Bomberman Retro Review: Explosives Were Spherical Once

Man, has “Bomberman” taken a pretty big turn in the years since its original Japanese release way back in 1983. From furry animals to cutsey 3D, then crappy, gritty 3D, and then back to its roots; “Bomberman” has been lauded by many as the beginning of some of the most important mechanics in gaming. One of which was the inclusion of the Super Nintendo’s multi-controller feature, which allowed four players to play at once for a truly-epic multiplayer experience at the time. It was born in an age of simplicity, where, to win, all you had to do was turn the other players into blasted masses with bombs. Since games had yet to see the invention of sticky bombs, all us “old fogies” remember the good-old days when we used the Kick Power, a 5 Column Bomb, and a Detonator to take out our opponents. Ah, those were some good times. [Continue Reading]

New Super Mario Bros. Wii Review: What’s Old Is New Again

Every once in a while, there’s a game that comes a long that revolutionizes the video games landscape, and without a doubt, the original “Super Mario Bros.” is the best example of that, ever. It, single-handedly, pulled the video game industry out of the rut that it had dug itself into by the mid 1980s, and turned it into the thriving business that it is today. There’s something simple and amazing about that game that many have tried to replicate, but none have ever really been able to achieve. Now, almost twenty five years after the original hit the market alongside the NES, Nintendo has released a Mario’s first 2D console game in almost fifteen years, “New Super Mario Bros. Wii.” It’s a game that’s created in the same style as the original, but takes it to a whole new level for this generation of gamers. [Continue Reading]

Video Games…We Have Sinned

Sigh Video games,
“stop playing that son why don’t you go outside what is a SNES anyway?”
“omfg Zangiefs throws are so lame”
“shit is that the time I got college I should stop playing counter strike”
“oh dude is that the time I said I would see her soon I should stop playing GTA”
“is it time for work already?! I really should leave the orange box alone” [Continue Reading]

The Adventures of Lolo Retro Review: The Blue Puffball On The NES

Back before HAL Laboratory brought us pink puffballs and giant king penguins with hammers, there was a tiny blue ball of puzzle goodness called Lolo. He once quested through fifty levels of puzzles on the NES back in 1989 in “The Adventures of Lolo,” a compilation of sorts that was never released in Japan, as most of its levels were duplicated from the “Eggerland” series. [Continue Reading]

Shadowgate Retro Review: Welcome to Your (Many Forms Of) Doom!

When ICOM Simulations Inc. was still doing point-and-click adventures, back in the days before they were bought out by Infinite Ventures, their eariler projects included classics like “Uninvited” and “Deja Vu” for early personal computers and the Nintendo Entertainment System. The games were detailed enough to work with the restricted graphical capabilities of the NES, and still manage to provide a well-developed horror or noir story. After those releases, ICOM went on to develop another game, “Shadowgate,” using the same system of item collection coupled with multiple screens of text and images to tell a suspenseful and immersive tale, where you just happened to be killed – almost constantly. “Shadowgate” was the third game to use the “MacAdventure” system as mentioned above, just before the sequel to “Deja Vu” finished off the series when it was released in 1989. [Continue Reading]

Punch-Out!! Review: Back In The Ring With A Vengeance

It’s always been amazing to me how some video game franchises can withstand the test of time, and others just fade away. It’s been 15 years since gamers have been able to get their hands on a new “Punch-Out!!” game from Nintendo, but with the release of the Wii everything old is new again (except “Kid Icarus” apparently). Whether it’s your first time stepping into the ring with Little Mac, or just your first time since Nintendo felt the need to put the word “super” in the title of all their games (even the not so super ones), “Punch-Out!!” on the Wii is a welcome experience. [Continue Reading]

Live Retro Play Theater: Super Mario Bros. 3 for the NES

Coming up at 1 PM EST today, I will be kicking off Memorial Day Weekend for those in the States (or ending Victoria Day week for us Canadians) by attempting to beat “Super Mario Bros 3″ for the NES live on Livestream. However, there will be a twist, I won’t be using any warp whistles – take that The Wizard.

This game doesn’t need much of an introduction; if you visit this site, chances are you have already played this game. It’s Mario, he eats mushrooms, stomps on turtles, gets special power-ups, and saves the Princess.

Just a little forewarning, I haven’t played this game in years. I might appear a little rusty and I don’t even remember beating the game! So if I’m playing sloppy, you know why. [Continue Reading]

Retro Play Theater – Code Name: Viper

Today, I will attempt to beat “Code Name: Viper” LIVE on Mogulus. Produced by the same team behind the “Rolling Thunder” arcade game, “Code Name: Viper” is one of the most difficult games on the NES. Therefore, It shouldn’t be a surprise that the game was developed by Capcom, who created “Mega Man.”

Now, I have played this before at a much younger time in my life, although I don’t remember getting past the second level. There are 8 levels in total and there are only 3 credits. You can watch the live embed after the jump if you’d like or head over to Mogulus for all the live action.

As with last week’s unfortunate attempt, I will use whatever means necessary (as in what is programmed in the game) to win and I will either try to beat the game until the game or give up miserably. After the session is done, it will be available at On Demand on Mogulus where you can watch it at anytime.

Tomorrow’s Retro Play Theater – Taking on the Viper

For this week’s Retro Play Theater, I will try to tackle on “Code Name: Viper” LIVE on Mogulus.

“Code Name: Viper” is an NES sidescrolling shooter where you try to find one of your captured buddies in each level (this all takes place in South America). It’s a pretty difficult game because you only have two health and most things deal two damage to you, such as explosives and bullets.

It has only 8 stages but with three difficulty settings. For this challenge, I will be playing in “Normal” since, like other NES games, it is short but extremely difficult.

I will be using the new Procaster recently released by Mogulus. This requires no download from your end, but you should expect to see increased performance and better sound.

You can watch the live streaming on Thursday, April 23, at 1 PM EST.

Introducing TrueGameHeadz Retro Play Theater

We got something new at TrueGameHeadz. As you can tell from browsing around the site, we not only enjoy games, but know their history as well. From 2.0’s review of Retro Game Challenge to my Top Ten Sega Mistakes, we aren’t just a bunch of guys who jumped on the Video Game Bandwagon when Playstation was released. Unlike most of the “journalists” or “hardcore gamers” we see prancing around on many gaming sites, we were there during gaming’s infancy, dark age, golden age, and today.

As a dedication to the gaming industry’s past, and a way to kill time for yours truly, we have decided to feature a new segment on our site called “Retro Play Theater.”

No, we will not dress up like a nerd or review twenty year old games. Nor will we run to the nearest flea market and buy as many old games as possible so we can appear as an “authentic” retro gamers to the YouTube generation.

Simply put, Retro Play Theater is where I, MarkyX, will take an old game and try to beat it. However, this will not be a pre-recorded play through or some emulator-assisted speed run. This is going to be a LIVE streaming event on Mogulus.com [Continue Reading]

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