We're Cruis'n USA!
Welcome back to Nerds Without Pants! It’s just Julian and Justin this week, and we THOUGHT it was a short episode. But then Julian realized that Justin picked a music topic for Stage Select, which tacked on 45 minutes of music into this bad boy. But hey, at least it’s GOOD music, right? Right?!
The original Geometry Wars
My earliest memory of Qix began sometime in the mid-90s when I saw it listed in a Funcoland price sheet (remember those?) and thought it was pronounced “quicks”. As a kid, I thought it was a rule that all words spelled with a “Q” had to be pronounced with the qu inflection. But years of expanded vocabulary eventually proved me wrong. In short, the game’s title is pronounced “kicks”- because I suppose the developer Taito wanted you to get your kicks playing Qix. See what they did there?
Is Ultimate perfect? Well, it's pretty damn close.
There’s always been something special about the Super Smash Bros. series for me, even starting with the very first release. I’ve always enjoyed fighting games, but admittedly, I’m not very good at them. Smash Bros. gave me the opportunity to really compete and enjoy mastery of a fighting game for once. Being skilled in the game doesn’t come down to your ability to input complex combos, but rather your ability to read and react to your opponent. It’s a satisfying mind game that continues to draw me to the series, especially as each game becomes more grandiose, featuring bigger rosters and level selections. Ultimate, as expected, is the most impressive offering yet, boasting every character to grace the series, most of the levels, as well as a set of brand new fighters that include many of the big requests fans have had for years.
Travis Touchdown is back again, with a healthy helping of indie game call outs. Come see the launch trailer for Grasshopper Manufacture's latest release!
It's the Dark Souls of Dark Souls!
Nine years ago, I reviewed Demon’s Souls, and I’ll just say that at the time… I wasn’t a fan. I struggled to wrap my head around the gameplay and what made it special absolutely eluded me. Despite my contempt, when Dark Souls went on deep discount, I couldn’t resist the sale and grabbed a copy. Perhaps it was fate, but purchasing Dark Souls that day set into motion an obsession I never expected to take hold of me.
I wish it was good to be bad.
On paper, Nefarious is such a great idea. For once, you get to assume control of a villain, and instead of saving the princess, it’s your job to capture her. The boss battles that end a level? That's your time to shine and stop the would-be hero in his tracks. In execution, Nefarious is rife with issues. Unresponsive controls, mediocre gameplay, and progress halting bugs make for a game that’s just not at all what I had hoped it’d be.
Being a delivery boy has never been so much fun.
It’s not often that a game does something that completely surprises me, but The Messenger managed to catch me totally off guard. What appears to be a modern 8-bit take on Ninja Gaiden suddenly morphs into something more at the halfway point of the game. Its once linear levels branch out and become a Metroid-like maze, with hidden secrets abound. Not only that, but the graphics and sound boost into 16-bit and the world takes on an extra level of detail. While this gimmick was incredibly cool, the tight gameplay and intricate level design is what makes The Messenger a truly special experience.
Get to the choppa!
Airwolf is one my favorite ‘80s TV shows. Originally airing in 1984 to 1987, the premise centered around a high-tech military helicopter capable of reaching supersonic speeds. In addition to the entertaining action sequences and interesting plot, Airwolf is perhaps best known for having one the most distinctive theme songs of the ‘80s (intro clip included below). Naturally, it was only a matter of time before we would see a video game conversion. There was an arcade version by a company called Kyugo in 1987, but the home console release was only for the Famicom. The NES finally saw its own version of Airwolf when Beam Software developed it with Acclaim as the publisher in 1989- 2 years after the show’s final season. Needless to say, this version had a lot to live up to.
Chrono Cross: graduation day edition!
Welcome to a very special edition of Nerds Without Pants! We are joined by PixlBit Site Director Nick as we spend the entire episode on Chrono Crossing. That’s because we’re looking back at 1998. Is this really the greatest year for gaming? The Pantsless Ones hash it out. Spoiler alert: it totally is!
Mario Paint for the 21st Century, if it allowed your childhood dream to come true.
Most of us have played a 2-D Mario game at some point in our lives, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one that really wanted to make a Mario level and have others play it in years past. Granted, people have made attempts to make their own Mario levels with varying degrees of success, but Miyamoto and friends finally granted my wish for Mario’s 30th anniversary in the form of Super Mario Maker. As far as level creation tools go, Super Mario Maker is a great level creation tool that has seen over six million levels created since its launch last year. Needless to say, the game is a hit with Mario fans everywhere. However, there are still flaws it has to iron out.
