N64 Connoisseur

In Stunning 3D

Ya know, I am aware that it seems like I just have a never ending well of Nintendo 64 related topics to preach on for these pieces. I am going to let you in on a little secret. I have no such well. In fact, sometimes I have no idea what I am going to write about until I am half way through the opening paragraph. This time, I was drawing a blank. I decided a little inspiration couldn’t hurt, so I headed to my favorite game shop. I was walking around, purely for research purposes and in no way looking to add to my collection, when I came across the DS and 3DS games. Then it all came to me. I have both Ocarina of Time 3D and Star Fox 64 3D for the 3DS. What other N64 classics would be good on the 3DS? I made a wishlist.
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The Retro Critic

Out Run

It was only a matter of time before I would review this little classic courtesy of Yu Suzuki, the man behind the likes of After Burner, Space Harrier, Virtua Fighter, Daytona USA and, of course, the Shenmue series.

God I love this guy.

He was also behind Hang-On which was released a year prior to Out Run and, although both games were unique in their own way, the latter is basically an enhanced version of the former. With cars instead of bikes, of course.

According to Suzuki, Out Run isn’t a racing game, it’s a driving game. An interesting distinction to make but a valid one. I was lucky enough to discover the game in a French arcade as a kid and play it there constantly long after its initial release. I mean, let’s be honest: I was kinda young in 1985.

1 More Countdown

Top 10 Characters with Odd Eating Habits

Last time we talked about the grossest video games, this week we’re talking about food. So you might have lost your lunch last time, but this time you might get it back. Then again we’re talking about odd eating habits, so weird food going in and possibly out, might not be super appetizing.

I actually had another list idea for this 1 More Countdown, but I found out the hard way that it required a lot more research and I’m busy with school. I’ll leave it on the backburner, but this time we’re talking about something else on the backburner… FOOD!

One Nintendo Fan’s Non-Nintendo Gaming Experience

Editor’s Note: This is a by-request special feature. For this edition, I am writing in response to Zack Smith, who requested that I write “something not related to Nintendo.” Touché, Mr. Smith, esteemed 1 More Castle columnist of the great Completist series. Here you go.

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To be clear: My online persona goes by the name Nintendo Legend. That is my branding, that is the search term in Google that will lead you to my NES-review blog, and that is the title I aspire to deserve someday. I am a fan of the Nintendo company, even if they make some wow-seriously-what-were-you-thinking sorts of decisions from time to time.

My familiarity with their products runs the gamut of every console from the NES to the Wii, and includes a couple Game Boy portable iterations as well. I make it fairly clear that Nintendo is my “specialty,” and has comprised the bulk of my digital entertainment familiarity.

So, really, when someone says that they want me to write about something unrelated to Nintendo gaming, they are saying, “Look, Eric, we get it: You really like Nintendo. Good for you. Now please, please try to share your thoughts on something different for a change. Have you ever even played anything else in your life?”

Yes, yes I have.

1 More Podcastle

053 – Joysticks are Overrated

RetroHate

The End Cometh

It always starts innocently enough; The level opens, you begin walking forward, maybe jump on a platform or two. Then IT appears. IT chases you, dogs you, tries to trap you, squash you. If you aren’t fast enough… IT will kill you.

I am of course talking about Scrolling Levels. Or to be more specific, forced Scrolling Levels where the “camera” or borders of the screen will move in a certain direction across the stage and if you don’t keep up you will either be shoved into a bottomless pit or crushed between a border and a hard place. These types of levels are most prevalent in 2D games, but sometimes they can make an appearance in 3D ones as well. In scrolling or on-rails shooters, a scrolling camera/level makes sense since the entire game is designed to push you forward without any player input. Platformer & action games on the other hand, you are in full control of your character’s horizontal and vertical movement so having the screen push you forward is an unnecessary complication.

The Completist

The Completist Presents: The Guardian Legend – Part 1

I would like to start out by getting something off my chest: I had a really rough time writing this article. The reason being that I am attempting to honor one of my most cherished experiences in video games. Normally, I would just start typing and my column tends to write itself. But this game deserves so much more than that. And with that goal in mind, I set out to do something really special. Which lead me to my first problem: I got my first ever case of writers block. Days went by where I just couldn’t bring myself to write a single word. You’d think that writing about a game that you consider to be one of the greatest of all time would be easy right? As it turns out, it isn’t. I wanted everything to be perfect and I wanted to honor this game in a way that it has never been honored before, anywhere on the internet.

What The EFF is on this Disk!?

‘Orange’ GAMES (PC)

My grandfather owned a body shop and was sort of a hobbyist computer guy from the late 70’s until his death in 2000. When I was around the age of six my parents decided to get themselves/us a ‘real’ computer to replace the Mattel Aquarius. Turning to my grandfather for advice, he suggested a Tandy 1000, as he was a then recent convert to the system, having had TRS-80’s previously. He of course supplied us with pirated disks of games and programs, long before it was even known as piracy. One disk, an orange-labeled ‘GAMES’ disk, that I think is written in my mother’s writing, contains some BASIC games. I don’t really remember running this all that much, but the disk has survived to this day. What was given to my 6-year old self? Do I remember any of these? More importantly, are they still fun?

The Retro Critic

Big Nose The Caveman

I almost don’t need to elaborate on that, do I?

Yes, it’s time to talk about an NES game that not only sounds silly but is exactly just that.

Why would I even think of playing Big Nose The Caveman? Well, let’s just say that watching Riddick, a film in which a tough guy walks around punching monsters in the face, frolicking with random creatures, somewhat inspired me.

Now, there are tons of caveman-themed games out there, including several Big Nose games (Big Nose Freaks Out is the geniusely titled sequel) but let’s take a look at this one first and foremost.

RetroGears

Epoch Man

When I was a kid anything that was handheld gaming fascinated me and quite often I would be disappointed at the somewhat lacking game play and visuals of these handhelds. My very young and thick brain was expecting arcade quality gaming and didn’t quite understand why the ones I had didn’t look and play like Zaxxon in the arcades. But there’s one game I remember having a lot of fun with and being one of my favourite handhelds; Epoch-man, a Pac-man clone from Epoch. Check out the video to find out if it’s still any fun today!

The Backlog

Episode 16 – Cu-On-Pa SFC (Super Famicom)

Joe digs through a pile of pachinko and horse racing games to pull out the hidden gem Cu-On-Pa SFC, a terribly addicting puzzle game for the Super Famicom.

Reflections on One Year of Podcasting

Full disclosure: The primary reason we did not go with our usual format for episode 52 of the podcast was because Hunter was unavailable at the time. With him being one of the show’s co-hosts, we agreed that it would be weird to have a guest substitute in for him. After all, even if you do not believe in arbitrary milestones, 1 More Podcastle itself has been something special for the past year – and a large part of that is due to the efforts of our audio engineer.

1 More Podcastle

052 – The 1 More Podcastle Anniversary Show

We’re one year old and not wise enough to not find the most hideous Sonic cake to use as a podcast header image. Thanks everyone for your support!

The Fair Shake

Alien Syndrome: SMS

As a kid I always loved reading instruction manuals for games. Some of the back-stories written for games that didn’t really need them to begin with are amazing, like Life Force. *Spoiler alert* Seriously? I’m INSIDE an alien being? Wow. Some are amazingly bad, or if you think about the plot, it falls apart. Alien Syndrome is such a game. It takes place in the far-off-I’ll-be-dead-by-then-year of 2089. A random alien fleet has pulled up to Earth calling themselves, ‘Alien Syndrome’, sounding more like a heavy metal band than an invading empire. With aliens threatening to destroy Earth some ‘Earth Command Troopers’ have boarded the fleet but were captured. Now Earth Command has asked for volunteers to rescue the Troopers from the fleet. Save Earth? No, that’s later. We are saving the first wave guys who got caught.

2 Decades Late

Donkey Kong Country

The quest to play Super Nintendo titles for the first time and review them has taken me to some pretty fun titles. As can be evidenced by my last entry in this series, which happened to fall on Review a Bad Game Day, I have also run into some stinkers. I decided, this week, to play a game I have seen played many times, but never played myself. Donkey Kong and friends burst onto the SNES with what some think is one of the greatest platformers of all time. If there is one thing I hope that I have made abundantly clear in my time here at the Castle, it is that I do not care what some think. For that matter, I don’t care what most think. I must see for myself. So, Donkey Kong Country, let’s dance.

The Retro Critic

Hang-On

Ah Hang-On…

I thought we’d chill out for a bit and talk about a game which, I think we can all agree, is just plain good. In fact, for me, Hang-On is one of those games that’s just kind of perfect. There really isn’t anything I would change about it or add to it.

Like Tetris or Pac-Man, it feels pretty complete.

The premise is blindingly simple: you’re on a bike, you’re racing to the finish line.

That’s it.

And that’s all it needs to be!

1 More Countdown

I Am Street Fighter – 25th Anniversary Documentary

It’s Tuesday morning, you’re tired, and you’re looking for something to watch before work. What’s that? Capcom has released the “I am Street Fighter – 25th Anniversary Documentary” for free on YouTube? Fantastic!

1 More Podcastle

051 – “Lackluster 64”

30 games in one!

RetroHate

The Twilight Ledge

We’ve all been there or not been there. You’re running across the screen of your favorite platformer, you see a jump up ahead, you prepare yourself for the jump and right at the edge, you mash the jump button to leap across the chasm… only to fall to your death. You my friend, have likely just encountered a “Phantom Ledge” as I call it. These ledges are invisible, yet have a physical manifestation. But then sometimes they don’t manifest at all. Welcome… to the Twilight Ledge.

Did Gizmo make those anti-grav spats?

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