The Simpsons Arcade Game Review and Personal Experience

     The Simpsons is one of the most iconic animated television shows ever created. It’s been on air since 1989 and hasn't declined in popularity. Being out so long there are bound to be video games made based on the series. One of these games is the Simpsons arcade game. The game is seen as a classic and is still played to this day. 

         I first played the Simpsons arcade game at in the Swing, a local arcade that sadly closed down two years ago. I must have spent at least 100 dollars on that machine. It was simply amazing.

          The gameplay like most arcade games is simple but fun. It’s a simple beat em up style game. In the game you can fight several different enemies ranging from clowns, to government agents. You can choose to play as Bart, marge, homer, or Lisa. This gives the game a little more variety because all the characters play differently. To fight Homer uses his fists, Bart uses a skateboard, Marge uses a vacuum, and Lisa uses her saxophone. I personally loved playing as Bart because of hs skateboard. Instead of just walking around he rides the skateboard to get around. You can watch some game play here.

          All in all, this game is one of the greatest arcade classics ever and if you happen to see it in an arcade it is totally worth your quarter.

 Image 1 courtesy of retroware.tv image 2 courtesty of preferrednerd.com

Flower Review

After what seemed like an eternal winter, spring has finally arrived. Because of this I will be reviewing the game flower. The game Flower is an art game developed by Thatgamecompany. Thatgamecompany is known for making games like flower that focus on being art more than a game.

            The game Flower is excellent. It is nothing like any game you have played ever before. In the game you control the wind blowing through fields of flowers. The strange thing about this game is that there is no dialogue. The narrative is completely player interpreted. You can figure out the story by your actions throughout the game. 

            The game play of it is simple but still fun. You fly through meadows, fields, and forests collecting flower petals. As you pass through the fields, meadows and forests you bring life to all the dead plants surrounding you. You bring life to what was once dead and that’s what makes this game beautiful. You can watch some game play here.

            Flower has several messages hidden in it. As mentioned in the previous paragraphs you bring back dead plant life once you pass it. The thing that’s not said in the game is what actually killed the plants. The answer to that question is us. The human race killed those plants with the constant pollutants and chemicals we are putting into the atmosphere. The game has environmental themes. It makes you think if this is our future. Will we destroy the plant life in our world?

            This game is unique experience that everyone should play. The game only lasts about ninety minutes but it was one of the best spent ninety minutes of my life. The game only costs about seven dollars on ps4. If you ever get the chance to pick up this game you definitely should.

Image 1 and 2 courtesy of: thatgamecompany.com

Virtual boy review and personal experience

The virtual boy is a strange system that Nintendo released in between the Nintendo 64 and the super Nintendo. It was such a commercial failure that Nintendo stopped production after it was out for less than a year. It was marketed as the first virtual reality gaming system that would make you feel like you were in the game. This was as far from the truth as you can get. Most of the games didn't need to be VR games and using the system for more than five minutes gives you a headache. Only about fourteen games were released for it. The only game that actually tried to make you feel like you’re in the game is telroboxer. You can watch some game play of it here.The only time I have ever played virtual boy is when I was in a retro video game store and they had a demo set up. I played telroboxer and thought it was very interesting. I actually felt like I was in the game and I was having a lot of fun, until I started to felt the headache.  That ruined the entire experience for me.  This system failed so hard that no virtual reality systems were produced for about twenty years. Now we have four virtual reality systems coming out. Well see if they’re any good.

Image courtesy of Nintendo.com

Gameboy Micro review

 Possibly the strangest members of the Nintendo handheld family is the Gameboy micro. It launched in 2005 and is basically a smaller Gameboy Advanced without any backwards compatibility. 

I love the thing to death. The small size may be an inconvenience for some but not for me. I always found the Gameboy systems were not very portable especially the original advanced. The micro fixes this problem with its size. The LCD screen is beautiful. It is a big step up from the Advanced. The colors are vibrant and it is made of actual glass not plastic. However this system does have a fair bit wrong with it. Probably the biggest problem with the micro is the face plates. The micro had interchangeable face plates. Finding a face plate that has no scratches is nigh impossible. Good custom ones can go for as much as 40 dollars. Another huge problem is the price. When it came out nobody purchased it. This led to several retailers selling for as low as five dollars since nobody had one it became an extremely desired collector’s item. These days the micros can go anywhere from fifty to one hundred dollars. I got mine on amazon for thirty dollars in 2010. I only recommend picking up the micro if you’re a hardcore Nintendo fan because of how expensive buying everything for it can get. It is one of the strangest yet greatest portable gaming systems of all time.

Image courtesy of: www.engadget.com

Shovel Knight Review and Personal Experience.

        This week I am going to talk about possibly one of the greatest games in the last 10 years: Shovel Knight from Yacht club games. This game is perfect. Everything about it has been done correctly. The controls are amazingly responsive, the graphics look just like the ones on the Super Nintendo, and the story while simple is very good. The game play is very reminiscent of duck tales and the early mega man games. The game came out for the Wii u, PC, 3ds, and will soon arrive on PlayStation systems. You can watch some game play here. In the game you are on a journey to rescue shield Knight who was sealed inside a tower by an evil enchantress. You must go through eight challenging levels and defeat the member of the order of no quarter. The order of no quarter is a group of eight knights that sided with the enchantress. Some of these knights used to be friends with shovel knight giving the game some good dramatic scenes. The game play is challenging but fair. Every time you die it’s your fault. You can’t blame it on the controls or the level design because they are perfect. I picked this game up last year on my 3ds. I bought it and I couldn't stop playing. It was one of the most addicting games I have ever played. I was never bored but occasionally I was very frustrated. I still play the game to this day and with a lot of free downloadable content coming soon I a really excited to see what yacht club games does with shovel knight next. This is one of my personal favorite games of all time.

IMAGE1 COURTESTY OF: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/03/15/shovel-knight-when-castlevania-meets-mega-man 

Eartbound review and personal experience.

          Earthbound is one of the greatest cult classic Super Nintendo games of all time. It’s an rpg that really stands out from the rest. Instead of having dragons and swords Earthbound puts you in a modern setting. You get baseball bats instead of swords and fight criminals/creatures instead of monsters. The combat is simple but can be complicated if you really get into the game. You have four main options: attack, psi, items, and run. Attack is your basic fighting attacks like using your baseball bat, psi are your psychic abilities, Items are the things in your inventory to assist you in battle, and finally running is when you try and escape combat. When this game came out it came in a huge box. In the box it had the strategy guide. Including the strategy guide was a very interesting idea and it was never done before and hasn't been done since. I really don’t want to spoil the story but all I will say is its excellent. The characters are amazing and you really feel a connection to them because of the modern setting. The places feel real and the people feel real. Because of how expensive this game is i have never been able to pick it up. On average it sells for around 200 dollars loose and over 1000 dollars in box. I had to play it through a ROM. I got the ROM about three years ago. Luckily Nintendo has released the game on the e-shop for ten dollars. If you want to pick it up that’s how I recommend you do. This game is one of the most under appreciated games on the Super Nintendo.

Picture Courtesy of starmen.net

Pro Wrestling Review and Personal Experiences.

 

  We all know classic fighting games Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat for Super Nintendo. But have you ever heard of Pro Wrestling? It is a more obscure fighting/wrestling game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It may be simpler than the fighting games for the Super Nintendo, but that doesn't mean it’s any less fun. In Pro Wrestling you choose one of six different fighters and battle it out. My personal favorite character is star man. I thought his outfit was much more 

unique than any of the other fighters. The gameplay itself is pretty self-explanatory. You punch or kick someone until they fall over. Once they fall over get on top of the them and if the number reaches 3 then its game over. Like I said before simple but fun. The game control is very good. The only thing that is kind of annoying is that to hit someone you have to be directly in front of them. This can be very tedious.You can watch some gameplay here. The average price for it is around five dollars loose, twenty five dollars in box, and seventy five dollars sealed. Back in 1988 Pro Wrestling was the number one video game in the U.S. for about two months. It also won best sports game in 1988 by Nintendo because of its "realistic graphics." Its funny to look back on what was considered realistic back when the NES was the hottest gaming console. I picked my copy of Pro Wrestling up at Digital Press Videogames about 4 years ago. The first person I ever played it with was my cousin. We played a few practice rounds to learn the controls and soon we were masters. This game is one of my favorites and you should pick it up if you can find it at a good price.    

Image 1 courtesy of  giantbomb.com  Image 2 courtesy of smashboards.com