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November 12, 2006

Sega Genesis Collection now available for PS2!


For those of you who had no clue, the Sega Genesis Collection has been released for the Playstation 2. What do you get? Well, for about $20 (the going price on Amazon) you get these 30 classic Genesis games:

Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
Altered Beast
Bonanza Bros.
Columns
Comix Zone
Decap Attack
Ecco the Dolphin
Ecco II: The Tides of Time
Ecco Jr.
Kid Chameleon
Flicky
Gain Ground
Golden Axe
Golden Axe II
Golden Axe III
Phantasy Star II
Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom
Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millenium
Ristar
Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi
Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Super Thunder Blade
Sword of Vermilion
Vectorman
Vectorman 2
Virtua Fighter 2

Not bad at all for 20 bucks, with lots of good games and only a couple on the stinky side. Usually, with these retro compilation packages (cough-- Taito Arcade Legends --cough) you have to suffer about 28 bad games and be lucky to have 2 good ones to play. This time, it's the other way around. Good job, Sega.

Still, I can't understand for the life of me who's going to be too excited over this. I've said it before and I'll say it again: the real thing will always beat emulation, hands down. There's nothing like playing on original hardware for that 100% genuine look and feel (be it on a Sega console or anything else), and if you don't actually own a Genesis or two along with your favorite carts then I'm not sure how you can call yourself a fan. Crap, I mean you can get a Genesis and a good assortment of games for what -- about 30 dollars? So what are you waiting for?

All the same, even though I already own every game that's on the Genesis Collection disc that I'd have any desire to play, I'm sure I'll end buying it in the end, if but for curiosity's sake. $20 isn't a whole lot to spend. But if only Sega would get with it now and give me what I really want: A SEGA ARCADE CLASSICS COLLECTION. Imagine that, some of the greatest arcade games of all time playable on your PS2. Damn, if they need any suggestions then here they are: Shinobi, Altered Beast, Golden Axe, Golden Axe Revenge of Death Adder (oh please, please, please!), Outrun, Shadow Dancer, plus some really old stuff I'd love to see like Pengo, Congo Bongo, and Star Trek. And please, I'm not talking about an arcade remix disc like that horrible one with Golden Axe on it that Sega released a year or two ago. I want the real thing, and it astounds me that we haven't seen it as yet. Throwing an emulator and some arcade roms together and releasing a compilation pack has to be an easy profit, no? Midway, Capcom, and Taito have all done it (several times), and Namco too, so why not Sega? I just don't get it.



July 16, 2005

Like many other geeks, I am very intrigued by hot Japanese cosplay girls, who unlike most of their American counterparts, can really pull it off. (Though, to be sure, sometimes the American girls are just as hot!)

The Japanese really seem to have fine sense of aesthetics, and most certainly are superior to Americans in this regard. This is nowhere more obvious than with their Megadrive box art. Just look at the crappy American artwork used for Genesis games compared to the stuff that was used in Japan and you'll get the idea.

On a related note, my most thrilling find of the week was coming across some artwork that was done by a Japanese artist for the Megadrive game Gynoug. Be sure to check it out on the features page.

-dandy

July 11, 2005


My God, is she a beauty or what? Just thought I'd be kind enough to share my discovery. If your head's not spinning as yet then there's more of her here, here, and here. Nothing like a lovely young woman to make a man forget about the ugly reality that is life on the planet earth. Just kidding. I don't think it's that bad, I guess. Or maybe I do. Or maybe I'm just trying to be dramatic.

On another note, I changed the reviews rating system from murky numerical values to the good old American academic standard: A, A-, B, B+, C, and so on. Should make it easier for people to get my opinion on a game at glance. Me too.

-dandy

July 10, 2005

So I finally beat Bloodlines without using one of those dirty cheat codes.


Yeah, so I'm about 10 years too late, but so what. Had more fun completing this game than anything on my PS2. Go figure.

Of course, I might not have been able to do it without the password continue option, but I guess that's what it's there for. Not to diminish my accomplishiment, of course, because I think I'm now some kind of Bloodlines champ, at least when playing as Eric Lecarde, who is immeasurably better than that John Morris whip-wielding guy who I bloody well can't stand.

No, I'm not English, but I bloody well can't stand him.


The whip-wielding hero is usually the standard of Castlevania games, however. Maybe that's why I like Bloodlines so much -- you get to play a hunky Spaniard in a skirt who wields a spear. That would be Eric Lecarde. He's got some good moves too. I don't know how I would have made it past half the bosses without using his old spear jump technique, bosses like the hot Princess of Moss who turned into a gigantic moth and tried to kill me just as I was falling in love with her.

So I had to kill her instead. It was a sad event, one that only furthered the nihilism that's eating me from the inside out until there's nothing left to snack on anymore. I mean eating him from the inside out -- Eric Lecarde. I'd never want to divulge anything too personal here.



And then there was Death, capital D.

But I kicked his ass too, though he was a tricky one. Very cunning. But then that's what Death's supposed to be, I suppose.

After Death there was another boss: another hot, aristocratic woman who suddenly turned into something really ugly. I had to kill her too. I mean he did, Eric Lecarde. And the despair gnawed upon his soul.

I won't show you a picture of her though. I don't want to give everything away. I don't want to spoil things for you in case you ever decide to play Bloodlines yourself, THE BEST CASTLEVANIA GAME EVER MADE, at least when you're playing as Eric Lecarde. Take my word for it.

Anyhow, after the second woman boss who turned into something really ugly and tried to finish me, I met up with Dracula. I won't show you him either. Don't want to spoil things for you. But this is what his throne room looked like:


Then he appeared. And I killed him.

And when it was all over and I was feeling on top of the world for having killed Dracula and finally completing Bloodlines without a dirty cheat code, I get this very brief, shitty ending that made me feel like the most cheated man on the planet:

Oh, sorry if I ruined it for you, showing you the end and all, but I just had to show you how jipped I got. After slogging through all those levels I defeat the Prince of Darkness only to get a short animation of Dracula's castle crumbling and the short-lived satisfaction of knowing that Eric Lecarde has "fulfilled his destiny as a vampire hunter." What the hell?

Despite the letdown of an ending though, I'm sure I'll be playing Castlevania Bloodlines again. And again. And then some. You should too.

And BTW: if the screenshots look like they're off a TV and not an emulator that's because they are. So stop being a pussy and buy yourself the real hardware, because playing Genesis games on the computer is the most pinko commie thing I've ever heard of.

-dandy

July 08, 2005 - If you're looking for a great Genesis action game that seldom gets any mention, I would suggest Mega Turrican.


What a great cart. To think I got it off of eBay with shipping for under $4.00. I'm not sure why Mega Turrican never gets talked about. Commodore Amiga fans rave about the Turrican series, but Sega 16-bit owners couldn't care less about this gem.

Say, speaking of the Commodore Amiga, can I tell you why it really sucked? Likely, if you're visiting a Sega Genesis website you don't know even know what a Commodore Amiga is, but I'll tell you why it sucked anyway.

Let me now enumerate the reasons why the Amiga sucked as a games machine.

1. Loading games off a floppy disk.
2. Loading games off a floppy disk.
3. Loading games off a floppy disk.
4. Loading games off a floppy disk.
5. Loading games off a floppy disk.
6. Loading games off a floppy disk.
7. Loading games off a floppy disk.
8. Loading games off a floppy disk.
9. Loading games off a floppy disk.
10. Loading games off a floppy disk.
11. A joystick with one button.

And there you have it. So please, I really don't want to hear about how Turrican 3 on the Amiga had better music than Mega Turrican on the Genesis (they're both the same game), because 1) that's debatable and 2) superior music can't make up for inferior graphics (yes, the Genesis is a step up when it comes to visuals) and shit-horrible floppy load times. Yeah, I want to play Turrican 3 on my Amiga so I can wait ages for the damn thing to boot up, and twiddle my thumbs as I wait for yet more loading between levels. OFF A FLOPPY DISK.

Oh, and a joystick with one button.

Even if you were a rich boy lucky enough to own a hard drive for your shitty Amiga back in the day, it just didn't matter, because 99 out of 100 Amiga games were NOT HARD DRIVE INSTALLABLE.

So if I hear yet one more "Amigan" talk about "the almighty Amiga," I'm really going to puke. Really. I just ate a foot-long, spicy Italian sub from Ralph's and it's going to be all over my keyboard. Dig? So stop saying it, that "almighty Amiga" crap. Because the Amiga sucked. Period.

I don't know why I'm feeling so cynical right now. To be honest, I really loved the Amiga back in its day. I owned one, you see, a Commodore Amiga. Had a lot of games for it too, very few of which I actually purchased. I remember going to stores and seeing the Genesis and SNES, but damn if I could afford a console and $40 games. So I stuck with my Amiga computer and sat loading video games off a floppy disk. It was an overall shitty experience.

But the Amiga is dead and for good reason. Commodore just didn't have a clue. Hey, what about built-in hard drive support, or a goddamn cartridge slot if you want to market the thing as a games machine (which Commodore seemed so obsessed with doing)? But this is ancient history. It doesn't really matter anymore. The only reason I'm talking about it is my life is so meaningless that I spend my time playing old video games and ruminating about the past. But surely you understand, no?

But anyhow, go play Mega Turrican. It's a really fun game. And please, if you're an Amiga nut please realize that the Genesis is a superior games machine, inferior sound chip or not, though I'm sure you'll be inclined to argue.

News Archive
Nov 10, 2004 - I've been doing quite a bit of work around here lately including adding some new sections, editing old reviews, and expanding and cleaning up the site up in general. Do let me know if you have any suggestions or if there's anything in particular you'd like to see in terms of additional content.
Nov 06, 2004 - OK, well it has come to my attention that maybe my diatribes are too depressing, so I cut a chunk out of my last update text and have decided that I'm only going to focus on things light-hearted from now on. Really.


I was playing some Streets of Rage 2 today and crap did I ever underestimate this game. Ever since I discovered the ever-so-simple tap-tap-attack combo (quickly hit the control pad right or left twice -- like running in Golden Axe -- then hit the attack button) this game is a blast to play. In fact, I can now plow through SOR 2 using nothing but that combo, destroying more hapless foes than ever before.


Hey, what happened to all the sexy Final Fight chicks? Too bad they're not in Streets of Rage. Instead we get characters like this fatboy above who's about to get a very painful lesson in ass-kicking. Yeah, he's kinda cool but he's no Roxy (or whatever the hell that Final Fight booby-girl's name was).

BTW, If you're looking for another good Genesis site, check out Scott H's (an alt.sega.genesis regular) awesome page here. He's got a lot of cool stuff up on it, like Genesis vs SNES comparisons and a lot of nice screenshots.

Later,

dandy

Nov 05, 2004 - Shucks. Nobody visits this page. What does it take to get some hits? I don't quite understand it, as surely my fantasic page is better than a lot of the other Genesis related sites I see on the web. Over four years (mein Gott, has it been so long?) and barely over 13,000 hits. What does that average out as? Hold on, let me do the math. Hmm. OK, well according to my calculator (if I know how to use it) that's approximately 8.3 people a day, which is just pathetic. Any wonder why I never update. If someone knows how I can increase my traffic x10 then please let me know.

Anyhow, even if no one wants to visit me I'm going to do a few things around here. As a matter of fact, I've decided that I need to update a little more often, like maybe once a week. Regardless of how few visitors I'm receiving, it might be good for me. I like to blabber. I don't do it enough, I think. I like writing. It's very cathartic. I like hearing the clickety-clack of my big tank-like IBM Model "M" keyboard as I type. This thing is built like a rock, unlike the cheaply built, lightweight plastic crap keyboards that are made nowadays. 10 years old and still going strong. Wunderbar. If there's one thing that's going to survive armageddon, it's this keyboard.


Guess what's finally seeing some action again? Yes, my Sega Genesis. Had it tucked away for quite a long time, and now it's back with a vengeance. Krikey -- was there ever a better console built? Sorry, but I don't want to hear about your sorry SNES. I bought a Super Nintendo two or three years back and tried out quite a few games, and I'm sorry to say it but the SNES blows. And no, I'm not just saying this because I'm some kind of Sega fanatic because, to tell you the truth, I didn't even have my first Genesis until 1999, and so it's not like I'm stuck on this machine because it brings back all those oh-so-wonderful memories of childhood or something.

OK, so maybe I'm being a little unfair, but what I'm saying is that the SNES just doesn't appeal to me. The only game I ever got into on it was Star Fox, which I do indeed remember playing on some girl's Super Nintendo way back in 1995. Yes, a girl with a video game system. Imagine that. She wasn't bad-looking either (yeah, imagine that too), though unfortunately the sex was HORRIBLE. But that is another tale.


But what I'm saying is that I think the SNES is an inferior machine. No, I don't want to hear about how much better the graphics and sound are, because, frankly, that doesn't mean poopoo to me. You think I'd rather be playing a 16-bit console over a X-Box or PS2 if graphics and sound were a consideration? So what if the Genesis doesn't have 256 colors on-screen like the SNES or if the music is technically inferior. Genesis games more than make up for it with stellar gameplay and a hell of a lot of style. I don't know what it is -- I can't exactly articulate it -- but Genesis games just play better than SNES titles and are usually much more interesting. Also, I can't stand the kiddie-oriented Nintendo themes. Sorry, call me close-minded but I think Mario games (beyond some NES originals) are pretty lame. Show me some SNES games that are as cool as stuff like Shadow Dancer, Bio-Hazard Battle, Strider, Splatterhouse 2 and 3, or as horny as Dragon's Revenge, and I'll take everything back. (And am I the only one who likes cheesy old school video game music? And am I the only one who thinks Castlevania Bloodlines is the absolute best CV game ever made?)

Anyhow, speaking of Dragon's Revenge, I've been playing it quite a bit lately. I have to say that it's the greatest video pinball game I've ever played. No, I don't think Psycho Pinball by the Codemasters was better, so please don't e-mail me saying Dragon's Revenge sucked and Psycho Pinball was 100 times better. Again, pretty visuals vs. hardcore playability, run-of-the-mill theme vs something with a lot of style.


Dragon's Revenge is a great game. If you don't believe me then try it yourself, preferably on a real Genesis or Megadrive. I personally hate playing games on an emulator, though I know some of you prefer it. It just doesn't feel the same as being in front of a TV with the original hardware and a fat Genesis 3-button controller in your hands. My hands. My big, powerful dandy hands.


And if the chick in Dragon's Revenge coos any more, I'm going to have to do something drastic. And let's just leave it at that.


Well, I'm off to play some more Dragon's Revenge, maybe a little Shadow Dancer. Maybe I'll put some pictures up this weekend. Maybe. But if you have anything to say then drop me a line. It always warms the cockles of my heart to hear from a fellow Genesis fan. BUT IF YOU E-MAIL ME PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS-LOCK KEY, BECAUSE GOD KNOWS I'VE ALREADY GOTTEN ENOUGH E-MAILS LIKE THAT.

-dandy


Feb 27, 2004 - It sucks how what once completely wooed us often loses its magic over time, how we always come to expect more and more. I mean, people look at games that are even a couple of years old and say that the graphics suck, or that the game looks dated. How the hell is it that what was once so much fun comes to be seen as so obsolete and pathetic? How can a Genesis or NES game that used to be so fun to play now be panned or scoffed at?


I don't understand it, this way people have of sloughing off things considered "old" or "outdated" and forsaking their aged games for X-Boxes and Gamecubes or the latest first-person-shooter on the PC. I myself have come to the realization that I find more pleasure going back to the basics, stuff that predates even the Genesis by quite a few years -- early 80s arcade games like Mr. Do and Bagman made possible by MAME, consoles like the Atari 2600 and Intellivision, archaic 8-bit computers like the Commodore 64. And there's a certain smug feeling of superiority I get from being a bit older, knowing that I saw the very dawn of video games as we know them. I just can't help it. I think the first video game I ever saw was a stand-alone Pong console running on a friend's black and white TV. After that, it was a Space Invaders game at a pizza parlor in New Jersey. A couple of years later I was lucky enough to get my aunt and uncle's unwanted Atari 2600 unit. I think my most thrilling Christmas ever was opening a box containg a used A2600 console and a handful of loose Atari carts -- that, and a boxed Dungeons & Dragons basic set (the Erol Otus cover art version), though the latter is a geeky story I won't get into here.


A few years later I scored a Sears Super Video Arcade Intellivision clone when they were being liquidated from Sears at $40 a unit. Sure, by that time the Intellivision was pretty much dead -- it would be almost like getting a new Dreamcast for the first time today -- but man was I thrilled.


Soon after that began my love affair with the Commodore 64. At first I only had the keyboard until one of my uncles was generous enough to buy me the disk drive -- an unexpected boon. Suddenly, a whole new world opened up before me and my geeky life was to be forever altered. Within a few months, a friend of mine from school sold me a 300 baud Vic-modem and I was logging onto BBS'es for the first time in my life. Talk about mind-blowing. I guess the only thing comparable would be 1995 or so when the Internet was practically brand new to the public and it was unlike anything ever seen before.


That kind of magic seems gone now though. Yeah, the CPUs are faster than what was ever imagined and people have massive craploads of RAM, super-powered video cards, hundreds of gigabytes of hard drive storage, and the graphics are pretty amazing, but it all seems so boring. Try as I do, I just can't get into new games the same way. Why is that? I keep asking myself that question, wondering if I'm simply turning more and more nostalgic as I get older or if the games of yesteryear really were more fun to play. I mean, why would I rather be playing an 8 or 16-bit game over something like Half Life 2? Why do I consider that more fun? Is it because those are the games that I have some unconscious, emotional attachment to or is it simply that I prefer simple gameplay mechanics? I'm not certain, but I do know that the only thing my 2 ghz CPU is good for is running late 80s/early-to-mid 90s arcade games at a smoother framerate on MAME (my older AMD K6 2 500 machine chokes on something like Phelios or R-Type Leo) as I'm obviously not playing any new PC games.


As for the Genesis, I never had one back in its day. The console and the games were just too expensive. I was on an Amiga then, playing RPGs like Dungeon Master or great action games like Speedball 2. My first Genesis I picked up in 1999 at Toys 'R Us: the $19.99 Majesco Genesis 3. I remember being amazed at the fact that 16-bit consoles were still being sold. There I was, aimlessly wandering the games section looking at the PC stuff, and here was this little Genesis 3 unit with a ludicrously low $19.99 pricetag on it. And so began my exploration of consoles I had never owned: the Genesis, NES, Super Nintendo, Turbo Grafx 16. Of course, that probably would have never happened had it not been for places like eBay.


So what games do I have the most feeling for now? Like I said, probably early 80s arcade and console stuff as well as 8-bit computer games I remember from my days spent on the Commodore 64. If I could only own one game machine from the time of the NES on, however, it would probably be the Genesis, even if offered an X-Box, Gamecube, or PS2. I don't know -- guess I'm just weird that way. Or maybe I'm just too retro, and will most likely be even when the current old school gaming fad dies out.

Surely I'm not alone in this?

-dandy


November 28, 2002 - Did you think I was never going to write another update? Yeah, I'm sure you've all been holding onto the edge of your collective seat.

Nothing new on the Sega front. My Genesis gets some action every now and then in the form of me slapping a cart like Castlevania Bloodlines into its slot and hungrily grabbing its smooth, supple controller with my powerful hands and engaging in about 20 minutes of rough play.

Lately, however, my time has been given to another machine: the Mattel Intellvision. What a rake I am. No sooner does one machine catch my fancy then I'm off to another. I can't help it though -- my Intellivision is damn sexy (it's a Tandyvision system, actually). Man, there's something about fake woodgrain paneling on a video game console that really turns me on!


Christ. What a lonely life. Is it any wonder that the highlight of my day was playing Frog Bog and that I spent Thanksgiving night eating Taco Bell? I'm sure Christmas is going to be even worse. And just think: only 50 more years to go -- or longer, given the rapid advancements being made in medical technology. I think that by the time I am an old man the average lifespan of the American male will be about 90 years.

Crap.

What else? Hmm... let me think. So I had a Nachos Supreme. No other real news to report. Hey, people: stop e-mailing me asking me where you can find a Genesis gamepad or Herzog Zwei. Haven't you people ever heard of eBay? Sheesh.

By the way, you should know that German is fun to learn when you do it with the help of old Commodore 64 games. My German teacher would be proud. Look at this one. Looks like an Ultima rip-off.

Du hast ein Achtel verloren!

Was eine klasse Maschine war die Commodore 64. Deutschen: absenden mir bitte e-mail. Ich muss mein Deutsch mit den wahren Deutschen üben. Ich liebe deine Sprache, aber leider mein Deutsch sehr schlect ist. So warum nicht mich helfen? Danke!

For the benefit of the non-German-speaking world, what I just said (in very bad German) is that I enjoy wearing tight underwear and watching my favorite TV show, CHiPs, while eating Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Is there anything wrong with that? Hey, by the way, here is a portrait of me some great computer artist was kind enough to draw (no, I'm not the one with the tits). If only I could thank him in person.

Bye for now.

-dandy

July 14, 2002 - Hello again. Been poking around here the past few days; updated my "favorites" list (see below) and scanned a few old Genesis magazine ads that I'll be putting up soon. Hey: I've had a change of opinion regarding Streets of Rage 2 and so I updated the review (the first one was just a tad critical). Edited a few other reviews too.

Went to an arcade today for the first time in... years? Man, what a bore. Arcades are pretty sorry nowadays. Most of the "new" games I see out there don't look like anything you couldn't find on a Dreamcast, Gamecube, or PS2. Actually, most look a lot worse. Probably the most graphically impressive game I saw was Tekken 4, and, to tell you the truth, I found it to be a real bore. New generation games, apart from the occasional gem, just don't excite me. They don't have any spirit. 3D can get pretty lame, especially those boring-ass fighters like the Tekken series. And the worst part about it is games nowadays cost .50 - $1.00 for one lousy play, and, unless you're really good, that lasts what -- a few minutes?

So I walked around for about an hour and went through five bucks worth of tokens. The place was warm and smelly and crowded and I was hard pressed to find a machine worth playing. The best games without a doubt are early 80s to mid 90s machines, and there were very few of those to be found. I ended up playing some lame crap like Sunsetriders (ugh--the Genesis version is actually better than the coin-op) and Raiden Trad (which was fun but pretty difficult). The lighting in this place was pretty horrible too, so that half of the games I played had bad glare on the screen. What the hell ever happened to dark arcades? What also sucked was that the machines had their sound turned down so low that you could barely hear anything. What sucked even more was that this place didn't even have one pinball machine. Three of those faggy Dance Dance machines with some sweaty bastard hopping all over some disco light mat and not one pinball. Exceedingly lame. Well, at least I know that I'll never be going back anytime soon.

courtesy of ScreenMania

Now, if I could find an arcade stocked with some vintage machines, then that'd be another story. Had I seen a Final Fight, Rastan, Gladiator, or Black Tiger, then I wouldn't be complaining right now.

December 23, 2001 - Added "my other systems" section, featuring a rundown of some of my non-Sega machines. Check it out.
December 21, 2001 - Wow. Has it been 8 months since an update? Well, not much new happening on the Sega 16-bit front for me. Most of my gaming time has been spent on the PSX and Dreamcast for a while now. No, I can't/won't afford a PS2 or Gamecube as yet - way too pricey. I don't think I want to be paying $50 a game. That's pretty steep, no?


But my Genesis remains a faithful companion, even if it hasn't been getting much use lately. My favorite carts are always close at hand, however, the same ones that have been my favorites for quite some time now: Castlevania Bloodlines, Strider, Super Baseball 2020, 6-Pak (Golden Axe, anyone?). If I could only have four Genesis carts, those would be the ones.


Ah, my [Majesco] Genesis 3 is so cute - my Genesis of choice nowadays. You can still get them brand spanking new at Amazon.com for $19.99. Just click here. What a steal, no? (They also have new Game Gear systems for $29.99!)


Throwing some Sega CD reviews/pictures up this weekend that have been sitting on my drive for the past 8 months. I also have some cover scans that might be going up as well.

Bye for now.

-dandy











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