Mnargh, I need to shake off the cobwebs and do something useful with this site. Like, I don’t know, update it or something. I think I am suffering a case of blogjam after ten days of blitzing through Pokémon, which segued immediately into reviewing Final Fantasy Anniversary, which is going to take me right up to tackling Odin Sphere. And Revenant Wings is due in about three days. What is wrong with publishers that they send me all the good stuff right at once? (Uh, except FF Anniversary. It’s merely… interesting.) I haven’t even touched Super Paper Mario, and Intelligent Systems actually created that game specifically for me. No, it’s true, I’m sure of it. I feel like such an ingrate.
I guess in lieu of actually writing something worthwhile I’ll just flog my other stuff. Like how Ray and I are turning the Retronauts blog into, hopefully, something worth reading. And I’m backing it up at this site, because apparently 1UP deletes old blog entries now, or something? I’m not entirely clear on the concept, but in any case if you ever need a one-stop Retronauts blog archive stop, this is it. You should check 1UP’s version first, though, so I can trick all the stat trackers into thinking I’m useful.
And of course, there’s always a weekly Retro Roundup. Bonus Stage is still MIA, but for a good, encouraging reason: I’ve gotten my hands on Final Cut and am trying to learn it. No more filthy, useless iMovie for me, thanks.
Finally, Dewy’s Adventure is so adorable I could vomit, and not strictly in a good way. And I say this as an adult male with an uncharacteristically high tolerance threshold for cuteness. The sort of person who finds it annoying that his pokémon start looking tough and angry when they evolve past their baby forms. But Dewy… Dewy goes, maybe, a little too far. Still, I really like the gameplay — a lot — so I guess maybe I can stifle my gag reflex for the time it’ll take to finish it once it comes out.
I can’t wait for Bonus Stage season 2!
How long has Ray been doing Retronauts blogs? I was really confused when I read his “Art of Fighting” tribute and thought you had finally snapped or something.
Congrats on upgrading to Final Cut! I think once you get comfortable with it, you’ll never want to go back to iMovie. I’ve been using it since 1.0, so I’m pretty familiar with it. I’m happy to give any advice or help you learn it.
I’m very late, but I thought on the retronauts podcast about game music, Donkey Kong Country 2 should’ve claimed some space.
Stickerbrush Symphony and Forest Interlude are perfect.
Good luck with the pokemans.
This blog entry reminds me of the Gamespite comic in which Igor must review Super Princess Peach. To me the line that seperates cute from TOO cute is a very interesting barrior. How far can they go before they lose a big part of the audience? Loco Roco was another game that crept precariously along this line.
For Wii graphics those look pretty shitty.
They look better in person/in motion. And I think Loco Roco was safely on the “okay” side of things — there was a level of abstraction and minimalism to the game that transformed much of its sugariness to stylishness. Dewy… not so much.
I agree that in motion Dewy actually looks pretty nice. Loco Roco definitely had style on its side, perhaps Dewy too will win over our cold jaded hearts. Come to think of it I do own a copy of Viva Pinata…
I think for adults, cuteness needs to have a measure of coolness added to keep it from getting too sweet for the stomach.
Like that game Sony demo’d? what was it called? with the little dudes made of hacky sacks? you know what i’m talking about right? that was really cute, but the little guys had so much flair it was cool too, and thus, digestible.
I’ve only seen trailer vids of this game so obviously anyone’s who’s actually played it would know better, but it *seemed* to me that dewey had it’s cool elements too, like in enemy/boss design? to help digest the sweetness? was I mistaken?
“Stickerbrush Symphony and Forest Interlude are perfect.”
I second this request. DKC2 had some of the best tunes. I especially loved the lava level.
On the side note, why not make the next Retronauts Podcast about shmups?
Because it’s already about Neo-Geo? Also, a shoot-em-ups podcast would be an hour of me complaining about how the genre died when it painted itself into an unfriendly and increasingly incestutous niche. Just like fighting games!
Hey, that didn’t happen with fighting games! I’ve been playing them for years and…
…Ok, they did. But some of them are cool (SFIII)! :D
What about games like Radiant Silvergun? Gradius is also still hugely sucessful and popular.
“Gradius is also still hugely sucessful and popular.”
*scratches head*
Ah, yes, Radiant Silvergun, a game that never came to the U.S. seven years ago. Truly the sign of a vital and healthy format!
“Ah, yes, Radiant Silvergun, a game that never came to the U.S. seven years ago”
I think it’s a case of the Saturn’s sales in the US being at fault more than anything else.
Be that as it may, my point was that when the best you can dredge up is something that minimal and dated, it only strengthens my case. I mean, I could argue that the Mega Man series isn’t washed up because Mega Man 2 was great, but I don’t think I’d convince anyone.
Sadly, most of the new shmups fall solely into the “manic” category. Not that some of these aren’t fun, but each new Cave shmup is indeed starting to look a little too much like the last.
btw parish, if you’re willing to make an exception from your “I don’t do fansubs” policy, the first episode of Terra is out now…
Uh, what’s with your URL being blogspam, dude? Please don’t do that again.
That was actually my personal blog. Didn’t realize it was spam just because it’s not about gaming… :( I won’t post it again, but if you only allow on-topic URLs you should simply state so in the comment entry section.
Oh, and Terra eps 2 & 3 just got subbed as well.. still haven’t had the chance to watch them yet though.
Off-topic personal links are fine, but your personal blog reads like an advertorial on health products, which happens to comprise about 90% of the blog/forum spam I have to weed out.
Yeah, I work in the health industry so that’s mainly what I blog about. It probably looks worse since I haven’t gone on any gaming or anime rants in months… That’s what I come here for :)
I’m still interested in your take on whether the introduction of charging the megabuster in MM4 was a good or bad thing…
I second the congraturation on moving to FCP. A few days’ acclimatising and you’ll find Imovie so frustratingly entry-level you’ll never want to see it and its stupid hip-title-capitalisation again. If for some strange reason you are surrounded by geeks and yet unable to advance on Final Cut without email contact from a professional freelancer on the other side of the world, don’t hesitate. Ahem.