Sonic CD

Another one off the bucket list… Sonic CD!

Never owning any Sega consoles growing up, I had an itch to finally sit down and play through all of the Sonic games starting with the first four on the Genesis and then their Game Gear counterparts.

I can see now why this game had to be re-released on other consoles later, because it was so far ahead of its time. Graphically it was superior to every other Sonic game. It built on mechanics introduced in the others while adding a high replay value “time travel” element to it.

It also has a pretty killer 90’s inspired soundtrack that, while sounding dated at times, still holds up in other ways.

My favorite of the Sonic series thus far… that and the final board of Sonic & Knuckles!

Mega Man 6

Admittedly, this game just feels like a direct phone-in attempt by Capcom, replacing MM5 with new characters. There is a really cool “suit/armor” mechanic, which gives Mega Man a “big suit” that can break boulders, etc.

Overall, the music and everything really is MM5 with a new coat of polish. This was the final MM NES game and you can tell they were pushing the console to it’s limits. A small change in the storyline as usual keeps it a bit fresh, and if you’re like me and played through the others, you have to complete this one too.

In order of my favorites on the NES: MM3, MM2, MM4-6, MM1… MM1 is really awful by comparison and incredibly difficult. You also can’t fully enjoy MM3 without playing MM2, but that’s the reason why MM3 is much more fulfilling (storywise). That’s why it’s my favorite.

Onward to more games, including (gasp) the Game Boy versions of Mega Man!

Wayne’s World

Hey Joe, they made a SNES game based on Wayne’s World and I think you should play it.

Shyeah, and monkeys might fly out of my butt!

But low and behold, I did play it. This was right next to that WCW game in the “W” section of my collection and made me do a double take. Is that Wayne’s World?! THE GAME?!

Let’s cut to the chase. You already know this is a terrible game. You didn’t even need to look past the box art to figure that much out.

What I can’ figure out is this: who thought it was a good idea to market this game? And what poor game developer had to work on this steaming pile of poo?

That aside, the cutscenes for the game are funny, but that’s about where the fun ends. You start as a half CG, half digitized Wayne, complete with a guitar that “riffs” at animated enemies like coffee cups and drumsets. You walk around each level until you realize you cannot go any further. Then you double back and fall into an area, unable to jump back to where you were until you wander into another dead end.

Rinse. Repeat.

You literally have no clue where you’re going because the graphics are so cluttered with the same repeating garbage that every single screen looks nearly identical. The enemies also respawn, leaving you with no indication if you’ve been in a given area before while trying to find your way out.

Once you do find your way out, Garth is there. Party on, right?

Wrong.

A giant purple hand comes from the side of the screen and pulls Garth away. You then get warped to what looks like the start of the same stage, but it’s just the next level that looks exactly like the previous one. (That happens a few times.)

There are no plot points telling you why you’re in a stage that looks like Honey I Shrunk the Kids in a Coffee Shop, nor do you know why this hand takes Garth away, but then he’s on the couch talking to you between levels.

Actually, there’s no telling what level you’re on because it never says it on the screen other. Oh yeah, and there are “boss fights” too. I fought some mechanical dinosaur snake lizard thing at the end of what I assume is World 1.

But wait there’s more! Wayne has “special moves” which I have no clue what most of them are outside of “Schwing!” which looks like a combination of Wayne air humping and a nuclear bomb detonation.

This game is truly trash and as much as I was chuckling at it, the novelty quickly wore off and I stopped playing. It goes where it belongs, on the blacklist!

Mortal Kombat II (32X version)

The 32X peripheral was an oddly positioned add-on for the Sega Genesis. While the company was focusing on a next-generation console (which would become the Sega Saturn) they decided to jump to the front of the line by releasing this poorly supported peripheral. Sega already had a large install base for the Genesis as well as an existing add-on (the Sega CD) so sales of the 32X were poor, not only due to support, but the cost and newer consoles looming on the horizon.

That’s a shame as the 32X gave us some of the best arcade translations, almost all from Midway. One of those is Mortal Kombat II, which is the most authentic translation of the arcade title available on a home console at this time. Everything is here and nothing appears to be scaled down or cutout. The graphics are sharp, the audio is sound and the controls are tight.

As for gameplay, MK2 was a major update over MK1. The roster of playable characters was expanded, as were the number of finishing moves. However, it wasn’t just the amount of fatalities that could be performed by each character, but the addition of “babalities” and “friendships” which increased the appeal of MK2. Former hidden fighter Reptile became another palette swap playable character as did MK1 boss Shang Tsung (who retained his ability o change into other characters!)

A number of series staples such as “Toasty”, more pit/stage fatalities, and a handful of other secrets bring this to the forefront of fighting games. In my opinion, MK2 was the best of the series and still hasn’t been topped since.

Mortal Kombat (Game Boy version)

If you’ve ever played Mortal Kombat and/or Nintendo’s Game Boy, then you instantly know any attempt to port this arcade classic to the small screen would be a bad idea.

My first “blacklisted” game to appear on the website, Mortal Kombat sold over a million copies on the Game Boy. I’m not sure how, but its obvious this was a cash grab that worked by slapping the dragon logo and name on the box.

The first problem, obviously, is the Game Boy’s controls. The console only had two buttons, A and B, aside from the select and start buttons. This altered the game to simply a kick and punch button, rather than high and low versions of each, which were better suited to the 16-bit consoles which had more buttons.

The arcade used a 5th “block” button which was accomplished on the handheld by holding both A and B at the same time.

This created the crap fest that would be MK for Game Boy. From the poor monochrome graphics and tinny sound, ripping half of the moves out of the game as well as censoring the violence like it’s SNES bigger brother, this game is terrible. Add lag in the controls which make it nearly impossible to even complete one fight and you have the makings for one of the worst arcade translations ever.

Avoid this game at all costs. Even if you have a morbid curiosity for awful games like I do, you still can’t fathom how bad this title is without playing it.

Mortal Kombat II (Genesis version)

While Nintendo finally backpedaled on violence in video games with Mortal Kombat II, Sega maintained the status quo, albeit without the stupid “blood code” from their version of MK1. Unfortunately, as with MK1, the SNES version is a lot closer to the arcade version than on the Genesis.

Yet to its credit, Sega’s MK2 was more polished than their MK1 version with better visuals and upgraded sound. Some of the translations in gameplay and style were more authentic to the arcade version on the Genesis. Therefore, I don’t loathe it nearly as much as MK1. (Which I honestly don’t care for at all on any of the consoles.)

Mortal Kombat II (SNES version)

Nintendo finally backpedaled on violence in video games with Mortal Kombat II. Having a longstanding policy for being “family friendly”, Nintendo neutered the original Mortal Kombat on the Super Nintendo by replacing the blood with “sweat” and changing all of the game’s fatalities.

With MK2, Nintendo left the game alone and didn’t censor any of it. I recall pre-ordering this game and buying it at Hills Department Store!

As with MK1, the SNES version is a lot closer to the arcade version than on the Genesis. (To its credit Sega’s MK2 was more polished than their MK1 version.)

Super Mario Bros. (All-Stars Version)

For those of you who haven’t played the SMB remakes on the SNES “Super Mario All-Stars” cartridge, these were graphically revamped games that also removed some of the bugs/glitches.

The main draw is that Nintendo revamped the graphics and music. It’s odd, but I like these almost equally as much as the originals. Each holds a fond part of my heart because once my NES was disconnected, as this is how I continued playing the original games for many years.

While I like the upgraded graphics, it just feels weird to play the original Super Mario Bros. with the new style graphics. In my honest opinion, I would’ve preferred that Mario not look so weird. When you play the other remakes, they feel a lot more genuine as opposed to “Mario 1”.

Still, this game is fun and worth playing through just to see where there were changes or updates made. The controls are still tight and several of the strategies used in the original hold true here too.

Leave it to Nintendo to go the same path as Disney and get us to pay for the same game more than once. (And enjoy it!)