Happy (belated) 26th anniversary, Final Fantasy IV!

Although I recently singled out Final Fantasy V as one of the 10 titles that most shaped my taste in video games (read this post for more of my thoughts on the matter), that doesn't mean I dislike its 1991 predecessor.

On the contrary, I adore Final Fantasy IV nearly as much as I adore Final Fantasy V. The former's characters, graphics and soundtrack all blew me away when the game originally landed on store shelves 26 years ago--nearly to the day, if we're talking about the Japanese release--and they continue to have a special place in my heart today.

Going back a bit, though, can you believe Final Fantasy IV first saw the light of day 26 whole years ago? Actually, I can believe it, as it definitely feels like it's been ages since I was 15. (That's how old I was when the game hit the streets in my neck of the woods.)

Illustration by bykillt

That said, I remember tackling Final Fantasy IV for the first time like it was yesterday. The SNES my older brother and I shared was set up in the lower level of our childhood home, attached to a tiny color TV our parents bought us for Christmas a few years earlier. (Granted, it was quite the improvement from the even smaller black-and-white television we previously used to play our stack of NES carts.) As we did with most games back then, my brother and I huddled in front of the aforementioned monitor and slowly but surely made our way through Final Fantasy IV as a team. One of us would play for a few hours--with more than a bit of verbal assistance, of course--and then hand the controller to the other so he could do the same.

My fondest memories of that initial experience (spoiler alert!): being introduced to Rydia and her summoning skills, climbing Mt. Ordeals so Cecil could become a Paladin, Palom and Porom sacrificing themselves, and journeying to the moon to defeat Zeromus and save the planet.

What are your most cherished memories associated with Final Fantasy IV? Also, which version of the game do you like best? (I personally prefer the original release, though I'm also pretty fond of the DS remake.)

See also: previous posts about Dōbutsu no Mori's 15th anniversary, the GameBoy Advance's 15th anniversary, the GameBoy's 28th anniversary, the SNES' 25th anniversary, Sega's 56th anniversary and Taito's 63rd anniversary

Introducing: the Singing Mountain podcast

I've been a fan of Drew Mackie's Back of the Cereal Box blog ever since I first came across it--which was shortly after it made its debut in early 2003, if memory serves.

If this is the first you're hearing of Back of the Cereal Box, boiled down, it's a pop-culture blog. Or, as Mackie himself puts it, it's a "record of the weird ways pop culture intersects with [his] life."

Often, it's a record of how pop culture intersects with his life as a gay man who has long loved video games.

Considering all of the above, it shouldn't surprise that Mackie piqued my interest when he revealed his plans to launch a podcast about video game music.

Singing Mountain is the result of those plans. In the four podcasts he's published so far, Mackie's discussed Super Mario RPG, the Mega Man series, The Great Giana Sisters and EarthBound.

That's not the full extent of what's covered in Singing Mountain's initial batch of episodes, mind you. The latest ("Ric Ocasek in Moonside"), for instance, focuses on EarthBound while also bringing Mackie's childhood, The Cars, Salvador Dali’s “The Persistence of Memory,” the litigiousness of Beatles and even Janet Jackson into the mix.

Hell, Mackie may even introduce you to a new word or two if you keep your ears peeled. He certainly expanded my vocabulary a bit when he dropped the word diegetic into his commentary on Onett's arcade theme.

See also: posts about The Nichiest Podcast Ever

My 10 Most Influential Games: Final Fantasy V (Super Famicom)

I've got to say, I had a hard time deciding whether I should write about Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy IV or Final Fantasy V here.

Why? Well, as far as the original Final Fantasy is concerned, it was the first console RPG that really grabbed me. I played Dragon Warrior (Dragon Quest now days) before Final Fantasy and liked it well enough, but I preferred Square's effort to Enix's in almost every way.

Specifically, I liked that Final Fantasy provided players with four-person parties--a far cry from Dragon Warrior's solo mission. Also, players could assign classes or "jobs" to party members at the start of the former, while they were stuck with a seemingly generic "hero" in the latter.

Add in Final Fantasy's visible weapons and spells--neither are present in Dragon Warrior/Quest--and it should be easy to understand why younger me found Square's 8-bit RPG so fascinating.



Still, I wouldn't say Final Fantasy turned me into an "RPG fan." Sure, I liked the genre a whole lot more after I played through that game than I did before I played through it, but platformers and shmups continued to be my go-to genre until, well, the release of Final Fantasy IV (Final Fantasy II in my neck of the woods).

Speaking of Final Fantasy IV, although there's no question it pushed me further into "RPG fan" territory, it didn't really shape my taste in games--role-playing games or otherwise--moving forward.

Yes, I adored the first 16-bit entry in Squaresoft's Final Fantasy series, but if I'm allowed to be honest, it mostly just beefed up the superficial components of earlier Final Fantasy games. And in terms of its gameplay, it could be argued that Final Fantasy IV regressed a bit (or a lot) from its Japan-only, Famicom-based predecessor.

Final Fantasy V, on the other hand, seemed to my teenage self to be a real evolution from the titles that came before it. OK, so I couldn't fully understand its story at the time, but it resonated with me all the same. I especially appreciated how it featured a character--Faris Scherwiz--that defied gender roles.

I also found myself in awe of Final Fantasy V's soundtrack, which has always struck me as being more wistful than that of your average RPG.



This game's story and soundtrack weren't what influenced my taste in video games, though. So which aspects did? The best example I can offer up is its expansive job system. Final Fantasy III featured a similar (albeit less impressive) system, but I didn't play it until the DS remake was released in North America in 2006.

As such, I considered Final Fantasy V's pick-and-choose job system mind-blowing when I encountered it in the early 1990s. (It was one of the first games I ever imported from Japan. I still have that copy, by the way; it's showcased in the photos seen throughout this post.)

I especially loved how the Final Fantasy V job system allowed you to mix and match classes and skills. Want one of your party members to be a White Mage who can wield an axe? Spend some time as a Berserker until you've gained the "equip axes" ability and then make use of it after you switch over to the White Mage job.

Or maybe you want someone in your party who can use a pair of bells in battle? Have him or her take on the Ninja job until they've learned the "dual-wield" ability and then enable it as a Freelancer--especially after they've acquired, say, a Rune Chime and a Tinkerbell.



Although I can't quite say an RPG needs to have a highly customizable job system to attract my attention and otherwise appeal to me in a post-Final Fantasy V world, I can say without hesitation that my shortlist of favorite role-playing games is filled with titles that fit that bill. (A few cases in point: Bravely Default, Dragon Quest IX, Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light and Final Fantasy Tactics.)

Another way in which Final Fantasy V helped shape my taste in games: it solidified my love of RPGs that feature bevy of weapons that are visible in battle.

I first became aware of that interest after I acquired the coral sword in the first Final Fantasy, appropriately enough, but it wasn't until I experienced Final Fantasy V's plethora of axes, bells, hammers and harps that it blossomed into a full-on obsession.

Were any of you similarly influenced or enchanted by this 1992 release? If so, share why and how it impacted you in the comments section of this post.

See also: previous '10 Most Influential Games' posts about The 7th Guest, Balloon Kid and Bubble Bobble

Nice Package! (Seiken Densetsu 2 and 3, Super Famicom)

Square Enix's recent unveiling of the Seiken Densetsu Collection for Switch (due out in Japan on June 1) prompted me to think about a few games I haven't pondered in years.

Specifically, it prompted me to think about Seiken Densetsu 2 and 3, which were released for the Super Famicom in 1993 and 1995, respectively. (The former came to North America later the same year it hit Japan, while other regions had to wait until 1994.)

Actually, I mostly thought about Seiken Densetsu 2, known as Secret of Mana in the West. That's because I've never played the third Seiken Densetsu game, although I was keenly aware of and interested it in the run-up to its Japanese release.

Anyway, back to Seiken Densetsu 2, I remember when it first started appearing in North American game magazines like Electronic Gaming Monthly and DieHard GameFan, which often referred to it as Final Fantasy Adventure 2.



I loved everything about it from the word go--the colorful backdrops, the surprisingly large (for the time) character and enemy sprites, the plethora of useable weapons and the real-time combat.

I'm pretty sure my brother and I obtained this game as soon as we were able, which likely meant I received it as a birthday gift or we got it for Christmas.

Regardless, we spent a lot of time playing through it together shortly after it hit store shelves in our neck of the woods.

Is there any chance I'll finish Secret of Mana--or Seiken Densetsu 2--if I pick up a copy of the Seiken Densetsu Collection for Switch? (You can pre-order it via amiami.com, by the way.) I kind of doubt it, but who knows?



Far more likely would be for me to finish the first Seiken Densetsu--renamed Final Fantasy Adventure when it was brought to North America--or even Seiken Densetsu 3.

Speaking of the original Seiken Densetsu, here's a post I wrote and published about its beautiful packaging (outer box, cartridge and manual) a while back.

Of course, this post is supposed to be about the beautiful packaging the folks at Square Enix--Squaresoft back then, actually--produced for Seiken Densetsu 2 and 3, so maybe I should start talking about that.

On that note, I think the photos included throughout this write-up are pretty self-explanatory, don't you think?

One comment I'd like to add: Seiken Densetsu 2's box art (see top photo) is one of my all-time favorites.

Also, the clay models of that game's main characters, which can be seen in the snapshot of its instruction booklet, have always brought a smile to my face.

Seiken Densetsu 3's manual is pretty awesome, too--its cover, especially.

What do you think of the boxes, cartridges and manuals made for Seiken Densetsu 2 and 3? And what do you think of the games themselves, if you've played them?

See also: previous 'Nice Package!' posts about Cid to Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon (DS), Final Fantasy (Famicom) and Shining Force (Mega Drive)

My most popular posts of 2016

I know this is a pretty self-serving write-up, but I'm publishing it anyway in the hopes it'll make folks aware of some interesting posts they missed earlier in the year.

Which posts, you ask? The ones on this blog that earned the most views in 2016, that's which ones.

Oh, and I've decided to put them in alphabetical order rather than in order of most views to least--in case anyone's curious.

CIB Sunday: World’s Longest 5 Minutes Limited Edition (Vita)

Five overlooked Japanese GameBoy games you need to play as soon as possible

Five overlooked Japanese PlayStation games you need to play as soon as possible

Four reasons I'm planning to nab one of those adorable Nintendo Classic Mini: NES consoles once November rolls around

How to succeed in Pocket Card Jockey without really trying (or, here's what you need to do if you suck at this quirky 3DS eShop title)

Let's chat about Zero Time Dilemma's cover art

Manual Stimulation (KiKi KaiKai, PC Engine)

Nu-Bo, Nuubou, Noobow, New--oh, whatever...

Six 3DS games I'm looking forward to playing at some point in 2016

Some of my favorite SNES games in honor of the system's 25th anniversary

I'm planning to publish follow-ups to a few of the above in 2017, by the way. Can you guess which ones?

Other than that, thank you for viewing these and all of my other blog posts so many times this past year. I greatly appreciate it, as always.

Some of my favorite SNES games in honor of the system's 25th anniversary

If you asked me earlier in the week what I did back on Aug. 23, 1991, I would've answered, "I have absolutely no idea."

Today, though, I know exactly what I did on that date: I, along with my older brother and our parents, waltzed into the local Toys R Us (or Shopko, or Kohl's--I can't remember this particular detail) and bought a Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

It was the first game system I ever got the day it came out, by the way. Previously--with the NES, TurboGrafx-16 and GameBoy--I waited months or even years before jumping on board.

There was no way my brother and I were going to wait for the SNES, though. Both of us had followed the console's development and Japanese release like our lives depended on it, so we did whatever we had to do to ensure we'd be able to nab Nintendo's second system the minute it was available.

Sadly, that meant selling our precious NES and our enviable catalog of games. (The latter included such treasures as Bionic Commando, Duck Tales, R.C. Pro-Am and pretty much every other Nintendo-published title worth owning.)

On the flip side, it allowed us to get our hands on a SNES and a copy of Super Mario World pronto, so at the time the sacrifice seemed acceptable.

I still have that SNES, by the way. I also still have a handful of the carts my brother and I accumulated in the years that followed the console's debut--Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy III and Yoshi's Island among them.

Speaking of which, none of those games are discussed in this nostalgia-filled post that's supposed to celebrate the SNES' 25th anniversary. Also ignored here: A Link to the Past, EarthBound, Super Mario Kart and Super Metroid.

That's not because I dislike any of those classic games, mind you. On the contrary, I dearly love each and every one of them. No, the reason I'm not devoting any space to them is they're honored all the time (and rightfully so) for their greatness.

You'll also notice no Japan-only SNES--or Super Famicom, if you want to be technical--games are named here. That's because Aug. 23 was the 25th anniversary of the console's North American launch. So, I'll only ruminate about that region's releases. (Believe me, if I expanded this write-up's reach in that way, it'd feature blurbs about Ace wo Nerae, Pop'n TwinBee, Tetris Battle Gaiden, Torneko no Daibouken, Umihara Kawase and more.)

What does that leave? It leaves the following nine SNES titles, all of which are near and dear to my heart, and all of which did a stupendous job of showing what Nintendo's entry in the 16-bit game-system wars was capable of when the right people were involved.

ActRaiser--I still remember my initial reaction to this early SNES game. Teenage me thought it was so beautiful that someone at developer Quintet must have sold his or her soul to create such brilliance. Do I feel that way today about this ambitious title, which dares to combine the action-platformer and city-building genres? Yes and no. On the positive side, ActRaiser's looks still bring tears to my eyes. I also continue to appreciate some of its bold gameplay choices. On the negative side, though, I find the side-scrolling sections to be a bit stiff and unforgiving these days. Oh, well, as they say: two out of three ain't bad.

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest--Unlike ActRaiser, this Final Fantasy spin-off (in Japan it was called Final Fantasy USA) didn't immediately trip my trigger. In fact, I turned my nose up at it for a good long while. What changed? I rented it one weekend when no other game appealed to me. What I discovered during the ensuing two days was that, while the game strays far from the traditional Final Fantasy fold, it does so in some really interesting ways. (Much like Square's Mana and SaGa series.) I especially like the rock-leaning soundtrack conjured up by Ryuji Sasai and Yasuhiro Kawakami.

The Legend of the Mystical Ninja--It's kind of hard to believe this game, part of Konami's long-running Goemon series, made the trip across the pond when it did. At the time, most "wacky Japanese" titles stayed put in their countries of origin. Thankfully, the higher-ups at the company that Castlevania built took a chance on this one. It's still one of the system's best looking and sounding games, in my opinion--despite the fact that it's one of its earlier offerings.

Pocky & Rocky--Here's another unconventional game (according to Western tastes, at least) that a company had to take a chance on and that immediately appealed to me. I've got to say that I like this scrolling shooter, which actually is a sequel to Taito's KiKi KaiKai, a bit more than the action-adventure title mentioned above. Every single aspect of it is spot-on--a fact that explains why even loose copies of it tend to go for shy-high prices on both sides of the globe.

Secret of Mana--I know it's now popular to poo-poo this action RPG, but I love it. Always have, always will. Granted, you're talking to someone who gleefully ogled early screenshots of this "real-time Final Fantasy" for what seemed like ages before it finally saw the light of day. Plus, for me, its still-stunning aesthetics and wide variety of weaponry trump any of its gameplay or performance niggles.

Stunt Race FX--Did Nintendo's first Super FX title, Star Fox, blow me away upon it release in early 1993? You bet it did. To be honest, though, this second such game blew me away even more. That's likely because Stunt Race FX's genre and graphical stylings are more my cup of tea than those of its rail-shooter counterpart. Sadly, it's harder to ignore this game's big flaws--a pitifully low frame rate and a slow overall speed--these days than when it first hit store shelves. Even so, I continue to take it for a spin now and then just to bask in its goofy, googly-eyed glow.

Super Bowling--Although no one's likely to call this KID-made sports cart one of the SNES' best offerings, that doesn't mean it's not one of its most enjoyable--especially if you're in the mood for a multi-player romp. There's not a ton of depth here, admittedly, but the various characters, as well as ball, lane and gameplay options, provide more than enough content--not to mention fun--to make the price of admission worthwhile if the idea of a digital bowling title sounds interesting to you.

Super Tennis--This is one of a handful of video games produced by Japanese textbook publisher Tokyo Shoseki, so you might assume it's a bit of a turd. In reality, it's one of the best tennis titles ever created. It's not the most realistic, mind you, but it controls so well and feels so smooth that only the biggest tennis snobs will care. My only complaint: after you've spent a good amount of time with it, you'll be able to pick off most of the computer-controlled opponents with ease.

Zombies Ate My Neighbors--My brother, friends and I put an ungodly amount of time into this cartoonish run-and-gunner back in the day. That's the only way to play Zombie Ate My Neighbors, by the way--with another person sitting by your side. Which is too bad, in a way, as the designers and developers at LucasArts did a bang-up job on the game's controls, music, looks and even humor. The fact is, though, it's just not much fun if you go it alone. So, be sure to grab a pal or lover--or both--before you boot it up to get the best experience.

Happy (ever-so-slightly belated) 25th anniversary, Super Famicom!

Twenty-five years ago, Nintendo made its second cartridge-based games console, the Super Famicom, available to the Japanese masses.

I breathlessly followed its development in the pages of magazines like Electronic Gaming Monthly, Nintendo Power and Video Games and Computer Entertainment. (Note: I remember reading this article--over and over again--like it was yesterday.) I was especially obsessed with coverage of Super Mario World, of course, although I was nearly as keen on "launch window" titles Pilotwings and F-Zero.

Despite my overwhelming interest in the Super Famicom and its initial releases, though, I didn't buy one on or around its Nov. 21 debut. Granted, I was just about to turn 14 at the time, and buying Japanese consoles (or even games) wasn't really an option--especially since doing so likely would have cost me somewhere in the vicinity of $400.

Instead, I had to wait until shortly after the Super Famicom's North American counterpart, the SNES, launched in my own neck of the woods a year later before I was able to experience Nintendo's brand of 16-bit gaming for myself. 

A couple of years later, I finally got to play my first Super Famicom (as opposed to SNES) game when I imported a used copy of Final Fantasy V--which I still have today, mind you--via one of those companies that advertised in the back of DieHard GameFan and the aforementioned EGM.

Actually, I may have picked up Parodius Da! first, but who really cares this many years later, right?

Strangely--given my current love of imported games--those two Japanese titles, along with Final Fantasy VI, may have been the only ones I ever bought to play on my trusty SNES. (Don't worry, I've bought a few more Super Famicom in the last couple of years, although only a few--so far.) 

Also, I've never owned an actual Super Famicom system. Which is a crying shame, as I've always considered its design to be among the most attractive and appealing of the consoles that have seen the light of day since the early 1980s.

What else did I--and do I--love about the Super Famicom? I've always loved its graphics capabilities, which for me represent the peak of two-dimensional, sprite-based game visuals. I've also always loved its audio components, which allowed the best musicians and composers of the day to produce some absolutely stellar soundtracks. 

And then, of course, there was the system's controller, with its four face and two shoulder buttons, which I've long considered to be as eye-catching as it is comfortable.

How about you? Do you have any particularly fond memories of this superb entry in the fourth generation of game systems? If so, feel free to share them in the comments section below. 

In honor of Satoru Iwata, here's my most recent contribution to #CIBSunday

I don't often contribute to the social-media phenomenon that is #CIBSunday, but I decided to make an exception today because I recently acquired a copy of Mother 2 for the Super Famicom and showcasing a few photos of its beautifully minimalist packaging here seemed like an appropriate thing to do given the recent passing of Satoru Iwata, who helped whip this classic RPG into shape back when he worked for HAL Laboratory.



As for what took me so long to add this brilliant game to my collection, well, a big part of the story is that my initial plan was to buy a complete-in-box copy of the North American release, which of course is known as EarthBound. In the end, though, setting aside $300 or more for such a purchase was a bit too much for me to swallow, so I put my dreams of owning some form of this classic RPG on the back burner and turned my attention to other titles that would be far easier to obtain.

I returned to this quest a month or so ago after I came across (while perusing eBay, naturally) the copy of Mother 2 that can be seen in the snapshots shared throughout this post. That was mainly due to the fact this particular copy was cheaper than most of the ones that make their way onto the auction site these days, but it also was due to me figuring I've learned enough Japanese by now to stumble my way through Shigesato Itoi's eclectic adventure in its native language.

Anyway, enough about that. The stars of this post are the lovely box, cartridge and instruction manual that make up the entire Mother 2 package. Personally, I'm not sure which element I love the most--the outer box, with its iconic logo, or the inside of the aforementioned manual, which includes some of the most wonderful clay models you're likely to come across in the gaming world.  

Mother 2's cart label (below) is pretty awesome, too, of course.

Sadly, it'll probably be a while before I stick this cartridge into an actual SNES or Super Famicom and give it a go. After all, I don't own either of those consoles at the moment--or at least I don't have one with me here in Seattle. An old SNES is sitting in a closet in my parents' house back in Madison, Wisconsin, but I won't be able to get my mitts on it until at least Christmas.



Sure, I could use this as an opportunity to, at long last, pitch in and pick up a Super Famicom Jr.--a system I've wanted for ages--before then, but the reality is I'll probably just wait until the holidays so I can spend that money on some other game-related treasure that catches my eye in the coming months.

What all of that said, what do you think of this game's packaging, or what do you think of the game itself? Share all of the lurid details in the comments section below, if you're the sort who's open to such things.

Boy, do these game tunes bring back memories...

How's this for a silly, game-related tidbit that's likely to shock at least a few of you: back when I was a junior or senior in high school, I was completely obsessed with the Saturn version of Sega's Daytona USA.

I suggest that may surprise some of you because I'm hardly known for my love of racing games. In fact, the only examples of the genre I've ever given much attention here are F-Zero and Super Mario Kart, if memory serves. (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.)

At any rate, I became more than a bit smitten with Daytona USA after picking it up on a whim during my days as a Saturn owner.

That game's slick, exhilarating gameplay obviously had a little something to do with my aforementioned infatuation, but there were other instigators, too--with its energetic, effervescent soundtrack being a particularly noteworthy case in point.



I bring up all of this because I've had one of Daytona USA's songs ("Sky High," listen to it by clicking on the video above) stuck in my head for the last few days.

Also, reminiscing about the Daytona USA period of my life--and the hold a number of its ditties had on me at that time--prompted me to think about some of the other "game tunes" from my youth that left similar marks on my memory.

For example, there's the "Map Theme" from Yoshi's Island:



I remember humming that one on the regular while I obsessively worked my way through the pastel-filled platformer that has since become one of my all-time favorite games.

I know I'm in the minority in wanting this, and I realize Square Enix wouldn't give it to us even if I weren't, but I'd really like to see some sort of follow-up to Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest

I've been fascinated by this weird Final Fantasy spin-off title, originally released in North America in 1992 and then released elsewhere the following year, since I first heard of it in the run-up to its launch.

That said, I've never actually owned a copy of the game, which goes by all sorts of other names--like Final Fantasy USA in Japan and Mystic Quest Legend throughout Europe--outside of the U.S., and which was directed by Kouzi Ide (who also had a hand in Rudra no Hiho for the Super Famicom and Final Fantasy Legend III for the GameBoy).

I did put a good amount of time into it over the course of a month or so back when I was a teen, though, courtesy of the local grocery store that rented out movies (VHS tapes, not DVDs) as well as all sorts of video games (systems, too).

I wasn't able to finish the game during that particular foray, although I definitely made it pretty far into its adventure (which exists in some sort of strange middle ground between mainline Final Fantasy titles and the oddball SaGa series), and I've always wanted to go back to it and see how to story wraps up. 

I've also always wanted to see another such game from Square Enix--with a straight-up sequel being preferred, of course, but an "inspired by Mystic Quest" effort also being acceptable.

What do all of you think about this idea? Would you like the same, or is a modern follow-up to Mystic Quest about the last thing you'd like to see from Square Enix at the moment?

While we wait, I'll strongly consider searching for a and picking up a copy of the original. In fact, maybe I'll buy the Japanese version, as I've always liked its rather triumphant box art.

What kind of idiot buys a Wii Virtual Console title in 2015? This kind!

Which Virtual Console game did I buy via my too-long-ignored Wii, you ask? The SNES version of Harvest Moon.

I bought it because I've had the Harvest Moon series on the brain ever since I received a copy of The Lost Valley for Christmas. Specifically, I've been thinking about the trio of Harvest Moon titles I've wanted to play for some time now: the aforementioned original, Harvest Moon 64 and Harvest Moon: Magical Melody for GameCube.

I pulled the trigger on this long-running franchise's first game yesterday because, well, it was a lot easier to trade in $8 worth of "Wii Points" and then download the digital version of that title in a matter of seconds than hunt for physical copies of the Nintendo 64 or GameCube sequels on eBay and then wait a week or two for them to arrive on my doorstep.

(That's not to say I haven't also done some of the latter over the last few days, but let's save that discussion for another day.)

Sadly, but hardly shockingly, I've yet to put more than a few minutes into this delightful-looking farming sim. I'm planning to devote an adequate amount of time to it this weekend, though, so look for a few thoughts on it in the "Shall We Do It?" post that'll be published late next week.

In the meantime, do any of you have any experience with the SNES version of Harvest Moon--or Harvest Moon 64 or Magical Melody? If so, I'd love it if you'd share your opinions of them in the comments section below.

My favorite games of 2014 (that were released before 2014)

As much as I enjoyed playing through the handful of titles discussed in yesterday's "favorite games of 2014" post, I found the ones addressed below--some of which were released in 2013 and some of which were released long ago--to be far more adventurous, unique and exciting experiences.

Attack of the Friday Monsters! (3DS)--One part "summer vacation sim" and one part rock-paper-scissors card game, this Kaz Ayabe-designed eShop title is the kind of release that causes some people to proclaim it the best thing since sliced bread (or the gaming equivalent, at least) and others to deride it as boring tripe. Can you guess which side I lean toward? Actually, I wouldn't call Attack of the Friday Monsters! a masterpiece, but it certainly deserves praise for providing the medium with a thoughtful and heartwarming story and for prompting feelings of nostalgia where they have no right to exist.

EarthBound (SNES)--Would you believe that I'd never "beaten" this classic RPG before this year? I'd played through bits and pieces of it before then, but none of those previous playthroughs got me even halfway through its story. I'm glad I finally got over that hurdle in 2014, as this is the rare digital adventure that somehow, someway gets more fascinating and thrilling with each and every step. In fact, I loved the time I put into Shigesato Itoi's second foray into the world of video games in 2014 so much that I'm considering devoting a similar amount of energy to it this year.

Final Fantasy Adventure (GameBoy)--Here's another game that I touched on as a teen but failed to complete until 2014. And just like the above-mentioned EarthBound, once I finally sunk my teeth into this portable endeavor I couldn't help but kick myself for not making my way through it earlier. Of course, it's kind of hard to believe I didn't make my way through it earlier, as it's basically a GameBoy-based precursor to Secret of Mana (which means it's equal parts Final Fantasy and The Legend of Zelda), a game that I all but offered my soul to in the early 1990s. Sadly, I still haven't seen Final Fantasy Adventure's credit roll, but I'm going to do my best to rectify that in 2015.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS)--Speaking of games that have prompted me to kick myself in 2014, a good part of me wishes I could go back in time and purchase A Link Between Worlds earlier than I did, as it really should have been among my "favorite games of 2013 (that were released in 2013)." Oh, well, better later than never, right? Anyway, A Link Between Worlds is the best, most refreshing Zelda offering I've encountered since I first obsessed over Ocarina of Time back in 1998. The highlight of this tightly produced package, in the opinion of yours truly: the combat, which feels so good that it's easy to forget you're nudging a circle pad and pressing buttons rather than actually racing around and swinging a sword with all of your might.

Slime MoriMori Dragon Quest 3 (3DS)--Considering how much I loved (more like frothed at the mouth over) Slime MoriMori Dragon Quest 2, aka Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime, it's almost unfathomable that I waited until just a few weeks ago to begin its 3DS-focused follow-up. That inexcusable feet-dragging can be blamed, at least in part, on this game's not-so-appealing aesthetics, although now that I've gotten used to them I can say without hesitation that they're less atrocious than they first appear to be. There are other flaws worth mentioning here, too, such as how Slime MoriMori 3's gameplay is nearly a mirror image of its predecessor, but none of them really matter thanks to the fact that the overall enterprise is just as fun as Square Enix's earlier effort.

Solitiba (3DS)--When I first heard that this Game Freak-developed eShop title would combine horse racing and solitaire, I was more than a bit disappointed. Granted, I was glad it wasn't going to be yet another Pokémon sequel or spin-off, but I wasn't sure this confounding mash-up would be a whole lot better. Boy, was I wrong. Every single element of Solitiba is so spot-on that the entire endeavor winds up being thoroughly entrancing. In fact, I've had a hard time putting it aside for other games since I started playing it a number of months ago--which goes a long way toward explaining how I could've put nearly 60 hours into it in such a short period of time.

Sweet Fuse: At Your Side (PSP)--To be honest, even after being convinced (by the overwhelmingly positive word of mouth attached to it) to pick up a copy of this portable visual novel, I wasn't at all sure I'd like it. My only prior experience with the genre involved playing through another PSP title, Hakuōki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom, and while I found that game to be surprisingly fascinating, I worried it would be difficult to replicate those feelings with this seemingly less serious counterpart. I needn't have fretted, of course, because Sweet Fuse is every bit as captivating as Hakuōki, if not more so. I'm still not a fan of how such games basically force players to use a walkthrough if they want to wind up with the men of their dreams, but even with that "requirement" in place Sweet Fuse is well worth a look if you find its premise at all intriguing.

Honorable mentions: Etrian Odyssey IV (3DS), Taiyou no Tenshi Marlowe (GameBoy) and Zoo Keeper 3D (3DS)

You had me at 'EarthBound box set,' Fangamer

A couple of days ago, the folks at Fangamer launched a Kickstarter campaign for "a box set of media celebrating EarthBound and the fans who have kept it alive."

Backers who pledge $64 or more will receive the following from the Tucson, Arizona-based site should the campaign reach its $100,000 goal between now and when it concludes on Nov. 21:

* an EarthBound handbook of at least 250 pages in length,

* a documentary about EarthBound fandom in the west,

* an album of music pulled from the entire Mother series and performed by some group calling itself The Bad Dudes (listen to a sampler of it here), and

* an 80-page 'zine filled with fan-made art and stories. (The piece on the right, inspired by the series' "Eight Melodies," is one of the many submissions that have been made so far. See more at pkzine.tumblr.com.)

For more information on this particular Kickstarter campaign, check out its official project page at your earliest convenience.

Shall We Do It? (Clock Tower, Fairune, The Legend of Dark Witch and Tappingo 2)

While I was in the shower the other day (don't ask), it struck me that it's been quite some time since I last published one of these "Shall We Do It?" posts.

To be completely honest, I had kind of forgotten this column even existed--until that fateful shower, I mean.

Thankfully, I think today's "Shall We Do It?" post should make up for some of that lost time. After all, it includes commentary on and impressions of four recently played (by me, of course) games.

Actually, I originally planned to cover a fifth game--Game Freak's Japan-only 3DS eShop title, Solitiba (aka Soliti Horse)--as well, but I decided to devote an entire post (look for it later this week) to it instead.

In the meantime, here are some thoughts on the other games I've played in recent days and weeks:

Clock Tower--I've wanted to play this 16-bit spooker, published by the fine folks at Human Entertainment in 1995, for eons, but I put off doing so until now because, well, I've been too chicken to deal with its scissors-wiedling antagonist. Blogger Anne Lee's "Horrogemonth" play-along is what pushed me to finally play it, by the way--in case any of you were curious.

Sadly, so far I've only played it long enough to get killed by Bobby, the aforementioned scissor aficionado, twice, but that's longer than I originally expected I'd spend with it, so I'm not about to complain.

The only other thing I have to say about Clock Tower at the moment is that I find it hilarious how, every time Bobby arrives onto the scene, I completely forget which button on the controller does what, which I guess goes a long way toward explaining the deaths I mentioned earlier.

Fairune--This adorable Ys clone, made by Japanese indie devs Skipmore and Urara-Works, began life as a mobile game. Don't hold that against it, though, as this 3DS eShop port is pretty darn great. Unfortunately, it's currently only available to people who can access the Japanese 3DS eShop, but I have a feeling the folks at Flyhigh Works will publish it elsewhere sooner rather than later.

Anyway, I've put about an hour into Fairune so far, and like I mentioned a couple of sentences ago, I've had a lot of fun with it in that time. That's largely due to the wonderful look of the game, I have to admit, although the gameplay's far from a slouch. I do wish there were a bit more to that aspect of the title, though, as in its present state it seems to offer less depth than the series it seems to try to emulate (Falcom's Ys).

I'm going to keep plugging away at it regardless, as I'm curious to see how its minimalist story progresses (if at all). Plus, it features a female protagonist, something I think is almost always worth supporting.

The Legend of Dark Witch--If you're anything like me, you probably didn't even know about this 3DS title's impending release--or you knew about it at one point and then promptly forgot about it. At any rate, you know about it now. Kind of. And now you know it's hitting the North American eShop in just a couple of days (on Oct. 16).

Surprisingly, I was granted a bit of a sneak peak at The Legend of Dark Witch this past weekend thanks to an unexpected e-mail--followed up by a review code--from one of publisher Circle Entertainment's PR staffers.

Do I think it'll be worth the asking price of $3.99? It's kind of hard to say right now, as I've only spent about an hour with it so far. What I can say is that it's a nice (at least nice--it could wind up being great, but I haven't experienced enough of it to know that) Mega Man-esque side-scroller that sports some really nice spritework. As such, I think $3.99 probably isn't a bad price if you consider yourself a fan of the genre.

Tappingo 2--Another 3DS eShop game? What a shocker. Seriously, though, a number of great games have been added to the 3DS eShop as of late, and this Picross-esque puzzler is one of them.

Of all the titles mentioned here, I've played this one, developed and published by Goodbye Galaxy Games, the most. In fact, of the 100 or so puzzles that are included in this $2.99 game, I've completed just over 60 of them, and I don't expect I'll stop until I've cleared every last one of them.

The beauty of this digital title, by the way, isn't its graphics or soundtrack, although both aspects are up to snuff; no, the real draw of Tappingo 2 is that it's fun and addictive in all the ways a worthwhile puzzler should be. This is one of those games that will prompt you to tell yourself, "just one more puzzle"--over and over again until, an hour or two later, you finally, reluctantly put your 3DS down because you have to eat dinner or go to bed or do some other task that seems completely unimportant in the face of such addictiveness.

Note: all of the screenshots showcased above were altered a bit because it drives me bonkers to have images of different sizes in the same post. Rest assured each of these games look far better on an actual 3DS or TV screen than they look here.

The only 'animated EarthBound tribute' video you ever need to view

I was going to publish a post about an entirely different subject today, but it's going to have to wait until tomorrow because the awesome "animated EarthBound tribute" video that can be viewed below (or here) deserves your undivided attention for the entirety of the next 24 hours.



Do you think that if Shigesato Itoi took a couple of minutes out of his surely busy day to watch this sucker he might be convinced to give the world another entry in the wondrous Mother/EarthBound series? Yeah, I doubt it, too. (Insert sad-face emoticon here.)

EarthBound on the brain

You know what I'd like to play on my 3DS sometime soon? No, not Fantasy Life--although I'll definitely be ripping into this role-playing game's packaging and popping its cartridge into my pink-and-white XL as soon as it arrives on my doorstep late next month.

In fact, the game that's currently topping my 3DS wish list isn't even a retail release; rather, it's a digital one--or it would be this time around.

As for which digital title I'm talking about: it's EarthBound--although I kind of gave that away in the header above, didn't I?

In any case, why has Nintendo made its classic RPG available to folks who own a Wii U but not to those who own a 3DS? I have no idea, but I hope they rectify the situation in the near future.

While all of us Wii U-less EarthBound fans wait for that to happen, we may as well content ourselves by ogling the following pair of illustrations that were inspired by this Shigesato Itoi-made masterpiece.

This first piece was produced by Orioto and is called "Night Visitor." (See it in all its original glory here.)

The colorful creation above ("Psychic Kids"), on the other hand, was concocted by Ry-Spirit. (Take a closer look at it here.)

See also: 'Thanks to my recently completed EarthBound playthrough, I can't get this tune out of my head'

Impossibly, I'd never seen this crazy Japanese TV commercial for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past before yesterday

Now that I've seen it, I'd really like to know how TV viewers at the time received it. Did they consider it corny or cheesy, as most of us surely would today, or did they consider it kind of cool?

Or maybe the target audience simply reacted to it with awe, which is how I probably would have reacted to it. It did, after all, herald the coming of a new entry in the Legend of Zelda series.



You know what? Now I'm thinking Nintendo of Japan should've made a sequel to this commercial in order to promote last year's A Link Between Worlds. Doing so certainly couldn't have hurt.

See also: 'The Great Gaymathon Review #64: The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS)'

#PlatforMonth game suggestions for some systems that aren't the PC Engine

In my last post, I discussed a handful of PC Engine platformers that I think would be well worth playing as part of Anne "apricotsushi" Lee's just-announced #PlatforMonth game-along.

Today, I'm going to share some #PlatforMonth recommendations for a few other systems--namely, the Famicom (NES), Mega Drive (Genesis), Super Famicom (SNES), PlayStation and, of course, the GameBoy.

Don Doko Don 2 (Famicom)--I've long considered this to be a rather under-appreciated gem given its pedigree (made by the masters at Taito, follow-up to sort-of-classic Don Doko Don) and its overall quality. I'm guessing the lack of attention from the Famicom set stems, in part, from the fact that this sequel's basically a straight-up, side-scrolling platformer rather than the single-screen sort like its predecessor. Plus, Don Doko Don 2 doesn't do a whole heck of a lot to separate itself from the Famicom-platformer pack. Still, I've always found it to be an enjoyable little romp that sports a bit of that "classic Taito" look as well as a unique gameplay hook--involving the same hammer used to such success in the first Don Doko Don--for the genre.

Marvel Land (Mega Drive)--It took me a while to warm up to this console port of Namco's amusement-park-themed arcade title from 1989. I'm not sure why that is, to tell you the truth, as the game's appreciably bright and colorful and the princely protagonist calls to mind the kind of characters Sega was known for during its heyday. Maybe it's because the first few levels are far from thrilling? Thankfully, I eventually found a way to work through my ho-hum feelings for this cart and I now consider it to be one of my favorite platformers for Sega's 16-bit system.

Nail 'N Scale (GameBoy)--I only just discovered this Data East-made game, which was released in Japan (in 1990, with its North American release coming in 1992) as Dragon Tail, a few weeks ago thanks to a recommendation made by someone on Twitter, I believe. Regardless, I'm glad it found its way onto my radar, as it's a surprisingly unique entry in the platforming genre largely due to the fact that its hat-wearing main charatcer can climb--and sometimes destroy--the walls that populate each stage by shooting spikes into them.

Shake Kids (PlayStation)--OK, so this platformer recommendation is on a different level than the ones I've made so far--as in, this one's a far less polished and accomplished offering, to be completely honest. That said, I think people who get a kick out of undeniably odd Japanese games will enjoy the time they spend with On Demand's Shake Kids, what with its cocktail-shaking protagonists and poor man's Rankin/Bass aesthetic (to put it nicely)--as long as they don't spend too much money to acquire a copy of it.

Spanky's Quest (Super Famicom)--Is this Natsume title really a platformer? Probably not, or at least not entirely, but it features enough of the genre's tried-and-true elements that I think it warrants being included here. For those of you who've never heard of it, Spanky's Quest (Hansei Zaru: Jirō-kun no Daibouken in Japan) stars an adorable monkey who subdues enemies by tossing various kinds of sports balls (baseballs, soccer balls, volleyballs) at them. Don't worry, it's far more engaging than it sounds--and it's so darn cute that I think it would be worth checking out even if it weren't. (Oh, and a similar game was released for the GameBoy, too--as Spanky's Quest in the West and Lucky Monkey in Japan.)

Have you played any or all of the above-mentioned platformers? If so, do you agree with my assessments of them, or do you feel differently?

Also, if you were asked to do so, what are some of the platformers you'd suggest to people who are planning to participate in this #PlatforMonth game-along?