This worked out pretty well last year, so with 2022 upon us, it’s time to start a new list! As with 2021’s list, new entries will be added to the top. There’s plenty to play, so let’s get busy:
Continue reading “FINISHED in 2022! (Updated 10/26/22)”
While last November saw the 30th anniversary of Nintendo’s Super Famicom, today is the 30th anniversary of the release of its North American counterpart, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System! Or Super NES, or SNES, or Super Nintendo…however you refer to it, it was 30 years ago that we finally got the big N’s 16-bit powerhouse on this side of the Pacific.
I wrote about my first experiences with the Super Famicom in that article linked above, but I still have a story or two left to tell about the Super NES.
Continue reading “Happy 30th, Super NES!”
Just when I said I wasn’t going to be making as many regular blog posts, here comes the return of Video Vinyl! Bet you didn’t see that coming!
Okay, so to follow that shocker, here’s a hot take:
There’s too damn much video game vinyl.
Continue reading “Video Vinyl: Shadow of the Colossus and Actraiser”
It’s a bit belated, but November 21, 2020 was the 30th birthday of one of the greatest video game consoles of all time, Nintendo’s Super Famicom!
The 16-bit follow-up to the monstrously popular Famicom/NES was highly anticipated in the months before its release, and with Sega’s Mega Drive and NEC’s PC Engine already leading the way into the 16-bit era, all eyes were on Nintendo to see what their machine would deliver.
The Super Famicom’s legacy has been so firmly cemented in the past 30 years that there’s not much more commentary I can offer that wouldn’t be a reiteration of anything that’s already been said. So instead, on this monumental three-decade anniversary, my mind drifts back to my memories of what the vibe was like leading up to the launch of the SFC, as those are some of my most nostalgic feelings of video game excitement.
Continue reading “Happy 30th, Super Famicom!”
Here’s a confession: I have loved Godzilla for even longer than I’ve loved video games. It’s true! I actually cannot recall when I first discovered Godzilla — I literally have no memory of a time when I did not watch and love his movies, and some of my earliest memories of watching any TV at all are of Godzilla. It had to have been pre-Kindergarten that I started watching them — maybe my older sister had watched them because she was into horror movies — but I didn’t discover video games until I was five or six, and I know I was watching Godzilla before then.
Anyway, with Godzilla and video games being two of Japan’s most significant pop culture exports, naturally there have been a bunch of Godzilla video games. Unfortunately, as is the case with many licensed properties, many of them are…not that good. And those that are decent are probably most enjoyable only by hardcore kaiju-eiga no otaku.
The problem with Godzilla games is that he SHOULD translate wonderfully into a video game, but he often just… doesn’t.
Super Metroid was released on March 19, 1994 in Japan, making today its 25th anniversary.
Wow!
Quick reminder here that I founded the Metroid Database website back in 1996 — but only to preface my saying that I literally, probably, cannot write any more about Super Metroid than I have already. I’ve played it, researched it, reviewed it, examined it, praised it, torn it apart, and got an S-logo tattoo. And I’ve watched others do the same, for 25 years now. So really, at this point, all I can do is celebrate it! Continue reading “Happy 25th Anniversary, Super Metroid!!”
Today is the second anniversary of Retro Game SuperHyper! Happy birthday! Continue reading “2 Years!”
Much in the way devoted theists worship their deity of choice, tonight I am writing a gospel in praise of The Master and his miracles in bringing peace and civilization to the world while slaying monsters and cranking some kickass tunes. Yes, I am testifying to the glory of Actraiser, a divine game in which you play God…a sword-weilding, demon-slaughtering, natural-disaster-causing God. And lo, it is good. Continue reading “Raising Act”
Since I have two semi-related topics I wanna talk about, I’m going to make this a split post, or two posts mashed together, like a punk rock split 7-inch (or should that be grindcore, given the topic?? HA! I’m funny.)
Continue reading “Super Mario RPG: FINISHED/When in Doubt, Grind it Out”
True confession: I’ve never played through Super Mario RPG. Shock and horror, I know!
Although I have love for all game systems (admittedly to varying degrees, but still, love), I of course have my favorites. The Super NES/Super Famicom is very high on my list, and I know I’m not alone in that sentiment. The 16-bit era overall was a magical time to be a gamer, and while I also have great affection for its contemporaries the Genesis, the TurboGrafx, and the Neo-Geo, the SNES was pretty much nirvana in that period of videogame history.
Still, as much joy as Nintendo’s fabled powerhouse brought me, there were some games that I would have loved to see on it that never were; some franchise titles and some “what ifs” that would have made amazing entries in the SNES library and catapulted the console from just “all-time great” status to “untouchably perfect.” So let’s fire up our imaginations and dream up a catalog of Super NES games that could have been…
The recent release of an officially-Capcom-licensed, limited-edition Street Fighter II Super NES cartridge from iam8bit got me thinking about when SF2 originally came out on the SNES in 1992, and how crazy the hype over it was. SF2 mania was in high gear, both in arcades and at home on 16-bit consoles, and I was fully immersed in it, at one point even taking part in a local tournament — that came down to me and another competitor.
Continue reading “That time I almost won a Street Fighter II tournament”
Retro Game SuperHyper 