Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

I adore Kirby. I’ve always loved Kirby games, and it’s by far one of the most successful series of platform games in the gaming industry. Though as much as I loved Kirby as a kid, there was one Kirby game that I had never played. Funny enough, this game title is one of the most beloved Kirby games of all time. In fact, my boyfriend Mark was so shocked that I hadn’t played before, he made me review it for you guys. (Which I have no problems with! It’s a Kirby game after all, it can’t be bad.) So this week, I’ll be telling you guys about my first time playing Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. 

To give those who have never played any sort of Kirby game a little background, Kirby is a lovable pink ball that floats around and sucks up enemies to copy their abilities. Usually he uses these abilities to beat baddies and bosses to beat the game. It’s an extremely simple concept, but that’s one of the reasons that Kirby is so popular. The controls are never complex, the stages are never overly difficult, and every level is always colorful and pleasing to see. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards was released on the Nintendo 64 in North America June 26, 2000, and was later released as downloadable content for the Wii in 2008. The game was developed by HAL Laboratory, the same team that developed games such as Earthbound, SimCity, and Pokemon Snap.

  

So let’s start at the beginning of Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. On a planet inhabited by fairies, a dark power called Dark Matter invades and begins to consume the planet. Before it was too late, a little fairy named Ribbon flew to where the planets sacred crystal was held, took it in her arms and began to fly through space with the treasure to protect it. Dark Matter chases her down, and ends up shattering the crystal into pieces that scatter throughout the galaxy. Ribbon then falls and lands on Kirby’s home planet, where she realizes that she only had one of the crystal shards on hand. Kirby, being the little hero he is, volunteers to help Ribbon recover the crystal shards and defeat Dark Matter to save her home planet. The story is very cute, and although the plot is predictable, what more could you expect from a Kirby game? The whole point of every Kirby game is to find the bad guys and save the day. 

  

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards is a 2.5D platform game, meaning while the graphics are 3D, you can only side scroll. You have one button to jump (keep pressing it to float around), a button to suck in enemies, and a button to eject powers out of Kirby so that you may get a new ability. There’s something about this Kirby game that makes it very unique, and it makes me wonder why HAL Laboratory didn’t put this in any Kirby games released after Crystal Shards. Usually Kirby is only able to have one ability as a time, while in The Crystal Shards if you have an ability, eject it from yourself and then throw the power-up at a different enemy, those power-ups will combine, making tons of possible powers for the players to experience.  I loved this about the game, since there we’re power-ups that you could combine that either made you a human firework, or turned you into a fridge so you can throw food at your enemies while picking up the food afterwards to heal. As for the rest of the game, it’s very straight forward. Get from start to finish, while trying to find the 3 crystal shards hidden in each level. The bosses are easy, but not so easy that you don’t have to put effort into the fight. The game is either loved or hated for how simple the game play actually is, but for a lot of people it’s a nostalgia bomb ready to go off as they play and remember playing as a kid. In fact, with how simple the game actually is to play, it’s extremely family friendly in that you don’t have to be younger or older to be good at it. Anyone can play without much frustration.

   

Another thing that I enjoyed about the game is the fact that there’s a mini-game mode where you can play with multiple players. There are 3 mini-games in total, and none of the games have more than 2 controls to memorize, making it easy to understand for those who don’t game very much or are younger. There are different characters to play from, and if you and another player want to play the same person, the game just turns one of the players a different color so that the two can tell the difference. Although the games are short and there are just a few of them available to play, they’re definitely worth checking out.

Overall, I enjoyed the game and I wish I had it when I was a kid. I feel like this is a great game for younger kids to play if they’re just starting to learn how to game, while it’s enjoyable to revisit if you’re an older gamer. This is a game I’d also show my parents and have them try out as well, since the controls aren’t hard to figure out and it’s easy to navigate through a game that only lets you move left and right. Looking back at Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, it makes me appreciate how far Kirby games have come and just how much they’ve grown. I still wish they’d bring back the option to fuse your abilities together especially with todays graphics and technology, but I guess that gives players more of a reason to revisit this old gem of a game. 

By the way, I’m giving away some prizes on our Facebook page! 
Got something to ask me? Wanna show me something? Want to send a game request?
Shoot me an email at systemshuffle@hotmail.com
or check out our facebook page!

The Dance Dance Revolution Series

To be honest, this week I was going to review a completely different game. The reason I chose Dance Dance Revolution (or DDR for short) is because I’ve been trying to lose weight and gain some leg muscle, so I found myself playing DDR everyday. It then occurred to me that DDR is classified as a retro game, since it’s 10 year anniversary was in 2008, and because the game is originally for PS2, which is a now retired system. 

One of the many dance pads out there for players to use.

DDR was introduced in Japan by the game companies Konami (known for making Castlevania, Frogger, and Contra) in 1998, and was later introduced to North America and Europe in 1999. Dance Dance Revolution was actually called Dancing Stage for a short amount of time in Europe. The game became so popular that you can actually find DDR arcade machines in many different countries, and in popular gaming spots like Gameworks and Dave & Busters in the US. There are also DDR tournaments, where your DDR skills could get you a trophy and prize money. The reason that Dance Dance Revolution jumped to popularity was because at the time the idea was original, giving you a good workout while dancing to some awesome music. (Don’t like using your body to play? No problem! The game allows you to use a normal controller to play the game as well.) Konami’s music division, Bemani, also helped develop the game by creating original music with some of Konami’s in-house artists, while still making room for licensed music from different genres. 

Konami has released tons of different DDR game titles and editions, but while there’s so many different games to choose from, Konami made everyone’s life a little easier by doing one simple thing: keeping the menu layouts the same. From the oldest to the newest DDR games, the DDR menu keeps its simple layout for players. The controls and difficulties stay close to the same as well (although some DDR games don’t have beginner mode), making it easy for players to navigate through the different DDR games. For my review, I’m going to be using the menu from Dance Dance Revolution MAX 2 for my explanations, since it was my first DDR game! (I apologize for blurry photos, I don’t have the right gear to record gameplay yet so I have to use my phone. Bear with me!)

            

So let’s break down the menu a bit. We’ll start with the games Game Mode. In Game Mode, you first choose how you want to play: single player, with a friend on versus, or with two pads (I’ve seen people play double mode before, that nonsense is hard and I applaud anyone that can do it). Since I’m playing alone, I went with single player. Once that’s done, you then choose your difficulty: beginner (the mode name speaks for itself), light (for players who are better than beginner mode but aren’t quite ready for harder modes), standard (for more advanced players), or heavy (pro level dancing). Since the dance pad can slip around sometimes from all of the movement of dancing, I tend to play on light mode when I’m at home so I don’t twist my ankle while trying to keep up with the song I’m playing and where my dance pad is sliding off to. In the arcade versions of DDR,  the dance pads are large and metal, with bars behind you so you have something to hold onto while your legs go crazy. It’s much easier to play on the arcade versions of DDR than the home versions. 

     

So now we’re ready to pick a song, and there’s many different songs and genres to pick from! There are songs ranging from disco to techno, and some slow songs for you to cool down to when you’re warming up or starting to get too tired from playing so much. “Hold up, I’m not exactly sure how to play, or what’s going on on my screen.” The controls are actually quite simple: when playing with the dance pad, you place your foot on the correct arrows when they reach the top of your screen. There will be times where you’ll have to step on two arrows at the same time, so keep an eye out for that! The arrows that are green and have a trail following behind them are arrows that you keep your foot on. For example, if a long green up arrow is coming up, you step on the up arrow at the right time and hold your foot there until the green note is gone. So one foot could be holding a note while the other is still stepping on the other 3 arrows. (For you beginners that are freaking out over this, don’t worry! These notes are easier to deal with on the light and beginner modes of the game, so you won’t be expected to do anything crazy). At the bottom of your screen, you have the points that you’re earning with each step displayed for you, while at the top you have a green bar that shows you how well you’re doing. When the bar is green, you’re doing just fine. If it’s small and red, you need to start doing better or else you’re about to lose. If the bar is full and colorful, you’re on a roll and doing fantastic! 

After you’ve passed the song you’re playing, you get graded! I got a D, because taking pictures and playing DDR at the same time is really hard. If you get a new high score on a song, your grade is then displayed next to the songs title on the song select screen for everyone to see! If you’re not happy with your grade, practice and aim for a better grade! That pretty much covers Game Mode, so let’s take a quick look at what else DDR has to offer.

            

Workout Mode: In this mode, you get to make a workout plan for yourself! After entering your current weight and the weight you want to become, the game then brings you to song select, and after a song is played the game will tell you how many carbs you burned off and how long you’ve been playing. I’ll be using this mode for my workouts, since the game will save your progress and show you how much you’ve lost!

Lesson Mode: This is what mode I’d recommend to all brand new DDR players. The game will take you through a step-by-step lesson plan on how to play the game, and how to improve your dancing skills so you can increase what difficulty you play on!

Training Mode: Having trouble with a song? Maybe you’re having trouble with a just a certain part of a song? Training Mode allows you to pick a song and practice through different segments of it so you can finally get through the song with no trouble! 

Edit Mode: In this mode, you can take a song that you like and edit it! Add in your own notes, so that you have a beatmap that you can call your own! (I’d suggest using the normal controller for this part, it takes awhile to get your song just as you’d like it, and using your feet for the job will just make it take much longer).

Options, Records & Information: These are to use for your convenience, so at any time you can edit your games settings, check your highscores, and look up any information about the game you may need. A lot of the stuff in Information is legal rights and such, so you may click it once or never. It doesn’t effect your game at all.

Overall, the Dance Dance revolution games are for people of all ages. The game helps improve rhythmic timing and stamina all while having fun dancing around. As for weight loss, players have reported losing 10-50 pounds by playing DDR. One woman lost 95 pounds just by playing DDR everyday as a workout. There are so many different versions of Dance Dance Revolution (including a Sonic the Hedgehog and Mario version), so you always have plenty of uplifting and upbeat songs to dance to. The games are cheap and easy to find on sites like Amazon or Ebay, and the pads aren’t pricey either. If you’re looking for a great way to let loose, have fun with friends and family, or to get a good workout, then I recommend you look into buying games from the Dance Dance Revolution series.

By the way, I’m giving away some prizes on our Facebook page!
Got something to ask me? Wanna show me something? Want to send a game request?
Shoot me an email at systemshuffle@hotmail.com
or check out our facebook page!

Giveaway time!

Do you want to win a free Gameboy Color, Gameboy/Gameboy Color game, and a Pikachu figure form the 1990’s?
OF COURSE YOU FLIPPIN’ DO.
We did it! We finally hit 1,000 views on systemshuffle.com! As a thank you to everyone for the constant support, I’m doing a giveaway!

On October 19th, 2013, I’ll be randomly drawing a winner who will receive these prizes: A turquoise Gameboy Color, A Pikachu figure from the 1990’s, and a mystery Gameboy/Gameboy Color game! 
Click here to learn how to enter!

 

Sonic Heroes

At the end of the year 2003, Sega released a brand new Sonic the Hedgehog game for GameCube, Playstation 2, Xbox and PC. Japan got the first taste of this newly released game on December 30, 2003 while America was given the game on January 5th, 2004. Europe then received the game a month and a day later, and while everyone was excited to play Sonic Heroes, little did the world know how much a mess this new game would be.

I remember it being sort of a rainy day outside when my little brother Miles and I went to Gamestop to pick up the new Sonic game, and while at the time I didn’t think anything of the weather, I now think the world was trying to tell me something. My brother and I would always look at the manual and case of any new game we bought, so I recall looking at the back of the Sonic Heroes case and thinking how awesome this game was going to be. “They brought back old characters from Sonic Adventure and the Chaotix team?! You can play as 3 at a time?! New levels, new music, I can’t wait to get home! Maybe this game will have a Chao Garden!!” (Needless to say, I was very disappointed when I discovered that there was no Chao Garden.) I don’t remember much about when I played Sonic Heroes as a kid though. In fact, all I remember is getting really angry (which is strange, since I’m not an angry gamer). So recently, almost 10 years after Sonic Heroes came out, I was talking with my boyfriend Mark about how much he and other players hated Sonic Heroes. I didn’t understand why, and it bugged me that I couldn’t say if I hated Sonic Heroes or loved it. Not knowing bothered me so much that I picked it up for this weeks review.

There are 4 different teams to play as, meaning that there are 4 different storylines to play through. Each team consists of 3 characters, each having their own special trait. One character will have a flying trait that allows them to fly to high places and shoot down flying enemies. Another character will have the running trait, so when they’re selected your team moves much quicker. (WARNING: When going through loops and different parts of levels with the speed trait, be careful! The game can be very glitchy at times, and will send you right through the stage if you’re going too fast or if you move your joystick the wrong way.) The final trait is the power trait that allows the 3rd team mate to smash through obstacles along the way. The power trait is very over-powered (no pun intended), since the character with this trait can kill enemies much faster and easier than the flying and speed character.

I decided to start with the Sonic team, since it’s first in line. The storyline takes place a few months after the Sonic Adventure 2: battle plot, where we find Sonic running through a canyon of some sort. His best friends, Tails and Knuckles, fly down next to him in Tails’ plane to give him urgent news: Robotnick, their worst enemy, has returned! Robotnick sent Sonic and his friends a letter explaining that he has finally created the ultimate weapon, and that in 3 days, he will take over the world and he invited Sonic and his friends to try and stop him. After reading the letter, Sonic gets excited and goes “Sounds like an invitation!” Wait, hold on, pause. I don’t know about you guys, but if I had a device that I was completely sure could destroy the world, I wouldn’t invite the one guy who has foiled ALL of my past attempts at ruling the world to try and stop me, since odds are that HE’S GOING TO STOP ME.

While you can switch between characters at any second, you can only be one character at a time. Each different character also has their over team fighting stance. For example, when you play as the speed traited character, your other two team mates will follow directly behind you. If you’re the power traited character, each teammate will stand on either side of you, and when you’re the flying traited character your teammates hold onto you from below you. These different stances can make it easier for you to get rings throughout the game. 

         In Sonic Heroes, there were a lot of moments where fighting enemy robots could get very overwhelming, especially since the game can sometimes flood the screen with them. The solution to this problem was to level up your characters to fill up your team blast bar. “How do I level up my character to raise my team blast bar?” When you kill bad guys (or occasionally when you go through a checkpoint), colored orbs will be dropped for your characters. These orbs raise your characters level, making them more powerful while raising your team blast bar. Each character has a special colored orb: Speed has a blue orb, flying has a yellow, and power has a red colored orb. Once your team blast bar is full, you can press the Z button to use a special move the destroys all enemies near you. Note: Some of the levels in Sonic Heroes are very long (10-15 minutes depending on how fast you go), so I suggest that if you want to just get through the level as fast as possible, don’t kill enemies unless you absolutely have to. (There will be plenty of areas that won’t let you through without killing some robots blocking your path.) You’ll still get plenty of orbs along the way to use the team blast move, so don’t worry about that. If you’re going for a good grade on the level, good luck to you. There’s a time bonus at the end of the level that helps a lot, but if you’re sticking around killing robots for points, it’s going to slow you down by quite a bit.

Now I do have some little, nit-picky things to complain about with this game. For starters, the controls are extremely slippery in this game. There are lots of moments in the game where it wants you to come to a sudden stop, but since you can’t just stop on a dime, you end up slamming into a wall and sliding around until your characters decide to finally stop.  Also, unlike other Sonic games, enemies need to be hit multiple times before dying. They have a health bar, and can take up to 3-4 hits to finally destroy. This can prove to be rather obnoxious. My final complaint is the fact that the voice acting is just flat out awful. I know a lot of people complained that Sonic Team got new voice actors for Sonic, Tails, and others, but that’s not where my problem stands. It’s not that I’m not used to the new voices, it’s the fact that the new voices are wheezy, nasally and sound like they’re 4th graders having to read out loud in english class. Knuckles sounds like he’s screaming the word “Sh*t!” when he punches enemies, and when Tails flies he shouts “WHEE”, making him sound like he’s going to lose his voice from yelling. It stresses me out.

Overall, this isn’t a bad game, but it’s definitely not a game I would want to voluntarily play again. While the gameplay itself isn’t the greatest, the soundtrack is one of my favorite soundtracks from any Sonic game. I can now understand why my brother and I would get so angry over this game, especially after all the countless times we’ve fallen through stages due to a glitch, or have gotten killed due to cheap hits that the enemies got off on us. The storyline is nothing special, and is in fact extremely predictable. (Hmm, I wonder if the guy who get’s defeated in every Sonic game got defeated this time! Probably.) Sonic Heroes is available for less than $10 on Amazon for Gamecube, but unless you’re a Sonic fan who hasn’t played this, I wouldn’t buy it if I were you. Try it out at a buddies, or watch gameplay of it. Don’t put yourself through the amount of frustration this game creates.

Got something to ask me? Wanna show me something? Want to send a game request?
Shoot me an email at systemshuffle@hotmail.com
or check out our facebook page!

Rayman

Rayman was released for PlayStation on September 1, 1995 by Ubisoft as a 2D platformer, and is Raymans only 2D game since all of Raymans sequels though we’re released in 3D afterwards. It’s a platformer that, in all honestly, screams that it’s from the 90’s, and was one of my favorite games as a kid. I never got very far in it though, and my family would rage quit at it, which is why I decided to revisit it. That, and the fact that Rayman games nowadays aren’t even known because of Rayman himself. The Rayman series is now run by crazy, stupid bunnies that play a bunch of minigames with Rayman (kind of), whom were introduced in one of the Wii’s first games, Rayman Raving Rabbids.  Comparing Raymans first game and main idea for the series to what it ended up becoming made me question why Ubisoft decided to go from platformers to minigames, and why’d they change Rayman’s mascot from Rayman himself to the bunnies.

Alright, let’s pause here before I even begin to think of playing the game. Let’s actually go look at Rayman’s manual for a change. The cover of the game shows a cartoon drawing of Rayman breaking through a wall, followed by quotes about the game such as “A+” “Best character, best animation, best soundtrack” “Game of the month” “Megaward”. Something that worries me: Game of the month? Only the month? Was it not good enough to be anything more than “Oh wow yeah this is a good game” and then be completely forgotten? Uh oh.  Not only that, but the cover of just Rayman busting through a wall tells me nothing about this game. Alright, well lets turn to the back, shall we? On the back of the manual, there’s an ad (typical for PS games) but it’s an ad for… Rayman 2?! Wait, are you telling me that when they released Rayman, they already had such high hopes for the game that they already had a release date for Raymans 3D sequel? Usually on the back of game manuals, they either have the games cover repeated, or have ads for other games made by the same company. To prove my point, I looked at manuals from games that ended up having sequels (Spyro, Crash, Frogger, Ape Escape, Pac-Man World) and none of them even hinted at a sequel. I think Ubisoft was really sure that Rayman was going to be a big hit. (Edit: Mark pointed out to me that because I have a greatest hits edition, my manual may be updated from the original. I’m not sure if that makes my manual any different and we can’t find anything saying otherwise, but still a thought to keep in mind.)

Alright, alright. Let’s turn to the back of the game case. Usually when we would be at Blockbuster or GameStop as a kid, we’d always look on the back of the box for a summary of what the game was really about, right? The first sentence on the back of Raymans case threw me off. “Captivating, mind-blowing and addictive one trip and you’re hooked!” Okay wait, is this a headliner for a 2D platformer or for some sort of drug? They made it sound like this game is going to make you trip like you’re on acid. Reading the rest of the back just made me realize how much Ubisoft is screaming “WE’RE UNIQUE AND FREAKING WEIRD, LOVE US” as they they go on and on about how demented their creatures are, and how messed up and colorful their worlds are that the player may not even be able to handle it. In fact, they have a bulleted section going through what the game has to offer, and I’m going to go through it and comment on what I think about it:

• “Menacing opponents that learn your playing style to defeat you.” Hold on, isn’t this completely backwards? Usually enemies have their own way of trying to kill you, and it’s the players job to learn how to counter it! When I played the game, there was a bad guy I could NOT get by without getting hit, because no matter what I did, it would just mimic me! The problem with that is that I couldn’t get around it any other way, which would make me die frequently. And this happened more than just a few times. There are also many trial-and-error parts, where there is no way to avoid an up and coming attack from off screen unless you know it’s there. It happened a lot. Ubisoft, you want the player to beat your baddies, not the other way around!
• “Incredibly intense visuals with 65,000 colors and 4 independently scrolling back drops.” Whoa whoa whoa what? 65,000 colors? I’ll admit, The artwork is very appealing to the eye and everything is very colorful, but comparing 65,000 colors to 4 backdrops makes it kind of sound like a bit of a let down. The color schemes and art for this game is where you can obviously tell that this game is from the 90’s. You know how back then everything was weird bright colors with patterns and the more color you had on the cooler you were? Yeah, it’s exactly like that on Rayman.
• “70 Surrealistic levels” Dear god yes, we get it, your game is weird and out of this world. Although, I am happy with the decent amount of levels to go through and length of the game.
• “Over 50 demented characters” Ohhh boy.
• “Exhilarating CD-quality sound effects and music” Okay, this is half and half for me. The effects can sometimes sound muffled (I get it’s an old game, but I mean even for an old game it’s not the best for its time), but I love the Rayman soundtrack. The music always perfectly matches the mood and environment of the level, which sets the mood completely. There are some very… strangely placed sound effect though. For example, there’s a giant plum you can stand on to float through water and this plum makes… car noises as it floats. Another is at the end of every act in each level (there’s usually a sign with a ‘!’ on it to mark the next area and there’s a few in each level), there’s a guy who makes screams “YEAH” followed by a second of music and a creepy giggly laugh, no matter the mood of the level or if there’s any music in the background at all (it’s a little startling the first time you here in while playing). I tried to get a sound clip of it, but of course my lack of better recording equipment stopped me from doing so.

Let me tell you the story of Rayman; Rayman’s world, the Glade of Dreams, is at peace, when one day a mysterious man named Mr. Dark steals the energy orb called The Great Protoon that keeps the world in balance. Electoons, creatures that surrounded the orb, were then caged and spread across the world as bad guys started to appear out of nowhere, causing trouble in the once peaceful land. A magician telling the story to the player then calls to Rayman, asking him for aid to save the Electoons and defeat Mr. Dark! Here’s my problem with this story: Who the hell is Rayman!? We have gone through his manual, the main story of the game, and it never gives us any sort of back story to Rayman! When the magician calls to him, he’s in a hammock on the beach with drinks and a sunset somewhere and just agrees to go and save the world? He’s not some sort of superhero, he’s literally just some dude with nothing better to do! He has no motivation to go and save anything! Hell, where Rayman was at when all of this chaos was going down, it looked like he wasn’t even being affected by any of it! I think Ubisoft looked at Sonic the Hedgehog from Sega and Mario from Nintendo and just said “Well hey we can make a random character and make money too!” At least Sonic and Mario have some motivation or reason to go and do what they do, Rayman is just some random guy! You know why no one cares or barley ever cared about Rayman? Because even in his own game he’s no body. You can’t relate to the guy on any level, he has no personality and is just a mindless puppet! Ubisoft probably switched him with the mentally unstable rabbits because even they have more emotion, personality and are far more entertaining than Rayman ever was.

Overall, this is probably the most unnecessarily hard platformer I have ever played. I got it at a flea market for $6, and there’s good reason behind that pricing. This game isn’t in demand because it’s one of those games that made you cry as a kid because you just can’t figure out why you can’t beat that one bad guy that mimics your every move, or that one level that has enemies jumping out of bushes that you can’t avoid. I’ll admit, the game has areas before levels that teach you about obstacles that lay ahead of you, but that doesn’t excuse how difficult it actually is to play through. Ubisoft tried way  too hard to create “the best next thing” to make money, but ended up making a nobody character instead of giving depth to a game that had the potential to turn into something really extraordinary. I’m hoping to get my hands on Raymans sequels for a little revisit to see if Ubisoft ever changed their ways, but by the looks of modern day and the games they have now, something tells me probably not.

Got something to ask me? Wanna show me something? Want to send a  game request?
Shoot me an email at systemshuffle@hotmail.com
or check out our facebook page!

Tip of the day: Garage Sales!

I know the title doesn’t scream “gaming”, but what if I told you it secretly does? Spring is in the air, the holiday season is officially over (up north we had snow until 2 weeks ago, thank god that’s over) and you know what that means? Garage sales. “But Em, I’m a grown man in his 20’s-30’s why would I show up at some old ladies garage sale?” Well I’ll show you why:

This is the NES/SNES section of my collection. See those few games with white tags and orange tags? Those are games I bought from stores. I have a little few in there that were donated to me by Mike from Gamer Logic, and the rest of them? The rest of the 4/5 of all of those games? Garage sales. Yes, even those boxed games with manuals are from a garage sale (my old chem teachers to be exact). When Spring comes around, kids are getting rid of games they got for Christmas that they don’t want, systems, controllers that need the littlest bit of cleaning. Parents (especially Moms) have their kids off at college or kids that are moved out. What do those kids leave behind? Game Gears, handhelds, DDR pads, Gamecube and PS2 games, and so on. I went to a garage sale last year that was closing, and they looked like they had nothing at all good to sell UNTIL I came across a grocery bag with a STACK of Nintendo Powers. I got them all for a DOLLAR. Also in that stack were game GUIDES for Banjo Kazooie, Super Mario Kart, Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 64, and others. I also got an Xbox with a DDR pad, 5 controllers, and a stack of games for 40$ at another garage sale.

So I don’t care if you’re a college dude that thinks he’s too cool to stop at some old ladies garage sale, this is the best collectors advice I can honestly give. So when you’re driving and you see a garage sale sign, go out of your way to stop there because you may be going home with some new games.

And thus, the blog was born!

So I’m a retro game collector. Big deal.

I know a lot of people collect retro games and I’m nothing special or different, but what I’ve been wanting to do as a pass-time is make a blog dedicated to game reviews. They’d be written, no video since I have no way of getting video really, but making the reviews would go a little something like this:
– Get a notebook and pencil
– Pick a random game from my near 200 games from my shelf
– Sit down for the time needed to get a decent review (if it’s like a FF game or something with a story line, those would be longer projects of coarse.)
– Make bullet points while I go through the game
– Get on the blog and write what I thought.

I’m not a talented writer, but I’m passionate about games, and I’ll always give a fair review on what I’m playing.
I’m doing this because my collections only getting bigger, and I’ve barley played what I’ve collected. I thought this would be a fun way of doing so.