I’m a huge Metal Gear nerd. I’ve played almost every game in the series (except for MGS Touch, MG Survive, and the one time I got a chance to play Metal Gear Arcade, I couldn’t figure out what the hell I was doing), have beaten all the main series games (from Metal Gear on MSX all the way through Phantom Pain) and a couple of the spinoffs, and have a small collection of Metal Gear swag. I even have a Fox Hound logo tattoo! (The one from Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, the same one that Meryl Silverburgh has in MGS1.) So it should come as a shock to absolutely nobody that when Dark Horse released this double-volume boxed behemoth called The Art of Metal Gear Solid I-IV, I had to have it. Continue reading “Gamers’ Library: The Art of Metal Gear Solid I-IV”
Last month’s announcement of the 17th catalog release from British video game soundtrack vinyl specialists Data Discs was an exciting surprise: Policenauts, Konami’s 1994 graphic adventure game, directed by Hideo Kojima. Available on multiple formats, beginning with the PC-9821 computer, then ported to the 3DO, Sony PlayStation, and Sega Saturn consoles, this spiritual follow-up to Kojima’s classic, Snatcher, never actually got an official release anywhere outside of Japan. Despite this, Policenauts has still managed to gain legendary status among import game enthusiasts and Kojima fans alike.
I have a lot of favorite games. Who the heck doesn’t? But rare is the game that I love so much that I buy it again. Sometimes they’re remakes, sometimes a Japanese version to complement my US copy, sometimes just different or more convenient formats. And even rarer is the game that I buy again…and again.
Having just picked up the PS4 remake of Shadow of the Colossus — my third version — I got to thinking about which games I love so much that I’ve bought three times…or more! Continue reading “Triple-dippin’”
Did you know this was a thing? A lot of gamers don’t! But it’s true, Konami put out a 3-episode Salamander/Gradius OAV (original animation video, or direct-to-video anime) series in 1988.
I have only recently become aware of some of the bad press that Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest has gotten. This came as somewhat of a shock to me, as Castlevania II has always been one of my favorite games on the NES, and I guess I thought most people agreed with that. It’s also a direct influence on the modern style of Castlevania games, having been referenced directly in some of the series’ best entries.
So why’s everybody hating on Castlevania II all of a sudden? Continue reading “In Defense of Castlevania II”
Ship to Shore Phono Company’s double LP release of the Snatcher soundtrack is the second of a one-two punch of vinyl videogame soundtrack releases that I was super excited about for early 2017 (the other being Data Disc’s Revenge of Shinobi, which came out several weeks ago and was the subject of my last Video Vinyl blog entry). I had pre-ordered both titles late last year and have been looking forward to them ever since. Well, the Snatcher album finally showed up today, and I am VERY impressed! Continue reading “Video Vinyl: Snatcher on Ship to Shore”
