Sunday, September 05, 2010 06:41

Archive for the ‘Gaming’ Category

Geek Round-Up, 4-19-10

Monday, April 19th, 2010

Wow. It’s been awhile since I blogged. Bet you thought I forgot about this site. Well, I haven’t. So, let’s get to it.

  • wormsI’ve been playing a lot of Worms on my Playstation 3. Believe it or not, I only became aware of this series last year. I downloaded it from the Playstation Store and now I’m addicted. My buddy Andy and I have spent several late nights holy hand grenading the crap out of each other. I highly recommend it to those who aren’t familiar with it. You can read IGN’s review on the game here.
  • Another game getting a lot of play on the PS3 is Super Rub a Dub, even despite IGN’s horrible review of it. But what can I say? The ladies absolutely love moving those ducks around in the tub (a past time I’ll try transferring over to real life..). So, I think I’ll keep it. After all, gotta keep the ladies happy.
  • One more video game-related bit and I’ll move on. I just became aware of the upcoming Legend of Zelda-inspired game, 3D Dot Game Heroes for Playstation 3. Holy crap. I want this game. The LoZ series are my favorite games of all time. And IGN really liked 3DGH, so I think it’s safe to say I’ll dig it too. Check out the trailer:

  • ORIGINAL STAR WARS CHARACTERS TO RETURN POST-RETURN OF THE JEDI. Is this the new “comedy” series set in the Star Wars universe? (I seriously hope not) Or is it, as some have speculated, a new Clone Wars-style animated series following the adventures of our favorite characters? What about Sansweet referring to “not everyone who dies in sci-fi remains dead?” Could it be that a prequel-era character comes back to plague the original trilogy characters? Darth Maul? A Dooku clone? Asajj Ventress? Grievous? I’ve often thought something like that could happen in a post-ROTJ animated series, but who knows? There’s so much to speculate on and next to nothing has been revealed. Lucasfilm is going to have a lot of explaining to do at CV.
  • Call me crazy, but I liked the Vin Diesel starring Riddick film series. Pitch Black and the animated Dark Fury were both great and The Chronicles of Riddick was decent (in a “stupid action flick” kind of way). So, of course the idea of another Riddick film (as has been rumored for years), is kind of exciting for me. Well, one was announced a few months back and now a script review has popped up for it (WARNING: there are spoilers there). Definitely sounds intriguing, and I look forward to hearing more on the project in the future.

Lego Rock Band?!

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009

contra

While not-so-secretly jazzed at the option of playing Europe’s “The Final Countdown,” I’m still not sure how I feel about this.

Retro Coffee: Castlevania

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

castlevania

Last fall, I bought one of those consoles that play the old school NES games. I kind of went on a game buying frenzy then and now I easily own more Nintendo games than when I originally owned the system some twenty years ago.

One of the games I’ve got now that I didn’t have back in the day is Konami’s classic, vampire hunting, side-scroller, Castlevania. And let me tell you, even though graphically this game’s about as sophisticated as your average tangerine when compared to New York socialite, it still holds up as one of the toughest games I’ve ever played. Sure, the first level is all “whip, jump, kill zombies” but after that, things get really tough.

I’ve been playing it semi-regularly since I bought it last November, and I tell ya, I still can’t get past level three. And I don’t know how many times I’ve sworn about those damned flying Medusa heads. Seriously, it’s amazing that I don’t have nightmares about those things coming at me.

Still, I can’t get enough of it. It’s gotten more play time on my new console than any other game I’ve picked up, a couple of which I refuse to even play until I’ve beaten Castlevania (including the original Dragon Quest). Also an orchestrated version of level one’s music is the ringtone on my cell phone for text messages.

One of these days, I’ll beat it. Then again, I’ve been saying that about the original NES Super Mario Bros. for twenty-two years and I still can’t get past level 8-4. I seriously hope this game doesn’t become my new nemesis. I hope that Mario jerk gets hit by a flying Medusa head and falls into a pit for all eternity. It’d only serve him right for the years of agony he’s caused me. At least I can beat The Legend of Zelda games. Otherwise, I’d give up on gaming altogether. Though, I highly suspect those flying Medusa heads would still be coming at me.

Retro Coffee: Essential NES Games

Saturday, July 12th, 2008

Like most of you, I used to have an Nintendo Entertainment System back in the day. What games on that system were essential? Here’s the list I’ve got (so far):

Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. 2
Super Mario Bros. 3
The Legend of Zelda
Zelda II: The Adventures of Link
Metroid
Duck Hunt
Excitebike
Paperboy
Kirby’s Adventure
Donkey Kong
Castlevania
Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest
Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse
Kid Icarus
Mega Man
Mega Man 2
Mega Man 3
Mega Man 4
Mega Man 5
Mega Man 6
Mike Tyson’s Punch Out
Final Fantasy
Contra
Super C
Ninja Gaiden
Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos
Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom
Battletoads
Star Tropics
Metal Gear
Ducktales
Dragon Warrior
Dragon Warrior II
Dragon Warrior III
Dragon Warrior IV: Chaptors of the Chosen
Rygar
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III
Dr. Mario
Tetris
Tecmo Super Bowl
Double Dragon
Double Dragon II: The Revenge
Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones
The Goonies II
Hogan’s Alley
Batman
Vegas Dreams

If there are any missing from this list that you feel should be there, let me know and I’ll add them.