Episode 356: 1991 - The Years-In-Review Revue

I left the batteries in my Game Gear for too long so it died via acid leakage, but back in the day I enjoyed the three games I had for it (Sonic 1, some crappy side scrolling Afterburner shoot 'em up and a Speedball knock-off) while waiting for the clothes dryer to finish at the local coin laundry.

So I’m pretty sure the “only trust your fists” like in Streets of Rage shows up in the demonstration if you let it run. I’m positive I’ve seen it run in game! Also Parasol Stars totally rules, it might be my fav in that entire series!

Kevin Bunch

Love these years in review episodes, especially when I’ve played a lot of the games you guys talked about! Also I’ve only gotten past the Turbo Tunnel in Battletoads one lousy time. Turtles in Time is far superior as you guys eloquently said in the show.

James Krusling

Every year when you do these shows I'm reminded of A) how fast the industry actually moved, and B) how slow it actually felt. I turned 7 in 1991, and I feel like it was years before I played most of the stuff talked about in this episode. 1991 for me was still all about the NES, may have finally beaten Mario 3 that year. I know for sure I got TMNT 2 on the NES that Christmas (90). I feel like I was completely unaware of the Genesis until 91. I wasn't playing any of these games until 1993, not getting my SNES until Christmas '92. Just sharing my personal experience.

DarthObvious

Except Randall Cunningham and Jim Kelly!

Chris Dobson

I have a completely unverifiable theory in regards to why folks like Lynx videos more than Game Gear: I would guess many folks like myself were more likely to have bought into Sega’s marketing and made the switch from GB to GG as opposed to Lynx. It was quite a sting to experience that buyer’s remorse as a pre-teen. The Lynx is a curiosity, the road less traveled so to speak, so the videos are more attractive, exotic even. Game Gear is regret. That being said, I still love me some GG and I watch all Jeremy’s videos ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

James Ryall

I’m certainly not a Game Gear stan, but it gets dunked on unfairly way too much. Jeremy - I love your Game Gear Works videos!

Brian Biggs

I had a Game Gear for a little while in the late 90s when I traded a carton of cigarettes to my next door neighbor for one.

littleterr0r

I loved this game when I was a kid.

We're all learning with Benj in this episode.

Phoequinox

I played through all the Mega Man games on NES well over 10 years ago now, which hurts my brain. But because it was so long ago, I can't remember what games had what. I remember 2 distinctly because I always wanted to play that as a kid and thumbed through magazines obsessively. But beyond the first two, they're all a blur to me. Also, having played both Americanized Puyo games as a kid, I can say with certainty that Mean Bean Machine is superior. The characters are modeled after the Sonic cartoon, but it has a password function where Kirby's Avalanche does not. Otherwise, they're not that much different. Except that Avalanche actually puts you in the role of Kirby and Machine just puts you in the role of you. Not sure where Sonic is in that game. And I just noticed the music in the show notes. Very happy to see that. I have been going crazy with some of the tracks you guys play. Either they're familiar or amazing and I want to hear more.

Phoequinox

I like the Game Gear. Please don’t stop doing videos on it lol. I’m currently having mine recapped. Hopefully on the way back it doesn’t suffer the same fate yours did courtesy of the good ole USPS.

Eric Plunk

Tecmo Super Bowl was officially licensed by the NFL, so using "Super Bowl" wasn't a problem. Might have been the first game to have all the NFL teams, players, and accurate schedule for that season. I'm not sure where Madden was at that point, I feel they didn't have players yet. Tecmo Bowl only had the players liscence, while all the teams were cities and colors only, and only about half of the teams were there.

DarthObvious

Mega Man 4 really is the weakest of the six on NES. My order, worst to best: 4, 1, 5, 6, 2, 3

Andrew O.

The great think about having to do multiple episodes on a topic, Jeremy, is that we, the listeners, get to listen to multiple episodes on a fascinating topic.

My semi-obscure 1991 game that I think deserves more attention: the Robin Hood Prince of Thieves adaptation for NES. It's a top-down action/adventure game which is broken down into linear episodes, and you're limited to the health/ammo pickups you can find as you go along. (It's not unlike Parasite Eve in that way.) If the game had a save system, it would be seen as a classic.

Dave Dalrymple

Still remember getting Streets of Rage for Christmas ‘91. Made me forget about my copy of Final Fight on SNES.

Rasheen Jordan

Holy crap. Just now getting the F-Zero reference. Also, although I know this show isn't much for sports, Lakers vs Celtics and Madden were big releases.

Normallyretro

I never did beat Battletoads without the Game Genie, but it's still a favorite of mine. We didn't buy many games in the early 90s, so those we did have got played heavily. When faced with a difficult game, we didn't give up; we powered through. I appreciated that Battletoads had a lot of depth. Even if the difficulty was unfair, the game never grew boring.

Dave Dalrymple