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Classic Gaming- Kirby’s Adventure: (1993)

 

kirbys-adventure-u-prg1-00122When we think about popular platform games of the 80’s and 90’s there are many titles that come to mind including the Super Mario along with the Mega Man series which were highly popular following their releases.  Many of these revolutionary platform games made their debut on the Nintendo Entertainment System during the mid and late 80’s and continued to become more popular throughout the 90’s.  Kirby’s Adventure was the second installment within its series and was considered to be special considering the time period it was released in.  In the early 90’s Super Nintendo had become very popular following its release during the start of the decade in 1990. The first Kirby game “Dream Land” was released for the original Game Boy back in 1992 almost a year for “Adventure” made its debut.  What was special about Kirby’s Adventure was the quality of the game itself including graphics, stage design and the level of difficulty presented as players travel throughout seven worlds in order to collect various pieces of the broken Star Rod.

The plot for this game was pretty basic which allowed players to easily understand what their objective was in the game.  Along with traveling throughout several different worlds players had to encounter several foes such as Wispy Woods and Meta Knight who were among many bosses in the game who were tough to defeat.  The soundtrack for Kirby’s Adventure made the game more exciting since they have been remixed several times since they created.  Along with the final boss theme against Nightmare the Butter Building stage probably had one of the most memorable soundtracks in the entire series.  At times it was hard to believe that Kirby’s Adventure was an NES title because it looked like something that should have been made for the SNES considering how popular it was at the time.  The final boss battles in Kirby’s Adventure was probably the most difficult in the game but once you completed everything the ending felt worth the effort you put into it.  Kirby’s Adventure was a fantastic platform game for the NES game console and it was amazing that HAL Laboratory had developed this title for a home based console opposed to a hand held system in the early 90’s.

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Classic Gaming- Super Mario Bros. 3: (1988)

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As we all know the Super Mario series is legendary among Nintendo and has provided many people with countless memories along with hours of gameplay for both the NES and the SNES.  When Super Mario Bros 3 was released in the late 80’s for the NES not only did the game dramatically improve from the past two sequels but it also included some unexpected features that were not present in the previous games. The gameplay for Super Mario Bros. 3 is similar to the original game released in 1985.  One of the main differences with Super Mario Bros. 3 deals with the inclusion of an overworld map which is present when players travel to different stages & worlds as either Mario or Luigi.  Another thing about Super Mario World 3  that was refreshing included the fact that it was once again a multiplayer game where players can control either Mario or Luigi.  The only catch for Super Mario Bros 3 was that people can play only as Mario or Luigi unlike the prequel.

In Super Mario Bros. 2 people had the option of playing as Mario, Luigi, Toad or Princess Peach.  The only thing about Super Mario Bros. 2 was that it was a single player game opposed to the original title along with the third installment.  Super Mario Bros. 3 was a very fun and difficult game to play.  The game starts of fairly simple in terms of completing each stage but by the time you reach world six and seven things become very difficult.  Sometimes the stages in world seven seem impossible to complete which is especially true in one of the castle levels before the final boss battle in the seventh world.  In some of the stages in world seven losing a life is as simple as one miscalculation.  Generally players will be better off staring each level with a power up since there appears to be more enemies in each level as you progress throughout the game.

Nintendo was also creative with this game in terms of level designs as well as some of the boss battles.  In World 4-3 Mario or Luigi had to deal with giant enemies which was something that was fun.  Also, there were occasional sub-boss battles with the Hammer Bros. which can take place after players crosses paths with them during overworld travel.    Overall, Super Mario Bros. 3 is probably one of the best 2D games in the series next to the original game of the mid 80’s and Super Mario World which was released for the SNES in 1990.  Since its release Super Mario Bros. 3 has sold at least 17 millions units worldwide which is more than twice the amount then the second installment.  Super Mario Bros. 3  not only made for an amazing sequel for the second installment but also served as the prequel for one of the best games in the series during the early 90’s known as Super Mario World.

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Should there be a new F-Zero game for the Nintendo NX?

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The F-Zero is series is probably one of the most well known racing in the history of Nintendo in general.  Ever since the original F-Zero game made its debut in the early 90’s many people were blown away by the sequel for each game both on the Nintendo 64 along with GameCube.  There have been much anticipation throughout the entire year of 2016 on what to expect for the Nintendo NX next year because not only is this game console promising but many people would like to see the return of old titles that were once popular in the past.  Two games that we know for a fact is going to be released next year for the Nintendo NX includes a new Mario title along with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.  Another F-Zero game for the Nintendo NX would be special  considering the fact there have not been any titles released for this series since the early 00’s.

Over the years many people have wondered what happened to the F-Zero series and why we have not seen any new games made during decade.  One of the potential reasons why we have not seen a new F-Zero game for any of the two Wii consoles is that the developer for the GX title known as Amusement Vision had become defunct in 2004.  Along with Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development the company known as Amusement Vision was responsible for one of the two titles that featured three dimensional gameplay  in the F-Zero series.   As of right now the only entity that can possibly develop another F-Zero game is Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development the same group that made the Nintendo 64 game when it was named Nintendo EAD back in the late 90’s.  The F-Zero series had some of the best racing games during the 90’s and early 00’s and many people would definitely agree that Nintendo should definitely make another sometime soon for the NX shortly after the console is released in 2017.

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Would Naruto have worked in the platforming genre of gaming a few decades ago for Nintendo?

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We all know that Naruto is probably one of the best Japanese animated series to have been released during the 2000’s decade.  Since Naruto first made its debut in Japan in the early 00’s  it become very popular and to the development of many memorable games for various game consoles including PlayStation 3, Nintendo GameCube along with the Xbox 360.  For most of the Naruto games released on home based consoles the gameplay featured cel-shaded graphics along with 3D background and stages whic made each game very exciting to play.  However, most of the Naruto games released on home based consoles are generally fighting games since that is generally what takes place throughout the series.  But if the Naruto series was created during the 80’s or 90’s things could have been completely different. When we think about popular ninja based games of the past some of the first games that comes to mind are the Ninja Gaiden and the Shinobi series.

Popular titles such as Shinobi & Ninja Gaiden became popular during the mid to late 80’s and were generally designed to be hack and slash platform games with multiple levels that included boss battles at the end of each stage.  One of the things that makes Naruto different from the Ninja Gaiden or Shinobi games is that there were multiple protagonists in the show who all played important roles in the series.  While the games such as Ninja Gaiden heavily focused on Ryu’s mission throughout the game Naruto had a very long story along with many different backstories for various different characters.  However, there have been classic Nintendo where multiple characters were utilized in 2D side scrolling platform games such as X-Men Mutant Apocalypse.    The gameplay for X-Men Mutant Apocalypse was fantastic by 16-bit standards and did a good job in both storytelling but also in visual design.  Even though, X-Men Mutant Apocalypse was not a ninja based game the concept of having a platform game that included multiple characters for each level was a great idea at the time.  After the development of the manga and the anime many fans go to see the release of various 3D titles that were very good in quality and have sold millions of copies worldwide.  If Naruto was released in a different time period would most of the games have been in the platform genre?  Also if so, would any of the 2D based Naruto games have sold as much as the Ninja Storm series for PlayStation?

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Classic Gaming- Crash Bandicoot: (1996)

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When we think about the top platform games during the 90’s we think about many popular titles such as Super Mario and the Sonic series.  The thing about Mario and Sonic was that they both started out as 2D platform games before becoming 3D during the mid 90’s.  Crash Bandicoot which was developed by mainly by Naughty Dog during the mid-90’s and was one of the many games that started off as 3D platform game as opposed to to other popular 2D titles of Nintendo and Sega.  After this game was published by Sony Computer Entertainment it was one of the coolest 3D games to be released for the PlayStation console at the time.  The main protagonist Crash goal in this game is to stop the main villain Doctor Neo Cortex from taking over the world.  However, many people should not worry too much about Doctor Neo Cortex because towards the end of the game when you battle him as the final boss he is not nearly as difficult as he appears to be.

However, while progressing throughout the game players get to travel throughout various levels and play throughout many tough yet exciting stages in Crash Bandicoot.  Some of the cool things about Crash Bandicoot includes the gameplay itself.  The stages in Crash Bandicoot utilizes various styles of platforming gameplay from a 3D perspective which makes this title very unique.  An example would be the “Great Gate” which utilized a  3D side-scrolling form a gameplay.  The level design for the Great Gate was pretty unique and innovative since 3D side scrolling gameplay was something that was not common during the 90’s with some of the most popular platform titles at the time including Super Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog and Spyro the Dragon. The “Boulder” stage was also very exciting because it was one of the many games that featured third person gameplay.  Another thing about the “Boulder” stage that was interesting was the Indiana Jones reference in the beginning where players must out run the giant rock to avoid being crushed by it so they can proceed on completing the level.

Even though, the original Crash Bandicoot game was very fun to play one of the many aspects about this game that was annoying at times was the loading screens.  The loading screens made people want to slam their controllers on the ground at times but since this was the PS1 game console there was not much anyone could really do about it.  Besides most people were too busy have fun while they were trying to complete the game itself.  As of this year the game has reportedly sold at least 6.8 million units worldwide since its release in 1996.  The thing about the amount of sales the original Crash Bandicoot game that was astounding is the fact that the sequels were even better and sold more than the original game.  Since its release Crash Bandicoot has been known to be one of the best platform games for the Sony PlayStation  during the mid to late 90’s along with Spyro the Dragon making this title an instant classic that many old school gamers would love to play again.

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Is the Street Fighter EX series Underrated?

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As cool as the Street Fighter EX series was it didn’t quite reach the same level of popularity as the some of the games in the main series including the Alpha titles.  The Street Fighter EX series does deserve some credit though because it featured the first set of games that included both three dimensional gameplay & graphics.  The series also introduced a whole new set of characters such as: Skullomania, Doctrine Dark, Hokuto, Kairi, Pullam Puma and many more.  Along with including a new set of characters the Ex series had featured more offline game modes that would keep players busy for weeks.  One of the few things that the EX series had in common with the Alpha games included the amount of game modes that were featured offline.   The offline gameplay was especially exciting in Street Fight EX 3 & Alpha 3 because people were allowed to participate in both dramatic along with team battles.

The 90’s was a great time to be a fan of the Street Fighter series because Capcom during that decade Capcom had produced some of its best work.  The most popular game was obviously the Street Fighter II series but aside from that there were also many great titles released afterwards that were even better in terms of visual presentation and gameplay. The only difference was the Street Fighter II series is generally more popular because it was one of the main titles that started a revolution in the fighting genre of gaming during the 1990’s.  Even though most of the Street Fighter games were awesome throughout the entire decade some started to lose interest in the series over time due to the emergence of other fighting titles such as Tekken, Soul Calibur along with the increasing popularity of the Mortal Kombat series.  Even though, the Street Fighter games in the EX series are generally overlooked by casual gamers some people who are hardcore fans of the series would probably tell you that it has a higher replay value than Street Fighter V.

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Classic Gaming- Super Metroid: (1994)

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There have been many action-adventure classics that have been released over the past three decades that were considered to be memorable for various consoles since the NES during the 1980’s.  Super Metroid is one of the many games for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System that is considered to be a masterpiece by both fans and critics alike.  Everything about Super Metroid from the intro to the ending was amazing.  The opening for Super Metroid along with the audio sample would give people chills before they officially start playing.  The cinematic like opening for Super Metroid was fantastic and made you feel like you were about to watch an actual movie on the SNES.  Along with the cinematic features of Super Metroid the game provides players up front about all the details about the plot going into the game.  Some people have various opinions about the plot for this game because even though it was interesting it was rather dark considering what happened to the scientists prior to the Metroid Larva being stolen.

While controlling Samus players will have plenty of fun dealing with the Space Pirates throughout the game along with the leader of the group Ridley.  The cutscenes in this game especially for one of the endings in this game are awesome because it included high quality visuals and animation that exceeded the expectations of something you would see in a 16-bit SNES title.  The multiple endings of this game was also a nice feature that contributed to the replay value of Super Metroid because it was setup in a way where players had to complete everything within a few hours.  The endings in this game are based on how quickly the game is completed and if you were anxious to see all of them you would most likely complete the game more than once.  Besides along with completing the game the soundtracks in this game were pretty cool since most of them blended in perfectly with each stage. Similar to the prequels Super Metroid includes a save system where players can have multiple files that checkpoints their progress throughout the game.  Since its release this game had reportedly sold over 1.4 million units worldwide since 1994.  Despite, selling less than Metroid II: Return of Samus which sold over 1.7 million units Super Metroid is still heavily regarded to be one of the best SNES games of the early to mid 90’s.

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Retro Gaming- Kirby’s Avalanche: (1995)

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There is nothing like the classics when it comes down to gaming on 16-bit consoles in the early to mid 90’s.  Kirby’s Avalanche was a puzzle was released by Nintendo after HAL Laboratory, Compule and Banpresto had collaborated to develop around the mid 90’s.  The cool thing about this game along with many other puzzle games of that era included the fact that it was influenced by Super Puyo Puyo.  While being mainly influenced by Super Puyo Puyo Kirby’s Avalanche had included elements from some of the previous games in the series such as the soundtracks and included them into this title while putting a creative twist to it.  The plot for this game focuses on the Kirby’s goal to win the Avalanche Tournament in the Fountain of Dreams after it was setup by the main antagonist King Dedede.  Similar to that of Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine players have to match up blobs of the same color to pull of combos to defeat their opponent throughout each round.  The initiation of chain combos leads to rocks filling up on the opponents side of the screen causing their space to fill up faster and leading to their defeat.

The cool thing about this game was that you did not have to complete the game without knowing what to do.  Kirby’s Avalanche had a lesson mode that showed people how to play the game prior to participating in the Avalanche Tournament.  In the tournament players must go through twelve stages before reaching the final boss King Dedede.  While the whole game itself is very tough one generally improves over time through trial and error. Many people generally see Kirby’s Avalanche as Nintendo’s answer to Sega’s Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine released in 1993.  In terms of which game was more difficult opinions generally vary among many people.  However, in terms of soundtrack some people might give the slight edge to Kirby’s Avalanche because it sounds more light-hearted and melodic opposed to the mechanic based sounds of Mean Bean Machine.  The cool thing about this game also includes the fact that Kirby is also apart of the main plot for this game opposed to Mean Bean Machine where Sonic the Hedgehog is nowhere to be found.  The ending for this game deals with Kirby winning a trophy while Mean Bean Machine focuses on foiling Dr. Robotnik’s plans. Kirby’s Avalanche was definitely a fun classic for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and even though the puzzle game concept was not original many people will enjoy it if they are a true fan of the series.

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Retro Gaming- Rad Racer: (1987)

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When most people think about racing games of the 80’s one of the many titles that instantly comes to mind is Rad Racer which was developed by Square back in 1987.  It was around this time period where Sega Outrun was popular worldwide following its arcade release during the summer of 1986.  After the arcade release of Sega Outrun the game was ported to the Sega Master System the following year in 1987. After Rad Racer was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System many people were impressed by the visual aspects of this game.  Rad Racer had looked similar to an arcade game which was pretty cool considering the fact that it was an 8-bit game along with having realistic gameplay by NES standards.  Many people had enjoyed Rad Racer following its release but the main problem they had with this game was that it was too difficult.

While completing each course players are timed and have to travel at a certain speed.  Players not only complete each level within the time limit but also have to avoid travelling to fast because driving off course slows them down significantly and deters their progress from complete each course.  Along with trying to complete each level there were some cool visual effects some of the stages where the sky changed while you were driving.  The BGM for Rad Racer had also added to the appeal for this game along with making it more exciting than it already was in terms of gameplay.  For over the past two decades fans of the Rad Racer series have been hoping for a 3D remake of this racing classic because the first two games had a lot of potential to be great racing games on consoles such as: Nintendo 64, PlayStation or any of the other game systems that was released during the 2000’s.  If Square had decided to either remake or create a new Rad Racer game in this day and age it would probably be well received among fans and have a decent buyrate.  Technology has evolved a lot since the 80’s and Nintendo has become more innovative than ever when it comes down to gaming.  When Nintendo had released  Mario Kart 8 for the Wii-U the driving wheel was a great feature that added realism to the game itself.  Releasing Rad Racer for the Wii-U could prove to be an awesome experience that provides strong feelings of excitement for modern day gamers and nostalgia for older ones.

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Was the Sonic Advance series better than the Sonic 3D games during the 2000’s?

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Before the start of the new millennium Sonic the Hedgehog was popular worldwide as a fast paced 2D side scrolling platform game.  When Sonic the Hedgehog made its transition from 2D into 3D gaming there were many critics were not too impressed with Sonic 3D Blast released in 1996.  However, when Sonic Adventure was released in 1998 many people believed that it was a much better game than Sonic 3D Blast.  Over two years later when Sonic Adventure 2 was released many fans were highly impressed with the gameplay, plot, along with the introduction of new characters such as Shadow and Rouge.  Along with the release of Sonic Adventure 2 in the early 00’s the Sonic Advance had also started a few months later that same year in 2001.  The Sonic Advance series for the Game Boy Advance was fun to play because the 2D graphics & sprites was reminiscent of the Sega Genesis during the early 90’s.

Ever since the release of Sonic Adventure 2 most of the 3D games in the series had fallen below the expectations of both critics and fans alike.  Sonic Adventure 2 was an awesome game to play on both the Sega Dreamcast along with the Nintendo GameCube. If Sega wanted to make a Sonic Adventure 3 it would of been very difficult prequel in terms of storyline along with living up to the high quality expectations of fans around the world. Even though, various games such as Sonic Heroes, Sonic Unleashed, and Sonic Secret Rings have done pretty well in terms of sales some might argue that they were not quite as exciting as Adventure 2.  The Sonic Advance series had utilized the old 2D side scrolling platform formula which would appeal to people who were fans of the older games during the early 90’s.

Not only were the 2D graphics and sprites for Sonic Advance fantastic but the gameplay was better than ever.  Sonic Advance 3 was pretty cool in terms of gameplay because along with choosing any character one could pick whoever they wanted as a partner.  However, the original Sonic Advance game has sold more worldwide than its successors by reaching over two million sales.  Sonic Advance was probably one of the best selling games in the Sonic series next to Rush and the Secret Rings.  Sometimes it makes people what if Sega made Sonic the Hedgehog 4 the same way they did the Advance series as a home console?  Either way, one can make the argument that in someways the Sonic Advance series was somewhat more enjoyable then some of the 3D Sonic games released for home consoles such PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii.