T-Pac

I concur. Kirby's Dramland 3 is probably the most gorgeous classic Kirby game by a wide margin, but I don't remember being particularly taken with the gameplay when I tried it out several years ago. (Granted - I didn't go for the "good" ending by collecting the special items or whatever, so I know there's a deeper experience to be had if you're so inclined...) [T-Pac]

@PII - well I'm certainly not surprised to hear that you're an author - all these responses are so witty and well-written haha! Also - how can you possibly belittle your collection setup when you've got the best lineup of novelty tube-TVs on VGS!!? [T-Pac]

Weren't there a bunch of Irem carts with LED lights in them? I would've expected those to be prime contenders now that I see people were voting for interesting cartridge designs and not strictly "packaging". [T-Pac]

Thanks, dude! Sometimes my inner contrarian gets the best of me and I can be overly critical of "popular" games, but I do try to acknowledge what other people like about them - so I'm glad that comes across. Metroid is among a handful of popular classics that I felt compelled to play through in order to do my "retro-gaming homework" so to speak - even if it isn't the type of game that I enjoy. (But the fact that I kept the game in my collection and actually finished it is a mark in it's favor, considering how many other classics I've dismissed as "too far out of my frame of interest" to own or play haha.) [T-Pac]

I know absolutely nothing about Wizardry, but that has to be some of the sickest game cover-art ever. Classy. [T-Pac]

Haha I definitely wouldn't be mad! Just looked that game up and it certainly seems like a neat Galaga clone. [T-Pac]

Imagine you're restricted to playing games from a single series for the rest of your life. Do you pick whatever series contains your absolute favorite game? Something with a lot of variety between entries to keep it fresh? Something ongoing for the chance at new games in the future? Something with a small library to master? Or a huge library to explore? Something you're already familiar with, or something that offers more novel experiences? [T-Pac]

The Lolo and Lala boss fight in Kirby's Dream Land is also a neat one. And the Bomberman boss in Star Parodier. [T-Pac]

Playing as Twinbee in Parodius Da is pretty cool. [T-Pac]

09/40 - Metroid [Nintendo Entertainment System - 1987] Finished: 2024/02/18 Caveats: Used save states generously and followed an online strategy guide / walkthrough. Got the "fair" ending. [T-Pac]

I was referring to the story mode, but you're definitely right otherwise haha. [T-Pac] That makes a lot of sense. I was wavering on whether or not to call it a strategy game since that evokes "Koei / Advance Wars" type stuff, but saying "strategic" instead really helps cut that correlation. [T-Pac] Yeah - giving that "arcade-style" distinction definitely helps frame the "puzzler / maze game" moniker more accurately. Also - Irem made Bomberman games for the arcade!!? I love Bomberman and I love Irem, so that sounds incredible haha! [T-Pac] That's definitely why I hesitate to call it a "puzzler", but I feel like "action game" would still need an extra qualifier to set it apart from something like Mega Man. Bomberman is really in a category of its own, I guess. [T-Pac] Okay - I take it all back. This is obviously the correct answer! [T-Pac]

Metroid [Nintendo Entertainment System - 1987] This is one of those NES classics that I have more fun looking at than actually playing, but I still enjoyed it way more than I was expecting. Also a fun opportunity to draw my own rendition of Samus's armor suit, since I've never been a big fan of Nintendo's official design. [T-Pac]

And for anyone who has played any Bomberman games - what genre would you consider them? I called the game an "action puzzler" in my video - and while I feel that gives the right impression, "puzzler" isn't quite accurate... [T-Pac]

08/40 -Super Bomberman 1 [Nintendo Super Famicom - 1993] Finished: 2024/02/11 Caveats: Beat the main game. Won the single-round battle mode for all 12 arenas against 3 "level 1" CPU opponents. [T-Pac]

Heck yeah - the Advance series was my introduction to the Mario franchise as a kid. Great stuff. [T-Pac]

Super Bomberman 1 [Nintendo Super Famicom - 1993] The Bomberman series is like my video game "comfort food". I've yet to play an entry that I didn't like. [T-Pac]

Recently I had a dream that I was testing a bunch of Atari carts and found a neat Galaga clone. Fascinating, I know… [T-Pac]

07/40 - Terra Cresta [Nintendo Entertainment System - 1990] Finished: 2024/02/06 Caveats: Finished one loop using auto-fire and save-states between stages and boss-fights. [T-Pac]

Terra Cresta [Nintendo Entertainment System - 1990] This was my least favorite shoot-em-up that I've covered so far, but at least it inspired one of my favorite drawings of the series... [T-Pac]

I always say "Pok-EE-mon" like a true, ignorant American. Wouldn't want to give anyone the false impression that I was cultured or something... [T-Pac]

Finished reading The Tipping Point (2000) by Malcom Gladwell. [T-Pac]

I don't have any of my own to share, but I've gotta say - it's so cool that you held on to these. [T-Pac]

Neat - I probably would've loved that game as a kid, since the GBA was my first game system, and I grew up watching Kim Possible. [T-Pac]

I usually like to go all-black or all-white. Dark mode or Ghost mode. [T-Pac]

I'm probably in the minority here, but I prefer a series to only have a few entries, no matter how good it is. I just got the full set of 6 Famicom Rockman games over the holidays, but instead of being excited to play them all, I'm just overwhelmed that there are so many of them haha. [T-Pac]