Shaunbadia
1994
I'm a die-hard fan of these two morons and the Genesis version of this game is the only one that's worth a damn, though that isn't saying much. The password system is a tedious pain in the ass that doesn't even fully restore your progress in terms of keeping whatever items you've collected in your inventory, instead simply keeping track of the GWAR ticket pieces.
More than anything, this game serves as an odd little time capsule for the early days of the series with plenty of references to episodes from the first 3 seasons such as Bedpans and Broomsticks, Sick, Couch-Fishing, Be All You Can Be and Burger World.
More than anything, this game serves as an odd little time capsule for the early days of the series with plenty of references to episodes from the first 3 seasons such as Bedpans and Broomsticks, Sick, Couch-Fishing, Be All You Can Be and Burger World.
I'm in the credits of this game for naming one of the trophies, so that's nice. Unfortunately, New 'n' Tasty misses the mark in terms of visual presentation, with so much blooming neon lights that it ruins the dark, dank factory atmosphere of the original. Beyond that gripe, what's on offer here is a near 1:1 retelling of Abe's Oddysee, with only a few very small deviations to be found within the cutscenes and no major gameplay changes beyond a significantly increased number of Mudokons to rescue and some small camera angle shifts in addition to a nifty little DLC level focusing on the escape of Alf, a mud who we didn't originally meet until Abe's Exoddus back in the day.
Bizarrely, the Bad Ending cutscene is the only thing in this game that wasn't re-recorded, meaning the original audio is there and it's pretty jarring to hear Abe's original, higher pitched voice again for no apparent reason.
Bizarrely, the Bad Ending cutscene is the only thing in this game that wasn't re-recorded, meaning the original audio is there and it's pretty jarring to hear Abe's original, higher pitched voice again for no apparent reason.
This game was the sole reason I bought a Wii U and while I had about as much fun with it as I could have, you aren't going to miss out on anything special that can't be found in Smash Bros. Ultimate.
As for the Wii U itself? This was the sole game I owned for the system as I owned the lesser white version of the console which was so lacking in memory that installing much else other than Smash that wasn't a demo was pushing the limits of what it could cope with. Buyer's remorse to the max.
As for the Wii U itself? This was the sole game I owned for the system as I owned the lesser white version of the console which was so lacking in memory that installing much else other than Smash that wasn't a demo was pushing the limits of what it could cope with. Buyer's remorse to the max.
This was the first video game I ever played. Thank Christ it wasn't enough to sour me on the medium as a whole because... eesh.
A solid remake from a team that clearly had a lot of love and consideration for the franchise's history as a whole, making sure to include just about every character ever. While the inclusion of tracks from later entries in the Kart series was a welcome addition, the reworking of them to remove the anti-gravity sections is very disappointing. Online continues to be where most of the replay value resides and as frustratingly slow as it can be to amass Wumpa Coins for the item shop on weekdays, it's also partly what has kept me chipping away at it for a few hours every weekend when the XP bonuses are in effect, ensuring that I never actually have to spend a penny more than the cost of the base game itself.
1998
In my youth I never actually had a memory card for the Dreamcast but would routinely come back, start Sonic Adventure from the beginning each time, and rally through the whole thing in one sitting.
It's a wonder this level of obsession back then didn't send my careening down the slippery slope that many have succumb to when it comes to the Sonic fandom. Maybe the repeated exposure to Big the Cat's levels were enough to subconsciously veer me away from that dark path.
It's a wonder this level of obsession back then didn't send my careening down the slippery slope that many have succumb to when it comes to the Sonic fandom. Maybe the repeated exposure to Big the Cat's levels were enough to subconsciously veer me away from that dark path.
Leisure Suit Larry but without the OG Larry. As my entry point to the series as a young buck who was unfamiliar with the point and click classics that preceded it, this obviously wasn't an issue for me. What I got was an unapologetically crass American Pie-esque romp around a college campus with a generous smattering of tits and ass to go with it. Magna Cum Laude isn't setting out to be high art or even show the same level of... Dare I say "tact" that the previous entries had as bizarre a statement as that may seem, but for someone who first experienced this game at the ripe old age of 11, it was a goldmine of perverse, low-brow comedy and some 20 years later having revisited it a handful of times since then I can't bring myself to dislike it even a little bit. This kind of stupid shit will forever tickle my funny bone.
You poke your head out of the gutter for one freaking second and fate shovels shit in your face. What do you do? Drive around the streets mowing down pedestrians and evading arrest while listening to Wang Chung, of course!
This will always be my favourite GTA game. Nothing before or after could ever hope to come close.
This will always be my favourite GTA game. Nothing before or after could ever hope to come close.
1997
I honestly prefer the demo version of Kurushi because it lacked music. Not to say the music in the finished game is bad, far from it, but it added a certain unsettling edge to hear nothing but the ominous thud of the cubes getting closer alongside the pitter patter of the main character's feet while running around, and that's without even mentioning that death scream as you fall into the void.
The only thing that made this game seem like not the biggest let down ever back in 2002 was that I also got The Simpsons Skateboarding that same Christmas. A bit like saying a punch in the balls wasn't that bad compared to a fist up your ass.
2001
An at the time completely new direction for anything relating to Mario that holds up wonderfully in terms of its spooky yet goofy atmosphere that I don't feel the sequels ever managed to fully retain the simple, cozy charm of as they got larger in scope. Reeling in ghosts can definitely be a pain in the thumb at times and chasing Boos from one room to another can get tedious, but never to the point of making me want to stop playing.
As far as video game adaptations of cartoons go, Stick of Truth ranks high up there in terms of capturing the feel of playing through a very long episode of South Park. How far that novelty goes for you, however, will obviously depend on your level of tolerance for the show itself.
2006
While undoubtedly the most iconic title on the Wii (After all it's a tech demo that came with the console) which does a fine job of showcasing the motion controls in a variety of contexts, I can't pretend like I ever genuinely cared THAT much for anything other than bowling.
2017
Just when I think I'm out, it always pulls me back in. It's a joyous occasion when there's a season that has absolutely nothing of interest to me. Started playing around the time of the Marvel Nexus season back in 2020 and since then my relationship with the game has very much been a love/hate dynamic with it's ever changing gimmicks and additions to the item shop that show my wallet the same level of compassion as an inmate in a prison shower.
Christmas 2002: An excited 9 year old boy gets his hands on Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly. Were it not for that game being one of the biggest disappointments of my young life, I would honestly say that The Simpsons Skateboarding being the other game I got that day would have been enough on its own to convince me that I had made the naughty list and Santa was getting creative with his punishments. A lump of coal would have been preferred.