Pac-Man World: Re-Pac was recently released, and it’s a remake of Pac-Man World, a 3-D platformer originally on the PSOne to celebrate Pac-Man’s 20th anniversary. Pac-Man World may not be one of my favorite Pac-Man games, but I have a lot of special memories about it that I thought I’d share with you in this blog. Plus my opinion on the remake, what has changed and stayed the same, etc. So grab a bowl of Pac-Dots and let’s get chomping!
For years, there has been a heated debate among fans of the Mega Man series regarding which one is the best of the original hexalogy. After the facts have been laid out and philosophical life lessons thoroughly dissected, the debate usually boils down to Mega Man 2 vs. Mega Man 3. Which is the greater of the two? Well, no matter which side you’re on, we can all agree on the thing- the cover art for Mega Man 3 finally got it right! No more awkward stances or that pistol-for-an-arm-cannon nonsense. Of course, he didn’t look as good as on the Famicom cover, but that’s another argument.
Microsoft Rewards had me doing a lot of things like a bing daily set of quizzes and achievement hunting today. I needed three achievements in anything and one in Back 4 Blood that counted for two different rewards. The beginning of the month always has a lot of challenges. Then I tried a Game Pass game I thought looked interesting.
Witnessing the leap from the NES to the new 16-bit Super Nintendo in 1991 was downright magical. The console had an eye-catching futuristic design (in the eyes of my six-year-old self anyway), and the hardware produced higher-quality graphics and sound that delivered an experience impossible for the previous generation. And what better title to lead the charge than Super Mario World? I remember seeing the game for the first time at a graduation party for a friend going to middle school. We all huddled around her TV, taking turns playing the game. As soon as that giant Banzai Bill streaked across the screen, I was hooked.
WarioWare: Get it Together was recently released on Switch, so in honor of that, I wanted to write a blog about it! At first I thought about talking about all the games in the WarioWare series, but I did that last time a new WarioWare game came out, so you can just read that blog here if you want. Not much would’ve changed anyway if I did it again. But WarioWare: Get it Together has a focus on characters, so I figured I’d go over all the crazy characters in the series and how they play in this game! So let’s get started!
Donkey Kong made me a fan of Nintendo very early on. To this day, DK is my favorite arcade game of all time. I loved it for being one of the most colorful, expressive games out there. It was probably as close as you could get in the early 80s to having a playable cartoon show. So naturally, when more Nintendo games started showing up at the arcade, my young self was excited. And if any game could tear me away from DK, it was Mario Bros.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword was an odd beast for many reasons. It originally released in 2011 for the Wii, and had a lot of expectations to live up to, both from fans and from Nintendo's financial department. Unfortunately, it met with a sharply divided reception among both, in no small part because Skyward Sword often got in its own way with its design.
It all began on this day 40 years ago, in 1981. Nintendo- a then-obscure arcade machine manufacturer- had a problem with their latest game, Radar Scope. The machines weren’t selling as well as hoped, so the company decided to refit the unsold units with a brand new game. Young staff artist Shigeru Miyamoto was tasked with creating an arcade game that would capture the attention of the American audience. The finished product starred a stressed-out gorilla with an infinite supply of barrels who wasn't afraid to use them. It's the stubborn monkey himself, Donkey Kong.
Games for sure but I also participated in Record Store Day and went to a PA Dutch Smorgasborg. There was a harvest of peas too and texting with a friend I haven't seen for a few years. What else? Think that's it. Here are details on gaming.
After playing Duck Hunt as a child in 1987, I became an instant fan of Nintendo's Zapper peripheral. There was something magical about pointing the orange & grey gun at the screen and seeing the game respond to my attempts at shooting the waterfowl flying about. As the years passed, I played other enjoyable Zapper games like Hogan's Alley, Wild Gunman, and Barker Bill's Trick Shooting. After such great experiences, I was convinced that all Nintendo-developed light gun games were as good as the previous ones I played. "They can do no wrong!" I said—famous last words of a naive fool.
Got another batch of game reviews I’ve recently written over at GamerDad.com. Please click on the links and read as many as you can, and maybe even post a ‘like’ or comment or two. I’d really appreciate it. OK let’s begin!
I've moved on from Dragon Quest 11, and am ten hours into Tales of Vesperia now. I played it originally on the Xbox 360, but never finished it. When it came out for Switch, I bought a hard copy of it, but I only dabbled in it until now. It's really a great game, and I forgot how enchanting the stories and characters can be in Tales games. The combat is a little dated now, but I have no complaints with it. The banter between the characters however, is timeless.
Games of the Decade: Expansion Pass #14/Blog a Day #17
Games of the Decade: Expansion Pass #20/Blog a Day #11
What IS an RPG? Well, it could mean many things these days - pen and paper Dungeons & Dragons, or Live Action Role Playing, or Pokemon training - its definition is broad. But its name tells you the secret - role playing is about taking on a role in a fictional setting. Some forms of RPGs, like D&D, involve more collaborative storytelling between players and gamemasters. Others only have lite-RPG elements, like some FPS and 3rd Person Action Games. It's a rather vague term that covers a lot of bases these days.
Good morning Pixlpeeps! I have some time after breakfast and before a phone call meeting so let’s do a quick recap of some of the games I may have been playing. Spoiler: there really isn’t that many games I’ve been playing, hell I spent more time installing a couple that playing.
Just an interactive novel where you learn the true depth of sorrow as a valkyrie who rescues the souls of dead soldiers and brings them to valhalla. Did you know crying is quite exhausting after a while? I mean, who can do ten hours of this? I wiped my eyes and played the following three games instead.
Miniature versions of classic game consoles with pre-loaded games has become very popular in the past few years. First we got mini versions of the NES and SNES, and then SEGA came out with one for the Genesis. And now we have the Turbo Grafx-16 Mini! It was supposed to come out last year, but got delayed. Because of the Corona virus, I didn’t think it would ever come out. But a couple of months ago, I got mine in the mail! I just now got a chance to play it, so we’ll take a look at all the games on it. Because there are so many games (almost 60), I’ll have to split this up into several parts over the next few weeks.
Hurry, hurry, hurry! Step right up for the latest theme park attraction! It’s a theme park based around Mr. Driller, and it’s all underground! Sounds safe enough, right? Anyway, Mr. Driller Drill Land was an awesome GameCube title, but it only stayed in Japan. But now you can download it on Nintendo Switch in the US! Finally! Each attraction represents a game mode in this theme park, and I’m going to take you on a tour of all of them! So let’s begin!
Oh baby, yeah, library additions. How much more navel gazing can I do? Well, a lot apparently, and you all have to put up with it, or not. Believe me, I will go if asked.
Which is to say, lots more retro gaming today. I also finished watching Dragon Quest Your Story on Netflix. It's just ok for most of it but the ending is a feast for the eyes and presents an unexpected twist. I liked it.
