Gaxbook

An absolute masterpiece about a man coming to terms with his past, and a great self-contained story that doesn't dwell on the at times opaque mythology or history of how Henry got there or why all this is happening in Silent Hill. It also contains beautiful/grotesque graphics (depending on your viewpoint) that really being across the worst of the human mind, as well as one of the greatest/most appropriate/unnerving soundtracks of all time, being one of the few experiences where the occasional use of silence brings across even more tension than any horror soundtrack.

Around the age of 19, in my university years (and probably inebriated), I sent an e-mail to Team 17, the makers of Superfrog. It was something to the effect of "Wouldn't it be great to bring back Superfrog to the modern generation of gaming?". Superfrog was a hit platformer of the early 90s that (in the UK at least) could have ranked as highly as Mario and Sonic. It also was one of my fondest memories of my formative years. I write that because I wish to, in advance, apologise for sending that email. Some things are best left in the past. Gone are the charming introduction animatics, replaced by an awkward slideshow that looks like it was made as a school project in flash. And gone is a major point of Superfrog, the humourous product placement of Lucozade (a British drink similar to Gatorade in the US) and the failures of said frog to match up to the stereotype (He is unable to fly, but instead uses his cape to glide slightly like a parachute). We even see the camera turn to the "director", another frog presumably so uninterested in this project that he couldn't be bothered to switch a fan on to make Superfrog's cape appear to flow in the wind. Lucozade is now replaced with an orange "potion", missing the point entirely. I understand copyright, but could they not have at least rebranded the drink Superzade or something in the game? Also while on the subject of the graphics; everything has a very flat feel, almost like the icons were made out of clip art. Also the character animation is awful. There was a certain charm in the original, cute looking and slightly chubby character graphics which didn't quite match the more detailed design in the introduction cut scenes. Yes, now in game he looks much more consistent. But it is all very clunky, and looks and feels like a web game. All of the charm that and distinct Britishness that was part of the game is gone; and replaced with a bland platformer presumably made for the lowest common denominator of Android and iPhone. Wasn't the whole point that, despite not being able to fly, relying on Lucozade like a sugar junkie and not even having the support of his "crew", Superfrog was actually a very well rounded, good looking and fun game to play?