This week's episode is another highlight for the channel, one of those portfolio pieces I could use to find a job somewhere. Games like this bring out my best. There's just so much to say about Portopia Renzoku Satusjin Jiken! And I managed to do it all without spoiling the story's twists, too.
Check out the fan translation—it's top flight. (And don't be afraid to check a FAQ when you g...
2022-09-28 13:04:24 +0000 UTC
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Welcome to a video that has been, literally, years in the making.
I've been promising patron-exclusive videos for quite a while now, and that day has come at last, thanks in large part to the diligent efforts of Christa Lee of Sound Retro Co., who spent more time than either of us care to admit trying to figure out how to make a Cassette Vision output a clean S-Video signal. Or close enough, as eventually turned out to ...
2022-09-27 18:03:37 +0000 UTC
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I'm afraid this week's games are not much to write home about. I mean, you could write home about them. I'm not stopping you. But your family would be very bored and possibly disappointed in you. I don't think any of us want that.
Next week, though... one of my better episodes to date. Please look forward to it.
Also, $6+ patrons: Please look forward to the first patron-exclusive video next week as well! I'm just waiting on one item to come in from a Yahoo! Japan auction to be abl...
2022-09-21 13:38:09 +0000 UTC
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I guess the lesson for this week is: Sometimes, you just gotta stick with the classics. Pac-Man goes off on an adventure and it looks and plays pretty poorly on Famicom. Meanwhile, Pony Canyon and Micronics get together and say, "Hey, it's 1995, the world clearly wants a new Pac-Man alike!" And then they put together a screechy clumsy traditional maze chase that is, somehow, really good?? I don't get it, either.
Also, there's Mach Rider.
2022-09-14 11:50:12 +0000 UTC
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A strange World War II motif runs as an undercurrent beneath this episode. First, you have Kinnikuman: Muscle Tag Match, which is exactly the same as M.U.S.C.L.E. Tag Team Match except for the fact that you can play as a literal Nazi in the JP release. Weird choice! And then there's Sky Destroyer, in which you play as a Zero pilot single-handedly wiping out the American fleet. That's less weird, and it actually creates a sort of cosmic balance for the upcoming 1...
2022-09-07 12:53:41 +0000 UTC
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I have begun work on my Patreon-exclusive (one-year exclusive, that is) video series on the history of Epoch's consoles now that my modded Cassette Vision console is in hand. I'll be posting the first episode for that hopefully next week, but I'm excited enough about all of this that I want to share the first footage I've captured.
Is this the first high-definition S-video feed of Cassette Vision software ever to be created by human hands? Certainly it's the first to be u...
2022-09-07 00:00:03 +0000 UTC
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For the last few months, I’ve been talking about creating Patron-exclusive (or at least long-timed exclusive) videos. I’m happy to say that this promise will finally become reality this month. The box you see here contains an Epoch Cassette Vision that has been modded for video capture, along with a compete set of restored ECV carts, meaning I can finally begin my year-long series on Epoch’s game systems. This has been made possible thanks to an ENORMOUS investment of time by Christa Le...
2022-09-05 03:51:32 +0000 UTC
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With this episode, NES Works Gaiden has finally arrived at NES Works: Three days after Challenger's debut, the Nintendo Entertainment System would arrive in a handful of stores in New York City to see if Americans had gotten over the whole "Atari crash" thing. (Spoilers: We had.) While U.S. families were getting their first taste of early Famicom releases and Super Mario Bros., Japanese families could experience these: The beginning of the post-Super Mario wave of g...
2022-08-31 11:47:04 +0000 UTC
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I hope to have both the Segaiden and NES Works Gaiden books complete and published in time for both systems' 40th anniversary next July, so—here's another look at ’85 Famicom software as we hurtle forward to the NES launch. These are mostly pretty good! Assuming you don't mind that Hyper Sports doesn't really feel like full justification for a standalone retail release, that is.
2022-08-24 12:10:06 +0000 UTC
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Good morning. Well, maybe. I am jetlagged to the point of misery at the moment, as my frail and aging body has a tough time adjusting to 13-hour time changes the way it used to. So, here is a slightly early post for NES Works as we move beyond episode 100 and close in on the end of 1988. Apologies again for any audio or video weirdness here, as I once again recorded and produced this thing largely on the road, far from my beloved camcorder and studio mic setups.
2022-08-17 10:18:55 +0000 UTC
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Hello! Apologies for the tardiness on this post, but currently I am on an airplane over international waters. I feel like this one needed a little more ceremony, since it is after all the 100th episode of NES Works and a look at one of my favorite games ever. But life finds a way... to complicate advance video uploads. Ah well.
I realize there are a few audio hitches with this episode, too—also a result of having been recorded and produced on the road with portable equipment....
2022-08-10 15:21:26 +0000 UTC
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Hello, everyone. I currently am not in the U.S., so of course this week's video concerns games about American kids and the wild mayhem they like to get up to. Those irrepressible tykes! Sometimes they skateboard, sometimes they ride bikes, but always, always with the getting into trouble.
Next week: The good stuff.
2022-08-03 13:27:05 +0000 UTC
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Sports games, as you can surely tell just by looking at me, aren't really my thing. But I gave it my very best this episode regardless. It helps that neither Blades of Steel and Super Team Games require much of a mental commitment... though Super Team Games certainly requires a physical commitment. One that proves difficult to follow through on when your Power Pad mat keeps slipping around the floor. Wretched device.
2022-07-27 11:48:56 +0000 UTC
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Hello patrons,
This week's bonus update is available for you to check out—the latest work-in-progress version of Segaiden Vol. I. The project has come along considerably since the last time I shared it—only a handful of photos are missing now, the structure and content order are sorted, embellishment photos are placed, and it's essentially in its final form except for massive text revisions and some sidebars. Oh, and I've completed the cover as well.
My goal is to be ...
2022-07-26 13:55:32 +0000 UTC
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Well, here we are. Some more NES games.
This week's selections are notable for being cartridges that you could insert into a Nintendo Entertainment System and play on your television. And, uh... that's about it, really.
Well, no, that's not fair. I almost, almost really like Cobra Command, which evolves the Choplifter formula on NES. If the controls and scrolling weren't so combative, I think it could have been a classic. And Anticipation... ...
2022-07-20 12:11:02 +0000 UTC
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Being a sucker for exploratory action games—you know the ones—nothing pains me quite so much as attempts that utterly and completely fail. That would be this week's set of games, Dr. Chaos and Superman. Neither plays well, looks good, or showcases thoughtful refinement. But since Mom taught me that I should always say something nice or else not say anything at all, I'll give them this: They prove that creating a compelling metroidvania-style game requires a lot ...
2022-07-13 11:34:31 +0000 UTC
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Capcom's NES port of 1942 has long been one of my go-tos for "easy examples of badly made NES software." Sadly, they had to go and redeem themselves here with the sequel, whose only real flaw is that the sheer amount of firepower required to survive the action demands the use of a rapid-fire input feature. I'm assuming Capcom made 1943 in cahoots with Nintendo as a scheme to sell more NES Advantage controllers (never mind that the Advantage didn't exist in Japan).
Also...
2022-07-06 13:28:50 +0000 UTC
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I have finally moved beyond Mario, no doubt to the Mario-haters' relief. (I know some of you exist.) We have entered the final stretch of NES Works 1988, to the point that I've begun laying out the book, and the year looks like it'll be wrapping up well! Not every game will stand quite on the same footing as something like Blaster Master, but you can expect several other flawed-in-their-ambition greats, a masterpiece or two, and quite a few genuinely strong showings. Also some crap, but hey, ...
2022-06-29 11:18:47 +0000 UTC
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My Month Of Mario reaches its conclusion with this episode, the game release it's all been leading up to. Of course, NES and Famicom fans have very different views on this game; for us in the U.S. and Europe, this was a landmark release that showcased the growth of NES game design and redefined the Mario franchise and characters. Meanwhile, in Japan, they were already enjoying Super Mario Bros. 3, and this game would be seen as a belated and somewhat confusing reskinning of a Disk Sy...
2022-06-22 13:13:48 +0000 UTC
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Mario Month approaches its thrilling conclusion by constantly escalating the stakes. Um, did you know that this is Mario Month? Well, anyway, it is. And, as it happens, perfectly nestled between a video on the Famicom release of Super Mario Bros. and one on the American Super Mario Bros. 2, we have a conveniently timed final video request from patron TheyCallMeSleeper, who has asked—nay, demanded—a look at Japan's Super Mario Bros. 2. Also known here as The Lost Leve...
2022-06-15 13:08:50 +0000 UTC
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A big milestone for the Famicom this week, as Namcot publishes its most ambitious arcade-to-console conversion to date. Yes, BattleCity would change video game history forev—
Sorry, no, wait, it looks like the actual major release in this week's episode is Super Mario Bros. The biggest release for Famicom to date, as it happens, both in terms of size and clout. But I'm sure no one wants to hear about that.
2022-06-08 11:45:09 +0000 UTC
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Hmm, these games look somehow familiar...
Yes, we've reached the weird speed bump in console history. The time Atari released a handful of late-era cartridges for its 8-bit platforms that all hailed from Nintendo, despite Nintendo having ascended to market dominance in Japan and North America by that point and wanting to cede zero territory to competitors. What shenanigans could possibly explain this? I did not come across any definitive statements about the provenance of these games wh...
2022-06-01 11:41:39 +0000 UTC
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Last week's episode arrived a day late, so I felt it would be only proper to square the circle by publishing this week's a day early. This video contains a lot of games, but several of them have already been covered (sometimes more than once) in my various video retrospectives, so they get a nice and breezy overview. I do go into much greater detail about Mickey Mousecapade, the strange kickoff to the Capcom/Disney legacy which, in hindsight, bears unmistakable signs of its ...
2022-05-24 12:48:09 +0000 UTC
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This episode arrived a little late due to my travels over the past couple of weeks—I didn't have time or a space where I could really do much video editing while abroad. Probably because the group I was with spent about five hours per day eating bafflingly drawn-out multi-course Italian fare. I never knew food could be so exhausting.
I did write and record the audio for this episode on the road; if my voice sounds a little different than usual, it's because I recorded myself on ...
2022-05-19 10:20:18 +0000 UTC
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Hi all, this week's video is running a little late due to all my travel over the past couple of weeks—it was tough to work on video where I was. I did make a LOT of progress on the Segaiden book, however. At this point, about 90% of the packaging photos and screenshots are in place, and the structure is starting to come together. I need to lay out the hardware and accessory pages (hence the fact that the first dozen pages are basically blank in this document), and I need to fill in...
2022-05-18 13:33:20 +0000 UTC
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I would like to say I have a look at some timeless NES masterpieces in store for you, but that would be a lie. None of these games—Spy Vs. Spy, MagMax, or Seicross—make for very impressive releases in the year 1988. Whatever appeal they may have had probably came through better in 1986, when they all made their Famicom debut... or perhaps in 1984, when they originated on other platforms.
Oh well. On the plus side, the SG-1000 book is coming along ver...
2022-05-11 13:08:57 +0000 UTC
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This should be a nice, cozy, and above all familiar episode. I've already covered Bubble Bobble on Game Boy Works, as well as its precursor Chack'n Pop (twice!), but this is the version of the game that everyone remembers. No, not literally everyone—calm down, European Master System fans—but you know what I mean; this is the Bubble Bobble adaptation that has achieved the greatest traction thanks to its contemporary popularity at launch followed by a sec...
2022-05-04 11:30:16 +0000 UTC
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Talk about the spirit of 88: This appropriately numbered episode encompasses the essence of NES's 1988 lineup with three (count ’em!) games that really need to be played with other people for maximum impact. The star of the show? Jackal, another in the growing line of Konami's co-op action games.
2022-04-27 11:27:47 +0000 UTC
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Hello, friends and supporters! This month's bonus is another big one: The revised, combined edition of NES Works 1985 and NES Works 1986, cleverly titled NES Works 1985 & ’86. See what I did there?
The print edition of this book will go up for sale at the same time as NES Works 1987 (I'm aiming for September, but we'll see). And, if you are currently supporting this campaign at a $16/mo. or higher level, you will also receive a copy of the book ...
2022-04-22 13:22:23 +0000 UTC
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I know I've been focusing pretty heavily on NES Works Gaiden recently, but this will be the last entry in this series for a while. I actually have a plan for these videos, believe it or not! While I do hope to complete NES Works Gaiden 1985 by the end of the year (which is as far as I'm taking the game-by-game Famicom coverage), I also want to make some headway on Master System and NES 1988 first. And maybe even poor, neglected Game Boy. Stay tuned.
2022-04-20 12:56:11 +0000 UTC
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