With Super Mario Bros. Wonder being recently released, everyone is talking about the new power-up that turns Mario into an elephant! I didn’t realize Mario was such a University of Alabama fan! He DOES wear red all the time, though! Roll Tide, Mario, Roll Tide! Anyway, Elephant Mario isn’t the ONLY elephant in video games, so I thought I’d talk about my other top video game elephants. So let’s stomp our feet and trumpet our nose! These aren’t in any particular order or anything, though.
September 15 is my birthday, but the presents are for you! More recent game reviews I’ve written over at GamerDad.com for you to read and post ‘likes’ and comments on. And thanks for doing that. And since it’s my birthday, in the comments section here, please give me a pretend birthday present! It’s the thought that counts, literally! And it’s fun. OK let’s begin!
1995, I remember it well. . . Not so well, actually, so that's why I go through the list of video games on wiki again. The biggest US games of '95 were Daytona USA and Mortal Kombat 3, but I got other ideas, a bunch of them:
No, not real ticks, but THE Tick, the animated 1990s TV show based on the comic of the same name by Ben Edlund. I love this show so much: the big band swing style opening music, the humorous parodies of super heroes, the shear wackiness of the stories, and the loads of visual jokes that go on in the background or worked into a scene. It's smart, it's fun, it's silly; a perfect triple scoop icecream cone of a show. Oh, and I played a load of video games too. See below.
I picked up a few games today at Game Junkies along the lines of early 90s (2 Genesis, 2 SNES and 1 NES game) but not any of these listed below which were unavailable or pricey. Good thing many of them are available digitally with subscriptions or relatively cheap. Here's my list for '92.
Interesting year dominated by Street Fighter II and TMNT in the arcades. Bungie and ID companies were founded and GameInformer began this year. I made a list of stuff I wish to revisit or try for the first time. Thought I'd share it.
Oh, watched the whole first disc of Batman The Animated series and discovered this video game show called Video Power. It's from the 90s. It has a kid DJ who gives you tips on games before and after a pretty lame animated cartoon. I just skip the cartoon and see what he has to say about Shinobi or whatever game it is that episode. Commercials plug the Tiger handheld games relentlessly in the first episode. Aside from the watching, there's the playing disclosed below.
It's almost August when I will be focusing my retro gaming on the 90s. That's NES, Genesis, SNES, PS and N64 for me. I don't have a Saturn anymore, never had a TG-16 or Neo Geo, and I didn't play handheld games until the DS. However I do now have the option to play Game Boy and GBC games on my Gamecube's GameBoy Player. So I may break that out too. Here's a list of stuff I'm interested in from 1990, more or less.
I played a lot on Xbox Series S this week, but also used my DS, Swtich, PS4 and Retron 3. Gaming breaks included watching another episode of Mighy Orbots, Return of Ultraman, and Dragon Ball Season 2. Also saw a variety of short youtube videos.
My weekends (which are midweek) are a mix of gaming and schlocky TV and youtube watching with my friend MAD Krammer (Xbox gamer tag).
Around this time of year, I like to make a list of my best games SO FAR, because usually the AAA titles are released later in the year during the holiday season, and the titles that came out earlier tend to be forgotten. So here’s when those games get their due. Keep in mind that this is my list only and no other outside opinions contributed. And if a game isn’t on this list, it either just didn’t appeal to me as much or I haven’t had a chance to play it yet. Ok with that out of the way, let’s begin!
So you know how the Mario Bros. are plumbers and they fell into a pipe that led them to the Mushroom Kingdom? Well, I work in the plumbing department of a major hardware store, so I guess the same thing happened to me! So in this blog, you’ll read all about my adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom, and how I was able to defeat Bowser three times in one morning. Take that, Mario! So yeah, I went to Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood a few weeks ago, so here’s my detailed account and experiences of the whole thing.
Hey folks, I have some big news for you all! You know how the Super Mario Bros. Movie is coming out soon, right? Well if you go to see it, make sure to watch the credits because my name is in there under “Plumbing Consultant.” You see, in the movie, it shows the bros. as plumbers, and the animators needed to make sure the pipes they were working on looked correct. And since I work in the plumbing section of a major hardware store chain (true story), they had me do that. So why didn’t they hire a real plumber for that? Well, licensed plumbers are expensive, and they wanted to save some money so they had me do it instead. And because I do work for a major hardware store, they’re partnering with the Mario movie to sell special plumbing tools. So for a limited time, you can get plumbing wrenches, pipe cutters, and plungers with red or green handles, like Mario and Luigi!
I returned to ReCore, after having played the demo in 2017, a few weeks ago on a random spin of the "Surprise Me" button on Xbox and enjoyed it enough to keep going with it all that week. Check it out.
Wake up early and pour a bowl of your favorite sugary cereal as we look at more games I’ve recently reviewed at GamerDad.com. A lot of the games on this batch were Saturday Morning cartoons at one point, or at least look like they could be. But then, most games I review are probably like that. Anyway, please click on the links and read as many reviews as you can, and maybe even post a ‘like’ or comment or two. I’d appreciate it. And now it’s back to the show!
Happy New Year! Around this time of year, I like to make a list of games that are releasing in the coming year that I’m looking forward to. Of course, this isn’t a full complete list, as there will assuredly be titles announced throughout the year that I may get as well. Heck, last year we didn’t know about Pac-Man World: Re-Pac until late summer, and that ended up being my Game of the Year in 2022! But anyway, here’s what I know now, for the most part, so let’s take a look at what games I’m looking forward to in 2023!
It’s the end of the year so you know what that means? It’s time for my “Best Games of 2022 Awards Show!” Keep in mind that this is my list only and no other outside opinions contributed. And if a game isn’t on this list, it either just didn’t appeal to me as much or I haven’t had a chance to play it yet. Ok with that out of the way, let’s begin!
Willow is a 1988 dark fantasy movie I never watched as a child. Yet the name still rings a nostalgic bell in my brain. Strangely, I didn’t consciously pay it much attention until I stumbled across the NES game sometime in the mid-2000s. But seeing the name and characters on the cover felt deeply familiar in a way I still grapple to understand. Maybe I saw the movie poster and heard its name in passing as a kid but didn’t think much of it until discovering the video game later in life. Initially released by Capcom in 1989, Willow was a calculated attempt to create a game with broader appeal since it was based on a property with characters familiar to its audience. Fortunately for Capcom, those calculations were entirely correct.
Thanksgiving is coming up, so I’ve prepared for you all a feast 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 post a like or comment or two. I’d appreciate it. After this feast of game reviews, you should all have nice fat little full bellies when you’re done reading them all!
Guess what week this is? It’s my birthday! (Sept. 15). But I’ve got presents for YOU! New reviews I’ve written over at GamerDad.com! Just what you’ve always wanted! Please click on the links and read as many as you can and maybe post a ‘like’ or comment or two. I’d appreciate it. And in the comments section here, just for fun why don’t you give me a pretend birthday present! It’s the thought that counts…literally! It won’t cost you a thing and I love seeing what you all come up with.
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.
Can you believe Klonoa has been around for 25 years? That makes me feel REALLY old! I remember when I first played that game in college and reviewed it for The Dallas Morning News. If you don’t know (and shame on you if you don’t), Klonoa is a series of (mostly) 2D platformers by Namco. And they’re really good, too! The quality of these games really had an impact on me and they’re some of my favorite titles on the PSOne and PS2. For the 25th Anniversary, Namco released a collection of the PSOne and PS2 main games, which we’ll talk about here. But we’ll also go through the other games in the series as well! Oh yeah, there may be some spoilers here and there, but I’ll warn you when they come up.
Here’s some reviews I’ve recently posted this month at GamerDad.com. Please click on the links and read as many as you can, and maybe post a ‘like’ or comment or two. I’d appreciate it. OK let’s begin!
