• Elevator Action Returns Header
    1990s,  The Quarterhole

    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…

  • True Love Header
    1990s,  Dating Adzuken

    Dating Adzuken – True Love

    Finally, and actual adult dating sim. Adult in the sense that it has sexual themes. It's still schoolyear romance. True Love says it takes place during college, but I'm not entirely convinced. Pretty sure those are high school uniforms. But, whatever. Do you think there will be nudity? You might be surprised.

  • Review,  Video Games

    Review – Twisted Metal (PS1)

    The original Twisted Metal has been something of a mystery to me. A friend of mine used to own a PS1 (he doesn’t anymore because I own it), but the rental store we frequented only carried the sequel in perpetuity. I have vague recollections of having experienced later entries in the PlayStation series, but never the first. In fact, gazing…

  • Review,  Video Games

    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.…

  • 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 – Mega Man X3

    I often regard the six original Mega Man games as sort of one single game. They were all basically the same title, with small tweaks and additions made throughout. You get a power-slide in 3, a chargeable buster in 4, and so on and so forth, but otherwise they were essentially interchangeable. This ended when Mega Man X hit the…