PixlBit

I replayed this on the Switch recently.

My original PS1 copy of FFIX was autographed by Nobuo Uematsu at Distant Worlds in Omaha.

Definitely looked pretty. Nothing like a racing game for showing off a platform's graphics. I remember when Virtua Racing, Ridge Racer, Daytona USA and even Gran Turismo were used to show off new consoles.

I remember the whole Online Pass BS. I wrote a long blog denouncing the Online Passes on 1UP. It was by far my most-read and most-commented blog. It got around ten thousand reads and almost 200 comments if I remember correctly, and after that the number of people who looked at my page went from 2-3 a day on a good day to hundreds a day.

Every time I think EA has reached Peak Tw@, they keep proving me wrong with their bashing single-player games, always online, and the whole games-as-a-service thing. I really wish Sega had sabotaged Madden 92 at CES all those years ago.

I got Graces when it came out. It wasn't as good as Vesperia, but it wasn't bad either. I did want to support the series because it had been a few years since Vesperia and a lot of games had been skipped int he meantime. 

It was the transition between old-style Tales and modern Tales (the last release before it, Hearts, was an older style Tales with a world map). It definitely was lower budget compared to Vesperia, but I notice that the Team Destiny games tended to be a little skimpier and lower-budget than the Team Symphonia games.

Tales music does have some really good tracks here and there. Fighting of the Spirit (the battle theme for summon spirits) is a legit awesome battle theme. Symphonia had quite a few good tracks honestly. 

As I said, I really enjoyed Link's Awakening on Switch including its graphical and sonic facelifts, as well as its QOL improvements. I'd honestly love to see A Link to the Past done with a full 3-D engine like Twilight Princess or Breath of the Wild, keeping it to the artstyle of the original. I skipped Smash on Wii U/3DS and am playing Ultimate on Switch. 

I didn't play F-Zero untii I tried it on the SNES Classic Edition. 

Might do one or two. Sometimes Blog-A-Month is kind of stretching it for me, though.

I'd like to offer the following cage matches for consideration:

Breath of the Wild versus either Skyrim or Witcher 3

Dragon Quest XI S vs. either Final Fantasy XV or Persona 5

Final Fantasy XV vs. Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Mortal Kombat 11 vs Samurai Shodown 2019 (I know we already did a MKX vs SF5)

Fallout 4 vs The Outer Worlds

Astral Chain vs. Code Vein

Centipede vs. Galaga

Gamecube was such an awesome era for Zelda. 

I think it's pretty neat you got Megan McDuffee. River City Girls was probably the closest I'll ever get to seeing a video game version of one of my favorite anime classics, Project A-Ko. Megan's music helped capture some of the vibe of Project A-Ko.