Gaming off the Beaten Path

So, this week we are going to go on a bit of a detour. I wasn’t planning on covering Mega Man 8 this week, but on Father’s Day I asked my son what he wanted to do and he was like “play video games with daddy!”  I wasn’t going to tell him no.  I even told him he could pick the game.  He went right to “Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem,” but when I informed him that that game was just slightly not appropriate for a 3-year old,  he happily picked Mega Man 8 as a second choice.  How fitting, starting his gaming career off with the same franchise I began mine with 25 years ago. By now just about everyone is familiar with Mega Man.  I have touched on some of its more unique games and some parts of the X series, but this is the first time we will jump into the original series.  Released in January of 1997, 8 is the only mainline series title for the Playstation 1 (it also came out on the Sega Saturn).  It would also be the last one we would see for a ...

Happy 2020 everyone!  I figured I would kick the year off with a game that has nothing to do with 2020 in any way, shape or form. I have to say, I had no idea this game existed.  I knew Battle Arena Toshinden got a sequel, but I didn’t realize it had two (actually three, the fourth game only came out in Japan and PAL regions).  The series is certainly obscure, it hasn’t had a new release in North America since 1997.  That being said, it’s a series that holds special place in PlayStation and general fighting game lore.  It was a PS1 launch title and the focus of many of Sony’s early ad campaigns.  It was also one of the first truly 3D fighting games and the first to have a sidestep button.  It may not have been the best game ever made, but it was an important one.  When you think about it, it actually makes sense that this game would get a sequel.  A forward thinking, borderline revolutionary game with some flaws seem...