Lord Spencer's Gaming (and other stuff) Blog

Right off the bat, the game makes a terrible impression. It starts with one of the loudest and most obnoxious sound effects I heard in video games. It only follows that up with more obnoxiousness in what seems an attempt to comment on B-Horror movies, just like Zombies Ate My Neighbor. When the game actually starts, it does manage to be interesting for a bit, but it could never shake off the bad first impression it had on me, until I formed an even worse impression. Decap Attack is more than a game that fails to be a B-Movie-inspired Platformer; it is a game that fails some basic gameplay principles. 98: Decap Attack: Year: 1991. Genre: Platformer. Publisher: Sega. Developer: Vic Tokai.

There is possibly some hidden meaning that Tales From Earthsea begins with the main character of the movie, Arren, killing his own father, given that this movie was directed by Goro Miyazaki, reportedly against the advice of his father, the legendary Hayao Miyazaki. If so, then that solitary scene reflects the only point of meaning in an otherwise chaotic and haphazard work that rarely, if ever, rises to the usual standards of Studio Ghibli films. Based on the Earthsea series by Ursula K. Le Guin, there is a lot of pedigree behind this animation that was squandered, both in the utilization of Studio Ghibli talents and in adapting Le Guin’s work (she was disappointed with the final film, which she thought the elder Miyazaki would direct). The final product is not considered an accurate or true adaptation to any of the Earthsea novels and is instead an amalgamation of that world with Shuna’s Journey, a graphic novel by Hayao Miyazaki. Regardless of its success as an adaptation, the mo...

In the ancient SNES/Genesis wars, I was clearly on Nintendo's side. Still, I mysteriously owned a Genesis, but I only had three games for it. While I had fun with one of the Sonic games, and with Sonic Pinball , I never could actually get the mysterious third game to work. While I later started playing SNES games, some of which were ported to the PS1 ( FF6 and Chrono Trigger ), or the GBA, I never played another Sega game beyond those two. When I finished my SNES reviews series, I realized that the most fun I had was in discovering unknown gems. I knew I would like Super Mario RPG and the Legend of Zelda , but I had no idea about Terranigma . Hence, through my very limited knowledge of the Genesis library, I am more likely to be pleasantly surprised by more games. Like with SNES reviews series, I am going to use a top 100 list as a basis for my reviews, this time from Retro Sanctuary: Retro Sanctuary's Top 100 Genesis Games So, I am going to review games that interest me fro...

The 4th Generation of video games is commonly known as the 16-bit era, as opposed to the 8-bits of the 3rd Generation. With increased graphical power and expanded memory, it can be said the gaming as we know it today started in this era, even if the great majority of games were still limited to the 2D plane . In many ways, the advancements in this generation was instrumental in developing the home game market as opposed to the Arcades, since games started being developed with longer running time, story, and continuity in mind. As such, we can consider the 16-bit era a maturation of the previous generation, building on solid foundations to make games that stand the test of time today. The improvement in sprite graphics and expanded soundscape is a major reason why the games of the 4th generation, as opposed to the early 3D works of the 5th generation, still look good today. One major thing worth noting is that this is one of the few generations where an actual “console war” was going o...

  The PlayStation 1 had such a massive library of games that it is impossible to do it justice with a simple top 100 games list . As such, I decided to supplement my usual review of a top 100 games list (this time, I used the top 100 PS1 games list from Retro Sanctuary) with other games picked up from different lists. This parallel "Additional List" is not numbered in any ordered way, so the quality of the titles theoretically varies from top to bottom with no rhyme or reason. This report covers 10 series, with a couple of games that obviously deserve a place in Retro Sanctuary's Top 100 list. Of these games, I fully reviewed six games, since the rest of these consist of genres that I don't usually cover in these reviews or games that have been ported elsewhere. From this report, I think that it is a huge omission   that neither of the  Lunar  games was included in Retro Sanctuary's list, and a huge travesty that Tactics Ogre: Let's Cling Together ...

Howl’s Moving Castle may be one of the more difficult Hayao Miyazaki films to write about, as it can be seen as both a more complex and simpler film than his earlier work. If you want to look into the deeper meanings of the film, then you can see obvious allusions to pacifism, anti-ageism, and a critique of modernity. However, you can also view the film as a simple, unlikely love story between Sophie and the wizard Howl, as both learn to accept themselves and find family and friendship in their surroundings. I think the tension between these two threads is one reason that the film has a polarizing reputation in the Studio Ghibli canon, with one of the studio’s most ardent fans, Roger Ebert, even giving the film a review of 2.5 stars. The film begins with Sophie, a hatter's daughter, accidentally getting involved in the shenanigans of the wizard Howl and being cursed into becoming a 90-year-old woman for her troubles. As an old woman, Sophie feels more comfortable in her own skin, ...

Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete is the rare sequel that, while not departing much from its predecessor, makes many small improvements that turn a good game into a great one. If you enjoyed or loved the first Lunar , then you will surely love this one as well. This is yet another classic JRPG, filled to the brim with romance and adventure, with an engaging gameplay loop that should push you towards a great story's conclusion and beyond. While I still would not call Lunar 2 a true masterpiece of the genre, I think it packages all the good things we love about JRPGs, even if it doesn't necessarily excel at any of them. As such, the new Remastered release of the first Lunar games is not only a good deal for two lovely games, but also a historical record of JRPGs at their root. #A19: Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete:- Year: 1999, 2025 (Remastered). Genre: JRPG. Publisher: Kadokawa Shoten, Working Designs, GungHo (Remastered). Developer: Game Arts, Ashibi Co. (Remastered).