The Retro Critic
Castlevania: Bloodlines
Of course I had to talk about a Castlevania game at some point.
After all, a vampire-themed retro gaming month without Castlevania is like…
February or something.
Whatever the worst month is: THAT.
1 More Countdown
Top 10 Favorite Robot Masters
It’s no secret that I love the Mega Man series, but who doesn’t? During the glory days of the NES there was one king of jumping and shooting, and that was Mega Man. My entire online persona was based on my favorite robot master of all time, Wood Man, who will be excluded from this list. Nevertheless, Mega Man is one of the greatest series of all time.
1 More Podcastle
057 – 1-800-Juggernaut
Place a toll free call now, but the Juggernaut will come to collect.
GMZ
GMZ #2 – Diabetes, PTSD, Vandalism, & More
Litigation in 3D
Written, Edited, Directed, and apologized for by George Lucas
Credit: hagelt18
After a year and a half long legal battle, a settlement has finally appeared between Ezekiel “Zeke” Jacobsen, celebrity zombie killer, and Setou Eyeware over permanent eye damage caused by prolonged use of Jacobsen’s now signature 3D glasses, a Setou Eyeware model PRT-WSKY Anaglyph 3D Eyeware. “Looking back, it was probably foolish of me to wear Anaglyph glasses constantly. I wouldn’t recommend it to the future generations.” Despite his admission of a mistake, Jacobsen settled with Setou for an undisclosed amount, but according to our sources, it is no less than 3.8 million dollars. Despite our best attempts, Ezekiel’s former-partner and ex-Wife Julia Kess was working the outbreak in Sicily at the time of the settlement, and was unavailable for comment.
The Retro Critic
Kid Dracula
After Kid Chameleon and Cowboy Kid comes…
Kid Dracula, a Game Boy game whose existence is a bit surprising to say the least.
For one thing, it’s both a spin-off and a sequel.
Oddly, Kid Dracula is indeed a spin-off of Castlevania and a sequel to a Famicom Kid Dracula game. That said, going into this one, don’t expect Castlevania: this really is a more kid-friendly, cuter take on that world.
The Fair Shake
Search & Destroy: DOS
I’m not sure why I’m always drawn to games set during WWII. Perhaps it’s because my grandfather served in the US Army and was part of the D-Day invasion, as well as the liberation of France et al, so in a small way it helps me connect to the past. Maybe it’s because it was arguably the first ‘modern’ era war, where technology rapidly changed from wooden ships and planes into vessels and flying machines made of metal. Maybe it’s both, Regardless, here we are once more. Some time ago I covered the game GATO, a submarine simulation where you hunt down and destroy nameless enemy ships while running silently, deeply. Search and Destroy (S&D), a DOS game, puts you in the role of a depth charge equipped destroyer hunting submarines in WWII, much like the GATO sub you controlled.
Kickstart your ColecoVision
Rantmedia Games, the group behind Vectrex Regeneration, has gone to Kickstarter with the goal of resurrecting the ColecoVision via an app.
The Backlog
Episode 18 – Haunting Ground (PlayStation 2)
Better tighten your belt, because to kick off October Joe talks about Haunting Ground, an intense survival horror experience that will scare the pants off you.
It Came From Japan
Godzilla: Kaijuu Daikessen
For my first It Came From Japan entry I tried to pick something special that really showed off some of the awesome import games I have gotten a chance to play in the last couple years. After a lot of deliberation I think I have found a game that is not just awesome but is very iconic for another reason. My first entry is Godzilla: Kaijuu Daikessen which was released for the Super Famicom back in 1994. Unfortunately, we never saw this game released over here in North America for the SNES even though it was shown as Godzilla Destroy All Monsters in an issue of Nintendo Power, only to dash everyone’s hopes when it was never released here.
The Backlog
Episode 17 – Chameleon Twist (Nintendo 64)
In this episode Joe talks about Chameleon Twist, a delightful 3D platformer that’s big on imagination and sticking your tongue to things.
What The EFF is on this Disk!?
‘Basicga Mez’ (PC)
Circa 1988-1989, my nine year old self was so cool. I mean look, I was using a Z in place of an S. I was also labeling disks with a red crayon and drawing lines with squiggly arrows to connect text since I ran out of room. Seriously, go back and look at that title picture.. If you can make it out it reads
Basicga >>> Mez
or
Basic Gamez
The Retro Critic
Blood
As some of you may know, this month is Vampire Month on my blog. This means I will predominantly be focusing on vampire-related content. And yes, this also means that Vampire Month is going to “bleed” into my 1MoreCastle reviews.
In a good way.
This month, I will therefore be focusing on somewhat vampiric retro games and to kick things off, why not take a slightly different route and check out classic 1997 PC game Blood.
Now, I know that Blood isn’t so much a vampire game as it is a supernatural medley of monsters game but hell, it’s called “Blood” and vampires drink that stuff so it totally counts.
1 More Countdown
Top 10 Cheat Codes in Video Games
Cheaters never prosper… unless they’re gamers.
This is because cheat codes give gamers the opportunity to do things they can only fathom in the deepest parts of their imagination. Cheat codes give us gamers the ability to skip to any level we want, be invincible, or even have big heads! They’re the amazing little things that make our games even better.
GMZ
GMZ
These are dark times for video games journalism. Attacked from all sides by unethical behaviour, a lack of fact-checking, poor writing, and Doritos, where can gamers go to quench their thirst for knowledge and information? The answer, you may be surprised to hear, is not Mountain Dew.
We see time and time again, gamers getting upset at games journalism, decrying the crass commercialism of it, how “journos” and reviewers really do look like they’ve been bought by companies like EA and Activision. We all seem to wish that games journalism would be a little more like real journalism, come into its own, FINALLY grow up once and for all. That’s why we’re here. Daniel and I (Pierre) and our 100+ strong team of reporters, researchers, photographers, editors, secretaries, vice-secretaries, senior executive vice-secretaries, coffee boys, coffee non-gender identifiers, and two old ladies who knit sweaters for the Christmas party. We are here to speak for all gamers. Our team is very diverse, with people of French, English, Irish, German, and even a little Scottish and Welsh descent, a well as one guy who once had a dream where he kissed another guy. Also, we’re pretty sure we have a woman or two. So, like we said, super diverse. We speak for all gamers.
We’re doing all this because it’s high time video games got the serious treatment they deserve, just like the other media get. We’re editing the brightness settings in order to shine the light of truth into the blurry pixellated face of injustice, illuminating it for great justice. We’re here to prove that great games journalism will never come from Doritos and Mountain Dew. We’re finally bringing 21st century journalism to video games.
Welcome to GMZ.*
*Powered by Sprite and Taco Bell.
1 More Podcastle
055 – Minesweeper: an American Classic
We must never forget that while our peace was hard won, conflict is always one, three, or two blocks in any given direction.
The Retro Critic
Bill And Ted’s Excellent Adventure
No, not the NES game.
We’ve all played that one and I think we can all agree that it’s getting pretty difficult to stretch “this game sucks” to an entire review. Though AVGN did do an admittedly decent and entertaining job doing just that and I’m still looking forward to our very own Nintendo Legend‘s review of the game!
Which is why I’m going to be looking at the Amiga version of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.
Now, there are clear similarities between that game and the NES version but the Amiga actually follows the plot of the film somewhat more closely, so it’s worth checking how worthy of an adaptation it is.
The Fair Shake
1942: NES
In 1942 Columbus sailed the ocean blue.. Dammit, I always get that wrong. That’s ‘In 1492’ Columbus sailed the ocean blue. What does that have to do with 1942? Nothing except for transposed numbers. That poor segue just led us to 1942, a shooter by Capcom. Originally an arcade release in 1984, it was released over 40 years after the Battle of Midway. It was later ported to a ton of systems, but in particular for this week it was released for the NES in 1986.
1 More Podcastle
054 – The Retro Train
>PULL HORN
THE TRAIN GIVES A SATISFYING CHOO CHOO.
>GO LEFT
YOU CAN'T GO THAT WAY. YOU'RE DRIVING A TRAIN.
Kickstarter Highlight
River City Ransom Underground
It’s been almost 25 years since the streets of River City were overrun by a group of unruly thugs and street gangs. However, if the folks at Conatus Creative have their way, River City will soon be littered with punks, nogoodniks and street scum.
And that’s a good thing.
Daniel Crenna is the founder of Conatus Creative and the producer and engine developer behind RIVER CITY RANSOM: UNDERGROUND, a direct sequel to River City Ransom for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
For those unfamiliar with the original NES title, River City Ransom followed a pair of high school students (Alex and Ryan) who attempt to rescue a girl (Ryan’s girlfriend) from an evil crime boss, and encounter gangs and bad guys along the way. It’s a side scrolling ‘beat ‘em up’ with a bit of an RPG element. It’s been re-released over the years with ports to the Game Boy Advance and most recently on the Wii and 3DS Virtual Consoles, but this newest incarnation is no re-release.