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Review – Destiny of an Emperor (NES)
Before Breath of Fire – years before Monster Hunter was an itch in Capcom’s balls – came Capcom’s first video game RPG, Destiny of an Emperor. Picture this: It’s 1990. You’re standing in the video game aisle of Toys ‘R’ Us. Back then, there wasn’t much in the way of “video game media,” and the internet wasn’t in everyone’s pocket.…
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Review – Sword of Fargoal
Fire up your Commodore 64 and prepare to load star, because it's time for Sword of Fargoal. It's a roguelike from before those were absolutely everywhere, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.
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Review – Penguin-Kun Wars (Arcade)
Grab your balls, it's time to go to war. Penguin-Kun Wars has you sliding your balls down the table as you seek to overwhelm your opponent. Its simple gameplay certainly smells like 1985, but that doesn't mean we can't have a good time.
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Review – The Speed Rumbler
Capcom was perhaps the best developer of arcade games in the '80s and '90s, so it's hard to have played every single one in their catalogue. That just means there's more to discover, and if you reach deep into Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium, you might find The Speed Rumbler; an absolute gem.
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Review – Rock’n Rage
Musicians traveling through time is strangely well-trodden ground. Rock'n Rage could be called a pioneer of it. Maybe? It involves bandmates hitting mummies with their instruments. I'm not sure there's another game like it out there, so that's positive. It's just too bad the quality isn't quite there.
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Review – Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (Master System)
The education system failed me. Perhaps I can be redeemed by Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?. The Sega Master System version, specifically. This one distinguishes itself in one very important way: it forces you to dodge bullets. Probably not the best thing to teach children, but what do I know?
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Review – China Gate
Technos might be better known for the Double Dragon and Kunio-Kun games, but they've gone weirder with their beat-'em-ups. China Gate is a 1988 arcade game about the cast of Journey to the West fighting Oompa Loompas and Danny DeVito. I may be stretching things a bit with my interpretation.
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Review – Street Rod
My dad probably would have loved Street Rod if we had it on our old DOS Shell/Windows 3.1 machine. Now, he's just going to have to live vicariously through me as I live out the '60s car culture dream. Unfortunately, said dream doesn't include a 427 cu. in. engine.
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Review – Yie Ar Kung-Fu (Arcade)
If Hi-Score Girl is correct, Yie Ar Kung-Fu is where you need to start if you want to get skilled at fighting games. I don't know if that's true, but it's a great place to start if you want to learn about the evolution of the genre.
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Review – Bonze Adventure
The best part of playing Bonze Adventure is probably learning what a bonze is. I'm not sure I'll ever use that knowledge, but at least it's there now. And knowledge is power. Unfortunately, Bonze Adventure is has some great character design within, but not much else going for it.
