Mr.Showtime

Just gone for the first 10 off the top of my head... 10 points: Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018) The reason I bought a PS4. I hadn't been doing much gaming for a few years, and seeing this blew my balls off. The attention to detail alone makes it special, but the story is also full of entertaining twists and turns and incredible characters. 9 points: Streets of Rage 2 (1992) The music, the sound effects, eating roasted chickens sitting on the floor of telephone boxes - it's all there. I've probably completed this game more than any other, it's a great little title to pick up and play with a friend. 8 points: Sonic 3 & Knuckles (1994) I was firmly in the Sonic camp in the Sonic/Mario debate (although I would come to appreciate the dirty plumber later in life), and I think Sonic 3 with the Sonic & Knuckles expansion was peak Sonic the Hedgehog. Sandopolis Act 2 can feck off though. 7 points: Grand Theft Auto V (2013) Returning to the story doesn't really do much for me on additional playthroughs, but that first time I was in awe. Superb characters, great music selection as always, and funny dialogue, with a bit of mystery here and there too. For the first year or so of GTA online I had a blast with some friends before moving on, but I'm glad I didn't get sucked into that for a bloody decade. 6 points: Rocket Knight Adventures (1993) One of my favourite platformers from the Mega Drive or anywhere really. Your guy Sparkster has some neat moves, the enemy models are all really fun, but the bosses and mini-bosses along with the soundtrack pushes it even further ahead. I must not be great at games because I've played this so many times, and even now on a Miyoo Mini+ with an autosave function, I still can't complete it. There's some bullshit happens at the end (or I think it's the end) and I'm not good enough to survive it. Must go try again now... 5 points: Hitman: World of Assassination (2016, 2018, 2021) I guess the most recent Hitman trilogy is now classed as a full game in its own right. Online, many players seem to prefer the opening levels of Hitman 1 but there are amazingly complex maps spread all over these games and the bazillion ways you can tackle them is just astonishing. I still don't know how they crafted them. And while it's very satisfying to complete a mission without anyone ever knowing you were there, it's also hours of fun to walk around a map and shoot everyone in the head. Or smack them all with a fish. 4 points: Horizon Zero Dawn (2017) The sequel Forbidden West was obviously bigger and perhaps better, but the initial entrance into this world and learning about its history made more of an overall impact. 3 points: Ghost of Tsushima (2020) The atmosphere and the gripping combat sold this game for me, it's just so darn stylish. 2 points: SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain (2003) I think this was the best in the series mostly because of the roster, which was massive and included quite a few first-timers and legends. Season mode was also replayable as hell. 1 point: Assassin's Creed Odyssey (2018) Yep, it's far too big, but I can forgive it because it looks so damn pretty. Playing as Kassandra worked for me, the naval battles are well done, some of the side characters are funny, combat for me is satisfying, and as @Loki said about Origins and Egypt, the game really shows off some of the history of the Greek world, and makes you just wanna visit and explore. I did visit Zante in 2006, but that was just a 2-week bender so that doesn't count. Honourable mentions: The first three Contra games, the first three Mega Man games, Pitfall! (the first game I ever remember playing), Dynamite Headdy, Ratchet & Clank, Jak & Daxter, Cities: Skylines, Cool Spot, Sensible World of Soccer, Cannon Fodder, and Road Rash II. Oh, and Elden Ring and Grand Theft Auto VI, even though I haven't played them yet. I'm pretty confident they'll be in the top 10 soon enough...

I haven't watched a full UFC show in a long, long time but sat through every fight and had a grand ol' time. @wandshogun09 your previews are priceless for someone like me who knows the names but not the backgrounds, and forgets results of fights almost as soon as they've happened, so thank you! 😂 But reading them meant I enjoyed fights such as the main event, Holm/Harrison, and Miller/Green a lot more than I would have otherwise. My jaw dropped at the ending stretch of both Holloway/Gaethje and Pereira/Hill, entertaining stuff!

I have not enjoyed the announcer's work much at all - until this weekend. I just think her calls are too over the top for the weekly shows, but it worked here. The choking over an announcement or two though, ach I don't know if I'm a fan. If something is genuine and doesn't distract from a key moment, it should be fine. But I was kinda distracted with the main event victory call. For a second or two, at least.. There was a lot going on!

As said a couple of times above, magic! Night 1 mostly bored the pants off me, but I enjoyed every match of night 2. I've already watched the climax to the main event three times, that's how much it made me smile. Other highlights: Drew hilariously taking his CM Punk trolling too far, Snoop Dogg talking about Yogi Bear, the RKO on the announce desk, Io Sky and Bayley on top form, and Michael Cole's "Holy christ!" when the Undertaker appeared.

Just sat through the whole show and I'm mostly in agreement with Statto - nothing offensive but it was fine overall. I really enjoyed Sami and Gunther but everything else before that was pretty average for me. I want my WrestleManias to have bouts or segments that I'll watch again someday, and that ain't happening with this show. The main event felt big time but, for the first time in the show, I had to skip forward when Rollins was taking the extended beating. I mostly watch AEW these days and so the match was just too darn slow for me, although I did try and just get over it and immerse myself in it. I enjoyed the commentary for the most part and thought their chemistry picked up in the main event, from the entrances onwards they had me chuckling quite a few times. However, the last 3/4 minutes I was not a fan of - I don't think we needed to be told what they think the outcome of Cody/Roman is going to be 84 times. I'm pretty confident Part 2 will be much more entertaining overall 👍

Adding to the discussion on the TV content, yeah I've kinda gone numb to the number of great match-ups that are just thrown away weekly on AEW with hardly any notice. A slightly younger me would be blown away that I get to see Edge v Pentagon next week, but instead of an intriguing and nasty little feud to build to a match, it will be very likely one-and-done with an obvious result. Boooo!

Just saw a video of AJ Styles and L.A. Knight having a scrap at a media event (not sure if the Threads link works here, but I'm sure you'll see it). Risking injury with the throws and being in among the chairs; the grabbing instead of pro wrestling punches; the awkward stalemate in the middle that most normal fights probably have; the blood at the end - I don't know what to make of it! https://www.threads.net/@prowrestlingfeed/post/C5YjvvJrXGT

I think some love should be given to the Chad Gable / Sami Zayn Rocky tribute, which I still think was missing something from being an all-time classic segment (some tongue-in-cheek comedy? More emotional music? Not sure), but I was entertained nonetheless and it got me more invested in the IC Title match this weekend. Good stuff.

Och aye the nooooo! I was pondering heading home for summer and this may push me there a little bit harder. There will be wild pitching for a Grado appearance as we speak

I only watched the CM Punk segment and the final segment and they were both really entertaining, worth catching. The Punk segment in particular had me laughing quite a few times, I'm sure you can guess who made it that way 😀