Shining Tears? Never played it. I did put Shining Soul 2 on my SNES Classic because of you and Mother. I played Shining Resonance on Switch, which was…a very mediocre game. It was…fine?, but had some REALLY bad parts, like when it made you fight two bosses in a row and the game didn’t heal you. That was fun. The only Shining games I’ve played are some of Shining in the Darkness and some of Shining Wisdom, and I didn’t like Shining Wisdom because I ended up at a dungeon with a crumbling floor that you had to dash across, but it also had enemies you had to avoid because if you came into contact with them, you fell down the pit, and doing that means you have to start all over. Also never played Rayman 2 DS, I’ve only played that on Dreamcast and…PS2 maybe? I actually left off on Rayman 2 DC maybe over halfway through, it was a recommendation station game from a user who left quite a while ago. I tried out Rayman 3 on PS3 PS2 Classics, or maybe it was PS4, I forget. Anyway, I didn’t really care for it. I also have the first game on Saturn, but I’ve heard that’s a lot harder. Maybe I’ll try it one day. Also maybe Croc.

Most big budget games I just find boring. I also cannot really play most first person games because of motion sickness, so if you’re a big budget game that’s also first person, chances are extremely slim that I will not play it. I also really hate Souls games, all it does is remind me of NES games, where they were stupidly hard for the sake of rentals. They also have a really REALLY terrible fanbase, and I do not want any part of it.

I hate the cascade of kids who never shut the fuck up about Undertale too, but I’ve tried playing it, and it plays like absolute shit. The battle system is super sluggish, and I do not hate the writing one bit. I guess part of it may be I really don’t like “cute” “wholesome” things or whatever, but those fucking skeletons were a mistake.

Grandia may have to wait a bit. My Saturn seems to be getting a bad laser, loads to black upon battles sometimes. I ordered a new Saturn though which should get here by the time Ishin arrives, maybe. For the future, I’m highly considering a MODE, so I won’t have to rely on aging lasers anymore.

What caused me to land on a 5 instead of a 4 was that the gameplay was a cut above, specifically the battle system. I love my Wild ARMs games, but they're a "4" or "4.5" to me at best. There's just something "missing" to them depth-wise, and it's usually that they don't feel like the type of game that will give me a different or unique experience should I go back to them. Grandia wasn't like that, and it certainly wasn't a "you need a guide and need to use this exact build" type of game either. It was just right. If I feel a game executed what it aimed for really well, is replayable, and didn't rub me the wrong way, it's a 5 in my book. Again, Wild ARMs is my favourite series, largely for sentimentality and because it ticks some very specific "this appeals to me" boxes gameplay wise, but I do take issue with some of their design choices, so while they're maybe personally "5s" to me, I always have to recommend them with lots of disclaimers and precautions.

4 stars is generally reserved for "this was a great experience but once is probably enough", for me.

That, and Grandia didn't wear out its welcome. Well, the Tower of Temptation almost did, but that's an optional dungeon. If/when I replay a different version of this game I'll probably skip the optional dungeons and focus on the mainline story.

There's no accounting for taste, really. I loved Grandia, and it certainly has a "Sega-ish" feel to it so I get why you hold it in such high regard, but I liked Legaia a lot as well, though it too falls into "4 stars" or "4 and a half stars" territory because it's a bit too slow (come to think of it, that's my one significant criticism with FFIX too: the battle system is too slow, but I love the story and setting dearly). But then again, I have absolutely zero interest in Kingdom Hearts anything, ever. Hard pass, haha.

I really want to re-play that James Bond 007 game again soon especially since seeing Hungry Goriya's video. For reasons I can't get too in depth about, I'm a pretty huge Bond fan (at least until the late 90s or so: I find the Craig era very hit or miss, but I find most modern movies "miss", so...). There's a fun reason for it, but I don't want to give away too much personal information. Hey, I've got my SNES and Super Game Boy lying around, and I still have the original cartridge...

I remember playing Gargoyle's Quest II on my 3DS years ago and getting easily frustrated to the point where I just quit and never got around to picking it up again. Now that I've finally beaten it? You're right, it was pretty easy. Must've just been having a bad day all those years ago. Very fun game though! Was hard to put down! Don't know if this is a controversial opinion, but I like the Gargoyle's Quest games a lot more than Demon's Crest. Like yeah, the SNES game has atmosphere and fancy-shmancy graphics, but I can honestly hardly remember much of the game despite having played it only a couple years ago.

The amount of NES games I've played is embarrassingly low. I've mostly only played the big ones everyone has played. The Mario's, the Zelda's, Castlevania, Contra, Mega Man, StarTropics, and Punch-Out!! (the last two, I have never beaten). I've got a bunch that have been on my to-do list for a very long time, but the easiest access to them is via emulation and I've never really enjoyed playing games at my computer desk. Course now, I've got my hands on one of these Steam Decks, so that solves that problem!

At the top of my head, these are the games I've been most interested in playing:

StarTropics (I absolutely loved this game back in the day. Really regret not finishing it.)
Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II
Bionic Commando
DuckTales
Faxanadu
Crystalis
Batman: The Video Game
Ufouria: The Saga
Adventure Island 4 (You recommended this!)
Metroid: Rogue Dawn (Saw you playing this!)
Uninvited
Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom

If you can make it through the first three stages, there's the continue code, but also the game goes crazy with the extra life pickups in Stage 5 for whatever reason. It's not too difficult to blast through at that point.

That said, I do agree with the "more annoying than difficult" factor. I couldn't imagine doing a run of the game where you never use the transformation ability.

I've beaten Grandia now. The ending really was nice. The last dungeon really reminded me of Legend of Legaia, which went for a similar body-horror type look and feel (this was a bit less disturbing than Legaia, though). I actually liked the build-up TO the endgame more than the ending itself, what with seeing the destruction of Zil Padon firsthand (reminded of the bits of Xenogears when the world really starts to go to hell). It's a well-worn but effective JRPG trope to have the main character go through a low point of extreme doubt and give up. It's another thing to have the game hammer it in effectively (I really like the part where Justin splits up with Rapp and Liete, who outright insult him, and then Justin is left walking through the rain). The ending epilogue was great, too, seeing the characters older and the world more verdant (to make yet another comparison, this is the kind of thing I wish we could see at the end of a Wild ARMs game).

I had a great time. This is exactly the kind of relatively simple but extremely effective JRPG that I needed. It wasn't obnoxiously "subversive". It wasn't convoluted and overblown. Everything was just right.

WOW! I love this palette!

"My glasses! I can't be seen without my glasses!" Fucking classic. I think that episode was either scared of pointing out the obvious, because you wouldn't have gotten away with saying an old cartoon character was gay back then; or else, they REALLY missed it, and the joke was that Johnny Bravo considers himself a pickup artist, and like most men that do, he's way overblown, so only the "dud" was interested in him. Neither scenario is great, but one of them is probably what they were going for. As for that... yeah, plenty of straight girls like to experiment at that age, especially because they aren't so ABSOLUTELY FUCKING TERRIFIED of someone thinking they're gay, like straight boys do at that age (or maybe that's changed, since I was young; that was a hell of a long time ago), but I also saw that Johnny Bravo episode, and we all know what Daphne is up to, and it's Fred. I generally don't watch reaction videos, because I'd rather just watch the thing and have my own reactions; I don't care how someone else is reacting in real time. Also, REACT IS A WORD OWNED BY THE FINE BROS. AND THEY WILL SUE YOU BE VERY AFRAID!!! Joke's on them, though; I own the rights to teenagers and overgrown man-children screaming into a neon background; what are they gonna do now? If that is the case, then it probably sucks, though; Mother 3's story was grounded mostly in cheap shock value, and it was easily the weakest entry in the series. Yeah, bring your torches and pitchforks; I'm not afraid.

That would be nice, but I agree: it's probably wishful thinking on both our parts. Sometimes, a good bashing can be funny, but not everyone is James Rolfe; you need charm and talent to pull off something like that. Controversy for its own sake is pathetic, but if that Lil Nas X song where he gives Satan a lap dance has taught us nothing else, it's that it does consistently sell. Iunno; I've long since given up trying to understand human nature.

I actually had that Muppet game, and I have no idea why; I've never been into the Muppets, Sesame Street or otherwise. I did even kinda like it; the gameplay is mostly pretty bad, but it's one of those experiences that once you get really deep into it, you'll think back on it later and question how much of that was actual reality. Don't remember if I ever finished it, but I could pretty consistently clear all but the space section at one point.

Whoa, hang on there a second; the race swapping is weird, but queerness for queerness's sake? You telling me that Velma Dinkley is supposed to be a straight character, even in the original series? Nah, man; if that girl's not asexual, she DEFINITELY munches carpet. I do think there's some merit in "Don't knock it until you've tried it," but honestly, I haven't cared that much about any of the myriad iterations, so I don't have any real reason to care about this, either; it's just not worth my energy. Of course, that's what I thought about the Ghostbusters reboot that everyone hated because it had women in it, and I wound up liking that, despite being lukewarm about the original movies and cartoon series, so who knows? Right now, I've got plenty of other shit to watch, so it's not even on my radar. I think you might be right about that, because I saw a thumbnail of a dude cringing at Velma, and melodramatically saying, "VELMA IS EVEN WORSE THAN I THOUGHT, YOU GUYS!?" and then a few days later, I saw the same dude in a thumbnail for a video called "Hate watching". I think that's a much more useful topic, because so many people watch things out of hatred for them, rather than just... you know... sticking with stuff you enjoy. Giving something a fair shake is one thing, but watching something because you hate it? Any 3-year-old can tell you that's a waste of time. But yeah, people won't stop, because they like the attention they get from bashing something, and as long as they're still getting it, they'll keep doing it; I'm doing my part through indifference.

That's another good point, because it's like when everyone was buying Nickelback CDs just to burn them. You fucking idiots, they don't care what you do with their CDs; they're laughing at you from the windows of the FUCKING MANSIONS YOU BOUGHT THEM. Disney knows this just as well, too, so they'll use the Internet Hype Machine to promote their product for free, as well as get those screaming goobers to pay them first; if you're going into this movie knowing you'll hate it, and want to make a video bashing it, and not just line The Mouse's pockets, then make an actual stand pirate the fucking thing. Hamilton had an all Black cast, and I have yet to hear a single person make a big deal about that; why make it a big deal about anything else?

That's for sure; the last time I gave into peer pressure, I wound up playing Mortal Kombat, of all things. Yeah, yeah, blood and gore, but the controls were stiff as a corpse... oh, sorry... korpse. Yeah, that just doesn't make a damn bit of sense to me; who the fuck cares what someone else does or doesn't like? There are MUCH bigger problems to worry about than that. Sometimes, I wonder if, they are the ones that don't like the popular thing, but have committed to it, and are just insisting that everyone else do the same to justify their decision.

If I'm not mistaken, it's the game that coined the term, kusoge. That, however, I did not know; it's even more of a cultural phenomenon than I could've imagined.

I love both of those, and no shit: I am ACTUALLY listening to Pocky & Rocky right now. Pocky & Rocky 2, but close enough. I know that Secret of the Stars has a pretty terrible reputation, but I've just got this stupid idea in my head that I have to play it and form my own opinion, love it, hate it, or feel indifferent toward it.

Wasn't there also one episode where he actually did do it, too? I have a vague recollection of that.

I guess vaguely recall is a good way of putting it; I didn't see it myself, but I remember my sister talking about it at some point. The real question is whether they attempted the ultimate challenge: their own game. They transform into barely-recognizable pixel garbage and battle with sometimes-functional controls in a world that's so broken it's... actually kind of fascinating. Muppet Adventure: Chaos at the Carnival for the NES is a hidden 'shroom; it's not valuable, but it's one hell of a trip. Didn't see that other one, but the "We changed a few notes; you can't sue us" version of the Super Mario Bros. theme cracked me up. Parodies like those were a real treat, because EVEN STILL, when a video game is being simulated in most things, it's bleeps, bloops, and static crashes, because we've never had a single video game ever come out EVER since the fucking Atari. One of the rare examples I can think of to the contrary was from the movie, Fallen, where the music in the background when the kid was playing was CLEARLY Wario Land (as in Super Mario Land 3), which I don't know how the hell they slipped that past Nintendo's sentries; these days, you'd expect to see Denzel Washington and John Goodman impaled on spikes in front of Nintendo's headquarters for that sort of thing.

I think people are going to be sorely disappointed when they realise how laughably outdated GoldenEye 007 really is.

*Squints at your "Now Playing" list* I can't... How do you...? *Tilts screen back and forth and moves closer* What the...?

>and just when I think I get it right, I find myself wondering if it can look better.

That's kinda why I go with a no touch attitude, because it always ends up like this

I usually leave the CRT to the default, as I've always been doing

The colourful world really makes the game, too. Even the HD port I am playing is lovely to look at. There's some really creative locales to enjoy and explore.

But yes, the music. There's a dungeon theme that sounds like tap dancing, the inspirational End of the World theme, the Cafu Village music that sounds like Donkey Kong Country Returns.. there's so much to love. This is going in my JRPG work playlist for sure.

Trick question: it has both "I AM A NINETIES!" and "I AM A MOVIE COMMERCIAL!" in it. Also, she follows shit with freakin'... like what is this writing? Are we also going to get lines like, "What the fuck is this heckin' thing?" That aside, if it ever removes Denuvo, I'm looking forward to playing it someday, because it's an Action game that isn't trying to be fucking Dark Souls. I like my Action games fast and aggressive; not feeling like I'm a bag of cement swinging a waterbed, and then having an asthma attack because I attacked more than twice in a minute.

[Link] True or false, the main character's writing and dialogue in the Forspoken trailer is analogous to '90s game characters raditude. Sure seems that way. (Even if not for that, the game looks incredibly dull and uninteresting.)

Hey, sorry, I misinterpreted your poll as game related rather than light gun related. I'll answer the actual gun-related questions here.

My favourite light gun is the Stunner. My dad had no less than 6 light gun games for the Saturn (both Virtua Cops, Area 51, Maximum Force, Crypt Killer, Die Hard Trilogy, probably more I'm forgetting, surprisingly not House of the Dead). I love the big bulky feel of it, and the way it matches the Virtua Cop gun design in-game.

My least favourite is the Super Scope 6, not in terms of design, but the battery thing sounds like a huge hassle. I've never actually used one though.

I'm not really qualified to say which light gun is the best designed as I haven't used that many. I'd go with the Stunner personally as I always found it super responsive (and I just generally prefer wired controllers). I think I used a Guncon once though and found it comparable.

Funny story about Wild Gunman: if Marty is from 1985 then he must have either imported a Famicom or maybe got the NEs during its limited release in NYC in late 1985.

1) Duck Hunt, but Hogan's Alley and Safari Hunt were not far behind.

2) Hard to say... I do like Shooting Range quite a bit, but probably Hogan's Alley.

3) Can't think of any I really hated. Maybe 3D Missile Defense (or is it Missile Defense 3D?), since I do like it, but it's kinda lacking in content? Iunno, probably something I spent so little time with that I don't remember it. If I can pick 1/6 of a game, I'm going to go with Engage from Lazer Blazer from Super Scope 6. If I can cheat and browse the other answers, I'm going to side with Rarity; Chiller was dumb.

4) Hogan's Alley again; I just love the colors that Mode B goes through, and Mode C with its cans is Black Box NES as fuck. Or do you mean the actual gun? If that's the case, the Super Scope looks the coolest, because it's a fucking bazooka, but the Light Phaser for the SMS is pretty damn sleek, and carries the added bonus of not guzzling batteries.

5) I can't really think of any.

6) Nope; never had a Wii U.

7) I don't. I can see them trying, like "Hey, 'member the '80s?" People might pick them up for a bit, reminisce for a short time, and probably move on and forget them all over again; I can see a very brief resurgence, but never a full comeback.

Oh neat, another poll! These are fun.

1. What was the first light gun game you ever played?

Duck Hunt. We got our NES in 1989 through the "Action Set" bundle which came with Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt, and I recall Duck Hunt being a game the whole family enjoyed. My mom was pretty decent at it back in the day.


2. Your favorite?

Either Point Blank or Virtua Cop 2. The former is probably my favourite arcade game (I love the sheer variety of it visual wise, and it probably led to my love of Warioware). Virtua Cop 2 was a very frequent playthrough when I went to visit my dad on the weekends: him, my brother and I would play together (my dad bought a second Stunner so we could co-op). Great fun, especially the destructible environments.

If counting Wiimote titles, then Link's Crossbow Training. Will never understand the hate this game seems to get aside from the usual "why did Nintendo make this when they should have made <whatever>". It's great fun for what it is.


3. Your least favorite / despised?

I haven't played a whole lot I actively disliked, but I remember my dad renting Chiller (the unlicensed NES cart) a few times and I found it boring. Maybe early exposure to that is why I tend to be unfazed by gory/edgy games.

That, or the North American release of Bayou Billy, even if the light gun segments aren't bad. Would love to play Mad City with the Zapper someday though.


4. Best design, either from a functional standpoint or by how it looks?

Probably going with Point Blank here too. I just love visual/audio variety and "randomness".


5. What is one light gun compatible game you hope to play some day?

Virtua Cop 3! I'll even take a Switch port that uses joycons to aim and shoot at the screen.


6. Did you ever get the rereleases of NES light gun games on the Wii U, during Nintendo's dark period around the time Duck Hunt was put in SSB4?

I bought Duck Hunt, yes. I was intending to relive some gaming memories with the family but I guess I was the only one interested because nobody but me played it. Oh well.


7. Do you at any point think that light gun accessories can make a comeback? No, no remotes, light guns.

Only to retro enthusiasts or a very niche crowd of gamers. A light gun for a newer game would only be greenlit if it had a substantial amount of "depth" to it (whether it's warranted or not) in today's gaming scene. I have seen a light gun made for modern televisions that works with the MISTer FPGA, though.

1. House of the Dead 2 & 3 on Xbox was my first, which is also my favorite! I need to play more, though. I have a Saturn light gun, so I'll probably start with Virtua Cop. I know we're not talking arcades, but I have to add in the fact that I love CarnEvil, Dragon Gun and Beast Busters even more than House of the Dead 2 & 3.

2. House of the Dead 2 & 3 are my favorite on console. Between the two, I'd say I like 2 a little more. 3's final boss was just obnoxious.

3. I don't think I have a least favorite. Not yet, anyway. Although, the Saturn port of House of the Dead 1 wasn't all that great.

4. The Sega Saturn Stunner, easily. I like the Konami Justifier, too.

5. I wish I had a way to play Elemental Gearbolt.

6. I never owned a Wii U, and never will.

7. I'm with SamuraiSam on this one. Sadly, not likely.

1. Most likely Duck Hunt
2. House of the Dead
3. Hard to say because I haven't really bothered with bad ones. I guess Wild Gunman doesn't really do it for me.
4. Point Blank
5. Rescue Shot (PS1)
6. Not right away, but eventually
7. Well, it's just hard to see it with modern TV technology being the way it is. I don't think they'll ever be as prominent as they once were.

Yes, it's the exact same song.

Altered Beast Arcade boss: This sounds like when you're in the shower, and someone shows up to deliver a parcel. First they knock on the door, then they ring the doorbell. Panic strikes as you come to the realisation that you only have about 15-20 seconds to turn the shower off, wrap a towel around yourself and cartwheel down the stairs to get to the door in time before your package is sent back to the sorting office, and you know you won't be available to pick it up or have it redelivered, so it'll end up being returned to the sender if you don't make it. The knocking on the door becomes more frantic, in unison with your heartbeat. What if it isn't a package delivery? What if it's the police? Did someone tell them about the children in your basement? What are you going to say to them? How will they react when you answer the door clad in only a towel? BONUS - The Genesis version is the same thing, but you happen to live in a steel mill and have been suffering from an unending migraine for the past 2 years.

Famicom version: The thing being delivered is a robot that's overheating and about to explode.

Crash Bandicoot 2 - Ripper Roo: Oh, come on. That's just fart sounds put to some drum 'n' bass.

Dragon Warrior VII - Orgodemir: This is a lot better than some of the crappy themes from the older games in the series. It gives off a worrying/creepy kind of vibe, which I suppose is suitable, but I'm really not a fan of playing 2 alternating notes over and over and over, which seems to happen a lot in these games.

Golden Axe Genesis - Death Bringer: I don't have much to say about this, but it does get a lot better after the first 47 seconds. The part where the track loops is very poorly executed.

Zombie Nation boss 4: I don't like it. In fact, it's giving me a headache. I like the punchy drum sound, but the rest of the track is unpleasant to listen to. It's like being stuck on a squeaky Merry-Go-Round.

I dunno. Does the Satallaview repro have Ancient Stone Tablets and the two BS Zelda maps “third and fourth quests” on it? I’ve only ever played Week 1 of AST on my PSP, and it was….okay, not breathtaking. I feel it would have been better if that audio narration was out when I did that. Or maybe I’m mixing things up and that’s the thing that’s lost forever. I played and beat Third and Fourth Quests, I remember one or both having Ganon occupy a single room I believe where the old man gives you the first sword instead of the labyrinth that is Level 9. I definitely appreciated that. I’d like a rerelease of Lufia II, speaking of old SNES games that Nintendo doesn’t do anything with…but I don’t really remember who owns that now. Was that Taito? For Japanese games, I have to go with Sailor Moon Another Story, though I haven’t really given it much thought. I actually started that Slayers RPG on Super Famicom, and I’ve been having a surprisingly good time. Mostly. There was one boss a while back that I felt was overpowered, but maybe I wasn’t a high enough level.

For AST and other multi week Satalleview games, I just renamed the srm file to match Week 2's to allow me to carry over my stuff. At first I didn't know how on SNES Classic, but last nighht when talking to Mother, I think I figured it out

Lilithium is just lithium. You know, mood stabilizer/anti psychotic for bipolar and BPD.


1-Time Crisis at a bowling alley like 25 years ago. The bowling alley is long gone. Too bad, they had cool stuff like arcade cabinets and air hockey.
2-I would say Vampire Night, maybe, though Virtua Cop is up there.
3-I’m going to say Resident Evil (Biohazard) Code Veronica Gun Survivor 2. Much worse than the real Code Veronica, there’s no voice acting, and you move with the shoulder buttons on the Guncon, which does not feel good.
4-I can’t really think of much, so I’m just going to say the Time Crisis foot pedal.
5-I’m not too sure. Games that I own already and hope to play soon would be RE Survivor (Japan version because US doesn’t support Guncon because of Colombine)…I guess, even if it’s not a super good game. Resident Evil Dead Aim, which I might actually hook up my PS2 compatible USB mouse for even better aim. Point Blank I hear is good.
6-No, I don’t think so.
7-They kind of have, there’s that…Sinden lightgun. But other than that, of course I do. I had some light gun attachments for my Move controllers that I used on PS3 lightgun Wii ports.