The Retro Critic

Lethal Weapon

So there I was, wanting to pick a retro game to review that would be based on something Christmassy but not obviously so.

I’d already reviewed the likes of The Die Hard Trilogy, Batman Returns and Gremlins 2: The New Batch so my mind, for some reason, instantly went to Lethal Weapon, a movie I had re-watched very recently and which was set around Christmas.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I started playing Lethal Weapon on NES and realised that, not only was it not Christmas-themed, like, at all, but it wasn’t even Lethal Weapon!

It took me a while to realise what the heck was going on and it was only until I tried Lethal Weapon on the SNES that it all clicked:

Lethal Weapon is Lethal Weapon 3.

Because THAT’s the Lethal Weapon movie everybody loves… right?

For some reason, both the NES and the SNES games chose to not call themselves what they actually were instead going by the franchise’s name.

Can you imagine playing a game just called The Bourne Identity and, for some reason, your main character looks like Jeremy Renner?
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1 More Podcastle

66 – The Godfather of Games

Somebody is going to wake up with a Yoshi head in their bed.

The Completist

The Completist Presents: Ecco the Dolphin – Part 1, An Introduction

Zack Smith is a fellow writer on 1MoreCastle, who is also a member of the Storm the Castle writer’s guild. When I found out about his passion for aquatic life, I was a little shocked that he had very little experience with Ecco the Dolphin. After all, he runs his own business maintaining aquariums for customers. Earlier this year, he even went scuba diving in his home state of Florida. It’s not very often I meet people who have a life and play video games simultaneously. Admittedly, I program, play video games, and have no life. So by challenging Zack to play this game, I wanted to get his perspective on how accurate the game is in relation to actual sea life and his overall experience as well. Which begs the question: Which Ecco the Dolphin would I have Zack play? The best one ever made of course: No, not the PC version, the Sega CD version!

2 Decades Late

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Part 1

Once in a while, a storm of unrelated events combine in my favor. In this instance, they unfolded thusly. First, I have this regular piece where I make up for the console I missed growing up by reviewing Super Nintendo games after having played them for the first time. Secondly, I am a member of Club Nintendo and I have given them large portions of my paychecks this year. Thirdly, Club Nintendo made The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past available for a mere 150 coins for the Wii Virtual Console. Lastly, Nintendo recently released the spiritual successor to this game on the 3DS and it seems to be hitting everyone right in the nostalgia. Given that my favorite game is Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and my entire online brand is Ocarina of Tom, some of you have been waiting for this day. What would happen when I came up against the game that many hail as one of the best not just of the series, but of all time? This review is going to take a slight dip away from the norm. I want to retell the story of me playing it as it happened. I think that will give you the best idea of how I enjoyed my experience. In order to do this, however, this review is going to appear in two parts. At least.

The Fair Shake

Wheel of Fortune: Commodore 64

Some time ago I picked up a small lot of Commodore 64 items from arguably one of the most interesting C64 guys on the planet. Here on 1MC, I asked what I should do with it. Specifically, I asked What the Eff should I Play? I hadn’t mentioned the system since then, and with good reason. I had nothing to play, or do, aside from making little BASIC programs, until a few weeks ago. A small lot appeared on my local Craigslist consisting of a few C64s, a C128, and a VIC20, along with approximately 100 game disks and five or six game cartridges.

The Retro Critic

Bucky O’Hare

Time to go back to some good old retro NES nostalgia, methinks.

Remember the cartoon series Bucky O’Hare?

Green hare in space? Friends with a duck and a robotic eye?

Hates intergalactic toads?

Yeah well Bucky got his own game on the NES back in 1992 and, to the risk of shocking you, it was actually surprisingly really good. So much so that it does really deserve a little more attention.

1 More Countdown

Top 10 Sewer Levels

One of the most hated levels in video games is the sewer levels. This is probably because they’re similar to water levels, dark, and they all tend to look the same with flowing green water, bricks, and rusted metal. They’re not pleasing to the eye, and definitely not fun to play… well most of them are not.

Some sewer levels are not bad. Either they are not the traditional sewer levels, or they are but they still have some interesting mechanics or gameplay that make them fun. So, I decided to count down the best of the worst. Remember, only one level per franchise and only retro games can be on this list. So, here are MY Top 10 Sewer Levels in Gaming.

Mascot Mania

Croc

I figured it was time to talk about a better known mascot and one that I actually enjoy. My first two entries for Mascot Mania were lesser known guys and really, for good reasons. I was first introduced to Croc by one of those awesome Playstation demo discs. Official U.S. Playstation Magazine Demo Disc #2 to be exact. Back then these demo discs were a big part of my gaming experience and the import section was a good way to play games we never got. Remember this was 1997 and the internet was in no way what it is today. I’m also going way off track here. I played the Croc demo a lot but oddly I never rented or owned it back then. It wasn’t until the PS2 era that I finally got to play these games and I really enjoyed them. As I was digging around the internet, I found some interesting stuff about the little green gator.

GMZ – Breaking News – Job Posting

Wanna work for GMZ? Here’s your once in a lifetime opportunity!

Job Title – Web / Software / Sys Admin / Fluffer / Janitor / Receptionist / Graphic Designer / Horse White Glover / Researcher / Writer / Gopher / Gerbil / Editor / Office Manager / Au Pair

GMZ

GMZ #6 – Porno, Powerade, Indecent Exposure, and Alex Kidd

Super Mario Bros. Super Show was Almost a Porno?

By Jeremy Holmes

Recently uncovered documents related to the show seem to hint that some episodes’ scripts, the first one in particular, were simply rewritten scripts from unfilmed pornos. Both Nintendo and Mario are denying the allegations, though the evidence seems damning. One of our inside sources, under condition of anonymity, had this to say: “Just look at that first episode. Nicole Eggert from Baywatch shows up. Mario and Luigi tell her they watch her show all the time. Next, she tells them she has a plumbing problem and needs their help. The two guys then show her how good they are at unclogging pipes and the whole thing finishes with the money shot: Nicole gets sprayed all over her face.”

So, was the Super Mario Bros. Super Show’s scripts really written for porno? You decide (jump to the 01:29 mark in the video):

1 More Podcastle

65 – 100% Canadian-Made Beard Adhesive

“It holds up under the roughest Canadian winters!” -Guy LaFrancois, Canadian

It Came From Japan

Araiguma Rascal

こんにちは! Good afternoon everyone! Tonight I’m watching a Studio Ghibli movie called Pom Poko which features a bunch of tanukis (aka Japanese Raccoon Dogs) who are threatened by gigantic suburban development project called New Tama. Anyways, enough of the movie plot, the movie has got me thinking about raccoons and tanukis and games that feature them. The most obvious answer is Super Mario Brothers 3 with Mario when he eats the leaf and becomes a Tanuki, but I’m thinking something a little more unknown.

This game I came across by fluke on Youtube from watching random SuFami gameplay videos. Yes it’s sad but true, I fill up a lot of my spare time watching random game videos lol. As soon as I saw the raccoon I knew I had to get this game, he is so cute! So after a lot of searching I found a copy on eBay (for a decent price and complete in box too!), the game we are going to look at is called Araiguma Rascal (aka Raccoon Rascal).

The Retro Critic

Top 10 Silliest Sounding Sega Games

Some games sound ridiculous but are so iconic that they totally get away with it, I’m thinking Sonic The Hedgehog, but others, in retrospect, maybe could have done with slightly less silly titles. Then again, why would you want a game like Chester Cheetah: Too Cool To Fool, Wild Woody or Shaq Fu to not be called something goofy?

Saturnology

Power Drift

Go for number 1! Saturnology returns with a look at one of the greatest arcade racing games of all time, Power Drift!

1 More Podcastle

64 – Bubsy’s Head on a Stake 64

Expansion pack required, rumble pack recommended.

Storming The Castle

Creature Shock: A Round Table Discussion

This week on “Storming the Castle”, we would like to present to you a trifecta of terror. That’s right, three unique perspectives in a round table discussion on the early 90’s Sci-Fi/Horror themed DOS game: “Creature Shock.” What? You haven’t heard of it? Yeah, it is rather obscure and depending on what source you believe, it is either the worst game ever made or a cult classic.

The Retro Critic

Dr Slump Arale: Ncha! Bycha

In case you can’t tell, I went for obscure with this one.

So obscure in fact that the chosen game, based on a manga and an anime series, is on a platform I’ve, as yet, pretty much ignored.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Dr Slump Arale: Ncha! Bycha…

…the Tiger Electronics game.
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1 More Countdown

Top 10 Favorite Street Fighter Characters

It’s no secret that I love the Street Fighter series. When I was a kid, I swore by Mortal Kombat but now that I’ve grown my love for the Street Fighter series has as well. I play Third Strike at least once a week on XBLA, and ain’t too bad if I do say so myself.

As my love of the Street Fighter series grew, so did my urge to play all the games in the series. I’ve played the Street Fighter 2-4, the Alpha series, Street Fighter X Tekken, even Gem Fighter and the Street Fighter EX series (Skullomania!) So my knowledge of the series is pretty vast. So I figured I’d count down my favorite characters in the series. Now keep in mind there are a lot of Street Fighter characters so your favorite might not be on the list, but I’m sure it’d be in the Top 20.

Without further ado, let’s begin.

The Backlog

Clash at Demonhead (NES)

Scott Pilgrim vs The Backlog concludes with Clash at Demonhead, a surprisingly large action game with gadgets galore and dozens of areas to traverse.

GMZ

GMZ #5 – Burgers, Drugs, Sexual Harassment, and Saving America’s Children

BurgerTime Chain Restaurants Forced to Close, Owner Jailed

By Pierre Le Chef

Peter Pepper, founder and owner of the BurgerTime restaurant chain has been arrested and his restaurants around the world have been closed after an INTERPOL investigation revealed the widespread and rampant use of unsanitary practices within the restaurants. Investigators found visible footprints on buns, patties, and even some vegetables in hundreds of restaurants. To make matters worse, hidden cameras witnessed employees using pepper spray on food instead of pepper. No word on whether this will affect Mr Pepper’s ice cream factories.
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