Essentials, Wii

Wii Essentials: Wii Music

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Wii Music is one of those releases that a lot of people didn’t pick up back in the day, primarily due to its mediocre critical response.

At least part of this was down to the (not entirely unreasonable) assumption that it would be a traditional “game” of some description — or at the very least a collection of minigames, as with the other titles in the Wii [x] series from Nintendo. But it’s actually something rather different.

And take the time to engage with it on its own terms and you’ll find something both entertaining and educational. Let’s take a closer look.

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Cover Games, Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic the Hedgehog: The Storybook Adventures

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cropped-sonicheader-9220777This article is one chapter of a multi-part Cover Game feature!
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The Nintendo Wii was a peculiar system, as those who have spent any time in its company will attest. And I don’t mean that in a bad way.

Rather, I’m referring to the fact that out of all the consoles in that particular generation of hardware, you were most likely to find completely unique games for Nintendo’s hardware rather than straight ports. Sometimes this happened due to a desire to make use of the Wii’s unusual control scheme; sometimes it happened as a side effect of the system’s lack of power compared to its Sony and Microsoft peers. It always resulted in games that are fascinating — not always the best, but definitely always fascinating.

And the Sonic the Hedgehog series was no exception to this rule.

Continue reading Sonic the Hedgehog: The Storybook Adventures →

Videos, Warriors Wednesday

Warriors Wednesday: Still Not Sure How To Pronounce “Cao” – Warriors Orochi #4

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Our adventure through the original Warriors Orochi continues with another of the Samurai scenario’s side stories.

Nobunaga and company take on a rescue mission to try and find a new ally. Will they be victorious first time? (No.) How about the second? (Nope.) Maybe third time’s the charm?

Hit the jump to see how these brave but occasionally incompetent warriors got on with their latest challenge.

Continue reading Warriors Wednesday: Still Not Sure How To Pronounce “Cao” – Warriors Orochi #4 →

Waifu Wednesday

Waifu Wednesday: Blaze the Cat

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As we approach the end of our official Sonic month (although coverage of the games will continue as there are still several more I’d like to write about!) it’s time we took a look at a less frequently seen member of the Sonic ensemble cast.

In stark contrast to the series’ previous feline companion, the huge, lolloping idiot that is Big the Cat (voiced by Jon St. John, the voice of Duke Nukem, fact fans), Blaze is more in line with what you’d expect from a cat character. She’s lithe, agile, smart and deadly — the kind of badass you’d want on your side when things are going south.

Let’s see where she came from, and where you might track her down if you want to spend some time in her company.

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Blaze the Cat →

Essentials, Game Boy, Puzzlers

Game Boy Essentials: Donkey Kong

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You know Donkey Kong, right? Classic Nintendo arcade game, origin of Mario? Sure you do.

Donkey Kong is a classic with good reason: it’s solid arcade fare. Its mechanics are simple and straightforward to understand, it’s friendly to quick play sessions, it’s enormously addictive and it consistently challenges its players with just minor, progressively more difficult variations on the same four levels.

The 1994 Game Boy version surely can’t be anything particularly special, right? Or could it? Well, it came out thirteen years after the arcade original, so either someone at Nintendo was really confident in the staying power of its early arcade games — actually not all that unreasonable an assumption — or something interesting was going on.

Continue reading Game Boy Essentials: Donkey Kong →

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z: Bruce Lee

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My retro gaming side project delving back into the Atari 8-Bit computers’ extensive catalogue of games continues with this title from Datasoft.

Bruce Lee was an interesting game that included elements of the beat ’em up, platform game and action adventure genres, creating an altogether unique experience at the time that is still fondly regarded today.

I have very fond memories of this game, despite not being all that good at it when I was a kid. Rather than it being fast, chaotic action, it actually rewards somewhat strategic play; taking your time getting through the screens is usually your best bet, and defeating the enemies is also a case of waiting for a good opening to attack them rather than flailing wildly.

The game was developed as an Atari 8-Bit title originally before being ported to a number of other platforms, including Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum and MSX. The Atari version is obviously the best, of course, not that I’m biased at all in this regard.

Cover Games, Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic the Hedgehog: The Dark Age

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cropped-sonicheader-9220777This article is one chapter of a multi-part Cover Game feature!
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Declaring anything the “best thing ever” or the “worst thing ever” is a dangerous game, for a variety of reasons.

Tastes change over time. Preferences vary between individuals. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure and all that. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned since starting MoeGamer — well, quite a bit before that, to be honest — it’s that something getting critically panned doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not worth checking out.

It was with this in mind that I was greatly looking forward to investigating the much-maligned 2006 reboot of Sonic the Hedgehog for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 — a game that Wikipedia used to claim (without citation) to be “among the worst games not only in the Sonic series but also in the video game medium.” That sounds like a challenge to me.

Continue reading Sonic the Hedgehog: The Dark Age →

Podcast

The MoeGamer Podcast: Episode 8 – Sonic Sez

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In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s been a month of Sonic funtimes here on MoeGamer, so what better opportunity to discuss the series as a whole on a podcast?

Don’t forget the podcast is now available both on YouTube in its full video glory, and now as an audio-only version too. You can access this via Soundcloud, subscribe via RSS or look us up on several popular podcast platforms, including iTunes.

Or you can just hit the jump here to enjoy the show in both video and audio formats right here on MoeGamer.

Continue reading The MoeGamer Podcast: Episode 8 – Sonic Sez →

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, Sunday Driving, Videos

Sunday Driving: Amy’s Hot Wheels – Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed #1

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I’m currently deep in editing the next episode of the MoeGamer Podcast, but I managed to find some time to get a new Sunday Driving up.

I’ve had a few computer woes recently with a failing hard drive (probably down to it being about eight years old and getting battered pretty hard with video work) so I upgraded to an SSD (and Windows 10, against my better judgement). In the process I misplaced my Blur save file, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to revisit a favourite Sega game.

Here’s a look at Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed from Sega and Sumo Digital, a game that I enjoy a whole lot more than Mario Kart… in single-player, anyway.

Continue reading Sunday Driving: Amy’s Hot Wheels – Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed #1 →

Features, Sega Ages

Sega Ages: Monaco GP

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In Japan, the PlayStation 2 era was a fantastic time for budget-priced, arcade-style releases.

D3 Publisher is the indisputed master of janky but charming budget fare in this period of gaming history thanks to its expansive Simple Series, but they didn’t keep this knowledge and experience to themselves. They actually collaborated with Sega on a project dubbed “3D Ages” (“Sega D3” backwards) which ultimately resulted in the Sega Ages 2500 collection — a range of games that retailed for 2500 yen each (about £17.50 in today’s money) and encompassed a variety of remakes of Sega’s classic arcade and console titles.

We didn’t see a lot of these games in the West, but we were fortunate enough to get a cool compilation of them bundled together on a single PS2 disc in the form of the Sega Classics Collection. So let’s take a look at exactly what’s on offer, beginning with Monaco GP.

Continue reading Sega Ages: Monaco GP →

The best of overlooked and underappreciated computer and video games, from yesterday and today.