Retro Reviews
Old-school reviews.
Retro Review: R.O.B. Games (NES)
Robotic Operating Buddy? You’re not my buddy, guy! Release Date: October 1985 Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo When you’re trying to differentiate yourself, you’re bound to take some chances. The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) had that issue from the onset. In an attempt to differentiate itself from the video games than had crashed before it, however, it may have tried too hard. ...[Read More]
Retro Review: Demon Attack (Atari 2600)
Release Date: 1982 Developer: Imagic Publisher: Imagic Imitation is considered the sincerest form of flattery. In video games nowadays, it’s seen by many as derivative and lazy. Back in the second generation of home video game consoles, it was almost inevitable. Imagic’s Demon Attack at least imitated with some style. Back in the early years of home video gaming, ideas for new games came in fast a...[Read More]
Retro Review: Chu Chu Rocket (DC)
Release Date: November 11, 1999 Developer: Sonic Team Publisher: SEGA I keep coming back to the SEGA Dreamcast. With all the awesome old-school games I can pick through, it’s the Dreamcast I want to go back to. For this Retro Review, my pick has more meaning to usual. A little over a week ago, I wrote an article espousing my love for the console and my amazement at its longevity. That led to a dis...[Read More]
Retro Review: Life Force (NES)
30 Lives, Excessive Force Release Date: August 1988 Developer: Konami Publisher: Konami There is a term I bring up whenever I hear someone raised on Xbox and PlayStation complain about the difficulty of a game nowadays. My daughter is one who has complained as such. My response to her is the same as it is to anyone who never played a game on a system older than the Nintendo 64. There are three kin...[Read More]
Retro Review: Space Channel 5 (DC)
Release Date: December 16, 1999 Developer: SEGA Enterprises Ltd. Publisher: SEGA Enterprises Ltd. For all the negatives you can heap on SEGA of Japan – and I can spout out about 20 negatives off the top of my head – playing it safe with their games is not one of them. As followers know, the SEGA Dreamcast is one of my favorite consoles of all-time. SEGA’s snake bitten 128-bit box was the home of s...[Read More]
Retro Review: River City Ransom (NES)
Release Date: April 25, 1989 Developer: Technos Japan Corp. Publisher: Technos Japan Corp. When I wanna wind down from a day of stress, I often look to video games to help me unwind. Recently, I’ve been using The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on my Wii U. I have a review coming up on it. Here’s a small spoiler: it is AWESOME! Back in the day, I would turn to beat-‘em-up games to soothe my fr...[Read More]
Retro Review: Final Fantasy III (SNES)
Release Date: April 2, 1994 Developer: Square Co., Ltd. Publisher: Square Co., Ltd. This Retro Review felt like a cop-out when I decided to write this. I love this game, and it is one of my all-time favorite games. But it’s also a game many 16-bit JRPG lovers already hold in high regard. I had to write it, though, because Final Fantasy XV stuck it in my head. Because of the newer game, I re...[Read More]
Have You Seen…Blind Date?
Release Date: March 27, 1987 Director: Blake Edwards Starring: Bruce Willis, Kim Basinger, John Larroquette, William Daniels, Phil Hartman Favorite quote: “Oh Walter your beautiful car! Oh look on the bright side, what else can happen?” – Nadia Gates I haven’t gone down this well in a while. It’s not been for a lack of desire; real life finds a way to ruin plans. So I figure, why not restart...[Read More]
Retro Review: Castlevania Bloodlines (GEN)
Release Date: March 17, 1994 Developer: Konami Publisher: Konami Sorry for not posting anything recently. You know, life and such. I touched on this subject once before with my review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist for the Genesis, but it’s worth repeating again. Nintendo revived the video game market in the mid-to-late 80s. But while the NES was getting all the love from co...[Read More]
Retro Review: Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six (PC)
Release Date: August 21, 1998 Developer: Red Storm Entertainment, Inc. Publisher: Red Storm Entertainment, Inc. This past weekend, I was bombarded by Tom Clancy in effigy. My son gifted me a key to the closed beta for Ghost Recon Wildlands. Around the same time, I found out that Ubisoft set Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege, a game I do not yet own but enjoy, to be free to play for the weekend. For ...[Read More]
Retro Review: Dragon Warrior (NES)
Release Date: May 27, 1986 Developer: Chunsoft Co., Ltd. Publisher: Enix Corporation Sometimes, nostalgia clouds reality for me. The dawn of the JRPG hit me relatively early. It hit me in the form of Dragon Warrior, a game for the NES that was as surprising as it was confusing. I only discovered it when I asked the guy at the video rental store where I rented NES games from if they had any role-pl...[Read More]
Retro Review: Baldur’s Gate (PC)
Release Date: 1998 Developer: BioWare Corporation Publisher: Interplay Productions, Inc. My love for role-playing games began with tabletop Dungeons & Dragons campaigns with some like-minded friends in the early 80s. It was a fleeting experience, since the DM ended up moving a couple of weeks after he introduced me to it. But I seriously enjoyed the experience. Fast forward nearly 20 years, an...[Read More]