Video games

AN OPTION THAT'S LONG OVERDUE

How many times have you been sitting there playing THPS2 and had that goddamned "ya gat me runnin' in a cy-ca-lone" song come up? Don't you want to just shit right in the Cy-Ca-Lone guys' mouth? How about when you're racing an endurance race in Gran Turismo 2 and you get the fucking "Super Bon Bon" song? The very first few measures of which are enough for me to reset the whole damn PSX/PS2.

Enough - that's right. Enough of this stupid-ass music. It's lame and sucky and it detracts from the game. Don't get me wrong, occasionally there's some great songs (THPS1 has almost all great music save Primus' poop-kebob) and THPS2 has about half good songs. But most of the time it's just tired old rap songs and Dragula remixes. Enough!

If you're going to put in music, how about a simple option that will let me skip the songs I don't want to hear? I can't tell you how frustrated and riled up I'd get playing THPS2 and having that "out wit da old in wit da new mom said keep it clean do dis" song shitting up the game. Whereas I'd feel elated every time "No Cigar" came on. I wouldn't even mind just having "No Cigar" looping over and over. Let me skip the junk I don't want to hear or just put in video game music. In fact, I'd settle for MIDIs. I'd settle for the sound of Pitfall Harry jumping looped over and over again.

GAME BOY LOOSE ENDS

As the American release date of GBA approaches, I've been reflecting on some of the loose ends I have yet to tie up on the Game Boy. Will I get to them before GBA comes out and I'm getting into those games heavily? With one week left, these are my tasks:

• Oracle of Seasons: While I finished Oracle of Ages on May 20th, Baby has yet to finish Oracle of Seasons so I can usurp the cart. She finished all the labyrinths last night and only needs to kill the final boss. This one is a priority - I need to finish this before GBA games come out. I expect to get it from her today which leaves me about a week to do it, roughly the time it took for Ages.

• Metal Gear Solid: Though I absolutely loathe the PSX version (boring, cheating motherfucker), I adore the NES versions - even Snake's Revenge. I was able to get the game for $10 new so I figured I'd give Snake another shot. Lo and behold it turns out to be a fabulous game. I'm about halfway through stage five. I figure I'll still play this even after GBA USA comes out, it holds my interest pretty well.

• Metroid II: For someone who's expoits on SRR39 are legendary you'd think I'd have mastered this one as well. I don't know how I never bought this - I've had a Game Boy since about a year after they came out. I know I'll get to this one eventually.