Damn it! I was trying to avoid topics like these, but to no avail. Looks like I have to confront it. Everyone knows that honesty will complicate matters, hence I lied.
"Liar. I know you do remember. If not, how would you remember my favourite food at this restaurant," she said it playfully, just like every other time.
She kept quiet. A huge smile is carved on her face.
"No, I am pretty sure it was grey."
"Fine, grey,black, whatever. Oh look the food is here. I am starving. Let's eat."

"Jack, have you ever thought about that night?"
Here we go again. Going through nostalgic crap. And I do know well the night that she was referring to.
"Used to...but not anymore. It's okay, it's not your fault. We've already talked about this."
"There's something I want to tell you."
"What is it?"
"I saw you that night."
"What are you talking about? Of course you saw me that night."
"No no...I meant, I saw you on the streets of the City Centre."
I paused. The delicious Kuey Teow which was about to enter my mouth, tempting to be consumed, has been halted. I put down my fork.

Before we take a step forward with the story, let us take a step back. As everyone might recall, I've already told the story, but it was unfinished. This is roughly where it ended.
I fell down to my knees in the middle of the street. I burst into tears. I was annihilated. The mixture of tears and rain almost caused a flood in the streets. I cried and cried till my hearts content. I don't have you, and everything is worthless. Suddenly, the box from my pocket dropped. I picked it up and opened it. There lies the ring, the ring that I was about to ask her for an engagement. I gave a sharp gaze at the ring, full of anger and hatred, then I did the unexpected. I...
I hurled the ring into a nearby drain. There goes my 300 pounds ring. There goes my hope and dreams. There goes my chance of getting Ay08. I rushed back into the apartment while wiping away my tears. To me, that was it, that signifies the end between me and Ay08.

"Jack, are you okay?"
And here I am, 4 months later having dinner with Ay08, the girl that almost killed me.
"Yeah, I am fine."
"Tell me Jack, was that ring for me?"
I kept quiet. I ignored her while enjoying my delicious plate of fried Kuey Teow.
"If I were to say yes to you that night, what would we be now?"
I chose to ignore her. What is she doing rambling about the past. The past is the past, and it should stay buried. It is like opening a can of worms.
"Why are you doing this Ay08?"
"Doing what Jack?", she acted blurly.
"This. Reminiscing about the past. Opening up my healed wound. Why?"
"Jack, I just want to know."
That completely pushed me to the edge.
"Know? Know what? Know that I was so deeply hurt that I my heart was on life support for the past 4 months. Know that I can't forget you when you went back to Malaysia that it almost drove me out of my mind."
"Jack, I didn't mean that..."
"Know what Ay08? Know that I still love you? You want to know that? Is that what you want to know?"
She stayed quiet. I took out a 20, put it on the table and stormed out of the restaurant. I realized that all eyes were upon me, but I could not care less.

Oh man, it's raining. Should have brought an umbrella with me. Despite the rain, I kept on walking until Ay08 shouted my name. I looked back and she was walking towards me.
"Wait Jack, please wait."
I stood there in the rain. I waited for her.
"Sorry about the questions Jack. It's just that..."
She paused. She looked hesitant to continue.
"Just what Ay08?"
"It's just that, sometimes, I kept thinking whether I've made the right choice. Maybe, I should've chosen you instead."
I would never have expected for her to say that. Do I still have hope? At that moment, I wasn't thinking. The next thing I realized was that I was hugging her in the rain.
"Thank you Ay08."
She hugged me back, and we came to a standstill for 10 minutes. She grasped my shirt with her soft hand.
"I miss you, Jack. I miss you a lot."

30 minutes later, I went back to my room, soaking wet of course. I changed and lied down on the bed. I looked to my right, and on top of the table lies a red ring box. How did I get the ring back? Of course, not everything was told that night. Let this be a story for another day.

If you take a look at it from a different perspective, sequels are sometimes better than the original. Sonic 2 is better than Sonic. Killzone 2 is better than Killzone and Resistance 2 is better than Resistance. As I said before, somethings should have ended. But not my relationship with Ay08. This sequel is going to be better than the original. I hope.

Next, the series Why Do We Love will be starting it's 11th episode sometime next week. For the past few weeks, I have been thinking on what direction would the series would take and now I have decided that the series will be less on the emo side and more on the heart warming side.

On a side note, I have completed Resistance 2. Is it awesome or just another FPS? Wait for the review, coming...whenever I feel like it. Oh yah, Killzone 2 graphics are awesome! Take that X360 bitches! Street Fighter 4 still lives within these veins! Hadouken!

At first, there was Street Fighter 3. Fans complained because the only returning characters were Ryu and Ken. Then, came 2nd impact. And at the end of the 7th day, 3rd Strike was born. Third Strike added familiar faces such as Chun Li and Akuma to the world of Street Fighter 3 rosters, creating a sense of connection to the fans of Street Fighter 2.

3rd Strike was released in 1999, the year when 2D fighting games were considered outdated. The graphics a\were the best I've ever seen. Big sprites, smooth animations, even rivaling Guilty Gear X. With 20 characters, there were sure to be variety. The gameplay was the most complex I've ever came across. With the inclusion of EX Moves, Super Arts, Super Cancel, Parry and Red Parry, beginners could not really get into the game as experts would thrash them. The fighting mechanics were complicated as hell yet deeply satisfying. The round specific soundtracks were memorable and adds a feeling of epicness to the final round.

That is why, my dear reader, Third Strike is the best fighting game...ever. Truly a masterpiece. I doubt that any fighting game can topple this behemoth, even Street Fighter 4 itself. However, only time will tell.

Capcom and SNK have always been rivals as both of them are a staple name in the fighting games arena. The rivalry first started way back with the release of Street Fighter 2. One of the first thousand of clones that tried to emulate SF2 was Fatal Fury. Throughout the years, Fatal Fury became it's own series and diverges away from the SF formula. However, Fatal Fury was always remained in SF2 shadows. Hence, with the release of Street Fighter 3 in 1997, what other SNK games better to become it's rival other than Fatal Fury. Therefore, in 1999, Garou: Mark of The Wolves was released and it was glorious.

GMOTW is a continuation of Fatal Fury 3 or, even more precise, Fatal Fury Real Bout series. Street Fighter 3, please take note, because this is how you do a continuation. Who is this guy that looks like Terry Bogard? Who's the kid that moves like Terry and Geese? Who is the black dude that fights like Ryo? Who are those 2 teens that move like Kim Kap Khwan? Kudos to the character design for tieing in with the characters from the previous games. Love the new Terry Bogard design. Besides the characters, the animation is top notch as well. The gameplay is satisfying and deep, thanks to the T.O.P. system, Breaking and Just Defended.

Tekken was always considered second fiddle to Virtua Fighter, that is until Tekken 3. Virtua Fighter 3 came out around 1996 and it was dissapointing, hence, Tekken saw this opportunity to carry the torch as the best 3D fighter and came out full force with Tekken 3. And guess what, Tekken 3 rocks!

Sure, Namco dropped the ball with Tekken 4, and is right back on track with Tekken 5, but Tekken 3 is the pinnacle Tekken game in my opinion. The first time I saw Eddie Gordo performing his wicked capoeira moves, I was captivated. And it was interesting that they replaced the main protagonist with Jin Kazama, which is a good move. Tekken 3 is not as technically deep as VF, but it is certainly way more fun. VF3 has better graphics, but would you believe it, back then, graphics weren't everything. Gasp!True Ogre boss battle is unbalanced yet somehow satisfying. So many extra modes were made for the home version. And with a huge character roster 0f nearly 30 characters, nothing can go wrong.

Tekken 3 is the Tekken series to be remembered. It lays the foundation for the future Tekken series. And that is why Tekken 3 is number 3 on my Top Fighting Games.

I love fighting games in general. More specifically, I love the Street Fighter series. It never gets old to me in spite the frequent rehash. Imagine my excitement when SF 4 was announced. So, how does it fare? And by the way, the fact that SF4 takes place before SF3 just proves the fact that Capcom cannot count. 4 COMES after 3, not BEFORE!

At first I was skeptical about the graphics. Street Fighter, for the most part of it, has always used 2D graphics, and I always prefer Street Fighter to be 2D. Their first foray into 3D graphics was the Street Fighter EX Series and look how it turned out. So, at first, I was not too ecstatic from the screenshots that I saw. But truth to be hold, you've got to see it in motion to appreciate it. The animation was awesome. The background although not epic, is lush and jam-packed with stuff. The effects was cool. Fireball looks really nice in this game. Facial expression is over the top which adds more to the 'ouch' factor. Ultra moves are flashy and lengthy which will really rub it in to your opponent. My only complaint is that, eventhough the character models are very detail, most of them look plain ugly. Look at Ryu for God's sake, he is like on steroids or something!
Graphics: 4/5

The sound is pretty average technos with the inclusion of some pretty good tracks in between. The character specific BGM is awesome and it's a shame that you cannot play it during VS Mode. The voices are good and given the ability to choose of either English or Japanese voices or even a combination of both adds an extra layer of feature to the sound department. The announcer is just plain annoying. Too bad there aren't any options to turn the announcer off.
Sound :4/5

The gameplay is what makes SF4 awesome. You have your Focus Attack, Special Moves, EX Moves, Super Moves, Ultra Moves, Cancelling, FADC and Linking. The fighting system is deep and satisfying yet accessible to beginners. The fights are fast, furious and intense. I kind of miss the ability to parry like in SF3, but FA makes a good substitute. It's like a user friendly parry. And using Ultra Moves as a come back maneuver adds a little bit of tension in a match. Superb system, not exactly a step forward from SF3...but nevertheless a step towards the right direction.
Gameplay:5/5

I can't seem to play online due to my shitty connection. However, if you can find a fellow SF4 enthusiast, then most probably you are gamed for life. SF4 will be played for many years to come. Not only that, a huge character roster which consists of 25 characters add a lot of depth and variations. It will take a while for you to find your favorite character and to play well with him/her. The new characters fit well into the SF universe and it's good to see some returning Alpha characters. Gouken has been a long time waiting and did not disappoint. Too bad that there aren't no love for any SF3 characters. I would love to see Dudley, Alex, Yun, Yang, Ibuki and Hugo mixing it up with the SF4 cast. Besides this, there are plethora of modes:survival,practice and training. There are also official artworks and movies to unlock. A word of caution, the movies do not make sense and are animated rather poorly. Watch it at your own risk.
Longevity:5/5

I love SF4. It is one of the best fighting games that I've played. Absolutely an early contender for this year's game of the year. An awesome game overall.
Final score:5/5

Ahh... I miss the Street Fighter Alpha era. It was just after the Street Fighter 2 era, and Capcom still do not want to produce Street Fighter 3 but the fans are getting restless for the wait after the millions of rehash of Street Fighter 2. So what does Capcom do? They proved to everyone that they cannot count to 3 and released an intermediate Street Fighter series known as Street Fighter Alpha.


Street Fighter Alpha 3 is the best in the Alpha series. It came out in 1998 and the home version received a whooping 30+ characters, the largest SF characters ensemble in any game. The gameplay was awesome, with different -isms to choose. It was nostalgic to see the entire Super Turbo cast back again.

And in the home version, there are a lot of other extra modes. Dramatic mode allows for some cooperative battle. World Tour mode is sort of a RPG. With all the extra modes, coupled with superb gameplay, no wonder SFA3 is considered the best Street Fighter by some. And fellow readers, that is why SFA3 is number 4 on the Top Fighting Games.

Before I proceed, let me clarify this. Wolverine is my favorite superhero. I love him when he enters into rage mode. I've watched all the X-Men movies, and I gotta say this, Hugh Jackman makes an awesome Wolverine, despite of him being too tall to be Wolverine. However, the script in all the X-Men( yes, including X2) does not do Wolverine justice. Wolverine is about being an animal, tearing through flesh in a berserker rage frenzy. So, does the movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine gives an accurate representation of Wolverine? Read on to find out.

Again, Hugh Jackman makes an awesome Wolverine. It is like he is born to play Wolverine. Suprisingly, Liev Schreiber makes an awesome Sabertooth. His feline features are just perfect for the role of Sabertooth. The opening montage is great, and reminds me a lot of Watchmen.


After that, the movie started going downhill. The script is weak and does not make sense. The action scenes are not well choreographed, especially the final fight scene, the fight with Gambit and the Blob. The dialogues are cheesy. They butchered Deadpool, big time. The movie was kind of slow to start but the end feels a bit rushed. Some of the CGI's are done poorly.

In conclusion, I was disappointed as I really want to like this move. This movie, is just...average. Hope that the game would be much better than this.

Final Score: 3/5