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The Spartan Scoop<br />
SPRING 2017 MCCLOSKEY’S FAVORITE NEWSPAPER Issue 3<br />
NEWSPAPER STAFF:<br />
Advisor<br />
Ms. Roche<br />
Cave Story Review<br />
By Devlin Maconi<br />
Editors<br />
Braydon Booth-Desmarais<br />
Kira Sullivan<br />
Reporters<br />
Jennifer Babin<br />
Sean Costa<br />
Caroline DeFoe<br />
Sam Ferrage<br />
Zach Goddard<br />
Jayde Gaudet<br />
Ryan Hallfelder<br />
Alison Langemo<br />
Maria Lowandy<br />
Tyler Manyak<br />
Devlin Maconi<br />
Trevor Masnyk<br />
Jack Moscatelli<br />
Sarah Snyder<br />
Caileen Wilson<br />
Aah, Cave Story. The hit indie freeware game by Daisuke Amaya<br />
released on December 20, 2004, for the PC! One of my favorite games<br />
to play on my computer to this date. This game has so much packed in it<br />
that this review may be the longest article in the whole issue.<br />
I’m going to divide the gameplay into different parts: the weapons,<br />
weapon levels, drops, and control because I have way too much to talk<br />
about all of them.<br />
First off, the weapons, and hoo boy do you get a lot of them--at least in<br />
second platformer standards. There are the polar star--the first weapon<br />
you acquire--the fireball, bubble, blade, machine gun, spur, nemesis,<br />
snake, and rocket launcher (or missile launcher if you want the official<br />
terms). The cool part of this is that at certain points in the game, you<br />
are given the choice to take x weapon for the trade of two or so<br />
weapons. THIS, however, can detrimentally affect the ending you will<br />
receive at the end of the game and some story elements as well, but I’ll<br />
leave the endings and alternate paths for a later section since that’s a<br />
whole topic in itself. So the weapons do what basic weapons would do,<br />
fire projectiles, of course. (continued on p. 5)
Top 5 Jokes<br />
By Jordan Hughes<br />
5. What store does an<br />
arrow shop at?<br />
--Target<br />
4. Zayn left One Direction!<br />
That’s sad. I guess he<br />
went...the other direction!<br />
3. You: Up dog!<br />
Friend: What’s “Updog”?<br />
2. Knock,Knock!<br />
Who’s there?<br />
Repetition.<br />
Repetition who?<br />
Knock,Knock…<br />
1. I was going to make a<br />
skeleton pun, but I don’t<br />
know if it’s going tibia<br />
humerus one!<br />
Game Review:<br />
PaRappa the Rapper<br />
By Ryan Hallfelder<br />
Created in 1997 and originally only<br />
released to the Japanese public,<br />
PaRappa the Rapper is a game with<br />
its flaws (sometimes due to<br />
translation and software limitations),<br />
but is a genuinely enjoyable game for<br />
its time. The game is one of rhythm,<br />
similar to that of Rhythm Heaven or<br />
DDR using buttons. The gameplay<br />
consists of a side scrolling circle,<br />
passing over the buttons required to<br />
press. If the user inputs the button at<br />
the correct time, points are awarded<br />
to a side display awarding the user a<br />
rank of either awful, bad, good, or<br />
cool. Along with the button mashing,<br />
lyrics are added in accordance to the<br />
beat, and characters dance in the<br />
background, encouraging and<br />
challenging the player. The story is<br />
engaging and often comical, adding a<br />
sense of depth to the goofy and<br />
clunky gameplay. The game often<br />
runs well, but errors only add to the<br />
experience, such as warping of the<br />
characters and looping audio tracks.<br />
SPOILERS BEYOND THIS<br />
POINT!!! YOU HAVE BEEN<br />
WARNED!!! (Please play it without<br />
it being spoiled).<br />
The story is mainly comical and<br />
shallow, but is a fun experience to<br />
watch unfold. The main character, a<br />
paper thin dog by the name of<br />
PaRappa, attempts to win the<br />
affection of Sunny Funny, but is<br />
stopped by an overbearing competitor<br />
by the name of Joe Chin. To combat<br />
this, Parappa takes on many skills<br />
such as karate, driving, and cooking<br />
with the help of<br />
quirky characters like a dancing<br />
moose, a chopping onion, and a<br />
rapping chicken. Try out different<br />
modes of difficulty; attempt the game<br />
with friends; or check out its sequels<br />
and spinoffs. With another remaster<br />
on the way this year, the future's<br />
looking bright for PaRappa fans, but<br />
is the original game worth it? Sure it<br />
has its flaws, mainly an input delay<br />
and audio glitches, but those flaws<br />
only add to the game’s charm in a<br />
weird way. They make it harder, and<br />
challenge you to think about the<br />
choices you make. So in conclusion,<br />
although it might be a weird game<br />
from the 90’s, give it a try, even<br />
ironically.<br />
Men do not claim to<br />
hold the answers to all life’s<br />
questions. nor do all men<br />
know who introduced fire.<br />
well, i do. prometheus. Greek<br />
Legend proclaims that<br />
Prometheus introduced Fire to<br />
Mankind, but at a price.
Favorite Types of Pie<br />
at McCloskey<br />
Ben the Bird<br />
By Jayde Gaudet<br />
The wind howls, carrying the<br />
smoke further<br />
Oil runs down the street<br />
Flames roar in large factories<br />
that surround the city<br />
All that's left is me<br />
I hop over black puddles<br />
Blow away the fog<br />
Nothing's left to bother me<br />
On my journey home<br />
Never will the sun shine<br />
Or the streams glow<br />
The birds are not chirping<br />
It's silent as I go<br />
Weaving through the dead brush<br />
I thought I heard a peep<br />
But that's, of course,<br />
impossible<br />
Because all that's left is me<br />
This is a survey I have been working on for the past few weeks. I asked<br />
students and staff to choose their favorite type of pie. In first place with<br />
27.33% is Apple Pie. In second place with 26.40% is Banana Pie. In<br />
third place with 19.88% is Boston Cream Pie. In fourth place with<br />
17.08% is Blueberry Pie. In fifth place with 8.07% is Pumpkin Pie. Now<br />
last and certainly least, Lemon Pie with a very small 1.24%. Thank you<br />
to everyone who participated. -BBD<br />
Stumbling over broken wires<br />
I hope I find a friend<br />
Entering my broken shack I<br />
find<br />
A bird that I named Ben
MUSIC<br />
RECOMMENDATIONS<br />
BY JORDAN HUGHES<br />
Gorillaz<br />
If you’re a fan of animated<br />
music videos with quirky<br />
characters, then you most<br />
definitely will love this<br />
band. It’s a 90’s rock band<br />
of animated characters:<br />
Murdoc (top left), 2-D<br />
(middle), Russel (top right),<br />
Cyborg Noodle (bottom<br />
left), and Noodle (bottom<br />
right) and occasionally they<br />
are joined by a blue<br />
phantom named Del. As I<br />
said before, the music<br />
videos are animated, and<br />
you can tell that a lot of<br />
effort and care went into<br />
them. I highly recommend<br />
this band. However, the<br />
only flaw would be that<br />
even though the music<br />
videos are quite creative,<br />
they are also kind of<br />
confusing.<br />
Z-Nation<br />
Z-Nation coming back soon!<br />
Get ready for more MADNESS with<br />
more zombies and more missions<br />
to explore with six members...dead<br />
the groupe is in trouble.<br />
BY CAROLINE DEFOE<br />
Game Review<br />
By Caileen Wilson<br />
In this generation, kids<br />
LOVE gaming. I decided to<br />
review a game that I have<br />
been playing for a while,<br />
even though some may not<br />
have heard of it before. It is<br />
based off an older game<br />
Disney closed down years<br />
ago. I remember playing on<br />
Disney’s original version<br />
with my sister before it<br />
closed down approximately<br />
3-5 years ago. Enjoy! :)<br />
Toontown:<br />
Operation<br />
Dessert Storm<br />
Rating:****<br />
I gave it four stars due to<br />
the fact that the developer<br />
claimed that it ran better on<br />
state of the art computers<br />
instead of what they call<br />
“a cheap laptop” (No<br />
joke--and that’s pretty<br />
offensive to a laptop<br />
owner!). Other than that,<br />
the graphics are as top of<br />
the line as if Disney made<br />
the game; although, some<br />
of the designers on the<br />
ODS team are actually<br />
former designers from<br />
Disney! The game starts off<br />
with a suspenseful<br />
prologue, making the game<br />
ten times more interesting.<br />
If you are playing on a<br />
“cheap laptop”, the game<br />
does run a little slower<br />
than usual, but feel free to<br />
check it out!
(Cave Story Continued)<br />
The catch is that each weapon shoots<br />
different types of ammo, can be charged<br />
for an extra KABLAM, and most of the<br />
weapons change based on their level.<br />
Leveling is another topic I will get to later<br />
as that requires it own section. The basic<br />
lowdown of how each weapon works is: Polar<br />
Star: First weapon, shoots basic shots,<br />
Fireball: shoots multiple bouncing fireballs<br />
that can do heaps of damage if hitting<br />
enemies in clusters, Bubble: shoots<br />
bubbles, gets waaaaay more useful and<br />
powerful later on, Machinegun: can be<br />
traded to Curly Brace at the Sand Zone for<br />
the polar star, had limited ammo, but<br />
shoots rapidly, can let the player<br />
essentially fly without the booster at level<br />
3, Rocket Launcher: shoots rockets (or<br />
missiles) that can do large amounts of<br />
damage, gets a “super upgrade” near late<br />
game that doubles damage, Blade: Given to<br />
you by the deceased King, can be thrown in<br />
4 directions, and does a lot of damage,<br />
Nemesis: the strongest weapon in the<br />
game, traded to you for the blade, does<br />
massive amounts of damage at level 1, but<br />
gets weaker as you level it up, Spur:<br />
acquired near the end game by giving the<br />
hermit the Polar Star back and letting him<br />
fix it, can be charged to multiple levels for<br />
bigger and better shots, charge shots leave<br />
trails that can obliterate enemies, Snake:<br />
shoots snakes that can phase through walls,<br />
acquired by trading the Polar Star and<br />
Fireball in the Labyrinth.<br />
Next, we move on to the weapon leveling<br />
system, and hoo boy is there a lot to talk<br />
about here! So the jist of the leveling<br />
system is that when you kill bosses and<br />
enemies, you receive these little dorito-like<br />
things that are experience points for your<br />
weapons.<br />
Every time you collect one, the experience<br />
bar which is shown above your health goes<br />
up a little. Once the bar overflows, you gain<br />
a level on the current weapon, in most<br />
cases making it better. Every weapon aside<br />
from the spur can be upgraded to the max<br />
of 3 levels and an added MAX level that<br />
has no effect on the weapons that was<br />
most likely added so it is more unlikely that<br />
the player will get knocked down to level 2<br />
after a single hit. For level differences<br />
with each weapon, The polar star gets<br />
bigger shots and better damage counts,<br />
the rocket launcher gets more rockets and<br />
each missile does more damage than the<br />
previous level’s rockets, the bubble gets<br />
more bubbles that do more damage, and<br />
eventually you get a bubble shield and the<br />
ability to charge multiple bubbles around<br />
you and release them for a SMASHING<br />
hit, the machinegun gets higher damage<br />
counts, bigger bullets, and eventually, the<br />
ability to let the player float in the air, the<br />
snake gets increased damage, more shots<br />
allowed on screen at once, and better range<br />
(this is basically the same kind of change<br />
that the fireball gets, so Im gonna say that<br />
I just covered both), the nemesis gets<br />
decreased damage, worse range, and<br />
eventually ducks for shots, and the blade<br />
gets much better damage, an increased<br />
blade size, and eventually King’s ghost<br />
which can do 1-100 hits with varied damage.<br />
Now, we move onto the shortest section of<br />
the bunch, drops. Like in most games, killing<br />
bosses and enemies will net you some kind<br />
of drop most of the time. The game is<br />
smart, however and checks the counters<br />
for all the possible drop items so if say you<br />
had full health, rocket launcher ammo but<br />
still have some more leveling potential, 90%<br />
of the time you will get exp drops and the<br />
same will happen for any value that you<br />
don’t have maxed. There are 3 types of<br />
drops, health, rocket launcher ammo, and<br />
exp. Each drop type has three variations,<br />
single, double, and triple.<br />
Next up are the controls, and they may or<br />
may not take a little bit of getting<br />
used to depending on the person. You start<br />
the game off in a cave, alone and are left<br />
to learn the controls yourself. The game’s<br />
jumping mechanics may seem pretty floaty<br />
at first, but after time you will get used to<br />
the floaty jump ark and become a<br />
platforming pro at this game. The game<br />
runs at a smooth 60 fps (frames per<br />
second) if you’re playing the cave story +<br />
remake for the PC, and to my knowledge, all<br />
the ports made for various consoles. If you<br />
happen to be playing the freeware version<br />
of the game (which can be downloaded at<br />
the cave story tribute website), however,<br />
the game will be running at a max of 50 fps<br />
which can be slightly detrimental, as the<br />
game seems slightly slow, choppy, and the<br />
game tends to fluctuate at times. The<br />
other noteworthy control mechanic is that<br />
the down key or button is the “interact”<br />
key of the game which may be the most<br />
annoying part of the game to get used to,<br />
as most games use the use item or shoot<br />
key to interact with stuff.<br />
Also, throughout the game you may or will<br />
find many heart capsules which will add a<br />
certain amount of health to your maximum<br />
health capacity. And that’s about it for this<br />
review! I was gonna make this much longer<br />
going into detail about the story, bosses,<br />
etc, but I ran out of time. Now, this is<br />
probably going to be the last article I’m<br />
able to write this year for newspaper so I<br />
thank you all for reading all these lengthy<br />
reviews I write, and this has been Devlin<br />
Maconi, signing off for the final(?) time<br />
this year.<br />
Well, this may be the last newspaper of the<br />
school year, but I may try to get some<br />
other things in next year if Mrs. Roche lets<br />
me add things in next year so hopefully be<br />
looking forward to those and a possibly<br />
more in-depth retrospective of Cave Story!<br />
Well, hey! I've actually been working on a<br />
cave story playthrough for my Youtube<br />
channel so you can go visit there if you<br />
wanna see how bad I am at the game. :^)<br />
Link:<br />
http://youtube.com/c/thegameronsteamof<br />
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