Zillion (Master System) - Guest Post

Today on Super Adventures I've got good news! Mecha-neko's come back after a seven month absence to write another guest post, so I get to take the week off.

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Hey stranger-folk. I'm mecha-neko and today I'm playing a Master System game I found called Zillion. Or perhaps it's Z⚡LL⚡ON!

Developer:

Sega

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Release Date:

1987

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Systems:

Sega Master System

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Hmm, what to make of this? From the look of the pulsating ray-gun on the title screen, it's probably a light-gun game. But don't be fooled: the cat from Interpose (my very first Obscure-As-All-Hell Animated Cat Game August post!) twiddles ray-guns all over the place on his title screen, and that one turned out to be a side scrolling shooter. Yeah, that sounds right. "Zillion." It's like it fell right off the bottom of the periodic table or something. Gotta be a shooter.

In fact, the 27th of May is the thirtieth anniversary of Zillion! It was released in Japan on 27th May 1987. Happy birthday, Zillion! This post's going up a couple days late, 'cause cats work to their own calendar. (And I'm not making a new banner!)
But even so, why would I ever post another side-scrolling shoot-'em-up? You're just going to have to read on and find out!

Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (NES)

Developer:

Capcom

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Release Date:

1991 (90 in Japan and NA)

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Systems:

NES

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This week on Super Adventures, I'm celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Super Nintendo by playing a NES game!

Nah, not really. The SNES didn't come out where I live until 1992 so I've got nothing to celebrate yet. A NES game showing up on Super Adventures is kind of an event in itself though, because for whatever reason I haven't played one since way back in April. Of last year.

In the West this came out a few months after Super Mario Bros. 3 and a few months before the Super Nintendo, so I expect the developers likely knew what they were doing by this point (especially as it's made by Capcom!) But it's one of those games that's managed to slip by me entirely, so I've no idea what it's like or even what people think of it.

In fact I'm fairly sure I've never seen an episode of the Chip 'n Dale cartoon either, though if you showed me a picture of the characters I'd recognise it instantly. I'll even be able tell you which of them's Chip and which is Dale in a minute as the game starts off by asking me who I want to play as.

South Park: The Stick of Truth (PC)

Developer:

Obsidian

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Release Date:

2014

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Systems:

Windows, PS3, Xbox 360

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This week on Super Adventures I'm playing another game based on a cartoon series! It'd be fair to say that South Park: The Stick of Truth is a little better regarded than Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse though, as it's got over twice the score on metacritic.

In fact Stick of Truth gave Obsidian their highest metacritic score since Knights of the Old Republic II back in 2004, beating games like Fallout: New Vegas and Alpha Protocol. Which goes to show how broken metacritic is/how rubbish reviewers are, as Alpha Protocol's totally a better game than KotOR 2! It has an ending and everything.

I still can't believe that Obsidian of all developers were working on a 'South Park' RPG, though in retrospect I suppose I should be more surprised that they finished it, seeing as they have the worst luck with their licensed games. The original publisher for Stick of Truth went bankrupt a year before release, Aliens: Crucible and their 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves' prequel were both cancelled during development, and in a parallel universe they would've made a 'Wheel of Time' and a 'Star Trek' game as well. We're never going to get a proper single player 'Star Trek' RPG at this rate.

Though we did get a 'South Park' RPG and it's right in front of me, so I guess I should play it already.

(Click the screenshots to examine at their original resolution. It's not a great resolution, but it's bigger.)

Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse (PC)

Developer:

Heavy Iron

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Release Date:

2012

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Systems:

Xbox 360, PS3, Windows

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This week on Super Adventures I'm playing Family Guy™: Back to the Multiverse! Because suffering builds character.

Actually I'm genuinely curious about the game. I remember that reviewers thought it was terrible, but I don’t remember why. Do the jokes just not land or is the gameplay itself rubbish? I’ve a feeling the answer’s going to be ‘both’ but I’ll keep an open mind.

By the way did you know that 'Family Guy’ has been on air for 14 years at this point? It would’ve actually been 15 but the series took 2004 off due to being cancelled. The PC version of the game has taken a year off too, as it suddenly vanished from Steam back in December 2014. It's not alone though, as publisher Activision have pulled a bunch of licensed games over the years, including Deadpool and 007 Legends (it's like they don't even care about my plans to play every Bond game ever). But Deadpool eventually came back, so there’s still hope for Back to the Multiverse!

(Click the screenshots to view them in their original resolution.)

Inspector Gadget (SNES)

Developer:

AIM

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Release Date:

1993

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Systems:

Super Nintendo

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This week on Super Adventures I'm finally taking a look at this Inspector Gadget game like I was asked to.

It's obviously based on that famous 80s cartoon about the inspector who has gadgets. You know, the one where his dog and niece do all the work while he stumbles through danger like a cyborg version of Inspector Clouseau... I think. To be honest I haven't seen the series since I was in its target age demographic so I'm way fuzzy on the details, but I can at least remember that the girl's called Penny and his dog's Brian. Or is that 'Family Guy' I'm thinking of?

'Inspector Gadget' was actually the very first animated series to be presented in stereo and... oh hang on I'm looking at the cartoon's Wikipedia page here, just give me a second.

Okay here's some video game trivia for you: this is the third Inspector Gadget game released, it only came out on the SNES, and it doesn't start with the proper cartoon theme tune! Plus it was apparently developed by a company called AIM and published by Hudson Soft. AIM aren't very well known (to me anyway, I'm sure Iron Man's fought them a few times), but they've already had a couple of their games onto my site: SWAT Kats, which was based on another cartoon, and Fausseté Amour, which probably wasn't.

Gargoyles (Genesis/Mega Drive)

Developer:

Disney Interactive

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Release Date:

1995

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Systems:

Genesis

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Today on Super Adventures, I'm taking a look at Genesis/Mega Drive platformer Gargoyles, because everyone keeps asking me to. Apparently it's got some fans. Actually thinking about it, this is really just a Genesis game, as it was only released in the US and never made it to the Mega Drive regions.

It's based on the Disney cartoon of the same name that started in 1994, which ran for three seasons but somehow passed me by every time. I only caught the one episode and I don't remember it, so my knowledge of it is kind of limited. I do remember that it stars Keith David and half the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation... but that's entirely irrelevant as it's a 16-bit cartridge platformer so I'm likely to get 4 words of dialogue out of this at best.

Well I'm only assuming it's a platformer to be honest, I haven't actually checked, but it's an early-mid 90s cartoon tie-in so what else is it going to be? Look on my Game Series page, click 'Disney' and see how many of them aren't platformers. And that ain't because I've been deliberately avoiding all the 'Animaniacs' first person shooters.

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (NES)

Wow, you sure you've squeezed enough text on that title screen there? I'll admit right now that everything I know about G.I. Joe comes from the 2009 film, but I'm pretty sure this isn't the insanely cheesy theme from the TV series playing in the background right now. It's a catchy tune though.

I wish I could say I played this game because of the request I got on twitter, but the truth is that I originally wrote this post in April 2012 so that I'd have it ready to put it up on the site in time for the cinema release of G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Unfortunately for me it seems that Paramount realised at the last minute that killing off a popular character at the beginning of the movie was probably a bad idea and delayed the film by a year for reshoots, ruining all my plans in the process. The bastards. I didn't think there was any rush in showing off what I thought of a 1991 NES game though, so I held onto this until today, when the time was finally right.

Hurricanes (Genesis/Mega Drive)

After playing Soccer Kid, Hurricanes, Marko's Magic Football and Go! Go! Beckham! I had a feeling I'd seen all the football platformers. But just when I was resigned to the fact I'd have to move on to basketball platformers or whatever, I learned that there was actually still at least one of them out that I'd missed.

You see, I played the SNES version of Hurricanes, but there's actually a Genesis/Mega Drive game that apparently follows the same storyline (ie. the generic platformer level themes appear in roughly the same order), but seems to have different content and gameplay. So really it's another game entirely.

Hurricanes (SNES) - Replay

Super Adventures in Gaming Replay 2013 - Game 4

I said some words about SNES platformer Hurricanes way back in March 2011, but they weren't particularly good words and the sentences were even worse, so I'm giving it a rematch.

The game is based on a cartoon from the mid nineties that I've never actually seen, but that hasn't stopped the theme tune from getting permanently lodged into my brain anyway. So I'll have no clue how closely the game sticks to the series or who any the characters are, but I can at least say with absolute certainty that it doesn't have the right music.

Biker Mice From Mars (SNES)

Today I'm going to find out what this Biker Mice from Mars Super Nintendo game is. Seems more like 'Insect Robot Teddybears From Mars' looking at the logo.

I'm sure I must have seen an episode of the cartoon this is based on at some point, but I remember next to nothing about it. And anything I do remember probably actually came from that Avenger Penguins cartoon. But I'm sure all the crucial info I need to know is included in the game's title.

Action Man: Search for Base X (GBC)

Today I'm taking a look at Action Man: Search for Base X on the Game Boy Color, inspired by the action figure line, and possibly based on some comic book or advert storyline, I wouldn't know. I have no idea who either of these people are, or why that guy's head's on backwards, but I'm pretty sure I'm liking this music. It sounds like it belongs on a classic NES platformer like Mega Man.

007 Games Part 5: James Bond Jr. (Again)

Super AiG's Guide to Every (old) James Bond Game Ever, Volume 5

This is the ultra-rare alternative cover that I threw together myself just now.

James Bond week continues with a pair of games cursed with the same name, both only on Nintendo.

Generally the reason I play all these games is because I'm honestly curious about them and I want to know what they're like, but the SNES version of James Bond Jr and I are already acquainted. I played this game once already last year, and it'd be fair to say I didn't really enjoy it much. Also I hate it. But this is the only Bond game the Super Nintendo ever got and it'd be a shame to skip over the system entirely, so I'm playing it again. For you.

The Adventures of Batman & Robin (SNES)

Today I'm taking a look at the SNES version of The Adventures of Batman & Robin, because someone asked me nicely.

It's got the correct logo from the animated series, and it's playing the theme tune. So far so good. It's nice to see a password option too, though 'load game' would have been better.

The Simpsons: Bart's Nightmare (SNES) - Guest Post

I'm sick of these sci-fi games. We've had space robots, space dogs and space Marines all bunched up together.

I want to play something more colourful today!

A Simpsons game. Safe, predictable and probably a platformer. No getting lost in the darkness or hours of planet searching. Let's go!

Tom and Jerry 3 (NES)

This one was a request. I've already played Tom & Jerry 1 on the NES, but I'm skipping 2 because, well, there wasn't a second game. In fact there wasn't a Tom & Jerry 3 either; this was an unlicensed bootleg cart.

Tom & Jerry (NES)

Today I'm playing (by request) Tom & Jerry, aka. Tom & Jerry (and Tuffy). No clue who Tuffy is, except that he's not important enough to get to pose in glasses on the title screen. He doesn't even get an ampersand next to his name.

Will the game be any better than the last Tom and Jerry game I played? The title screen is making me think... no. But I've been wrong before.

Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu (GBA)

As title screens go it's not bad and the music's alright. Though it sounds more like it was meant for a Batman Beyond game.

I just hope this turns out better than Batman: Vengeance, the last GBA Batman game I played.

Batman: Vengeance (GBA)

Nice shiny logo. Seems good so far.

Akira (Amiga CD32)

Damn, that title does not mess around.

Cheese Cat-astrophe starring Speedy Gonzales (Master System)

It looks like it's mostly a cat-astrophe for poor Sylvester the Cat, who seems to become a victim of hit and run cheese theft.