When reviewing Mega Turrican, the obvious comparisons to be made are between this game and both the original Turrican and Contra: Hard Corps. Mega Turrican is what the first Turrican should have been. The game is actually the third in the series, as Turrican II was only released on select home computer systems. The game … Read more
Turrican is a run-and-gun shooter in the vein of Contra or Gunstar Heroes, that was ported over from the Commodore Amiga. The game has a plot, but (as is usually the case) it isn’t important. Your character is a bio-engineered life form that looks a lot more like an android, or at least like Robocop. … Read more
I bought NFL Football brand new in 1990, having walked from my dad’s place to the downtown mall one Sunday when the NFL football season was in full swing. I was eager to buy the first football game released for the Game Boy, but would have been better served by getting mugged on the way … Read more
Tecmo Bowl and its sequel, Tecmo Super Bowl were big hits on the NES but somehow this Game Boy port flew under the radar. When I found this game in with a bunch of used cartridges at a local store, I had no idea that the game had ever been released but I knew that … Read more
Petrolheads like me might be excited upon first learning of this game, thinking that it is somehow tied in to the UK TV Show. This is of course not the case as this game came out long before that show started. Top Gear is easily one of the best racing games on the Super Nintendo. … Read more
Caesars Palace is a casino/gambling game that features 8 games – scratchers (more on those later), slot machines, video poker, blackjack, roulette, craps, keno, and horse racing. The horse racing game immediately caught my eye because you don’t normally see that in a casino-based video game. You can look at the stats for each horse … Read more
For sports fans, there wasn’t much to choose from on the Turbo. As was the case with most sports, there was only one baseball game on the system – World Class Baseball. The game tries to sell itself as a baseball simulator but is in reality a very arcade-like experience, with pitches that defy the … Read more
Game companies may have decided that Americans were no longer interested in 2D games in the 32 bit era, but in Japan 2D was still alive and well. Elevator Action Returns is an excellent example of the kind of games that we missed out on due to the 3D craze. The game distills the best … Read more
Contra is a game that should need no introduction. This classic side-scrolling shooter was in such demand when it was released that stores could scarcely keep it in stock. The game hails from a time when seemingly every pseudo-military themed action game had to feature a main character who was some sort of Rambo variant. … Read more
This classic side-scrolling space shooter was one of the first on the NES and is easily one of the best games on the system. What makes Gradius unique is the custom power-up system that it uses. Rather than just giving you an upgraded weapon or shield, the power-ups that you collect can be used to … Read more
Probably the most famous thing about Lee Trevino’s Fighting Golf is the title. Fighting Golf? Was that meant to trick someone into buying this game thinking that it was the sequel to the Atari 7800 classic Ninja Golf? Now that game was fighting golf. Lee Trevino’s Fighting Golf is definitely one of the better golf … Read more
Galaga is my favorite arcade game of all time, so when I found out that there was a sequel on the Turbo, I had to play it. Galaga ’90 is actually the fourth title in the series, preceded by Galaxian, Galaga, and the lesser-known Gaplus. Galaxian’s game play was similar to Space Invaders, except that … Read more
Ninja Spirit is one part Shinobi and one part shooter, mixing the side-scrolling ninja action of the classic Genesis title with the power up system found in most shooters. The game play is almost mindless – jump around avoiding enemy fire while mashing the attack button, much like most shoot-em-ups. The only real strategy involved … Read more
Keith Courage in Alpha Zones was the original pack-in game for the TurboGrafx-16. It’s an action platform game consisting of 7 themed levels, each with an overworld and underworld stage. In the overworld, you control the human Keith Courage, making your way through a village fighting off small enemies with a dagger and collecting gold … Read more
Splatterhouse has a plot straight out of a cheesy 80’s horror flick. Rick and Jennifer visit a haunted mansion and are attacked by monsters. Rick is killed, but is brought back to life by a mask that gives him super-human powers which he uses to fight through the mansion to rescue his girlfriend, who has … Read more
Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday is a science fiction-themed turn-based role-playing game developed by Strategic Simulations, a company known primarily for it’s “Gold Box” series of computer games based on the world of Dungeons & Dragons. You begin the game by creating a party of 6 characters, choosing their race and class and rolling their … Read more
Virtua fighter shares many traits with another Saturn game, Daytona USA, as both a Saturn launch title and a home conversion of a 1993 hit arcade game. The game is noteworthy in the annals of video game history for being the first fully 3D arcade fighting game, which in the early 90’s made it stand … Read more
Often times, ports of classic arcade titles either include nothing that updates the game or change the game so much that the fun of the original is lost. Ms. Pac-Man for the Genesis does an excellent job of recreating the arcade experience at home while adding several new options that make the game an upgrade … Read more