A new edition of Retro Corner Reviews is up and this time we are taking a look at the Super Game Boy for the Super NES. There was once a time when us Golden Age Gamers were stuck using monochrome Nintendo Game Boys. Despite the competition having full color and even a backlit screen like Sega Game Gear and Atari Lynx, they didn’t have a diverse library to enjoy. Sega might’ve had Mortal Kombat in color with blood and gore in their versions, but Nintendo had many bangers even in the early years. Aside from the Sonic series, Mortal Kombat and a few gems are all that were offered on Game Gear. While the GB had four double A batteries that lasted longer and there were many genres to choose from. That is the reason the Game Gear after a few years of being on the market, saw it in bargain bins along with the Atari Lynx. That is why Nintendo’s first portable lasted well into the late 90s especially thanks to Pokemon releasing in 1996 to 1998.
That is where the SGB comes in and would see its release in mid-1994 for the Super NES. During the time, Sega and NEC had their CD addons on the market that continued to flop in sales. Thanks to the abundance of shoddy games that paled in comparison to the base systems and the ridiculous price cemented these facts. Nintendo rather than releasing their CD add-on after the fallout with Sony, they would drop these plans all together. Instead, they produce the SGB cartridge to allow black and white GB titles to play on the TV. That is why the House of Sonic continued to struggle for the rest of the decade. It is the reason Nintendo, even after losing to Sony, continued to stay in the black. The adapter did more than give extra color but through the SGB cartridges would offer special features that weren’t possible on the original portable. After three decades, how well does the Super Game boy hold up compared to its successor the Game Boy player? Super Game Boy (Super NES) Review
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A new edition of Horror Gaming is up, and the Halloween season has begun for us to celebrate the usual ghastly festivities. To start the spooky season off, this edition has us take a look at an original gaming creepypasta called Conplus. During 2014, gaming CPs as explained many times weren’t known for quality storytelling aside from a few gems. It was also a time when a few writers tried breaking away from the constant tropes that often was the scary part of these plots. Godzilla NES and Metroid II: Secret Worlds were the first to raise the bar thanks to good writing. Another thing that made these set the bar higher is the quality depictions of what the characters explained were happening to them. While you don’t need imagery to create a unique horror tale, it does add to the immersion and allows your imagination to go even more wild. In the early 2020s, creepypastas began losing their luster thanks to poor writing, authors who can’t take criticism and obnoxiously long one to two sentence titles. The bar might’ve been raised high but it’s obvious these gaming CP authors have moved to a much better format of Analog Horror.
Conplus is an original gaming creepypasta similar to the Theater and Pale Luna that tells a tale of a man recalling playing an odd Super NES title. It was also a multicart in the same vein as Action 52 that is known to have poorly designed games on them. However, unlike Action 52, Conplus's games were developed competently with no broken designs according to the story. There is one odd feature of this cartridge, and it’s how a plastic bubble was placed on the top right. The only cartridge based release to have this feature was the Game Boy Camera. The CP does have that uniqueness to the theme and there was never a Super NES cart to have a camera like function. That really does add to the curiosity of what it could’ve been based on the fact the cover gives no indication of being a multicart release. When we look at the Sega 6-Pak and Super Mario All Stars, usually these carts tell us what’s inside. Conplus features six games each being from rarely used genres in the industry. However, the man remembers some strange things about playing each one after going through their challenges as an adult. Will the man discover the games were as he remembers them or something evil, he finds there as an adult? Conplus Creepypasta Review A new edition of Retro Corner Reviews is up, and we finally tackle a Sega CD game called Vay that was a JRPG. Developed by Hertz who are known for putting together the Genesis port of Outrun was tasked to produce a traditional role playing game. When it came to RPGs in general, the Mega Drive was a distant second to the Super NES that had hosted many titles of the genre. That forced Sega to produce their own games like Phantasy Star to make up for the lack of these titles. It is one of the reasons the House of Sonic wanted to release their own CD add-on beyond trying to stay competitive. While Compact Disks as a format was the next thing for gaming, Sega was obviously trying to get the genre on their platform. This was to entice third parties to develop on the Sega CD using the more advanced technology then the base system couldn’t perform. As history tells us, that didn’t work out for the House of Sonic for more than just this genre. Despite getting a string of decent games, the addon’s lineup was nowhere near the quality of the Super NES’s JRPG library.
For Vay it is titled this based on the plot about an advanced alien mech crashing on a planet that was still developing. Over a thousand years ago, a battle was waged far from most civilized planets in space. In the midst of the war, one lone large mech veered off randomly straight into unknown space after its pilot was killed. It eventually crashed on a world that was still primitive in a medieval age and on auto pilot the advanced armor attempts to destroy all life across the planet. Eventually, five of the powerfullest wizards cast a spell to subdue and seal away the advanced mechanized armor. After a millennium had passed a marriage between a prince named Sandor was set to marry his lover Elin to ensure the Lorath Kingdom was secure. However, his kingdom was unaware the Danek Empire was staging an invasion using technology from the legend to attack and kidnap Elin. Now, Sandor must brave an adventure to save his lover and stop the Danek Empire from its conquest across the world. The gameplay follows the traditional format that many studios used regardless of what quality they were. Can the studio of Hertz redeem their previous work? Vay (Sega CD) Review A new edition of Retro Corner Reviews is up, and we tackle another NSO Game Boy game called Kirby’s Dream Land. It isn’t a surprise to see Kirby be added as one of the first titles on GB NSO. He, among Mario, Wario and Link, is quite recognizable even when certain gamers haven’t touched any games from this series. It is a perfect way to have them try Kirby for the first time especially when having his earlier titles from the 90s available on this service. The first entry can also show where he began his adventure rather than through the modern releases. There is no doubt Star Stacker for GB as well as Nightmare in Dream Land for the GBA will eventually get added. However, having the Pink Wonder’s debut title available for these gamers to try is always a good thing. It is also a good thing to experience where some of the familiar mechanics originate from.
Now, his debut title along with Kirby’s Adventure on the NES is considered sleeper hits. Meaning, Nintendo did advertise the Game Boy release with a short animated commercial showing you don’t have to look like an action hero to take the role. While the second entry on NES came out during the system Twilight Years in 1993 when people were too busy with the 16-bit consoles. The mechanics here are often considered simplistic akin to Super Mario Land. However, when has anyone heard of a character that uses his mouth to suck enemies up and spit them out as if he was a vacuum? In a sea of copycat mascots — Aero the Acrobat and Bubsy to name some — Kirby was able to set himself apart from even the successful ones. Sometimes having a character with an outlandish appearance and ability from the usual is what’s needed. The theme of the original game is about Kirby trying to stop King DeDeDe from hoarding all the food of Dream Land for himself. So how good does the Star Warrior’s first outing stand the test of time? Kirby’s Dream Land (Game Boy) Review A new edition of Retro Corner Reviews is up and as we enter the Spring season, I have an NSO Game Boy game to cover. It is called Game & Watch Gallery 3 that was released on the GBC in December 1998 months after the handheld was upgraded to a color edition. G&W3 along with the original game on GB were two titles I spent hours playing through in the late 90s. I don’t remember when they came into my collection back then (probably as stocking stuffers during Christmas) but the gameplay was addicting. The series might not be as good as the Mario Parties or the Mario Karts however, Game & Watch Gallery does serve it purpose as a time waster. Even RPGs are classified under such a term regardless if grinding to a higher level or proper progression is there.
The third entry continues the same format from its predecessors that features five games remade using the GBC hardware. Nintendo usually does a fantastic job remaking previous games when Super Mario All Stars set the gold standard. It is clear they were attempting those same standards for the G&Ws because this has proven to work. It is no SMAS by any means considering the NES titles have aged well enough to play today. Compared to those old portables, none of them have the same luxury unless recreated in a modernized form as seen here. That is why remaking these classics is a good thing because it gives us those quality of life features missing previously. Nintendo has an outstanding track record of producing the best remakes. Now, this completion includes Egg, Greenhouse, Mario Bros (not the same Arcade title), Turtle Bridge and a variant of Donkey Kong Jr. Can a fresh coat of paint bring these oldies to life? Game & Watch Gallery 3 (GBC) Review A new edition of Sacred Reviews is up, and we check out an infamous Zelda: A Link to the Past hack called Parallel Worlds to close the winter. Originally, a user named SePH developed an ALTTP hack called Tower of the Triforce in 2003. He/she eventually scrapped it due to the game being glitchy and nearly unplayable. That is when he/she reworked the concept and then teamed with another user named Euclid to produce Parallel Worlds in 2006. The hack has seen a few revisions not only from the original team but from other modders in the community. The Remodel Edition (version 1.1) was edited by two users called PuzzleDude and qwertymodo in 2012. It was an attempt to address the many issues that plagued the design of PW. The Original and version 1.0 were notorious for their unfair difficulty where the environments and enemy/trap placements were the issue. Now, the first time I heard of PW is when a YouTube user named Mutahar from SomeOrdinaryGamers narrated the legend of Zelda Bootleg Creepypasta. In that edition of Haunted Gaming, he was playing the first version of Parallel Worlds while narrating the story. That is where I learned about these hacks and was blown away by the differences some of them had from the Vanilla game. PW is also the perfect seasonal game to play as the theme involves an Icy World akin to the Dark World. While this alternate Hyrule might be in a spring season, the hack mostly revolves around the harsh winter conditions of the opposite realm. The plot is about Link (who’s a treasure hunter) gets contacted by Zelda to release her from a prison in Hyrule’s Guardhouse. Upon rescuing her, he learns she along with six maidens come from a different world who each have knowledge of a place called the Parallel Tower. The Hylian King named Draegor has already captured six maidens and has a plan to solve the tower’s puzzle for his evil intentions. The Legend of Zelda: Parallel Worlds Remodel Review A new edition of Sacred Guides is up, and we finish the Holiday season off with part 2 of Hyrule’s Christmas DX. I hope everyone had a great Christmas this year as we now reflect on things with New Year’s approaching. As a new year ends, we start getting back to our usual routine of non-holiday events. Sure we have Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day, but these are holidays one can skip over if they want. Even Easter is another example anyone that has no beliefs can pay no mind to. However, the Wintery Holidays has something that can either be celebrated as a religious or national events depending on the individual. Some of us still have our childhood memories of receiving video games as gifts. There are even moments where most would look for that familiar square box design that the Golden Age Era came packaged in.
For the Guide it is something I kept putting off for four years when Sacred Realm Tower was a separate site. It was the constant switching between the main website and the sister one that kept me away. For once I actually finished the second part to this Quest because switching between sites in the editor wasn’t a pain anymore. It was the same thing for some of the other quests I covered as a part 2 to Ballad of a Bloodline was never published. Fortunately, I saved all my notes to write part 2 and even have the captures ready to use. Eventually, the other parts will get written once there is enough time for me to do them. The guide that is being covered has the player continue exploring the village as we tackle the last two dungeons to save Christmas. Hyrule’s Christmas DX Part 2 I have an old edition of Sacred Guilds to show, and it is when I posted a walkthrough of Hyrule’s Christmas DX in December 2018. There was a reason I started Sacred Guides back then and it was a chore to watch let’s plays of these quests. We the Zelda Classic users were either stuck with that or had to search PureZC forums to find out any detail about cryptic level design. I even posted a comment on a video of a Let’s Play in the Origin quest about how to progress in the second dungeon. It always made me wonder why no one created a walkthrough database for ZC because sites like PureZC could use something like that here. While these cryptic designs mostly come from NES style adventures, sometimes it is good to have something to find and progress. Unless you want to bomb every wall and burn bushes one could find that has no indication is the only way to know anything.
Now, the guide itself continues our holiday countdown because this is a short quest to cover. However, the cryptic design from Ballad of a Bloodline is still used here to find the things needed in Myra's adventure. That is where this walkthrough is here, so you don’t stress on missing something. It’s the reason one could miss the slash ability if they don’t know there is a hidden tree in BOAB. The purpose of these NES designed secrets is to keep the concept of figuring progress out for yourself—There is a place for difficult games to exist otherwise we wouldn’t have the Dark Souls series. However, a hint in the form of discoloration or a slight difference in a tree and rock is placed would still be nice to have. Let’s continue the holiday countdown with the first part to Hyrule’s Christmas DX. Hyrule's Christmas DX Part 1 There is an old edition of Sacred Reviews reuploaded, and it is when I reviewed Hyrule’s Christmas DX in 2018. If you are familiar with Ballad of a Bloodline from CastChaos and Twilight Knight, then they also made a prequel called Hyrule’s Christmas. However, unlike the main game, HC is an actual short quest starring Knil’s (Link of the story) girlfriend Myra. The thing about Zelda Classic is there are not that many that use Christmas as its theme. Aside from the one covered here and Link’s Quest for Christmas — an 8-bit NES style adventure — often a warmer season or just the traditional Eurasian medieval style from the official series is used. It is surprising to find such themed quests even though there are so little of them. The fact a real wintery festival and its traditional music appearing in a variant of the Zelda verse are hilarious.
Now, according to the backstory, HC is actually a prequel to Ballad of a Bloodline since it involves the same characters. The plot centers around Myra where one morning a being known as the spirit of Christmas tasks her with stopping a dark entity. The spirit explains that because of this dark being is the reason joy isn’t being spread across the kingdom. As Knil sleeps in Myra sets out around the town to find and put an end to this evil entity to spread holiday joy. The concept for Zelda is truly hilarious that Hylians celebrating the famous wintery holiday is next level parody. I find this similar to Doom’s Christmas mods that was designed in a parody manner. The Doomer Board’s Christmas Carol and DBK Holiday Special (a Doom version of Jingle All the Way) did something similar to this concept. Can CastChaos and Twilight Knight replicate what the Doom Mod community did? Hyrule's Christmas DX Review I have an old edition of Sacred Guides to show, and it’s a post from the former sister site. It was posted four years ago until I decided to close down Sacred Realm Tower and make this a section for Retro Gamer Junction. The walkthrough is for a Zelda Classic quest called Ballad of a Bloodline DX. Similar to those hacks akin to Zelda: Parallel Worlds, BOAB gives us a “what if'' type tale where it’s about the story playing out differently. While the gameplay is similar to Link’s Awakening, the level design also follows both the Original NES game and A Link to the Past. Another thing about this quest is it also reminds me of the Autumn season. Maybe the colors the creators used, or it is the custom visuals that was created for the ZC program, that Autumn flare is often present in the game. You will discover this all over the quest even in environments one would never expect to find them. Now, the thing about BOAB or quests developed by CastChaos and Twilight Knight is they loved being cryptic in their designs. Just like with the Third Quest, this walkthrough will be written in a similar manner. There are many things users will miss the first time around like finding the sword slashing mechanic. That is where this section comes in, so you don’t have to search forums and watch hours of Let’s Plays looking for something that was missed. The point is to power the player up before they tackle the first dungeon which is actually in Lake Hylia. That is just the many secrets to getting ahead in these custom adventures. It is also how the Original NES game was developed before Nintendo abandoned this for better designs. These creators for ZC have done an amazing job taking the old concept further with improvements. The Legend of Zelda: Ballad of a Bloodline DX Part 1 |
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