Crash Bandicoot (PSX)

Today's 'C' game is Naughty Dog's PlayStation platformer pioneer Crash Bandicoot, or as I call it Banjo Kazooie. I dunno why I do that, the games aren't even all that similar as far as I know, I just continually end up saying the wrong name without fail and it's kind of annoying. So if you catch me slipping up, let me know in a comment and I'll get it sorted out. Seriously.

It should be noted that I haven't played a lot of early 3D platformers, so there's a giant black hole within my heart where my nostalgia should be. But that's fine! It means I can look at the game unbiased and unburdened by things like accumulated skills and experience, with no way to get sidetracked comparing it other games in the genre. If you're after 30 screenshots of a low polygon bandicoot falling down the first bottomless pit in the game, you're definitely reading the right article.

Charly the Clown (MS-DOS)

The first 'C' game I'll be looking at is... Charly the Clown: Run for Fun! There's so many games beginning with C in the world and yet I'm playing a 1995 DOS shareware platformer about a clown. Aside from that I don't know a thing about the game, but I caught a glimpse at the title screen and realised that it was meant to be. How could I say no to that face?

But there'd better be some amazing content in here Charly, you'd better not let me down!

Blood II: The Chosen (PC)

My final 'B' game for the year is going to be the infamous Blood II: The Chosen. It's not exactly the most highly regarded first person shooter ever made, but I figured I might as well give it a try, seeing as it came bundled with my copy of Blood 1.

(Click the pics to view them in a very slightly higher resolution. I'm playing it at 1024x768 in the hope that it'll stop it crashing every five steps I take.)

Elder Scrolls Online (PC) Beta - Part 3 - Guest Post

Welcome to the final part of an epic early look at the latest Elder Scrolls game, where guest poster Jihaus reveals his experience of the game from a MMO player's point of view. I explained why we're both writing about the same game in back in part 1, and if you want to see the game from the perspective of an Elder Scrolls fan, you might want to read what I thought about it in part 2 as well.

Today we get to take a different look at the beta of the upcoming Elder Scrolls Online, because this is going to be the first Elder Scrolls game I'll have played in my life. I have a passing knowledge of the series from various friends, but otherwise the series is new to me. I have however played other MMORPGS, with World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV clocking the most hours, so that's the perspective I'll be coming from.

This being an MMORPG it's a slow burn experience, so you'll be seeing a lot more time compression in this article than you're used to from SAG. Ray and I played this beta for about three days, which for an MMO is actually not far in at all.

We begin of course by logging in, which comes after the lengthy installation and setup that precedes most any MMORPG. I'm greeted by a short placeholder video that consists of text on a slideshow that tells me that my character is some poor schmoe who gets taken to an underground ritual site and carved up, and then wakes up without a soul in Oblivion, which as far as I know is hell. Then we get to see what our soulless protagonist looks like.

(Click the screenshots to view the 1024x786 resolution originals.)

Elder Scrolls Online (PC) Beta - Part 2

Congratulations, you have chosen to read part 2 of Super Adventure's epic three part Elder Scrolls Online beta event, where I take a look at the game myself. I wasted a page explaining why ESO is getting so many pages page back in part 1 and you can read an alternative view of the game from MMO fan Jihaus in part 3.

To be honest I'm kind of dreading the game. Part of it is that I'm very fond of Elder Scrolls and I don't want to play a shoddy MMO imposter dressed up in its mythology developed by a new developer who doesn't quite get the point. But also I don't much like the idea of being forced to co-ordinate with complete strangers just to make it through dungeons.

In fact the whole idea of being forced to be online for the whole game really puts me off, because I don't really want my embarrassing attempts at figuring out basic things for the first time to be on full display to crowds of people. But then I basically do that twice a week for this website so I should just get over it and play the game already. I mean it took forever to download all 30GB of it so I might as well.

(Click the images to expand them to an exotic 1265x786 resolution. Not what I set it to, but it'll do.)

Elder Scrolls Online (PC) Beta - Part 1

Today's B game is... the Elder Scrolls Online Beta! Yeah it's a stretch, but when I was offered a chance to play it I had to take it. Only a fool would let opportunity slip by just because it's alphabetically inconvenient.

I'm pretty sure that one of the M's in MMO stands for multiplayer, so I'll be joining up with a friend on this one. Not only are we going to be playing together, but we're each writing up our own opinions on it as well. He knows nothing about Elder Scrolls and I know nothing about MMOs, so between us we've got every angle covered.

So you've got two full articles here to choose from this time, from two different perspectives:

Ray Hardgrit plays the Elder Scrolls Online Beta.
I'm coming into this as basically a total MMO newbie and one of last people left on Earth who hasn't played World of Warcraft, though I'm very fond of the Elder Scrolls series. I've played all the PC and console games from Arena to Skyrim (yes even Battlespire), and I'll be comparing Elder Scrolls Online to them constantly.

Jihaus plays the Elder Scrolls Online Beta.
The guy has never touched an Elder Scrolls game and wouldn't know the difference between a Dunmer and a Dwemer, but he knows his shit when it comes to MMOs and will be able to analyse how Elder Scrolls Online measures up to the competition.

Pick the one that sounds the most interesting to you, or read them both if you feel like it. Then leave comments! Amazing, witty, inspiring comments.

BCV: Battle Construction Vehicles (PS2)

Today's B game is... BCV: Battle Construction Vehicles! AKA. Kensetsu Juuki Kenka Batoru: Buchigire Kongou!! Man I wish I could've made this title screen animated, it'd look so pretty with the cherry blossom blowing in the breeze.

This was one of the PlayStation 2's earliest games, out in Japan before the console had even launched in North America or Europe, though it took three whole years before it got an English release. Sadly the game never did make it over to the US, but it did make it over onto my shelf somehow; which is weird because I definitely didn't buy it. It just sort of appeared there one day out of nowhere. I'm hoping that if I play it for a bit and discover its dark secrets it might disappear again and become someone else's problem.

I do know that it was developed by Artdink, makers of A-Train, No One Can Stop Mr Domino, and a whole bunch of anime tie-in games. Though it's been published by Midas, which is kind of a big warning sign to me as... well it seems harsh to say that everything they touch turns to shit, but I haven't had a lot of luck with their games so far.