Ridge Racer Real

So it was first truly nice sunny day of the year yesterday, and I had an errand to run out Bradford way. Perfect excuse to go for a run in my beloved Mitsubishi FTO.

Running along nicely, tunes on, window down, warm sunshine thawing out my frozen winter bones, and soon enough I'm coming up to Bradford airport.

Now, for those of you (again with the pretending that anybody reads this...) who don't know it, Bradford airport runway goes over the road from Harrogate to Bradford, so you have to drive under it through a tunnel. This is my favourite bit of the road, as it temporarily splits into two lanes as it passes under the runway, allowing me to: A) gun it past any slow moving vehicles, and B) hear my 5Zigen A-Spec exhaust make a proper racket as it reverberates off the tunnel walls.

Just as I'm coming up to the roundabout before the tunnel, a jet takes off from the runway. The sun beams through a cloud. Samurai Rocket from Ridge Racer V kicks in on the stereo (OK, so I lined that up myself, but still...). I thump down two gears and thunder past a caravan and a Volvo, rocketing through the tunnel and making a very loud noise.

PURE Ridge Racer. If I'd managed to drift it round the roundabout beforehand, I'd have probably died of a happy overdose there and then.

So, this has me thinking, what other real life videogame experiences can I have? I certainly don't fancy re-enacting Call of Duty, and Resident Evil would scare the shit out of me. Street Fighter's out, as I don't like being punched. Hmmm...

Jill's alive!

And I've just rescued her ass!

Hurrah for me. Hurrah for STARS. Hurrah for Capcom. They didn't kill the master of unlocking after all.

Sandwiches all round.

*happy*

Dirty Ken

I'm sure it's been said a million times on a million forums by now, but fuck sake, Street Fighter IV online is awash with a sea of backflip/Hadouken/Hadouken/Shoryuken/Jump heavy kick/Sweep/Shoryuken spamming Dirty Ken playing shitbeetles.

Out of over 30 matches yesterday, nearly all where against Ken. Those that weren't were Ryu. Or Sagat. The tactics remain unchanged. Fireball, fireball, fireball, oh you're close enough for a leg sweep/uppercut, rinse and repeat.

While it CAN be beaten, it's not much fun - there's no chance to learn to play against any real skill or tactical ability, and there's certainly no chance to try and learn how to fight the new contenders, or anyone other than the Shoto brigade.

Sometimes you might get really lucky, and you'll get stuck with an Akuma player, convinced that the Raging Demon himself is all they need to beat everyone online. He's generally not, at least from what I've encountered, with spammy jump back air fireballs attempting to chip away at you from afar. If you DO damage them and they get an Ultra Charge, nine times out of ten you can enjoy the sight of Akuma standing in a corner, jiggling like a hyperactive child as they vainly attempt to spam out his Ultra move. You can see it coming a mile off. *yawn*

Capcom really shouldn't have bothered redoing all the classic characters in 3D, or adding the Alpha brigade for the home version. The new characters barely get a look in either, and those of us desperately seeking a game with a bit more tactical play, balanced combat and less shoto-spam are left having to stick to playing a few friends.

Chun Li wants to play, but not with Ken. He's a scrub.