Top 10 Fighters — Few Surprises Aside from an Astounding NES Import
27 May 2009 11:52 pm |
 |
It's been a while, I know. I've fully moved into my new place in Washington, DC, but at the same time I'm fully unsettled—even after my parents visited me for a very industrious lets-straighten-out-Vinny's-condo weekend. There's still a ways to go. Maybe I'm helpless. I remain confident that I can hook up eight different consoles to my TV without any problems. The gaming will continue; I just need to find time to work on this site, too.
Anyway, I've finally got the top 10 fighters lined up. It's taken forever, but I feel that the list is pretty solid. Granted, it helps that the genre was in its infancy in the 8- to 16-bit era. So you're not exactly overwhelmed with titles. We're still talking about bazillions of opponents and quite a variety of special moves. After many an s$$ kicking and being a$$ kicked, I proudly present this top 10. Never assume that 8-bit can't hang with the likes of its 16-bit successor...
|
Tweaking Top 10 Lists — Lots of Recommended Games to Cover My A%$
18 May 2009 10:08 pm |
 |
I've modified the top 10 format a bit, because I lose sleep over silly things like people not discovering all the great games that don't quite make the top 10 and honorable mentions. So now you'll find a list of recommended games at the bottom for beat 'em ups, RPGs, and shoot 'em ups. Next up is top 10 fighting games. The list is ready, but getting screen shots and writing content awaits me... |
 |
Still Blasting Away — The (Hopefully) Final Update to the Top 10 Shmups
10 May 2009 7:32 pm |
 |
Alright, this is the last time I'm going to tweak the top 10 shoot 'em up list—at least for a while. While I'm happy to use any excuse to play all these games over and over again, dig into the gameplay as far as possible, and engage in debates (i.e. Which one is better? Gate of Thunder or Lords of Thunder?), all of these activites hold me up from generating totally new content. I have to curb my shmup appetite for the greater good of the site.
So what's changed in the shmup list? Well, the fabulous box art to left represents a very large hint. It's not exactly a well-known game. Probably because, well, who would actually buy a game that looks like that? Seriously?
A classic TG-16 shoot 'em up also joins the fray, displacing a Arcade CD title that looks beautiful, dazzles in the special effects department, but otherwise comes up quite short in innovation and gameplay. Most of the selectable ships move way too slowly. Anyway, I'm over it.
I've also added a more general recommended shoot 'em up list. It's a little on the long side, but there are just way too many great shooters developed back in this era. So once you've sampled the awesome top 10, you'll have plenty more to explore.
|
April Virtual Console Wrap-Up
7 May 2009 9:21 pm |
TimeWarpGamer fans, I've finally moved from Northern Virginia to Washington, DC. Surrounded by many an unpacked box in the heart of the nation's capitol, I feel like I'm finally recovering from a suburban lobotomy. Finally gaining access to the Interwebs from my new home, I present you with this belated update. Sorry for the lengthy delay in new material. I've got lots of cool stuff planned for the future, including tons of updates to the top games lists, revisions to the top 10 shoot 'em ups, a top 10 fighting games in the works, and a bazillion other different features. In the meantime, here's a guide to the most recent batch of Wii Virtual Console Downloads.
While the quality below is quite impressive, if my calculations are correct this is also the first month where gamers in North America have gotten totally stiffed. Not a single VC title that I can recommend to them! Turning to more positive news, the drought of N64 games has finally come to an end. BIGTIME. Can you ever go wrong with a Zelda game?
The remaining titles are exclusive to Japan. The original Phantasy Star is the most exciting of the bunch and one of the best reasons to own a Sega Master System. Japan picks up Castlevania III as well, which in my opinion is easily one of the best-sounding NES games ever, thanks to a special sound chip that was only included in the Japanese release way back in 1989.
Rounding out the line-up for the Land of the Rising Sun are two great titles that were already available on the VC, only for different platforms. The TG-16 version of Ninja Gaiden boasts much better and more colorful graphics, but occasionally the audio and gameplay elements don't quite live up to the standard set my the NES version. Der Langrisser takes a less anime approach to graphics, adds branching paths to the storyline, and lowers the challenge substantially, compared to Langrisser II on the Genesis.
|
 PAL Region & Japan  |
|
Japan |
Japan |
|
|
Japan |
Japan |
|
|
|
