Mad Maestro! was released in 2002 under the Fresh Games label. The label to this day only created five games and probably the one I remember the most from the five was Mister Mosquito. The whole game had a very Japanese feel to it and I appreciate Eidos for attempting to bring it to the US. The premise basically revolves around a conductor (Takt) and his youth orchestra. He is asked to help save the concert hall of Bravo Town. Somehow, by playing their classical music around the town they save the town.

I never really understood the premise, because most of the time you were practicing your music on the locals. Convincing people that they love each other is nice and I like the idea that music can heal your situation. I find it odd that the whole town dances with you when you do well, but I love when you’re messing up that it rains heavily and gets dark.

Oddly enough, the controls are similar to Britney’s Dance Beat, where the controls are based off of the clock-like diamond, but the difference is that the diamond would actually change size with the tempo. That and the direction is usually counter-clockwise. One of the best things is that the game actually used the sensitivity, if you pressed too hard or soft you got penalized.

Visually, I thought the game was solid in it’s color choices. They were very bright and cheery, and got really depressive as you started to go downhill. I thought that visually, the Circus scene was probably the most colorful and freaky at the same time.

The classical music chosen for the game was great. There was a lot of unlockable music content as well. One normally doesn’t hear classical music in a rhythm/dance game so it was a happy change of pace. I doubt anyone would be converted to listening to classical music based off of this game, but it might have become a ring tone.

The game was underrated, as is most of the really Japanese music genre. This one definitely was an odd combination of colors, sounds, and controls, but it was oddly gratifying.

Players of Metal Gear Online rejoice!  Today Konami is releasing a new mission. The Bomb Mission is free to all registered MGO users and it will automatically be added when players sign in.

Here’s an excerpt from the press release:

In the new mission, the offensive team’s objectives will be to detonate a bomb at a targeted location in the map and protect it until it explodes. The defending team must protect its stronghold and prevent the planted bombs from detonating by using a special coolant to nullify an activated bomb and stop the attacking team from approaching the base. To complete the mission and come out victorious the attacking team must detonate the bomb within the mission time limit if they fail the defending team wins.

It’s nice to see Konami release free items to the masses. If you recall there are several downloads for MGO, but you have to download those. But the bomb mission is free. So go online and have fun.

Rock Band

Eight new tunes will be hitting the street today from the folks at Harmonix and MTV. These include a three pack from the Steve Miller Band and some great singles.  Regular pricing of 160 MS points ($1.99) per track or 440 ($5.49) for the SMB pack applies.

Steve Miller Band “Space Cowboy”
Steve Miller Band “Take the Money and Run”
Steve Miller Band “The Joker”

Godsmack “I Stand Alone”
Belly “Feed the Tree”
Ghost Hounds “Wind Me Up”
Mute Math “Typical”
Rob Zombie “War Zone”

If you Have a Wii, these songs are now available:

Nine Inch Nails “March of the Pigs”
Nine Inch Nails “The Collector”
The Ramones “Rockaway Beach”
The Clash “I Fought The Law”
Jimmy Buffett “Margaritaville”
Jimmy Buffett “Volcano”

All six tracks will be available for 200 Wii Points each. At this time, the Wii still can’t handle track packs.

Guitar Hero World Tour

This week we hace the “Australian Rock” Track Pack, the songs are 440 Microsoft Points ($5.49)

Silverchair  “Tomorrow”
Wolfmother  “Dimension”
The Vines “Outtathaway!”

Lips

I still don’t exactly understand why some songs cost more than others. Blame Microsoft.

Hate That I Love You - Rihanna feat. Ne-Yo (180 MP)
Thnks fr th Mmrs - Fall Out Boy(160 MP)
Look What You’ve Done - Jet (160 MP)

Britney’s Dance Beat was one of those rhythm games that were probably ignored by the masses and laughed at if anyone even touched the box. The game was actually good for a rhythm game, albeit short. There was a circle in the corner and a rectangle (like a timer) would rotate clockwise. You would have to press the buttons in time. In the PS2 version you were an auditioner trying to make it to Britney’s tour. In the GBA version, you were Britney. The progression was actually steep, starting off with really hard to actually challenging. It was a shame that the game only had five songs. “…Baby One More Time”, “Oops!… I Did It Again”, “Stronger”, “Overprotected” and “I’m a Slave 4 U”. Five Songs? That’s it? Either way, the songs are not copies and directly from Britney’s albums.

There were a few positives. The likeliness of Britney was somewhat accurate. Any Britney fan would have loved the backstage videos. The dancing is actually better than anything that Britney has choreographed, probably because it’s clean and there are a few gravity defying jumps. The Game Boy Advance version actually had a video of one of Britney’s concerts and the visuals were decent.

I hated (really hated) any of Britney’s reactions to the dancing. Her saying “not bad” and “that was pretty good” is quite annoying. If that is actually Britney’s voice, she sings as equally as bad as she talks.

The things that could have been fixed? If there was only copyright for five songs, why not include remixes? That could have boosted the number of songs to ten. Also, how about more stages. One stage which I think was supposed to be China looks like they are performing on a staircase. How hard would it be to have a stripper pole? Okay, I kid. How about any generic stages? It wouldn’t have been that hard.

I would be shocked if they ever made a sequel to this game, but there are at least another five songs that could be put into the game. There is one funny thing about Britney’s Dance Beat: Digital Britney will never go crazy.

Genesis/Mega Drive fans rejoice. If you own a PS3 or an XBOX360, mark your calendars. They are releasing Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection with the tentative release date of February 10, 2009 for the very smile-inducing $29.99. That’s 75 cents per game! That is insanity. Try buying all these games individually on the PSN or XBOX Live. A game like Sonic 1 costs about $5. To sweeten the pot, all the games will be upgraded to 720p.

Sure some of these games aren’t really worth $5, but the bad ones are definitely worth $0.75. I’m talking to you Flicky.

Here’s the list:

Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
Alien Storm
Altered Beast
Beyond Oasis
Bonanza Bros.
Columns
Comix Zone
Decap Attack starring Chuck D. Head
Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
Dynamite Headdy
Ecco the Dolphin
Ecco II: The Tides of Time
E-SWAT
Fatal Labyrinth
Flicky
Gain Ground
Golden Axe I
Golden Axe II
Golden Axe III
Kid Chameleon
Phantasy Star II
Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom
Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium
Ristar
Shining in the Darkness
Shining Force
Shining Force 2
Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Sonic and Knuckles
Sonic 3D Blast
Sonic Spinball
Streets of Rage
Streets of Rage 2
Streets of Rage 3
Super Thunder Blade
Vectorman
Vectorman 2

The collection will also have some unlockable games. It’s unknown if any of the Knuckles versions will be included. There may also be some interaction with Achievements/Trophies so stay tuned.

I’m probably most excited about the inclusion of the Streets of Rage series. Blaze and I will go down in a blaze of glory, set to the tune of 90s techno/dance.

What are some of the games missing that were also great? I miss Toe Jam & Earl (and it’s sequel) and Earthworm Jim, but I doubt those two will ever show up again. Also missing are Virtua Fighter 2, Wrestle War, The Revenge of Shinobi, Ecco Jr., and Sword of Vermilion. I mention all of these because they were on one compilation pack or another. Especially with VF2, that would have been a lot of fun in 720p. Dear Sega, can you do a Virtua Fighter compilation?

A great bonus (although it’s not a Genesis game) could have been Chu Chu Rocket (Originally from the Dreamcast). That thing had Genesis graphic styles and would be great for multiplayer.

Welcome to the first Weekend Webjunk. Each weekend I’ll post some videos that either amuse me or are eyebrow raising. We’ll start off this weekend with a classic: Mortal Kombat.

I was never good at pressing a stream of buttons when the words “Finish Him/Her” appears, so I always depended on the special endings from Mortal Kombat Trilogy to show me the demonstrations.

There is a part 3 to this, but the first two are more classic. There are so many silly Fatalities that just don’t make any real sense, especially by the time Mortal Kombat 3 rolled around. I guess there was the point where the violence had to be both unrealistic and kind of funny to allow the ratings board to accept it. My personal favorite nonsensical fatality? The Mortal Kombat arcade box dropping from the sky and squishing the enemy.