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"From out of the dark"

From Out Of The Dark

From out of the dark is a collection of 6 songs finished during the infamous Covid lockdown of 2020, drawing musical influences from many different genres and based on different themes close to my heart.

Some with a narrative, others about how I felt a particular junction in life, playing music, writing and recording songs has been a great outlet for me and helped me deal with and express myself in a productive fashion.

With no single genre over the six songs I decided to put them out as From out of the dark, to show how something good can come from the darkness. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed making them.

I appreciate so much all the friends and family who have helped critique these tracks ready for public consumption. Thanks also to my younger sister, Hannah, for providing her vocal talents and lyric writing on two of the songs.

Please listen below and follow me on all of my social networks using the links above.

Matt x

Favourites of 2017

Coming up to the new year the internet is ripe with posts about the best releases from the year, but for ordinary humans like us you may only be playing, reading or watching stuff that may have been out for some time already. So, here's a brief collection of my favourites from 2017. Let me know what you think!


Handheld Game - Metroid: Samus Returns


My favourite handheld game this year has definitely been on my trusty 3DS. Metroid: Samus Returns is a glorious homage to Metroid 2 on the game boy, utilising the same setting and story but with revamped graphics, sound and gameplay. New abilities and equipment keep the tried and tested Metroidvania gameplay fresh, and I found this really easy to dip in and out of after gaps away from playing. It's quite difficult in places especially with my big hands around the smaller form of the regular 3DS.


I also plumped for the collector’s edition with this game, which is an absolutely stunning package maintaining the homage to the Game Boy original by packaging the 3DS game with a download code for the Game Boy game and a Game Boy Cart steel case, as well as an art book, pin badge and Metroid collectible that I'm yet to open. Really worth the extra money.
Stunning to look at, especially in 3D, fun to play and really absorbing, this is a must for anyone's 3DS collection. 

Console Game - Dragon Age: Inquisition

I've played a lot of games this year after making more of an effort to do so, so this choice was hard but purely for hours wasted on a specific game I've opted for Dragon Age: Inquisition. Released in 2014 it's taken me a while to get around to this game, only starting it at the beginning of 2017. I'd really enjoyed the original Dragon Age so was looking forward to another good RPG to become engrossed with. I wasn’t disappointed.


Dragon Age really sucked me in to its main story, and there are many side stories that sort of tie in to the main tale, as well as a shed load of other side quests and stories completely unrelated. How you complete things can have direct impact on how relationships between characters develop and how the plot progresses, yet when RPGs normally do this I sometimes feel like I’m missing out from the choice I didn’t make, whereas Dragon Age absorbs you so fully I never felt this way. I enjoyed obtaining resources and quests from the War Table, exploring the different regions as they became available, developing equipment and places of residence, and the combat whilst strategic always feels action packed thanks to the need to execute your main attack manually whilst waiting for abilities to become available again. 


Even on my old PS3 it looks good, though it is very glitch. Nothing game ruining but you can tell the PS3 isn’t really cut out for the level of detail included in this game.
I know this won’t be for everyone, and it’s hard to dedicate the time needed to take everything you can from this game – I’m not sure I’ve really done it justice, but for hours put in and enjoyment obtained it definitely deserves this spot on my game of 2017.

Album – The Menzingers: After The Party



This album is so fun. It’s incredibly addictive and instils the desire to dance wildly which can only be a good thing.

Essentially a pop punk album for grownups; by musicians who are actually musical and some ace lyrics to boot. Catchy melodies and guitars with grunt, but never overly predictable. Recommended for the rock fans.

Gig - Kevin Devine: Birmingham Sunflower Lounge 12/07/2017


I’ve seen other gigs where I’ve had probably a better, more alcohol driven time, but I think this was the one where I was most impressed with the headline act.

Devine’s vocals can be downright haunting in a small venue like the Sunflower Lounge. His arrangements of his indie rock songs as simple acoustic numbers works for every single song and his performance was outstanding. He also seemed like a genuinely nice guy, chatting with the audience between numbers and never seeming arrogant or boring. Really beautiful human being.

Film - Ingrid Goes West


Because I’ve still not seen Star Wars, I’m going with comedy/drama Ingrid Goes West as my favourite film, where the excellent Aubrey Plaza plays a mentally unstable young woman who becomes infatuated with an Instagram account and attempts to make that life her own by moving westward to begin a relationship with the owner.

An excellent insight into mental health issues and the reliance we place upon social media, Ingrid Goes West is often hilarious, sometimes dark but always engrossing. Truly original.

TV Series – Archer


Can’t believe I’ve only discovered Archer this year, as it truly is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. Ever.

About a comically disorganised group of secret agents with various issues including alcoholism, drug misuse and sex addiction, Archer is really compelling to watch; nice and short episodes, an interesting cast of characters and it’s really well voiced throughout.

There are so many recurring jokes and the frequency of the hard hitters is relentless, often leaving you without sufficient time to regain your composure. If you’ve not seen this, go and pay for Netflix now. I mean right now. And watch all 9 seasons. You’ll thank me – promise!

BookThe Axeman’s Jazz by Ray Celestin



I’ve read A LOT this year, so narrowing down a favourite has been hard. I remember when reading the Axeman’s Jazz, a murder mystery set in New Orleans just as Blues music was erupting onto the scene, this story had so many unique, interesting and relatable characters and locations, as well as appealing on a musical level to me, I really struggled to put it down. If you like murder mysteries or even just blues music, check out my mini review and give this a go.

Board Game - Hare And Tortoise


I loved this fiendishly addictive and strategic race game! Instead of using dice to progress, you have to spend an amount of carrots; represented by cards. The more you spend the more you move, but run out too quickly and your progress will quickly be hindered.

You also need to get rid of 3 lettuce cards on your way around, only doable on certain squares. There are only certain ways to regain carrots requiring moving to certain squares and a good level of patience. Then, to mix things up there are hare squares, where you pick up what is essentially a chance card, which could help or hinder you. One for the risk takers in your game group!

Great for families or friends, this was a really nice surprise upon playing and I’d recommend to anyone who has a little knowledge of some of the more unusual games, but after one play through you’ll be chomping the bit to play again! Ace stuff. 


Thanks for reading!

SuperPlay #48 Is Definitely Super! #RetroGaming #Nintendo


SuperPlay issue 48 is a collaboration between members of the original SuperPlay writers to mark the arrival of the new Nintendo SNES mini, released with October's issue of Retro Gamer magazine.

Fittingly, the cover is adorned for Fox McCloud from the Star Fox games, as one of the SNES minis oddities that hype was building for is the inclusion of Star Fox 2, originally axed for release on the original hardware due to ongoing changes in the gaming industry as a whole at the time. It's a lovely cover by Will Overton who also did a lot of the original art for the magazine originally.

The magazine goes on to look at the hardware of the SNES mini, and give a review of every title included on the console. Rather than review the games as they're remembered, the writers have reviewed the games from today's benchmarks, for example looking at the original Star Fox now is definitely more jarring an experience than the jaw dropping one it would've been back in '93.

Many that do hold the test of time are now firm staples in Nintendo's catalog; the Italian plummer's Super Mario World and his Lizard companion's Yoshi's Island both showing of Nintendo's skill at game design and pushing the hardware; Samus' Super Metroid shows how many of Nintendo's games set up genre defining staples still used to this day, such as power ups that allow for the further exploration of previously visited areas.

It's clear the writers here love the hardware and the games that are on it, but don't hesitate to give criticism where appropriate, for example Donkey Kong Country is reviewed at 77% where as the review from the time of release gave it a whopping 90%. 

Also mentioned are the games provided on the Famicom Mini, exclusive to Japanese owners, such as an entry in the now familiar Fire Emblem series, and a different version of Street Fighter 2. To finish, the magazine provides a list of omissions from the hardware which they'd very much like to see on a sequel to the hardware should Nintendo ever see fit to release one, including games such as the Donkey Kong sequels, TMNT: Turtles in Time and Pilotwings.

A lovely homage to the original hardware and a great way to celebrate the arrival of the SNES mini. For the many Nintendo Retro Gaming fans out there, this will be a must read.

Ace Waters arranges Gerudo Valley from Zelda: Ocarina Of Time

Ace Waters is a self-professed geek and a lover of music; specifically, synthesizers. In VGM music #124 Ace has arranged the theme from Gerudo Valley from Ocarina of Time. An ace video for musicians and lovers of Zelda alike. The arrangement is ace, with a mix of synthesizers including the use of the sound chip on the DMG-01 game boy and a moog; some hard rock guitar on a lovely looking PRS and some great additional instrumentation on a trumpet and saxophone. It’s heavy with the use of that distorted guitar yet combines surprisingly well with those electronic drum pad sounds. Excellent stuff.

Lots of lovely gear for the musicians out there... Click here to see the video


Why Handheld Zelda Beats Console Zelda - #RetroGaming #TwoGuysPlayingZelda

Handheld Zelda games are better than console Zelda games. It's just true. The immense scale of a grand and epic adventure typical of a Zelda game, squashed down into just as an exciting jaunt that fits in your pocket (almost, looking at you DMG-01) for you to play whenever you damn well please - how could this not be better than the equivalent half an hour bursts of game play you get after the inevitable family argument for control of the TV... 

2 rather fetching Triforce themed systems; the GBA SP and 3DS XL

Of course, the games are absolutely stellar quality too. And I don't mean 'for handheld games' but as video games in their own rights! Often, developers strip back the quality and features in a portable title due to a number of factors; maybe budget, hardware restrictions or simply time constraints during production. Nintendo never seem to do that, devoting just as sufficient resources to their mobile output as they do their home system catalog. Often, the fact that the games are releasing on a handheld give the developer a chance to experiment and flex their creative muscle. I truly believe the portable entries in the Zelda canon implement some truly unique features that make them superior to the adventures on their bigger brothers. 

Unusually, my first adventure teaming up with Link was not to the fabled lands of Hyrule, but instead to Koholint Island; a mysterious island protected by a sacred guardian known as The Wind Fish. It falls upon Link to navigate the island uncovering 8 musical instruments, which when played together will awaken the Wind Fish and allow Link safe passage from the island. With it's superb story, setting and amazing arsenal of equipment for link to use, not to mention one of the most satisfying trading sequences ever used within a Zelda game, the fact that such a comprehensive adventure should appear on the monochrome original Game Boy (and later to be gloriously re-imagined in colour in Link's Awakening DX). is truly astounding.

Link's Awakening DX added a much needed splash of colour to proceedings

Next we have 2 more games on the Game Boy Colour; Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons. 

Similar to Link's Awakening in looks and gameplay, the true innovations within this duo are contained with how Link goes about navigating the worlds of Hollodrum and Labrynna. In Oracle of Seasons, Link must change the season in order to access parts of the map - for example a pool of water in summer may obstruct Link's path, but in Winter the newly frozen ice enables him to pass safely. Likewise, in Oracle of Ages, Link can move between past a present, changing the environment around him. He may plant a seed in the past which becomes a behemoth of a tree to ascend in the present. They're both interesting mechanics adding something new to the already stellar formula, and Nintendo should be commended for releasing both games in tandem. 

Link plays the Harp of Ages to travel between eras

Oracle of Season's environments change through the seasons

Our next installment finds it's home on the Game Boy Advance. This time outsourced to Capcom, The Minish Cap feels like a different beast graphically, but the 32 bit GBA is well pushed to create a truly lush looking Zelda adventure. The level of detail and striking user interface really close the gap between the visual styles of the handheld and console adventures. 

Link shrinks to hang out with the Minish

Here we see the introduction of new items, sword upgrades and the ability to shrink down to the size of the miniature race known as the Minish. All of these features add to the already varied exploration methods in the Zelda handhelds, allowing Link to shrink himself, dig through terrain, fire himself up high and more to access previously unreachable areas. 

The introduction of Kinstones are also innovative; the collecting of two matching halves unlocking something in the overworld that Link must then go and seek out. 

We were then treated to Four Swords, a remake of A Link To The Past for the Game Boy Advance. I was never lucky enough to own this game originally, but this entry introduces multiplayer the world of Hyrule, allowing for you and three others to work in unison to complete the quest, yet adding a competitive element of who can collect the most rupees. 

Portable multiplayer action from four fashion conscious Links

With the drop of the Game Boy name replaced with the Nintendo DS, we received two entries on the dual screened wonder in the forms of The Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks. Both used a similar graphical style, using 3D graphics but maintaining a top down perspective.

Both added an element of transport to the adventure, with Phantom Hourglass requiring you to navigate the world using an up gradable boat, and Spirit Tracks as the name suggests has you using a steam locomotive to travel the world.

Though these were giant innovations for the handheld series, it's the unique control system where these entries really stand out. The games have all but knocked traditional button controls on the head in favor of an intuitive stylus control. All movement is controlled using the stylus, tapping and dragging on the lower screen to move Link around, swiping the screen to swipe the sword and drawing maps for weapons such as the boomerang marks their trajectory. It really is incredible stuff.

Using the stylus directs the path of the Boomerang on the DS

Additionally, a few nice features show Nintendo's consideration of the hardware they were using. Puzzles that had you physically close the DS clam-shell, or blow into the DS microphone to solve spring to mind. It's this attention to detail that really makes me believe the games are superior to their console counterparts. In fact, the DS games, Phantom Hourglass in particular, I think would be ripe as a 3DS remake, maybe as a swansong for the machine. This is probably a premature wish, though.

With the subsequent hardware updated to the realms of 3D (and then, bizarrely, back again to 2D with the 2DS) we had a remake of the console game Ocarina Of Time. Though admittedly a console entry for the Zelda canon, this transposition onto a handheld makes the game in my opinion infinitely times better. Not only has it been lovingly overhauled visually and audibly, but now you can take it with you! Grabbing the Master Sword on the train? The revamped water temple on holiday? Riding Epona around Hyrule Field on the loo? Incredible. This, and the later revamp of Majora's Mask show just how far Nintendo are able push forward and advance development on their portable machines.

The 3DS version of OOT had a major graphical overhaul

The latest canon entry the world have seen has also been on the 3DS, and arrived in the form of A Link Between Worlds. As a successor to A Link To The Past, ALBW similarly takes place across two worlds; Hyrule and Lorule (see what you did there, Ninty...) each maintaining a unique feel. Hyrule is lush and colourful whilst Lorule is darker and more menacing. Both really show what the 3DS is capable of graphically and the 3D effect really comes in to it's own with a number of perspective driven 3D challenges, for example, Link has the ability to merge into walls and slide through gaps from a side on perspective (a feature since purloined by Super Mario Odyssey on the Switch). When ascending levels in a tower, Link is fired right at your face via catapult.

Link merges into walls for some unconventional side scrolling action

Items in this adventure are not obtained chronologically, but are instead hired, allowing for alternative methods of game progression. Having access to one item may dictate you tackle a certain area first, and the financial element encourages exploration to keep your pockets ever full of Rupees. Of course, the equipment can be managed using the stylus, meaning no fiddly navigation of menu screens.


Finally, the 3DS brought us some more multiplayer action with the release of Triforce Heroes. Similar to Four Swords, Triforce Heroes unites 3 players either locally or over WIFI to work together to complete quests. The graphical style is similar to that of A Link Between Worlds and gameplay looks glorious in 3D.

This switch can only be activated when all 3 Links pile up

The gameplay involves a number of innovations. Firstly, the totem technique allows the Links to pick each other up creating a totem pole of Links. This leads to some fiendish multi tiered puzzle solving, for example certain switches might only be able to be struck in a Totem of 2 or 3 Links. Triforce Heroes also contains the feature to craft costumes for Link. These costumes then give our hero a variety of abilities, allowing players to think differently about their approach to questing. It's brilliant fun working as a team and dressing up your Link, and the online Colosseum is a great addition for longevity.

I hope then that you can at least understand the argument I make when I say I sincerely believe the handheld adventures to be better than the console ones. Don't get me wrong, a Zelda video game is pretty much better than any other video game. But because of their smaller homes, the teams behind the handheld catalog often have to try that much harder to make their titles stand out, pushing both the limits of the hardware and their creativity to produce some truly wonderful gaming experiences. Being able to play these masterpieces on the go is a stellar achievement for which everyone involved should be commended.

With the arrival of the switch Breath Of The Wild bridges that gap further still, making a true home gaming experience portable. I hope that with future installments Nintendo won't rest on their laurels and will continue to push the boundaries technically and creatively with the series. Of course, if history teaches us anything I shouldn't really be worried...

This post was written for Two Guys Playing Zelda and can be seen at http://twoguysplayingzelda.com/news/why-handheld-zelda-beats-console-zelda/

Thanks for reading!