Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection: Destiny Board Traveler

Final Yu-Gi-Oh! review for this year! Yet again, we’re moving away from the card game as it usually works to delve into a different type of gameplay – this time, a proper board game that involves dice and spaces and Yu-Gi-Oh! monsters- wait, again? Yep. Can’t escape those.

Destiny Board Traveler was first released in Japan under the name Sugoroku’s Sugoroku on March 18th, 2004; and then made its way to North American markets on October 26th of the same year. That original title is a reference to Yugi’s grandpa; Solomon Muto’s original name is Sugoroku, also the name of two ancient board games that have some similarities to modern Snakes & Ladders and Backgammon, respectively.

But of course, there needs to be a twist that involves the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game. The characters of the manga/anime appear as playable, there are several boards to choose from (if you unlock them), and the cards themselves will be integral parts of the strategy and gameplay.

Maybe this time I can keep it short.

’Round the Board

Makes sense to pick Yugi. ow I just have to hope his
legendary lucks rubs off on me. (Hint: It didn't.)

Four players move around one or more 5X5 square-shaped boards. Each player has a hand of monsters drawn from their Deck (this game doesn’t use Spells or Traps, and all monsters are treated as Normal and don’t have their effects). On their turn, each player creates their own die from cards in their hand by setting them onto its faces. They do not need to set monsters onto every face of the die, however. The value of each side of that die is equal to the level of the monster on it. The die has one side known as the Star Face, while the other five remain regular faces.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection: Dungeon Dice Monsters

Most Yu-Gi-Oh! games are all about the franchise’s card game. Those began appearing early in the manga’s pages, and it only took a few books before the story shifted to focus on tournaments. However, before those, the manga had several tomes in which Yugi’s alter ego played various games, against many opponents. The early days were DARK; Yugi’s first Shadow Game had someone almost stab themselves for a game about picking up bills with a knife. In another, he burned a criminal to death.

As far as game tables go, I think those in the manga (for
Duelist Kingdom and Dungeon Dice Monsters) make more
sense than the giant arenas from the anime.

Then, there was Duel Kingdom. Shortly afterwards, there was Battle City, which ended up with rules much closer to the real card game. However, between the two, a short arc introduced another game of Kazuki Takahashi’s making: Dungeon Dice Monsters (shortened DDM). Created by Duke Devlin (Ryuji Otogi in the original Japanese), an aspiring game maker whose family sets up shop near Yugi’s home, the game features monsters appearing when dice are deployed on a field. I will explain much more in due time.

These odds are looking good!

There was also a whole thing about a disfigured man in a clown mask, an intense desire for revenge, and arson, but that’s because the manga has always been ballsier than the anime.

Dungeon Dice Monsters was eventually adapted into a physical board game. It never quite caught on, probably due to the complexity of the system that demanded a full board to play as well as the associated dice – not quite as simple as just playing with cards! It also got an adaptation on the Game Boy Advance, released in North America on February 11th, 2003 (though it came out two years earlier in Japan), and a rerelease in the Early Days Collection.

What IS Dungeon Dice Monsters Anyway?

Try not to get yourself cornered.

I’ll open by explaining the game, its rules, and its mechanics. As the name indicates, this game trades cards for dice. The board is made of 13X19 squares, with players on opposite sides. Each player has a pool of 15 dice, which will be the ones they roll. Each player has a figurine named the Die Master in front of them; this figurine starts with three hit points.

Dice sides are called Crests. There are six different  types: Summon, Movement, Attack, Defense, Spell and Trap. Every die has a different selection of these Crests – as an example, a die may have one or two Attack Crests, or maybe none! The only Crest guaranteed to be on every die is the Summon type. Dice have levels ranging from 1 to 4, and the lower the level is, the more Summon Crests it will have.

Gaming Memories: WarioWare: Twisted!

The reviews I'm working on need a little more time, so I'm posting this instead today.

WarioWare: Twisted!

Game Boy Advance

Release date: May 23rd, 2005 (NA)

The WarioWare franchise started out a little kooky, with its unique concept of "microgames" (meaning mini-games so short they're completed in just a few seconds) and its cast of crazy characters. The very first game in the series, Mega Microgame$!, set the tone. It would become tradition for new entries to the series to introduce new characters (developers) and gimmicks, often basing their entire collection on said gimmicks.

Which takes us to Twisted, the first game in the series that I owned, also for the Game Boy Advance. I didn't cover this one in the early days of the blog; you'll see why soon. The cartridge, larger than normal, actually had a built-in gyro sensor. The sensor would calibrate upon the game being turned on, so that it would work no matter which type of GBA you owned (with a top slot for the regular GBA, or the bottom slot for an SP model, which is what I had).

The story here: Wario and Doctor Crygor end up inventing a strange Game Boy Advance that reacts to being tilted left and right... so Wario, true to form, decides to market the Heck out of it, even asking his crew to make new microgames using this new feature. Most, if not all, of the microgames involve tilting the console. Shave a guy by moving the razor around his face? Spin the console upside-down to drop a hat off a guy's head? Sure. Several games here also require pressing the A button. Notably, one "boss" (read: A longer microgame at the end of a stage) only asks you to turn the console on the side to play a shmup... against noses. This is one of only two games on the GBA to use a gyro sensor, the other being Drill Dozer.

I recall loving the weirdness of that one - then again, weird is just normal for WarioWare. But spinning the console? Yeah, that was especially bizarre. Later entries in the franchise would focus on the new Nintendo console's features, like the touch screen and microphone of the DS, the motion controls of the Wii, or the digital camera of the DSi. A new one is coming soon, focusing on the Switch's motion controls as well.

As for why I never covered this one in a full-length article? Well, that's because I didn't own it anymore. One day, I had friends come over and one of them brought some other guy we didn't really know. One of them had brought her games, including her own copy of this one; at the end of the day, she lost it. We genuinely believe it was stolen by the guy we didn't know. I gave her my copy. I'm pretty mad that it was stolen, but I did the right thing in the end. Let's just say I never allowed for +1s I didn't know at home from then on.

Rayman 1 (AKA Rayman Forever)

We've waited entirely too long to see Rayman in a game again.

I still have UPlay stuff to get through… I’ve been thinking about playing more Ubisoft games for the blog, seeing as I have so many waiting on that platform alone… I mean, I own 17 games there and only played/reviewed two of them. I’m long overdue for a themed month. Well, the title gives it away: I’m gonna review some Rayman in the coming weeks. Besides, with the announcement of Rayman being added in 2023 to the Sparks of Hope DLC for Mario+Rabbids Kingdom Battle, I feel this series of reviews is justified.

Nice, I'm already 25% through!

When I said I got all of my UPlay games for free, I lied actually; I bought three games, all three of which were pretty inexpensive. Those are Rayman 1 (also known as Rayman Forever), Rayman 2: The Great Escape, and Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc. For all the time I spent talking about the Rabbids (both the game and all associated media), it’s a shame I spent so little time discussing their parent franchise.

The three games I mentioned are the genesis of Rayman, his humble beginnings as a new platforming mascot from Ubisoft. His first outing in 2D, followed by two adventures in 3D. We know what happened next: Some spin-offs and secondary adventures (Hi, Hoodlum’s Revenge), a long series of mini-game titles (hi, Rabbids), and finally a few highly-stylized titles (hi, Origins and Legends; by the way, if the month is going well, I might tack Legends to the list as I have that one on Steam).

So, today’s game is the one that started it all. Rayman 1, also nicknamed Rayman Forever on Ubisoft’s platform, originally released on September 1st in North America for the PlayStation. The version I’m playing was released on UPlay in 2016, and includes Rayman Designer, a level maker, as well as Rayman by His Fans, a pack of 40 fan-made levels. But what is Rayman 1 like? Oh, you’ll see…

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

I bought that Link costume something like 3-4 years ago, telling myself I'd get to use it eventually for the blog... Took long enough, but that's FINALLY been done!

I was originally hoping to have this game as my anniversary review this year. Although I like The Legend of Zelda, I feel like I don’t get to talk about the franchise often enough. The third entry in the franchise, subtitled A Link to the Past, was released on April 13th, 1992, in America. The SNES game solidified many of the concepts that were present in the first two, and set the stage for all the ones that would come after. 

I eventually decided against reviewing this game for an anniversary, in part because I like said anniversary reviews to be long and detailed, and I need to have a lot to say. I didn’t have the time for such a thing this year. Also, I’ve grown to notice that it’s one of the better-known entries in the series. It’s not as huge as TLoZ: Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask or Breath of the Wild, but I’d still classify it among the Top 5. I’ve seen a large community of people playing it to this day, piling on the self-imposed challenges and item randomizers. There are people out there who know this game better than I know my own home, and I’ve never moved in 28 years. So I don't have several parts' worth of things to say about it.

The big reason why I wanted to cover it, however, is that it’s one of the rare few games to have followed me in some form throughout my life. My cousins passed it down to me, in a package that included their SNES console and the rest of their collection, when I was about 10; I borrowed a copy from a friend to play on my Game Boy Advance SP; and I purchased it on the Wii Shop Channel too. I have a great sense of nostalgia for this one.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Part 5)

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney - Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5

Or rather, we know, but not we need tol catch the guy.
And there's still that second underlying mystery...

There is still much to discuss in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. Or rather, we must still discuss the last investigating section, followed of the last trial. We have the current case of Robert Hammond's murder, mixed with the mysterious DL-6 case. Those two are tied too closely for comfort, so I was almost sure I’d need a fifth part for this. Anyway, let’s continue where we left off, shall we?

Come to think of it, isn’t Phoenix defending Edgeworth another case of conflict of interest? Edgeworth was Phoenix’s “friend”, after all… Oh well, guess the Ace Attorney-verse has no interest in those questions.

Eh. As an extrascholar activity, I've seen worse.

We are preparing for the third day of the trial, and Phoenix is visited by Larry at the Law Offices. We hear more backstory: In fourth grade, Phoenix was put on trial for stealing Edgeworth’s lunch money (he didn’t actually do it), and Edgeworth, who at the time wanted to become a defense attorney like his father Gregory, defended him – and won. I wouldn’t go as far as to call it a life-saving situation, but that was the first event that made Phoenix want to become an attorney. Then DL-6 happened, Edgeworth moved away, Phoenix didn't see him again – until he learned Edgeworth became a prosecutor; after which, Phoenix decided to become a defense attorney, so that he would meet his old friend, now a rival, in court. But Edgeworth was so different… The news about him were scary, too; saying he’d do anything to get a guilty verdict on every defendant…

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Part 4)

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney - Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5

You would expect Edgeworth to know
better than to pick up a weapon used
for a crime with his hands... but then,
where would be the mystery?

Time for the last case of the game. I set up the foundation at the end of Part 3: Miles Edgeworth is accused of a murder committed on a boat. Even the cold intro points in his direction, with a gunshot and Edgeworth holding a firearm. Even if Phoenix takes his case, he’ll have to face Edgeworth’s mentor in the courtroom – Manfred Von Karma, who hasn’t lost a case in 40 years. His perfect streak of defendant condemnations is enormous. He literally represents everything wrong with prosecutors in the Japanese law system – and yes, I say Japanese, because you can’t make me believe that this guy would have been allowed to roam free in the modified American system of the game, no matter how modified it is. This man is a monster already for caring not about the truth, but about his personal victory. He is fine sending innocents to their deaths, as long as his streak stays perfect. Phoenix Wright has, so far, had a lot of luck picking only clients who were truly innocent, and saving them from what could mean a life sentence. If not more. Three times now, Phoenix proved that a defendant is not always the true culprit. Will he be able to do it again?

Edgeworth doesn’t want Phoenix to take this case. But Phoenix decides to nonetheless. Off to Gourd Lake Natural Park, where we will be investigating around the scene of the murder. Gumshoe’s here again, but aside from a witness, they’ve found little to no clues. Have I mentioned that this first investigation for murder takes place on Christmas Day? Merry Christmas! Phoenix and Maya soon find someone camping near the lake, an intrepid photographer named Lotta Hart, with a thick southern accent. She seems nice! Lot of heart on this girl. Dunno if she’s the witness… but her camera triggers when it hears a loud noise, it may have taken a picture of the event! That’s bound to help us, right? When she remembers she’s a witness, Lotta suddenly becomes very unhelpful. Gee, what a surprise. Okay then, time to head back. Something smells here… it’s gotta be the Butz. Indeed, Larry Butz is here, dressed as Santa. He’s working his day job, he has a new girlfriend, he seems pretty happy. Plus, there’s a boom in business since the reveal of a possible monster in the lake – nicknamed Gourdy.

As plot point for a visual novel, we've seen weirder.

Since Larry is a good friend of both Phoenix and Miles, we get some backstory. Edgeworth’s father was a defense attorney and the kid wanted to follow in his dad’s footsteps. The three found themselves in the midst of a class trial in elementary school, where Phoenix was falsely accused of stealing a chocolate bar and Miles defended him, while Butz offered moral support. This is what gave Phoenix a desire to be a defense attorney as well. That was fifteen years prior. A lot of things have happened since then…

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Part 3)

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney - Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5

No time to waste, check out the previous parts if you want, we got a lot of plot to cover once again!

We are introduced to Tok- I mean, Los Angeles’ most popular show at the time, the Steel Samurai, something very clearly inspired by the Japanese traditions, with possibly a bit of Sentai thrown in. I dunno how you lived your 2016, but if there was any popular kid show back in October last year, it sure as Hell wasn’t something like that. Especially in Los Angeles. We see a part of the show, which Maya loves. Then we hear that since the case of Mia’s murder (the one involving Redd White – of Bluecorp), Wright Law Offices have had nearly no clients. Oh, that’s about to change – in the middle of the night, Phoenix is called by Maya. She says that the Steel Samurai killed a villain… in real life! Or rather, his actor, Will Powers (what an awesome name), was accused.

Well, only an idiot kid would believe that there isn't an actor
in that costume. Although how that wonderful mane of hair
can stay down inside that full-head helmet is a mystery for
the ages.

Investigation time! Will Powers immediately shows that he’s as soft as a teddy bear, despite the impressive musculature and the hair that would make any anime hero jealous. He sets the facts: The victim, Jack Hammer (what an awesome name), was found near the studio just before a rehearsal, the Steel Samurai’s spear in the chest. Hammer portrays the Evil Magistrate in the TV show, and is kind of a rival of Powers. He says he has been sleeping for most of the afternoon, which is when the murder took place.

Oh, I'm sure your higher-ups would love to hear that
you've been saying this sort of thing.

Okay, time to move to Universal- I mean, Global Studios. They run into the security guard, miss Wendy Oldbag; what a terrible name. I’d hate to imagine the nicknames she got in middle school for having the family name Oldbag. She immediately proves to be more of a roadblock than any help, but that’s hardly a surprise – though things may get tricky since she claims to have seen Powers on the way to Studio 1... We get some info on Jack Hammer: He was a great action show hero, until some nebulous accident five years prior; since then he has been reduced to playing villains for a pittance. Well, you know what they say, either you die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself playing villains. We talk with Gumshoe again, after which we check around the studio a bit more, eventually getting into Studio 1 where the body was found. We get a quick argument about ladders and stepladders in there, for some reason, and then we meet Penny, an assistant at Global Studios. We get a final critical photograph, after which we leave.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Part 2)

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney - Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5

Continuing from Part 1 with the second case of the entire Ace Attorney franchise. Look out, tons of spoilers.

The episode starts as Mia Fey calls her little sister Maya, asking her to come pick up some meaningful evidence – namely, the Thinker clock statue from the first case. Mia took out the clockwork and hid some important files in there. Unfortunately, someone comes into Mia’s apartment a little later, lets slip that they know exactly what Mia told her sister on the phone, and then beats her to death… with the Thinker statue. You could cut a building in two with such pointy irony. Poor Butz, once again, his gift to a girl is what kills her. Poor Phoenix, who loses his mentor… poor Maya Fey, who is accused of the murder! And Phoenix finds Mia’s body in the office, with Maya crying nearby!

Okay, that’s a traumatic tragedy, but it would be an immense conflict of interest if Phoenix took the case – his mentor dead, her little sister is the defendant. I suppose we’re not allowed to solve that one… Oh wait, seems we’re gonna be solving that one after all. We are introduced to the Investigation half of a case: In several locations, you are allowed to run a cursor around to pick up information about various items in the scenery. It can lead to superfluous details, but it can also be the discovery of major evidence that will be used later in the case – and it will forward the plot. Here, when Phoenix tries to call the cops, he finds out someone else, in a room of the hotel on the other side of the street, is also calling them…

Poor guy. It seems he always cuts himself at the exact
same spot every day he shaves.

And thus shortly afterwards we meet Dick Gumshoe, detective not-so-extraordinaire. An ever-present pencil behind the ear, an ever-present plaster on the beard… Hey, I think we found Jim Morales’ long-lost brother! Could be worse, his family name could be Johnson. Sheesh, with a name like Gumshoe, the poor guy had no other choice in his career path. …Come to think of it, that’s true of a lot of characters in the series, their name often dictates what they were bound to become.

We discuss with Maya at the discussion center, then receive from Gumshoe the autopsy report at the Fey and Co. Law Offices. The detective also helpfully informs us that prosecutor Miles Edgeworth is on the case. Ah, at last, Phoenix’s famous rival! Probably more popular than even Phoenix himself, that guy. In Part 1, I mentioned that prosecutors were greatly favored over defense attorneys, and it’s true here as well. While Phoenix struggles to gather evidence, faces three dozen problems and can barely build a solid case, with witnesses and people present on the scenes being frequently unresponsive or uncooperative, Miles is bossing the cops around and can easily get testimonies, reports and other valuable info. It’s even said that Miles hasn’t lost a single case so far – once again displaying that Japanese – er, American – prosecution ego that is so omnipresent.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Part 1)

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney - Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5

Gonna try to keep this relatively short, because if I go over every single little detail in every case in each of these two games, I’ll still be talking about these in May. Thankfully, the plot patches its own holes most of the time, in such a way that the player needs to see these plot hole-solving details for the story to go forward, so there isn’t much to say about plot holes and inconsistencies. Not that there’s much to say about gameplay, either, as it is fairly simple. All that matters… is the plot.

And God are there complex stories in these games.

Unfortunately, a lot of online visual novels seem to be
only about romantic relationships. Love ain't everything,
folks!

Visual novels can make for very interesting games. There are the ones that go solely for telling a good story, then there’s those that add a certain puzzle aspect to the whole thing. And what better way to include puzzles and logical deductions than a game about investigations? The old film noir aesthetic, the web of secrets to untangle, the mysterious ally who mysteriously disappeared- Oh wait, no, that last one is Hotel Dusk: Room215, which I reviewed back in 2015.

However, today I am discussing one of the most famous visual novel franchises: Ace Attorney. The series is known for its intricate storylines, its memorable and endearing characters, its off the wall humor, and its investigations that frequently go to dark places despite the bright world. Not to mention the wide range of expressions on the large sprites of every character, It’s a quirky franchise that hides some deep truths about justice (especially the Japanese system), life, and the zones of grey in society, and in each of us.

But hey, they’re murder mysteries, what else did you expect? There is a lot of ground to cover plot-wise, let’s get into it right away.

A bleeding statue. A woman on the ground, with a head injury. Someone, off-frame, who asks “Why me?” I just said it, the cases in the Ace Attorney games are murder mysteries, therefore the opening scene, revealing the murder, will usually have enough ambiguous elements to leave the player guessing. Not so much the case here, as we immediately see the killer, who decides to pin the murder on the next idiot he sees. Guess it makes sense as a Tutorial case of sorts to have a mystery in which we already know the answer.

12 Games I'd Like To Play Again Someday

Hello everyone! This is not an actual “Top 12” list here, just a list of twelve games, not in a particular order.

You know, nostalgia is an odd thing. It's all built from your past experiences, and it extends to the many works of fiction you've come across during your life. As a result, you will often remember fondly a kids' movie that you grew up with, and show great hatred for a film you watched as a kid and disliked. Nostalgia can also be treacherous, as you can re-watch a film you disliked as a child and find lots of new qualities to it, or on the contrary, re-watch a film you loved as you grew up and find many defects. We've all gone through this at some point, looking at a nostalgic work of fiction with our current eyes and having a completely different point of view.

Yes, nostalgia is an odd thing. That's probably the reason why gamers will look fondly on the first gaming console they ever owned, and the games they played on it. In my case, I got a NES from a garage sale for only 10 bucks, and I also received the gamer's entire collection of NES cartridges, a total of 14. Some of those games were not that great, but others kept a soft spot in my heart. A few years later, one of my cousins outgrew his Super Nintendo Entertainment System and gave it to me. I received his eight SNES games with it. All in all, I can say I've been lucky, 22 games nearly for free... Still, a few years ago I sold the two systems and all of the games because I needed money for another item of (current) gaming. I still keep good memories of the games I owned (or, well, good memories of the ones worth remembering). I also remember the games I loved to play as a child... and now I'm sad because I cannot play them anymore. However, I kept a list of games I used to own, and today I bring you a list of 12 games I really, really liked. Some of these titles may be completely unknown to you; To me, they represent hours and hours of fun. Today is a trip down my own Nostalgia Lane, and I invite you to come along. These are 12+ games I'd like to play again someday, either on the real game systems, or on emulators.

Note: At the end of the actual Top 12, there's a list of all the games I owned that weren't on the list. Let's go!

1. B.O.B.

This is the story of B.O.B., a teenage robot who leaves home for a night of fun and crashes the family car on an unfriendly planet. Or rather, three unfriendly planets, one after the other, because this robot has worse luck than me. Anyway, in order to find his way home, B.O.B. (no relation to R.O.B.) ventures through military bases and alien lands, defeats missile launchers and goop spewers, meets all sorts of crazy bosses... I loved this SNES game because it was REALLY hard to beat. I remember spending hours and hours trying to complete it. And when I finally did, it was incredible! This game is great in every possible way. B.O.B. gains a whole arsenal of weapons and tools to aid him on his quest to head back home, the levels are varied, and it represents a true challenge to any gamer. It had very little plot, but for this one, I could actually accept it, as everything else was just so great. Try it someday, you won't be sorry.

If that's the kind of monster you meet in space, I'm fine on
Earth, thank you very much.

2. Bubble Bobble

Anyone remembers this one? The story of two little dragons who happen to be humans transformed against their will? They have to travel across numerous levels in order to retrieve their appearance and save their parents? Every level was a puzzle and the dragons had to defeat every enemy by trapping them in bubbles they spewed before popping said bubbles. The gameplay was great, and the final boss was a force that had to be seen to be believed. I remember having both great times and hard times playing it, because it was such a difficult, difficult, DIFFICULT game in the later levels. The kicker? You cannot beat the game for real unless you beat it in 2-Player mode. Even with that small problem, it was still quite fun, and I remember many things about it that make me want to play it again now.

Does this look hard? It's only Level 1 out of over a hundred!

3. The Disney NES titles

-Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers

-DuckTales

-Darkwing Duck

Everyone who grew up in the '90s knows Chip and Dale, Scrooge McDuck, and Darkwing Duck. Well, three of Disney's best TV shows that got their NES adaptations. Out of the three, only DuckTales was reissued recently with an updated art style, making the game look even better than it used to. But the other two were also very good. I remember the strange bosses in the Chip and Dale NES game, from the Tutorial boss to Fat Cat. I remember some of the bosses from the Darkwing Duck game, even if it was a lot harder than the other two. Oddly enough, while I grew up watching Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers and DuckTales (in the French version; I wasn't always an English-speaker, you know), I never got to watch Darkwing Duck. I've been told it's alright (though some would call this an understatement). Those are three games I won't forget, and I will play them again if I get the chance. Give them a try, they're available on NES emulators.

4. Donkey Kong Country

Yeah, a classic of the SNES. Donkey Kong Country is awesome. It's just epic. Not only did it feature the new DK, but also Diddy, the Kremlings, more members of the Kong Family, and oh so much. The levels were varied, many of them contained awesome gimmicks, and there were some legitimately dangerous enemies. Plus, who doesn't like being blasted from barrel to barrel? In a game, it looks amazing. DKC was followed by two sequels, and a sequel series made for the original Game Boy consoles. That's the legacy of Donkey Kong Country. I remember loving this game, trying oh so hard to find everything there was to find... Hours of enjoyment. The animal buddies, the Kremlings... I just cannot say how much I liked this game. I'd buy it on the Virtual Console, but I switched to Windows 8 a few months ago and I haven't been able to connect my Wii to Internet since, so I can't buy new games on the Wii Shop Channel... But still, Donkey Kong Country is pure greatness, and you must try it at least once. You must.

Where else can you hitch a ride on a rhinoceros?

5. Dr. Mario

Classics once again! Yeah, not everyone remembers this game fondly. I can see why. It's not the easiest puzzle game around. The viruses are kind of annoying. There's no clear plot, and nowhere is it said where Mario got his Ph.D. Either way, it must have been a crappy university if they taught him to use pills to solve every problem. However, the concept was quite fun. I remember playing it a little. It's simple, really: The bottle is infested with viruses, and you have to kill them by placing colored pills matching the colors of the virus you want to destroy; and if four “squares” (counting virus and pill halves) of the same color are aligned, they all disappear. While this is fun, sometimes I largely prefer action games. Dr. Mario still has its merits, it sure is memorable. It went on to receive a few sequels, and is considered part of the Mario canon. What else can I say? Give it a try.

THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DON'T LEAVE
THE BOTTLES IN SANITIZED AREAS!

6. Mighty Final Fight

Oh noes! Mayor Haggar's daughter has been kidnapped – again! Helped of two younger fighters, Guy and Cody, Haggar sets out to retrieve his daughter! Being one of the few Beat'Em-Up games I played in the early days, I have a soft spot for it. For starters, you can pick between three different fighters, which is neat. Plus, as you progress through the game, these fighters level up and gain new amazing attacks. The game also contains a lot of comedy, which makes it even better. Seeing the villains give an "Oh crap" face when you hit them is priceless. The heroes are great, the plot is fine, the bosses are – wow, I remember now: The bosses are just incredible, all of them. The settings are varied, and the gameplay is good. I swear, this is a great introduction to Beat'Em-Up games, and I liked it. Liked it a lot. It's great. Also, Haggar is a crazy awesome wrestler.

Don't you love it when you can just attack every enemy in sight?

7. Mrs. Pac-Man Maze Madness

I bought this Game Boy Advance many years ago, and I remember having a lot of fun with it, but I inexplicably lost the cartridge not even a year after I bought it. While not “nostalgic” for this game, I sure hope I could play it again... This game was first released on the PlayStation system, then jumped to the Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast before appearing in GBA cartridge form. As for the plot? A witch invades a castle and kidnaps the princess, so Mrs. Pac-Man must save the four regions of Pac-Land in order to bring peace again. Yeah, that's it. All I remember is that it had the right level of difficulty, it had a lot of puzzle elements, and it was pretty darn fun. I don't remember actually beating the full game, but knowing my persistence, I probably wasn't too far from achieving that. Oh well. Here goes another game I'd look for on emulator sites if I were to review it.

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It goes on for a few hundred more lines...

8. Road Runner: Death Valley Rally

I didn't own Bugs Bunny: Lost in Time, but I did own another Looney Tunes game. In Death Valley Rally, you control the Road Runner, as he speeds around five different worlds while trying to avoid or thwart the coyote's plans. As such, our favorite speedy bird runs through a desert, a construction site, trains, a mine and a space station to fool Wile E. Coyote. As is to be expected from a Looney Tunes game, each time the bird reaches the end of the level, Coyote's plans crash on him in all sorts of fun ways. Did I mention that the last boss is a giant robotic Wile E. Coyote head? Most of the coyote's plans are shout-outs to things he tried in the cartoon, and here he still fails in using them. The game was very challenging and I keep fond memories of it. I wished I could play it right now...

Keep trying, Coyote. You're always going to fail.
A. L. W. A. Y. S.

9. StarFox

Yes, I have played a StarFox game in the past! The very first one, in fact. I even remember “beating” the game. Well, that is, if you consider “beating” as completing one of the paths available in the game, and not meeting most of the bonus levels, like the slot machine boss, and other stuff like that... The concept was very innovative back then, the graphics were marvelous (and it's a Super Nintendo game, which means 3D was only beginning!), and the story, while simple, kept the gamer interested. There were a lot of enemies, and many memorable bosses. Sure, Andross' mirror face is known more than ever thanks to the Assist Trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but there's also the spider spaceship, and many others! ...Okay, my memory isn't as great as I thought it was. I haven't played this game in years! But I remember it, so I want to play it. Maybe someday soon...

Space can get really trippy sometimes.
It's usually a sign of space madness.

10. Super Mario Bros. 1, 2 & 3

Classics, once again! Who hasn't played the very first Super Mario Bros.? The second one? The third one? You must have played at least one of those at some point in your life. They're just THAT famous. The first SMB game used to be the highest-selling game of all time. The second ones (either the American version, taken from Doki Doki Panic, or The Lost Levels; both count as Super Mario Bros. 2 in a way) also gained a reputation as great games, with The Lost Levels being known for its extreme difficulty, and SMB2 as the first time in history that Toad and Princess Peach were playable AND had their own abilities. SMB3 is one of Mario's greatest adventures, the first appearance of the Koopalings, and an all-around awesome game to own and play. It looked great, it had great gameplay and ideas, and it was fun. These four games were awesome, each in their own way, and for this reason I hope to play them again at some point in my life. (Note: I owned Super Mario bros. 1, 2 and 3, but I also had Super Mario All-Stars for the SNES, which is why I could play The Lost Levels as well.)

11. Tiny Toon Adventures 2: Trouble In Wackyland

Another relatively unknown game. Most people who grew up in the 90s know the Tiny Toons. Did you know they had video game adaptations? In this one, the main cast (Buster, Babs, Bucky, etc.) enters an amusement park called Wackyland, which seems fun... but actually, it's filled with traps! And of course, none of them knows it until they're on the rides! As a result, Babs has to survive a CRAZY roller coaster ride, Bucky enters an all-too-risky Bumper Car challenge, and Buster visits a castle in which the gravity keeps changing. The game was difficult at times, but nothing unbeatable. It makes sense, as it was made for kids! It was creative. My memories of this game are mostly positive, so I want to be able to play this game again someday. It was really fun, and if you know of a way for me – and for you! - to play it, tell me, I'll be more than happy to know!

A crazy roller coaster ride? That's just the beginning.

12. WarioWare: Twisted!

For this last one, there's a bit of history. I owned this game, and so did a friend of mine. However, her cartridge of WarioWare: Twisted! was stolen by someone, another person who wasn't quite a friend, and as a result I gave her my cartridge. I never got a chance to play it ever again. It's kind of sad, too, as WarioWare: Twisted is one of a handful of Game Boy Advance games with a built-in movement detector, a creative new feature. The game knows when you're tilting the cartridge! The only other control used in microgames for this installment was the A button, so the games were all rather simplistic. It doesn't matter, though. The microgames were still a lot of fun, so I guess it reached its goal. It was REALLY enjoyable, and if I could get my hands on a copy of WarioWare: Twisted!, I would buy it. I want to play this again, it was just so cool. Sure, you looked like a ditz spinning the game console, but hey! It worked!

Twist to shave the guy? Huh.

Other games I owned that weren't mentioned on this list: The Adventures of Bayou Billy, Duck Hunt, Platoon, Rad Racer, Spy Hunter, StarTropics, Super C, Tetris, TMNT: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode, Touchdown Fever (man, this one SUCKED), Gunforce, Mortal Kombat 3, Street Fighter 2 Turbo, Super Mario Kart. Just because they're not on this list doesn't mean I didn't like them. Some were okay, there are others I really despised. But I owned them in the past, so I felt like I should at least acknowledge them. I bought some of these games on the Virtual Console, which is why I did not include them on the list: I've played them, albeit in a different form, in the recent years.

Do you have a gaming console you are nostalgic for? What are the games you played that you don't have anymore, that you would like to play once again? Share them in the comments, I will be more than happy to read them. Nostalgia is a great thing and no one should shy away from it.