PII

Yeah, you really gotta get every move down = another memorization game most people don't care much for, but I find it too unique not to enjoy...

I gave this one a go a couple of years ago and got relatively close to the end using warps, but IIRC the last warp I intended to take just wasn't where it was supposed to be. Either that or I didn't do something correctly, I have no idea really, but I ended up on tough level that did me in and haven't tried again since..

Nice job! I was planning to do this one again... eventually. If I felt more competitive at "Beat The NES" I would probably take a note like: never beat Castelian for the points. Always let someone else destroy their overall resolve by going after it instead. Pretty much everything you've said about it is dead on but for some reason I'm still convinced that I really like this game.. I even have it CIB for Atari 7800...

That's the first description of Snow Crash, I've read that actually makes me kind of want to read it.

I never said it was bunk, lol. If you're suggesting that he may have photoshopped his own image over a background (or added a fake background behind his own image, [what's the difference, really?]) for his own ends, his own benefit, that would mean that the original publisher somehow got ahold of it and decided to use it even though it's not accurate. And my final point would still stand. And why would he select an image of himself looking like he just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, so to speak?

I've always detested that when I finish the "2nd mission" with 9 lives the game dials that back to 5 lives to start the "3rd mission." Still, challenging as NES Smash TV is it pales in comparison to the difficulty of its Arcade brother. That one has got to be one of the all time quarter munchers.

Jeez, for a guy who doesn't care much for shooters whupping Smash TV on the first go is pretty impressive. Nice going!

I'm not claiming the whole story is bunk but the picture of that guy is pasted in over the background. The image of him is flat and clearly not a 3 dimensional person who is physically present in the room. Look at the edges of the person, particularly along the shirt. His image is too sharply delineated from the background. Once you know what it looks like it will always jump right out at you. Furthermore that room is gloriously well lit. With very nearly nothing like a shadow to be found there is light shining down over almost every visible inch including a massive glare on the table and yet, the guy is poorly lit by comparison. Conclusion: He isn't actually in that room (If it didn't have that guy pasted in it would look like a very professional shot for a real estate magazine or something.) If I had to take an educated guess, I'd say that whoever produced the photo wanted people to see this guy in a really nice looking home with an absolutely KILLER view. Was that part of the remodel too? Kinda makes the original publisher a lier doesn't it?

Yeah, Metroid is weak. Stanley is the best MetroidVania on the NES!

I almost made it past the level with the giant mechanical camels (I forget what they're really called) the other night. You are right though, it is a lot of fun once you know what to do, just takes a little getting used to but then the fast pace is fun, really does feel you're controlling a Jedi.. I'll play the whole thing, one of these years...

Interesting. Seems like this really ought to have happened sooner, but then I don't think I ever really played this port as a kid. I grew up playing this on the Commodore 64 and of course, in the Arcade. The C64 port was way better than this NES port. You could really efficiently level buildings by climbing to the top and then steadily punching down/toward while climbing down + in the NES port once you've punched a given area down/toward you can no longer punch that area with a direct left or right punch whereas on the C64 port you could which made it possible to switch up those two ways of punching as you climbed down the building for maximum destruction as well as max potential for finding out what's behind windows. And then of course it also had all three characters including Ralph who is missing from the NES port..

Rampage has been razed to the ground. At one point I was able to climb a building that had already collapsed until I went through the "ceiling" and climbed through the ground. Can't remember having done that before. Also noticed, oddly, that Milwaukee received 3 levels in a row which I didn't notice for any other city although I may have been out to lunch on that but I don't recall seeing more than two levels in a row for the large cities like New York, L.A., Chicago etc.

Vice Project DOOM! is done. ..was feelin' a little rusty on this one, but I also think It'd be fun to start honing for a speedrun one of these days...

Ghosts N Goblins is done. Had me some great level 5's and 6's that went really smoothly...

I've tried to get into this game a couple of times without success. Next time I'll actually read the manual. Too many people say this game is great, for it not to be...

When it comes to shmups there are many for which I could take it or leave it, but when I really like one it tends to turn into a rabid sort of love in which I simply cannot get enough of it and will play the absolute crap out of it. This one doesn't quite qualify for the later category but it is still a very good game, unique and holds a lot of charm. It's also one I would recommend to anyone who isn't particularly keen on shooters along with Isolated Warrior.. So it might be worth another shot for you some day. As far as the enemies spawning from behind it's not as overbearing as it might seem at first. Level 4 is where it starts to become particularly problematic, but the key is to, one: lead them forward just a bit and then, two: back yourself up and take them out with the Shotgun which can shoot directly left/right, and then, three: use the cliff sides that stick out or the trees/buildings etc. that do the same to get yourself in front of for a little protection and then once again take them out with the Shotgun when they catch up to you. Originally level 4 gave me some trouble because things get pretty tight but once I could do it, level 5 wasn't too bad and once I made it to level 6 I knew all I needed and it wasn't really much trouble either. Another thing to keep in mind is that there is a free Horse in levels 1,2 & 3 and can be purchased as well in the later levels to help with making it through the tight spots.

GUNSMOKE has been smoked.

Back To The Future is done. I played through it 4 times today and had successful DeLorean runs at the end of two. On one of my failed DeLorean runs I would have no-deathed it so that was unfortunate. But the biggest challenge came, by far, from the fact that my BTTF Cart took a dump since the last time I popped it in and all the screens with writing have a bunch of capitol "H's" all over them. The street stages look more or less normal but the first two mini games were all glitched out. "Break Lorraine's heart at the library" wasn't really any more difficult but the "Diner Scene" which I can normally rock was rather frustrating to play like this, lol. It's a good condition cart and the contacts are in great condition and super clean so I know it's not something temporary. Oddly the other two mini games were fine. "The Enchantment Under The Sea Guitar extravaganza" and the "DeLorean run", that is, looked fine...

Double Dragon III is done. It'd been a little while and at first if I missed a jump kick I kept trying to do a hyper uppercut. Then I kept trying to pick up knives, bottles etc by using "B" and attacking someone on my left with "B", whoops! But a few minutes in all was righted. It seems DDII haunts me...

Bingo. TPTB need us distracted, confused and fighting each other rather than getting our heads out of our lethargic asses and recognizing that we all share the same oppressor who only wants us enslaved or dead.

Oh, I see now.. I think. Well, I didn't think they were making that gravy from scratch, fresh, right there at the restaurant. Now I can't help wondering if there are other food items that people particularly miss from other defunct FF Franchises....

Alright, so the cat's out of the bag and y'all know I'm not an expert on fast food. I guess I'll live. But what's the significance of "The sauce came in a bag " ??? Don't all fast food joints issue various sauces in little squeeze bags? @RH That was an Epic History Lesson. Well done, sir. I guess I was under the impression that there were still a few actual Hardees lurking around somewhere, but a full on buyout makes more sense..

So this is what I actually planned on doing. The pancake thing just happened to happen when it did and I thought of IHoP. A while back I was saying to a friend that there hasn't been a Hardees where we live for like a quarter of a century and he informed me that Carl's Jr. is the same thing as Hardees. Who knew? I had no idea why such a thing should be and I still have no idea but the important part is that there was one not too far away and one day, driving nearby, I thought it would be a good idea to stop and get a Mushroom Swiss Burger for old times sake. So once again here is something I've been intending to do for like 2 years now and hadn't gotten around to so thanks to whoever it was that came up with this "fast food inspired" idea that kicked me in the pants. I wanna say it was Ritchie.... Anyway, here is the new and improved PII version of the Mushroom Swiss! The main improvement is that I used Hen-Of-The-Woods Mushrooms instead of the typical baby portobellos. If you haven't ever had these I would strongly recommend. In my opinion they are second only to Morels in terms of being a great "Gravy Mushroom." Pretty much the only thing I do with it is make Mushroom gravy using a beef broth. The one thing I could have done better is to have used thicker slices of Swiss Cheese. I don't know what I was thinking slicing 'em thin. It still added the perfect compliment to the mushroom gravy and meat, it just needed thicker slices for optimal cheesiness. At any rate, I really enjoyed this one so I'm def gonna be making more of these. Not sure if I've ever made a burger and fries before that didn't involve Catsup or mustard or mayo or barbecue or some other typical ready made sauce... I also learned something from a friend the other day that I feel like I probably should have already known. When you make fries, in addition to oiling the pan a bit you've gotta take a brush and brush some oil onto the fries and then sprinkle a little salt in order to approximate deep frying. So I did this little bit extra and they are so much better than just baking them w/o the oil. As luck would have it I made "Creamy Apple Cole Slaw" earlier tonight because I had a half a head of cabbage and some old apples that needed to get used up. Good accompaniment but also a major Uff Da! moment because it occurred to me I should have made Fish Tacos during Taco month and while I hear that not everyone goes for it, I def consider good slaw to be an important ingredient in a proper Fish Taco. Ok, I'll stop yappin now.

That's a Rice-bun Burger, correct?

I've never gotten around to completing this game myself either. Although I think it's great it has always tended to fall by the wayside in favor of something else. I'm sure I'll get around to it eventually. The thing that always amazes me a bit is that year after year it seems to remain at the same popularity level of ...unpopular and the price never really goes up much either. Thinking about it again now, I suppose it's probably because of the difficulty level...