Virtual Console 11/24

Now here's a game I never thought I'd see again. The only new game on Virtual Console this week is Boogerman: A Pick and Flick Adventure for Genesis. What's probably the strangest thing about this title is that it didn't come out in the 80's when gross-out things were all the rage (remember Madballs? Garbage Pail Kids? The Inhumanoids?), but instead around the same time as the Sega Saturn's Japanese launch date in 1994.



What surprised me the most, though, is that it's not a terrible game. Like pretty much any platformer, the story is unimportant or non-existent, so it comes down to the gameplay. It actually reminds me a lot of Earthworm Jim, but less charming. It's also strangely more playable; the controls aren't floaty and for the most part your jumps land where you think they will. The animation is impressive for a Genesis game and the gimmick is less obnoxious than it initially seems.



I can't say that I like this game, but I kind of admire it. It's a terrible idea executed pretty well and you can't fault it for that. Unfortunately like a lot of VC games, it's probably not worth the money being charged for it. For $3 I'd buy this in an instant, but $8? That might not sound like much, but when you can buy a used copy of the Half Life 2 Orange Box for $18 or less, it suddenly makes a lot less sense.

It's almost worth it for the novelty of showing it to your friends, but not quite.

Virtual Console: 11/17

Space Invaders: The Original Game

This one is a port of the arcade game that came out for the SNES. The main problem here is that there's practically no reason to download this if you have a DS or PSP because you can get the fantastic Space Invaders Extreme instead. There's not really much else to say; if you haven't heard of Space Invaders then you suck at video gaming.



Forgotten Worlds

I don't understand Nintendo sometimes (okay, a lot of the time). This is a good damn game, except that they've picked probably the worst port of it imaginable- the Genesis version. It's a side scrolling shooter with a gimmick, 360 degree rotatable shooting, that is much more than the gimmick would suggest. It's not that the Genesis version is a bad game, it's just that the controls for rotating are assigned to the face buttons and that it's missing two entire stages from the arcade version. However, if you have a PS2 or original Xbox, you can get Capcom Classics Vol. 1 for pretty cheap and get the full version, which uses the right analog stick to aim. Not only that but you get 21 other games, at least half of which are awesome. The whole collection is only $14 on Amazon and you absolutely get your money's worth there. If you have no other option than Wii, then there are certainly far worse ways to spend your points, but if you have any other system to play this on, please use it.


Did these dudes just step out of the Top Gun volleyball scene?



The number next to the blue ball on the top left is your currency. All upgrades have to be purchased, which works pretty dang well honestly.


You will see this pretty often.

Haiku Tuesday- Comix Zone

Starving artist and
sensitive pony-tail man-
hey, it's Sketch Turner!

Combat boots, long shorts,
vest, hoodie, fingerless gloves...
whoa man, the 90's!

I never got past
the second stage. And I paid
real money for this.



It seemed like a cool
idea, but christ... so hard!
Oh yeah, a pet rat.

I just now found out
you can throw paper airplanes.
I never knew that.

Oh, but it costs health.
Great, a faster way to die!
Aha, the off switch!