The Flintstones Review

Author: John Legendoffzelda There’s a distinctive, almost iconic, visual style to the Steven Spielberg-produced 1994 film of The Flintstones. It’s one that Ocean badly fumbled when they translated the movie to the Super Nintendo. While the movie may have been a dumb comedy, it also had a grand production design…

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Hook Review

Author: John Legendoffzelda Hook fails to prove that the world needs a continuation of the Peter Pan story. Or at least one that presents a scenario where Peter has grown into an adult and forgotten his roots. In Steven Spielberg’s film, Peter is now a workaholic father who has his…

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Toy Story Review

Toy Story Review Super Nintendo

Author: John Legendoffzelda When Toy Story debuted in 1995, it set an important precedent. It exclusively used computer-generated imagery to tell a remarkable and inventive story. The movie expanded the possibilities of how animation could be presented – and even how movies could be made. But with Donkey Kong Country…

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Earthworm Jim Review

Earthworm Jim Review Super Nintendo

Author: John Legendoffzelda Shiny Entertainment’s Earthworm Jim is the sort of game where environmental hazards will mix so well with the backgrounds that they can take players almost entirely by surprise. And a level’s twisty, bizarre design can confuse them further. Other times a smirking crow or a rabid, frantic…

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Cool Spot Review

Cool Spot Review Super Nintendo SNES

Author: John Legendoffzelda The big grudge held against advergames has been about compromising the integrity of a video game by introducing a specific consumer product to its concept, although having a game serve as a commercial isn’t bad in of itself. What’s key about this negative reaction is that the…

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Super Back to the Future II Review

Super Back to the Future II review

Author: John Legendoffzelda Three years after the end of the Back to the Future film series, long after America gave up on the notion of a good video game adaptation, the Japan-exclusive music label Toshiba EMI released Super Back to the Future II. The game’s quality might remind players of…

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Castlevania: Dracula X Review

  Author: John Legendoffzelda For all the edge and shimmering visuals apparent throughout Castlevania: Dracula X, you can still see its creators reinstating the series’ strict roots and doing so with relative panache.  No swinging from hooks, no whipping in a direction that isn’t directly in front of you, and…

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First Samurai Review

Author: John Legendoffzelda In its own uncommon and assertive way, First Samurai demonstrates a lot of potential. With a shirtless samurai warrior at the center of its fantasy mix, Kemco and Vivid Media’s platformer could make its hodgepodge of 2D action-game elements succeed with the radical confidence of something like…

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Road Runner’s Death Valley Rally Review

Road Runner's Death Valley Rally Review Super Nintendo

Author: John Legendoffzelda (Revieweris Nonprofessionalum) What Capcom had done for Disney, Sunsoft attempted to do for Looney Tunes: craft a series of fine games that would help those characters make an indelible impression on the video game world (at least in the early 1990s). Working with developer ICOM, they gave…

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Super Valis IV Review

Author: John Legendoffzelda Super Valis IV, Atlus’ port of the fourth installment in the overlooked Valis franchise, suffers the most from a lack of context. It’s named like a sequel, and it’s the continuation of a magical-girl fantasy about a girl named Yuko Ahso, who inherits a magic sword and…

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