Breaking it all Down

Posted on October 30, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Movie Review – Blazing Saddles

Get Blazing Saddles (on Blu-Ray) from Amazon.com

I’m not going to say I’ve watched everything Mel Brooks has ever done, but I’ve watched a fair chunk of it, and I’ve enjoyed what I’d seen. However, I’d never gotten around to watching Blazing Saddles. The film is widely regarded as being Brooks best film, aside from, maybe, Young Frankenstein. So, I’ve watched it, now what did I think about it?

The Premise:

Bart, an African-American man working on the railroad, is saved from execution for assaulting one of the racist over-seers for the railroad, to be appointed by the Eeeeevvvvvviiiiillll Lieutenant Governor Hedley Lamar as the sheriff of the town of Rock Ridge – which Lamar is trying to force out so he can claim the land for himself as the rail-road comes through it, so he can make a fortune. However, Lamar has underestimated Bart, and his new deputy, Jim, aka The Gunslinger Formerly Known As The Waco Kid. Read more

Posted on October 29, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Where I Read – GamePro #49

We continue with the GamePro recaps with issue #49. The cover story for this issue is, not unsurprisingly, considering the era – Street Fighter II Turbo.

Editorial: It’s actually about something this issue! To be specific, Sega’s debuted their rating system for games, which will end up (with a few revisions) becoming the industry standard. Nintendo, seeking to get the upper hand in the Console War, actually attacked Sega for this, saying that it was an illegitimate justification for selling violent games.

Letters: We get questions about whether they ever had to give out a 1.5. They did, once, to Andre Agassi Tennis, which goet a 1.5 for Control, but they otherwise try to avoid putting games that rate that low in the magazine. I suspect they put that one in there because they interviewed Agassi when he was promoting the game. We also have props coming in for their poster artist, Francis Mao. There are also questions about why there is so much empty space in game cartridges (the explanation GamePro gives is for cooling, though I’m a little iffy on that), and a question which gamers will spend much contemplation on in the console generations to come – how do I easily switch between two consoles that use the same connector? They also messed up the code to enable Champion Edition on Street Fighter II Turbo. Read more

Posted on October 28, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Quality Control – Over Horizon

This week, I’m taking a break from doing the featured games from this issue of Nintendo Power, to go with one of the Also Rans – a game that was featured in the “Now Playing” column, but didn’t get a full strategy guide. Specifically, I’m picking Over Horizon, a shump from Hot-B.

The Premise:

The game’s story is… nonexistent. You’re flying a star fighter and have to defeat a force of invading aliens. That said, the game does have as one of its features the ability to customize your weapons with traits from other weapon power-ups you encounter through the various levels.

The Good:

Finally, we have a shump which has enemies come in from behind, that also lets you shoot backwards without having to do any fancy shenanigans with your controller.

The Bad:

In order to view your score or see how many extra lives you have remaining, you have to pause the game. This is what HUDs are for class. Game Design 101 – remember?

The Ugly:

I couldn’t get past the first level. This isn’t because I suck at shumps (though I’m not great). This is because halfway through the level we have these vine like critters blocking your path through the level that I can’t get through. If I fly into them, I die. If I shoot them, nothing happens. In theory, I could die, and use my temporary invulnerabilty to get through it (which I did a couple of times) – but unless you have unlimited lives, I shouldn’t have to do that. And even if I do have unlimited lives, that’s bad game design. Again, Game Design 101 people.

The Verdict:

This game deserved to be among the Also Rans – I have to give them credit for that. Don’t play this game.

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

Where I Read – Nintendo Power #26

Well, our Nintendo Power recaps have reached our first issue without Howard Phillips – issue #26, for July of 1991. our cover story is another movie licensed game, Robin Hood: Prince Of Theves. It’s basically an intigration of a still from the movie with some artwork they did, and while it’s not great, it’s better then the last couple issues art. I’ll cut ’em some slack.

Letters: We get a couple letters of parents who got NESes and Game Boys from their kids, but more or toddlers playing (or trying to play) their parents NESs. We also get another letter about the invulnerability of the Game Boy. A soldier serving in Iraq had his Game Boy badly damaged in a fire, and he’d sent it in to see if he could get a replacement. They’d planned to send a new one out anyway but they tried the damaged Game Boy (which they show pictures of) to see if it worked. In short, it worked! I’m impressed! Read more

Posted on October 26, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #61

Okay, our EGM recaps continue with issue number 61 for August of 1994. Our cover story is Super Return of the Jedi, and this issue weighs in at 181 pages in length. Well, then, let’s get started.

Editorial: Our Editorial this issue is from Ed Semrad, and covers the latest incarnation of Street Fighter II. The general consensus is that in the EGM offices the thrill is gone out of the relationship with Street Fighter II. Nobody’s playing it in the EGM offices anymore. To be fair, there aren’t particularly any new characters in the game, the stages are pretty much the same, and the moves are pretty much the same. All in all, they don’t think it’s worth the $70-80 it would cost (in 1994 dollars) to get this game new, and for future reviews, they will be taking into account re-releases of the same content with a fresh coat of paint – like with the Street Fighter II re-releases. Read more

Posted on October 23, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

DVD Review – Smiley’s People

Buy Smiley's People from Amazon.com (cover art will vary).

As you can probably tell by some of the subject matter of my reviews, I like spy fiction. In particular, I enjoy John LeCarre’s work, especially the character of George Smiley. Previously I’ve watched the adaptation of his novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, though I didn’t review it here. What I will be reviewing today, though, is the adaptation of the 3rd novel of the “Quest for Karla” trilogy, Smiley’s People, which once again puts George Smiley (played by Alec Guinness) of the British Secret Service (aka the Circus) up against Karla of the KGB, played by Patrick Stewart. There are some spoilers below the cut. Read more

Posted on October 22, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Where I Read – GamePro #48

The GamePro recaps continue with issue 48, for July of 1993. This issue’s pretty short, only 156 pages long, and our cover story is Jurassic Park. Oh, and the cover art is still bad, though this issue’s had some of the better covers in a while.

Editorial: We’re not totally re-iterating the table of contents this time. This issue we get a discussion of licenced games and how wonderful they are. Just wait a few years, you’ll (hopefully) change your tune.

Letters: We get demands for the mail section getting an expansion. We also get complaints about cheap AI, and we get questions about the use of “Final” in the titles of game series with lots of sequels (referring to Final Fight, not Final Fantasy, as people like to be snarky about now). Read more

Posted on October 21, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Quality Control: The Lone Ranger

So, in honor of Howard Phillips last issue of Nintendo Power, I’m reviewing the game for the last installment of Howard & Nester – The Lone Ranger from Konami.

The Premise:

You play as the Lone Ranger, the last of a group of Texas Rangers whose posse was murdered by Butch Cavandish, the notorious outlaw. You, along with your side kick, Tonto, go forth to avenge their deaths, and rescue the president, who Cavandish has kidnapped! Read more

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

Where I Read – Nintendo Power #25

The Nintendo Power recaps continue today with Issue #25 for June of 1991, with our cover story of Battletoads. Just to say right now, I’m not picking Battletoads for my Quality Control pick. I’ve played it before, it’s really freaking hard, and it’s a classic – which is all the more reason to check out what came out around the same time. This issue clocks in at 108 pages and the cover art is unfortunately crap. This is doubly unfortunate as this is Howard’s last issue with Nintendo Power. Who will be writing the letters at the end of the issue next? Who will Nester team up with? What will happen at Nintendo of America’s offices without somebody wearing a bow tie?

Letters: This issue it’s all about pets and gaming, particularly cats with a fixation on gaming equipment, and video games themselves. Unfortunatley, we don’t have any particularly Lolcat worthy pictures. Ah well. Read more

Posted on October 19, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Montly #60

We’re now at EGM #60 for July of 1994, with our cover story being more stuff on Mortal Kombat II. I have to say that the art isn’t fantastic. It’s great – but not fantastic. The issue weighs in at 194 pages.

Editorial: This issue’s editorial is from Danyon Carpenter, eulogizing over the death of the last 8-bit console system, the NES, as well as contemplating the glut of systems on the market.

Letters: Speaking of gluts, we have a letter about the growing glut of bad games on the market as we come to the end of the 16-bit generation, and the dawn of the 32-bit generation. Though, as a general rule of thumb, while we get some good games in the transitional period on occasion, a lot of times major developers have their best teams working on the launch titles for the new upcoming hardware, so they can try and get something good out of the new system. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Meanwhile, the developers and teams who aren’t putting out launch titles (and thus don’t have dev kits for the new systems) can’t be necessarily quite as ambitious, as whatever they put out won’t necessarily do as well on the market once the next gen starts building up steam. Oh, and then there are companies like LJN which put out shovelware on a regular basis anyway. Read more

Posted on October 16, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Movie Review – Koyaanisqatsi

I’ve never watched an “art” film before. I’ve watched films with artistic intent. I’ve watch films that used artistic imagery, and I’ve watched films which made me think (which is one of the things I consider important with films that are “artistic”). However, I’ve never really seen a film that I’d call an out-and-out “art film.”

Until now.

The Premise: The film is a non-verbal one. The film depicts a series of images, in their original speed, sped up, or slowed down, depicting the world, and the flow of modern life, set to a score by Phillip Glass. I’m really understating this, as there’s more to it than that, but I can’t quite explain without getting into the stuff that I’d normally do in the Good, Bad, and Ugly segments

My Thoughts: This film is stunning. It is visually amazing. It is audibly amazing. I hadn’t seen a movie that was deliberately without a story (I’d seen ones that were unintentionally without a story, but that’s another matter), but this was the first I’d seen where the film itself was intentionally without a narrative as we normally think of it. However, it still works. Read more

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

Where I Read – GamePro #47

Another week, another GamePro. This issue is issue number 47 for June of 1993. Our cover story is a puzzle game – Yoshi’s Cookie! The issue isn’t too long, only 163 pages long, which is nice. Oh, and just to remind you that this is the 90s, and we’re starting what will become a long series of bad video game films, we have an ad for Super Mario Bros. the movie. “This ain’t no game” indeed.

Editorial: This issue has a whole a new look, and with it they’re discussing the future of gaming again, and apparently the future of gaming is Virtual Reality! Goggles, headsets, gloves, the works! Hah! It’s 15 years later and they still haven’t worked that out!

The Mail: We get some questions about some of the previously pictured Sonic The Hedgehog zones that didn’t make it into the game. There are also questions about support being phased out for the NES and about the growing Video Game Violence debate (with more mention being given to Mortal Kombat than Night Trap). Read more

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

Quality Control Review – Battle Unit Zeoth

This is going to be a little different from most of my other Quality Control columns, because with most of my other quality control columns I’m able to beat the first level of the game I’m playing. Not so here. So, I’m going to ditch the formal structure (somewhat) and speak frankly.

The premise of the game is kind of interesting. Future Earth is under attack by an alien threat, and you, as the pilot of the mecha Battle Unit Zeoth, must go forth and defeat the the alien invaders for the safety of earth. Read more

Posted on October 13, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Where I Read – Nintendo Power #24

Alright, our Nintendo Power recaps continue now with issue #24, for May of 1991. Our cover story is Vice: Project Doom, which I’ve previously reviewed, so we can reasonably say in advance that this probably won’t be our Quality Control pick for this week.

Letters: This issue we have an art heavy letters section. Specifically we have a bunch of Mega Man III fan art.

Vice: Project Doom Guide: We get a run-down of the weapons in the game, though they describe vice squad’s signature weapon as a whip, though it looked more like sword in the game. We also get screen shots of the cut-scenes, and gameplay notes of the levels 1 through 9. Scores: Graphics & Sound 4.3, Play Control 4, Challenge & Excitement 4.3, Theme & Fun 3.8.

Howard & Nester: This issue, Howard & Nester are playing Monopoly, and Nester ends up going to jail, and has try to get a Get Out Of Jail Free card. Read more

Posted on October 12, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #59

Our EGM recaps continue this week with a recap of issue #59, for June of 1994. Our cover story is what will become the first 3D Fighting game, Virtua Fighter – currently in arcades, and later for the Saturn. This issue is clocking in a 229 pages.

Editorial: The European Computer Trade Show has come and gone, and EGM has left with the award for best US game magazine, a reward that is well deserved in my opinion. Of the game magazines I’ve recapped thus far, EGM has been the better of the three. Now, once I finish EGM, GamePro, or Nintendo Power, I’ll have to move on to something else, and that could change things up some, but anyway, let’s move on.

Letters: We get a letter asking about the US release of Final Fantasy V, and apparently, according to their sources in Square, it will be getting a release outside of the Final Fantasy name, with Final Fantasy VI getting the US release as Final Fantasy III. Though, ultimately, Final Fantasy V doesn’t get released in the US as anything other than Final Fantasy V, and gets its first legitimate release as part of the Final Fantasy Anthology for the Playstation. Also, unfortunately the Duo is basically now dead. They’re not selling new systems anymore, and only selling new games in mail-order. If you can’t increase your install base, you’ve stagnated your market share. You’re dead, Jim. We have requests for more RPGs for the Neo-Geo and more RAM for the Genesis (to which I say, to quote Shane Bettenhausen, “It’s nice to want things.”) Read more

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

Movie Review – Hoodlum

I’ve been a fan of gangster films (with gangsters of most types), ever since I discovered Shadowrun when I was in middle school. So, I’ve become kind of familiar with the genre (though I’m not even going to pretend I’ve seen seen everything the genre has to offer). So when my Netflix recommendations popped up Hoodlums, I added it to my queue – as I had not seen a gangster film set in the classic gangster period featuring African Americans, and I was kind of hoping it would be a good take on the genre, and that it would portray it’s subjects appropriately.

The Premise: Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson has just gotten out of prison in 1936 (in the midst of the Great Depression) and has returned to Harlem where, he intends to get back into helping “Madame Queen” Stephanie St. Clair in running the numbers business (an underground lottery). However, Dutch Shultz has been muscling in on her turf, and has been getting the attention of district attorney Thomas Dewey, with Lucky Luciano (representing the Commission of New York’s mafia families) attempting to maintain order. Being that this is the kind of film that it is, things go out of control, and a gang war is waged across the streets of New York. Read more

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

Where I Read – GamePro #46

Despite my going back to school, and all that effecting my time I have for writing, the GamePro recaps continue with issue #46 for May of 1993. We have another Sports issue. Our Editorial this issue also discusses the violence in video games debate, with the general advice being that the onus for protecting kids from violent content lies in the hands of parents. However, as game ratings only exist on the Genesis, and they’re not necessarily consistent, I have to say that this advice isn’t as reasonable, but that’s just me.

Letters: Not much this issue. We get letters about playing as the bosses in the SNES version of Street Fighter II, people applauding the Sega CD, and people complaining about the grainy video on the Sega CD.

Hot at the Arcades: We have a Looney Tunes arcade game that didn’t get a home release, and Creature From The Black Lagoon licenced pinball table.

The Cutting Edge: This issue we have coverage of the VVS. It’s a TV, in a pair of glasses! Yeah… they’re still working on this and it’s still clunky as hell. Read more

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

Quality Control Review – Sword Master

As I’ve mentioned previously, I really like Swords & Sorcery games, particularly RPGs. I also like fantasy and semi-fantasy platformers like Castlevania. So, when Sword Master came up on this week’s issue of Nintendo Power, I was looking forward to it. All things considered, I probably shouldn’t have looked forward to it…

The Premise: As a lone knight, you must go forward and defeat an evil sorcerer who is enslaving the land with his evil minions.

The Good: The combat has a bit of depth to it, in terms you, and your enemies, have high, medium, and low attacks they can use, and you have ways of defending against them, sort of.

The Bad: The levels are very generic. Aside from some basic jumping, you walk forward, and kill everything in your way. Think of the gameplay as Altered Beast, only without the transformations, or the fireballs, and generally more bland and generic.

The Ugly: As I mentioned, supposedly, you can high-block the high attacks, middle block the middle attacks, and low block the low attacks. I can pull off the low block, but I couldn’t pull off any other other blocks. I could pull off all 3 levels of attacks, but the AI reactions were cheap enough that for the mid-bosses, I just couldn’t hit them, no matter how much I tried. The game is just cheap in all the bad ways.

The Verdict: Avoid this game. There had to have been a better game that could have taken this game’s slot in Nintendo Power. I’m not even going to put referral links for this game in this review. That’s how unimpressed I am.

Posted on October 6, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Where I Read – Nintendo Power #23

Our Nintendo Power recaps continue apace today with our recap of issue #23 for April of 1991. Our cover game this issue is Power Blade… and frankly I’m not too impressed by the art this time. I wonder if the brisk pace of the issues is making it more difficult for the artists to really bring the quality.

Letters: Operation Desert Shield is underway, and our Servicemen in Saudi Arabia love the Game Boy. We have a full page of letters from Servicemen who brought their Game Boy and are playing the crap out of it. I wonder how many Servicemen in Iraq now and in Afganistan brought their DSes and PSPs. Though, I suspect that you could probably bring more PSP games because of their size, but you could possibly lose them more easily for the same reason.

Power Blade Guide: The game is out, though the look has been re-worked to make the protagonist a bit more of a Ahnuld/Stallone Musclehead. We get a list of the moves and power-ups for the game, and we get maps of the all 7 sectors of the game. Scores: Graphics & Sound – 3.7, Play Control – 4, Challenge & Excitement – 4.2, Theme & Fun – 4. Read more

Posted on October 5, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #58

We move on to issue 58 of EGM, for March of 1994. Our cover story is Super Street Fighter II Turbo. The cover art is great, except for the face, which doesn’t quite work based on the perspective. The issue clocks in at 232 pages.

Editorial: This month’s editorial by Ed Semrad is around, basically, the growing pains over the upcoming rating system for video games, with Sega and Nintendo fighting over whose system they would use. Sega’s is modeled after the ESRB’s ratings and would have both system’s games come out evenly. Nintendo’s appears to be designed in a more convoluted fashion, and would make just about every single game on the Genesis look awful. Ed describes this as being over “the most trivial of things” which, due to 20/20 hindsight, and California’s law over the rating system going to the Supreme Court, and Left 4 Dead 2 being banned in Australia, I’m having a bit of a chuckle at that phrase. To be fair though, Ed probbly couldn’t see this coming. Though, considering the outrage over Night Trap and Mortal Kombat, he probably should have seen this coming. We all should have seen this coming. Read more

Posted on October 2, 2009September 14, 2009 by Alexander Case

Ring of Honor Review – Glory By Honor 2002

Alright, we’re on to the next Ring of Honor show after Unscripted. This is Glory By Honor I, held on October 5th, 2002 at the Murphy Recreation Center. As a reminder of who the champions are, all the belts are held by The Prophecy, with Christopher Daniels & Donovan Morgan winning the ROH World Tag Team titles in that tournament, and Xavier beating Low Ki for the ROH World Title. Our hosts are Jeff Gorman and Chris Levi, with Steve Corino having left the announce booth as part of his (concluding) feud with Rudy Boy Gonzalez. Read more

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

Where I Read – GamePro #45

My GamePro Recaps continue with Issue #45 for April of 1993. This issue is about 177 pages long and our cover story is StarFox. Though, the length of the issue will probably be padded a little by the second half of their strategy guide for Sonic 2. The editorial this issue is, basically, saying that the NES is managaging to hang on by it’s fingernails. Well… we already knew that, from the fact that NES games are still coming out. So, let’s just move along.

Letters: We get a letter about the SFX Chip, and what it does (it lets the system create crude 3D polygonal shapes), what the expansion port on the bottom of the SNES if for (nothing), whether we’ll get a NES converter for the SNES (Innovation’s working on one, but Nintendo cracks down on them like a ton of bricks).

LamePro: We have the debut of GamePro’s god-freaking aweful April Fool’s section. EGM comes up with with a made-up cheat in the magazine, complete with screen shots as evidence, and asks you, the reader to find it (thus requiring some thought). GamePro, on the other hand, does a lame, fake magazine, with pathetic made-up parodies of existing games. Read more

Posted on September 30, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Quality Control – Metal Storm

Well, I’m going to go back to the text reviews for the time being, as the audio reviews don’t carry over well to Facebook (as my reviews are also syndicated there. Plus, frankly, I’m just not getting a lot of listeners for them. If you do want the audio reviews back, please let me know, and I’ll start doing them again in the future.

Anyway, my game for review this week is the mecha action game Metal Storm for the NES, from Irem (the people who brought you R-Type). Let’s see how it turns out.

The Premise: An alien intelligence has taken over the research station on Titan. You, in the M-308 Gunner Mobile Suit must infiltrate the facility, get through its defenses, and destroy the base before it can destroy Earth! Read more

Posted on September 29, 2009February 16, 2025 by Alexander Case

Where I Read – Nintendo Power #22

Alright, this week’s issue of Nintendo Power is issue #22 for March of 1991. Our cover story is the mecha action game Metal Storm (which was the poster game last issue), and a lot of the art on the cover is very similar to last issue’s poster (but that’s okay).

Letters: We have a letter from a kid who managed to be a Nintendo Game Counselor for a day thanks to a letter he wrote to the Mickey Mouse Club. So, I guess something good came out of the Mickey Mouse Club (instead of just Brittney Spears and Justin Timberlake). We also have the Nintendo Rap… which I’m just going to tip toe on by.

Metal Storm Guide: We get some notes off the bat about the “reverse gravity” system and some of the weapons and power-ups in the game. We then get some maps of the first 6 levels. On the bright side, the game has a password system (which, frankly, a lot of games on here don’t have). Apparently stage 2, by the way, there have unlimited vertical scrolling on the levels (with the maps wrapping). That could make it easy to get lost in the levels without the map. Anyway, the general visual theme of the levels is pretty industrial, with not a lot of visual variation to it, at least in the the levels we get pictures of. Ratings: Graphics & Sound 3.8, Play Control 3.7, Challenge and Lasting Interest 3.7, Theme & Fun 3.7. Read more