Contra III: The Alien Wars (Super NES, 1992)

Time for one of the greatest action games of the 16-bit era. This game actually came out -before- Contra Force, but it blows away that game in every area.

Old Terminator Games

Total casualties in the making of this post: 001. That one might be me. Good God, these games are bad.

Terminator 2: The Arcade Game (Various, 1991-1994)

 

 Here's a game that a lot of us spent waaaay too many quarters on back in the day, because it was approximately the coolest arcade game on the planet for a while. One or two players can wield light guns and battle the forces of Skynet in a first-person rail shooter that may or may not give you shell shock. The volume was turned up on this one.

No problemo.

Robocop Vs. Terminator (Super NES, 1993)

Time for a game that's better than it has any right to be, as I play the very different Super NES version of a Genesis game I played previously. Like Terminator? Like Robocop? Well, check out what happens when the two make sweet, sweet love and have a game-child. My only question is... in a Robocop / Terminator relationship, which one is the butch and which one is the bitch?

 

Super Mario Kart (Super NES, 1992)

Before I finally cover Mario Kart 8, 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.

The Final Fantasy Series Retrospective

Today we're going to be taking a look at the Final Fantasy series in retrospective form. What are our memories of the series? Which chapters stand the test of time? Read on to find out.

The Legend of Zelda Retrospective

A while back I gathered up some friends to reflect on the Zelda series. This means a smorgasbord of guest writers for a smorgasboard of great games. Join us for this trip down memory lane as we look at what is arguably the greatest game series of all time.

Big shout-out and thank you to all of the contributors.

-JD

The Super Mario Retrospective

Today myself and a group of friends and fellow writers are going to take a retrospective look at what may be the most influential game series of all time: Mario. We'll be writing about our memories of these games and what they brought to the gaming world. Mario Party not included. Punch and pie.

Playthroughs of Mega Man X, X2, and X3

Today I'm posting a trio of videos that I recorded while playing through the Super NES Mega Man X trilogy. These are full playthroughs with hella commentary, so enjoy.

Rockman and Forte (Super Famicom, 1998)

(Credit to RedGaijin1991 for the drawing)

Time to return to the Mega Man series and cover another classic. This one was released in Japan at the tail end of the SFC's lifespan, too late to get a localization here. It eventually got a portable release (as Mega Man and Bass) years later, but as far as I'm concerned the console version is the best.

For a long time this game was incorrectly labeled "Mega Man 9" on the internet, but this isn't the case. It's more of a Mega Man 8.5, a fusion of elements from the seventh and eighth games. ...maybe that makes it 7.5. It also features a surprise guest. You'll never guess who it is: Forte, aka Bass. In any case, let's check it out.

Mega Man 7 (Super NES, 1995)

The series debuts on the Super NES with a bang! ...that is, if you don't count the two (superior) Mega Man X games already on the system by the time this came out. I actually thought they were done with the original series after the sixth game and had moved on to exclusively Mega Man X. So it was pretty weird when we got this game, and even weirder when we got Mega Man 8 a few years later. The last two weren't quite so weird, probably because a decade had gone by and now we'll take anything we can get from this series.

Castlevania: Dracula X (Super NES, 1995)

Here's a game that I've never covered before. It got somewhat of a bad rep over the years, and a lot of that is probably because Super Castlevania IV was a much better game. This despite Super Castlevania IV being years earlier in the Super NES's lifespan. In short, this was a fairly unnecessary addition to the Castlevania-verse, but it's a decent game regardless.

Super Castlevania IV (Super NES, 1991)

This was one of the Super NES's earliest games, and helped kickstart Nintendo's bid to regain any ground they lost to the Sega Genesis - which got an earlier release - in the 16-bit wars. It's a great game, and my personal favorite in this series.

It isn't a sequel to the earlier games, nor is it a prequel like the third. This is nothing less than a remake of the original Castlevania starring Simon Belmont. That's right, we've gone from the original, to a sequel, to a prequel, to an original remake. It's pretty weird, but at least it's less confusing than Zelda.

Because this game is SO GOOD, I decided to do something special with this one rather than my usual spastic commentary and juvenile references. Thus, it will be narrated entirely by the protagonist, Simon Belmont.

Take it away, Simon.

Street Fighter II

TODAY... you will feel the POWAH of the WOAH YAH as the cosmic energies descend HO KOGAN.

Final Fantasy VI: Strago Solo Game (Ruin Edition)

The Strago solo game rolls on as I take on the rest of WoR and the big bads in Kefka's Tower.

Final Fantasy VI: Strago Solo Game (Balance Edition)

I'm feeling ultra-nostalgic as of late. Know what I'd like to do? Play FFVI solo... as Strago. Nowadays, Final Fantasy games just aren't what they used to be. They have titles like Fabulous Nova Whispering Dawn of Ladyparts that sound more like feminine hygiene products than video games. Once upon a time, though, the series was pretty damn great. And FFVI might have been the highest point. Maybe. It's also noteworthy for having a female main character.

Then again, compared to most of the men in later Final Fantasy games, Terra is one of the less feminine Final Fantasy main characters. But this isn't about her; it's about Strago, the spell-slinging hip wunderkind from the upper east side of Thamasa. Can I beat this game with just one character? Read on.

Kirby's Dream Land 3 (Super NES, 1997)

 One of the last Super NES games.

EVO: Search for Eden (Super NES, 1992)

Time to look at a true classic from Enix. ...and by classic I mean a somewhat overrated grind-fest that is hard to play now. Despite that, there's something appealing and cool about this game that made it a lot of fun back in the day, and today I'm going to show you what that is.

Super R-Type (Super NES, 1991)

Time for one of my favorite SNES shooters. The R-Type series, from Irem, was sorta the Ross Perot of the shooter universe circa the 1990s. Not as popular or well-known as Gradius and not as beloved by the hardcore as the vertical Compile games. It spans five games (that I know of...there may be more) and while it's side-scrolling, it has a number of innovations that set it apart from (and even surpass at times) the Gradius games.

Gradius 3 (Super NES, 1991)

One of the Super NES's coolest launch titles, and one of Konami's many fine moments. That said, it's not without problems. Shooter Week rolls on!