Jeremy Parish

Segaiden #019: Doki Doki Penguin Land & Drol

Yes, it's ANOTHER Brøderbund PC-to-console conversion this week. That band of brothers... so shameless when it came to pimpin' out games. However, it's not Drol that deserves special attention this week but rather Doki Doki Penguin Land, which might be Sega's first truly great console creation. The best games we've seen to this point on SG-1000 debuted in arcades, e.g. Flicky, but Penguin Land appeared on SG-1000 first (and I guess MSX?) and would go on to...

Segaiden #018: Zoom 909 / Choplifter / Pitfall II

The end-of-year countdown begins here. My goal for the remainder of 2021 is to wrap up the SG-1000 series before shifting my focus back to NES Works 1988 and the Master System for the new year (along with catching up to a backlog of patron requests). That's only seven more SG-1000 videos, in case you were wondering. The system had a pretty small library!

This week, we come to a game I was looking forward to but let me down with Zoom 909. I played a lot of its ColecoVision counterpart ba...

October bonus #1: "From the Beginning" work in progress

Hi all, the first of this month's patron bonuses is live—the latest revision of the game box art photo book. If you compare this to the past few updates, I think you'll get a sense of my extravagantly inefficient book production process. I usually start with a strong central concept, but it goes through multiple massive book-wide revision. This PDF offers a snapshot of what I hope is a transition into the final form. You'll see a ton of minor improvements over previous layouts, suc...

NES Works Gaiden #29: Kid Dracula

Things have been so hectic lately I honestly was unsure whether or not I'd be able to publish this year's annual Halloween Castlevania episode in time. But here were are! Just under the wire. And a bit lighter-hearted than usual, with a side episode on a Castlevania side game that barely feels like a Castlevania game. But there's no mistaking its provenance... not with that first stage.

NES Works #85: Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode

I bumped this week's topic ahead one episode from its proper spot in the chronology as a small tribute to the creator of Golgo 13, Takao Saito, who passed away a couple of weeks ago. Fittingly, this episode nearly killed me—not only is it (I believe) the longest single video episode I've ever created for a single game, it also involved pulling together and incorporating a TON of non-game material. But I think the effort was justified: Not only did Saito recently pass, but ALSO this...

NES Works #84: Life Force

A personal favorite this week—in case you couldn't tell from the time and enthusiasm I lavished on this episode. Life Force is one of those games I used to play so much I could beat it in a single credit without the cheat code, and it was nice that I still have a decent amount of muscle memory for it. At the same time, it's been so long since I'd last played it, a lot of the specifics had faded from memory, so I got to revisit the game with an older and more seasoned perspective. C...

NES Works #83: Bases Loaded & Lee Trevino's Fighting Golf

Two sports games this week, which I suppose should be anathema for me, a person who does not like sports games. But I had a thoroughly good time putting together this episode (aside from actually capturing Bases Loaded footage), because there's a lot to be said about these particular releases. As a result, this is an information-dense episode, and I've made a conscious effort to rely on specific outside sources for info here rather than work off my usual combination of observation, s...

September bonus: "From the Beginning" WIP update

Hello all, 

This month's patron bonus material is here. I'm afraid I won't have a Famiconversations episode for you this time around, because things have been intensely chaotic on the "real life" side of the equation—the last week was a seemingly endless string of family hopsitalizations and other health crises, and I haven't been able to carve time to record and edit a show. But I have some ideas for shaking that element up anyway; please stay tuned.

What I do have this ti...

NES Works Gaiden #29: Famicom 1985, Pt. 2

This episode is, in a sense, the epitome of what I've been hoping to accomplish by putting together Segaiden and NES Works Gaiden videos in parallel: A chance to compare and contrast the SG-1000 and Famicom, and to see how similar (or identical) material fares on each respective platform. Despite what you might assume, it doesn't always work out in Nintendo's favor, as this episode demonstrates.

NES Works Gaiden #28: Famicom 1985, Pt. 1

Well, let's check in with the Nintendo side of things before moseying along to the MyCard era on Sega. Can you believe we're only now seeing the first Nintendo console release developed by TOSE? Oh, also, some extremely good (albeit familiar) releases here in the form of Balloon Fight and Galaga. And even Ice Climber and Raid on Bungeling Bay hold up nicely in this context. Chronology! It's a helluva drug.

Segaiden #17: Othello / Space Invaders / Dragon Wang (feat. Card Catcher)

Moving into 1985, I'll be making fewer apologies for the unimpressive nature of the games tracked in Segaiden. This episode amounts to getting the last bits of mundanity out of the system before shifting into the newly galvanized approach Sega adopted with the advent of MyCards and, before too long, the Mark III. ("Master System," if you're nasty.) I'm quite excited for the Segaiden episodes ahead; the MyCard lineup was really what made me want to tackle this project in the first place! Stay ...

Famiconversations Episode 7

Hello! It's another episode of the Famiconversations monthly-ish podcast. I didn't quite hit my end-of-August target as planned due some audio issues that made editing this episode a little more challenging than expected. But it's close? And, on top of that, this is the first episode of the show that lives up to its name! Only took half a year...

Yes, in this episode, Kevin Bunch (of Atari Archives fame) joins me to talk about the Famicom library for the back half of the year. THRILL to...

Segaiden #16: SG-1000 Part 11

Another episode of Segaiden this week, bringing us within striking distance of the big changeover from cartridges to card media. Well, I don't know that it's really that big a deal. But it will bring with it a change in SG-1000 catalog numeration, so these cartridge-based games have the feel of a relic about them. Also, the fact that they're sort of underwhelming makes them feel like a relic, too. I had really hoped for better with two Konami titles this episode.

August bonus 1: Book in progress

Greetings, patrons! I have the first of this month's bonus items ready for download: The latest revisions of the Instagram box art photo book. You will notice this latest upload is quite a bit different from previous versions, and that is because I finally have a direction and purpose for this project. Where before I was feeling out the content and approach, the time I've taken off from working on it has given me a chance to come up with an overall strategy for it.

It's still very clear...

Segaiden #15: Zaxxon and Champion Pro Wrestling

OK, hopefully the past three episodes have been enough to sate the demands of those who insist I stop exploring the history of things they don't care about (everything that's not NES Works 1988) and only talk about the things they do care about (NES Works 1988). I'll get back to the NES in due time—after all, I vowed that 2021 would be the year I covered two Golgo 13 games, and like Duke Togo, I never leave a contract unfulfilled. Even if it's just a social contra...

NES Works #082: Defender II & Iron Tank

HAL makes its publishing debut here, and SNK makes its developing debut, and the results are... pretty good. I don't think many people would mistake either of these releases for top-tier classics for the platform, but there's a lot to like about how these arcade conversions make their way to NES. At the very least, they're a lot more faithful than Double Dragon!

NES Works #081: Double Dragon

Another big one this week—one of the biggest ones so far. Double Dragon was a big deal on NES, even if it left a bad taste in the mouth of anyone hoping to enjoy a direct arcade-to-console adaptation. For various reasons (be it Nintendo licensing rules or technical limitations or a combination of both), Double Dragon on NES bears only a loose resemblance to the arcade game, carrying forward characters, setting details, and a general mechanical similarity. Beyond that, howe...

Books ahoy! Virtual Boy Works & Super NES Works Vol. I now in print

Hi all, just wanted to give you a heads-up (in case you somehow missed it) that my two latest books are now available for purchase at Limited Run Games. I've put together a small promo video here to talk you through what you'll find in each volume.

Of course, if you are a book-tier patron, you have a copy of one or both of these headed your way soon. Make sure your shipping details are in order by this weekend! I now have seven boxes of books in my office that I am very eager to relocat...

Famiconversations Episode 6: SG-1000, Beyond Launch

Hi all, the latest episode of Famiconversations is here, about a week later than intended. Things got a little out of hand last month! This coming month doesn't look to be any less hectic, but I'll try to make up for the delay all the same.

This (well, last) month, I'm joined by Branwen Shoop, who has proven to be a font of SG-1000 knowledge and helps me break down a chunk of the SG-1000's early lineup (Champion Golf through Star Jacker). Next episode, I'll tr...

NES Works #080: Metal Gear?!

There's the long con, and then there's waiting half a year between NES Works episode just so I could make that joke at the beginning.

Anyway, I've covered the original MSX version of Metal Gear in Metroidvania Works, but as you can see from the length of this episode, there's still plenty to say about this conversion—not only what it changes and where it stumbles, but also about the nature of new (?) publisher Ultra Games.

Super NES Works #000: The Super NES

But soft! What light in yonder window shines? Oh, it's a brief one-off episode of Super NES Works timed to (1) the 30th anniversary of the Super NES and (2) the launch of the Super NES Works 1991 book. (Which actually will go up for sale the day before the public debut of this post. The madness of early access!)

OK, so this episode isn't actually that brief. Nor will the next few episodes be especially compact. Buckle up—there are a LOT of words about video games coming your ...

Game Boy Works #125: Klax (Hudson), Klax (Tengen), & Ginga

One last Game Boy video before I hop over to a trio of NES Works episodes. This week, it's—wait for it—more puzzle-type games. Unlike last episode, these are traditional matching puzzle and solitaire games, not character action games with puzzle mechanics. And one of them is actually two games, or rather two takes on the same game—a detail that slipped beneath my radar until I sat down to produce this episode. Game Boy still has plenty of surprises up its sleeve, it seems.

Game Boy Works #124: Nail'n Scale & Pri Pri: Primitive Princess

Finally, some puzzle games on Game Boy! I can't believe no one ever thought of doing something like this before.

Sarcasm aside, there is something comforting about returning to Game Boy after all this time to be wrapped in a warm blanket of the familiar. As a bonus, one of these games is actually quite good! The other, less so... but that's also part of what makes it all seem so familiar, you know?

Game Boy Works #123: Kung' Fu Master & Kininkou Maroku ONI

Game Boy Works is back! At least for a little while. I've put together a few episodes of Game Boy Works recently, and there's something deeply comforting about wrapping myself in a warm blanket of puzzle platformers and slightly primitive RPGs after so many months of SG-1000 and (alas) Multivision.

This episode brings us a sort-of sequel to an NES favorite, which I wish had just been a port of the original, and the beginning of Game Boy's most prolific RPG series. Unless you maybe count...

NES Works Gaiden #027: Nazo no Murasame-jou

And our final entry for the current slate of patron requests: From Peter LaPrade, here's a piece on an interesting, early, first-party Famicom Disk System release that was very nearly lost to time: Nintendo's very own Nazo no Murasame-jou. Think Zelda, but as a mostly linear action game, with a katana instead of an enchanted broadsword. It's an entertaining take on the top-down shooters that were blowing up in arcades in the mid ’80s, sporting the unique twists you'd expec...

Famiconversations Episode 5: The Mahjong Primer

A little something different this month for the Famiconversations podcast. I've covered a bunch of mahjong titles in my videos over the years, and there a ton clustered at the beginning of the Japanese console wave. While my videos have amounted to me pointing out some technical details of the software and shrugging in defeat at not really understanding the mechanics of mahjong, for this podcast I decided it's time to change that. I've enlisted the help of Travis, a 2021-06-26 19:28:41 +0000 UTC View Post

NES Works Gaiden #26: The NES on a chip

Another patron request this week, this one from Joseph Adams, dives into an awfully esoteric corner of NES history: The story of NES-on-a-chip (NOAC) devices. This involved a lot of reading, research, and citations from secondary or tertiary sources who have previously explored the topic, though I do have a small amount of first-hand experience with the topic. I picked one of those goofy fake N64 controllers with thousands of games running on an NOAC many, many years ago and blogged about it ...

NES Works Gaiden: The Datach Joint ROM System

As a patron request, here's a companion episode to last year's Aladdin Deck Enhancer retrospective. This one was trickier to put together, because (1) the games are unbelievably expensive and (2) all the games appear to be focused on two-player play; the pack-in Dragon Ball title, so far as I can tell, doesn't even offer solo play! Still, the Datach Joint ROM System is a pretty rad slice of Famicom history, both despite and because of all the weird choices Bandai made here.<...