System Saturdays - You Know the XBOX, XBOX!

The XBox 360 is one of those systems that has gained legendary status, and even despite being replaced by the XBox One still has its teeth firmly dug in. Take a look online and see how many new releases there are for the system, up to and including Madden 17, and you'll suddenly come to realize what a force the XBox 360 was in its generation, and even after.  But before the hardy wireless black beauty that is the XBox 360 came out, it was preceded by Microsoft's first console, gen 6's simply named XBox.

The XBox was released in November of 2001, a full year after its chief competitor the PS2, and nearly two years after the Sega Dreamcast. In a way the XBox came into a market that the industry had already conceded to the PS2, and until the 360 the XBox would find itself following in the PS2's shadow just about everywhere. This by no means meant that the XBox was a losing system though, and despite the obstacles set before it managed to make a mark on gamers that would help the XBox 360 become king in the following generation.

Rumors of Microsoft working on a gaming console had been going around since late 1998, and at that time most of us either dismissed it or gave it little credence. After all we were just ending the era of everybody and their brother making a console, like I had mentioned in my 3DO article a few weeks back (http://retrovideogamingblog.blogspot.com/2016/09/system-saturdays-3d-oh-no.html). Besides Microsoft already had PC gaming locked up so why would they make a console? As it turned out though Microsoft was serious and by the time the PS2 was on it's way to our shores we had confirmation that Microsoft was going to release a system named the XBox. It would be the first American console to be released since the Atari Jaguar, and Microsoft would fill the gap Atari had left. The XBox would essentially be more powerful than PS2, and for the first time in gaming history (on a console) would offer an online service one could connect to via the console to share score's, do system updates and even download additional content or entire games. It was going to, and did revolutionize modern game play.

But, what was and is actually even more unique about the XBox, and Microsoft's reason for even stepping into the console market to begin with is in its name "XBOX". As you may have guessed the "Box" part refers to the physicality of the console itself basically a gaming box, there is almost a nod to Nintendo's GameCube here. As for the "X" part though that's where things get interesting. Coming out of the 90's most of us thought "X" was suppose to stand for "X-treme" a truly 90's term, associated with the extreme sports fad of the 90's but than later attached to the inanely mundane like Taco Bell food. If not that than "X" had other connotations, like being X for experimental like a NASA X-plane, or that whole X the unknown thing from science fiction. I guess all three of these would have worked to give us the reason behind the "X" but the true reason, although not as exciting, did tell us a lot about Microsoft's world of gaming in the late 90's.  If you have played any games or have even used some multi-media software on your PC since the time of Windows 95, then no doubt the software program you installed asked to install Microsoft DirectX. Usually the installation of DirectX takes only a few seconds, and the program itself operates behind the scenes as a kind of helper program to make sure your graphics card and/or CPU are working efficiently to create the graphics you are expecting out of your game or multi-media application. After a few years in operation, and after some evolution in the basic program, Microsoft's DirectX team began to experiment on making the program the backbone for a potential gaming console, which they where able to successfully do. In its experimental stage the system was called the DirectXbox, but later shortened to XBox, for a number of reasons.

With the new XBox in hand Microsoft found itself in a unique position, not only would they sell a console more powerful than that of Sony, but also one with online capability, and that had access to PC game developers thanks to Microsoft's relationship with them through PC gaming. The XBox could (as it still does) offer many of the same games as its Sony counterpart, but could offer many original and unique titles as well. Microsoft would also give the XBox a few other additional features that the PlayStation 2 didn't have as well, like an on-board hard drive for saving games and downloading new material, and the capability of adding and saving music to the system via personal CD's so the system could be used as a make shift jukebox, or so personal music could be used as the soundtrack to some games. The XBox, also had a DVD player setting it on par with the PS2 since that was one of the PS2's biggest selling features.

Despite all this the XBox entered the market with three huge disadvantage's. First came the fact that the PS2 had a full year head start on the XBox. The second was that the PS2 had a great deal of momentum at its release thanks to the lead its predecessor the PS1 gave it from its nearly revolutionary status. Lastly, the PS2 gave many families their first access to a DVD player in an era when DVD players on their own where still fairly expensive due to being a new technology, the PS2 was a "two birds with one stone" approach and many jumped on this for Christmas of 2000. So coming into it, things didn't look good for the XBox, but the system would make it's mark quickly.

The XBox would release with several great launch titles, but there was one above all the others that would quickly set the system apart. Halo: Combat Evolved was almost an instant success and many of us PS2 owners at the time quickly found ourselves wondering what else the XBox had to offer that we weren't getting on our PS2's. Halo, as well as Forza and many other titles began to draw a line separating the XBox from the PS2, and leading the players of Gen 6 systems wanting both systems. Steel Battalion with its massive controller would be another game that would prove just how different the XBox was from the PS2, and almost made it seem like the platform for the truly hardcore gamer. By 2004, Halo 2 would be released to critical acclaim and the XBox only franchise would assure the system the success and longevity it needed to spawn a successor in the next generation of consoles, and cause us PS2 owners to continue to question our PlayStation loyalty.

Today, the original XBox, sometimes called that, or sometimes jokingly the XBox-XBox (since the advent of the XBox One), sits in the background of generation 6 consoles. The PS2 walked away as one of the greatest consoles ever, the GameCube has its nostalgia factor as a Nintendo system, and the Dreamcast we hang our heads in sadness over being the last Sega system, but the XBox seems to just be out there on it's own almost as a harbinger of the changes to come in console gaming.

My Experience: 

3rd party "Duke" controller

As far as game play and the system itself I have a Halo edition with the matching controller. Compared to the 360 the home screens seem bare boned, but than again the 360's home screens seem bare boned compared to that of the One's. With that said though you can definitely see that the XBox had a lot more going on than the PS2 did just based on its home screen and variety of options. As far as the games themselves everything has a similar look and feel to that of the PS2, although I will say that the look of XBox games does have the hint of being a little clearer and with a little better resolution which can very well be based on the XBox's power and extra year of development. One of the biggest treats about playing with the XBox (360 and One included) over the PlayStation is its controllers which even back then where still bigger and feel more comfortable to play on, especially the larger "Duke" variety which came with my XBox as a spare. In addition to its size the controllers have the thumb analog on the left set higher and above the D-pad, again feeling more comfortable to play on. Last but not least the XBox still had corded controllers, but they featured special break away points about 6 inches up on the cord from the console, that would pull away if someone tripped on the cord or pulled it too hard, preventing the console from being pulled down on the floor.

The games themselves run very smoothly, and look great on the XBox. I have a hard time with the looks of  Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 though only because I played the remastered versions of each on the XBox One first so I can kind of pick up the generation 6 nuances. Games like Mechwarrior, and Crimson Skies (originals) do look extremely good, and even shared titles like my personal favorite Defender look awesome too. The very naughty Dead or Alive: Beach Volleyball does look typical for the era though, but lets be honest that one is also just meant to be goofy.   

If your looking to add an XBox to you collection, your first have to decide which one you want first. The XBox came in all kinds of editions, like the simple basic black version, the Crystal (clear) version, the Halo (transparent green) edition, and even the Mountain Dew (opaque green) edition and beyond. The basic edition I've seen for as little as $40 with one controller, power, and hookups. The special editions on the other hand tend to go for more, especially if they come with the accompanying controllers. The Halo edition with matching controller can cost you in the neighborhood of $100 complete, and other editions such as the Mountain Dew will go for significantly more.  As far as games the XBox plays the same role in its generation the PS3 plays in its, whereby you will find titles cheaper on them, even titles shared with the PS2. Most games average between $5-$20, usually on the cheaper side unless...your looking for Steel Battalion which with the controller (you need it to play the game) will cost you an average of about $275, yeah I don't have this one yet but I played it at Midwest Gaming Classics earlier this year.

Check out the video from Classic Game Room on Steel Battalion:

System Saturdays - Getting to Know the Atari Lynx

One of my New Years resolutions for this year was to get myself an Atari Lynx, and round about February I did thanks to Best Electronics. I'd pretty much been shopping for a Lynx since October of 2015 after I heard the first full (and only) episode of the Atari Lynx Game by Game Podcast. After the host, Christian, did such a good job explaining the Lynx  and what really made the system unique for its era I was pretty much sold on the Lynx and I started my endeavors to get one of my own.

Now for me the Lynx had, up until that point, always been a bit of a mystery. I knew Atari had briefly flirted with a handheld system around the time of the Nintendo Gameboy, and that it was notoriously hard on batteries, but that was all I knew. I'm probably not alone in having thought this or saying it now, but many of us in that time regarded Atari as being a bit behind the times, and not as serious into gaming as Nintendo or Sega. As a newly minted Nintendo fan, I thought my Gameboy was the best portable system you could get at the time, so in my fanboy-ism I dismissed the idea of a portable Atari.  As it turns out though the Atari Lynx was probably the most advanced and forward thinking portable system at the time. In an era of poorly light monochromatic screens, the Atari Lynx, and its successor the Lynx II offered a backlit, full color and switchable screen, despite having only followed the original Nintendo Gameboy on to the market by two months, and full 17 months before the Sega Game Gear. The reality was that the Atari Lynx was the most advanced portable system on the market, however without the access to choice third party titles, or well known first party franchises like Nintendo with Tetris, and Super Mario Land  respectively the Lynx was forced into the background. Also much like I stated above, and like I mentioned about the Atari Jaguar in an earlier post (http://retrovideogamingblog.blogspot.com/2016/10/system-saturdays-defending-atari-jaguar.html), Atari had a stigma on it at the time that kept it's products from being taken seriously by gamers. In July of 1991, two months after the release of Sega's Game Gear Atari would release the Lynx II, a lighter, and more battery friendly version of the original Lynx with many other improved features. Again, though consumers went more for the problematic Game Gear over the Lynx II, mainly for the Sega name, and access to portable versions of the Sega games including the Sonic franchise.

Rygar, trust me up close it looks great

The Lynx would continue to be sold until 1995, but after the release of the Jaguar, Atari distanced itself more and more from it's portable system. Much like other Atari systems, nostalgia and fanboy loyalty kept the system alive and it did see home brews and ports as early as the late-90's. Today, Lynx and Atari die hards keep the system alive, and it's story is slowly but surely being told.

Getting to Know the Atari Lynx

As for my experiences, finding a deal on an Atari Lynx was the biggest thing to overcome. They can be found on eBay, but one in good condition with a few games and/or accessories can be a $150 proposition, and don't even ask about original packaging. So I decided to take a look at Best Electronics instead since I had bought some Atari 7800, and Jaguar items there before. For $150 there I picked up a Lynx II in box, with 3 loose, and 2 NIB games as part of a package. Best Electronics, if you didn't know, are Atari specialists and have access to a lot of Atari's old stock, so I knew I was getting my Lynx from a trusted source. Shortly after that I set out on eBay, and was able to pick up a stack if CIB games for next to nothing, since oddly the system is hard to get but the games aren't with the Lynx.

When my Lynx arrived in that wonderful Atari packaging, I opened it up and dropped in one of those unique bent credit card shaped games. Expecting that the above mentioned Christian might of over-hyped the Lynx, I was quickly found out he was dead on. The image on the Lynx screen, was bright and crisp, and I can tell you its ruined me on non-backlit screens. Every game I put in is the same story, the colors are vibrant and clear, gameplay is fantastic, and sound is good. By far one of my favorites is Rygar an excellent port of the arcade game, and something I continually return to on the Lynx, although many of the other games I have such as Slime World, Klax, and Crystal Mines are also very good.

So now for the good and the bad. An unexpected bit of good news is that I am still on the same set of battery's I put in in February, and there is no sign of them giving out. The bad news is, and this is a minor thing, is that the controls can be a bit laggy and/or stiff. That is more of an annoyance though, and I haven't really found that it has caused any issues in my game play.

Recently on Google Plus, Old School Game Vault asked a question about how you would rank the old portable systems among the Lynx, Gameboy, and Game Gear. Owning all three now (and I will talk about the Game Gear in a later post), I had a hard time choosing a number one between the Lynx and Gameboy, and the Game Gear was my obvious number three. As a huge player and fan of the Gameboy, and with serious nostalgia for it I wanted to make it my number one, but the Lynx was and is the best system, undoubtedly to come out of that era by just how far more advanced it was over it's competitors. So the Lynx took my number one, with my beloved Gameboy hot on its heals, and the Game Gear lagging far behind.

Size Comparison

As I mentioned above Lynx's aren't the easy to find cheaply, but if you want a really cool handheld gaming experience the Lynx is a must. When you play it you will have to continually remind yourself that the Lynx was in fact on the market the same time as the original Gameboy and not after, based on just how more advanced it looks and feels.



  

8-bit Fridays - Columbus Day Weekend Edition

Well all I can say for this Friday is that I'm a bit shocked at both how quickly and how easily this week passed by. Of course it's also been a big planning week, and week of working on household projects. As for this weekend I'm in the unique position of having a three day weekend thanks to Columbus Day on Monday. Of course it's always weird having Columbus Day off because it's still a regular work day for most, so although I have the day off the rest of the world can still pester me on that day. Of course I'm hoping it translates into more play time.

This Weeks Buys:

Damage Inc (PS3) - This game was developed by Madcatz and comes with a unique joystick, specially made for the game. The game itself is pretty standard PS3 flight sim fare, but it's the joystick and cool packaging that are they true selling factors. The joystick itself looks like it's made up of components from a World War II fighter cockpit, and has the overall appearance of a US Navy fighter (like the F6F Hellcat) of the same era.

Capcom Classics Collection (PS2) - As I've said many times before in my blog the PS2 is probably the most prolific system ever, and one of the real instigating factors in the retro gaming movement due to its many retro game, and pinball collections. This Capcom version has many arcade classics on it including Street Fighter, 1942, and Final Fight.

Blazeon (SNES) - This is another SNES SHMUP and a relatively obscure one at that. I look forward to playing it.

Star Trek: Away Team (PC) - I hunted high and low for this one and found one CIB, but passed it over (due to price) and went for a simple secondary release DVD case type that was significantly cheaper. I guess this is a squad based RTS, so I look forward to playing it.

Super Nova (SNES) - a.k.a Darius Force, so I'll have my second Darius title in as many weeks. From what I've seen this one is very detailed and has great sound effects.

Battlestar Galactica (XBOX) - Still building my XBOX collection, this space game based on the original TV show, and seems to be a highly recommended title.

Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3) - Found this for $3 at my local GameStop, its a better deal then what I could get it for on eBay

Defience (PS3) - Same as above. This one is based on a SyFy channel show from a few years back, that had a premise similar to Alien Nation.

Hyperzone (SNES) - Hyperzone is a mix between F-Zero and Space Harrier, but always comes pretty recommended

Super Battletank & Super Battletank 2 (SNES) - I’m lumping these two together because both games are very similar and both where dirt cheap on eBay.

Special Mentions:  

I was lucky enough this weekend to get myself to a yard sale where the guy had and old Coleco Pac-Man mini arcade for sale. To say the least it was good buy (complete), and a fraction of the eBay price. Here is some footage of this one in operation.  

This Weekends Plays:

Darius Twin (SNES) - Holy smokes hard! After a half hour I'm still at the beginning of the first level. This one isn't so much a bullet hell as it is a kamikaze hell, getting plowed into by every enemy. If you haven't played the Darius games before, let me tell you that this is a sea creature based SHMUP. Not to say it's an underwater based shooter, it's just most of your larger enemies tend to be based on sea creatures. It is odd, and I'm thinking it must be a Japanese thing. Anyway, Darius Twin does have a lot of fans, but most say the definitive Darius game is Darius Gaiden on the Saturn, which is an import (on par for one of the Saturns best games) and also comes with a definitive price too.  To say the least I'm returning to Darius Twin later this week since I want to get a bit further.

Wings of War (XBOX) - TAKE 2 - Ok, so as I said after the last time I was going to reach out to the seller to see if something could be done. Well, he/she apologized and refunded me in full without any need to return it. So I then took it up to my local retro video gaming store, and had it resurfaced which was only $1 for me as a regular customer. Plug it in today and...it still won't work. I guess Wings of War is going to have to be written off.

Defender (XBOX) - Again not an XBOX exclusive but a cool game nonetheless. I thought this one would be very generic, but believe it or not it's actually a lot of fun and makes reference to both the original Defender as well as its sequel Stargate (no affiliation to the film and TV franchise). The stargates are essentially the fastest form of FTL travel in the Defender universe. Anyway, for a third person space ship shooter it's not bad and surprising easy to play. I would actually recommend this one, and BTW it's also on the PS2 and GameCube as well.

Robotech: Battlecry (XBOX) - Again this was one available on a few platforms. I was actually pretty blown away by this one, since it's a fairly good flight sim set within a mech game. It was entertaining, and once you're past the intro, it's fast paced and truly a great video game in the truest sense. I don't really know much about the Robotech universe, so perhaps a bit of it was lost on me, but it was fun anyway.

Secret Weapons Over Normandy (XBOX) - Multi-platform again. This is another entertaining title, and a lot of fun to play. For a console flight sim it's actually one of the better ones I've played, and although it ignores instrumentation, there is still some actual flight physics involved. I enjoyed it and it scores well in my book.

Knight Rider (NES) - This was in my prize package from The Retro League for being picked as listener of the month for August. When you hear the name Knight Rider you tend to be a bit skeptical, and immediately go into cheesy 80’s mode. To be honest though this is a good little game, and reminded me a lot of Fatal Run on the Atari 7800, whereby you basically travel from town to town on missions destroying the bad guys on the road in between and upgrading in town. No exploding cheerleaders here though! I was actually really entertained by this one, and had to come back to it.

Sadly, despite being a three day weekend Knight Rider was the last game I was able to get played this weekend. Columbus Day itself was spent on a household project that was no fun ant all and literally took all day.

On another note the same day I bought the mini-arcade, I did go to look at an arcade machine, but the sale quickly went sideways when the seller seemed oblivious to the screen burn, and slightly beat up cabinet with a missing backboard. To say the least he tried to give me the whole I’ve got other people interested thing to which I replied “good luck” to say the least the other folks must not have been interested either since the machine is still for sale on local sites. But, I have a couple of other arcade machine bargains in the works.  

System Saturdays - Defending the Atari Jaguar

I'll be the first to openly admit that I've been critical of the Atari Jaguar in some of my past posts. Although I never bashed the system or its games, I did have to question Atari's 64-bit claims in a 16/32-bit era. After all it's no secret that the Jaguar had a more than a few key issues with its lackluster, and exaggeration filled marketing, and that it played follow the leader in the wake of Sega's "In Your Face" advertising for the Genesis. Then came it's games like the Jaguars pack-in Cybermorph a game that looks relatively unimpressive, and gives you the sense of it being a Star Fox rip off, and the always somewhat embarrassing Kasumi Ninja, with its odd stereo types, including that of Scotsman shooting flames out of his...well wherever you believe he's shooting it from. As an outsider the Jaguar looked like a huge mess to me, between the bad marketing and horrible games, it was easy to pass judgement as to why this was Atari's last system. At the same time though, I couldn't help but want a Jaguar for myself. After all I had the 2600, 5200, and 7800 so why not complete my collection of Atari consoles. Of course there was also a sense of being ironic too, like owning a copy of Superman 64. 

To be honest I really don't have any recollection of the Atari Jaguar as a new system, after all by that era I was a PC gamer so what happen among the consoles didn't really concern me. With that said I never really saw one up close until late 2014, when I stopped by a local video game store on the commute home from work one evening. I remember being caught totally off guard just seeing it there. It was $220 CIB, with a spare controller, and being a Friday and a payday the temptation was there to buy it. But, $220 did seem a little high so I fought my impulses to buy it, and held fast to the true purpose of my visit there, buying a copy of Luigi's Haunted Mansion for my sons upcoming Halloween party. After that the Jaguar began to haunt me, and I decided I wanted to seriously look into getting one. Around late January of 2015, I had an eBay auction for a Jaguar finally go my way and got one for a little less then $100, and although it wasn't CIB everything else was there. Shortly after it arrived I plugged it into my test TV, and popped Cybermorph in. What I saw truly surprised me, not only did the Jaguar perform well, but even Cypermorph was surprisingly good. After that I put Canon Fodder in, a game made for the PC, and even this performed well on the Jaguar. A few days later I got a copy of Raiden for the Jaguar, and to this day I have to agree with many others that the port of Raiden on the Jaguar is probably the best port of them all, and the Jaguar was key to that performance. 

Despite, how many gamer's have painted the Atari Jaguar over the years as a slow and outdated machine at its release, I've found it to be the exact opposite. Atari made the Jaguar to perform like a finely tuned roadster in a world of mini-vans, and they succeeded. If they hadn't, than I seriously doubt that Sega would have made the Saturn to compete against it (http://retrovideogamingblog.blogspot.com/2016/09/system-saturdays-saturday-saturn-dday.html), rather than the against their old rival Nintendo and it's N64. The Jaguar was a competitor and serious one at that, but times had changed for Atari as a company, and memories of the Atari 7800's dismal performance against the NES, still haunted the consumer market. Gamers wanted names like Sega, and Nintendo on their consoles, not blasts from the past like Atari and for that the Jaguar suffered, and was even ridiculed.

I will say that the Jaguar had it's issues, after all it is a 32-bit machine, and as we know with the Saturn, PS1, and N64, games of the 32-bit era haven't exactly aged well. You also have to keep in mind those three respective systems came two additional years after the Jaguar. In essence the Jaguar was among the first of the so called 32/64-bit machines, and with that said it's only true competitors in 1993 were the oddball 3DO, and CD-i both of which had bigger issue than just their graphics. This was after all the era of the first polygonal games, sure the SNES had put such games out there with Star Fox, and Vortex, but the next generation of consoles would be the true proving grounds for such games and the Jaguar was the vanguard. When many criticize games on the Jaguar they often cite these early polygonal's as proof of the Jaguars inferiority, despite that fact that not even the PS1 in its early years could do any better. One such game often criticized and ridiculed and given as an example of how bad the Jaguar was is Cybermorph, a game those who have never played it wouldn't understand.

Cybermorph even though it has the look of a Star Fox clone is surprisingly good. The game is based on free flight rather than being a rail-shooter like Star Fox. It's polygonal graphics really failed to show the systems capabilities though, and did give it the look of a Star Fox clone to the casual observer. To be honest my initial opinion of the game was derived from watching the AVGN, and I also expected to be annoyed to the point of wanting to throwing my controller across the room by my bald green AI friend. Much to my surprise though, I didn't see her once, so either I'm a better pilot than the AVGN, or he just crashed his fighter into as many things as possible for maximum comic effect, which seems more likely. Overall though I found game play to be fun and entertaining, despite feeling totally lost as to what my mission objectives where suppose to be. To be honest though the early polygonal graphics ultimately didn't bother me, since the game played smoothly and rendered the 3D objects in the game fairly solidly. This could also be said of a lot of the other polygonal titles on the Jaguar, although there are some exceptions like Club Drive, and Checkered Flag which albeit fun can be hard on the eyes at times, and full of unstable polygonal shapes.

Before becoming an Atari Jaguar owner myself, I had always heard about how Atari Jaguar owners where protective over their system, and always apt to defend it, I can now see why that is. The Jaguar is a system that had a lot of potential but was never able to really live up to that due to Nintendo's chock-hold on the many third party developers, even into the era of the SNES. On top of that critics of the era, and even now have always been willing to throw the Jaguar under the bus when it came to saying something good about the system in comparison to those of Sega or Nintendo. Many fail to realize that the Jaguar, even though it claimed to be a 64-bit system, was still a 32-bit system in an era where 32-bit wasn't a thing, a full year before Sega could make that claim with their 32x, and two years before the first mainstream systems arrived on the scene. In an era when the old systems are starting to re-emerge, I hope that the Jaguar gets a second chance at proving itself as well as telling it's story.

As for me since buying my system last year I have bought a few new Jaguar games into the fold, but its been slow going due to the price of Jaguar games, which seem to average around $30+ a piece, and even more for the exceptionally good ones. Of course I have been guided towards some of the better games by Shinto's Atari Jaguar Game by Game Podcast which I started listening to in October of 2015. This podcast has been a great resource for me in learning about the Jaguar and its games, as well as the community around it and the some of the system and game history. If you have an interest in the Atari Jaguar it may be something you want to check out. 

If your interested in getting an Atari Jaguar (cartridge), the systems are currently going for an average of about $170-$180, which is almost as much as they cost new.The Atari Jaguar CD, the later add on to the main system, is selling for an average of about $500 on eBay, but I've seen them cheaper elsewhere. As for the games, as previously mentioned, they run upwards of an average of $30, and titles like Raiden, Alien Vs Predator, and Tempest 2000 will obviously go for more.     

8-bit Fridays: The Diaries - September 30th, 2016

Sadly, after a long and stressful week this was another weekend that was not my own, or to translate not a lot plays this weekend. With that said I have another stressful week ahead of me next week, so I'm hoping next weekend is a big play-through weekend for me, maybe even one more push through the old backlog.

This Weeks Buys:

Secret Weapons Over Normandy (XBOX) - This is actually the sequel to Lucas Arts Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe which was really unique but somewhat obscure flight sim from late in the DOS era. It's not an XBOX exclusive game, but its cheap and looks pretty cool, it also makes me want to pick up a copy of Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe too.

Superman: Man of Steel (XBOX) - This is an XBOX exclusive, and in a way reminds me of Superman 64 but done right. It looks like a lot of fun and despite being obscure is pretty well reviewed.

Darius Twin (SNES) - I've never played any of the Darius games before but they do seem to have a good following, and the franchise is pretty well known and up there with Raiden, and R-Type. 

Burning Soldier (3DO) - While stopping in to get the Wings of War resurfaced at my local retro video game store, I picked up a copy of Burning Soldier an odd  space shooter of sorts for the 3DO.


Honorable Mentions

I was fan of the month for The Retro League in August and actually received the prize package on Tuesday. With two packages of collectors cards I also received, Knight Rider (NES), and SimCity (PC-DOS). I look forward to putting some play time in on both these soon.

This Weeks Plays

NCAA Football (SNES) - This is really a very good looking game but it's controls are far from intuitive. I guess before I play it again I better check the manual since this one was a CIB buy. Overall it looks like a lot of fun especially as one of the first NCAA Football entries into video games. Although, you can only select from 40 teams, the list is still pretty impressive (no NIU Huskies though) and I chose Texas A&M versus Stanford, Aggies vs Cardinals. Interestingly they also had the Texas Tech Red Riders on the list too, which I didn't expect with them not being all that well known of a team, but they are one of my personal favorites.

Gradius III (SNES) - Adding to my collection of SNES SHMUP’s this is another well noted entry. It was pretty entertaining and reminded me of R-Type in its layout. My biggest issue is that it moves slowly, and was prone to noticeable slow down when a lot of sprites were on screen. Overall, it's a fairly good game but I feel it had a slip in quality compared to some of the other titles.

Thunder Spirits (SNES) - As mentioned last week this was the only Thunder Force entry on the SNES, being mainly a Sega Genesis franchise. This game is a little different than the average SHMUP, and I can see why the franchise has a cult following on the Genesis. Unlike a lot of other SHMUPs this one starts you out not in outer space, but side scrolling your way through a jungle. The concept works extremely well and creates the uncommon difficulty of your enemies being partially hidden by terrain, obviously not an issue in space. Compared to Gradius III which I just played, this game is well paced and there is no issue with slow down, despite the huge collection of enemies on screen and background scenery.

Monster Party (NES) - With Halloween about a month a way this game seems a fitting buy for right about now. Basically this is a kiddie survival horror game about a boy transported to a strange world to help fend off evil monsters with his baseball bat. Yes, the main character does remind me a bit of Earthbound’s Nes, but this game came before that. Actually, the premise is somewhat creepy if you think about it, but if you take it for what it is as a quick intro sequence trying to get to the point quickly you just kind of go with it. From what I understand of the history of this game is that it had added unlicensed characters initially and was forced to take them out later, as I also understand it the Famicom version still had some of these characters in. Hey at least you still run across the man eating plant from Little Shop of Horrors, but he doesn't say “Feed me Seymour!”. With all that said it's a fun little game.

Yes, weekends like these past two are part of the reason a backlog like I've had has come into existence. Anyway, following up on Monster Party I think I may put a Halloween article together closer to the "day" since I'm realizing now how many monster and ghost games I have built up over the last few years.

Anyway, here's to next weekend which I think may be three days, I have to check.

8-bit Fridays: The Diaries - September 30th, 2016

Sadly, after a long and stressful week this was another weekend that was not my own, or to translate not a lot plays this weekend. With that said I have another stressful week ahead of me next week, so I'm hoping next weekend is a big play-through weekend for me, maybe even one more push through the old backlog.

This Weeks Buys:

Secret Weapons Over Normandy (XBOX) - This is actually the sequel to Lucas Arts Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe which was really unique but somewhat obscure flight sim from late in the DOS era. It's not an XBOX exclusive game, but its cheap and looks pretty cool, it also makes me want to pick up a copy of Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe too.

Superman: Man of Steel (XBOX) - This is an XBOX exclusive, and in a way reminds me of Superman 64 but done right. It looks like a lot of fun and despite being obscure is pretty well reviewed.

Darius Twin (SNES) - I've never played any of the Darius games before but they do seem to have a good following, and the franchise is pretty well known and up there with Raiden, and R-Type. 

Burning Soldier (3DO) - While stopping in to get the Wings of War resurfaced at my local retro video game store, I picked up a copy of Burning Soldier an odd  space shooter of sorts for the 3DO.


Honorable Mentions

I was fan of the month for The Retro League in August and actually received the prize package on Tuesday. With two packages of collectors cards I also received, Knight Rider (NES), and SimCity (PC-DOS). I look forward to putting some play time in on both these soon.

This Weeks Plays

NCAA Football (SNES) - This is really a very good looking game but it's controls are far from intuitive. I guess before I play it again I better check the manual since this one was a CIB buy. Overall it looks like a lot of fun especially as one of the first NCAA Football entries into video games. Although, you can only select from 40 teams, the list is still pretty impressive (no NIU Huskies though) and I chose Texas A&M versus Stanford, Aggies vs Cardinals. Interestingly they also had the Texas Tech Red Riders on the list too, which I didn't expect with them not being all that well known of a team, but they are one of my personal favorites.

Gradius III (SNES) - Adding to my collection of SNES SHMUP’s this is another well noted entry. It was pretty entertaining and reminded me of R-Type in its layout. My biggest issue is that it moves slowly, and was prone to noticeable slow down when a lot of sprites were on screen. Overall, it's a fairly good game but I feel it had a slip in quality compared to some of the other titles.

Thunder Spirits (SNES) - As mentioned last week this was the only Thunder Force entry on the SNES, being mainly a Sega Genesis franchise. This game is a little different than the average SHMUP, and I can see why the franchise has a cult following on the Genesis. Unlike a lot of other SHMUPs this one starts you out not in outer space, but side scrolling your way through a jungle. The concept works extremely well and creates the uncommon difficulty of your enemies being partially hidden by terrain, obviously not an issue in space. Compared to Gradius III which I just played, this game is well paced and there is no issue with slow down, despite the huge collection of enemies on screen and background scenery.

Monster Party (NES) - With Halloween about a month a way this game seems a fitting buy for right about now. Basically this is a kiddie survival horror game about a boy transported to a strange world to help fend off evil monsters with his baseball bat. Yes, the main character does remind me a bit of Earthbound’s Nes, but this game came before that. Actually, the premise is somewhat creepy if you think about it, but if you take it for what it is as a quick intro sequence trying to get to the point quickly you just kind of go with it. From what I understand of the history of this game is that it had added unlicensed characters initially and was forced to take them out later, as I also understand it the Famicom version still had some of these characters in. Hey at least you still run across the man eating plant from Little Shop of Horrors, but he doesn't say “Feed me Seymour!”. With all that said it's a fun little game.

Yes, weekends like these past two are part of the reason a backlog like I've had has come into existence. Anyway, following up on Monster Party I think I may put a Halloween article together closer to the "day" since I'm realizing now how many monster and ghost games I have built up over the last few years.

Anyway, here's to next weekend which I think may be three days, I have to check.