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How do you solve a problem like a Superman Video Game?
Sometimes it takes video game designers many attempts to properly adapt a concept well. Take one concept that designers seem to be a tad amiss to over the years. I am, of course, talking about the oldest comic book superhero in existence, Superman. Sure, there has been a few decent Superman games over the years such as Taito’s 1980s Arcade classic or the 16 bit hidden gem Death & Return of Superman. They may have been decent games, but did they actually capture what Superman is all about? Of course, there is the most infamous example of both a bad Superman game and a bad game in general, Superman 64.…
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Remembering Pilotwings 64 of This Nintendo 64 Thursday (NinThursday64)
The year is 1996 and we are the end of what is a hell of a run for Nintendo with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Sega and Sony have had their consoles on the market for about a year now. In comes Nintendo with their next follow up, the Nintendo 64. I was approximately 12 years old at the time, and nobody was more excited for this revolution than me. There were two launch games in North America, Super Mario 64 and Pilotwings 64. Super Mario 64 is obviously one of the most acclaimed video games of all time. But what about Pilotwings 64? This game was a sequel to…
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Tiny Toon Adventures for NES on this wed-NES-day
The year is 1990. After a long day at school, you come home to unwind. Turn your television on to the local syndicated cartoons as what was done at the time. What comes on but this amazing theme song… I like to think my generation had the coolest stuff for kids, but I may be a bit biased. It definitely indeed was simpler times. Now, at the time, it was toward the end of the run of the Nintendo Entertainment System, the console that changed gaming, perhaps forever. Games based on licenses had been very hit and miss. For every quality game like Duck Tales, you had a million games…
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MegaDrive Monday: Skitchin’
The Sega Genesis, or as it is called outside of North America, the Sega Megadrive, was the second home video console I had ever had owned. Many ask about the great bit wars of the early 1990s, who won between Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System? To me, the answer is simple… The Gamers won. Both consoles had great and rather unique libraries of games. Take for instance, this game by Electronic Arts (way before they had lost their mind) called Skitchin. This was a Sega Genesis/Mega Drive exclusive and possibly the only game of its kind. You raise on roller blades, hitch to the back of cars (or…
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Memorable and Weird Video Game Magazine Advertisements January 2019
This is the latest entry in the series of retro video game magazine advertisements. Some are weird. Most are memorable, albeit, not always for the right reasons if I must say. Sega Genesis 32X is Faster While the Genesis here demands “more” it certainly didn’t get many 32X games. Oh myyy… Ballz I remember the video game Ballz. It was a really really weird game. It may actually be weirder than the phrase “I’m sucking sidewalk” in this weird advertisement. Questionable Advertising I really want to go out on a limb and say that an image of Hitler is not what you want associated with your video game. However, maybe…
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The Most Memorable Video Game Protagonists According To Our Social Media
In playing the game Red Dead Redemption 2, I began to fall in love with the character of Arthur Morgan. So it got me to thinking, what are some of the most memorable protagonists over the years in video games. I took this question to social media. Dom and Marcus (Gears of War series) What a wild journey that Gears of War trilogy was on the Xbox 360! Much of that can be credited to the strong leads of Dom and Marcus. I think what makes these heroes great is no matter how many hits their world takes, they never give up. They never lose hope for a better future…
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Retro Gaming For Beginners: SNES Multiplayer
My wife, lovingly known in the Geek With That community as Mrs Geek or Princess Kitty Mew Mew, has shown some interest in classic games. To give you some background, she was not raised with video games like I was. So there has been an entry barrier for games. New games are a bit more complex but eventually easier to play. Retro games seem to be much quicker to pick up. However, they are more unforgiving difficulty because the majority of them lack save points and checkpoints. We decided it was time that we come up with a list of good beginner games for each console in various areas, especially…
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Remembering Excitebike for NES wed-NES-day
The Nintendo Entertainment System was my first home video game console. I have, in the past, recalled my first adventures with this magical console. So, the retro gaming community on social media likes to take Wednesdays to honor this great console. After all, it is wed-NES-day. So, the first game on this series of blogs I will recall is a game I first played at my cousin’s. I was on summer vacation and my Uncle was babysitting me. I was approximately 9 years old. In reality, my cousin’s NES was doing more of the heavy lifting. After all, he had almost a different line up of games than I did.…
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4 Superheroes I’d Like to See Have Their Own Video Game
Superheroes have had some great video games over the years. Here are 10 I can think of just off the top of my head that are definitely worth playing: Spider-Man (PS4) Spider-Man 2 (PS1/PS2) Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (Xbox 360/PS3) Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage (SNES) Batman Arkham City (Xbox 360/PS3) Batman Arkham Asylum (Xbox 360/PS3) The Adventures of Batman & Robin (SNES/Genesis) Lego Batman (Xbox 360/PS3) Marvel Ultimate Alliance (Xbox 360/PS3) X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Xbox 360/PS3) As you can look on some of those true all time greats, there seems to be a common theme. 80% of the ones I pulled out on the spot there are starring Batman and Spiderman. While…
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Sweet Video Game Merchandise You Know You Want
With the boom of video game merchandise thanks to websites such as ThinkGeek.com, it is easy for one to have a negative attitude about it all. After all, one must ask some questions. Do I need this stuff? Definitely not. Is this stuff absurd? Probably. Is it secretly genius? Definitely. Here are some examples of sweet video game merchandise some would probably hate on, but you know you secretly want it. Piranha Plant Hat One of the most infamous enemies in Super Mario Bros history is the piranha plant. They come out of pipes and will try to chomp your butt! Someone saw this and thought “PERFECT HAT!” They weren’t…
