Average Gamer re-emerges!

Okay so its been a long while since I have posted anything on here, and to be honest I didn't think I would come back but I have =D So now I guess I'll start by talking about what I've been playing lately as of 2009!

So basically I've been playing allot of shoot'em'up's games lately (shmup) I've always been a big fan of this genre but lately I've picked it up more. There are probably two major shmups I've been playing, Raiden III which is a 3D reincarnation of the old school Raiden games with updated graphics using Taito's TypeX technology and the other is probably a lesser known game called Imperishable Night from the Project Maiden Shrine series and is what they refer to as a "bullet hell" style shmup. At times the whole screen can be filled up with bullets flying every which way and puts more emphasis on player hand eye co ordination and dexterity rather than just shooting and simple dodging.
And lastly for shooters I have got back into one of an old favorite of mine, R-Type. It made me realize how awesome these old games really are and how they really set a benchmark for shooting games to come in future years.
Its amazing how well the game stands up even today in fact I'd go as far to say that its actually allot more challenging than some of the current games of the genre. I was also pleased to see and hear that a company by the name of Tozai Games are making an updated next gen HD remake of the original R-Type I & II named R-Type Dimensions for the XBOX Live Arcade.
I did a bit of reading up on the remake and here's what I learned, Dimensions is basically a straight remake of the original R-Type I & II everything except the graphics engine are the same (levels, bosses, enemy's etc) nothing has changed, so the game will play identically to the original games right down to the waves of enemy ships. What Tozai games have done to the game in terms of visuals is pretty darn incredible, everything has an ultra sharp crisp look to it thanks to HD, colors and lighting are vibrant and beautiful to look at, real eye candy.
All the levels, ships, enemy's and bosses have been faithfully recreated in 3D with great attention to detail, from what I've seen the team have done a great job of recapturing the visual style of the classic shoot em up games with a modernized look. I'll be sure to follow its progress up to release.

On other gaming fronts I also recently finished "the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" yes I know its an old game and I was unfortunate enough to not own a N64 at the time (better late then never ehh) but what an amazing game it is, let me say this, if I wasn't such a FFVII fanboy I would say that Ocarina of Time would probably be my favorite game of all time!
That game is such a work of art it really is a master piece. Everything about Ocarina of Time is just so memorable, all the characters you meet, all the enemy's you fight, all the quests you complete and all the places you explore leave such a great impression, its easy to see why many view this game to be the greatest in the series. So I've finished that but not 100% there are still quite a few side quests and items I haven't done.