The 1000 Games I've Beaten (#736 - 756)

#736 Valkyria Chronicles 4 (Switch) – Fall 2018

All I played from this series were the first and fourth games; not sure if I missed much by skipping the portable entries. One and four were both solid enough, with nice hand-drawn graphics and Hitoshi Sakimoto music which is always a huge plus for me. Don't recall too much about this, and what I do recall, I'm not certain if it's from the first game or this one.

Toughest Part...in either this or VC1: The blue-haired super-woman that you have to snipe from a distance...I think she was in the first game, actually

Ranking Every AEW World Championship Reign: August 2019 - August 2026

 

The AEW World Championship (more recently the AEW Men's World Championship) has had one of the better, and more protected, lineages of any modern wrestling title. The first several years of that lineage were near-perfect and the title has remained prestigious ever since; being the sole World Title in the organization means that it's the undisputed top prize. Ten men have held this title - eleven if you count Bret Hart bringing the title out to begin with - and all of them were top tier talents in the industry. Today I'll be ranking these guys, and the rich history of title reigns in the company's short history.

Current champion as of press time (shortly before All In 2026) - Kenny Omega (2nd reign)

Gradius Gaiden (Playstation, 1997)

 

This game is hands-down the best Gradius series game I've ever played, and at this point I've played pretty much all of them. It was only released in Japan, making it basically the Rondo of Blood of this series, and for some inexplicable reason it has never been put on any of the Gradius collections since then (besides the now-obscure PSP one). Hardly anyone seems to know about it; I sure didn't until very recently.

Be warned though: As good as this game is, it can also be so hard that it makes Dark Souls look like Kirby's Dream Land. Then again, a lot of things make Dark Souls look like Kirby's Dream Land. Dark Souls really isn't that bad, especially compared to its own sequels. I should rank Fromsoft games by difficulty one of these days. Regardless. if Dark Souls moved any more slowly, it'd be turn-based.

Highlander 5x15 - The Stone of Scone

 

It's Monday night at 7 PM on the USA Network, you know what that means.

Aired April 21, 1997. There was a two-month space of time between Duende and this, which normally would have contained four new episodes, but with Season 5 being abbreviated there just weren't any new ones to air. I'm guessing they ran reruns during that timeframe; wonder what episodes they did. Presumably reruns aired throughout the year when new episodes weren't available (which would have generally been the middle six months of the year, or so).

It's just as well that I took a break after Duende, because this year was nonstop difficult life stuff between watching that episode and this one. Getting back to this as things begin to approach something resembling normal / nice again.

Adrian Paul was already halfway out the door and the studio was trying to hold things together and keep it going. I still wish, to this day, that they would have just seized the opportunity to focus on some other characters. S5's missing four episodes could have focused on Methos, given Richie or Amanda a solo adventure, etc. Bring back a loose end like S1's Kiem Sum or Joan Jett.

And of course, S6 should have been used to transition to a new lead midway through. My vote is that S6's back half, and S7, had Methos as the main character. Bring back Duncan for the finale and so forth, of course, but let Methos carry the show for a season and a half. Peter Wingfield was definitely up for it.

I just wish this show had a full seven seasons rather than the sputtering conclusion it has. Either way, we're still in the midst of the best seven-episode run the show ever had, so let's go!

Elden Ring: Nightreign Boss Fight Videos

 

With the Duskbloods network test starting today, it's a good time for another compilation of boss fight videos from a game. I'm hugely into these Fromsoft games and their boss fights, which tend to be great duels that are often incredible-looking to boot. Each fight here includes liner notes about the fight., as usual. This is a super fun game if you bring your own group of friends and communicate via some third-party chat program; a bit less so if you only do randomly generated runs - with no communication - as the game intends.

Nightreign is an interesting game that I wish I liked more. Found it very tedious and difficult because of how hard it was to make any gainful progress off of unsuccessful runs at levels. You're also very reliant on how experienced your teammates are. It was nearly impossible to beat a level with a randomized group in the first week the game was out, but later I was able to go back and do more once the playerbase had more experience (that or all the noobs had quit by then) and managed to beat the game in about 12 hours.

Do yourself a favor and avoid the DLC though. Waste of $15 and the underworld levels are a real pain in the ass. Had I just quit after the main game concluded, I would have had mostly positive memories. So this is only covering the main game.

The 1000 Games I've Beaten (#729 - 735)

 

#729 Dragon Quest XI (Playstation 4) – Fall 2018

After a regression in DQIX and a game nobody stateside could play in DQX, this game finally gave us the follow-up to DQVIII that people waited ten years for. This ranked very, very highly in my Post-Milennium RPG Ranking - out of all those games, it was essentially in a three-way tie for second place - and deservedly so. This takes everything that makes the DQ series, well, DQ, and cranks it all up with modern QOL and 3D visuals. It's done in a smooth graphical style that probably won't age, either.

Killer Instinct (Super NES, 1995)

 

Not to be confused with hit 1990's movie Basic Instinct. There's no connection. At least, I don't think there are any scenes where Fulgore crosses and uncrosses his legs seductively. Sabrewulf and Spinal are both nude though. Actually a bunch of characters are nude. Regardless, this is easily one of the best fighting games on the Super NES, even though I've never been very good at it.

Fighter's History (Super NES, 1994)

 

Looking at an oddball Data East fighting game that made its way onto the SNES. This wasn't exactly King of Fighters '94 or anything. The lack of SNK fighters on the SNES is weird, but it left some room for games like this to try and compete with the MKs and SFs of the world.

The box art shows off the game's highly-unappealing roster of characters. The giant head in a turban is the villain of the game, Karnov. This is basically a clone of Street Fighter II while also borrowing heavily from the aformentioned KOF series (going for realism, etc). It's on the Switch Online virtual console as we speak, mostly just taking up space.

Someone out there likely has this as their favorite game, though.

Fighting Vipers (Arcade/Sega Saturn, 1995)

 

Going to continue to step outside of my wheelhouse here, with something I've been meaning to check out for 30 years. Back in the mid-90's, 3D was starting to become all the rage, and systems like the Playstation and Saturn seemed really high-tech to those of us "stuck" with a Super NES. I always liked Virtua Fighter, but I remember hearing that Fighting Vipers was the REAL hardcore Sega fighter. Well, today I'm going to find out, by leaping to THE THIRD DIMENSION: The Wave of Tomorrow!

Detana!! TwinBee (TurboGrafx-16, 1992)

 

TwinBee is a series of Konami shooters that didn't get much attention, with the Gradius and Salamander series grabbing most of the hype. This is possibly the best game in the TwinBee series from what I've heard, and started life as an arcade game before getting a direct and accurate port to TG-16. There were other TwinBees on console before this, but none of them captured the aesthetic the series was going for until this one. Character designer Shujiro Hamakawa drew inspiration from Akira Toriyama's Dr. Slump while working on this. The soundtrack was composed by Michiru Yamane (who would go on to the Castlevania series) so that adds a lot to the game as well.

The TurboGrafx-16 is a system that didn't get much attention, with the Super NES and Sega Genesis grabbing most of the hype. I really need to spend more time with this system...if only there were reasons to that I haven't already played. This can be found on the Wii Virtual Console, and there's a two-player mode that makes the game much easier. You can do some weird and unique stuff, like have the two characters lock arms to increase their firepower (one character's controls become dominant temporarily). Not sure about playing this on modern systems; the Switch has kinda balked at Turbografx-16 and Neo Geo VC-ing last I checked.

The 1000 Games I've Beaten (#713 - 728)

 

#713 Gears of War: Ultimate Edition (Xbox One) – Summer 2018

High-res remake of the original that looks great. This was a big killer app for the XBox One S when it was making a big comeback suddenly. I got the system for free due to running a store, and it seemed like it was really outselling the PS4 for a bit there. Everybody was popping in to either get this game or an XB1. I think this might have also been a pack-in with the system, not sure. I didn't have time to actually play it until after the game store era was over, but it was high on the list for summer games to plow now that I had more free time.

Today on the list: The XBOX ONE ERA.

The 1000 Games I've Beaten (#701 - 712)

 

#701 Metroid: Samus Returns (3DS) – Fall 2017

Not a fan of the MercurySteam Metroid games. It is what it is. Metroid 2 is one of my favorite games from when I was a kid, and needed a remake. So this was 50/50 for me. On one hand, I could definitely recognize that it was Metroid 2 under the redesign. They added some really interesting new elements that made the game feel a lot more modern and streamlined, but also the difficulty went up considerably from the original and it lost some of that 1991 Gunpei Yokoi charm. I think me and a lot of other folks were really just hoping for a Zero Mission 2.

The 1000 Games I've Beaten (#680 - 700)

#680 Persona 5 (Playstation 4) – Spring 2017

One of the early games I played on an LG OLED, and a very worthy game for that. With high contrast and lots of black and red, the color palette of this game was perfect for seeing what the new TV could do. I got more into this one than the others, but it was just a one-and-done playthrough while the others were multiple time events.

The 1000 Games I've Beaten (#662 - 679)

 

#662 - Pokemon FireRed (Game Boy Advance) – Winter 2017

It's crazy how long it took for me to really get into the Pokemon series. I played Gen 1, took off for a decade, returned and bounced off Gen 4's terrible initial versions, took off for a decade, came back and played everything retroactively in the late 2010s. This series is basically comfort food, as far as games go. They're never all that demanding or difficult. The gameplay is simple, to the point, and you feel like you're getting somewhere every time you play.

The Top 13 Worst Square Game Areas

This started out as a "worst RPG areas" list, but I was drawing a blank on non-Square entities so it became a Square list. Not to dump on Square here, as they're my favorite game developer of all time (with Konami and From Software essentially tied with them, but yeah). These are worst areas, so not limited to dungeons. Can also be overworld zones, provinces, etc. Because I'm limited to Squaresoft, the whole list won't be dominated by Phantasy Star 2 dungeons. Also, this list won out over the competition, "Top 10 Thiccest Dragon Quest Maous" so there we go.

Previously posted December 2024 as a top 11, now reposted with two new entries (the top two)

SNK Vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos (Neo Geo, 2003)

 

This is the much lesser-known SNK version of the mashup. That's right, SNK did this one instead of Capcom, so it's considerably stiffer and more difficult than the two previous games from Capcom.

I think Mai and Chun-Li might be about to kiss.

Capcom Vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001 (Arcade, 2001)

 

In Japan, this game is called "Millionaire Battle 2001". Weird, most of these characters don't seem like millionaires. I'd be surprised if Terry Bogard is a thousand-aire, guy seems like he's barely scraping by. Released a year after the other one, this is a huge improvement much like Marvel vs Capcom 2 was over the previous game.

The Top 17 Bosses That Were Tougher Than The Final Boss

Time for another list. This features a lot of RPGs. Only main story, required bosses count. No uberbosses (Ruby Weapon, FFVII), postgame bosses (Nemesis, FFX), or optional fights (Warmech, FF1) and that also includes DLC bosses for newer things. The only criteria for this list is that it's a main story boss in the main game that exceeds the final boss in difficulty, or at least causes more grief for the player than the last boss. Also, one boss per game.

Previously posted January 2020 as a list of 12, now with five new additions

Ranking all 160 Super NES Games I've Finished

In celebration of the 250th birthday of the United States, it seemed like a fitting time for a GIANT LIST.

This will be the last of these wacky, overlong, Jason Graves style lists. I was going to try to do N64 as well, but the earlier lists didn't get enough views/comments to justify the work. SNES I was doing regardless just for the fun of it. The SNES is what I consider the last true "classical era" system, the height of 2D's artistic development before 3D came rolling in looking terrible and dominating everything. It took until 2020 with Demon's Souls on the PS5 for me to finally feel like 3D had reached the level of artistic merit that 2D had by 1996.

Way more games on this list, so I'm going to be keeping the blurbs for each game very short, in the interest of getting through all 160 (Jesus...) in a timely manner.

Don't take the placement TOO seriously on here. Any given group of ten could basically all be in a statistical tie with each other. Ranking these based on how well they hold up now.

Prehistorik Man (Super NES, 1995)

Time for a BLAST FROM THE PAST. They made Game Boy and SNES versions of this game, but it's safe to say the SNES version is the one to play. While the Game Boy version has five of the levels, this one has all of them. In other words, this is Prehistorik Man: Definitive Edition.

Been wanting to check it out for a while, so let's get a look at it.

My Top Twenty Tedious Boss Fights

 

Today I'm looking at a bunch of tedious boss fights. These are fights that gave me varying degrees of grief, not necessarily because of the difficulty, but because of their tedious elements. You know the type of fight, the kind you want to skip every time you replay a game.

Note: Originally posted in 2024, this was a top ten of mostly RPGs. I was doing a new list with non-RPGs and then decided to just combine it with the old one to make a Top 20. So about half of this is new. New content is in BOLD.

Capcom Vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 (Arcade, 2000)

 

The turn of the century was a pinnacle time for fighting games, at least from Capcom and SNK. You had Garou: Mark of the Wolves, Marvel Vs Capcom 2, and this game right here, for starters.

Best of all, it's available on the Switch now via Capcom Fighting Collection 2, so you can play it on the go when your wife's boyfriend wants the TV, or when they kick you out of the house.

Capcom Fighting Evolution (Arcade, 2004)

 

Interesting mash-up of a bunch of different Capcom games here, as CAPCOMANIA continues. Just mash-ups upon mash-ups this past month. Sometimes Capcom mashes up with Marvel, sometimes Capcom mashes up with SNK. Sometimes Capcom mashes up with both of them! Marvel isn't allowed to mash up with SNK on their own though, Capcom would fly off the handle. This despite that Capcom would mash up with LJN if the money was right 'cause Capcom's a total slut. So you can do it but I can't, huh??

As usual, I don't really know what's going on or what I'm doing with these fighting games. So this is a mash-up of a bunch of things I don't get, creating a vortex of "I don't get it" inception. Playing this on Capcom Fighting Collection 2.

A Controversial Ranking of the Nine Quentin Tarantino Movies

 

Just what it sounds like, ranking the works of Tarantino. Him keeping count of his movies kind of elevates all of them, like numbering WrestleManias. Looking forward to the tenth and final one, Kill Beatrix or whatever it ends up being called. Actually, "Kill The Bride" has a clever ring to it from a marketing perspective.

In b4 everyone finds out this weirdo spent a bunch of time on an island

Ranking Highlander Season 1

Since Season 5 is shorter than it should be, and I, you know, want to delay the last episode because, you know, S5's lifespan gets cut short in such a thoughtless way by, you know, giving it 18 episodes...... it seems like a good time to do a long-overdue episode ranking. Also, a note on Season 1's DVDs: The Watcher Chronicles spoil WAY too much. First-time series viewers would do well to stay FAR away from those. They get a lot better at only covering up to the current episode later; not sure when, though. Season 3, I think.

I'll be throwing some ratings at the end of the entries, as well, but don't put too much stock into this. While the rankings are well thought-out, the number ratings are off the top of my head, and graded on the curve of this show specifically. So a 1 isn't the worst thing ever made or anything like that. 1 is the worst tier of episodes this show has and 10 is the top tier of episodes this show has, the rarified air of the top ten or so best of the best episodes.

Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite (Playstation 4, 2017)

 

The final game in this series, this one is a step back in a lot of ways. Ultimate MVC3 is the way to go if you want a modern one, and MVC2 is the way to go for the retro series.

This one reminds me of Mario Kart World taking a step back in most ways from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (another "Ultimate" version, too). That game changed too much for its own good, like adding highways leading up to the actual courses. Well, this game also changes too much for its own good, like going back to two-character teams despite trios working so well.

Presumably this game will involve the Infinity Stones, given the name and the fact that it came out during the leadup to the Thanos movies.

Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 (Playstation 3/XBox 360, 2011)

 

Here's the back half of MVC3. The finished version. Seriously though, two game releases in one year, with one being an incomplete version of the other? MVC2 was definitely the high point of this series. This here is probably the second highest point, and an effort to capitalize on the popularity surge of the MCU. Either way, MVC2 was the pinnacle, they let it languish a while, and then they brought it back to make some money. It is what it is.

All in all this was a really fun series to do, so I regret nothin'. Two left. Also, right now this game is $4.99 on PSN. Why the hell are things still .99? We got rid of pennies so retailers would stop inconveniencing people with the deceptive pricing of putting a .99 at the end of everything. Apparently none of them got the memo. Regardless, this game normally goes for five times as much as it's on sale for right now, so that's a steal.

Double Dragon (Neo Geo/Arcade/Playstation, 1995)

 

Double Dragon: The Movie: The Game is the first Neo-Geo game I've ever beaten. How is that even possible? Well, it's what the list says. This is an arcade fighting game that I'm long-overdue to take a look at. This game should have gotten a lot more respect from consoles. Hard to believe that the far-inferior Double Dragon V was the fighting game that most consoles got. I played that one on the SNES and it was one of the most mediocre games on the system. Then again, this one might be a little too advanced for the SNES. Outside of the Neo-Geo, as far as systems that people actually had goes... it did get a PS1 release. In Japan. I didn't even know this game existed until a few years ago.

Strider (Arcade/Sega Genesis, 1989/1990)

 

This is the 200th action game I've covered on here. My God. 200. I have a feeling that if I'd grown up as a Sega Genesis kid instead of a SNES kid, this would have been one of my most-liked games. I probably wouldn't have been able to beat the game though. As usual, not sure what I'm getting into here, this is a first-time playthrough of something I've only heard of, on a system that I haven't done enough with.

There's also a stripped-down, scaled-down NES version, but it pales compared to the Arcade and Genesis versions. They can be played on a TV easily enough today with the Capcom Arcade Stadium and Nintendo Switch Online respectively.

The 1000 Games I've Beaten (#631 - 661)

 

In this episode I'll be entering the "running a game store" era, where for about a year I could pretty much play any game or system I wanted to at any time, no matter how new. Which means massive expansion to THE LIST. Number 655: ARM-BAR.

I'll be going through these fast, it's a lightning round.

Forgotten Worlds (Arcade, 1988)

 

The very first game developed for Capcom's CPS-1 arcade hardware, making this an important historical footnote. This is what would happen if SCAT and Bad Dudes cross-pollinated. It's an arcade shooter very similar to SCAT (to the point that at first glance I nearly thought it was a prequel/sequel, or made by the same people) where you play as these two rad dudes as they fight their way through space to save Earth.

It also looks REALLY nice for 1988. Arcade games were punching on a whole different weight class in the late 80's. I'm not kidding, this looks insane visually. I thought it was from the mid-90's until I checked the year.

As usual, I had no idea what I was getting into with this one. Capcom's been doing a really good job resurrecting their old arcade games and preserving them with modern systems. Arcade games aren't something you'll just find in the wild, so they might be the most important games to make ports of for modern systems. Just to keep them from ceasing to exist entirely. I wish someone would port over the Aliens vs Predator arcade game where you can play as Arnold's character Dutch, as well as various Predators, while bashing your way through a horde of Xenos. It's so, so much better than the SNES beat 'em up. And basically nonexistent at this point in time.

Anyway, time for Capcom's first arcade game. It's called Forgotten Worlds but thanks to them it isn't a forgotten game.

Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (Playstation 3/XBox 360, 2011)

 

This game took some work to get ahold of and a lot more work to get shots of. Sony REALLY didn't want people recording any clips of the PS3 for the new sensation Youtube. That would let people promote their games by showing off the gameplay!

This is the top-selling game in the series (though to be precise, the ultimate edition is, with this version in second place...if you combine the two on sales, "3" is even further ahead of the rest) and the one that launched with a wave of hype: This was the era of Avengers mania, with the MCU in full swing. Plus there was a decade since the last game for the legend of MVC2 to grow. That second game pretty much never stopped being a thing; I remember playing it a lot with friends in the late 2000's, even.

This one finally adds Thor, after all this time. They kinda had to at this point with him being one of the big four MCU heroes. Psylocke is still missing though. I think she's gone...or maybe she's one of the many characters they add for the ultimate edition. That version is practically a new game so I'm going to look at that too. With both of them released in 2011 (February and November, I believe) it seems to me like this version was just an incomplete version that they put out early to meet deadlines - deadlines which were probably hot and heavy at the time with MCU's movie schedule triggering spikes in consumer interest. Far as I can tell, Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 is the real MVC3.

Captain Commando (Arcade, 1991)

 

It's Capcom's team captain from MVC1. Who? Yeah I'm wondering that too.

Try saying this 3 times really fast.

"CAPTAIN COMMANDO.

CAPTAIN COMMANDO.

CAPTAIN COMMANDO."

Marvel Vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (Arcade, 2000)

 

It's Marvel Vs Capcom 2, the sixth Marvel Vs Capcom game! Well, it's safe to say this is the best of the lot by a mile. It's like the first five all Megazord-Combined and formed this one. It's got everything the others had, all thrown together in a big tornado of craziness. Like getting all of your favorite significant others from the past together for a big party on a waterbed, which is what I'm personally hoping for in the afterlife.

As for the game, this is it, the high point of the series. No more holding out on us. This one has everybody. Except Thor probably lol.

Watched the first trilogy of X-Men movies this week. They were all fun enough, and now I know who more of these characters are. I should have done that a few weeks ago before I played these. The X-Men are probably the most important superheroes, in the "it's okay to be different, you don't need to kill yourself" sense. Teenagers particularly need that sort of thing.

Best thing about the movies was Magneto, what a fantastic villain. Both he and Professor X make intelligence look cool...something else teenagers in particular needed to see more of. When I was in high school it was generally a requirement to "dumb yourself down" or hide intelligence. Being smart was NOT cool at the time. I used the word "theoretically" in class one time and it prompted guys acting like that was some sort of big word for the rest of the semester and saying stuff like "THEORETICALLY, DA FUMIGATOR OF DA PROPAGATOR" when I'd walk by. Well, at least none of them tried to stab me, that was some other guy.

And now... the Cheetamen.

Marvel Vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes (Arcade, 1998)

 

Time for the fifth game in the series, Marvel Vs Capcom 1. This is where these games went mainstream as Capcom took things up to the next level. They're still holding out on the roster, though. Who cares though, we finally have MEGAMAN. This post is gonna be ALL MEGAMAN ALL THE TIME.

What's really weird is that Thor isn't playable in this OR the sequel. I hope he at least shows up in MVC3. Getting a feeling that, Avenger (and actual deity) or not, Thor wasn't actually a huge deal in the Marvel-verse until the 2010's MCU.

Marvel Super Heroes Vs Street Fighter (Arcade, 1997)

 

It kinda feels like they were holding out on us with the previous game. This one goes beyond the confines of X-Men and delivers a more stacked roster. I kinda think of it like the X-Men couldn't take on the World Warriors in the previous game, so they brought in other Marvel reinforcements to regain the upper hand here.

This would then prompt the 'Warriors to go and get more forces from the Capcom contingent for the next game to even things out again. They see Marvel's Hulk and raise him...Servbots or some shit! In the meantime, here's the sequel to Marvel Super Heroes. It's the 4th game in the series and it's the sequel to the second, but also the third.

X-Men Vs Street Fighter (Arcade, 1996)

 

The third game in the eight-game (eventually) MVC series, we finally get some company crossover starting now. It's the X-Men battling the World Warriors, though people would have to wait a bit longer to get the rest of Marvel onboard. Dammit, we had Hulk for ONE GAME and they've taken him away again!

The big innovation for this game is that it gives us tag team battles; you control a team of two characters and can switch between them. First player to lose both their characters loses the fight (one round). I really like the tag mechanic in fighting games; it varies things up when you can tag another character in and out.

S.C.A.T.: Special Cybernetic Attack Team (NES, 1991)

     

A jetpack-based shoot 'em up with an absolutely terrible name, this one has been on my radar for about 30 years. Seriously though, this has to be the worst-named game in the entire NES library. It's a pretty solid Natsume game, though, and deserves a bit of recognition.

Bad Dudes (NES, 1989)

Caution: Reading about the patriotic super-duo of BAD DUDES may cause spontaneous and uncontrollable arousal in women.

Originally posted in 2013, now it's back

The Art of Mana

This book launched in 2020 for around $40 USD (less on Amazon). Is it worth it? Let's jump into it.

Marvel Super Heroes (Arcade, 1995)

 

The second game in the MVC series steps things up. The first had the X-Men, while this has lots of Marvel characters in general. There's no Capcom yet, that would start with the third one. Of the ones I've played (at press time, half of the eight games in question), this is actually my favorite. More on why that is la...

...the hell is that purple thing?

X-Men: Children of the Atom (Arcade, 1994)

 

Another arcade game from the Marvel Vs Capcom Fighting Collection, this one's a fighter rather than a beat 'em up. I know very little about the X-Men except that they're mutants with super powers who other folks are afraid of, so they were all bound for tough lives until Professor Xavier took them under his wing and gave them purpose. Essentially turning their disabilities into super powers (as being different from everyone else IS a social disability, regardless of the context, and it's been well-documented by now that someone with say autism can potentially excel at life if steered in the right direction and able to find opportunities in the field that interests them... thus, being different can sometimes be turned into an advantage, and thus, the X-Men have a positive message behind them).

Pretty much all the other kids liked X-Men when I was a kid, so I heard about it all the time circa 1994. The advertisements for this game touted that it has five times the megabits of Street Fighter II, for smoother animation, so I've got high expectations. Also Psylocke is really, really hot. Let's go.

The Punisher (Arcade, 1993)

 

Another really good Capcom arcade beat 'em up, this one never got released in the U.S. back in the 90's. Eventually it got added to the Marvel Vs Capcom Fighting Collection as a bonus. It's the only non-fighting game on there. Not sure what to expect with this, but it has two-player co-op so that's what we're running.

This game is so violent, it's basically what my elementary school teachers thought ALL video games were back in 1993.

Magic Sword (Super NES, 1992)

(Originally posted July 2020; reposted to go with the Arcade version I just did)

Magic Sword is an arcade beat-em-up from early 90's Capcom. They went on to make other (better) medieval-themed beat-em-ups like Knights of the Round and King of Dragons, but this one was a good start. I played it in the arcade a couple times as a kid and it was fun, but I didn't get very far. The Super NES port is easier, so we'll see how I do.

The North American box art features a Big American Beefy Boi protecting a hot woman with his big American sword. That demon looks horrendous.

Magic Sword (Arcade, 1990)

 

The predecessor to some of the great Capcom beat 'em ups like King of Dragons. I played the SNES version of this a while back, but here we've got the superior arcade version courtesy of Capcom Arcade Stadium. It's 50 floors of mayhem as you climb the Tower of Babel with an assortment of allies.

Ranking all 80 NES Games I've Finished

Just a list, like the Sega and Game Boy lists I already did. Keeping the entries short and simple for this one.

Highlander 5x14 - Duende

 

It's 7 PM (Hawaii time) on Monday night, you know what that means. Aired February 24th, 1997. This is one I wanted to get to for a while. It's just as much a "labor of love" as Episode 100 was two episodes ago, where you can tell everyone involved put in that extra "this is a special episode" oomph. This one is all about The Dance, something Adrian Paul trained in for real when he studied flamenco. It's pretty clear that this episode was special to him in particular.

I've seen some folks not like this episode and I gotta wonder what they're smoking. Give it another watch and try to appreciate it for what it's doing.

Also, the villain of this episode, Spanish nobleman Otavio Consone, is one of two or three S-Tier fighters that Duncan faces in the entire series. There's Brian Cullen (bogged down by addiction), this guy, and maybe Kronos. I'd probably lean more towards Kronos being in A-Tier (though at the top of it!) with the likes of Kurgan, Grayson, Kalas, Haresh Clay, maybe Xavier. Massive threats, for sure. Consone and Cullen are on another level though, right there with the Macleod boys.

The 1000 Games I've Beaten (#622 - 630)

 

#622 Demon's Souls (Playstation 3) – Spring 2016

After playing the heck out of Bloodborne, Dark Souls II, and Dark Souls in 2015, it was time to backpedal and see where it all began. This predecessor is basically a mood in game form. An overcast, mossy, foggy, rainy mood. The remake of this game is incredible in its own right but I don't think it replaces the original; they're still very different and the original just captures a very unique vibe. Spring 2016 to me means rain storms, FF Tactics, and Demon's Souls.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A, Part 7 (Finale) - Alsace-Lorraine

 

Cataluna came, she saw.

I'm just glad this thing is mercifully over.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A, Part 6 - Champagne-Ardenne

 

Joan Jett is the President of France! My God! "Don't Lose Your Head" plays as she stands around.

How weird is it that Ash Ketchum's name was Ash Ketchum, and he grew up to be a Pokémon catcher? It's the most wildly appropriate coincidental name since San Antonio Spurs superstar Tim Duncan. One of my top 3 favorite players ever, along with Magic Johnson and, of course, Michael Jordan. Wonder what all those guys are up to these days. Anyway, time for more (groan) Pokémon.