Skippy B. Coyote

Sure I could have, but it wouldn't have been nearly as fun to make. I'm just playing in the High Score Club for fun anyway so I'm not too concerned about whether I get the most points or not.

Happy holidays to you too Vocelli! I hope you have a great time traveling, and nice idea extending the holiday HSC time to 3 weeks with 3 seasonally appropriate homebrews. I've never played any of those games before but I'll be looking forward to plunking them on my Harmony cart and giving 'em a go. As far as future HSC weeks go, I don't think there's any need to rethink the setup at all. As S.BAZ pointed out, if you have access to the internet at least occasionally (which is kind of a given if you're posting on this forum) then you have access to an emulator; and for those who prefer to play on real hardware you can get a Harmony cart for about the cost of two homebrew games so it's kind of a non-issue. If you have the money to buy the official homebrew carts then you've got the money to buy a Harmony cart that can play everything, and if you don't have the money for that then emulation is free and easily available to anyone with an internet connection.

Made it here just in time for Christmas! It is now wrapped up and sitting under the tree.

You lose energy from your health bar in the lower left every time a colored dot that you're supposed to collect passes off the right side of the screen and loops back around, and when you run out of energy it's game over. The game also makes a sound to let you know every time you miss a colored dot.

I play on real hardware every week, a Light Sixer to be specific, and there's really only one cartridge you need: https://harmony.atariage.com/Site/Harmony.html

I only have one gaming related goal for 2019, and that's to only buy games that I know I will be excited to play the moment I get them. I spent way too much time and money in 2018 buying games that just went straight on the shelf to play someday, and eventually discovered that (as Creedence Clearwater so eloquently put it) "someday never comes". With that in mind I'm currently in the process of selling and trading off my back catalog of games that I know I'm just never going to get around to playing and I'll be starting off 2019 fresh with little to no back catalog and wide open possibilities for the future. I don't have any firm plans for games I'm going to buy at this point, though I have been itching to play Super Smash Bros. lately so I'm thinking that in January I'll probably pick up Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS; or Smash Ultimate if I luck out and end up getting a Switch for Christmas. Past that I don't really know what I'll be buying, it'll just depend on whatever I feel like playing any given week. Buy the games I want to play right now, pass over the ones I don't. That's my plan for 2019.

Well, I wasn't planning on spending any money on myself this holiday season... but then these came along and plans abruptly changed.

This week went much like I was expecting it would last week, which is to say pretty darn good! Ineligible Gopher (Atari 2600- 56 minutes Surround (Atari 2600) - 33 minutes Tomb Raider (PlayStation) - 507 minutes Ultra SCSIcide (Atari 2600) - 30 minutes Nintendo 3DS Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker Demo - 22 minutes The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D - 827 minutes StreetPass Mii Plaza - 10 minutes Total Video Game Play Time This Week 1,485 minutes (24 hours 45 minutes) [859 minutes eligible] Individual System Play Times This Week Nintendo 3DS: 859 minutes PlayStation: 507 minutes Atari 2600: 119 minutes This week was pretty much a repeat of last week in terms of gaming time. I spent most of the week working on my game of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D on the 3DS while the misses ran, jumped, shot, and climbed her way through Tomb Raider on the PlayStation. At this point we're both fairly close to finishing our respective games, with just one temple left to go for me in Ocarina of Time and just a few levels left for her in Tomb Raider. Other than our main gaming focuses the only other games played around here this past week were some Atari 2600 High Score Club games and the demo of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (a very cool game that I'll have to pick up the full version of at some point) as well as StreetPass Mii Plaza on the 3DS, since I ended up getting the first StreetPass hit I've had on my 3DS since August so I had a few minigames to play. The Atari 2600 HSC games were a good bit of fun too, and the spousal unit actually joined me to take turns playing Gopher for a bit, but I think I'm done with the HSC games for this round so I'll probably wait to see what next week's game is before I fire up the Atari 2600 again. Speaking of next week, I'm pretty sure I'll be finishing up The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D next week and it looks like the misses will be wrapping up Tomb Raider as well. I know she's planning on starting in on Tomb Raider II as soon as she's finished with the first game in the series, though I'm not too sure what I'll be playing next. Maybe Star Fox 64 3D again? I have been really enjoying playing my 3DS more as of late so I'm sure I'll find something to play on it once I'm done with Ocarina of Time. Until then, and as always, best wishes and happy gaming to you and yours!

This week went much like I was expecting it would last week, which is to say pretty darn good! Ineligible Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker Demo (Nintendo 3DS) - 22 minutes The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (Nintendo 3DS) - 827 minutes StreetPass Mii Plaza (Nintendo 3DS) - 10 minutes Atari 2600 Gopher - 56 minutes Surround - 33 minutes Ultra SCSIcide - 30 minutes PlayStation Tomb Raider - 507 minutes Total Video Game Play Time This Week 1,485 minutes (24 hours 45 minutes) [626 minutes eligible] Individual System Play Times This Week Nintendo 3DS: 859 minutes PlayStation: 507 minutes Atari 2600: 119 minutes This week was pretty much a repeat of last week in terms of gaming time. I spent most of the week working on my game of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D on the 3DS while the misses ran, jumped, shot, and climbed her way through Tomb Raider on the PlayStation. At this point we're both fairly close to finishing our respective games, with just one temple left to go for me in Ocarina of Time and just a few levels left for her in Tomb Raider. Other than our main gaming focuses the only other games played around here this past week were some Atari 2600 High Score Club games and the demo of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (a very cool game that I'll have to pick up the full version of at some point) as well as StreetPass Mii Plaza on the 3DS, since I ended up getting the first StreetPass hit I've had on my 3DS since August so I had a few minigames to play. The Atari 2600 HSC games were a good bit of fun too, and the spousal unit actually joined me to take turns playing Gopher for a bit, but I think I'm done with the HSC games for this round so I'll probably wait to see what next week's game is before I fire up the Atari 2600 again. Speaking of next week, I'm pretty sure I'll be finishing up The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D next week and it looks like the misses will be wrapping up Tomb Raider as well. I know she's planning on starting in on Tomb Raider II as soon as she's finished with the first game in the series, though I'm not too sure what I'll be playing next. Maybe Star Fox 64 3D again? I have been really enjoying playing my 3DS more as of late so I'm sure I'll find something to play on it once I'm done with Ocarina of Time. Until then, and as always, best wishes and happy gaming to you and yours!

Last year's thread ended up being great fun, so I decided to do another this year! One of the most enjoyable aspects of being a retro gaming enthusiast is discovering new games that you might have missed back when they were first released, so I thought I'd make a year end wrap up thread for people to discuss their favorite discoveries from this past year. It doesn't matter whether your favorite games of the year were new releases that just came out this past year, ancient treasures from the pre-crash era, or anything in between; all that matters is that you played them for the first time in 2018. I'll start things off by counting down my Top 10 favorite "new" games from from this past year, with a little review of each… 10. Tails Adventure for Sega Game Gear Due to having a owned Game Boy rather than a Game Gear growing up I had never played this wonderful little game up until this year. I was planning on playing Tails Adventure some day when I eventually got around to buying a copy of Sonic Gems Collection for the GameCube, but when I saw it for $5 on the 3DS's eShop I decided to spend the few dollars to give it a try. What I discovered was an extremely un-Sonic-like but surprisingly good game! Tails Adventure is actually a Metroidvania style game, and a darn challenging one at that. The game is divided up into 8 main levels, which may sound small but you'll be revisiting each of those levels over and over again to explore new areas that can only be accessed by using items that you'll find in other levels. And of course exploring those new areas will lead you to more new items that you can take to other levels to gain access to yet more new areas. I could go on and on about how much I enjoyed this game and all the excellent design choices that the developers made, but for the sake of brevity I'll just say that if you like Tails as a character (and he very well may be my personal favorite video game character of all time) and you like Metroidvania style games then absolutely give Tails Adventure a try on any system you can play it on. It's adorably cute, very challenging, and just an all around great time! This game really made me want to run out and buy a real Game Gear to play it on, though I am resisting that urge... for the time being. 9. Deadly Creatures for Nintendo Wii Deadly Creatures is an incredibly unique 3D action-adventure / beat 'em up sort of game that has you alternating between playing as a tarantula and a scorpion, both fighting their way through the Sonoran desert as a grisly tale of murder and greed unfold by the humans (played by Billy Bob Thorton and Dennis Hopper) they encounter along the way. If that sounds awesome then let me be the first to assure you that it is indeed, 100% completely, every bit as awesome as it sounds. The whole game has a ton of polish and it's clear that THQ intended it to be a blockbuster title, but for some reason it just never got the attention it deserved at the time of it's release. Plus it's a game that lets you play as a spider! Even Spider: The Video Game for the original PlayStation didn't do this brilliant of a job of simulating the experience of being a spider, though it isn't perfectly realistic since the spider in Deadly Creatures does inexplicably seem to know how to preform a variety of professional wrestling moves. I can't say I've ever seen a tarantula clothesline a lizard then pick it up and body slam it in real life before, but then again I don't know that many tarantulas. 8. Star Fox 64 3D for Nintendo 3DS I was really harsh on Star Fox 64 3D when I first reviewed it for the Games Beaten in 2018 thread last spring, in fact, I kinda hated it. My review earned me a fair bit of flak for my profound dislike of this game, so eventually I decided to go back and play it again to really give the game a fair shake. First I played through the game again twice on N64 difficulty, taking the routes to all the planets on the right side (the easy path) and the middle ones that I missed on my initial play through. After that I spent an hour or so durdling around trying to figure out what to do to get to the planets on the left side (the hard path) but had no luck figuring it out on my own so I went and got a little help from IGN. With the knowledge of how to access the hard path in hand I gave it a go, and it certainly lived up to it's name. I was able to clear my play throughs of the easy and normal paths on one credit without ever dying, but ended up getting stuck on the hard path's Zoness level boss and burned through all my lives there. After that defeat I decided to start a new game on 3DS difficulty to see if I'd have any better luck, and I quickly cleared the hard path on one credit as well with the difficulty dialed down. So what did I think of Star Fox 64 3D after the additional 3 play throughs? In short, I enjoyed and appreciated it a heck of a lot more. I've never been particularly fond of "behind the ship" perspective shooters ever since I got Iridion 3D back when the Game Boy Advance SP first came out, mostly because I have a hard time gauging distance in these kind of games and constantly run into things, but Star Fox 64 3D was definitely the best game of this style that I've ever played. The stereoscopic 3D on the New 3DS XL really helped to judge the distance between my ship and enemies / objects in the environment, which made the game a lot more fun to play than any other "behind the ship" perspective shooter that I've tried. There's not a whole lot of games on the 3DS where playing the game in 3D actually offers practical benefits to the gameplay, but Star Fox 64 3D is definitely one of them. The 3D graphics looked just fantastic too, with the rolling waves of water on the Zoness level being a particularly standout effect that I didn't know was even possible to pull off on the 3DS. I also appreciated the story and characters quite a bit more on my additional play throughs. For a game of this age and style the developers did do a nice job putting together an appropriately fitting little story for it, and giving all the characters involved their own unique personalities and quirks. The true ending that you get after completing the hard path was a really satisfying conclusion to the story too. I also have to admit that the voice acting wasn't nearly as bad as I remembered it being the first time around, and definitely nowhere near The House of the Dead 2 or the original Resident Evil levels of awfulness. It was actually kind of charming in an odd sort of way. At this point I do still prefer the Zelda-like gameplay of Star Fox Adventures and the variety of mission styles in the story driven Star Fox Assault (though I accept that I'm probably one of the few people who love the on-foot missions in that game), but Star Fox 64 3D was a darn good game for it's genre. By far the best I've ever played when it comes to "behind the ship" perspective shooters, and it certainly gives me a greater appreciation for Star Fox's roots. It's a game I'm happy to have in my 3DS library and will definitely play again many more times, because short little score attack games like this are perfect for playing for a few minutes here and there on a handheld system, and I did have enough fun with Star Fox 64 3D to give it a spot on my Top 10 Games for 2018 list. Now, if only Nintendo would bring the original Star Fox to the 3DS Virtual Console then I could finally experience that one too! 7. Castlevania: Bloodlines for Sega Genesis Growing up I was a Sega kid, but weirdly I was completely oblivious to the existence of any Konami games on the Genesis back then; Castlevania: Bloodlines included. When I first got my hands on a copy of Bloodlines this fall I was immediately impressed by it. With two playable characters, the story for one of which is based on Bram Stoker's Dracula (which strangely was actually one of my favorite Genesis games as a kid), 6 big stages to play through with different routes for each character, classic Castlevania sub-weapons, and some of the best graphics and music I've ever seen on the Genesis there was a whole lot to like. Having now played through Castlevania: Bloodlines with both characters on Easy and Normal difficulties I can safely say that Bloodlines has quickly become my second favorite game in the Castlevania series, just behind Symphony of the Night at #1. At first I was a little put off by the high difficulty of some of the later stages, but as with many games of this era practice makes perfect and after spending a few weeks playing it I can now easily beat Bloodlines on one continue. I'm sure I'll beat it many more times in the years to come too, because wow is this just an awesome game in every respect! 6. Resident Evil: Revelations for Nintendo 3DS After having played the run-and-gun Resident Evil 5 and passed over Resident Evil 6 for it being another light-on-horror action intensive title it was a real breath of fresh air playing through Resident Evil: Revelations, which was a delightful return to form for the series that felt very similar to Resident Evil 4. It had a good balance of slow suspenseful horror laden moments that kept you looking back over your shoulder constantly and frantic close-quarters combat, always keeping you low enough of ammo and health supplies to never truly feel safe. Add in an incredibly addictive Raid mode to play after you finish the main game (think Diablo but set in the Resident Evil universe and divided up into 10 minute levels) and it ends up being one heck of a great game with a ton of replay value, and quite possibly the best graphics on the 3DS to boot. Definitely pick this one up if you're a 3DS owner and enjoyed Resident Evil 4. 5. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D for Nintendo 3DS The second of two classic N64 ports on the 3DS that I played this year, Ocarina of Time was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I knew going into it that many people consider Ocarina of Time to be the greatest video game of all time, and having now completed it after some 30 odd hours of gameplay I can certainly see where they're coming from; though there are a few annoyances that kept me from thinking quite as highly of it as others might. First off, Navi is the most annoying little shi... ahem, "companion" that I've ever been saddled with in a game. Her constant "Wake up!" and "Hey! Listen!" quips just drove me nuts, and what really bugged me was that she'd often misdirect you. To give a spoiler-free example, there's one part of the game where you need to investigate a windmill and do something there, but all the while Navi is insisting that you go check out a well in the ground even though there's nothing to be done there. One of my other major frustrations with the game was the L-Targeting system, which I know was a new thing when this game came out, but compared to other Zelda games I've played like Twilight Princess the L-Targeting in Ocarina of Time felt really unreliable and would often lock onto things off to the left or right when the enemy I needed to target was standing right in front of me. Lastly in the complaint department, Ocarina of Time is totally a "guide game". By that I mean there are various puzzles in the game that are just too cryptic for the average person to figure out on their own, necessitating the additional purchase of a strategy guide if you were to play the game back when it first came out. Fortunately the developers of Ocarina of Time's 3D remake addressed this by including hint stones that you can go to any time to receive a "vision of the future", which is basically just a short video showing you where you need to go and what you need to do next. I only used this feature 3 or 4 times during my play through when I was really stumped for half an hour or more, but it was a nice feature to have as it saved me a trip to GameFAQs.com to figure out what exactly the game wanted me to do next. I know I've been really hard on Ocarina of Time in this review, but for the most part I did really enjoy it and I can totally see how mind blowing this game would have been back when it was first released. When Ocarina of Time came out it was probably the first time most players had been given the opportunity to explore an enormous sprawling three-dimensional world full of interesting characters and diverse vibrant locales, with secrets to find around every corner and tons of stuff to do. The game is just chalked full of side quests and I found myself constantly getting distracted from the main objectives because it was so much fun to wander around and explore every nook and cranny of Hyrule, just to see what might be there. And seeing in it all in 3D... holy cow. The view out over Hyrule Field in particular is undoubtably the most astonishing and impressive use of 3D that I've ever seen in a 3DS game and the landscape looks like it just goes on for miles beyond the screen. "Stunning" is definitely the right word for the 3D effect in Ocarina of Time 3D, putting it right up there with Sonic Generations as one of the most impressive games to see in 3D on the 3DS. In spite of a few annoyances here and there I really did have a marvelous time with this game, and at some point I will definitely go back and play the Master Quest mode that unlocks upon completing the main game. I've got a whole stack of games on my "to play" list right now, but I could easily ignore them all and just go play Ocarina of Time again. It may debatable whether or not it's the greatest video game of all time, but I don't think there's any denying that it's an all around fantastic game that is well worth playing. 4. Super Lucky's Tale for Xbox One Now we come to the sole reason that I bought an Xbox One instead of a PS4 or Nintendo Switch when I was shopping for a current generation game console last spring. This Xbox One exclusive just looked so charming, whimsical, and all around wonderful that I couldn't pass it up. Having since played through Super Lucky's Tale from beginning to end I can safely say I made that I made a pretty good choice, as this is without a doubt my new all time favorite 3D platfomer! The developers just nailed everything about this game in my opinion. The main character is cute as all get out, the story and supporting cast are adorable, the control is smooth and fluid, and there's a diverse variety of platforming and puzzle solving to do. Most of the stages are played in traditional 3D platforming style but there's also a good number of 2D side scrolling levels as well as some on-rails levels that reminded me a lot of modern Sonic games in the best kind of way. In between levels there's a variety of puzzle solving and marble maze mini games, all of which feel right at home and serve to break up the action nicely. I think the thing I liked most about Super Lucky's Tale though (outside of the protagonist himself) was that it was genuinely challenging. I mostly lost interest in the Super Mario series long ago because to me none of the 3D Mario games ever really felt like they offered a level of challenge suitable for an adult gamer, but Super Lucky's Tale definitely requires some skill to beat; especially if you plan on collecting all the clovers in the game (which serve the same sort of functions as stars in the Mario series) like I did on my play through. All in all I was absolutely thrilled with Super Lucky's Tale. It exceeded my every expectation, which is something that games hardly ever do these days. If you like 3D platformers and are looking for one that'll give you a good challenge and a lot of variety then by all means give Super Lucky's Tale a try! 3. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon for Nintendo 3DS I try to avoid using profanity on the forum whenever possible, but this time there's just no other way to say it… Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon is *bleep*in' awesome! It's so *bleep*in' awesome that I was seriously considering making it my #1 game for the year. Though it may not bear the Castlevania name, this game from Koji Igarashi (the writer, director, and programmer of Castlevania: Syphony of the Night as well as all the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS entries in the Castlevania series) is a nearly flawless spiritual sequel to Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse for the NES. It looks like an NES Castlevania game, sounds like an NES Castlevania game, and it plays like one of the very best in the series. The basic gameplay is similar to Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse in that you play through linear stages with different paths that can be taken depending on the characters in your party, and as the story moves along you can recruit up to 3 different companions with different abilities just like in Castlevania III; except this time you can bring them all along instead of picking and choosing which one to take and which to leave behind. The story is a bit more fleshed out this time around too, though it never distracts from the core gameplay that made Castlevania III such a timeless classic. There's half a dozen different endings to get depending on the choices you make along the way, the best of which can't be achieved until at least your second play through and unlocks an entirely new final level, and there's some really cool secrets to find like a completely unexpected Mega Man 2 tie in for those persistent enough to find it. All in all there is absolutely nothing bad I could say about Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon. For fans of the classic linear Castlevania games this may very well be the best in the series, and with the game available on every single modern console and PC as well there's just no excuse not to play it. The NES style pixel art graphics look wonderful on the 3DS and the save points after each level make it a game well suited to playing on a handheld, but Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon is totally worth picking up for any modern system you might have. 2. DOOM for Xbox One "They are rage, brutal, without mercy. But you. You will be worse. Rip and tear, until it is done." The opening line of dialog at the very beginning of the game tells you pretty much everything you need to know about the 2016 reboot of Doom, but as long as I'm talking about it I'll toss in my two cents on this game. The original Doom is without a doubt one of my all time favorite games, and I've played through it at least once a year every year for as long as I can remember. I think I may like Doom 3 just a teeny tiny little bit more, mostly due to it being truly terrifying to play and it's extensive story exposition, but the original still holds a really special place in my heart. For anyone else who feels the same way, DOOM 2016 is an absolute "must play". The gameplay is almost identical to the original Doom in that you run into a room, kill anything that moves, pick up health and ammo, and repeat until you find a red/blue/yellow keycard to unlock a door, then repeat once more until you come to the level's exit. There have been a few contemporary additions made, such as the ability to upgrade your guns and armor suit as well as perform melee kills with your fists or the chainsaw to gain extra health ammo, but I think those additions really compliment the classic gameplay style rather than get in the way of it. Going nuts with your fists and a berserk pack or chainsawing enemies was always one of the most fun but risky parts of the original Doom, and this time around the rewards for doing it are substantial and at times necessary. The only negative things I could really say about DOOM are that at first my stomach did have a pretty hard time coping with the massive amounts of blood and gore in the game, particularly during the frequent melee kill sequences, but I think I was pretty desensitized to the extreme levels of graphic violence after a couple hours of gameplay and it never bothered my stomach again after that. Once you get used to all the blood and guts flying everywhere it actually becomes immensely satisfying to perform melee kills in the heat of battle. I did find myself occasionally missing the story exposition, atmospheric tension, and jump scares from Doom 3; but I understand their absence since DOOM was intended to be an intense pure action game akin to the original Doom rather than a slow plodding horror game like Doom 3 was. Fortunately there are still plenty of UAC PDAs laying around for you to read if you're into finding out the backstory, and though simpler in scope than Doom 3 I still felt that DOOM's story was engaging and always provided you reason to press forward beyond just killing every demon you could lay your hands on. All in all I was really pleased with DOOM. I wasn't sure what to expect going into it, since with it's major graphical overhaul it doesn't look much like the Doom games of old, but I'll be darned it if didn't play exactly like them; with a few contemporary enhancements and a couple extra buckets of blood thrown in for good measure. This game kept me glued to my TV from start to finish, and I had such an amazing time playing it that as soon as I finished the game I created a new save file and started it all over from the beginning to play through again. That is something I almost never do with any game, so I give DOOM my highest recommendation! 1. Alien: Isolation for Xbox One Now we at last come to my favorite game of all for 2018, and this one earned the distinction of being the most truly terrifying and overwhelmingly stressful game I've ever played. I can say without any shame whatsoever that there was a point about 5 hours in when Alien: Isolation was giving me such intense anxiety that I didn't think I was going to be able to finish the game. I did stick with it though, but only after turning down the difficulty from Normal to Easy, then to Novice (the easiest setting) for the remaining 20 hours or so of the game. The biggest problem I had that caused me to crank the difficulty way down is that the alien's AI was frankly just too smart. On Normal difficulty I'd find myself spending hours replaying the same 10 minute segment, dying over and over again because no matter where I hid or what I'd try the alien would always find me, rip me out of my hiding place, and kill me on sight. It was like playing Sneak n' Peek with a xenomorph who always peeks at the screen while you're hiding so it can find you every single time. Turning down the difficulty to Easy didn't help much, I was still dying over and over again and getting stuck constantly, but once I dialed it down to Novice I actually started making decent progress in the game. I still died frequently, but only when I made an obvious mistake like making too much noise and drawing attention to myself; and those are the kind of mistakes that you can learn from and do better on your next try. At that point the frustration disappeared and the game actually became quite a bit of fun... then again, maybe "fun" is the wrong word. There's nothing "fun" about Alien: Isolation, even on the easiest difficulty setting playing this game is still an incredibly stressful and psychologically taxing experience. That is the experience I bought the game for though, and I can safely say that Alien: Isolation delivered it in spades. Alien: Isolation isn't without it's problems, it's probably half a dozen hours longer than it should have been and the actual gameplay mechanics are rather repetitive, but it is the most authentic Alien movie experience you'll find in a video game. From the outstanding retro-furistic environment designs straight out of the original Alien movie to the equally excellent sound, you won't find another Alien series video game that looks, sounds, and feels as completely accurate to the films as Alien: Isolation. Everything in this game just feels right, including the constant feeling of dread and impending doom you get playing it. It doesn't feel good, but it does feel right.

Awesome thread idea! I think everyone has those games that just give them warm fuzzy feelings all over whenever they play them. Games that really capture the magic of what make the simple act of playing a video game such a compelling and fun experience, and make us want to continue playing them to this day. What exactly those games are will be different for everyone of course, but here's my list in roughly chronological order (or at least in the order I first played them). Every game on this list is one that I can still pick up and play pretty much anytime and always have a blast with. Tetris (Game Boy) The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Game Boy) Solar Striker (Game Boy) Sonic the Hedgehog / Sonic 2 / Sonic 3 / Sonic & Knuckles (Sega Genesis) Mortal Kombat (Sega Genesis) Doom (PC-DOS / Game Boy Advance) Tomb Raider (PlayStation) Resident Evil: Director's Cut (PlayStation) Star Fox Adventures (GameCube) Mario Party 4 (GameCube) Alien Hominid (GameCube) Metroid Prime (GameCube) The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Xbox 360) Red Steel (Nintendo Wii) The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo Wii) Ōkami (Nintendo Wii) Kirby's Epic Yarn (Nintendo Wii) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (Nintendo 3DS)

Here's a pdf copy of the instruction manual to answer all of your questions : http://www.grandideastudio.com/wp-content/uploads/scsicide_manual.pdf

Not a darn thing! I spent all my holiday money on others this year, and I have no complaints about it.

Well jeez, here's a game that'll scramble your brain right quick! Ultra SCSIcide (Game 1, B/B Difficulty): 2106B5

I decided to do the bonus first this week. Bonus Surround: 36 Letters

Very cool game! I had never played Gopher before but I had a lot of fun with it. Gopher (Game 1, B/B Difficulty): 12,040

Holy cow that looks awesome! I'm sure it'll sell like hotcakes, and I'm definitely down to buy a Proline Arcade 26 when they come out. A good 2600 arcade stick with an integrated paddle controller has been a dream of mine for a long while. The only suggestion I would add would be to use an octagonal restrictor plate on the Sanwa joystick instead of the default square/diamond plate. It would up the production cost by a dollar or two but the octagonal plates work great for both 8-way and 4-way games with no need to open the case to adjust the plate between games.

A pretty darn good week for gaming around here this past week, with play times split relatively equally between classic and modern games. Ineligible B.O.B. (Sega Genesis)- 69 minutes Dig Dug (Atari 2600) - 100 minutes Golden Axe (Sega Genesis, played on Genesis 6-Pak) - 53 minutes The Revenge of Shinobi (Sega Genesis, played on Genesis 6-Pak) - 262 minutes Tomb Raider (PlayStation) - 144 minutes Nintendo 3DS The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D - 600 minutes Total Video Game Play Time This Week 1,228 minutes (20 hours 28 minutes) [600 minutes eligible] Individual System Play Times This Week Nintendo 3DS: 600 minutes Sega Genesis: 384 minutes PlayStation: 144 minutes Atari 2600: 100 minutes Starting off the week I wasn't exactly sure what to play, so I decided to get back to B.O.B. on the Genesis and see if I could make some forward progress. Unfortunately the maze-like levels have probably gotten just a little too tough for me at this point so it wasn't long before I abandoned B.O.B. and went looking for something new to play. The misses was in much the same boat, having given up on Super Metroid on account of not being able to beat Ridley, so she decided to give The Revenge of Shinobi on the Genesis a try. She had never played The Revenge of Shinobi before but had seen it praised by many game reviewers on YouTube and thought it looked fun, and (much to my surprise) she ended up loving it and beat the entire game on her second attempt. I've always struggled with this game and found it to be absurdly difficult, never making it further than the 4th or 5th stage, but that didn't seem to be a problem for the spousal unit. After watching her plow through The Revenge of Shinobi I decided to take on a game that she had always had a tough time with and never beaten, that game being Golden Axe, and (much to her surprise) managed to beat it on my first try! It felt like quite an accomplishment too, since while I've beaten Golden Axe II many times I had never beaten the original before. With a few Sega Genesis games under our belts for the week I spent a little time playing Dig Dug for the Atari 2600 High Score Club, until I was pretty confident that I had gotten the best score I could, then finally settled on a longer and more story driven game to occupy my free time. The game I decided to play was the Master Quest in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D on the 3DS. I had played through the original Ocarina of Time earlier in the year but had never tried the Master Quest that unlocks upon beating the original game, and seeing as how my 3DS had been sitting around collecting dust for the last couple months it seemed like a good way to give the system some use again. It ended up being a very good decision and it never fails to amaze me just how astonishingly good the stereoscopic 3D effect is on the New 3DS XL, which is something I seem to forget whenever I go a while without playing the system. I definitely need to pick up some more 3DS games to play next year as finances allow. For her gaming time for the rest of the week the misses settled on an old favorite that she usually plays through once a year, Tomb Raider on the PlayStation. She's only logged a few hours in it thus far but is already 1/3 or so of the way through the game and I have no doubt that she'll breeze through the rest of the game in fairly short order. She's already declared her intention to play through Tomb Raider II next after she finishes the original, and at this rate it looks like she'll be starting in on the second game in the series next week. For my gaming time next week the only things on my agenda are to continue playing through the Master Quest in Ocarina of Time 3D and spend a bit of time with next week's Atari 2600 High Score Club game, but that's pretty much it for me. I think that about covers everything for this week, so until next time and as always, best wishes and happy gaming to you and yours.

A pretty darn good week for gaming around here this past week, with play times split relatively equally between classic and modern games. Ineligible The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (Nintendo 3DS) - 600 minutes Atari 2600 Dig Dug - 100 minutes PlayStation Tomb Raider - 144 minutes Sega Genesis B.O.B. - 69 minutes Golden Axe (Played on Genesis 6-Pak) - 53 minutes The Revenge of Shinobi (Played on Genesis 6-Pak) - 262 minutes Total Video Game Play Time This Week 1,228 minutes (20 hours 28 minutes) [628 minutes eligible] Individual System Play Times This Week Nintendo 3DS: 600 minutes Sega Genesis: 384 minutes PlayStation: 144 minutes Atari 2600: 100 minutes Starting off the week I wasn't exactly sure what to play, so I decided to get back to B.O.B. on the Genesis and see if I could make some forward progress. Unfortunately the maze-like levels have probably gotten just a little too tough for me at this point so it wasn't long before I abandoned B.O.B. and went looking for something new to play. The misses was in much the same boat, having given up on Super Metroid on account of not being able to beat Ridley, so she decided to give The Revenge of Shinobi on the Genesis a try. She had never played The Revenge of Shinobi before but had seen it praised by many game reviewers on YouTube and thought it looked fun, and (much to my surprise) she ended up loving it and beat the entire game on her second attempt. I've always struggled with this game and found it to be absurdly difficult, never making it further than the 4th or 5th stage, but that didn't seem to be a problem for the spousal unit. After watching her plow through The Revenge of Shinobi I decided to take on a game that she had always had a tough time with and never beaten, that game being Golden Axe, and (much to her surprise) managed to beat it on my first try! It felt like quite an accomplishment too, since while I've beaten Golden Axe II many times I had never beaten the original before. With a few Sega Genesis games under our belts for the week I spent a little time playing Dig Dug for the Atari 2600 High Score Club, until I was pretty confident that I had gotten the best score I could, then finally settled on a longer and more story driven game to occupy my free time. The game I decided to play was the Master Quest in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D on the 3DS. I had played through the original Ocarina of Time earlier in the year but had never tried the Master Quest that unlocks upon beating the original game, and seeing as how my 3DS had been sitting around collecting dust for the last couple months it seemed like a good way to give the system some use again. It ended up being a very good decision and it never fails to amaze me just how astonishingly good the stereoscopic 3D effect is on the New 3DS XL, which is something I seem to forget whenever I go a while without playing the system. I definitely need to pick up some more 3DS games to play next year as finances allow. For her gaming time for the rest of the week the misses settled on an old favorite that she usually plays through once a year, Tomb Raider on the PlayStation. She's only logged a few hours in it thus far but is already 1/3 or so of the way through the game and I have no doubt that she'll breeze through the rest of the game in fairly short order. She's already declared her intention to play through Tomb Raider II next after she finishes the original, and at this rate it looks like she'll be starting in on the second game in the series next week. For my gaming time next week the only things on my agenda are to continue playing through the Master Quest in Ocarina of Time 3D and spend a bit of time with next week's Atari 2600 High Score Club game, but that's pretty much it for me. I think that about covers everything for this week, so until next time and as always, best wishes and happy gaming to you and yours.

To be fair, a lot of highly sought after modern art does very much resemble the results of a handful of snails with food coloring induced diarrhea scooting around on a canvas.

About $45 loose or $82 complete. (Source: https://www.pricecharting.com/game/atari-2600/robin-hoodsir-lancelot-the-joust ) Edit: Nevermind, that's for the Atari 2600 version. I can't find any pricing history for the Colecovison version either.

You should definitely send them an email about it, since the Kickstarter batch was supposed to have completely shipped out a couple weeks ago. The only versions of the game from the Kickstarter that haven't shipped out yet are the Collectors Editions, since they just received the final extras for the Collectors Editions from the factory yesterday and are assembling them as we speak. On a personal note, after sending them an email I was able to snag one of the handful of US Genesis box and label art versions of Tanglewood leftover from the Kickstarter (all future batches will be Mega Drive style for box and label art) and my copy will be shipping out next week to hopefully arrive by Christmas.

Oh man, that reminds me of another Game Boy game I should have mentioned: Donkey Kong '94. It's a wonderful puzzle platformer but it's so absurdly generous with extra lives that I don't think I've ever finished the game with less than 90 lives in reserve, and the same goes for Super Mario 3D Land on the 3DS. A fantastically fun game that gives you a ludicrous amount of extra lives.