True confession: I’ve never played through Super Mario RPG. Shock and horror, I know!
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”
Way back when I wrote my downsizing post, I mentioned at the very end that I had, for some reason I myself don’t understand, sold off my copy of Kid Niki for the NES, and that it was the one game I regret selling.
Well, I am happy to report that Kid Niki has recently returned to the family, and was welcomed home with open arms. Continue reading “The Comeback Kid”
And by “archives” I mean all the boxes of stuff I pulled out of my storage unit when I cleaned it out last month.
Let’s see what we got here…
Guardian Legend is one of those games that I never played much back when it was new, and only got around to checking out maybe in the late 1990s when I was buying cheap used NES games. Its anime-mecha style was certainly appealing to me, but there was a problem: I never really understood how to play it. I’ve always intended to figure it out, and I recently finally did! It’s not that it’s complex, it’s just kind of a jarring mashup of styles without a whole lot of direction. So if you’re another gamer who never quite got how this shmup/Zelda hybrid is supposed to work, maybe this will help. Continue reading “So THAT’s how Guardian Legend works”
As I’ve mentioned, I’m actually working on downsizing my video game collection. I’m still planning on writing about the how and why of this stage in my gamer life, but for now it’s a backdrop to this post.
So even though I’m not adding a lot of games to my collection, I naturally still have the urge to collect. How does one scratch that particular itch? My solution is to make my existing collection better. Continue reading “Upgrade!”
Without getting too deep into it, repros, or reproductions, are physical video game cartridges of rare or unreleased games that are being made by hobbyists for enthusiast collectors who want to enjoy these previously unavailable games on their original game consoles. Usually they’re prototypes, cancelled games, translations (fan or unreleased) of games that never came out in certain regions, or very hard-to-find titles that are otherwise cost-prohibitive for the average gamer to obtain.
Okay, actually, I guess that’s about as in-depth as it needs to get.
Anyway, I’m a big fan of the repro scene, as I do love playing games on original hardware as opposed to on a PC or mobile emulator. And as as collector, I love having unique, unusual pieces that many (if not most) collectors won’t have. Continue reading “Repros: I dig ’em!”
Retro Game SuperHyper 