Zoey Handley
Zoey made up for her mundane childhood by playing video games. Now she won't shut up about them. Her eclectic tastes have led them across a vast assortment of consoles and both the best and worst games they have to offer. A lover of discovery, she can often be found scouring through retro and indie games. She currently works as a Staff Writer at Destructoid.
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Review – Super Mario RPG
It’s impossible to state what an event Super Mario RPG was in my childhood. I could spin quite a few yarns about my initial experiences with the game, like how, when I would rent it, it would come with its Player’s Guide. Or that time my mom hooked this really crappy TV up so I could play it in my…
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Review – Sonic the Hedgehog
My relationship with Sonic the Hedgehog is… complicated. I was an SNES child, so my mentor growing up was Mario, but my cousin had a Genesis, and I spent many mornings over there diving into his games. It was the 90’s, and we were told that Sonic was cool, so I was, of course, obediently enamoured. I don’t recall when…
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Review – Yomawari: Midnight Shadows
I can’t claim to have been impressed by Yomawari: Night Alone during my recent playthrough, though I do confess that its story and aesthetic at least left an impact. That’s generally why I still play horror games; rarely do I find them legitimately scary, but usually, they have some of the most introspective stories within the medium, and that’s absolute…
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Review – Earthworm Jim 3D
It’s impossible to understate how much of a fan I was of Earthworm Jim in my youth. I was already a veteran of the first two games in the series, and had watched the cartoon every weekend until it was off the air. So when a third game was announced for the N64, it was safe to say I was…
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Review – Pilotwings 64
The original Pilotwings was an effective launch title for the SNES, because it successfully demonstrated the amazing sprite scaling and rotating capabilities of the the console, effectively named Mode-7. It was colourful, relaxing, and then it forced you through an aggravating helicopter mission for no reason. I enjoyed it, but that helicopter mission can go boil in tar. It makes…
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Game Complaint Department’s Game of the Year 2018
It was when we hit December of this year that I had an alarming realization; I really didn’t play that many games released in 2018. That’s not to say I didn’t get the odd new release, but most of them seemed to be ports and remakes. Otherwise, I was playing retro games. So, we’re doing this Game of the Year…
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Review – Shadow Blasters
I don’t remember who recommended Shadow Blasters to me, but when you’ve got someone’s enthusiasm in your ear, it’s hard to pass up a cheap Genesis game. With horrible cover art that looks like a group of people doing exercises on a beach, it at least came with the promise of being tacky as hell. So, I gathered my husband,…
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Review – Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
While the Game Boy was released in 1989 to near-instant popularity, it would take developers a few years to actually come to grips with the little grey brick’s eccentricities. Early games on the handheld tended to be either single screen puzzle or arcade games, and attempts at porting the gameplay of existing NES licenses. This resulted in games like Castlevania:…
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Review – Earthworm Jim 2
Yeah, just try and convince me that Earthworm Jim 2 isn’t a work of art. How else do you describe a game that abruptly casts you as a blind salamander clutching a plasma gun and drops you in a giant maze of intestines filled with pinball bumpers while playing Moonlight Sonata in the background? Earthworm Jim 2 is an inexplicable game.…
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Review – Jurassic Park (SNES)
Jurassic Park is one of those really weird licensing situations. On one hand, the movie really isn’t for children, while on the other hand, marketers were extremely quick to rush out all sorts of toys and action figures for it. It’s sort of like Star Wars, especially when you consider the sheer marketing power of the franchise. The only difference…
