Saturday, November 9, 2013

The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse (Super NES, 1992)

 Here's an old Super NES game that I'd like to highlight a bit. It's a surprisingly great game, and it's enjoyable in the Kirby's Dream Land sense: Short, easy, and fun. And really, I'm just glad to be playing something colorful and happy after playing The Last of Us.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Playstation 2, 2004)

With GTA5 hot off the presses, I figured this would be a good time to finally get around to San Andreas. This is the next game in the venerable series for me, as I played GTA3 and Vice City previously. San Andreas has a whirlwind of hype surrounding it, and I'm not sure if it can measure up.

Come on in. Punch and pie.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Dynasty Warriors (Playstation, 1997)


Today I'm looking at the genesis of one of the more popular beat-em-up series' of the past decade and a half or so. The very first Dynasty Warriors is a cult 2.5D Playstation fighter, and bears little resemblance to the badass 3D games that make up the rest of the series and are far more well-known. For this reason, it's worth taking a look at.

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Nintendo Power, Volume 52 (September 1993)



 Today I'm going to be looking at a magical relic from September 1993: Issue 52 of Nintendo Power (RIP). I just picked up a used copy on Amazon, so I'm reading it for the first time.

This was nearly the first issue of Nintendo Power that I had as a kid; I subscribed in August, but it didn't get processed in time to get this issue. Instead, the first one I got was the fairly underwhelming October issue. That issue still blew my mind at the time, but I can only imagine the level of mind-blowing that would have occurred had THIS issue been my first. I was an absolute Mario fanatic.

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Highlander: The Series 1x12 - Eyewitness


The last episode of season 1's first half, which might as well be a different show from the second half. This is it, the big conclusion to Highlander: Cop Show.

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Highlander: The Series 1x10 - Revenge is Sweet

Tonight, the world sweats and trembles with suspense, awaiting a milestone in television.

What? Breaking Bad? Naw, I'm talking about the latest Highlander post.

Is it weird that every brightly-lit "Happy New Year" sign now reminds me of Bioshock?

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Valkyria Chronicles (Playstation 3, 2008)


Today I'm going to take a quick look at a fairly underrated PS3 game from Sega. It's a strategy RPG that transpires on three-dimensional maps. The story runs during an alternate version of the early-to-mid 20th century. It's incredibly unique, and I haven't seen anything else quite like it. THIS... is the Chronic- (What?) cles of Valkyria! I said the Chronic (What?) cles of Valkyria!

Friday, September 20, 2013

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Highlander: The Series 1x09 - The Sea Witch

I always forget that this episode exists, because it's quite forgettable. It also isn't very good, in general. This is to be expected, considering it's from the first half of Season 1, which is the worst run of episodes in the series. This one involves a nefarious mobster and a boat. Featuring 10% more Creepy Richie. Batteries not included.


Saturday, August 10, 2013

Highlander: The Series 1x08 - Deadly Medicine

Highlander: The Series returns with one of the worst episodes of the series. It's a comically bad episode... which is good news for this post.


Friday, August 9, 2013

Guest Review: Bioshock Infinite (PS3, XBox 360, PC, 2013)


Today, the "Deli Mane" Nick Vogt is taking a look at Bioshock Infinite. It's one of the best games of 2013. It's controversial. It's deep. What are his thoughts on the finished game? Read on to find out.


Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Suikoden IV (Playstation 2, 2005)

I've gone on record that I'm a big fan of the Suikoden series. The first three games in the series are good to great (though 3 is a step down from the others). I've never played the fourth... until now. This is because it sucks.

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Game Review: Final Fantasy III (iOS, Android, PSP, 2011/2012)

Final Fantasy III
System: iOS/Android/PSP
Time to Beat: 30-35 Hours

For a long time, American gamers had no way to play Final Fantasy III outside of emulation. We got the (admittedly far-superior) Final Fantasy VI as our version of FFIII, and that was that. As for the original FFIII... despite two decades passing since the original version hit Japanese store shelves, this Famicom classic never got a direct translation from Squaresoft until the mid-00s.

Final Fantasy III for the DS brought the game to the English-speaking audience with adjusted difficulty, semi-three-dimensional graphics, and dialogue/story that barely existed in the original game. Now, years later, we get the third iteration of the game. This is a port of the DS version, upgraded significantly for modern smartphones. These upgrades include modern hi-res graphics that are far superior to the DS version, remixed music, and new postgame content. However, it's relegated to being on cell phones - historically speaking, not exactly a good gaming platform. Does this limit it, or does the game manage to shine regardless? Read on, as I review a cell phone game for the first time on the site. The game also exists on the PSP, but for the purposes of this review I played the Android version.

Saturday, July 20, 2013

50 Cent Bulletproof (Playstation 2, 2005)

Since I'd like to play at least some of a 50 Cent game, and want to be able to take screenshots, I decided to try emulating the PS2 50 game. Follow me as I test this ominous 5 GB file out. This is 50. G-G-G-G-U-NIT!


Monday, July 15, 2013

Highlander: The Series 1x07 - Mountain Men

Time for the most entertaining episode in the first half of Season 1. This is partly for the wrong reasons, and this episode isn't exactly great, but My God, is it unintentionally funny at times. It's Deliverance-like in theme. A few episodes back, Richie made a crack about Deliverance, saying that "if somebody starts playing a banjo, I'm outta here". It's obvious that someone on the writing staff liked that movie and wanted to bring some much-needed Deliverance to our favorite series.

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Highlander: The Series 1x05 - Free Fall

This show and Miami Vice have some episode title overlap, weirdly enough. Free Fall and Prodigal Son - both Miami Vice titles. Deliverance / Deliver Us From Evil - both episode titles from their respective "evil main character" arcs. Wonder if they shared writing staff. Wouldn't be a bit surprised, since this show started right after Vice's end and all those writers needed a place to go.

This episode... is not good.

Friday, July 12, 2013

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Suikogaiden (Playstation, 2000)

Today I'm looking at a very special game. It's an effort on my part to get my mind off of the disintegration of the Boston Celtics after trading their two best players to the Brooklyn Nets.

This is a DLC-like side-story / companion piece to Suikoden 2, one of the best RPGs on the original Playstation. It takes place during the timeframe of that game, showing you some of the things that happened off-camera. This game was never released in the United States, but it recently got a translation from intrepid ROM hackers. Let's take a look.