Expansion Pass 2 Game #9/Blog a Day #19
Better than just, "Played" and a timestamp. I've always been a fan of the absurd and dada art procedures. Why should I make sense in a senseless world? RIght? Well, the rest of this is pretty sensible. Played these on 11-14-2021. Satisfied?
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.
The Game Boy- created by the late Gunpei Yokoi- was Nintendo's first handheld system to mix the portability of the Game & Watch with the seemingly infinite possibilities of interchangeable cartridges. Although Tetris was the pack-in game with every unit, Nintendo still wanted to have at least one title in the 1989 launch lineup that their consumer base would instantly recognize.
First up on my journey are launch games, November 2001. I have two and another on the way but I have to start with what I know best and that's Halo: Combat Evolved.
Games of the Decade: Expansion Pass #29/Blog a Day #2
WORST. YEAR. EVER. I think we can all agree that 2020 has been one of the worst years in our lifetime, what with the Coronavirus, quarantines, riots and looting, politics, and much more. And it doesn’t seem to be getting any better, as I just found out my mom has breast cancer (keep us in your prayers). Some days I wonder if we’ll EVER get through this. 2020 can just suck it! But at least we’ve had some good video games come out to help keep our minds off of this dumpster fire of a year. So here’s my Best Games of 2020 Awards Show! But keep in mind that this is my list and my picks only, no outside opinions and whatnot. And if a game isn’t on my list, it either just didn’t appeal to me or I haven’t played it yet. Can’t play ‘em all, you know! But with that out of the way, let’s take a look at my picks.
A rather ugly year for me as my work changed management and made me feel totally unimportant. I managed to hang in there that year, but everyone else I had worked with for 8 years left, to be replaced by people I didn't know. Very stressful and not fun. But these bits of media below were fun. Check 'em out.
I played this game in Game Pass last week. It was for rewards points, but I really liked it and kept playing. Here's the trailer.
WORST. YEAR. EVER. I think we can all agree that 2020 has been one of the worst years in our lifetime, what with the Coronavirus, quarantines, riots and looting, and much more. Some days I wonder if we’ll EVER get through this. But there is one good thing about this year so far. We’ve had quite a lot of really good games come out the first half of this year! Normally I like to write a blog this time of year with my favorite games of the year so far, because the holiday titles and E3 announcements usually take precedence by the end of the year. Of course, because of the Coronavirus there was no E3 this year, and as of this writing we still don’t know what big games will be out for Christmas. Just another reason why this year sucks. So I don’t know how much different my list will be by the end of the year. But keep in mind that this is my list and my picks only, no outside opinions and whatnot. And if a game isn’t on my list, it either just didn’t appeal to me or I haven’t played it yet. Can’t play ‘em all, you know! But with that out of the way, let’s take a look at my picks.
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!
What would we find on Mars if we ever tried to settle it? I'm unsure if it would be underground water like in my first game today. We'd probably need something more like moisture vaporators from fictional Tatooine. It also, definitely, would not be like the American West circa 1850 like in my second game today. Frontiers in space will be very different than the fictional worlds we've created, I have no doubt.
My earliest years in gaming was a magical time. Every new game I discovered pioneered a fresh mechanic I hadn’t seen before. I'll never forget the moment when my brother's best friend came over with his NES games to show off Blaster Master. I marveled as the story elements unfolded while melancholic music played in the attract mode. Pressing the start button then transitioned me to the opening shot of an armored vehicle speeding off while the triumphant music swelled to a crescendo as I journeyed into the unknown. Never had I witnessed anything like that at the time. While everything I just described is nothing spectacular these days, Blaster Master still has a few gameplay elements that still hold up quite nicely.
It's a shark racing game. Get in your custom shark and race underground waterways. It's a spin off of the well known series Dungeon Inquisitor which is a totally unrelated mystery, walking simulator. Who thought this was a good idea?
I've actually been playing a lot, thanks to the Genesis Mini (even booted up the SNES Mini to play Secret of Mana yesterday), GameFly, and Yakuza, so I'm just going to dump brief takes on all the games I've been playing.
I hate to admit it, but I’ve had a hard time dealing with all this Coronavirus stuff. Well, I guess it hasn’t been TOO bad, but bad enough that I’m a bit disappointed with myself for not dealing with it better. But I’m still really scared and anxious about all of it. I have to say that I’m super happy that Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out when it did. Couldn’t have come out at a better time. It gave me a sense of normalcy and saneness during all of this. I’m also glad that I’m still able to review games for that same sense of normalcy. Speaking of which, here are more games I’ve reviewed lately 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 really appreciate it!
Things have been pretty weird as of late, as I’m sure you all know. I’ve gotten behind in my blogs and so have to dump a lot of games I’ve played over the last four or five days. Here they are.
So these, I remembered, were the same game except 4.1 was remastered and given a few kaiju for the PS4. But in playing 4.1 again, I realized there are a lot of differences and I am quite pleased with it. It's definitely the best version.
I think I've mentioned on here before that my desire to watch anime greatly outpaces my ability to do so. But, over the last few months, I did slooooowly watch through Gurren Lagann. I went into it knowing almost nothing about it, to wit, it is a well-loved mecha anime, and I expected it to be a monster/adventure of the week kind of show with zany characters. Well, it quickly gave me zany characters but not long after that the story had a definite arc and endpoint in mind.
I didn't finish Ori or Hellblade, and I'm still playing Metro 2033, but I can complain and shower praise can't I?
I've now completed every side mission in the main game of Borderlands 2 with the Mechromancer.
Let’s spring into Spring with more game reviews that I’ve recently written over at GamerDad.com. Please click on the links and read as many as you can, and maybe even please post a ‘like’ or comment or two. I’d appreciate it. OK let’s begin!