Bloodcat

It is June and thus it is time for another Master System review: Ys is up! http://masterratings.blogspot.com/2015/06/game-seventeen-ys-vanished-omens-198788.html I meant for this to be a quick one but well.. I kind of got carried away because I really like Ys.

http://masterratings.blogspot.com/2015/05/game-sixteen-montezumas-revenge-19831989.html Is it time for another review? I do say that it is! And its a review of a game whose original version was created on the mighty Atari 8 bit computer family!

Id rather have one that at least allows for 2 button SMS/Genesis to be used, if not somehow utilizing all 8 buttons of the full bore final Genesis controllers. (Start, Mode, and the 6 action buttons.) But even just a single button Atari would help. It just wouldn't be IDEAL....

Gee I am only reviewing all the US titles on my blog that I have a link to in my thread about it. But for my tops? Mickey Mouse and the Castle of Illusion Phantasy Star Ultima 4 Protip: Genesis model 1 with a power base convertor and a Commodore monitor. Use the DIN composite output and have nice times. (And Rescue Mission can be played if you turn either the brightness or contrast up. Eventually I do want a PVM but money and whatnot..)

Oh I would love an Atari 800/Jaguar/Lynx Flashback. Love it so much. Also Flashbacks with HDMI would be ducky. And DB9s that could work with 3rd party controllers because ye Ol Dirty Bastard I dislike the classic 3's default sticks so much. Honestly the Genesis control pad was the first GOOD pack in controller IMHO. Before then was misery and suffering mostly. Yes even the NES and SMS pads weren't exactly good. Ok at best. PC Engine slightly better. I basically used the NES Advantage on my NES almost exclusively and my go to controller on my PC is a 3 button Genesis Arcade Stick with a RetroUSB dongle which most games support happily except for Shantae Risky's Revenge and Double Dragon Trilogy...

Luckily the only system I am trying to collect a full set for is the US Master System and I am totally willing to get foreign carts if I have to. I already did it for Buster Douglas Boxing. 150+ for a loose cart? Or 15-20 bucks boxed and complete Heavyweight Champ from the UK to the US? It'll do pig. It'll do.

I refuse to pay loonie bin prices for any game no matter how good or how rare. Honestly 50 bucks shipped is my maximum for ANY game new or old, and ideally for that price it has to be complete! I have so many games and so many interests and projects I don't need to spend fat stacks on stuff that is honestly kind of silly to do so. All of my rarer or sought after titles were basically bought new and generally on clearance in the first place. Hell, I spent a good year plus ebay searching for A800 Bounty Bob Strikes Back till I got it at a price I was willing to pay. If you pay the collector's prices you are part of the problem IMHO. Its your money of course but you start paying for boxed Earthbounds and Chuckwagons and Super Spike Volleyballs and well? YOU ARE BAD AND SHOULD FEEL BAD. Because there is so much more you could be doing with your money. But again its your money and your right to do so. Just don't expect most people to kiss your keister over it. Loudmouthed overopinionated jerks like me might even mock you and question why you didn't do something useful with the money or give to charity or take a vacation or something GOOD as opposed to buying a generally mass produced consumer product primarily aimed at children and teenagers.

I don't understand it either Torr. I am not a big game music guy but sometimes the FM music is really nice. Also I should have another SMS review up this week but I have been super busy and Aztec Adventure hasn't been thrilling me at all. Its not bad enough to rage about but not good enough to have anything to talk about. its just not a game to write home about, and moves slow enough that I don't really feel like spending time to get further along so I can consider it properly reviewed. (I try to give every game at least an hour, though ideally 2-3 hours.) Hell, I got a complete loose Atari 8 bit computer Mig Alley Ace with manual for 5 dollars shipped and I haven't even had time to do more than look at it. Tried to go out and run my errands early today but I still was out and about for 7 bloody hours. :/

I look forward to hearing about this! And it sounds like a hella cool podcast segement on CV or IV... (Maybe it makes me a bad retrogamer but I just don't like the controllers of either system much. My Genesis stick however? THAT'S MY JAM. Only wish the 6 button model was a lot cheaper than it is. And that some emulators or games on Windows 7 didn't act like a wanker about the thing with a RetroUSB dongle. Like Shantae Risky's Revenge and Double Dragon Trilogy for example..)

Geez I don't even own a CV (only a Flashback!) and I kind of want these. If you make a Flashback version I would buy the HELL out of it. 3 Button Genesis Arcade stick on the Flashback? THAT'S MY JAM. (Even moreso if somehow there were options to default extra Genesis buttons to various things on the CV keypad but that is probably getting into Silly Dreams Land there..)

http://masterratings.blogspot.com/2015/04/game-fourteen-heavyweight-champ-1991.html It has been another two weeks and now we have moved on to another boxing game. Is this one better? Man I hope so because hoo boy was Rocky a terrible awful and no good game of buttastic lameness.

Curse you forum post program setup thingie!!! See me next post, yes.

http://masterratings.blogspot.com/2015/04/game-thirteen-rocky-1987.html Its been two weeks and I have to waste valuable time reviewing this terrible, terrible game. I hates it forever like Bagginses. And with my Warhammer 40K shenanigans going on right now I haven't had any real time for Atari 8 bit games. Good games. Games like Rocky are prime examples of why being a completist is a thing only the stupid, wealthy, or insane should do. IT IS ME, I AM THE APRIL FOOL.

Another game is reviewed! This time the legendary CHOPLIFTER. Sadly I forgot to try it out with the Epyx 500xj but eh most people won't have that controller anyhow, right? http://masterratings.blogspot.com/2015/03/game-twelve-choplifter-1986.html Plus my main blog (wargamedork.blogspot.com ) is about to have a tribute to 2nd edition Warhammer 40K so I gots some other creativeish things to do tonight besides giving myself hand cramps with that thing. (Its so precise but I just give it this damned DEATH GRIP that makes my hand sore very quick.)

This is quite possibly the greatest news since.. well news is usually pretty butt so this is in fact the best news.

http://masterratings.blogspot.com/2015/03/game-eleven-alien-syndrome-198788.html another SMS review up and done! This time ALIEN SYNDROME. It aint half bad! It aint half GOOD but.. a big improvement over the last two arcade ports. This one at least has some fun value to it.

I cannot honestly agree with that statement. Sonic was what the Genesis needed to matter with non hardcore gamers. Sonic and Mortal Kombat's gore are what gave the Genesis a leg to stand on against the generally superior SNES. The problem mostly lies in Sega of Japan being near 1982-on Atari level of incompetent if not outright HOSTILE to their customer base. Sega has always cared more about Japan in spite of their homeland basically not giving a rat's patootie about any of their home systems except for the Saturn. (Mostly due to Virtua Fighter being HUGE at the time.) Things like the 32x, and the allowance of so many awful FMV games on a system that simply was completely unsuited for those games and the outright DISASTER of the US Saturn launch are what did them in. (Yes I loathe FMV titles as I said. But if you are going to do them you need more than 64 colors I think! Time Gal is the only one that came out looking halfway ok as they basically seemed to have traced over the original animation almost like rotoscoping. Except in this case a laserdisk cartoon. So it ends up looking much better than it probably would have otherwise.)

I think Imagine Publishing has a few of these MOSTLY IMAGE BASED book/bookazines as does the Hiive Books guy. I just don't see as much of a point in them other than coffee table. I am cool with different opinions. Plenty of the Ultima community love Ultima 7. I think it kind of sucks outside of a technical achievement. (Barely there real time combat, annoying inventory system, NPC party members who whine for food every minute.) I enjoy reading why folks like or dislike a thing. But I try not to let reviews or opinions cloud my own though like everyone they sometimes do. (I do worry sometimes mine are set out of spite or some contrarian streak in me though.)

To be fair not everyone likes every game no matter how beloved they are. I mean in this era retro community Dragon's Lair is beloved. I think its complete GARBAGE. An utter nongame. FMV/Quicktime Event games are an insult to actual GAMES IMHO. In the 16 bit era Sonic is worshipped and even at the time I found them mediocre at best. Adventure games of the classical Sierra/Infocom/or Japanese "Visual Novel" style (think Snatcher) I almost universally despise for being nongames that basically drag you along for a story you have no agency or control over. And its blatantly obvious you have no freedom and it might as well just be a book or movie and quit pretending otherwise. Final Fantasy 7 is practically SACRED to 20-30 somethings and I find it ok-decent at best, most of its so called shattering story beats done better nearly 10 years before in Phantasy Star 2. Lots of people adore the GTA series but I found 3 to have mediocre game mechanics outside of the fun of goofing off for an hour or three. And then you get into the contents and what you actually have to do to complete the game and it rubs me the wrong way in an ethical and moral sense. I won't even play RTS games any more outside of the old classics because I don't find them strategic, merely action games with bad AI and interface control. Everyone likes and hates different games. AS IT SHOULD BE. The problem in the gaming space nowadays is everyone wants groupthink. Reviewers get DEATH THREATS for giving a beloved franchise installment an 8 instead of 9-10! (See Nintendo fans and their overhyped and UNDESERVED worship of that company's franchise titles. Very rarely does Nintendo make a bad game but very rarely are they games I actually LIKE.) Nuance? Personal preferences? Gamers want NOT of these things. And it sucks. I have plenty games I adore but I can see issues with them or why others might not. Most people don't think like this as consumer products are religion and identity.

I've found that its actually EASIER to take a ton of shots with some commentary and then use the text to support it. And a 3 level review system lets me be fairer to a game than some number or star scale. A game might not be very good but not really bad either. Just.. eh. So it should be given an OK and I should say why. Not that most people read any more if they ever really DID mind you but..

http://masterratings.blogspot.com/2015/02/game-ten-after-burner-1987.html Another review up! Next time its Alien Syndrome! I'm getting some screencaps now which is good since I have a couple other versions to show off too. Ones with A DAMNED LEVEL MAP ON THEM.

Another Master System review done. This time the disappointing and unfun Thunder Blade: http://masterratings.blogspot.com/2015/02/game-nine-thunder-blade-1988.html I made it in time but man was this game a slog.

http://masterratings.blogspot.com/2015/01/game-eight-shooting-gallery-1987.html Next review is Thunder Blade but given the weather in my area and it kicking my keister it might get delayed a week.

http://wargamedork.blogspot.com/2015/01/retrocomputing-why-bother-quickie.html Its easier to link my post about my recent book and game pickup than cut and paste URL links. Great book cover.. or GREATEST book cover?

I will eventually explain how I am reviewing things once I get around to it. But the short is I give a game around an hour or so. Some get lots more time some get a bit less. Thankfully a lot of the early SMS library aren't really large games at all. And honestly nobody needs to completely play through a game to know if they enjoy it or not. Ideally yes go for full complete especially nowadays with Save States but.. I play a lot of games and am working on various other projects and things. Trying to perfect Enduro Racer to see a silly end screen is not on my menu! Plus eventually I have a couple other blog projects to create or get back to. http://blogovania.blogspot.com/2010/11/games-castlevania-1-level-1.html like this one where my goal is to play through every 2D Castlevania. Sadly CV Legends, Vampire Killer (MSX), and Haunted Castle (Arcade/PS2) go for about 2-3 TIMES what I am willing to pay so its on a bit of a hiatus. I also want to LP/Review every Aliens/Predator franchise game and every Batman game. And possibly Macross/Robotech and Transformers. But that's long term thoughts and you know, getting the full collection as much as I might be able to. So count this as more doing a bit more in depth play than say Videogame Critic, Polaventris, or Steve Benway but not maybe to the level of Pix' Origin Adventures in most of the SMS games.