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So, I've got this aunt who is super cool, and as long as I have known her she has been a gamer. I credit her not only with truly introducing me to the love of console gaming (while stoking my future love for PC gaming), but especially with helping me out of my "Budget Wall" funk of the early nineties. This is what we are here for today; reliving that special period between 1993 and 1995, when in her amazing generosity, Cool Aunt dumped a generous amount of games and gaming magazines on an otherwise broke teenager. This is the Cool Aunt Chronicles.
Continue reading Cool Aunt Chronicles - Twofer
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I thought for once I should do an article on a remake of a retro classic. Okay, so that is pretty much all I've done as of late (save Yo-kai Watch), and truth be told I was holding out for a new(er) game, but it just didn't happen. Anyway, I just happened to look at my Switch wishlist and saw Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap on sale for $9.99 USD and picked it up. Looking back, I think I just needed something new to play and this seemed about right. It was a remake and mostly modern looking, so I though maybe it would scratch that itch, and boy did it ever.
Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap was developed by Lizardcube and published in 2017 by Dotemu for a variety of platforms. It is a remake of the Sega Master System classic, Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap released in 1989, and lets you live the exploits of Wonder Boy, who one day going to defeat his nemesis and picks up a nasty little curse that changes his life. In a nutshell, that is The Dragon's Trap. However, there is just so much more going on in the remake that doesn't really take anything from the original game. I don't know about you, that not only sounds appealing, but also quite magical.
Continue reading Wonder Boy - The Dragon's Trap
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2019 was probably the personal best year for gaming that I have had in a very long time. I played nearly all of the NES games for the RFGen NES Challenge for fun (and even finished some), got a new game system (a year earlier than anticipated), and per usual ended up playing a completely different subset of gaming than I anticipated. So, please join me as I take a final look over 2019 as we take our first steps into this year.
Continue reading 2019 in Review
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It's been quite a year for retro game remakes, ports, and compilations, during which I have played well over one hundred different games, many for the first time. Now, I have to admit that I am burnt out a bit and in need of some gaming R&R, but before I do so there is one more title that I need to play, one which has garnered a reputation for pushing the envelope on port quality. That game is Sega AGES: Phantasy Star on the Nintendo Switch.
Continue reading SEGA AGES - Phantasy Star on Nintendo Switch
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Two months ago I smack-talked Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road in the review of SNK 40th Anniversary Collection on Switch. At the least I called it annoying, at the most I called it garbage (in one of my older articles), stating that I would rather eat three year-old hotdogs than play that game again. But something happened after getting SNK for the Switch that had never happened before: I enjoyed myself playing Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road.
It all started more than thirty years ago, back then I would troll the suburbs of Metro D looking for returnable bottles to play arcade games. I've said it many times before, no doubt, but I loved this period of my life, despite the beatdowns I would sometimes have to endure due to my... geeky appearance. One of my most cherished games from this era was Victory Road, a sci-fi flavored sequel to Ikari Warriors. It certainly wasn't at the 7-11 for very long, but regardless I had put this game on a pedestal, from which it refused to budge for thirty-two years. So one day when I happened onto the NES port with the appropriate amount of money in my pocket, the cash couldn't couldn't fly out of my pocket fast enough, and I am pretty sure I set speed records for tearing off plastic and removing the game manual from the box. Wonder I didn't tear it to pieces like an animal. And the results? Not good, though I always felt I tried. The NES port of Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road felt unfinished at the time, and I am afraid that I delegated it to the "Budget Wall" bin along with Hydlide and King's Knight, somewhere deep in my room. In retrospect I probably played more Urban Champion then that game.
Continue reading REDACTION - Victory Road for NES Redux!
[img width=607 height=550]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-182/bf/U-182-S-03250-A.jpg[/img]
At first glance there really isn't much that I should like about Yo-kai Watch: I am not a fan of anime in general, I am not a huge fan of the Pokemon craze, and I am certainly not at the age to which this games humor is targeted. Nonetheless, I was pulled into Yo-kai Watch hard, and it has everything to do with the setting.
Continue reading Yo-Kai Watch for 3DS
[img width=430 height=700]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-231/bf/U-231-S-02020-A.jpg[/img]
This year I was fortunate enough to receive a Nintendo Switch console before Father's Day from my wife and kids. It was a wonderful moment, especially considering I hadn't planned on purchasing one for another year (at least). Despite this, I still had a nice list of games to buy, with one in particular standing out as an early purchase due the nostalgia that bubbled up whenever I read an article about it.
On Father's Day, imagine my surprise when the gift bag I assumed would hold a t-shirt and some homemade cards (which it did) also contained that very game I was wanting, that being SNK 40th Anniversary Collection (SNK 40th) for my new Switch!
Continue reading SNK 40th Anniversary Collection
It really feels like I've been cranking away at JRPGs for a while now, and I feel like I need a bit of a break, so I decided to turn to my second (and most recent) RPG love: the CRPG. But what to play? Ultima VI? Nope (and for a reason we can discuss another time, if you want). Witcher 3? Nah, I don't really want to start anything new (and possible very long).
So what to do? Ah, maybe something from my past, something I have already played but largely forgotten, but also I can play on my recently hacked PS Vita. After a few days it came to me: Dungeons and Dragons - Warriors of the Eternal Sun (Eternal Sun) for the Sega Genesis!
Continue reading Dungeons & Dragons - Warriors of the Eternal Sun
I really dig summer, especially for writing (did I mention I love writing?). This time of the year I typically spend a goodly amount of time not playing games but rather thinking about them, diving back into the glory days of the late 80's and early 90's, back when Metro D had a respectable amount of arcade games located in every conceivable place, save government buildings and banks (and I am sure they secretly wanted them).
What does this have to do with the article? Early this year I spent a fair amount of time running my mouth about the past as my fourteen year-old son and I sat on the couch in the game room and played our way through the ninety (!) titles available on the Retro-bit Super Retro-cade. And man, was it amazing.
Continue reading Retro-Bit Super Retro-cade - A Flawed but Fun Plug N Play
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Once upon a time, the most desired trait of any home console gamer was accurate arcade ports. In this fashion, one could say that arcades ruled the jungles of electronic video game entertainment. While complete faithfulness to the arcade original was the holy grail, it was certainly not a requirement, though individual interpretation on the quality of the port was certainly in place, especially in the playgrounds and hallways of schools.
For your reading pleasure, this article is setup using three "categories," those being "The Safe One" (which would generally be agreed that the port is superior to the arcade), "The Controversial One" (which many likely wouldn't agree with), and "The Garbage One" (in which the console port is metaphorically a trash fire). Enjoy!
Continue reading But I Like Those Ports! Part 2019
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I am not generally a person who likes to poke the past too hard. True, most (if not all) of my writing tends to be nostalgia based, but I like to think of it as nostalgia with a purpose. There are some games that I've purposely kept at a distance, primarily because I am afraid of damaging the nostalgia for said game. Suikoden is one of those games. But when I saw it in the PSN store for just under $4, I couldn't help myself, and decided to jump in and play. I wasn't disappointed. Well, almost.
Continue reading Pure Nostalgia - Suikoden on PSN
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Cool Aunt Chronicles is a series that I have had in mind for quite a while now. Chronologically, it follows the Budget Wall series that I wrote in the past, and builds as a personal transition from somebody who just loved games in general to who I am today. Please enjoy.
So, I've got this aunt, who is super cool, and as long as I have known her she has been a gamer. I credit her not only with truly introducing me to the love of console gaming (while stoking my future love for PC gaming), but with helping me out of my "Budget Wall" funk of the early nineties. This is what we are here for today; reliving that special period between 1993 and 1995, when in her amazing generosity Cool Aunt dumped a paper box filled with games and magazines on an otherwise broke teenager. This is the Cool Aunt Chronicles.
Continue reading Cool Aunt Chronicles - Hillsfar for NES
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November 13, 2000.
When most in the gaming United States was buzzing about the wave caused by the newly released PlayStation 2, I was grudgingly purchasing Final Fantasy IX. I didn't really plan on getting the game, but through a set of circumstances I was standing at the electronics counter of my local Meijer store, waiting for the employee to get my game from behind the glass so I could leave.
When Final Fantasy IX was originally announced, I was oblivious. Well, I was slightly interested, but more because I was reading a lot of gaming magazines while working on the assembly line at Ford, and that game (as well as the upcoming Final Fantasy X) was the talk of the town. We had been having a lot of multi-hour long "gaps" (empty spaces in the assembly line where a truck should be) and since I read at least three different gaming magazines at the time I guess it was just going to happen. But despite the exposure, I didn't care as much as one might think. Despite wringing some fun out of Final Fantasy VIII, after twenty hours the hormonal angst of Squall Leonhart had driven me away from any JRPG with a passion. I don't hate FFVIII, but dealing with Squall's teenage-isms when I was twenty-two and newly married was about as fun as squeezing water from a rock.
Continue reading A Personal Journey into Final Fantasy IX
[img width=700 height=416]http://i66.tinypic.com/313k6dx.jpg[/img] In gaming, it is far more of a tradition for me to look back than forward, mainly because I just don't play the newer games. But for once, I think I will take a look forward. Be forewarned, this article won't necessarily be about games that are coming out in 2019, rather what I intend to play over the next year.
Continue reading Looking Toward 2019
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*pic by pwnpocalypse on imgur*
September 28, 1996. A date that I would remember throughout my life as a red-letter date: The evening that I picked up my most anticipated console since the Super Nintendo, that being the Nintendo 64. I left work early and played it until the dawn's early light.
December 13, 1996. A date that I would remember throughout my life not only as a red-letter date, but later with a kind of nostalgic sadness. It was the day that the Nintendo fanboy inside of me died.
Continue reading The Death of a Nintendo Fanboy
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