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| Redrunelord's Last Game Comments | Duck Tales | Arguably one of the best theme song renditions on an NES game. | Revenge of Shinobi, The | An interesting game...CGR got this one right | Spyro Orange - The Cortex Conspiracy | Hello? |
| Redrunelord's Last 25 Game Reviews |
Cosmic Carnage 01-14-12 05:52 PM |
Cosmic Carnage Cosmic Carnage is arguably the core definition of a "cult classic" among gamers. A cult classic is technically considered a medium that has a small but devoted fan base...so what exactly stops a cult classic from becoming a mainstream staple? Sometimes it is because of bad timing or bad marketing which results in a burying of said item. Other times it is regarded as the quality being too low for a mainstream appeal. Thus, in the eyes of some, a cult classic is considered a low end medium that is over-hyped by the few people who likes it; a guilty pleasure almost. Does Cosmic Carnage fit this definition, or doe sit fit the definition of bad sales due to its console placement (32X add-on) but is genuinely enjoyable? Cosmic Carnage is a 2D fighting game for the Sega 32X add-on. The limited story-line provided implies that prisoners high-jacks the ship, but the ship's controls are damaged forcing the prisoners to send distress signals to crash and hijack a military craft. This results in a crash that kills all but 8 personal leaving only one escape pod. The result is a fight to the death...admittedly a somewhat interesting story and relatively plausible considering video game universes. The impression of this story line is that it would fit right into a Star Trek or Star Wars universe well, and perhaps that is where the developers got the idea, and it is definitely different than the tournament standard set by most of its contemporaries. Visually, this is a hard game to compare to others, as the 32X had a small library and it isn't fair to compare this game to games before or after it. Normally at least. Visuals from various 16 bit games actually surpass this game in many regards. The animation is clunky, at the best, more often than not. Admittedly some is smooth but what is smooth is also awkward in that it is out of place. There is definite motion zones visible where the fighters will gravitate towards but it could be worse. The key is getting the d... Read the rest of this Review |
Star Wars - Return of the Jedi - Death Star Battle 01-13-12 03:04 PM |
Star Wars - Return of the Jedi Death Star Battle There is absolutely no debate about the impact that Star wars had upon the general populace when the first film, A New Hope, was released in 1977. The films are still extensively analysed for every single aspect, and the populace has taken the films to heart. One example of such is that "Jedi" was voted the fourth largest religion in England during a census. Whether one likes the films or not can not argue that they were rather popular, and it made sense that such a large number of Star Wars merchandise would be released to cash in on the films, including a plethora of video games for the Atari2600. The Atari2600's biggest claim to fame, asides from being among the ancestors of home gaming, is that the console is well known as being saturated with space games. So much that it takes a lot for games to vary from one another. Thus, there are a large number of similar games broke into sub-categories and thus they blend together in a homogeneous library. Does Star wars - Return of the Jedi Death Star Battle blend in with the masses or is it truly one in a million? This game puts the player in the role of Han Solo's personal ship the Millennium Falcon going directly against the Empire's Death Star. Normally a lopsided battle, the game shows two points in destroying the death star: getting past the force fields, and attempting to launch a laser or proton torpedo into the Death Star's core. As a result, it could be argued that there are two stages with two different objectives and two slightly different forms of game play. The player would use the joystick (or keyboard) to navigate across the screen and use the one button to fire. In the first level, the player would be on the bottom side of the screen waiting for a hole to appear in a shield that appears in the middle of the screen. When the hole appears, the player has to go into it: trying to do so otherwise loses a life. In the second phase the player shoots at the Death Star a... Read the rest of this Review |
Maze Craze 12-28-11 11:25 AM |
Maze Craze If one thing can be called inevitable, it is change. The world is growing more and more technically advanced, humans are evolving into machines which desires efficiency above all else. Eventually, humanity may reach the point of H.A.L 9000 with flesh and blood being replaced with cold steel, and compassion with pure logic. Even if humans do not reach said extreme, society is gravitating towards complete commercialism nonetheless, with families distant as gold glitters. Lynyrd Skynyrd never agreed with this, and the says that to be true is to live simple: stop worrying about what needs not be worried about, and live in a way that is free from such. In an unusual manner, the Atari2600 both encompasses simplicity and complexity: while comparatively simple to modern gaming, it was considered high tech for the day and overly complicated. In some respects, that represented H.A.L 9000 in that technology is having its influences in the western world. Looking back now, most games would call it primitive but technically the true test for a game is how engaging and fun it is: not how many polygons are plastered across screen. Thus, how do a game like Maze Craze hold up 30 years later and beyond? This is one of those games that is simple in principle but in reality is complicated at the same time. Maze craze is a game where the player would attempt to complete a maze before their opponent while avoiding the "cops". The game has a variety of modes but the objective largely remains the same. The player would take control of one of two personal and try to race the other to the end of the maze should a second player be available. Alternatively, the player could play alone and try time trials to get to the end of the maze. It is possible in both cases to have various enemies the player has to avoid moving throughout the maze; hit one, and that player is out. Last one alive or first one to the end wins. For what it is...it works extremely we... Read the rest of this Review |
Advance Wars 2 - Black Hole Rising 12-23-11 06:29 PM |
Advance Wars 2 - Black Hole Rising Let there be no doubt that the military, in all countries, got difficulties associated with the various rankings. During a time of conflict, it is expected for the masses to serve their nations by both the high brass and the people of the nation. Without getting into the actual political aspects, the average soldier has to do a lot of the grunt work while the officers handles the logistical and strategic aspects. It is intriguing how games tend to focus on one of two aspects of command: either the gamer plays as a grunt soldier initially then grows into a commando, or the player plays a high ranking official who steadily takes on more dangerous and/or complicated missions. These two ways of playing a character in a war environment are entirely different as one deals with strategically analyzing a situation in a matter of the big picture, and the other is hands on work in trying to make said picture be drawn. Advance Wars 2 focuses on the commander. Advance Wars 2, for all purposes intended, is a turn based strategy game developed by Intelligent Systems as a sequel to Advance Wars. This game requires the player to build an army from certain buildings on a grid and advance them towards the opposing player or AI to either capture a critical building, destroy all of their units/capacity for war or reach a critical objective while preserving their own main base. The player would have to take advantage of a number of unit types, and utilize the environments and terrain to their advantage to ensure victory. It is relatively unaltered from the original title in this series, with only additional content and one or two extra game play mechanics. Resultingly, someone who is a fan of the original game will likely enjoy this sequel, but what of the average strategy game fan? For a game like this, it is essential to be able to distinguish the various images in order to play accordingly. In games like horizontal space shooters, it is... Read the rest of this Review |
Pokemon Red 12-17-11 05:42 PM |
Pokemon Red Typically in a generation of Pokémon games, three main titles are released. One would have the initial two titles released alongside each other as a pair with a third game following. The third game is usually the same game as the other two with various revisions, such as different Pokémon placement, some moved bosses, changed dialogue etc. This formula does not ring true with the first generation, however. Instead, while the two games released alongside each other (Red and Green in Japan, Red and Blue outside of Japan) are the same but for minor Pokémon placements, Pokémon Yellow offered a different story-line and game play style as it followed the anime. As a result, if someone was to desire a conventional Pokémon game from the first generation for their collection, then Pokémon Yellow would not likely fit the requirements as the refinements made were game changing. Is blue or red worth revisiting beyond nostalgic musings, and if so which game? To answer the latter question, it doesn't completely matter which one beyond what little Pokémon differences there are and that they got a different overall lens tone. In Pokémon Red, red is the dominant colouration depending on the handheld it's played on or in some versions (like the emulators on Vizzed) black and white. A translated version of Green would later be found online but the translations, unlike for Red and the remade Blue, were extremely poor and the sprites can range in quality so that version is not generally recommended.Now, what of Red? Was Red a good game, or was it over-hyped and overrated in subsequent years of it's release? For the purposes of this documentation it will almost be perfectly applicable to Pokémon Blue so should one find Pokémon Blue available for sale and wondering whether or not to purchase, then read onwar... Read the rest of this Review |
Spyro Orange - The Cortex Conspiracy 12-08-11 07:19 PM |
Spyro Orange - The Cortex Conspiracy Spyro is one of the few franchises, if not the only one, that makes a small four legged dragon its protagonist. This alone would set the series out as typically dragons are portrayed as enemies to defeat, or wise free NPCs. Humans enjoys slaughtering dragons, so it would be odd for this species to take the roll of one. It is an interesting concept and this lead to the franchise's development. While Spyro isn't exactly a mainstream staple, it is well enough known to be past the cult classic status. Perhaps this is due to bad marketing, but it is also likely due to the sporadic quality of the games. Typically they are either classics worth every penny, or absolute unplayable pieces of rubbish. This is not usually because of convoluted game play (though this is a factor at times) but technical limitations of what the handheld or console can muster. Bad development usually starts with inaccurate expectations of what is available, and some of the hand held games are proof. Yet...Spyro Orange - The Cortex Conspiracy is on a hand held but not a true 3D hand held title as some of the weaker titles were. What does this mean for the game, and what is this game worth in the end? Visually, the closest comparison for this game is Donkey Kong Country for the Super Nintendo. The styles are almost identical: same type of contrasting, same generally bright images, same level variety transitioning. A player could take Donkey Kong and throw him right in this game and he wouldn't seem out of place. Ignoring the similar styles, the game is a functional, pretty game. Everything is, by large, clearly distinguishable and it is pleasant to look at. The only problem is that at times it can be difficult gauging whether or not Spyro will make a jump because of depth perception caused by some of the 2.D images. This can be a crippling flaw, but... Read the rest of this Review |
Sonic the Hedgehog 11-24-11 10:39 AM |
Sonic the Hedgehog The danger with any capitalist system is a true monopoly: if a single party has the monopoly in finances, then they are going to maintain said monopoly and what they says goes. The video game industry also flies like this: should a single company have the vast majority of the finances, support and resources, then they could do essentially whatever they want. Nintendo had a majority, technically, during the late 80's and early 90's, but they did have a major competitor on the console market: Sega. Sega had significant resources and some good games, but they just were not able to appeal to the masses with a central character, like Nintendo was doing with Mario. Then came Sonic. For the first time, Sega managed to give Nintendo a real punch in the gut, and Sonic the Hedgehog rocketed into the mainstream. The game that was meant to try and rival Mario put up a bitter fight until Sony finally knocked Sega's console market onto it's knees. Nonetheless, Sonic still appears in games to this very day which is testament to his legacy and the fight he put up against Mario and Zelda. Yet, about twenty years later, do the original Sonic the hedgehog game he debuted in hold up? A first impression makes a huge difference in preparing a flagship character and franchise, so this starts with how the game looks. Visually, the game is still very colorful to this day. A very bright character for a generally bright game. The visuals are 16 bit so they generally are superior to Mario's 8 bit counterpart (Though Sega also had a sonic game on the Master System). Even for 16 bit, they are fairly well done and it is clear that Sega put a lot of effort into making this an appealing game to look at. The areas are divided into a few possibly zones, and each major zone got a different theme to it. For an arcade game, the visuals are very good, with fairly fluid animation even for the console's st... Read the rest of this Review |
Hydlide 11-12-11 06:57 PM |
Hydlide The Legend of Zelda was a factor in kick-starting the concept of the roleplaying-adventure genre, mixing action and puzzle into one game. In a respect, is also helped start multi-genre games in general. However, a common misconception is that The Legend of Zelda was the first. It was actually very similar to a number of other games, with them having varying degrees of quality. Hydlide, originally on the MSX later ported to the Famicom and NES, is compared almost constantly to the Legend of Zelda. Hydlide is usually considered a cheap rip-off of TLoZ, and an abomination to the genre, but the MSX port is excusable as it was an early foray in uncharted territories. It could be forgiven as an experiment, but the Nintendo Entertainment System port, which came nearly five years later, must be held to the standards that were vaguely being put in place. On a visual level while the game isn't the worst in the world, it is well below par. The images are virtually identical to the MSX port, with no upgrades beyond some contrasting changes based on different hardware, which is a minor disappointment. The game makes no innovations with the visuals, and it comes off as plain at times. As well, it is difficult to distinguish what is what at times, which defeats the purpose of graphics in the first place. The single biggest issue is actually with the animations, particularly with the attacking. There is no animation for the sword, making it nearly impossible to tell who is attacking who, and considering this is one of those games that there is no room to die even once, it is a huge problem. When the indistinguishable enemies perish in combat, there is no animation indicating such either, but that is far from game crippling. The majority of the audio is a loop of what is essentially a rendition of the theme song from Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade." Using similar music is not a problem if done well, and used in a limited quantity...but literally t... Read the rest of this Review |
Pokemon Gold 10-30-11 10:36 AM |
Pokemon Gold The original Pokémon games for the Game Boy and Game Boy Color literally took the video game markets by storm, and have left a significant impression on he populace. As popular as the games were, and as much demand as there was for a continuation, a lot of the demand was to fix the plethora of issues that plagued the original game. Nintendo's answer to the various requests was the second generation: Pokémon Silver, and Pokémon Gold (later accompanied by Pokémon Crystal in the same way Pokémon Yellow did in the first generation). Now Pokémon Silver and Gold are nearly identical, with the only differences being very minor wild Pokémon placements and a few minor text differences. Thus, if someone has played Pokémon Silver, then they also played this game, so they can judge accordingly. However, if looking for additional information on Silver, then the following information is also applicable. Pokémon Crystal is generally recommended for second generation Pokémon, but if between Silver or Gold, then the differences are minuet. The first notable upgrade is on the visual level. Overall, they are more colorful than the original trilogy, and a lot of the textures are more detailed in general. Since it did come later, and the coding oriented around the Game Boy Color rather than the original Game Boy (though the coding is largely similar). It is very subjective whether or not the visuals are superior to the first generation, but they are more colorful, and more complete. One thing that has been lost from Pokémon Yellow was that all the towns got the same general hue now, whereas in yellow different areas had different lens colorization, which would have been an interesting option as now there is more of a sense of repetition than yellow. However, animations of attacks are more... Read the rest of this Review |
Yu-Gi-Oh! - The Eternal Duelist Soul 10-15-11 01:05 PM |
Yu-Gi-Oh! - The Eternal Duelist Soul Violence is within human nature, for humans have had the lust for power and inflicting violence upon those that are weaker. Even the great Roman rulers felt this for, among their infinite achievements, they built the Colosseum to witness the violent nature of humans (watching their "will to survive" by unleashing said nature) out of pleasure. Over time, the concept of civilization tempered this blood lust, and humans found alternative ways to vent and feel empowered. Oddly enough, the past time of card games would become a vague way to feel powerful by leading legions of armies, such as in Yu Gi Oh. Card games got a lot of potential for video game releases, as it is much more portable and affordable than collecting hundreds or thousands of cards. However, many card games made sloppy transitions and often die out quickly. For instance, the Pokémon Trading Card game saw one North American release, and its sequel being a Japanese port only. Both of these games, while decent ports, were still fairly sloppy and it shows. However, unlike the Pokémon Trading Card Game, Yu Gi Oh flooded the Game Boy Advance. As a result, it is difficult to sort through the good, the bad, and the ugly. How does this particular game compare to the plethora of other titles? This is a bit of a complicated game to newcomers, so before going on an explanation is required. This brief explanation will not go into most of the rules, as that would take too long. If one is already familiar with the card game, then they can skip ahead to the following paragraph.The basic premise of Yu-Gi-Oh is to build a deck of 40-60 cards to wage battle against other deck-wielding strategists and to try and beat them by lowering their life points to zero. The deck would consist of monster, magic and traps cards, and each turn the player would lay them onto the battlefield. A player can lay a maxim... Read the rest of this Review |
Raiders of the Lost Ark 10-08-11 12:36 PM |
Raiders of the Lost Ark High adrenaline action-adventures are not meant for all humans. While many humans do have a subconscious lust for the ecstasy of adventure, many are simply incapable of handling the tensions involved; there is a reason many humans stays "safely" at home. However, literature and later film has offered an interesting alternative to the status quo. It is through these mediums that our imagination is developed, and many humans has their quench satisfied. One of these film franchises would be the Indiana Jones quartet (though many still thinks of it as a trilogy). Indiana Jones, contrary to popular belief, is not a very original character. He was actually founded from old film serials that used to play at theaters before the feature presentation. Essentially, the Indiana Jones films were high-budget B-movies, if such a thing could exist. Yet, they were loved by the masses when each film came out (well the fourth one being an exception but is excusable considering the large time frame between the third and fourth film). It is somewhat ironic this would also prove to be one of the early movie based video games (along with the numerous sci-fi related movie-game renditions) that would help kick-start a tradition. Considering how sloppy a significant number of movie to game ports occurs, it is a little alarming to look back upon this game in the present day for the first time, but is it as bad as one may fear, or is it a gem in the library? Visually, the game looks nice but technical restraints causes some serious problems in trying to actually complete the game. A game's graphics should not be a top priority IF the visuals and animation does not hinder game play. Now this game's visuals are technical for the console, but the game was in many ways too ambitious for the technical limitations at the time. The problem lies in that it is nearly impossible to distinguish what the items are supposed to be. For example, one of... Read the rest of this Review |
Zelda II - The Adventure of Link 09-28-11 03:07 PM |
The Legend of Zelda II It is odd how despite being inevitable, change typically unnerves humans. Their instincts of being creatures if habits conflicts with the harsh cold truth of reality: things change. The seasons change, material possessions degrade, loved ones leaves...nothing is immune to the sands of time. In many ways, being an immortal is a far harsher fate than death, regardless of what someone believes happens when they die. Yet, despite being inevitable and omnipresent, humans hates change from the status quo when it is to their favor. There are countless examples in all forms of life, especially in various types of media. If a band should decide to try something new, they will often get hammered with criticism for "selling out." Should a novel or film series try changing direction, it is usually met with harsh criticism (unless the source material was immensely atrocious and the miraculous sequel was a diamond). Video games also do not escape this, though their receptions aren't as cold. One notable case of a different part of a franchise would be the Second Legend of Zelda Game. This is the only game in the series that is a true sequel to the first "Legend of Zelda" game, yet it differs immensely in game play style. A major criticism of this game is directed exactly of that: it is not the same as the other games in the series. This game, unlike the other Legend of Zelda titles (Those official Philip CDI Zelda games notwithstanding) is a side scroller adventure. It is not a 2d overhead game (except for the over-world map), nor a 3d third person, but a side scroller, and it receives a lot of flak for this. Immediately dismissing this game due to being different from other Zelda titles is rather asinine, especially as it was literally the SECOND game in the series. As it is the second game in the series, it was more than fair game for Nintendo to experiment with their game. With any discrimination against this g... Read the rest of this Review |
Pokemon TRE - Team Rocket Edition 09-10-11 01:34 PM |
Pokemon Team Rocket Edition "Absolute evil, like great genius, may well be well beyond rational explanation....Perhaps our fascination with evil is that it is often more mysterious than good is, and therefore more compelling." That was said by John G. Stoessinger, and it is by large true. Humans are naturally inclined towards being fascinated, floored, by that in which they are incapable of comprehending. Rationally speaking, some things are impossible to truly understand with the current levels of technology, but they're fascinated regardless. One of these things is evil, but that begs a question: why do video games, for the most part, play as the "good guys?" Bering in mind that good is largely based on someone's own philosophies, but the general format of a large number of games is that the player is supposed to destroy evil, whether it be a physical format like an evil wizard, or the demons inside of themselves, like in the Silent Hill series. Many of the games that do encourage, or even require, the player to play as a character who is bad to the bone is often criticized for "teaching the kids to kill." Perhaps that is the real reason: media criticism, but regardless...there is an emulated means to play as "the bad guys" in Pokémon TRE: Team Rocket Edition. Giovanni is a psychologically complicated character should the player try to analysis him, along with how Team Rocket is structured. In the first two generations of Pokémon games, team rocket is often portrayed as a very comically inept organization (for instance, how they uses primarily Pokémon the "two" gym leaders in Saffron could annihilate with ease.). However, now that the player is on their side, does that change anything? How much deeper can it get? The story line essentially revolves around Jesse and James (presumably) competing for who shall take Giovanni's place as head of team rocket. This is an interesting concept, especially as how Giovanni set... Read the rest of this Review |
Super Smash TV 09-10-11 12:02 PM |
Smash T.V One of the greatest flaws of humans is an inexplicable greed that can manifest itself into a simple ferocity that is almost beyond the concept of “humanity.” Indeed, greed can turn even the most sane human into savage monsters should the degree be great enough. Sometimes, greed will spread in a manner others will lose sight of humanity should an opportunity that can benefit themselves arise among the cacophony. A good example of this is the show “Survivor,” because the show essentially resolves a group of people who will go to the extremes for a cash prize, and the hosts can prosper immensely by showing these extremes. Regardless of entertainment value in watching these extremities of greed, it is still exactly that: greed, for both the players, and the hosts. It is very likely that this desire for more has fascinated the directors of “The Running Man” which may later proved to be the primary influence for Eugene Jarvis. Eugene Jarvis is the brains that were behind the arcade game “Robotron 2084” where The Terminator is reality: Judgement day comes, and machines wishes to replace humans with robots. It was an interesting game, released on numerous consoles over the years, but how could Mr. Jarvis keep the concept fresh? He repackaged the controls, and put the game play style in a blender with “The Running Man” which gives birth to “Smash T.V. Smash TV would be a friendly reminder to anyone who has played Robotron 2084. However, for players who have yet to experience that game, the basic premise is to eliminate all the enemies to advance to the boss, and win grand prizes like big cash and well made toasters. This particular documentation will focus primarily on the SNES port, but will also refer to its Sega 16 bit counterpart as both versions were technically rivals. ... Read the rest of this Review |
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - Red Rescue Team 09-02-11 09:14 PM |
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon - Red Rescue Team. Psychology is a difficult field to master due to how different every human's mind can be, yet there is one irrefutable similarity between most if not all humans: they are creatures of habit. Once a human adapts to a certain environment they are comfortable with, they will stick with it as long as it is adequate. This is largely why franchises are so successful: the person, if they liked what they have seen before, they will likely stick with it unless there is a strong reason to leave it (like a sudden decrease in quality, an unwanted change in direction etc.). Pokémon is no different. Perhaps that is a huge reason why Pokémon has succeeded; the main games are largely unchanged in their core formula. However, Nintendo have also created a plethora of spin-off games from the main franchise for their consoles, while keeping the main games exclusive to hand held format. For the most part, this remained exactly as such, but one of these spin-off series did find its way onto a handheld: The Mystery Dungeon spin series. However, only one game found its way onto a handheld older than the DS: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon - Red Rescue Team. The basic premise of Red Rescue Team is that the protagonist has turned into a Pokémon, but they do not know how that has happened. It is something you would see hauled straight out of an Alfred Hitchcock story, and it makes a good transition to a Pokémon game. To complicate matters for the protagonist, it turns out that there is a plethora of natural calamities going on around the time the protagonist appears, causing many Pokémon to get trapped in dungeons, and many more to go wild. Thus, at the encouragement of a Pokémon (of your selection) that finds the player, they create a team to go rescue Pokémon. The player would then proceed through a dungeon that is tra... Read the rest of this Review |
Mario Jump 08-13-11 08:31 PM |
Mario Jump Rom Limitations can be considered simple challenges to those with great minds: indeed, anyone who sees something limiting would wish to prove it wrong, and overcome it. Perhaps that is a direct effect of the human nature of desiring more, but regardless this will push people to make new and greater things with what is accessible, if not spawning the concept of innovation. Innovation is also what advances humanity (or pushes it back) so it is an immense irony that limitations are the key to advancement. Nintendo is often considered to have seen the limitations of previous consoles, and to have pushed the industry into creating new concepts. To a degree, these people are correct, and at the forefront of this movement was the Super Mario Brothers. This game is often considered the industry standard for platformers, but it still has limitations (like you can't properly run and shoot fire flowers at the same time). Now, with the relative access to this game now, people look at its limitations and pushes the game forward in as many ways possible, and one of the results was Mario Jump. Mario Jump is odd in that almost nothing is changed from the original, while adding some innovation. Mario jump's audio and video is, in most if not all manners, identical to the 1985 NES game. The logic of "if it isn't broken, don't fix it" likely applies, but there was a single sprite change: Mario. Mario's original color scheme was a primarily red tone, but this hack changes it to a dark blue/light blue configuration. The audio harbors no changes that are noticeable, but again don't fix what isn't broken. If the player liked the original audio and graphics/animations, then they should find these suitable. The level changes some minor aspects, such as altering certain squares, removing/adding a few blocks, but this is hardly noticeable. The story-line is exactly the same as the original: the Princess has been captured, and the player got... Read the rest of this Review |
Pokemon Yellow 08-12-11 08:53 AM |
Pokemon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition To say life can be overwhelming on mere mortals is a considerable understatement. Indeed, life can be flat out cruel, in the eyes of humans, as the bad has to be taken with the good. What constitutes as “bad” or “good” depends entirely on a human's concept of what is owed to them/their desires, and what they really may get. It is rather interesting how some humans copes with the immense differences between their desires and what becomes reality; some may resort to “being the man who arranges the blocks” as Tetris personifies, and some relies on escapism. Escapism is the core of all human creativity and innovation; it is only through closing the doors to the outside world can another world be opened up to the mind's eye. It is when a human enters this world that great ideas are spawned, and these ideas often returns with the human when they re-enters the “real world.” Escapism is all forms of expression, whether it is music, art, literature and even video games. A good example of fantasies being made reality is Pokémon. Pokémon have been around for over 15 years, and still going fairly strong. The basic premise is that these creatures/companions inhabit the world with humans, and humans built their entire lives around these Pokémon, whether it be for battling, breeding or simple company. The Pokémon franchise covers all forms of medias, but ultimately it began as two role playing games: Pokémon Red, and Pokémon Green (Blue outside of Japan). Needless to say these were quite successful, and the success prompted numerous forms of expansion, including the third game in the first generation: Pokémon Yellow. Yet how does this game differ from its predecessors, and is it worth the time of day to play? Pokémon Yellow,... Read the rest of this Review |
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker 08-02-11 08:15 PM |
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker It is curious how an opinion of something or someone can change over time. A terrible war that would have been considered glorious at the time may slowly grow more putrid over time to the thoughts of the living, like the First World War. As well, a political leader that may have been considered brutal might be regarded, in hindsight, as a benevolent leader, not a tyrant. A notable example of a controversial figure in history was Captain William Bligh of the HMS “Bounty” as even in modern times it is difficult to assess how fair or brutal he was. Records that have been collected from various ships shown that he was a relatively noble captain, and one unwilling to raise the whip unless necessary compared to other captains, but said records would have been impossible to assess in his time. Even then, it is difficult to tell for sure as there is no guarantee his documentations are accurate. Back in the 1980's Michael Jackson was truly the king of pop, for he never suffered from a lot of the ridicule he does now over various controversies that are instantly condemned. Indeed, it is difficult to discuss him or his music for long without bringing up a physical characteristic, or one of the controversies that surrounds him nowadays, but it is curious to think of how things were back in the 1980's, when he was the bomb. Like him or hate him, the fact of the matter is he boasts the most sold record of all time, Thriller. It was relatively rare to play AS a celebrity at the time, so it is understandable how Michael Jackson's Moonwalker attracted gamers over to Sega's consoles. Michael Jackson's Moonwalker is most commonly remembered on the Sega Genesis or in the arcade, but there was a version for the Master System as well. Obviously the master system version will be inferior to the Genesis version on a... Read the rest of this Review |
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial 07-29-11 06:13 PM |
E.T- The Extra Terrestrial There is a concept of remembrance when one should regard a past event for the individuals involved. History involves all aspects of what has happened, yet most historian's interests are limited to what concerns humanity directly. Historians are also infamous in labelling certain events or individuals with specific titles, and these titles can transcend into a plethora of philosophic mental engagements in trying to determine what each title actually means. One of these titles is a legend, which will be the primary focus. What is classified as legendary is somewhat murky, but it is a term that is easy to use carelessly, as the term partially entitles something humans do not fully understand. Something that is legendary is often considered something that is beyond comprehension in magnitude, blurring the lines between truth and myth. Legends can transcend into all forms of history, including video game history. Perhaps the most legendary of all Video game stories has to be the story surrounding one of the game soften blamed for the video game crash of 1983/1984: E.T the Extra Terrestrial for the Atari2600. In many ways, E.T has a famous story behind it for anyone who looks beyond the sixth and seventh generations of gaming. The basic premise is that Atari made a deal with Steven Spielberg, the director of the film E.T, to release an E.T video game, but the contract specified that the game was to be released by the Holiday season, giving the developers only six weeks to work (when the average Atari game took around three to four months with the technology at the time) and the game was to have five million cartridges released initially (compared to a normal three hundred thousand). The results were predictable, but what happened next is actually a lot murkier than some sources would state, with rumou... Read the rest of this Review |
ACDC Pinball 07-24-11 04:19 PM |
AC/DC Pinball The meaning of life is a very profound discussion topic, and has baffled humans ever since they were capable of conscious thought beyond "i'm hungry." Indeed, some says humans are alive for peace, love, freedom or truth, while others says they're constructs of a feeble human intellect (aka Agent Smith). Indeed, the meaning of life is extremely subjective, and for some it will take the form of music."Without music, life would be a mistake" was stated by Friedrich Nietzsche, and for a lot of people this is relevant. What music is a person's life depends entirely on their experiences, but some people let loose their raw energy when AC/DC has struck their chords. Let there be absolutely no doubt about AC/DC's influence on the rock, blues-rock, hard rock, and metal genres, whether one would like or hate them. One of their biggest advantages was how they would turn something simple into a hard rocking melody, and simplicity is the key. They do not try to be any more then they are, and they're hard blues rock n roll musicians. It would seem fitting that there would be an AC/DC Pinball game, as both incorporates simplicity to get maximum results, and push things into Maximum Overdrive. Just because AC/DC is emblazoned down the centre on the pinball table does not mean that it is special, game-play wise. This is a relatively obscure game on the Vizzed Game Room, and is a more recent addition due to it being run for the Commodore 64, which adds a certain interest factor to it. As far as comparing to other Pinball games on an 8-bit system, it is what you would expect, but broken in several regards. Since this particular emulation is for a Commodore 64 game, the controls on a modern keyboard are extremely awkward to those unaccustomed to Commodore emulators and/or using laptop keyboards, particularly&nb... Read the rest of this Review |
Mario & Luigi - Superstar Saga 07-23-11 05:21 PM |
Mario & Luigi - Superstar Saga Art is a highly diverse and imaginative realm of human interactions with its surroundings. Art can be seen as a median in which the the mind and body of one could let itself loose and get lost in philosophic engagements, or simply relax. There are many forms of art such as, but not limited to, image creation (painting, charcoal, etc), sculpting, auditory art-forms, theater, and dance. However, one art form that gets neglected is the art of comedy. Comedy is an unusual art-form because what may be funny may not necessarily be within the art of comedy. Specifically, crude humour is rather debatable as whether or not it is a form of art, or just crude. There is a very fine line that has to be embraced, as well, defining what is either childish, or what is genuinely comical. Nintendo regarded this debate, and answered with its mascot at the forefront representative. The Mario Brothers are doubtlessly Nintendo's flagship mascots, and one of the most successful franchises ever in video game history. Mario is often associated with the archetype "rescue the princess" scenario, and Nintendo attempts to keep this concept fresh with the passing years (whether they were successful or the adverse is heavily based upon the player's opinion). With the Game Boy Advance, one of the games that would visit store shelves would have been a Mario RPG strategy game: Mario & Luigi - Superstar Saga. This Saga comes with the main game, and a bonus feature of having a graphical upgrade of the original Mario Brothers arcade game, which is quite functional. There is little to say about this bonus game, however, so how is the main attraction of this cartridge/emulation? This is by no means the standard side-scrolling platformer where you stomp Goombas, although crushing these mushrooms are a part of the game. T... Read the rest of this Review |
D-Pad Hero 2 07-19-11 06:36 PM |
D-Pad Hero 2 Rarely is something truly whole in a single piece. Do humanity not require to halves to continue, and do most organisms beyond simple micro organisms. Humans in particular have an interesting craving for companionship, regardless of what some may state (such as Agent Smith calling love insipid). Sometimes, it is necessary to create something in two parts to cover the full extent of the subject at hand. For instance, films are often split in two parts in order to cover all the necessary grounds. Reviews works in a similar manner, as a series of games will require multiple documents nine times out of ten. The D-Pad Hero series, as brief as it is, does as well. D-Pad Hero was an interesting game, and the previous review referenced the desire for more built around that concept. There is a sequel available on Vizzed through the same emulators, but how does it fare to the original? In some respects it is improved, but in others it has sunk into a chasm it can not escape from. Both visually, and audio-wise, there is little to comment on that hasn't been said before. The visuals are simple, but largely functional, and if compared to the original's graphics, then some aspects have been made more complicated. The audio is, like the original D-Pad Hero, a MIDI instrumental version of the original song. For what it is worth, it is tolerable for the purposes of playing, but whether or not it is music to one's ears or sheer torture is entirely subjective. The menu song is the same way, but it is legitimately lower quality than the MIDI files for the rest of the songs should one consider music theory. One major improvement is the addition of a difficulty setting which should allow more flexibility to players just getting started, but still allow for a challenge. The song selection have been altered as well, with mixed results. The song list has been doubled to eight playable tracks, which is an improvement&n... Read the rest of this Review |
D-Pad Hero 07-16-11 04:01 PM |
D-Pad Hero The seasons fulfil the circle of life with adequacy: In spring the leaves on the trees grows and prospers and continue through the summer. Yet, when fall comes, they roll over and die, and after the blistering winter, new leaves grows and the cycle continues. This is the way of a franchise, in some respects, as well: to grow and prosper, but death being inevitable. However, rarely does spring start with a brown leaf and grow green letting the winter bury the chlorophyll saturated leaves. In this respect, it is different than a franchise, specifically video games, since many grows more complicated over time and more saturated with content with time. In a weird way, a leaf's life can be compared and contrasted to a video game series. One series that grew and died like a leaf was the Guitar Hero series. However, like a tree, seeds have been strewn across the world and slowly trees are growing, but not all of these seeds are creating bigger and greater trees. Due to different forms of soil, different breeds are being grown, and one of these is of the NES subspecies: D-Pad Hero. D-Pad Hero is, in the simplest rawest form, a rhythm game for the NES. You would press either the A or B button in time with the incoming buttons, and sometimes the arrow keys with the correct button on one of four songs available for playing. There is no difficulty settings, but there is technically no way to fail either during the song. This eliminates a lot of the risk that comes in playing some other games, but it allows the player to practice the whole song, and strive for higher scores without the frustration of repeated failure. While that is great in that it enables the player to truly be desiring more, there should be an option to fail during the songs available right away. Visually, the game is competent. While it is far from fancy, it gets the job done which is the top priority. The buttons wi... Read the rest of this Review |
Doom 07-13-11 08:21 PM |
Doom What is the fine line that divides classic from something that has aged poorly? This is something that collectors must be meticulous in evaluating, for it can make the difference between something being worthless, and something that is the quintessential lottery. These people are under a lot of scrutiny, and must make a decision based on the most accurate information available rather than letting their opinions sway them into making an incorrect decision. Video game consoles and their associated components also fall into this dangerous line of either being old, classic, or simply terrible. For example, the Atari2600 is often considered a classic, but some consoles are not remembered so fondly (a perfect example being most of Atari's subsequent work). A perfect example of a console that is remembered with almost universally disdain is the 32X. The 32X was the second, and final, add-on for the Sega Genesis, and had a relatively small library of games (around 40 North American releases) of varying degrees of quality. However, one of the most noteworthy games is the 32X's port of Doom. Doom is an unusual first-person shooter in that it took numerous console ports to get the game right, but in the modern era a perfect port with multiplayer could theoretically be on a mobile phone, if it isn't already. The original PC version was, in many ways, and one of the most technically sound of the early versions. The one well known port, the SNES port, has an excellent soundtrack but the most unresponsive controls and game play along with poor visuals. The Atari Jaguar port had the most responsive controls and best visuals, but lacked any music whatsoever due to a CEO's reluctance to pay money for licensing. The single best port of these early attempts could have been achieved by using the Atari Jaguar's fluid game play and visuals with the 3DO's soundtrack. Yet, how does the 32X port fare? Doom, for a quick summary, is a game t... Read the rest of this Review |
PokeMon Trading Card Game 2 (en) 07-09-11 06:16 PM |
Pokemon Trading Card Game 2 Expansion is a common human desire. Typically, humans will desire more and more than what is given to them, with few exceptions. It is through this desire for more that technology should advance, society moves forward (and backwards at times due to over-advancement) and sequels be made. The quality of these newer versions are often heavily scrutinized if the predecessor has set any standards (for instance, GhostBusters 2 received a bad reputation for not being as good as the original, which was a hard task to begin with). Sometimes, however, the criticism is legitimate and the second truly do fail. What is considered a flop and a success based purely on its predecessor is very difficult to answer accurately as it is a very narrow margin to work with, especially if a series is a high grade to begin with. Ghostbusters 2 is considered a failure by some due to it being inferior to its predecessor, despite still maintaining a high grade. On the contrary, when a film or game appears superior to a predecessor, it may become overrated and/or raise expectations to unreasonable levels to future games/movies. There are fine lines between a passable sequel, an exceptional sequel (in perception) and an unforgivable atrocious sequel (in perception). Previously, a review of the first Pokémon Trading Game was posted in these forums, and it largely gave a lukewarm evaluation. However, how does the original fare against a newer counterpart? Specifically, how does it compete against said counterpart when the version being played is a home brew English translation of the original Japanese version? Visually the game is almost identical, but a gender option has been enabled for the player, which is a simple, but good, addition. As well, the coin has been changed from a yellow-gold Pikachu to a larger, silver Chansey coin. Otherwise, the visuals are largely the same, not a lot to say. The areas are si... Read the rest of this Review |
| Redrunelord's Last Game screenshots (1 total) |
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(Unl).gif "Tetris (tengen) -")
| Redrunelord's Game History |
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| Game Boy Advance Games Redrunelord owns (22) |
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| Super Nintendo Games Redrunelord owns (18) |
.jpg "Mario Paint (Joystick)")
| Nintendo 64 Games Redrunelord owns (10) |
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| Nintendo NES Games Redrunelord owns (37) |
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.jpg "Ms. Pac-Man (Namco) - nes")
.jpg "Tetris (tengen) - nes")
.jpg "Pac-Man (Tengen) - nes")
.jpg "Super Mario Frustration (forever) - nes")
.jpg "Tetris (nintendo) - nes")
| Game Boy Color Games Redrunelord owns (15) |
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.jpg "Pokemon Crystal All (hack) - gbc")
.jpg "Pokemon Cute (yellow hack) - gbc")
.jpg "Oak Vs Gio (pokemon yellow hack) - gbc")
.jpg "Pokemon Tanero (yellow hack) - gbc")
.jpg "PokeMon Trading Card Game 2 (en) - gbc")
| Sega Genesis Games Redrunelord owns (18) |
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| Game Boy Games Redrunelord owns (6) |
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.jpg "Bokemob (pokemon blue hack) - gb")
.jpg "Pokemon Girl (red hack) - gb")
| Commodore 64 Games Redrunelord owns (3) |
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| Atari 2600 Games Redrunelord owns (26) |
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| Sega Master System Games Redrunelord owns (3) |
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| Apple II Games Redrunelord owns (4) |
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| Sega Game Gear Games Redrunelord owns (1) |
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| Turbo Grafx Games Redrunelord owns (1) |
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| Sega 32X Games Redrunelord owns (3) |
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