are tied up much too quickly. For example, early in the show, Vince stars in the superhero flick Aquaman. However, he has issues with his co-star, Mandy Moore. The audience doesn't even get to see how everything is resolved; next thing we know, the movie has released. This can be incredibly confusing and leads to some major plot holes. Another thing: a lack of continuity. Some storylines are completely trashed or disregarded whenever it clashes with another storyline. Unfortunately, these are far too common. Nonetheless, the pros far outweigh the cons here.
There are a lot of shows and movies about Hollywood, so what makes this one stand out? It's a very fresh take on what goes on behind the curtain. The show manages to stay entertaining and enjoyable throughout its entire run. If you're looking for a new comedy series to watch, I highly recommend Entourage.
Entourage is loosely based off the experience of Mark Wahlberg (one of the show's executive producers) and his friends. The main character is Vincent Chase (played by Adrien Grenier), an up-and-coming actor in Hollywood. He lives with his older brother, a less successful actor known as Johnny Drama (played by Kevin Dillon), and his two best friends from back home in New York, E (played by Kevin Connolly) and Turtle (played by Jerry Ferrara). E is Vince's manager and Turtle is his driver. The last main character is Ari Gold (played by Jermey Piven), Vince's agent. Other notable characters include Sloan, the daughter of Ari's boss, and Melissa, Ari's wife. The cast may not be very well known, but they all played their roles perfectly and worked very well together.
The story revolves around Vince and his career. Much of the other character's actions depend on what Vince does. After all, he is the main breadwinner of the group. The personal lives of the main characters also comes into play. Vince is a womanizer who sleeps with a lot of different women. Drama and Turtle are the same way, but with less luck as Vince. E on the other hand, tends to get emotionally invested with any girl he spends time with. Ari is married to Melissa, a former actress with whom he has two kids. One of the continuing storylines of the show is how he tries to balance his career and family life.
All eight seasons of the show are good, but the best one (at least in my opinion) is Season 7. That's where we get to see a whole new side of Vince. Before, he was always a very optimistic, happy go-lucky guy. It's endearing, but it gets tiring after a while. The change in Vince's demeanor brings a whole new edge to the show. The only problem with Season 7: it's the third shortest season, besides Seasons 1 and 8. The other seasons either have 12, 14, or 20 episodes.
Of course, there are some negatives to the show (as there is with every show). One problem is that stories are tied up much too quickly. For example, early in the show, Vince stars in the superhero flick Aquaman. However, he has issues with his co-star, Mandy Moore. The audience doesn't even get to see how everything is resolved; next thing we know, the movie has released. This can be incredibly confusing and leads to some major plot holes. Another thing: a lack of continuity. Some storylines are completely trashed or disregarded whenever it clashes with another storyline. Unfortunately, these are far too common. Nonetheless, the pros far outweigh the cons here.
There are a lot of shows and movies about Hollywood, so what makes this one stand out? It's a very fresh take on what goes on behind the curtain. The show manages to stay entertaining and enjoyable throughout its entire run. If you're looking for a new comedy series to watch, I highly recommend Entourage.
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