Super Mario World (Super NES, 1991)

Closing out the year with wholesome Super Mario World posts. Hard to believe I've never covered this. I haven't covered Super Mario Bros 3 either, but we'll get to that eventually. It's been hotly debated which of the two games is the better one, and that isn't a debate I'm ready to wade into. Instead I'll be getting into various memories of the game and my experiences with both playing it and reading about it.

Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen, Finale - Hoffman Estates

The remake of DQIV has a solid Chapter 6 postgame. This takes place before the fight with Necrosaro and actually replaces it, sort of an alternate timeline version of things where Psaro doesn't have to die. We'll also deal with the real instigator behind Psaro's madness.

 

Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen, Part 5 - Necrosaro's Lament

 

Today on Dragon Quest IV, our heroes ride a hot air balloon and take on the final boss, while the dandiest purple-clad bard looks on and sings of them.

Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen, Part 4 - Lady Island

Things get serious on the latest episode of DQIV, as Psaro reveals to his girlfriend that he is school shooter. 

Psaro: "I was the ultimate gentleman, and STILL women didn't throw their undergarments at me at stop lights."

Rose: "I'm throwing my undergarments at you RIGHT NOW! Does this mean nothing to you??"

Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen, Part 3 - A Swift Kick In The Balzack

With the legendary Hero "dead", suddenly parties of adventurers the world over are setting out to be the new Hero. It's sort of like when Superman died and all of those poser "Supermans" appeared. Little does anyone know, the Hero is fine and he's right here. Unfortunately, he's got no allies.

Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen, Part 2 - Ice Packs for Taloon

Endor does not allow gay marriage! That and the Princess wants a husband. Which all begs the question of why they even allowed women into the tournament to decide who she marries in the first place. I think there's a yeti in there too.

Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (iOS/Android, 2014)

 

I've played this on the NES several times, and I played this on the DS back in college. This mobile port is almost exactly like the DS version, with a couple of neat features and sharper visuals. I wasn't even planning to play this, but it felt weird to jump from DQIII mobile to DQV mobile, and I figured DQIV deserves a "normal" post series after the wrestling-themed one. Let's get going.

Hades (Lots of systems, 2020)

 

The King of the Roguelikes, and the ultimate evolution of / successor to games like Smash TV. I played this on both the Playstation 5 and the Nintendo Switch OLED and it was pretty much the same deal on both.

Brought to you by Raid: Shadow Legends and the Lawn Mower 3.0!

Smash T.V. (NES, 1990) and Super Smash T.V. (Super NES, 1992)

 

Man, who doesn't remember these ads? This is something I've meant to check out for a while. Going with the NES and SNES versions since they're the ones I wanted as a kid. It's more arcade blast-a-thons loosely based on The Running Man.

Total Carnage (Super NES, 1992)

 

Starring Travis Scott!

........I'll show myself out.

Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage (Super NES / Genesis, 1994)

 

Man, I loved this game in the 90's. Pay no mind to the rainbow, because this might just be the best LJN game. It's the reason I wanted to see a Carnage movie for decades (now we finally have one and I haven't seen it yet).

Metroid Dread (Switch, 2021)

This is it, the big game of the month...and the largest post in site history. Will I enjoy the game I've been waiting for for 19 years? Will the site crash from this ginormous post? Tune in and we'll find out.

Metroid Dread Collector's Edition Artbook

 

I've got the Collector's Edition of this new game and it's time to take a look at what it's got. Was gonna roll this into the Metroid Dread post, but it's going to be long enough already.

Another Metroid 2 Remake (PC, 2016)

 

I've gone into how important Metroid 2 was to me personally in the 90's. Looking back, it turns out Metroid 2 might actually be the most significant game in the series in terms of the effect it had on the rest of the games. And this, in my opinion, is the best version of it. Basically Zero Mission 2, and far more faithful to the Game Boy original than the Mercury Steam remake is. I can't say enough good about this game and I've been wanting to cover it for years. Not bad for a 100% fan-made project.

Metroid: Zero Mission Brisk Walk

 

I wanted to do one speed-run type Youtube deal for Metroid Month and it was too soon to do another Super Metroid run. Given my future Metroid series plans, it made the most sense to plow Zero Mission.

Samus Returns (Nintendo 3DS, 2017)

The 2017 remake of Metroid 2: Return of Samus is pretty divisive. Some people loved it, some people didn't have much fun with it at all. I grew up with Metroid 2 and it was the first game I found myself really attached to, so this remake was long-awaited for me to say the least. They changed a LOT about the game though, and at the end of the day I think I prefer the fanmade AM2R over this. All Metroid 2 needed for a remake was a "Zero Mission II" type game, which AM2R is. However, it isn't like Samus Returns is terrible or anything. It sets up multiple future games and puts a more complex spin on Metroid II's world. Let's get it done.

Metroid: Other M (Nintendo Wii, 2010)

Metroid Week BEGINS. If all goes well I'll be covering the few non-Prime Metroid games that I hadn't covered in playthrough form before on here. Specifically Other M, Samus Returns, and AM2R. At some point in the future I'll also cover the Prime series, likely right before Metroid Prime 4 if it ever comes to pass.

Without further ado, starting off with Metroid Other M, a game that isn't very well-liked to say the least. It's still a halfway decent playthrough, despite its problems. That said, I don't personally intend to ever revisit this one and I've got a lot to gripe about here.

This is basically Metroid 3.5 since it takes place before Metroid Fusion. For a very long time (until now, really) this was all Metroid fans got as far as any continuation of the story goes, which makes it being a letdown even more of a...letdown. On the bright side, one doesn't particularly need to play this to understand the rest of the series, and it can be skipped.

Jer's Travel Vlog #5 - AEW Grand Slam (New York City)

The NYC trip culminates with AEW Grand Slam and THE LOUDEST CROWD EVER.

 

Jer's Travel Vlog #4 - New York Road Trip

 

In this one I do lots of terrible impressions and drive for a while. The parking line for AEW Grand Slam took one-third as long as the drive across-state to New York City did. No joke. By 45 minutes into it we were losing our minds a bit. This one was actually a ton of fun to record.

Jer's Travel Vlog #3 - Chicago / AEW Rampage

 

In the final Chicago episode, I meet a bunch of wrestlers at a convention, and hit up some AEW tapings.

Jer's Travel Vlog #2 - Chicago / Charity Softball Game

 

In the next episode, I meet the esteemed Gunn Club.

Jer's Travel Vlog #1 - Chicago / AEW Dynamite

 

Next week is Metroid Week, where we'll be having all kinds of Metroid festivities. In the meantime while I get that ready, I'm gonna go ahead and put up some travel vlogs. In this first one, I fly to Chicago for AEW Dynamite. More of these on the Youtube channel.

Final Fantasy 1 Four-Character Extra

 

Now for something completely different. Not a standard playthrough of FF1, that's for later. This is more of a challenge run of sorts. When I was a kid, I played through the game with four Fighters. It was a fun time, and it made me want to play through with four of various other classes. I never got around to it...until now.

The one that generally gets all the hype as being a major challenge run is 4x White Mages. Much like four Fighters was the one I did in the past, 4x White Mages is something to do in the future, to give me one more same-class group to run. Today, I'll be looking at the four in-between, starting with ::thunder crashes:: ...4x Thief.

My God.

Dragon Warrior IV RAW IS WAR Season Finale

IT'S MY LIFE IN A BOX, AND IT'S HARD TO BEAT!

TAKING CHALK IN MY ARMS, IT'S THE SOUL OF ME!

YOU WANT FIRE, ASHES SEE ME LAYING FACE DOWN!

WHY AM I THE THORN! IN YOUR EYE!

Dragon Warrior IV RAW IS WAR Episode 5

IT'S MY LIFE IN A BOX, AND IT'S HARD TO BEAT!

TAKING CHALK IN MY ARMS, IT'S THE SOUL OF ME!

YOU WANT FIRE, ASHES SEE ME LAYING FACE DOWN!

WHY AM I THE THORN! IN YOUR EYE!

Dragon Warrior IV RAW IS WAR Episode 4 - Thursday RAW Thursday

IT'S MY LIFE IN A BOX, AND IT'S HARD TO BEAT!

TAKING CHALK IN MY ARMS, IT'S THE SOUL OF ME!

YOU WANT FIRE, ASHES SEE ME LAYING FACE DOWN!

WHY AM I THE THORN! IN YOUR EYE!

Dragon Warrior IV RAW IS WAR Episode 3

IT'S MY LIFE IN A BOX, AND IT'S HARD TO BEAT!

TAKING CHALK IN MY ARMS, IT'S THE SOUL OF ME!

YOU WANT FIRE, ASHES SEE ME LAYING FACE DOWN!

WHY AM I THE THORN! IN YOUR EYE!

Dragon Warrior IV RAW IS WAR, Episode 2

IT'S MY LIFE IN A BOX, AND IT'S HARD TO BEAT!

TAKING CHALK IN MY ARMS, IT'S THE SOUL OF ME!

YOU WANT FIRE, ASHES SEE ME LAYING FACE DOWN!

WHY AM I THE THORN! IN YOUR EYE!

Dragon Warrior IV RAW IS WAR, Episode 1

IT'S MY LIFE IN A BOX, AND IT'S HARD TO BEAT!

TAKING CHALK IN MY ARMS, IT'S THE SOUL OF ME!

YOU WANT FIRE, ASHES SEE ME LAYING FACE DOWN!

WHY AM I THE THORN! IN YOUR EYE!

Bloodborne Arcane Build Videos

 

A quick treat today as I have a bunch more Bloodborne boss videos to post, this time from an Arcane-focused run. This means spell damage and weapon enchant damage (electric) are the main forms of output. Between this, my Dexterity build, and the Gun-Only Run, I've recorded about 2/3rds of the game's boss fights. Saving the rest for the next run which'll be Strength spec. Hoping for a PS5 remaster first. Regardless, here are a bunch of boss videos from what I consider to be the PS4's best game, with liner notes.

Dragon Quest III: Seeds of Salvation, Finale - Best DQ3 Port?

 

The six orbs are placed, and it's time to plow the rest of this. I gave my thoughts on the Phone Port in the previous post, but I'll re-iterate it here: I think this is the best version of Dragon Quest III. I'm surprised too. It's a great update of a game that originally came out during a generation whose primary hobbies were tank barrel cleaning and fighting the USSR.

Resident Evil 24 - The Video

 

My magnum opus.

Dragon Quest III: Seeds of Salvation (iOS/Android, 2014)

 

This will be much quicker than my look at the GBC version, focused mainly on pointing out differences and improvements. This version of the game is actually pretty rad on the QOL front and manages to out-do the already-great GBC version in most respects. I'm also going to seize this opportunity to try the 3 Goof-Off Challenge I alluded to in the earlier posts. Will this party be as huge of a PITA as I think it is? Yes. It's fantastic once they all metamorphosis into Sages, however.

I don't mind playing DQIII multiple times back-to-back. The only thing this game doesn't have is chocobos. Which reminds me. Legend has it that if you bring the right greens and a little luck, occasionally a chocobo chick will pop out of Kenny Omega's hair.

Dragon Warrior III (GBC) Finale: The Baramos With The Most

 

Rubiss is petrified, and can only be cured by the tears of Pikachu. Also Zoma awaits, in this final episode of Dragon Warrior III on Game Boy Color. What a great game this turned out to be. I think I have a new system-favorite game for the GBC.

Dragon Warrior III (GBC) - Part 5: The Next World

 

Today on Dragon Warrior III...the finale! Or is it?

Dragon Warrior III (GBC) - Part 4: Only the Lonely

Dragon Quest III: Now available on SouljaConsole. Game Speed FPS 1:1!

The nutty thing about this: The console is a Chinese-made knockoff console with an emulator and 800 old ROMs on it, so it wasn't even made by SouljaGames. In other words, Soulja Boy's literally one contribution to the design of this console was slapping a badly-copypasted image of Soulja Boy onto the box. "Nintendo ain't doing shit!" he said when reached for comment.

Dragon Warrior III (GBC) - Part 3: Louisiana Purchase

This game's Japan equivalent is our next stop after the class change. At this point the game becomes open world, so you can take on the next bunch of objectives in any real order. The Zipangu section actually contains one of the tougher upcoming bosses.

Super Metroid Speed Run (2020 Edition)

 

2020 Edition? Yeah, I'm catching up on the yearly Super Metroid runs. It's just as well that this gets the 2020 label because this one was actually a step back for me. Used a PS1 controller and had to deal with input lag. Going to fix these issues and do the actual 2021 run later in the year.

Dragon Warrior III (GBC) - Part 2: Flight of the Valkyries

The quest for Mini-Medals continues! Starring Beedel-sama as the Small Medal King.

Dragon Warrior III (Game Boy Color, 2001)

In 2001, DQ3 hit the Game Boy Color. This version borrows a lot from the Super Famicom version and so far it's a blast.

FFVIIR - The Speed Run

 My God, I'm still doing FFVIIR posts? Well, here's one more: Speed run videos! Once you've gotten 100% trophies, defeated the uberbosses, maxed-out your party and materia, and finished the DLC, there isn't much left to do except plow the game.

Double Dragon: The Movie (1994)

 

What am I doing with my LIIIIIIIIFE

Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade - Yuffie DLC (Part 3)

 

Today on FFVII-R...our heroes deal with the aftermath of Scarlet pressing the Hot Button, as Intergrade unfortunately draws to a close. It turned out to be pretty cool.

Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade - Yuffie DLC (Part 2)

 

Today on FFVII-R...wow this game is still going, huh? Anyway, today, Yuffie and her belly button deal with the scourge that is...Scarlet and what I think is an unused boss from the base game.

Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade - Yuffie DLC (Part 1)

 

Oh yeah, FF7R isn't off the hook yet. Been waiting for this DLC, which they made weirdly hard to get. First, it only comes with the PS5 version. Second, if you buy the physical PS5 version, they give you a one-use code rather than including it in the game, destroying the used game value immediately (especially for the loads of people who are only getting the PS5 version for the Yuffie DLC)

Resident Evil Videos

 

Just a couple videos of me trying the newer Resident Evil games. No big whoop. (Disclaimer: May Not Actually Feature Vampire Lady)

Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls

The series winds to a not-so-epic conclusion with a terrible fighting game. Well, it isn't really THAT bad, but it certainly isn't what series fans were expecting after the other four games. To make things worse, it barely has any of the iconic characters from the series. Sad thing is, there was another Double Dragon fighting game that DID have characters like Abobo and Chintai, but it was only released in arcades and I've never personally gotten to play it. Too bad the SNES didn't get a port of that one instead of this mediocrity.

Super Metroid Hacks

Super Metroid: One of the finest games on the SNES. Also now available on SouljaConsole as Soup Arm Etroid.

Today I'll be looking at six Super Metroid hacks that I've had laying around for the past few years: Metroid Redesign, Another Super Metroid, Super Metroid Battle, Metroid Legacy, Metroid Reverse, Metroid Limit, and Super Metroid Justin Bailey Hack. I'll be playing each one until I reach an impasse - whether it be a boss fight or a dead end - or otherwise don't feel like continuing. I'll rank each one on a 1-10 scale, with Ten being "as good as Super Metroid" and One being near-unplayable. Anything over 6 or 7 is probably worth checking out.

Panzer Dragoon Remake (PS4, Switch, 2019)

Here we've got a beloved Sega Saturn game that got a remaster in 2019. It's barely an hour long, costs $25, and is digital-only... so it's $25 that one will never get back for one hour of gameplay. That's kind of rough. Hopefully it leads to bigger things (Panzer Dragoon Saga Remastered).

I didn't really know what to expect with this game, having never played anything from this series, so it was all new to me.

Super Mario Bros 2 (aka The Lost Levels) (Famicom, 1986)

This was tricky to get working, but I did it. I've played the Super Mario All-Stars remake of this game (The Lost Levels) a number of times, but never the Famicom Disk System original. This...is going to be tough, but it should be interesting regardless. I find this game more fun than the original Super Mario Bros; it's also more accessible than ever since you can get it on the Wii or 3DS Virtual Consoles. Just be prepared for NES-style horizontal button mapping that can't be changed.

Mario's Fabled World 9

A while back, I took a look at Volume 52 of Nintendo Power, an issue which covered this game in-depth. There I learned that the game has a secret World 9 if you get through all eight standard worlds without using a warp zone. I'd never played the game without using warp zones, so World 9 was news to me and I had to check it out for myself.

Bloodborne Gun-Only Run Videos

Shigeru Miyamoto has really outdone himself this time.

Mega Man X7 Playthrough

 

Time for a video playthrough of what I consider to be the worst game in the Mega Man series. I've done video playthroughs of almost this entire series now. Only thing left after this is Mega Man X8. Who is that in the background of this title screen, anyway? Looks like a robed figure. Dr. Wily? Nah, it's probably just Axl.

Final Fantasy VII Remake, Finale - Edge of Destruction

After a long journey, we arrive at the finale of FFVII exactly a year after I began it, holding four orbs Jenova. Is Sephiroth seriously gonna lug this thing everywhere?

Tune in for my final thoughts on this one.

Brawl Brothers (Super NES, 1993)

 

This is the sequel to Rival Turf that I didn't know existed...and neither did anyone else. They should have said something on the box.