Batman Shilled for Ms. Pac-Man

Get ready for a trip in the Wayback machine.  Kotaku just posted this video of several modern celebrities in video game-related ads from the 80s and early 90s.  Of particular note is a very young Christian Bale in an commercial for Ms. Pac-Man being added to Pac-Man cereal.  He can do these things because he’s not a hero.

Pictures of my Gaming Collection – Summer 2012 Edition

Hey folks, I’ve decided to redo my collection shots! Why? Well, I’ve gotten new things, I’m in the process of getting rid of several games, and for some reason I really liked doing this last time. I think it allows me to see what exactly I have and …gloat or something? Anyway, you can compare these shots to last December’s if you’d like. And as before, the pics are after the jump. There’s a little more reconstruction to do, and some of these may change in a week or two.

The Joys of Retro Gaming: Final Fight 2 (SNES)

So I finally got around to putting CFW on my PSP.  Now I can get some actual use out of the damn thing by messing around with emulators for classic systems.  My first choice to exercise this new-found freedom?  Final Fight 2 for the SNES.

This was one of the few games that I had wanted to play as a kid, but was never able to, due to the local rental store never carrying it.  For the most part, it’s a very by-the-numbers sequel, though the ability to play in 2P co-op is very much appreciated.  It still doesn’t compare with the 3P functionality of the arcade version of the original Final Fight, but it was a definite step in the right direction.

Anyway, I thought I’d mention two distinct moments that stood out to me in the game, both of which took place on stage 3, Holland.  For the uninformed, Final Fight 2 decided to eschew Metro City for a whirlwind tour of the world, beating the same five or six guys into a bloody pulp across a varied landscape of racial stereotypes.  What I found most interesting about this was when you get to the start of stage 3, you’re presented with what appears to be a war-torn, third-world country.  Also, land mines.

Now, I don’t have the most comprehensive knowledge of world history, but I’m fairly certain that Holland is known more for windmills and wooden shoes than devastation and buried explosives.  This is just a mild curiosity, though in comparison to what happens at around the 5:45 mark in the above video.

To the untrained eye, this probably appears to be completely unremarkable.  You just don’t have a dirty enough mind, I say.  Think about where this is taking place…

…give up?

Capcom made a game where you got to Holland and go inside a dyke.  Not just a finger, either.  Your whole damn body!

Artistic Discussion – The Good and Bad of Gaming Box Art: 4/9/2012

Good – Ecco the Dolphin (Genesis, Sega)

Unlike our last visit with Boris Vallejo, this one is quite spectacular!  I’m curious about the oceanic world Ecco inhabits, why he has stars on his forehead, and am overall impressed with the ambiance of the piece.  This looks like a fun game (which it is, for the most part) from the cover, and I definitely would consider it as a purchase.  Well done, Sega!

Bad – Magic Sword (Super NES, Capcom)

And then there’s this.  The woman at the left is probably the best thing about this piece.  She looks appropriate and she isn’t marred by some hideous problem (her left thigh is a little odd, but not super noticeable).  The hero, however…what exactly is he staring at?  It’s not the villain!  His pecs are also a little lopsided, his arms don’t look like they were originally attached to him, and I don’t think most people would be successfully defending attacks holding a shield like that.  That and he just looks too…prissy to be out in the battlefield (well, our heroine as well looks a little too dolled up, considering the game’s context of her being locked up in a wizard’s tower for a few days minimum).  The antagonist looks like he’s laughing, is doing some great jazz hands magic, has a dorky costume, and his horns aren’t even.  And why is that dark gem randomly floating around?  I don’t recall any purple, cloudy sky in the game, either.  Nor mountains.  Doesn’t it take place in a TOWER? And the space to the right of the villain seems like a rather sudden shift of colors, from pink to dark purple with no transition whatsoever.  I’ve seen worse boxes, but this one has quite a few thorns, that it does.

Gamer’s Playlist – Spring Break Game Remixfest 2012 Day 2

Today brings a little techno action.  PrototypeRaptor and Meteo Xavier will fill that bill quite nicely.

Barrel Roll – PrototypeRaptor (Starfox, Super NES, Nintendo/Argonaut, Hajime Hirasawa)

I Samus (Godwave) – Meteo Xavier (Metroid Prime/Super Metroid, Gamecube/Super NES, Nintendo, Kenji Yamamoto)

Gamer’s Playlist – Spring Break Game Remixfest 2012 Day 1

Hey-o, everyone!  Today marks the beginning of my Spring Break, and so I’m going to do a series of Gamer’s Playlist posts with some awesome remixes for you over the week.  I’d like to fire off two songs with each post, with today’s featuring two beautifully done pieces on the piano.  Dhsu and Bogusred, step on up!

Nirvana – Dhsu (Earthbound, Super NES, Nintendo/HAL Labs/APE, Hirokazu Tanaka, Hiroshi Kanazu, Keiichi Suzuki, Toshiyuki Ueno)

Gale of Ages – Bogusred (Chrono Trigger, Super NES, Square-Enix, Yasunori Mitsuda)

Enjoy both of these soothing reinterpretations.

Jeremy Parish Succiently Praises Chrono Trigger’s Timelessness

Gamespite Quarterly today brings us an article on one of my personal favorites, the amazing Chrono Trigger.  Jeremy Parish manages in a few paragraphs to speak volumes about the game’s charm and excellence, which is fitting considering Chrono Trigger is in itself a masterpiece of consciously focused design that is so delightfully polished.  Definitely worth a read if you have a few minutes.

Gamespite’s Thomas Nickel Discusses Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen

The Super NES fanfare is still rolling at Gamespite, with a neat article on Quest’s Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen.  I need to give this a shot myself some day (I have one of the 25,000 SNES cartridges!), but I’m not too sure how its battery is holding out.  Perhaps the Virtual Console would be a better option. XD  Anyway, worth a read if you dig the franchise at all (or are interested in a unique strat-RPG!).

The art for the tarot cards is interesting – I’ll have to add them to March’s Misc. Imagery update.

Artistic Discussion – The GNARLY of Gaming Box Art: 2/13/2012

What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than with some hideous gaming box art?  Nothing! :p

Kung-Fu High Impact (Xbox 360, UTV Ignition Games)

In what marketing meeting would a box art this ugly get cleared for approval?  For one, syncing real life people with ‘roid-y comic stereotypes does not equal win.  The model looks pissed as hell, but he doesn’t really inspire confidence that you will be feeling that kind of pressure.  The purple background may be why – purple is rarely ferocious.  The art itself is unspectacular in every sense – that guy isn’t even looking at our hipster ninja at all!  Blind grappling is often no grappling, my friend!  And the zombie/monster crowd at the bottom is sort of pointless, as are the minions in the background.  Their purpose is mere padding.  Poor.

Black Belt (Master System, Sega)

Hey, it’s our old friend the Master System grid!  Long time no see.  And once again, their attempts at making box art is a failure.  A kung-fu artist’s foot (maybe, could be Hammer pants or white jeans or something – it was the ’80′s) left dismembered from the rest of its body, and a comic-style explosion indicating impact on …nothing at all.  Yep.  This is the opposite extreme of the one above, isn’t it?  Minimalist or maximalist (new word!) – both can go wrong!

Power Instinct (Super NES, Atlus)

Those are some fugly warriors.  I’m not even sure what exactly is more disgusting – the multiple varicose veins, the sweat, the bizarre lines all over the (Native American?) fighter on the right….the proportions are janky on both men, the stereotypes blatant and sort of offensive, and the random golden sun bejhind them both is just weird.   Definitely not Atlus’ best effort.

Ninja Scooter Simulator (Commodore 64, Silverbird)

Another legend! Ninjas and scooters – what could make more sense, right?

The art here is among the poorest I’ve covered…and I’ve covered Mega Man.  Everything is rendered in a crude and uncaring fashion.  The lame skulls are superimposed on top of everything else, and the garish purple/black stripes do not aid this game’s cause at all.  This is everything you can do wrong with a box exemplified.

Song Highlights – Marble Madness, Donkey Kong Country, F-Zero GX, Hotel Dusk: Room 215

“Level 2″, Marble Madness (Arcade, Brad Fuller, Hal Canon, Midway/Atari Games)

I can thank the Advantage for making me realize how awesome this song is, and a recent playtest of the game with Grace connected the two pieces together and made me go, “ah, so that’s where that’s from!”  A nice piece of early arcade tunage.  Go in a 1:50 to begin hearing the song in question.

“Title Screen”, Donkey Kong Country (Super NES, David Wise, Nintendo/Rare)

While the games themselves fail to impress me much, I can’t deny how great the music is for the DKC franchise.  This in particular has always stood out to me.  Wonderful segue into the “modern” take on the classic DK theme.

“Capt. Falcon’s Theme”, F-Zero GX (Gamecube, Daiki Kasho, Alan Brey, Sega/Nintendo)

Yes, this is cheese metal to the XTREME but I don’t care.  It’s fitting, it’s catchy, and damn if I don’t listen to this any time it pops up on my iPod.

“Secrets”, Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (DS, Yuhki Mori, Satoshi Okubo, CiNG/Nintendo)

A great example of bringing sadness into a soundtrack.  This game has a truly underrated musical score, and this is further evidence for how great it is.