MACROSS 82-ARMS
By: David (@friendshipguy_)
Every week we’ll be recommending you a game, and either an album or a movie to check out. This week I’m recommending recently released ARMS and MACROSS 82-99′s recently released album IDOLS, SAKURA.
- Developer - Nintendo EPD
- Publisher - Nintendo
- Platforms - Nintendo Switch
- Rating - E 10+
If you don’t know what ARMS is, I’d be surprised. Everyone knows what the newest Nintendo franchise is whether or not they’re a long time fan of Ninty or a recent disciple of their franchises. Originally I wasn’t the biggest fan of ARMS upon hearing about it when the first Nintendo Direct dropped some time ago about it; however, being invited to the Nintendo Switch event that toured the nation and managed to land in San Francisco, it was quite literally the last game I played on the floor.
I avoided it mostly because I’m not the biggest fan of fighters - I can throw down in Street Fighter but I’m not technical by any means. That being said, I couldn’t resist Nintendo’s new art direction with Splatoon that made such a huge splash in the middle of 2015, that I had to go for it. Most would consider motion controls in a fighter sacrilegious at worst, a novelty at best; having played the Test Punch numerous times each weekends it was allowed, it’s a solid fighter that is far deeper than one would originally think. Motion controls make for fun party matches with friends or if you want to pick up the game and burn a few calories, at least if I’m to believe what my fitness tracker says. This is by no means a review, but you should definitely pick up ARMS if you own a Switch. If you have an Amazon Prime membership, you can score it for a discounted price for the first two weeks.
As for what I’ve been listening to lately? IDOLS, SAKURA by Macross 82-99. Macross - the artist, not the series - is a Mexican future-funk artist though he experiments with a multitude of styles as he sees fit to. IDOLS, SAKURA dropped in March a few weeks before my second trip to Tokyo for the spring season, and was pretty poignant for me. Not just because of Macross’ anime-funk fusion music, but because most of his stuff makes exceptionally good backing tracks for walking, and what else is there to do in Tokyo than walk? There’s actually a lot, but you’re going to be doing quite a bit.
IDOLS, SAKURA is chunky departure from his usual future-funk roots, and I’ve grown particularly fond of the tracks “Back At It,” “Harajuku Heat,” “ダンス !,” and “Have Hope.” Most of these have been on repeat for the past three months since the album dropped in March, and continue to stay in rotation among the few playlists that I circulate on my usual commutes. “Breath of the Wild” is also a track on this album, and while it shares the title of the recent Legend of Zelda entry and I believe it to emulate some of what the game wants its player to feel, it’s a solid track all on its own as well. IDOLS, SAKURA is available to stream through Apple Music, Spotify, and purchasable at a name-your-price rate through his bandcamp profile.