Spring Cleaning Time

Hi there!  Alana here J  It’s finally time for my new post.  This one isn’t very long but I’m trying to get my game collection in order and I’ve having a couple issues so I thought I would get your opinion on it.

Today I am going to talk about a problem I’m sure a lot of game collectors have, how to organize your games.  The biggest problem I am having is with my NES and Famicom games.

NES games seem like they should be really simple, they have the nice end labels with the name clearly displayed.  They are all totally flat and are easily stackable.  The issues arise when you are trying to put them in order.  If you try alphabetical it’s fine until you get to the letter T.  There are so many games starting with the word The, so do you include it as the first word in the title or do you ignore it and use the rest of the title? ie. The Last Ninja vs Last Ninja.

What if you have multiple titles in the same series of games.  An example that comes to mind is Legend of Zelda and Adventure of Link, for me I would put them together but it kind of messes up the alphabetical order.   Plus if you include the Wisdom Tree games or the Tengen games then you don’t have end labels.

Now working with Famicom games you have a different problem.  Not all of the games have end labels so when you stack them you don’t know which game they are, plus you don’t have just play grey carts you have a multitude of colors, so do you group them according to color or just randomly stack them? Maybe I should make my own end labels for the games that don’t have any.  Plus a few of the companies have different shaped cartridges so that makes a bit of a mess too.

Thenn the N64 games, that's just a whole other issue...

Not that this is super essential but it’s a problem that’s been bugging me as I’m trying to display everything in the “correct” way.  How do you guys do it?  Have any suggestions?

Game Review - Rescue Rangers

I’m sure most people are familiar with the awesome Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers cartoon by Disney that was on TV in the late 80’s early 90’s.  It followed two detective chipmunks, Chip and Dale (who made appearances in some Mickey Mouse cartoons also) and their adventures with their friends Monteray Jack, Gadget and Zipper to solve mysteries.  So it really only made sense to make a game based on the show.  Luckily for everyone this fell into the very capable hands of Capcom, creators of great games like Mega Man series, so they knew what they were doing with platforming games.

We start off the game watching the Rescue Rangers on a mission to save Mandy’s kitten which is missing.  Gadget goes on ahead to check out the area and to leave helpful items behind.  Meanwhile Monteray Jack (the chubby mouse with the cheese addiction) and Zipper the fly investigate all the recent sightings of strange mechanical dogs in the area.  Chip and Dale are heading down the street into a laboratory where they are attacked by a robot that is crazy.

Right after this we see a familiar character if you know the show at all, Fat Cat shows up and proclaims that the kidnapping of Mandy’s kitten was just a distraction, and while everyone was busy looking for the kitten he kidnapped Gadget and forces her to work for him.

Luckily for Chip and Dale Gadget is able to build a wireless phone and sends a map of the area to them by a carrier pigeon.  This helps lead them to Fat Cat’s casino where he is hiding and she is being held.  So it’s up to our little fuzzy heroes Chip and Dale to rescue Gadget and defeat Fat Cat.

GRAPHICS 9/10
Once again Capcom delivers in the graphics area.  The characters look just like the ones in the cartoon and the colors are bright and vivid.  They really capture the feeling of the cartoon, which is really appreciated by Chip ‘n Dale fans like myself it made you feel as though you were playing an episode of the cartoon which is great!  It really makes you feel like a small chipmunk in a large world.

SOUND 8/10
The music in the game is very fitting for the show.  You start off listening to the catchy Rescue Rangers theme song, which makes me just want to sit there and keep listening to it instead of starting the game cause it’s so contagious!  Once you get past the theme song the music is upbeat and works well for the levels, though I wouldn’t say it’s the most memorable game music I’ve ever heard but it’s still pretty good.  The sound effects are done quite well, especially when you hit a mechanical dog, it makes an appropriate metal type sound effect, not just your usual thud.

GAMEPLAY 9/10
The controls of this game are great and really remind me of Super Mario Brothers 2 on the NES, but instead of picking up turnips you are picking up apples and blocks to throw at the enemies.  You can throw as fast as you can hit the buttons there is no lag, so it’s totally up to you how fast you throw.  If you are carrying something like a box you will move at normal speed but if you are carrying a heavy apple your character will move a little slower.  Ducking and jumping is easy and precise, so you feel like you can land on a small ledge if it’s required.  I love the option to play the game 2 player.  Not only do you get to play at the same time but you can also throw each other around the level making if a lot more fun.  If you have a chance to play with someone else I highly recommend it!

REPLAY 9/10
When I was a kid I played this game a lot!  Especially with my brother, though our coop play wasn’t always the best teamwork we tended to spend a lot of time throwing each other around.  I tried to beat it a few times when I was younger and I was never able to, but I know my dad got through it.  It’s a fun game with great controls so it will definitely have you coming back for more, just talking about it makes me wanna pop it into the NES and play!

…BOTTOM LINE 8.75/10
This is an awesome game with great controls and a great difficulty range.  It’s not crazy hard but it’s also not crazy easy either.  If you are a pro at side scrolling platformers you might find it a little easy but for the average person this game will challenge you a bit, but not make you want to break the controller.  You have to play it if you were a fan of the show or even if you love platforming games or any of the other Capcom titles.  This is another one of those television to game adaptations that worked great on the NES and shouldn’t be missed!

Game Article - Little Samson/Lickle

THE LITTLE SAMSON THAT COULD
 

When I say the name Little Samson what's the first thing you think of?  Chances are you think of the story of Samson and his superhero strength from his hair in the bible.  Well unfortunately for the NES game Little Samson I think this is what most people thought of.  Unfortunately they didn`t think to keep the name given to the game in Japan, Lickle Legend of the Holy Bell, sure it`s a little odd but it might not have made people think of games like Bible Adventures.  Because of this for the most part people avoided this game like the plague, which is really a shame because it is one of the best looking and just best games available on the Nintendo Entertainment System and not based on Samson from the story of Samson and Delilah or anything religious at all. 

Little Samson is reminiscent of other awesome games like Mega Man, which makes sense as it was created by two employees who left Capcom to make their own company Takera. For this game they teamed up with the artist from Cocoran and Ghosts `n Ghouls and Taito which most people know from Space Invaders and Bubble Bobble to put out this game. Luckily for us we got an awesome game, even if not many people realized it at the time.

When you first start up the game you watch cutscenes showing us The Dark Prince (wearing green) escaping from captivity.  He threatens to take over the land and takes out all the king's soldiers.  The King quickly summons help from four unlikely heroes to defeat the evil Dark Prince and save the kingdom.  The really cool thing about the story is it is told without any dialogue or text just a few cutscenes. Which is awesome because you can still play the Japanese version and feel like you aren't missing out on anything because of the language barrier.

You play as four different characters while on your quest.  Little Samson the one human character who can climb on walls and the ceiling and throw bells as projectiles, Kikira the Dragon who can breathe fire and float for short periods of time, Gamm the Golum who moves slow but has excellent health, can walk over spikes and has powerful attacks and K.O. the little mouse who has a smaller health bar but makes up for it with his speed, his ability to climb walls like Samson and drop powerful bombs. The game gives you the option to switch characters at any point in the game, so if you jump and are going to fall on spikes, no problem just switch to Gamm. You could beat the game with just one character but it would be a lot harder and it's a lot more fun to switch depending on the situation.  

This game offers an "Easy" and "Normal" difficulty to choose from, so it shouldn`t be too stressful to get through. At times it does give you a good challenge especially towards the final levels, but it won`t be so hard you want to destroy your controller. It also helps that the controls are tight and precise so you won`t ever feel like you died because of bad controls which is so important especially in a platforming game. Plus it has a nice short 4 character password system so you can continue where you left off!

This game features over 20 different stages ranging from jungles, rivers, caves, to castles and each level looks incredible.  That's the nice thing about it being released so late in the console cycle, they really knew how to push the limits on the graphics so you get an amazing looking game that tries to rival the new 16 bit games that were just released on the SNES.  One of the most impressive visuals is when you fight in a boss battle.  The bosses are huge, dark and scary compared to the bright and colorful graphics of the main characters. They almost look like they walked out of a Castlevania or Metroid game to hunt you down. 

There is so much more I could say about this game, but do yourself a favor and make sure you check it out!  Due to the timing of it`s release, lack of advertising save a small 5 page feature in Issue 40 of Nintendo Power and unfortunate name change this has become one of the harder games to find for the NES.  If you are lucky enough to find it, don`t be surprised to see it upwards of $200!  If this is too expensive for you, which it would be for most people, just do what I did and grab a version of Lickle for the Famicom.  If you don`t have a Famicom to play it on, then just get yourself a Famicom to NES converter then you are set.  Trust me, you don`t want to miss out on this game, it`s definitely one of the best to be released for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Game Article - Kirby's Anniversary

THE SUPER TOUGH PINK PUFF CELEBRATES HIS 20TH BIRTHDAY

This article is from a couple years ago but is still relevant as Kirby Star Allies came out on March 16 of this year for the Nintendo Switch.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the super cute pink puffball Kirby.  I like many people have spent most of my life playing his games starting with Kirby’s Dreamland on the Game Boy.  I instantly fell in love with Kirby he was so cute, the music in the game was really catchy and the game play at the time (remember I would have been 8 at the time) was easy yet challenging enough to keep me engaged.  Ever since then I’ve owned all the other Kirby games.  Even though a lot of the games are quite easy there is always something in them that makes me smile and puts you in a good mood, the game play was rarely frustrating and with a lead character as cute as Kirby you can’t go wrong.  Plus the game appeals to a huge age range of game fans, not only can younger players enjoy it but older players can too.  The nice thing about the Kirby franchise is there are a huge variety of games out there, if you like puzzles they have Kirby's Avalanche, sports type games they have Kirby's Dream Course, they have pinball with Kirby's Pinball Land and even racing with Kirby's Air Ride.  Doesn't matter what you like there is a Kirby game for you!

Surprisingly enough I hadn’t played the NES version until a couple years ago, and I was surprised that Kirby could now steal abilities from the enemies that he would swallow, well I guess not steal “copy”.  Instead of just spitting them out now, he would copy specialized powers from each different enemy like ice attack, fire attack and even crazy ones like the needle attack that makes Kirby a walking pin cushion.  The game came out at the end of the NES consoles life, so like other games that came out around then it looks awesome.  Not only did the environments look great but all the baddies were unique, the main level bosses were cool and there was a huge selection of different themed levels.  They had even incorporated awesome mini games for the player to complete so Kirby would gain extra lives.  It was little details like this that really made the game, so be sure to pick up this game for your NES if you don’t already have it!

Kirby wasn’t always the cute pink blobby ball that we know him as now.  Apparently Kirby was originally named Popopo and his current “blob” design was created as a placeholder sprite as they were making the first Kirby game.  After a little time had passed Kirby’s creator Masahiro Sakurai grew to love the blob and decided to use the placeholders design instead of the original idea they had for him.  So why did Popopo become Kirby?  Well no one really remembers apparently lol.  Some people thought it was to honor Nintendo’s legal counsel who helped them through some copyright infringement problems they had with Donkey Kong or the other theory being because of Kirby vacuum cleaners.  I like this theory more, it makes sense considering how Kirby inhales everything in sight, can expand like a vacuum cleaner bag and can shrink down again when he spits it back out.

Besides a name change he also underwent another makeover.  Back on the Gameboy Kirby was shown as being White on the box art, this made sense at the time since the game was monochrome so he seemed white.  But Sakurai wanted Kirby to be pink, but Shigeru Miyamoto (Mario creator) pictured him as being yellow.  So because of this when the game was brought over to the west they just left Kirby white, whereas the Japanese box art has Kirby being a light red color.

So just in case you aren’t familiar with the Kirby games, I would be pretty shocked if someone wasn’t but you never know I’ll fill you in on the story.  In Kirby’s Dream Land, King Dedede (apparently a self made ruler) decided to steal everyone’s food and to be even more mean he stole the Sparkling Stars that they need to get more food.  Of course it’s up to Kirby the cheerful little puffball (a symbol of the light world) to get the food back along with the stars and teach King Dedede (dark world) a lesson.  For a lot of the games the story is similar, like in Kirby Squeak Squad, mice steal Kirby’s desserts and this makes Kirby mad, he loves his snacks and won’t stand for this.  This also explains his food related attack in Super Smash Brothers too.  It’s pretty goofy, but the Kirby franchise isn’t exactly known for its deep story arc :p  I would argue it’s more for the bright color scheme, cute graphics and catchy music.

Besides just video games Kirby has also had his own anime.  It used to air on Fox on Saturdays, but you can find episodes on Youtube now if you wanna check it out.  Kirby’s creator Sakurai was deeply involved so the way Kirby is portrayed in the way he envisioned Kirby’s character.  He preferred Kirby would not speak, so Kirby has a very limited vocabulary basically consisting of the word puyo!  The anime is a lot darker than any of the games Kirby starred in.  I can think of one episode off the top of my head that was really sad and dealt with death, there is also violence, war and some blood.  At times it’s a little cheesy but totally worth checking out just to see Kirby’s character.  He’s so cute it’s hard not to watch.  Plus it gives Kirby a fleshed out background so even just that part is worth watching as a supplement to the games.

So give it up to Kirby the super tough pink power puff and the awesome 20 year run he’s had so far, I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for him.  If you haven’t checked out some of the games and you have a 3DS check out the 3D remake of Kirby’s Adventure and Kirby’s Dreamland in the Game Boy section.   The really exciting news is that there has been a Kirby Collection for the Wii (which you can still play on the Wii U) that has some of the most popular games in the franchise on it and a soundtrack which is awesome if you can find it to pick up!

Game Review - Ninja Gaiden (NES)

This week I have decided to challenge myself and review Ninja Gaiden.  This game has made me feel like I've truly proven myself as a gamer.  This game is hard, well not just hard, ridiculously hard.  But for some reason I'm a sucker for punishment and this game definitely deals it out.  The nice thing is you will definitely feel rewarded when you get through parts of the game.

When you first start the game you will be treated to an awesome in game movie/cinematic.  This movie is one of the most amazing things I remember seeing in a NES game.  You see 2 ninjas facing off in a field at night time, the one is defeated and you are introduced to his son Ryu Hayabusa.  Ryu has no idea what his father Ken was doing when he was killed, but he discovers a note his dad left behind telling him to go to America to meet up with Dr. Smith who is an archaelogist.  He learns of two statues that his father and the doctor had hidden as they have the power to end the world as they know it.  So when Jacquio the leader of a cult steals the one statue it's up to Ryu to carry on the Hayabusa name and protect the world.

GRAPHICS 9.5/10 The graphics in the game are some of the best on the NES.  According to G4 (when it was a thing :p ) it is also the first game to have cinematic cutscenes, which really gives it a movie like feel.  The story is suspenseful and leaves you wanting to know more of what happens to Ryu and what his father was up to before.  There is a huge variety of different enemies that will attack you ranging from other ninjas, huge guys, nuns and animals too which unfortunately includes the evil birds.  I think they are easily some of the most evil enemies ever.  Along with a variety of animals, there is a variety of levels too.  You start off in a city, then move to a mountain like stage with platforms and pits, by a lake, in a jungle and even on a building.

SOUND 9/10 The soundtrack in this game is simply awesome. I enjoy the soundtrack so much I have it on my MP3 player so I can listen to it whenever I want.  Each stage has it's own music, and all the movie cinematic scenes have the same song tying it all in together to make it all feel interconnected. The sound effects are pretty crisp and it's really cool to be able to hear the ninjas running through the field before their battle in the beginning.

GAMEPLAY 7.5/10 The controls are tight and responsive but there are a few things I really dislike. I hate how if Ryu gets hit by an enemy he flies backwards. This is especially frustrating on a little ledge and you get hit by a bird you will fly backwards and into a hole. I also hate how you kill an enemy and it will continue to respawn until you get past it.  It may be worth your while if you find this game too difficult to pick up the Famicom version if you can as it is easier than the version that was released on the North American NES. There's a huge variety of Ninpo attacks you can collect and use, but you have to be sure to keep collecting the power ups as you will run out fast if you keep using the attacks. It will take a lot of trial and error to figure out what ninpo works best for each situation, but it's cool you have something to supplement your sword attack.  A lot of your success in the game will rely on your ability to memorize what will come next, so this means you will die...a lot.  Once you memorize what exactly what will happen, where the enemies are etc. you will know how to avoid the hazards. I just wish the North American version had a choice of difficulty or at least a password system so you can continue where you left off.

REPLAY 8/10 I found myself constantly coming back to this game just so I could beat it, though once I did since it was such a hard and draining experience I haven't gone back to it.  Though I have played the Famicom version of the game since it was a bit easier, and I can definitely see me going back to that version before I would the NES one, particularily because of the feature in the Japanese version to continue with a password.

......BOTTOM LINE 8.5/10
The way that this story is told it makes you wanting more.  At any point in the game you only know as much as Ryu does as everything is revealed to you as he finds out.  With the beautiful looking cutscenes, you will keep coming back just to see if you can learn a little more of the story. I guarantee you it will be a very frustrating game, but the sense of accomplishment you get when you complete an area you couldn't get through before is huge.  Though make sure you are willing to leave your Nintendo on over a few nights as there is no save or password feature so if you wanna continue where you left off you will have to leave it on. It took many attempts over 2 years to finally complete it, but once I did I finally feel like I've proven my worth as a gamer as it is definitely one of the most difficult and frustrating moments of my life, though frustrating in a good way...
Though I will warn you if you are the type to throw your controllers when you get frustrated this may not be the game for you, but if you want a game that will challenge your skill as a gamer this is definitely for you.  Anyone who can get through this has definitely earned bragging rights!  If you are lucky enough to find this game on the Ninja Gaiden Collection for the SNES they do have a saving feature, or if you can get it onto your SNES Classic you can use the save state feature so you won't have to worry about starting over constantly!

Power Hour Review - Final Fight (Famicom)

Welcome to the first “Power Hour”!  Thanks to my hubby for the name idea J  I have a lot of games so figure if I play them for at least an hour I could give my thoughts and feelings based on that first impression I got.  Plus it’s a lot easier for me to find an open hour in my schedule than a full day to dedicate to playing one game.  I’ll go over the usual things like graphics, sound, story, and controls and I will also talk about if this game within this first hour made me wanna play more or put it back on the shelf to collect dust.

The first entry for Power Hour is Mighty Final Fight on the Famicom.  It was released on both NES and Famicom, but the Fami version was cheaper to pick up so that’s the one I have.

Unfortunately I don’t have much of a personal history with the Final Fight franchise. I never played it as a kid but luckily I saw it featured on one of Nathan’s blog posts on videogamesarerad.com.  Wow I’m so glad I finally picked it up and gave it a try!  In my mind Final Fight is a better version of the original Double Dragon, from the 1 hour I put into it on Saturday.  Looks wise it reminds me of games like River City Ransom with the kind of chibi like deformed characters.  Then the experience point system is reminiscent of the one used in Splatterhouse and a better version of the Double Dragon one. 

The story is nothing really unique.  The mayor Metro City (Haggar’s) daughter Jessica, who apparently is so amazingly beautiful she gives the citizens the power to survive, and a villain (Belger, the leader of the Mad Gear Gang) decides he wants this beacon of light all to himself, how selfish! Apparently he loves her too.  Man when I see her she better be drop dead gorgeous, nothing like setting the bar for my expectations super high!  It’s a 1 player game, which kinda sucks but the game gives you a choice of three different characters, Cody, Guy and Haggar.  All three control very different so it really matters who you choose to play the level with, it’s not just a different looking sprite who is exactly the same.  Cody is a tough street fighter who is good with knives, Guy has great agility as he is descended from ninjas and Haggar is a hot tempered wrestler.

I really appreciate how they show exactly how many more experience points you need to level up, and how it makes a chime sound when you level up. The amount of experience points you earn is all based on what attack you use to finish off the bad guy.  The stronger attacks will earn you more points than using a weak one to finish them off.   Whenever the character gains a level they become more powerful and their vitality is increased. There are 6 levels in total.  When you start the game with Cody or Guy you start at the first level, but if you start with Haggar you are automatically started at  level 3.  As you gain level you will learn a new special attack when you reach Level 4.  Each character has their own unique attack that can be performed by pressing the directional pad left or right rapidly and hitting the attack button at the same time.

The game was made by Capcom and based on the catalogue of games they put out on the NES such as Mega Man you know at the very least the controls will be good.  They definitely don’t disappoint.  The controls are very easy to pick up on and it’s very easy to do combinations and pull off the moves each character has.  You can do flips, throws, punches, flying kicks, use weapons and special attacks.

The interactions you have with the bosses.  I have the Famicom version so I’m not totally sure what they are saying so when they asked me a question, but I would always answer hai (which is yes in Japanese).  After looking on YouTube I was apparently agreeing to bow down to them.  Despite this they still wanted to fight, you think they would be happy I was agreeing with them.

I like the variety of bad guys that you have to fight during the levels.  It’s not the same two bad guys you fight for the whole level.  There is a guy in a toque who looks like a bum who throws knives at you, some tough purple haired chicks with high heels, spiky haired guys, guys in capes and the usual huge buff dudes.  The level bosses are pretty cool too with a guy dressed as a samurai, long haired dudes with sunglasses and no shirt,  

In going through the levels you don’t get health energy from the guys you are fighting but from barrels that are being rolled at you.  When you break open the barrels sometimes it will drop food or things like meat that you can pick up and top off your energy, and other times you will earn a bunch of experience points to use towards leveling up.
This game is really good and it's addictive to play so you always come back for more!  I highly recommend picking this one up, you will not regret it!

Game Review - Batman (NES)

Batman is a 1 player game released by Sunsoft in 1989 along with the classic Batman movie staring Michael Keaton that came out at the same time.  Usually games based on movies aren't very good, but luckily for us this game is the exception.  This game is actually quite good.

Graphics: 9/10 The graphics in this game are quite dark adding to the atmosphere of the game.  At the same time it is also very realistic and it works quite well.  It's not like your usual comic book based game where the characters are bright colorful and cartoony.  The character animations are very smooth and there is no choppiness at all. The pleasant surprise is that even with a lot of enemies on the screen at the same time there was no lag and flashing sprites.  Not only do the individual levels look great we are treated to animated cut scenes between the levels. At the very beginning of the game you get to see the Batmobile cruising down the street and it looks awesome.  The only other game I can think of off hand that has cut scenes this good is Ninja Gaiden, which is an accomplishment for an NES game.

Sound: 8/10 The music in this game is quite good and very memorable and says a lot considering a lot of games just have the same music track playing constantly.  Every track in this game is memorable. Even to the point where you might find yourself mindlessly humming along with the music.  The sound effects work quite well with the soundtrack.  They aren't so loud they distract from the music they just compliment it.

Gameplay: 9/10 When you play Batman you aren't going to find anything brand new or amazing.  Batman is your typical platforming game but it does it quite well.  Control wise it reminds me of a mix between a Ninja Gaiden game with the precision of the Mega Man controls.  You have 4 different methods of attack, punching, dirks and your handy batarang. Luckily there are a lot of chances to get more ammunition from killing all the baddies on the screen so chances are you won't run out too fast.

The design on the levels looks really cool. There's a lot of jumping and a lot of vertical levels, so guaranteed you won't be stuck on the ground for the whole level.  This is cool yet can be frustrating if you constantly keep screwing up one of the jumps.  It's definitely a tricky game to get through!  But that is part of the fun, having to constantly challenge yourself.  Batman can luckily do wall jumps similar to Ryu from Ninja Gaiden so that will definitely help to get past some tricky parts.     

Replay: 8/10 Like I said before this game is very challenging.  Though the more you play it the more you will memorize about the levels so it will become easier to complete the more you play it.  The nice thing is when you die it doesn't feel like a cheap death, you can always tell what you could have done differently to avoid that situation which makes it very addictive to play and try to complete it.  Though you may get stuck on the first level for a long time and it may take a while to advance to the next stage, so hopefully you won't get too frustrated.

......BOTTOM LINE: 8.5/10 Batman is easily one of the best movie based games I have played.  Sunsoft did a really good job with the graphics, sound and gameplay and have created a fun, challenging game that any NES game fan, comic fan or Batman fan really should try out.  I never played this game as a kid but right now for me it's the best Batman game ever made, but keep in mind I haven't played Arkham City. So do yourself a favor and check this game out!

Welcome to my new retro gaming home!

I've been away for way too long! Just got so busy with my boys who were super young at the time when I had my website and work, just found it hard to find time to game let alone write and make videos about it! But now that my boys are older and getting into classic games themselves it feels like the perfect time for a comeback. Plus I realize that I really need to spend more time on myself, doing the things that I love! 

I'll be using this blog for a lot of stuff, sharing videos about games I'm playing, reviews on new and old games, video game themed artwork and more I'm sure! So if you ever have a request for something you want to see, or a game you want me to review, just let me know!