This will be a new ongoing feature at CLGamer.com. Depending on the game, time needed on it and whatnot, I’m going to be putting up two Retro Re-Review a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays.
What is a Retro Re-Review? It’s a brief look at a game from my past and what I thought about it back then, whether I liked it or not, reviewed while played in present time, to see if it stands the test of time. Many of us have played games that we thought were epic, or even tragic, many years ago. But what about these days? How do you see these titles now? This is not about comparing current generation gaming experiences with ones from the past, in any shape or form. All perceptions are of that era an how it stacks up with games within that generation, both then and now. Most of us still have a strong feeling for such classics as Super Mario Bros 3, and The Legend of Zelda. A Link to the Past, where we all feel they have aged well, and can always stand the test of time not only as excellent games, but as games that still sit atop of its generation. But what about other titles, both well known, or obscure? Are they still duds, or have they shined a new light on you?
Is PaRappa still the H to the E to the R to the O, or has he become a massive ZERO?
For most games, I’ll be using its native console. For certain systems, such as the PSX, I’ll be almost always exclusively using a PC emulator (with an actual PSX controller), or my PSP (depending on the title), as my PSX is not in the best shape, and my PS2 doesn’t read CD games well anymore. I’ll try to get screen shots for each game through PC emulation as well (for instance, with NES games, I’ll be doing the play-through on the actual console, but after I’m done with a write up, I’ll use an emulator and take custom shots), for any system my PC can handle, so that it’s not the same Google’d up screen shots people can find on a search.
I’ll be leaving a rating for each game as well, though its only an overall, from 0.0 to 9.9, maybe 10. The overall rating reflecting how I thought about the game when I first played it is a somewhat accurate guesstimation of my experience with the title and how good I felt it was. The current rating is how it fares to me now. Been a bit iffy with how to do ratings, so I’ll start this as easy and painless as I can.
It's "In the Demon's Hand"....and I don't wanna know what it is!
The farthest back I can go without a huge hassle of more wires and no room to put stored systems, is the NES/8 bit era. I have access to an Atari 2600, Coleco Vision and Commodore 64, however they are all boxed up and stored away, and no room to place them. I may do last gen titles sometime soon, although the newest system I have games listed for review on is the Sega Dreamcast. I have a pretty good library of hard copy titles to work with throughout all systems I’ll be working on, and won’t be using any ROMS played on my PC, unless its to take screen shots. The first batch of reviews will be of games that can be completed within a short amount of time, so I can work on having a good backlog of reviews that are ready to go out. After I have enough of a backlog, I’ll dive into some RPG’s and any other game that has length to it. That way, I won’t have to worry about rushing through a game to make a deadline.
The first RRR (I hate acronyms, but its easier doing that!) will be a PSX game that I cherished quite a bit, and played to death over ten years ago. What game is it?! How was my experience with it so many years later?! Check back Friday afternoon and see what I thought about this title! Also, if anyone else wants to chime in with their own titles, please feel free to do so! I will be doing current game reviews as well, although there’s nothing out there just yet that’s catching my eye for a review. Hope you all enjoy my Retro Re-Reviews!
needs moar dragons lair!