Gaming off the Beaten Path

This week, we are going to talk about a franchise that is near and dear to my heart: G.I. Joe. You could debate whether G.I. Joe is really “kid friendly” for days, but the iteration this game is based on would certainly qualify.  It had quite a bit of shooting for a kids show, yet no one ever actually got shot.  You would think the Joe’s and their nemeses Cobra would be more accurate, considering their status as an elite military unit and infamous terrorist group respectively.  I’m not sure parents nowadays would have been ok with their kids watching something that violent, but for me it was required viewing every Saturday morning. “The Atlantis Factor” was one of the first games I ever added to my collection.  I don’t remember where exactly it came from, but I was certainly glad to have it.  This is actually the second G.I. Joe on NES, but it was the only one I knew at the time.  To this day, I have still never played any of t...

So I have decided to do something a little different with some of these posts.  After my son was born a few weeks ago, I decided to pull out a bunch of games I had based on “kid friendly” IPs.  I am still going to review these games, but I will also add some commentary on whether the youngins could actually play or enjoy them. And we will get started with one my very first games, Mickey Mouscapade.  This game came with my NES, a hand me down from my cousin, way back in the early 90’s.  I don’t have too many of those games anymore, for better or for worse, but this one has sat in my collection since day 1.  It seemed like a good place to start with kid friendly stuff.     Full disclosure, I loved Disney when I was like, four, but I’m not one of those people that is Disney obsessed as an adult.  Now that I have kids, I may one day make a trip to the overcrowded, overpriced hellscape happiest place on earth that is...

Sorry for no post last week, but I was a little busy... I rag on modern gaming a lot, but it definitely has its positive aspects.  One of the biggest is instant access to low cost or free games via subscription services like PlayStation Plus or Games with Gold.  It’s almost to the point where I have too many games in my collection.  Not all the free games are great, but some certainly stand out.  Especially when those games are updated versions of classics like Sonic Mania. I don’t think Sonic the Hedgehog needs any introduction.  He’s Sega’s mascot and anyone who was a kid in the 90s has at least some familiarity with the blue blur.  His games from that era were classics and even his early 3D offerings were great playthroughs.  But that was 30 years ago and unlike his turtle stomping rival, Sonic has had quite a few missteps.  It’s not that every Mario game has been classic, but even at his worst, I don’t know if he ever ...