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Retro Gaming 90’s-Battletoads/Double Dragon: (1993)

When we think about underrated beat em up classics from the early 90’s one of the few titles that instantly comes to mind is the crossover game involving Battletoads & Double Dragon from 1993. The Battletoads/Double Dragon best em up game was released for the Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo along with game with all versions including multiplayer gameplay with the exception of the handheld version. Both the Battletoads & Double Dragon series started back in the 80’s and by the early 90’s they had arguably declined in popularity. A crossover game between Double Dragon & Battletoads captured the interest of many people and for the most part it received many favorable reviews by critics and gaming publications following its release in ’93. The plot for Battletoads/Double Dragon saw the main antagonists from both series Dark Queen and the Shadow Warriors attempting to rule the galaxy. The storyline sees the Battletoads working with both Billy & Jimmy two of the main protagonists from the Double Dragon series in order to stop the threat to Earth created by a spaceship known as the Colossus. This game features five playable characters along with having an interesting feature regarding its gameplay.

During multiplayer gameplay players were able to advance forward to different levels along with their partner despite perishing within a certain stage. While the beat em up gameplay was pretty standard the concept of a Battletoads/Double Dragon crossover game blew everyone’s mind back in the early 90’s While it might be debatable which version of Battletoads/Double Dragon was the best many people were surprised that a NES port was released. The NES was about ten years old by ’93 and the Super NES had been in retail since 1990. Also, the Sega Genesis port of Battletoads/Double Dragon had impressive visuals that rivaled the SNES version of the game following its release. Even though, Battletoads/Double Dragon is not talked about much nowadays retro gamers who grew up in the 90’s would probably consider this game an underrated beat em up classic.

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Retro Gaming 90’s- Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse: (1990)

When it comes down to platform classics for the Sega Genesis one of the few games that instantly comes to mind is Castle Of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse from 1990. Castle was arguably one of the first major platformers to have appeared on the Sega Genesis/Master System before Sonic the Hedgehog blew up in popularity from ’91 onwards. Castle Of Illusion was a platformer with a basic plot that involved Mickey Mouse attempting to rescue Minnie Mouse from a wicked witch by the name of Mizrabel. In order defeat the wicked witch Mickey is required to collect the Seven Gems Of The Rainbow from various levels throughout the game which are considered illusions. In order to complete his quest along with rescuing Minnie Mouse players must deal with various foes throughout the game including the Masters Of Illusion and other strange creatures in the game. The cool thing about Castle Of Illusion is the fact that it felt somewhat similar to a Sonic game for the series even began.

The concept of collecting seven gems similar to how Sonic the Hedgehog collects seven Chaos Emeralds was pretty cool. Also the idea of saving Minnie Mouse In Castle Of Illusion was somewhat similar to how Sonic the Hedgehog had to save Amy Rose in Sonic CD a game that did not come out until ’93 for the Sega CD. While the 16-bit graphics for Castle Of Illusion was a strong positive for this 90’s platformer some criticized the game for being to much like Super Mario in terms of gameplay. In order to defeat enemies players were general required to bounce off of them while being able to toss items such as marbles and apples at them. While Castle Of Illusion was not as complex in terms of gameplay as other platformers from the 90’s it still managed to be a huge attraction for the Sega Genesis. Mickey Mouse as been a pop icon since the 1930’s and was a familiar face that almost everyone knew about; seeing him on the 16-bit Genesis console back then was pretty epic. Castle Of Illusion was so popular to a point where it received a remake which eventually appeared on the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade along with Microsoft Windows back in 2013. While Castle Of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse May not have been the number one platformer for the Sega Genesis; but it was a game that was mainly critically acclaimed back in the 16-bit era that people still talk about to this day.

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Retro Gaming 90’s- Jurassic Park: (1993)

As people know the original Jurassic Park movie was directed by Stephen Spielberg is considered to be legendary following its release back in 1993. The first Jurassic Park movie had a budget of at least $63 million and was considered to be a massive box office success following its release. The movie became so popular to point where Jurassic Park had received its own video game for the Sega Genesis in ’93 as well. The Jurassic Park game that we got for the Sega Genesis was developed by BlueSky Software and published by Sega and was a side-scrolling action-adventure title that only allowed single-player gameplay. The Jurassic Park game for the Sega Genesis allowed players to control Dr. Alan Grant the main protagonist for the movie along with a Velociraptor as they try to complete various levels within the game itself. Players were mainly given three lives to complete the entire game while players had to defend themselves against various adversaries & threats in the form of dinosaurs throughout the game. As Dr. Alan Grant weapons such as stun guns, has guns, tranquilizer guns and more were used to help players achieve their main objective in moving on to the next level.

While Dr. Grant’s main goal for each level is to stay alive when facing the dinosaurs the Velociraptor must deal with opposition from security guards. While controlling as the Velociraptor for certain levels players have to evade or destroy the security guards who have multiple weapons at their disposal. Players can use the Velociraptor to destroy its enemies by attempting to eat the security guards and doing what ever it takes to complete each stage. Even though, some people thought that the Genesis version from ’93 was cool others were fans of the SNES version of the game because of its graphics and its top-down perspective in terms of gameplay. While more people may have been fans of Ocean Software’s Jurassic Park game for the Super NES the the Genesis version from ’93 may have been one of the better action-adventure titles to have appeared on Sega’s 16-bit console during the early 90’s.

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Upcoming Games- Chained Echoes: (2021)

There are many games that the world is looking forward to seeing this upcoming year and one of them so happens to be a 16-bit RPG Chained Echoes. For those who do not know Chained Echoes is game created by video game developer Matthias Linda who began working on it about two and a half years ago. Chained Echoes will be published by Deck 13 the same video game company that worked on titles such as Crosscode from ’18 along with the Surge set from 2017 onwards. One of the coolest things about Chained Echoes are the graphics especially considering the fact that it looks very similar to something you would see on the SNES back in the early 90’s. It’s also been said that the soundtrack for Chained Echoes is inspired by music scores from popular RPG’s that appeared on 32-bit PSX from the mid to late 90’s. Chained Echoes will be a fantasy based RPG that will feature turn-based battles against enemies within real-time along with a robust skill & equipment system. Players can also engage in other activities such as customizing their own airship in addition to looting & crafting discovered items as they progress throughout the game.

As it currently stands Chained Echoes is expected to appear on multiple game systems including the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows and MacOS. The official release date for Chained Echoes has yet to be revealed but it has been confirmed that it will be sometime in September 2021. Chained Echoes seems like a more fast-paced RPG than popular titles from the early 90’s affiliated with that genre which will definitely contribute to the game’s overall appeal. Also, despite turn-based RPG’s not being quite as popular as action role playing games Chained Echoes still has the potential to be a huge attraction within its genre during 2021. The inclusion of mini-games and world maps to help navigate travel are also interesting features within Chained Echoes that will add to overall gaming experience. Even though, players are expected to gain anywhere between 20-25 hours of gameplay out of Chained Echoes it still looks like a very enjoyable 16-bit JRPG in general.

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Was Neo Geo a better console than Super Nintendo?

Both the original Neo Geo console from 1990 along with the Super NES were considered to be high profile video game console in relation to the early 90’s. While the Super NES has more success on a commercial level reaching over 49 million in sales the Neo Geo was not quite successful outside of Japan due to how expensive it ended up becoming. Following its initial release the Neo Geo AES was priced at $649.99 in America which was more than twice the price of the Super Nintendo console. The Super NES initially released in America at the price of $199 and ended up having more high profile video games than that of the Neo Geo AES or Neo Geo CD. There were games such as Super Mario World, Super Metroid, Zelda: Link To The Past and many others that were classics for the 16-bit console; along with being more affordable than anything SNK related back in the early to mid 90’s which heavily contributed to Nintendo success during that time period. For the most part fighting games stood out more than anything on Neo Geo such as the KOF series along with Art Of Fighting I & II in terms of gameplay.

In fact, Neo Geo had better 2D gameplay than the Super NES and Sega Genesis and was quite possibly one of the best game consoles of the 90’s despite its low sales. The Neo Geo was one of the first game consoles ever to provide arcade like gameplay which heavily contributed to the console’s appeal. However, unlike Super Nintendo we hardly got to see any high profile third party games on that console. In terms of quality many people can Matthew argument that Neo Geo was a far more superior console than the SNES. However, Nintendo is a more successful gaming entity than SNK in general and has most likely made more money off the SNES than one of its competitor did from Neo Geo from the 90’s onwards.

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Retro Gaming 90’s- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: (1994)

As far as fighting games from the early 90’s are concerned one of the few titles that appeared for the Sega Genesis back in the day was Mighty Morphin Power Rangers from ’94. The cool thing about the Power Rangers fighting game from ’94 was the inclusion of various characters from the show along with some of the most popular villains from the show such as Goldar and the evil Green Ranger. As a fighting game MMPR for the Sega Genesis was nothing too special but at the same type it was challenging enough for casual gamers who were fans of the genre itself. Also, considering how popular Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was during the early 90’s the game that appeared on the Sega Genesis ended up becoming one of the top fighting titles for the 16-bit Genesis console. In fact, the MMPR game for the Sega Genesis reached at least one million in sales within America and was arguably one of the most popular games within the series as it relates to the 90’s. While there was another Power Rangers game for the SNES in ’94 it was more of a platform beat em up.

However, MMPR: Fighting Edition which came out for the SNES in ’95 was quite possibly the only game within series that was better than the Sega title from ’94 despite not having a storyline. The MMPR game actually had a storyline outside of versus mode which covered some of the most important parts of the first season; including the two battles the Rangers have with Cyclopsis. Along with being able to control all five Rangers for certain battles players could also unlock the Green Ranger along with Dragonzord within the story mode making for a pretty cool gameplay experience. Its hard to believe that the MMPR fighting game for Sega Genesis came out over 25 years ago while becoming one of Banpresto’s most high profile games outside the Puyo Puyo titles from the early 90’s. The MMPR title that we got for Sega Genesis definitely could have been more popular if it received an arcade release prior to appearing on the 16-bit console considering how big the show was back in the day.

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Was Injustice 2 the best fighting game of the late 10’s?

When we think about critically acclaimed fighting games from the 10’s decade its almost impossible to have that conversation without talking about the two Injustice titles released between ’13-’16. While the first Injustice game from 2013 was impressive its ’16 prequel received a ton of mainstream publicity and was very popular among critics from various gaming entities. In fact, Injustice 2 was a game that arguably surpassed the likes of Mortal Kombat X, Tekken 7 and Street Fighter V in terms of popularity as it relates to the mid 10’s. Injustice 2 had a storyline that followed the events from the first game and revolves around Batman’s dedication to rebuilding society along with his insurgents following the fall of Superman’s regime. Despite, Superman’s ruthless and dictatorial personality Batman gambles with the idea of freeing him from imprisonment to deal with a new group of super-villains lead by Brainiac known as the Society. Injustice 2 had a captivating storyline with two different endings depending on whether or not Batman defeated Superman or vice-versa after defeating each other’s teammates. In addition to having a great cinematic story mode Injustice 2 included other exciting features included game modes such as Multiverse, Arcade, Online and Verses which added to the overall replay value of the game itself.

Some of the biggest names within the DC universe were included in Injustice 2 such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, SuperGirl, Harley Quinn and many others. While Injustice 2 managed to be a huge commercial success following its release in May 2017 there were definitely fighting games like Dragonball FighterZ from early ’18 a run for its money in relation to popularity as it relates to the late 10’s in general. While most critics and casual gamers believe Injustice 2 was one of the coolest fighting games ever made there are most likely people out there who are not huge DC fans at all. While Injustice 2 may be one of the best fighting games of the 10’s decade everyone as their own personal opinion on which deserved to be named number one overall. As far as the 10’s as a whole is concerned Injustice 2 would most likely be within top ten as far as best fighting games are concerned depending on who you ask.

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Retro Gaming 90’s- MegaMan V: (1992)

As many people know Capcom’s MegaMan V was released for the NES console back in 1992. MegaMan V was the direct sequel to MegaMan IV which came out in ’91 and the game itself was pretty similar to that of it predecessor in terms of looks and gameplay. One of the more interesting aspects of Mega Man V was the plot which saw Dr. Wily frame Proto Man for a robot attack after creating android in his likeness named Dark Man. Mega Man V was a game that may have been overshadowed in the early 90’s due to how popular the SNES along wit the Sega Genesis was becoming during that tie period. Despite, not making any significant changes to MegaMan V in comparison to its sequel some would argue that it was every bit a challenging as Mega Man IV. By the ’92 the 8-bit NES console was starting to become obsolete in terms of graphics and gameplay and the MegaMan main series would eventually become overshadowed by the Mega Man X along with its sequels which appeared on the SNES and PS1. MegaMan 5 was a game that was not quite as popular as titles such as MM2 & MM3 but some argue that if Capcom released MM5 for the SNES it could have been a bigger attraction than it was on the NES.

After all, we did get to see MegaMan 7 on the SNES during ’95 and while it was a treat to some gamers other thought it was boring compared to the MMX series. However, MM5 could have definitely worked on the SNES in ’92 considering the fact that Mega Man X was released the following year in 1993. MegaMan 5 was a pretty solid run and gun platform game for the 8-bit NES but it was not one of the most memorable entries within the series. There were so many MegaMan games within the main series that originated in ’87 to a point where it did not matter whether or not MM5 appeared on the SNES opposed to the NES during the early 90’s. Despite, MegaMan 5 being critically acclaimed by various gaming publications following its release the game definitely could of made a bigger splash on the Super NES in ’92 especially since the MMX series had not yet started.

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Retro Gaming 10’s- King Of Fighters XIII: (2010)

SNK’s King Of Fighters XIII was one of the few high profile fighting games to have been released back in 2013. As good as KOF XIII May have been overshadowed by various other fighting games that were also released 2013; that year we saw the release of titles such as: Killer Instinct, Injustice: God’s Among Us, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 and Jo Jo’s Bizzare Adventures: All-Star Battle. KOF: XIII was the direct sequel to its predecessor King Of Fighters VII which was released in ’09 and received an arcade release exclusively in Japan back July 2010. King Of Fighters XIII did not appear on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 until the fourth quarter of 2011 in countries like Japan, Europe and America. As far as visuals were concerned King Of Fighters XIII saw a unique improvement as the game presented players with sharper character sprites in comparison to its prequel. King Of Fighters XIII was also the game that concluded the Ash Crimson arc which began following the release of KOF ’03. Ash Crimson was a very unique character mainly because of his anti-hero persona stemming from his villainous antics. Ash had managed to steal power from descendants of clan members who sealed the notorious Orochi way almost two millenniums prior to the setting of game.

Along with having a very intriguing plot KOF: XIII saw the return of many popular characters within the set including Ryo Sakazaki, Robert Garcia, Mai Shiranui, Lori Yagami, Yuri Sakazaki and others. KOF: XIII consisted of ten different teams including Art Of Fighting, Women’s, Psycho Soldier, Fatal Fury, Japan and Ikari Warriors while giving players the option to download EX characters such as Mr. Karate who a boss character in older games from the Neo Geo era in the early 90’s. The gameplay seen in KOF: XIII was unique considering the fact that SNK decided to bring back features such as the multi-bar power gauge popular from KOF ’97. Also, the inclusion of EX Mode in KOF XIII that allowed players to perform EX Super Specials along with EX Special Moves depending on how many bars they had; served as a suitable replacement for the absence of gameplay features included in KOF: XII. The features that were emphasized in KOF XII included fighting mechanics such as Guard Attack, Critical Counter along with a Clash System which were not present in KOF: XIII. Instead, we got to see the addition of other fighting mechanics including Hyper Drive mode along which allowed players to perform endless Drive Cancels until their gauge runs out. The improved gameplay included in KOF: XIII was refreshing to see especially since SNK managed to make essential improvements that have players a slightly different experience than what they got in KOF: XIII. Since its release KOF: XIII has been seen as one of the best 2D fighting games that SNK has produced within the 10’s decade alongside the critically acclaimed KOF XIV from 2016.

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Retro Gaming 10’s- Far Cry 3: (2012)

The Far Cry series has been around since ’04 and out of all of the installments that has been released since then many would argue that Far Cry 3 was best. Far Cry 3 was developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft and was released in late 2012 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. The pre-production of Far Cry 3 began shortly following the release of Far Cry 2 which came out in ’08; the official production of the game really did not start until 2010 due to the changes in regards to creative staff. Far Cry 3 was a first person shooter game that was critically acclaimed due to its storytelling aspects along with its narrative despite being the story being subjected to minor criticism. Despite, having a basic plot where the main protagonist Jason Brody has to rescue his friends who were kidnapped by pirates on an island there was offense taken to some situations that occurred within the story for Far Cry 3 that were politically incorrect. While the controversial elements of homophobia and misogyny were present within the story of Far Cry 3 it did not diminish the overall quality of the game itself.

The were aspects of Far Cry 3 that many people were impressed by including the visuals along with the world design despite the map itself being confusing at times. Even though, the side missions in Far Cry 3 seemed repetitive and presented challenges in relation to traveling the combat system mainly the stealth mode was one of the game’s strong points; the amount of realism included in Far Cry in relation to killing enemies was a feature that was subjected to praise. Far Cry 3 allowed multiplayer gameplay and presented players with two different endings which added to the game’s overall replay value. Since its release Far Cry 3 ended up becoming a huge commercial success and managed to reach close to 10 million copies in sales. Far Cry 3 had sold more than double of than its ’08 prequel Far Cry 2 which sold close to three million copies months following its release. Not only was Far Cry 3 considered to be a “Game Of The Year” candidate by multiple gaming publications but it also received an expansion pack entitled “Blood Dragon” during the Spring of 2013 which was also highly successful as well. Far Cry 3 may not be at the very top of everyone’s list in regards to their favorite first person shooter game of all-time but it was arguably one of the best to have come out of the 10’s decade depending on who you ask.