Summer Carnival '92 RECCA is an impressive shoot'em up. As I played it, I wanted to know more about the Summer Caravan that spawned it. So here's a bit about summer gaming competitions, including Hudson Soft's All-Japan Summer Carnival and Naxat's Summer Caravan. Plus a review of RECCA.
Posted on Dec 12th 2018 at 01:00:00 PM by (Pam) Posted under video, review
Thanks to companies like Limited Run, some forgotten games have been getting attention lately... whether they deserve it or not. The 25th anniversary remaster of Double Switch was released recently - a release I can't imagine too many people asked for. Originally developed by Digital Pictures, this is the spiritual successor to Night Trap. It contains the same design flaws of Night Trap, plus a few new ones, but lacks the historical controversy to make it interesting. Here are my thoughts on the game.
I love it when games combine multiple genres and styles of gameplay. The Guardian Legend is an NES game that I love for its seamless transitions between shoot`em up and overhead action. When I heard that Blaster Master did a similar thing - I knew I needed to play it. Blaster Master was developed by Sunsoft and released in 1988. It combines elements of platforming, run and gun and overhead action. Does it do them all well though? Check out the video to find out.
Posted on Jul 11th 2018 at 12:00:00 PM by (Pam) Posted under review, video, PS1, JRPG
May's game of the month here at RF Generation was the quirky musical roleplaying game Rhapsody - A Musical Adventure. It was fun to play through and discuss with everyone else playing along and gave me a reason to review a JRPG for the first time ever. Rhapsody is short and sweet, turns some typical rpg tropes upside-down, and includes great musical numbers. But does the gameplay hold up? Here's my take on the game.
Posted on Jun 13th 2018 at 12:00:00 PM by (Pam) Posted under video, analysis
With the recent release of God of War, I got to thinking about how many recent mainstream games have had you playing a father figure... and how few games let you play a as a mother. I go over a few examples of playable mothers, then expand the scope out to non-playable mother characters and the categories they tend to fall into in games.
Warning: If you're fussy about character spoilers, I talk about the fates of mothers in about 40 different games in this video. I don't think I've given away anything too shocking or unexpected though.
In 1995 LucasArts released an adventure game that was a little different from anything they had developed before. It deals with motorcycles, mechanics and murder. It's Full Throttle! I teamed up with the Adventure Game Geek to give you two opinions for the price of one. We played the recent remastered version of the game, though do compare it to the original.
The Dreamcast is a console I never really got into. I was more of a PlayStation girl. So this review is the first Dreamcast game I've ever finished. At only 25 minutes long, it wasn't too much of an effort.
Dynamite Cop is the follow-up to Die Hard Arcade. It's a very silly arcade beat'em up. Does it improve on the first game? Is it worth playing? Watch to find out.
Castlevania is a series I never really got into. I didn't play it any on the NES or SNES when I was a kid, and it wasn't until Symphony of the Night on PS1 that I finally gave it a try. In an attempt to fill this gap in my gaming experience, I played through Super Castlevania IV. My initial impressions weren't great, since Simon felt very heavy to control, but... did it grow on me?
Posted on Jan 11th 2018 at 01:00:00 PM by (Pam) Posted under video, top 10
2017 was a great year for gaming, with a number of huge, critically acclaimed releases like Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey, and Horizon Zero Dawn... most of which you won't find on my personal list. I played 30 new releases this year and these are the 10 that stood out the most. There's a wide variety of games here from smaller indie titles to AAA shooters, expansive RPGs, and even some hidden gems.
Saturn Bomberman is an exclusive on the Sega Saturn and one of the system's more rare games. Developed by Hudson Soft, it's a cute and clever puzzle game with some beautiful pixel art that still looks great by today's standards. It hosts a number of different game modes and can be played with a friend (or 9). Here's my review!
Today I'm reviewing one of the best point and click adventure games ever - The Secret of Monkey Island. It combines great music and visuals with laugh out loud humour. It also represents a departure from adventure games of its time by being much less punishing towards its players. I'll be mainly talking about the original but I'll also touch on the Special Edition released in 2009 and how it compares.
My review today is of the cult classic Zombies Ate My Neighbors on the SNES. I didn't know until very recently that Lucas Arts, one of my favourite 90s developers who I mostly associated with PC adventure games, made this. But now that I do know, it makes sense. The game has a great sense of humor and is full of puns. Though there are a few mechanical things I find a little awkward, Zombies is a lot of fun to play, especially with a second player. During this review, I also do a quick comparison of the SNES and Genesis versions.
Quest for Glory is a hybrid adventure-RPG series from Sierra. In the first entry in the series, you find yourself in the Valley of Spielburg. The land has been cursed by an Ogress, the Baron's children are missing, and a band of Brigands terrorize the town. Can you solve all of these problems and become a hero?
Today I'm hitting up the Compile shooters again! Compile has made a lot of great games, and released them for many consoles. This one is M.U.S.H.A. on Sega Genesis. I go over the mechanics, weapon choices, level design, boss fights and its kick-ass soundtrack! Will this game replace my beloved Gun-Nac as my favorite Compile shooter?
I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream is a point and click adventure horror game. It skips the typical jump scares and gore and goes straight for an unsettling look at human suffering...and machines that rise up to kill us all! It's based on the story by Harlan Ellison and he even voices the misanthropic computer, AM, who is responsible for humanity's downfall and the suffering of the game's protagonists. This is a grim game, but one with excellent writing and characterization.
