Posts Tagged ‘konami’
Stop What You’re Doing Right Now and Play Metal Gear Solid! (on Playstation because meh to the GameCube Remake)
In honour of Metal Gear Solid season I wanted to kick off what I hope will be a new season of articles telling you by force to play certain games. Boy, do we have a good one to start with. Metal Gear Solid on the Playstation is most peoples first entry into the Metal Gear Solid series. However, if by some bizarre fluke this game has completely passed you by then here are some reasons why you need to drop what you are doing right now and go play this game. If you have already played the game then maybe this article will give you incentive to go revisit it again.
Before we begin this list may contain mild spoilers so if you haven’t already played the game and want to you may want to come back to this later. Also the opinions in this article do not represent the opinions of other writers for Gaming History 101. With that out of the way, let’s get on with it!
Metal Gear Solid Review
There were so many excellent games that came out on the original Playstation that certain paramount titles could pass you by. The reasoning is actually two-fold because you may not have missed them – I was acutely aware of the presence of Metal Gear Solid when it released and even played a little of it – but it was back in a time where if a game didn’t click with you, typically you would shrug it off and move on to the myriad of other titles out there. That was my experience when I first played Metal Gear Solid. I remember having a heck of a time sneaking to the elevator in the beginning, even harder time getting into the vents outside Shadow Moses, and by the time I find the D.A.R.P.A. Chief only to discover most people got there in 20 minutes I was so frustrated I just quit. It would appear I not only passed on one of the best games on one of the best consoles of all time, but that I was abandoning a series that stands quite high in my top game franchises of all time. That’s the thing, though, when you look back on Metal Gear Solid. It broke so much ground and basically invented the stealth mechanic (after two earlier attempts I might add) that it’s easy to appreciate it but there are a heck of a lot of caveats if you’re going to revisit it today or play it for the first time. It has much more historical value than replay value, although I did have a smile on my face most of the time.
Podcast: Silent Evil Gaiden
Special guest Vos joins. Resident Evil and Silent Hill are known for the canonical tales in the numbered storylines, but amidst the biological warfare and haunted towns lies a lesser appreciated series of tales. Enter the “gaiden” or side story. These are the titles on the lesser known consoles, portables, and even mobile phones that surprisingly create unique gameplay and plotlines that, while not as appreciated, are welcome additions to the library.
Suikoden Review
Suikoden has always been regarded as one of those many staple JRPGs that graced the North American Playstation with its presence after Final Fantasy VII paved the way for the genre to become mainstream in the United States. In contrast to Square’s innovative title, Suikoden is a transplant from the late SNES days and to a certain extent its 16-bit roots show (and not just graphically). Couple that with developer Konami being relatively new to RPGs itself and you see why the overall game feels like a dated throwback to the days before even Final Fantasy IV or VI (II or III in the US), but despite these shortcomings there is the foundation of a much stronger title. Oh yeah, and did I mention that the game has up to 108 playable characters?
Suikoden is based off of the Chinese novel Shui Hu Zhuan (which basically translates to the same name) that tells a tale of politics, religion, revolution, and social unrest, which is somewhat common of Eastern storytelling in classic literature. You play as a hero – named whatever you choose – that enters into the posh world of being the son of the empire’s top military officer. It’s early in your life and no one respects you yet. When your father travels off to the north to protect the borders, an adventure unfolds that has you not only questioning everything you know, but lands you as the rebel leader for the army opposing the empire. There is, of course, a lot more to it than that, but for the sake of the review and your enjoyment with the game, we’ll leave it there. From the very start you can tell that Suikoden is going to throw more characters at you than you may be used to. Some of the earliest missions you partake on have you hot-swapping up to six characters, many of which will join your party along the way and you’ll be using in battle within moments. Read the rest of this entry »
Retro Game Night: Rumble Roses
As part of the three game obligation from over a month ago, Fred had to cover Rumble Roses, an all female wrestling game on the Playstation 2. Just from the box art you can tell that this game is most likely suggestive with skimpy outfits, busty women, and provocative poses. Well now we play the game, see what it has to offer, and even decide if it’s kusoge or not (explained in the video). While there is no true nudity or sexual content, you may want to consider what follows to be NSFW (not safe for work), but it is worth checking out if only to see this wacky Konami title from a time where companies took more risks.
Podcast: The Legacy of Konami
With recent events suggesting that Konami is on the way out, listeners may be surprised to know that Konami has amassed such an empire outside of the games space that there’s probably little concern internally. That said, Konami started life in video games and is responsible for many of the classics we all grew up with and this episode discusses many of them.
Koji Igarashi is Making the Spiritual Successor to Symphony of the Night
As Konami continues to sink into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of the United States, its famous creators are coming out of the woodwork with new games. Enter Koji Igarashi – or “Iga” as we’ve come to call him – who is the man responsible not only for Symphony of the Night, but also the man who created the MetroidVanaia (or IgaVania) sub genre. Quite possibly the best Playstation game to release (we shall see when that Top 10 comes around), it’s no shock that fans were overjoyed when his newest creation, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, popped up on Kickstarter yesterday and fully funded the title in a handful of hours. Touted as the spiritual successor to Symphony of the Night, Bloodstained puts you in the role of Miriam, an orphan who has been cursed by an evil alchemist and is slowly becoming a crystal being. The first to receive this curse, Gebel (voiced by David Hayter thanks to stretch goals), set out to make Miriam a castle of her own to live in, but as his curse progressed he’s gone mad and filled the castle with demons and trapped her inside. As Miriam (and potential other protagonists that could become a co-op partner if the stretch goal is met) you fight through the castle in that classic style we’ve all come to love from Iga. While Fred does not participate in Kickstarter, the funding having reached triple its original request means that hopefully within the next two years we’ll all be able to get our hands on this game that is coming for the PS4, Xbox One, PC, Mac, and Linux. If you want a more tangible reward, head on over to the Kickstarter to secure your digital copy for $28 and your tangible disc copy for $60 plus plenty of other rewards for different backer amounts.
Podcast: Rocket Knight Adventures Game Club
Rocket Knight Adventures came out during the apex of Genesis/Mega Drive game design. Developed by Konami with roots in the Contra franchise, this cute possum with armor and a jet pack was a charming action platformer. Unfortunately given main character Sparkster’s mascot status and the trends on consoles at the time, this is probably one of the best games you’ve never played. Join Fred and Jam on a journey through a true Sega classic.
Rocket Knight Adventures Review
Platform: Sega Genesis/Mega Drive
Released: 1993
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Digital Release? No
Other Games in the Series: Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2 (Genesis/Mega Drive), Sparkster (SNES – yes, it’s a different game), Rocket Knight Adventures (2010 – technically a sequel to Rocket Knight Adventures 2)
Value: $13.51 (cart only), $29.99 (complete), $78.00 (sealed) – per Price Charting
Jam’s Take
Rocket Knight Adventures is one of those games that you’ve probably heard of but never played. Those that did play it generally spoke very highly of the experience and I found most other people say, “yeah, I really need to get round to trying that.” Now I personally have a lot of nostalgia for this game. This was one of the very few games I received for my birthday that was to my knowledge brand new. But more importantly a game for me and not my brothers. I had no idea what to expect when I unwrapped this game. But I immediately popped the game into my Mega Drive, heard that sweet Konami tune and lets just say things just got better and better from there. Now this is our game club for April and its time to revisit and see if it’s just as great as I remember or if it was one of those titles that looked better through my younger gamer eyes.
Gaming History 101 