8-Bit Girl

My Top Fictional Video Game Destinations

2019-03-03T13:13:00.003+00:00

Escapism is one of the best parts of a video game, and it is made even more satisfying when the world you are exploring in is beautiful. Video games often get a lot of criticism for their violence, but people also need to take a step back and realise just what a positive impact visiting beautiful fictional landscapes can have on people, too.

While my list could go on forever, I have decided to compile a list of just some of my favourite fictional video game destinations that I wouldn't mind visiting. Take a look below!

Whiterun

There's a lot of places in Skyrim that would be amazing to visit, but Whiterun has some truly stunning views. Whiterun is a major city in Skyrim, a major commercial hub that has plenty of foot traffic.

Animal Crossing

The Animal Crossing series is always been one of my go-to's when I just want to relax, or cheer myself up. Everything in the world is pleasant, pretty, and oh-so-cute! If I was able to, I could imagine myself spending my future retirement in a place like that.

Isle Delfino

A holiday destination for Peach and Mario in Super Mario Sunshine, Isle Delfino is such a sunny, pleasant looking place that I wouldn't mind spending a holiday on, either! Featuring a theme park, a sandy beach, a peaceful bay, a bustling plaza, fishing port, volcano, and a small village, there's plenty to do here.

Koholint Island

Like a lot of places on this list, it is best to imagine that you are visiting them after the bad guys have been taken care of (or, before they have arrived to cause mischief). The fictional dream land of Koholint Island in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening would be a beautiful place to visit! Framed by a massive egg atop Mount Tamaranch, it is made up of a quaint villages, swamp and pond areas, a beautiful beach, and prairies, and caves. I cannot wait to see how this all looks in the Switch remake!

Hyrule

Serving as the setting for many Zelda games, Hyrule is a beautiful land filled with deep forests, tall mountains, deserts, vast lakes, cities, villages, and temples. The landscape changes considering on where about's you are playing in the Zelda timeline, but the beauty remains consistent!

Albion

The land of Albion changes a fair bit throughout the Fable series, but one thing remains among each map - it is a pretty stunning place. From the cobbled streets of Bowerstone, to the gorgeous countryside of Oakfield, it would be wonderful to visit here.

Toussaint

Ah, Toussaint is definitely easy on the eye, and is perhaps the most picture-perfect place on this list, in my opinion. Included as a destination on The Witcher 3's 'Blood and Wine' DLC, Toussaint is famous for it's wines, so what better way to enjoy this beautiful landscape than to sit back and take it all in with a glass at hand?

Columbia

The first of two Bioshock destinations to feature on my list, Columbia is a stunning city in the sky that would be delightful to visit if the whole place didn't go to pot! The steampunk architecture, combined with the bright and breezy feel is rather pleasing.

Rapture

Taking away the splicers, and transporting it back to its heyday would make Rapture a pretty wonderful place to visit. The combination of glaring neon lights, a city infrastructure, and the natural beauty of the deep sea would be jaw-dropping to witness. Imagine staring out of the wide windows of one of the buildings you are in to see a massive blue whale swim past, for example?

Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley is a cute, quaint looking place that would be perfect to visit if you are looking to de-stress, escape a hectic lifestyle, and take some downtime.

What would your dream destinations be? Let me know on Twitter!

20 Movie Challenge - Day 8

2019-01-27T12:00:00.001+00:00

I love taking part in a 'tweet challenge' over on Twitter! Here's what I have been taking part in:

20 films that had an impact on you, for the next 20 days. Only post a pic. No film title or comment. #20MovieChallenge

Keep checking back to see all 20 of my choices, right here on the blog!

Day 8

20 Movie Challenge - Day 7

2019-01-26T12:00:00.001+00:00

I love taking part in a 'tweet challenge' over on Twitter! Here's what I have been taking part in:

20 films that had an impact on you, for the next 20 days. Only post a pic. No film title or comment. #20MovieChallenge

Keep checking back to see all 20 of my choices, right here on the blog!

Day 7

20 Movie Challenge - Day 6

2019-01-25T12:00:00.001+00:00

I love taking part in a 'tweet challenge' over on Twitter! Here's what I have been taking part in:

20 films that had an impact on you, for the next 20 days. Only post a pic. No film title or comment. #20MovieChallenge

Keep checking back to see all 20 of my choices, right here on the blog!

Day 6

20 Movie Challenge - Day 5

2019-01-24T20:30:00.003+00:00

I love taking part in a 'tweet challenge' over on Twitter! Here's what I have been taking part in:

20 films that had an impact on you, for the next 20 days. Only post a pic. No film title or comment. #20MovieChallenge

Keep checking back to see all 20 of my choices, right here on the blog!

Day 5

20 Movie Challenge - Day 4

2019-01-23T12:00:00.001+00:00

I love taking part in a 'tweet challenge' over on Twitter! A few days ago, I saw that Ron Howard had posted this:

20 films that had an impact on you, for the next 20 days. Only post a pic. No film title or comment. #20MovieChallenge

So, I thought I'd give it a go! Keep checking back to see my 20 choices.

Day 4:

The Animal Crossing Birthday Calendar is So Cute!

2019-01-23T09:00:00.001+00:00

Animal Crossing is one of my favourite series. It's a series I dip into frequently, as it never fails to make me smile, and is a fantastic game to play when you are looking for something relaxing, and less taxing. What can be more relaxing than talking to cute animals, and completing simple tasks like fishing, bug hunting, and fruit collecting?

I was happy to see that just before Christmas, Nintendo had released a printable Animal Crossing 'birthday calendar' on the My Nintendo store. Purchased for 80 Platinum Points, this calendar includes the birthdays of a collection of Animal Crossing villagers, so you can load up Animal Crossing New Leaf on any of these days, and help the villagers to celebrate their birthdays! Sent as a PDF, you'll then get the choice to print it out and create your own calendar - something I plan to do soon.

In the meantime, here's a few of the graphics and birthdays you'll see in a few of the months.

The calendar can be purchased with points on the My Nintendo store here.

20 Movie Challenge - Day 3

2019-01-22T20:37:00.003+00:00

I love taking part in a 'tweet challenge' over on Twitter! A few days ago, I saw that Ron Howard had posted this:

20 films that had an impact on you, for the next 20 days. Only post a pic. No film title or comment. #20MovieChallenge

So, I thought I'd give it a go! Keep checking back to see my 20 choices. Just a warning...there's a lot of Disney in there.

DAY THREE:

20 Movie Challenge - Day 2

2019-01-22T20:35:00.001+00:00

I love taking part in a 'tweet challenge' over on Twitter! A few days ago, I saw that Ron Howard had posted this:

20 films that had an impact on you, for the next 20 days. Only post a pic. No film title or comment. #20MovieChallenge

So, I thought I'd give it a go! Keep checking back to see my 20 choices. Just a warning...there's a lot of Disney in there.

DAY TWO:

20 Day Movie Challenge - Day 1

2019-01-22T20:32:00.001+00:00

I love taking part in a 'tweet challenge' over on Twitter! A few days ago, I saw that Ron Howard had posted this:

20 films that had an impact on you, for the next 20 days. Only post a pic. No film title or comment. #20MovieChallenge

So, I thought I'd give it a go! Keep checking back to see my 20 choices. Just a warning...there's a lot of Disney in there.

DAY ONE:

#MyPS4Life - My time on the PS4!

2018-12-16T17:32:00.001+00:00

Sony recently released 'My PS4 Life', a site where a video will be generated with interesting stats based on your time on the PS4 over the past 5 years.

Here's a few snippets of my video:

Unsurprisingly, The Witcher 3 took my top spot.

You can find your own here. Enjoy!

What I've Been Playing...

2018-12-16T17:10:00.002+00:00

It's been a while since I've blogged, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to do a round-up of what I'm currently playing! I find that lately, I get seriously invested in a game, then that becomes my 'go-to' game which I don't switch through for a while. However, there's still a few in this list I am trying to flit between. Check them out below.

The Witcher 3, PS4

So #MyPS4Life recently showed me that I've spent 99+ hours on The Witcher 3...and for good reason. While I'm a little slow on discovering this series (I started the third instalment earlier this year), it has easily become one of my favourite games of all time, and is easily the best experience I've had on the PS4 yet. I'm just at the end of the 'Blood & Wine' DLC, and have a bunch of side quests I can return to, but other than that, I've done the main stuff! And no...I've still yet to win a game of Gwent. Someone told me to watch a tutorial on YouTube which breaks things down more easily, so I'll be doing that at some point. If anyone has any useful tips for getting the hang of Gwent, please let me know...

Octopath Traveller, Nintendo Switch

So I've just jumped from one RPG straight into another one, and I'm loving this! At first the bosses seemed near impossible, but as I've gathered the other characters and levelled them up, it's become a lot more manageable. Octopath Traveller combines gorgeous graphics and a lovely score with some truly enjoyable gameplay. I'm 10 hours in, and am finding it a delight to unlock each character and follow their story. If you own a Nintendo Switch, then I highly recommend this one!

Castaway Paradise, PS4

As I await Animal Crossing's Nintendo Switch release, I've been playing through Castaway Paradise. While it isn't quite as cute and charming on the eyes as the Animal Crossing games are, the gameplay is pretty damn similar. I'm so close to grabbing a Platinum trophy on this one that I just keep returning to capture those final bugs and fish!

The Simpsons: Tapped Out, iOS

I'm not a mobile gamer, but this is the only mobile game I actually put some time into...in brief stints. The Simpsons: Tapped Out has been around for years, and is essentially a town builder. Yes, there's plenty of loot boxes and microtransactions, but I have got away with playing this without spending a penny. EA surprisingly are quite generous, and give a lot away for free, meaning I'm never not able to play. I'm on level 115 and my town is huge now!

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Nintendo Switch

I've been waiting for this for so long, so of course it was preordered! Smash Bros. Ultimate has been out over a week now, and myself and my husband are playing together to slowly but surely unlock each character in that gigantic roster. Nintendo have upped the ante with this one, and have

Stardew Valley, PS4

I've just returned to this today, as another game to dip in and out of when I am in need of something relaxing that doesn't require too much brainpower. Stardew Valley is such a charming sim-building game, and I've just adopted a cat in game, so this self-confessed cat lady was pretty happy about that.

So that's it! What have you been playing? Let me know in the comments, or on Twitter!

EXPECTO PATRONUM! | My 2nd Harry Potter Studio Tour visit

2018-11-11T14:13:00.002+00:00

Apologies for the delay with this! On the 6th of October 2018, myself and my husband visited the Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studio tour for our second visit. We had previously gone a couple years before, and he proposed to me there! We then returned to mark our 1st wedding anniversary.

Below, you can check out the YouTube video I put together of all of the photos and videos I took while we were visiting. If you cannot hear any sound, the video seems to be having some technical issues, but the music should be added to it shortly (hurry up, YouTube).

This is definitely a place that is worth visiting, so if you are a Harry Potter fan...go and check it out!

Review: Castaway Paradise

2018-07-31T13:20:00.002+01:00

Die-hard Animal Crossing fans have been begging Nintendo for a new addition to Nintendo's popular series for years now. Happy Home Designer, Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival, and the mobile game, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp tried to wet the appetite of fans, but ultimately, still left them wanting more.

Thankfully, Stolen Couch Games' Castaway Paradise does a pretty good job at filling the gap. But, is it enough? Keep reading to find out!

Originally launched on Facebook in 2014, followed by a mobile and Steam release the following year, Castaway Paradise finally made it onto the Xbox One, and PS4 on the 30th of July, 2018. Explaining their choice to release on console after so many years, developer Eric Diepeveen said: “Castaway Paradise on consoles was a no brainer. We haven’t seen many life simulators here, plus it’s great to give players the option to play the game on whichever platform they like!”

Like Animal Crossing, Castaway Paradise is a life simulation game that tasks the player with running, and building their own island. Centred around completing the islander's quests, these quests range from fetching items, making deliveries to other characters, fishing, catching bugs, or planting trees and plants. Completing these generates money and XP, which in turn is used to spend on furniture, clothing, items, and unlocking buildings. The quests can get a little samey, but they're pretty quick to complete, which leaves you with that extra money to spend on the island building part of the game.

If you like making little collections, then you'll probably enjoy the bug catching, and fishing elements. Rarer fish can be caught by purchasing fish food, and a leaderboard is constantly updated to show the top 10 players who have caught the rarest, and most impressive bugs and fish. I'm pleased to have made it to number 1 in the fishing leaderboards a few times! You'll be able to take a look through your collection in your inventory, to see how many critters and fish you've managed to collect. Later on as you progress the game and unlock new areas, you'll also be able to donate to the museum and keep this stocked up, too! As a bit of a completionist in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, I completely finished the museum, so it's a delight to get the opportunity to start this all over again.

As well as catching bugs and fish, you'll also get the opportunity to enhance your own house. At the beginning, you'll start off in a little tent (which is surprisingly big on the inside), but continue completing quests and selling items, and you'll gradually earn enough to upgrade this into a house. It's actually pretty satisfying upgrading your house and decorating it with items as you go, and I also equally enjoyed unlocking each business building as I gradually built up the money. The first I unlocked was Gustave's bakery.

Puzzle pieces are randomly earned when levelling up or completing quests. These are then used to unlock a piece of a puzzle on the notice boards for each locked area. Once you've gathered all of the pieces of a puzzle, the area becomes unlocked, and you're free to explore, meet the new characters, and continue unlocking buildings, and enhancing this part of the island.

Something that differs a little from Animal Crossing is the bank. While in AC, you'll be paying off bells to the ever-greedy Tom Nook, Castaway Paradise offers you the chance to invest in the bank in the form of stocks. When the stock market is on a good turn, your investments will gradually turn into profit (sort of like how the radish buying in AC worked). It's a nice little added bonus of cash for the ongoing investments you need to raise to improve your island.

The only areas I would say that Castaway Paradise doesn't rival Animal Crossing in is that the blocky graphics don't really hold the same cuteness and charm as AC. The music also gets incredibly repetitive, and after a while, I ended up turning it off altogether. As I have Spotify as an app on my PS4, I alternatively loaded up a playlist of Animal Crossing inspired music, followed by a bit of the Minecraft soundtrack, which better matched the relaxing gameplay that the music this title offers.

So in summary, I really enjoyed this game. Yes, the blocky graphics and characters aren't quite as charming as those in Animal Crossing, but the gameplay is pretty similar, so there's plenty here for an AC fan to enjoy. The trophies are also super-easy to unlock if being a completionist is your thing. It's definitely becoming one of my go-to 'shut off your brain and relax' games, and I'm determined to keep tweaking my island, and collecting all those bugs and fish!

Castaway Paradise is now available to purchase on both the Xbox One and Playstation 4.

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Throwback - Gaming with my Brother

2018-07-16T10:35:00.000+01:00

Us gamers can be pretty nostalgic people. We all look back wistfully at old gaming memories we still hold dear to us. Look at the reaction on Twitter when the Spyro the Dragon, and Crash Bandicoot remasters were confirmed - people who were playing this the first time around were delighting that a piece of their childhood was making a return.

So, this got me thinking about my fond gaming memories growing up. A lot of my gaming took place sitting next to my brother, handing the controller back and fourth to one another when either of us died in-game. I've brought my brother Jack on board for this one, so join us as we reminisce about a selection of games we both played through together, and loved!

Couldn't seem to find an old video game pic of us,
so here's me and Jack playing Incy Wincy Spider with our Dad instead!

Worms

8-Bit Girl: "The great thing about Worms is that although the graphics have evolved through the years, the format has stayed pretty much the same, yet it still works. As Jack said, Worms was the first PS One game we owned, and we spent an awful lot of time renaming worms, and battling it out."

Jack: "First PSOne game we owned and played. Was a surreal, but brilliantly unique idea for a game. Always loved the sheep bomb and the theme music. The one memory I do have was the game only supporting one controller so you had to keep passing the dualshock back and forth."

Mario Kart

8-Bit Girl: "Weird memory to start with, but I always remember our mum feeling seasick when we were spinning round and round on the Battle Mode and firing shells left, right and centre! Mario Kart is a fantastic series, and the SNES version got a LOT of plays in our house. I remember us really getting into Double Dash, when we were able to partner up as two characters in one cart. Jack tended to be the one throwing the items, and I was the designated driver!"

Jack: "Played the original on the SNES from day one and was hooked (especially battle mode, which we used to play together). Rainbow Road and the ghost levels were always the most challenging. The sequels that spurned from this were amazing too as they always added new features. Double Dash in particular enhanced the customisation of racers, allowing you to pick two characters per cart and allowing you to pick up multiple weapons. This was one of many games that made the Gamecube such an underrated console."

Super Smash Bros. Melee

8-Bit Girl: "Ah, this game. We pumped endless hours into collecting the trophies! I remember we also played through Smash Bros. Brawl together too, but it's Melee where my fondest memories lie. I believe we got pretty much every trophy in the end."

Jack: "Again, the Gamecube, a classic underrated console that deserved more accreditation. Melee was a brilliant Nintendo allstar beat em up, the addiction to collection all the trophies and fighting the creepy master hand boss was the most prominent memories I have of this game."

Donkey Kong Country, 1 & 2

8-Bit Girl: "The thing I remember the most about playing both of the SNES Donkey Kongs was the fact that we passed the controller between the two of us every time we died. We died a lot...so there was a lot of swapping back and fourth! I especially loved the mine cart levels, and those soundtracks...brilliant."

Jack: "Two brilliant games for the SNES and the first games to mark Donkey Kong as a hero. These games were challenging to say the least, but were innovative and way ahead of its time as the graphics, layout, and soundtrack were epic. I have since replayed the first one on the mini SNES and it hasn’t got any easier."

Super Mario World, All Stars, Sunshine

8-Bit Girl: "Like many Nintendo fans, Mario has always had a place in mine and my brother's collections, too. I admit, I am pretty terrible at most platformers, but the beauty of Mario games, is that although they can be challenging, they're also incredibly fun and charming, too. Super Mario World was one of the first games we got on the SNES. I remember our dad helping us through the trickier areas (he loved it too, by the way), but we often took turns to get throug them. Super Mario Sunshine was, and still is, one of my favourite Mario games. I know we got most of those sunshine stars when we played it together!"

Jack: "These in my opinion are the best Mario games around bar none, Super Mario World was our go to game growing up and caused so much stress and joy at the same time. This was the first SNES game we owned if i’m not mistaken. Super Mario All Stars was a great compilation game with a handful of Mario games, if we thought supermario world was hard this would take the title straight off it. Challenging and supplied hours of entertainment especially on boring sundays. Super Mario Sunshine was probably our favourite game on Gamecube, it was slick, challenging and damn right addictive. The style was completely different to other mario games and the Delfino Plaza music still gets stuck in my head to this day."

Crash Bandicoot

8-Bit Girl: "I've recently tried the remastered version, and it made me remember just how challenging, yet fun the Crash games were! The first game was one of the first games we picked up on the PS One. I remember we tried taking it in turns to get through levels, and loved that 'Hog Wild' level in particular!"

Jack: "I remember us going to the now defunct Comet (electronic megastore for all you kids out there) with our Christmas money and buying this and Tomb Raider. Crash was an inventive game and was quirky and damn right fun to play. Who can forget the classic theme tune either."

Tomb Raider

8-Bit Girl: "Jack's got this one spot on. We tried playing this as kids, and found it a little too challenging, and pretty spooky in places, too. Do you remember what some of those bosses looked like? They're terrifying! Still, it cemented my love of the Tomb Raider series in general. Along with our mum, we watched our Dad play through all the classic Tomb Raiders, so it became a bit of a family event!"

Jack: "This used to scare the crap out of us, whether it was bears, dinosaurs, demons or mummies, this game had it all. The levels and different environments were captivating to watch. We used to watch dad play this as we weren't good enough, and both scared to play it."

Toobin'

8-Bit Girl: "I recall that we discovered Toobin' as it was on a collection of retro games we had on the PS One. This one, along with Rampage, became our favourite games on the collection! Toobin' was pretty straightforward - you guide a man in a rubber ring along multiple themed rivers, avoiding enemies, and throwing cans to take them down. Some of the levels got a little creepy (for example, at one point, these swimshort wearing racers traverse along what looks like hell), but it's a lot of fun."

Jack: "A 2D game with the aim of guiding a man in a rubber ring down a river to avoid the obstacles. This was on a game we owned with other retro games, cant remember the name of the game now. Either way we used to play this loads, and loved throwing cans at obstacles down the river."

Mario Paint

8-Bit Girl: "I would honestly play another one of these if they ever brought it back! Mario Paint used a plug-in mouse, which allowed you to colour in Nintendo-themed pictures, draw your own, complete mini-games (the bizarre fly swatting one I remember a lot), and create music. There's still people today on YouTube that use the music maker to create their own tunes. I loved this!"

Jack: "Proof Nintendo has always been experimenting with gaming since day one. we pumped hours upon hours into mario paint and the fact a game used a mouse and pad for you to create Nintendo themed art pieces was captivating and mind blowing for us 90s kids."

Aladdin

8-Bit Girl: "Along with the Spider-Man games on Gamecube, this is one of my favourite movie-to-game adaptations, hands down...and not just because I'm a Disney fangirl. Aladdin was genuinely a brilliantly executed game. I remember the music, and replaying the 'A Whole New World' level repeatedly, too."

Jack: "The classic Disney film on SNES, this game was one of the few movie adapted games that actually was really good. The game was very tough, and had great sound effects. I remember most the final fight with Jafar as a snake, and getting help from dad to complete it."

Zoo Tycoon

8-Bit Girl: "We put so many hours into this game! I loved the dinosaur expansion, but I also loved the little easter eggs you could discover. I remember accidentally discovering you could create mermaids if you put a mermaid statue into a water exhibit. I've since played the Xbox One version, but it just didn't have the same level of charm as the PC versions did."

Jack: "We had the game on PC with all the expansions. This game was amazing, and especially the fact you could have dinosaurs in it too. We put many hours into making the perfect zoo and stopping all the animals from breaking out. This was another game with a great, catchy theme tune."

Virtual Springfield

8-Bit Girl: "We played this so much! Virtual Springfield let players explore some of the Simpsons characters homes, as well as key locations seen in the episodes (like Moe's, for example). Point and clicking at different objects caused them to animate, and it was genuinely pretty funny."

Jack: "Another game when we played on the computer, this game was brilliant as we were hardcore Simpsons fans, and the walk around Springfield and interacting with the characters was so good."

The Simpsons Wrestling

8-Bit Girl: "I agree with Jack, the graphics look so dated in today's standards, but this was pretty fun. Each character had their own signature moves, and I remember playing as Bumblebee Man with his little nipping dog a fair amount."

Jack: "Another classic Simpsons game. I used to love playing as Groundskeeper Willie and Barney Gumble. The graphics looking back are awful, but the gameplay was hilarious."

The Simpsons Cartoon Studio

8-Bit Girl: "Everyone loves a freebie, and this one was a pretty damn good freebie! We created a lot of cartoon shorts, and as kids, it made us crack up."

Jack: "A game we got free with PC Ace, this was basically a game where you got to create your own Simpsons short episode. We used to use the feature that made Mr Burns fly and made him say; “Look at me I’m a birdy!”"

Crazy Taxi

8-Bit Girl: "There was something about this game that was just so fun. Fun, frantic driving set to a pretty decent soundtrack, it's worth a play if you haven't tried it before!"

Jack: "A game we got free with the ps2, this was a great arcade game, and was fast paced and tense. We used to love The Offspring song “All I Want” featured in this."

Tekken 2

8-Bit Girl: "I remember we picked this up on the fly during a shopping trip, not really knowing anything about Tekken beforehand. Like a lot of serious beat-em-ups, it's got a bit of a learning curve, but I remember we loved playing against one another a lot!"

Jack: "Another game we picked up cheap from Comet. This game had us button bashing and hoping to get a lucky manoeuvre in. There were many classic characters in this game with their own special moves. I always liked Jack-2, whilst you always went for Paul Phoenix."

Soulblade

8-Bit Girl: "The thing i remember most about this was the great intro and the theme tune. Soulblade was our first introduction into the world of Soulcalibur, and we loved it! There was quite a variety of pretty odd fighters. Voldo was so creepy!"

Jack: "Another Tekken-esque fighter, soulblade was basically a medieval Tekken. I remember we got this game free with the Special Reserve game membership dad was subscribed to." *

*I just reminded Jack that Soulblade was the predecessor to SoulCalibur, but we'll take 'medieval Tekken', too! :P

Croc

8-Bit Girl: "Quite similar to Spyro, Croc was a bit of a forgotten gem...probably because people decided to embrace the more popular Spyro instead. Croc himself was super-cute, and the levels are colourful, and pretty fun to complete. Shame it never really took off!"

Jack: "Good old adorable Croc. Probably the most lovable game character around, one of the earliest PSOne games we had, and it was an absolute treat. A classic platformer that captivated us from the start. A franchise that deserved more games."

Spyro

8-Bit Girl: "We only owned Spyro 2, although I've definitely played a little of the others around friends back then, but I've never completed them! I loved Spyro 2 a lot though, we did manage to get through this by taking turns together. Looking forward to revisiting this, and the others in the upcoming remaster!"

Jack: "If I recall correctly, we only ever played the second one? We were hooked on getting as many orbs in this game as possible. This was a standout platformer, and I can't wait for the remaster later this year. I remember how annoyed we would get when the character Moneybags would ask for gems, so we could advance on in the game."

And one last thing...

Jack: "Gaming has been an important part of our childhood, and has supplied us with many memories. The gaming journey is ongoing, and it's always nice to go back to the games that got us into the beautiful world of gaming."

Cosplaying as Vincent Vega, and Minnie Mouse

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My Favourite Video Game Songs - Part 1

2018-07-15T19:30:00.000+01:00

A few days ago, I decided to share a picture on Twitter, which prompted people to drop a like on the tweet, and in exchange, I'd share my favourite video game songs for each like.

I've done a few music lists in the past that focused on game series such as The Legend of Zelda, but I've never done a list of songs I love from gaming in general.

So, keep reading, and check them out...in no particular order!

Dragon Roost Island - The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

Like all Zelda games, Wind Waker has a fantastic soundtrack! 'Dragon Roost Island' is by far my favourite in the game. I love that sense of adventure you get just by listening to it.

Lullaby Set - Braid

One of my favourite game soundtracks, Braid's music really fits with the emotional feeling the game portrays. 'Lullaby Set' is my favourite from the game - that piano, giving way to violins is so pretty sounding!

Neverending Journey - Lost Odyssey

One of my favourite games, which makes it pretty high up in my list of RPGs, Lost Odyssey is an underrated gem of a game, with a fantastic Nobuo Uematsu composed soundtrack. There's a bunch from this soundtrack that I could've chosen, but 'Neverending Journey' is by far my favourite. I love the folky beginning, which gives way to a pretty awesome guitar section.

Marcus Memorial - Fable II

Another game that's high up in my 'favourite games of all time' list, Russell Shaw leant his hand to composing a a hell of a lot of music for the Fable series, but Fable II's soundtrack is his strongest point, in my opinion. Check out the rather calming 'Marcus Memorial'.

Delfino Plaza - Super Mario Sunshine

I loved Super Mario Sunshine! This was by far one of my favourite games I owned on the Nintendo Gamecube. Bright, cheery, and oh-so-much fun, Sunshine benefited from an equally breezy soundtrack, too. How can you not smile when listening to 'Delfino Plaza'?

Stickerbrush Symphony - Donkey Kong Country 2

One of the games I have the most fond memories of playing with my family when I was a kid, Donkey Kong Country 2 successfully manages to improve on it's predecessor, by adding in a wider variety of levels, as well as a fantastic soundtrack. For me, 'Stickerbrush Symphony' was one of the strongest!

Tal Tal Heights - The Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening

The first Zelda game I ever played, Links Awakening was pretty weird, but a great play. Marooned on a dream island, Link's task was to wake up the Wind Fish from his slumber, so that the world can escape his nightmare. 'Tal Tal Heights' plays upon Link's ascent to the top of the mountain where the Wind Fish is sleeping.

Build Mode - The Sims

The Sims has always had catchy music in its loading screens, buy and build modes, but they never quite beat the tunes on offer in the original. Such as 'Build Mode'. Give it a listen!

A Friend Since Gone - Tomb Raider

Big Tomb Raider fan right here! The original games were littered with brief musical interludes, composed by Nathan McCree. Kicking in after certain areas were triggered, it was a pleasure to kick around and listen to the whole piece before moving on. 'A Friend Since Gone', from Tomb Raider I, is by far one of my favourites!

Nascence - Journey

Devoid of any real narrative and dialogue, Journey is a beautiful and emotional game, that has an equally emotional soundtrack from Austin Wintory to boot. Give Nascence a listen...it's lovely.

Take Us Back - The Walking Dead (Season 1, Episode 5)

Playing in the end credits after *sniff* Lee's death, I was blubbering away when the credits fell and Alela Diane's track was playing. Now whenever I listen to it, I can't help but picture that end scene between Lee and Clem...

Overworld - Dragon Quest series

I was first introduced to the Dragon Quest series when my parents bought me 'Dragon Warrior Monsters' for the Gameboy. It quickly became one of my favourite games, and even to this day, I still have so many fond memories of it. The Overworld music pops up in multiple iterations in the series.

Silent Hill - Silent Hill Downpour

I'll admit I've never been able to venture far into the Silent Hill series, mainly because they terrified me. But...the music has been pretty good! I'm a Korn fan, so Jonathan Davies' contribution to the Silent Hill Downpour soundtrack was a welcome one. Shame the game wasn't supposed to be great, though!

One Step Ahead - Aladdin

It's probably pretty obvious if you follow me on social media, that I'm a bit of a Disney fangirl. Aladdin was one of my favourites as a kid (actually...it still is), and I was thrilled to get a copy of Capcom's SNES version of the film.

I've included a link to this whole soundtrack because I feel that you should go on a bit of a nostalgia trip, but the one that seems to stick in my head the most was 'One Step Ahead'.
------------- As I have so many songs that I love from video games, I felt it was best to divide this up, rather than pop everything into one huge blog. So, keep an eye out for part 2 (and potentially, subsequent parts after this) at some point! In the meantime, happy listening.
What are your favourite video game songs? Let me know in the comments!
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E3: My Best In Show - Part 2

2018-06-18T08:48:00.002+01:00

I'm back, for part 2 of my 'best in show' posts for 2018's E3! Part one included a staggering amount of games that caught my attention...so much so, that it made sense to split this into two sections.

Part 2 covers Microsoft, Ubisoft, Sony, and Nintendo.

Keep reading to see what my favourite reveals were!

Microsoft

Showing off 50 games, 18 exclusives, and fifteen world premieres, the Microsoft conference packed an awful lot of games into their time slot, making them my overall E3 winner...which was a genuine surprise. Here's a few of the stand-out games I'm looking forward to trying out.

Halo: Infinite

Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Sea of Thieves - Cursed Sails and Forsaken Shore

We Happy Few

Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course

Tunic

Jump Force

Battletoads

Gears 5

Cyberpunk 2077

Ubisoft

So, you Twitter folk voted Ubisoft as your favourite conference on a poll I ran on Twitter (check out the full results here!), and I've gotta admit...they did put up a pretty decent show. Anticipated titles including the recently leaked Assassins Creed Odyssey, along with Beyond Good and Evil 2 both made an appearance.

Beyond Good & Evil 2

Trials Rising

Skull & Bones

Transference

Assassin's Creed Odyssey

Starlink: Battle for Atlas

Sony

Although there weren't many exclusive surprises, Sony brought to the table a decent offering of both exclusives, and third-party titles...with a few new intriguing IPs thrown into the mix.

The Last of Us: Part II

Ghost of Tsushima

Control

Resident Evil 2

Death Stranding

Nioh 2

Spider-Man

Nintendo

Nintendo closed out the E3 press conference list with their brief Direct. Yet again, I sat hoping for an Animal Crossing announcement and didn't get one, so there was a little bit of disappointment felt from myself. However, the show focused a great deal of time on Super Smash Bros Ultimate, which at least generated considerable hype. Here's my top picks:

Super Mario Party

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Super Smash Bros: Ultimate

Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee

Hollow Knight

Nintendo also confirmed Fortnite was coming to Switch, new Xenoblade 2 DLC, and a Splatoon 2 expansion...but the above were the games I was most interested in!

Check out Part 1 here.

Now...where do I find the time to play this lot?

E3: My Best In Show - Part 1

2018-06-15T14:58:00.001+01:00

2018's E3 is almost drawing to a close, and we've now seen each game companies conference. Some were better than others, but it's safe to say that a broad variety of games were revealed across the platforms.

What were the games that stole the show? Join me as I share my favourite confirmed games, in each of the conferences from some of the gaming industries biggest players. Any games featured more than once across conferences have only been featured in this list the once...to stop repetition!

EA's conference in my opinion was the weakest of the bunch, and a lot of the games they covered, I'm not really interested in playing (Battlefront and The Division 2, for example). However, there were a few titles that I was pretty pleased to see in their upcoming roster.

Unravel Two

Sea of Solitude

Square Enix

Super-brief, this 30-minute conference from Square Enix provided a bunch of trailers for some familiar faces, such as Just Cause 4 and Kingdom Hearts 3, but also some brand new announcements, in the way of Babylon's Fall, and The Quiet Man, for example.

Babylon's Fall

The Quiet Man

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age

The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit

Kingdom Hearts 3

Octopath Traveller

Bethesda

Rage 2

The Elder Scrolls: Legends

Doom Eternal

Fallout 76

Fallout Shelter

The Elder Scrolls: Blades

Starfield

The Elder Scrolls VI

Check out Part 2 here!

A Love Letter to Terrace House

2018-05-28T17:51:00.001+01:00

I've never been a fan of reality shows, so when my husband told me he had heard that Terrace House, a Japanese reality show, was supposed to be good, I admit at first I wasn't too sure it would appeal to me.

Boy, I was completely wrong. A popular, long-running series in Japan, Netflix picked it up for Western audiences, and has so far streamed the following seasons:

Terrace House: Boys & Girls in the City

Terrace House: Aloha State

Terrace House: Opening New Doors

At first glance, it might appear that this is 'Big Brother set in Japan', but there's a completely different vibe in Terrace House. For starters, there's no real conflict (unless you can count the 'meat incident', where a member's gift of meat was cooked up for dinner without their permission), everything feels considerably more pleasant. The majority of the people featured are genuinely polite and easy to like individuals, and there's something pretty relaxing about the whole thing.

So what is it exactly about Netflix's sleeper hit that makes this so appealing? For me, it's due to the following reasons...

1. A More Subdued Side of Japan

Japan is famous for it's wacky gameshows, neon lights, anime and manga lifestyle, and eye-catching fashions, as seen in places such as the wonderful fashion district of Harajuku.

However, Terrace House takes a step back from this, and shows you a more subdued, 'everyday life' side of the country. In the show, viewers follow the members as they go about their daily life, whether that be at work, pottering about at home, or socialising outside. While 'Aloha State' transported the show to Hawaii, the other two Netflix seasons that are currently available are set in Japan. Both the setting, and the house are absolutely gorgeous. Because of this, watching is quite a delight.

2. That Comforting, Relaxed Feeling

Reality TV shows that throw together a bunch of strangers under one roof are normally filled with drama, and arguments. These people are often purposely totally different from one another to encourage that. While some people might love this conflict, to me at least, I just find it a little dull. On the flip-side, Terrace House might seem a little too tame for viewers who are used to seeing a fight kick off. There's something weirdly comforting and relaxing about watching a group of 20-something people quietly get along with life in the same house. There's hardly any arguments, and when there are rare moments of upset, it blows over pretty quickly.

3. The Hosts

Presented by You, Reina Triendl, Yoshimi Tokui, Azusa Babazono, Ryota Yamasato, and Kentaro, these Japanese actors and comedians fill the audience in with their thoughts on what's just been seen at regular intervals. A lot of their conversation is genuinely funny, and truly enhances the show. They often help to break down exactly what happened, which is particularly useful for viewers outside of Japan, who might find a reference or two during the show has flown over their heads. Without them, Terrace House wouldn't be half as good!

4. It's Really Easy to Invest In

I don't speak or read Japanese (although I'd love to), and any non-Japanese speaker will find that it's best to focus attentions on the subtitles. This isn't a show that you can scroll through social media on your phone at the same time. Missing subtitles means that you're quickly out of the loop, and this show benefits from full attention at all times. It's quite nice to find a show that you can simply close off any distractions, and fully immerse in, simplistic, mundane conversations and all.

5. It's Real

Unlike most reality TV shows, Terrace House is unscripted, and the members are allowed to go about their daily lives freely without any interruptions. The unscripted setup leads to more genuine conversations, and the blossoming relationships, which often take far longer than they would in other reality shows, feel more natural.

6. The Food

The members of Terrace House cook, or eat out a lot. You'll see plenty of delicious bowls of ramen, sushi and other Japanese cuisine throughout the seasons. I love Japanese food, and it never fails to make me hungry!

7. The Romance

There's something a lot more refreshing, and innocent about the romances in Terrace House. Love often takes quite some time to flourish into a proper relationship, and half of the enjoyment of this show comes from the whole element of 'will they, won't they'. In Terrace House, we get to see the members head out on dates, and slowly hook up. While not all relationships have continued for long outside of the house, it's still nice to see that some of the shows couples are still going the distance, long after their time on the show had finished!

The Saddest Songs in Disney & Pixar Movies

2018-05-13T12:11:00.003+01:00

Disney and Pixar are known for their emotional moments in film, and often these moments are connected by a song. Fresh off the heels of Coco's Best Original Song Oscar win for 'Remember Me', it got me thinking about the saddest songs in Disney and Pixar films, so join me as I count down what, in my opinion, are the saddest, sweetest musical moments.

'Remember Me': Coco

This song had me bawling my eyes out in the cinema. Remember Me crops up several times in Coco, but it's the final version sung by Miguel and his grandmother in the movie that got myself, and practically everyone else in the cinema, shedding a tear.

Coco is a film that resonates with so many of us. It introduces children to the idea of love, loss, and the concept of death in such a heartwarming, appropriate way.

'Baby Mine': Dumbo

Conveying the love between the adorable baby Dumbo and his locked-up mother, 'Baby Mine' is a mix of sweetness and sadness.

'I Will Go Sailing No More': Toy Story

Poor Buzz! After spending part of the movie adamant that he was a real and not a toy, the realisation that Woody's repeated claims that 'you are a toy!" was the truth hits him...literally, in Randy Newman's 'I Will Go Sailing No More'.'

'When Somebody Loved Me': Toy Story 2

Another sad Toy Story moment! Coming from Toy Story 2, Jessie sings 'When Somebody Loved Me' to explain how toys are just tossed to the side and forgotten about when their owners get older.

'Someone's Waiting for You': The Rescuers

This one is equal parts cute, and sad! 'Someone's Waiting for You' from The Rescuers is sung to the sweet little orphan, Penny, while she's upset. The lyrics will resonate with anyone who's suffering with loneliness, or a loss of love:

"Be brave little one

Make a wish for each sad little tear

Hold your head up though no one is near

Someone's waiting for you

Don't cry little one

There'll be a smile where a frown used to be

You'll be part of a love that you see

Someone's waiting for you"

'Reflection': Mulan

A lot of Disney's saddest songs deal with the idea of rejection, or not being accepted for who the character really is. Mulan is an excellent example of this. After embarrassing herself when she was supposed to bring honour to her family, Mulan breaks into 'Reflection', a beautiful ballad where she ponders on the girl she sees 'staring straight back at me' in the reflection of the water.

'God Help the Outcasts': The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Like 'Reflection', 'God Help the Outcasts' is another song conveying the emotions of those who don't quite fit in in society. Sung by the gypsy Esmerelda as she's seeking sanctuary inside Notre Dame, it's a pretty sad song sung from the heart, where she pleads to God to help 'the outcasts, the poor, and downtrod.'

'One Jump Ahead (Reprise)': Aladdin

Sensing a pattern, here? Sung by Aladdin after being sneered at by a Prince visiting the palace, the slower reprise of the catchy 'One Jump Ahead' sees Aladdin lament on how people only ever see him as a 'riffraff, street rat', but he's so much more than that.

Any other sad Disney and Pixar songs you can think of?

Let me know in the comments!

Visiting Ichibuns, London!

2018-04-03T12:38:00.003+01:00

Ever since returning from my Honeymoon in Japan in October last year, I've been missing that amazing food myself and my husband devoured during those two weeks away. We've tried re-creating ramen, noodle bowls, and Japanese curries ourselves at home, and although it was still tasty, it wasn't quite up to authentic cooking standards we had tried before out and about in Japanese restaurants.

A few friends had recommended Ichibuns, a restaurant based in London's bustling Chinatown. Encompassing a mixture of sushi, udon bowls, and burgers as their mains, Ichibuns seemed like an eatery that served the food that our tastebuds crave ever-so-often.

The Look

The restaurants exterior includes a striking and colourful Japanese front, which continues once seated inside.

Inside contained vibrant walls, adorned with Japanese artwork and vintage posters, framed mangas, wooden cargo boxes lined with plants, and boxes of toys.

Also..they have Japanese automated toilets, complete with heated seats and self cleaning!
Disclaimer: I wasn't on the toilet when I took this photo in the bathrooms :P

So they succeeded in the decor, but how was the food?

The Food

Oh, we weren't disappointed. Service time was super-quick, and after a brief wait, we were seated with our food and drinks of choice. Here's what we grabbed:

Casey had: Wagyu Niku Udon, a wagyu steamed bun, and hot sake (served in a science beaker!)

I had: Curry Chicken Udon, a wagyu steamed bun, and a Vanilla Miso Milkshake.

We both thought the food was delicious. The udon noodles were thick, the meat was tender, and the broth was tasty. Personally, the steamed buns was my highlight. When we were travelling in Japan, I often grabbed steamed buns, either for lunch or breakfast, and it was honestly one of the tastiest things I had ever tasted. Ichibuns steamed buns were delicious, and came with a tub of spicy miso sauce for dipping. I had a taste of the sake which admittedly, could've been a little warmer for my liking, but it was a refreshing accompaniment to the food. My vanilla milkshake tasted pretty strong, but in a good way. That vanilla essence mixed with the ice cream was so good.

Apologies for the angle, but zoom in and take a look!

We were too full for dessert, but desser includes mochi ice cream, apple crumble, a coco noshi (a vegan icecream made from coconut water), green tea, and vanilla ice cream. As well as the aforementioned sushi, burgers and udon bowls, you've also got the choice of gyoza dumplings small bites such as their popular wagyu cheeseburger harumaki, and sides such as tempura.

The drinks menu is pretty comprehensive, including tea, juices, milkshakes, cocktails and mocktails, wine, beers, whisky, gin, and sake.

So if you're looking for a great restaurant in London that serves up Japanese food, then try out Ichibuns! I'll be hopefully returning again at the end of the month for my 30th birthday, and no doubt would visit again in the future.

Check out Ichibuns here:

Things We Want from Sea of Thieves

2018-03-28T13:45:00.003+01:00

Lately, I've been plunging into the world of pillaging with my husband and two friends. While we've been having great fun sailing the seas together, there's no denying that Sea of Thieves could do with a bit more content, to keep it fresh.

This got us talking about what we'd like to see if we had the choice to add a little more to the game. Here's what we came up with as a group!

More Quest Types

This is the area where reviews have been a little critical on - the lack of differing quest types. Sea of Thieves involves island hopping to dig up chests, grab skulls, and raid barrels for the ships supplies. While they're all great fun when playing with a group, it also becomes repetitive.

More quest types will broaden the game, and keep things refreshing. Of course, pirates are known for their plundering, so an element of gathering treasure will be emphasised in most quests, but there must be different ways to convey this, other than following a map to buried treasure, or shooting down some skeletons. A story mode, even if it's short, would be ideal for players who prefer sailing the seas solo, plus it also adds that extra dimension to the game.

We all felt that more puzzle-based quests that involve a bit of co-operation between players to solve, and booby-trapped treasure that springs open enemies when you least expect it would keep players on their toes.

NPC Boats

One thing we all agreed on was that the player-vs-player ship battles are quite satisfying, especially when things fall in your favour. However, not everyone likes battling one another. The introduction of the odd NPC ship not only provides another angle to grab treasure, but it also fills the hole for those of us looking for a bit more open-sea combat.

Also, the ghost ship players are sent to temporarily when they die has such a great design to it. We all agreed that seeing these on the sea during the night time occasionally would offer a spooky additional encounter. Like the Kracken, these encounters could happen sporadically, without any prior warning, and could offer additional spooky treasures that could earn you a decent amount of gold.

Friendly Pirate Island

It'll be nice to have a friendly area in Sea of Thieves that pirates can flock to and talk, without the combat, and thieving. We pictured it as an area like Pirates of the Caribbean's Tortuga, where pirates can knock back grog in the bar, swap stories, and the like. While some people might find this is a little dull, it's a good opportunity for people to talk to like-minded players, and potentially form a crew if they're lacking in shipmates.

Leading on from this, Ross put forward the idea that building your own Armada would be great fun, and an area such as the 'friendly pirate island' would help to achieve this.

Different Enemy Types

So far, Sea of Thieves enemy encounters encompass three different types - other players, skeletons, or the Kracken. To give it a little bit of variety, we all discussed the different enemy types that we'd love to see. Legendary pirates, both rising from the dead as ghostly apparitions, and those around us in-game would be fantastic. While it's probably not possible to encompass pirates from other franchises (licenses are complicated, expensive things), we'd love to see Rare create their own legendary pirate captains, or lift from historical pirates from the past, such as Mary Read, and Blackbeard.

Skeletons don't have to be the main enemy, here. Other pirates, visiting Davy Jones' Locker, giant whales, octopuses, sea serpents, and fighting aboard the Flying Dutchman are a few suggestions we threw out there.

More Customisation

While the game currently offers clothing and ship customisations that can be purchased with your well-earned gold, it would be great to increase the options available. More hairstyles and colours, different ship customisations, tweaked weapons, and so forth, would help every player to create a greater personalised pirate, and a standout ship.

Throwback Thursday - Once a Disney kid, always a Disney kid

2018-03-15T12:00:00.001+00:00

I love stumbling across old photos! Well, at least the ones where I don't seem to be sporting questionable fashion sense, or dodgy haircuts, anyway.

So, this Throwback Thursday's post, I thought I'd keep it short and simple, and share this photo of an 8 year old me, cosied up in my colourful Pocahontas bedsheets.

I absolutely loved Pocahontas when it was released! It's also sweet to look back on, because my love of all things Disney hasn't decreased as I've got older. I turn 30 next month, and I still get that rush of excitement when it comes to taking a Disneyland trip (I've made it to the Paris and Japan parks so far!), as well as that feeling of happiness whenever I stick a Disney film on at home. There's something about them that I've always connected to, and I find that Disney films are my 'happy place' whenever I'm not feeling great, either physically, or mentally. Also, I'd still rock that Pocahontas duvet set, if I could! 😋

My Top 5 Disney Films

1. The Little Mermaid

2. Aladdin

3. Beauty & the Beast

4. Tangled

5. Sleeping Beauty

...Pocahontas still made it into my top ten.

When I got married last year (1st October, 2017), my husband and I had a Beauty and the Beast wedding cake, designed by our good friend Bex and her mother!

Finally, as a little added Throwback Thursday bonus, enjoy this super-cheesy, but oh-so-nostalgic Disney Sing Along Songs video that I watched countless times as a kid!

Throwback Thursday: PC Ace

2018-02-15T12:00:00.001+00:00

It's Throwback Thursday, the time so many of us love to wax nostalgic about old memories of things we love from our past. This week, I've been reminiscing with my brother about a magazine we used to subscribe to as kids - PC Ace.

Aimed at kids between the ages of 10 and 14, PC Ace was a magazine published by Eaglemoss Publications, between 1999 and 2001. This educational magazine aimed to provide tips and tricks for kids on how to operate a computer. There's not really much about this magazine online, but I did manage to track down a scanned portion of one issue, which you can see below.

100 issues were released in the UK, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, on a weekly basis. They were divided up into different technical sections, which also included activities, and letters. Most issues included a CD-ROM, which was either an computer game, or an educational program.

Unfortunately, I cannot remember the whole list, but my brother managed to recall a bunch (thanks, Jack!). Check out some videos of the games that were bundled in with this magazine below.

Interstate '76 Nitro Riders

My Teacher is an Alien

Virtual Safari

Eyewitness Children's Encyclopedia

The Simpsons Cartoon Studio

My Favourite Romantic Films

2018-02-14T12:00:00.001+00:00

Happy Valentines Day!

Whether you celebrate this (admittedly, very commercial) occasion or not, I thought it was the best time to share my top 10 romantic films. I've always had a soft spot for rom-coms, and have quite my fair share of them in my blu-ray collection at home.

My list includes a few renowned classics, as well as a few of my own different ones, too. Check them out below!

10. Get Over It

While the critics pretty much panned it, I've always had a soft spot for Get Over It. Loosely based on Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', this high-school comedy followed a fairly predictable story of a high school kid who desperately tries to win back his ex-girlfriend by joining the school play that she and her new boyfriend are performing in. Filled with cheesy musical numbers, and pretty funny scenes, this ones a bit of a guilty pleasure for me.

Favourite quote: "She was the first girl to see me naked. Granted we were 7 years old at the time, but I had a feeling, even then. There's really something about the first girl you play doctor with. Maybe it's cosmic or something. Or perhaps it's just that she's seen your package and didn't run away screaming. Whatever it was, Allison and I were made for each other. A perfect fit. So, when her family moved away, I knew that some day, some how, fate would bring us back together."

9. The Notebook

Based on the book of the same name by Nicholas Sparkes, The Notebook often makes people's 'top romantic film' lists, because that's what it is - romantic. The film is narrated from present day by a man to a fellow nursing home resident. Heading back to the past, it tells the love story between Noah and Allie. Spoilers aside, the film ends on a bittersweet, sob-fest.

Favourite quote: "So, it's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be really hard; we're gonna have to work at this everyday, but I wanna do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, everyday. You and me... everyday."

8. Splash

Ever since I was a little girl, I've loved mermaids, so it was pretty obvious that I would fall in love with Splash, too. Starring Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah, it followed the story of a man who unwittingly falls in love with a mermaid. For me, this one also makes my list of favourite 80s films, and is quite a fun, light-hearted film to put on.

Favourite quote: "I don't ask for much. I don't ask to be rich, and I don't ask to be famous, and I don't ask to play center field for the New York Yankees. I just want to get married and have a wife, and a house, and I want to have a kid, and I want to go see him be a tooth in the school play!"

7. 500 Days of Summer

500 days of Summer made my list because of just how different it was from other romantic films. Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Zooey Deschanel, the film follows 500 days of Tom and Summers failed relationship. Told in a nonlinear narrative, 500 Days of Summer is full of memorable moments. A stand-out one being the musical number set to Hall & Oates 'You Make My Dreams'.

Favourite quote: "I love how she makes me feel, like anything's possible, or like life is worth it."

6. You've Got Mail

Based on the James Stewart and Margaret Sullivan film 'The Shop Around the Corner', You've Got Mail updates it for the modern audience. Well, modern when it was originally released in 1998 at least. The tried and tested 'they hate each other, then fall in love' formula is used once again here, but there's something charming about having Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan fall in love in romantic comedies. Although I love this film, there's no denying that it's a little dated nowadays. Check out that dial-up internet!

Favourite Quote:

5. 10 Things I Hate About You

Released in 1999, 10 Things I Hate About You is a modernisation of Shakespeare's 'The Taming of the Shrew'. Starring Julia Styles, a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and the late Heath Ledger, the film shows the brewing love between the school's bad boy Patrick, and the ill-tempered Kat.

Favourite quote: "I hate the way you talk to me, and the way you cut your hair. I hate the way you drive my car. I hate it when you stare. I hate your big dumb combat boots, and the way you read my mind. I hate you so much it makes me sick; it even makes me rhyme. I hate it, I hate the way you're always right. I hate it when you lie. I hate it when you make me laugh, even worse when you make me cry. I hate it when you're not around, and the fact that you didn't call. But mostly I hate the way I don't hate you. Not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all."

4. Me Before You

An adaption of one of my favourite books by Jojo Moyes, Me Before You stars The Hunger Games Sam Claflin, and Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke. It follows the likeable Louisa Clark, who after being made redundant, takes up the post of the carer for a paralysed young man by the name of Will Traynor. Bitter, cynical, and depressed, Will soon starts to warm to the bubbly Louisa, and their relationship blossoms. But, not everything is quite as happy as it seems. Like a few on my list, this is another film that you'll definitely be reaching for the tissues by the end.

Favourite quote: "You only get one life. It's actually your duty to live it as fully as possible."

3. A Walk to Remember

The second Nicholas Sparkes novel adaptation to feature in my list, A Walk To Remember starred a young Mandy Moore opposite Shane West, in an 'unlikely to fall in love' story. Just like The Notebook, this one is pretty sweet, but also incredibly sad. A definite
'chopping onions', movie.

Favourite quote: "Love is always patient and kind.It is never jealous. Love is never boastful nor conceited. It is never rude or selfish.It does not take offence and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people's sins, but delights in the truth. It is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope and to endure whatever comes."

2. Sleepless in Seattle

The second Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan romantic film to make my list, Sleepless in Seattle is, like many romantic films, pretty predictable, but I can't help but smile when I watch this. Dealing with both loss and love, it's bittersweet, and definitely one I love to return to.

Favourite quote: "I knew it the first time I saw her. It was like coming home, only to no home I'd ever known. I was just taking her hand to help her out of a car and I knew. It was...magic."

1. When Harry Met Sally

And we've reached my number one favourite! When Harry Met Sally follows two best friends through twelve or so years of chance encounters. The film raises the question "can men and women ever just be friends?", and is littered with witty dialogue, and 'that fake orgasm' scene that has been referenced so many times since. Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal also have fantastic chemistry, which definitely helps for their eventual get-together to be all the more believable.

Favourite quote: "I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."