Gaming off the Beaten Path

  Yippee Ki-Yay, it's time to talk about everyone's favorite Christmas movie. Look, I don't actually have any specific thoughts on whether or not Die Hard is a Christmas movie, I guess I could see it either way. At the end of the day, it's just a matter of opinion. What's not a matter of opinion is just how big a deal Die Hard was when it came out in 1988. We all know the story; John McClain attempts to reconnect with his estranged wife by attending her company Christmas party at Nakatomi Inc. All is going according to plan when the building is attacked by a band of terrorists led by Hans Gruber. The villains are trying to get access to the vault on the 30th floor and will stop a nothing to get it.  Based on the 1979 Novel "Nothing Lasts Forever" by Roderick Thorpe, expectations were low for the film. Studio execs were unsure what to think of Bruce Willis, who was more known as a television actor at the time, as a leading man in an action movie. Several bi...

  Hey, he said he'd be back. We are forging ahead with our licensed 80's movie games, but there's no way we were moving past Arnold Schwarzennegger without covering Terminator. This is the first time we are going to be covering the franchise, but it's most certainly not going to be the last. For one, there are tons of Terminator games out there across a variety of consoles and generations. But for all I talk about how much I dislike movies, Terminator and Terminator 2 are among the rare examples of films that I can watch over and over again. The second movie is particularly excellent, still one of my all time favorites to this day. I think most people are familiar with the plot by now. The year is 2029, and humanity is on its last legs, fighting off a horde of sentient machines led by a rogue AI, Chat G...err, uh, Skynet. Skynet decides the best way to finally end humanity is to send a highly advanced Terminator, the T-1000, back in time to kill resistance leader John C...

I am having too much fun with these 80's action movie games, so let's keep going with those. We're leaving Stallone and the jungles of Vietnam behind, but we're going to keep the bullets flying with Schwarzenegger in the jungles of South America. Originally panned by most critics upon release, Predator has become a big-time sci-fi cult classic. The film tells the story of Alan "Dutch" Schaefer and his squad, sent on a CIA mission to rescue hostages from an unspecified South American nation. They defeat the guerillas, only to encounter something far worse: an invisible alien creature called the Predator, hell bent on taking them out one by one. This was Arnold Schwarzenegger at his cheesy 80's best, supported by Carl Weathers, Jesse "The Body" Ventura and a pretty solid cast. I wonder how many other movies starred two future governors?  The film became known for its gratuitous violence and gore, not to mention the iconic Arnold one liners. The Pre...

  Uuhhhhh....huh huh huh. Huh huh huh. Huh huh huh. Heh. Eh Heh Heh heh. Heh Heh.. Ummmm, so, like, this time we're going to be talking about the Beavis and Butt-Head game for Super Nintendo or something. I don't know if it's going to be good, but like... it looks pretty cool. Yeah! heh heh. This game is going to rule! There's going to be tons of action! And Music Videos! And FIRE! Uuuhhhh, yeah. Sounds pretty cool. But what if it like, sucks? Like it's just a bunch of Bon Jovi videos or something? Beavis and Butt-Head in a video game? I'm there dude! In all seriousness, I figured I would give Beavis and Butt-Head on the SNES a shot now that the not-so-dynamic duo is back. I have yet to see the new show or movie, but they have received what I feel is a surprising amount of critical acclaim. Remember, Beavis and Butt-Head was the show that represented the oncoming downfall of society, the animated effigies of disinterested, braindead youth into which video games ...

It's time for A-ni-ma-iacs! Sorry, I had to. I was really, seriously thinking about doing this review to the tune of the Animaniacs theme song, but I'm not creative enough to do that. So instead, you get another run-of-the-mill review of yet another platformer, this time for the SNES. Anyone that grew up in the 90's will have some level of familiarity with Animaniacs, an animated children's show that ran in some iteration from 1993-1998. Created and distributed by Warner Bros., the show followed the exploits of the Warner siblings, Yakko, Wakko and Dot, three... somethings? whats-its? Look, I don't know what the Warners are supposed to be, but they live in the WB water tower and get into all sorts of goofy situations and ridiculous trouble. While the trio are the primary focus of the show, it also featured other whacky characters like Ralph the Security Guard, Dr. Scratchansniff, Chicken Boo and the Goodfeathers. Perhaps none of the secondary characters are more ico...

  Yes, that's the full title of the game. It might be the most ridiculous game title I've ever heard in my life. I mean, I guess it does make sense: this game is the official licensed game of the King Kong film from the early 'aughts directed by Peter Jackson. But it's just such a mouthful. They couldn't just call it "King Kong: The Movie" or something like that? Maybe just "King Kong?" Could you imagine if they called Super Star Wars "George Lucas Presents: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope: The Official Game of The Original Film Trilogy: Part 1?" Now it's really got me thinking, is this the only game in history to include a film director's name in it's title? See, this is where your mind goes when you start playing these licensed games. They're all so terrible, so you have to keep yourself distracted with things like that. Well, maybe not all of them. MOST of them are terrible, not all of them. There are a few pretty go...