I haven’t done one of these in ages. Not for lack of interest, or lack of games to cover, but it always comes down to writing my post about other subjects, and then… never doing one of these.

That said, I feel the need for a “theme”, and am going to cover educational games for “Back to School”. I played all of these titles on my Apple IIc, and most notably in class (outside of Kareteka), and each of these struck a resonant chord with me. Enjoy.

1.) Number Munchers (MECC) – Mobygames says this came out in 1990, and I say “foul” because that can’t be right. The majority of my post elementary school adventures had this title in the mix, and that was…. Well, never you mind. Ws it the exciting allure of math and numbers that drove me to complete this game? The need to refine my education? Not really. I honed math skills to go up in levels and see the various intermissions. Part game, part learning tool, it offered incentive for doing well to see those crazy disputes between the Munchers and the Troggles, and how those tales Read the rest of this entry

Well, I meant to get around to this just in time for Halloween, but work called, and well, my “Scary Game List” got pushed to November 1 instead. Still, there’s not a lot of poultry-based games I could use for a Thanksgiving themed entry (Alfred Chicken, anyone?), so let’s pretend the clock has slowed down and rewound a bit so we can get this show on the road. This is by no means the “best of the best” for scary games. Since my list is intended to be unlimited, this is just covering a fraction of games with horror themes I’ve found fun.

1.) Resident Evil 4 (Capcom) – This game has been released about a billion times over already, but I’m going with the Wii version on this one. While not the “jump out of your britches” scary as the original game, this game is still tense and suspenseful unlike no other. Capcom pulled this game out “one more time”, and made it the best version of the game ever on the Wii, with the responsive controls that makes you feel like you’re blasting and slashing away at the parasitic damned like no other. Resident Read the rest of this entry

1.) Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega) – Playing the first game now evokes both warm nostalgia and saddened wonderment. The first game in the series, though not as refined as part 2 or the CD version, was this wonderful game full of bright colors, catchy J-Pop music and fast speed. And really, that’s all Sonic ever needs to be. When he starts to deviate from that, he loses his charm, but his first adventure is what really pushed the Genesis into the spotlight, and still remains an incredibly fun game. I just wish Sega had taken better care of their lead mascot.

2.) Super Metroid (Nintendo) – Quite arguably, the greatest side-scrolling adventure ever created. The game is a true masterpiece of graphics, sound, control, exploration and mood. There’s so much to like about this game, not to mention the surprise ending and just the utter “cool” factor of the final battle. One of Nintendo’s few games not to get released 1,000 times by now, this is one I’ll be eagerly waiting for when it hits the Virtual Console.

3.) Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards (Sierra) – The first “adult” game I ever Read the rest of this entry

Another episode of my occasionally regular series.

1.) Adventure (Atari) – For it’s time, this game was incredible. A huge mazed world to explore with (ooh) multi-colored walls, an annoying bat that always seemed to steal your most-needed item and leave you with some piece of crap you didn’t need, and of course, the dragon-duck-dragon things that would hunt you down wherever you went. Nothing stopped them (not even walls), and the red one was by far the worst of the lot. And of course, Adventure is the first game credited to have an “Easter Egg”. But for most games that were usually one screen, or based off a variant of an arcade-style game, this was a very innovative title. Playing it now evokes more of a sense of fond nostalgia, and after all these years, the gameplay is still competent enough to have some fun.

2.) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Konami) – As a kid, playing a game like this really was a great thing. I was in middle school at the time, and would walk to the local arcade to pump quarter after quarter into this machine with good reason. It looked exactly Read the rest of this entry

I was planning this as a weekly feature a long time ago, but it never happened, so I’m going to cheat a little, and add two entries this week. It won’t always be the case, but for now, here we are.

1.) DuckTales (Capcom) – One of the few Disney games you could actually get away with being “cool” as a kid, and actually mean it. And in all honesty, it actually was a great game. The graphics looked just like the cartoon (for the time), the music was typical NES-era Capcom music (which always had that distinctive flair to it), and was just a lot of fun to play. The game didn’t cheapen out with the license, either. It felt like a Scrooge McDuck adventure from the show, with enemies to fight, secret areas to find, and just doing whatever it takes to rake in the most money as possible by the end of the games. That classic 1980′s materialism was quite intact for the theme of the game, and you know, it just worked. In fact, it kind of makes me want to dig out my old NES again just to play it…. Read the rest of this entry

It’s true I’ve left a lot of the “heaviest hitters” out (Zelda, Mario, Metroid, Final Fantasy, etc.), and a lot of that was intentional. They’re all wonderful games, and I will cover them, but I wanted to show that there was more to life that the obvious titles out there. I may even cover one of two in this post. I always pull these games off the top of my head, based off what I have covered, and what I haven’t. Anyhoo, here commences the list:

1.) Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker (Sega) – Despite the media scandals and all the general oddities around one of the most notable pop superstars ever (The Thriller album still rocks, face it), in the 1990′s, there came a game based on the man. And it was cool. It was very cool. Music-themed games are so commonplace these days, and one of my most favorite genres. For the first time, gamers got to be immersed in a music video like experience with some great classic music, the ability to pull of MJ’s repertoire of moves for offensive as well as show, and darn it, the game was just fun and Read the rest of this entry