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Square Enix and Level-5, two well known JRPG developers. The games of these studios are household names to almost any gamer and collector, but what about NIS or Atlus? Here at RF Generation those who focus their collecting habits on RPGs or are more open to different genres are likely to be familiar with the more obscure side of Role Playing games - the niche RPG.
Niche games are made with a specific target audience in mind. Whether its rogue-like dungeon crawlers, stories of cute alchemists, or the adventures of high school kids with supernatural abilities these RPGs are not destined to be million dollar blockbuster games. On one level this is likely because Role Playing games are much more popular in Japan than they are stateside. North American gamers should consider themselves lucky to reap the rewards of the successful Operation Rainfall campaign.
The primary demographic of niche RPGs are the otaku - anime enthusiasts. These people are more likely to pick up on the unique style of Japanese humour that would be lost on the typical North American gamer. While not a Role Playing game, the Katamari series is a perfect example. The Disgaea games published by NIS use the anime art style and feature many gameplay elements that naturally appeal to fans of Japanese animation. Fan service is another aspect of the niche RPG with the otaku in mind. Often sharing similarities to these games, though not always, are the rogue-like RPGs.
In a word a rogue-like games can be described as unrelenting. All items and progress are lost should the player fail to clear the dungeon safely. This is hugely frustrating of course, but if successful the reward is sweet. To add to the complexity and difficulty these game occasionally feature randomly generated levels. Shiren the Wanderer (Wii) is a modern dungeon crawler.
Crafting, weapon customization, and alchemy are also common elements of niche RPGs. The Atelier game rely heavily on these game mechanics. Sorting through submenus to find the optimal combination of items may not be for everyone, certainly not for someone who just wants to embark upon a journey of grand proportions.
Because these niche games seem so unusual according to North American expectations they are often never released in the west. These really are games that are not specifically made for North American audiences though some of the more accessible titles have been translated and redone for English-speaking gamers. Knowing that only a select number of people who make up the intended market demographic will purchase these games publishers typically have lower retail forecasts and thus these games will see smaller print runs. Though the other side of the RPG scene is weird, difficult, and complex it is still worthwhile to experiment with these games. And as a collector why not add some quirky titles to your shelves?
With all the gloom and doom I was spouting last time about not making my goal, I've actually done a decent job of finding games to keep beating. The list is running short, but I should be able to keep making some progress. And besides that there is a glimmer of hope now!! My wife and son are going out of town for about a week to visit the in-laws so if I buckle down and attack as many NES games as I can stomach in that time I might be able to get a significant boost towards my goal of 100 games beaten over 100 days!!
On to the games since last update though. Not expecting much I popped in Arch Rivals and found it wasn't nearly as bad as I had anticipated. It almost feels like an early version of NBA Jam, which is a game I really like. Besides having to watch a really stupid and occasionally nonsensical little cut scene whenever you score a basket it was fairly decent. You can punch your opponents down to the ground and take the ball by force! I havn't really found a stand out basketball game on the system, but this is one of the better ones I've played so far.
Starting my point and click style adventures I went with Deja Vu. Same vein as Shadowgate, but with a 1950's private detective setting to it. You wake up with a little amnesia in a building with a dead body. After a little snooping around you'll discover that you are being setup for murder!! But by who??!?!! So your goal is to both solve the case and clear your own name. For the most part its a pretty cool game, but there are some things that are just crazy obscure and I'm not sure how you're supposed to figure them out on your own. Not a bad game, but I liked Shadowgate a bit better even if torches drive me nuts.
Nightshade is one of the most surprising games I've played in a while. Not only was it a point and click style game, but it broke up the monotony associated with that style of game with both action oriented fighting sequences and a great sense of humor. You start the game with your main character tied to a chair speaking with the games villain. Both characters are purposely over the top and stereotyped which set the mood for the rest of the game right off the bat. After a few puzzles in the sewer that act as sort of a linear tutorial you'll enter the main city. The city seems overwhelming at first, but after a bit of exploration I found it to be the ideal size for this type of game. It had just the right amount of space to explore. Most different areas of the city hold some sort of secret of information you'll need in order to defeat Sutekh, with the occasional dead end.
Another really cool thing about Nightshade was the game over screen. There are 5 game over screens in total, that play out in a specific order. When you die in the main game you'll find your character in an elaborate death trap concocted by Sutekh. The cool part is that you can actually figure out how to escape 4 of the 5 traps which will let you keep playing the game instead of dying. These range from the classic tied to a conveyor belt or room closing in on you to more interesting setups that take a few different steps to overcome. Very neat game overall and something I'd urge you to check out if you're looking for something unique to play on your NES.
I have always assumed that Mickey Mousecapade was a 2 player game. I was actually looking forward to trying it out with my son as a helper. After getting over that disappointment I set my sights on getting it crossed off my list asap. Minnie tags along for the entire game (granted she isn't captured by a ghost), which is mostly helpful. If you get her star weapon it adds a bit of extra firepower to your game and she is also invulnerable to enemies with the exception of the ghost I mentioned. The annoying part is in the platforming. She lags behind trying to mimic your moves. If she falls into a pit you both lose a life. But the part I found more frustrating than losing her to a pit was navigating her in the final stage when there were lots of platforms and walls for her to get stuck on. The game would be a bit better without Minnie, but even then its far from some of the other great Capcom/Disney titles on the system.
There are only really 2 PC game series that have ever held a special place in my gaming history. King's Quest is one of those and I was a little nervous to give King's Quest V a try after playing another bad PC port on the system (Ultima Warriors of Destiny). Much to my surprise King's Quest V felt very much like it should. Yeah it was a bit uglier and you had text boxes instead of voices, but it still felt very much like the King's Quest V I remember playing as a kid on my friend's PC. It was like they stuck the 5th game into the same engine that the first or second game in the series played on. It had a lot of great humor and puzzles (and a few frustrating ones of course). I had beaten this game with a friend many years ago, but I missed out on a decent sized chunk in the middle because his brother had come home from college and helped him through a part we were stuck on at the time. It was extremely satisfying to finally be able to finish this game off completely. It made me wish that there were console ports of some of the other games in the series as it was a lot of fun overall. Definitely another one to check out if you like classic adventure games.
Vegas Dreams on the other hand isn't to exciting. After figuring out early on that you get a password to save your progress is became pretty easy to exploit the game. Simply choose your favorite gambling method (I used Black Jack), bet it all, and win!! What you didn't win? Just punch in your previous password and try again until you do then. After winning a little start up cash on the slots and experiencing a few of the random encounters that you'll get during the game I just started doubling my money on the Black Jack table until I hit the final goal of $10,000,000. The measle $700 I entered with was now a fortune. And apparently that means my character has to act like a total ass during the ending 
With a little downtime at home I decided to try and knock out some simple sports titles this morning. Tried out Magic Johnson's Fast Break. Even put it on the hardest difficulty (Professional) and mopped the floor with the computer by about 30 points when it was over. No sort of league or tournament mode so it was just the one game. Arch Rivals was much more fun.
Lastly for this update was Touchdown Fever by SNK. The cover looks awful if you ask me. I was just expecting 10 Yard Fight part 2. Luckily SNK makes better games than they make covers  It was actually kind of fun. Very arcade style visuals/gameplay and great music made the tournament mode go by pretty quick. The computer opponents turned out to be pretty easy to figure out after the first couple games and I was able to shut out my final opponent after having a bit of trouble in the first rounds. Gonna have to try this one with a second player and see if its as good as it seems to be.
2013 NES List
83 Games Beaten Over 70 days
17 Games more to reach goal of 100 with 30 days left to do it
Sesame Street Countdown
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters
Shooting Range
Space Shuttle Project
Double Dare
Win, Lose or Draw
Othello
Whomp Em
Dragon Fighter
Bugs Bunny's Crazy Castle
Family Feud
Tale Spin
Platoon
Gotcha!
Gun Smoke
Kiwi Kraze
10 Yard Fight
Tom & Jerry
Wrecking Crew
Hatris
Time Lord
Orb 3D
Wheel of Fortune Jr
Wheel of Fortune Family Edition
Captain America and the Avengers
Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune Featuring Vanna White
The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle
Bo Jackson Baseball
Jeopardy! Jr
Jeopardy!
Jeopardy! 25th Anniversary
Cowboy Kid
Crash n The Boys: Street Challenge
Galaga
Color A Dinosaur
Millipede
Popeye
Sesame Street 123
Sesame Street ABC
Sesame Street Hide & Speak
Soccer
Classic Concentration
Fisher Price I Can Remember
Fisher Price Perfect Fit
Mickey's Safari in Letterland
Mickey's Adventure in Numberland
NES Open Golf
Pictionary
Chessmaster
Anticipation
DK Jr Math
Donkey Kong 3
Urban Champion
Balloon Fight
Pinball
Qix
Hollywood Squares
Twin Cobra
Flintstones Rescue of Dino & Hoppy
Tiger-Heli
Winter Games
NES World Cup Soccer
Defender II
M.U.S.C.L.E.
MTV's Remote Control
Spot The Video Game
Spy vs Spy
Taboo The Sixth Sense
Gemfire
Monopoly
Legend of the Ghost Lion
Jackal
Rad Racer
Rad Racer II
Arch Rivals
Deja Vu
Nightshade
Mickey Mousecapade
King's Quest V
Vegas Dreams
Magic Johnson's Fast Break
Touchdown Fever
Future Plans - My slower games are going to consist of things like Casino Kid, Caesar's Palace and Maniac Mansion. When my family leaves I'm going to try and hammer out some action games like Life Force, Bucky O'Hare, P.O.W., Rush 'n Attack, Joe & Mac, etc. Wish me luck!!
What do you think of when I say "flash games"? A monkey spanking simulation, tower defense against balloons, or perhaps bloody stick figure kung fu might come to mind. Sure, those games may have their place (kids need something to do on the school computers, right?), but sometimes Adobe's vector-based dev tools end up in exceptionally talented hands. From the vast sea of poorly-animated, shallow gaming experiences available for free on the web, some rise far above the others. In this blog post I pull one such title from the cream of the Flash crop and thrust it into the limelight: Liferaft: Zero.
It's a grappling hook platformer that has you playing as young girls, all clones who are test subjects in a stark white science facility. The scientists watch from high up windows, sip on their coffee, and talk to you through purple computer screens. For some reason they want you to ring that bell over there and go through the door to the next room. Don't like the look of those spikes, but... doesn't seem like there's any other way out of here, so may as well get swinging!
So in standard platforming fashion you can run left & right, jump, but also wall jump and use your aforementioned grappling hook. Rather than swinging from ceilings like in some other grappling-centric games, the hook is used on designated points sticking out from the wall, in open space - you can swing a full 360 around them. By extending & retracting your rope and letting go at the right time, you can use your momentum to land where you need to be. It's the central mechanic and boy oh boy is it a good one.
It's difficult starting out. The spikes may be quite red before you reach the exit, especially if you want the delicious bonus candy. But man, once you get the hang of it, once it clicks... that grappling hook is incredible. It makes this game. It adds so much depth that isn't found in a typical platformer, and mastery of the swing physics really takes some skill. Getting some serious momentum going, swinging around that point, and hurling yourself straight up into the air really feels great - it's kept me coming back for dozens upon dozens of playthroughs. Add in the overall tight controls & fancy wall jumping and you've got some pretty great locomotion going on.
The graphics and sound help to further tie the whole experience together. Liferaft: Zero looks great - tiny, super detailed, colorful pixel art. The player character is 9 pixels tall and everything's zoomed out pretty far! Even so the animations are done well and convey a lot, with her hair blowing in the wind and dust kicking up as she slides down walls. Then there's the sound... there's actually no music, but plenty of crisp sound effects and ambiance. The quick little footsteps, the click of the grappling hook, the echo of the wall jump. It's all another integral part of what makes controlling the character so satisfying.
 Mikengreg are the two-man dev team behind this Flash masterpiece, and their slogan is "Handmade games crafted with love & high-fives." It really shows. Now, I tend to totally gush about the games I love, so I'll say a few quick things: It may not be for everyone, and it really does take a little while to get the swing physics down. But if you like what you see and you stick with it, Liferaft: Zero is a gem.
Originally posted over at my Broccoli Blog.
This blog entry sees me at a very significant milestone with my NES playing. It marks my 300th victory!! Since my NES collection is just a few games shy of 600 that also means I am finally at a point where I've beaten more than half of my NES collection! Even if I don't make my goal of 100 games beaten over 100 days this time I can at least take some solace in the number 300. The range of games played for this update is also pretty diverse. Its got everything from Non-games to Strategy to Racing.
The first game I played this time was possibly my shortest video so far. Spy vs Spy has the same ending on every difficulty level so I figured "why bust my ass playing on hard if its just the same?" and opted for the default level which is the lowest setting. The game is meant for quick multiplayer matches so it was pretty painless. Hard to judge the game based on playing against the computer, but it does seem like it would be kind of lame even against your buddies 
I also played everyone's favorite non-game (no it wasn't Color A Dinosaur again, sorry), Taboo: The Sixth Sense. If you are not familiar with this cart it isn't a game at all, but a Tarot Card simulator. So you ask the game a question and it draws out the cards and reads from the Arcana provided in order to give you some insight into your question........ and then provides you with lucky lotto numbers at the end . I asked it the most profound question I could think of.......
Gemfire is a game I've been wanting to get to for quite some time now and with my new recording setback this seemed like a great time to finally tackle it. Gemfire is a KOEI strategy game set in a mythological world. Your goal is to conquer every province on an island in order to unite the land under one leader. Much of the game is spent in menus developing your territories and building your army. The battles take you to another screen and involve moving your units around in a turn based fashion in order to capture your opponents base or defeat their army. Your army always consists of 4 units (1 Cavalry unit, 2 Knight units, 1 Archer unit) divided evenly between the number of troops you have available and you have the option of recruiting a 5th separate unit by either hiring them, meeting certain conditions (such as having a high morality level) or obtaining one of the 6 Gems scattered across the island in the hands of rival leaders.
Unlike many of the other KOEI games I've tried Gemfire is pretty user friendly. If you are looking for a game to introduce you to strategy games on the NES this is probably the best one. All the menus are simplified and the battles are extremely easy to grasp right from the start. There is still quite a lot going on each month, but its much easier to manage than on some of the other KOEI games. The scope of the game isn't quite as intimidating either. While Romance of the Three Kingdoms took me a whopping 40+ hours to beat, Gemfire only stole a mere 6+ hours of my life. Unfortunately the price of Gemfire hasn't been immune to the recent sky-rocketing NES prices, but if you are interested in strategy games its a really fantastic game for people like myself who are largely inexperienced with the genre.
Digging through my library for any more game show style games I stumbed across Monopoly which I've been neglecting. It might seem boring to most, but I have a pretty big soft spot for Monopoly. My cousin and I used to play the board game like crazy when we were kids and always argued about the rules. As a result I became pretty familiar with the rule book. I have a hard time playing with most people in real life because basically no one play the game properly. Wether its free parking paydays, not auctioning property or double the cash for landing on Go I get seriously irked when playing with most people. Luckily for people like me there are video game versions that allow me to play against computer opponents who must obey the rules!! I had a lot of fun with this as I haven't had a good game of Monopoly in quite a while now (no one wants to play with me and my rules ).
Legend of the Ghost Lion is a game that I didn't know much about gameplay wise. I knew it was some kind of RPG and that was about it. It started off pretty decent. Very little for story and the directions where often pretty vague, but those are both things I expect from NES era RPGs. You play as a relatively weak young girl, who fortunately can summon various creatures to help out in battle. As you find enchanted items throughout the game you can summon things like Giants, Dwarfs or Centaurs to do most of your fighting for you. Grinding is almost non-existent because of how the level up system it set-up. Instead of gaining experience from battles you only gain currency. To make your character stronger you have to find Fragments of Hope which are found in treasure chests scattered in dungeons around the map. Another nice thing about the game is that pretty much all the dungeons are relatively short and straightforward.
Unfortunately once you enter the 3rd area of the game the difficulty really spikes. Because you only level up from obtaining Fragments of Hope there is a maximum level you'll be at for each area (assuming you found all the Fragments up to that point). So if you are struggling as I was at some points you can't grind your way out of it. Luckily dying only causes you to return to the last save area and lose half your cash. Money is pretty easy to obtain again so that isn't a big deal and the map is small enough that getting back to where you were isn't to bad as well. Its just kind of frustrating. The game is pretty short compared to many other RPGs too, so its not to big of a time sink either. What started off ok got a bit tiresome after a while.
When I'm at home I can still play some of the faster paced games and I've heard Jackal is decent and short so I popped it in. Most of the game isn't too bad, but I found one thing very annoying from start to end. That was that your jeep could only shoot its bullets directly upwards. This meant that to fire in any other direction you needed to rely on your secondary missile/grenades. These are your big explosive weapons so they fire understandably slow. Its pretty bothersome when you've got several enemies coming at you in an action game like this the last thing you want is to suffer through sluggish weapons and that problem persisted through the entire game. I feel like Jackal could have been amazing with that one little problem fixed.
If you've browsed my list of finished game you may have noticed several "classic" or "essential" games missing from it. One of those has finally been rectified. After far too long I've finally played through Rad Racer! It was actually quite a bit of fun for something so simplistic. Really had a good time on almost all the tracks. Track 5 was a bit frustrating, but otherwise it was pretty solid straight through.
Game number 300 was none other than Rad Racer II. Unfortunately Rad Racer II suffers from what a lot of NES sequels also suffer from. It somehow is very similar to the first game, but almost inexplicably loses some of its initial charm. I felt that way when playing other games like Chip n Dale 2, Duck Tales 2, Power Blade 2, Bubble Bobble 2, StarTropics 2, etc. Its a decent game, but for reasons I have trouble verbalizing I liked the first one a lot more.
Since 300 is a special number for me here is the full list of games done instead of the usual smaller list with just this years challenge games. Enjoy!
Beaten Since Oct.8th 2011
(click on a title to see the video)
Super Mario Bros
Super Mario Bros 2
Super Mario Bros 3
Mega Man
Mega Man 2
Mega Man 3
Mega Man 4
Mega Man 5
Mega Man 6
Castlevania
Adventures in the Magic Kingdom
Duck Tales
Duck Tales 2
Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers
Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers 2
Felix the Cat
Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout
Ren and Stimpy Show: Buckaroo$
Double Dragon
Contra
Super C
Contra Force
Power Blade
Power Blade 2
Dynowarz: The Destruction of Spondylus
Metal Storm
Journey to Silius
Air Fortress
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Blaster Master
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turltes 2
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3
Legendary Wings
BreakThru
Commando
Guerrilla War
World Games
Snoopy's Silly Sports Spectacular
Caveman Games
DK Classics
Jaws
Ninja Gaiden
Where's Waldo?
Bonk's Adventure
Panic Restaurant
Bubble Bobble 2
Dr. Mario
Bubble Bobble
MC Kids
Batman
Circus Caper
Roller Games
Widget
Tiny Toon Adventures
Tiny Toon Adventures 2
The Jetsons
The Little Mermaid
Monster in my Pocket
Gremlins 2
Kirby's Adventure
Kickle Cubicle
Kung Fu
Yo! Noid
Xexyz
Puss 'N Boots: Pero's Great Adventure
Wall Street Kid
The Karate Kid
Archon
Golf
Super Dodgeball
Super Spike V'Ball
Jakcie Chan's Action Kung Fu
The Three Stooges
Ice Hockey
Tecmo Bowl
Track & Field
Mario Bros
NARC
North and South
Barbie
Battle Chess
The Simpsons: Bart vs. The World
The Flintstones: Surprise at Dinosaur Peak
Snow Brothers
Little Samson
Sky Shark
Ninja Gaiden II
Mike Tyson's Punch Out
The Simpsons: Bart Meets Radioactive Man
StarTropics
Little Nemo: The Dream Master
River City Ransom
StarTropics 2: Zoda's Revenge
The Jungle Book
Castlevania III Dracula's Curse
Mario is Missing
Blades of Steel
Hogan's Alley
Wild Gunman
Burger Time
Silver Surfer
Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom
Double Dragon II: The Revenge
Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones
Ghosts n Goblins
Tetris
Pro Wrestling
Gradius
Zanac
Adventure Island
Karnov
Trojan
Excitebike
Baseball
Spy Hunter
Adventure Island II
Tennis
Battletoads
Shadowgate
Battletoads/Double Dragon
Pinball Quest
Section Z
Godzilla
Hydlide
Marble Madness
Back to the Future
Darkman
Terminator 2
Robocop
Total Recall
Predator
Robocop 2
Robocop 3
Hudson Hawk
Home Alone
Home Alone 2
Batman Returns
Ghostbusters II
Ghostbusters
Die Hard
A Nightmare on Elm Street
The Krion Conquest
Adventures of Dino Riki
Ultima: Exodus
Legacy of the Wizard
Ultima: Quest of the Avatar
Darkwing Duck
Ultima: Warriors of Destiny
Legends of the Diamond
Pro Sports Hockey
Dusty Diamond's All-Star Softball
Yoshi's Cookie
Kick Master
Zombie Nation
Stadium Events
Super Jeopardy!
Joust
Yoshi
Dance Aerobics
Adventures of Bayou Billy
Pipe Dreams
Ski or Die
Werewolf: The Last Warrior
Simpsons: Bart vs The Space Mutants
City Connection
American Gladiators
Roundball 2-on-2 Challenge
720
Athletic World
Super Team Games
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Gumshoe
Bases Loaded
The Addams Family Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt
Kings of the Beach
The Blues Brothers
Volley Ball
Lode Runner
3D World Runner
Twin Eagle
Dragon's Lair
The Adventures of Rad Gravity
Break Time: The National Pool Tour
Bases Loaded II
Rainbow Islands
Conquest of the Crystal Palace
Peter Pan And The Pirates
Kid Kool and the Quest for the Seven Wonder Herbs
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Dragon Strike
Slalom
Wrath of the Black Manta
Race America
Treasure Master
Krusty's Fun House
King's Knight
Mighty Bomb Jack
Bases Loaded 3
Castelian
Flying Dragon: The Secret Scroll
Dirty Harry
Conan
Cobra Triangle
Spider Man Return of the Sinister Six
Tag Team Wrestling
Eliminator Boat Duel
Galaxy 5000
George Foreman's KO Boxing
Ferrari Grand Prix Challenge
Thunder & Lightning
Heavy Shreddin'
Flying Warriors
Rocket Ranger
Roger Clemens MVP Baseball
Bill & Ted's Excellent Video Game Adventure
Destination Earthstar
Street Cop
Short Order/Eggsplode
Star Voyageur
Days of Thunder
Laser Invasion
Silent Service
Back to the Future 2 & 3
Overlord
High Speed
Sesame Street Countdown
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters
Shooting Range
Space Shuttle Project
Double Dare
Win, Lose or Draw
Othello
Whomp Em
Dragon Fighter
Bugs Bunny's Crazy Castle
Family Feud
Tale Spin
Platoon
Gotcha!
Gun Smoke
Kiwi Kraze
10 Yard Fight
Tom & Jerry
Wrecking Crew
Hatris
Time Lord
Orb 3D
Wheel of Fortune Jr
Wheel of Fortune Family Edition
Captain America and the Avengers
Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune Featuring Vanna White
The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle
Bo Jackson Baseball
Jeopardy! Jr
Jeopardy!
Jeopardy! 25th Anniversary
Cowboy Kid
Crash n The Boys: Street Challenge
Galaga
Color A Dinosaur
Millipede
Popeye
Sesame Street 123
Sesame Street ABC
Sesame Street Hide & Speak
Soccer
Classic Concentration
Fisher Price I Can Remember
Fisher Price Perfect Fit
Mickey's Safari in Letterland
Mickey's Adventure in Numberland
NES Open Golf
Pictionary
Chessmaster
Anticipation
DK Jr Math
Donkey Kong 3
Urban Champion
Balloon Fight
Pinball
Qix
Hollywood Squares
Twin Cobra
Flintstones Rescue of Dino & Hoppy
Tiger-Heli
Winter Games
NES World Cup Soccer
Defender II
M.U.S.C.L.E.
MTV's Remote Control
Spot The Video Game
Spy vs Spy
Taboo The Sixth Sense
Gemfire
Monopoly
Legend of the Ghost Lion
Jackal
Rad Racer
Rad Racer II
BONUS GAMES:
Assimilate
Future Plans - Gonna give a few point and click games some time this next week. Deja Vu and Univited and the like. Maybe King's Quest V if time permits.
One of my most favorite bored-at-work activities I enjoy doing is something I like to call "RFG Time Machine," which I named after the Wayback Machine Internet Archive (one of my favorite game-info research tools). For someone like me who has only been here a few years (though not active during large swaths of that time) this is a great opportunity to have a look back at the posts of past members as well as read into the trends of yesterday.
So how does one access the RFG Time Machine? I imagine there are many ways to do so, but I will simply go to the Edit Entries of the My Blog section of the website. Click on My Saved Drafts, and if you have a saved draft in that page, click on one of your headlines. You'll see your article draft pasted over a blog post of another RFG member, along with the replies (if any), that went along with it. It appears to be randomized as to whose blog and which post you appear over, but I do tend to see repeats. I think it helps that I have more than ten drafts saved.
How is this fun? If you look over to the right panel, you will see the Hot Entries for the blog post your draft is pasted over. The current one for one of my drafts is this one penned by Sirgin about Mega64 (which tragically no one commented on). Good stuff. Weird and sometimes embarassing (as only Mega64 can be), but still good stuff. Another quick one is this July 2009 look at Civ IV by logical123, who was a prolific blogger throughout 2009, but sadly has not written since (unless they were lost in the Great Database Crash). I also enjoyed most of his other articles, which I recommend.
Okay, so maybe I didn't show you something you would have though of as fun, but come on, at least it was interesting right? I know, I could have found stuff easier by looking through the Blogs themselves, but why? I primarily do it for the moment of discovery, which is also why I collect (and why I sometimes even play what I collect). So even if you have been here a while, take a look back. You might rediscover something you have forgotten, be it friend or moment.
Back in the day, Video Games were heavily advertised through TV. Today, not so much. Today, I'm here to show you my favorites. Here we go!
Pac-Man (Atari 2600)
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/XndbMhPohO4&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/XndbMhPohO4&rel=0</a>]]>
Super Mario RPG (Super Famicom)
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/r5lhP7yHiss&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/r5lhP7yHiss&rel=0</a>]]>
Genesis Does!
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/k7nsBoqJ6s8&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/k7nsBoqJ6s8&rel=0</a>]]>
Donkey Kong Country (Super Nintendo)
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/IM5rYucoQRU&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/IM5rYucoQRU&rel=0</a>]]>
Pokemon Red and Blue (Gameboy)
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/5tTc8__lXkM&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/5tTc8__lXkM&rel=0</a>]]>
Well, that's all. I actually enjoy a lot more than this, but I didn't want to take up too much space.
Note: This is an old blog I forgot to publish after writing...
GamerNick and I went out to kill some time before he made his "small" score yesterday. Half Price Books, and a Gamers location were on the menu for the morning. I ended up finding some goodies at both stores, and some packages arrived in the mail as well.
First up are the contents of the packages. Mortal Kombat 3 for Genesis, Primal Rage for SNES, Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode, Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers, Kung Fu, and Pinball for NES. and my first Ebay purchase, Final Fantasy Origins to replace my incomplete copy.
Next we have some finds from HPB and Gamers. Dragon Quest VIII to replace an incomplete copy I had, Fighting Vipers for Saturn, Wrecking Crew for NES. Midnight Magic, Indy 500, and Space Jockey for Atari 2600. Medal of Honor and Einhander for Playstation. Einhander was bought by Nick to repay me for some games I bought for him on another hunt.
After that it was time for Nick to go pick up his "small" score, and while he was doing that I took some time to browse through lose carts at the same shop and cut a little deal for some fillers and stuff I wanted. Zone of Enders: The 2nd Runner for PS2. A bunch of black box NES titles... Clu Clu Land, Baseball, Volleyball, Urban Champion, Pro Wrestling. A couple Tengen carts, Afterburner and Vindicators. Dungeon Magic w/ manual, Lemmings, Strider, Fox's Peter Pan and the Pirates, Ultima: Exodus, Dragon Power, Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu, Guardian Legend, and Baseball Stars.
Nick was kind enough to hook me up with some of the boxes he didn't need for his collection...
And some loose carts to fill out my collection! mmm, Dragon Warrior IV, Mega Man, and Mighty Final Fight... good stuff.
What started out as me buying an Atari Jaguar from Singlebanana turned into buying a lot of Odyssey 2 stuff as well.
I ended up with a Magnavox Odyssey 2 (hardwired controllers), and 21 games in total...
The games were all boxed, which is awesome, I started falling in love with the O^2 boxes I kept seeing on here and had to get some for myself.
Alien Invaders - Plus!
Alpine Skiing!
Armored Encounter!/Sub Chase!
Baseball!
Blockout!/Breakdown!
Bowling!/Basketball!
Computer Golf!
Conquest of the World! (all the pieces are there, oh baby!)
Cosmic Conflict!
Football!
Freedom Fighters!
K.C. Munchkin!
Las Vegas Blackjack!
Monkeyshines!
Out of this World!/Helicopter Rescue!
P.T. Barnum's Acrobats!
Pachinko!
Pick Axe Pete!
Showdown in 2100 A.D.
Speedway!/Spinout!/Crypto-logic!
U.F.O.!
Magnavox seemed to think they all needed exclamation points to emphasize the awesomeness of the games...
and here we have the Atari Shaguar, in all it's glory!
Picked up the console, two controllers, the hookups, and Cybermorph, Raiden, and Checkered Flag.
For many systems you fire up the first experience you have with it involves the splash screen, intro screen, logos, sound effects, rocket ships, flying carpets, and belly dancers. Like many things the quality and effort put into these introductions can have a profound impact on the player, or potential player, of a video game console, so let's take a look at the good and the bad ones.
The Bad
Now, in order to be fair I will not include systems which completely lack a splash screen, this is only something that came to prominence in the late 80's for the most part (with exceptions of course). So, which ones just leave you screaming for mercy?
Amiga CD32
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/mFzaTmHPSVA&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/mFzaTmHPSVA&rel=0</a>]]>
Well, that was pretty dull. If you're looking for uninspired intro screens nothing really beats this one, its a CD floating in space with a wordart logo above the disc with some flashy colors flying around. This looks like a $50 job that some video editing student did after discovering how awesome the Amiga is and how amazing a system based on Amiga software with CD support would be.
It would be a commercial failure of course.
FM Towns Marty
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/CJYEwzpgQ6g&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/CJYEwzpgQ6g&rel=0</a>]]>
Well, my ears are bleeding now. For a CD based system the FM Towns Marty certainly has incredibly weak sound capabilities! It even released in 1993, the same year as the vastly superior 3DO Interactive Multiplayer and even the Amiga CD32 above, at least that one didn't have digital garbage flowing out of the speakers!
Atari Jaguar
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/QhLyOOqJUYE&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/QhLyOOqJUYE&rel=0</a>]]>
The Jaguar just has this look, reputation, and history of being a low budget machine with shoddy engineering. It was Atari's last attempt at greatness (and killing off their fairly popular line of PCs to throw everything at the console probably did not help matters). Now to be fair this one isn't entirely bad, its just a bit boring. A spinning cube with a Jaguar on it is hardly menacing. But, if they had done something like the MGM lion intro it would probably have been the greatest thing ever made by Atari or any company ever! The legitimacy of the menacing roar of the Jaguar is lessened by the rather cartoony, and already by then retro, little jingle that accompanies the cat.
The Good
Sega CD
What happens when a system has not just one amazing startup screen, but two? We end up with the Sega CD! Or Mega CD if you're not a winning American. Oh, I'm not really counting the JVC X'eye, even though that intro is fairly enjoyable as well.
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/qRe01pxl0sI&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/qRe01pxl0sI&rel=0</a>]]>
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/VEcmzA2rEKQ&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/VEcmzA2rEKQ&rel=0</a>]]>
All I really have to say is one thing, I have never before been so entertained by dancing logos. This just shows how superior Sega's execution was in the early 90's, having some of the best hardware creators this side of Nintendo. Sega can just squeeze so much life out of hardware that could be considered inferior, giving their consoles so much passion and soul that no company has really ever been able to duplicate, not even Nintendo or Sony in my opinion.
Nintendo Gamecube
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/ctYQ08gxkqA&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/ctYQ08gxkqA&rel=0</a>]]>
Nintendo, I love you to death. What cheeky bastards these guys were when designing the Gamecube and its startup screen. Everybody loves Easter Eggs, so let's hide not one, but two colorful eggs on the very first screen you see when playing a Gamecube, all of which are enjoyable in moderation. Absolutely brilliant!
Sony Playstation
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/7Ret564LSLw&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/7Ret564LSLw&rel=0</a>]]>
There are few words to describe just how amazing the experience of firing up an original Playstation is. Once you turn it on its like you, the gamer, are being sent into a powerful wind tunnel during astronaut training. Then you finally get to launch up into space just as the PS logo comes up and leave the atmosphere into cool, serene calm. An absolute joy for the ears, this is the THX intro of the video game world, and it will never get old.
So what are your favorite system start up screens, least favorites?
It's been some time since I last wrote an update on my Odyssey^2 collecting. The last I left off there were two games to go in the regular US set. Those last two games go for much more than I'm willing to spend on such things. Still, there were some Ody 2 items that could fill out my collection. The Voice is an important add-on to the O2 system. Also, because I didn't bother with getting games CIB, many of my games are still missing boxes and manuals.
I've been spending the last few weeks casually checking ebay for auctions with manuals, boxes and The Voice. The Voice is almost always available and the prices must not be too bad because it regularly sells for $40 or more. I wanted to pay less, about $20 was were I would start to consider getting one.
An auction comes up which has The Voice add-on, a bunch of manuals, 20 something games and a few other O^2 components. Two of the manuals really stood out, one for Computer Intro which is more like a small book than the simple manuals for the other games. The second manual I had my eye on was for Power Lords, one of the two games I didn't have. Opening bid on this lot was $20 plus $9 shipping, figuring I was going to be out bid, I put the first bid in.
Continue reading How to find the rarest Odyssey 2 game
A hero will always have something to say, but not every hero has a voice. Once utilized simply due to technical limitations in video game development the silent protagonist has come a long way. The strong, silent type used to prevail in early video games and has set the standard of how relationships between the player character and supporting cast members are presented. How the speechless explorer is handled has a significant effect on the game as a whole.
There are two principle versions of the silent protagonist: the mute and the secretive. The first case presents a player character whose dialogue is neither displayed nor implied. The descendent of Erdrick in Dragon Warrior is an exemplary mute hero. These protagonists react to the world and those who inhabit it, and ultimately enable the player to become immersed in the character and story. The benefit of this is that the player can form his or her own thoughts and emotions concerning in-game events which makes the experience feel less scripted. However, if handled too lightly the mute adventurer can be perceived as nothing more than an errand boy. This usually comes about when the player must complete tasks assigned by supporting characters that repeated fail to achieve any seemingly significant plot development.
A secretive protagonist is in many ways a solution to the problems that arise from a completely mute hero. Here, the player character's lines are implied or referenced by the supporting roles. Link is one of these protagonists in that even though he does not technically have any lines of dialogue the character with which he is conversing will react as though he had just said something. Similarly when the secretive character is supposed to speak the game will prompt the player with a Yes or No question. Using this type of protagonist allows for strong bonds to form between the player and the hero which in turn allows him or her to become more real and relatable. This scene from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time displays the traits of a successfully executed secretive protagonist.
I know Zelda isn't an RPG, but this scene gets the point across.
Successfully utilizing a silent hero allows the character to be infused with courage, honour, steadfastness by the player. The character that keeps calm when thrown into the fray of battle, clear and conscious while traversing a dungeon is more often than not an adventure with no real lines of dialogue.
The silent protagonist works to varying degrees, but what this sort of character proves is that a person's actions speak volumes. Of course these voyagers are burdened with immense responsibility. This is why the silent protagonist fits so nicely in the Adventure genre, especially in the RPG. The player learns that when faced with opposition what he or she does is equally important as what can be said. We can also gather that the nature of responsibility itself is often something which we would rather avoid, but by approaching the situation head on with determination and a clear mind success is never out of reach. Despite not being able to talk the quiet hero has a lot to say.
This last week was quite slow for me because unfortunately I lost access to the setup that I do 90% of my playing on. This means that I have to revert back to my original setup of playing straight into my Laptop. Now by doing my recordings this way I have a little amount of lag to deal with, which means that any game that requires quick reactions is gonna be MUCH harder. Its unlikely to change anytime in the immediate future so I'll just have to make due with what I've got to work with. This means the selection of games I had prepared might not be ideal at the moment. I'm going to be focussing on games that don't require much in terms of reflexes. Things like RPGs, Strategy Games or some types of Puzzle games. Unfortunately those genres tend to be pretty time consuming in comparison to what I had in mind so its gonna be a struggle to get to my goal of 100 games in my time frame. Luckily I was able to get a little ahead before this happened and still have several pretty easy games left to cross of the list. So while last week I was basically positive I was gonna reach my goal, now I'm not so sure. But I'll try to get as close as I can given my current limitations.
If anyone can recommend any slow moving games that are relatively quick victories I'd really appreciate it though!
Now onto what I have been able to do in the last little while.
Some of you may remember that I really liked World Games. So I was hopeful that Winter Games would be enjoyable too. Unfortunately it wasn't nearly as good. It had fewer events and none of them stood out to me as very good. Pretty big let down after World Games.
Decided it was time to sink a little effort into the only Soccer game I ever played as a child, NES World Cup Soccer. Like most Technos games its pretty fun, but can get a little repetitive since you have to play through 12 games to win. The first 6-8 games are pretty much a joke too. It really doesn't pose much of a challenge until you get to the games in the finals. Even then I only lost one game the entire time. Definitely more fun with some friends.
Here is another early arcade port, Defender II. Unfortunately there is no high score to beat, ending or areas to loop. So it was basically just beat a level I guess :/. Nothing to write home about.
Next up is everybody's favorite wrestling game M.U.S.C.L.E.!! The game starts looping after the 4th stage and the preset high score was beaten after the 5th stage so since there is no ending I'm calling that good enough. Kind of a lame game though. Gets old and repetitive VERY fast and the random power up things that get launched across the ring each round kind of break the game.
You thought I was done with all the game shows by now? Fear not I found another one! MTV's Remote Control. TV trivia wasn't to hard, but to make things even easier they don't punish you for getting wrong answers! So I could just buzz in first every single time wether I knew the answer or not and take a 1 out of 3 chance of getting it correct. Its like they wanted me to win!
Lastly this time around was Spot The Video Game. Hopeful that it might be the long awaited game to surpass the almighty Othello I was sadly disappointed The game moves far to quickly and has some flashy animations and annoying sounds, so it'll never be in the same league as Othello. The default computer was a bit smarter than me, but after 5-6 attempts I was able to finish it up.
2013 NES List
67 Games Beaten In 56 Days
Sesame Street Countdown
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters
Shooting Range
Space Shuttle Project
Double Dare
Win, Lose or Draw
Othello
Whomp Em
Dragon Fighter
Bugs Bunny's Crazy Castle
Family Feud
Tale Spin
Platoon
Gotcha!
Gun Smoke
Kiwi Kraze
10 Yard Fight
Tom & Jerry
Wrecking Crew
Hatris
Time Lord
Orb 3D
Wheel of Fortune Jr
Wheel of Fortune Family Edition
Captain America and the Avengers
Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune Featuring Vanna White
The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle
Bo Jackson Baseball
Jeopardy! Jr
Jeopardy!
Jeopardy! 25th Anniversary
Cowboy Kid
Crash n The Boys: Street Challenge
Galaga
Color A Dinosaur
Millipede
Popeye
Sesame Street 123
Sesame Street ABC
Sesame Street Hide & Speak
Soccer
Classic Concentration
Fisher Price I Can Remember
Fisher Price Perfect Fit
Mickey's Safari in Letterland
Mickey's Adventure in Numberland
NES Open Golf
Pictionary
Chessmaster
Anticipation
DK Jr Math
Donkey Kong 3
Urban Champion
Balloon Fight
Pinball
Qix
Hollywood Squares
Twin Cobra
Flintstones Rescue of Dino & Hoppy
Tiger-Heli
Winter Games
NES World Cup Soccer
Defender II
M.U.S.C.L.E.
MTV's Remote Control
Spot The Video Game
Future Plans - Already put a decent amount of time into Gemfire so I plan to continue that one. Also plan to keep trying on Track & Field II after heal from an injury on a previous attempt Gonna be looking into more strategy and RPG type games. Perhaps Nobunaga's Ambition or Legend of the Ghost Lion.
Hey guys,
I have been wanting to start a blog for a very long time but never knew of a good blogging website to use. I found rfgeneration and knew that I had finally found my blogs home. Anyways, I am a diehard Sega fan and own just about ever console that they released. I have a very vast collection of games and will probably showcase some here. I do have a YouTube channel where I am very active and do many reviews, unboxings, game hauls, and just different retro gaming topics. The link to my channel is: http://www.youtube.com/us...deos?flow=grid&view=0. So I hope you guys are up to going on along for the ride and look forward to things to come!
Back in 1982, DragonStomper was released for the Atari 2600 Supercharger. Today, I have remade this game for the PC!
Designed to be a Fan-Remake of the original (as I do not own the rights to the name), DragonStomper Redux follows the titular Dragon Hunter, Lioma, in his quest to slay Kilkorin, a Dragon that has stolen the Kingdom of Klau's Magical Amulet. Although the Plot is essentially the same as that of the original game, there are some twists to this Remake's Story.
FAQ
Q: How much does this cost?
A: It's free. I do not own the rights to the name, and this is a FANMADE game.
Q: Who made this?
A: I did, with input from friends.
Q: The Platform?
A: PC only.
Q: The engine?
A: RPG Maker VX Ace.
Q: Why DragonStomper?
A: Why NOT DragonStomper? It's probably the first RPG ever! 
Q: Any tips?
A: This game is NOT about going in to face problems head on. You need to think some things through, or you won't get very far. Also, search EVERYWHERE.
Q: Release date?
A: Unknown. It is currently in what I like to call a Pre-Beta test.
Q: Any Screenshots?
A: No, but I plan to unleash a trailer to the public at some point before release.
That's pretty much it. Look forward to this game, but don't hold your breath. I can't release in it's current state, so please be patient.
Coming it at #4 on my countdown is yet another Pat Lawlor designed pin (Banzai Run #9 and Funhouse #5), the very popular, The Addams Family. This pin is so popular in fact, that it is the best-selling pinball machine of all time at 20,270 machines produced + 1000 additional units sold and labeled The Addams Family Special Collectors Edition, or what is known by pinball enthusiasts as simply the "gold edition." The gold edition has some additional features including gold armor, a gold lockdown bar, gold cabinet lightning instead of the usual blue, and some additional ROM features, one of which is the Cousin It animations and modes.
Continue reading Banana's Pinball Top 10 - #4 The Addams Family
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