I have fond memories of this game. Well… Fond and frustrating when I think back to the time when my basement got broken into and all my NES games got stolen except for Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles 1.
Later the poor kid had the audacity to come back for a second time to rob some more but my dad caught him and managed to get some of the games back. I say some because the kid had sold some of them already, and that included Felix The Cat on the NES.
So no, the frustration does not come from some “NES hard” bullcrap like Castlevania or some Ghosts’n Goblins shit.
Playing the game I only have fond memories and they stem from the many forms Felix can take on thanks to his magic bags, great graphics and from the fact that this is one of the few games I owned that I could actually beat!
Continue reading Review: Felix The Cat (NES 1992)
Review: Horror Story (PC Engine/Turbografx 1993)
Horror Story is a fantastic arcade style game on the PC Engine. It is a co-op run and gun game developed by Toaplan (Batsugun, Zero Wing) and is clearly inspired by Ghostbusters in many ways. Here we get the Japanese take on ghostbusting as most of the enemies in the early stages are spirits from Japanese folklore.
I was thrilled when I discovered that the PC Engine had a sideview run and gun game like this, and I was very happy with the experience.
Continue reading Review: Horror Story (PC Engine/Turbografx 1993)
Review – Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana (2017 PS4 JPN)
After I got my PC Engine(Japanese Turbografx 16) just about 2 years ago I became a huge fan of the Ys series. Ys Book 1 & 2(1989) and Ys IV: Dawn of Ys(1993) for the PC Engine/Turbografx 16 are action-rpg games that rival some of the best games of their era such as the Final Fantasy and Zelda games. I reviewed those also on this site for those interested.
After all this time I was pretty hyped to see that a new main series Ys game was being made. Ys VIII is obviously the eight game in the series but I missed Ys 5, 6 and 7 and will go play those soon.
I played the Ys IV remake “Memories of Celceta” on the Vita and I liked it a lot except that I feel like they butchered the great original story of the PC Engine original.
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana was also released on the Vita in Japan in 2016 but more recently the game was released on the PS4 but also just in Japan.
I speak fluent Japanese (N2/N1 level) so i thought I would give Ys VIII a go and review it for English speakers before it releases internationally 12th of September 2017.
Continue reading Review – Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana (2017 PS4 JPN)
Review: Kaze Kiri (1994 PC Engine)
Kaze Kiri is one of those rare late PC Engine CD games that is ridiculously overpriced (150-200$). The Play Station, Sega Saturn and PC-FX were just around the corner and an action game like Kaze Kiri had some big shoes to fill because the game would be compared to games such as Shinobi 3, Hagane and Rondo of Blood.
Kaze Kiri might not outperform any of these games but it is certainly worth playing if you emulate it or get a repro cd from PCE Works.
Continue reading Review: Kaze Kiri (1994 PC Engine)
Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES 1989)
… Or Teenage Mutant HERO Turtles if you are from Europe like me. The first video game outing of the Turtles has been made infamous by the Angry Video Game Nerd for being overly difficult, cryptic and unfair. But in fact, for the AVGN and myself this is a beloved childhood game that we find fun to play despite its flaws.
Continue reading Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES 1989)
PAL optimized NES games – list in progress
Gamers in Europe really got the short end of the stick in the 80’s and early 90’s. Fewer releases, sometimes more than a year after games were released in the US.
As a PAL NES owner and a cart collector the PAL vs. NTSC issue still plaques me.
European PAL games run in 50hz but US games run in 60hz. What this means is that the refresh rates on TV’s in their respective areas effect game speed on the consoles. PAL games run about 17% slower than the NTSC games and they have those ugly black boarders to fit the screen. This bugs the hell out of me but luckily they started fixing some games and “optimized” them for PAL play. What they did is they patched the games so they run faster and at a higher pitch, these games would play great on a PAL console but played on a NTSC console the game would be way too fast and glitch out.
As a NES collector in the PAL region I just wanted to make a list of all optimized PAL games released in Europe for the world to see, the list is not complete yet but I am still adding games to the list as I test more games.
Continue reading PAL optimized NES games – list in progress
Cousin Gaming 