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.
Today I'm looking at one of gaming's lesser known mascots - Bonk! I review the original Bonk's Adventure on the TurboGrafx-16, as well as look at a bit of his history and the history of the console to explain why Bonk never made it big in North America like Mario or Sonic.
Posted on Nov 12th 2016 at 01:00:00 PM by (Pam) Posted under video, rpg
This video was inspired by the recent Playcast conversation about The Legend of Zelda and whether or not it should be classified as an RPG. While I don't think it should, it does have some elements common to RPGs. Here I take a look at the genre's roots in tabletop games and examine how video games let us develop characters in both mechanical and narrative ways. I also compare western and Japanese RPGs in how they tend to favor one type of character development over the other.
Check out the video and let me know how you define an RPG!
It's October, so it's time for spooky games. Phantasmagoria is a point and click horror adventure game by Sierra. It was controversial due to its depiction of graphic FMV gore and adult themes and became a best seller. But is it any good?
I remember seeing the box art for this game all the time when I was a kid. Though point and click adventure was a staple of my gaming history, I had never played this game before. I've always had a soft spot for FMV as well, though this wasn't quite what I was expecting.
Jaws was one of the August community playthroughs here at RFGen and it was the first time I had played this particular game. I have to say, it's a bit of an oddity. The majority of the gameplay is non-scrolling horizontal shooter, but there are a few different mechanics thrown in to change things up a bit. On paper, the game doesn't sound impressive - an LJN published tie-in to the fourth (and arguably worst) Jaws movie, Jaws: The Revenge. But how does it play?
Compile is well known for making excellent shoot'em ups and of all the ones I've played, Gun-Nac is my favourite. This is not a game I played as a kid. I only tried it for the first time within the past year, but I was immediately hooked and I now consider it one of my favorites on the NES.
Aside from very solid controls and a variety of weapons and power-ups, the thing that stands out most is the amazing, somewhat bizarre, environments. Each stage has a theme that's a little different than your average shmup. In one, you battle sentient vegetables, while in another you're up against currency. Boss battles that include giant robot rabbits and Maneki Neko are a nice change from battling other spaceships.
When the new DOOM was revealed at E3 last year, I was not remotely interested in playing it. It looked like just another first-person shooter that seemed to be gory for no good reason. I had limited experience with the original games - I'm more of the Wolfenstein girl - so the nostalgia factor wasn't even there. Pass.
However...
Once the game released and rave reviews started coming out, I thought maybe it would be worth a look. Boy, am I glad I gave it a chance. DOOM is some of the most fun I've had with a game in a long time. The pace is relentless, the combat is satisfying, and the level design is fantastic! By going back to basics and skipping mechanics like cover, regenerating health, and having to reload your gun, id Software produced a game that feels fresh.
I was really excited to make this review and found myself writing it in my head as I played the game. Give it a watch if you want to hear some more about DOOM.
