Fighters Only

Issue 094

November 2012

With a gaming résumé that contains Megaman full clears, Killer Instinct Gold mastery and a World of Warcraft campaign, and it’s not hard to see where ‘Might Mouse’s trademark perseverance was truly forged

How did you start with video games?

“I started with the Nintendo Entertainment System playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The one where if you die you could save the turtle that’d just died by finding them where Shredder kept them locked up. I loved that game and as you can tell, I’ve been playing for a long time.”

What else did you play on the NES then?

“I was big into Snake, Rattle and Roll, Mario Brothers and Megaman. I played a lot of all those games but I was big into the Megaman series. I played pretty much all of those games from one to eight and then onto the X series after that. I was a big fan of that franchise and it was a great way for me to develop as a gamer.”

So you went NES to Super Nintendo, if you played the X series?

“Yeah, I stuck with Nintendo onto the N64 and my favorite game on that had to be Killer Instinct Gold.”

Ah, that’d explain why you always fight like you’re trying to hit an ultra combo.

“(Laughs) I played that game so much when it first came out but then the N64 got a really good batch of first person shooters like GoldenEye and Perfect Dark. We’d have big four-player tournaments on GoldenEye with lots of pizza and that became a huge part of why N64 became so popular for a lot of people.”

It must have seemed like a dream come true then when you inked your sponsorship deal with Xbox. That’s a perfect fit for a gamer like you surely?

“Yeah, the partnership with Xbox 360 is going awesome and I’m very happy that they get behind me and they believe in my skill. I got to go to E3 with those guys and they sent me a load of cool Gears of War and Halo stuff, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what they’ve got for me next.”

So do you play quite a bit online then?

“Yeah I do play certain titles online, but generally, if I’m playing by myself online, then I’ll play an MMO or an online adventure game.”

I see where this is going. What MMOs have you tried then?

“World of Warcraft. That consumed my life for a time but at the moment quite a bit of Diablo 3 as well which is a lot of fun to play.”

How long were you playing World of Warcraft for?

“It was every time I got the chance. Sometimes I’d wake up in the morning with my wife and she’d go to work and I wouldn’t even brush my teeth or get changed or showered. She’d come home and ask me if I’d played Warcraft all day. I’d still be wearing my underwear so it’d be pretty obvious I hadn’t done anything else. When she saw I hadn’t even brushed my teeth she said I needed to stop, it was getting ridiculous.”

It’s when you find yourself with long hair or a huge beard that you’ve got to worry.

“I’m fortunate not to have to worry about that, but I could grow a beard in no time at all when playing a lot.”

QUICK FIRE

Three games on a desert island?

“Halo Reach, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, The Legend of Zelda (NES).”

Sonic or Mario?

“Sonic.”

Nintendo or Sega?

“Sega.”

Console gaming or PC gaming?

“Console gaming.”

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“The balance on some of those real-time strategy games was so perfect because it had to be. They didn’t have a whole lot of space to play with so the subtle differences between classes and units made such a huge difference. If you played Starcraft there was the right unit for the right situation and learning about the timing was what made it so rewarding.”

BACK TO THE FUTURE

Video Game History of MMA: Budokan

The style-against-style concept may have been around for years, but Budokan by Electronic Arts took a pinch of Bloodsport and mixed it with a dash of Karate Kid for good measure.

The main protagonist in Budokan was a street fighter who was rescued by an elderly karate master (there were more of those around in the ‘80s) and taken away to train a variety of martial disciplines from karate to kendo in preparation for an upcoming tournament in Japan.

Our hero’s master would die during the tournament but not before he’d passed on wisdom to his fiery young student who you guided through battle after battle against a plethora of tough-as-nails challengers.

Budokan did, however, present us with one answer to the riddle of styles way before MMA entered the equation. In a battle of pure martial arts, the guy with the weapon nearly always wins.

SEPARATED AT BIRTH

Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and Abobo

Long before Quinton Jackson was terrorizing all who dared pull guard on him with his ferocious slams, his digital doppelganger Abobo was serving up a similar style of hard-hitting retribution in ‘80s classic Double Dragon.