The time has come to embark on a new journey, whether you like it or not. Yes, this month, we begin a survey of a new library, Epoch's Super Cassette Vision, perhaps the most successful of the failed Famicom-era competitors to emerge in Japan between 1983 and ’85. If nothing else, its library is 50% larger than Virtual Boy's. And it can claim some weird firsts, including the first battery-backed save files on cartridge, the first console versions of properties like Doraemon and
2023-03-12 11:50:39 +0000 UTC
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Well, geez. Look at these games. Then, look at them side-by-side with what was happening on NES in early 1987—Pro Wrestling, Track & Field, BurgerTime. Fine games on NES, but this duo on Master System feels practically next generation by comparison. I find myself increasingly impressed by Sega's output in the 8-bit era the longer I soak in Segaiden. Of course, in a chronological context, Nintendo is about to take a rocket-powered leap forward while Sega will c...
2023-03-08 12:37:50 +0000 UTC
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This episode actually made me regret my decision to cover Japan-only (and never-released-in-America) Mark III titles for the Segaiden series. As interesting as things like Galactic Protector, Bubble Bobble, and Alex Kidd BMX Trial promise to be, focusing on this facet of the Sega library also means that episodes like this will pop up from time to time. Comical MachineGun Joe and High School! Kimengumi offer a pointed reminder that many games back in the day remained Japan-ex...
2023-03-01 12:59:05 +0000 UTC
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Greetings to all! I am pleased to upload and present to you, exclusively, the digital version of the SG-1000 Works book, which launches in print form this summer. (I have locked in the names of patrons who will be receiving the book once it goes live, so you're good... and it'll arrive more promptly than last autumn's NES Works books, which got a little gummed up and will finally begin shipping next week.)
As always, I ask that you please do not share or upload this fi...
2023-02-24 13:22:04 +0000 UTC
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I guess you could call this one Segaiden Gaiden, if you were inclined to do horrible things to the English (and Japanese??) language. I don't recommend doing that, though. It will make people dislike you.
This episode is one of roughly half a dozen videos that will present sidebars to the American Master System chronology by looking at the very few Japan-exclusive titles that got away from Americans (though as you'll see here, didn't necessarily skip Europe). There were honestly n...
2023-02-22 12:50:15 +0000 UTC
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I was a little nervous going into this one, because I know Alex Kidd in Miracle World has become one of those touchstones for cultural differences: No one in America likes it, while several European countries have collectively voted Alex Kidd as their mayor or chancellor or whatever they call their supreme rulers over there. What I'm saying is that Miracle World either connected with some sort of deep-seated cultural urge that Americans don't share, or else a whole lot of Eu...
2023-02-15 12:49:35 +0000 UTC
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Some of you will be happy to know that I've finally dunked on the box art of a Master System game. I mean, come on. Pro Wrestling has one of the finest "what were they thinking?" packages of all time. Of. All. Time.
However, that dunkage happens to be relevant to the bigger issue afoot in this episode, namely that of lady erasure. Sayonara, Kurumi-hime; au revoir, Dump Matsumoto: On Master System, you have been replaced by large sweaty dudes. I feel like you could quit...
2023-02-08 12:29:59 +0000 UTC
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My Master System journey so far has been quite eventful and remarkably interesting in surprising ways, but every once in a while (read: probably most of the time now that we're out of the launch window) we'll arrive at episodes where the games don't really do anything astonishing and simply attempt to carry forward trends or copy hits. So it goes this week, with two (three?) duplicates of games already covered on NES Works—though, to its credit, Rambo beat Ikari Warriors' ...
2023-02-01 13:11:07 +0000 UTC
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And with that, the Cassette Vision retrospective series is now in the bag. Whew, a daunting 11 games. Amazing I made it through alive.
I hope you've enjoyed this break from the usual—I have a few more pre-NES Japanese consoles lined up (or mostly lined up) for coverage in the coming years. And, of course, more Epoch. So much more Epoch.
Thanks everyone for watching! Hope you enjoyed your early glimpse into this series. I will be taking next month to regroup for my next platform ...
2023-01-27 15:48:51 +0000 UTC
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I've figured out how you're supposed to read the titles of Sega's "Great" sports series. It's not "what a great ice hockey game" but rather "oh, great... ice hockey."
Anyway, the star of this week's episode is not a game (both of which featured here are fine but largely unremarkable) but rather a peripheral. It's called Sega Sports Pad, but really it works best with not-sports games. Confusing, I know. Sorry about that.
2023-01-25 13:02:20 +0000 UTC
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I am quickly finding the early Master System library to be a lot better than I expected! Take this week's entries as a case in point: I figured Action Fighter (a massively retooled arcade port) and Black Belt (a Kung Fu knockoff based on Fist of the North Star) would be painful at best. And yet... they're good?! What other wonders await me on this journey?
2023-01-18 12:38:56 +0000 UTC
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This episode didn't quite turn out as expected! I thought I was mostly going to talk about TransBot. Yet fully half of this episode's run time covers F-16, a game that I did not enjoy playing at all. However, as I dug deeper and deeper into its history, I found more and more super weird stuff about it. I honestly did not expect to come across a game that did this much with the Master System's tech so early... and all for the sake of playing a bad, overly complicated...
2023-01-11 12:37:02 +0000 UTC
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2023 kicks off here with, yes, more Master System. You may as well settle in and enjoy the ride, because there's a LOT of Master System on the way. It's gonna be one of THOSE years.
This episode feels nicely emblematic of the Master System experience. Some good stuff, some very frustrating stuff, some impressive arcade conversions, some weirdly misaimed revisions to arcade material. And no teen idol singers, thankyouverymuch.
2023-01-04 13:12:48 +0000 UTC
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And we're off to the races. If this episode offers any indication of the future, you can expect me to (1) have plenty to say about Master System and (2) never show footage of the back half of games. Sega sure didn't believe in going easy on us back in the day, whew.
Anyway, a classic and a pretty-good little "budget" title this week. A fine beginning.
2022-12-28 12:29:05 +0000 UTC
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Please enjoy this holiday treat: The beginning of Master System coverage on Segaiden, beginning with an overview of the console and its context, along with its two, er, three pack-in and built-in games. Having experienced the Master System for myself for the first time in approximately 1989, when NES software had advanced considerably, I scorned Hang On as a pack-in. But having re-experienced this era through my NES Works, Segaiden, and NES Works Gaiden efforts, damn, Hang On
2022-12-21 12:33:47 +0000 UTC
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Good news! This is it for NES Works Gaiden 1985, and I won't be pursuing the Famicom library into 1986 and beyond except to point out interesting releases here and there. We did it. We made it through. Thanks for sharing this tempestuous ride with me. At least these last two entries are pretty OK.
Next week: We jump into 1986, but in America, and with Sega.
2022-12-14 12:58:32 +0000 UTC
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As promised, I've gone and made up for last month's late exclusive video by getting this month's together very early. Here is your penultimate episode of Cassette Vision coverage, covering two games that surprisingly do not have roots in Epoch's standalone consoles. I'd say we've turned a corner here in Epoch's determination to create new and inventive content, but alas, both games undeniably resemble other companies' arcade hits. But, you know, these games coincided with the radical...
2022-12-11 15:41:59 +0000 UTC
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I went into this episode intending to close the book on NES Works Gaiden 1985, as you can see from the hosting segments, which I wrote and recorded in between playing the games for footage and actually putting together the scripts. But then I ended up going into a lot more detail about all four of the final Famicom games for the year than anticipated, so I'm afraid you'll just have to wait an extra week for Segaiden's Master System journey to begin. Consider that transition my Solstice gift t...
2022-12-07 13:29:49 +0000 UTC
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Yes, I realize it's no longer November.
I had a little more trouble recording footage for this episode than expected, because some of the footage doesn't involve video games but rather electronic games. A subtle but critical difference! There is no such thing as direct feed of a Game & Watch unit, I'm afraid. I finally managed to come up with lighting and angles that read pretty clearly on-camera. I'm not 100% satisfied with how it looks, but it's most of the way ther...
2022-12-03 17:41:13 +0000 UTC
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Before I dive into this week's video, let me offer an apology about this month's video. Unfortunately, the latest NES Works Gaiden Epoch is taking a little longer to complete than I had anticipated, because the episode requires me to capture some footage in a completely new way that is giving me a bit of trouble. I'll have the episode up this weekend one way or another, however, and I hope it'll be worth it. It contains a great deal of historical context as well as a strong ...
2022-11-30 12:37:50 +0000 UTC
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You know things are rough when Bokosuka Wars is the highlight of an episode. Nah, that's not really fair—Bokosuka Wars was actually pretty clever! Doughboy wants to be clever, but it trips over its own landmine and self-detonates. And 1942, well... it's hardly the worst shooter on Famicom at this point, but it's still pretty dicey.
We're almost to the end of 1985, though. Bear with me for a few more weeks and we can at least share a change of scener...
2022-11-23 12:35:39 +0000 UTC
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Three games about shooting stuff in space this week. I wish I could send these games into space, and then shoot them. They're not good, you see. Ah well! Only four more episodes until I hit the end of NES Works Gaiden 1985 and can move along to more interesting things. The early Famicom journey has been fun, but whew, you can really see that the consistency of quality dropped off a steep cliff after Super Mario Bros. hit. Thanks for suffering through it all here with me.
2022-11-16 13:44:28 +0000 UTC
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Well, that's it. That's NES Works 1988 in the can. Good night, everyone.
OK, but seriously, I'm proud of this episode. I think it hits the perfect balance between historic context, game design commentary, and praise for the game's legacy. There's a lot to say about Zelda II, really, and I could have gone on weighing the good and bad, but I promised myself I wouldn't create more multi-part episodes. So, with luck, this single episode will slake your thirst for Zelda II info. (I'm sure I'...
2022-11-09 12:39:06 +0000 UTC
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Wow, the penultimate episode of NES Works 1988. I feel like I made it here pretty quickly, despite also taking the time along the way to cover the SG-1000 and pre-NES Famicom in their entirety. (This, of course, has not stopped YouTube commenters from complaining "Where is NES Works??" on every single non-NES Works video I publish.) One more 1988 episode and then it's on to... 1989? No, not yet.
In a nice bit of symbolism, NES Works 1988 winds down just as NES Works 1987 has gone into p...
2022-11-02 12:23:58 +0000 UTC
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I have, as this month's exclusive* for patrons, the second entry in the saga of Epoch game console. I'm not sure how I manage to wring nearly 10 minutes of commentary out of each of these games, but here we are.
This episode features the sole peripheral Epoch ever produced for its consoles. And that means this episode also features me cradling a realistic-looking handgun, which is a strange sight.
Anyway... please to enjoy.
*For 18 months, per usual
2022-10-28 11:56:00 +0000 UTC
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Last week's episode may have been something of a wash, but this episode more than makes up for it. Star Luster and Spelunker offer plenty to talk about, both as games and as moments in the medium's history that reflect the bigger picture. Sometimes you gotta suffer through the duds to get to the good stuff, and this... is the good stuff. Please to enjoy.
POST SCRIPT: NES Works 1987 launches tomorrow. If you were one of the people who supported this campaign at a physica...
2022-10-26 11:46:12 +0000 UTC
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We are rapidly nearing the end of NES Works Gaiden's journey through the early days of Famicom. This series will not be continuing on into 1986, and this is why: As we wind down here, the material seems overly familiar. We've seen Lunar Ball already as Champion Billiards and Lunar Pool on SG-1000 and NES, and Karateka as Karateka and Master Karateka on Atari 7800 and Game Boy. Honestly, enough is enough. Roll on Master System, I say.
2022-10-19 11:56:46 +0000 UTC
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The only downside to this whole "patrons get video two weeks early" thing is that my annual Halloween Castlevania retrospectives don't actually coincide with Halloween for you; they simply fall into that vague sphere of Pumpkin Spice Time. My apologies for that, although you would certainly be welcome to rewatch this video in two weeks in order for it to feel more festive!
Anyway, I love Castlevania II, warts and all. I think this fact may come through in my latest NES...
2022-10-12 11:39:40 +0000 UTC
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OK, here is today's advance episode again, now with proper film attribution. Sigh.
2022-10-06 00:53:59 +0000 UTC
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I had to remove the video I published this morning due to careless errors. I will correct and reupload as soon as I'm able. Sorry about that.
2022-10-05 20:30:42 +0000 UTC
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