Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Game Gear)
For the most part, Sonic the Hedgehog games on Sega’s handheld Game Gear console are a forgotten gem. However, the 8-bit sequel to the excellent first Sonic game on the handheld quite frankly sucks. That may not even be a generous term – and it’s also lame that Sega named …
Super Mario Bros. 25th Anniversary
Amidst the Mario mania for our favorite plumber’s 35th anniversary was a loosely celebrated 25th anniversary for Super Mario Bros. some ten years ago on the original Wii. To celebrate the milestone Nintendo had a special red console released, along with a re-release of the Super Nintendo’s Super Mario All-Stars …
ClayFighter
Following a flurry of reviewing fighting games for an entire month I had unearthed one forgotten game of my childhood amongst a sea of potential games to review. With Halloween around the corner, I felt it fitting to still keep ClayFighter on the schedule, because it better represents the current …
Killer Instinct
What a difference a couple of years make… In the Fall of 1993, Mortal Kombat, widely considered one of the most violent video games of its time, was released on the Super Nintendo. However, it was a stripped-down port of the arcade which replaced blood for sweat and neutered the …
Dead or Alive
We are all well aware of the significance of this game and how it launched into a money-making series: bouncing boobs. In a nutshell, a nearly bankrupt Tecmo went to the drawing board and used sex and violence to get eyes on a video game which is actually much deeper …
Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors
When Darkstalkers first dropped in arcades around 1994, I was mesmerized. In 1996, it would get a proper port to Sony’s PlayStation. Originally, I was a huge fan of Street Fighter II, so imagine when I saw Capcom taking the same engine and beefing up the game ten-fold. Darkstalkers introduced …
Primal Rage
A friend recently reminded me of another Atari fighting game after reviewing Pit Fighter and I wish I could say my rosy memories of this one held up. Primal Rage was Atari’s answer to the fighting game boom of the early-to-mid 90’s. The story revolved around prehistoric creatures doing battle …
Virtua Fighter
You cannot mention groundbreaking video games without bringing up Sega’s Virtua Fighter. Arcade goers were wowed by the first video game to fully feature 3-D polygonal graphics back in 1993. The game was considered one of the top arcade cabinets of the year and generated high review scores from a …
Tetris
Sometimes on this site I end up reviewing the same game on multiple consoles. However, as is the case with Tetris, the main concept is so widely unchanged that these extra reviews are unnecessary. Therefore, which Tetris is the proper introduction for most people? Would it be a computer version? …
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
When Sega introduced Sonic The Hedgehog it knew they finally had their “Mario Killer” for the Genesis console. But how do you follow up a great game with an equally great sequel? It doesn’t always happen, but Team Sonic was able to capture lightning in a bottle and improve the …
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Batman is a character many of us grew up on, for better or worse. For those old enough, we remember the cheesy Adam West TV show (either through first runs or re-runs). 80’s kids, such as myself, recall Michael Keaton as a darker, all-black clad Batman who ripped through the …
New Super Mario Bros. U
Traditional 2-D side scrolling Mario games took a hiatus following the stellar entries of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World into the series. Those games launched, respectively, on the NES and Super Nintendo in the early 90’s. Entering the new millennium, 3-D graphics were all the rage. Super …
WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game
What do you get when you take Midway’s trend of digitizing Mortal Kombat actors and NBA Jam players with the sports entertainment goliath then known as the WWF? You get Vince McMahon saying “boomshakalaka”! And no, that isn’t a joke! Back in the 90’s it was still a somewhat guarded …
Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Remastered)
What do you get when Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis write treatments for a third installment of the Ghostbusters movies but never get it produced? You get Ghostbusters: The Video Game. Before I get started, a disclaimer: I am reviewing the remastered edition on the Xbox One which came out …
Streets of Rage
From the moment the menu screen starts, you realize Streets of Rage isn’t your typical beat-em-up. Modeled after games such as Double Dragon, Final Fight, and Komami’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (and its many arcade clones) Streets of Rage is Sega’s take on the genre which has a unique albeit …
Yoshi’s New Island
Somewhere along the line the Yoshi’s Island series of game became lost. Originating with Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island, of which this game takes it’s namesake, Yoshi spun off into other games, but always retained a similar feel to its Super Nintendo roots. That is, you eat enemies, create …
WWF Super WrestleMania
After dealing with the limitations of the 8-bit era pro wrestling games, WWF Super WrestleMania came along and blew everything out of the water during the 16-bit era. Interestingly enough the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo had different versions of the same title: this one reviews the latter which had …
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
At my household we decided to dust off an old relic of an accessory known as the Wii Balance Board. In doing so, we started looking up games which supported this century’s version of the NES Power Pad… and in doing so, we found a game that was a blast …