Suggest Me Some Retro Titles to Cover

Approaching sequels is something I'm wrestling with too. By that I mean, the idea of starting to cover a series of games but not necessarily at the first installment. I'm trying to "showcase gaming's roots" as I say in my episode intros but I'm not sure if doing that involves covering a series in order or not. For bigger series like Mega Man, that would be a tall order indeed, especially since many of the best Mega Man games came later in the series and I would always suggest playing those if one had a limited choice. Similarly, I want to do a video on Double Dragon II (the NES version), which I feel is a far superior to Double Dragon I on the NES and which has no real narrative ties that make playing the first one important. That said, I don't only want to cover good games as I feel it's important to showcase what was bad as well, why it was bad and what influences that's had. Sometimes, people do just like to watch someone take the piss out of crappy games too.

My inclination is just to start a series at what I feel was the best entry in it and then maybe expand it out from there over time. I might try it both ways once the channel gets some more traffic and see how people respond.

Roots sprout new ends though PXA. I think that as long as you bring up the characteristics that showcase it's historical importance then that should be just fine in giving context in your videos, at least for me. It is like you said with Mega Man, most of the best things that came from that series are highlighted in games other than the first one.

IMAGE(http://yuq.me/games/1/4/1431/cover.png)

The original 4X game.

Neuromancer!

karmajay wrote:

Neuromancer!

BloodNet!

Some childhood favorites:

Commander Keen
Ecco the Dolphin
Aladdin for Sega Genesis
Theme Park

Tanglebones wrote:
karmajay wrote:

Neuromancer!

BloodNet!

Man, I was totally thinking about BloodNet. I actually tried to play it again a while back (can't remember how I got it running) and oof, it hasn't aged well at all. Still would like to give it a shot though. I didn't come anywhere close to finishing it back in the day but the world was so cool.

Puce Moose wrote:

IMAGE(http://www.pucemoose.com/pics/TGL.jpg)

Loved that game. Enough to finally buy it a few years back and beat it for the first time ever, and got 100% almost entirely guide free. I think getting all the items really made it doable.

I would love to see Crystalis, too, as I never got to see enough to even know if I wanted to play it back in the day.

Sundog: Frozen Legacy
Shadowrun (The far superior Genesis version)
Starflight
Gabriel Knight I
System Shock
Master of Orion
Master of Magic
Alter Ego
Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall (maybe too big)
Anachronox
A Mind Forever Voyaging
Syndicate

I'd like to see Rescue on Fractalus:

IMAGE(http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/0/4511/1095098-fractalus_alien.jpg)

Edit: Not sure what you're hardware options are but this might be a tricky one to find. There's a C64 version but apparently the better option is the Atari 8-bit.

ZaneRockfist wrote:
Aaron D. wrote:

I've always thought that Zombies Ate My Neighbors was an awesome precursor to all the twin stick shooters distributed digitally on modern platforms. Hell of a game to boot.

Yeah, that would be a good one to do.

Gauntlet surely predates Zombies AMN and would be the classic game in that genre to cover. Smash TV would be the better twin stick shooter predecessor though

Adventure from the Atari 2600.

Contains best known Easter Egg.

DanB wrote:

Smash TV would be the better twin stick shooter predecessor though

[homer]Doh![/homer]

Wow, a bunch more got added to this while I wasn't looking! Thanks for the continuing flow of ideas guys. I've been putting all these into Evernote and I've got a crazy huge list now. Keep em' coming for sure! I'm doing a series on Capcom Arcade Cabinet right now but I plan to start digging into some of these once it's done. I've finally got my new audio gear working well and I've managed to get my PC capture setup working well so I should have a much larger array of stuff I can capture from now which should allow me access to a lot more platforms.

I'm still having a blast doing these videos and traffic is steadily ticking up. I do however have a couple of new goals I'm hoping I can elist the help of you fine folks to reach. The main goal is to get partnered so that I can get some copyright protection and promotional opportunities to help grow things further. I have a blog post going up tomorrow morning that I'll link to here at the time that will explain a lot of it. Gonna' keep this retro train a rollin'!

If you do arcade:

Robotron:2084 is the BEST twin stick shooter. Fast paced and difficult to master.

Sinistar was the hardest arcade game I have ever played.

Or... are you only doing consoles? Then you can cover Space Dungeon (there was a good port on the Atari 5200).

Atari Pacman just for how terrible it is

shoptroll wrote:

Atari Pacman just for how terrible it is ;)

He ate wafers instead of pellets.

Actual sound: Donk donk donk donk.

Dragon's Lair.

PRG013 wrote:
shoptroll wrote:

Atari Pacman just for how terrible it is ;)

He ate wafers instead of pellets.

I just remember he kept getting stuck in the walls at a friend's house where they had an Atari.

shoptroll wrote:
PRG013 wrote:
shoptroll wrote:

Atari Pacman just for how terrible it is ;)

He ate wafers instead of pellets.

I just remember he kept getting stuck in the walls at a friend's house where they had an Atari.

Man, your frustration was enough to embed the cart in the walls at your friend's house?

shoptroll wrote:
PRG013 wrote:
shoptroll wrote:

Atari Pacman just for how terrible it is ;)

He ate wafers instead of pellets.

I just remember he kept getting stuck in the walls at a friend's house where they had an Atari.

This is just one of those stories that I pull out on occasion and will continue to do so into my old age.

The long and short of it is that I was knee-deep in Pac-Man Fever when the 2600 port was announced, even acquiring and memorizing the maze patterns in the first game guide ever, Mastering Pac Man (which later netted me a free t-shirt from the local arcade Play It Again, Sam).

IMAGE(http://thumbs2.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/m6hytOBBIdOkYb1U0BSkHPw.jpg)

I anticipated the 2600 port for months. It was supposed to be out holiday '81 but got delayed into March '82...an eternity for a 12 year old.

Launch day finally arrived and I was giddy as a school girl. Apparently everyone else was too 'cause the home port got a full front page splash article in the Style section of the Washington Post. I got home and unboxed the cartridge with trembling hands. Popped it in the 2600 and within 30 seconds realized...that the game was a steaming pile of garbage.

It's funny to look back on now, and the game even has an ugly stepchild underdog retro charm about it. But back then. Man. I can't describe just how crestfallen I was. It felt like getting punched in the gut.

Oh well, at least I got my Biggest Disappointment In Gaming History out of the way early, 'cause nothing before or since has come close!

Mystic Violet won the thread for this suggestion.

IMAGE(http://img.brothersoft.com/screenshots/softimage/m/michael_jackson.s_moonwalker-154559-1.jpeg)

I would pay to have someone talk over Moonwalker and explain that game and all it's weirdness / historical context. The ties to Captain EO, etc.

PRG013 wrote:

If you do arcade:

Robotron:2084 is the BEST twin stick shooter. Fast paced and difficult to master.

Sinistar was the hardest arcade game I have ever played.

Or... are you only doing consoles? Then you can cover Space Dungeon (there was a good port on the Atari 5200).

I've been doing a lot of console stuff to start because I needed to figure out how to capture the other stuff in a good way (which I've largely done) but no platform is off limits for Retro Flashback. I'll be covering anything and everything I can. I definitely want to talk about Robotron and Sinistar, I love both of those games. I have Robotron on the Xbox 360 so I might use that version.

I do want to cover some Atari 2600 stuff too and when I eventually do Pac-Man proper, I might do the 2600 version after because yeah, the awfulness of that needs to be showcased.

Also, this would be my suggestion. I feel like that game is amazing on many levels. First off is the fact that the game actually was pretty cool and required some adventuring. Secondly weird stuff could happen like the bat stealing your bridge and making it impossible to finish the game. Then there are the comparisons to modern RPGs.

IMAGE(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LVSIWSD1Vj8/S9UmZGtzieI/AAAAAAAAAnc/HaCcm-gERxw/s1600/adventure.gif)

So forgive me for posting in two threads but I just wanted to make sure this gets viewed by as many people as possible. I've put up a post on my blog detailing the channel's progress and what the next step is. If you don't have time to read my usual bloggy text wall, the TL;DR is that my next goal is growing the channel to where I can get partnered with a network that will give me copyright claim protection and help me grow it further. To do that, I need to get my subscriber and view counts up, even though both are doing well. If you like my stuff, please watch, comment, thumbs up, subscribe and most importantly, tell others! I'm loving doing this stuff and it really feels like I've got something that's starting to catch on and find an audience. If I can get partnership with the Fullscreen Network which is my goal, it will solidify my ability to keep doing this stuff for a while. Thanks all, keep the suggestions coming!

ICO for the PS2 may be considered retro now with the advent of the PS4/XB1. It was one of the first games (and arguably the most popular game) that people, including myself, pointed to as a legitimate argument for games as art. It also paved the way for game slike Shadow of the Colossus (one of the best PS2 games ever) and Journey (emotional and beautiful).

For earlier titles (and some RPG love) I have to suggets Earthbound and/or Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Both games were extremely gret games in their own ways. Earthbound took traditional JRPGs and gave them a western spin that appealed to audiences around the world, making it one the most coveted games in history (seriously, try buying a very used game box - just the game box - for less than $50; it can't be done). It combined RPG elements with a fantastic story yet didn't take itself too seriously, leading to loveable characters that still resonate today (seriously, you can't forget a character called Poo). Also, a Blues Brothers reference is always appreciated.

As for Super Mario RPG, this was Mario's first journey into the realm of traditional RPGs, well before Paper Mario hit the scene. It's also the first instance, to my knowledge, of Bowser andMario teaming up. Many unfamiliar characters were introduced in this game: the quirky and cosmic Geno, and the fluffy Mallow are two that stuck with me. The most interesting thing about this game, to me, is that it was a collaboration of Nintendo and Squaresoft (yes, Squaresoft, back when they made the best games on the planet). It is because of this that you don't see those new and loveable characters used in today's games - characters like Geno are owned by Square[soft], not Nintendo, which means it's extremely unlikely you'll ever see him in Super Smash Bros. Still, the gameplay was top-notch, the dialogue was hilarious, and it put Mario and the gang in a familiar situation with a new twist - saving the world from a threat that isn;t a giant lizard monster. One of my top 10 games of all time.

I just covered Monkey Island on my show, so much great info on that series. You should totally cover it.

PRG013 wrote:
shoptroll wrote:

Atari Pacman just for how terrible it is ;)

He ate wafers instead of pellets.

Actual sound: Donk donk donk donk.

Oh, the memories. It really was awful.