Don’t you hate it when one simple design choice ruins an entire game?

As a 3DS Ambassador, I got 10 free Game Boy Advance games via download, including Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones. I haven’t played much Fire Emblem despite owning both Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn, but James, editor at Nintendo Life, asked me if I’d review it as my first Nintendo Life assignment. I agreed.

I’m not super into strategy RPGs, but I do love me some Shining Force and Final Fantasy Tactics, and I’d always wanted to really get into Fire Emblem. I liked the look of it and the “rock-paper-scissors” weapon balance was super fun. The writing was good and I loved the character designs. Things were looking good!

Everything was going fine until I ran into what broke the game for me: when a character dies in battle, they’re gone FOREVER. Okay, that’s fine I guess. If someone dies, I’ll just reset! No big whoop!

That worked until one chapter in particular where the field was covered in fog and I couldn’t see anything that wasn’t directly around my characters. Despite moving them in a tight formation, enemies would always pour out of the fog and gang up on one character until they died.

I restarted that mission no less than ten times before completely giving up on the game.

I’ve gone into it a bit before in other posts, but I have weird anxiety issues with games. The thought of letting a character die and NOT resetting almost gave me a panic attack. No, I can’t do that. Then they’re gone for the whole rest of the game. What if I need them? What if they had something important to say later? No, I can’t let them die.

I had to email James and apologize, but I couldn’t play enough of the game to review it. I felt really guilty and embarrassed, since it was my first assignment and all, but that game was paralyzing me. I tried really hard to work through it, to put my crazy aside and be a professional, but my constitution stat wasn’t high enough, apparently.

So it looks like I’m going to have to admire the Fire Emblem series from afar. Have any of you ever had an otherwise awesome game ruined by one design choice?

(Note: I originally published this article on Bits ‘n’ Bytes Gaming on February 8, 2011.)

One of my weird gaming quirks is that I am inexplicably drawn to interesting title screens. Like a moth to a flame, if you show me a cool title screen, I’m more than likely to play your game. That’s part of how I pick which “unknown” games to play on Virtual Console, since all you really get to see are the title screens!

One of the first games I downloaded for the Virtual Console was Neutopia for the Turbografx-16, and I selected it solely based on how amazing the title screen was. Awesome 16-bit graphics, hero in a heroic pose, colorful landscape, it had all I was looking for. I bought it without even knowing what kind of game it was, I just knew I wanted in.

To my surprise, Neutopia is a 16-bit Legend of Zelda clone, and a pretty good one at that. I purposefully call it a “clone” rather than an “homage,” because really, who are they trying to kid? You use bombs to blow up secret passageways in walls. There are piglike humanoids who throw spears at you. There’s a monster that pops out of the water to shoot fireballs at you. There’re bats and skeletons. You have to traverse eight dungeons to find medallions and rescue a princess. There’s an item that stops time. There’s a really catchy, endlessly looping overworld theme. The boss of the first dungeon is even a dragon!

(One major difference, though, is that hero Jazeta has a much girlier sounding name than Link.)

Neutopia is perfect for old-school gamers wishing in vain for another top-down Zelda game. Just like Zelda for the NES, you’re plopped into the game with little direction and a massive world to explore. The nice thing the developers of Neutopia did, though, was give you a compass that will point you in the direction of the next dungeon you need to find. As far as getting there, though, you’re on your own.

But be wary, aspiring adventurers; Neutopia is HARD. In fact, some might even call it Nintendo hard. The game does not skimp on enemies to throw at you, and they do A LOT of damage. You upgrade your armor pretty quickly in the game so you can take a little more abuse, but just as soon as that happens, tougher enemies start showing up to take a chunk out of you.

The combat is exactly the same as in The Legend of Zelda (except, sadly, you cannot shoot your sword with power), but there is some pretty dodgy hit detection, especially against flying enemies. You have to hit them RIGHT ON with your sword or else you miss, while they can touch any part of you and you take damage. As a result, I found myself picking and choosing my fights, hoping to conserve health for enemies I couldn’t avoid.

I can’t recommend Neutopia enough to gamers looking to relive the days of old-school adventuring, but if you can’t take a challenge, stay away. Don’t let the bright colors and cheerful music mislead you, this game is going to fight you at every turn.

Neutopia is available for download from the Virtual Console service on Wii for 600 Wii points.

(Note: I originally published this article on Bits ‘n’ Bytes Gaming on February 7, 2011)

Before the Wii was released to the public, one of the most talked-about features was the Virtual Console. Some people cried foul, claiming Nintendo was simply trying to milk more money out of people who had already bought some of those games several times before. I, however, saw a lot of potential in the service, not just for me to “digitize” my collection of old games or play some old gems I missed, but as a way for a new generation of gamers to experience key points in gaming history.

There are all kinds of people who have either been reintroduced to videogames due to the Wii, or are taking a step into the gaming world for the very first time. These people may think that The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is pretty great, but did they ever take notes on how to navigate through the Lost Woods? They might have really enjoyed Metroid Prime 3, but do they know the name Justin Bailey? While a lot of people may have picked up the Wii simply to play Wii Sports, there are plenty who were enticed by what it brought to the table as an entertainment device and began to genuinely like videogames, and will use the Virtual Console service as a way to explore the path that led to the games they are playing today.

Take, for example, my sister-in-law, who is fourteen years old. My wife has been a gamer her whole life, so her sister grew up watching her play videogames and the Virtual Console has allowed her to play a lot of the games that she was too young for at the time. She’s a big fan of Kirby, having played his games on the GameBoy Advance and Nintendo DS. With the Virtual Console, she’s now able to see Kirby’s console game debut in Kirby’s Adventure for the NES.

More impressive still, she’s been spending time lately playing though Super Mario 64, a game my wife received as a Christmas gift the day before her sister was even born!

Even for someone like me who is a lifelong gamer, has never sold a console, and grew up reading every gaming magazine I could get my hands on, the Virtual Console has been a great way for me to play a lot of the games that I could only read about and never play. I never had a Turbografx-16 as a kid (and to be honest, I never even saw one in any store!), but through the Virtual Console I’ve gotten to play some really fun TG16 games like Bonk’s Adventure and Neutopia that I would have never had the chance to otherwise.

Unfortunately, the Virtual Console hasn’t gotten the attention in North America and Europe that it has in Japan (where new games are still put up weekly), and some of the most wished-for games will never hit the service for legal reasons (EarthBound), it’s still a great service that shouldn’t be easily dismissed. There’s a plethora of great games, some well-known classics and some buried treasures, waiting to be replayed by older fans who may have forgotten them, or discovered by new fans for the very first time.

I haven’t written much lately. Looking at this front page, I’ve hardly written anything of substance in the past month! Sorry about that. That’s just like me, saying I’m not going to stop writing and then doing exactly that. In my defense Christina and I have been very busy, she’s been sick and those Blogimations that no one watches are a LOT of work.

Rather than spend another day doing nothing and complaining that I don’t know what to write about, here’s a few quick thoughts on what I’ve been up to.

- I’ve been playing the 3DS a lot lately! I got back into Ocarina of Time 3D. I still insist it’s not a good portable game, but man is it pretty. I also picked up Pokémon Rumble Blast and it’s a really good time. It’s really simple and easy to play and it’s something that I enjoy playing for a little while as I’m winding down and getting ready for bed. If you played the WiiWare original and liked it, you’ll like this.

- Thanks for forumite Hexen, we’ve discovered VGCollect.com. It’s a video game database that allows you to keep track of your collection, and if you own something that’s not listed, you can add it to the database yourself! We have a pretty long list of stuff to add and we’re not even close to done, but you can check out our list so far here.

- Ben Paddon (who is the genius behind GameJournos, formerly GJAIF, don’t ask what it stood for) has started a web show called PortsCenter, where he takes a look at games that have been ported to a multitude of systems, how they’re different and which version is the best. The first episode focused on Doom, with the episode going into detail about why the PlayStation version is the best. It was a great episode and I found the original long-box PlayStation version of Doom in near-mint condition at my local comic shop about a week later. I picked it up and it really is the best version!

Check out the episode on their Kickstarter page, and be sure to toss them a couple bucks so we can see more in the future.

- During a trip to our local anime shop I discovered Kotobukiya’s Bishoujo line of statuettes, where they take icons of American comics and pop fiction and render them in a beautiful anime art style. I bought Jean Grey, and with X-23, Liara T’Soni and Jaina Solo on the horizon they’ll be getting lots of my money. I’ll be reviewing the Jean Grey statuette for Christina’s site Otakuholic pretty soon, so stay tuned for that.

- I’ve talked about the Daizenshuu EX podcast a few times before, and I finally got to cross something off my nerd bucket list because I was a guest on episode 277 to talk about the latest Dragon Ball video game, Ultimate Tenkaichi. Give it a listen, it was a really good discussion! Spoiler, I’m the only one that liked it.

- I think I’m a REAL games reviewer now, because I’ve been getting games in the mail from PR companies! It’s kind of funny that the first game I ever received from a PR company is Grease Dance for Xbox 360, but hey, it actually wasn’t a bad game! I’m such a nerd, though; I saved the packing slip and hung it on my fridge FOR NOSTALGIA.

Not every game I’ve been sent is fun, though.

Also, if you never checked out my first review for KINECTaku for Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster, you may do so now.

- This past weekend I was in the Star Wars: The Old Republic beta test. Legally, according to the fine print in the non-disclosure agreement all I can say is 1) there was a beta test and 2) I took part in that beta test. So guys, there was a beta test and I took part in that beta test.

On a completely unrelated note, HOLY SHIT.

- Finally, we got Super Mario 3D Land yesterday. I don’t want to say much because I’m taking it slow (the game is short, so I’m limiting myself to only one World a day) and I want to give it its own post in the future, but it’s an absolute blast and that THIS is the game that will make you a believer in 3D games.

That’s all I’ve got! Regular updates to resume soon. I PROMISE.

Last year, Christina and I were eagerly awaiting Disney Epic Mickey for Wii, which was being headed by legendary game designer Warren Spector. In several interviews, Warren expressed his fondness for classic Disney animation block Disney Afternoon, and would love to make a new game based on DuckTales if given the opportunity. The game never happened, but he wrote a new comic book series based on the property.

This was exciting for me, because as a child of the 80s, I LOVED Disney Afternoon and thought Warren Spector was a totally rad guy, and knowing that he had the desire to breathe new life into something I loved as a kid was an incredible feeling. The back page of one of the DuckTales issues was advertising a few of Boom! Studios’ upcoming releases, and one jumped out at me immediately: Chip ‘n’ Dale Rescue Rangers.

Rescue Rangers was my FAVORITE cartoon series as a kid. I could talk for hours about how much I loved it, how much fun the characters were, how the NES game is STILL AWESOME TO THIS DAY, and how disappointed I was that there was no merch at Disney World for me to spend money on.

I’m not going to, though. I’m going to talk about the comic instead.

We grabbed the first graphic novel entitled “Worldwide Rescue” from our local comic shop which collects the first four issues of the new Rescue Rangers comic (it covers the first story arc, there’s a second entitled “Slippin’ Through the Cracks” that I haven’t read yet).

A few years ago I stumbled upon a Rescue Rangers fan comic called “Of Mice and Mayhem” (just a heads up, it’s 231 pages. Once you start reading you will NOT be able to stop) which acted as a continuation of the series, but had a darker, more grown-up atmosphere about it. It dealt with some pretty serious issues, but the characters were true to who they were and the story, for all intents and purposes, “fit” into the universe.

Boom!’s series isn’t nearly as heavy handed as the fan work is, but it still takes into account that the people reading it are in their late 20s and early 30s, having grown up with the original cartoon in the late 80s. As a result, the story is overall fun and lighthearted although certain things that would never be referenced in the cartoon (such as death) are given a very respectable treatment as part of the narrative.

Series villain Fat Cat has somehow gotten control of the Animal Rescue System, a device created by Gadget’s late father that could trigger a “berserk” state in animals in order to help them protect themselves against humans. Of course Fat Cat has his own uses for the machine, and begins using it to send armies of animals after the Rescue Rangers. It’s up to them to figure out how Fat Cat got ahold of the ARS and shut it down permanently.

The writing is incredibly sharp and sits comfortably between the old cartoon and a modern comic book. The team dynamic is just as it was when we last saw the Rescue Rangers in 1990, and without the constraints of an animated series, we get to delve a little deeper into each character’s personality. Reading that last sentence again, I feel a bit silly describing five anthropomorphic animals that way, but hey, Disney certainly can’t be accused of creating bad characters. Boom! just gave them more room to move around.

The art is simply incredible. The world looks much richer than it did in the animated series. The colors are vibrant and bring each panel to life, and although the style is slightly different from the series, the characters all retain their looks and charm.

Oh yeah, there’s even a reference to the NES game in here. It was so awesome I experienced nostalgia palpitations.

It might just be because I have such fond memories of the show (I bought the first DVD volume a few months ago… I haven’t opened it yet, I just really like owning it, knowing it’s there) but I’m really, really impressed with the first part of the Rescue Rangers revival. At $15 for the graphic novel collection, you really can’t go wrong. Of course, even owning this I’m going to want to go back and collect the individual issues (and each one has several variant covers!), but I doubt you’re as crazy as me.

(Note: I originally published this article on Bits ‘n’ Bytes Gaming on February 22, 2011.)

Todd Purple is one of the most interesting people you will ever have the pleasure to meet. He is a veritable repository of trivia for just about everything and maintains a love for just about everything retro, including videogames. He is also currently ranked fifth in the world in the 1980s arcade game Tapper.

Todd’s score has been verified by Twin Galaxies, the governing authority for videogame high scores and player rankings. They have several categories for a plethora of games and submitted scores need to either be video taped for verification or play sessions need to be witnessed by one of their referees.

I talked with Todd a bit about his love for retro gaming, what went into that record-setting run, and what his plans are for further high scores.

***

BNB: How did you get involved in retro gaming?

TP: I guess I got involved in retro gaming from the start. I’m thirty-one now, and when I was very young there was a Space Invaders arcade machine at my town Community Center. My dad would bring me there, and we would play together. He’s a computer programmer and has always been interested in videogames. I’ve always loved the simplicity in the old games, and I love that they can be very challenging. I never progressed past owning a Sega Genesis, and since that time I’ve been working my way backwards through original NES titles and arcade machines. I will say that seeing the King of Kong was an inspiration. I subsequently visited the Funspot in New Hampshire and decided that I wanted to own my own machine.

BNB: Why Tapper?

TP: Tapper jumped out at me. The first time I played it I was hooked. It’s a very fun, cartoony game but also very challenging. There’s a LOT going on during gameplay. I said to myself, “I think I could get good at this”. Then when I decided I wanted to buy an arcade machine, I found a place in Davis Square (Pinballs Plus) that sold refurbished pinball machines, jukeboxes, and arcade machines. The two they had that I was most interested in were Pac-Man and Tapper. Everybody loves Pac-Man, but Tapper is much more rare, a bit more interesting and to me, a lot more fun. Also, the machine is a cocktail table, which is rarer than the upright machines and serves an actual function when you’re not using it.

BNB: When did you start thinking about competing for high scores?

TP: One of the first times I went to the Funspot, I met Greg Erway, who is a Tapper GOD. Greg once scored 3 million points on just three men. That is insane. I am nowhere at that level. He gave me a lot of good pointers about the game, and I took it from there. I pushed myself to play a lot, building my scores higher and higher. Finally I cracked a million points. It was intense. I decided that I wanted to go to the Funspot tournament and have someone from Twin Galaxies make my high score official.

BNB: Tell us about your session that led to the #5 high score.

TP: In June 2010 I went to the Funspot for their annual tournament. First of all, the controls on the Tapper machine up there leave a bit to be desired, but after a couple practice runs I managed to get the hang of their idiosyncrasies. On Saturday I clocked in a session of about 611,000 points, but there was nobody to referee. I came back Sunday, found someone from Twin Galaxies, had one practice run, and then launched into my big game. This is where it gets crazy – there were tornado warnings going out all over the radio. It was dark and stormy outside, and throughout the FOUR HOURS that I spent at the Tapper machine there were FOUR brown-outs. Machines around me were shutting down left and right. You could hear gamers flipping out – cursing like enraged sailors – as they lost the scores on their games and the machines reset. The Tapper machine was un-phased! One time the marquee light even went out, but the game played on! When I got to 2 million points I decided to end the game voluntarily. I had far surpassed what I thought I could do, and I felt kind of like I was holding my friends prisoner. The closing ceremonies for the tournament were approaching, and I really could have just kept going, but I was very happy with 2,043,100 points. It got me 5th place in the Marathon category.

BNB: What goes into getting THAT good at a game?

TP: With Tapper, you really gotta know the game and be able to devote a lot of time to playing it. The programmers put in a lot of tricky little things to screw you up. The customers drink their beers at different rates and there are no patterns in the way the customers come out to the bar (except that the number of customers at the beginning of a level is always the same). You have to be able to multi-task serving the beers, keeping the customers from coming too far down the bar, and retrieving the empty mugs without them crashing to the floor. It looks like chaos on the screen, and if you can’t keep your cool, you’re done for!

BNB: It seems like classic gaming competitors have a pretty good “community” aspect. What’s that like?

TP: The community is very cool. I’ve gotten to meet some of the top players, and they’ve all been very supportive! Mark Alpiger – really nice guy! He cheered me on while I was setting my record. Walter Day – so awesome! He was a Hippie back in the 60s and told me and my friends stories about hanging out in San Francisco. When I posted my score on Twin Galaxies people were talking about it on the message boards! This was my first score ever on the site, so as a new-comer, I was really pleased that they were cheering me on, encouraging me to hone my skills, push my endurance, and take the top spot. Sure, there’s drama and gossip that I’ve heard when I was at the tournaments, but overall it has been a really positive community experience. It’s a group of really good gamers keeping the old titles alive, and enjoying themselves while they’re at it. The King of Kong definitely inspired a lot of people to take up classic gaming again, but there’s also a lot about the movie that I feel is highly dramatized and skewed to make it a far more compelling story.

BNB: Do you think you’ll be attempting to beat any of the other four scores?

TP: I’ve thought about giving it another go. It would be a real endurance test to try to get to number one. It takes about two hours to score a million points, and the top score right now is 10 million. You do the math! That’s one devoted day of Tapper. I don’t have a video camera, but perhaps I will borrow one and try to set the score at home. I would feel bad for Robert Mruczek having to watch 20 hours of me playing Tapper though.

On another note, Tapper World Tour is coming out soon for the iPad and iPod touch. I don’t have an iOS device, but I’m excited that someone is keeping the game alive. This remake is animated by the legendary Don Bluth, and I hope that it generates a lot of interest in the original Tapper.

***

We’d like to thank Todd for taking the time to share his story with us, and wish him luck in all his future attempts!

(Note: I originally published this article on Bits ‘n’ Bytes Gaming on February 29, 2011)

Hey everyone, Joe here, and I’ve got some totally rad stuff for you: information on Nintendo’s upcoming console, the Ultra 64!

The Ultra 64 is Nintendo’s follow-up to the hugely successful Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and from the early information I’ve come across, it’s going to be a real game-changer! If you need any more convincing, just think about this: Super Mario and Zelda in 3D. Oh yeah. The future is here, baby!

Check out some of these pictures of the system. I’m loving the design! A nice sleek black with FOUR controller ports! FOUR! Now we won’t need a Super Multitap for four-player gaming. Also notice that the games are still coming on cartridges, which I think is a good thing. Everyone is making a big fuss about the PlayStation and Saturn games coming on CDs, which I don’t think will really catch on. CDs are for music. Long live cartridges!

And check out the controller! It looks like a beast at first, but from what I’ve been reading you can hold it in different ways depending on what game you’re playing. You can use either the d-pad or the new “analog stick” depending on which handles you hold, and there’s even a trigger button underneath. The yellow “C-Buttons” will let you control the camera in 3D games.

I’ve also found a few screenshots of upcoming games on different websites. I tell ya, the internet is a wonderful thing. It’s too bad we can’t play games over the internet!

This screenshot of Mario 64 looks pretty cool! I don’t really know where Mario is, though. We’ve never really seen Mario indoors… maybe it’s Princess Toadstool’s castle?

These screenshots of Zelda 64 are mouth-watering. Look at Link in that forest! It’s hard to believe we played the old games when you see how realistic that looks. Also, there’s the Triforce! Holy crap!

For all of you fellow RPG nuts who were hooked on EarthBound, I also found this picture from EarthBound 64. It looks like Ness is back! Only time will tell if Jeff, Paula and Poo return as well, but I can’t imagine a sequel without them.

Lastly, I managed to dig up the title screen for Super Mario Kart R. We don’t know much aside from the title, but if it’s anything like the SNES version, I call dibs on Koopa Troopa!

The Ultra 64 is supposed to go on sale in Japan in June of 1996, with a North American launch following in September and a European release next March. Get ready, because this will be the last game system you’ll ever need!

(Just in case it’s not PLAINLY clear, this article is a joke. Happy retro week!)

I don’t remember HOW, but the other night Christina and I were talking and discussion turned to Power Rangers. Then we found out that it’s on streaming Netflix. You can probably guess how we’ve been spending the past few days.

Marrying a fellow nerd is so awesome because whenever these waves of nostalgia assault the marina that is real life, I don’t get made fun of; instead, my wife joins in and oftentimes will even OUTNERD ME.

Did you know that when Christina was a kid, she dropped out of dance class because it was scheduled for the same time that Power Rangers was on TV?

Anyway, it’s been a blast watching this show again. Honestly, it’s held up surprisingly well. Now that I’m older and I know that it’s actually TWO shows (the stuff outside of costume filmed with American actors spliced with episodes of the old Japanese series Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger ) I’m actually quite impressed with the skilled editing; the Japanese footage in the episode we just watched (Episode 7, “Big Sisters”) had a girl with pigtails, a white shirt and a red skirt… so the plot of the American footage centered around Kimberly and Trini spending time with a girl dressed exactly the same way.

Call me crazy, but it’s still a fun show to watch. The first cast was great. The characters are still immensely likeable and they all SEEM like really good friends. Sure, the plot and acting can get cheesy, but hey: this is a show adapted from the Super Sentai franchise. It’s a package deal.

As you know, I’m a fan of subtly working in aspects of nerd culture into everyday attire. In fact, I’ve been wearing an X-Men belt buckle for about six years now:

Now I’m determined to equip myself with a Power Morpher. There’s some really badass looking ones floating around:

The big decision I have to make is which coin to put in it. I could do the Dragonzord coin, because the Green Ranger looked the coolest with his badass armor. I could do the Mastadon coin, because the Black Ranger was played by TWO awesome people. I could do the Tyrannosaurus coin because hey, the Red Ranger was the leader. I could do the Triceratops coin because the Blue Ranger was my favorite as a kid. DECISIONS.

Oh yeah, my text message alert on my phone is now the same alert that the Power Rangers got on their communicators when they’d get a message from Zordon.

It’s always a shame when you go back and revisit something from your childhood that you remember was awesome, but it turns out that it’s not awesome anymore. Luckily for us Power Rangers is still rad as hell, and we’re having a blast reliving it.

Happy birthday Sega Dreamcast! One of the best video game consoles to ever be released turns 11 years old today! Woo!

The Dreamcast has had a very interesting life for a console, with a very short official lifespan but maintaining a very dedicated fanbase that has endured for over a decade. With Dreamcast titles scheduled to hit Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network in the near future, now is as good a time as any to relive the classics that we fell in love with on Sega’s hardware swan song.

In celebration of the Dreamcast’s 11th birthday, here is (in no particular order) my 11 favorite Dreamcast games. I’m not going to bother with the cool picture number things this time, because I was busy doing wedding stuff and I’m kind of tired. Next year!

Phantasy Star Online – I would pay SO MUCH for this to be on Xbox Live Arcade, mostly because there would be no cheaters to ruin the fun this time.

Crazy Taxi – One of the most bitchin’ soundtracks ever in a game and probably my favorite game to feature cars. My favorite character in the game, BD Joe, is playable in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. Too bad he’s not that good. =/

Sonic Adventure – I know a lot of people will point to this game as the beginning of the end for Sonic, but I really enjoyed it. Once I changed the voices to Japanese, that is. Honestly, I still think it’s a pretty good looking game.

Chu Chu Rocket – This needs to be on Live Arcade like, yesterday. One of my favorite puzzle games ever, and it also has the best commercial in history.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 – Do I really need to say anything other than the title?

Jet Grind Radio – I heard a rumor that this will be hitting Live Arcade and I hope with all of my might that it’s true. It’s one of the most stylish games ever made and seeing it in high definition would be sooooooooooooo good.

Power Stone 2 – Capcom’s take on a Smash Bros-style 4 player fighting maelstrom. My favorite character is Wang-Tang, who, for a super move, turns into a blatant Son Gokuu rip-off complete with golden hair and the Genki-Dama attack.

Resident Evil Code: Veronica – The best Resident Evil that isn’t 4. Claire is one of the most endearing characters in the series, and giving her the starring role made the game that much better. The opening movie is badass.

Skies of Arcadia – It’s been so long since I’ve played Skies of Arcadia that I don’t remember much about it, but I remember it being fantastic. So it probably was.

Project Justice – This is my unicorn game (a game so rare and sought after that you have little hope of ever obtaining it). I rented it a few times and loved it, so of course it regularly goes for $60 or more on eBay. A three-on-three fighter from Capcom’s Rival School series with crazy team-up attacks. I want it so bad.

Shenmue – If I need to tell you why Shenmue is great then I have to wonder why you’re even reading a video game blog in the first place.

What are some of your favorites?

I just saw this over on Kotaku and I thought it was really neat. The fine folks over at GameTrailers have tackled the decades-old myth, confirming once and for all that Mario can indeed jump over the flagpole in Super Mario Bros. for the NES. I remember attempting this many times as a kid, but never quite making it.

I heard my share of rumors of things hidden in Super Mario Bros. way back when, none of which ever panned out because little kids are liars and I should have known that none of the kids in my kindergarten class had relatives who worked at Nintendo. Live and learn, I suppose!