Segata Sanshiro - Japanese Sega Saturn Commercials (Part 2)

Next five commercials featuring the Sega Saturn mascot :P

Reklama 6- Greatest Nine 98'

Reklama 7- Sakura Wars 2

Rekalama 8- Nippon Daihyou Chimu no Kantoku Ni Narou ! Sekaihatsu Soccer RPG

Reklama 9- Shining Force 3

Reklama 10- Azel Panzer Dragoon RPG (Panzer Dragoon Saga)

Harvest Moon A Wonderful Life Special Edition [Playstation 2]

PS2 didn't have much luck with the Harvest Moon series. First there was "Save The Homeland", a decent but way too butchered game compared to it's predecessor, then there's "Innocent Life", a port of PSP title, very enjoyable but also different in more ways than one. In the meantime PS2 received a port of "A Wonderful Life", originally released for Gamecube. AWL was received well by critics and fans, so the PS2 owners were looking forward to finally put their hands on the new Harvest Moon game, and boy, was it a disappointment.

There's really not much to say about this. The game's content, identical (or rather slightly enhanced) with the GC's version, is pretty huge but it doesn't matter really because the PS2 conversion of AWL is virtually unplayable. 90% of the time it works in constant slow motion (even twice as slow as the original sometimes), and by looking at the graphics, it's really hard to believe how such mediocre looking title can run so slow. Obviously it's the fault of programmers, but in that case those had to be the most lazy ones out there. Even if you try to grit your teeth and try to play it after all you'll quickly refuse to do so, every action, whether it's watering the plants or brushing animals, stretches in time so much it will drain your patience in a matter of seconds. It doesn't help that, unlike in previous installments, you have to repeat most of these tasks again during the day, and the loadings feel like an eternity...

As an incurable optimist I'd state happily that the aforementioned "matrix" nearly doubles the time it takes the game to complete, which, taking into account that "originally" AWL required even a 100 hours to finish, sounds grotesque to say the least.

As far as I know, HM: AWL is the most pathetic port ever released for the Playstation 2. I find it really baffling that there are players that actually enjoy it, I guess you may as well if "Hardcore Gamecubeless Harvest Moon fan" is written on your forehead. It's really sad that the most "complete" Harvest Moon installment of all three available for Sony's console had to be the most screwed up. And it could've been so great...  

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Also available for: GameCube

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HD Loader: Compatible
USBAdvance: Incompatible

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Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene

Jean Michel Jarre, arguably the most well known electronic music composer and definetely my favourite musician. My experience with Jarre's music has started pretty early since I listened to him for as long as I can remember. For a long time though the only album I cared about was "Oxygene 7-13", that and few tracks from the "Images" compilation, for some unexplainable reasons I ignored the "Oxygene" for years, not mentioning other albums I didn't own. "Oxygene" was the springboard for future career and world fame of the French composer. When I finally listened through the whole album for the first time I realised how much I missed out on.

"Oxygene" heavily contributed to popularisation of electronic music, everybody heard Oxygene 2 or 4, Oxygene 4 as a matter of fact remains to this day as the most recognizable track of Jarre's (though definetely it's not the best one). One of the reasons of "Oxygene" success was that it sounded very modern (it was called "music of the future") and accessible at the same time, despite very few expecting a major success.

It starts with a calm and slightly oniric Oxygene part I , gently itroducing the listener to the world of electronic soundscapes, which fluently advances into Oxygene part II, much more dynamic and melodic with it's instantly recognizable solo. It ends with the sound of rustling wind, and after that begins a short and slightly oriental Oxygene part III. Next is the album's single Oxygene part IV, most rhytmic and catchy track on the entitre album. Afterwards the tempo calms down with the beginning of Oxygene part V, which eventually hots up, presenting another lightly oriental solo. The album ends with calm and nostalgic Oxygene part VI farewelling us with sounds of seagulls and sea waves...

This is a timeless album, it sounds as great and fresh today as it did over 30 years ago. Is it the best of Jarre's works? Many think so, though many critics consider the "Zoolook" album as JMJ's magnus opum. Personally I'd find it hard to pick a definitive "top", but undoubtedly "Oxygene" will always remain for me among the very best albums in Jarre's discography.

=====Track Listing=====

Oxygene part I (7:39)

Oxygene part II (7:54)*

Oxygene part III (3:06)

Oxygene part IV (4:13)*

Oxygene part V (10:11)

Oxygene part VI (7:05)

(6 tracks, total time 40:08)

(Track lenghts according to the remastered version)

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*The best tracks (IMHO) of the album are marked in red. 

Segata Sanshiro - Japanese Sega Saturn Commercials (Part 1)

Segata Sanshiro was a fictional character starring in Sega Saturn commercials aired in Japan. He was a parody of Sanshiro Sugata, a judo master portrayed in Kurosawa's movie. You could say that Segata was a japanese Sega Saturn's mascot, a type of mascot that would beat the shit out of you if you decided to do anything but play Saturn games, and let's be honest here, he was damn right about that. Segata encouraged playing on Sega's system in the course of 20 differnt tv ads, often using his catch phrase "Sega Sataan Shiro" which translates in both "Do Sega Saturn" and "White Sega Saturn", additionaly it sounds almost like his name. Segata eventually starred in his own game, "Segata Sanshirō Shinken Yūgi" which contained several mini-games, some based on Segata's commercials.

Ad 1- Segata as Santa Claus

Ad 2- Sonic R

Ad 3- My definitive favourite :D Saturn Bomberman Fight!

Ad 4- Another "general" Saturn ad

Ad 5-  Solo Crisis

First post...

Year ago I started a blog, mainly to have a place to write reviews of various stuff, mainly video games, music albums and such. While I was writing it mainly just for myself, I didn't mind of course if anyone wanted to read, in fact that's some good motivation (as long as you receive some feedback that is :). After a month I abandoned it, which was just a par for the course in my case as apparently the idiom "a flash in the pan" is my second name. This time, as usual, I promise myself it won't happen again and I'll deliver a new post every once in a while.

This time I'm starting a double blog so to speak, one in Polish, as before, and one in English. Some post will be direct translations and some not, depends. Posting on this blog will be a good way to practice my English, writing specifically, in future maybe even other languages, as soon as I'll reach a sufficient skill in e.g. German. And of course writing in English means more readers, right? :P

I really hope my motivation won't fail me this time, if I got some readers in the course of time, then it'd probably really help me :) So stay tuned.