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[img width=700 height=527]http://i.imgur.com/DJPSjbB.gif[/img]
We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to bring you the September 2021 edition of RF Generation's Site News! In this issue, we announce our October Community Playthrough title, reveal next month's shoot 'em up club game, and of course, thank those members who sent in submissions to our site and registered approvals last month. Thanks for keeping it on Channel 3 and please continue to keep you and your loved ones SAFE!
REMEMBER: If you have any news about upcoming events or topics that you think the site needs to hear about, please PM singlebanana and put "RFG Site News" in the subject line. Who knows, maybe your news will make our front page!
Continue reading All Our News Are Belong To You: September 2021 Edition
[img width=375 height=489]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-060/bf/U-060-S-01930-A.jpg[/img]
In the 80's and early 90's, ninjas were a big deal. They were everywhere in media, from cartoons like G.I. Joe to movies like the American Ninja series, those of the adolescent mutant amphibious variety, and of course, video games. For those who played on Nintendo consoles, we had a number of options, but the most obvious of those was the Ninja Gaiden series, at least through the 8-bit days. On the Sega side of the fence, there was Shinobi, which received a Master System reinterpretation of the arcade game. The series branched into 3 paths, 1 being the more straight-forward Shadow Dancer which followed the original arcade game (and had a different, but similar outing on the Genesis), and then the 2 Super Shinobi games for the Mega Drive, which we know in the West as The Revenge of Shinobi and Shinobi III, respectively. The 3rd path is the 2 GG Shinobi games on the Game Gear, but whether or not those are canon in the series I cannot say. The final 2D entry, prior to the series' soft reboot on PS2, is often ignored, or worse, frequently either forgotten or maligned. With the RF Generation Community Playthrough group focusing on the series' 16-bit entries this month, I thought it was timely to look at the final original 2D game from the venerable series.
Continue reading Shinobi Legions: The Forgotten Shinobi Game
I've been itching to get back to Final Fantasy for a while, and I've had an arrangement of this track sitting around for a couple of months, so the time was finally right to put my spin on this one! This is a track I've had my eye on covering since my Final Fantasy IV Zeromus cover from about five months ago. The Zeromus cover has always been my favorite, and, with both tracks being pretty similar, it just seemed inevitable that I would get around to this one eventually. I hope you all enjoy it!
[img width=300 height=450]https://i.imgur.com/FLQQStG.jpg[/img]
I first started seeing trailers for Free Guy last summer. The teasers showed Ryan Reynolds as a polite, happy-go-lucky bank teller in a fictional online multiplayer game called Free City. One day, after putting on a pair of sunglasses left behind by one of the players, he discovers through their augmented-reality HUD that there's so much more going on in his world than the endless daily loop he's been living. Like so many things, the global pandemic put the brakes on Free Guy's release, but it's finally in theaters. It doesn't appear to be on any streaming services yet, so let's see if the film is good enough to warrant a trip out into the real world.
Continue reading RF Cinema: Free Guy
[img width=500 height=392]http://rfgeneration.com/podcasts/shmupclub/images/2021-08-31_stcc_ep_037_project_starship_x.jpg[/img]
In Episode 037, Addicted and MetalFRO welcome in Ed from the Bullet Heaven series on YouTube to discuss the game that Bullet Heaven awarded its top honors to for the year: Project Starship X! Do the Rogue-lite elements enhance the fun, or get in the way? We talk about that, and much more!
Check out the episode right here at RF Generation:
http://rfgeneration.com/podcasts/shmupclub/?name=2021-08-31_stcc_ep_037_project_starship_x.mp3
Listen to the episode on your favorite podcast service, all available through our Linktree page:
https://linktr.ee/shootthecorecast
Check out the original discussion thread for the game here:
http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index.php?topic=19565.0
Thanks for listening!
We get into the weeds about the WATA controversy and then Bil educates us on the appeal of the recently announced Steam Deck
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Intro song by:
Steven Davis - Twitter = @TheDisposedHero, Youtube = DisposedHeroVGM
Finally found a way to upload another video, one that I've had completed for months. This time, it's XIII, a game based off of a comic franchise of the same name. I bought it purely because of how well it was presented, since it reminded me of Comix Zone. I actually wrote a review for it after I beat it years ago, but my opinion has changed. Its amazing presentation, graphical style, and story tricked me into thinking this was a good game. Unfortunately it is not. No amount of graphics can excuse bland gameplay.
I hope to be putting out more videos soon enough. I already have the rest of two LPs finished as well as another review in the works. Stay tuned, and remember to subscribe on Youtube and follow me on Facebook and Twitter.
[img width=700 height=487]https://i.imgur.com/JFeJ8kQ.jpg[/img]
In this month's episode of the PlayCast, Rich (singlebanana) and Shawn (GrayGhost81) are joined by long-time friend and former co-host of the show, Disposed Hero to discuss June's playthrough, Metal Gear Solid 2. Join us as we sift our way through this winding narrative and give our thoughts on the gameplay, environments, music, and sounds. While Shawn is an avid supporter of the Metal Gear Solid franchise, this is Rich's first experience with MGS2. Will their opinions of the game differ or be the same? Tune in and find out!
Also be sure to check out this month's Concertcast, which features an event that we've never tried before, an album fantasy draft. This month's topic: Top 6 Grunge Albums. We want to know from our listeners, who has the best list?
As always, we are happy to hear your thoughts on the games we play on our discussion page (linked below). We will respond to your comments and are always happy to discuss the games in detail. Please be sure to rate and write a review of the show on iTunes and/or Podbean to help us increase our listenership. Thanks for the listen, we hope you enjoy the show!
Episode 86 discussion thread: http://www.rfgeneration.c...m/index.php?topic=19591.0
Get the show on Podbean: www.rfgplaycast.com
On iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/...ion-playcast/id1038953364
On Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/p...ation-playcast?refid=stpr
And follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rfgenplaythroughs
And on Twitter: @thesinglebanana & @RFGPlayCast
Continue reading Episode 86 RF Generation Playcast
[img width=450 height=450]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-061/ms/U-061-S-11200-A.jpg[/img]
Insomniac, Universal, and Sony all stumbled into a smash success with the release of Spyro the Dragon. It was inevitable that a sequel would be developed and released, and that sequel would be Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage. Ripto's Rage released in 1999 with mostly the same list of credits when it came to key positions. The game would be renamed to Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimmer in Europe. Ripto's Rage adds much to the base of the formula of the first game while maintaining the highly consistent quality. It's a great example of a sequel which built upon the strengths of the original game while adding features to the game that do not make it feel bloated and work in line with the basic idea of platforming, exploration, and collecting that was established with the first Spyro.
Continue reading Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage
Super Mario 64 is an old favorite of mine and is still a game that I enjoy going back and playing to this day. I've always thought this rockin' tune from the Bowser fights was cool, but after listening to the soundtrack recently I felt like I absolutely had to cover it at some point, and I didn't wait long to do it. I was able to break out the 7-string again for the first time in about 6 months, and it was cool to be able to use it again. It's hard to believe, but after starting my channel over a year ago, this is the first Mario tune I've done, and I think my first time covering a Nintendo track in general. I wanted to try adding some original stuff to this one, so the bridge section is pretty much my own original riffs, for better or worse haha! This cover was a lot of fun to work on and I hope you all enjoy it!
[img width=700 height=525]https://i.imgur.com/bTI8NuC.jpg[/img] Classic Game Fest 2020/2021 - Austin, Texas
Around this time last year, I wrote a very popular entry about my goal to drastically reduce my game collection and the work I was doing to achieve said goal. Reading this back a year later, I can tell I was writing from a peak point of games outgoing. I spoke about reducing shelving units from three to two, and how I'd like to go from two to one. I noted that I had gotten on the shelf physical titles down to about 750 pieces. So, what has happened since then? In twelve months was I able to get down to that magical goal of one shelving unit for games? Am I buying any games anymore? Perhaps the answer will be surprising.
Continue reading Liquidation II
Don't push the big red button with this month's "A Brief Look At" with Neo!
This month, we check out PANIC! for the Sega CD!
[img width=700 height=527]http://i.imgur.com/DJPSjbB.gif[/img]
We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to bring you the August 2021 edition of RF Generation's Site News! In this issue, we announce our September Community Playthrough title, reveal next month's shoot 'em up club game, and of course, thank those members who sent in submissions to our site and registered approvals last month. Thanks for keeping it on Channel 3 and please continue to keep you and your loved ones SAFE!
REMEMBER: If you have any news about upcoming events or topics that you think the site needs to hear about, please PM singlebanana and put "RFG Site News" in the subject line. Who knows, maybe your news will make our front page!
Continue reading All Our News Are Belong To You: August 2021 Edition
[img width=700 height=525]https://i.imgur.com/SveKaFt.jpg[/img]
It was two years ago that we had our inaugural 'Test and Repair Table' at the 2019 Cleveland Classic Console and Arcade Gaming Show. One thing I think most can agree on, that in-between block of time has been unusual and the time before it seems long ago. Finally, thankfully, this year's show came around and it was as excellent as we all hoped!
Continue reading The CCAG 2021 Test and Repair Table
[img align=right]https://i.ibb.co/B6gLZbS/PSX-20210728-150832.jpg[/img]The first REAL computer sport?
Back in May 2020 an article appeared, somewhat bizarrely, on the BBC Sport website about a 1985 videogame designed to teach people how to surf.
It was a fascinating piece that I'll link at the bottom and I thoroughly recommend you read, but with little interest in surfing my imagination was particularly captured, so much so that I tracked down and bought myself a complete copy of the game, by the game's bespoke controller; a plastic surfboard shrunk down to a size a little smaller than the original model of ZX Spectrum. This device was designed to sit on top of the rubber keys and claimed to offer the player scientifically developed 'realistic' movement.
It's a brilliantly bonkers concept, but how does it work? And is the game any good?
Well, perhaps unsurprisingly (especially if you've read the aforementioned article) the game has the air of being put together by someone who's never made entertainment software before. It's worrying enough when the loading splash screen looks to be comprised of the in game graphics which were, it should be said, very simple even by 1985 standards. But furthermore, once loaded, you're immediately presented with the questions "Choose your board 1-5?" and "Gear Selection 1..5", the latter of which inexplicably requires you to enter more than one number and then, for some reason, enter an "X" to move to the next screen.
This is a menu system that is entirely impossible to navigate without constant reference to the game manual, and once you're in-game things only slightly improve.
First up, you have to plod up and down the beach as you choose the best time and place to paddle out... or risk being washed back the way you came. How far you paddle is a variable, as is when to mount, how to turn, how to re-mount... and all this is must be achieved while watching an energy bar that constantly depletes, and is impossible to refill.
On the underside of the game's 19cm surfboard controller are a central pivot, and several little nubs around the edge that press down onto certain keys. Placing a hand on the board, you press in the various areas, relative to where you would press with your feet when real-world surfing, to perform turns, dip the nose over waves, and replicate other surfing moves that I have little knowledge of... I think you can even "hang ten".
Or so the manual says.
Continue reading Playing 1985's 'Surf Champ' - 'The game that teaches you to surf'
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