Podcast/Article: The Top 10 Nintendo 64 Games
Due to a video issue and the ever growing challenge of collecting all of the games necessary for a top 10, we’ve decided to go audio only on the debate and reveal. It’s not all bad news though, we do have the printed version if you don’t want to listen to the nearly 2 hour debate over our top 10. Also be sure to submit your own top 10 via this comments section, sending an e-mail, or join the Patreon at $3 or more to be entered into a contest for $10 in Nintendo eShop credit. We want strong community involvement for next week’s response. The contest ends next Thursday, May 14, at midnight Eastern time. The text top 10 is below.
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Documentary: Dangerous Games (Night Trap)
Over the years Fred has collected a lot of limited editions, bonus discs, promo videos, and randomly e-mailed/mailed documentaries and making of videos involving video games. Well it seems pointless to keep them to himself and since we don’t generate ad revenue we’re betting YouTube may let us release these promotional items. In a new ongoing series, we will be releasing the many videos made available that you probably won’t be able to get your hands on due to rarity or the disposable promo value of them. We start today with a pseudo “making of” and “post mortem” on the controversial game Night Trap. It’s about 8 minutes of Tom Zito, Rob Fulop, and James Riley basically pleading with us about the fun and light heartedness of this game that was targeted by the US Senate. As a fan of Night Trap, it’s a brief and all smiles look at a game that was touted as much more nefarious than it ever could hope to be.
Double Moon Densetsu (NES) Fan Translation Released
An English fan translation of Japan only Double Moon Densetsu has been released. You probably aren’t aware of this game, but from all I’ve heard Double Moon Densetsu is quite literally a Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest rip-off. The reason you may want to play this game is that as early as Dragon Warrior 2/Dragon Quest 2 the party system was introduced and the game changed drastically, so in a way this is the closest sequel/remix to the original title as you can get your hands on. So if you’ve been dying to play a newer version of the original game – of which I’m not totally against – then this may be worth your time. You can download the different patches using the link in the first sentence.
Holy Crap! The Misadventures of Tron Bonne is on the US PSN Store!
I was jumping around my RSS reader and somehow missed yesterday’s announcement on Capcom-Unity that The Misadventures of Tron Bonne has released on the US PSN store for only $6. Why is this such a big deal, you ask? Well if you’re not familiar with the title – and there’s a good chance you are not – The Misadventures of Tron Bonne is somewhat of a mini-campaign (not mini-game, mini-campaign) collection starring the female pirate from Mega Man Legends. Released on the original Playstation, the game had a very limited print run and sells for $100 on eBay for a disc only copy and nearly twice that if you have a case and instructions. This game had you setting out on multiple adventures, but each adventure was a different game type such as RPG, platformer, puzzle game, etc., and I’ve heard it’s great. Now we all will get a chance to play this fantastic side project spawned from Mega Man Legends without having to worry about getting ripped off, getting a scratched disc, or even digging out a home console as this is both PSP and Vita compatible. If you’ve missed the subtle hints, get this game NOW.
Extra Credit: Jam at Play Blackpool
Jam journeyed out to Castle Blackpool last weekend to spend a fun three days taking in retro gaming at Castle Blackpool. This seems like something we all could definitely get into, but in lieu of attending the event, settle in for this thankful look back with Jam himself at his weekend with Play Blackpool.
Monster Monpiece Review
For better or worse, my dissection into the world of seemingly perverse games continues. I’ve already discovered that while HuniePop does have pornographic content in it, the brunt of the game save for a handful of still images deals mostly with a hybrid of a basic dating sim and match three cell phone games. Now I’m tackling yet another game shrouded in controversy: Monster Monpiece. This title garnered most of its attention – and definitely everyone’s excuse for not picking it up – based on the fact that it contained scantily clad girls and women that you would touch, pinch, tickle, and even rub in a masturbatory way to level up. Not the most thought provoking of activities to be sure, and I certainly did not level up anyone in public, but much like HuniePop a majority of what you will be doing in the game is quite tame. For those hardcore otaku out there the game was also avoided in the West due to the fact that some of the cards were censored or artwork cut completely from the game to satisfy both the ESRB and PEGI ratings boards as well as a digital only release, which were all proactive choices made by publisher Idea Factory. What resulted was a game that the typical gamer wouldn’t touch and the more perverted gamer no longer wanted (opting most likely for the boxed, uncensored Japanese version) and Monster Monpiece was basically put out to die. This is only unfortunate because I was pleasantly surprised by the sheer size, options, and depth provided by this decent digital card game.
Podcast: In Games, No One Can Hear You Scream
This week Fred and Jam chat about the wonderful world of Alien licensed games. As one of the few franchises that began at the same time as video games themselves, a mere three years after the initial film’s release there were Alien games. The trend continued across the entire film series run with varied success as each game attempts to be unique, expand the universe, and still be faithful to the original work.
Clock Tower: The First Fear Gets Fan Translation
A fan translation of the enhanced PS1 port of Clock Tower, known as Clock Tower: The First Fear and only released in Japan, has been released in a patch from user “arcraith” on romhacking.net.
I don’t know if you’re as big a fan of Clock Tower as I am, but unlike the 3D installments that existed on the Playstation 1 and 2 in the US my big draw is the original released on Super Famicom (SNES) and only in Japan. What sticks out about this title is that unlike the sequels it’s a 2D point-and-click adventure that has lots of scares, intense moments, and violence. This makes it somewhat of a successful version of what games like Phantasmagoria were hoping to accomplish. A fan translation of that version is available if you’re interested, but there was a Playstation re-release that had enhanced graphics, new scenes, and – my personal favorite – FMV sequences added in. Unfortunately just like its original Super Famicom release, this was the only game in the series not to make it to the west yet again (probably due to the translation/localization cost). Thanks to a new English localization, you can easily patch an ISO to play the game localized, in English. If you missed it, the link for that is in the opening sentence of this post. Hopefully this works well on a modded console and I can enjoy this game on real hardware, otherwise I will most likely stick to my flash cart translated version on the SNES, but it’s a great game that everyone should play. Perhaps it would make a good game club?
Opinion: Don’t Try to Re-write History With Your Fanboyism
Guys, lets face it, nostalgia is a bitch. I even wrote an article about this in the past, but beyond my casual forewarning, I would like to extend a realistic look at what is going on today in gaming. Some big fans are trying to re-write history with how much they love games that, in hindsight, weren’t all that good. You’ll notice that I said “how much they love games” and “in hindsight”, which I would like to break down. People who are massive unapologetic fans of fair-to-poor quality games should not be told they are wrong because they aren’t. Your opinion is your own and without even a discussion you have a right to it, not to mention those that can properly make an argument for why they love a game, but realize your opinion is shrouded in nostalgia or just a lack of basic sense.
May the Fourth Be With You: Super Empire Strikes Back (SNES)
Here it is, the challenge that spawned from Fred’s mystery game 3-pack in March. It was brutal, it was frustrating, it was on easy…but Fred has beaten Super Empire Strikes Back and what better time to reveal the video but May the Fourth. Enjoy.
Gaming History 101 