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[img width=700 height=350]https://cdn02.nintendo-europe.com/media/images/10_share_images/games_15/wiiu_14/SI_WiiU_XenobladeChroniclesX_image1600w.jpg[/img] Image shamelessly linked from Nintendo UK
I'm not a big RPG guy, but I've enjoyed a few over the years. I always struggle to finish them, once I start, however. Notoriously, I started Final Fantasy VII a number of times, between when I bought it in 1999, and when I finally beat it well over a decade later. I played through the main story of Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete on the PlayStation, but my characters weren't leveled up enough to run the gauntlet of the epilogue. A decade plus later, I played through it again on PSP, and finally did just that. And I've started Final Fantasy Legend for GameBoy more than once, intending to finish it. One of these days, I'll actually do that.
I wanted to get Xenoblade Chronicles for the Wii, but slept on the preorder, so I missed out on the special red controller, and a first print run of the game. After that, the price skyrocketed, and I didn't expect to ever be able to play it. Thankfully, GameStop commissioned a second print run, since it was their exclusive, and I was able to obtain one. I didn't get terribly far, but it's a beautiful game with an amazing soundtrack, and I had fun with what I played. When its sequel came out, despite wanting to finish the first game before diving in, I couldn't resist, and bought Xenoblade Chronicles X. I put the original aside, and dove headfirst into the new game, marveling at the amazing graphics, immersive, expansive world, and all the cool stuff the game offered the player. I put about 80 hours into it. Then, the Nintendo Switch dropped.
Continue reading Xenoblade Chronicles X - Final Wii U Masterpiece?
Mega Man is as classic as it gets when it comes to Nintendo. I was contacted by someone who also shared the love that I have for Mega Man, and wanted a custom NES controller showcasing that.
With this design I wanted to push my creativity. I was going for a mechanical/robotic look on the controller, adding real bolts, screws, and exposed circuitboards.
I think the end result speaks for itself. Also not only did I make this controller, but I made Two Mega Man custom controllers, each a little different.
Last months retro gaming news is out!
https://youtu.be/CEF6R01M9k0
[img width=500 height=455]http://rfgeneration.com/podcasts/shmupclub/images/2020-01-30_stcc_gaiden_ep_002_-_top_5_of_2019.jpg[/img]
We played a lot of games during 2019, and some of them are bound to stand out from the pack. We decided to each rank the top 5 we played during the last year, and briefly discuss why we think these games each stand out to us. Some of our picks overlap, and some do not. Is your favorite shmup from last year on the list? Listen and find out, and then let us know what YOUR favorite shmup was, that you played last year!
Here's the direct link to listen to the podcast on the site, or download the MP3 for later:
http://rfgeneration.com/podcasts/shmupclub/?name=2020-01-30_stcc_gaiden_ep_002_-_top_5_of_2019.mp3
Check us out and subscribe (and rate!) on Apple Podcasts!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/shoot-the-core-cast/id1432819542?mt=2
We're listed on Google Play - subscribe and review the podcast over there!
https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Iih3vrijcro4yno3yrkeawnx6nu
We're on Stitcher Podcasts now, as well, so if you use that service, have a listen to the show from there!
https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/shoot-the-corecast
We also have a presence on SoundCloud now, though it's just the most current episode at this time:
https://soundcloud.com/user-992886896/
We have t-shirts! Help support the podcast, and rep the shmup community by buying a Shoot the Core-cast tee - now with Gaiden design!
https://www.redbubble.com/people/jdieckmann/works/34582606-shoot-the-core-cast-podcast?asc=u&p=t-shirt
Thanks for listening, for any reviews, ratings, or feedback you offer - it's very much appreciated!
[img width=700 height=393]https://i.ibb.co/cCCyPBx/title.jpg[/img]
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
[img width=480 height=360]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49465099828_dbbdf685b3.jpg[/img]
As I often do I was playing my NES a few days ago. The game of the day was The Legend of Kage. If you're not familiar, it's an arcade port in which you control a ninja running through some scrolling stages battling other ninjas and wizards to save a princess. All of that sounds great, but in reality it's a pretty bad game. The controls are not up to the standards of the time, it looks pretty generic, the sound is awful, enemy spawns are seemingly random, lots of cheap deaths, and there is no real depth to the game beyond the typical arcade fair of "play until you die". My wife watched for a few minutes and saw me reset the first level a dozen times as I just tried to learn how the game operated and made a comment that went something this "I'm frustrated just watching you play. I don't understand how you can find enjoyment in this." I've often thought there is some value in a person getting outside their comfort zone even in their hobbies, so I'm going to try and finally put that into words here.
Continue reading Bad Games Are Good For You
New episode of Playas Guide is up on YouTube every Wednesday for your enjoyment . This weeks episode covers SNES Beat Em Ups
https://youtu.be/6Hhbb5LbWRc
[img width=700 height=385]https://i.imgur.com/11npRPt.jpg[/img]
Being a big fan of JRPGs and the Final Fantasy series in particular since the 16-bit era, both Final Fantasy IV and VI (or II and III as we knew them at the time) are two of my all-time favorite games. Little did I (or pretty much anyone else in the west) know at the time that there was a whole other Final Fantasy game released for the SNES that we missed out on and wouldn't officially get for several years. I eventually played Final Fantasy V via the Final Fantasy Anthology collection for the PlayStation, but this was nearly 20 years ago, and I remember virtually nothing from that playthrough. It has been nagging at me for years that I should revisit this game, so I finally fired up the GBA release and replayed what was considered a missing link in the Final Fantasy series for years.
Continue reading Final Fantasy V
Take a look at all four "X's" with Neo's "A Brief Look At" series!
This month, we check out (very poorly) Sid Meier's Civilization V for PC.
Check out more of Neo, and the rest of the RFGeneration stream team at http://Twitch.tv/RFGeneration
It has been one year of making videos for YouTube and I want to share my story and thoughts
https://youtu.be/9A61ufx1FGE
[img width=561 height=550]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-087/ms/U-087-S-06030-A.jpg[/img]
In 2008, Konami released the newest game in their long running Castlevania franchise, Order of Ecclesia, for the Nintendo DS. This series is one of the last remaining relics of the 8-bit era that is still receiving new entries in a similar style to its original games. Castlevania started as a 2D side scrolling action platformer, and with Order or Ecclesia that same bedrock foundation is still present.
Since the release of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night in 1997, the series has been adding elements borrowed from role playing games, such as experience, levels, equipment, enemy drops, and some form of a secondary progression system. This formula was wildly successful early on. After the release of Symphony of the Night, similar games would primarily release on Nintendo's handheld consoles, with three Castlevania games each releasing for the Game Boy Advance and DS. A couple of 3D experiments with the formula were tried on the Playstation 2, but these did not have the same level of polish or fun factor the handheld games had. Order of Ecclesia would be the penultimate game in this style from Konami, and the last of its fully single player games in this 2D style. All of this ends up making Order of Ecclesia the swan song for one of Castlevania's two major eras.
Continue reading Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
[img width=700 height=393]https://i.imgur.com/77Wz5OY.jpg[/img]
I've been nerding out on music for as long as I can remember. I was raised on classic rock and grew into alternative music in my teenage years. In my twenties, I dropped the elitist indie blinders I had developed in high school and grew a sincere love for pop music. When I was in my early thirties, I worked at a company with a couple of other music nerds who where older than me and for years we bonded over music and shared our discoveries with each other. During that time, for the first time, I began keeping current with the best and worst albums released in a given year (and sharing my picks with those old coworkers is a tradition that we maintain to this day). Now, I have the #concertcast, which is the music segment of the RFG Playcast, which you hopefully know as the podcast I do with the singlebanana. What you are about to read is my first public albums of the year list.
Continue reading Albums of the Year 2019
[img width=700 height=541]https://i.ibb.co/q76rS3m/2019-calendar-final.jpg[/img]
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
 It is the 20's and there is time for Kla- er, couch cooperative gaming!
Hi gang, and welcome to 2020! Wow, it is so weird (when you are my age) to realize we are finally here, and it looks very little like what all those books, movies, and games told us the future would be like. Some stuff, like VR and autonomous cars, aren't quite where we thought they would be, but we do all pretty much carry around a Star Trek Tricorder in our pockets that we use to look at cat pictures, so there is that.
For my first write-up of the year (or decade, depending on how you decide to measure it, I know the "official" start is next year but we are all going to hear that we are in the 20s now) I figured I'd make a fun little update list of the excellent couch-cooperative Switch games we recently enjoyed. The Christmas/New Year break gave us some great gaming opportunities and couch-coop is a perfect way to get various skill levels able to play simultaneously.
This list is laughably by no means comprehensive, but does reflect games we play at our place and can personally vouch for.
Continue reading Nintendo Switch Couch Co-Op Update
Here it is my Top 10 NES Games. Hope you find a few interesting
https://youtu.be/ncURlhpmUn0
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We are a community of collectors, gamers and the likes, and some of us enjoy to let the world know what is on our mind. For those members, we have the community blogs, a place where they can publish their thoughts and feelings regarding life, universe, and everything. Some of those members might even choose to write about gaming and collecting! Whatever they write about, you can find it on their blog. You can either see the latest community blog entries in the feed you see to the left, or you can browse for your favorite blog using the menu above. Interested in having your own blog hosted on RF Generation? It's rather simple, first be a registered member, and then click the "My Blog" link that you see in the navigation above. Following those two steps will certainly get you on your way to blogging.
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