Oh the humanity! Oh the insanity! Oh the poultry!

Daffy Duck- The Marvin Missions was hands-down one of the hardest games I've ever played, but oh so worth it. From the company that produced such gems as Aero the Acro-Bat and Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel, Sunsoft really struck gold releasing virtually every Looney Tunes game of the 16-bit generation.

The gameplay progresses through very well designed worlds as Daffy's Duck Dodgers alter-ego chases his arch-nemesis Marvin the Martian throughout the galaxy in order to bring him down.



Hunting Marvin from the lava-covered resort planet, to a base that's been frozen solid, and back to Earth (while let's not forget the incredible shrinking duck on the forest world!) did at times seem to become stagnant, the ever faithful comic relief was always there to step in at the end of the level, along with the progress displayed in the form of quirky newspaper headlines to keep the light tone in place.



The weaponry was a bit of a mixed bag. Take the freezing gun, very cool idea and design, but not entirely useful as it did almost no actual damage. The anti-matter gun was probably the mos powerful of the straight-shot guns, but it was worth it to master the effect of gravity on the bomb launcher because the damage inflicted was immense. The jet pack was handy for slowing falls and short climbs, but the fuel ran out far too quickly, forcing the player to be prudent and sometimes downright stingy in its use. And then the special attack, aptly named the Nutty, during which Dodgers would indeed have a nutty and bounce around the screen, demolishing everything in sight, was something to be conserved until absolutely necessary.

The enemies were well tailored to each environment and also very different, not just clones with different models, which was a bit innovative for games around this time. Even the Martians encountered as regular enemies and the occasional minibosses were differently conceived and executed.

With cartoony art, cartoony humor, and straightforward cartoony gameplay, The Marvin Missions stands out because its the consummate Looney Tunes game and brings back those great old-time memories while still being an very enjoyable game.

Okay, now with some rookie blog mistakes out of the way, I retooled my thoughts on content and title and let's hope for the best.



One of the best images from my childhood. A Super Mario game; a Square game; mix the two and you get this masterpiece, this true classic.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was released in May of '96 here in the US, months earlier in Japan, but never officially released in Europe for the SNES- poor gamers had to wait until it was released on the Wii's virtual console, 'officially' of course. Mario RPG took iconic characters and locales, along with inventive new ones, and molded them into a marvelously written and executed story.

So, let's talk antagonist: Smithy. Smithy uses the factory located through the gate in Exor, the giant sword that pierced Star Road and Bowser's castle, in order to build his army and take over the world.

The skills acquired as an analog of "magic" were spectacularly tailor-made for each character, yet surprisingly my favorite was the Ultra Jump, not the consummate favorite Geno Whirl. My second favorite character had to be Bowser, simply because of the flawless execution of his egocentric, yet somewhat comically vulnerable personality. My favorite character touched on a cache of great memories and was actually a set of characters:


The Axem Rangers. Enough said.

Along with the classic Square sidequests, Mario RPG provided hours of fun and good childhood memories. And while Paper Mario may be considered the "spiritual sequel", we're long overdue for a Super Mario RPG 2 and I still believe somewhere down the road we will see one.

As promised, the next few blocks will cover some SNES golden titles, and perhaps some not quite as fondly remembered, or even remembered much at all.

But first, let us begin with a genuine classic and perhaps my favorite game over all time- Mega Man X.

Let us set the stage: the year was 1993; produced by Tokuro Fujiwara, Keji Inafune's newest creation was set to carry the original Mega Man games, in a newer fashion, into the realm of 16-bit gaming, and it did so with a bang. While later ported onto IBM PCs and remade as Maverick Hunter X on PSP, the allure of the original cartridge is a gateway back to simpler times and simpler, yet not uncomplicated, games.

The brief intro given pre-title and in the instruction manual clarify that X is not the original Mega Man, but a different model entirely, only slightly based on the original and with the capacity for so much more. Starting simple, the gameplay seems a touch slow at first, with X's run not carrying more speed than a brisk jog, yet the dash capsule virtually forced upon you in the stage ideally conquered first eliminates that. The gameplay format was still much the same as the original series, a selection of bosses to choose from, each with the inherent weakness of another particular bosses' weapon, and a final base, with the eternally symbolic repeat battles with all previously vanquished bosses.

Mega Man X introduced a new villain to replace Dr. Wily, the evil maverick Sigma (pre-virus form discovery), whose goal was to wage a successful war against all humans. The game also introduced the concept of Maverick Hunters and the leader of the team, Zero: the pure embodiment of awesome, and the inspiration for my own current hairstyle.

The soundtrack was astounding, forming the tone of the series' score for sequels to come. And for what small glitches may occasionally occur, whatever trivial qualms one may point out about gameplay or style or other slight story inconsistencies, Mega Man X will forever be the crown jewel of my Super Nintendo collection and one of the rare games I could sit and play for days on end without ever getting bored.

Well then, up ahead I think I see another shining stop of well-known, amazing Super Nintendo quality, so hang on tight...

It came before Web of Shadows; it came before Ultimate Spider-Man; it came before the PlayStation version of Spider-Man; it came before Separation Anxiety; it was The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin.

Released in 1990, the Master System version was one of the last M.S. games sold in America, while the Genesis version of Spider-Man, released in '91, was one of the best-selling Genesis games and renewed Marvel Comic's faith in licensing video games (though later games such as Friend or Foe might have made them rethink that).

Spider-Man had, for the most part, a very straightforward premise: reach the end, defeat the boss, rinse, repeat. But the need for more web fluid on harder difficulties necessitated the use of taking pictures of the bosses and sub-bosses to sell back to the Daily Bugle to refill the gauge. At the end of the game, all of the bosses band together one last time to keep Spidey from disarming the Kingpin's bomb using the keys rewarded for defeating the aforementioned bosses. The final level culminated in one of the most frustrating boss fights I've ever encountered, requiring punches spot-on to the Kingpin's face in order to do damage (majorly precise timing), all while MJ hangs over a foreboding acid pit.

But one other thing about Spider-Man was the difficulty. Even on Normal (since the end could not be reached on Easy), Spider-Man was tremendously challenging, and Hard was grueling. But nothing could top the Nightmare setting. Ho-ly cow. Not only were the enemies and bosses tougher and more offensive, but one last cruel obstacle was thrown in front of you right before reaching the boss...

Venom.

While Venom's attack pattern was simple enough to understand, he was often times a wearing and costly waste of webbing and health, and a complete nuisance when thrown into the mix during the gathering at the end.

The gameplay, looking back, was tremendously balanced, even with the web-slinging being fairly physically accurate for its scale. The graphics were fantastic for its time, and the storyline cut-scenes between levels, mainly featuring Spidey talking to the recently vanquished foe and then himself, fit the overall theme of alienation and betrayal nicely.

A must have for Genesis owners, Spider-Man was the first Genesis game I ever played and still continues to be a shining classic, and an example of a simple, yet truly phenomenal superhero game, and as fantastic for the Genesis as the next Spider-Man titled game for PlayStation/PC/N64/Dreamcast, if not more so.

This bend in the road looks like it's going to take us through the Super Nintendo part of the city, and with that kind of library who knows what we can dig up for the next time...

In the beginning...well, 4 generations later, anyway, there was the Genesis, and with it came one of the first games to knock with flat with hours of enjoyment- The Adventures of Batman and Robin.

TAoBaR was, at its roots, a simple side-scrolling beat'em up, but stylistically, it was a gem among superhero games. With the option to choose the Caped Crusader or his young ward (although there were no discernible differences in gameplay), so began the journey into a dark and foreboding landscape; from banks to traffic to warehouses to studios.

The gameplay was simple and occasionally problematic what without the ability to move and throw projectiles at once, yet the differences in attacks of a single button based on range worked in a nice fluidity and anyone with the patience to acquire the same number of 3 color-specific power-ups was awarded with a massively effective tool of their preference. There were health items scattered in fair abundance throughout each level, although the charge meter tended to be tedious and more detrimental, making a fully-charged throw not worth the risk.

The roster of regular enemies was creative in and f itself, ranging from hulking, straight tackle brutes to smiling piranha mini-copters. All of these complimented the level progression well, blending with the present themes and their respective bosses, a who's who of Batman's pantheon: The Joker, Two-Face, The Mad Hatter, and Mr. Freeze (thankfully not the live-action inspired version), to name the major players. Stylistically the game was fashioned after Batman: The Animated Series, making it all the more near and dear to my heart. The levels were beautifully designed, along with the effects, costumes, and characters, especially on a 16-bit console. The sounds were as impressive as the sights, completing the crescendo of atmosphere. Of for the days of games like this.

Thankfully, they're still around to be enjoyed and cherished, or derided and critiqued, depending on your taste. Well, the light's green, so down the road we go until next time...