Video Game Tuesday: Mini Retro Consoles

This week for Video Game Tuesday I’m talking about the recent spate of classic consoles being remade with limited emulation capabilities.  It’s all about Mini Retro Consoles!

Mini Retro Consoles?: So for those unaware the last couple years, Nintendo has released two machines that have limited emulation capabilties of classic games for the system that they are modeled off of. Although there was one special game that didn’t get released until the Super Nintendo Classic came out.

Which game?: Star Fox 2 was famously canceled after completing development in favor of giving the Nintendo 64 a Star Fox sequel. So it was released for the SNES Classic edition. Honestly while a neat story it seems to be more of a publicity stunt to me.

What remakes of classic consoles are there? There is the NES Classic, the SNES Classic and now just recently announced, Sega Genesis Mini (or Sega Mega Drive Mini).

What are the downsides?: Well other than that ridiculously short cable for the controller you see above for the NES Classic, there were limited games allowed onto the consoles. Now hackers have allowed for the importation of more games, but frankly at that point you might as well just play a PC Emulation and use a more modern controller that is a hell of a lot more ergonomic.

Why buy them?: Well other than supporting the console maker, there doesn’t seem to be any reason to do so. Honestly, I’d rather play a game with a lot more convenient and comfortable controllers now a days instead of the clunky older controllers. Just thinking about using the N64 controller gives me hand cramps.

That’s it for this Week’s Video Game Tuesday. Do you like this recent trend? Or is it just feeding off people’s nostalgia? Leave a comment below with your answer!

Retro Game Friday: Earthworm Jim

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m covering a real classic game! It’s Earthworm Jim!

Plot Synopsis: Jim is a normal earthworm, until a special “super suit” falls from the sky and allows him to operate much like a human, with his “worm-part” acting as a head and the suit acting as arms, body, and legs. Jim’s task is two-fold, he must evade the game’s many antagonists, who are after him because they want the suit back, and also rescue and protect Princess What’s-Her-Name from them.

Plot: The plot of this game is very ridiculous and was quite awesome. If you like to laugh it was definitely a great game.

Gameplay: A 2D Run and Gun Platformer game like Contra, Earthworm Jim took all the fun from those games and made fun of them at the same time. It was quite a lot of fun. Pity that the series is now pretty much all but forgotten.

Characters: The cast of characters is hilariously diverse, but Jim takes the cake. I mean he’s a worm, and yet he’s the hero of the game.

Art: Great, it represents some of the best 2D art of the time and is definitely quite good looking even by today’s standards.

Overall: If you’ve never played Earthworm Jim, you really owe it to yourself to try it out once.

For those who like: Run and Gun, Platformers, Comedy, Action, Great Artwork, Hilarious Plot, Awesome Cast of Characters, Fantastic Gameplay.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above, but how can you hate all that put together?

Retro Game Friday: Sonic 3

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m covering one of the best Sonic games of all time. It’s Sonic 3!

Plot Synopsis: After Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles “Tails” Prower defeat Dr. Robotnik at the end of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, his space station, the Death Egg, crash-lands on a mystical floating landmass called Angel Island. As Robotnik begins to repair the damaged station, he meets up with Knuckles the Echidna. Knuckles is the last surviving member of an ancient echidna civilization that once inhabited the island, as well as the guardian of the Chaos Emeralds, which grant the island its levitation powers. Knowing Sonic and Tails will try to track him down and realizing he can use the emeralds to power the ship, Robotnik dupes Knuckles into believing Sonic is trying to steal the emeralds.

Plot: Not the best, but hell it’s a game meant for kids.

Gameplay: Some of the best gameplay in a 2D sonic game ever, it’s easily one of the fastest paced games I’ve ever played from a pure speed standpoint. I had quite a bit of fun playing this with my best friend as a kid.

Art: This has stood the test of time amazingly well, like most games from this era. 2D always has and probably always will retain great artwork even as technology evolves.

Music: Classic Sonic, obvious given that this is a classic Sonic game.

Overall: If you’ve never played Sonic 3 before you really need to do so at least once.

For those who like: Platformers, Action, Fast Paced Gameplay, Excellent Artwork, Great Music.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Retro Game Friday: X-Men (Genesis)

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m covering a game that was ridiculously difficult to complete! It’s X-Men (Genesis)!

Plot Synopsis:  The game takes place in the Danger Room, a training area for the X-Men inside the X-Mansion. A virus transmitted via satellite has infected the Danger Room, disabling control and safety limits. The X-Men must endure the unpredictable behavior of the Danger Room until the virus can be located and eliminated.

Plot: Yea that’s a pretty terrible plot, but the real draw of this game isn’t the plot.

Gameplay: This game was stupidly hard to beat as there were ton of unfairly placed enemy spawn locations and just plain evil bosses.  You even had to softly press the reset button in one level. This game was lots of fun to play with two people though and me and my best friend did so when we were young.

Art: It’s a pixel 2D game so it’s survived the last 23 years pretty damn well.

Overall: If you get the chance to play this, try to beat it by yourself.