• DuckTales 2 cover
    1990s,  NES,  Review

    Review – DuckTales 2

    DuckTales is pretty great. Not just the cartoon, but the first NES game which I usually point to as a baseline for licensed platformers. It has unique mechanics partially informed by the subject matter. Duck Tales 2 is more of that. More of that and not much else.

  • Hoshi wo Miru Hito Header
    1980s,  Kusoge,  NES

    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…

  • Monster Party Bert talking to, uh, I think his name is Mike.
    1980s,  Miscellaneous,  NES

    3 Child Endangering NES Intros

    Rescued from the now sunk Destructoid community blogs, this article harkens back to a time when I was desperate for attention. I mean, I still am, but I was then, too. It's about how 8-bit children threw themselves headlong into danger, sometimes for the promise of candy, other times through coercion.

  • Castlevania NES Header
    1980s,  NES

    Review – Castlevania

    I still remember the day after I first completed Castlevania. I met with my friend and said to him, "Okay, you're really not going to care or even understand what I'm going to tell you, so just pretend to be excited: I beat Castlevania." He was very convincing in his performance.

  • Robocop NES Cover
    1980s,  NES,  Review

    Review – RoboCop (NES)

    RoboCop is a great movie, but great movies don't always make for great games. In fact, they rarely have. Especially in the '80s. But does RoboCop break from the standard and become an exception? No, it doesn't, but it's also not that bad. I guess I gave away the review in this excerpt.

  • Review,  Video Games

    Review – Duck Tales (NES)

    I have a pretty outstanding memory when it comes to video games. It reaches all the way back as far as my memory goes. In those far, misty regions of my brain is the distinct memory of playing Duck Tales on the NES with my cousins. I remember being fascinated by the concept of “short cuts” in the Transylvania stage…

  • Review,  Video Games

    Review – Bionic Commando (NES)

    Just trust me here. The first thing you want to do in Bionic Commando is to use “transfer” to move your helicopter into one of those trucks roaming around the world map. Once you do, kill the guys who look different than everyone else and they should drop little medals. Pick those up. What are they? Continues. Bionic Commando starts…

  • Review,  Video Games

    Review – Dragon Warrior IV

    I didn’t really plan on picking up another Dragon Warrior game after finishing Dragon Warrior III. I love the games, but they consume massive amounts of time, and I have other games that need finishing. Yet, Dragon Warrior III left me hungry for more and I had just one more NES title to knock off before I was done. I…

  • Review,  Video Games

    Review – Dragon Warrior III

    It’s hard to believe that it wasn’t so long ago that I didn’t think I could possibly get through a late 8-bit JRPG without, I don’t know, lapsing into a coma from boredom. I wasn’t a fan of the genre at its best, so I certainly wasn’t going to be able to get through a game from a more archaic…

  • Review,  Video Games

    Review – Legacy of the Wizard

    The NES library is rather cluttered with obscure, Metroid-like sidescrollers contained within interconnected worlds, from Goonies 2 to Rygar, and I’m still surprised by how often I turn over a rock and come across a new one. Legacy of the Wizard was something I bought years ago with the intention of playing immediately, only to have it languish on my…