Mario Kart: Double Dash (Gamecube, 2003)

Time to step into the realm of the Gamecube, as Mario and friends get into the business of tag-teaming karts. Since this game coincides with Super Mario Sunshine, I expect it to share a lot of the same assets. Does this also mean the game will consist only of redundant Delfino Island levels?

Originally Posted July 2016

Mario Kart: Super Circuit (Game Boy Advance, 2001)

Next up is the series' jump to portables. This is basically Super Mario Kart 2 in every respect, from the visuals to the track-list. The usual suspects return, and everyone's ready for another round of kart mayhem. Except for Koopa Troopa, who is still out of a job. Thanks, Wario. Thanks a lot.

Originally Posted July 2016

Mario Kart 64 (Nintendo 64, 1997)

Time for one of the best games of all time and one that I took waaaay too long to play. The Super NES Super Mario Kart was the last game in this series that I really spent any substantial time with (until Mario Kart 8), so this one is pretty new to me. And it's awesome. How have I never spent any real time on this game?

Aside from playing it for a few minutes at a time at people's houses, which doesn't count. I basically missed out on the whole N64 era, outside of Ocarina of Time and Goldeneye when I got the system with them in 1999. Know how much it was? $70, plus $10 each for the two games. However, adjusted for inflation, that $90 wasn't the steal it seems like. It was still a pretty solid find regardless, and I've got good memories of that day in mid-1999 when I finally had an N64 and brought it home in a backpack.

Fun Addendum: I got stopped by the police while walking home. They were looking for someone else who looked like me and was "carrying weapons", and asked me if I minded opening the backpack and showing them what was in it. I complied, showing them the N64. Was afraid they would think it was a bomb or something. Instead one of them was like "my son has one of those!" and they apologized for stopping me and I went on my way.

Come to think of it, I'm lucky I got home with an N64 in tow if there was some maniac in my neighborhood with weapons. Imagine finally getting a new system and then immediately getting mugged.

Originally Posted July 2016

Super Mario Kart (Super NES, 1992)

Before I cover the new Mario Kart 9, I'm taking a trip back in time to look at some of the earlier games in the series by reposting my earlier playthroughs.

In 1992, Nintendo decided to put a bunch of beloved Mario characters (and Toad) into a kart-racing game. The result was one of the highest recorded awesome levels of the past thirty years. Until Toad started killing, anyway.

Originally Posted July 2016

Highlander 5x08 - Little Tin God

 

This episode is an interesting one. What would happen if an immortal exploited their inability to die and used that to convince people to follow them as a Christ-like figure? Well, finally one has decided to give it a try.

I don't think the series ever actually tackles the question of whether Christ Himself was an immortal, because it would have probably angered some group or other and gotten the show bashed online by moral busybodies. Kinda like what happens all the time in the 2020's. However it seems logical to conclude that yes, in the Highlander canon, Christ was indeed most likely an unspoken immortal. Wonder what happened to him. Maybe he ended up becoming the holy man that Darius slew when he sacked that unknown city in the early 100's, the one who was so pure/good that it made Darius completely change as a person?

...Well, there's a reason the show doesn't talk about this. Onward to the episode.

Highlander 5x07 - Haunted

 

It's time for the next disc of Highlander. This trio of episodes is particularly interesting for me because I don't think I've seen any of them before. I vaguely recall a disc being missing from my initial purchase of the series (once the DVD sets were a thing, I got S4 and S5 first, many years before I got the rest, as they were the main ones I saw growing up and had a desire to revisit).

I didn't worry about the missing disc too much, and acquired a new Season 5 later on along with the rest of the series that I didn't have. Fairly certain this was the missing disc given my total lack of memory of these three episodes, so there's a reasonably good chance that I've never seen this episode (or the next two) before. It's a unique opportunity to see something in this series for the first time and give impressions.

The next couple episodes are gonna be along very soon, as I continue this Lost Disc expedition. Might aim for Monday Night Highlander the next two weeks.

True Lies (Super NES, 1995)

Somehow, I did a post for this game twice. Once in February 2012, then again in April 2024, not realizing it had been covered already and wanting to do something for it. To my knowledge, that's the only time this has ever happened. My OCD is going a bit nuts having two posts for the same game, and the 2012 post is too good to just outright replace, so I'm going to merge the two. The 2012 post was written by crazy, off his rocker me, while the 2024 one was written by more straitlaced, professional me. So to keep it simple, the 2012 sections will be in italics and the 2024 sections will be in bold.

Also, the 2012 parts may be wildly offensive. I don't know. I'm not going to be one of those "it was a different time" people. It's there, like it if you like it, don't if you don't. Might end up being an interesting post for the "contrasting styles" reason. A good cop bad cop situation, or more accurately an insane man and his therapist.

True Lies: Now with 360 degrees of Firing Power!

Joe & Mac 2: Lost in the Tropics (Super NES, 1994)

There are many Joe & Mac ports for a variety of systems, but here we've got the only one worth playing (besides the first on SNES, of course). This is the main one I wanted as a kid, and is a bit more advanced/complicated than the first one (while being just as short). It's also really difficult, which is weird considering how easy the first one was.

Join me for the final installment of the hotly-demanded Joe & Mac "trilogy", starring Joe Dawson and Duncan Macleod (Highlander: Returning Soon!)

Considering this is the one I wanted, now that I've played both, I vastly prefer the first over this. It's still better than Congo's Caper. Why did you subject the world to Congo's Caper, TODD?? (Elder Scrolls: Returning Soon!)

Congo's Caper (Super NES, 1993)

 

More terrible box art heralds the game that was called "Joe & Mac 2" in Japan. It's available in the SNES section of Nintendo Switch Online, as are the two real games, so for once I wasn't forced to emulate these buy them on Ebay for hundreds of dollars and try to frame-capture from a real system with a GoPro. In any case, this bizarre game is brought to us by Data East, best known for......... Data East Pinball, I think?

...You know, I could have been playing Elder Scrolls Morrowind instead of this. I really like Elder Scrolls. That series made open world a thing to begin with, well before it was all the rage. Characters you can customize to an incredible extent. You can even create your own spells in those games. They're just nutso, and I can't imagine how happy I'd have been if I'd gotten into that series as a kid in the 90's. Alas that Daggerfall wasn't on console. The only thing I don't like about the series is the fanbase. I noticed that a lot of Youtubers who cover Bethesda games seem to have these bizarre one-sided angry conversations with Todd Howard in their videos. It's so off-putting.

Anyway, I had the Rocket Town theme stuck in my head the entire time I was playing this, and it fit the game perfectly. It's just seedy enough for this seedy game. Which brings me to... where's my Rocket Town DLC, Square? Pretty much everything else on my Top Fifteen Games I'd Like To See list has come true / been announced in the two months since then. But not that one! What gives, Square? And where's Elder Scrols VI, TODD? Todd Howard lied! He lied! I demand Morrowind Remastered, TODD. You made promises and you broke them, TODD! You're not my mother, TODD.

Joe & Mac (Super NES, 1991)

 

"Joe and Mac"? Is this a Highlander game? ....no, but Highlander is returning next week. Meanwhile, this terrible box art hides one of the more classic SNES action games. It's a bit of a knockoff of the Adventure Island series, with the difficulty turned way way way down, and it's a lot of fun to play. As a kid, this was one of those "Nintendo Power games" that I was intriged by thanks to that magazine and wanted to check out on a rental or something. Never got around to it because there were just too many other things to try; our cup really did runneth over in the 90's.

In any case, this is actually my first time playing this series (for more than a 5 minute tryout). This game had an NES predecessor that was basically the same game but half as long, and it had an arcade version, Genesis version, spinoffs, etc. However, the games everyone knows and remembers from this series are the two* SNES ones.

Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game (Sega 32X, 1995)

It's time to cover a classic fighting game with outlandish arcade-style action. Shawn looks so hip here. When I was a kid, I saw this game and went "Who are all those guys? Where are Hogan and Macho?" I saw the WWF New Generation as a bunch of midcarders, even when I wasn't watching wrestling yet. Even if I had been, the company itself did such a bad job passing any kind of torch from the old guard that most of the top New Generation guys WERE midcarders until they pulled themselves up by working against each other for several years.

Now I've got a much greater appreciation of this 1995 era of rasslin' and like it a lot, with Shawn Michaels being my favorite of the bunch. So now when I look at this game, I just go "where's Diesel?" ...because Diesel is strangely missing from this game, despite being the world champion for months when the game came out. They left Diesel out and included Doink? Was The Mountie not available?

Originally posted April 2020, now redone with a lot more New Generation knowledge

Ranking the Post-Millennium RPGs I Finished

 

This seemed like a good way to wrap up this month of lists. Listlemania, if you will. It's the sequel to my ranking of pre-millennium RPGs, which is like a whole different world (mostly the 2D world versus the 3D world, mostly). We're picking up with 2001 onward here. If you missed the first list, it's HERE. Same general format, except it'll be over 23 and a half years instead of the 15ish that the first one covered. I don't want to take too much away from the 1000 List, which is still in-progress, so I'm not going to go too deep on most of these or include any fun stuff like "Toughest Part". We'll get some music interludes, though, when the aural pleasure of a game is just too good.

Ranking All 40 Wrestlemanias

 

With Wrestlemania this weekend, and an even 40 in the books, it seemed like a good time to do a ranking.

Ranking Every Episode of Black Mirror, Including The New Ones

 

Taking a break from looking at things from 1987 to look at something hip and trendy and current. I will now be "with it" and "down" with the "pop culture" by ranking every episode of Black Mirror, including the new Season 7 eps which will drop during the making of this post. Which episode will be "goated FR"? Let's find out. There'll be a fair amount of spoilers here but I'm not going to reveal the biggest twists or completely give away the episodes.

Ranking all of Samus' Suits

Some of Samus' suits are remarkably well-designed and fun to look at, with colors and aesthetics that drip off the screen. Just absolutely sumptuous design on some of these, and it's probably a part of why the series has been successful over the years.

The ranking will be based mostly on the look and art design of each suit, with maybe 10% consideration given to their ingame abilities. It isn't about which is more powerful than which (something largely impossible to determine from game to game, given the mostly-shared ability pool). It's more about which ones are the most appealing to look at in action.

Top Ten Games/TV Shows/Movies I Wish Would Have Lasted Longer

Today I'm looking at things that were just over too soon. I needed more, dammit!

The Best And Worst Thing In Each Mario Game

Wrapping up this impromptu Mario month of sorts with a list that I threw together about 50% of in a medical waiting room. Somebody needs to do something about these Canada-esque wait times. I don't mind too much as long as I've got something to do, though.

Top Fifteen Games I'd Like To See

A lot of this is going to amount to "game companies selling us things we already have"... It is what it is. I don't even resent them for doing that, because it keeps the old greats alive. Besides that, nostalgia's a bigger selling point now than most of the new things being put out there. Aside from generational games like Elden Ring, modern gaming just doesn't have the magic for a lot of folks that retro gaming does. Regardless, here's my list of remakes, remasters, and occasional new things that I'd like to see happen.

Highlander 5x06 - Money No Object

 

This picture looks like it should be accompanied by 1930's honky-tonk jazz, like the entirety of the movie Babylon. This is a great comedy episode, and more fun with Amanda after the heartfelt episode we got last time. Not sure why Amanda gets hated-on online, because she's quite likeable in these episodes.

Highlander 5x05 - Dramatic License

 

After several episodes that tackled more serious subject matter, we're overdue for a comedy episode. Episode 5 here is, as the French say, "le goof". Which is just what le doctor ordered.

This week we're getting not one, but TWO new episodes. ...because I don't like the thumbnail for this one, and I'll be damned if I have this fish-like woman eyeballing people while they read this site.

Ranking the Super Mario 64 Levels

One of the main criteria I use to judge a Mario 64 level is how fun it is to just run around aimlessly. Mario 64 is one of those rare games where mere movement and exploration is its own fun, without even having a goal in mind. Some of these levels are really conducive to just having fun and jumping around, while others aren't. So what this list ultimately comes down to is how much fun I have just playing around in any given level, and how likely I am to look forward to replaying them.

Super Mario 64 - Act III

 

Today, I finish off this solid-gold game that damn near defined a console era. September 29th 1996 is a day that lives on fondly in the hearts of many, many, many kids who grew up in that era. The NWO had just dawned as the hot thing in wrestling, the 3D era had begin in gaming, and so much was fresh and new. People's brains were still producing dopamine, doomscrolling didn't exist, and we were playing the original versions of all those games that game companies are now selling to you even though you already have them.

Super Mario 64 - Act II

 

The second act of this game is hands-down my favorite part. Going back to 1996, by this part, the sheer novelty of having the game and running around in a 3D space had worn off a bit, so the levels had to step their game up to keep the hype going. And step up they did, with most of my favorite levels in this next section.

Super Mario 64 (Nintendo 64, 1996)

 

It's "Mar10 Day" and I've been wanting to do something Mario-related on this particular day for a while. Too bad "Mar10 Day" isn't more of a thing. Nintendo started to try and make it a thing and then just kinda abandoned it, I think, much like they abandoned trying to stay ahead of the competition's tech level somewhere around 2005.

This is a game that meant a lot to millions of kids in 1996. It isn't hyperbolic to say that it was the biggest video game of all time at that moment. Nintendo Power sold many games to people over the years, with things like Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario RPG, and Killer Instinct getting the mega-pushes of mega-pushes. And yet none of them got the GIGA-PUSH that Super Mario 64 got in the months leading up to the launch of the Nintendo 64.

This is still, to this day, probably my favorite 3D Mario game (though Mario Galaxy got close), and I'm long overdue for a replay of it. I've beaten this game all of twice ever previously: Once in 1999 when I finally got an N64, and once in 2012 or so on the Wii Virtual Console where I got all 120 stars. Now I play it a third time to talk about it here. Just beating the game (70 stars) and trying to do it fairly quickly. I'll also be looking at some of the Nintendo Power coverage to see if I can evoke some twinges of nostalgia over just how beyond-hyped people were for this.

Sunset Riders (Super NES, 1993)

 

Kind of a butt-ugly box art here, and I don't think I ever saw it in stores. This is a SNES port of an arcade game that was quite popular at the time, but unfortunately I think this is a game that probably worked much better in arcades.

This is the game that I always mix up with Wild Guns, and I thought I'd already played it. Turns out that wasn't the case, so I gave it a go. Unfortunately, I wasn't missing anything because after one run, I loathe this game. Wait, what? But...it's Konami. Probably my favorite developer ever besides Fromsoft and maybe Square-Enix. How can this be?

Wild Guns (Super NES, 1994)

Today I'm taking a quick look at a forgotten SNES game. It has achieved slightly mythical status in the modern era due to a number of high-profile members of the internet singing its praises. It's... surprisingly great.

(Originally posted Oct 2012)

Highlander 5x04 - Glory Days

 

The first Season 5 episode that I don't actually like. It isn't bad or anything but it's got some issues. Very much a filler-y "villain of the week" and the villain in question is one of the weakest in the series. Both in terms of physical ability and overall persona. At least it has a good subplot with Joe Dawson.

The Little Mermaid (NES, 1991)

 

Here's a game that isn't in the Disney Afternoon Collection and probably should have been. I never played it before this, but I heard only good things about it over the years. It's just a pleasant little game, starring a cute redhead. Not sure why a drunken fish is sidling up next to Ariel though.

Today is a dark day for wrestling fans, but I'll do my best with this.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin - Act III

 

Portrait of Ruin draws to a close, as unfortunately this super-good game has an end. Took about 8 hours, would have been totally fine with it taking another 20. Today I take out the last four portraits.

Ya know, I'm starting to wonder if Konami saw these 2D 'Vanias as B-Team projects and most of their resources went into the 3D console 'Vanias. Which would be kinda comical considering how much better-regarded Iga's 2D creations are. I don't even really think of the 3D 'Vanias as the same series.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin - Act II

 

Next I wade through my favorite of the painting zones, the desert, fighting off Shishio cosplayers.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (Nintendo DS, 2006)

 

In my continuing quest to figure out what the best of the big eight Iga-Metroidvanias is (the six portables, plus Symphony and Bloodstained), I've got two left and this is one of 'em. It's definitely a major contender. And I'll say this, Circle of the Moon isn't going to win, probably because it's the Iga-Metroidvania that doesn't even contain Iga.

Regardless, this game is freaking fantastic, and is a direct sequel to Castlevania Bloodlines.

Castlevania Bloodlines (Sega Genesis, 1994)

With this one, the series arrives on the Sega Genesis with a bang. I found this game to be more fun than the NES installments, even though it still has a brutal final battle. In keeping with Sega's early 90's tradition of acting younger and hipper than Nintendo, this game stars the hip young descendants of Simon Belmont, and takes place in the 20th century.

In Europe, this one was called Castlevania: The New Generation, which is very 90's. The New Generation! Rad to the max!

(Originally posted in 2010 (one of my first posts on here), now remastered for 2025 - As my next game Portrait of Ruin takes place during World War 2 and this game takes place during World War 1, and star a son and father duo respectively, it made sense to revisit this.)

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow - Julius Mode

 

I finished Dawn of Sorrow months ago, but I've got one more thing to take a look at. Finishing the game unlocks "Julius Mode", one of the many 'Vania postgame modes where you play as a different character. However this one is particularly notable because A) They really went the extra mile here, giving you a party of three new characters to switch between, and B) It's the closest we'll ever get to a Julius Belmont 1999 game (which is kind of crazy considering that's technically the canonical final battle between the Belmonts and Dracula, and we never got a game for it).

Highlander 5x03 - Manhunt

 

It's always cool when we get an early-series immortal to show up in a return episode later on. In this case it's Carl Robinson, who first appeared in "Run For Your Life" and went from being a slave to a baseball player. ...then later ended up in trouble, before becoming a baseball player again. Well, now we're back in the "trouble" cycle. This is one of those episodes where the primary threat is a conundrum to solve rather than a particular bad guy.

Darkwing Duck (NES, 1992)

Darkwing Duck was one of the many shows/things I was into as a kid. Like HUGELY into. That said, I don't know how long I was a fan of this show. It might have been like a month or something. Either way, it was memorable. I liked it for the same reasons I liked Carmen Sandiego and Dick Tracy, it had a cool roster of bad guys with their own gimmicks and whatnot and a crime-fighting hero trying to apprehend them all (but never actually seeming to).

I don't know what happened with the show or what the overall mythology was. Were there multiple seasons? Did new Big Bads get introduced? I don't know. I didn't even follow the TMNT lore that deeply and TMNT was the biggest thing on the planet.

In any case, this is a game that I 100% would have begged for if I'd had an NES as a kid. Probably near the top of the list for it too. This, Power Blade, Mega Man 3, Metroid, and Super Mario Bros 3 are probably the first things I would have gone for. ...that is, if I didn't burn through the game budget getting terrible Terminator games.

Highlander 5x02 - The End of Innocence

 

One of my favorite episodes, almost entirely because the "bad guy" is one of the most formidable and cool immortals in the show's run. Duncan faces a serious threat this time around, and we get the return of Richie. Except now he's bad-ass heel Richie.

Xenogears: Perfect Works

 

Whoa, what have I got here? And where are Elly's clothes? Turns out, in Japanese media, it's very common for characters to be portrayed as naked when they're represented in a metaphysical world, since they've shed any Earthly additions.

Every so often I like to look at an art book, and Xenogears' Japan-only art book is a good one. As the cover tells you, it's got all kinds of information on the world of the game. It's a crime that this never got any translated versions in the West, though. As for why that is... well, look at the cover. Is that the outline of a nipple?

Contra: Operation Galuga (Switch, 2024)

 

Very cool little game here that probably could have been called "Contra 5" (or whatever we're up to). It's a total throwback in most regards, with modern HD visuals. Konami should do things like this more often. The only problem with this one is that it's hard to find and they only gave it an extremely limited release. Pretty much have to go buy it digitally unless you luck out and find it in a library or something.

The Peace Keepers (Super NES, 1994)

 

The third game in the series, Rushing Beat Shura, is also on Nintendo Switch Online, so I'm checking it out. Looks like Jaleco still hasn't figured out how to mention Rival Turf! on the box, so nobody would know this is the third and final game in the trilogy.

Also, "The Peace Keepers"? Judging from this box art, they're not doing very much peace-keeping! Maybe they called the game this so kids would be able to sell it to their parents more easily. "Mom, it's a game about keeping peace!" Damn right it's about keeping peace... by whooping ass.

Now with FOUR player simultaneous action! Which is actually pretty rare for the Super NES and makes this game legitimately notable.

Brawl Brothers (Super NES, 1993)

 

This is Rushing Beat II, the sequel to Rival Turf! that I didn't know existed...and neither did anyone else. They should have said something on the box. At least they made sure to mention the "simultaneous two-player action" and "Jaleco" which is how you know it'll be rad to the max.

Rival Turf (Super NES, 1992)

 

Rad-sounding developer Jaleco brings us a game that looks totally rad to the max: Rival Turf, known as Rushing Beat in Japan where it had a bit more of an audience. I have no idea what I'm getting into here. Is this one of Nintendo's earlier attempts to be young and hip like Sega? Who are these two kids? Are they in the game? Are they faces or heels? They look like they're minutes away from beating up Emilio Estevez in an arcade.

Now on Nintendo Switch Online, so one can play it there with simultaneous two-player action. Put on your bandana and pop your collars, it's time to be a RAD DUDE.

Top 10 Underrated Emotional Moments In Games

Today I'm running through some emotional moments that don't get a lot of airtime. Little jolts from various games that meant something or hit hard in their own ways. Obviously I'm missing about a hundred worthwhile things from this list, and it's just what came to mind for a top ten.

Dragon Quest Master Post (Updated for 2025)

Links to all of the Dragon Quest series posts on this site, in an organized list. There are so many of them that it became necessary! Bunch of new updates.

Highlander 5x01 - Prophecy

 

A year later, I pick up after the cliffhanger of sorts at the end of S4. How will Joe and Duncan mend their shattered friendship? Where's Richie?

Most of the questions will have to wait a bit because this episode is more about setting the stage for the big main event of Season 5. I wonder if this is the only show out there that has its "main events" about 60% of the way through the seasons*. I'd say Buffy got it right by having the Big Bads show up at the end, but either way, I'll take it. * - Except Season 3, which felt much more like a traditional season arc.

This episode is a good one, and features the underrated and gorgeous Tracy Scoggins as mythical immortal Cassandra, known for being able to see the future. Yes, that Cassandra. Not sure how I feel about Highlander getting more "mystical" from here on out, but I'll need to get used to it because supernatural elements pop up quite a few times in the last arc of the show.