A mega collection of Blue Bomber greatness I’m a huge Mega Man fan. If allowed to, I would decorate GI headquarters in every room with gear resembling Capcom’s infamous Blue Bomber. After Mega Man’s last adventure on the NES, I… Continue Reading
Groovy competition in rhythm game market Just when Konami thought it had the market cornered on rhythm games along came In the Groove. The series took the formula of timed arrows, music and dance charts and finessed it into better… Continue Reading
Pacific battles fly in 8-bit formation Capcom’s warfighting 1940 series reminds me of the good times when arcade gaming ruled my weekends and I was fortunate to find some rare gems that later became gaming classics. During that time, I… Continue Reading
Ninja copy fails Black Manta People were apparently wild about ninjas in the ’80s. Really wild. I’m guessing this because it seems to be a million and one games about ninjas that were made in the 1980s. These were all… Continue Reading
A refreshing platformer in good taste Every so often there will be a licensed game that’s actually worth something. It will have a great soundtrack and decent controls and not be so obnoxiously unplayable that legions of older gamers remember… Continue Reading
Ripoff molded into decency In 1994, there was a glut of fighters on the market — something for everyone, if you will. You couldn’t stand in a circle and turn your head without bumping into a fighting game. To stand… Continue Reading
Maximo continues the quest to rescue the princess I have a love and hate relationship with Capcom. For every game they develop and publish that will be a smash hit by being more creative and sticking to the basics, they… Continue Reading
When Tetris’ and Disney’s worlds collide Messing with an old and universally loved favorite such as Tetris is a risky proposition. You can get it right or mess it up horribly, where it is forever known as the “messed up… Continue Reading
Puzzle Bobble’s breakout hit Bubble Bobble isn’t super famous last I checked, but I learned who Bub and Bob were by the time I finished their first puzzle effort for the Super NES, the mid-90s appropriately named Bust-A-Move. There’s much… Continue Reading
Fruitless showdowns with respect to balloons The best thing I can possibly say about Balloon Fight is that it’s innovative for its concepts at the time. Other than that, this isn’t a game I’d recommend to anyone beyond the age… Continue Reading
Super Mario Land Mario’s first adventure outside of the Mushroom Kingdom just happens to also be his first in the portable sphere. Mario Land is a serviceable adventure filled with the weird and different (Tatanga, anyone?), but it’s still good… Continue Reading
Super Mario Bros. 2 an uneven, heavy-handed sequel If there were ever a time when Mario was considered not to be fun, this would be it. I have always had a major fascination with Mario and the Mushroom Kingdom, but… Continue Reading
Mario Kart’s growing pains Mario Kart has always been an interesting experience. Combining go-karting and Mario has and is a recipe for success for Nintendo, quite honestly. And, by the time Nintendo got around to making the sequel to the… Continue Reading
Mario’s greatest evolution Most of the gaming world would agree that Super Mario 64 is one of the greatest games of all time. I would agree also except for two things: First, the game gives me a tremendous headache after… Continue Reading
A serviceable tale on paper The moment you know Mario has gone on too many adventures is when you know you’ve played way too much Mario. Paper Mario, the sequel to the hard-to-top Super Mario RPG, is when I knew… Continue Reading
Spirit of an Olympic champion Hearing the name Track & Field II easily creates powerful nostalgia in me. I was a young girl learning the ins and outs of an NES in 1989 when my older brother, Tony, brought home… Continue Reading
Like father, like son I don’t believe there is anyone who reads GI who doesn’t know that I don’t care for Donkey Kong. By now, it should be painfully obvious that I don’t care for the simian’s retro exploits or… Continue Reading
Rival Schools 1.5 is still fun We here at GI are strong proponents of anything Japanese, fighting games and education. So, you can imagine the delight that is a generous mix of all three. To that end, it should be… Continue Reading
A new era of DDR Let’s have a quick history review, shall we? Konami created the Dance Dance Revolution series in 1998 and by 2002, there were at least six entries in the main series. I’d gather that this meant… Continue Reading
A mostly forgettable treasure trove We’re going to use the term treasure trove loosely when I refer to Midway Arcade Treasures 2. Sure, there are some diamonds in the mine that was once Midway and its arcade hits. But sometimes,… Continue Reading
