Gaming off the Beaten Path

  Yet another non-review, but this was something I had planned to do for a long time. Not going to lie, I almost forgot about it, but September marks the 25th anniversary of the iconic Nintendo 64's U.S. launch. I figured I would have to do a similar write to the one I did for the PlayStation at the end of 2019. I know the Super Nintendo celebrated its 30th birthday last month without a similar article, but that wasn't an oversight on my part. I'm a huge fan of the SNES, but I think it (and the other 4th gen consoles) are all still held up on a pedestal by modern and retro gamers alike. The 5th gen consoles, however, have developed a certain reputation over time for being dated and unplayable. I don't believe that to be the case and I wanted to show my appreciation for these consoles, so hence the writeups on the PlayStation and N64. The N64 also has a special place in my heart. I've mentioned before that this was the first thing I ever bought with my own money. I ...

Of all Nintendo's first party franchises, F-Zero probably gets the least love. I think I made it pretty clear when I reviewed F-Zero GX last year that I think it's BS that Nintendo hasn't released a new title in the franchise in going on 20 years. But while it has gotten a handful of sequels and its certainly seen more releases than its futuristic racing brethren, I've always felt Star Fox is a close second on the big N's "let's not make any more games in this franchise" list. It seems like no matter how hard they try, Nintendo just can't capture what made the old Star Fox games so great. The series' most recent entry, 2016's Star Fox Zero, was met with mixed reviews and is generally regarded as okay at best. Star Fox Assault on the GameCube had its moments, but was an overall disappointing experience that I found to be incredibly lacking. I've already offered my thoughts on Star Fox Adventures: Dinosaur Planet and its complete deviat...

Bond.. James Bond Unlike most of my 10's games, I'm not entirely sure where to start with Goldeneye. On one hand, it's a favorite target, possibly THE favorite target, of the "aged poorly" people who absolutely despise this generation of gaming for some unknown reason. It's funny, to me at least, that a good majority of people with this mindset either weren't born or were very young when this game came out. But by the same token, it was such a cultural phenomena and so many people are so nostalgic for it that they are often unable to overlook its flaws or realize that, yes, certain aspects of the game are "dated." I'm going to be honest, if I split hairs and actually ranked my 10's games, Goldeneye would probably finish near the bottom. I wasn't about to go out and say that it was terrible, but I had to really sit back and evaluate whether nostalgia was clouding my opinion of the game before I fired it up again. When it was all said a...

You can call THIS, the New World Order of Wrestling, brother Let’s go back to July 7, 1996. It’s time for WCW’s Bash at the Beach, an annual pay-per-view that will be headlined by the biggest match in the company’s history.  Sting, Lex Luger and the Macho Man Randy Savage are set to defend the company’s honor against the unlikeliest of invaders.  WWF stars Razor Ramon and Diesel, now going by their real names, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, have been terrorizing WCW for months (remember, there was barely an internet, we had no idea these two were under contract to WCW when Hall jumped the barricade unannounced on Monday Nitro, especially those of us who had just turned 8).  Now called “the Outsiders,” the duo had been teasing a mystery partner for weeks.  Those of us who watched both promotions speculated on which WWF-er would show up next: Brett Hart? Mr. Perfect? The Undertaker?  Who knew? The match looked like it was going to go the way of the good guys at ...

The Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon Hi Kids!  Today we are going to talk about a very serious topic...drugs. It’s no secret that drugs are bad for you.  They are illegal, unhealthy and expensive.  Of course, that isn’t going to stop people from using them, but just because someone else does something doesn’t mean you should too.  Even if they can make you see or feel something completely out of the realm of ordinary, the long and short term effects can be devastating.   Besides, there are plenty of ways to experience what its like to be high/tripping/rolling/etc. without risking your health.  One of those is to play “The Mystical Ninja.”  The best way I can imagine this game’s development is that a team of folks at Konami hacked the source code of Super Mario 64, ingested one or more types of some unknown illicit substance, watched a documentary about Japanese culture and made a video game. And, despite all of its technical fl...

Oh boy, here’s an interesting one. Part of this whole “off the beaten path” thing is avoiding the infamous games as much as it is avoiding the famous ones.  You don’t need me to tell you all that Superman 64 is terrible or that all of those CD-I Zelda games suck.  The internet and common sense already told us all that as much as they told us that Super Mario World is great.  There’s a consensus there and its not based solely on name value. Which brings us to Quest 64.  One of, like, three N64 RPGs, quest is pretty much universally disliked.  It isn’t for lack of studio star power, THQ is gone now but they were cranking out hits in the late 90s.  Most of the complaints stem from the game’s simplicity, lack of story and general “my first RPG” vibe.  But are those criticisms valid?  And does it deserve the reputation it has?  Yes.  And Also No.   We will start with the story, or lack thereof.  You p...