Video Game Musings – Page 35

Mega Man Anniversary Collection on GBA?

First it was August.
Then it was October.
Then it was November.
Then I bought a Game Boy Advanced SP.
Now it’s January.
Watch it get canned completely.

(2019 Update: That’s exactly what ended up happening.)

Is it really that hard to convert five ancient Game Boy games into a Game Boy Advance format? They’re just Game Boy games; you add color and that’s it. This is depressing me.

Oh yeah, I now have a Game Boy Advance SP. And I use it to play exciting Game Boy Advance games like Super Mario Bros, The Legend Of Zelda, and XEVIOUS!

Wait… what do you mean those aren’t GBA games?

My Top 6 Star Wars Games Not Named X-Wing Or TIE Fighter

Here’s a list of my top 6 Star Wars games that doesn’t include the incredular X-Wing or TIE Fighter games, because those are beyond reproach… well, mostly TIE Fighter is beyond reproach; the X-Wing stuff, I can take or leave… but there’s plenty of other Star Wars games worth playing. Here’s six of them… because there’s six movies in this saga. Maybe if they make a sequel trilogy, we’ll adjust this to nine or something, I don’t know…

Listed in no particular order…

Game #1 – Dark Forces
Here’s a brilliant idea. Doom was a popular thing, so let’s make a Star Wars version. And it was awesome. Great weapons, great atmosphere. … And then they’d make the Jedi Knight games, which I heard were also good, but I haven’t played those yet. Hope to change that soon.

Game #2 – Empire Strikes Back (2600)
It’s simple stuff; you fly a snowspeeder, you pick off AT-ATs with your guns until they blow up, lather, rinse, repeat. It’s a daring campaign to pit one snowspeeder against an infinite fleet of walkers, but it’s easy to pick up and play. And there’s a whole bunch of variations for you to try out if you want to spice things up a bit.

Game #3 – Super Star Wars Trilogy
I’m cheating a bit here because I’m including three games under the list, but Factor 5’s Super Star Wars trilogy of SNES action games have always been top-tier stuff. Yes, it might rough and tough in some places and liberties are taken with the source material, but damn if they don’t make good action games. If I had to pick one, Super Jedi takes the cake; multiple characters with different playstyles, some solid action bits, and some of the vehicle bits aren’t too shabby, either. Play them all, though. They’re great.

Game #4 – Star Wars Trilogy Arcade (1998 Arcade Game)
A rail shooter that has you partaking in major battle sequences of each of the three Star Wars films (we only had three, boys and girls) and with bonus stages featuring duels against Boba Fett and Darth Vader. When the newest Capcom fighter was indisposed, this was usually the other go-to arcade game for my money. Incredibly fun yet challenging fare.

Game #5 – Star Wars Racer Arcade (2000 Arcade Game)
Not one to be left out of the whole Prequel hype, Sega followed up Trilogy Arcade with their own version of the Podracer game. Not sure if this is the same thing you play on the consoles, but I’d say this arcade game is tremendous; featuring a control layout similar to a podracer, bringing that extra bit of detail and authenticity. Whatever you want to say about The Phantom Menace, at the very least, its racing games are top notch.

Game #6 – Star Wars (NES)
Another Star Wars platformer on NES that takes liberties with the source material; hell, the first chunk of the game where you’re on Tatooine is practically non-linear stuff where you can theoretically leave the planet without recruiting any of the usual suspects, thus turning it into a true adventure of Luke Skywalker and no one else. Yes, it can be difficult as hell with falling damage and some spotty moments, but if you can put up with the rough spots, there’s a damned fine game to be found here. And how many NES games based on movies or TV shows can you count that aren’t total garbage?

Oh, and on a sidenote, there’s also a Famicom version from Namco that’s not the same game as this. I’ve not played that one, but I’ve seen some of that in action. The less said, the better.

And that’s it. That’s my list.

REVISITING… The Super Mario Bros. Super Show

Contrary to what many claim, Mario’s first initial cartoon appearance was NOT the Super Mario Bros. Super Show. Rather, it was in an obscure Donkey Kong cartoon that aired as part of Saturday Supercade during the early-1980s, before Nintendo rose into prominence. You wouldn’t have noticed, because in that cartoon, Mario was a generic guy who pursued the big dumb ape. But that’s irrelevant, because before 85, Mario wasn’t a big deal. After ’85, he practically salvaged the video gaming industry and got a cartoon out of it.

Every Mario cartoon had the same basic plot; evil King Koopa (Bowser, although he never goes by that name in the cartoon) wrecks havoc in various worlds of the Mushroom Kingdom and it’s up to Mario, faithful brother Luigi, loyal Mushroom Retainer Toad, and the Princess (when she isn’t kidnapped) to spoil his nefarious plans. Rinse, lather, and repeat.

Odd thing was that this had more in common with Super Mario Bros. 2 (Mario USA to Japanese folk – the less said, the better) than it did the original game, but I’m not complaining.

The way I see it, the cartoon (and even the Captain Lou Albano live skits) was what truly defined Mario as an Italian plumber from Brooklyn who enjoyed eating pasta rather than this fat plumber who ate mushrooms, something that the games depicted. The cartoon stayed true to the original games, as opposed to the later movie which was a bastardization of what was good and wholesome. The stories are rather cheesy, crude, and cheap parodies of certain series and movies, but who cares? They were fun and back then, that’s all you really needed.

The animation was decent for its time. You have some minor technical errors here and there (sometimes Mario would be speaking with Luigi’s voice, or his hat would be the wrong color), but these things happens in all the old cartoons (see the old Ninja Turtles as a good example – yes, you know who you are!) The voices were pretty good; nothing great, but alright nonetheless. Characterizations were pretty good (even though it’s based off a video game and you actually had no frame of reference as far as characterization goes).

Of course, the cartoon is only part of the show. Bookending the cartoon are live-action skits featuring Captain Lou as Mario and this other guy as Luigi, in their Brooklyn basement, where they have to deal with these guest stars’ problems. I’m not just talking nameless hacks looking for a quick buck, but actual stars whom were popular at the time. Like the cartoons, the skits were cheesy but fun. And it’s always a welcome sight to see Captain Lou make an idiot out of himself by doing the Mario. (Now, if the REAL Mario were to have done that in any of the modern Mario games, it would have actually prompted me to buy a modern Nintendo system.)

Every Friday, they’d throw in a little Zelda cartoon. Back then, when I first saw them, I never touched the original game, but still enjoyed them nonetheless… although these days, hearing Link whine “Excuse Me, Princess” every fifth minute irritates me to no end.

After some time, the Super Mario Bros. Super Show changed its format and became Club Mario. While you had the same IL’ good cartoons, instead of live Mario and Luigi, you had two ‘hip’ guys in a messed-up apartment with lots of stuff that boggles the mind. Every once in a while, they have actual ‘storylines’ such as one guy’s evil twin trying to take over the show. Sometimes, I wish good IL’ Koopa showed up during the Mario Bros’ off-day and took over the show so he could cancel it, because even back then, it was bad.

Even today, it’s still a good wholesome cartoon that’s good for a few laughs and maybe can be genuinely enjoyed. I think you can find them on Yahoo somewhere, who airs the shows online. Check ’em out if you have the chance.

Revisiting The Original Street Fighter Game

Most people’s first experience with a Street Fighter anything was the second game. The one with eight World Warriors, special moves that took time to pull off, and made for some competitive battles between players. Even with that initial iteration, it’s easy to see why it became the basis for a much beloved fighting game franchise.

Of course, that is Street Fighter II, which denotes a sequel to a prior game.

The only other Street Fighter game that I knew of back in the day was the Street Fighter 2010 game for Nintendo that was featured in some comic book ads, but eventually, I’d come across that very first Street Fighter game and while my experience with it was brief, it stuck with me until the end of time.

We were at an airport one time and on the second floor, there was a rather modestly-sized video arcade section. I only had a couple quarters on hand to try some of the games; most of which were older games that I wasn’t too familiar with at the time and most of which I probably wish I sampled for the sake of saying that I played an actual [insert vintage arcade game here] arcade cabinet. But instead, my eyes were affixed on this one machine in general with a very familiar name.

Street Fighter.

But this one was different. This one had no roman numeral II on the marquee. And also, the game that was being displayed was not the familiar Street Fighter II game that I had seen before. It took a moment for my young mind to register that this was, in fact, not Street Fighter II… but rather the original Street Fighter I. Yes, the game does, in fact, exist. I’ve seen it with my own two eyes… and it bore the familiar set-up of six buttons (three punches and three kicks).

Being someone who had been on something of a Street Fighter kick, I couldn’t help but be drawn by this magical cabinet before my eyes. Ah man, I’ve got to give this thing a try… aw, but it takes two credits and that’s all I had… but still, it’s Street Fighter I. I’m never going to get this chance again. I rarely get out at this young age of 12. So I popped the quarters in and I start playing.

The game was primitive compared to its sequel. You only had one character to play with (Ryu) and your only option was to fight in Japan or USA. Naturally, I begin the quest in Japan, where I face off against a bald guy named Retsu and eventually get defeated by Geki, a ninja. And then there was a bomb. And then I had no more spare change and moved on with my life.

That’s about all I remember about the game.

I don’t recall if the game ever got ported over to home systems. The closest thing that I could recall was reading about a PC version of Street Fighter II that also came packaged with a DOS version of Street Fighter I, but that’s about the extent of it. It’d be nice to be able to play that game again someday.

We’ll see, I guess.

Later.

Dave’s Old NES and Game Boy Reviews (The Complete Package)

(2026 Note: Dug from the archives of a couple hundred floppy disks, I bring to you some text from my very first website that was published way back in 1999. There’s no way in hell that I’m recreating the entire site for the full experience, but I can bring over the old reviews, which haven’t seen the light of day since mid-2000… ish. For the sake of simplicity – as well as some good ol’ fashioned housecleaning – all the reviews are compiled under a single post, but still divided up into different categories. If I can manage a makeshift navigational system so that you can jump over to these things much more easily, I’ll do that here. In the meantime, enjoy my earliest web postings or point and laugh. Either will do.)

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