Cruise Chaser Blassty (Japanese Video Game Obscurity)
Square’s first role-playing game sure has a lot going for it. For starters, it eschews fantasy traditions for sci-fi flavor, …
Fantasian (Dark Age of JRPGs)
Among the early Japanese RPG scene, Xtalsoft’s Mugen no Shinzou series is well known for combining the exploration of Ultima …
Star Control
The Star Control series, published by Accolade but primarily created by Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford, is known for …
Star Control II
Star Control II is a huge departure from the original. It takes the lore of the firstgame, which was largely …
Star Control 3
The Ur-Quan menace was successfully defeated by the destruction of their flagship at the end of Star Control II, but …
Site Updates: New Features, New Books, Patreon Goodies, and more!
Time for a semi-regular updates for everything that’s going on around these here parts. New (and Returning) Features and Columns …
Where in Hell is Carmen Santiago?
Broderbund’s Carmen Sandiego educational series was immensely popular in the late 80s and early 90s, enough to eventually earn it …
SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy
SNK’s fortunes have ebbed and flowed over the years, having gone bankrupt in 2001 then resurrected by Playmore, then floundering …
Animal Land Satsujin Jiken
Enix kickstarted the whole mystery Japanese adventure game craze of the 80s with Portopia Satsujin Renzoku Jiken, which was followed …
Legend of Hero Tonma
Legend of Hero Tonma is one of those ridiculously difficult arcade side-scrollers from Irem, continuing their traditional of previous games …
Cease and Desist – Parodies and Infringement in Video Games
Much of the video game industry was the Wild West during the 80s, particularly in Japan. Since it wasn’t regulated …
Monster Pro Wrestling
As wrestling video games grew in popularity in the early 90s (largely thanks to the Fire Pro Wrestling series, at …
Paladin (Dark Age of JRPGs)
Paladin (or “The Paladin“, as written in-game) is an early action-RPG released by Bothtec in 1985. Various Japanese sites indicate …
Wild Riders
Sega/Wow Entertainments’s Wild Riders is part of the company’s long line of intense arcade racing games, but it’s got a …
