Author: John Legendoffzelda In a regular sci-fi scrolling shooter, the sleek weaponized spacecraft being controlled by the player earns power-ups. They enhance the main weapons, or else stick close to the hull and multiply the firepower. Atlus and AI try for a novel twist on this convention with their arcade port BlaZeon, … Continue reading
Author: jrsupermoore One of the Super Nintendo’s strengths was in converting certain arcade gallery classics into equally excellent experiences on home console. A couple examples that come to mind are Midway’s NBA Jam (1993) and Capcom’s Street Fighter II (1991). Both of these games were paramount for reinvigorating their genres, but it’s … Continue reading
Author: John Legendoffzelda What Capcom had done for Disney, Sunsoft attempted to do for Looney Tunes: craft a series of fine games that would help those characters make an indelible impression on the video game world (at least in the early 1990s). Working with developer ICOM, they gave themselves a … Continue reading
Author: Masamune Years ago when I was in high school, I happened upon a cart of Batman Forever on the Sega Genesis laying helplessly on the sidewalk amid a gloomy, rainy day. I thought to myself “how could anyone be so careless as to accidentally drop a video … Continue reading
Author: jrsupermoore They call him ‘Rocket.’ As it turns out, he earned a few other colorful nicknames during his career with four Major League Baseball teams. Regardless of some questionable lifestyle decisions, Roger Clemens will be remembered for the strikeout king that he was. His 11 All-Star appearances and 7 Cy Young … Continue reading
Author: Super Famicom Guy “Targa was intended to be a space shooting game but Softgold wasn’t sure if this would be enough to make big sales and decided to bring in the successful jump’n’shoot Turrican elements. This is why Targa (Rendering Ranger R2) became a mixture of both.” … Continue reading
Author: John Legendoffzelda As the adolescent escapism-junkie Danny Madigan watches the Arnold Schwarzenegger franchise picture “Jack Slater IV”, the magic ticket in his hands begins to glow. Suddenly, he finds himself transported into the film, lying face-down on the nighttime sidewalk where he sees his hero, Jack Slater, about to … Continue reading
Author: Masamune The more video games I play, the more I can see how developers like to borrow ideas from each other. Take the original Super Mario Bros. for example. It’s the classic paragon of what a platformer should be. Off the top of your head think of some … Continue reading
Author: John Legendoffzelda With its studio glitz, its recurring bodybuilder characters who called themselves the Gladiators, and its playground environment of red, white, and blue gym pads, the syndicated TV series American Gladiators made sports into a heightened form of escapism. Audiences could tune into an episode and see folks exert … Continue reading
Author: John Legendoffzelda How much moving around is there in the Super Nintendo video game of Animaniacs? The Warner brothers (and the Warner sister) go into their idle animations, a dance where they shake their behinds in unison, not two seconds after the player leaves them still – that’s how … Continue reading