Is emulation cheating?

Is emulation cheating? My question isn't based on the legality of emulation, rather, the real issue is the level of achievement that the player should feel when beating an emulated game.

I've been big into playing games on their actual systems so that I can enjoy the nostalgia of playing a game the way that it was originally intended. Emulation isn't perfect, although in my experience it is usually pretty close. Despite the small changes that occur with emulation, what really changes the experience is the ability to save whenever you desire. This is a massive feature that is absent from every retro game that I can think of.

With most games, you have the ability to save at certain points, or in the case of most retro games, you never can save. Some games have password systems, but there are numerous games that expect you to win in one sitting. Save states allow you to begin your game at any point you wish, so if there's a difficult part of a game, you can just save right before you tackle it, save during it, and then save again right after it. All it takes is the push of a button and you are basically invincible. If you're playing on an emulator, unless you're incredibly disciplined, you won't play the game "straight up."

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I had such a ridiculously hard time with Double Dragon II's platforming. I was fantastic at the actual combat, but I would die due to the stupid jumps. Then, because the game has no continues, I start from the very beginning of the game only to reach the same stupid jumps and die again. Now, if I was playing on an emulator, I could just save before that part and save again after beating it without losing any lives. There's no penalty!

There's another option that I also have: playing the platforming part over and over again from a save state so that I can practice. If there's a tough part of a game, I can master that tough part until I'm good enough to play the game without the save state. Is that cheating? To an extent, it is. If you were playing the actual game you wouldn't have that option.

Like it or not, part of the challenge from playing any game comes from the rules that it defines. If Double Dragon II wants me to start the whole game over again after missing a few difficult jumps, then that is playing the game as it was intended.


Because of emulation, I really don't know which speed runs I should respect and which I shouldn't. Back in the day, you'd watch a friend make a run through a particular game and you'd be impressed because you knew that he/she worked within the confines of the game and weren't able to take any shortcuts. They didn't have the option to play the final boss of a game over and over to improve; they reached the final boss after playing the game in its entirety. For games that had to be beaten in one sitting, speed runs were pretty spectacular feats. Playing a game on an emulator is the video game equivalent to taking steroids and playing sports.

When considering the inconvenience of playing through a game in one sitting, or some of the ridiculously high difficulty levels of some vintage games, playing a game on an emulator feels like the superior choice. Double Dragon II is much more fun on an emulator; it just isn't a pure experience.

How I Met Your Mother: A Show of Flip Flopping Quality

This blog post about How I Met Your Mother contains a few spoilers about the show, so stay away if you don't like spoilers. If you're current with the show, there's nothing new here.

I've been a fan of the CBS show How I Met Your Mother from the very beginning. Initially, I found the premise of the show to be very interesting: in the year 2030, the "main" character of the show Ted is telling his kids about how he first met their mother. Ted has a very close knit group of friends with varied personalities and they all get together and hang out at a local bar. The show has proven to be entertaining overall, but I will admit that my love affair with How I Met Your Mother has been a bittersweet one.

During the first couple seasons, it was easily one of my favorite shows. The characters were all likeable in their own ways, the storyline progressed, and things that happened within the story actually mattered. With the beginning of season three, the wheels come off entirely and the episodes become filler. In the third season. the show brings in Enrique Eglesias, Sarah Chalke (the second Becky from Roseanne), and also Britney Spears as major characters. Basically, the entire season is just a big joke where nothing really happens that will impact the storyline, of course, up until the season finale where the show reveals that Barney loves Robin! The story progression in the entire season could have taken place within two episodes. The very next season does the exact same thing, accomplishing nothing, and then taking all season for Robin to learn that Barney loves her. The fifth season does it again, with nothing all that meaningful taking place. Although a few little things happen, the old gang almost completely returns to how it was before anything happened. It is like watching an episode of The Simpsons.

Another thing that really bothers me about these seasons is that if the watcher is keeping current with the show, he/she does not know that the show will be running for 8+ years, and will actually believe that the show is providing clues of substance regarding the maternity of Ted's children. The show basically just plays with you, as it will pull back on every clue to the point where they are meaningless and you really stop caring about both the mother and Ted in general. The show bludgeons you with these pretend clues to a ridiculous extent.

However, even despite the missteps, the show slowly gets back on track and becomes engaging again. The past few seasons have been pretty nice for the most part. Although I wasn't a huge fan of the Zooey storyline, there were things with the other characters that actually moved the overall story forward. Ted has fallen from being the most important part of the show to being the least important character. The show has moved into a more serious, positive direction with life changing events that have caused each member of the gang to mature in his/her own way.

I'm about halfway through the last season, and I'm beginning to regret that I've put off watching it until now. I've recorded the first run of each of last season's episodes, but I just didn't have the desire to watch it as I always fear a regression back into the seasons with no progression. The show is supposed to come back for another season in Fall 2012, but it is not known whether this will be the final season or if there will be subsequent seasons. My hope is that they allow the show to close gracefully. I really do not want to watch a season without all of the cast members present and on-screen as much as they are now. If a cast member leaves, it just wouldn't be the same show.

JE Funhouse Podcast Ep 6 - Link to the Past, why you so hard?

JE Funhouse Podcast Ep 6 - Link to the Past, why you so hard?

Listen to this week's JE Funhouse podcast where Cyrus and Raven talk about beating Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and compare it to the other Zelda games they have played. Both of our hosts also discuss what games they are currently playing and Cyrus talks a little about buying games on the interwebs.  Finally, we hear some video game news:

ANOTHER Taiwanese person dies from playing video games without stopping to sleep and eat 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

2012/07/18/diablo-3-death-
chuang-taiwan-_n_1683036.html

Tecmo Koei somehow sells the wrong version of a game

http://games.yahoo.com/blogs/plugged-in/whoops-game-publisher-sells-wrong-game-175439193.html

Listen to the podcast at 

http://itunes.apple.com/us/

podcast/je-funhouse-we-are-
what-you/id537067117

Please give us some ratings and comments!!

Super C

To put it simply-- Super C is one of the best NES games ever made. This game is a sequel to Contra, which was both an arcade and at-home hit on the NES. Super C is a side scrolling action game where you face off against alien creatures (many don't really look like aliens at all until you get to some of the later stages). Your character strongly resembles Rambo and he has numerous weapon power ups that frequently present themselves. There are a couple levels with an overhead perspective, and these levels are so well done that they could have been used to create an entirely different game. 

Controlling your character is incredibly simple and easy. Throughout the entirety of your jumps, you can smoothly move from left to right while shooting in any of the eight directions. When you die, it will be your fault. There are occasional cheap deaths, but there are only a couple sections in the game where you may feel that the game should have been a bit easier on you. Super C is a game where you are very much rewarded for practice. Even if you don't have the game memorized, you'll still fare quite well if you have the tempo down and master jumping and shooting. If you have the game memorized, you'll blow through numerous portions of the game at blazingly fast speeds.


This is one of the best 2-player experiences around. Not only is it advantageous to have a buddy there with you, but this is also a game where you are able to give up your lives if your partner has none. This is a feature that has been absent from gaming for a while and it is a real shame. It is the ultimate act of generosity!

Honestly, there aren't many bad points to the game. Some may argue that the spread gun is overpowered, but when you consider the fact that you die with only a single hit and lose the gun, it still takes much practice to make it through the game. Varying difficulty levels are absent from Super C, but this is the case with numerous NES titles. I will admit that some of the boss fights could have been a bit more challenging. There are pretty obvious patterns and blind spots that some bosses have and they are quite easy to exploit.

This is a game that should be in your collection. If you're looking for Super C online, it'll likely cost you somewhere between $12-$17, and it is well worth it.

Why won't Square remake Final Fantasy VII?

Square is re-releasing FFVII on the PC, but they aren't remaking the game.

Whether you like the game or not, Final Fantasy VII is one of the most (if not the most) popular RPGs of all time. Although it is not always regarded as the best RPG or even the best Final Fantasy, one would be hard pressed to argue against the general popularity of the game.

Personally, I love Final Fantasy VII. I haven't been able to complete a Final Fantasy game that has been created after VII, and I've given each one a chance short of the MMO RPG (I completed Final Fantasy Tactics, but I'm not counting that one as it is a strategy RPG). The graphics of the recent games are breathtaking and the combat systems are interesting, but none of them can hold my attention. I have played through FFVII thrice myself, once with another person, and I've beaten individual segments of it repeatedly just to watch the CG movies. Every person whom I've introduced the game to has been impressed with it.

Like it or not, this is a game that gave video games credibility as something other than mindless entertainment, especially for its time. I know that games have come a long way since FFVII, but you really have to consider that this game came out in 1997, which was just a few years after the 16-bit era. Part of what made FFVII  special was the fact that it was so progressive in so many ways, including the fact that it showed how far video game technology could be pushed, even people who weren't conventional gamers could appreciate it. High production values weren't just for movies anymore; video games had them too now. Whether you find this game overrated or not, you have to admit that this game changed video games forever.

Final Fantasy VII looks extremely dated at this point, which is something that just happens over time. The deformed looking characters that were once impressive now look plain silly. Everyone looks like a mass of squares, triangles, and circles, which is extremely distracting. I have no idea why Square can't just remake the game. What makes Square's decision extra irritating is the fact that they've gone out of their way to nickel and dime buyers by repeatedly re-releasing new versions of the pre-FFVII games. They can't wait to make a new version of the original NES Final Fantasy or the SNES titles to put on a handheld system or even a cell phone, but why not just remake the one that everyone wants? It is a bizarre choice. Even if they were to just redo the graphics by making the character models in HD, I'd be happy. How many years will we have to wait? In five years, this game will be twenty years old.

Look at Cloud's Popeye forearm connected to what looks like a hoof.

R.I.P Donald J Sobol creator of Encyclopedia Brown

Donald J. Sobol, creator of the Encyclopedia Brown children's book series, just passed away at the age of 87. Encyclopedia Brown was a teenage detective who would solve cases around his neighborhood. He had a nemesis named Bugs Meaney (sp?), and his best friend/bodyguard was a girl named Sally Kimball. Sally had boxing skills and actually punched out Bugs at some point during the storyline. The books were broken up such that each mystery had a chapter, and the solution to the mystery was at the very end of each chapter. Sometimes the solutions were pretty difficult, but my feelings might have something to do with the fact that I was a little kid when I read these books.

I sent Mr. Sobol a fan letter when I was in grade school and he actually sent me a response. I loved those books when I was a kid and I imagine that I'd still enjoy them as an adult. At some point soon, I'll have to pick one up and relive all the fun childhood memories.

Thanks, Mr. Sobol! Rest in peace!

Bonus Saturday Episode of JE Funhouse Podcast!

We did our first ever Saturday Bonus Episode on Saturday night at 1am, because we are just that cool.  Cyrus informs us about a video game collection that sold for lots of money http://news.yahoo.com/

blogs/sideshow/video-game-
collection-sells-1-23-million-ebay-171332869.html and we spend most of the episode talking about reboots of movies and how they don't usually work that well http://screenrant.com/movie-remakes-reboots-2012-2013-kofi-142332/

Listen to the episode at  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/
je-funhouse-we-are-what-you-play/2012/07/15/bonus-episode-this-is-how-we-spend-our-saturday-nights 

Find us on iTunes by searching "JE Funhouse" and please leave us some ratings and comments!

River City Ransom for NES

River City Ransom is probably my fave all-time NES game. It is an extremely special game that should have been copied more by other games. It is a non-linear beat em' up with heavy RPG elements. Graphically, the game has a pretty nice art style. The characters are super deformed with big heads on squat little bodies. River City Ransom doesn't push the NES to the limits as later titles would, but the characters move smoothly and quickly. You can tell that certain characters are just palette swaps and some characters are exactly the same minus small variations in their heads, but the game still looks cool. The bottom of the screen is dedicated to dialogue, which not only happens when you encounter bosses, but also when you fight any enemy in the game or enter any store in the game. You will learn that you are beating enemies until they actually throw up, as indicated by the frequent mentions of "BARF!" 





The combat is fast yet easy to control. The Double Dragon series could learn more than just a thing or two from this game. The combat in this game WORKS and makes sense. A problem with the Double Dragon series is that bosses and enemies can be cheap because they have these additional abilities that are difficult to avoid and are unblockable. In River City Ransom, as your character gets stronger, your ability to break your enemy's block increases as well as your own ability to block enemy attacks. Also, you have the ability to upgrade your character to outfit them with additional moves.


Speaking of additional moves, there are very heavy RPG elements which add to the replay value of the game. You can choose to go to the shopping malls to buy candy, hamburgers, saunas, magazines, books, shoes, chicken, sushi, and anything you can really think of. The game makes you take note of the impact of these items, as you don't know what they do until you've used them. An item could upgrade any number of statistics. When you build your character up, you'll definitely notice it. 

 Super serious cover alert.

There are really only a couple downsides to the game. First of all, the password system is one of the worst. It is pretty ridiculous, not only being 30 characters, but also being letters, numbers, special characters, and even adding apostrophes to certain letters sometimes!

The game's ending is not very satisfying. There's only really a few lines of text and then the credits roll. However, one could make the argument that a game of this type has such a level of interactivity that the journey you take is what makes the game special. Not to mention that fact that many NES games have terrible, horrible endings.

Pick this game up as it is a gem on the system. Unfortunately, it is not as cheap as other games on the NES; I think I paid around 20 for mine. There really isn't much out there like it. If you have XBox Live Arcade, the Scott Pilgrim game is basically an updated version of River City Ransom, and it is a great deal of fun. If you have even the slightest desire to own an NES collection, this game belongs in it.

Halo 4 preorder discount code

I don't know how long this coupon is going to last, but it worked for me when I placed an order last night. Newegg.com is offering Halo 4 preorders for $45.00 (no tax in most states) with the coupon code: EMCYTZT1900. This is a pretty nice deal as the game will probably retail for $60.00 and gets a bit more expensive if you're paying tax as well. Also, you can choose free shipping, so if you're thinking about picking this title up, buy through Newegg.

What kind of a collector am I?

Until recently, I never really thought of myself as a collector of video games; I viewed myself as someone who enjoyed playing games. I bought games for the specific purpose of my enjoyment and I never got rid of them, so a collection just developed over time. When buying games for the current-gen consoles, I would look for something that I either wanted to play now or play soon. The games would always be good or interesting to me in some way. Sometimes I would wait for a game to reduce in price, whereas other games I would buy at launch (no preorders as it is not my thing). If I look at the games that I bought for the "current" systems ("current" meaning I bought the game while new games were still being released for that console), the games are mostly good. There were some missteps here and there, but for the most part, the games are all good. 

A few months ago, I developed the desire to experience some nostalgia through playing games on the NES, so I decided to begin buying games for it. This is when I really became a collector for the purpose of collecting. Initially, I wanted to just have a few specific titles that I craved as a kid but never had. Even after accumulating ten games or so, my library of games felt too sparse and I wanted more. For the first time, it became about quantity over quality. I still don't own a copy of Contra, but I own a bunch of titles that I purchased for $2.00-$3.00 here and there. Don't get me wrong, some of the cheap games are good, but there are some games that are pretty terrible.

Many of my purchases are downright rationalizations. Sometimes I'm buying games that aren't even good because there's some novelty to them. I find myself encountering an internal struggle, wanting to buy bad games because I can invent some reason that I would like to have it.

This just happened recently:
*Notices X-men by LJN on a retro gaming website*
"X-men is one of the worst damned games ever! Who would want that?!"
"Well, it is only $6..."
"It might be nice for the novelty. I mean, there is a novelty to it as it is an X-men game and it is so terrible. And there's also the issue with the code that's supposed to be on the cartridge. That would make it worth it."
"No no no! I can't do this!"

I had to break myself from buying a bad game even though I knew it was a bad game! It is a bizarre feeling because I know that I'd never do this with a PS3, Xbox 360, or Wii game. Just recently, I've come to the realization that I'm making myself buy things that I know that I won't enjoy, just to have it. It is easy to be swept away in the idea of getting as many games as possible, but I know that I'm not going to have a fun time playing them. The idea of one day having a room dedicated to video games with all my consoles and games in a nice display case sounds like fun, but I feel like it is a little disingenuous if some of the games are just there to be looked at.

Over the past few months, I've spent a decent amount of time online checking out various collections and I've noticed that there are a shocking amount of completionists. There are many people who've been bitten by the collecting bug and now I can understand why. However, although I've always loved games, I'm nowhere near the point where I am going to buy some super expensive rare games to finish off a collection. It is unlikely that I'll spend over $30 on an NES cart, let alone hundreds of dollars on some of the rarer titles. I've had a wonderful time recently playing a bunch of different games, but if I had a complete library of NES titles, I'd feel like I had 300 titles that are pure garbage. There's nothing wrong with having a complete library, but it isn't for me.

I've got two orders of NES games that I'm waiting on, probably totaling around 30 games or so. Not even counting those games, I have around 90 carts at the moment, and I still lack some games that I probably should have but I don't. I think I'm ready to put the final touches on my collection. Finally, I'm at the point where all I really want are some of the gems on the system.

Here's my current wishlist:
Final Fantasy

Metal Storm

Contra

Bucky O'Hare

Darkwing Duck

Super Mario Bros 2

Kid Icarus

Mike Tyson's Punch Out

There may be a few more games in there, but not many. I've got some "halfway" titles that I can think of, but I'm not going to even think about getting them unless they are at a decent price.

To wrap this post up, I've gone through a drastic metamorphosis as a buyer of NES games and now I'm in the final stages. It will likely take me years to make it through all the games that I have now, and I'm not going to limit myself to just the NES; there are current gen games that I'd love to play as well. I'm still looking forward to experiencing and enjoying many of the titles that I have, but I'm no longer going to buy any "filler" as I recognize the kind of collector that I want to be. 

Podcast Ep 5 - Video Game Finds in the Wild

Episode 5 is where it's at!  Admittedly, we had some sound quality issues in this episode that we didn't realize until the show was up.  Still, this is a good episode where we get into some awesome video game finds from the flea market and trader, naked bottoms in River City Ransom, and news:

Next Xbox rumored to be at only $99 but with a subscription

http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2012/07/11/analyst_xbox_8_will_cost_just_99_with_tv_subscription_contract

Ouya breaks a Kickstarter record in campaign to make new video game console

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

2012/07/11/ouya-kickstarter-
video-game-console-_n_1666138.html?utm_hp_ref=technology

Creepy Nazi Android will be in Assassin's Creed movie

http://www.mtv.com/news/

articles/1689292/assassins-
creed-movie-michael-fassbender.jhtml

Listen to the show at http://www.blogtalkradio.

com/je-funhouse-we-are-what-
you-play/2012/07/13/ep-5--video-game-finds-in-the-wild

Find us on iTunes by searching "JE Funhouse" and please leave us some ratings and comments!

Good condition or Good-Will condition?

I didn't feel very super when I got this copy of Super C from a seller on eBay. The seller listed the item as being in "Good" condition. I think the seller meant "Good-Will" condition. I don't have a problem with sellers turning over items purchased from a thrift store, but I do have a problem when sellers misrepresent things. There was no mention of a Goodwill sticker that the seller was too lazy to remove in its entirety. Also, I think that most people would feel a bit offended that a seller is so "in your face" about selling you a thrift store item at 5 or 10 times the original cost. I paid 10 dollars for the item, which I know isn't a king's ransom, but I'd like to think that this seller would care about building up a strong feedback reputation. 

My expectation of most eBay items is reasonable, and I do send complaint emails when I get something that isn't as advertised. Two days have passed since emailing the seller about this Goodwill sticker and just today I've received an email from the seller asking for positive feedback, with no mention of my comments about the misrepresentation of the item.

Ridiculously long passwords

Saving games wasn't commonplace until the generation of the Playstation and N64. There were instances on previous systems where you could save on some cartridges, but when the Playstation and N64 came around, we were able to save games all the time. Game features would unlock and stay unlocked! Some games would have the option to rewatch a game's ending after you had beaten it! It was a massive change from the previous generations of games.

Well, there were video games before the Playstation, so how did you continue your progress back then? Certain games, like Zelda, had the benefit of battery backup that allowed you to save! Other games had a password system...

Some games had much nicer password systems than others.

I still remember my friend's copy of Burai Fighter for NES from when I was a kid. The game was okay, but the password system was one of the best! The passwords were so short and simple, I was able to successfully guess many of them. Basically, you just pick a four letter word. Very few games had password systems that were so easy and user friendly; if your memory was decent, you didn't even have to write them down.

Here are some of the passwords to various levels of the game:

BALL
CAMP
DOLL 
EDEN 
FACE 
GAME 
 HEAD 
JEEP
KING 
LIME 
MILD 
NILE

It would have been so sweet if all passwords were like this! 

On the other side of the coin, certain games had passwords that were just ridiculously long and difficult. Capital letters, lowercase letters, numbers, special characters, etc. made these passwords a nightmare. Imagine being a small child and writing down 30 characters on a piece of paper. They better be perfect or your hours of progress have disappeared, and some games made the process as hard as possible. Did you write a zero instead of the letter "o"? Well, your password won't work. Is that a lowercase "l' or the number one? If you mess this up, prepare to do some replaying.

River City Ransom is my fave all-time NES title, but the password system is one of the worst. I know that River City Ransom has rpg elements featuring a number of different stats, but there are other rpg/adventure games with much gentler password systems! I took a screenshot from Mobygames.com to demonstrate.

Imagine writing all of this down without making a mistake. Now imagine inputting all of this in each time you play.

With modern cell phones and their built-in cameras, you can snap a picture and at least skip the possibility of writing the password down incorrectly, but you'll still have to enter it all the same. Although I love old school gaming, this is definitely a part of it that I don't miss.

JE Funhouse Podcast

Listen to internet radio with JE Funhouse X we are what you play on Blog Talk Radio

The death of local multiplayer.

Back in olden times, if a game had multiplayer, it meant that you could play with your buddies in the room, plain and simple. If you saw screen shots of a game in a magazine or online, you could tell if a game had multiplayer or not.

Super Mario Kart has always had local multiplayer.

One gaming trend that I'm quite tired of is the omission of local co-op and multiplayer from games. Certain game genres have always been just for the single player, like RPG's, more complex action side-scrollers, and strategy games. When I see these games, I'm not overly-disappointed that local co-op or local multiplayer is absent. However, there was a time when I could assume that if I was picking up a racing game, I'd be able to play it with a friend in the same room. This is no longer the case, as there are numerous racing games where the multiplayer is online only. I don't see any reason why nearly all first person shooters can't be splitscreen. 

I just recently read that the new Tony Hawk HD game is going to omit splitscreen play due to a "lack of time to develop it." I'm no programmer, but for the most part, it seems like you just shrink the screen in half and for some games you tone down the graphical quality, speed of the game, and/or the framerate. If people had to choose between having local multiplayer that isn't perfect or having nothing at all, they will likely choose the local multiplayer. Why is it so hard? Part of me wonders if it is a result of not just laziness, but also greed. If I have to shell out $60.00 for a new racing game that I want to play with a friend, he/she has to also shell out $60.00 for the game as well. If we're playing on an online service with a subscription fee (shame on you Microsoft), it means we both have to pay that as well. This is before even thinking about games with required add-ons like additional maps/characters/etc. to play, which means we have to buy those as well. The cost to play a $60 game with my friend is now looking like it's $150+.

Burnout is a series that has REMOVED local multiplayer. 

The fact that I have to actually consult a website before purchasing a game to find if I can play local co-op or not is silly, and I have to do it more and more often. Although I am still disappointed with Nintendo's Wii in that it lacks the graphical capabilities of the other current gen consoles, I praise it because it is a system where there are a number of games that can be played in the same room as your friends. There are numerous Wii titles that not only offer 2-player, but 4-player local multiplayer. Now, if the "inferior" Wii can do it, there's no reason these other current gen consoles can't do it more often. Game developers just don't want to do it, and it is a stupid choice. 

JE Funhouse podcast ep 4 - Video Game News and Co-Op Explosion

In this episode we move away from all the retro stuff and talk a little about the co-op games we have had the most fun playing together.  SPOILER ALERT - WE LOVE BORDERLANDS!!  We also talk quite a bit about video game news including comments from EA's labels president in an interview with Game Industry International http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-07-02-ea-is-going-to-be-a-100-percent-digital-company-period-says-gibeau , Best Buy is trying to be Apple http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2406792,00.asp , and Final Fantasy VII for PC http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2012/07/05/final-fantasy-vii-pc-coming-soon/ .

Listen to the episode on BlogTalkRadio or subscribe to us on iTunes by searching for “JE Funhouse” http://www.blogtalkradio.com/je-funhouse-we-are-what-you-play/2012/07/06/ep-4--zelda-and-duck-tales-and-double-dragon-oh-my

Song Lyrics I Enjoy #1

I'm going to add a segment to this blog where I mention songs that have lyrics which I thoroughly enjoy. Some are funny, some are odd, and some are profound.

Today's entry is courtesy of Bob Kuban and The In-Men.

The song is The Cheater, which is a story of a player who will later learn a lesson in love. However, in the beginning of the song, he's still playing.

"Haven't you heard about the guy known as the cheater 
He'll take your girl and then he'll lie and he'll mistreat her
It seems every day now
You hear people say now
Look out for the cheater
Make way for the fool-hearted clown
Look out for the cheater
He's gonna build you up just to let you down"

I'm not sure if the song's protagonist (or antagonist, if you see fit) is really a cheater or just a player. The song is quite old, so perhaps the term "player" was rarely used in this fashion back then.

Have a nice July 4th!

Happy Independence Day!!!

TV shows that I miss: Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics

As a small child, I loved Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics on Nickelodeon. The show, originally from Japan, was created by the Nippon Animation Company. It was part of the Special Delivery block that Nick Jr.  featured. As a pup,  I would always hope for this show when I saw the Special Delivery intro, but occasionally it would be one of those ridiculous live-action mini-movies from the early 80's. 

The theme music is one of my personal all-time faves. Here are the lyrics:


Hey, come along and join the fun.
It's a time for fairy tales.
Magical kingdoms in the sun.
Come along, come along.
Meet friendly elves and witches too
In a world of fairy tales.
Enchanted castles wait for you.
Come along, come along.

To where life is a fantasy,
and every story ends so happily.

This is the place where dreams come true.
A world of fairy tales for you.



I wish I could get the theme in a decent mp3. The lyrics alone don't do it justice; search for the intro on YouTube if you want the full effect.

The episodes are well animated (especially the intro) and there were many tales that I had never heard of before. Although it was a children's show, there were some aspects that definitely weren't for kids. I don't want to give any spoilers here, but some of the heroes in some of the stories had strong desires for revenge and some had vicious streaks that went beyond just evening a score. Some of the stories don't have traditional heroes/villains at all: The Marriage of Mrs. Fox episode features Mr. Fox, who questions the love that his wife has for him and pretends to be dead as she is propositioned by various suitors. I'm not sure if there were really a lot of lessons to be learned, but the show was very fun.

It's a shame that Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics hasn't been released on DVD yet. Bootleg sellers have released it on their own and there are chunks of show that you can watch on YouTube, but I imagine that it won't take long before the series gets a cheap DVD boxed set or is granted a place in the lineup of a streaming service like Netflix. There's no reason we should have to miss out forever. The show has pretty hefty nostalgic value, in addition to just being quality goods.

Trying a new way to find some cheap games

As I've mentioned before, it can be hard to find NES games for decent prices online. There are so many predatory sellers with extremely high prices, it can be a bit ridiculous. When buying online, you really have to do a little bit of research because sellers with very legitimate looking websites seem to sometimes charge 100% over the average asking price of some games. I don't have a huge problem when sellers avoid having things that are cheaper than $3.00 or $4.00, but I really can't stand when sellers have games that generally cost about $7.00 marked all the way up to $20+. It is absurd and very disappointing. Shame on you people!

There are a number of people who only buy games "in the wild", meaning that the games are found at flea markets, yard sales, and thrift stores. I imagine that the success of this method heavily relies upon one's region. There's a flea market that's nearby that I may try out eventually, but I'm not a huge fan of the crowds.

I've decided to look at couple online forums where people get together and offer to trade, buy, and sell each other retro games. Some of the price-gouging ebay sellers appear on the forums, but most of the people seem to be real collectors with an abundance of carts, sometimes having dupes in their collections. I've made three deals over the past few days, so I'll soon find out how this method works out for me.

Things that ruin possibly great games #1 : Double Dragon II's platforming

Double Dragon II is almost great game, but not quite. Most people hail it as the best in the series on the NES, but I certainly don't (I personally enjoy the first game the most, but that's just my opinion). For some reason, people give this game a pass on the ridiculous platforming segments, but I think they ruin the game. First of all, they don't belong in the game. Double Dragon II is a fighting game, which means that your progression in the game should be solely based on your mastery of the controls and patterns of the enemies.

To even execute a jump, you have to press both the A+B buttons simultaneously! This is just as bad as games that require you to press Up to jump!

Don't miss three of these jumps or your game is over! 

The jumps in the game give zero room for error and most are instant death if you fail. Double Dragon II goes out of its way to make the jumps as difficult as possible, sometimes putting you on a series of multi-sized disappearing platforms, a couple oddly spaced logs in a river, and even on treadmills that seemingly float in the air. None of these things belong in the game.








It is especially frustrating because I have no trouble killing all the enemies that cross my path, even the bosses. I rarely die from the combat itself, but the game only gives you a total of three lives and has no continues, which compounds the problems. If I was still a little kid and had no other games to play, I would probably just sweat it out and continue to replay the game over and over again in order to practice the jumps. However, I am now an adult and my patience wears quite thin. Issues like terrible platforming would never get a pass in a modern game, so I refuse to give this game a pass.

This is the dumbest thing I've ever seen.