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.

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 time with (aside from some unimpressive runs at Double Dash and this game for a few minutes at a time over the years), so this one is pretty new to me. And it's such a cool game that I'll be posting screenshots in Bigscreen-O-Vision. The wave of tomorrow!

Super Mario Kart: Special Cup Foray

Today I return with a half-post of sorts chronicling my epic battle with the Special Cup in this game. Winning the gold there is like wrestling an alligator, which is probably why it was oddly omitted from my previous post on Super Mario Kart. I never could finish the Special Cup as a kid, so this is a long-awaited rematch. Join me as I return to the character of my youth, Koopa Troopa, and set out to earn him a pair of wings.

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.

Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin - Followup

In the world of Dark Souls 2, this is how people flirt.

Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin (Everything, 2015)

Time for one of the most hopeless, nihilistic, negative games I've ever played. But seriously, this game is quite gripping.

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.

Doom (Playstation 4 and XBox One, 2016)

This post will be a departure from the usual and be composed of videos. I'll be doing another image-based post shortly as Mega Mania resumes. In the meantime, gird your loins for DOOM.

The Top Seventeen Final Boss Themes in Gaming

Today I'm listing what I consider to be the seventeen best final boss themes of all time. There are many final boss themes that I've never heard, so your mileage may vary. Honorable mention goes to the final boss theme of Yoshi's Island for the SNES.

The Legend of Manpanda II

Someday, the world will look up and shout "save us". And he will whisper... "Manpanda."

The Legend of Manpanda

 MANPANDA: The World's Manliest Panda. 25% Man, 75% Panda, 100% Sexy.

Homefront: The Revolution Sux

Today I'm taking a look at the first half hour of Homefront: The Revolution in video form. The game takes place in Philly, so I brought along a couple of Philly natives. Did the game impress in the first half hour, or did it fall flat? Find out bel... oh, wait, I already spoiled it. Well, join us for a quick look at the game and why it Sux.

A Smorgasbord of Videos

As some of you guys know I've been working on a fair amount of Youtube videos lately for a new channel, which is the reason for the lack of new posts. I'm taking a moment now to invite any and all readers here to check out my new channel. More Mega Man is on the way this week (probably), and in the meantime I've got a smorgasbord of videos now posted on Youtube. Here are the best of the lot.

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.

Rockman 8 FC (PC, 2010)

 Today I'm taking a very special look at a de-make of Mega Man 8. The original was released on the Sony Playstation and Sega Saturn in 1996 and 1997 respectively, so this 8-bit styled de-make was likely even more difficult to make than the Rockman 7 FC de-make. At least that one only had to jump from 16-bit to 8-bit. This is also a very recent release, launching in 2010 and undergoing numerous revisions since then. I believe this is the third version of it. It's a lot of fun and worth checking out if you can get PC controller support to work, but be warned, it's SUPER difficult.

Rockman 7 FC (PC, 2008)

Not sure what that kanji says, but I'd like to think it says "bitch!"

That way it's "Rockman 7 bitch!"

Mega Man 7 was released in the mid 90's for the Super NES. It was the first original series game to make its presence felt on the 16-bit powerhouse. Due in part to the system jump, it looks and feels almost nothing like the earlier NES games that preceded it. As a result, Mega Man 7 was kind of an "odd man out". It was on the console known for Mega Man X  without being a part of that series, and by the time it came out I thought the original series was long over with.

In 2008 we got a retro version of the game (that brings it in line with the NES originals) when some intrepid fan-programmers created a version of Mega Man 7 with entirely NES-styled graphics and sound. Available for PCs as "Rockman 7 FC", this fan-creation very successfully integrates Mega Man 7 into an NES format...to awesome effect. We later got a Rockman 8 FC de-make as well, and it's pretty good too.

Mega Man: The Wily Wars (Sega Genesis)

One of the best games on the Sega Genesis, Mega Man: The Wily Wars includes the first three games in the series with revamped graphics and sound. When I heard that the game has additional content in the form of Wily Tower, I had to check it out. This post is all about Wily Tower; join me for a look at this exclusive and forgotten part of the Mega Man universe.