MegaMan52

Introduction Since first browsing the Internet in the late '90s/early 2000s, I've visited a large number of both official and fan-made video game websites over the years. The very first game site I ever visited was none other than Nintendo's official U.S. site in 2000 or so. The site featured images of various characters such as Donkey Kong, Kirby, Pikachu, and (of course) Mario. There were pages for not only the N64, but also the SNES, Game Boy and Game Boy Color. There were screenshots and videos of several games. There were some pages for the then-upcoming GameCube and Game Boy Advance. And there were various other sites from Nintendo dedicated to the more notable N64 and Game Boy Color games, like Donkey Kong 64 and Mario Tennis. But there were numerous other game sites I visited as well, including fan-made sites all about a particular game series or consoles like the NES. Unlike my Flash Games blog, which lists my favorite Flash games that were on several game sites, this blog isn't necessarily about my ten favorite sites (though it does have some of my favorites) but rather a listing of many of the game sites I've visited in the past as well as some that I visit now. Past Gaming Websites I've Visited The Pac-Page Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20021203021019/http://www.classicgaming.com/pac-man/ A fan-made Pac-Man site from the '90s. It featured pages for most Pac-Man games from the original Arcade game to Pac-Man World for PS1 (when it was known under its tentative title of "Ghost Zone"). It had info on the various versions of the Pac-Man games (like the Famicom version of Pac-Land, the NES version of Pac-Mania, and the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive version of Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures). The site pages had info on the Namco Arcade compilations that had been released, such as the five Namco Museum collections that were released for the PS1 (with screenshots and info about the Pac-Man related extra content that was included in each). There was a page about the '80s Pac-Man cartoon, which hadn't been released on DVD at the time. My favorite things about this site were finding out about lesser-known Pac-Man games, such as Super Pac-Man and Pac 'n Pal (both of which I didn't get a chance to play until much later), and the Pac-Man cartoon. These games, along with the Arcade version of Pac-Land, have since been included in various Namco Museum and Pac-Man compilations, including Pac-Man Museum+. The Mega Man Homepage Easily the best Mega Man site ever made, as it has just about everything a Mega Man fan would want. It was this site where I found out, in the early 2000s, about various Mega Man games for non Nintendo systems, such as Mega Man: The Wily Wars for Sega Genesis/Mega Drive and Mega Man Battle & Chase for PS1. The site had a page listing various Mega Man books, such as the Mega Man 2 Worlds of Power book and Japanese Mega Man comics (Mangas). Some of those comics/mangas were translated into English and released in the U.S. and Canada later on, like Mega Man Mega Mix. Mega Mix was also released in color a few years ago, under the title "Mega Man Master Mix." While maybe a little outdated now (but not too bad), I thought the site's page listing several American and Japanese Mega Man toys was impressive twenty or so years ago. I was kind of surprised to see that a set of Mega Man 5 toys were released (though in Japan only), as well as some RC cars modeled after some of the vehicles in Mega Man Battle & Chase (one of which I've had for a few years now). The site has a section for the Mega Man cartoons, as well as a page listing every episode of the American Mega Man cartoon. This was pretty useful in the early 2000s, because the series wasn't released on DVD until 2003 and some episodes were hard to find at the time. There's also a page about a promo VHS tape that advertised the cartoon and showed what it looked like while it was in development (it looked closer to being like the games). Link: http://www.mmhp.net/Marketing/Promo.html The site is still around and I still visit it on occasion. Link: http://www.mmhp.net/ Detstar Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20051210210007/http://www.detstar.com/ Detstar was an interesting site about certain games for the N64 and GameCube, like GoldenEye and Super Smash Bros. Melee. The site archived screenshots from beta versions of both GoldenEye and Perfect Dark for N64. There were pages with screenshots of the lost Citadel level in GoldenEye, along with GameShark codes to access it. There were "interesting stuff" pages for most of the featured games on the site that were really fun to look at, because they showed various details and Easter eggs that were easy to miss. Aside from Super Smash Bros. Melee, other games for GameCube were also featured such as Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. NES Player NES Player (Archive): https://web.archive.org/web/20051201082830/http://www.nesplayer.com/ Nintendo Player: http://www.nintendoplayer.com/ Now known as Nintendo Player, NES Player was probably my favorite website all about the NES (my favorite game system). The site had some humorous Flash videos that were based on games such as Super Mario Bros., Blades of Steel, and StarTropics (the latter was actually a Parody of Free Willy and featured a Fish/Cheep-Cheep from Super Mario Bros.). There was another funny Flash video that featured Golf (one of the early black box NES games), which was about the ball going so far out of bounds it ended up in a different game (Contra). There was a section about pirated NES and Famicom games, and this was, in the early 2000s, where I found out about the Super Mario Bros. 3 bootleg that I got just last year. It was also where I found out about the Donkey Kong Country 2 Famicom bootleg, which I've had in my collection for several years now. One of the most interesting sections of the site was the Articles section. This section had an interview with the creator of M.C. Kids on NES, and a page about good and bad games released only in Japan for the Famicom. There was also a page that featured an interview with Brandon Murphy, the man who found a prototype cartridge in 2003 containing the unreleased California Raisins NES game. I believe NES Player was the site where I found out about the Sega Master System, in a page/shrine about Duck Hunt. I also remember reading about Safari Hunt, which was basically Sega's version of Duck Hunt. Mega Man PC Website: Dr. Cossack's Lab Link: https://www.interordi.com/mega_man_pc/ The site behind an English translation for Rock Board, a Mega Man board game only released in Japan for the Famicom. It also has a listing of nearly every Mega Man game released for PC, including the Mega Man DOS games, the PC versions of Mega Man X6 and Mega Man X7 (which only got Korean releases), and PC version of Mega Man X8 (which got Japanese and European releases, but wasn't released in the U.S. and Canada). The site still receives updates on occasion, but no where near as often as it used to. World of Battletoads Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20060618213616/http://battletoads.classicgaming.gamespy.com/ This was my favorite website about Battletoads. It had pages, info, and screenshots of pretty much every Battletoads game from the first game to the Battletoads Arcade game. It also had a page about Battletoads merch, such as toys, Nintendo Power trading cards, and a Battletoads costume (which I actually used to have). The site also had a page about the Battletoads cartoon special, and was where I found out about the cartoon. The Mechanical Maniacs Link: https://themechanicalmaniacs.com/ Another Mega Man site, which I first visited in 2003/2004. Mega Man 3 is the featured game, but the site also has info about Japanese-only releases, bootleg games, comics, etc. The best part of this site, in my opinion, was the "mysteries" section containing pictures and info about beta/unused content in the various Mega Man games. While there was lots of info on unused content for the other Mega Man games, Mega Man 3 got its own page for having the most unused content (a lot of which were included in the Mega Man 3 Improvement hack). I contributed to the Mega Man 3 Mysteries page once in 2006/2007. Looks like Tyree_Cooper, who some of you may have seen here on VGS, contributed to the Asian PC games section on this site. The site is still around, and still receives updates. While I've played and still have most of the original series Mega Man games, Mega Man 3 is by far the one I've played the most and is my favorite game in the series along with Mega Man 5. I still have my original copy that I've had since the '90s. Mario RPG World Link: https://www.oocities.org/timessquare/ring/4178/ A site hosted on Geocities that was all about Super Mario RPG for the SNES. I visited it in the early 2000s. It had information on pretty much everything in the game. Like a lot of game sites at the time, many of the pages on this site had some MIDI music that you could listen to while browsing. The site has been archived on "Oocities." Video Game Connection The website for a retro game store in Cleveland, Ohio. I liked visiting the site in 2002 or so, because it had some animated graphics and lots of MIDI music to listen to which made the site more fun to browse. While I'm in Canada, I actually did buy some games from this store. They shipped to Canada, so I e-mailed them telling them what I wanted and sent a Money Order. Namco Museum 64 was one of the games I bought. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater I played the Tony Hawk games quite a bit in the early and mid 2000s, and visited the official Tony Hawk game sites from the first game to American Wasteland. The site for the first Tony Hawk game had both Flash and non flash versions, with the Flash version having some simple animations and the menu music from the game. The Tony Hawk's Underground and Underground 2 sites had licensed songs like the games themselves, though most of the songs on the sites weren't featured in the games. All of the Tony Hawk sites had screenshots and videos. Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20050830064930/http://www.planettonyhawk.com/ I also used to visit a fan-made Tony Hawk site called Planet Tony Hawk. I would check out walkthroughs of the first three Tony Hawk games (the first and third of which I used to have for N64), as well as previews of the Tony Hawk's Underground games. Spyro the Dragon I didn't visit the official Spyro site until 2006 or so. I remember it having some info about Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly and Spyro: A Hero's Tail. I also remember the site having some music. I don't remember what music it was or what game it was from, but I do remember it sounded similar to one of the music tracks included on the Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly Soundtrack CD ("Mid Flute" I think) that went unused in the game. For anyone who's wondering, yes I have visited the Spyro: Reignited Trilogy site before. (2019 pics) tsr's NES Archive Link: http://atarihq.com/tsr/ An NES site hosted on Atari HQ. Had some good info on certain NES, Famicom, Famicom Disk System, and bootleg games. This was where I found out, in the early 2000s, about the original Famicom Disk System version of the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2, and that Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels in Super Mario All-Stars is based on this game. The site is still hosted on Atari HQ and can still be fun to look at, but it hasn't been updated since 2000. Cheetahmen Corner Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20051201085254/http://cheetahmen.silius.net/ Cheetahmen Corner was a site about the NES and Sega Genesis/Mega Drive versions of Action 52, as well as Cheetahmen II for NES. It also had pages about unreleased items, like Active Enterprises's "Action Game Master" handheld, Cheetahmen 3, and "Sports 5" for SNES and Genesis. The site also had an interview with one of the programmers of the Sega Genesis version of Action 52. There were FAQs/walkthroughs for both Action 52 and Cheetahmen II. The Cheetahmen II FAQ was where I found out about the game having a glitch that prevents you from accessing the last two levels, as well as a very rare glitch that causes the game to start on the fifth (second to last) level. Ballz's DuckTales prototype page Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20030425030836/http://rpgd.emulationworld.com/ballz/ducktales/ A site about a prototype version of DuckTales for NES that was found in the early 2000s. I actually didn't find out about this site until the mid/late 2000s, and it wasn't around anymore then. It was, of course, archived on the Internet Archive, but first I had to find the link to the site. Where did I find it? I found it on a site called "Rusted Logic", which had a small page for the DuckTales NES game with a link to this DuckTales prototype site. I then pasted the link in the Internet Archives, and could finally see the site. Anyway, the site had screenshots and info for every level of the game and compared it to the released version. The music for the Transylvania level (known as "Ghost House" in the prototype) was completely different in the prototype. One page had a picture of the prototype cartridge. Another, even earlier prototype of the game was found in 2021 and had more different music. This prototype contained slightly different sounding versions of music used in the released version, the Transylvania music used in the later prototype mentioned above, and completely different (and longer) music for the level select screen that went unused in the released version. I recorded the unused music from this prototype: The Warp Zone Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20040402064742/http://www.planetnintendo.com/thewarpzone/ One of the things I remember most about this site was a page with Game Genie codes that allow access to the lost/unused levels in Super Mario Bros. 3, which I made videos of years ago and uploaded them onto YouTube in 2009. The Warp Zone also had info about NES/Famicom bootlegs and prototypes. Donkey Kong 64 Nintendo's Donkey Kong 64 site came in both High Bandwidth and Low Bandwidth versions. The High Bandwidth version featured "DKTV", with nine channels that featured Flash games to play and advertisements for the DK64 Player's Guide, Banana Bunch N64 Controller, and the Jungle Green N64 bundle that included both the console and the DK64 game. The Low Bandwidth version had some basic info and hints for each of the levels to get the player started. Paper Mario The official Paper Mario site had both Flash (called "Super Paper") and non Flash (called "Plain Paper") versions. The Flash version included animations of Mario and some of his allies in the game battling enemies and finding items, followed by the sites info about the game, downloads, and activities. The non Flash version didn't include any animations and simply had the info and activities. I recall the site having a few extra features like a Paper Mario Screensaver, and Wallpaper. I also remember there being some minigames as well, such as a Quiz game based on Chuck Quizmo's Quiz that's in the Paper Mario game. The Paper Mario site came back in 2004, when Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door was released. The site was basically a storybook (which looked like the one shown in the game's opening) and featured a few different pages based on locations in the game, such as Rogueport and Boggly Woods. If you pointed your mouse arrow at the characters, they would "talk" to you (with text boxes, of course). Each page had some music from the game. Well, for the most part. I remember the music for the Boggly Woods section of the site sounding kind of similar to but not the same as the one used in the game. It was really calm and relaxing, even compared to the Boggly Woods music used in the game. Does anyone who visited this site in 2004 or so remember this? Not sure if it was a different version of the Boggly Woods music used specifically for the site, or if it was an unused version that was from a prototype version of the game. I last visited this site sometime in 2007, a little before it was shut down. Unfortunately, even before Flash was discontinued, I couldn't really browse the site though the Internet Archives because it wouldn't load any of the pages except for the main page. i also visited the Super Paper Mario site once, but don't remember much about it. Lemmy's Land Link: http://lemmykoopa.com/lkmain.html A Mario site that featured Lemmy Koopa, one of the Koopalings who first appeared in Super Mario Bros. 3. The site had MIDI music of several classic Mario music tracks, lots of pictures, and some fun activities. Kirby Nintendo's Kirby site was where I went to find out more info about the Kirby: Right Back at Ya! cartoon, and new Kirby games (Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land and Kirby Air Ride were the newest Kirby games at the time). KLOV Short for "Killer List of Video Games", this site (which is still around after all these years) included a listing for just about every Arcade game ever released. Most of the pages included pictures of the Arcade cabinets, and info about glitches and hacked versions of the games. Intellivision Lives I found Intellivsion Lives for GameCube in a discount bin at Walmart in 2005/2006, and decided to buy it. I grew up playing the NES, and didn't have an Intellivision in the '80s or '90s. When I got Intellivision Lives, I enjoyed some Intellivision games such as Thin Ice, Thunder Castle, Nightstalker, and Biplanes (originally included on a compilation cartridge called Triple Action). I also liked the inclusion of some unreleased Intellivision games, like Deep Pockets: Pool & Billiards (apparently the last Intellivsion game worked on, and planned to be released in 1990), Brickout, and Hardhat. The GameCube version of Intellivsion Lives also happens to include more unreleased games than the PS2 and Xbox versions (which included the same unreleased games as the GameCube version, but some of them were divided between the two), possibly to make up for being released a year later (the PS2 and Xbox versions were released in 2003, while the GameCube version was released in 2004). Anyway during that time, I decided to visit the official Intellivision site, also called Intellivision Lives, to learn more about the Intellivision and its games. The site had production histories for many games. It also had news pages about Intellivision Lives for PC and Mac, as well as the console versions for PS2, GameCube, and Xbox. There were also pages about the Classic Gaming Expo event, which the Intellivision team had a booth at displaying most versions of Intellvision Lives (including a prototype of the GameCube version, which hadn't been released yet), an Intellivision Arcade machine, and various Intellivision merch. Mirage Studios' Official TMNT Site I first came across this site in 2002 or 2003. It had information on the Ninja Turtles cartoons, movies, toys, comics, and video games (classic and modern). It was kind of an exciting era for Ninja Turtles fans, because this was when the 2003 Ninja Turtles cartoon was on TV every weekend. Not only that but Konami, which created the classic Ninja Turtles games released in the '80s and '90s, made TMNT games based on the 2003 cartoon for PS2, GameCube, Xbox, Game Boy Advance, and PC. Except for Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus, I didn't buy any of those games at the time. I did, however, play a demo for the first of these Ninja Turtles games based on the 2003 cartoon, which was included on the Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Bonus Disc (pic and video below). The last time I visited the site regularly was in 2007, when the animated Ninja Turtles movie was released. A video game based on the movie was also released by Ubisoft. I thought this game would only be on the newer systems (Wii, Xbox 360) and PS2, but was pretty excited to find out that it was also being released for GameCube (and Game Boy Advance) as well. I continued visiting the site until 2009 or so. Newgrounds Newgrounds, which I still visit every now and then, was one of my favorite sites for fan videos featuring video game characters and Flash games. I mentioned this site in my Flash games blog. Some of the videos I remember on this site were the Mega Man videos, like "Mega Man Vs. Heatman". Some of the Flash games I remember playing were Mega Man Vs. Metroid, Mega Man Vs. Ghosts 'n Goblins, and Ultimate Flash Sonic. Pac-Man World 2 and Pac-Man World 3 I liked (and still like) the Pac-Man World games, so of course I visited Namco's official sites for Pac-Man World 2 and 3. I have fond memories visiting the Pac-Man World 2 site. Like a lot of sites in the early 2000s, the site required Flash and each page had animations as well as music from the game. There was a create a scene page that allowed you to choose characters, backgrounds, and effects to create your own scenes. There was also a Flash game, mentioned in my Flash games blog and shown in the video above, where Pac-Man collected dots while avoiding Pinky the Ghost. Collecting Pac-Dots and getting a certain amount of points unlocked the site's Jukebox, allowing people to sample music from the Pac-Man World 2 game for PS2, GameCube, Xbox, and PC. While I have played the game several times, have beaten it, and still have it for GameCube, I don't remember much about the Pac-Man World 3 site. I do remember the game came out in 2005 during Pac-Man's 25th Anniversary, and that the site had a page listing the game's features (like Pac-Man's new abilities, such as punching, climbing, and swinging from poles). I also remember the main page of the site had a link to one of the game's Press Releases on Namco's site. That's about all I remember from the site, as I didn't visit it nearly as much as the Pac-Man World 2 site. Resident Evil 4 Nintendo and Capcom both had sites for Resident Evil 4 on GameCube, which was considered by many to be the console's biggest and best game of 2005. I remember Nintendo's RE4 site played the game's typewriter/save theme, and had some general info about the game itself. The site also had a page about some of the GameCube's games for teens and adults, which only further proved that, despite the popular opinions at the time about it being a kids system, the console never was just for little kids and was perfectly fine for teens and adults as well (and it still is). Capcom's RE4 site had trailer videos, screenshots, quotes from critics praising the game and its graphics, and other features. It would later be expanded to include info about the PS2 version. Capcom USA Capcom's official U.S. Site was where I got info about their new releases. I also visited their Mega Man page, which had a listing of Mega Man games available for purchase on their site (I never bought anything on the site because the shipping to Canada was crazy expensive) as well as some merch like a Mega Man poster that looked similar to the box for Mega Man II on Game Boy. The Mega Man page also had links to watch a Mega Man commercial, which I remember seeing on TV in 2000/2001. Rareware Rare's official site. Had info on some of their SNES and Game Boy games, as well as most of their N64 games like GoldenEye and Diddy Kong Racing. Even after Microsoft bought out Rare in 2002, I continued to visit the site because Rare still made games for Game Boy Advance and I was interesting in seeing what games they were coming out with for the handheld. I remember seeing games like "DK Coconut Crackers" and "Diddy Kong Pilot". They released remakes of the DKC trilogy, and Diddy Kong Pilot was turned into a Banjo-Kazooie racing game called Banjo Pilot. Sonic Central Sonic Central was Sega's American Sonic the Hedgehog site. It had info on just about every Sonic game released, including Sonic games released in Arcades. It had screenshots and trailer videos for newer Sonic games, and pages about Sonic comics and merch. It also had interviews with Jun Senoue about the Sonic Adventure 2 (Battle) and Sonic Heroes soundtracks. The site also had a Flash game called Sonic Mega Collection Plus Mini, which came out in 2004 around the same time the PS2 and Xbox versions of Sonic Mega Collection were released. There was a fair bit of hype for the Sonic games on the PS2 and GameCube at the time, so this site was a good place to check for news on upcoming Sonic games. Besides browsing the Internet Archive later on, I think the last time I visited Sonic Central when it was still around was in 2007. I remember the site had pictures and some information about the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog game released for PS3 and Xbox 360. I also kind of remember the site went long periods without being updated, and eventually shut down. Gaming Websites I Visit Now Nintendo Life For a few years now, Nintendo Life has been my go to site for news about the Nintendo Switch. This was, for example, where I found out about the different collector's edition releases of TMNT: Shredder's Revenge and that Sonic Origins is getting a physical release (Sonic Origins Plus). A picture of one of my Animal Crossing videos, along with my name, appeared in one of their news articles about the different ways to play the first Super Mario Bros. Link: https://www.nintendolife.com/features/whats-the-best-way-to-play-super-mario-bros-in-2023 Capcom USA While Capcom's site looks completely different now and, in my opinion, isn't as fun to look at, I still visit the site occasionally. I've read their news articles about Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection, as well as Resident Evil games like Resident Evil Village and the Resident Evil 4 remake. Reddit Reddit isn't specifically a game site, but does have a lot of gamers and gaming "Sub Reddits." I've posted a lot of pictures on that site, many of which have gotten hundreds of likes. Link: https://www.reddit.com/user/Mega_Man_52 Video Game Sage This one's obvious. I've been a member here since 2019, shortly after NintendoAge disappeared. I also joined NintendoAge in early 2017, so technically I've been with this community for over six years. I've posted a lot of pictures on this site, participated in VGS game nights from 2020-2022, and for about a year now, I've posted blogs. Link: https://www.videogamesage.com/blogs/blog/51-megaman52s-blogs/ t t Conclusion Even though I listed a lot of sites, these are only some of the game sites I used to visit in the early/mid 2000s and only some of the game sites I visit now. Some other game sites I visited in the past were NES World and Nintendo's Mario Party sites for the first seven Mario Party games, among others. I should mention that in addition to Capcom's site, I visited and still sometimes visit Konami's site. Really happy Konami came out with TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection. -MegaMan52

Got Dr. Mario and some NES cases for free from a friend. He's given me some things for free in the past, like a boxed copy of Adventure Island 2 from a video store I went to in the early 2000s, a modified NES that can play PAL games and certain unlicensed games my unmodified NES can't, his Sega Master System collection (console, ten games, hookups, two Controllers), and a bootleg of Super Mario Bros. 3. Believe it or not, I didn't have Dr. Mario for my NES until now. I rented the NES version in the early/mid '90s, I used to have the SNES version (Tetris & Dr. Mario), I have the Game Boy version, and I have Nintendo Puzzle Collection for GameCube. I have had other ways of playing the NES version over the years, such as the 2003 GameCube Preview Disc (in which Dr. Mario can be downloaded to a GBA) and the Switch Online NES App. Anyway, it is not in the greatest shape (though it isn't in bad shape either) but it was free and it does work. He also decided to give me an NES game without a label. What game is it? Well... It's Mega Man 2. I've had Mega Man 2, along with most of the other NES Mega Man games, in my collection for years (and in much better shape too). I remember he got this in 2016 or so, and most of the label wasn't even there (there were pieces of it left). He removed what was left of the label, and debated about whether or not he would get a reproduction label for it. He chose not to. I don't know if I will or not. I like that he gave me a blue case to go with it. My other copy of Mega Man 2 that's been in my collection for years. Ah, good ol' Dempster's Hot Dog buns featuring everyone's favorite mustached plumbers/heroes. I don't eat Hot Dogs very often anymore, but I decided to eat them again for a change this spring/summer.

Beat Kirby's Dream Land 2 100% on the Switch's Game Boy App. I've beaten the game many times, as it's my favorite Game Boy game.

Beat Kirby's Dream Land 2. Even though I still have it for Game Boy, I decided to play it on the Switch because I didn't want to delete my files on my Game Boy cartridge. In addition to getting the Rainbow Drops, I also completed the Bonus Chance games.

Introduction Yes, you read that correctly. Not PC games, but FLASH games. Those games you may have seen on various websites in the past that were playable on the Internet. Sites such as Newgrounds, Miniclip, Iragination, and Homestar Runner. Flash was discontinued over a year ago, but despite that many Flash Games can still be played today. The Flash games from Iragination, the company behind various Mega Man Flash games such as Fireman: Incoming Storm and Fall of 21XX, are still playable after all these years for example, and can be found on their site (Link: https://www.iragination.com/clips/games.php). I wasn't really a big PC gamer in the early/mid 2000s, though I did play some PC games like Test Drive 5 and Sonic 3D Blast (both of which I still have after all these years). I was more into consoles, handhelds, and Arcade games. However, I was into playing several Flash games. I visited a lot of gaming websites (including Nintendo's official U.S. site), and sites that weren't really gaming-related but had games to play (like the Lunchables/Kraft Foods site). Flash games were often short and sweet, and were nice to play after a long day at School or on a day off work. Thanks to the Internet Archive, I was able to play many of the Flash games I played in the early/mid 2000s one more time in 2020 and recorded videos of them. This blog lists my ten favorite Flash games I've played over the years. My Favorite Flash Games 10.I Am Error: The Flash Game A Flash game featuring "Error", a minor (but well-known) character from Zelda II: Adventure of Link for NES. You play as "Error", and shoot "I am Error" text boxes at a bunch of Links. This game was playable on an NES site called NES Player (now known as Nintendo Player), which I used to visit in the early and mid 2000s. The site also had various Flash Movies based on games like Super Mario Bros., StarTropics, and Blades of Steel. I didn't play this game until 2020, when I noticed it was still on Nintendo Player. I figured I'd play it a bit before Flash was discontinued. Humorous game. 9.Awexome Cross 98 A Homestar Runner Flash game. It features the character "The Cheat" riding a Tire and jumping over obstacles. It uses some sound effects from Super Mario Bros. The levels get harder and harder. It can still be played on the Homestar Runner site (Link: https://homestarrunner.com/viderogames). 8.Rock 'n Roll Racing Flash Demo A demo of the Game Boy Advance version of Rock 'n Roll Racing that was playable on Blizzard's site (now Activision Blizzard). I remember playing this demo in 2003/2004, and played it again in 2020 before Flash was discontinued. It contained one track, which you raced on a few times then the demo came to an end. Like the full version of the game, you could earn money and use your earnings to upgrade your vehicle with better parts. I rented the SNES version of Rock 'n Roll Racing a few times in the late '90s/early 2000s and remember really liking it, so it was kind of fun playing this demo of the GBA version. I bought the GBA version of Rock 'n Roll Racing on eBay several years ago, fully complete and in near-mint shape. 7.Sonic Mega Collection Plus Mini A game that was playable on Sega's Sonic Central site, and basically advertised the PS2 and Xbox versions of Sonic Mega Collection. Though I got (and still have) the GameCube version of Sonic Mega Collection, I still liked playing this game on the Sonic Central site. It has the first level from the first Sonic game, and the goal was to reach the end of the level while collecting rings and defeating enemies. After reaching the goal, the game would give you the option to submit your score. It was another game I got to play again in 2020, before Flash was discontinued. 6.Pac-Man World 2 Tree-Top Token Game This Flash game was playable on Namco's Pac-Man World 2 site. The Pac-Man World 2 game for PS2, GameCube, Xbox, and PC was one of my favorite games released during that era, and so of course I visited the game's site several times. The goal of this Flash game was to jump on the platforms and collect the dots, while avoiding Pinky the ghost. Collecting the dots gave you points. Getting a certain amount of points would unlock the sites Jukebox, allowing you to sample some of the music from the Pac-Man World 2 game for PS2, GameCube, Xbox, and PC. While there was nothing really great about this Flash game, it was a nice way to relax for a bit. 5.Donkey Konk This was a Donkey Kong 64 Flash game, playable on Nintendo's DK64 site. I remember playing it in 2000/2001. The goal in this game was to click on the enemies (Kremlings), while making sure you didn't click on DK or Diddy. It was fast-paced and kind of addicting. I got to play it one more time in 2020, seen in the video above. 4.Mega Man Vs. Ghosts 'n Goblins A Mega Man and Ghosts 'n Goblins crossover from Staticreator. You play as Mega Man, and work your way through two levels based on Ghosts 'n Goblins for NES. Arthur, the protagonist from Ghosts 'n Goblins, is the boss in the second level. Defeat him, and you get his weapon. There's another game basically like this one called Mega Man Vs. Metroid, also from Staticreator. Weapons earned in one game can be used in the other. Beating both games allows you to unlock and play as Protoman in both games. I have fond memories of playing Mega Man Vs. Ghosts 'n Goblins in the dark in 2008/2009, with the volume cranked up. The music in the game is a remix of the Ghosts 'n Goblins theme. A remix of the boss music from Mega Man 3 plays during the battle with Arthur. Both Mega Man Vs. Ghosts 'n Goblins and Mega Man Vs. Metroid can still be played on Newgrounds (Link: https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/175060). 3.Fireman Vs. Bass This game is from Iragination, which also made several other Mega Man-related Flash games. You play as Fireman, one of the bosses/robot masters from Mega Man 1. You play through a very short level, then you battle Bass (who first appeared in Mega Man 7). Bass is suppose to be one of Dr. Wily's most advanced creations (and in the real Mega Man games, he is), but his attacks have no effect on Fireman. The goal is to keep shooting Bass as many times as you can while he's in the air (the game will keep counting, until he lands on the ground or until you defeat him). Different sounds play depending on the amount of times you hit Bass. The game then shows your ranking. The better your ranking is, the longer the ending will be after the battle. This game is one of my favorite Flash games because of its humor. I recorded a video of the game in 2008, and then recorded another in 2019 (I did better in the second video). The game is still playable on Iragination's site. 2.Animal Crossing Find Your Way Home A Flash game that was playable on Nintendo's GameCube Animal Crossing site. You're in a maze, and have to find your way back to your house. It's dark, and you can only see part of the maze. The maze layout changed, so you wouldn't always walk through the same maze everytime you played the game. For music, the game played the GameCube Animal Crossing Halloween music (well, part of it). 1.Ultimate Flash Sonic This Flash game was on Newgrounds, and it can still be played (Link: https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/151706). The game is based on Sonic Advance 2, featuring graphics, animations, and music from that game. As in that game, you can play as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Cream the Rabbit. While not overly long (it is possible to beat it in under ten minutes), the game is a little longer than many Flash games and has multiple levels and boss battles. The game does have some issues, like being a little slow and choppy and having some glitches. But it's still pretty good for a Flash game. I first played this game in 2004, and it was easily one of my favorite Flash games. After replaying many of these games in 2020, I can say that this is definitely my favorite Flash game. While Flash games were usually pretty short, I kind of like that this one was a little longer without being too long and included more content than many other Flash games. Honorable Mentions Luigi's Mansion Poltercue This was playable on Nintendo's GameCube Luigi's Mansion site. I remember playing it in 2001/2002. It's kind of like Pool, but there's only one ball and you use Luigi's Vacuum to get the ball inside one of the holes. By completing the game, the player was rewarded with some Luigi's Mansion Wallpaper. Mario Party 6 Flash Games I visited pretty much all of the N64 and GameCube Mario Party sites, from Mario Party 1 to Mario Party 7. The sites often had Flash games that were based on some of the minigames featured in the Mario Party games. Fireman: Incoming Storm I remember playing this on a site called Arcade Pod in 2003/2004, and later on Newgrounds. Like Fireman Vs. Bass, it is another Mega Man Flash game from Iragination that features Fireman from Mega Man 1. It is based on Iragination's Fireman comic series. The game plays like a regular Mega Man game, and features music from the Mega Man X games (particularly Mega Man X2, X3, and X6). It has options to change the game's difficulty, and an option to configure the controls to your liking (after you're done configuring the controls, the game allows you to test out the controls before playing the actual game). The boss at the end of the level is Tengu Man from Mega Man 8. The game is on Iragination's site and can still be played. Fall of 21XX Another Mega Man Flash game from Iragination. You play as Mega Man X, and go through one level that has enemies from the Mega Man X series. It has three bosses from Mega Man X2 that are fought at the same time. Charging up X's weapon (the X Buster) does a lot more damage than regular shots, and you get energy from each boss you defeat so the boss battle isn't as unfair or difficult as it may seem. I played the game using this SNES-style USB Controller. Ninja Turtles Mutant Munchies A Pac-Man clone that featured Michelangelo from Ninja Turtles. It was released in 2003 and was playable on Fox's Foxbox/4Kids site. It had pretty much the same gameplay as Pac-Man. Basically, you moved Mikey around a Sewer maze (which had the same layout as the original Pac-Man maze) and collected dots. The game had Pizza's that were basically like the Power Pellets from Pac-Man, allowing Mikey to eat the enemies. While it was a Pac-Man clone and wasn't very original, I thought it was worth playing for its humor. I mean think about it, Mikey eating Pizza and becoming invincible for a few seconds (complete with some rockin' music from the 2003 Ninja Turtles cartoon)? I thought that was kind of funny twenty years ago. I think I played this game again in 2020, but for whatever reason I didn't record a video of it. If you want to see pictures of it, just search for the game in your favorite search engine. There's also a video of it on YouTube. Conclusion t I played a lot of Flash games. Unfortunately, some of them have been lost to time. But many have been archived and remain playable. Some of these games were on sites that required Flash (or had both Flash and Non-Flash versions). Maybe I'll make a blog about many of the game sites I visited in the past. -MegaMan52

Nintendo Puzzle Collection is interesting because it has the unreleased N64 version of Panel de Pon:

I kind of liked Windows 7's Windows XP mode. Didn't use it very often, but it was fun to look at once in a while.

Got this Galaga mini Arcade. It was ten bucks. Local purchase. I already have the Pac-Man and Frogger mini Arcades that are part of this series, so maybe I'll get a full set eventually. Anyway, while the graphics and animations are simpler, it has basically the same gameplay and audio as the Arcade version. Another local purchase. Got Tony Hawk's Proving Ground. It cost five bucks, and is complete with case and manual. This was the last Tony Hawk game developed by Neversoft, and it was, in my opinion, the last good game in the series until the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 remake was released.

Introduction I like the Sonic the Hedgehog movies, both of which I watched in the Theater and bought on Blu-ray. I got some Sonic 2 Movie toys at McDonald's last year, and also got a poster. So naturally, I got excited about the new Super Mario Bros. movie. I remember seeing the first image/poster for it, which was full of Easter eggs and references to many of the games. I watched the Trailer videos. Some people were disappointed about Chris Pratt voicing Mario and sounding different than Mario does in the games, but honestly I didn't really have a problem with the voice and the movie itself already looked promising and like it would be similar to the games. I received a Mario shirt in January, which was a late Christmas present that I was told was shipped from (somewhere in) California. Also in January, I bought the Mario Happy Meal that was at McDonald's. And I got a Mario movie poster recently that I proudly display in my game room. I was ready to watch the new movie on the big screen. I had a chance to watch The Super Mario Bros. Movie in the Theater recently. As expected, after seeing the trailer videos, the movie is chock full of Easter eggs and music from the games. So, I decided to write a blog about some of my favorite moments from the movie. As the movie hasn't been released on Blu-ray yet, I won't be able to include any pictures of the movie itself. But I'll point out when in the movie these moments occur. Also, while I'm sure many Mario fans have already watched the movie, there might be some who still haven't seen it, so possible spoilers ahead. My Favorite Moments and Easter eggs in The Super Mario Bros. Movie Super Mario Bros. Super Show Rap This is something I wasn't expecting to actually be included in the movie, but am glad was included. Early in the movie, during the commercial for Mario and Luigi's Plumbing business, a Rap plays that should be familiar for those who have watched the Super Mario Bros. Super Show. Punch-Out Pizzeria Early in the movie, we see Mario and Luigi in a Pizza restaurant known as "Punch-Out Pizzeria". It is, of course, named after the Punch-Out!! game series. This scene alone has quite a few fun Easter eggs. There are pictures showing some of the Punch-Out!! characters (such as Glass Joe, seen in pic above), and a guy playing the original Donkey Kong (called "Jump Man" in the movie, which was Mario's original name). Luigi's ringtone is the GameCube's iconic startup sound, and there's a picture on Luigi's phone that looks like a Mii character. They also talk to a Construction worker named Spike who is from Wrecking Crew for the NES, a game that features Mario and Luigi as Construction workers. Mario's Room Not surprisingly, Mario's room in the movie is full of NES and also some SNES Easter eggs. In the scene Mario plays Kid Icarus, one of the earliest games for the NES. There's also a poster with a Polar Bear wearing sunglasses on it, which is a character from Ice Climber (another early NES game). And there's an Arwing from the Star Fox games, among other things. Luigi Entering the Dark Lands After Mario and Luigi are sucked into a pipe, they are separated and Luigi enters the Dark Lands. This scene was shown in some of the Trailer videos. Luigi trembles, uses a Flashlight, and walks through a forest. This is a reference to the opening in Luigi's Mansion for GameCube, and some Luigi's Mansion music even plays briefly. This is also the scene where Luigi is attacked by some Dry Bones enemies, and says his now famous "You've just been-a Luigi'd!" line. World 8 in the NES version of Super Mario Bros. 3 is also called "Dark Land" (though in earlier copies of the NES version and the SNES All-Stars version, it's called "Castle of Koopa", while the Game Boy Advance version calls it "Bowser's Castle"). Our Princess is in Another Castle! This line should be familiar to just about every Mario fan, since it's from the first Super Mario Bros. game which has also been re-released on nearly every Nintendo system. After Mario meets Toad and arrives at Princess Peach's castle, the famous "Our Princess is in another Castle!" line was included as a joke said by the Toad Guards. Fire Flower Fields The scene where Mario, Princess Peach, and Toad are in a field full of Fire Flowers. I don't know why this is one of my favorite scenes in the movie. It could be that we see Peach using a Fire Flower to light a campfire. Or it could be that the scene just looks cool, with the Fire Flowers lighting up the area. Peach also mentions in this scene that "there's a whole Galaxy out there." Of course, just because Peach said "Galaxy" doesn't necessarily mean it's a reference to Super Mario Galaxy. But then again there's a Lumalee (Blue Star) from Super Mario Galaxy in the movie, so it's possible. DK Rap and Diddy Kong's Appearance As Mario, Princess Peach, and Toad enter the Jungle Kingdom (complete with the Donkey Kong Country theme playing in the background), we see a Kong with sunglasses who I thought was Funky Kong (though some have said it is a different character). They then meet Cranky Kong, and tell him that they need the Kongs' help to battle Bowser. Those who watched the trailer videos knew Donkey Kong would be in the movie. In this scene, Mario battles DK in a setting that is reminiscent of both the original Donkey Kong and Super Smash Bros. A nice touch during this scene is the inclusion of the DK Rap, which plays during the intro in Donkey Kong 64 and is also included in some of the Super Smash Bros. and Donkey Konga games. The DK Rap is one of those songs that is so bad that it's just awesome. Not surprisingly, the DK Rap was included in the Donkey Kong 64 Soundtrack CD. During this scene, I thought "OK, we've seen DK and Cranky, but where's Diddy Kong?". I wondered if any other DK characters would make an appearance. Then I hear Cranky say "Everyone simmer down! That means you, Diddy Kong!". So Diddy is shown, and other DK characters like Dixie Kong (from Donkey Kong Country 2 and 3) and Chunky Kong (from Donkey Kong 64) are there beside him. Mario Kart Of course, I've always been a big Mario Kart fan and have played most games in the series since the first one. In the Mario Kart scene, we see Mario, Princess Peach, Toad, and Donkey Kong creating their Karts, with the same customization seen in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. They then race on Rainbow Road, variations of which have appeared in every game in the series. Just like every game in the series, we see characters drop banana peels and throw shells. After Mario throws a shell, he even says "wahoo!" like he does in many of the games. The Tanooki Suit Later in the movie, Mario grabs a Leaf and turns into Tanooki Mario (or Raccoon Mario). This might technically be a reference to Super Mario 3D Land for the 3DS, as Mario gets the Tanooki Suit just by grabbing a Leaf. But as longtime Mario fans know, both the Leaf and Tanooki Suit first appeared in Super Mario Bros. 3 for the NES. Music from Super Mario Bros. 3 plays during this scene in the movie. I really like this scene, and Super Mario Bros. 3 is my favorite Mario game. Mario and Luigi Working Together Unfortunately, (possible spoilers) Luigi doesn't have a very large role in the movie. But later in the movie, during the battle with Bowser, we see Mario and Luigi working together. They grab a Star that Bowser has dropped (which Mario and Peach were after earlier in the movie), and the invincibility music from the Mario games plays. We see Mario and Luigi grab Bowser by the tail and swing him around, a reference to Super Mario 64. Conclusion My twentieth blog is complete. There are other Easter eggs I noticed and scenes I like that I didn't list, but I'm sure there are lots of Easter eggs that I didn't notice. As anyone who's watched the movie likely knows, nearly every scene has some Easter eggs and references. Also, I'm glad the GameCube wasn't left out. It is an underrated, yet very good console. I remember watching the Trailer videos and didn't see much for GameCube references, other than the scene showing Luigi walking through a forest. Luckily there are more than that, including a reference to Super Mario Sunshine that I didn't mention above. Chris Pratt (Mario) and Charlie Day (Luigi) have also mentioned that they want a Luigi's Mansion movie. Movies based on games have sure come a long way since 1993. The Sonic movies are pretty good, and The (New) Super Mario Bros. Movie has reached $1 billion at the Box Office just like Top Gun: Maverick did last year. A sequel seems likely, but who knows...maybe we could also see Zelda, Metroid, and/or Donkey Kong movies in the future. Maybe Kirby might get an actual movie sometime (the Kirby: Fright to the Finish DVD that was released in 2005 is really just a bunch of Kirby: Right Back at Ya! episodes combined). Who knows. I noticed that iam8bit is releasing the new Mario movie's soundtrack on Vinyl, CD, and even Cassette. Still don't know which one I'm going to purchase. The Vinyl is cool, but the Cassette is tempting. I think the last Audio Cassette I got was the Donkey Kong Country 2 soundtrack, which I still have (and it still works). -MegaMan52

I've been busy, but I finally had a chance to watch the new Super Mario Bros. movie. As expected, it wasn't great but it was reasonably good. Liked the Easter eggs. In the scene where Mario battles Donkey Kong, I thought "OK, there's DK, Cranky, and Funky, but where's Diddy?". Then I heard Cranky say "Everyone simmer down! That means you, Diddy Kong!" which I thought was both funny and awesome. It was cool that the Super Mario Bros. Super Show rap and DK Rap were included. It was nice to hear Super Mario Bros. 3's athletic music play when Mario got the Tanooki suit. I watched the trailer videos and while I appreciated the Easter eggs, I was a little worried that there weren't going to be any GameCube Easter eggs or references aside from an obvious Luigi's Mansion reference. But luckily, they included at least a few. Hopefully Luigi gets a larger role in a sequel. A Luigi's Mansion movie would be nice, too. Still, it was nice seeing Mario and Luigi work together later on. And I didn't mind Chris Pratt voicing Mario. Oh, and Jack Black's "Peaches" song was...uh...interesting. As I did with the Sonic movies, I'll be buying the new Mario movie on Blu-ray. Gotta look for more of the movie's Easter eggs.

Nice. I've got the 110 in 1 with the Pac-Man label, and basically the same Super Mario Bros. 3 cartridge (looks like yours is in better shape, though I got mine for free so I can't complain). And yes, it has the Japanese version. I also remember getting a Famicom 64 in 1 from @fcgamer, though I'm not sure if it has the same games as yours (but I do know it's similar to the 110 in 1, with the same menu and a similar game selection). I've got a second NES here that I can use to play it (it doesn't fit in my unmodified NES). I also remember seeing a picture of a cart with those SuperVision labels on tsr's NES Archive in the early 2000's: http://atarihq.com/tsr/odd/scans/super.html

Beat Super Mario Land, Kirby's Dream Land (Extra Game), Double Dragon, and Mega Man II.

Got the Premium Edition of SoulCalibur IV on Xbox 360. Everything's included: game, manual, disc case, slipcover, tin case, Tournament Bracket/Poster, Comic/Art Book, thank you card, and Shirt. The shirt is still sealed. All of this cost me only fifteen bucks. This is the first game in the SoulCalibur series that I've gotten for an Xbox console, as I've only played the series on the PlayStation systems, GameCube, and Dreamcast. Also got some Pokémon movies on VHS. I remember watching Pokémon The Movie 2000 in a Theater. Took Capcom's new Mega Man survey and got this Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection Wallpaper.

Got that same Robocop game on GameCube. I saw a Gizmo plush on display at a game store I visited earlier this month. Now if only a TV could be put in there, it would be perfect for this Plug and Play game:

I prefer having not only the option to play the games on a TV but also the option for portability like these games were originally intended to be played, so I'm good.

I'm not finished. I received a parcel from Japan. Got the Japanese release of Mario Tennis for Game Boy Color, fully complete (including the bag for the cartridge) and in near-mint condition.

Not only does the Switch version have Trophies/Achievements, but the games retain their portability. And if you play in console mode and use a GameCube-style Switch Controller, the experience is similar to playing the original GBA versions on the GameCube with the Game Boy Player.

10/10 - Super Mario Bros. 3 is my favorite Mario game. Also really like both the American and Japanese versions of the cover.

@TheBiRD Don't think I've seen that particular cartridge before. Looks kind of similar, though.

I can handle the stress/frustration, even though I have blood pressure issues.

You're talking about Rockman & Crystal for Game Boy Advance, right? I've been looking for that game for about a decade now. I've also been looking for an English copy of Zook Hero Z. BTW, Zook's backstory is like Robocop's.

Both volumes on one card. An improvement over physical copies of Mega Man Legacy Collection and Mega Man X Legacy Collection on Switch.

I will continue to support the Mega Man franchise, even if it means buying compilations/re-releases of older games. Hopefully Capcom will release a Mega Man 12 and/or Mega Man X9 someday. I'd even be willing to buy a Mega Man Legends collection, in the hopes that Capcom brings back Mega Man Legends 3. Capcom was wise to include both volumes of Battle Network Legacy Collection in the physical release, instead of just including the first one and a download code for the second. I like that MegaMan.EXE is voiced by his actor from MegaMan NT Warrior. I also like that he poses when you take screenshots. I did the same pose while using a Photo Booth at a Chuck E. Cheese a few months ago. Got the 4K release of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, which includes a Blu-ray disc containing over an hour of deleted and extended scenes. I also got Season 4 of Cobra Kai on DVD, which I had a hard time finding locally. The first three seasons were easy to find at my local Walmart. However, I looked in Walmart and Best Buy recently (and have looked in Walmart multiple times this year) and couldn't find Season 4. I also checked on eBay and while there are several copies, I noticed there were very few from sellers in Canada. It made me wonder if Season 4 was even released on DVD in Canada. I knew it had to be, since the first three were. I decided to look in Sunrise Records. I don't know why I didn't think of going there a few months ago. But anyway, they had it. If a movie or show can't be found at Walmart or Best Buy, it can probably be found at Sunrise Records. This poster for the new Super Mario Bros. movie is also something I couldn't find at Walmart, but was able to find at Sunrise Records (they had a few different ones).

The only Ninja Turtle who had the guts to take on the Foot Clan by himself in the 1990 movie...TWICE. And he saved April.