Kung Fu Heroes is an NES port of an arcade game called Chinese Hero. Either playing alone or with a friend, players take control of Jacky and Lee as they try to rescue the princess. Each level takes place on a singular screen as you beat up waves of enemies and find hidden bonuses. It isn’t a very complex game, but it is fun and colorful, even if the characters are depicted somewhat stereotypical. It’s the first installment of Culture Brain’s “Super Chinese” video game franchise, or as we know it over here, Ninja Boy. Unlike later installments of the game, it contains no RPG elements. Even so, I can think of worse 8-bit titles to spend an afternoon with.

Strange Journey is a completely different direction for the popular RPG franchise, and at the same time it takes it back to it’s classic dungeon-crawling and exploitation heavy style of the classic SMT: Nocturne. Taking place in a sci-fi setting in the near future, you take control of a soldier who was sent to investigate a black hole in the Antarctic. When you get there, you discover that the place is full of demons. Thanks to a special device however, you can communicate with some of them, and convince them to fight alongside you in true SMT fashion. The plot is dialogue heavy, but it will keep you hooked. Whether you’re new to the franchise or a diehard fan, Strange Journey will present an interesting new twist for the SMT franchise, while still giving gamers plenty of the RPG demon-collecting gameplay the series is known for.

Many people, including myself, thought that the movie starring Jean Claude Van Damne was the low point of the Street Fighter franchise. Or you may have thought it was the game based on said movie. However, you’d be wrong on both counts. At least that movie was goofy enough to get some chuckles out of, and you can’t blame a developer for wanting to cash in on the digitized fighter craze. This 3-issue comic from Malibu however, was Street Fighter at it’s worst. How bad was it? Capcom itself asked them to pull the plug. This despite the company giving the okay to Hasbro to make a line of action figures that barely look like Street Fighter characters.
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Jamestown is an independently developed bullet hell game. Developed and financed over a 2 year period by a three person team, Jamestown tells the tale of an alternate reality 17th century where the British are at conflict with the Spanish over colonies being established on Mars. In a deviation from our history books, the Spanish team up with martian aliens to wreak havoc on the British. Your character is a former prisoner saved from execution who sets out to clear his name. There are only 5 levels, but they are challenging and many of them have to be unlocked. You can use money earned during the missions to upgrade your ship. Up to 4 players can join you locally, and players will enjoy the beautiful graphics and twitch gameplay. Jamestown was included in Humble Indie Bundle 4, and it has downloadable content available for it on Steam. Fans of old-school shooters will love it, and if you got 3 friends, the co-op makes it even better.

Carmageddon was one of the most beloved – and controversial – PC games of the mid to late 90s. The game that began life as a vanilla Destruction Derby game was inspired by the movie Death Race 2000. In fact, at one point in its development it was even planned to be a sequel to the cult classic (this after a deal to attach it to the Mad Max license fell through), and a comic book was even produced. However, when that fell through as well, developer Stainless Games decided to make it into an original game of its own, and thus, Carmageddon was born. Taking control of one of several vehicles, you make your way through several tracks. You could win the race ‘traditionally’, but what fun is that? Why race to the finish line when you can destroy every other car, or run into all the hapless pedestrians in the area? Yeah, while the racing mechanics are fairly spot-on, the real fun is driving over pedestrians and seeing them explode into masses of blood and guts. This game was ported to N64 and PS1, but those versions were so awful that console players never got a chance to see what the fuss was about. However, the PC original was recently re-released on GOG.com, and an IOS version was also released with an Android version coming early next year. The original developers are also working on a kickstarter-funded sequel. If you missed this classic, now is a good time to check it out.

In 1981, Marvel published Chris Claremont and John Bryne’s classic tale, “Days of Future Past”. The storyline depicted an alternate future in which mutants and superhumans were rounded up and sent to internment camps before being slain. The storyline was ranked among the franchise’s best storylines, and the dystopia represents everything that the X-men were fighting to prevent.

Alternate time lines and parallel universes are a common trope in sci-fi and fantasy, none moreso than Marvel comics. Like DoFP, Marvel’s alternate universes have produced some of the company’s best stories. They’ve even published several series centered around them such as What If and Exiles. Here are 5 classic alternate realities from the House of Ideas.

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This is the second half of our thanksgiving week special. Like we did earlier this week, we got two cheap games you can play if you want to avoid the crowds. These games are $20 or less year round, so there isn’t any need for you to get up early, camp out, or get into store brawls over cheap blu-ray players. These games are downloadable, so you don’t even got to leave the house. We call it Green Everyday, because you save green everyday! Now click below and check out some cheap goodness.
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This week as you know, is Thanksgiving. The day after of course, is Black Friday. So the day after you spend a day being thankful for the things you got, you’ll no doubt spend cash on things you don’t need. Many of you however will loathe this event, either because you wish to show solidarity with the retail worker strikers, you’re low on cash, or you wish to avoid the insanity of the frenzied crowds. Even so, you’ll be envious of the deals that you could be cashing in on. Fear not, ya boys at Powet got your back. We got two editions of $20 GOTW coming this week. These games, as always are either at or below the $20 mark year round, so there is no need to get up early, stand in line, or fight through crowds. Matter of fact, you can cash in on them now. These games are downloadable and/or can be ordered from all major online retailers, so there is no need to leave the house. I’m gonna call this, Green Everyday. You’re welcome by the way.
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