Retro Profile
Retro Profile: Kid Chameleon (Virtual Console – Sega Genesis)
The folks at Sega were no strangers to offbeat games. A look at some of their earliest examples on the Sega Master System like Alex Kidd, Space Harrier, and Fantasy Zone reveal that the arcade game developing powerhouse of years past had a knack for creating games that were based on familiar gameplay elements, but adding their own twist to the genre. That tradition carried over to the Genesis cons...
Retro Profile: Kung Fu (NES)
Kung Fu is the home console port an arcade game by Irem know as Kung Fu Master, which was loosely based on Bruce Lee’s “Game of Death” movie. Most noteworthy about the game was its genre-defining gameplay. Believe it or not, Kung Fu gave birth to the beat ”˜em up genre. So essentially, if you’ve played more refined games like Double Dragon, Final Fight, Battletoads, or Streets of Rage...
Retro Profile: Golden Axe (Virtual Console-Sega Genesis)
“The Hobbit” was written, many people have been enthralled with the idea of warriors, with various traits and personalities, doing battle with some powerful force of malice in a medieval setting. As the years rolled by, strategy board games, such as Dungeons & Dragons, gained much popularity with kids (and many more adults) that were willing to devote their time to understand the g...
Retro Profile: Stunt Race FX (SNES)
1994 was an interesting year for 16-bit gamers. It was a time of great releases like Super Metroid, Earthworm Jim, and Final Fantasy III. Sadly, like all time periods in gaming history, there were also a good number of games that were produced on the right console but at the wrong time. Stunt Race FX on the Super Nintendo would fall into the category of the latter. It was the first and [for a whil...
Retro Profile: Donkey Kong Classics (NES)
In every historical era, there always came a time for change and innovations that would eventually affect a major aspect of life. German engineer Karl Benz designed the first combustible flat engine. The British created the first mass-produced toothbrush. And the Japanese invented the platformer genre in video games, putting a new spin on how we can go about saving the day. In 1981, the now-legend...
Retro Profile: Sunset Riders (SNES)
When I think about the subject of westerns, I usually think of cowboys, whisky, and saloons. When combined, these elements usually make for a nice bar fight somewhere down the line. That’s actually what I like the most about those types of movies. Those things aside, no western scenario would be complete without an outlaw, a bounty hunter, and a town caught in the middle of the battle betwee...
Retro Profile: Predator (NES)
Most movie enthusiasts enjoy a good action flick to keep them occupied for 2 hours or so. When Predator was released in theaters, it was a summer box office hit that gave the viewers what anyone would want to see back in 1987. You had Arnold Schwarzenegger with a team heavily armed soldiers faced with the fight of their lives against an invisible alien warrior seeking a worthy opponent to kill. Pu...
Retro Profile: Double Dragon II (NES)
After successfully beating the bejesus out of the Shadow Warriors, Billy and Jimmy Lee were about to come face with another plot-advancing situation. Specifically, the leader of the Shadow Warriors would resurface and kill Billy’s girlfriend, Marian. So naturally, Billy and Jimmy set out to bring down the Shadow Warriors once again and avenge the death of Billy’s girl. Plot lines like ...
Retro Profile: Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)
If you would have told me as a kid that Super Mario Bros. 2 was merely a localized version of a pre-existing game from Japan (Doki Doki Panic), I wouldn’t have believed you. But in fact, that’s exactly what Nintendo did for the stateside release of the next chapter in the Super Mario series. This was due to the fact the original Japanese version was basically the same as the first Supe...
Top Gear (SNES)
Ever since Namco’s Pole Position made its debut in the arcades in 1982, the racing genre has been considered as an essential medium in the gaming world. The popularity of racing games was further solidified with the increase of video game consoles making their way into homes all throughout the mid-to-late 80’s. When the Super Nintendo came on the scene, most game developers were still ...
Retro Profile: RoboCop (NES)
RoboCop is a movie that needs no introduction. Actor Peter Weller played the role of Alex Murphy’a good cop that was killed in the line of duty and shortly thereafter brought back to life as a cyborg law enforcement officer. 1987 was the year of the film’s theatrical release, and it turned out to be a rather successful one. Soon after its arcade debut in 1988, the RoboCop game was ported to ...
Retro Profile: Mega Man (NES)
When Capcom released Mega Man in 1987, I can only imagine what some of those kids (and the parents buying their games) were thinking when they saw the box art. I myself didn’t discover the series until Mega Man II was released on the old black and white Game Boy in 1992. By that time, he already had the more standard look and feel that we all know and love. When I first saw the original NES ...