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Review – Pocky & Rocky With Becky
I’ve been revisiting the Kiki Kaikai series as part of research for another article I wrote. While digging up details on some of the games I know less about, I encountered the fact that the sole Gameboy Advance game in the series, Kiki Kaikai Advance — otherwise localized as the bizarrely named Pocky & Rocky with Becky — was released…
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Review – Mega Man X7
A long time ago, I picked up a pack of Mega Man X figurines from a department store I worked at. It came with X, Zero, Vile, and some robot who I’ve never seen or heard of before. This turned out to be Axyl, and the reason I’d never heard of him before was because he first appeared in Mega…
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Review – Pikmin
Nintendo has maintained a reputation as a company that never releases new properties. The common thought is that they only constantly rehash their staples: Zelda, Mario, and some others that variables that change over time. That’s never been very accurate, and it seems to be a little less repeated these recent years, but to demonstrate how long this belief has…
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Review – McDonald’s Treasure Land Adventure
McDonald’s, being the ubiquitous fast food chain in the United States, is quite the low hanging fruit. It is most associated with perpetuating obesity by dealing in food that is almost entirely fat and salt with no nutrition in between. I mean, they’re a corporation, which means, by law, their first priority is pleasing their shareholders, and they legally can’t…
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Review – Ganbare Goemon: Karakuri Douchuu
Konami has had a severe fall from grace in recent years. In actuality, they’ve been in steady decline for a long time, but only recently have they demonstrated an actual derision of the video game market. It’s hard to believe that back in their Famicom heyday they were a machine, churning out great games at an unbelievable pace. A lot…
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Review – Mega Man X6
From my perspective, the Mega Man X series has been in constant decline since the launch of the first game. Each game is just slightly worse than the last, and with X5, that decline seems to have picked up speed. Considering I count Mega Man X as one of my favourite games of forever, it’s sad to suddenly feel like…
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Review – Demon’s Crest
This is the oddly named third game in the Gargoyle's Quest series. Demon's Crest ditches the more cartoonish aspects of the previous game and goes full horror. Firebrand is also a hot piece of toast, and people don't read this far down in these excerpts, do they? That would be embarrassing.
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Review – Super Castlevania IV
I don’t think I’ve really had the chance to hammer home the point that I absolutely love Castlevania, but don’t worry, those days will most likely arrive. Love bloomed late, however, as I never really played the inaugural game until I was in my twenteens. I did have one experience with the series, and that was back in my childhood.…
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Review – Castlevania: Bloodlines
Don’t get me started on Castlevania. The original title stands as one of my favourite NES titles, perhaps even topping the list if I was forced to decide, and I don’t make that statement lightly or without due consideration. A few years ago, I did a deep dive into the more Metroid inspired titles — a corner of the series…
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Review – Gargoyle’s Quest II
In the twilight years of the NES, Capcom made what are arguably some of the best action platformers of the time. Using lessons learned from their time designing Mega Man, games like Duck Tales and Yo! Noid were tight games that felt solid and satisfying. Even on their worst days, Capcom typically came along with something at least playable. Gargoyle’s…