Tag Archives: retro

Retro Weekends – Nintendo Entertainment System

In 1983, there was a crash. Not a stock market crash or a car crash involving someone noteworthy. But a crash in the videogame industry. People got tired of playing the figurative whack-a-mole of “Find The Good Game”, with the all too common chance of picking up a bad game, and simply gave up. Videogames to the common people became a fad, and like many fads, it came and went. However this event was mostly situated in North America, and more specifically within the console market. In Japan, videogames were just as healthy as ever. Arcades and consoles saw use and playtime everyday. Nintendo had released the Famicom home console in Japan. But North America would prove to be a different beast to conquer. However once that beast was tamed, it became a formidable ally. On this Retro Weekend, we reminisce about the Nintendo Entertainment System.

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The Breakdown – Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance

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System: GBA/Publisher: Konami/Developer: Konami/Players: 1/Released/Sep. 16, 2002

While the world enjoys the new Harmony that descended on the downloadable game scene, I took the time to go out and buy an old Harmony on the GBA. Released after Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance released during a sort of renaissance period for the series as Castlevania was once again a force to be reckoned with in the gaming scene after the release of SoTN. However, this entry was seen as a bit lackluster, and to this day is seen as the black sheep of the post-SoTN games. Were the initial critiques spot on? Has the game aged better as time went on. Or should it have been a forgotten note? After the break, I breakdown Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance.

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The Wired Fish Podcast Season 2 – Episode 2

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Ahoy Fellow Fishes. This week is half SOPA, half retro. Because of how close the ruling of Protect IP is, and the protests and blackouts against PIPA and SOPA, the time has come for us to finally talk about the two and how catastrophic these bills are. On a lighter note, we resume our regular wackiness with retro stuff and what we grew up with as kids.

[MAJOR UPDATE 1] As of this time, ruling of PIPA has been postponed indefinitely. Ruling of SOPA has been shelved indefinitely. The battle may be over, but the war is still on. We want these two bills to be killed off completely. From the looks of it, the authors of both bills are hoping to postpone it long enough to try passing it without the public noticing. However, we were able to catch these bills as they were flying through Congress and stop them in their tracks. We can do it again!

[MAJOR UPDATE 2] After the indefinite postponing of the two bills, the ESA had dropped support of the bills. While it’s awesome and all, it’s somewhat meaningless now. In light of all this, I guess your can kinda skip the first half. But I still recommend watching just to see how bad these bills are. But if you’ve had your fill of SOPA and PIPA, you can hit the break to see which time to skip to.

As usual, timestamp table of contents after the break.

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Retro Weekends – The Playstation

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Merry Christmas fellow fishes! Today’s Christmas Eve, and today’s probably a very important day for you. You got gifts to get (slowpoke), people to see, things to prepare in the house, stuff to cook… well you get the idea. So I thought it’d be best to make this weekend’s Retro Weekend extra early and put it up at 7:00AM. I’m sure you got time to spare for this article. Last week I said that we’d come right back here and talk about something that changed my gaming habits. Well, if you look at the header image up there, then you know exactly what I’m going to talk about. Hit the jump to read about my history with the original Playstation. Continue reading →

Retro Weekends – Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble

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Here we are, the final game in the Donkey Kong Country trilogy for the SNES. If you missed out on reading about the other two games, go back and read them here and here. To summarize, both games somehow found ways to avoid me. DKC1 stopped working, and I never owned DKC2. But what of DKC3? Well, this is the only one in the trilogy that I still own on the SNES and still works. I haven’t played it for many years, but trust me when I say that I played it a lot since it was the only one in my possession and working. Join me as we explore one of the last games released on the SNES. Continue reading →

Retro Weekends – Donkey Kong Country

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Picture if you will, two rivals, Nintendo and SEGA, in the middle of a very heated war of consoles. SEGA enjoyed the #1 spot after releasing their Genesis, competing against Nintendo’s NES. They steal not only Nintendo’s thunder, but third parties as well that had enough of Nintendo’s draconian bullshit during the 80s. They shelve Alex Kidd and replace him with the hip, the cool (and sometimes creepy), Sonic The Hedgehog. Nintendo, not willing to bow down, release the Super Nintendo. Now the companies are on even ground: two companies, two 16bit consoles, each with their strengths and weaknesses. Nintendo is pulling ahead and netting good game after good game from both them and third parties. A new format is on the rise: the CD. SEGA would invest money into it and make the SEGA CD add-on, with FMV games being their main push. Nintendo, they still got their cartridges, and still kicking ass. SEGA’s frustrated, as their CD format ain’t cutting it. So, they return to cartridge format and make the 32X, capable of rendering polygonal 3D graphics. Nintendo? They’re still sticking with their regular SNES cartridge. Not only that, they release this behemoth: Donkey Kong Country.

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Retro Weekends – Super Soakers

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Editor’s Note: Retro Gaming Weekends has not been discontinued. Instead, it is now being merged into Retro Weekends, which covers anything from toys, cartoons, anime, commercials, live-action shows, and of course games, that I grew up on in the 90s and early 2000s.

Ah the Super Soaker. It was somewhat of a status symbol of your wealth when you were a kid. Of course by wealth I mean how much you begged and pleaded with your parents to lose money on getting a Super Soaker. While your typical discount store had those cheap little water guns that shot streams resembling piss, no one messed with you the moment you came out with this beast of a water gun. Of course, once you had one, the other kids wanted one too and eventually got one. And then the real war began as you’d try to last as long as you could without having to reload. No one really knew when exactly you won a watergun fight, but I’m assuming whoever got the heavier clothes lost. Regardless, I enjoyed a short run of having not one, but two Super Soakers! After the break, my story and why I stopped playing with Super Soakers. Continue reading →

Sonic Generations Chemical Plant Screenshots (Oh, and Some Footage Too!)

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Maybe I’m a sucker for falling into the Sonic Cycle (the part where I’m hyped for an upcoming Sonic game), but one can’t help but just be giddy knowing that old Sonic stages are getting remade for Sonic Generations. We already saw Green Hill Zone (and played it on the demo). But just recently, SEGA has unveiled Chemical Plant Zone. First appearing in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Chemical Plant was the second zone you traversed. It was known for it’s many wavy blue paths, tubes that shot into all over the place, the Mega Mack (that purple water than was responsible for demise during childhood), and of course, that kick-ass theme song that even had the SNES kids bopping their head to the beat. This was a huge departure from the first game’s second stage, Marble Zone, which was more about careful exploration a more mellow, if volatile, atmosphere. Here, it was all about speed and pushing forward to avoid the mega mack. It seems in this remake for Generations, Metal Sonic will be the boss. As Modern sonic, Chemical Plant starts to explode. Pics and footage after the jump.

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