Wii Virtual Console—Get These Games Before They Are Removed!
24 March 2012 12:30 pm |
This may sound unbelievable, but the Virtual Console is going to lose more games this month than it gains. Long story short, apparently there are some issues with Irem (of R-Type fame), G-Mode (publisher of Data East games), and even some Sonic titles in Japan. What's this mean for you? Well, you have a limited window to download these games before they are delisted from the Virtual Console. Note that some of these games are already listed in the Top 10 Shoot 'em ups, and others would very likely find themselves in the yet-to-be-complete Top 10 Platformers list. Here's a quick guide to the games your should download before they get delisted from the Virtual Console:
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TurboGrafx-16 / PC-Engine (disappearing from Japan and Europe on 30 March): |
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TurboGrafx-16 / PC-Engine (disappearing from the Europe on 30 March): |
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Super Nintendo (disappearing from Japan and Europe on 30 and 31 March): |
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Art Disparity—Looking Closely at Sega CD and Mega CD Discs
29 February 2012 8:03 pm |
Box art comparisons may be an emphasis on this site (you'll find a solid list on the archives), but it's not exactly something unique in Internet terms. Plenty of other sites look at box art. This new feature takes artistic criticism in a more original direction. We're not only going to look at an often-maligned console (Sega CD / Sega Mega Drive), but we'll examine art that's on the games themselves—to be more precise—on the discs. It's very possibly been done before, somewhere on the intertubes, but it's also possible that this is the first time anyone on the Internet has dug into Sega CD art in such comparative detail. Hopefully, that whets your appetite, because you can find the whole feature here. |
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Cave in the USA—How to Find this Cult Developer's Accessible Titles
13 February 2012 7:28 pm |
Shortly after the new year began, I purchased DoDonPachi Ressurection for my iPhone, because—free, and fremium titles be damned—I needed a top-notch shoot 'em up available for instant gratification. Of course, I totally overlooked the fact that Rising Star Games had published a full disc release of DoDonPachi Resurrection in Europe that also just so happened to be region-free for US gamers. So I did what any shmup fan would do, and I bought the same game again, because I have to be able to play it on the go and on my big screen at home. Cutting to the chase, I figured it would be a good time to update the guide to Cave in the USA. If you love shmups, then life seems to only be getting better. Read on to learn about how you don't have to live in Japan to easily enjoy the likes of DoDonPachi Blissful Death and DeathSmiles II X.
I'd also like to add a special thanks to two particular game publishers:
Aksys Games (for publishing DeathSmiles in the US)
Rising Star Games (for publishing DeathSmiles and DoDonPachi Resurrection in Europe)
Shmup fans, if you want to support the genre, picking up copies of these titles is a great place to start. Best of all—shameless plug warning—if you follow the eBay or Amazon links from Cave in the USA and make a purchase, this very site will also pick up a small percentage of the total, which will naturally be used to cover site costs and maybe even expand my retro game collection. |
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Top 10s—The Sports Countdown #1
30 January 2011 8:45 pm |
It's taken a little longer than originally planned, but at last the Top 10 Sports Games is complete. Perhaps you had noted the absence of basketball games in the previous nine entries. Well, there's only one such game where your players get on fire, and that's the title that sits atop this list. One of the least realistic sports games ever made also happens to be the best one of the era. Coincidence? I think not. Read on for the full story. |
Top 10s—The Sports Countdown #2
23 January 2011 6:11 pm |
Chances are, you've probably been waiting for this one to appear on the list. After all, it's still one of the best boxing games ever created. Little Mac? Doc? Ring any bells? Well, check out the full scoop on the penultimate entry to the Top 10 Sports Games list here. |
Magfest 2012—Four Glorious Days of Video Game Fun
10 January 2011 8:19 pm |
Magfest X has come and gone, and after attending Magfest for the first time I must give it a very warm recommendation to anyone who enjoys video games. Four days of arcade/console/pinball/computer/board gaming, live concerts, panels, and videos for $40! How can you beat that? There was so much to do and see that next year I'll have to free up more time in my schedule to get the most out of every day. Anyway, some personal highlights included:
Bit Brigade
They played an arranged rock version of all the music from Mega Man 2, perfectly synchronized as one of their members performed a live speed run through the game without losing a single life. Although Bit Brigade seemed to do it all effortlessly, it was pretty amusing to see how tired and sweaty they were at the end of around 40 minutes of non-stop shredding. After the show ended, one of the fans told me that last year at Magfest BB played/shredded through Ninja Gaiden. They've also done Contra. I couldn't resist buying almost everything they were selling: |
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| Earthbound Papas
You may have heard of Nobuo Uematsu, the composer behind a wealth of Final Fantasy compositions. Well, he plays keyboards in this band. Hearing their version of Dancing Mad (music to the final boss battle) made me really want to revisit Final Fantasy VI and finish the last section of the game that always somehow eludes me. Rather than do a poor job of describing how epic the performance was, you should check out the original game music and the live version.
Arcade Cabinets and Consoles
As for actual gaming, I played Moon Patrol for the first time, where you bounce along the moonscape in a buggy, jumping over obstacles, and shoot alien saucers. It's great, goofy fun. Blasting through the giant six-player X-Men arcade game while spamming mutant attacks non-stop with five other people was pretty hilarious, too. Seeing classics like Ninja Spirit represented on the TurboDuo as well as Soul Calibur 2 on the Dreamcast also made me very happy.
Merchandise
While the Magfest merchants offered a plethora of video game-related stuff, the deals on classic retro games were few and far between. Nevertheless, I impulse-bought a complete copy of Streets of Rage 2 and couldn't resist grabbing this tee-shirt: |
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Top 10s—The Sports Countdown #3
8 January 2011 6:28 pm |
Now we're getting to the big guns. This title frequently makes the list when people cover the greatest games of all-time, and it easily gets mentioned when you focus on sports titles. Click through to get the scoop. |
Top 10s—The Sports Countdown #4
5 January 2011 8:38 pm |
The last entry concerned American Football. This one, instead, examines Football as the rest of the world knows the term. In other words, we're talking about non-stop running, low-scoring games, and a whole lot of acting whenever opposing players make even the slightest bit of contact. OK, jesting aside, soccer is an awesome game. There are many soccer games out there, but only one breaks into the upper half of this Top 10. The aforementioned title looks a little something like this: |
Top 10s—The Sports Countdown #5
3 January 2011 9:05 pm |
What is the connection between ninjas and football? Is there a sports games with ninjas? Or maybe certain contributors to this website imbibed too much during the holiday season and can't keep such matters straight anymore. In any event, the newest entry in the Top 10 Sports Games list is a cult favorite that most of you will probably recognize. The images below should provide solid clues, but since the spirte doesn't fully capture the ninja's weapon of choice, I'll help clarify: He's not packing a Diskarmor. |
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