Lynda Monica

I've never played Captain Skyhawk. I looked up a playthrough of it online just now, and it doesn't really look that good to be honest.

One of the beautiful things about retro gaming is that high prices don't always get you the best stuff. Unlike most other things in life, you can get wonderful games for the most budget of prices. So let's put our trophies to the side and talk about the cheapest games in your collections that bring you endless joy. The We Cheer games on Wii are both ten to twenty dollars, and are really fantastic. One of my all time favourite NES games is Milon's Secret Castle, which you can find anywhere for ten dollars loose. Sonic Colors on the Wii is one of the finest games I've ever played, and is at the most twenty dollars. Gyruss on NES is one of the greatest shooters of all time, and is the simplest thing in the world to find and buy. Elebits for the Wii is common as dirt and can be picked up for ten dollars anywhere, and is a must own title for the Wii. Ecco the Dolphin is the single greatest Sega Genesis game of all time, and is one of the most affordable classics on the system. This is obviously just a drop in the bucket, so what are some of your favourite cheap games?

I don't know who these people are. Should I?

Balance the game correctly the first time.

Dumber questions have been asked online. We have no idea what's for real any more. Gotta say, I took it seriously. XD

In the ancient words of the Youtube comment section... 7 people are weirdly proud of being addicted to cigarettes.

Game Boy had a lot of cool Europeon exclusives. Adventures of Lolo, Monster Max, Parodius, Pop'n Twinbee, Trip World, R-Type II, the original Game Boy Gallery, and Magnetic Soccer, the weirdest first party Nintendo title ever.

I rate the imaginary category of "Always been curious, but likely won't play." It's always seemed like one of those games that has a hardcore cult following, but isn't actually very special. That kind of game is usually restricted to the weirder Sega consoles with games like Kolibri, Popful Mail, NiGHTS into Dreams, and Samba De Amigo. The kind of games that fans of the system say are fantastic, but aren't interesting to anybody else. Parappa's fan base is so vocal that people always assume it's a classic, but it's never looked very good to me. I've been burned by these cult classic type of games too many times to fall for it anymore, so I'd never go out of my way to play it at this point.

As someone who has loved the Punch Out series for a long time, I can comfortably say that Great Tiger is the hottest dude in the series. He's really great in the Wii game in particular.

I think a nice alternate option people should have for this thread is to say a number of games they'd like to complete, rather than list specific titles. Should a person lose interest in a game or system, then they can still work toward a numerical goal. Backlogs grow all year, so being able to select whichever game you want to knock off the backlog would be better. Maybe this could be implemented for next year's thread?

It's worth pointing out that Pit has the same weird smile on the cover of Kid Icarus. We might have been used to the Zelda one by now had it come out that way. Seeing it now is obviously jarring though.

With Canadian Thanksgiving done and over with, American Thanksgiving is not terribly far off. So I'm asking the type of question that creates civil wars. Which Thanksgiving potato is better? Baked potato, or mashed potatoes? No being cheeky either by saying other forms of potatoes. We need a concrete answer to solve the Holiday Sage Wars of 2022. Baked or mashed! Make your choice! Baked is a strong candidate this election, but mashed makes a stronger case for me. It's shovel food that goes down smoothly, it mixes with everything, and is scalding hot if prepared properly. It's much easier to mess up though, what with the tendency to become lumpy. However one's ability to make smooth mashed potatoes shows one's overall skill, and creates a more impressive Thanksgiving if done correctly. Cast your vote!

Oh gawd, now I'll feel responsible if you don't end up liking it. It's best played with the Wii classic controller if you still have one, but it's playable without it. If you go into it thinking of it as a silly Wii game, you'll have a great time with it.

I haven't posted a picture of my Wii collection yet, so I'll go ahead and do that! Nintendo, Hudson, BandaiNamco, Sega and Konami have been my primary targets, as they supported the Wii very well with really solid titles. Even though I grew up with the earliest Nintendo systems, the Wii is my favourite. It was such a treasure trove of unique games that all reviewed poorly due to the weird standards of reviewers at the time. Games have always been something silly to pass the time, and yet reviewers insisted every game be a top of the line technical marvel. In reality most of the best Wii games are the lower budget ones that do a simple thing extremely well. Somehow Animal Crossing always gets a free pass for being an aimless time waster, but all of the infinitely better and more creative casual Wii games got dumped on. Fortunately for me, that means shopping for high quality games is extremely cheap. The Wii is one of the most untouched markets of any game system, and a lot of the best games are completely unknown by modern players. I followed the system extremely closely while it was out, so I already know most of what's worth owning. Most people don't have that knowledge, and were too busy making fun of the system to bother keeping track of what came out. I'm by no means done collecting for the system, but I have most of my top favourites by now. There's going to be at least one hundred games I want to buy, so I've got my work cut out for me still. Also Funko Caterpie sits on top. It's the only Funko I've ever bought.

In the gameplay stealth is encouraged, but not at all required. Also in the cutscenes and gameplay there's a lot of over the top violence. Metal Gear Revengence was also about as comically violent as a game could get, so I don't agree that the series didn't revel in over the top violence. Perhaps my phrasing was a bit off though.

This is the part I'm really curious about though on this forum. The reality of things is that Konami DIDN'T keep up their old stream of quality, and the company had little to no direction in the late 2000s. So ignoring what they once were and looking strictly at what they were when they abandoned the market, and assuming that level of quality was just going to continue, do you actually care that the company left? Silent Hills showed promise, but it was a single game.

Sorry to copy the game debate idea, but there's a question I've been wanting to ask on here for a while. I promise I'll only do it this once. When factoring in all of Konami's legacy, do you actually miss them in the current market? Konami made some of the greatest 8bit games of all time between the NES and Game Boy, and were very good on the SNES and Genesis as well. Beyond that Konami relied heavily on the Metal Gear, Silent Hill, Yu-Gi-Oh, Castlevania, and Dance Dance Revolution series, with some originals and sequels to other series thrown in there. If you were to ask me personally, I don't miss Konami at all. I was never interested in the Metal Gear Solid series, as it's one of the series I would label as a "boy game". Tough dudes killing everything in sight isn't my kind of fun, and overblown stories are bothersome too. Silent Hill as a series fell apart after Shattered Memories, and if you weren't convinced that Castlevania was dead when Portrait of Ruin came out, the Lords of Shadows trilogy probably did you in. The music genre had essentially faded away, making Dance Dance and Pop'n Music things of the past, Survival Kids/Lost in Blue ended in 2008, Elebits only ever had two games, (and a mobile one) Gradius fell off the face of the galaxy, and Contra hadn't existed since re-birth on WiiWare. Towards the end of Konami's constant presence in the market, they basically depended on Metal Gear to make any money at all. I think escaping the video game market was probably the smartest thing they could have done to stay in business, and the only things that people seem to be angry about losing are Metal Gear and Silent Hill. I wanted to ask this question as it seems to come up whenever Konami is mentioned, but I have to wonder how many people actually care? Konami couldn't stop making bad decisions during the 2000s, so I've been wondering what potential people thought the company still had. Now obviously I'm leaning heavily towards the idea that they did the right thing, but I made this thread to hear what other people think. Search yourself and really think about if you miss Konami or not. I'd love to know!

Knuckles Chaotix is a lame game, but it gave us a really great group of characters. I'd love for Team Chaotix to be playable in something again, as I unironically love all of them.

On my way home from work I decided to go to the game store, since I'm not using eBay at this point. Part of what makes this so fun every year is that I live near three really good game stores, and it's amazing what you can find when you restrict yourself to them. Stuff does show up if you wait, and fifty dollars brought this bad boy home! SEALED!! Check out those corners! These boxes are always beat to hell, so to see one like this is wild. The case was also sealed, but didn't have the manual inside. The manual was actually loose inside the big box, so keep that in mind if you want your set as authentically packed as possible. This is the dance mat, which I haven't unfolded yet. I plan to take step by step photos on how to fold it up so I can re-pack it all safely. Later tonight I'll include those photos in the thread so you all know how to fold yours up! This side faces down in the box. As for the game itself, I've only played Dance Dance Revolution once in my life at an arcade for about twenty seconds. I was completely embarrassed as onlookers watched me not know how to play, and I climbed off the stage almost immediately. It wasn't one of my proudest moments. XD PRETEND THIS WAS ME. I TOTALLY DID THIS WELL AND WAS JUST AS HOT. That's all for me this time!

I haven't actually debated much in these threads, so I guess I'll go into a little more detail. Obviously the music is infectiously catchy, and sticks with you. Sometimes when I'm doing chores or making lunch, ToeJam and Earl tunes spill out of me for longer than they should. The cast of characters is fantastic. Obviously ToeJam and Earl and great, but the enemies are fantastic too. So many of the enemies are ridiculous, but so threatening that you're terrified of them. It makes stressful gameplay moments all the more fun when what you're terrified of is a fat man with a lawnmower, or a group of tourists. The item system is incredibly well thought out, and trying to find all the best items while avoiding the punishing ones is thrilling and fun. Your obvious goal is to identify the present reshuffler as it's the most crippling one. Yet that doesn't mean you're out of the woods, as there are other crushing ones like instant death. All the while you want to find those Icarus Wings and Hi-tops as soon as possible, and start stockpiling them. Speaking of which, stockpiling items is absolutely required for the final stages, so you often want to fully explore a stage even if you find the elevator really quickly. It makes for great decision making where you have to determine if the enemies around you are worth trying to avoid, or if you'd waste too many items trying to find better ones. It's an all around well designed game, which I think is its biggest strong point. Everything is thought out, and is very balanced. The items are good, but never completely broken. Enemies are overpowered, but items render them useless. Diving in water can help you escape, but it's not safe either. You have an out by jumping off the stage, but you have to climb back up. Every aspect is designed to have a pro and con, and it's a triumph in difficulty balance. As crazy as this game can get, you never feel completely helpless unless you run out of items. Overall an amazing game.

Awesome game. One of the best on the Genesis.

Four more arrivals today! Keep in mind I save up for this all year round, so this is the biggest shopping spree I go on during the year. There are still six games in the mail for me, and once I leave feedback on them I'm officially off of eBay until March 1st. The cut-off date for ordering has already come and gone, so I'm just waiting for the rest to arrive. Repurchasing Ivy the Kiwi was a bit of a bummer, seeing as how I was one of the few people who was excited for it when it came out. It was originally a twenty dollar budget title, but these days it's pretty expensive to buy. It's one of my all time favourite Wii games though, and is superior to the DS version is every single way. Absolutely thrilled to get this one back. Sonic Colors came out about a year after I got into Sonic, and it was everything I could have wanted from the series. The cast and tone of "The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" cartoon, (Orbot and Cubot standing in for Scratch and Grounder) and the boost gameplay of the Rush series. It was so unbelievably perfect that they've been unable to top it, and in my eyes it's where the series straight up ends. I have no desire to ever buy a new Sonic game, as they already made the best one they'll ever make. Colours is everything I could have possibly wanted out of the series, and is one of the greatest Wii games of all time. I'm going to boot it up tonight and replay the whole game in one sitting, and it's going to be just as great as it was back in the day. Order Up is a cooking game that got a lot of attention, but never quite saw the success it should have gotten. I don't have a ton to say about it as it's still a cooking game at the end of the day, but it's an extremely good one. I don't think it should get as much praise as it always seems to get, but it's a worthwhile Wii purchase. It's also been ported to a few other systems, so you have options. Lastly there's "Conduit 2", which will always annoy shelf organizers who want to place it next to the original game called "THE Conduit". I honestly don't remember a lot about the Conduit games, but I remember I played through all of the second game and enjoyed it. It was a surprisingly forgettable experience, but I remember it being a fun FPS. Maybe I'll think better of it this time around. Six more games left to arrive, and then I'll be taking a break from shopping. I'll be documenting the next few months of brick and mortar game shopping in here, so the thread's not over yet! That's all for me this time!

I've never owned an Xbox system in my life, but now there's a game for 360 that I really want to play. Having zero experience with Microsoft, I need help knowing what all I need to play the game in question. First thing's first, which model of Xbox 360 is the one that doesn't break all the time? I know the original model failed constantly, which is why I never bought one in its early years. The game I want to play is a Kinect game, so I need to know what's involved with that, and if there are better models of the unit similar to the 360 itself. I also need to know what all comes with the Kinect to make it work. As someone who's completely oblivious, is there some sort of glove with sensors that lets the Kinect to detect you? What cords come with the Kinect? These are all unknowns to me. My final question is if there's a type of controller I shouldn't bother with? I don't want to be tricked into buying the cheapest and worst controller type, only to have to come back and buy the better one. Any help would be appreciated! I know I could just try and find this all out through Google, but I'll probably get the best answers by asking in here. EDIT: I should also mention that I'm not interested in buying the Xbox One, and I'd rather own a 360.

I actually had a longer version of the post I trimmed down due to rambling, but I guess I forgot to include the part where I mentioned I got rid of it. My bad! I did move it out of the house, and it was a huge pain to take it down a flight of stairs and into the van to get rid of it. I had to do it all myself, and I almost wrecked my back doing it. I had to take it easy the next day.

Three more arrivals for today! Rhythm games were a big deal in the 2000s, and almost every major publisher put one out for the Wii. Konami put out several, but "Pop 'n' Music" is the most interesting of the bunch. The Pop 'n' Music games had been around in Japan since the late 90s, but had never seen a release in the US until this one. Unfortunately this version of Pop 'n' Music wasn't going to win anyone over, and it didn't help that the rhythm genre was dying by the time it finally got localized. As flawed as this game is though, I'm really happy that it exists. Pop 'n' Music did eventually see a localization, even if it's not a great representation of the series. A worthy curio. I remember reading about this game back when it was supposed to come out for the original Xbox, and I thought it looked cool. I was considering buying an Xbox at the time to play it, but then news on the game stopped entirely. I gave up hope of it ever coming out, and eventually forgot about it. Imagine my surprise when I found out recently that it came out as a Wii exclusive. Somehow its late life cycle release slipped by without me noticing, but it's cool to know that it finally came out after TEN YEARS in development hell. I've been trying to find out if every publisher that released a Wii game put out at least ONE game that's actually cool. While I can already confirm that's not the case, I was surprised to see that UFO published a couple of neat games. Domino Rally is a ridiculously silly Wii exclusive, and is worth checking out if you love these little obscure gems. It's an extremely short game, but it's one that will stick with you. That's all for me this time!