Alexander Case, Author at Breaking it all Down

Posted on September 17, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Where I Read – GamePro #43

It’s time for our next recap of Game Pro. We continue ever foreward with our coverage of issue 43. This issue is about 201 pages long and our cover story is Star Trek: The Next Generation, and various games based on that. However, our cover art, while it’s not an original art asset, it’s not well chosen either. I’m not going to cover the editorial this issue, because (again), it’s just covering the stuff that was in the table of contents.

Letters: We have questions about getting the Sci-Fi channel on your local cable provider, and a bunch of other Street Fighter II questions, some of them involving illegal bootlegs of the game.

Cutting Edge: This issue they’re taking a step into the realm of PC Gaming, with talking about using a CD-ROM Drive on your PC. Now there’s a nostalga hit for you – I remember when games took boatloads of floppy disks to install. Yeah, I hated that and I love how CDs and now DVDs help limit the amount of disk swapping. Oh, and if someone says they liked swapping 10+ floppy disks during installation, punch him (and he will be male) in the crotch. Anyway, to be more specific, this is a hack that allows you to hook up your TurboDuo to your PC. This is probably not legit, at least as far as Turbo Technologies is concerned, but it is kind of cool. Speaking of TTI, they’re working on a 32-bit system, which isn’t much of a surprise, and Sega’s working on one too. Oh, and Camerica is putting it’s “Aladdin System” aka the Game Genie. Read more

Posted on September 16, 2009September 8, 2009 by Alexander Case

Quality Control – Deja Vu

Well, my review is done for Deja Vu for the NES. How good (or bad) of an adventure game is it? Well, you’ll have to listen to the review to find out.

The game was originally released for the Macintosh, but the version I’m reviewing is the NES version, which is only available on eBay. There was also a port of the first and second game in the series for the Game Boy Color, but if you thought the game was pixel bitching bad before, it’ll be even worse on the GBC’s small screen, so I just reccomend you skip that version of the game entirely.

Posted on September 15, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Where I Read – Nintendo Power #20

Anyway, it’s time to get started with Nintendo Power’s 4th year. This is issue #20, and our cover story is Mega Man III, and I have to say the cover art isn’t as good as some of the stuff from the previous year, particularly Rush. However, US cover art for the core Mega Man series has never looked good in general. Anyway, this issue is of average length, at 107 pages. This issue also gives us a start-of-issue “editorial” section which is, basically, re-stating the Table of Contents – except we haven’t actually gotten the Table of Contents yet (where as GamePro, which puts it up after the Table of Contents). Anyway, I’ll finally be discussing the scores they’re giving this time, as with this issue, I can finally tell what the heck their scores are! Previously they had a kind of really rough mercury thermometer thing going on, which made it difficult to tell what score they were trying to give. Now they’ve changed the scores to more solid numbers, so I can actually tell what they’re supposed to be.

Letters: The Woz Loves Tetris. No, seriously. Steve Wozniak has written a letter saying how much he enjoys playing Tetris, complete with a photograph of his high score. Also, our servicemen in Iraq for Desert Shield love their Game Boys too, which make sense because they can take a bigger beating than a Rolex and Samsonite luggage combined. Read more

Posted on September 14, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #57

Once again the EGM Recaps are going forward once more. The issue we’re covering today is issue #57, for April of 1994. Our cover story is (*ugh*), Beavis and Butthead. I grew up when that show was on the air, and I never found it funny. Anyway, it’s getting video games based on it, and if the history of comedy TV show to video game adaptations is any sign of the future, this is going to suck too. Anyway, this issue’s kind of long, at 212 pages, so we might as well get this over with.

Editorial: The price point of the N64 (still known as Project Reality) has been announced, and it’s going to cost $240. This leads to Ed’s editorial about how, basically, video game systems are expensive toys, and at this point in it’s history, I wouldn’t dispute that. I’d say the point where video game systems started to jump the gap from a “toy” to as much of a part of your home theater system as your stereo was, possibly, with the PS2, and it’s ability to play DVDs. Considering at the time the DVD format was pretty new, this helped get a lot of DVD players in people’s homes, in the same sort of way the PS3 helped get people Blu-Ray players. Read more

Posted on September 11, 2009September 14, 2009 by Alexander Case

Movie Review – The Wicker Man (Original)

The Wicker Man is one of those movies I’ve heard many great things about, but have never gotten around to seeing, until now. So, now that I’ve seen it, I’m going to tell you what I think about it. Oh, and by the way, In cause you didn’t notice from the subject line, I’m referring to the original Wicker Man movie, starring Christopher Lee, not the remake starring Nicholas Cage.

The Plot: Scottish police officer Neil Howie comes to the island of Summerisle to investigate reports of a missing girl. However, upon arriving he learns that the girl isn’t missing… but no one’s actually willing to show him the girl to prove it. So he investigates, and in the process learn’s about the sort of Victorian-pagan revival thingie practiced by the inhabitants of the island. In the course of his investigations he learns of a dark and sinister core underneath the island’s quaint exterior. Read more

Posted on September 10, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Where I Read – GamePro #42

We’re on to issue 42 of GamePro, the first issue of the magazines 5th volume, but not it’s 5th year (it’s been publishing for 3 and 1/2 years), which means that they’ve been doing some creative accounting in the counting. Not that any publisher would do such a thing, right DC, Marvel? Anyway, our cover story is Battletoads, and since the art assets are not provided by Tradewest or Rare, much as the art of Chester Cheetah was provided by Frito-Lay last issue. Anyway, this issue comes in a 224 (approximate) pages, though we’ve got another Street Fighter II insert so that will pad that somewhat. They had another insert last issue, but I skipped it, because if you really want the Street Fighter moves, that’s what GameFAQs is for (and Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix has a move-list option on the pause menu).

Editorial: We have content! The TurboDuo’s coming out, as is the SegaCD, and they’re going head-to-head. The Duo’s got a somewhat more substancial library of games, but the Sega CD has Sega’s slick marketing machine (can you say “Sega does what Nintendon’t”?) behind it. Read more

Posted on September 9, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Quality Control – Gauntlet II

Get Gauntlet 2 from eBay (if you want the NES version)

Alright, I’ve played (though not beaten – it’s a really long game and I’ve only got 1 day to play it, sort of) Gauntlet II. Again, I’m reviewing the PlayStation Network version of the game, as that version is significantly more accessible than the NES version, and if you buy PSN version the developers actually get money and a random warm and fuzzy sensation, as opposed to just the random warm and fuzzy sensation they get for when someone buys the NES version on eBay (which, while pleasant, doesn’t pay the rent on their offices).

Posted on September 8, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Where I Read – Nintendo Power #19 (Guide #4)

We have now come to the final Nintendo Power strategy guide, published in December of 1990. It weighs in at a slim 77 pages, and is covering games that support multi-tap. Well, there’s not a lot of ground to cover, so we might as well get started. Though I have to admit, for the last guide issue, the cover art… isn’t very good. I’m not sure though what they could do to replace it.

Your Friend the Multi-Tap: We get a run down of the wireless NES Satellite and the wired Four Score, as well as some discussion of multi-tap ethics, and things that can be done to make things run smoothly, such as color coding the player inputs and the controllers (red controller is always P1, etc.) Very useful stuff instead of having to pause the game and having to follow the cable to the system, at least until the PS3 and X-Box 360, where they were kind enough to give you a visual aid on your controller. Anyway, this is really useful device, some of which is obvious enough to have occured to someone else, but not to me.

NES Play Action Football: As I’ve mentioned previously, I’ve played the crap out of this game as a kid. However, I never owned a multi-tap so I couldn’t play it 4 player. For that matter, I never played it 2-player either. We get a run-down of the various teams and their playbooks, as well as some notes on the various types of plays and advice for succeeding with each team. Read more

Posted on September 7, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #46

We’re taking another slight step back with the EGM recaps to fill another hole in the archive. In this case, we’re covering Issue #46 for May of 1993, with a cover story of Street Fighter II: Special Championship Edition for the Genesis.

Editorial: Our editorial this week comes from Ed Semrad, and covers Review Scores, and basically re-iterating that they stand behind their review scores, even though various publishers won’t necessarily be happy with them, and that they will say what they think in their editorials, even if game publishers and developers won’t like it, instead of re-iterating the table of contents (take that GamePro).

Letters: So, the first question of the issue is “Is Street Fighter 2 coming out for the Genesis?” Well, if someone ripped the cover off your copy of this issue, yes. We also get letters saying how awesome Starfox is. Oh, and apparently their April Fool’s day joke the issue prior was a mock schedule for Atari Jaguar games (including Virtua Pong and Yar’s Revenge 2). We also get more letters in response to Phil Mushnick’s letter (this would be the Rupert Murdoch-owned NY Post’s Phil Mushnick) in the April issue. I still haven’t found the April issue, so I don’t know what he said, so I can’t re-but it on my own. However, apparently Muschnick’s main targets appear to be EA and the Madden games, and also appear to be from the perspective of someone who had never played a video game before (particularly considering the responses we get this issue all reiterate that last point). Anyway, Muschnik’s letter made the “Psycho Letter of the Month” column (which I usually don’t cover). Anyway, one of the other points that I’m picking up second hand from this column is that Muschnik feels that the Madden games encourage kids to be violent in sports – considering the enouragement given in terms of “sick hit” football videos that I recall from Middle School and High School (including ones featuring prominant ESPN broadcasters who, let’s just say, thought they were “Awesome Baby”) I’d say that it’s not Madden’s fault, or EA’s fault, but the sports media’s fault – which Muschnik is part of. Oh, and we get another letter about the changes between the Japanese Ranma 1/2 game and the US Street Combat game, a question about mature content in Japanese games being carried over to the US (particularly nudity), and the RPG Dark Wizard for the Sega CD, which is apparently supposed to come out July ’93. Read more

Posted on September 4, 2009August 22, 2009 by Alexander Case

Review – The Best of IWA Wrestling – Vol. 2

Get The Best of IWA Wrestling Vol. 2 from Amazon.com

Well, after much delay, I’ve decided to continue with my wrestling recaps and reviews. This won’t be as in depth as my Wrestlemania reviews, and won’t be done as regularly. Nonetheless, I’m gonna give this a try. First up is The Best of IWA Wrestling Vol. 2. As a slight note, this promotion is not the IWA promotion that’s currently active in Puerto Rico and Japan, nor IWA Mid-South. This is a separate promotion that was active in the Ohio area from the 1970s to some undetermined point.

Dates for the matches are not provided, though they’re all from TV tapings. Our commentary team is Lee Marshall and Diamond Dallas Page (from some point in his career between going from managing to actively wrestling).

Match 1: “Hitman” Tommy Stetson vs. “Lil’ Cricket” David Isley.

This is from the first round of the tournament to determine the first IWA Junior Heavyweight Champion. We get some chained standing switches before Stetson reaches the ropes. Isley locks Stetson in a rest hold (a standing headlock), which he chains into a hip toss to ground Stetson. Stetson gets out and tries to build momentum and gets an arm-drag and then a headlock for his trouble. Isley cradles for 2. Stetson and Isley get in the corner and exchange blows before Isley takes the worst of a turnbuckle splash. Rather, it was meant to be a turnbuckle splash but Isley started to come out of the corner before he got hit. Not sure if that’s deliberate or mis-communication. Read more

Posted on September 3, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Where I Read – GamePro #41

Our series of GamePro recaps continues to issue 41, for December of 1992. This issue is once again pretty long, at 240 pages, and our cover story this issue is the new Chester Cheetah game. That’s correct, our cover game is an advergame, one designed to get young people to buy more junk food. You want to know the roots of the modern obesity epidemic – right here. Okay, maybe not totally, but there’s stuff there. The art, for once, doesn’t stink though.

Editorial: It’s the end of another year, which means it’s time for another year in review column. Everything’s generally favorable, which is to be expected, because this isn’t exactly a golden age for gaming, but is a pretty awesome time to be a gamer.

Mail: The first question is “Are the Turbo Duo and Turbo CD compatible?” The answer is yes, but in the most round-about way I’ve seen. So, I’m going to clarify this for you. All prior Turbo Grafx games, both CD Rom and Chip games will play on the Duo. Games made for the Duo/Super CD-Rom will require an special upgrade chip called the super system card to play on the older TG-16. There. I did in two sentences what it took the GamePro editors two paragraphs to do. Who ‘da man? We also have requests for them to switch to perfect binding instead of staple binding. Well, while Perfect Binding makes it more difficult to scan, it makes it much easier to find the issue you want on your shelf. Yes, it doesn’t lie flat on your desk, so it’s not a good gameplay reference, but that only really matters if you’re putting maps in the magazine like EGM or Nintendo Power. GamePro doesn’t do that – you have no excuse. Read more

Posted on September 2, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Review – Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse

Well, after 2 weeks without video content, we’ve finally got a Video Review for Castlevania III.

Now, as I mention in the review, the game is available on the Wii Virtual Console, and through GameTap. Other than through those services, if you want the game, you have to go to eBay to get it.

Posted on September 1, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Where I Read – Nintendo Power #18

We’ve now come to issue 18 of Nintendo Power for November of 1990, with our cover game being Dr. Mario, plus Little Nemo and Castlevania III get some mention as well. I’d like to say that while Nintendo Power doesn’t have the hard hitting game journalism of a EGM or even a GamePro, at this point in the game’s history, it’s my favorite magazine to read. Not just recap (though it is easier to recap, with the exception of the top 30) but to generally read. The magazine in general is visually attractive and, as I’ve mentioned previously, this magazine has some of the best art of the era – whereas EGM’s internal art (with the exception of advertisments) is taken from screen caps, and GamePro’s art is crap, Nintendo Power’s art (with the notable exception of when they cover Ninja Gaiden games) is a feast for the eyes.

Letters: Not a lot of feedback letters this issue. Instead, they did a call for everyone’s biggest Nintendo nightmares, and this is the best of the best… I guess. We do get a notable letter though from a woman whose son strengthened his eyesight by playing NES games, and having to track the action on screen. That’s pretty awesome. I’d love to see some research done on this (hint, hint, scientific community – though it might be less expensive to do the research if you use Wiis and Virtual Console games instead of X-Box 360s, PS3s, or actual Wii games or NES/SNES/Genesis games). Read more

Posted on August 31, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #56

This week we’re going to continue making forard progress in our EGM recaps, instead of filling holes in the back archive, with Issue #56. This issue has an even more reasonable length, at 187 pages, and our cover story is the Star Trek: The Next Generation game, with a great oil painting for cover art. Again, I wouldn’t mind hanging this (or any of the Star Trek movie posters) on my wall. I’m letting my Trekkie bias show, but I’d say this is my favorite cover of EGM thus far.

Editorial: Winter CES has come and gone, and Sega showed a lot of games. Nintendo… not so much, though what they did show was pretty good (Super Metroid). Further, Sega also demonstrated some new technology to, hopefully, lower game costs – rather than requiring publishers to bundle a new chip in their cartridges, ala the Super-FX chip. However, this technology takes the form of what will become the 32X add-on module, intead of raising the price of the cartridge, it splits the install base, which didn’t help the publishers as much as Sega would like to. Read more

Posted on August 28, 2009August 31, 2009 by Alexander Case

DVD Review – Genesis of the Daleks

Buy Genesis of the Daleks from Amazon.com — Buy "Genesis of the Daleks" from Amazon.com

This week we’re taking a break from reviewing movies for a review of another Doctor Who storyline. This one is one heck of a classic storyline, featuring one of everyone’s favorite Doctors – Tom Baker. Now, does this storyline hold up over time, or is it as flimsy as the walls of one of their sets. Oh, the story? Genesis of the Daleks.

The Premise

The Doctor and his companions are diverted from their Trans-mat (teleporter) trip back to the TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimensions In Space – their Time Machine to you who are new to the Who), by the Time Lords, who instead send them to the planet of Skaro in the distant past. Their reason – the Time Lords have come to realize that the Daleks are far more powerful than they realized, powerful enough to destroy even them. Thus, they have broken their rule of non-interference and are tasking The Doctor (and his companions, Ian and Sarah Jane), with the task of finding a weakness in the Daleks in this early stage of their existance, or, if possible, to elimiate them. Read more

Posted on August 27, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Where I Read – GamePro #40

Our GamePro recaps continue again with our coverage of issue #40, for November of 1992. Our cover story is Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (which was EGM’s cover story two months prior). The issue weighs in at about 200 pages in length, oh, and for the record, the cover art still sucks.

Editorial: Finally, we get another editorial with content. 1992 is Atari’s 20th anniversary (which makes 2002 the 30th), and so the Editorial column is taking a brief look back at Pong, before leading to a look at where we are now, and what’s to come. It’s very well written, and while it’s stuff that’s been said by a lot of people before, it’s not describing what’s been covered in this issue by the Table of Contents, so that’s a nice change right there.

Letters: First up is a letter from Fake Link. That’s right, before Twitter lead to Fake Celebrities twittering about what they eat, who they met with, etc. (along with, for example, Fake Professor Layton), we got Fake Video Game characters writing into video game magazines, though there was nothing viral about these letters. We also have letters asking for an explanation of the difference between Bits, and Bytes, along with a letter asking if the Phillips CD-I and the SNES CD-ROM will be compatible (well, if the latter came out, the plan would be that they would be inter-operable – but, as we all know, the SNES CD-Rom never came out). We also get a letter requesting that if the 16-bit section of the magazine be increased, that the 8-bit section be increased proportionally. Um… less 8-bit games are coming out. Now, in theory this would lead to longer reviews of the 8-bit games that are coming out. However, if the description of the game ends up being short – that leads to a lot of review saying (quite possibly) how bad the game is. Now, while I wouldn’t mind getting, in a video game magazine, the equivalent of Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offenses, such a review would probably horribly sour the developer and publisher on the magazine, and piss off the fanboys – though, if the company being soured was, an unlicenced publisher (Wisdom Tree, for instance), the damage would probably be pretty minimal. Read more

Posted on August 26, 2009August 13, 2009 by Alexander Case

Quality Control – Final Fantasy I

Buy Final Fantasy: Dawn of Souls from Amazon.com

Well, I have finally beaten Final Fantasy I, the Game Boy Advance version, just in time for yesterday’s recap of Nintendo Power’s Final Fantasy I Strategy Guide. I also got my review done, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to get any video recorded of the Game Boy Version, which is the version of the game I used. However, I was able to get the audio recorded, and thanks to WordPress.com’s ability to embed audio from SoundCloud.com, I was able to upload it there and embed it here, so you don’t need to muck around in Megaupload.

So, with that, I hope you enjoy the review.

Before the review, here are a few more links for other versions of Final Fantasy I for you:

Final Fantasy Origins for the PS1 (from Amazon.com and eBay)
Final Fantasy I for the PSP (from Amazon.com)
Final Fantasy for the NES (from eBay)
Final Fantasy: Dawn of Souls on eBay

If you do want to download it from Megaupload, you can do so here.

Posted on August 25, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Where I Read – Nintendo Power #17 (Guide #3)

We’re now moving on to another Nintendo Power Guide, which is issue #17 overall, and their 3rd guide. – this one for one heck of an epic game – Final Fantasy, which, while all the later incarnations of the system will be (to varying values of fantasy) Fantasy games, this game will certainly not be the final game in the series.

This guide is organized incredibly well. Aside with the strategy guide organized by unofficial “acts” of the game, we also have an overworld map with notes indicating what chapters and page numbers in the guide are related to what areas. This is fantastic, and more RPG strategy guides need to organize themselves in this fashion. It’s a small thing to do, but it’s incredibly helpful. We also get some helpful “how to use this strategy guide notes” which are nice, since this is, basically the first RPG strategy guide. There is no GameFAQs, though in theory you could write a FAQ and put it up on a BBS, but considering the size of most FAQs for RPGs (which be a little more useful than a FAQ for Mario Brothers, since you didn’t have gifs and jpgs), it would take a long time to upload on your dialup modem. Read more

Posted on August 24, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #51

We’ve got another hole in our EGM coverage to fill this week, though it’s one that’s a little more recent. This week we’re recapping Issue #51 for October of 19993. Our cover story is Super Street Fighter II, and this issue weighs in at 229 pages. This also the debut their new visual look for the magazine, and they kind of herald or provide fanfare for the new look with an two-page spread of an image from Blade Runner.

Editorial: Ed Semrad has the editorial this month with his promotion to EiC, as Steve Harris has moved back a bit to just publisher instead of wearing both the publisher and Editor-in-Chief hat. This month the topic of writing is Nintendo delaying Project Reality (aka the Nintendo 64), shoving it back to 1995 – which doesn’t look very good considering how often both of Nintendo’s disk systems got shoved back over the past 3-4 years before finally dissipating like the cloud of vapor they were in the first place. At this point in Nintendo’s history they’ve become the master of the tease.

Letters: The editors of EGM were at CES and able to meet with readers, and the readers love that. Considering how good acclaim from people in general feels, the EGM staff probably loved it too. We also have some questions about playing the PC Engine version of Street Fighter II on the Turbo Express. Well, you will be able to do that, but you will need an appropriate adapter, but it can be done. However, you will need to use Select to toggle between punches and kicks. More questions wondering whether Phantasy Star 4 will come out in time or not (it will). We also have a question wondering if we’ll get more Menacer titles? Probably not – Sega only released 6 menacer games for it overall. There are also questions about getting compilations of the magazines (fortunately, Retromags is around for that – at least unless Steve Harris is able to get an archive of all the EGM magazines togeather, gets them scanned, and puts out a multi-DVD set, much like what’s been done for various Marvel titles. Read more

Posted on August 22, 2009January 9, 2010 by Alexander Case

Why I’m Trading In Need For Speed: ProStreet

Get Need For Speed ProStreet from Amazon.com

So, I’ve previously reviewed Need For Speed Carbon. In the course of that review, I explained that I liked the game, and enjoyed playing the game, but had some major problems with the pursuit system of the game, and how sparingly the game gave out get out of jail free cars, and other items to take tick marks off your cars wanted level and impound meter, making it more likely that you, as a player, would encounter a situation where you’d be unable to continue, but wouldn’t have a game over.

Thus I traded that game in and moved on to the next game in the series – ProStreet. ProStreet was practically infamous for the negative review scores it got, from losing the illegal street race edge and making the races legitimate, to the increased realism. However, after having my aforementioned bad experiences with Carbon, this sounded like just what the doctor ordered.

As the saying goes though, the more things change, the more things stay the same. Read more

Posted on August 21, 2009July 31, 2009 by Alexander Case

Movie Review – Marathon Man

Get Marathon Man from Amazon.com

Marathon Man is a movie I’ve heard excellent things about, one that I’ve heard referenced on multiple occasons, and I’ve never had an opportunity to watch – until now. So, I’ve had an opportunity to watch it – what do I think about it? Oh, my usual warning applies – I’ve got spoilers below the cut, or below the premise if you’re reading the article through an RSS feed or on Facebook.

The Premise: Babe (Dustin Hoffman) is a history major at Columbia University, working on his doctorate. His brother, Doc (Roy Schnider), is (he thinks) a rich and successful international businessman – he’s actually a secret agent. After several attempts on Doc’s life occur, and Babe himself is attacked, he will end up having to match wits with a Nazi war criminal on the run (Lawrence Olivier). Read more

Posted on August 20, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Where I Read – GamePro #39

We’re continuing with the GamePro Recaps with issue 39 for October of 1992. The cover story for this issue is Street Fighter II – again. The cover art is god-freaking-awful – again. Now, the copy I’ve got is 149 pages long, but it’s missing a couple pages. Apparently there was a poster in the issue, that was removed before I got it. So, I have no idea how good the poster looks, how bad the poster looks, and what was on the back of the poster. Considering the cover art quality though, the person who removed the poster just may have done me a favor.

Editorial: This week’s Editorial is all about the Street Fighter II, it’s come out on Home Consoles in Japan, and it’s due to come out in the US… eventually.

Letters: We start off with a question about how much memory can be stored on a CD. They’re talking about the disk game version of The 7th Guest taking up 2 disks holding 8000 Megabits of memory like it’s a really big deal. By the way, that’s about 1 Gigabyte – and they do (sort of) clarify the size of the game. We also have discussion on buying your own arcade machine, and the specialized retailers you need to go to get one, specifically referring to getting Street Fighter II: Championship Edition. This kind of makes me wonder somewhat, why people haven’t tried working on some sort of version of Mugen or variant of Mugen that would allow you to, basically, take your game you built in Mugen, and play it through MAME, with a MUGEN “chipset” (much like they have files for the chipsets for various Neo-Geo and Capcom boards). Read more

Posted on August 19, 2009August 7, 2009 by Alexander Case

Quality Control Review – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan

Get TMNT: Fall of The Foot Clan from eBay.

Well, it was my intent this week to put up another video review, this time of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to record the video I needed for the review. But, fear not, I still have my audio – so it will instead be something more podcast-y. You can download the audio here.

You can find the usual eBay link in the picture. Also, please feel free to lead any feedback in the comments, or any recommendations for future games you’d like me to review.

Posted on August 18, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Where I Read – Nintendo Power #16

Our Nintendo Power recaps continue with a standard issue of the magazine – Issue #16, for September of 1990. Our cover story is the port of Lucasarts adventure game Maniac Mansion… and I have to admit that I don’t like the cover art for this issue.

Letters: Well, we’ve gotten lots of letters from grandmothers who play NES games, now we’ve got a letter from a mom who plays NES games, though her main game of choice is Tetris. Look, Nintendo, while people have different tastes, and I will admit not everyone will like a Gears of War, adults and senior citizens will play “hardcore” games if you give them a chance, and the game is good. If they don’t like it, that’s okay too, but there will be a percentage of older gamers – moms, dads, seniors, who will play those games, and enjoy them, if they don’t suck. Hopefully, Wii Motion Plus will lead to some innovations in this game space, and lead to these games not sucking. In particular, if we do get a Wii release of Call of Duty 4 (hopefully with Wii Motion Plus support), hopefully it wil be that cross-over game.

Final Fantasy Strategy Guide (Pt. 3): You know, considering their next strategy guide issue is going to be Final Fantasy I, I hope they leave something for the special Final Fantasy Strategy Guide next issue. Anyway, we get some brief notes on the Mirage Tower and the Sky Castle. The guide itself is only 2 issues long. The rest of the “guide” is hyping their “Final Fantasy Treasure Quest” contest, which gets you and 4 friends a vacation. Read more