• Review,  Video Games

    Review – Earthworm Jim

    When I was younger, I was a massive fan of Earthworm Jim. I remember renting it for the first time, seeing the promo for the cartoon, and even managing to beat it, despite my inexperience and underdeveloped thumbs. I once even wrote a letter to Shiny Entertainment, and asked if they would be creating a sequel, and they wrote back…

  • Review,  Video Games

    Review – The Messenger

    The pixel art style was once rather contentious. Anecdotally, many of the complaints I heard were that it was simply a ploy to try and sucker people who are easily swayed my nostalgia. That may have once been the case, but these days, the emulation of low resolution sprite art seems to more frequently be employed as a way of…

  • Review,  Video Games

    Review – Snatcher

    I can’t say I have the best relationship with Hideo Kojima. On one hand, I respect him as a creative force. On the other hand, he’s an excruciatingly awful storyteller. The Metal Gear series can, at the best of times, be an entertaining experience, but then it stops, lurches in your direction, and vomits exposition directly on your shoes. And…

  • Review,  Video Games

    Review – Batman Returns (SNES)

    Tim Burton’s take on the Batman franchise was so rad. I mean, the movies are as goofy as hell, but between the excellent performances from the cast, and the awesome set design and atmosphere, they’re a sight to behold. The second movie, Batman Returns, also serves as an excellent alternative Christmas movie to people who prefer to avoid the good…

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    1980s,  NES,  Review

    Review – Earthbound Beginnings

    Earthbound is an extremely meaningful game to me, so of course it feels right to branch out to the other games in the series. Mother (Earthbound Beginnings) was the first game I ever imported on Famicom. However, whether or not I like it is more complicated than just yes or no.

  • Review,  Video Games

    Review – Snake’s Revenge

    It seems that, these days, the once adored NES port of Metal Gear is often looked on less fondly than it once was. A reputation tarnished, perhaps by the rediscovery of the MSX version by western audience. The NES exclusive follow-up, Snake’s Revenge, on the other hand, has always maintained a less-than-stellar reputation. Developed as an NES-only sequel and targeted…

  • Review,  Video Games

    Review – Undertale

    I purchased Undertale shortly after its initial release way back in 2015, but I never finished it. This is because my initial experience was interrupted when I ended up enduring a period of emotional unrest (to put it lightly). I’m not prepared to get into all the depressing details, but the events were so traumatic that I’ve been avoiding certain…

  • Review,  Video Games

    Review – Mega Man X8

    I could not have predicted things would turn out this way. I count Mega Man X as one of my favourite games, and to see the series take a gradual slide into atrociousness has been hard to experience. The SNES trilogy was fine, and the Playstation trilogy started out decently enough, but by the time I hit X6, my spirits…

  • Review,  Video Games

    Review – Pikmin 2

    The launch of Pikmin was a reasonable success for Nintendo, especially considering it was a new license. It wasn’t quite the numbers that Mario Sunshine or The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker pulled, but it did push over a million, so that’s nice for it. In 2004, it was time for a sequel, which would take the form of the appropriately named  Pikmin…