Mortal Kombat is a best-selling series of fighting games created by Ed Boon and John Tobias. Mortal Kombat began as a series of arcade games, which were picked up by Acclaim Entertainment for the home console versions. Now Midway Games exclusively creates home versions of Mortal Kombat. It is especially noted for its digitized sprites (which differentiated it from its contemporaries' hand-drawn sprites), and its high levels of blood and gore, including, most notably, its graphic fatalities finishing moves, requiring a sequence of buttons to perform, which, in part, led to the creation of the ESRB. The series itself is also known for replacing the hard c sound with the letter K, thus deliberately misspelling the word "combat," as well as other words with the hard c sound (example: "klose" quarters instead of "close" quarters). BRIEF HISTORY The original Mortal Kombat was developed as a response to the popular Capcom fighting game Street Fighter II, with digitized graphics of actors, as opposed to animated cartoon graphics. Critics said the game's graphic violence was only included in order to generate a public outcry and controversy that would gain publicity for the game (the level of violence in Street Fighter is considerably lower, getting an unrestricted "Teen" rating as opposed to a restricted "Mature" rating) . Although highly controversial, the mix of realism and violence propelled Mortal Kombat to widespread and historic renown. Throughout the series, the game was known for its extreme violence which included fatalities, uppercuts that sprayed blood and launched players into the air, and its theatrical special moves. GAMEPLAY Mortal Kombat centers on the first Mortal Kombat tournament and the ultimate defeat of the evil Shang Tsung by the monk Liu Kang. Originally, creators Ed Boon and John Tobias wanted to create a video game starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, with a digitized version of the action star fighting villains. However, Van Damme was already in negotiations with another company for a video game that ultimately was never released, so they decided instead to create a game loosely based on Enter the Dragon. Van Damme's likeness is still clearly seen in the character of Johnny Cage; a Hollywood martial arts movie star who performs a split punch to the groin (inspired by a scene from Bloodsport).[citation needed] PLAYABLE CHARACTERS Johnny Cage Liu Kang Raiden Sonya Blade Kano Scorpion Sub-Zero BOSSES Mortal Kombat features two bosses. One is a sub-boss, which is a four-armed Shokan warrior named Goro, a half-human, half-dragon beast. Goro is a great deal stronger than the other characters, and impossible to grab. Also, he takes less damage when attacked, and is not affected by sweep kicks. Upon Goro's defeat, the player then faces the game's main boss, Shang Tsung. Despite the sorcerer's old age, he moves with incredible speed and summons skull fireballs at will. Shang Tsung's darkest magic empowers him to steal the souls of fallen adversaries. Due to this sorcery, he also has the ability to morph into any character of the game, including Goro, and assume their appearance and their special abilities. Upon defeat, the many warrior souls that Shang Tsung used during the battle leave his body and then he is engulfed in flames.     Zombies Ate My Neighbors is a 1993 run and gun 'horror' video game for the Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis and Super NES platforms. This video game was originally developed, distributed and produced by LucasArts as a comical tribute to both classic and schlocky horror films of the 1950s through the 1980s. It was published by Konami. A sequel entitled Ghoul Patrol was released in 1994, but was not as well received as its predecessor and no further sequels were produced GAMEPLAY The player chooses between two teenage characters, Zeke and Julie, or both in two-player mode. They navigate suburban neighborhoods, shopping malls, pyramids, and other areas, destroying a variety of horror-movie monsters, including vampires, werewolves, huge demonic babies, and the game's flagship, zombies. In each of the 48 stages (excluding the bonus levels) the goal is to rescue the surviving neighbors, at which point a magical door opens that will take the player to the next stage. However, if the player is not careful, any enemy in the game will kill the neighbors, preventing them from being saved. At least one neighbor must be saved from each level to progress to the next. The game is lost if all of the neighbors in a certain stage are killed or if the player(s) lose all of their lives. Scoring points earns players more neighbors to save (but only up to the maximum of 10) and extra lives. Each level has a maximum of ten neighbors. If they all die without the player saving at least one throughout the stage, the game is over. The neighbors are saved by touching them. Each neighbor is worth a certain amount of points. CENSORSHIP Due to the theme of the game, it was subject to some Censorship. This game was released before the ESRB came along and before then, Nintendo did not want anything violent in their video games such as: Blood and Gore. Nintendo of America itself ordered all depictions of red blood and gore, be removed or changed to green ooze. Censorship committees at several European Nations, i.e. United Kingdom, Italy, France and Germany had the game renamed to just: 'Zombies' and ordered other changes, including making the chainsaw-wielding lunatics were replaced with lumberjacks with axes.

Mega Man X was released in late 1993 by Capcom, is the first game in the Mega Man X series. The first subseries of the popular Mega Man series, it was made primarily as a stepping stone between the NES and SNES incarnations of the original series, as Mega Man games were released on the NES as late as 1994. STORY The instruction manual for Mega Man X contains "The Journal of Dr. Cain", in which the story leading up to the events depicted in the game is narrated through excerpts of Dr. Cain's personal journal. According to the journal, Dr. Cain, an archaeologist searching in the year 21XX for fossil records relating to Mesozoic plant life, accidentally discovered the ruins of a robotics research facility that had once been operated by the legendary robot designer Dr. Thomas Light. Among the ruins, Dr. Cain found a large capsule which contained a highly advanced robot the likes of which the world had never seen before. This robot, Mega Man X, had human-level intelligence and emotion. Fascinated by the genius of Dr. Light's design, Dr. Cain studied X and Dr. Light's few remaining notes. With X's help, some months later, the first "replicate android" or Reploid (in Japan, Repliroid), a robot who can think, feel, learn, and grow exactly like a human, was made. Within the year, the design had been standardized and Reploids were being mass-produced. However, with the free will given to a Reploid came the possibility of criminal activity previously unknown to robots; such rogue Reploids were said to have "gone maverick" and were later referred to as Mavericks (in Japan, Irregulars). As the public outcry against the few Maverick incidents became too great to deny, the government stepped in, and under the advice of Dr. Cain, formed an elite military police organization called the Maverick Hunters. The Hunters would capture or disable any Reploids that posed a danger to humans, provide damage control at Maverick uprisings, help with disaster recovery, and perform other tasks as needed. For the leader of the Maverick Hunters, Dr. Cain designed a very special Reploid, one with a very advanced thought system. This Reploid, thought to be immune to whatever defect of manufacture, design, or social conditioning caused Mavericks, was named Sigma. Sigma headed the Hunters for about three years before the very head of the Maverick Hunters himself became a Maverick, taking the vast majority of the other Hunters with him. Sigma seized control of a small island and drove all human occupants out. Claiming that the humans were "inferior" and that they were limiting the growth and potential of Reploids, he called for his followers to begin a massive extinction effort. It seemed, with only one remaining Hunter able to fight (the mysterious Zero of Unit 17), that all would be lost and human extinction would become inevitable. But X, guilt-ridden at having helped design such a ruthless and warlike race, decided to join forces with Zero and attempt to stop Sigma at any cost. GAMEPLAY Mega Man X introduces hidden upgrade capsules to the Mega Man franchise. These appear in several stages in this game, and display a holographic message from Dr. Light when approached. Each capsule upgrades one of X's body parts; each upgrade gradually replaces his original blue armor (resembling that of the original Mega Man) by the white and gold armor seen on the game artwork, and grants X increased weapon power, stronger armor, or new maneuvers. The player can also increase X's life energy by obtaining Heart upgrades, one per each Maverick stage.     NCAA Basketball (known as World League Basketball in Europe) and Super Dunk Shot in Japan) is a basketball video game which was developed by Sculptured Software and/or HAL Laboratory for the Super NES. GAMEPLAY In the game, the player chooses a basketball team and then plays against either a computer or human player on a court. The goal is to score the most baskets within the given time through dribbling and passing. Players also have the ability to save the game as well as change options and difficulty settings. The game allows the player to play either an exhibition game or a full season. The U.S. version of the game contains college teams from five major NCAA Division I-A conferences (see below), while the European game features fictional professional teams located throughout the world. NCAA Basketball was the first 3D basketball game for a console. It used the Super Nintendo's Mode 7 to create a 3D players' perspective that is now the standard for basketball video games. CONFERENCES INCLUDED Atlantic Coast Conference Big East Conference Big Eight Conference Southeastern Conference Southwest Conference

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is a platform game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. It was developed in the United States by members of Sonic Team working at Sega Technical Institute, and was published by Sega.[4] The game debuted worldwide in the first half of 1994 The game is closely tied to its direct sequel Sonic & Knuckles, as the two games were originally one until time constraints and cartridge costs forced the game to be split into two interlocking parts. Combined, both games have sold over 3.5 million copies. Story The Sonic 3 storyline commences shortly after the end of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - Dr. Robotnik's[6] space station, the Death Egg, has fallen out of orbit after his mech suit exploded in his final showdown with Sonic, causing critical damage to the ship. However, instead of impacting the planet, the Death Egg crash-landed on Floating Island,[7] a mystical floating landmass that had previously been reputed only by legend to exist. As Dr. Robotnik begins to repair the ship, he meets up with the Island’s sole inhabitant, Knuckles the Echidna. Knuckles is the last surviving member of an ancient civilization, whose ruins and relics are scattered throughout the island. He is also the guardian of a set of Chaos Emeralds, which grants the island its levitation powers.[8] Knowing Sonic and Tails will try to track him down, and realizing he can use the Chaos Emeralds to power the ship, Robotnik tricks Knuckles into believing Sonic is trying to steal his Emeralds. Shortly after, Super Sonic and Tails land on Angel Island in their bi-plane, the Tornado, in search of Robotnik. No sooner than they have arrived, Knuckles ambushes Sonic from underground with such force, he knocks the Chaos Emeralds from him, returning him to normal. Stunned, Sonic can only watch as Knuckles steals the Emeralds and disappears inland. Once recovered, Sonic and Tails set off in a race against time to stop Knuckles, Dr. Robotnik and the re-launch of the Death Egg. MUSIC CONTROVERSY Originally, SEGA hired Michael Jackson to compose the music for Sonic 3. When news broke out of a scandal involving Jackson and allegations of child molestation, Sega dropped the deal, although his song writing team still composed the soundtrack (and appear in the credits). There are notable similarities between the music recorded for Sonic 3 and music from Jackson's previous recorded tracks from the Dangerous album, and a track from the later released HIStory album (which was composed during the time of the game). For example, there is a segment in Carnival Night Zone's music that sounds like a riff from Michael Jackson's song, "JAM" (It has also been discovered that a sample in the Sonic 3 ROM played in the Carnival Night Zone music is taken directly from the song JAM), and the credits theme parallels Michael Jackson's later song, "Stranger in Moscow" (which was written around the time of the game). The Knuckles' Theme, which seems to use the new jack swing (a style used many times in Jackson's Dangerous album), which sounds especially similar to that of In the Closet, and later released Ghosts, and Blood on the Dance Floor. In the latter, the drum beats match that after the line "look who got you under, seven inches in." In addition, the chord progression of "Ice Cap Zone" is similar to the chord progression of Jackson's "Who Is It," and the earlier "Smooth Criminal." Similarties have also been pointed out between the "Azure Lake" theme in Competition mode and Michael Jackson's track "Black or White." Both songs use similar chord progressions, although in a different key. It is possible that more of Jackson's music remained in the game.[26][27] When Questioned about Michael Jackson's involvement in February 2009, Yuji Naka evaded the question, joking "This information is on a need-to-know basis! [laughs more] One day, when the time comes, I will give you the information!"     Final Fantasy III is known as Final Fantasy VI in Japan is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) in 1994 as a part of the Final Fantasy series. The game's story focuses on a group of rebels as they seek to overthrow an imperial dictatorship. Final Fantasy III was the first game in the series to be directed by someone other than producer and series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi; the role was filled instead by Yoshinori Kitase and Hiroyuki Ito.[6][7] Released to critical acclaim,[8][9][10] the game is regarded as a landmark of the series and of the role-playing genre.[11] Final Fantasy III has more battle customization options than its predecessors and has the largest playable cast in the Final Fantasy series to date, excluding spin-off titles. It remains widely praised for its storyline and characters.[11][12] GAMEPLAY Like previous Final Fantasy installments, Final Fantasy III consists of four basic modes of gameplay: an overworld map, town and dungeon field maps, a battle screen, and a menu screen. The overworld map is a scaled-down version of the game's fictional world, which the player uses to direct characters to various locations. As with most games in the series, the three primary means of travel across the overworld are by foot, chocobo, and airship. With a few plot-driven exceptions, enemies are randomly encountered on field maps and on the overworld when traveling by foot. COMBAT Combat in Final Fantasy VI is menu-based, in which the player selects an action from a list of such options as Fight, Magic, and Item. A maximum of four characters may be used in battles, which uses the series' traditional Active Time Battle system, or ATB, which was designed by Hiroyuki Ito and first featured in Final Fantasy III. STORY Final Fantasy III begins with Terra Branford participating in an Imperial raid on Narshe in search of a recently unearthed frozen esper (later identified as Tritoch; Valigarmanda in the GBA retranslation) found in the city's mines. However, during the raid, her controllers are killed and the Imperial control over her is broken, but she is unable to remember anything about her past.[26] Locke Cole, a thief, promises to protect her until she can regain her memories and helps her escape to the hideout of the Returners, a group of militants opposing the Empire. Along the way, they pass through the Kingdom of Figaro and meet Edgar Roni Figaro, the king, and his estranged brother, Sabin Rene Figaro, who join them. Banon, the leader of the Returners, asks for Terra's help in their struggle against the Empire, and she agrees.[27] Just as the resistance is preparing to return to Narshe to investigate the frozen esper, the Empire attacks South Figaro. Locke heads to the besieged town to slow the Empire's advance, while the rest of the group makes their way via rafting down the nearby Lethe River. However, they become separated after a battle with Ultros, self-proclaimed "octopus royalty" and a recurring antagonist, forcing the various members of the Returners to find their own ways to Narshe in three different scenarios controlled by the player. MUSIC The soundtrack for Final Fantasy III was composed by long-time series contributor Nobuo Uematsu. The score consists of themes for each major character and location, as well as music for standard battles, fights with boss enemies and for special cutscenes. The extensive use of leitmotif is one of the defining points of the audio tracks. The "Aria di Mezzo Carattere" is one of the latter tracks, played during a cutscene involving an opera performance. This track features an unintelligible synthesized "voice" that harmonizes with the melody, as technical limitations for the SPC700 sound format chip prevented the use of an actual vocal track (although some developers eventually figured out how to overcome the limitation a few years later).

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System console. It was released on August 5, 1995 in Japan, October 4, 1995 in North America. While featuring Nintendo's trademark Mario character, the game's innovative graphics and gameplay differed from all previous Mario games in that players control various Yoshi dinosaurs rather than Mario himself, who appears as a helpless infant. GAMEPLAY Yoshi's Island made Yoshi the main playable character for the first time in a Mario game. Yoshi has a range of moves, such as stomps and tongue-licks. If the player holds down the jump button the Yoshis pedal their feet furiously in the air to achieve a floating effect; this allows them to stay airborne for a couple of seconds and gain a little extra height. This floating maneuver may be performed multiple times if necessary. Yoshi can collect eggs during their travels. These eggs follow Yoshi along until they are thrown. Special eggs can be acquired: yellow eggs, which create a coin when they hit an enemy, red eggs, which create two stars, and special flashing eggs, which produce a red coin upon hitting an enemy. Eggs, which begin green, will turn yellow, then red, after bouncing off walls. The third time an egg hits a wall, however, it is destroyed. Unlike other platform games in the Mario series, the player's character can be attacked an unlimited number of times by most enemies without harm. Whenever Yoshi is hit by an enemy, Baby Mario flies off his back, floating around the level in a bubble and wailing loudly as a countdown timer begins. If the countdown reaches zero before Yoshi tags the bubble, Kamek's toadies capture Mario and the player loses a life. Yoshi also has the ability, at various points in the game, to transform into different vehicles. At these points, a bubble containing a graphical representation of the vehicle floats and upon bursting it, Yoshi becomes that vehicle. Vehicles include a helicopter, which enables him to fly; a racing car which has stilts for suspension (allowing for avoidance of the enemies up ahead in those sections); a submarine, which can fire homing torpedoes at the aquatic enemies; a train, which has to be navigated along tracks on the wall whilst avoiding the enemies who can move while the train is active; and a 'Mole-Tank', which allows the player to dig through dirt. Unlike other games in the Mario series that allow a player to "warp" ahead to higher levels, Yoshi's Island is the first game in the series that requires the player to complete all 48 regular stages linearly to finish the game. PLOT A stork carries two babies across the sea, but the evil Magikoopa Kamek emerges, and steals Baby Luigi, and Baby Mario falls onto an island in the middle of the sea, called Yoshi's Island, home to all Yoshis. He lands on a green Yoshi, and Mario and the rest of the Yoshi gang must journey through the game's six worlds to rescue Baby Luigi and the stork back from Baby Bowser and Kamek. Throughout the quest, Kamek tries to stop Yoshi by transforming normal enemies with his magic, thus setting the stage for several boss fights. PRESENTATION The game uses the Super FX 2 microchip to create sprite scaling, polygon effects, and pre-32-bit computer effects called "Morphmation" (in American commercials) that are relatively advanced for a SNES game (a preliminary version of the boxart featured the Super FX 2 logo). The game also used the SNES' capability of parallax scrolling. The game's unique graphical style is said to have resulted from a conflict with Nintendo's internal evaluation committee; impressed by the recently released Donkey Kong Country, which sported pre-rendered graphics, they ordered the game's producer, Shigeru Miyamoto, to move the visuals in this direction.[2] Miyamoto, who did not particularly like Donkey Kong Country[citation needed], instead altered the "graphics" to look as if they had been drawn with crayons and felt-pens and more cartoon like and resubmitted it to the evaluation committee, who passed the game. At one point the game even draws inspiration from Vincent Van Gogh's painting The Starry Night.[3]     Ghostbusters was released by Sega for the Mega Drive/Genesis on June 29, 1990. It is unrelated to the earlier Activision game, and is instead a straightforward run and gun game in which the player takes control of squat cartoon representations of three of the four Ghostbusters from the movie, with the noticeable absence of Winston Zeddemore. Four levels are available initially; after they are completed, a fifth level is unlocked, followed by a sixth and final level. Each level contains a number (usually two) of mid-bosses known as "middle ghosts"; after a middle ghost is defeated, it turns into a small green ghost which can be captured for extra money by luring it over a ghost trap. Between levels, money can be used to buy powerups, such as a 3-way shot or recovery items. The game takes place between Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II. The Ghostbusters are down on their luck due to lack of ghost activity, when suddenly several calls begin to pour in from around the city, including the eventual reappearance of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man (although dialogue indicates it is not the same one from the movie). After each case, a piece of a stone tablet is collected. The three Ghostbusters piece together the mysterious tablet, inadvertently opening a portal to "the evil world" and releasing a horde of ghosts. In the end, though, the Ghostbusters manage to retrieve a mystical gem from the evil world and use it with the tablet to close the portal, saving the city.

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