tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30267625011115681292024-02-21T06:58:46.183-08:00The Retro Video Game Addict ©***On Twitter @OfficialRVGA and on YouTube @ http://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialRVGA*** Welcome to the Retro Video Game Addict's Official blog page! Here you will be able to tap into the mind of a man who knows, loves, and enjoys his retro/classic video games. Everything from the Atari 2600 to the Nintendo 64 is covered here, so strap yourself in for a fun ride down memory lane, and don't say that you weren't warned before hand. Please, enjoy your stay and keep your kids off my lawn.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026762501111568129.post-41919399240457886252013-11-04T11:13:00.001-08:002013-11-04T12:29:22.889-08:00The Retro Video Game Addict reviews: Tekken 2 for the PS1!<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4qITxooBIaDHEzkEGW5TDdqNGGn460C5WDDQyebcF1KkGWeol2cM-xdvuQ0Ef8_Qrg1msAfGPQX9OftN9GfyY3yWPhHKIWMciOOORyZwH6cH9H7YjPEpsMbLe67coFSyXeSogXyfSgnA/s1600/Tekken2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4qITxooBIaDHEzkEGW5TDdqNGGn460C5WDDQyebcF1KkGWeol2cM-xdvuQ0Ef8_Qrg1msAfGPQX9OftN9GfyY3yWPhHKIWMciOOORyZwH6cH9H7YjPEpsMbLe67coFSyXeSogXyfSgnA/s1600/Tekken2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"> We all remember when fighting games first became
popular. Who could forget? The arcades were raking it in on popular
fighting titles like Street Fighter 2 and Mortal Kombat and those two
games ruled the 16-bit generation with their amazing home console
releases. But that was just the beginning. In the mid 90's arcades
were seeing more and more 3D fighting games with hits like Virtua
Fighter and Tekken and people were exposed to a much more flowing
style of one on one combat in digital form. One of which I'm going to
review today, and that would be Tekken 2.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> Now, I didn't actually own Tekken 2 during the
height of it's popularity, instead a friend of mine who was getting
the original Playstation along with this game was the one who brought
it to my attention. I had seen the ad's for the original Tekken but I
was too caught up in Battle Arena Toshinden to pay it any mind. Both
games were considered heavy hitters in the 3D fighting genre at the
time but when Tekken 2 hit the arcades and the Playstation in late
1996 it helped to pull the Tekken franchise away to become the
premiere fighting franchise of it's time. It was just heads and
shoulders better than the first Tekken and sported slightly better
graphics and fighters that had a crazy amount of flexibility to them
while playing the game. Sure, Tekken 2 would soon be trounced by
Tekken 3 (a far superior game) but for it's time Tekken 2 was
considered the end all of home fighters and helped to move it's share
of Playstation consoles.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXlb-Kx4rmoGz1H3YFN32bT26D6vg5Pmk6djltXO0bQloLAH1kNydEdyJVyqUGI0X0byVjVdwAxxek_ZhhEBsV7iwRPXDbP8hC6OhUa5FDuXxndGw4WuiQPdql5hrUjNg9Lowr7XYPbKQ/s1600/Tekken2pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXlb-Kx4rmoGz1H3YFN32bT26D6vg5Pmk6djltXO0bQloLAH1kNydEdyJVyqUGI0X0byVjVdwAxxek_ZhhEBsV7iwRPXDbP8hC6OhUa5FDuXxndGw4WuiQPdql5hrUjNg9Lowr7XYPbKQ/s1600/Tekken2pic.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"> My friend was so in love with this game that when
we talked about video games he often talked about Tekken 2 and how
much he was playing it or how much the game meant to him. He must
have played this game non-stop (along with NBA Live '97) on his
Playstation for the better part of the year until he started getting
more and more games, but I'll never forget how excited he was to be
getting Tekken 2 and his Playstation for Christmas. Oddly enough,
that Christmas I received an Atari Jaguar. Yeah, that may seem like a
downer to most people reading this blog but the Atari Jaguar was a
system I fell quite hard for and I really enjoyed a good chunk of
it's library, despite the popular belief that the system was
garbage. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> Honestly, I didn't own Tekken 2 until I
re-purchased a Playstation out of nostalgia in the summer of 2007. At
that time I had also purchased Tekken and far prefer it to Tekken 2,
though both are really great games to own if you have a Playstation
console in your collection. It was during this time that I would fall
in love with the PS1 and play a huge number of games for it I've
never experienced before, mainly the Tekken series and Final Fantasy
VII, and I finally began to put it on a pedestal alongside consoles
like the NES and SNES. It's funny too because I owned a Playstation
upon launch in 1995, then I had re-bought one sometime in 2000
(getting rid of it soon after), and then got one again in 2007 out of
nostalgic reasons. It was the 3<sup>rd</sup> time owning the console
that did it for me and I've been playing it quite regularly since
then. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSgWUmRxwxfCle2GWGdpOd8DywiK3n-tlUGt_rg8nv3lb9oIQ2qpvZsAh59hWsTi9cVS2f5mtyHl-2mtWHr5nTqPkmgs96hWWuByITywFFW_gWQ8cgm9Y9bPIcEIX01n02Uy_AVQ8K-vs/s1600/tekken2pic2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSgWUmRxwxfCle2GWGdpOd8DywiK3n-tlUGt_rg8nv3lb9oIQ2qpvZsAh59hWsTi9cVS2f5mtyHl-2mtWHr5nTqPkmgs96hWWuByITywFFW_gWQ8cgm9Y9bPIcEIX01n02Uy_AVQ8K-vs/s320/tekken2pic2.png" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"> Anyhow, it's now time to discuss Tekken 2 as a
game. To kick things off the game controls pretty smooth and has a
nice breezy feel to it, I would rank this among one of Tekken 2's
bright spots as it gives you a nice free flowing experience while
engaging in combat. I wouldn't say the controls are perfect but it's
certainly something that stands out when playing the game.
Graphically it was probably a lot better looking back in 1997 than it
is now in 2013 but that doesn't really matter one bit as I'm enjoying
playing it again after quite a while and graphics NEVER sway my
opinion on a game. It's blocky but it looks a lot better than the
other 3D fighting games it was up against at the time like Virtual
Fighter and Battle Arena Toshinden, both of which didn't have sequels
as of yet when this game was released. Sure, the graphical difference
between Tekken 3 and 2 are pretty vast but so wasn't the difference
between part 2 and the original, so it's definitely improved upon
it's previous game and that goes a long way. The music in this game
is pretty standard fare as well as the sound effects, nothing really
shines in this department and all in all I'd say it's nothing special
and was even beat out by earlier PS1 fighters like Toshinden. That's
a complaint I've always had with the Tekken games on the PS1, they
just never nailed down a good audio track or gave us any good sound
effects, they seemed to really want to deliver a pretty looking game
and that was it. The music, if you're wondering, was not much more
than cheesy sounding techno music that played while you were in
combat.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> But it was fun, and at the end of the day that's
really all that matters when it comes to video games. I enjoyed it,
my friends enjoyed it, and it still holds up among retro gaming fans
who still love to fire up their original Playstation systems. And as long as original Playstation gamers are still retrogaming on their beloved PSone's than Tekken 2 will always have somebody to play it. A timeless classic? Nah. But it's a good fighting game that was a huge system seller back in the day and a title that was a part of a franchise that helped the PS1 dominate the gaming scene in the late 90's. And that's all it needs to be.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Graphics/Visuals - 8.0</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Sound/Music - 6.5</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Control/Handling - 8.5</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Fun/Enjoyment - 8.0</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Twitter - @OfficialRVGA</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 16px;">© 2013 Bill Mulligan</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026762501111568129.post-80438061996599136322013-10-16T12:41:00.004-07:002013-10-16T12:42:10.469-07:00"Video Game Visits" by The Retro Video Game Addict<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqgKS81GZRSt89CuruVKEnowwrH-prLpigCNdoKTRQyLna4T58Q4c_4sFZnTyNx45B85V1zBvn1ZobKuKvcwtP-7S4EnTI9rAoJeQWWmKDrhQnuaeViNVjEV4xTDvljgawG9v1nLYi7L4/s1600/WorldofNintendo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqgKS81GZRSt89CuruVKEnowwrH-prLpigCNdoKTRQyLna4T58Q4c_4sFZnTyNx45B85V1zBvn1ZobKuKvcwtP-7S4EnTI9rAoJeQWWmKDrhQnuaeViNVjEV4xTDvljgawG9v1nLYi7L4/s320/WorldofNintendo.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"> Remember a time way back when you were young and there
was something really special and magical about visiting a Toys R Us,
Toy Works, Funcoland, or any random department store that sold video
games? Sure you do, we all do. It's a feeling that's etched in out brains for
eternity and brings us moments of joy when we look back on them. Well, today that's a base I'd like to cover on my blog
through a little post I'm going to call, “Video Game visits”.</span><br />
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I remember back when I was a kid and my mother
would go out shopping and I would tag along and she'd
stop off at places like the supermarket, or maybe a quick outing the mall
for some clothes or housewares. It was always fun as a child to go out and go shopping with her, it's one of those cool childhood memories that will always live on inside my head. But sometimes, not always mind you,
but sometimes I'd get lucky and she would be stopping into one of my favorite stores and I'd get a chance to visit the video game section. And what a joy it was!</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> Now, back in the day when the NES was king of the
mountain the local department stores proudly displayed their NES
wares in giant glass cases that often donned the famous “World of
Nintendo” light up display sign at the top. To flesh things out
there would often be an NES hooked up to a monitor that would be
displaying whatever the latest hit game was and you could play it for
a few minutes before either someone else wanted a chance or the demo
would loop back to the start screen. It was really quite a glorious time and
something I remember quite fondly as a child. The games were
marvelously displayed in the glass cases and it reached out and drew
you in with colorful boxes that sported amazing artwork on the front
that made you just want to beg your parents for a new game. It was
the most colorful part of almost any department store aside from the
toy section and the sounds coming from the games being demonstrated
was enough to draw your attention from whatever your parents were looking at and put you into a state of pure bliss.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcGEFlWafORlQdCtMsYvw_Wg88KcplZQPu3-JBt0zSBUR7Xpazca289CenN0fGMNwMsR8t_pEh4iU1IkS1jnaDxoPQNk4axuBL8vgpW5PVMX-WPRGXVWdhqynw9qRZpLT-nqFK7ferQ64/s1600/KBWON.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcGEFlWafORlQdCtMsYvw_Wg88KcplZQPu3-JBt0zSBUR7Xpazca289CenN0fGMNwMsR8t_pEh4iU1IkS1jnaDxoPQNk4axuBL8vgpW5PVMX-WPRGXVWdhqynw9qRZpLT-nqFK7ferQ64/s320/KBWON.jpg" width="320" /></a> Today it seems as if department stores don't
even carry video games anymore, in fact not a lot do. I remember JC
Penny, Woolworths, Sears, Caldor, Ames, Bradley's, and other major
stores all used to carry video games but now many of those companies are out of business and the remaining ones sell mainly clothing and housewares
without a trace of video games to be found. Sad isn't it? Yeah, now
you can only find video games at Walmart or Target, unless you're
seeking out a destination store like Best Buy or Gamestop. Heck, even
Toys R' Us doesn't sell video games in the bulk they used to. Yup, their video game department has been somewhat renovated into a general electronics
department that houses video games among many other gadgets.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> Back in the day Toys R' Us had rows and rows of
video games, almost as far as the eye can see, and they also had
systems set up so you can try out whatever the hottest new release
was. But I remember the TRU by me didn't have the games stored in glass
cases, instead they had the backs of the game boxes laminated on a
single sheet with tickets attached that you would take up front when
ready to purchase whatever title it was you desired. The great part about that was that you
could see screen shots of the games on the laminated sheets and read
the descriptions on the backs as you browsed, it was really quite
genius of Toys R' Us to do that. These days they have the games out in
protective cases for the consumer to grab, which is more convenient
but since they don't stock much it doesn't really matter anyway
because nobody buys games at TRU anymore. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> Once in a while I was lucky enough to be treated to something special
and my mother or father would take me to the store specifically to
buy a new video game. Man, knowing that when I returned home I would
have a brand new game to play and a whole new experience to endure
was really quite a feeling and the ride home was always so painfully
long. Yeah, those long car rides home where you had the box in your
hands and you would read the back of it along with the manual a dozen
times over before finally arriving home and being able to play the game. You know exactly what I'm talking about.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinakKqLy5BUSuOMDn6rhFFuHI1ATCD1fGk4zhhW1_UebQG75zz0G8TteV2_xCvMlmtR_k0TpfQpQptqGiPiVF15Hnem-OEIcrdRqVC7Mp5ml2wOta2GwB4UHzfwypcQPFn8O_YcAfciEw/s1600/funcolandsheet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinakKqLy5BUSuOMDn6rhFFuHI1ATCD1fGk4zhhW1_UebQG75zz0G8TteV2_xCvMlmtR_k0TpfQpQptqGiPiVF15Hnem-OEIcrdRqVC7Mp5ml2wOta2GwB4UHzfwypcQPFn8O_YcAfciEw/s320/funcolandsheet.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"> This didn't happen too often though, most of my video
games came on birthday's and on Christmas, only on a few occasions
before my mid teens did I ever get to enjoy a trip to the store to
actually buy a game. But man, when it happened it was always the
best. Birthday's was always a big time for me to get a game or two and
knowing that I'd be receiving one always made the week leading into it
a slow and painful one. Same went for Christmas and it was probably ten times worse
knowing that I may even be getting a whole new console. The Christmas I got my
SNES I had found out about a month before and let me tell you, that
month dragged ass like you wouldn't believe. </span>
</div>
Anyway, I'm rambling on and on and I just wanted
this to be a quick blog about those special feelings you'd get
whenever you visited the video game section of a department store or
had the chance to actually go to a Toys R' Us or any of the various
other toy stores out there to look at or purchase a new game. There
was just something special about it back then that seems to be
lacking here in the ol' 2013, I guess the wonder of gaming has been
lost to the sands of time and the age of “uniform” gaming
displays within retail is upon us (or has been for some time).<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> No
matter what though, those classic feelings and the memories we have of our
childhood and going to the store to look at video games, or to buy one, will live within us all until the end of our days. It's comforting
enough for me to know that all I have to do is close my eyes and
envision these moments and I can be taken back to a time where retail treated their video games with respect. These moments may be lost to the sands of time but yet they're so
alive and vivid in my head, and yours too. Gotta' love it!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Twitter - @OfficialRVGA</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;">© 2013 Bill Mulligan</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026762501111568129.post-34251895672336198842013-09-23T10:28:00.001-07:002013-09-23T10:29:39.019-07:00Project Superpowers: Then & Now by RVGA!<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6XAG9GGRrcbhyAo9zdlGI8dNiiXTFb2liXLHt5Wq2jv4jgdZKXOOtD6oiwRcFa6J0Jqu_7twxm3Xt_nA13EB_ckBsX2Os-wokiErP2ZetmZPUMpFe349tFlDdNsPnPnAFkH6fvJYmIAk/s1600/ProjectSuperpowers1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6XAG9GGRrcbhyAo9zdlGI8dNiiXTFb2liXLHt5Wq2jv4jgdZKXOOtD6oiwRcFa6J0Jqu_7twxm3Xt_nA13EB_ckBsX2Os-wokiErP2ZetmZPUMpFe349tFlDdNsPnPnAFkH6fvJYmIAk/s320/ProjectSuperpowers1.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"> Back in 2008 a comic book company known as Dynamite
Entertainment unleashed upon the industry a brand new universe of
superheroes that have been lost to the sands of time since their
popularity decades ago. These golden age heroes, many of which have
not been heard from for 40-50 years, finally had a world all their
own to share and many fans within the industry stood up and took
notice as Project Superpowers landed on comic book shelves all over
the world. The premise was simple: Take as many classic golden age
heroes that can be acquired and bring them into the modern age and
give the readers an explanation as to where they've all been over the
past several decades. Use this as a launching point to create a line
of comics that would eventually compete with Marvel and DC's
superheroes and connect with fans both new and old who would either
fall in love with these characters, or have already loved them for
years and years. </span>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;">
The line of books launched to a huge world-wide
audience, the #0 issue landed in the top 10 of the Diamond Comics top
300 ordered books list (near the top) and several of the first volume
issues lived healthily inside of the top 100. The fans who were
reading the first chapter were insanely dedicated and blew up the
official Dynamite forums and the Comic Book Resources forums with
discussions about the title and the story going on within it. It
thrilled fans of classic characters from the golden age and it
excited readers who were used to reading books written for today's
market, and through heavy promotion Dynamite successfully launched a
popular and well received universe of superheroes. Finally, fans of
shared universe style storytelling had a brand new line of comics to
enjoy and follow from the beginning without 40-60 years worth of
continuity to brush up on. It was fresh and new and fans didn't have
to suffer through the same ol' same ol' that was going on within
Marvel and DC at the time. What a concept it was.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI13v615lGxL1mS6ANz_mQh9G1_skei5MnLwb5aPhenj9TODdNvUWKSVmA-BU5sTBb03HfrtInc1QAOW90jC9t4FuwzMgaO3ZqcCVy2-mzPSdabwkeI1cmIaW26EvNqKyuNz_bkamX_54/s1600/ProjectSuperpowers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI13v615lGxL1mS6ANz_mQh9G1_skei5MnLwb5aPhenj9TODdNvUWKSVmA-BU5sTBb03HfrtInc1QAOW90jC9t4FuwzMgaO3ZqcCVy2-mzPSdabwkeI1cmIaW26EvNqKyuNz_bkamX_54/s320/ProjectSuperpowers.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"> As the success kept on coming, Dynamite launched
spin-off titles to support the line and tried hard to keep fans
interested, but over time the sales and orders of the Project
Superheroes franchise began to level out and the spin-offs just
couldn't reach the success of their mother series. A lot of things
could have been the reason for this. Mainly, when Dynamite launched
Black Terror it released the first 4 issues and then said that the
book was going on hiatus until Project Superpowers chapter two was to
be released. This move left the Black Terror title in limbo for
months and confused fans and casual readers about the status of the
book, many thought it was just going to be a 4 issue miniseries when
this happened. When things were back on track Dynamite released a
couple more series of comics based on characters from the franchise,
mainly Death Defyin' Devil and Lady Masquerade. These books were both
very well done but didn't find the level of success that Dynamite had
hoped for and basically only sold to the Project Superpowers die
hard's. We were also treated to another 4 issue miniseries called
“Meet the Bad Guys” which was an odd group of books based around
a hand picked member of the group and their encounters with their
biggest villains. It was kind of a neat idea, but didn't really make
much sense and didn't really resonate with fans very well. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;">
When the second volume of Project Superpowers was
complete and fans were as thirsty for a third chapter as they were
for the second, Dynamite quietly let the franchise fade away and fall
into a void. Die hard fans and casual readers were left with
absolutely nothing to satiate their thirst for these books and it
seemed like the party was over aside from a Christmas special that
was published some time after chapter 2 was done. Month after month
passed by with absolutely no word from Dynamite as to what was going
on with Project Superpowers. It was strange, but there was a shimmer
of hope in very early 2012 when Dynamite's President and CEO told
fans that an announcement would be made regarding the series shortly,
and by shortly that pretty much meant a year from then but I suppose
we will cover that in a few minutes. Again, month after month crept
by and people were still asking question on the official Dynamite
forums and over at Comic Book Resources, it was as if Dynamite had
forgotten about this franchise and just killed it for good. Until
now. </div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg842ngtoeAHBoJA6xqr5rbeewTVfVTG7ib8-M1Uc8-UbmDJIShMmoS5R9L_R6fVpj3nZZYUs3gc44bDonkfx3IJPXC7dnKVXM_P1Yj59qq6jQqa6dLXHAqd82dTuCSy777xZHTkC-8xjs/s1600/BlackTerror.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg842ngtoeAHBoJA6xqr5rbeewTVfVTG7ib8-M1Uc8-UbmDJIShMmoS5R9L_R6fVpj3nZZYUs3gc44bDonkfx3IJPXC7dnKVXM_P1Yj59qq6jQqa6dLXHAqd82dTuCSy777xZHTkC-8xjs/s320/BlackTerror.jpg" width="210" /></a> Just recently Dynamite announced that they were going to
publish a miniseries based on The Owl, a character within the Project
Superpowers universe, and that it was going to be a bridge series to
another series that would come in time. That series is heavily
rumored to be the third volume of Project Superpowers. Fans who have
been jaded by Dynamite's treatment of the franchise have returned and
are still begging for more, while fans who have remained loyal
continue to cry out in hopes that the rumored title to come is the
next chapter in the series. Either way, Dynamite is sitting on what
could be a goldmine if they treat the property correctly this time
around and if they approach things slowly they could re-launch what
could become the third biggest superhero universe in all of comics.
The critical praise for the first two volumes of Project Superpowers
was great and the fan response was tremendous, now they just need to
nurse the baby until it's ready to stand up and walk on it's own
(which may not take as long as you think with proper promotion). Time
will tell as to what Dynamite has up their sleeve for this franchise
but I'm hoping that it's going to be every bit as sweet as it
would’ve been had the publisher not dropped the ball all those
years ago. After all, these golden age heroes need a home too, right?
Sure they do! But seriously, I do urge everyone who is reading this
who hasn't done so yet to check out the first two volumes of Project
Superpowers as well as some of the mini's and spin-offs that were
released between 2008-2010, I think you'll fall in love with these
heroes as much as I have and I really believe that the market needs
these forgotten characters to keep the superhero genre fresh and on
it's toes.<br />
Sure, the pulp books seem to be the big thing right now
(and rightfully so) but there is still room for skin-tight spandex
and heroic figures who want to serve justice in a non-bloody and
death induced way. But if you're chomping at the bit for some of
these classic characters now and don't want to wait than you can
check out Masks, a series by Dynamite that is mainly pulp but add's
in The Black Terror and Green Lama for a bit of balance to the book.
Oddly enough the Green Lama was once a pulp hero himself, but I guess
that's another conversation for another time. Well, that's it for now
but like I said, get out there and go get yourself some of the
Project Superpowers books and enjoy a universe that once was.....and
may will be again.<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Twitter - @OfficialRVGA</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;">© 2013 Bill Mulligan</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026762501111568129.post-69827562614152702432013-08-12T05:44:00.001-07:002013-08-12T05:44:42.188-07:00"From Beep to Bloop: A Looking back at the Atari 2600" by The Retro Video Game Addict<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzrtCKwhWRyhPK1H17wSFajQdJXaKVy-3-BiPm_ZV_hanLeIXs1BRWD8Vc6zAkr4rO_7Rpov1DeicaQHWTLvitSohnULeAWwQSKxl__xG5SjIrOXowbJGpNIqMEZZH9qYqhy4c5_tsa3c/s1600/atarilogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzrtCKwhWRyhPK1H17wSFajQdJXaKVy-3-BiPm_ZV_hanLeIXs1BRWD8Vc6zAkr4rO_7Rpov1DeicaQHWTLvitSohnULeAWwQSKxl__xG5SjIrOXowbJGpNIqMEZZH9qYqhy4c5_tsa3c/s320/atarilogo.jpg" width="320" /></a>I wanted to do
something special in remembrance of the Atari 2600 (or VCS,
whatever) so I sat down today to write out a short but detailed
history about the first successful video game console the world has
ever seen. I'm going to call it, “From Beep to Bloop: A Looking back at
the Atari 2600”. Not a bad little title, eh?<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Most people may already
know what I'm about to discuss and that's fine, many may not known
the detailed history of Atari and it's first major breakthrough in
home video game consoles, so I'll take my time and explain it all so
newcomers can understand. Heck, maybe you've been a 2600 fan and
collector and still don't know the interesting details of the
consoles life, if that's the case and you happen to be reading this
than allow me to thank you for taking the time to do so and please
get comfortable and enjoy the history lesson.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
In the early 70's a guy
named Nolan Bushnell created a game known as Pong that would help to
launch the arcade movement and bring electronic video games into the
public eye. After founding Atari in 1972, Bushnell decided that Pong
was going to be the company's first major foray into what would be
known as “video games” and launched Pong into a few remote
locations in hopes that people would pay to play the unit. The game
began to bring in a steady income for Atari and eventually Bushnell
and the rest of his Atari crew released the machine into more
locations and eventually manufactured a home unit in 1975 that would
go on and become popular with consumers. Once Bushnell saw that there
was a market for playing video games inside of the home he went to
discuss with it team that there may be a market for a machine that
could play more than one game, that maybe they could create a console
that would play individual games that people could purchase to play
on the unit. It didn't take long before things were rolling and the
“Atari VCS” (Video Computer System”).</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Now, the VCS wouldn't
be the first home video game machine to play cartridge based games,
that would go to the “Fairchild Channel F”, a console that went
on sale about a year previous to the VCS but lacked games and a user
base. The Fairchild saw a very limited release and had an even more
limited library of games and the folks behind the unit quickly faded
after the machine went to market. Atari knew they had already won
over consumers with Pong and that they could change the way that
people spent time with each other in their living rooms and Nolan
wanted to release a machine that would launch a revolution. After a
year or so of messing around with demo units and production kits
Atari finally finished the project and released the VCS in the Fall
of 1977.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFfYvSYELm8Y2-ZjQL_EL5u3Iinoy-C7u5dwtbohL1qw16XcJ4dCtWJol65XusZRk6anAzI_DMYXeiCQJX5HPJlu6ksYyTtBEXpPc7q-nGnhbsY72qdlDJuW2J7nEnQNMEIpECz2IiJfI/s1600/NolanBushnell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFfYvSYELm8Y2-ZjQL_EL5u3Iinoy-C7u5dwtbohL1qw16XcJ4dCtWJol65XusZRk6anAzI_DMYXeiCQJX5HPJlu6ksYyTtBEXpPc7q-nGnhbsY72qdlDJuW2J7nEnQNMEIpECz2IiJfI/s320/NolanBushnell.jpg" width="320" /></a> The system launched
with 9 games but it took a while to catch on with consumers and Atari
struggled with the VCS during the Christmas seasons of 1977 and 1978,
it brought Nolan Bushnell to believe that maybe Atari should
discontinue the VCS and move onto something else. The fact that
copycat consoles that played VCS games were coming out almost weekly
just added more feul to the fire and Nolan was adamant about Atari
dumping the 2600 in favor of new technology. Atari would have done
just that too if not for Time Warner purchasing Atari in 1976. The
reason for the sale is that Time Warner saw some profit in Atari
prior to the launch of the VCS and bought the company from Nolan for
about $32M. When things began to run quirky for Atari after the 2600
saw life on retail shelves Warner brought in a man named Ray Kassar
to oversee the daily operations over at Atari in hopes that he would
discover what wasn't running properly and fix it. Kassar was a true
professional in every aspect and Warner knew that he could step in
and right the ship toward success, something Atari heavily needed and
quickly. Instead of agreeing to new technology Kassar did some
research and found some ways to improve the VCS and to build a user
base who would purchase games for the unit.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
One of the first things
the company decided to do was to license a highly popular arcade game
known as “Space Invaders” for it's VCS system, which was
something that has never been done before and a move that Atari hoped
would become the first must have game on their home console. It
worked. Atari began moving 2600's out of their warehouse in
tremendous speed and Space Invaders became the highest selling home
video game of all-time at that point in time, the mothership was
happy and Kassar looked like a genius. The problem was that behind
the scenes things weren't looking so hot for Bushnell as he created a
lot of issues behind closed doors and his actions brought Time Warner
and Ray Kassar to let him go. Luckily for Bushnell is that because of
contractual obligations he was still going to receive a paycheck
based upon the success of the VCS and he stood to make a killing for
doing absolutely nothing. Nolan, forever the hungry business man, would
eventually make a comeback and go on to create a highly popular chain
of pizza and arcade restaurants known as Chuck E. Cheese.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Meanwhile at Atari
things were off and running. On top of the success of the 2600 Atari
decided to release the 5200 sometime in late 1982, yet the 2600
remained the king of the mountain of video game consoles. The 5200
was not a commercially successful unit at all and was discontinued a
mere 2 years after it's release. As the success of the 2600 continued
to rise the company licensed more highly successful arcade games like
Asteroids, Missile Command, and Defender for release on the VCS and
the system was finding it's way into homes from from coast to coast,
Kassar and Atari couldn't have been more pleased as their financials
skyrocketed and the 2600 was gearing up for another remarkable year.
At one point during this stretch of success it's been noted that
Atari was bringing in a third of Time Warner's income and profit,
that's a lot of revenue to be bringing in for a massive media mecca
such as Time Warner and the folks at Atari were on top of the world
and extremely happy. Well, the powers that be were happy I guess I
should say, not the developers.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Eventually more massive
hits would find a home on the VCS with companies like Activision and
Imagic coming into the fold. The short of the story here is that many
of the game developers and programmers at Atari became very upset
over Kassar's rule of not wanting game developers being credited for
their work and eventually branched off to create their own companies.
Some of the 2600's best games would come out between 1981-1982 with
huge titles like Pitfall, Cosmic Arc, and a slew of sports games that
would bring a whole new dimension to Atari's console despite Atari's
disdain for these companies to be producing games for the VCS. Atari
would even fight the case in court, but came up short multiple times.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqrR79j8ua8P4mEscpE2vMEjS7VOp4-RH9nhMbdbvAnxH2zlPUtQ4VR2h-3rQJQOaSae3n7S-51Y-D6lIqY5N5Y5EgRArWACB9UCQBZbaCBAQj1lyIe1u61jeXcPjuFkbis4hRzqPRqd0/s1600/atari2600.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqrR79j8ua8P4mEscpE2vMEjS7VOp4-RH9nhMbdbvAnxH2zlPUtQ4VR2h-3rQJQOaSae3n7S-51Y-D6lIqY5N5Y5EgRArWACB9UCQBZbaCBAQj1lyIe1u61jeXcPjuFkbis4hRzqPRqd0/s1600/atari2600.png" /></a> After enjoying a few
years of much needed and much deserved success in the home video game
market, Atari began to make some poor decisions and blew away
hundreds of millions of dollars in an attempt to scoop up as much
licensing as possible. The Colecovision and the Intellevision were
both on store shelves and were considered threats to Atari's throne
for a short while and many consumers were left unimpressed by many of
the games that saw release on the VCS in 1983/1984. Two of the
biggest games in question were the arcade port of Pac-Man and the
movie adaption of E.T, two games that Atari had poured millions and
millions of dollars into in hopes that the games would help to move
more 2600's into living rooms. They manufactured more cartridges than
people owned VCS units and paid out the nose for Pac-Man and E.T to
find a home on their console which helped to buy Atari a massive loss
in 1983 and cause the higher up's to re-think the brand as a whole.
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Pac-Man was released to
huge numbers despite the game not resembling the arcade version
whatsoever. Millions of people purchased the game with most being
disgusted at how the game looked and controlled in comparison to the
arcade, this caused a lot of returns and a stream of negative press
that hurt Atari's reputation in a medium in which they had the
biggest hand in creating. Personally, I loved Pac-Man on the VCS as a
kid and played the game to no end and still even enjoy it to this
day, but I can see where people would be upset with it seeing as how
it's nothing like it's arcade father. But hey, I was a kid and had no
idea that Pac-Man was a “bad game”, but as an adult I can see
it's flaws and can see that the game was very rushed and very
unpolished.
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
E.T was the final nail
in the coffin. The game was over manufactured much like Pac-Man was
but the issue was is that the sales figures couldn't keep a title
like this afloat and when orders for the game ended up being poor to
mediocre at best Atari was left with warehouses worth of product that
they couldn't move. I was surprised as an adult to read about E.T
selling poorly, especially since most ever kid I've ever known owned
a copy of the game back in the mid 80's when I was actively playing.
Heck, I didn't even know there was a video game crash going on, I
just played the games happily in my room and ignored the real world.
In fact, I played E.T quite often as a child and really liked it.
Well, because Atari was left with millions of unsold carts they
decided to do something that still hangs in video game lore to this
day. As the tale goes, Atari crushed, dumped, and buried what was
rumored to be between 10-20 dump trunks worth of inventory in a
desert landfill in New Mexico. When they realized that the dump site
was being looted by locals they sent in more trucks to pour cement
over the lot so that it would become inaccessible.
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The story of the
dumping has become such a huge part of video game history and lore
that people from Atari have both confirmed and denied the rumor, but
it all depends on who you talk to. More to the rumor is that it
wasn't just E.T cartridges that were buried in the landfill and that
many rare prototypes, games, and systems were a part of the dumpings
too. Whether it's true or not still remains a mystery to this day and
it wasn't long until Time Warner sold Atari off and the VCS and the
5200 found themselves heavily discounted in retail outlets until they
were phased out all together.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Well, that's it for
now! That's my account of the history of the Atari VCS/2600 and I
personally hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing
it. Until we meet again dear friends, keep on retro gaming!</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
Twitter - @OfficialRVGA</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;">© 2013 Bill Mulligan</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026762501111568129.post-25762495048346798002013-07-24T07:47:00.000-07:002013-07-24T07:47:21.985-07:00The Retro Video Game Addict reviews: Rygar for the NES!<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuZMARzSYK8eYeOfXc3TSmPpM2Gf_hMqX5AXDwJhqpLYh6NyzeHpYq68rf9CWgW1odzlaDSX5O9e7y27gQjcHJdbY89BZd6fAlRVg0CYtDQD0waql2iFNFe0oAK2Xlrstf30W6Kkdwocs/s1600/rygarNES.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuZMARzSYK8eYeOfXc3TSmPpM2Gf_hMqX5AXDwJhqpLYh6NyzeHpYq68rf9CWgW1odzlaDSX5O9e7y27gQjcHJdbY89BZd6fAlRVg0CYtDQD0waql2iFNFe0oAK2Xlrstf30W6Kkdwocs/s320/rygarNES.jpg" width="196" /></a></div>
You want to talk about
some bullshit? Okay, let's talk about some bullshit. Rygar for the
NES is bullshit and it isn't just because the game features jerky
graphics and poor gameplay, but mainly because the game gives you a
life bar worth 3 hits and no continues. Yeah, you read that
correctly. Rygar for the Nintendo Entertainment System gives the
player a 3 hit life bar but yet throws enemies and obstacals at you
faster than a cowboy on crack, it isn't even close to fair in that
they seem to take joy in watching the player struggle through the
levels as they try to progress through the game. The sick part of it
all is that there is a lot of backtracking to do and when you go back
to areas you've already visited all of the enemies and hurdles that
you've tackled come back to haunt you. Yep, it's one of those games,
pretty much all NES gamers know exactly what I'm talking about here.<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
You know something? I
like a good challenge. As long as the challenge is fair and the
player has a way to complete it without taking unavoidable damage or
without over the top tasks that require dumb luck to complete than
sign me up. But if you're going to load the screen with a million
enemies that re-spawn faster than steroid injected rabbits
reproducing than you can just kill it and take it back to formula
because I simply </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinlRtfaORquG-fC5VY5h11LHtN-yg4fsZf5AhfGiWmT7L6vPsEQWitCWoChozJmFiMgZ6CiAQ_8JPjkwgC-P9VG4eU9oIcpMJaFvSKpJIjeA2-w-cZVsLFWR7ETA6gVktr0PXXG5s-cuA/s1600/rygar.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinlRtfaORquG-fC5VY5h11LHtN-yg4fsZf5AhfGiWmT7L6vPsEQWitCWoChozJmFiMgZ6CiAQ_8JPjkwgC-P9VG4eU9oIcpMJaFvSKpJIjeA2-w-cZVsLFWR7ETA6gVktr0PXXG5s-cuA/s1600/rygar.png" /></a></div>
will not tolerate it. It's sad too because Rygar
could be a fantastic game if modified just right, I mean, the game
has some fun aspects to it and offers some fun stages but it's over
the top challenge and frustrating gameplay keep it from being a top
challenger in the side scrolling action/adventure genre.
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The game does has some
things going for it that don't totally suck, I suppose. Mainly the
musical score, which is okay at best, and if you can get past the
heroically annoying tune that strangely grows on you while you play
than you'll dig the tunes within the game. The control is pretty
tight too which is nice because, well, it's always nice to have a
quality control scheme while trucking through level after level of
horse crap. But almost instantly you'll soon notice that no matter
how good the control on Rygar is that you can't avoid some of the
bullshit traps and damage you'll take while progressing through the
levels. But yeah, all I can really say good about this game is that
the music doesn't totally suck and the control is surprisingly good.
Now back to the bullshit.
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyG9pa9RE-g0IS5oWIJP8dW0wsNGaLxdpJLpBtu9W_PPQmWHx2PmJNcq9UdihO-zbS0uS31GLaWDfxtHqzrPRoNXF8L8hHOkZ2-EaYHFJDIonJp3t2pOaSQF8t5O0LRyJyHSpSlGPbUEs/s1600/rygar1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyG9pa9RE-g0IS5oWIJP8dW0wsNGaLxdpJLpBtu9W_PPQmWHx2PmJNcq9UdihO-zbS0uS31GLaWDfxtHqzrPRoNXF8L8hHOkZ2-EaYHFJDIonJp3t2pOaSQF8t5O0LRyJyHSpSlGPbUEs/s1600/rygar1.png" /></a> Rygar is one of those
games that I used to see at the video rental stores back in the day
when I actively rented games for my NES but yet I never took it upon
myself to rent this one. I did play it at a friends house momentarily
back in maybe 1991 or something but that wasn't enough time to fully
decipher whether or not I liked the game, but maybe there was an omen
there that barred me from ever asking for it for a birthday or
renting it from the store. Heck, even when Funcoland sold NES games
back in the day I'd see it for $3 or $4 and still always passed it up
in favor of something else. I guess my “Spidey Sense” was
tingling inside and warning me to steer clear of this game. Either
way, my experience as of late with this game has been less than
inviting and aside from having it as a part of my collection I doubt
I'll ever truly bother with it again. In fact, I'd rather know what
it feels like to get fucked by a rabid bear with a katana sword strap
on than play this game again. Well, on second thought maybe it isn't
quite bad enough to let a bear fuck me with a sword. But you get my
point.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
So it's got tight
control and some pretty interesting music, but the said could be said
for the average NES game and I find this game to be much less than
average when compared to other similar NES games. With all of the
things this game got wrong I would place the 3 hit system coupled
alongside the no continues bullshit as the one thing that really keep
this game from being mediocre at best and place it in the “do not
play” pile. It's sad too, because with a few modifications this
game could have really been something special within the NES library,
but instead it takes it's rightful place in the annals for video game
shitfests. C'est La Vie.</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Graphics/Visuals – 5.0</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Sound/Music – 6.0</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Control/Handling – 6.5</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Fun/Enjoyment – 3.0</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Twitter - @OfficialRVGA </div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;">© 2013 Bill Mulligan</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026762501111568129.post-85291819928143366012013-07-10T05:53:00.004-07:002013-07-10T11:04:46.940-07:00The Retro Video Game Addict reviews: Super Mario Bros. for the NES!<br />
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<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The readers have demanded I
write it, my friends have demanded I write it, and even I have
demanded that I sit down to write this. Today I sit down and write a
review for the game that put a dying industry on it's shoulders and
carried it to new heights, today I write a review of Super Mario
Bros. for the NES.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
As many who are fans of
the industry know, in late 1983 and early 1984 the video game
industry was suffering it's legendary “crash” and many stores
that once proudly sold video games had either heavily discounted them
or stopped carrying them as a whole. The entire landscape of home
video games was in shambles and it looked as if this “fad” was
about to finally come to an end after a rash of titles with poor
quality began infesting shelves across the country. Something was
desperately needed to put some spark into the video game industry,
something was horribly needed to take this floundering entity and
give it a boost, and Nintendo has just the medicine that was needed
to put it back on track. That medicine came in the form of Super
Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Entertainment System and home gaming as
we knew it was once again very much alive.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The game was sold as a
pack in title with a new home video game machine marketed by Nintendo
in 1985, but Nintendo didn't want you to think you were buying video
games and demanded that the console be sold and marketed as an
“entertainment system”. They tried to hide the fact that the NES
was a gaming console by originally adding the zapper gun and a toy
robot known as “R.O.B”, but consumers quickly saw past the
gimmick and R.O.B was quickly abandoned. Nintendo was just scared
that marketing a video game machine after the big crash was a risky
move and wanted to find a new way to sell an old product. Any which
way, they didn't have anything to worry about thanks to the console
selling well in test markets before it's national launch and the well
received pack in game having a huge factor in it's success.
</div>
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Super Mario Bros. is a
side scrolling action game that stars the world renowned Mario and
his brother Luigi and follows their adventure through the Mushroom
Kingdom while, depending upon which player you were, searched for
Princess Toadstool who was captive in a secret castle. For it's time
the game sported graphics that were head and shoulders better than
any home video game before it and had a musical score that was more
advanced than anything the Atari 2600, 5200, Colecovision, or
Intellivision could achieve. Everybody knows the Mario theme, it's
been etched in the minds of almost anyone who grew up in the 80's or
spent significant time with the NES during it's heyday and has been
used in everything from commercials, movies, and even the recording
industry. It's a staple in American culture.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdUWRwgaRvGu1TlcyJf1OEJ_9r3hCJ8yo_eC7UJDCQXurNLzVepejZtjh2Npwr59frt62blFx0mjuKx30Vuftspee7KgckemRCTypB6SxF55mHeSOH_4KoRmhR0_164DXmxX3NMbVfWE4/s1600/smbstart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdUWRwgaRvGu1TlcyJf1OEJ_9r3hCJ8yo_eC7UJDCQXurNLzVepejZtjh2Npwr59frt62blFx0mjuKx30Vuftspee7KgckemRCTypB6SxF55mHeSOH_4KoRmhR0_164DXmxX3NMbVfWE4/s1600/smbstart.jpg" /></a> I've actually played
the arcade version of this game back in 1988 at a pizza shop that
used to exist in a small town near the big city I grew up in. They
only had two arcade games, the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
(not part II) and Super Mario Bros. and whenever we would order a
pizza there and go visit my grandfather my mom would give me some
change to play those games. Man, the memories I have of that will
live on in me forever. I'm just glad I can say I've played the original Super Mario on an arcade cabinet, knowing that kind of gives me goosebumps.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Anyhow, I'm sure you
all have played this game at least once in your lives so I won't go
into great detail about it, instead I'd like to discuss some of the
memories I have of SMB and share some thoughts on the game as a
whole. I remember bringing my NES home and watching my mom set it up
as I held my </div>
Mario/Duck Hunt cartridge in my hands, eager with
excitement to begin playing and experiencing what many were raving
about. I didn't get my NES until a few years after it's release
because I had an Atari 2600 at the time and I was still having a
blast with it in the late 80's and both my parents and I felt I
didn't really need to take the next step. But let me tell you, when I
finally did I was so happy because games on the NES were light years
advanced when compared to the ol' 2600 and I was having a blast
playing the system morning, noon, and night.
<br />
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I remember my neighbor
(who was about my age) came upstairs and played the game with me the
night I got it, I didn't know he already had a Nintendo and when I
watched him pull off some of the tricks and things that were hidden
within SMB I nearly flipped out. It was awesome and I made sure I
remembered them all and did them myself after he had left to go back
downstairs. I felt like the king of the world as I uncovered secret
1up's, went down pipes, collected hidden coins, and traveled through
warp zones. It was like nothing I had ever experienced before. It's
rare when you get these kinds of feelings while playing video games
these days, I can only think of maybe 10 times in my entire life when
I felt this way while playing video games but this moment was
definitely up there as the top dog of “awe” worthy excitement.
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWghxT4on7OSnRnNJulOsNezI24Gl4acs7GqgUMq07MQEpDCfv1GH0CnjxIWjmmB3JPSvGvHKrv4oMiCJ0TUHijHZKJleBfu-0asX6SwpHhObikg_fnGRfNUfEh3B8FmLvpn2YshoduF0/s1600/smbkoopa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWghxT4on7OSnRnNJulOsNezI24Gl4acs7GqgUMq07MQEpDCfv1GH0CnjxIWjmmB3JPSvGvHKrv4oMiCJ0TUHijHZKJleBfu-0asX6SwpHhObikg_fnGRfNUfEh3B8FmLvpn2YshoduF0/s1600/smbkoopa.jpg" /></a> Super Mario 2 (my
personal favorite), and Super Mario 3 would later come out on the NES
and continue to grow the Mario brand beyond belief, but this is the
game that started it all and because of my fond memories of SMB it
will always have a small section of my heart all it's own. With that
said, it's my 3<sup>rd</sup> favorite Mario game on the NES behind 2
and 3 as odd as that sounds. I just loved SMB 2 and 3 to death and
both games are solidly within my top 10 list while the original is
just outside it, but that doesn't mean I don't love the game. How can
you not?</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Along with it's
legendary score that I mentioned earlier, the game is an absolute
dream to control thanks to it's simplistic style of gameplay and the
wonderful NES controller being so perfect for side scrolling platform
games such as this. Mario stops on a dime, jumps in cohesion with you
pressing the buttons, and the game just feels amazingly responsive
which adds to the game being so fun. Don't you hate games that have
laggy controls or are just clunky to move around in? I know I do and
SMB is NOT that game. It's just a fun experience all around,
especially if you're playing it for the first time and are
discovering all of the hidden easter eggs located within the game.
But what are the chances of someone who's reading this never having
played Super Mario Bros. before?</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
It's true when I say
this, for it's time this game was absolutely above and beyond
anything video games had ever seen with long and drawn out stages to
pretty graphics, this game just had it all. A musical score that
everyone knows and loves, hidden underwater worlds, secrets and
glitches, and other little nooks and crannies that people will never
forget as long as they live. Super Mario Bros. is a timeless classic
that will never be forgotten as long as a controller is in the hands
of someone who knows where it all began.</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Graphics/Visuals – 8.0</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Sound/Music – 9.25</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Control/Handling – 9.25</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Fun/Enjoyment – 9.0</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
@OfficialRVGA</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;">© 2013 Bill Mulligan</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026762501111568129.post-2739578929916917332013-07-01T06:55:00.001-07:002013-07-09T08:21:15.879-07:00The Retro Video Game Addict reviews: Astyanax for the NES!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1b62XyLV0cLHh0qrm8jlrL5jynQ3dbqT5U7Df9yLbdij7h_p7Fn5_VqDyEGXgE4ZBhCfJgdRFi7FsbFH5xe9jKhLLAUA77HpIax-nKEf66Bk2Z7-oT5zT94FqzNp33RENWJwfrk4n1c4/s550/Astyanaxbox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1b62XyLV0cLHh0qrm8jlrL5jynQ3dbqT5U7Df9yLbdij7h_p7Fn5_VqDyEGXgE4ZBhCfJgdRFi7FsbFH5xe9jKhLLAUA77HpIax-nKEf66Bk2Z7-oT5zT94FqzNp33RENWJwfrk4n1c4/s320/Astyanaxbox.jpg" width="232" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Ever hear of a fun
little side scrolling arcade port for the NES called Astyanax? Well
if you haven't before than you certainly have now. This little gem is
one of those games that I knew existed back in the heyday of the NES
but yet I never really had a chance to sit down and play it until
now, but let me tell ya', I was really missing out on some fun side
scrolling hack n' slash for all these years.
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Astyanax is very
similar to games like Casltevania in that it's a side scroller that
focuses on killing enemies and making it to the end of the level
while collecting power up's and other such things along the way. It
features very nice graphics for the NES and I would say that
graphically it's one of the nicer games to come out during the early
90's for the system, definitely better than many other games that
were out at the time. It's fun too, if not a little frustrating at
times thanks to obsticals that almost force you to take damage unless
you pull off a fancy move or know the patterns of every enemy in the
game. But this is heavily steriotypical of many Nintendo games of
that era. But it doesn't hinder your experience with the game very
much and difficulty can be a good thing if it's not in your face with
bizarre obstacles and insane enemies.
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The bosses in this game
are kind of neat, they're not overly hard but some of them can take
an absurd </div>
amount of hits before you kill them, but if you take the
time to learn their patterns and strategy than they're not too
difficult. The levels themselves aren't too long either and some
feature mini-bosses that are fun and interesting, you'll actually
have to face them all a second time because before you make it to the
final boss you're put into a gauntlet where you have to challenge
them all one after another. It's the most frustrating and difficult
part of the game because there is little in the way of spell and/or
health potions during this time, but they make sure to fill you up
before you face the final 2 bosses of the game. Yeah, you read that
correctly, there are actually 2 main bosses in the game that must be
challenged one after another. I can see why this would happen because
this is based off of the arcade game and games manufactured for the
arcade are meant to drain you of your quarters and are usually
insanely hard. So it's to be expected that the boss battles toward
the end of the game are Taylor made to bleed you dry with little to
no help.<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikqiaPHRAuZhTtC28Q1-z0l6dJjZB-o_oiBIr9oa2cUbV_sQsGc3BwgA_fZAzW5OM-igMbmZ7yq-PGqpDyt_F3Btn_yW25NElE1o70c8vxGCo0_NfwmphRWQ85jPlCynUBhTO5S2qLuwE/s256/Astyanaxboss.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikqiaPHRAuZhTtC28Q1-z0l6dJjZB-o_oiBIr9oa2cUbV_sQsGc3BwgA_fZAzW5OM-igMbmZ7yq-PGqpDyt_F3Btn_yW25NElE1o70c8vxGCo0_NfwmphRWQ85jPlCynUBhTO5S2qLuwE/s256/Astyanaxboss.gif" /></a> To some people, all
these insane boss battles may deter them from trying the game out but
I really didn't think it was overly excessive and if you're playing
the game with the help of Game Genie than you should be all set. It
just becomes a matter of time before you make it on through. But for
those who are not using Game Genie than I suggest you learn the
patterns of the boss fights as good as you can and save up you're
spells because you're going to need them. Also, time you're jumps and
make sure no enemies are near the ledges that may pop up and kill
you, they're everywhere in this game and you know what that means.
Classic Nintendo bounce back upon taking a hit which will cause you
to lose a life from falling into a pit. Fuck.
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
One big gripe with this
game I do have is that the enemies are pretty repetitive throughout
the course of making your way through the levels. You'll run into
skeletons constructed of every color in the rainbow, the same
plant-like creatures that crowd the edges of pits that will cause you
to fall down, and other similar bugs and things that fly around that
you'll notice you've already faced in previous levels. I guess it's
just the way it is with this game, but the experience of making your
way through the game is enjoyable so it didn't hinder my view on
Astyanax much at all but it would have been nice to have more
exciting enemies to fight along the way.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Other than the
repetitive enemies I really enjoyed my time with this game, I'm a big
fan of arcade ports as well as side scrolling hack n' slash titles so
Astyanax was right down my alley. It's just a shame that I missed out
on it for all these years, though. I do remember in 1995 going into a
Funcoland and seeing it on the price sheet and thinking it sounded
interesting, but when I asked to see the cart the guy working behind
the counter told me it wasn't that good of a game and that I'd be
better of getting some other game for the Genesis that was similar
but with better graphics. Goes to show you that you shouldn't always
take the advice of the sales clerk because not only did I not get
Astyanax on that day but I ended up going with his recommendation and
the game he sold me was utter crap. Oh well, you live and you learn.
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMdHW0dNaL9LQW9RxE5qpkXYOlYUkExqIcFVXZfpFdsVLsJ1n2L-DltNVbmQHsJk984H6lc3bOb0jaEJkVxKQJ0Mem-wxBK5gkdPrtCdaqIHGO7Wp37T-cGGJ-sK6Wm0Bfk9U5Ipm_8ts/s256/Astyanaxgameplay.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMdHW0dNaL9LQW9RxE5qpkXYOlYUkExqIcFVXZfpFdsVLsJ1n2L-DltNVbmQHsJk984H6lc3bOb0jaEJkVxKQJ0Mem-wxBK5gkdPrtCdaqIHGO7Wp37T-cGGJ-sK6Wm0Bfk9U5Ipm_8ts/s256/Astyanaxgameplay.png" /></a> All in all the graphics
and the control in Astyanax are stellar with large and well detailed
characters and amazing cut scenes for the time, as well as tight
mechanics that make it a smooth experience to play. In my opinion
this is a gem that everyone should have in their NES library because
it's one that houses some very enjoyable elements, it's definitely on
par and surpasses many side scrolling action/adventure games that
appeared on the NES at the time. The game, much like many NES titles,
also has some incredibily awesome music that help with the experience
and make playing through the levels an absolute joy. There was just
something about the NES and the music that it was able to produce
that has become legendary in the eyes of many retro gamers, it's just
something to behold.
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
As of this writing the
game can be found for as cheap as $3 or so from local video game
stores and as cheap as $5 or so on eBay, so give it a whirl and see
for yourself if you're up for the challenge. Astyanax is most
certainly worth it.</div>
<div style="line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Graphics/Visuals – 9.0</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Sound/Music – 8.5</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Control/Handling – 8.5</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Fun/Enjoyment – 8.5</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 16px;">© 2013 Bill Mulligan</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026762501111568129.post-8127753347903461732013-06-21T06:07:00.000-07:002013-06-21T06:07:05.088-07:00RVGA ponders Dynamite Entertainment's "The Black Bat" and coins the "PulpX" phrase and hashtag.<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpd5WMq7psSifidFYa5pEIy7laVgZQOyzpyO8Qo9GVMX1vwRJ5jsj_p_dymrCQhrNd4UFdPr8wzD4BA2oWK54sO9S2fZGcVn7pmvxS7casQOSmvx9SxFdsKXPDS4BNQcyqU2hKkJ6wrVw/s1600/BlackBat1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpd5WMq7psSifidFYa5pEIy7laVgZQOyzpyO8Qo9GVMX1vwRJ5jsj_p_dymrCQhrNd4UFdPr8wzD4BA2oWK54sO9S2fZGcVn7pmvxS7casQOSmvx9SxFdsKXPDS4BNQcyqU2hKkJ6wrVw/s320/BlackBat1.jpg" width="228" /></a> I just wanted to take a
minute to discuss a comic book that I've become quite passionate
about in the short amount of time it's been in publication. The comic
book in question here is called The Black Bat and it's published by a
company called Dynamite Entertainment. If you're not familiar with
them I suggest you check out an earlier blog post of mine where I
discussed Dynamite and their amazing line of comic books based on
classic pulp heroes of the 30's and 40's in depth. It's an
interesting read and a nice introduction to the modern pulp genre. A
genre I am un-officially dubbing “PulpX”. If you follow either
Dynamite Entertainment or myself on Twitter than you'll know that I
coined that phrase recently and it was re-tweeted and adopted by
Dynamite to describe their line of pulp hero books specifically, this
being aside from their other styles of pulp they publish. This was a
real highlight for me and I'm truly honored to be a part of it. But
enough about PulpX for now as I want to spend some time discussing
this amazing series at hand.
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The Black Bat is only
on it's second issue as of this writing, but it's 2 published issues
have lead me to absolutely fall in love with the character portrayed
in this title as well as the surroundings and atmosphere this book
gives off. It's writer, the very talented Brian Buccellato, has truly
crafted a tale that is both refreshing and engaging with a main
character so rife with life's hardships that it's a miracle he hasn't
jumped off a bridge. Well, come to think about it he actually tried
in issue #2, but that's besides the point. The point is that the hero
of the story is at a severe disadvantage thanks to being blind and
struggled to adapt to the society around him, but yet still finds a
way to take out the criminals who litter his city. It's really neat.
But what's even more neat is that he has solar-like vision that
allows him to see in the dark, which is when most criminals tend to
strike anyway so it works out in the end.
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
On top of the amazing
writing by Mr. Buccellato, the book features really nice interior art
by an artist named Ronan Cliquet, who's work I actually didn't like a
whole lot when he was penciling Green Hornet: Legacy for Dynamite
prior to the “Legacy” branding. Ronan's style has been refined
and he's pumping out some high quality artwork in The Black Bat, the
dark settings and character visuals tend to work better for him more
so than the colorful outfit of The Green Hornet and the daytime
scenery in which he was working with before. All in all Cliquet's art
is much improved and he gets a tip of the cap from me for his efforts
in this comic, it's pretty crisp stuff and really worth checking out
if you're into interior artwork like I am.
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The first issue was
great. You get to see the city that the Black Bat protects from his
POV while he takes on thugs and puts the word out that he's looking
for a criminal known as The Brute, but while all this is going on
you're taken back in time to see how he got his sonar vision as well
as other personal traits that brought him to the current day. In the
second issue we get even more current day story mixed with personal
issues that took place previously that are masterfully woven together
to make a thrilling and someone touching tale that brings you closer
to the man behind the mask more so than the vigilante himself.
Perfecto! This is storytelling stripped down to it's very core and
layered with seasoning to bring forth a compelling tale of a classic
hero who has been re-imagined in a new era.
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs-5ccjBwsW1HtKa2nw67VLkDgpMt9l53mqyDBwFxscqtGX3LvFF73kKHPabgF5xnI8fn5uGuaHmVnEmUkoieqeWC4Umoy8ib4jHhQkgZPsbFOvOPryT1Gn8YHGYDGjsCT54zGWhsS_sQ/s1600/BlackBat2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs-5ccjBwsW1HtKa2nw67VLkDgpMt9l53mqyDBwFxscqtGX3LvFF73kKHPabgF5xnI8fn5uGuaHmVnEmUkoieqeWC4Umoy8ib4jHhQkgZPsbFOvOPryT1Gn8YHGYDGjsCT54zGWhsS_sQ/s320/BlackBat2.jpg" width="213" /></a> For those who don't
know who The Black Bat is, well, there has actually been a couple
pulp based characters known as The Black Bat. This particular
incarnation came out right around the time that Batman did in the
late 30's and both the publishers of the pulp novels and the creators
of Batman spent some time bickering with each other until both
characters changed up their look a bit, which in the end pleased all
parties involved. To be honest though, the original Black Bat
pre-dated Batman by several years and even though this incarnation is
based on what I believe to be the 3<sup>rd</sup> version of the Black
Bat I still think that he was created shortly before Bob Kane created
the legendary “Dark Knight”. With that said, it does piss me off
a little when I see some uneducated forum member online come into a
thread pertaining to not only The Black Bat, but other pulp heroes
too, and refer to them as rip-offs of current popular DC and Marvel
characters. Some people just aren't hip to the fact that these pulp
heroes predated them all. Damn shame, really. But for every fan who
writes this series off as “Batman with guns” there is a fan who
knows the true history of the character and realizes that this book
stands on its own as being something quite special.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I seriously can't
comment enough about how much I love The Black Bat and I really hope
that those who are reading this blog entry who enjoy comic books will
give this one a shot. Trust me on this, it's damn good and you have a
chance to hop on something fresh while it's still in it's infancy.
It's one of those situations where you'll thank me later for
suggesting it and I fully believe that based off of this one title
you'll soon be investing in the rest of Dynamite's PulpX books. What
do you have to lose? $4? You can dig that up out of your couch
cushions and from underneath all the 2 month old pizza boxes you've
got scattered throughout you're studio apartment, so go
ahead.....purchase, read, and enjoy. Catch you on the flip side!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;">
On a side note: Since I hit
Twitter this past week and coined the phrase “PulpX” it's really
been taking off among the community of fans who read the Dynamite
pulp heroes line of comics. But what does PulpX really mean? Well, to
be honest, I don't really know. Whenever I read something that ends
in an “X” like how kids/teens of the 90's were dubbed “Generation
X”, or how they ad an X to the end of things to signify it being
new or the next step in the evolution of a product it's always sort
of resonated with me. So picture it like that. This new wave of pulp
comics by Dynamite Entertainment is very much a new revolution for
the genre, and with pulp now on the mind of comic book fans around
the world I figured adding an X to the name would really give it a
cool spark, and so far it has. So there you have it!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
#PulpX lives on.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
@OfficialRVGA</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 16px;">© 2013 Bill Mulligan</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026762501111568129.post-1901397060429454592013-06-13T05:41:00.000-07:002013-06-13T05:41:24.601-07:00The Retro Video Game Addict reviews: The Legend of Zelda for the NES!<br />
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<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Alright boys and girls, it's finally
time for me to sit down and do a review of the king of the hill when
it comes to adventure games on the NES. That's right, this is my
official review of The Legend of Zelda!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I think everyone agrees that The
Legend of Zelda is one of the best games for the Nintendo
Entertainment System and one of the best video games ever created.
It's one of those timeless masterpieces that people still get the
urge to play some 25 years later and it's definitely a game that
remained popular throughout the life of the NES. See, many games come
out for modern gaming consoles and are lost to time and forgotten
about less than 6 months later because the modern gamer has become so
fickle that they can't figure out what it is they want to play. A new
game comes out and then interest in whatever they were enjoying
previously comes to an abrupt end and the game is cast aside and
never touched again, if not traded away (I hate that). These kinds of
things didn't happen much during the NES day's and the popularity of
the original Zelda lasted well into the early 90's, some 4-6 years
after the title hit stateside. That's a remarkable feat, especially
since Sega had two gaming machines on the market, Nintendo had it's
Gameboy, and Turbo Grafix had their TG-16 console readily available.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
What The Legend of Zelda did upon
release was refine a genre that heavily needed it. But the game
didn't have an easy time upon it's release, oh no, Nintendo of
America almost canned it because they believe that it may be too hard
of a game for an American audience. That's right, The Legend of Zelda
almost never came out in the United States! What Nintendo of America
did was hold sessions with study groups and allowed players to spend
time with the game, after the sessions were over the powers that be
asked the members of the groups what they thought of the game. It was
almost unanimous that the players didn't like The Legend of Zelda
with multiple people claiming the game was “shit”. Well,
regardless of the study sessions the game eventually saw release and
went on to become one of the NES' top selling (and top rated) titles.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The premise of the game was fairly
simple: A hero dungeon crawled his way through multiple labyrinths in
</div>
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hopes of finding pieces of a legendary triforce in order to save the
kingdom of Hyrule. And the gameplay mimicked the story. Link, our
timeless hero, scoured 9 different dungeons as he collected helpful
items and pieces of the triforce before meeting an enemy named Ganon
in a final epic encounter. The land of Hyrule was littered with
surprises and easter eggs that left the gamer planting bombs to
uncover hidden caves, lighting trees on fire to find hidden temples,
and using the gadgets they've found along the way to find secret
hearts and other fun prizes. There was truly nothing like this game
at the time and the player was rewarded handsomely if they uncovered
these special secrets, which were literally all over the map. For the
completion mongers out there it can be quite a daunting task trying
to discover and uncover all of the secrets that Zelda has to offer,
but it can be fun and I've spoken with many who have attained this
feat.<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The game itself isn't overly hard
at first with the first 2 or 3 dungeons being easily beatable if
you're a seasoned gamer, but once you hit the 4<sup>th</sup> dungeon
and beyond the game gets difficult. You find yourself inside of rooms
with statues shooting fire at you while you try to kill 6 or 7
enemies floating around the room, it can get pretty infuriating
trying to deal with the amount of stuff the game throws at you at one
time. Also, if you haven't played the game since you originally owned
it or if you're tackling Zelda for the first time, you'll notice that
many tips they give you are very cryptic and it's almost impossible
to navigate and find every dungeon without some kind of help from a
guide. This is classic Nintendo and something I've come to expect
from many games in the NES library and it often makes me wonder how I
figured all this stuff out when I was younger. Back then if you
didn't subscribe to the Nintendo Power magazine or have a slew of
friends who were playing the same games as you than finding things
was heavily trial and error based before the days of the internet.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPxGTJd_GhgzDxTdot3TverB13zOXxSL4XHFSqTGHqBS5kJUWM2i1CHcgZeiUsKuG2HPjTjv4Mxp_AAdIN33xK7ohJKzcobwh9X6MA36ni1PBNArlIH6GjN3voIs_ShQWOYENI7H7amIA/s1600/zeldabox.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPxGTJd_GhgzDxTdot3TverB13zOXxSL4XHFSqTGHqBS5kJUWM2i1CHcgZeiUsKuG2HPjTjv4Mxp_AAdIN33xK7ohJKzcobwh9X6MA36ni1PBNArlIH6GjN3voIs_ShQWOYENI7H7amIA/s320/zeldabox.png" width="221" /></a> While I've played The Legend of
Zelda back in it's heyday, I was more of a Zelda II: The Adventures
of Link fan and owned that game instead of the original. I would rent
Zelda from time to time and I always got to play it at friends houses
and whatnot, but I wouldn't go on to fully own the game until 1995
when I bought </div>
it along with a refurbished NES from FUNCOLAND one day
in what I believe was March. Sadly, I had sold all my NES stuff to a
flea market a couple of years before hand and was starting out from
scratch again with the NES and decided to get some games that I've
either never owned or have never even played. I used Game Genie and
spent hours bombing my way through the game and eventually beat it,
which gave me an inner feeling of joy and happiness that I couldn't
even begin to explain. I beat the game again the following year after
a friend of mine and I created a mini “game room” out of my
bedroom, We decided to play the game and take turns as we progressed.
We had a blast trading off the controller on certain dungeons until
we met up with Ganon, in which I personally had the pleasure of
taking him down. Fond memories, indeed. I beat the game for a third
time again in 2005 and then again just recently, which the most
recent time being probably the most difficult since I didn't use Game
Genie right away and waited until late in the game to do so. But no
matter how many times I revisit The Legend of Zelda I always enjoy my
time with it and am forever amazed at how fun it is to play.<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Despite the game being a classic I
do have a few gripes with it. First off, the music. Yeah, I know, the
games soundtrack is considered to be one of the best in video game
history, and believe me it is, but sometimes the dungeon theme can
get a bit repetitive and after an extended play the overworld theme
can drone on a bit too. I love both themes quite a bit, so don't get
me wrong, but the overworld theme starts to wear on you when it
restarts over and over after bouncing in and out of hidden caves and
the such. But even with that said, I can't deny that Zelda has some
of the best and most recognizable music in video game history.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1sVV7lam6Nm2Hllg3RiXzp97gebHIrhUEEOvMezLsEBNstcsij0MOi-4keKBbhLeLSiD_tjjCCSKIEossPzB884tYKKQry6gqVdyr_fLzo34DrttVg-cL8x9pZWoF_EvNICkFNdGkQlQ/s1600/zeldaboss.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1sVV7lam6Nm2Hllg3RiXzp97gebHIrhUEEOvMezLsEBNstcsij0MOi-4keKBbhLeLSiD_tjjCCSKIEossPzB884tYKKQry6gqVdyr_fLzo34DrttVg-cL8x9pZWoF_EvNICkFNdGkQlQ/s1600/zeldaboss.png" /></a> My second complaint would be the
sheer difficulty later on in the game. Whether it's hidden rooms that
an only be accessed by sheer luck or sections of a dungeons that have
way too much going on at one time, this game is no joke as you
progress and should be played cautiously. But challenge can be fun
and if you choose to go in without the help of Game Genie than be
warned that it's not going to be a cake walk, but most reading this
know that by now anyhow. But despite it's difficulty it's a blast to
play and the fun outshines the </div>
hardship and the game is an absolute
joy to play thanks to it's wonderful control, fun soundtrack,
interesting enemies, familiar world, and intense hurdles.
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I'm sure about 90% of those
reading this blog have already played this game and if you're a game
collector than you no doubt own it, but for those who have not had
the chance to play this timeless classic I urge you do go give it a
try. There is lot's to be said about retro gaming and this game is
one of the reasons the hobby is as big as it is, so what do you have
to lose? You've got so many different options to play it too whether
it be owning the original cart, playing it on the Nintendo Virtual
Console, or by playing it on an emulator, but either which rout you
choose you'll no doubt leave the kingdom of Hyrule with a smile on
your face. That I can guarantee.
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Graphics/Visuals – 8.0</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Sound/Music – 9.25</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Control/Handling – 9.0</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Fun/Enjoyment – 9.25</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
@OfficialRVGA </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 16px;">© 2013 Bill Mulligan</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026762501111568129.post-8265199476651666432013-06-08T06:36:00.002-07:002013-10-07T12:46:14.963-07:00The Retro Video Game Addict checks out the Retro Entertainment System!<br />
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
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The original Nintendo
Entertainment System (NES) was a wonderful machine. It was the video
game console that popularized video games and made gaming cool, even
more so than the Atari 2600 which brought the medium into the
limelight but then flipped the switch off in the early 80's after
they over saturated the market and released a slew of what consumers
felt were bad games. When video games crashed in 1983/1984 it was
Nintendo who picked up the pieces and ushered in millions of new
players with their incredible system that featured some of the most
recognized and well known games in the history of the business. But
here we are about 28 years later and you can still buy an NES through
major web sites or from small video game stores throughout the world,
but the problem is that they may not work correctly anymore. Some
people have even gone ahead and changed out the 72-pin connector
inside of the console, but there have been so many complaints about
the new connectors not holding up and ruining games that many have
given up on finding an NES that works properly. That's where clone
system (or “Fami-Clones”) come into the picture. These clone
systems started seeing the light of day sometime in 2005 after the
patent on the NES ran out and 2 small companies went to work on
creating their own Nintendo Entertainment System consoles, those
companies were Yobo and Play Messiah. I have Messiah's “Generation
NEX” system and it's a wonderful NES clone that looks like an NES
would look if it were manufactured in 2005. It was small, sleek, and
sexy, it supported original Nintendo carts as well as Famicom games,
and it offered support for wireless controllers. What a machine! But
today we're not going to be talking about the Generation NEX, instead
we're going to be talking about a machine by a company called
Retro-Bit who in 2011 created the Retro Entertainment System (RES).
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The Retro Entertainment System
itself is an extremely small unit that is no bigger than an actual
NES cartridge except that it's much thicker, it also comes with two
controllers that most who have used the system either love or hate.
Personally, I don't think they're too bad at all and the buttons have
a nice clicky feeling to </div>
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them that compliment the Genesis style D-Pad
nicely. All in all this is a very capable controller, it even has an
indentation on the back which helps to give it a better grip. For
those who don't wish to use the controllers that are bundled with the
system than that's fine, the connector ports allow you to use
official Nintendo controllers as well as every Nintendo based
accessory such as the NES Advantage or NES Max.
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The console is made of a cheaper
plastic and is very light, but it's not cheap enough to break after a
small fall or anything, I just wouldn't be too rough with it if you
plan on having it last a very long time. This isn't first party
Nintendo quality here, but it's not a weakling either. Just be gentle
with it, especially when removing NES cartridges from the unit
itself, it grips the games pretty good and may require you to brace
down the system when taking the games out. This is common with almost
every clone system on the market, though. The quality of the
controller is about the same. While it's a responsive controller when
playing games and the buttons give you a good click, it's fairly
hollow inside and the cord is really think and feels like it could
separate if given enough force. So the mantra here is to be gentle
with the Retro Entertainment System, especially if you want it to
last a good while.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Like with most of the clone
consoles on the market the RES does not have 100% compatibility. It
does not play games like Castlevania 3 and there is a small list of
other titles that are incompatible on the unit, luckily some of them
I don't own and for the ones I do I can play them in my original NES
so this isn't a problem for me. Luckily it does handle the Game Genie
nicely, which is a huge plus for me since I do enjoy using the cheat
codes while playing certain games, especially those that are such
ball busters that I can't get out of the first level. Yeah, you games
know which ones you are you bastards.
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1j4WXqRqXrrS_LBjHddjwLsHZVM0cds9ZUOH9UON9wOXFM3g1N6F7lOu7TcsOchY56LxvYwhgfuLHUKMa54YjnFZCusz-1tqlOLNZ1IGWyz8iRICYjD69aZwrShJolvRppCJeZoRQDd8/s1600/RES3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1j4WXqRqXrrS_LBjHddjwLsHZVM0cds9ZUOH9UON9wOXFM3g1N6F7lOu7TcsOchY56LxvYwhgfuLHUKMa54YjnFZCusz-1tqlOLNZ1IGWyz8iRICYjD69aZwrShJolvRppCJeZoRQDd8/s320/RES3.jpg" width="320" /></a> There seems to be a lot of debate
over whether or not someone should invest in an NES clone. To me
there was no debate, mainly because I love to collect hardware and I
am in the boat that believes that eventually the original first party
hardware is just going to fail and that the 72-pin connector swap is
mainly a band-aid fix that has been met with so-so results. So why
take the risk? Sure, every good collector has an original NES system
in their collection, some may even have a top loader, but there is
absolutely nothing wrong in investing into a clone system that will
handle the job while the classic consoles rest nicely in retirement.
Think about it this way: Let's say that you were a business owner and
old Henry was 80 years old and couldn't handle the job very well
anymore but yet he's a good friend and a loyal employee. Wouldn't you
want to try to find a way to keep him around while you hire someone
extra to pick up the slack in the downtime? Sure you would! Think of
a clone system as doing just that and it will quickly become not such
a bad idea. The Retro Entertainment System, the Generation NEX, the
Yobo, the FC Twin, the RetroN 3 (and soon to be 5), and the Retro-Duo
do just that and they do it well. Besides, some of these clone
systems you can get for next to nothing on eBay and/or Amazon, so in
essence you don't have a lot to risk in picking one up. I suggest you
do it and if you do, please feel free to let me know how it all
turned out, I'm not hard to find.<br />
<br />
UPDATED on 10/6/13: Well, the thing didn't make it past September and is no longer working. Too bad too, it was a fun little unit but I guess the Generation NEX or the upcoming Retron 5 would be better substitutes for the real thing if you're looking to put less wear and tear on your original hardware.</div>
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@OfficialRVGA</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 16px;">© 2013 Bill Mulligan</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026762501111568129.post-64999467749243823242013-05-28T05:41:00.000-07:002013-05-28T05:57:36.571-07:00The Retro Video Game Addict covers: The Dynamite Entertainment Pulp Revolution.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieGkDRMZcekOPHkn8ScD3fWyQM-VBQFGrJFEypyeZ8tydYCcsLS5jsEZlyHkZyw4oIpWGdzpyLjwpJUMsaMztMOYBIQCe2Gx6vIhF6sJO9ltONDJPYANEREnuoSuV3hqP7gPs9q2UFghQ/s1600/MASKS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieGkDRMZcekOPHkn8ScD3fWyQM-VBQFGrJFEypyeZ8tydYCcsLS5jsEZlyHkZyw4oIpWGdzpyLjwpJUMsaMztMOYBIQCe2Gx6vIhF6sJO9ltONDJPYANEREnuoSuV3hqP7gPs9q2UFghQ/s320/MASKS.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Yeah, yeah. I know what you're
thinking. “Why is there an article about comic books on a retro
video game blog site?”. Well, to tell you the truth, I'm not
exactly sure. I was just laying around doing nothing and I suddenly
felt the need to sit down and type out my feelings on the pulp
storytelling movement that is currently happening over at Dynamite
Entertainment. For those who don't know what I'm talking about,
relax, this won't hurt (I swear!) and you may find yourself kind of
interested in what I have to say. But before I do I have to let you
in on a little secret. You ready? Here it comes.....<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
Superheroes no longer have to
wear spandex.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
There, I said it! Dynamite
Entertainment has enlisted quite the crew to bring us comic book
readers some of the absolute best comics on store shelves right now
and these characters are not spandex clad and do not leap tall
buildings in a single bound. They're normal human beings just like
you and me, but with a few dollars in the bank that allows them to do
what they do. These characters were popular back in the 30's and 40's
but have basically been absent from the public eye for several
decades until a company known as Dynamite Entertainment picked them
up and decided to publish comics based around these characters for
both fans of the originals and a bold new modern audience. This was a
risky task considering modern comic book fans are used to their
heroes having superpowers and being either mutants or tricked out in
some colorful superhero gear. Not these heroes! These guys are
packing heat, wearing fine business suits, ankle long trench coats,
and many of them protect their identities with cheap eye coverings
and fedora's. Take that Spider-Man!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
This style of “pulp hero” is
something that actually found popularity before the traditional
superhero ever graced a comic book page. Comic books started finding
their ways to newsstands sometime in the mid 1930's while pulp books
have been printed since the very early 1900's, and the differences
between a superhero and a “pulp hero” is that the pulp hero will
shoot you clean between your eyes and leave for you for dead while
the superhero will try to rehabilitate you. Pulp storytelling is a
violent, take no prisoners, affair that has found it's way back into
readers hands for what appears to be a long haul and something I've
personally taken to over the past couple of years.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Dynamite publishes a lot more pulp
characters than the ones I'm going to discuss in this blog but I'm
choosing to discuss the pulp heroes in the traditional sense. They
publish comics based on John Carter, Zorro, Lone Ranger, Tarzan, and
a few others, but this blog entry is geared more toward The Shadow,
The Spider, Green Hornet, The Black Bat, Miss Fury, and others. For
me (and many others) Dynamite hooked me on the pulp characters when
they first started publishing The Green Hornet sometime in 2010. The
Shadow in May of 2012 was another title that hooked me and then soon
after that they began putting out comics based around The Spider and
before you knew it more and more started trickling in. Luckily pretty
much all of the books within this line have been extremely well
written and feature art that fits the mood of the books. In other
words, it's been a hell of a ride.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvBC8hL_YcZ_xbSJu7_YHdd7xhqlzckLx9SS6Mr0VJqNnopJ1XvhNRtoB59cOa1seKMKilBWNHSvaBJQZHF4tvnsB8FY9UEttOCT79UvdX5FW6pNFajV6HheqYNiY9G6J1pE__qqxX3a0/s1600/TheShadow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvBC8hL_YcZ_xbSJu7_YHdd7xhqlzckLx9SS6Mr0VJqNnopJ1XvhNRtoB59cOa1seKMKilBWNHSvaBJQZHF4tvnsB8FY9UEttOCT79UvdX5FW6pNFajV6HheqYNiY9G6J1pE__qqxX3a0/s320/TheShadow.jpg" width="213" /></a> I like the fact that these heroes
are not scared to kill their enemies as opposed to the traditional
superheroes you get from DC and Marvel, it gives the books a sense of
unpredictability that you won't find elsewhere. These classic heroes
swear, smoke, drink, engage in adult “situations”, and kill with
the best of them. But all in the name of “justice”, of course.
And why not? Sometimes to preserve the law you need to break the law
and if killing a man who poisoned a city or who tossed an elderly
woman off of a rooftop after wiping out a bank full of hostages is
the only way to get the job done, than I say go for it. The only
alternative is either rehabilitation the criminals by locking them
away in Arkham, or delivering a super powered psychopath to the boys
in blue. And I think we all know how that turns out, you see what I'm
saying?
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Now, I'd like to take a few
moments to talk about a few of the specific titles within the pulp
line Dynamite had going on. The firs title I would like to discuss
with you would be their flagship book, The Shadow, which was launched
by the legendary writer known the industry over as Garth Ennis. The
opening arc was a mixed bag to many fans, it seemed like they either
loved it or hated it (I enjoyed it quite a bit) but the sales
remained strong and the story was quite compelling. The artist on the
book illustrates The Shadow and his 1930's surroundings perfectly and
the artist that took over the book on it's 12<sup>th</sup> issue
gives the title a flair that is up there with some of the best
pencilers in the comic book industry. It's just remarkable. The story
is dark and violent and The Shadow pulls no punches as he fights
criminals in New York and over seas, bringing justice in the only way
he knows how: Through the barrels of his double pistols. Make no
mistake here kids, this isn't you're friendly neighborhood Spider-Man
or your classic red cape who is vowing to bring us “justice in the
American way”, no, this head crackin' to the 10<sup>th</sup> degree
and definitely not for anyone under the age of 14 or 15.
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJtUsjIeXt0seKu7GJVpR1iH0rLNiMWEgstbiTbHcYKFhWhR2LI4ow71r6DTTxeclS4BLD6YWK15kSZCOhSq59_wiU0UAc6YQkzNUwqTBSDBOwrhW9szBiVTY_Isk2Pujvzxi6x55Xo3M/s1600/blackbat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJtUsjIeXt0seKu7GJVpR1iH0rLNiMWEgstbiTbHcYKFhWhR2LI4ow71r6DTTxeclS4BLD6YWK15kSZCOhSq59_wiU0UAc6YQkzNUwqTBSDBOwrhW9szBiVTY_Isk2Pujvzxi6x55Xo3M/s320/blackbat.jpg" width="213" /></a> The Spider is very similar. This
book features a hero who is defending his city against crazed
lunatics on a daily basis while trying to keep an eye on the woman he
loves who just happens to be married to his closest friend, the
police chief. Most of the book is written with The Spider trying to
use the police to help him solve mysteries while trying to keep his
identity safe while he desperately wants to win back his true love.
It's remarkable how this book cliff hangs and pulls you in for the
next issue, it's definitely underrated and deserves all the readers
it can get. In fact, Dynamite almost pulled the plug on it as of it's
12<sup>th</sup> issue, but fan outcry on the Dynamite forums and on
Twitter helped to #SaveTheSpider and the book is solicited to it's
15<sup>th</sup> issue as of this writing. The writing in this book is
top notch and some of David Liss' finest work, the art was phenomenal
as well with the original artist and even better with Ivan Rodriguez
since he's taken over pencils as of a few months back. Stellar colors
and inks set this book apart as a real looker too, everything is just
solid all around.
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The Green Hornet is off to a
masterful start as Mark Waid takes the character back to his original
roots. Don't confuse this book with the existing Green Hornet title
that was launched by Kevin Smith, though! That Green Hornet title has
been rebranded as “Legacy” and follows the adventures of the
original Hornet's son in the modern day while Waid's book follows the
original Green Hornet in his native setting. Both book are great and
should be given a chance but the newer of the two GH comics is the
top dog in the eyes of Dynamite and their readers. Waid's art and
Indro's pencils couple to make a kick in the ass that reviewers all
over the world have said is the best rendition of The Green Hornet to
date, which is a huge compliment seeing as how the character has been
around since the late 30's or early </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdo1sgj2w-0p6WEVC2a_TO0BiHtrRvBBNI8aZy1CjCMapc7XYpecO3tHsFtrhw96lDjKwYaSpFUx2FZa4auWablw768vhFGAlt2iXVT0wjA_UAbp8n9qkItUt93DPzJREIo-4TQimj9XE/s1600/TheSpider.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdo1sgj2w-0p6WEVC2a_TO0BiHtrRvBBNI8aZy1CjCMapc7XYpecO3tHsFtrhw96lDjKwYaSpFUx2FZa4auWablw768vhFGAlt2iXVT0wjA_UAbp8n9qkItUt93DPzJREIo-4TQimj9XE/s320/TheSpider.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
40's. And the book is just
getting started too, lot's more is on it's way including a crossover
title between The Green Hornet and The Shadow and more from the
“Legacy” book. For me, this character has the making of becoming
something truly special in the world of comics, especially with a top
tier talent like Mark Waid at the helm and art that pop's out at you
the way that it does. Phenomenal!<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="text-align: center;">I could go on and on about these
pulp titles. MASKS, Miss Fury, The Black Bat (a personal favorite),
and more.....but instead I'll just kick back and let you be the
judge. That's right. I CHALLENGE you to give these books a shot
whether it be through single issues, trade/GN's, or digitally through
Comixology and tell me that these aren't some of the most enjoyable
comics you've read in a while. Seriously, I think that as successful
as they are they've yet to truly scratch the surface and I believe
that this whole revolution will be something special that we'll
remember for quite some time to come, especially by those who
embraced the movement. So, with that said I want you to get down to
you're local comic book store or grab you're closest iOS or Android
device and snatch up some of these Dynamite Entertainment gems, I
truly think you'll see what I'm talking about and stay on board for
the long haul. If not than at least you can say you tried them, but
yeah, prepare for a long and blissful stay upon the S.S #PulpComics.
Cheers!</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-align: center;">#PulpComics #SaveTheSpider</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 16px;">© 2013 Bill Mulligan</span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026762501111568129.post-76904321863734935652013-05-23T06:05:00.003-07:002013-05-23T06:05:42.311-07:00The Retro Video Game Addict reviews: Hydlide for the NES!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilvjU8DI6rKFPMp2ZVUSFg1egS3SomAvgQaQNf1X0bBQRs4gdIQdANdhu3DIdplDlQHRSC87AJdixwdIbpWj9nJgMywXLuqwXhyphenhyphenrhuy8OeYXafhiCtS0xTsbysV5Jixw3TTk0uKCyMaKc/s1600/hydbox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilvjU8DI6rKFPMp2ZVUSFg1egS3SomAvgQaQNf1X0bBQRs4gdIQdANdhu3DIdplDlQHRSC87AJdixwdIbpWj9nJgMywXLuqwXhyphenhyphenrhuy8OeYXafhiCtS0xTsbysV5Jixw3TTk0uKCyMaKc/s320/hydbox.jpg" width="233" /></a><br />
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You know what's bad? Hydlide for the
Nintendo Entertainment System is pretty bad. Yeah, it's an
action/adventure/RPG that is a lot like The Legend of Zelda except
that The Legend of Zelda is a far superior game, but to Hydlide's
defense the game was create about 3 years prior to Zelda. That, of
course, was back before they had the technology to polish a game and
make it engrossing like they did with the original Zelda. It was
actually originally a PC game that had been released in 1984 that was
eventually ported over to the NES sometime in 1988, the problem is
that in the 4 years between it's original release and it's life on
the NES they didn't appear to do anything to make the game any
better. Since I've never played the PC version of the game in it's
entirety I have to assume that it's an exact port and that the
Nintendo version is the same as it's PC counterpart from start to
finish. Which is mind blowing to me in many ways because the NES was
capable of producing a much better game than this. Especially since
it had games out at the time that trump Hydlide in almost every
category you could rank them at.
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
This game really doesn't have much
going for it, either. The graphics are extremely poor, the control is
kinda slow and chunky, and it's one of those games where you cant
really tell if you're hitting the enemies or not. In combat when you
attack nothing really happens except for a small health bar that
appears at the top of the screen and depletes when an enemy is dying.
This makes things really difficult when fighting monsters because you
have no sense of spacing, you end up taking a lot of damage thanks to
your sword not moving outward to hit your opponent. Also, if your
enemy hits you first you have to back up before attacking again
otherwise you'll continue to lose heath, which is extremely annoying
and makes you want to punt an elderly woman in her jaw. Or better
yet, it's so annoying it makes you want to unleash a poisonous snake
into an </div>
infant ward at a hospital.<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKXZMf3oJ57KuPQhnnJtZMDyPK0ABxP27r_SOeEJWxghBnDuQ-i5nt-9ckEto-yVxHu0TJ-DWf1xOR3fbpylQOAoDYE0EcyVGrjq6RBvqbHQTS11pb1Rh8O-uUO1SpCHZxXJ2oireiwXU/s1600/hydlide1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKXZMf3oJ57KuPQhnnJtZMDyPK0ABxP27r_SOeEJWxghBnDuQ-i5nt-9ckEto-yVxHu0TJ-DWf1xOR3fbpylQOAoDYE0EcyVGrjq6RBvqbHQTS11pb1Rh8O-uUO1SpCHZxXJ2oireiwXU/s1600/hydlide1.png" /></a> Another thing I kind of dislike
about the game is that there is a lack of dungeons, or at least a
lack of cool dungeons I should say. For an action/adventure/RPG game
such as this I look forward to dungeon crawling and fighting awesome
bosses, but sadly Hydlide doesn't offer a whole lot of cool dungeons
or fun bosses with most of them being annoyingly fast skeletons or
some kind of variation of other monsters already in the game. Most of
Hydlide's dungeons are more like navigating houses from a top down
view. Instead of going into a dungeon and adventuring to the final
boss like in Zelda or a game like Dragon Warrior, the dungeons are
not presented on their own screens, they share the outside view along
with the grass and trees. The only time a dungeon becomes it's own
screen is if there is a downstairs or an upstairs, which happens from
time to time but isn't really fun or engaging and ends up being more
of a death maze more than anything.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggGf1c0chkH_q_PgDGB-cHILSWWvMmKuCco8CWlBSg6hca-h7QGNeY66BsPPZ1fDr3xvqcCLOQgodvMMaQd368tsLkuGBbdghUW4L4aNZvjgX3Ns4Q_W-AdOwFF9U2M2WjMQ3BY9rmoUY/s1600/Hydelide3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggGf1c0chkH_q_PgDGB-cHILSWWvMmKuCco8CWlBSg6hca-h7QGNeY66BsPPZ1fDr3xvqcCLOQgodvMMaQd368tsLkuGBbdghUW4L4aNZvjgX3Ns4Q_W-AdOwFF9U2M2WjMQ3BY9rmoUY/s1600/Hydelide3.png" /></a> The game as a whole wasn't really
popular either. I personally knew one person who had it back in the
“NES Age” and he didn't really play it much, in fact almost every
review I've read basically ranks this game among the worst in the NES
library. But was it really all that bad? I mean, yeah, it's
bad.....but it isn't the worst game in the extensive annals of the
NES, that will forever be reserved by Impossible Mission II.
Impossible Mission II was a game so bad it was unlicensed by Nintendo
and I happened to buy it for $7 during the NES' prime. In a time when
Nintendo games were $49.95 brand new you knew you were getting a real
classic when you found one for under $10 still in it's factory seal.
Could you sense the sarcasm? I've also played a few other games that
suffered from worse game play mechanics, worse music, worse control,
and other factors that would lead me to play this game before I even
looked at them. So I guess all in all Hydlide is just bad and not
completely terrible like some would lead you to believe.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidHTPWW0u2E8EqNggH5jth8IGdGYyB8QCWrICrLjuLJlDMLwX5GZqI9Gk46G-HbgwYZHxFJSAT3-XxcqrlqL6FSST6DT8bY2766mpWXid7m08cKSEvjE_sYsU0dwMbbexBSGWKuWl_i2s/s1600/Hydelide2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidHTPWW0u2E8EqNggH5jth8IGdGYyB8QCWrICrLjuLJlDMLwX5GZqI9Gk46G-HbgwYZHxFJSAT3-XxcqrlqL6FSST6DT8bY2766mpWXid7m08cKSEvjE_sYsU0dwMbbexBSGWKuWl_i2s/s320/Hydelide2.jpg" width="320" /></a> And with that said, Hydlide does
have some charming aspects to it that actually make it quite fun at
times. First of all, the music is pretty catchy. Sure, it's a simple
looping theme that sounds a bit like the Indiana Jones theme and
doesn't have a whole lot behind it, but it does kind of makes you hum
along to the soundtrack while your playing. And second, the main
character moves at a speed that makes it kind of easy to escape a
potentially bad and/or hazardous situations. I actually like that in
my video games. I know that isn't a glaring example as to why someone
should purchase and play Hydlide, but at least it's something to
separate this title from the sea of bullshit that is floating around
out there. But that's about where the good graces of this game come
to an end. I think one of the must frustrating aspects of this game is that it takes place within a small window on the screen thanks to an overlay that takes up a great deal of space. Was this really necessary? You're health, magic, and XP bar are located on the side of the screen on what looks to be a brick wall that also shows a small picture of your character alongside another bar that for some reason shows you if you're defending or attacking. To make matters even worse the brick wall that takes up almost half your screen manages to display the Hydlide logo at the top while showing the name of the game along the bottom. That's some serious bullshit because the player obviously knows what game they're playing and there was no need to spam the title on the screen twice. Well, instead of going off more about how disappointed I was
with Hydlide I think I'll just wrap this puppy up and hit you with the final numbers......</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
Graphics/Visuals - 4.0</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
Sound/Music - 7.5</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
Controls/Handling - 7.0</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
Fun/Enjoyment - 4.0</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 16px;">© 2013 Bill Mulligan</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026762501111568129.post-5967386615440460102013-05-17T06:37:00.001-07:002013-05-21T16:38:01.494-07:00The Retro Video Game Addict reviews: Contra for the NES!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdB47T4C1jNuLEkxr1GmqzHLoIa2TQt4d8_bHJ16aMJw-Zd1Bpxs5h0hpW8Ezv9eKmffZA-ysVxvglJQxxrQUjABJkxfnSsgIsbuL8X6-IZ1jAAU0Xiu_lYJk4WwhpobMB1Ad03Rsx43w/s1600/Contrabox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdB47T4C1jNuLEkxr1GmqzHLoIa2TQt4d8_bHJ16aMJw-Zd1Bpxs5h0hpW8Ezv9eKmffZA-ysVxvglJQxxrQUjABJkxfnSsgIsbuL8X6-IZ1jAAU0Xiu_lYJk4WwhpobMB1Ad03Rsx43w/s400/Contrabox.jpg" width="290" /></a>Why hello there! Welcome to the first
installment of The Retro Video Game Addict's reviews and insight
blog, a place that both celebrates the great retro games of good and
humiliates the crappy retro games of bad.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The first game I am going to
review for the new blog is a game that is very well known to fans of
classic video games thanks to it's extreme popularity and the fact
that this game helped to popularize a code that many video game fans
still know to this day. The code is known as the “Konami Code”
but many refer to it as the “Contra Code” since Contra is the
game that made the configuration famous. That's right boys and girls,
today The Retro Video Game Addict is going to review Contra for the
Nintendo Entertainment System!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Ur4vwDh2GoIQAtpvapVuhSFwQQ3WPPFwZJwjFWf_4r6H3noN8AjzH6FGyBzCoS-BhQ-y_T7PI7GWMSHokFnVzklZtjf6xHyoXEXdoVzD9FqjhLkMZo8j0Vtc6RZyiEjXpEOYx48WQUc/s1600/Contragp1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Ur4vwDh2GoIQAtpvapVuhSFwQQ3WPPFwZJwjFWf_4r6H3noN8AjzH6FGyBzCoS-BhQ-y_T7PI7GWMSHokFnVzklZtjf6xHyoXEXdoVzD9FqjhLkMZo8j0Vtc6RZyiEjXpEOYx48WQUc/s320/Contragp1.jpg" width="320" /></a> Ah yes, many of you may remember
countless late nights on the couch or early mornings in your bedrooms
navigating the fierce jungles or other intense locations within
Contra, but I know that all of you surely remember just how fucking
hard this game actually was. This game wasn't just hard, it was a god
damn ball buster, but it was also fun as hell once you've entered in
the “Konami Code” and settled down with a second player to
proceed into what sometimes felt like a long, slow, ass raping. It's
difficulty aside, I would say that this game was truly one of the
most prolific 2-player games on the NES and certainly one of the most
popular. I didn't know anyone who didn't own this game back in the
heyday of the Nintendo Entertainment System, or at least I didn't
know anyone who hadn't at least played it. Contra was seemingly
everywhere and the game was so popular it spawned some sequels on the
NES and eventually quite a few other platforms like the Gameboy,
Super Nintendo, Genesis, and even the Playstation, but none of them
quite captured the awe-inspiring greatness of the original classic. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF58TdFgafipFE8X6T9ahOBEAgSpxUxcxJBFojCEw1SRLZZfoAsarMru0GZHpyCePpLlvy0hUmViDH0PZ0eW0alAlaJn9N-qiCUmepeWZVA9ahEmULTuGrWI1Bd5KPcoUdnE07C9evgfs/s1600/Contragp2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF58TdFgafipFE8X6T9ahOBEAgSpxUxcxJBFojCEw1SRLZZfoAsarMru0GZHpyCePpLlvy0hUmViDH0PZ0eW0alAlaJn9N-qiCUmepeWZVA9ahEmULTuGrWI1Bd5KPcoUdnE07C9evgfs/s320/Contragp2.jpg" width="320" /></a> The story of the game as well as
the gameplay itself was pretty basic. It revolved around two armed
soldiers, Lance and Billy, as they scour an unnamed South American
island aiming to destroy a terrorist organization that was trying to
take over the Earth in a “run n' gun” gameplay simulation . Bam!
No 6 hour story here. No dramatic cut scenes that look like they were
ripped out of a horrible blockbuster movie. Nope, just about 2 ½
hours worth of intense side-scrolling action and a couple of bloody
thumbs. This is exactly the kind of game that both kids and adults
were addicted to some 20-25 years ago and if you were playing
alongside another player than it didn't get much better than this.
You got to love it!</div>
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See, if this game came out today
you'd have a 7 or 8 hour video game with extremely well done cut
scenes that would take up about ¾ of the actual content leaving you
with about 2 hours worth of solid gameplay. The developers would do
their best to discreetly hide this with a multiplayer option that
would be cluttered full of 12 year old boys calling everyone “noobs”
as they blast their way to a high score. Yeah, that sounds like it
would be well worth my $60! Please. Some games were truly meant to be
what they were and Contra is certainly one of them, there is
absolutely no need to release this franchise on current generation
hardware since the developers would most likely just ruin it with
pile after pile of modern bullshit. No thanks, kiddies. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFuZseNK-rUSwwY9bAJFaIdEXx_HSnImJY1ChcChTye2kY5HQ0kwbJuU0qyUDu60PYxk-VJSHFquBHwSeRbUMg1prxIWg6tQOFUCrq9VFFTdBnwBvIi-7B5YQ2rbFEAVyQimbOJITfDJw/s1600/Contrastart.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFuZseNK-rUSwwY9bAJFaIdEXx_HSnImJY1ChcChTye2kY5HQ0kwbJuU0qyUDu60PYxk-VJSHFquBHwSeRbUMg1prxIWg6tQOFUCrq9VFFTdBnwBvIi-7B5YQ2rbFEAVyQimbOJITfDJw/s1600/Contrastart.png" /></a> Some of my personal memories with this game include a buddy of mine, Kenny M, coming over some mornings and playing this game with me before we had to go to school. I've also played this game quite extensively with my friends Chris B and Kenny K, it seemed like I've put hours of time into the game in the single player mode but the 2-player option is what has made me fall in love with Contra. I remember sitting on my bed with my friend Chris one Sunday afternoon and we slammed this game into my NES and we didn't stop until we hit the end, it was a grueling test of skill and effort but we made it and I'll always remember that day as long as I live. Contra is one of those games that you just remember putting quite a bit of time into though you've probably not many people who have actually completed the game without using the code or an apparatus like a Game Genie, it's just too damn difficult. But I guess that was somewhat the norm back in the ol' NES days, the library of games that were just too insanely difficult is too long to list but yet it didn't stop people from trying. I think if this was the case with today's games people would pack it up and run quicker than a Jewish man depositing his check in the bank. Seriously, today's "gamer" has grown too fickle and they don't seem to want to put too much time or effort into their games anymore. But not us children from the 80's, oh no, we would keep pounding away until we broke some ground and got the job done. </div>
And now we will discuss the actual game and where it's strengths and weaknesses are found. First of all, we've got to talk about the sound effect and music within Contra and how they strike a sense of nostalgia with those who grew up playing the game. Everything from the theme that plays while the start screen comes up after pressing the power button to the sounds of the guns going off is quite frankly the stuff of legend among gamers. The 8-bit music that can be heard while running through each level has become "humming" tunes for many of us and I would say that Contra had some pretty fun tunes throughout the game. Honestly though I've got to say that it's been a while since I've made it past the first few levels so I don't remember all of the music, but I do remember a good portion of it which speaks volumes since I haven't heard much of it in close to 20 years.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDX6JllTYgdR68q2DIUNWeiGQ0B0hrbchyphenhyphenP66Tz8qMg01W3GImhzIn-INB_13QbfdujjYGExxYv2KhAYigbmjWoSFDqMhBjo6g48dxOQOsk9pyED33rh-lxMGV0YS_MgMiaa1V3TprhXU/s1600/contracode.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDX6JllTYgdR68q2DIUNWeiGQ0B0hrbchyphenhyphenP66Tz8qMg01W3GImhzIn-INB_13QbfdujjYGExxYv2KhAYigbmjWoSFDqMhBjo6g48dxOQOsk9pyED33rh-lxMGV0YS_MgMiaa1V3TprhXU/s320/contracode.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
The game controls just fine, everything is responsive and I wouldn't say it struggles with sluggish performance or anything, it can just be very annoying when bullets are flying everywhere and it becomes insanely hard to dodge them while you're making your way through the level. The graphics are pretty nice and represented the NES quite well back in the day. The visuals are nothing too outstanding mind you, but you can clearly see where you need to jump and there is no major weakness in this category as everything looks fine. It's funny how developers were able to get so much more out of the NES toward the end of it's life-cycle with games that have visuals that put Contra to shame, but I guess that could be said for any video game console. But most importantly the game is fun, and that's why we play games....correct? For the fun? Yeah, that's exactly why people played video games back in the day but I'm not entirely sure that's why people are playing video games today for whatever reason, but that's another blog for another time. And now onto the totals......<br />
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Graphics/Visuals - 7.5</div>
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Sound/Music - 8.0</div>
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Controls/Handling - 8.5</div>
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Fun/Enjoyment - 8.0</div>
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Well, I hope you enjoyed the first entry into The Retro Video Game Addict! Thanks for reading and I hope to see you come back for more as I keep adding new reviews and insight on retro video gaming, take care!<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 16px;">© 2013 Bill Mulligan</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5