Retro Gamer Junction

 new edition of Retro’s Blog is up, and this one is a personal topic about the N64. Many will claim it was the greatest Nintendo machine ever made thanks to Mario 64, Golden Eye and Zelda: OOT. The thing is I don’t share the same nostalgic factor many had towards the third console. Most have no idea how much I really loathed the N64 during the Fifth Generation. Of course, there were many factors to why my experience was troublesome. It was often the grungy, crude, and “Xtreme” pop culture of gaming at the time where the focus was on those “kewl” ads. Another thing that didn’t help is how they always focused on trying to make preteens not feel like “babies.” Why, so little eleven year old Timmy can feel like a “badass” because he’s playing Siphon Filter?! Even these “kewl” ads started affecting Nintendo and they also used the “Get N or Get Out” to show off their arrogances.

The lack of key titles for me was the biggest factor as through 1997 I was stuck with Mario 64 and Wave Race 64. There were no quality 2D platformers nor 2D fighters akin to Street Fighter Alpha. By the end of 1998, the N64 was known as the shooter and party game console. Despite getting Golden Eye and Mario Kart 64, none of these releases gave me the same fun factor found in the Fourth Gen. It’s no doubt releases like Golden Eye and Zelda: OOT set standards. However, those first two years owning the system was a massive struggle for me. For once I regretted owning a Nintendo machine after experiencing the legendary Super NES. Looking back, these were moments I should’ve gone with the Sega Saturn first. In hindsight it had many games missing on the N64 by the time I got Nintendo’s third system in the Summer 1997. What other reasons from my experience that created such a loathsome attitude?

The first edition of Port Mania is up and it’s a new segment where we discuss many ports of multiplatform games. As many bring up survival horror for their scary gaming needs, we focus on a more whimsical side from Ghouls N Ghosts. There are many vloggers who for years have done comparisons to a game with the same title on different systems. In comparison to today that has every release play and look the same regardless of what platform. From the Golden Age to the Silver Age of gaming, this was a time when a similar titles played and looked vastly different. There were ports that had identical designs like Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter II, and Doom. Even the visuals would get vastly downgraded to make the game work on something like the Game Boy. The results would often be mixed and sometimes you were lucky to get Mortal Kombat II and Killer Instinct on Super NES. Then there were other times we got terrible porting from Doom on 3DO and Virtual Fighter 2 on Genesis. It wasn’t until the seventh gen to see a change and by that point every version was starting to have similar features.

A new edition of Retro Corner Reviews is up, and we tackle the second Donkey Kong Land for Game Boy. I always mentioned how DKC2 was one of those games to play during the Autumn season. Well, it’s the same thing for the portable version on the GB and DKL2 does give the same feeling. Why play the DK Land Trilogy today when the Country games on the NSO? Why not, those on the GB are also available on the NSO too. During the 90s and 2000s, this was often the only way to play a similar console title on the go. At first you were usually stuck with a scaled down version. Once the GBA and later the PSP and DS came out it would change that to an extent. An example is Star Wars Battle Front II plays close to the PS2 version on the PSP. While the PSP edition wasn’t as graphical, this version wasn’t downgraded too much like Mortal Kombat was on Game Boy.

I have an old edition of Retro Corner Reviews, and it comes from the spooky season of 2016 where I reviewed Demon’s Crest. Upon rereading some of my first year reviews I was floored to how amateurish they were written. While I still make some mistakes, I have come a long way since then to write better. That is the reason I am redoing my earlier articles and by remastering them will match their quality to my current work. Demon’s Crest has always been a favorite of mine since stumbling upon this back in 2007 during the early days of YouTube. I already was a fan of Ghosts N Goblins but seeing this play vastly different from the main series in a good way sold me immediately. It was even listed in my Top Ten Games to Play During Halloween. It eventually came to Nintendo’s Super NES NSO on launch of the app along with Super Ghouls N Ghosts. Weird how they choose this game that barely anyone knows from Capcom to add to the collection. ​ The game is about a demon named Firebrand who is a Red Arremer (those hard to kill enemies in GNG) and is fighting in the middle of a civil war. The battle in the Ghoul Realm was caused by the demons fighting over seven magical crests. These runes grant them more abilities beyond what they already can do. After winning many battles, Firebrand stood victorious but at the price of being mortally wounded. As he flew away from the battlefield, he didn’t realize another demon named Phalanx was following the Red Arremer. That is when he struck a powerful blow at his would be adversary and drops all the crests. Now, this warrior must recover from the attack and take back what is rightfully his. The series was always known for its simplistic theme, but this entry does go beyond those dated arcade style games. Even the visuals saw a massive upgrade from SGNG’s launch graphics featuring better parallax effects.

An old edition of Retro Corner Reviews is available, and we go back to my earlier reviews from the first year of the site. It’s not Halloween yet but right now we are at the start of the fall season to go over this game. The game is Super Ghouls N Ghost for the Super NES, an action platformer from a niche series known for the difficulty. However, saying the gameplay has impossible challenges is a myth. Oftentimes, these comments are exaggerated when in actuality the challenges are no different than in Castlevania and Ninja Gaiden. There is no doubt the first entry has aged like crap due to cheap level design. The thing is Capcom did improve the series after the Original by making the mechanics flexible. The developers even took it upon themselves to slowly get rid of the cheap level design. Fortunately, they made the series better over time despite the fact that a new entry wouldn’t get produced until 2006 for the PSP. This was Ultimate Ghosts N Goblins that gave the gameplay much needed refinement. Capcom went even further with the recent release of Ghosts N Goblins Resurrection. The latest entry probably had the best overhaul in years.

A new edition of Retro Corner Reviews is up, and we look at another spin-off from the Plumber. This is Mario’s Picross that was released in 1995 for the Game Boy. A familiar studio called Ape Inc (who produced the EarthBound series) and by another company named Jupiter helped developed this spin-off. Normally, games like Tetris or Dr. Mario comes to mind first as we think of puzzlers. There were other alternatives to the familiar two, like Wario’s Woods, Tetris Attack, and Kirby Star Stacker. However, a picross puzzle at the time was easily overlooked even if themed characters were involved. The audience for the style simply wasn’t there yet, so it was odd for Nintendo to want to release this in Western markets in the 90s. It wasn’t until the DS hit the market in 2004 that an audience was found for picross. It is how Nintendo was able to sell to a casual audience, and Brain Age also helped cultivate a following.

A new edition of Retro Corner Reviews is up, and we check out a classic Game Boy game. This is Super Mario Land 2 that saw a release in 1992 and showcased improved gameplay and broad visuals. For some reason the Plumber’s series always reminded me of this current season. It’s the same thing for Kirby as the little pink wonder always gives me that vibe. Maybe it’s the music, the visual style, or the atmosphere the Plumber usually finds himself in. Then again Spring is when people start doing sports stuff like golf, tennis, and kart racing. Ironically, Mario and his friends already do that stuff, so these thoughts are where they are probably coming from. Despite the first game was originally available on NSO, this makes sense to put the second game out first. At best the original Mario Land was nothing more than a novelty game with a short length. So, was complaining about a novelty game really worth it now that some of you experienced the original for the first time? Most will simply go back to why Pokemon, Donkey Kong 64 and Diddy Kong Racing is not available still. Don’t forget about them using roll eyes or laughing crying emojis and memes because giving proper criticism isn’t “kewl” enough. While the truth is the game was given a great score here on the site, the first SML being a novelty isn't a software you want to start the service with. Honestly, at the time I would rather have the first Wario Land on NSO than the original SML.

For SML2, this was another textbook definition of an improved sequel that was using the SMB3/World template. That is what sold the Game Boy due in part to the software being different then their console counterparts. It often was the standard for studios to release scaled down versions of the console games as seen by Mortal Kombat. However, Nintendo and a few third parties still developed separate games on the handhelds, so they are exclusive. The theme is where we get introduced to Wario who Mario in the instruction manual claims was a rival of his growing up. As Mario was going through Sarasaland to save Princess Daisy from an alien overlord, Wario seized the castle in his land. He also brainwashed the citizens and removed the six golden coins to keep the castle locked up. Can Mario adventure through his own kingdom, retrieve the six golden coins, and evict Wario to save the land?

A new edition of Retro Corner Reviews is up and as Winter slowly dies down to make way for Spring, I have a classic WRPG to check out. This is the original Elder Scrolls: The Arena that was released in 1994 for PC. The Arena profoundly changed the game up for WRPGs and at the time was stuck being phased out for JRPGs. There are a couple of reasons this happened and first had to do with JRPGs casualizing the genre beyond the “nerd” stigma. The second reason is thanks to people giving the gritty and underground tone of WRPGs a displeasured attitude. Back in the 80s and 90s people always demonized those who were into D&D and Ultima. If anyone were into the western style of role play would be considered society’s near punching bag. It’s also ironic how someone was called a “nerd” for liking concepts that were often gritty and dark. Then turn around and have no problem with darker themes from Mortal Kombat and Doom. Sometimes this just shows how hypocritical society can act, especially from those people who thought they were being a “kewl” person. My first experience with the series was through Oblivion on Xbox 360 in 2007. I eventually upgraded to a gaming desktop a few years after and picked up a better version on PC.

A new edition of Modern Gaming Reviews is up and continuing through the Halloween season we check out another Resident Evil port. This is the strange port of Resident Evil 3 for the GameCube— along with RE2 and Code Veronica X that were also brought over — was a familiar thing Capcom did often to bring past games so to have the series on the then current platform. They did the same for the Sega Dreamcast when RE2 and RE3 were ported in 2000 due to the first release of Code Veronica. Nintendo was smart to get an exclusive contract from Capcom to have the latest games from the series at the start of the Sixth Gen. During the early days of the Sixth Gen Nintendo’s lineup was often looked down on due to their marketing style going against the craze for mature content. Even though these thoughts from insecure gamers were downright annoying, the marketing coupled with the lunchbox designed console didn’t help. We all know the GameCube’s early days were amazing thanks to a great launch followed by a fun first year of hit releases. Here is the list that includes Luigi Mansion, Smash Bros Melee, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II, REmake, Pikmin, Animal Crossing, Metroid Prime, and Mario Sunshine. That is more than enough for any gamer to gush over knowing the amount of fun that was going to ensure from that lineup. ​ Now, the port of RE3 was strange for many reasons when by the time the GameCube edition came to the system the game didn’t have the same luster from 1999. Bringing this over to Sega’s Dreamcast made sense in 2000 due to being a year old from releasing on PS1. However, when we learned the game came to the GameCube, five years have nearly passed already. It’s obvious Capcom’s corporate board was being greedy, even charging almost fifty dollars for an older game. No wonder none of these came over to the Xbox or PC because then resources would’ve been wasted. Another thing is it wouldn’t have made sense anyway if Capcom was focusing on new exclusives and multiplatform releases. They were trying to have the series available on both the Dreamcast and GameCube due to the then “newer” games being on these consoles. Except for GameCube, REmake, RE0 and RE4 would’ve been enough for that entire gen without replaying the older titles.    

A new edition of Modern Gaming Reviews is up and to start the Autumn season we have a survival horror clone called Them and Us for PC. For the last several years we have seen many Indie developers and studios bring back the old concepts of survival horror. From what is out now these developers have produced good results despite their limited budgets. For something like Alisa or Crow Country this isn’t an issue as the visuals do a good job retaining those PS1 visuals. However, for the ones that attempt realism for the visuals like Tormented Souls and Evil from Within would have this harder to perform. While these titles don’t push the visuals or level design boundaries compared to the Silent Hill 2 remake, they still provide for the genre. The worst one I have seen so far is the Outbreak series that has bad tank controls, poor use of fixed camera angles and terrible framerates. When anyone wants to bring back an old concept they also need to do more than redo the same thing. These newer games need to improve on the old design by evolving the level design and gameplay.

For Them and Us it came out a few years ago on Steam and other PC platforms like GOG. It takes elements from both Resident Evil and Silent Hill to produce one of the better releases to emulate the old games. Instead of going the retro route to emulate the PS1 horror titles, Tendo Games went modern instead. They really nailed the ambience of the environments shown based on the visual presentation. The studio even hired a professional musician named Tihomir Hristozov from the film industry to produce a good soundtrack. From what I looked up the man is known to help with big budget movies and TV shows. The unique thing about Them and Us compared to the others is the option to play three different gameplay styles. That is unheard of when each release used solely the fixed angle viewpoints or over the shoulder camera. The theme revolves around a woman named Alicia who was wrongly convicted of murder. After spending time in jail, she was eventually transferred to another prison in 1984. During the ride, the bus gets into an accident and then she wakes up in a mansion on Fog Island in Florida. Alicia must find out why she was taken to this strange place filled with zombies and try to gain back her memories.

A new edition of Horror Gaming is up, and the Halloween season has begun for us to celebrate the usual ghastly festivities. To start the spooky season off, this edition has us take a look at an original gaming creepypasta called Conplus. During 2014, gaming CPs as explained many times weren’t known for quality storytelling aside from a few gems. It was also a time when a few writers tried breaking away from the constant tropes that often was the scary part of these plots. Godzilla NES and Metroid II: Secret Worlds were the first to raise the bar thanks to good writing. Another thing that made these set the bar higher is the quality depictions of what the characters explained were happening to them. While you don’t need imagery to create a unique horror tale, it does add to the immersion and allows your imagination to go even more wild. In the early 2020s, creepypastas began losing their luster thanks to poor writing, authors who can’t take criticism and obnoxiously long one to two sentence titles. The bar might’ve been raised high but it’s obvious these gaming CP authors have moved to a much better format of Analog Horror. ​ Conplus is an original gaming creepypasta similar to the Theater and Pale Luna that tells a tale of a man recalling playing an odd Super NES title. It was also a multicart in the same vein as Action 52 that is known to have poorly designed games on them. However, unlike Action 52, Conplus's games were developed competently with no broken designs according to the story. There is one odd feature of this cartridge, and it’s how a plastic bubble was placed on the top right. The only cartridge based release to have this feature was the Game Boy Camera. The CP does have that uniqueness to the theme and there was never a Super NES cart to have a camera like function. That really does add to the curiosity of what it could’ve been based on the fact the cover gives no indication of being a multicart release. When we look at the Sega 6-Pak and Super Mario All Stars, usually these carts tell us what’s inside. Conplus features six games each being from rarely used genres in the industry. However, the man remembers some strange things about playing each one after going through their challenges as an adult. Will the man discover the games were as he remembers them or something evil, he finds there as an adult?

A new edition of Retro Corner Reviews is up, and we finally tackle a Sega CD game called Vay that was a JRPG. Developed by Hertz who are known for putting together the Genesis port of Outrun was tasked to produce a traditional role playing game. When it came to RPGs in general, the Mega Drive was a distant second to the Super NES that had hosted many titles of the genre. That forced Sega to produce their own games like Phantasy Star to make up for the lack of these titles. It is one of the reasons the House of Sonic wanted to release their own CD add-on beyond trying to stay competitive. While Compact Disks as a format was the next thing for gaming, Sega was obviously trying to get the genre on their platform. This was to entice third parties to develop on the Sega CD using the more advanced technology then the base system couldn’t perform. As history tells us, that didn’t work out for the House of Sonic for more than just this genre. Despite getting a string of decent games, the addon’s lineup was nowhere near the quality of the Super NES’s JRPG library.