Dr. Morbis

Even stranger: no score from grinny or gloves...

Time is short these days and most of my games are packed in preparation for a big move, but I'll throw down participation scores when I can... 38,200

Don't worry, he'll be looking through all of heaven, purgatory, and every last level of hell until he finds the sumbitch that did it...

Certainly not the best Mario game out there, but still a 10/10...

I can't help in terms of playing since I'll be packing up all of my stuff for a big move soon, but I can tell you that Wolfenstein is a really good port and Cannon Fodder is too. As for "exclusives," finding any good ones is definitely going to be a stretch...

Half the Genesis library > Sonic 2

They should have just jumped back into them doing their thing, busting ghosts for a living, then a big "mcguffin / problem / whatever" happens that they have to deal with. Spending half the movie getting them back together and leisurely turning them back into Ghostbusters again was a total waste of time. They even troll the viewer at the start: you're all ready to watch them bust some ghosts, then - bam - it's only a birthday party... All that said, it's still better than all the GB shite that's come down the pipe in the last few years, though.

Read for comprehension, bro! I quoted exactly what he said; here, I'll type it again in bold for you: "Anyone trying to race through the level without knowing where they're going is doing it wrong. It's like trying to speedrun ANY game without having mastered it first." He literally said that racing through a level of Sonic 2 without knowing where you're going on your first time through is like trying to speedrun ANY game without having mastered it first. He literally and actually said that. Read it again - he explicitly states that you have to approach Sonic 2 as a speedrunner learning the game with the intention of mastering it. Read it fifty more times if you have to. PS- the Sonic games were advertised and designed for the player to speed through them; if you're supposed to be going slow from the get go until you're at God level tier, then that's false advertising, terrible game design, and certainly news to anyone who's playing a Sonic game for their first time...

You don't get it: that's the flaw! You're arguing that the game is great if you approach it from the perspective of a speedrunner learning the game for the first time who is hell-bent on mastering it... but what about the rest of us?!? You're right, the game is great if you approach it as a speedrunner, because that's who the game was built for, but it sucks for everyone else. As someone else already mentioned, go and play/master Kid Kool if you think this is such an epically awesome way to design a game, and report back with your comments...

I love seeing Zanac make the hidden gems poll; that's my favourite shooter on the console, bar-none.

Reporting for duty!

My best friend (at the time) was forbidden to watch the premiere episode in 1989, along with several other kids I knew, because the ads made the show seem very disprespectful to parents/adults (my how times have changed...) so a bunch of kids came over to my house and we secretly watched the first episode in my basement. I think the last season I watched was maybe 2000 or 2001, but man, that first decade was a hell of a ride. It's also kind of an anachronism in the modern TV landscape to have a show centered around an all-white (yellow!) nuclear family; kind of like staring through the bars at the last surviving passenger pigeon in the Cincinnati Zoo...

I missed one bonus, but this is all I had time for: 400,950

I can't believe Bloodlines is going to go out to one of those shitty Sonic games...

Of course I agree with your post, but I just want to add that someone who is truly passionate about something in his heart is not going to up and quit just because someone he doesn't know from Adam was a dick to him; sure, he may go his own way and remove himself from the rest of the community, but if he actually loves NES (or whatever) he'll still be enjoying his hobby for years...

Thunder Castle on the Intellivsion uses a few famous pieces, one of which is Schubert's unfinished 8th, IIRC...

Game Sack reviews the DD and every game released for it on youtube:

I'm curious what you think is so terrible about leaving a NES on for extended periods... the console overheating and burning down your house?... your power bill?... the game getting corrupted?... a power out losing your progress?... Seriously, what is the issue? I leave my NES on overnight all the time, even with games with battery saves if there's a difference from turning it off (ie: Final Fantasy to keep my place in the battle script instead of having to start over with the first battle out of 256). I just pause the game, turn off the TV, then walk out of the room; I've literally never had a problem in my life...

Coins reset after pipes. Unless you feel like amending the rules early, people are going to be needing to post many, many photos...

For T & C Surf Designs: Wood & Water Rage: the Pastebin says to "finish Stage 10 of Wood and Water Rage" which is the third game mode option, but this is wrong, and doesn't even go halfway to the loop point. The way it works is that the difficulty maxes out in both the skating level and the surfing level on Round 12, meaning that there are no new enemies or obstacles introduced after that point, and you start with the lowest amount of health possible (one life symbol) beginning with this Round. Every single level after Round 12 in both modes is identical in every way to Round 12, making completion of Round 12 the de facto loop point of the first two game modes. As for the third game option, "Wood and Water Rage" it mixes the two game styles together, alternating between skating and surfing with every subsequent round, such that all odd-numbered rounds are skating rounds and all even-numbered rounds are surfing rounds. The difficulty ramp-up and level layout, however, remains the same for each individual stage type, such that Round 9 of Wood and Water Rage, being the 5th skating round, is identical to the 5th skating round in the stand-alone street skating game mode. Similarly, Round 10 of Wood & Water Rage, being the 5th surfing round, is equivelant in difficulty and enemies to the 5th surfing round in the surfing-only game mode. As a result, completing Round 10 of Wood and Water Rage, as per the requirements in the pastebin file, is inherently easier than completing Round 10 of either of the stand-alone modes, as it doesn't even bring you halfway to the loop points of either of the two stage types that it comprises. As someone who has owned the game since childhood and can play it essentially forever, here are the real loop points of each of the three game modes, signifying what is actually required to consider this game beaten, for anyone who cares: Game Mode #1 "Street Skate Session" - Complete Round 12 Game Mode #2 "Big Wave Encounter" - Complete Round 12 Game Mode #3 "Wood and Water Rage" - Complete Round 24

You're analysis is spot on, but everything that is "wrong" with Bionic Commando is what makes it so interesting and unique. That's what I love about the NES era: that willingness to just throw stuff at the wall and see if any of it would stick. Sometimes it did, but even when it didn't the end result would often be a game that was not quite like any other. Is there another game out there that has a continue feature that is identical to Bionic Commando's? Probably not, but that's totally fine with me...

Excellent work on the maps. Have you considered having them posted on vgmaps.com and/or gamefaqs so that they'll be out there for the rest of posterity to use?

66 for me and I wasn't even trying to follow any list; but this is making me want to go after all of the ones I've missed...

It's been 24 hours, so now I nominate Castle of Illusion.

I nominate Wings of Wor since I really love that shooter...