The Original Pokémon Trilogy

Choose your destiny!

Pokémon, or as it is called in Japan Pocket Monsters. What started as a simple game about catching animals and making them fight for our amusement turned into a massive ever expanding multibillion dollar industry with no foreseeable end in sight. Having come a long way since the days of the Gameboy these newer Pokémon games boast 3D graphics and moving sprites. However with all this glam do they still contain the heart that was put into the first trilogy? That what I’ll be reviewing today the first three Pokémon games, Red, Blue, and the special Pikachu Yellow Edition.

Though before we get on that subject lets talk about its history seeing as the series been going strong for more than a decade. When Satoshi Tajiri was young he lived in a suburb outside of Japan where during his free time he would spend his days catching bugs and tadpoles. As he grew older Satoshi decided that he wanted to share this experience with other young people who live in urban areas with no access to nature. From this idea the concept of Pokémon came about. Satoshi gathered up several of his friends Shigeki Morimoto a programmer, and Ken Sugimori an artist, together with them they put together the prototype of the game called “Capsule Monsters”. Satoshi pitched his game and idea to Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo, Shigeru loved it and pitched it to Nintendo’s President gaining Nintendo’s support.

These are some of the draft’s for the prototype of the game.

Godzilla battling King Kong? I swear I’ve seen this in a movie somewhere.

Its good to know the game changed a bit from the prototype.

Lapras looked a lot cooler back then.

When Pokémon was being designed Shigeki Morimoto decided to add one additional Pokémon to the games original 150. He made the Pokémon a secret and was planning to use it for post-launch events. Once the game was released it received average sales until it was announced that there was a secret Pokémon which would be given out at an event. This Pokémon was Mew. The games sales skyrocketed and the Pokémon series achieved total popularity with the Japanese people. Later on the idea of bringing the game overseas to other countries was pitched and the localization teams began to work on the games feverishly. In Japan there were three Pokémon Games out, Red, Green, and the third one in the series Blue. Blue was the version that was ported overseas due to it being a more streamlined version of the game as it had better sprites, less glitches, and a better musical score. In 1995 the games were released overseas as Pokémon Red, and Blue. Originally the localization team wanted to change the sprites believing the “cutesy” sprites would never be popular with Americans, Nintendo said no. The game became an overnight success and games flew off the shelves throughout the year.

A year after the games release the Anime adaption of it aptly called Pokémon was released in America and translated by 4Kids entertainment. The show proved to be a huge success and Nintendo followed by creating a new game based on the series. This game was Pokémon Special Pikachu Edition (or Yellow version as it was also called). The game featured a new story in which you played as Ash as he traveled the land seeking to be a Pokémon master, it also had newer sprites and a slightly altered score. It was upon the release of this game that the Pokémon series began to form a multi-million dollar franchise out of it’s popularity.

*Now for some reference seeing as Red, and Blue are the same game I will mostly cite differences between them and Yellow version while ultimately reviewing them as one thing.

Now the overarching point of the games series is to catch all 151 Pokémon which can only be done through trading across games, though in order to get Mew you need to either own a copy of Pokémon Stadium or you needed to go to one of the Nintendo events where Mew was given out. At first this may seem daunting as no game has all the Pokémon but with the incredible popularity of the series just getting one version and trading for the Pokémon exclusive to the other version was and still isn’t that difficult. In order to catch them all linking up with your friends or with a second Gameboy is a necessity and it is stressed that you do this to attain your ultimate task. Now each game on average is missing about eight Pokémon from its roster and has a host of super rares you will spend a lot of time trying to get a hold of.

For your viewing pleasure here are the lists of Pokémon exclusive to certain games and what games have what. Generously prepared by Bulbapedia.

Not only can you trade you can also battle with that spiffy link cable you will be using, Battling is a pivotal part of the game as well as a great deal of skill needs to be developed in order to battle effectively. . . or you can just throw a bunch of legendries in your party and call it a day. The core mechanic of the game centers around battles and the deep system which comprises it. In order to save both time and space I will use a chart previously prepared by Bulbapedia.

Click to Enlarge

Now the battle system in the games based around types and their respective weaknesses. In the series a battle is won by utilizing the advantages and disadvantages of a certain type or types of Pokémon to win a battle. Such as having a Fighting Type battle a Rock type, the rock type is weak to fighting therefore the fighting type should win. There are in some cases situations where this may not occur such as when a critical hit has occurred or if the attacking Pokémon has a negative status effect.

Despite the overly simplistic menus battles are for the most part very deep and require some thought.

Switching between Pokémon is paramount towards victory as having even one Pokémon on your team faint can easily tip the scales when you are trying to battle through hordes of Team Rocket thugs. Now I could go on for hours about the battle system but instead I shall give you my abridged talk on how it works;

• Each Pokémon has strengths and weaknesses according to its type
• All attacks have a type assigned to them, i.e. Tackle being a Normal type move and Flamethrower being a Fire Type move.
• Utilization of these moves and using them against Pokémon which are weak to that type of move typically discerns the victor.
• Its key to understand the weaknesses of your own Pokémon and not send a Water type out to fight an Electric type.
• Its Paramount to understand your Pokémon's strengths like sending a Rock type out to fight an Electric type.
• Having a diverse range of Pokémon types on your team and making sure they know a diverse range of moves for use in different occasions.

A bad matchup if I’ve ever seen one.

Pokémon isn’t just about battling there is also the act of catching the elusive Pocket Monsters.

No relation.

You do this by walking in tall grass, typically after 4-5 steps you will be stopped by the screen flipping out and a change in music. Then the battle screen pops up and you are made to weaken the Pokémon before you can capture it. You do this by battling it and reducing its health to around less than 25%, then you have to toss a Poke Ball at it. From there it’s a matter of waiting to see if the Pokémon is caught and if it happens to break free from the ball you toss another. Sometimes when walking through tall grass you will encounter Pokémon you do not want. You can circumvent them by choosing the Run Away command, or you can defeat them and get yourself some experience points.

Prepare yourself for capturing knave!

Now in this game Pokémon gain strength and evolutions through a leveling process typical of most all RPG’s you gain experience entirely through battle and the only shortcut through the process is through the use of the elusive “rare candy” item which nets you a free level. Now I’m sure you may have just thought “well I’ll just get myself some Rare Candies.” Now that is a foolish idea, for that free level you pay a price, you gain few if any stat yields and as a whole it does more harm then good. The leveling process is simple you defeat Pokémon either through a random battle or through a trainer battle and you level your Pokémon up; now the only real difference between this level system and any other RPG’s is that only the Pokémon that participate in battle gain Experience and those who participate share it meaning that however much you gain its split amongst however many Pokémon you use per causing a opponents Pokémon to faint.

 

Wut?

Here’s where we begin to find differences in the games, the story Red and Blue follows and the story Yellow follows are completely different. So I shall discuss them in turn:

In Pokémon Red and Blue you play as a young upstart from Pallet Town (whom you name) and your dream is to become the best there ever was, and to catch them is your real test and to train them is you cause. You will travel across the land, searching far and wide, and release from you hand the power that’s inside

POKEMON! Its you and me, I know it’s my destiny!

Sorry. I couldn’t help myself. Seriously though your objective is to become the best by defeating the eight Gym Leaders scattered through the region of Kanto and to ultimately defeat the Elite Four while catching all the Pokémon to become a master. Along the way though you will encounter the sinister Team Rocket who will unceasingly do bad things, which forces you to beat them badly and eventually face their leader. Back onto the topic of the Gym Leaders there are eight of them and each one has a theme, Rock, Water, Electric, Grass, etc. So you will need to adjust your team accordingly to face them. There are also other mysteries in the game to seek out, like the meaning of a journal you find in a burned out building, where the cruise liner disappears to, or the true reason behind your rivals appearance in Pokémon Tower.

Now in Yellow the premise remains mostly the same only you are playing as Ash from the television series. You advance through the game where you experience events similar to that which is had in the show itself. These include meeting Jessie and James of Team Rocket, gaining one of each of the original starter Pokémon and having Pikachu follow you around.

D’aaaaaaaaaaaaaw.

Your objective of being the best remains unchanging as you continue the journey of catching all the Pokémon and beating the Elite Four. Two of the Gym Leaders Brock, and Misty have dialogue from the show, but the do not follow you around like faithful Pikachu does.

Now one of the differences between the games is the Rival, he talks more like his counterpart from the Animated Series then he does in the previous games but ultimately still acts the same. He appears in all the same places,and the only major difference is that he has an Eevee on his team. He still appears everywhere though, everywhere. . .

Dude I’m tellin’ yah those graves had totally been robbed before I even got here.

These Pokémon games have a very deep story to them and for younger players things may go completely unnoticed, one of these things is Gary. Over the course of the game you see Gary change as a person as he experiences many different things aside from the feeling of being beat down. Gary is a fairly tragic character throughout the game as he never gets to achieve his own dream regardless to how hard he tries. You also find a journal which talks about the experiments a scientist performed, and put to rest a resentful ghost. This game is really deep, surprisingly so deep that I had to replay these games to fully take in everything.

The game also has its flaws, these come in the form of glitches and battery life. There are a large cabaret of glitches that I won’t go into length about, but its these glitches which one can deliberately cause or accidentally cause that can ruin your game and make you lose everything. The most notably is Missingno. which is a glitch caused by talking to the old man in Viridian and then flying to Cinnabar Island and surfing up and down the coast. Missingno. Will give you 99 of whatever item is in your sixth slot if you beat it, but if you catch it and put it in your PC your game file will become corrupted. The other glitches aren’t nearly as useful and a majority will just ruin your game.

These glitches are usually caused by you doing something the game didn’t intend and an overflow of data occurs where the game searches for something which doesn’t exist. What the game produces is a glitch in either the form of glitch city, or a glitch Pokémon. If you are really interested in these glitches you can find a list of them Here.

All of the Pokémon games up until the fourth generation have an internal battery inside them to store save data, and as all batteries do eventually they will die. The worst part about the battery dying is that you lose everything as a result and are treated to this beautiful screen. . .

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

This isn’t a regular problem as the the batteries generally last a very long time, some people boast that they' to this day have never had to change their batteries out; and even if it does die you can easily get a replacement battery at your local convenience store.

Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow are all great games and are enjoyable to play either casually or in one go. The games have a charm to them that is practically immortal from the silly dialogue to the catchy tunes, you know after a while you will be humming the beats to at least one location.

That’s why he’s paid the big bucks.

The game even periodically rewards you for attaining feats without spoiling you, for every certain amount of Pokémon you catch you get a Key Item which will aid you; despite this the trainers and battles you will face will be challenging but not to hard so long as you grasp the basic strategy of type disadvantages and advantages. I can easily say these are the greatest three games for the Gameboy only closely followed by Dragon Warrior and the the Sword of Hope series. I’d recommend anyone who’s either looking to connect(or reconnect) with Pokémon's roots or wants to give the series a go for the first time, these are the games for you. What makes them even better is that they are all relatively affordable mostly being in the $12 to $18 bracket. I’d recommend you pick up a copy of either and while you are at get yourself a copy of Pokémon Stadium (or a Super Gameboy) so that you can play it on your TV

Not only are the games in color they each have their own respective borders, pretty cool, eh?

I bet you thought I wasn’t going to end with that, well you were wrong.

Haunting: Starring Polterguy (Genesis)

What is WITH that goofy expression?

There's a point in nearly every child's life where they have a firm idea of what they would like to be when they grow up. It's somewhere between age 5 and age 8 where the child has a good long stretch of time devoted to being a fireman, conductor, policeman etc. Sure, Billy wanted to be a superhero at 4, a boat captain by 5, but by 6; he's going to be an astronaut and there's not a darn thing anyone can do about it. Like a few of you, I'm sure; I wanted to be a game designer. I wanted to work on the next Mega Man or scheme up the next platforming masterpiece. Of course by the time I hit middle-school I realized that my Achilles heel is math and since I count on my fingers - that ambition goes right out the window.

As an adult I realize that there is an even bigger hurdle than having absolutely no mathematical skills. As a game designer, you have to be able to sift through insane ideas that work and insane ideas that wont. We've all played countless games that sounded great on paper, but were a confusing, horrific mess in practice. On the other hand, there's games like Sonic the Hedgehog, Toejam and Earl, Earthworm Jim, and more that had no business being good; but by some crazy fluke are absolute classics, worthy of the highest level of praise. Finally, there's the rare class of games that Electronic Arts' "Haunting: Starring Polterguy" falls into - it sounds like a great idea, it IS a great idea, and by that very nature - will fade into obscurity in spite of being a solid, wonderful game.

Haunting has one of the greatest and most straightforward plots in gaming; you control a poltergeist and scare the ever-loving pee out of an obnoxious family. The game was released in 1993 - about 5 or so years after the film Beetlejuice, which was still popular in the early 90's due to an animated series, Action figure line, and its ubiquity on basic cable, USA and HBO. So ghostly creatures scaring off a family by doing bizarre, silly, funny, or grotesque pranks seemed like a great idea on paper.

Boo! Scary Rug Attack!

A great concept is only the first hurdle in making a solid game. The real question is "how does it play?"

I'm happy to report that the gameplay in Haunting is addictive and that the gameplay mechanics are just as inventive as the plot. You control Polterguy through a house laid out in an aerial isometric perspective. In each room there are various objects that emit a sparkling glow when Polterguy gets near them. These items are your traps and can be possessed in order to perform various scares. When a member of the Sardini family is in the same room as you, the idea is to possess as many different objects as possible to raise their fright level. Some of these traps go off automatically, some are controlled by you, and still others are set off by the Sardinis themselves once they are set. There's fire shooting candelabras, spiders, rugs that bleed, skeletons, corpses, visions of death, and more. You also have a few special scares at your disposal such as the "Super Scare" and "Boo-doo" and more. Seeing how many different scares you can pull off in one room before the family member leaves is half of the fun.

Whippin' out the Boo-Doo!

Once you have successfully chased a member of the Sardini family out of the room, you have to collect the green ecto pools left behind before a floating ecto monster will come and suck them up. If you encounter one of these ecto monsters, you can try to fend them off with your kick (which is next to useless) or run to another room and try to scare another family member before your ecto bar runs down. Ecto acts as a timer of sorts - if you run out of ecto before completing the level, you are forced to fight your way through the underground level for more ecto. Each level is completed once all of the Sardinis flee the house from one of the rooms that leads outside. After each level is complete, you are sent to the underground stage in order to earn back any ecto that you expended during the house level.

You will grow to hate the Underground Stages...

There's a handful of dangers that you'll run into in Haunting. Not surprisingly, the Sardini family members cannot see you, so coming into close contact with them is not in the least bit dangerous. However, the dog can not only can see you but is quite a nuisance. The dog alerts ecto monsters, barks to drain your ecto and also calms the fright level of the Sardini family. If a family member is in the room with the dog, your best bet is to steer clear and go after another member until the person has left the room and is fair game. As stated before, the ecto monsters are a pain because they attack to drain your ecto and also suck up any earned ecto once you've chased a family member out of the room. Treat these like the dog and run to the nearest room quickly. Your biggest enemy in this game is time because once your ecto meter runs out you are stuck battling through the underground stage. Dangers such as hands that pop out of walls, bats, and more can drain your life. If you die in the underground stage, that's it. Polterguy is toast.

The presentation of Haunting is decent but neither the graphics nor the sound are the highlight of the game. The gloopy, drippy, screechy sound effects in Haunting are effective - but I've heard better from other games around the same time. The spooky music is a good fit for the game but can be grating at times. I know that games of this era weren't known for their dolby digital surround masterpiece soundtracks, but the sound effects sound tinny and distorted. The graphics are functional and at times colorful and humorous. While nothing to write home about, I would rate the graphics higher than the sound and would say that as far as what the Sega Genesis was offering at the time, the graphics are better than average. I just wish the main character didn't look so darn goofy.

Scared the pants off 'im!

The controls work great - barring only a few minor hiccups here and there. The perspective sometimes hinders your progress as you think you're passing through a doorway but are just rubbing up against the wall. Sometimes your character feels like he's sliding around a little after you're done pressing the direction button, which is perfectly fine in the house stages but frustrating in the underground ones. However, throughout most of the game the controls do exactly what they should do.

I would say that the challenge level for Haunting is between beginner and intermediate difficulty. Sometimes it feels as if nothing is going your way; the dog shows up for every scare, the Sardinis run from the room after only 2 or so traps and you can't seem to get the final member of the family outta the house no matter how many traps you set. Times like that, you'll find yourself in the underground dungeon stage a lot and it will drain your health faster than you'd imagine. I suppose the main strategy for the dungeon is just to keep a slow but steady pace and try not to miss any of the ecto blobs on your journey or else you'll have a tough time trekking all the way back to the beginning of the stage just to get grabbed by a rogue arm when you weren't paying attention. Other times, the game feels like it almost plays itself for you. The family members flee the house after only a room or two, the dog is nowhere to be found, and you slid right out of the room before the ecto monsters arrived. The difficulty curve sometimes feels like luck-of-the-draw, some of it is in setting off the right traps at the right time, and some of it lies in checking your map frequently and building a solid strategy to get those people outta the house in as few steps as possible.

Spooky Kabuki Bed Frame Attack!!

So the ultimate question is, "Why didn't this game go over better?" After all, if you were to do a poll of your closest friends and ask them how many had Haunting, I'm sure most would look at you with that confused puppy dog look. The graphics are decent, the concept is awesome, and the gameplay is solid. I suspect the release of the Sega CD complicated things and hindered the sale of Genesis games such as this. Whatever the case may be, this is an original, worthwhile game that I highly recommend. It's quirky, it's fun, and it'll impress your friends when you tell them you have a game where a ghost with a mohawk scares the piddle out of a well-to-do family. Give this one a try!

Axelay

They forgot to add “Hardest shooter in the universe” as the subtitle.

Axelay is just one of Konami’s plethora of shooters, though not as notable as Gradius was Axelay still held up fairly well during the SNES’s lifetime. One of the most inventive aspects of the game was its head on perspective as you play the game perpetually moving forward as if driving a race car. At certain points though the game reverts to a side scrolling view, but for the most part it is done using the head on view.

As you move forward the scenery below your ship constantly moves this was a fairly unique type of graphic as during this games time the Super Nintendo was the only system with the capacity to do this. The Super Nintendo has eight modes of graphical ability each of which correlates to a certain kind of background movement and overlay. Mode 7 was a mode that took an image and gave it a horizon effect making it so that it looked like you were traveling quickly through the air. This mode was underused up until Axelay came about, once the game was released several other games popped up using this same type of mode. (Lawnmower man anyone?)

Now the overall purpose behind Axelay is that the earth is being invaded and you are a pilot (the last pilot alive actually) who is trying to stop the Aliens. The plot gets no deeper then that. To its credit it is a space shooter, a genre which commonly has no story whatsoever.

So I guess he won’t be getting a pension?

Sure the story may not exist but the gameplay is where it really seems to shine. Unlike most shooters where your weapon upgrades and changes based on items you pick up, Axelay at the start of every level lets you change your weapons out with ones you unlock as you progress through the game. In Axelay you are given three different weapons to use which you can alternate through with the L and R buttons at any given time. These weapons can later be changed out with ones you unlock. The weapons also count as a pseudo hit gauge as every time you are hit you loose access to one weapon until you have none and explode.

All the weapons in Axelay are unique and have their own respective features and attack power. For example the straight laser is a slightly stronger version of the regular laser your ship has if it loses all its weapons the straight laser is only capable of firing straight ahead but fires very rapidly. The Spread is about as strong as the regular laser but is capable of shooting all around your ship. Finally the Macro Missile is the strongest of the three starting weapons but pauses for a second between firing. All weapons aside from Bay weapons have a secondary missile which can be fired constantly, Bay weapons are better versions of the regular missile so they fire using the missile button.

Generally every level contains hazards just as much as it contains enemies that wish to kill you by crashing into you. These hazards vary from level to level and range from flying rocks to closing doors to lava. At times the hazards may seem like no problem but when you have several thrown at once while the levels pace increases You’ll want to check your reflexes.

What is this, how is this even possible?

In most of the levels you will encounter both a mini-boss and a end of the stage boss, this will not happen on all levels but will happen on most. The mini-bosses usually aren’t to much of a challenge as they tend to keep to a pattern, but the end stage bosses tend to mix it up. The bosses are usually themed around the stage you are play for example. . .

The mini boss for the first stage is a crazy giant harrier jet thing which launches missiles and lasers at you.

As you can see from the screenshots the game has some very well designed sprites, this carries through the entire game. The sprite work, backgrounds, and music all had a lot of care and effort put into them and they are all quite good in their own right. Despite this though while playing you generally will not have much time to bask in the games aesthetic beauty as you will most likely be trying to not die. . . a lot.

Now this game is difficult, and I mean really difficult. I’ve played most of the Gradius games and they pale in comparison to this game. What adds to the difficulty is the lack of the Konami Code in this game so that you can increase your amount of lives or continues. Instead you are given four continues and three lives per continue. Now at first you may be thinking “surely that must be enough to complete a simple space shooter game?” Well that my friends is where you are wrong. For a first play through where you have no idea what to expect the hazards will absolutely slaughter you, later so will the enemies. However this is a game where you get better by playing it over and over, as you learn what to expect you can avoid the hazards and know how to react to certain enemies. So despite its difficulty if you give it enough time you will eventually plow through it.

This is an example of one of those games that are so hard that when you beat it you gain a feeling of satisfaction at triumphing over it. I’d place up with Ninja Gaiden for the rewarding feeling you get over beating it. This is a game I would recommend to those seeking a challenge or to general fans of space shooters. It may be hard, but who doesn’t like a little challenge now and then?

Gahahahahahahahaha!

Bubble Bobble Part 2 (NES)

There are roughly 800 games in the NES catalog, but probably less than 20 licensed/unlicensed carts that usually hover around the $100 or more mark. Some, because they are universally loved and extremely sought after, others because they are supremely rare, and still more because they have a healthy amount of undeserved hype behind them. Let's face the facts - you're probably never going to get your hands on a complete copy of Stadium Events and even if you do - you wouldn't really feel that satisfied having it. However, there are some games that are absolutely worth picking up for the 100 - 200+ dollar asking price if faced with the choice and near the top of that list is Taito's 1993 classic Bubble Bobble part 2.

First and foremost, let's cover why Bubble Bobble Part 2 is a significant collector's item. Like most of the other highly collectable licensed NES games; Bubble Bobble part 2 was released late in the NES' lifespan. Starting in 1993 and working into 1994, NES game production slowed down to make way for more Super NES games, which was becoming the dominant system at the time. So this game is either scarce because:

A.) Buyers had moved on to the 16-bit systems and weren't picking up these last few NES games
or
B.) There was a smaller production run on these final games as a result of the SNES' increased popularity.

Whatever the case may be, Bubble Bobble Part 2 is considered a rare game in the NES library. It should be noted that (for some confusing reason) there are no less than three different games that bear the title or tagline of "Bubble Bobble 2." For the NES, there is Bubble Bobble Part 2 (this game) and Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2, which was released 2 years prior on the NES and is the original "sequel" to Bubble Bobble. There's also an arcade game called Bubble Symphony that is also known as Bubble Bobble 2 in some regions. However, that's only available here in the states in the Taito Legends 2 collection for Xbox, is not an NES game, and thus you don't have to worry your pretty little head about it. These games are confusingly named, confusingly numbered, and that's just how it should be in this topsy-turvy world.

There you are asking yourself, "Ok sure. The game is rare and worth quite a nice chunk of change - but is it worth it to me? " While I shouldn't be able to answer that question for you; I can. The answer is "yes."

Anyone familiar with the original Bubble Bobble will need little introduction to the basics of the game, but even for the uninitiated the gameplay is fast, fun and simple. You control one of two lovable dinosaurs - who in the cutscene at the beginning of the game have their girlfriends taken away by some mean ol' monsters. A pretty original storyline if you don't count Super Mario Bros, Splatterhouse, Ghosts 'n Goblins, Double Dragon and about 300 different early videogames. All kidding aside, the cutscene looks great and sets the tone for the improvements made over BB1 throughout.

Come on! That's just mean!

As stated before, the gameplay is as straightforward as it gets. Your dinosaur spits out bubbles that can trap enemies (and also provide a nice floating ledge to double-jump from.) You must progress through a mountain of different stages using your trusty bubbles and well timed jumps. If your character falls through the bottom of the screen, he comes out of the top. Anyone familiar with the original game will have absolutely no problem picking this one up.

This might look familiar...

There are a host of new enemies to battle in this one including bosses; which, to the best of my knowledge were nowhere in the first game (after all I never made it past stage 15 or so in Bubble Bobble. These games are tough.)

Woah! What have we here?!

The difficulty level compared to the first one is slightly easier - however, enemies like the flame guys and bosses serve as a nice balance to the mildly easier difficulty. However, make no mistake - Bubble Bobble part 2 is difficult. These games are notorious for being really long and like most arcade/action games get increasingly more difficult as the stages progress.

The graphics aren't a "night-and-day" difference from Bubble Bobble 1, but are still greatly improved. The characters look sharper, the levels are more colorful, and the cutscene at the beginning is a nice bonus. Another insanely popular NES game that the graphics can compare nicely to is Kirby's Adventure. Cutesy, colorful, playful and altogether adorable - the graphics are sharp and really display some of the best that the NES can represent. And just like the first game, the music is infectious. My only complaint about this game is the lack of the original theme song. However, this game has a snappy theme in its own right and all of the sound effects are sharp and sound arcade-quality.

I cannot recommend this game highly enough. Yes, the pricetag may seem steep at first - but if you're looking to establish a pretty awesome NES collection, this should be the first "upper-level" game on your list. Just imagine the bragging rights! I bet you that very few if any of your friends have this one - and you didn't have to fork over 20k for it like you did for Stadium Events! If the game is available to add to your cart now, I suggest doing so. If not, that's why LukieGames has a "Put me on the Waiting List" button. Push it now. You'll be glad you did!

Power Piggs of the Dark Age

Old-school gaming was littered with wacky characters in bizarre situations. From the early days of Pacman to classics such as Super Mario Bros and Battletoads - the concepts were more than a little strange. Plumbers eating magic flowers and throwing fireballs, a yellow hockey puck that swallows pills and eats ghosts; there's no denying that while today's games are often based around some exaggerated form of reality (ie: the two-million Call of Duty games, Grand Theft Auto, The Sims,) early games were all about the surreal. So it should come as no surprise that Titus Software's "Power Piggs of the Dark Age" for the Super Nintendo is one big slice of crazy.

Released in 1994, this action platformer lets you take control of Bruno - head of the Power Piggs, on a quest to defend the kingdom from the Wolff Wizzard. Notice a trend with the "Super Kool 90's Spelling?!" The game tosses in a handful of references to fairytales such as the three little pigs and red riding hood and would definitely place pretty high in the "really original concept; if by original, you mean totally insane" contest. Did I mention the Power Piggs are the proud owners of what has to be the only pig-run donut shop in the dark ages? Total insanity.

Totally Bonkers

So how does Power Piggs play? Surprisingly well for a relatively unknown platformer. Bruno has two attacks, a sword slash and a donut throwing attack (of which there are a few varieties.) For the most part, the controls are competent. However, I would have liked a jump action that was a little less stiff. Your Power Pigg just sort of flops around instead of gracefully jumping from platform to platform. This can lead to some aggravating blunders and frequent trips to the spike pit if you're not extremely careful. There are quite a few airducts scattered around that will blow your character to higher platforms and add a fun dynamic to otherwise repetitive platforming.

The graphic style is a sort of mixed bag. The art style and bright, colorful graphics lead me to believe the developers might have been planning a cartoon spinoff ala "Earthworm Jim." It wouldn't be hard to picture a "Power Piggs of the Dark Age" cartoon on the WB or NBC Saturday morning lineup if the game had really taken off and become a franchise. The backgrounds are colorful - filled with candy-cane trees, swampland, and cartoony, stylized buildings. Sadly, in spite of the interesting direction that was taken with the graphics - some things still feel unfinished. I can't help but think a little more time could have been spent on your main character. Bruno just looks a bit, well...off.

Some of the enemies look great - the knight wolf at the end of stage 1, the window hanging wolves, and the giant wolves in the donut factory stage are top notch. However, the archers and "grandma" wolf feel flat and rushed. And why DOES the grandma wolf blow fireballs out of his dress?

Some less than stellar sprites aside, there are quite a few different enemies in Power Piggs and it doesn't feel like you're constantly coming up against the same two boring sprites.

Power Piggs of the Dark Ages is a little known and very original platformer. The cartoony art style works fairly well and the controls don't provide too many "controller-hurling moments." The music's funky and the game provides quite a bit of a challenge (sometimes intentional, sometimes as a result of a less than stellar jumping mechanic.) This game is not without its flaws. However, with a little patience, Power Piggs can be a rewarding action-platformer. So if you're on the lookout for a crazy, relatively unknown Super NES game to amaze your friends with - this one will do the trick.

Ghost Trick

Is a logic/puzzle game created by Shu Takumi the brilliant mind behind the Ace Attorney series of games and it shows as the music and in between scenes are reminiscent of what you would expect from a Ace Attorney game. This game features an interesting concept and system which involves traveling back in time to four minutes before someone’s death and saving said person’s life, this is done through the manipulation of objects strewn throughout the area. This game features a colorful cast of characters whom you most likely fall in love with almost instantly.

This guy especially.

The story of the game is thus, you play as Sissel whom dies tragically one dark stormy night. The next thing he knows he wakes up to find himself as not only a ghost but a ghost who has lost his memories. He is then greeted by the mysterious Ray who explains to him that he is dead and has special powers called “Ghost Tricks” which give him the ability to manipulate objects. Upon witnessing the death of a young detective in the same vicinity of his own death Sissel learns that he has the power to go back to four minute's before someone's death, from there he manipulates objects to stop her assailant and save her life. Sissel then concludes that she must have some connection to his lost memories so upon saving her he teams up with her to hunt down his memories and to learn the truth behind these mysterious ghost tricks he has gained.

Living every mans dream.

In the game you mainly play as Sissel as you switch between the real world and the ghost world. The differences between these two worlds are drastic and are as follows'; In the Real World time passes gradually and you are able to manipulate whatever object you are currently residing in, however you cannot travel to other objects. In the Ghost World you can freely travel to any object within Sissel’s reach, and time freezes in place. This is the main mechanic of the game switching between worlds and manipulating objects, this allows for creative solutions to puzzles. Sissels main ability in the game is that he can manipulate objects, but there is one other character with a different ability that you meet later in the game, he has the ability to swap objects which adds additional depth to puzzles as you have the ability to swap items that look similar. 

Indubitably.

Now aside from just switching between the real world and the ghost world you also have the ability to go four minutes before the death of any person and attempt to prevent said death. This is where most puzzles occur, preventing said death. You go about this by manipulating objects in order to either buy time or to utterly prevent the death entirely. Saving lives will be very commonplace. Sissel also has the ability to manipulate phones and utilizes them to go from location to location.

Everyone’s a critic.

No Jeego, like this. . .

All the characters in the game are memorable, down to Bailey and his Panic Dance which has been passed down through his family for generations. You will fall in love with the characters, some more than others possibly, but you will fall in love with them none the less. Each has their own story that intertwines with the overall plot and helps to build up the climax as Sissel attempts to find his lost memories. Also there is the most adorable Pomeranian ever.

D’aaaaaaaaaw.

The music to the game is nothing to write home about but its nice enough to listen to when you are actually playing the game. However the art and 3D movements more than make up for it. As you may have noticed from the dog above the rest of the characters are designed in a similar fashion, also the characters are very expressive, I mean very. Most of the characters have about six or more expressions. The game has been praised for its fluid movements with its 3D models as you may have noticed from the earlier dancing man. Also the game contains beautiful backgrounds and areas that seem to be a combination of hand drawn backdrops and 3D models.

 

This is my favorite expression.

Now the overall story to the game revolves around Sissel trying to regain his lost memories after awakening as a ghost. Over the course of the game his hunt for his memories intertwines his fate with those of many people who were involved in an incident a long time ago. Sissel teams up with a girl named Lynne who is just as fiery as her red hair and though reluctant at first she decided to team up with Sissel. They both work together to undercover a conspiracy and the surfacing of another person with the ability to manipulate. The game reaches its climax with Sissel regaining his memories and saving the life of his oldest and dearest friend.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is a great game, in my opinion its worth paying full retail for it. It has an incredibly satisfying story a host a fun puzzles and a great host of characters. Though unfortunately this game isn’t for everyone, this game is at its core a puzzle game, so for those who don’t enjoy puzzles this isn’t the game for you. This game has a great and satisfying story and I would highly recommend it for that alone. You can tell this game is by the creator of the Phoenix Wright series as the quirky humor from that series has carried over to this game. All in all, if you’re a fan of Puzzles and Story then this is the game for you as it succeeds at this.