• Image via Mobygames
    1990s,  Bakage

    Review – Harvester

    Harvester haunts me. It's incredible that this game came out in '96, because even the seediest, most experimental side of the indie and alternative markets would struggle to conjure something even nearly as evocative and bizarre as the dark, twisted, and disgustingly effective world that Steve finds himself in.

  • Metal Slug Header Resized
    1990s,  Review,  The Quarterhole

    Review – Metal Slug

    Do you know the Tragically Hip song "Bobcaygeon?" That's actually the next town over from where I grew up. There was a bowling alley there (it burned down), and they had a limited number of arcade machines. For a period, one of these machines was Metal Slug. I've been in love ever since.

  • Video Games

    Review – Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour

    It would be impossible to understate what an impact Duke Nukem 3D had on my childhood. By its release in 1996, I was already a fan of the character through shareware versions of Duke Nukem and Duke Nukem II. I can remember the day I first set eyes on it, playing the first episode on my cousin’s computer in awe.…

  • Review,  Video Games

    Review – Twisted Metal 2

    When speaking of my childhood, I often describe my younger self as a die-hard Nintendo fangirl, but that might be inaccurate. In the days before the weight of reality crushed my childhood, I often spent time on other consoles belonging to my friends and relatives. For example, many of my mornings saw me deposited at childhood friend’s house where I’d…

  • Review,  Video Games

    Review – Cruis’n USA

    Way, way back when the internet was delivered by telephone, we had to use a lot of imagination. Our only access to information on upcoming games was in magazines like Nintendo Power, which would often tell us that every game was a modern masterpiece right up until it came out, at which point their opinion might switch to “Give it…

  • Review,  Video Games

    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…

  • Review,  Video Games

    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…

  • Review,  Video Games

    Review – Chex Quest

    My mother had tight control over the cereal I ate when I was a child. I never got to have Fruity Pebbles or Trix, which I always enjoyed when visiting a friend or relative, but I was allowed to have Sugar Crisp, which is, essentially, the sugariest cereal in the universe, so work that out. Also, I don’t like Sugar…

  • Review,  Video Games

    Review – The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall

    It’s unfortunate that The Elder Scrolls: Arena didn’t exactly fill my gravy boat, but then, despite it being the first in a venerable series of games, I’ve never heard anyone refer to it as their favourite title in said series. Its sequel, The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, on the other hand, I’ve heard come up a few times. It’s rare.…