Best Music of the Year 2015

2015 is almost at a close and it was a hefty year for video games and music alike, but before I write my piece on the best albums of this year, I would briefly like to talk about some of the best music I've listened to this year. 2014 I had primarily listened to rap and hip-hop instrumentals, but this year my findings were a lot more diverse. Going from the likes of Ghostface Killah's 12 Reasons to Die II to Wiz's french rock, and the classical sounds of Distant Worlds III the palette was quite diverse. Oddisee and Akua Naru's Fly were the ones most often playing in my ear as well as ChocQuibTown's Salsa & Choque. While going back to review my list I came to re-appreciate some of albums I had listened to briefly since release. Though I felt that Hip-Hop this year was somewhat disappointing, overall the medium was great this year. Below I have posted a playlist of 32 of my favorite tracks from this year along with a list of every album in consideration for this year. Some great stuff are missing, but I omitted some for the sake of variety. I hope you enjoy.

Best of 2015 Playlist

Tracklist

1. Andra Day - Forever Mine - Cheers to the Fall
2. Kali Uchis - Call Me - Por Vida
3. Aaradhna - Burn You Down
4. Inspectah Deck and 7l & esoteric - Czartacus - Czarface II: Every Hero Needs a Villain
5. Stereo Nasty - Interstellar - Nasty By Nature
6. Oddisee - First Choice - The Good Fight
7. Kendrick Lamar - How Much a Dollar Cost? ft. Ronald Isley - To Pimp a Butterfly
8. Vanilla - Dreamcatcher - Origin
9. Andreya Triana - That's Alright With Me
10. Zion I - Trippin' - The Rapture: Live from Oaklandia
11. Beach Baby - Ladybird - Ladbybird
12. Joseph Jacobs - City of Nostalgia (Ecruteak City Remix)
13. ChocQuibTown - Una Raza Llamada Sabor - El Mismo
14. Christian Scott - TWIN - Stretch Music
15. Erykah Badu - Cel U Lar Device - But You Caint Use My Phone
16. Cookin Soul - Them Gangstaz (Eazy-E Remix) - Them Gangstaz
17. Grace - The Honey - Memo
18. Lianne La Havas - Unstoppable - Blood
19. Mickey Guyton - Better Than My Last
20. Nneka - My Love, My Love - My Fairy Tales
21. Noveliss - One Time - A3C Festival
22. Pete Rock - Heaven & Earth - Petestrumentals 2
23. DJ EFN - Paradise (feat. Talib Kweli,Wrekonize, & Redman) - Another Time
24. Destiny aka Princess Nokia - Orange Blossom - Honeysuckle
25. Sheisty Khrist x Lo Fidel - Havanna Nights f. Natti - Cold Winter
26. Snakehips - Forever Pt. II ft. Kaleem Taylor - Forever Pt. II
27. Timecop1983 - Tonight (Instrumental) - Reflections
28. Yung Bae - Distant Love - Japanese Disco Edits
29. Alice Smith - I've Put a Spell on You - Nina Revisited: A Tribute to Nina Simone
30. Small Professor - Wish cops would stop killing unarmed black people - Mixed Jawns III
31. Akua Naru - Fly ft. Ben L'Oncle Soul - The Miner's Canary
32. Arnie Roth & Nobuo Uematsu - Not Alone - Distant Worlds III




Albums Reviewed for the Year

20syl - Motifs II
Action Bronson - Actin' Crazy
Akua Naru - The Miner's Canary
Andra Day - Cheers to the Fall
Andreya Triana - Giants
Arnie Roth & Nobuo Uematsu - Distant Worlds III: More Music from Final Fantasy
Bambu - 5AM in Manila
Bambu -The Comrade's Sessions
Beach Baby - Ladybird / Bruiser
Brock Berrigan - Chapter 10
Camille Safiya - 24K
Cannibal Ox - Blade of the Ronin
Chinese Man - Sho-Bro
ChocQuibTown - El Mismo
Christian Scott - Stretch Music
D.R.A.M. - #1 Epic
Daymé Arocena - Nueva Era
Deacon The Villain - Peace or Power
Dead End Hip Hop x Salem Psalms - The Joint
DJ EFN - Another Time
Dragontime - Dragontime
DUCID - VISTANT
Dutch Rebelle - Kiss Kiss
Erykah Badu - But You Caint Use My Phone
Esbe - Bloomsday
FKA Twigs - M3LL155X
Gavlyn - Breakup to Make Up
Ghostface Killah - 12 Reasons to Die II
Goblin Rebirth - Goblin Rebirth
Grace - Memo
Handbook - Botanicals
I Am Kawehi - Evolution
Ibeyi - Ibeyi
Jazmine Sullivan - Reality Show
Jean Grae - iSweatergawd
Jean Grae - Saix
Jedi Mind Tricks - The Thief and the Fallen
Jill Scott - Woman
Jojo Abot - Fyfa Wota
Kali Uchis - Por Vida
Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
Kirby's Dream Band - Pink Sells
Knxwledge. -  H​.​S​.​PRT9_
Knxwledge. - Hexual Sealings Pt.8
Knxwledge. - Hud Dreems
Lianne La Havas - Blood
Linn Mori - invisible vision
L'Orange & Kool Keith - Time? Astonishing!
London Symphony &  Katharina Treutler - Final Symphony
Mavis Staples - Your Good Fortune
Mega Ran and Storyville - Soul Veggies
Method Man - The Purple Tape
Moderator - The World Within
Mura Masa - Someday Somewhere
Nacho Picasso - Stoned & Dethroned
Narcy (The Narcicyst) - World War Free Now!
Nneka - My Fairy Tales
Noveliss - Toonami Tsunamis
Oddisee - The Good Fight
Onra - Fundamentals
OverClocked ReMix - Final Fantasy IX: Worlds Apart
Papa J. Ruiz - HR - 1955
Pete Rock - Petestrumentals 2
Pharoahe Monch - Lost in Translation
Pineapple - Pineapple
Poetic Death (VON POE VII) - The Purity of Love and War
Pumpkin  & Vin'S da Cuero - PEINTURE FRAICHE
Rapper Big Pooh - Words Paint Pictures
RED PILL - Look What This World Did To Us
Rock + Roz (Rocky Rivera & DJ Roz) - Rock & Roz Present: Rose Gold (Hosted by Irie Eyez)
Sadistik x Kno - Phantom Limbs
Sahtyre - LSD
Sa-Roc - Extra Terrestial
Sa-Roc - The Legend of Black Moses
Sean C. Johnson - Circa 1993

Shayna Steele - Rise
Sheisty Khrist x LoFidel - Cold Winter
Sheisty Khrist x LoFidel x Dr. Dundiff - Cold Winter Remixes and Instrumentals
SkyBlew - Jazz For Autumn Kismet
Slime Girls - YUMEMI/LONELY PLANET GIRL
Slum Village - Yes!
Small Professor - Mixed Jawns III
Small Professor - Tiny Jawns
Snakehips - Forever Pt. II
Soulchef - Good Vibes
Stereo Nasty - Nasty By Nature
Sugarz - Natural High
Tairrie B -Vintage Curses
Timecop1983 - Natural High
Undogmatic - The Philosophy Of Nature
Vanilla - Origin
Various - Nina Revisited: A Tribute to Nina Simone
Various - WIZZZ! french psychorama Vol. 3
Various - A3C Festival Volume 5
Various - Tummy Touch: Best Of 2014
Via Tania - Via Tania and the Tomorrow Music Orchestra
Yung Bae - Japanese Disco Edits
Zion I - The Rapture: Live from Oaklandia

G: Zombies Ate My Neighbors

When I wrote my segment on the celebration of the Super Nintendo 25th anniversary this year, one game in particular popped out to me among the images and it was Zombies Ate My Neighbors. This may be one of the lesser known titles from this era. I heard of it prior to this year, but it didn't come up quite that often in conversations in SNES greats that usually included Mario games, A Link to the Past, Super Metroid, Mega Man, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, etc. That lack of popularity was partially why it interested me, so I decided to give this game a try going in pretty much blind.

Immediately this game gives off a vibe unique to it. You play as one of two characters who must save their neighbors from being eaten from you guessed it zombies! But zombies aren't nearly the only enemies in this game. The game features a ton of enemies from 80's to 50's sci-fi and horror. You'll find yourself fighting possessed dolls, werewolves, martians, mummies, and much more in this game. Your weapons throughout this game are quite strange. You start with a water gun, but have the likes of weed whackers, Popsicles, soda cans, bazookas, and baseballs in your arsenal against these monsters. The levels are short, but numerous. This game has a total of 55 levels, 45 of which are required to beat the game. The main objectives of these levels is basically to try and save as many neighbors as you can to get a high score and unlock the exit. This game can be quite difficult even if you're not aiming to save every neighbor. I highly doubt you can beat all 45 levels in one sitting and even with Password usage it's hard because you're ammo is going to be reset since there is no saves in this game. I personally have yet to beat this game.

The game is very fun with the shooting mechanics being intuitive enough to make for an enjoyable experience and the challenge can be frustrating sometimes, but it's worth playing. I feel that this game would've served better being about 15 levels long instead of the enormous 45. It's a good game and I wish this game wasn't published by Konami so we may see a remake or sequel some day.

7.5/10

Street Fighter V F.A.N.G. Reveal Trailer

Today at the PlayStation experience conference, Capcom unveiled the latest character to the upcoming Street Fighter V. F.A.N.G. appears to be a spoof of the common Chinese Kung Fu character that appears in countless Kung Fu films and 90's cartoons. He's lean, tall, and sports a long flowing outfit with long sleeves, round glasses, hat, and a thin beard. He's eccentric and menacing at the same time warning his victims that he'll end them in two minutes time.

Playstyle-wise he seems to very poke heavy. His reach is long although not Dhalsim long and he also has two forms of projectiles: a set of two that arc in the air and another that remains on the ground for a short period like Dhalsim's.  These projectiles also make the character purple for a little bit on contact which could hint at additional damage on contact like a poison status in an RPG. His critical can be performed while airborne though for now there is confirmation if it works in the air only. The animation has F.A.N.G. flapping his arms like a bird going for full goofiness. The trailer also reveals that F.A.N.G. is also a new member of M. Bison's Shadoloo syndicate by the stage in the background that depicts him as a statue along with the dictator himself, Vega, and Balrog. Overall I'm attached to F.A.N.G.'s strangeness and will definitely be giving him a try once Street Fighter V launches for PlayStation 4 in February.

The Game Awards 2015

The Game Awards was last night and with it came some good and some surprises. This was the second Game Awards after Geoff Keighley decided to take the Spike Video Game Awards away from TV and Spike to have more control over the event. One of the most talked about events of the night was the reveal from Geoff Keighley that Konami prevented Hideo Kojima from attending the awards show because he is still under contract. Kojima was supposed to accept the award for Action/Adventure game of the year for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Earlier this year Kojima was forced by upper heads of Konami to quit and had his named removed from the copies of Metal Gear Solid V. In honor of his absence a performance of Quiet's Theme from Metal Gear Solid V was performed on stage.

This wasn't the only repose given at this year's award show. Jade Raymond and founder of Electronic Arts Motive Studios had given some slam towards Keith Sutherland. Before she presented the award for best performance she said "Who could imagine Metal Gear Solid without the voice of David Hayter? Sorry, that was a bit mean,". That last line clearly directed towards Keith Sutherland who was attending the awards show. There was some confusion when she presented the award as she named Viva Seifert for her performance in The Witcher 3. It was later revealed that it was a misprint on the card as Seifert performed in Her Story. Aside from those instances the awards show was tame though Shaquille O'Neal's joke of giving everyone in the audience a copy of Shaq-Fu was amusing.
Naughty Dog had notably revealed a new trailer for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End that features a new character in the series, a bold female Black British woman by the name of Nadine Ross. She's voiced by Laura Bailey and it seems she's after something that Drake has. CD Projekt Red ended up taking Developer of the Year and they also won Game of the Year for The Witcher III: Wild Hunt. For a list of all awards and announcements presented at the show this year, read below.

• Best Family Game: Super Mario Maker
• Best Fighting Game: Mortal Kombat X
• Best Multiplayer Game: Splatoon
• Best Mobile Game: Lara Croft Go
• Best eSport Team: Uptic Gaming
• Best eSport Player: Kenny
• Best eSport Game: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
• Most Anticipated Game: No Man's Sky
• Best Narrative: Her Story
• Most Trending Gamer: Greg Miller
• Best Indie Game: Rocket League
• Best Sports/Racing Game: Rocket League
• Most Impact Game: Life Is Strange
• Best Fan Creation: Portal Stories
• Developer of the Year: CD Projekt Red
• Best Art Direction: Ori and the Blind Forest
• Industry Icon: Westwood Studios
• Best Action/Adventure Game: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
• Best Soundtrack: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
  

• Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (new character is introduced)
• Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn trailer reveal
• Batman from Telltale Games announced.
• First gameplay footage of Far Cry: Primal.
• Psychonauts 2 announced. Crowd funded at Fig.
• Quantum Break with a brand new trailer. Coming April 5.
• Rock Band VR coming to Oculus Rift in 2016.
• Shadow Complex: Remastered is now available for free on PC. Coming to PS4 and Xbox One in 2016.
• Rocket League comes to Xbox One with Gears of War and Halo cars in February 2016.
  

Other Announcements:

• New Tron Run/R game announced.
• Geoff announces 3 short films with focus on up-and-coming indie studios. Watch at: madewith.unity.com
• Lego Avengers coming January 26
• Bethesda announces, that they're giving away $1 million to someone playing Elder Scrolls: Online.