Skip to main content

Posts

WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$: 20th anniversary

Today is the 20th anniversary of the first WarioWare game: WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$. It contains a huge variety of extremely short games played at increasingly breakneck speeds. This game worked for me for two reasons: I like high-score chasing and old NES games, and this has both. In a way it's the predecessor of NES Remix . WarioWare, Inc. contains a huge number of minigames, served up at random and in very rapid succession. At first, each game lasts about five seconds, but the speed ramps up quickly. Most of the games are reflex-based. The instruction for each game is a simple imperative: pick! Eat! Dodge! Squash! Jump! Often you just have to press the A button at the right time; other times you have to press it a certain number of times before time runs out. For example, keep tapping A to eat a fruit; stop the cursor at the right moment; press A immediately after a stimulus, such as a cat closing its eyes. Some use the d-pad rather than the A button, and a few use both.
Post a Comment
Read more
Recent posts

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon: A spooky, labyrinthine adventure

The Game Boy Advance received a trilogy of Castlevania games, beginning with Castlevania: Circle of the Moon in 2001. It was a launch title for the handheld console. It was influenced by the non-linear exploration-adventure design of the PlayStation game, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Previously I had only played the NES and SNES Castlevania games. With Circle of the Moon I was struck by how the map and non-linear design reminded me of Super Metroid . As the main character, Nathan Graves, explores Dracula's castle, he acquires relics that grant him abilities. These abilities allow him to enter previously inaccessible parts of the castle. For example, a necklace allows him to double-jump, winged boots empower him to wall-jump, and the wing of a roc lets him fly. All the parts of the castle are interconnected as a single map, rather than different areas connected by stairs, elevators, or portals. Different sections are identifiable by changing backgrounds and music. The game ev
Post a Comment
Read more

Final Fantasy Adventure: Prequel of Mana

Final Fantasy Adventure is an action RPG released on the Game Boy in 1991. It was the predecessor to the SNES classic Secret of Mana . In Japan the series is called The Legend of the Holy Sword. The English name "Final Fantasy Adventure" was taken from the game's Japanese subtitle, Final Fantasy Gaiden ("gaiden" means side-story). Square conceived of the game as an action RPG spin-off from the Final Fantasy series that had saved it from bankruptcy. Final Fantasy Adventure came out almost simultaneously with Final Fantasy IV on the SNES. In addition to item and spell names, the game includes Chocobos and Moogles. These elements were dropped in the sequel, which established its own identity. Final Fantasy Adventure is an excellent game, surpassed in its genre on the Game Boy only by the later The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening . Despite the Final Fantasy name, the game most closely resembles The Legend of Zelda  on the NES. You move a protagonist (his name
Post a Comment
Read more

Star Fox: 30th anniversary

Star Fox was a breakthrough on the Super Nintendo because it was a true 3D spaceship shooter. Every object was made of a few polygons, but it didn't matter: in just over a decade we had gone from Space Invaders to this! The breakthrough that allowed 3D on a video-game console was the Super FX chip, advertised prominently on the Star Fox box. The chip wasn't made by Nintendo but by Argonaut Games (now defunct). Some people say the game hasn't held up well because the 3D is so primitive. The enemy are flying patterns of polygons more than anything resembling a proper ship, and the frame rate is very low. It doesn't bother me, but it does look primitive compared even to Star Fox 64 , which came out four years later. Star Fox is a space-shooting game in which you control an anthropomorphic fox named . . . Fox. He and his three wingmen fly Arwings (an obvious ripoff of the X-wings from Star Wars ). The wingmen are Falco Lombardi (a blue bird), Slippy Toad, and Peppy Hare. Th
Post a Comment
Read more

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker: 20th anniversary

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is special to me because it was one of the first games I played on the Wii U. I hadn't owned a video-game console since the Super Nintendo until my wife bought me a Wii U for my 30th birthday. Since I missed the Game Cube and Wii eras, playing The Wind Waker was a revelation to me. It was as good as I remembered A Link to the Past being. I've read that, when it debuted, some people hated the cel-shaded art style of The Wind Waker. In retrospect that's hard to fathom, because the game is such a visual delight. The cartoony style and feel of the game is probably its strongest feature, at least for me. Sailing the seas and exploring the game's many islands is a joyous process of discovery. There are all sorts of quirky citizens to meet and interact with, including an auction house, bird people (the Rito), pirates, a traveling merchant (Beedle), temples, and the long-lost, sunken kingdom of Hyrule. The mid-game twist delighted me: Link l
Post a Comment
Read more

Yoshi's Story: 25th anniversary

Yoshi's Story is the underrated sequel to Yoshi's Island. Originally to be named Yoshi's Island 64, the "story" in the title refers to the premise that the Yoshis have become trapped in a storybook by Baby Bowser. This happened when he stole the Super Happy Tree, which the Yoshis can recover by accumulating enough happiness points. Yeah, it doesn't make sense, but at least the wailing Baby Mario doesn't appear. Yoshi's Story is underrated for two reasons. First, it compares unfavorably to  its predecessor. Yoshi's Island was a late SNES release and one of the best games on the system. Yoshi's Story, in contrast, is merely good . Secondly, in 1998 2D platformers seemed obsolescent, if not moribund. The future was 3D. Especially with the cutesy visuals, Yoshi's Story seemed to many like a game suitable only for little children and doddering old fools. This was to their loss, for Yoshi's Story is a fun, unique, creative, beautiful, and en
Post a Comment
Read more

Contra: Run-and-gun fun

Contra exemplifies the classic run-and-gun genre of video games. The NES port is generally considered to be an improvement upon Konami's 1986 arcade game. It usually appears near the top of "best of NES" lists. I may be one of the few people who, despite owning an NES, never played Contra or either of its two sequels . I discovered Contra only after playing these sequels on the NES and SNES Classic. Truth be told, run-and-gun isn't my favorite genre, in part because I don't often play with a second player. Where Contra shines is in its simultaneous two-player action. Even Ikari Warriors , the NES version of which is bad, received plaudits merely for offering simultaneous two-player at a time when that was rare on home consoles. Contra blows that game out of the proverbial water. In Contra you control Bill (and Lance, if a second player joins). In the arcade and Famicom versions, the setting is an alien planet in the 27th century, but the NES port was rebranded su
Post a Comment
Read more