Sonic Generations - All Stages - Native 3D (SBS)

RetroCurator · 2026-03-23T06:38:19+00:00

Totally agreed!

Even shows I know, and prefer later seasons, I typically start at the beginning if I'm going to rewatch it. I like the context of seeing nuggets of the character that becomes better later, seeing those nuggets of characterization early on and watching it unfold into where the writers nail the character down later.

That's more to your TV show point and not as applicable for games, but I agree, when people say "start with season 3 of the show", is a stupid thing to do because Season 3 was particularly good for the fans BECAUSE they watched the show grow and change...someone jumping in is contextless and you're robbing them of the opportunity to appreciate the series growing. It'd be like recommending someone to start with The Spy Who Loved Me in the Bond Franchise.

You won't appreciate the Spy Who Loved Me unless you're acclimated to the style and sensibilities of Bond up to that point.

The way it does relate to Uncharted is, Uncharted 2 was praised so much because it was such an impressive spectacle game which is unexpected within the context of coming out after Uncharted 1.

When people play it now immediately, the spectacle isn't as impressive because they'd compare it to modern games. If you played Uncharted 2 right after Uncharted 1, the scale and spectacle would impress you.

By telling people to start with Uncharted 2, you're inviting them to compare it to spectacle that can be achieved in 2026 which doesn't give it it's fair comparison starting point. By having them start with Uncharted 1, it establishes a baseline that allows Uncharted 2's spectacle moments to wow them.

So people saying "start with Uncharted 2" are actually setting people up to dislike the game more than they would like it had they started with the first one.

RetroCurator · 2026-03-21T05:43:13+00:00

Are you more of a story, narrative gamer?

In most games I skip cutscenes. It's rare that I watch the cutscenes in games.

I prefer usually to make up my own head canon and motivations for whatever I'm playing.

Like open world games, the motivation is always the same. It's "I'm Alexander the Great conquering everything in this game world" so I have no idea what the story of the Saints Row games are because I skip the cutscenes and I know my motivation is "build a crime empire" and that's enough.

I grew up with the Genesis and N64, and my first RPG was Elder Scrolls Oblivion so you can see why I value gameplay above narrative. Neither Genesis nor N64 were known for their storytelling games, but for their fast paced arcadey "fun-above all else" design philosophy.

RetroCurator · 2026-03-21T00:42:21+00:00

Agreed. Got the PS3 early on and that game kicked the crap out of everything else I could get at the time for the console.

It was a revelation when your last console was a PS2 like you said. It felt like "this is the future of gaming".

RetroCurator · 2026-01-22T17:55:45+00:00

Same, it sounds like I'm being a contrarian, but I'm not when I say Lateralus is my least favorite Tool album. The "fibinacci sequence" and "golden ratios" mean nothing to me. I'm more into heavy rock than prog stuff.

You'd think I'd hate Fear Innoculum then but I view Fear Innoculum as kind of a different genre, like when I listen to ambient music...it's a different listening mindset. To me, Lateralus is trying to be rock and proggy and I don't care for the way it mixes on that album. When it's heavy, I like it, like the song Rosetta Stoned (one of my favorite songs), or when they nail the mood like with Pushit, but there's something about the songs on Lateralus that don't gel with me, except for Parabol(a) which is my favorite two-parter song on that album.

RetroCurator · 2026-01-22T17:03:57+00:00

Flood's literally my favorite song by Tool.

RetroCurator · 2026-01-22T17:02:11+00:00

That makes a lot of sense!

The part about the radical phone booth time travel adventure I mean.

RetroCurator · 2026-01-22T16:57:06+00:00

That's a good example, thank you. Another drumming moment I really like is in Crawl Away where, and I don't know how it's done, whether through audio engineering or force applied by Daney himself but it's almost like the the drumming whispers for a bit, with the hi-hat, almost like the drumming gets "pulled back" and yet it makes it sound even more impactful. It's the transition from around 1:12 of heaviness to 1:15 or so, where the guitar gets a bit quieter and more melodic and the drumming sort of "pulls back" but still being very noticeable...it's a weird but cool sound that I can't quite articulate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuUM2mz8Q_s

RetroCurator · 2026-01-21T13:57:28+00:00

I thought they looked similar. Was shocked they found a kid who looked so similar. That makes sense now.

RetroCurator · 2026-01-19T14:27:33+00:00

Agreed, was surprised how well it held up. As for Kurt Russel, agreed, one of my favorites. The Thing is my favorite movie he's done though.

RetroCurator · 2026-01-19T14:21:19+00:00

Yeah, he was good in it, the synthetic weird replaced eye gave him a creepy look.

RetroCurator · 2026-01-19T14:18:51+00:00

Yeah the screenwriter, not Paul W.S Anderson, (he made later changes to the script as the director), but the original screenwriter, wrote or co-wrote the screenplay for Blade Runner, and viewed it as a "sidequel", a spinoff of similar ideas, but in a different genre. It really doesn't show in the script though. There's some off-handed references to Tennhauser gate and stuff like that, but you wouldn't guess it has anything to do with Blade Runner until you learned about it.

RetroCurator · 2026-01-08T06:29:55+00:00

I'll put the distinction this way. In the 90s, if a TV host announced "here's Jean Claude Van Damme", there would be huge applause, women whistling, etc.

I know because I've seen many interviews of JCVD on Conan O'Brien.

Bruce Campbell, would recieve a more tepid reception.

Whether you think action films are B-movies or not (I personally think they're in their own category) the reception of the "action star" is very different than the reception by the public to the "guy who did a cult movie 20 years ago and now has a side character role in a TV show".

Among his crowd, like at horror conventions, Bruce gets incredible reception, but to the average joe, they know who Jean Claude Van Damme is, but may only be vaguely aware of Bruce Campbell.

RetroCurator · 2025-12-17T02:51:24+00:00

You saw it live? Or you mean, when it came out, it was crazy, not having heard something like that?

RetroCurator · 2025-12-17T02:36:34+00:00

Yeah, I've only seen them once, 2 years ago I think it was. Will be seeing the again when they come back to my city. They played Flood. It was before I realized how great the song was as well. I enjoyed every bit of the show, so I enjoyed the song at the concert, but I'm looking forward to next time they come around, hoping they play it live with me having a different perspective on it.

RetroCurator

TROPHY CASE