"See you on some other channel." Futurama.

It is kind funny how my page is practically

404'd!

And that posting comments on people's pages publicly almost does no good

But I gotta say, Super Mario Bros. Wonderbra is shaping up to be incredible. I'm up to W3 and man, they're going all out as far as making it memorable. It's bound to age pretty well, and it's probably the best 2D Mario since the first New Super Mario Bros., which actually aged pretty well on it's own aside from the name. Well, maybe U, it depends on who you ask. I think people are bound to remember the Trump era Bowsette memes than U Deluxe on its own.

Gawrsh, this could be my final comment I make on your page until the new site. It was just yesterday when I was trying to go through the first Adventure Island and you noticed me... and history was made.

More like impossibility of buying physical when it comes to PC; you haven't even been able to buy a box with a code inside for well over a decade now. And yes, all of those other things, even if they don't apply to me directly (and several I hadn't even thought about) are all issues with physical media in general, but have more-or-less been solved when it comes to gaming... assuming the assholes are willing to play nice with consumers.

Yes, but unfortunately, that depends on the game and how well the servers are encrypted. Your Diablos are probably safe, but the lesser-known games are in danger of staying lesser-known forever, and once the servers are off, depending what's on them (i.e. not in the part of the game that you have on your console/drive), it's already too late.

It really sticks with you, doesn't it? I hate the idea of having to come back to a game again and again and again just to hone my mastery of it, but SaGa Frontier has been the one exception, and I think that was a big part of it. Hell, I almost got a job with Trinity Pharmacy several years back, and I was excited to fill Cubicin, because I'm a huge SaGa Frontier dork. The Clue game would be an interesting idea, because there's so much wild shit you could put in it; I'm not even that big a board game fan, but I'd love to see a SaGa Frontier board (no matter how it's played) just to see what it'd even look like with all the different regions and such. I'm just glad you enjoyed it! It's definitely not for everyone, but as a Final Fantasy 2 fan, I figured you'd be able to get into it; I think I could actually enjoy Final Fantasy 2 if there were a version that has the stats level up the way that they do in SaGa Frontier, because I feel like that's where they finally got it right... assuming the Romancing SaGa games didn't, because I haven't played very far into any of them.

That's the topic du jour, isn't it. Kinda riles me up, too, because I have yet to see a single person whose takeaway isn't, "I'm only buying physical from now on," because it's completely missing the point. It isn't physical vs. digital that's the problem - digital can be wonderful, and I vastly prefer it to physical - the problem is DRM. You can have a physical copy of The Crew, but that doesn't mean you can play it; someday, the same will happen to Destiny 1/2, Diablo 3/4, and countless other games, and even if everyone abandons digital and only buys physical, forcing the demand of physical media, companies can just do the always-online thing and brick games whenever they want. Worse, if you look at the state of live services, most die within a year anyway; there was that one rhythm game that had both its Western release and cancelation date announced in the same fucking tweet. It'd be best if you could back up your games, physical or digital, without overly complicated processes and/or extremely specific pieces of hardware you'll use once and never again, but that'd have to be a long-term goal.

Thanks! I thought I'd read that time and again, but that completely slipped past me. As I'm using the new site in tandem, I keep finding it irritating having to remove my comments from my progress notes, and that'll save a LOT of time once the site finally launches.

Fairy 'nuff, I kinda skimmed through it myself, but it some points on how not only is the game bland and easy, if you want the highest difficulty, you must grind for credits, how there's a glitch involving weapon switching, how they chose to balance the game for speedrunning because... obviously, and many more. But, maybe you'll disagree and feel that Contra: Operation Gaplus is a winner. You'll find out for yourself in due time.

Oh sure, it's the same with movies and music. There's good current stuff if you know where to look. I'm sure the Rabi-Ribi sequel is thrilling, and I'm probably gonna play it soon. Did you play Dave the Diver yet?

Oh right, Unicorn Overlord. Would I like that though? I could never get into Vanillaware games, but I sure am starved for a big, new turn based strategy RPG that isn't Fire Emblem. Ironically, I can't seem to find a copy of the Switch version. The only new game I have mild interest in and I can't find it... who would've thunk?

Ah yes, the infamous Halloween Hack of EarthBound. I remember it looked pretty messed up, like some very chilling fan fiction. You go into a battle and then you hear this buzzing music, or like, something that wasn't meant to be a battle theme in the original game gets used as one. Makes you wonder what a Halloween Hack style hack of Phantasy Star IV would look like?

The EarthBound Halloween Hack - A condensed hack of EarthBound that contains more thrilling battles in a terrifying what if scenario: What if Ness and his friends never came back after Giygas' defeat? Player discretion is advised.

It's pretty spooky, alright.

So, Operation Googoogaga, a bit hollow but not terrible?

[Link] That's some interesting audio. [Link] The game itself.

And here, you can compare the Dungeon Man from EarthBound themes

[Link] 104

[Link] 344

[Link] 40 min overview of Contra: Operation Galahad I was showed. Gaming in the modern day, am I right? And what's that? Rebirth has tedious mini games? I don't wanna come across as those guys who are like "It's all over people! We don't have a prayer!" but when they can't even get 2D Contra right, what hope is there? Sometimes outsourcing a Japanese gaming series to a Western developer works out, look at Shinobi 3DS, but this? Makes me more glad I didn't get it.

So far, Berserk Boy is solid, and nothing more.

Cheers! Yeah level 6 was really nice, I enjoyed having to travel in time in order to solve the dungeon.
I am actually having a break, so not playing games for maybe a week, but I'm looking forward for the 7th dungeon in Oracle of Ages.
I hope that you are doing well!

Get well soon.

It's true, barricades and turrets are much more handy than you think. The strategy of when to be more offensive or defensive comes into play, and that's why the game is deeper than it appears to be. The realization that Kick is handier than it appears is when you'll start having an easier time. As for trying to fully complete the game, I came close. First of all, leveling those two things up to 99 would take forever, since you can only have up to 9999 G per level. (Why not sell some unwanted junk instead of this bizarro, seemingly random ring machine?) Second, when you beat Hell, you unlock Hell+. Good news, all the levels are open and you don't need to worry about awards. Bad news... it's brutal. You're probably actually expected to build the castle and banner up high levels to even stand a chance. I'll pick it up again some time, but yeesh.

Rockman 4 Minus Infinity has been stated "Basically if Treasure madea Mega Man game" With a description like that, I've gotta see it, but my FC adapter is getting filed among other stuff that needed fixing, so won't be for some time.

Glad I'm not a hoarder/collector.

While a YouTube commenter on a video with the final boss theme says "game's literally impossible without cheating. Also, I don't know what literally means and I spend too much time on social media", the game isn't as difficult as it comes across. You can get 1UPs if you grab one while a multipler is active. You play your cards right and you can leave level 1 with 8 or 9 lives! It does get annoying by level 5, but for the most part is actually only moderately difficult. The sequel is better no doubt, but even Vectorman 1 still has more going for it than Toki: Going Ape Spit or Sunset Riders MD.

So you'll hear Bucky O'Hare or Wai Wai World 2's audio and the first thing that pops into your head is COWABUNGA!! ?

That's a good way to put it. Rebirth is currently what my brother is calling best game ever, but you really can't tell if it's a game that people will still play five years from now or if it's something that the masses will love and admire for a month then forget until maybe awards season? A lot of those 3D post-PS3 games look the same to me. Then again, my brother looks at a game like Wings of Wor and immediately dismisses it as an awful Section Z ripoff, so maybe it just runs in the family.

Addendum: My FC adapter was found in a copy of Gyromite. Some FC carts like Space Invaders and Wagyan Land 2 are too narrow, hence filing.

How to win at Destroyer levels:

Old Guy equipped with nothing but Thrift
Archer - Rapid Bow, Turrets, Spread, Pierce, Falcon
Lvl up high enough
Ninja - Dash, Bomb Trap (the suicide bomber technique), dash straight to generators. You'll probably get killed when you're close to them, hence the suicide part.

Try it!

According to my activity log, I've played Gotta Protectors for almost 180 hours. This of course is combined from when I first played through it two years ago.

Oh, that Full Tilt song I mentioned? It was SMS instrumentation. On the sound test it says "MkIII."

You seem like you've been out of commission. Well lemme tell youse abouts my recent haul.

Ah mentioned Mother 1+2 and yeah, looks pretty spiffy. Will probably end up being my preferred way to play these two games. Oh and look, Mega Man V World DX. In color. Game hacking certainly has come pretty far along. Speaking of... Rockman 4 Minus Infinity. If you're able to, look into it. Other than that, lotsa shooters. Touhou NES demake looks very impressive. Just Breed looks to be amazing too. Naturally it has to have the usual buzzwords attached to it when looking it up, but this game is so massive that it has to be in a Famicom cart, kinda like Minus Infinity, and I cannot wait to play em.

I got rid of quite a bit of games that I felt were of no use to me anymore. No regrets.

[Link] Track 8 The beginning of that gives me IronSword vibes!
[Link] BGM 06 Another one of those songs that I could've heard when I was younger! But this game didn't come out in the good ol' US of A.

I hear the new Contra runs piss poor on Nintendo Switch. Know what though? Even if I have the other platforms... ... ... I just don't care. Like, sure, FFVII Rebirth would be nice and I'm sure Re Fantaszia will be nice too, but I just can't seem to find myself to care too much. Unicorn Overlord is a maybe, but I never cared for Vanillaware games and I got a repro of Just Breed which looks more interesting to me. Plus, I can only imagine how troubling it would be building collections on Steam, PS5, and Xbox Series X, especially considering all the games I got on Switch in the last five years.

yeah, being sick sucks. especially when you were planning on faking it lol

No, you mean you're still more fighting it.

I was thinking about doing that myself, but alas... Tomorrow is gonna be a hell of a slow day at work, I know that haha. I'm envious! I won't really get my chance to marathon it until Sunday-Monday.

Cait Sith was always a fun character to use, having one of the highest (or the highest?) base magic stats in the game. I used to like using either him or Vincent and putting Quadra Magic with spells like Comet or Ultima to completely decimate most endgame bosses lol.

I always enjoy your mini reviews, they are concise and well written, thank you !

"Wouldn't that be something!" - Tommy Tallarico.

I might.

Well it looks as if Up, Left, Down, Right, Down, Up, Right, Left entered at the base screen enables your level to automatically be at max, starting you at 10. I found this out by simply enabling it and starting a level. So, that's cool, but I feel like I've gotten to the point where I don't particularly need to. Like I told DarkLink, making Archer thrifty while giving her turret and kick has made things tons easier, but with this code I guess one can just give everyone their best skills and go wild. Still, I don't need it.

The Destroyer levels can be annoying. The first one, level up high and use Ninja to dash on by and blow up bases with Bomb Trap. The second one is a bit trickier, but eventually they'll stop appearing. Third's the toughest, you really have to take advantage of top barricades and Old Guy mech turrets. The one in Armageddon is actually a breeze.

Gee, I wonder why it isn't well documented online? Is it because despite the retrooo craze, this one particular game just continuously gets overlooked despite it's top notch presentation, visual and audio representation, and hard to put down gameplay? Meanwhile Generic Metroidvania #6083 gets some traction because like I was saying with EarthBound, people really can't seem to try other games. You know, unless So and So McVickerson tells you that it's an underrated hidden gem you never played. Huh huh. But anyway, yeah it's little things like the wear and tear on the manual that you can appreciate, as well as the mock US artwork that's seen on the cover. That's class.

I'm not sure why, but the last couple years I've been just increasingly losing interest on whatever is current. Would it shock you that I've only played up to World 2 of Super Mario Wonder? The last Switch game I played to the end was Trials of Mana 2020 back in September, then I just kinda binged on Super NES and GB games. I really wanna go back to the tried and true modern game, classic game, and handheld, but I can't seem to escape the warm bosom of playing on my 13in curved Magnavox. Not only that, most of whatever is coming out just looks dull to me (even the SMT stuff, I really don't think I'm into the series as I used to be.) Plus, an already massive collection on top of whatever I'm getting soon. (See BitRot's page for details.)

As strange as this may sound, a giant eraser statue is blocking the way Earthion might actually be the only new game I'm interested in. A new Genesis game by Ancient. Just let that sink in.

Yozers, did youse hear the part that I'mma shoot for full completion of Gotta Protectors? I'm about 65% there!

Did you see the credits on hard? You get a new credits sequence.

I wish I knew what that code you see at the Memo part of the manual does. Whatever it does, something gets enabled, and you do it again and it's disabled. I have no idea.

The Full Tilt by Hiro cover has an alternate where the Protectors are in beachwear alongside an SMS sounding version of the main theme. Is it possible it comes up when you beat the same stage three times in a row? I saw it twice.

Well, Contra was a demo, so maybe it'll be fixed when it is released? You would hope the Switch successor will finally keep at it as far as, in Lilith's words, "not running like a potato", but then you remember that this is Nintendo.

I totally will let you know how Nuclear and Soviet Strike are when the time comes.

Me too! I just hope it gets put on Switch or something so that I dun gotta protectors go party outta my way to play it. Hey, Ancient made another game, but it didn't come out over here. The name escapes me. Something something Academy.

Oh snapiola, the new Contra is coming soon. I'm really not paying too much attention to new stuff, I guess there was Penny's Big Breakaway that came out today? But the new Contra, that's great! Oh, and look, Probotector is making comeback as well. "Probotect and serve."

Alien Soldier, like Popeye's chicken, is fucking awesome. Remember to B+B to convert bullets into health. At full health you can do a supercharge attack with down+C. Uh, flames work well against organic creatures and lancer works wonders against mechanical enemies. Just keep practicing and you'll go through the game just fine. If you reach Xi-Tiger without failing, you'll see a special scene of him transforming. Sadly, I don't think any other boss has that.

Recommended: Buster, Homing, Flame, Lancer

Thanks a lot, a very informative review. Yeah, it sounds that I would enjoy these remakes. I like to play old 3D platformers and never really had a problem with tank controls. There's something appealing about those games for me. It is like rediscovering a period of time that came to pass not so long ago. Funny how video game mechanics have changed and how we are now accustomed to features like autosaving and such. Man, video games were really hard back at the time!

Thanks again for the mini review, I'll look forward to play those remakes too :D