When I first played Banjo-Tooie, I had never played the first game (and Youtube Let’s Plays were not a thing), so all the characters were new to me. Bottles’ death was surprising, but didn’t mean anything. I didn’t know Mumbo’s role from the first game used to be Humba’s role now. I didn’t even know…
Tag: retro
Ranking the Bosses from Donkey Kong Country 3
Donkey Kong Country 2 already had some perfectly memorable boss fights. But the third game’s penchant for gimmicks meant the bosses tended to vary even more in their mechanics, from a snowball fight with a nightmarish snowman to feeding bugs to a giant sentient barrel until he burps himself off the stage. Frankly, I found…
Alisa: Demo Review
Making modern games in a retro style has become rather common practice lately. A major trend I’ve noticed lately are PS1-style horror games. Perhaps those grainy graphics just lend well to a spooky atmosphere in the same fashion as creepy VHS-style videos. Wanting to try one of these games for myself, I was pleased to…
Ranking the Bosses from Donkey Kong Country 2
When you really think about it, the original Donkey Kong Country was fairly basic, especially when the bosses were concerned. I mean, there are two battles against a giant beaver that basically just jumps back and forth across the stage and two more skirmishes against an oversized vulture that somehow spits nuts at you. (Considering…
Top 10 Most Awful Levels from Donkey Kong Country 2
As much as I love Donkey Kong Country 2, that doesn’t mean this beloved entry in the franchise is without its fair share of flaws. I can appreciate that this game is challenging. In fact, several difficult levels feature in my post listing my very favorite levels. But the levels listed below are just not…
Top 10 Levels from Donkey Kong Country 2
It is widely accepted that the second entry in the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy, Diddy’s Kong Quest, is easily the best. With a great atmosphere, and without the need to rely on gimmicks to keep the gameplay interesting, this game just focuses on fun and solid level design and new concepts that don’t feel…
Top 5 Worst Levels from Donkey Kong Country
I’ve already posted a little list ranking my top 5 favorite stages from the original Donkey Kong Country from 1994. And now it’s time for the worst. One surprising fact I had to face was that, after roughly three decades of playing this game, some levels are still surprisingly difficult! I can appreciate a challenge…
Top 5 Best Levels from Donkey Kong Country
Seeing as the original Donkey Kong Country games for the SNES have a special place in my heart, it’s odd that I’ve never actually ranked any of the levels before. And so I spent two afternoons replaying the very first game from 1994 for the purposes of some nostalgic research. Keep in mind that when…
Top 5 Best Levels from Kaze and the Wild Masks
Kaze and the Wild Masks is a modern platformer disguised as a retro SNES game. The game makes little effort to hide the fact that it took clear inspiration from the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy from the 90’s, which many would agree are some of the best retro platformers of all time. In fact,…
Top 5 Worst Levels from Kaze and the Wild Masks
It’s become quite the trend lately to appeal to one’s nostalgia. So instead of making photo-realistic games with massive worlds and cinematic cut scenes, many developers are taking the opposite approach and crafting games that remind us of what got us into gaming in the first place. Kaze and the Wild Masks is one such…
VIRTUAL BASTION 