As I wrote last year on this day, Its-a-Mario Day. Every March 10th is Mario Day, not because of the day marking a special occasion but because of the abbreviation of March being MAR and 10 looking similar to "IO." Last year I went with a few magazine reviews of Super Mario Bros. 2 and 3, and this year I've scanned an article titled "Mario in Four-Color Land." Although Mario is in the title, the story from Video Games & Computer Entertainment magazine is actually about all the Nintendo-themed comic books published by Valiant from 1990 to 1991.
Monday, March 10, 2025
Friday, February 14, 2025
[YouTube] Golden Axe
Released in late 1989 for the Sega Genesis, Golden Axe is a game I played over and over when I got it. It's rare that I try to be perfect at any game which is something I was attempting to do with Golden Axe when I was younger, though based on the scores I wrote in the manual, I never got through the game without dying a few times. Of course, I'm not as good at it anymore either, and in the video I'm using a gamepad rather than an arcade stick which is what I played with exclusively as a kid. The game itself isn't difficult but it's easy to make a mistake that will cost a life, whether it's falling off a ledge (rare) or getting cornered by multiple enemies, especially skeletons, that hack-and-slash the hero from the front and back at the same time. Also, being an arcade port, it's not a very long game and can be completed in 30 minutes or less. While Arcade is the primary mode, in the video I also play the much shorter Beginner mode and the Duel mode, where players can battle the computer in 12 rounds or challenge another player.
When the game ends it provides a score, strength rating, and letter grade. Based on what I wrote in the manual, my best score was 390.6 playing as Gilius Thunderhead and my highest strength rating was 118.3 as Ax Battler. I'm not sure how the scores are determined, though I believe the less magic you use to eliminate enemies, the higher your score will be. Since Gilius has the weakest magic and the strongest weapon with the best reach, it makes sense that players will get their highest scores playing as him. I'd noticed magic's impact on the score when I was recording the Beginner mode play through, as the less I used Tyris Flare's magic, the better my score. That stood out when I had what I thought to be a perfect run but ended up with a much lower score than my previous game in which I thought I played worse. In that perfect run I used the magic often simply because I wanted to show as many spells as I could for the video. Unfortunately, my Genesis started having issues as I finished up the recordings, otherwise I would have gone back through Arcade mode without using magic to see just how high I could score. This game was also a Sega CD pack-in title on the Sega Classics Arcade Collection disc and I own it but I can't test out the scoring there either. As I posted in 2019, my Sega CD also isn't functioning correctly and I don't know how to repair it.Saturday, February 8, 2025
EA Sports Vol. 2, Issue 1
As I said, it's Super Bowl weekend and at this time of year I do often put together a video or blog post with a score prediction, which is really just a complete guess as I'm not an expert and I don't analyze anything. Last year I picked the wrong winner in a game that went into overtime. Two years ago I was a single point off from guessing the exact score between these same teams. Philadelphia makes its second Super Bowl appearance in the last three years and Kansas City returns for the fifth time in the last six years, and is going for a three-peat! I did pick against KC last year and maybe I should learn from my mistakes but I'm leaning toward the Eagles pulling out the win. Either way, I'm expecting a close, high-scoring game, and I'll go with the same score I guessed two years ago but with a different outcome: 38-34 Philadelphia.
Sunday, February 2, 2025
Year 9: February Update
Jonathan
Wednesday, January 29, 2025
Caught in a Web (Wizard #53 - January 1996)
Sunday, January 12, 2025
Paragon's Progress (Video Games & Computer Entertainment - October 1992)
This three-page article from Video Games & Computer Entertainment (VG&CE) features a visit to the office of Paragon Software a few months after it was acquired by MicroProse Software. Most of the discussion is about three games Paragon had in development. Mantis: XF5700 Experimental Space Fighter would release later that year as XF5700 Mantis Experimental Fighter under MicroProse's MicroPlay Software publishing label, as did Challenge of the Five Realms. However, MegaTraveller 3 was never released. Paragon only saw one more game published after Mantis and Five Realms, which was BloodNet in 1993.
Saturday, December 21, 2024
Life Savers Sweet Story Book
Once upon a time... there was a land of sweet surprises!
Life Savers (or LifeSavers), "The Candy With The Hole," has been around for more than 100 years and is currently owned by Mars. The "Sweet Story Book" debuted in 1935 and continues to be a popular holiday stocking stuffer for many. While it still exists today, at some point "story book" became one word on the packaging that has also shrunk over time. Originally there were ten rolls of various flavors in each story book, then eight, and now six, all of which appear to be the Five Flavor packs. Unfortunately for Canadians, the product more than shrunk north of the border where Mars Canada canceled it last year.I can't say why I never opened my Life Savers Sweet Story Book: Volume MCMLXXXIX (1989) but I didn't and now you can enjoy photos of the complete package with sealed candies illuminated by Christmas tree lights. It even still has the price tag from Brooks Pharmacy where it was a steal at $1.49! Along with the Five Flavor rolls, the 1989 edition has two rolls each of Butter Rum, Wild Cherry, and Sunshine Fruits.