by William Talley, filed in Lost Classics on Feb.28, 2015
Metroid II is seen as the dark horse of the franchise. In fact, it was slightly panned by critics when it was originally released. However, while it wasn’t as received as favorably as its predecessor at the time, it would go on to become one of the biggest games on the original Game Boy, and the events of the game would have major repercussions for every other Metroid game that followed outside the Prime trilogy. Taking control of series hero Samus Aran, players travel to SR388, the Metroid homeworld to permanently wipe out the species (of course we all know how that ended). There is even a counter to display the number of Metroids remaining on the planet to drive home the fact that Samus is basically attempting galactic genocide. In a bit of a departure from the series norm, Samus starts the game with both the missiles and the morph ball. In true Metroid fashion, players will find other suit upgrades. Despite the Game Boy’s limited color palette, the game’s graphics are surprisingly detailed. You’ll also encounter bizarre new enemies, and you’ll see the evolution cycle of the titular creatures. Fans of the series will no doubt want to play this game. If you’re a member of Club Nintendo, you can get this game on the 3DS virtual console for only 150 coins until June 30th.
Rob Matsushita is a Madison, WI based filmmaker and playright. More importantly for our purposes he is also host of the 10 Minutes About Your Favorite Movie podcast on the Little Podcast Network. We’re big fans of his show, and thought that the best way to get Dojo Disciples to become fans to is to show him how awesome it is through the lens of video games. Fortunately, Rob plays them too. Vinnk, Sean, and Rob give each other their top five favorite games, and chose one to talk about for ten minutes. Er, apiece. This is Ten Minutes About Your Favorite Video Game! Times three.
Leave your own voicemail at 608-492-1923, or just share your thoughts in the show notes at FamicomDojo.TV: http://famicomdojo.tv/podcast/108
Is it wonderful or worrying that two grown men need a place to store all of their stuff from a childhood that in some ways never ended? Or is doing a podcast and video series about classic video games excuse enough? Vinnk and Sean have both moved into new houses, and new places to keep all of their cool stuff. Sean rediscovers Punch Out for Wii in Future Retro, and Vinnk tells the harrowing tale of his missing Retron 5 in Pile of Shame.
Leave your own voicemail at 608-492-1923, or just share your thoughts in the show notes at FamicomDojo.TV: http://famicomdojo.tv/podcast/104
April 21, 1989 saw the release of the Nintendo Game Boy in Japan. Bundled with Tetris in the North American market, the system would go on to dominate the mobile gaming market and give Nintendo a lead that they have not lost since.
I still have my original Game Boy and many of it’s games. Share your memories of the system and your favorite games in the comments!
There are a lot of couples in video games, but is there romance? Mario and Peach, Luigi and Daisy, Link and Zelda, The Brooding Loner and the Star-crossed Japanese Flower Girl Who Loves Him, and — of course — Samus and the baby Metroid. Do any of these games do romance well, or is it just assumed? And how far is too far with player-to-NPC romance? Sean and Vinnk wonder if video games can truly ever be your Valentine as they discuss these problems, the likelihood of your characters ever finding true digital love, and the potentially unfortunate state of Princess Zelda’s armpit hair.
When Nintendo reported two straight quarterly losses in early 2011, followed by a less-than-stellar initial release of its new 3DS handheld console, it didn’t take long for the naysayers to begin spelling the company’s doom.
This is a familiar dance. It started in the ’90s, when Nintendo’s veneer of dominance started cracking in the face of competition with the Sega Genesis. Or maybe it was the decision to abandon the CD format for the Nintendo 64 when Sega and Sony made the leap. Or perhaps it was because, even with the GameCube, no Nintendo console had sold better than its predecessor — that is, until the release of the Wii.
However, despite calls that Nintendo abandon its hardware ambitions — even with the new wrinkle of the ever-rising iOS platform — there are plenty of reasons why Nintendo would never, could never, and should never stop making TV or handheld consoles.
We’ve been at TGS for almost two days now, and we’re SO INCREDIBLY BUSY (and have been having such a great time) that we haven’t been able to get up a lot of our coverage on a day-to-day basis. But if this is any indication of the kind of time we’re having, then the rest of the show must be amazing, right?
So please enjoy our PRE-show video before we get into the swing of things. Day 1 video diary forthcoming!
It’s hard for the average gamer to play absolutely EVERYTHING, even everything that’s good. But is that any excuse? Should gamers be shamed for failure to expose themselves to certain kinds of games? In our first Video Game Confessional, Vinnk and SeanOrange talk about the game franchises we should have played, but didn’t. And for good measure, we also discuss a few games we love to death, but have no business liking.
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Metroid II is seen as the dark horse of the franchise. In fact, it was slightly panned by critics when it was originally released. However, while it wasn’t as received as favorably as its predecessor at the time, it would go on to become one of the biggest games on the original Game Boy, and the events of the game would have major repercussions for every other Metroid game that followed outside the Prime trilogy. Taking control of series hero Samus Aran, players travel to SR388, the Metroid homeworld to permanently wipe out the species (of course we all know how that ended). There is even a counter to display the number of Metroids remaining on the planet to drive home the fact that Samus is basically attempting galactic genocide. In a bit of a departure from the series norm, Samus starts the game with both the missiles and the morph ball. In true Metroid fashion, players will find other suit upgrades. Despite the Game Boy’s limited color palette, the game’s graphics are surprisingly detailed. You’ll also encounter bizarre new enemies, and you’ll see the evolution cycle of the titular creatures. Fans of the series will no doubt want to play this game. If you’re a member of Club Nintendo, you can get this game on the 3DS virtual console for only 150 coins until June 30th. 
