Category Archives: Articles

All the non-Cover Game articles and features in one place.

Switch Essentials: Super Mario Odyssey

A common criticism raised by people who have arbitrarily decided for one reason or another that they are “anti-Nintendo” is that the company relies too much on rehashing old ideas, particularly when it comes to its “big” franchises.

This is, of course, nonsense, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the company’s flagship Super Mario series. The portly plumber’s past few adventures have included a simple but enjoyable mobile game that eschews gacha nonsense in favour of accessible mechanics, a full-on construction kit with online functionality, a vast but highly accessible, level-based 3D platform adventure with the option to play in cooperative multiplayer and a challenging 2D platform adventure later expanded with an even more difficult set of levels. And this is to say nothing of how the series has continually reinvented itself over the years.

Super Mario Odyssey for Nintendo Switch continues Mario’s proud tradition of starring in an enormously varied series of games that cater to the tastes of both casual and hardcore gamers alike. And it’s one of his best games to date.

Continue reading Switch Essentials: Super Mario Odyssey

Requiem for a Dead Game: After Burner Climax

Oh, Digital Age. You bring such convenience to our lives, but no-one told us there would be a cost!

After our lengthy Sega discussion on the pilot episode of The MoeGamer Podcast, I was in the mood to boot up After Burner Climax on PS3. Thankfully, this has sat proudly on my PS3’s hard drive ever since I bought it back on its original release back in 2010… because you can’t buy it online any more!

Yes, After Burner Climax was one of the earliest casualties of the age in which we live, getting delisted from both the Xbox 360 Marketplace and the PS3’s PlayStation Store in 2014. So join me as we pour one out for an arcade classic for which you really had to be there…

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Waifu Wednesday: Kurona

We’re about to kick off a month of Gal*Gun 2 funtimes… so what better time to celebrate one HELL of a girl?

Kurona is the antagonist in both Gal*Gun Double Peace and Gal*Gun 2, and a favourite waifu of Matt Papa from developer Inti Creates. It’s not hard to figure out why people find her so appealing… but it’s also interesting to note that she undergoes some fun development between the events of Double Peace and its sequel.

Without further ado, then, let’s say HELL-o to this red-headed wild child. DEATH.

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Kurona

Switch Essentials: SkyPeace

One of the core attractions of a handheld games system is the fact that you can take it anywhere.

While it’s awesome to be able to play deep experiences like Xenoblade Chronicles 2 on the go, an important aspect of a successful handheld’s library is a selection of simple “pick up and play” games that can while away a few minutes rather than a few hours. If you’re out and about, you don’t necessarily want to get stuck into a sprawling RPG, after all, so it’s good to have something on hand to fire up when you just want to play something.

This corner of the market has been dominated by smartphones and tablets for the past few years. But the Switch is showing it has plenty of solid offerings in this department, too — and best of all, many of these titles don’t have exploitative free-to-play mechanics attached.

Continue reading Switch Essentials: SkyPeace

What’s In the Box: Shantae 1/2 Genie Hero Ultimate Day One Edition

Having missed out on the Limited Run releases of the last two Shantae games, I was damned if I was going to miss out on this one, particularly as it looked like actually rather a nice edition.

And what do you know? It is! It was also no more expensive than buying a “normal” game, which is always nice, particularly as the only thing it’s lacking when compared to something like the Gal*Gun 2 or Cyberdimension Neptunia limited edition is a “big extra” like a plushie or something. I can live without that… although I won’t lie, a plush Shantae to cuddle is fairly appealing in its own right…

Uh, anyway. Here’s what you get in that mouthful of qualifiers for this (presumably) limited edition of Shantae: 1/2 Genie Hero’s “everything in one box” rerelease, which will be part of June’s Cover Game celebrations here on MoeGamer.

Continue reading What’s In the Box: Shantae 1/2 Genie Hero Ultimate Day One Edition

Four Years of MoeGamer, 37 Years of Pete

It’s my birthday! More importantly, it’s also MoeGamer’s birthday. Buy us presents! (You don’t have to do that. But I’m not going to stop you if you want to.)

Ahem. Anyway, yes, it is indeed the fourth anniversary of MoeGamer’s inception. I’ve told the story of how the site came about numerous times — most notably in last year’s birthday post — so I won’t reiterate that here. Instead I wanted to take stock of the year that’s gone by and thank you all for continuing to support my work.

It’s been an interesting year, for sure — and a very good one, both for me, and for the site. So that’s nice! Let’s look at it all in more detail.

Continue reading Four Years of MoeGamer, 37 Years of Pete

Namco Essentials: Galaga ’88

Arcade-era Namco was good at sequels. Not from a story perspective, mind — the sequel to “shoot the aliens” tended to be “shoot more aliens” — but definitely from a mechanical perspective.

One of the best things about arcade-era Namco’s handling of sequels was that they remained recognisably true to their source material while innovating in their own right. Galaga ’88 (also known as Galaga ’90, Galaga ’91 and Galaga 2 depending on where and how you played it back in the day) is one of the best examples of this, as the fourth installment in the Galaxian series.

Galaxian built on the basic premise of Taito’s Space Invaders by featuring a more dynamic arrangement of enemies. Galaga built further on this format with more dramatic enemy formations and movements. Gaplus — one of the few games in the series to not get many home ports, particularly back in the day — added powerups and vertical movement. And Galaga ’88 well, read on.

Continue reading Namco Essentials: Galaga ’88

Waifu Wednesday: Milla Maxwell

I have a confession to make: at the time of writing, the Tales series is, for the most part, a bit of a black spot in my JRPG knowledge.

I’m not completely clueless on the appeal of the series, however, since back when I was on USgamer I covered the first Tales of Xillia game… and quite early in MoeGamer’s life I explored its sequel in what we now know as a Cover Game feature, albeit before I’d decided to make that a regular thing.

The characters of Xillia in general were a consistently appealing aspect… but one stood out in particular. Milla Maxwell.

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The One-Liner Challenge

Time for a Community tag post! This one looked like a particularly fun one, and after the lovely Irina from I Drink and Watch Anime specifically requested me to do one about games, who was I to refuse?

The original tag came from The Awkward Book Blogger and was based around, as you might expect, books — but it has since expanded to encompass anime and now, thanks to my contribution, games as well.

So let’s jump right in. After the jump. Jumpy jumpy jump.

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Waifu Wednesday: Lilysse

It may not have escaped your notice that I haven’t done any Blue Reflection-themed Waifu Wednesdays this month.

This is entirely deliberate; since the game as a whole is based around the interactions between the female characters, I’ll be talking about most if not all of the major characters when we come to explore its narrative, themes and characterisation in their entirety. So please look forward to that!

In the meantime, however, Gust definitely produces wonderful waifus, so let’s look back at a MoeGamer classic and main heroine of a Cover Game from last year.

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Lilysse