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Review – Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer
I was a teenager once (surprising, I know), so I know what it was like to be awkward, terrible, and still think of yourself as the center of the universe. I never thought a game could possibly capture that period in our lives, but Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer [sic] does just that.
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Review – Elevator Action Returns
How is Elevator Action Returns not talked about more? Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the absolute most obscure arcade game that I’ve covered. It even recently got an enhanced port (of the Sega Saturn version) called Elevator Action Returns S-Tribute, but it’s so much better than its niche suggests. I already love Elevator Action, the 1983 game that is…
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Review – Zunzunkyou no Yabou
When it comes to arcade games, actually being enjoyable to play isn’t always the most important aspect. To succeed in the arcade – and really, this is still true in what passes for an arcade these days – you needed to be attention-grabbing. Look at the original Mortal Kombat, for instance. It was absolutely shit to play, but the mix…
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Review – Hoshi wo Miru Hito
I’ve spent quite some time mired in the sticky pits of kusoge. Crap games are becoming an area of expertise for me. That’s not simply to say that I know of a lot of bad games, but rather that I know how to appreciate them. That’s right. Did you know you can enjoy bad games? Not just in an ironic…
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Review – Final Fight
I tend to paradoxically refer to my memory as both a steel trap and completely unreliable. I actually have no idea how my recollection compares to other people; how can anyone? However, let me give you an example of the former claim. Somewhere in the foggy depths of my youth, I remember the first time I played Final Fight. It…
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Review – Army Men: Air Combat: The Elite Missions
One of my most significant memories of Army Men: Air Combat: The Elite Missions for Gamecube was a review by Cory D. Lewis, writing for IGN. In their review, they kept on comparing (oh no, how many times am I going to write this?) Army Men: Air Combat: The Elite Missions to an N64 game. This is both in the…
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Review – Ben Bero Beh
I have a confession to make: I’m attracted to weird Japanese arcade games. There’s a word for it: Bakage (Ba-kah-gey, not ba-cage). It means stupid game. It’s not to be mistaken for kusoge (koo-so-gey) which means crappy game. I have made the mistake before, but merely because I didn’t know there was a name for bizarre games. 1984’s Ben Bero…
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Review – Sparkster (SNES)
Rocket Knight Adventures remains my favourite game on the Genesis, so it’s heartening to see that Limited Run Games has a collection on the way. I preordered the Ultimate Edition because sometimes you have to spoil yourself. I love RKA, and what other opportunities will I have to really express that in the form of consumerism? But while I’m happy…
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Review – Streets of Rage
My household as a child was ruled by the Super Nintendo. That is to say, my childhood console was an SNES. But I had a cousin who lived nearby with a Sega Genesis. He didn’t have many games, but we rented a lot when we spent time together. However, he also had the Sega 6-Pak. It had games like Sonic…
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Review – ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron
I have to stop taking the phrase “not as good as the first one” as meaning “not worth playing.” I have had Toejam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron for about as long as I’ve owned my Genesis, but I don’t think I ever completed a single level. I just wasn’t sure it was worth it, especially when just playing…
