JimTheSchoolGirl
One of my very few Game Gear games. Cracking music. Always got stuck at the same point though, unable to pass a lava bit. I should probably try it again.
The only Sonic game I've ever played for more than five minutes, and only then because I needed a break from the upsettingly fast Columns. Barely remember it TBH, though I had a good time entering random letters into the Game Genie and glitching it to hell.
I remember seeing a screenshot in a magazine labelled "ouga gaiden" and thinking it looked rad. It was! Satisfyingly deep combat, catchy tunes, branching story. Blew my mind how big a game they'd crammed into a GBA, it lasts about 40 hours and I must have played it through a dozen times before I moved on. When my GameCube started giving me disc read errors, the one reason I kept it was because it would still boot up the GBA player and let me play this on the telly. Magic stuff.
1997
Played this a bunch at Fisher's house. A less popular choice as there were five of us taking turns, but a good laugh to watch. I didn't really get it, but I enjoyed Hwoarang's mad legs. Crossland was always banging on about supposed secret "4-button moves" and would get roundly mocked for it.
CROSSLAND
CROSSLAND
2018
Like a long-lost 90s demo disk curio. Listen to the big floaty head, wrestle with the weird physics, collect the same spinning asset thousands of times. The simple blocky aesthetic and the dreamy ambient sound make for a surprisingly lovely place to zone out in. It's got cool jumps and shifting mazes and sound puzzles and generally more than I was expecting from it. Well worth a few quid for something pretty unique.
This is the most I've enjoyed Smash since 64. The pace and the feel is just right for me, plus I've found a handful of good people to play online with. Who would have thought the glory days could ever return?
I didn't need to buy this. Technically it was just as good as the 3DS version I'd already been playing for ages, but having both gave it this weird bloated and segmented feel, especially with all the DLC bits and pieces. Smash 3DS made me fall in love again, Smash WiiU wore me out.
This feels right. Smash is a daft little game and it's so comfortable on a handheld. Lovely stages, plays great, loads to do. I still miss playing with pals though.
At this point in my life, I only have one friend and the only game we play is Super Mario Strikers. I spent a lot of time with Brawl on my own, but I don't really remember it much. I think the online was unplayable? That sounds right.
Everyone says Subspace Emmisary is good but these physics weren't made for run and jump platforming.
Everyone says Subspace Emmisary is good but these physics weren't made for run and jump platforming.
Oh no it's too fast in not having fun I want to get off
1999
I remember seeing screenshots of this, reading it was Japan-exclusive, grumbling for a week, then forgetting all about it. When it arrived in Europe nearly a year later, it felt like a dream. Constant state of "How is this allowed? How is it possible?" while playing, laughing the whole time.
I feel very lucky it came at just the right period for me to get an hour of 4-player every day. I never got tired of it. Thinking about Fisher carrying someone off the edge and screaming "KONG SUICIDE" in their face makes me chuckle to this day.
I feel very lucky it came at just the right period for me to get an hour of 4-player every day. I never got tired of it. Thinking about Fisher carrying someone off the edge and screaming "KONG SUICIDE" in their face makes me chuckle to this day.
1998
TOO BAD, YOU LOST UNITY¹
We used to play this with five players: two people would control Twin Noritta, AKA "The Dual Ship", one on steering and one on throttle/boost. Anyone finishing behind The Dual Ship would swap in next round, which made for some violent races.
Once the random track generator gave us a hairpin on the crest of a hill so tight that half the ships would fly off each lap.
I loved everything about this game.
¹unity with the track
We used to play this with five players: two people would control Twin Noritta, AKA "The Dual Ship", one on steering and one on throttle/boost. Anyone finishing behind The Dual Ship would swap in next round, which made for some violent races.
Once the random track generator gave us a hairpin on the crest of a hill so tight that half the ships would fly off each lap.
I loved everything about this game.
¹unity with the track
1997
Fisher lived right near college, so every lunchtime we'd sprint over there and cram in 50 minutes of multiplayer gaming. We all chipped in to buy extra pads for Goldeneye, five of us crammed on his bed, each round the loser and spectator swapping places. Best time.
When I got my own copy, I found it a mixed bag. One of those games where you have favourite bits you do over and over again, and horrible bits you avoid forever. And the floor pattern bit in Egypt, WTF were they thinking with that bullshit?
Addendum: I wrote the above not having touched the game for years. Recently I've been playing it again on Switch, with a Tribute64 pad, and once again I'm having the best time. All of my teen frustrations have melted away (in part thanks to a buttery smooth framerate and save states), and I love it more than ever.
There's a special joy that can only be found in seeing Sean Bean and Robbie Coltrane slide around a room, firing off an entire clip and not landing a single hit, while you walk towards them both with a rocket launcher. Haven't laughed in this exact way for over twenty years.
Look forward to me pestering you all to play this with me at every opportunity.
When I got my own copy, I found it a mixed bag. One of those games where you have favourite bits you do over and over again, and horrible bits you avoid forever. And the floor pattern bit in Egypt, WTF were they thinking with that bullshit?
Addendum: I wrote the above not having touched the game for years. Recently I've been playing it again on Switch, with a Tribute64 pad, and once again I'm having the best time. All of my teen frustrations have melted away (in part thanks to a buttery smooth framerate and save states), and I love it more than ever.
There's a special joy that can only be found in seeing Sean Bean and Robbie Coltrane slide around a room, firing off an entire clip and not landing a single hit, while you walk towards them both with a rocket launcher. Haven't laughed in this exact way for over twenty years.
Look forward to me pestering you all to play this with me at every opportunity.
1998
The only thing I remember about this was the regular in-game space-emails detailing the features, delays, and name changes of the upcoming cool new operating system "Portals 67"
1997
Weird game. It's got the skeleton of old XCOM, but a whole new look and feel. There was a coating of Win95-ness that tainted the general aesthetic, but I loved the whole city setting. The aerial combat was really good fun too, played like an RTS,
I played this mostly in the optional real-time mode, because there was one alien that always messed me up when turn-based. Started dozens of campaigns, but never finished it as the alien dimension always bugged out for me. I might go back and try again.
I played this mostly in the optional real-time mode, because there was one alien that always messed me up when turn-based. Started dozens of campaigns, but never finished it as the alien dimension always bugged out for me. I might go back and try again.