A Bit of Ice, Ice Baby: Kickle Cubicle

First, I would like to take the time to express how sorry I am that I haven't been keeping up with posts. While I know this is, by no means, everyone's favorite blog to read, I was doing a pretty good job there at getting regular content out the door at least every other day. Because my PAX East cosplay hit a lot of hinges (my fabric getting stolen by my neighbors, UPS marking my address as not a real address, FedEx losing packages, and so on), I have had to spend a lot of time working on getting that ready. Hopefully, after this weekend when I finish it, I will be back up and running and writing about all those good old games you know and love.

So, without further ado, I'd like to introduce or remind all of you of a little game called Kickle Cubicle for NES. While there isn't much of a plot to this game, the premise is that there is an evil ice king, and that he has taken over Kickle's home planet, the Fantasy Kingdom. The major driver of the game is to collect red "dream bags" in which the Wicked Wizard King has imprisoned all of the citizens of the planet. The dream bags look kind of like Santa's sack, and are strewn haphazardly around each of the many, many levels.

A Bit of KO: Punch-Out!!

So, while talking to my husband about one of my newest forays into athleticism (Boxing), it was mentioned that now that I know how hard it is, I should write up a post about Mike Tyson's Punch-Out. While I don't, by any means, think that this is one of the best games of all time, I do definitely think it deserves more attention than it typically gets when it comes down to traditional NES games.

A Bit of Weird: Super Dodge Ball

Super Dodge Ball is to the NES what NBA Street was to Playstation. Both games seemed intensely awesome while I was playing them, but looking back both are pretty limited in their scope. Also, it bears noting that Super Dodge Ball is vaguely racist, based on the different fields that it is played. Despite that fact, I loved this game back in the day and think that it deserves mentioning.

A Bit of Bullshit: Solar Jetman

Solar Jetman is both one of the simplest and most difficult games of all time. I felt like it needed to be included here because, obviously, it is an important game in the development of video games, but this post will be a short one because, well, it's just too dang simple to truly devote any kind of real thought to.

A Bit of Halfshell: Turtles In Time

TMNT: Turtles in Time (along with Chrono Trigger) holds the prestigious title of One Of My Favorite Games. Even now I can remember sitting in my grandmother's house, passing the crappy SNES control back and forth between my cousin and I, and sometimes to my onlooking uncle when there was a level we couldn't beat. Frequently, I'll have flashbacks to scenes from these games and almost forget where they come from—for example, for some inexplicable reason I always associated the band Butthole Surfers with the second level of the game where the dudes are surfing along in the sewers. Strange? Yes, I think so. While I am aware that the SNES version of this game was a port, it was the version that I played first, and will be the version that I focus on here. They are basically exactly the same (kind of), but if that's a problem for you because you are some kind of arcade elitist, you have been forewarned.

A Bit of Amphibians: Battletoads

Battletoads, along with being one of the most popular NES and NES ports of all time, won numerous awards. In fact, it won first place in the categories of: Graphics and Sound (NES), Theme and Fun (NES), Best Play Control (NES) and Best Multi-Player or Simultaneous (NES) and was nominated for 9 awards in total at the 1992 Nintendo Power Awards. Despite this, it is most commonly associated with its difficulty, something that sometimes even the most advanced players were not able to overcome. All that being said, I loved the game and I know that many of the people that have played the various versions of the game or watched the cartoon feel the same way.

A Bit of Bosses: Mega Man 2

Mega Man 2 is widely known as one of the best games in the series, and to some even as one of the best games of all time. Not only did it evolve the earlier Mega Man game into something that could be more easily playable, but its graphics, sound, and plot are also known as some of the more enjoyable ones in the series.

A Bit of Marvel: Silver Surfer

Silver Surfer has been claimed, by many, to have been one of the more difficult releases for NES. This is primarily because the main character, Silver Surfer from Marvel Comics, was squishy as all get out and would die after a single hit, no matter what the enemy he was facing. While this may have been frustrating for many players, it was the g-dang NES—I don't really know what you guys were expecting. Also, it is apparently now retailing for close to $125, which obviously speaks to its stellar quality. :]

A Bit of Link: First Impressions of A Link Between Worlds

Jerry bought me both Pokemon Y and A Link Between Worlds for my birthday this year and that means he gets husband of the year award. Couple that with Walt's awesome gift of a sweet wireless gaming headset and I am fully kitted out (expect for a mouse, which I somehow kill with the frequency that most people kill their rodent namesakes). While I haven't yet gotten through Pokemon Y, and what I have has been pretty similar to Pokemon X but with different Pokemon, Link Between Worlds is a great refreshment from the other more recent Zelda games (like Windwaker). Here are some of my first impressions:

A Bit of Handheld: 3DS vs 2DS

HOW MANY BITS, MERCER? 6/8 BITS




So, some of you may not know this but I am a walking contradiction. In one of my older posts (several, actually) I mention that playing a DS is not "really" gaming. Let it be said: when I was younger, I was an asshole. I still maintain that console and PC gaming is a more immersive and complex experience, but I have been spending more time on my 3DS as of late given the recent release of Pokemon X & Y and the less recent Animal Crossing: New Leaf.