AVENGERS: ENDGAME, PAGE 23 Vampire Collection GI begins Retro Replay with a classic fighting game collection for PlayStation 2 RETROGRADE, PAGE 15 YEAR 12, NO. 36 WWW.GAMINGINSURRECTION.COM Third Quarter 2020 The East Asia issue from the editor elcome back, GI faithful! We’ve fully, by the time you read this, Editor- returned with a new issue and at-Large Brandon Beatty and I will be W there’s a lot to get into. married. We’ve been together for seven I finally have finished school for the years — since 2Q2013 — and we’ve second time. My accounting degree been engaged for five years. Unfortu- is freshly minted, and I’m officially a nately, because of COVID-19, we had to second degree-holder. What does this postpone our long-awaited wedding mean for Gaming Insurrection? Lots, until this month. I am anticipating my of course. It means that we will be able name change (final one, I promise!) to to resume issue production, and I will begin appearing in the 4Q2020 issue. be able to focus on GI again. While I It’s good to be back and doing what I was in school for the past three and love doing: Writing about video games. a half years, I couldn’t devote my free While I’m not in the journalism indus- time to GI. School at my age requires try as a main profession these days, I an intense focus to do well, and I was still love deciphering old video games determined to get it right this time and telling the world about them. around. I am happy to say that the It’s good to be home. focus paid off, and I will officially end my school career with a 3.5 GPA over- all. Next up is a job in the auditing side of accounting, which is a lot like my Lyndsey Hicks, Editor-in-Chief first love of copy editing. And one other morsel of news: Hope- GAMING INSURRECTION Editor-in-Chief Facebook LYNDSEY HICKS is co-founder and editor-in-chief of GI. She Lyndsey Hicks Facebook.com/ enjoys binge watching TV with her soon-to-be husband, edit- GamingInsurrection Lyndsey Hicks Editor-at-Large ing for the MK Encyclopedia as part of the Uppercut Editions Brandon Beatty YouTube Editor-in-Chief team and playing various retro video games. Lyndsey resides User: GamingInsurrection in Columbia, S.C., and is preparing for a career in accounting Website www.gaminginsurrection.com Twitter as an auditor. @GamingInsurrect CONTACT: [email protected] GI REVIEW POLICY Scale is from 1 to 5 as follows: 1 — Broken. Absolutely do not play this game. A broken mess from start to finish. Game is unplayable and irredeemable in all areas. staff 2 — Substandard. The game isn’t for everyone. Some mechanics work; others need work. Overall design is questionable in some BRANDON BEATTY is editor-at-large for GI. Brandon areas. writes reviews when the mood strikes him, produces the 3 — Average and meets expectations. Mechanics work and quarterly Otaku Corner column for The Strip and spends it’s a decent package overall. It’s playable, and you’ll come back to Brandon Beatty the game. a significant amount of time watching new and old anime alike. Brandon resides in Columbia, S.C., and is a security 4 — Above average. Exceeds expectations. Overall, a great game Editor-At-Large worth keeping in a gamer’s library. Presentation and mechanics all specialist for the state of South Carolina. work as expected and add to or enhance the gaming experience. 5 — Masterpiece. Everyone should play this title at least once to CONTACT: experience what it has to offer. [email protected] 02 contents 03 editorial CRY OF WAR Lyndsey Hicks Standout video game music tracks in Announcing Lyndsey Hicks E3’s death my collection that should be in yours et’s get down to business: The Electronic Entertainment BEAT.TRIP.GAME Expo, as we know it, is dead. L It’s time to say exactly what we mean when we say “E3 f you couldn’t tell already, I’m a music has changed.” lover. I always have been. Growing up, In its current form, E3 was THE my household had a lot of musical abil- place to be when it came to video I ity and everyone loved different genres. games and the summer. Everything Because of that, I have a good apprecia- revolved around the show, before tion for sound in all forms of media: movies, and after. Video game magazines planned their coverage for E3 and video games, television theme songs. That’s Christmas. E3 meant the official where this column comes in. I usually try to start of the video game season, chronicle my vast collection of video game and it represented the place where soundtracks (at last count, I have about 32GB fortunes were made and perhaps of video game music ripped and tagged), but destroyed. But with the main players this quarter I’m talking about 10 random of the past 20 years either pulling out or not appearing, it’s a signal tracks from my collection that should prob- that the show’s waning influence ably be in yours. has become noticeable. The 2019 show saw the now-usual “Lynchwood” - Borderlands 2 (Gearbox): absence of a Nintendo press confer- If there ever was a track that exemplifies the Mortal Kombat 3 Super Metroid ence and for the first time, Sony Old West and showdowns on dusty streets, it’s not having a conference or a major Lynchwood. Found in the middle part of the of the stages in Street Fighter II. Mortal Kombat has always had an impressive presence. Microsoft eagerly took up Borderlands 2 saga, Lynchwood is the backing soundtrack and the third game in the series the spotlight and seized the chance track for several encounters in an Old West “Town Theme” – Final Fantasy V (Square): A to get ahead of its main competition, doesn’t slouch. The Bridge is one my favorites but it was obvious that things just setting, ramping up when you encounter large down home feeling comes to mind the minute because the synth and the horns make the aren’t what they used to be. 2020’s groups of enemies. It’s got an understated in- I set foot in a town in Final Fantasy V and the tro, but it really gets going in the middle with track a fast-paced romp in what is supposed to show — despite COVID-19 ravaging reason is because of the background music. event schedules — was canceled a big bass beat. be downtown New York City. And with the ad- It’s nice and relaxing. The track can be found before the pandemic even came into dition of the Run button in MK3, it more than on three different albums: the Final Fantasy play. “Crash” – Crazy Taxi 2 (Methods of May- works here. V OST (imported album), the Final Fantasy That’s also reflected in GI’s cover- hem/Sega): Despite the game being under- age. Whereas we used to take days whelming, Crash is excellent for the type of Anthology OST that came with the PlayStation “Main Theme” – Ken Griffey Jr.’s Winning off to cover the show, now we don’t car-driving mayhem found in Crazy Taxi. It One game and the Game Boy Advance remake really pay much attention to any- would have even been appropriate for the first of Final Fantasy V. Run (Rare): It doesn’t hurt that we’re massive thing going on with E3. And I don’t game because Methods of Mayhem embodies fans of Hall of Fame baseball god Ken Griffey know why that is exactly. I still enjoy that Crazy Taxi life of pickup and dropoff of “7 p.m.” – Animal Crossing: New Leaf (Nin- Jr. and we’ve always been a fan of MLB. How- video games quite a bit, but I don’t really care for the hoopla of E3, and I demanding passengers. Look for it in the end- tendo): After a long hard day of doing abso- ever, combine that love for “The Kid” and video ing credits. don’t watch the conferences any- lutely nothing but making money and shop- games and you have a love for a baseball game more. I think it’s partially because ping, sometimes you just want to kick back series that still holds up. The menu music for for most of the current generation “Fetus of God” – Vampire Savior (Capcom): and relax with a soothing theme. The 7 p.m. of consoles, I didn’t own a current Jedah Dohma is an awesome character and the game was and still is a banger. It’s amaz- track in New Leaf is perfect for wandering system. I only just bought a PS4 Pro has an awesome stage also in the monster- ing just how much goodwill is created when a around town to wind down. It’s optimistic yet and that was solely because I needed based fighting game Vampire Savior. Most of good track makes a great first impression. to in order to get Mortal Kombat 11 the perfect reflection on a day that’s coming to us American fighting game enthusiasts know when it was released. I don’t plan to an end. about the wonderful fighting games that Cap- “Grumble Volcano” – Mario Kart Wii (Nin- buy an Xbox One for some time, and com has outside of the versus series and Street I only anticipate buying a Switch for Fighter, and Darkstalkers/Vampire fits right “Red Brinstar Swampy Soil” – Super Me- tendo): The surrounding game might not have Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Su- in.