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Post by Mandarin Dessert Version 0 on Apr 10, 2021 4:45:55 GMT -5
Well, it is time to find out if they are indeed good enough to play a game like this as James & Mike take on The Goonies II for the NES: -We have a new academy record! Beating the Castlevania II episode, this one took the spot at the time as the longest J&MM episode, clocking in at a little bit over 1 hour 20 minutes. And, spoiler ahead, for me, it was well worth it, even at the second go around.
-So yeah, this is a follow-up to an actual The Goonies game that was only released on the Famicom in Japan but never in the US. James makes the assumption that it was perhaps meant to be a "sequel" to the movie (kinda like, I guess, the NES game Batman: Return Of The Joker) seeing as it appears that the villain from the movie sounds like she has returned to take her revenge on the Goonies for imprisoning her and her family in it.
-This has actually been a request for the AVGN for a while now where James didn't quite understand why because he played it a bit, found the controls operable, the graphics good and the music pleasent so he didn't consider it that bad a game that would be a subject for AVGN. Luckily, Mike is there this time to take him further into the game.
-And that is basically what the "gimmick" of the whole video is: Mike walking James through the whole nine yards of why this game would actually be perfect for AVGN: the confusing map, the direction problems when you are in the 3-D doors section (where James later mentions that they thought too complicated when they designed this feature), collecting keys to either lose them or opening up safes to get hints that are as bad as the Castlevania II tips by the townspeople, the bad arrangement for the indicator of how many of a certain item you have etc.. You can actually see James getting burned out and just brought to the brink of despair as he plays through the game because the design is so horrible. Even Mike later gets confused himself although he actually explained some of those things to James beforehand.
-James was never that much a fan of the movie. He was interested in other movies that began with G in the 1980s (Gremlins and Ghostbusters for starters) but Goonies never intrigued him that much, he found it just OK. I think I have never seen it but my brother is a big fan of the movie and recently watched it with my nephew for the first time.
-Konamiman? Who the buck is Konamiman? And what does he do in Goonies?
-Remember kids: when you meet a person in a cavern, hit him five times in the face and he might give you a candle!
-Have to say that is a good 8-bit rendition of "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough". Though after hearing that version, I cannot sing any other text to it now than "Taffy Butt".
-James even mentions at one point that this is more confusing than Simon's Quest, Fester's Quest and other similar confusing NES titles. Perhaps on the same level as Back To The Future II & III (where we now learn that Mike absolutely loathes that game and will never play that game again because it makes him just angry thinking about it).
-Well, they certainly show that notepads still have use in today's world: when the games doesn't show you how many keys you have, just write it down and pin the notepad on your TV (note: this is before they found out the very messy way in which the game screen shows how many items you have).
-To conclude, this is definitely another Top 10 episode for me. I still remember watching it the first time, getting so immersed in James & Mike playing and getting confused by the poopiness of this game that when they found the first Goonie and I checked the time, I was gobsmacked that it was already 1 hour 14 minutes gone. I really didn't realize how much time had passed because I had so much fun with them trying to figure this confusing game out. While on this second go, I got tired a bit earlier I still was thoroughly entertained as I was the first time. Surely not an episode I will get back to often (due to the fact not changing that it is 1 hour and 22 minutes long) but still among the best J&MM episodes they put out. Now I don't know whether to dread or looking forward to tackling Mike's playthrough of the game down the line.
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Post by Mandarin Dessert Version 0 on Apr 11, 2021 1:13:26 GMT -5
Let's put the pedal to the metal and burn rubber, baby, when James & Mike play some Sega Saturn racing games with a racing wheel: -So, James & Mike will try out three racing games for the Sega Saturn by using a racing wheel peripheral that the Sega Saturn offered. Off the top of my head, I can only remember the built-in wheel in one of the Pong consoles James showed in an AVGN episode but nothing similar for any Nintendo, Sony or other Sega consoles. -First up, it's Daytona USA with Mike and James's choice of vehicle being the Wolf. -Interesting to hear James admitting that he has never driven a stick before. I am five years younger than him and my first car was a stick and in driving school (back in 2002/03) the main form of vehicle was also a stick. Though from what I remember hearing the USA was actually way ahead in introducing automatic vehicles in general so that might be the reason why stick vehicles fell out of favor way earlier. -Well, the first rule of this peripheral: stick it between your legs (which actually works better as Mike admits that when he tried to do it on a table it didn't work). -Don't you hate those days when you just want to play a slot machine on a racing track but cars keep hitting you in the back? -Wow, the arcade configuration (where the race stops if you don't make it to a certain checkpoint in time) really blows. The continue option in other arcade titles is definitely much preferred. -Interesting thought: when was the last time any of us ever used coins or got coin change, what with all the ways to pay by app, card etc.? For me, I can say that I still use coins regularly when I pay something in cash (though again that might also be because Germany is a bit behind in that regard as well). -Darn, James, your driver would have been dead the way you keep crashing and doing GTA-style stunts. -Well, if the cars don't work, just use the horse (which actually seems to be faster than the cars). Though according to them, it looks more like a donkey with poop coming out its behind. -Next up, Manx TT Superbike which kinda looks the same like Daytona USA except with motorcycles instead of cars. -Now that's a good idea for those arcade style controllers: do the same thing as with this racing wheel and put a stick or something else under it so that you can take it between your legs and keep it steady that way instead of it wobbling all over the place. -We also learn that James really has gone home and become a family man since he cannot imagine him currently doing something reckless or dangerous. Maybe if he were single and in college and drunk, he would do something crazy like skydiving. -Hopefully, James made it to Comicon that year (June 2019) and got to hear that concert by the soundtrack musician for the 1986 Transformers movie. -Again, a shoutout to the Sega Genesis game cases being perhaps the best game cases in existence (certainly no comparison to the Sega Saturn ones which seem to break rather easily). -Before the last game, we get a ranting discussion by them about Apple, iTunes and their Final Cut X movie making software. Never knew that iTunes was discontinued (?) in 2019. -Last, Sega Rally Championship with the car handling a bit more like a real car and, thus, more difficult to control than Daytona USA. -Finally, they still prefer Mario Kart as a racing game (with James's older daughter actually being really good at Mario Kart 8 it seems) with Mike also having nostalgic feelings for Pole Position on the Vectrex and James for Cruisin' USA on various systems. Too bad they never got around doing that Vectrex episode. -Overall, another fun episode with interesting discussions being the highlight here rather than the game.
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Post by Mandarin Dessert Version 0 on Apr 11, 2021 23:53:18 GMT -5
Are you in the mood to bust some balls or popping some round things? Then join James & Mike as they play Super Buster Bros. for the SNES: -To be honest, this time (and probably also when this video got originally released), I thought it would be another Super Mario World hack or something. As it turns out, it is anything but. Just a simple game where you pop balls as a child and try to get through the end of the world tour. I kinda seem to remember hearing about this game in a video game magazine back then but I never played it. -Yeah, definitely very simple for a SNES game though that could be because, going by the title screen, it was released very early in the SNES's life span. -Of course, they would get the most joy out of getting the spread weapon. Makes me wonder if there are any games where spread isn't the best weapon? -We learn that James kinda likes games that would show a world map and then have you travelling all over the world during the game. -New fruits I learned about while watching this video: horned melon and star fruit. Regarding the former, James's daughter has a really interesting taste. -Cannot help but smile when among the sights used as backgrounds for this game, they get to Neuschwanstein castle at the end. -Overall, just like this game, a simple and decent little episode.
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Post by Mandarin Dessert Version 0 on Apr 13, 2021 0:11:19 GMT -5
Let us see them revisit their college days when James & Mike play Nintendo Campus Challenge for the NES: -Joined by a guest this time (a rarity during the latter time period of this show) in Scott The Woz...again my limited knowledge of gamer circles causes me to ask who this guy is. -We actually get a fairly interesting discussion early on about the whole Nintendo World Championship, Campus Challenge, Power Fest etc. subject with this Campus Challenge being even rarer than the World Championship (only about 1 or 2 actual carts in existence). Sadly, Scott doesn't have one of those cartridges so they have to make do with a reproduction cartridge. -Too bad they didn't do this during James & Mike's college days because going by their reactions here, they would have probably mobbed it up with a sop biscuit and eaten it with a spoon if Nintendo would have come to their campus. -How dare they crush young retro gamers' dreams like that? Saying that one will never have a complete NES collection because not only of the rare games but because of reproduction carts and new games being made even today. -Of course, the game doesn't work at first, bringing up the various classic methods of trying to get a game to work. Personally, my brother and me swore by the classic "blow into the cartridge method" which worked for us most of the time. I wouldn't dare to try out Mike's method of throwing the game at the wall but if it worked for him. I wonder how they will solve this problem...oh, they just had to unplug the second controller...lame. -So, the three games in this one are Super Mario Bros. 3 (get 25 coins), Pin Bot (get a score of 100,000) and Dr. Mario (get a high score until the time is up) and you have to finish it all in about 6 1/2 minutes. Have to say that until this video, I have never heard of Pin Bot before. -While Mike actually seeing The Wizard in the cinema is a nice story, I much prefer to hear that his mom actually got Super Mario Bros. 3 early for him because at the time, she worked as a flight attendant and bought this game for him while she was in Japan. That's a cool mom...although I wonder if she bought a Famicom cartridge and it somehow worked on Mike's NES or she got an actual NES cartridge in Japan. -Wow, that koopa shell not activating that raccoon leaf block...never saw that happen before. -James proves to us the goal of everyone...get a high score in Pin Bot without doing anything. -OMG, they again do their sing-along to Dr. Mario with various sound effects like they did in the original J&MM Dr. Mario episode! One of the reasons why they prefer "Fever" over "Chill". -It has been mentioned frequently in the past that James didn't have many Game Boy games so the only ones he had were Super Mario Land, Dr. Mario and Tetris. Which gets them to talk a bit about Super Mario Land and how weird it kinda is for a Mario title with exploding turtles, a different princess etc.. -In the end, Mike won, proving himself to be the king of this nerdy circle. -To conclude, a very good episode with a myriad of interesting discussions and interactions and Scott The Woz was a fun guest to have.
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Post by Mandarin Dessert Version 0 on Apr 14, 2021 0:20:02 GMT -5
Well, let's graduate from the old one and enter our freshman year in a new surrounding when James & Mike play the Super Nintendo Campus Challenge for the SNES: -Joined again by Scott The Woz where through this video I could only gather that he actually about 15 years James & Mike's junior but is also really into retrogaming, having played the NES at his grandma's house, SNES games on the Game Boy Advance and the first console he owned was a Sega Genesis.
-That's the coward's way out, James, not wanting to be the guinea pig and letting the others go first.
-Yeah, that's some garbled up Super Mario music.
-First up, it is all about getting 50 coins in Super Mario World. And the first lesson to be learned, don't get Yoshi due to him pausing the game (or perhaps, do get him because a pop-up insert hints that eating fruit actually counts as getting coins...something that the three of them never figured out).
-We learn that Super Mario 3D World was actually James's last Mario game that he really played and he hasn't bought or played a newer Mario game by himself since. So any Mario games past 2013 have not been touched by James on his own. Guess this counts as another hint that James has more important priorities in his life than video games.
-Next up, it is finishing two laps in F-Zero. Fairly easy for Mike to do.
-Finally, it is playing the parachute levels from Pilotwings. Their consensus is that Pilotwings is a great game but it is one that you need to input practice in to get good at it. James especially loves the animated faces of the flight instructors in the game.
-Huh, this is the first I heard of Pilotwings Resort. Never knew there was actually another game after Pilotwings 64.
-Mike is pretty good at this, making it the farthest out of all three of them where they even wonder if there is a time limit on here. They are especially fascinated by the penguin water tower jump (which is apparently only seen in the real Pilotwings when you get a good score in the parachute sections).
-Scott learns the hard way that the left level doesn't have any coins in it so you better not go into that level in this challenge.
-Unlike James & Mike who prefer to use Samurai Goroh for F-Zero, Scott just takes whatever is available (Captain Falcon in this case).
-Lots of talk about modern ways to play retro games like the Retrodrive, Retron 5, those Everdrive cartridges etc. which they are in favor of. Scott would actually love if those Satellaview games would get an official re-release by Nintendo.
-Well, James really sucks at the parachute levels in Pilotwings.
-In the end, Mike is the winner again.
-Overall, another fun video game with a good guest in Scott the Woz. I am sure he could have made for a few more good guest appearances down the line.
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Post by Mandarin Dessert Version 0 on Apr 15, 2021 0:19:31 GMT -5
Well, maybe he is the son of the Karma Chameleon or something...but we shall see when James & Mike play Kid Chameleon for the Sega Genesis: -Going by the opening screen, this has been a popular request for James & Mike Mondays. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? We shall see. -Certainly an interesting concept with you playing the quintessential definition of a cool kid, going through levels Mario-style and getting the ability to transform into different characters like a lizard-type guy with a spiked helmet, a samurai, a skeleton in a tank (named Juggernaut...bitch), a Jason-lookalike (named Maniaxe) and who knows what else. Sounds like it could be an entertaining game. -The whole concept of the game with it taking place in a virtual reality gets them to talk a bit about Star Trek's holodeck concept for a bit (with them liking the Professor Moriarty episode from TNG, noting how open they were on DS9 about using the holodeck for sex etc.). Really shows the Star Trek nerdiness of the two of them. -Also talking about the genre of the spoof movie which Mel Brooks was the king of. Thankfully, they don't mention any Seltzerberg movies so I guess James & Mike have a certain taste in their spoof movies. Makes me wonder though what a spoof movie of a spoof movie would even look like. Last, I hope they took this to heart and watched Spaceballs again. -Hmm, I wonder if that is correct when you ask people whether they know Jason Voorhees, they wouldn't know who you are talking about but when you ask them about just Jason, they would know about it. It also gets them to talk about how strange it was that Jason was popular with children despite those movies not being for children. I guess this strangeness also accounts for how many R-rated movies in the 1980s got Saturday morning cartoons dedicated to them. -Everything is all fun and games...until they get to the frustrating level from hell (fitting how it apparently takes place in a volcano). A disappearing/reappearing platform area with no rhyme or reason, somehow figuring out you have to hit a certain wall to shoot other walls in your way, the same basic structure with minor variations repeating itself for three or four times making you confused...it is at this point that James & Mike wonder whether they can ask certain developers of this game for a refund. -I wonder if their assessment is true that Nintendo was always pretty fair with the difficulty levels of their games where it gradually got harder while other companies like Konami and Capcom had a much steeper learning curves. Like that Mike namedrops Darkwing Duck and Talespin for the NES as hard games considering their audience...especially since I played through them last year on the Disney Afternoon Collection and, yeah, they were very hard. -Finally, they make it to...The Isle Of The Lion Lord. Now say that ten times fast. -To conclude, a good episode with the most fun easily seeing them getting so frustrated at that one level.
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Post by Mandarin Dessert Version 0 on Apr 16, 2021 0:36:58 GMT -5
Well, you two, better take up your demon slayer get-up and equip so that you are ready. We shall see the results when James & Mike take on Clash At Demonhead for the NES: -The game has one thing going for it: the anime-style cutscenes and graphics look pretty good and it seems like a fun platformer. Mike even mentions that he talked about this game in his Top 10 Obscure NES Gems video so he liked it at one point. -While they do mention that the map is kind of weird and that it probably needs another map to remember where everything is, at least it's better than the Friday The 13th or The Goonies II maps. Though they could have done this map system a bit better of course (like SMB3 for example). -Timmy The Tooth and Buster Brown....I think I don't even want to know who these characters are. -Tom Guycot...interesting name for a skeleton enemy. -Yeah, it is not easy getting the right orientation on where to go on this map. -That is an interesting idea for a boss at that time. Really small and miniscule at the beginning so you have trouble hitting him and then he gets all big and powerful. Nothing that is really rare nowadays but still a curious boss mechanic. -Don't you wish you could just call a shop and buy everything you need? Especially in these current times? Though hopefully the shopkeeper would tell you without having to press a button what you want to buy. -...Sorry, that doesn't count as farming to me, picking up an item to fill up your life energy over and over. I only associate it with getting experience and levelling up and stuff. -James and Mike, those old fogies, reminisce about the old times in the 1980s when you didn't have internet or any other way to see how good a game is before buying it, so your buying an NES game would have to be a sort of leap of faith. You could end up with a good game like this or something like...Karate Champ. Even worse when the game is off of a successful franchise like Back To The Future and Ghostbusters and you would think "Hey, a game based off of those movies can only be good, right?". Apparently it is also easier on Steam to get a refund compared to the olden days (which I can imagine seeing as you have to open the game and play it to see how much it sucks firsthand). -Well, at least they know now to free the hermit, you have to shoot a boss in the balls several times. -Micro power. Certainly a power some people would like to possess in real life. -Interesting to hear that Clash At Demonhead actually is referenced in the Scott Pilgrim comics so I guess the people (or one of them) was really into the game. -All in all, a good video with an interesting game that they play.
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Post by Mandarin Dessert Version 0 on Apr 16, 2021 23:52:53 GMT -5
Don't send this game to the cooler, you guys, and chill. I am sure there will be something cool about James & Mike playing Batman & Robin for the Sony Playstation: -I say it again, Mike has a really good poker face. The way he steadfastly says that people think that this is one of the best Batman games and James even believing it until Mike comes clean.
-The DO button, huh? More like the doo-doo button, right? Geez, I am starting to sound like the AVGN.
-Epic manual reading time! And this actually makes for a good reason why they never read the instruction manuals because these look a heck of a lot confusing. I guess James should apologize for calling Batman Forever on SNES out for having the most confusing controller scheme ever.
-Toggling between modes which you have to do because Batman (or Robin or Batgirl whom you can select from the start of the game) cannot jump in fighting mode and cannot punch or kick anything while in detective mode...this sounds like the worst control scheme I have ever heard especially since this game kinda feels like a 3-D GTA game and I still remember how good the controls in that game were.
-To James's credit, the reason he held back saying how terrible the controls were at first was because he also has problems with the Resident Evil-style controls and those are known to be good games, so he is still honest enough as to not adhere his being terrible with the controls to the game at first.
-That's the question, isn't it, James? How did you miss this game for the AVGN Batman episodes (I mean, at that time, the Sony Playstation was still within his timeframe considering he did an episode on Independence Day)? From the looks of it, it is easily the worst Batman game he has ever played.
-Wait, George Clooney gives refunds to anyone who has seen Batman & Robin in cinemas and asks him for it? *sends him an e-mail immediately*
-The driving part makes me think about how a 3-D GTA game in the Sony Playstation era might have looked like. Thinking it over, I am glad they waited for the Sony Playstation 2 to do that.
-Don't you remember the part of the movie where Batman fought giant Wampas and collected galaxies and stuff?
-OMG, that advancing time mechanic...Imagine if you had to manually adjust the time while playing GTA, one minute at a time. Wouldn't that have been fun?
-Wait, he cannot walk off of a ledge if he is still in a certain mode? Holy frigg!
-All in all, this is a very good episode and one of the funniest in a long while mainly due to James & Mike's reactions to the terribleness of this game.
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Post by Mandarin Dessert Version 0 on Apr 18, 2021 4:48:32 GMT -5
Naruto, eat your heart out! You will never be an honorable ninja warrior like the one portrayed here when James & Mike play Shinobi III for the Sega Genesis: -Definitely looks like a great game. Great graphics, the controls seem to be decent (as long as you know the right point when to do the double jump) and it has some interesting mechanics (wall jump, multiple kunai throwing attack and...a suicide attack that deals massive damage but takes a life! Considering that you always seem to start with 9 lives it seems like a fair item to use when you are in a pinch though).
-Ah, August 2019, back when Star Trek: Picard was just known in trailer form (which James only saw at a con but couldn't hear due to the noise and which apparently had very weird Data make-up for Brent Spiner...though is that really Data in ST: Picard or rather this third android that was introduced in the Star Trek: Nemesis movie? Don't know much about the Picard series so I don't know whether that is really Data there) and there was also a trailer for Top Gun 2 (or Top Gun: Maverick)...did that ever come to fruition or is that a movie that was put on hold / cancelled due to Covid-19?
-An interesting thought: what would Krang's real body look like? Sadly, it only appearing in a video game cannot be used as a canon explanation I'm afraid.
-Now there's a better console name Sega should have named the Sega Saturn instead: named it the Super Genesis instead.
-Now I am getting chronologically confused with what James & Mike are talking about. 33 & 1/3rd? What?
-Kinda wondering which ninja series is considered the better one: Ninja Gaiden or Shinobi.
-Really interesting usage of bosses when you can see some bosses in the background (with one of them, that blob thing, even attacking you from the background).
-It is kind of cheap though to just spam this suicide attack against the blob boss. No skills in that.
-James really seems to have more problems with the controls than Mike does. Getting less skillful in your old age, James?
-Yeah, what is it with those evil video game organisations and their lava factories?
-Huh, never would have thought that Mechagodzilla makes an appearance in this game.
-Sometimes, these James & Mike videos really make you think...what would Wile E. Coyote's name be when he wears the bat-man suit? And why does he use stuff all the time that would blow the road runner to pieces, leaving almost no remnants for him to eat?
-To conclude, a good video with a great looking game that both of them seem to have a lot of fun with.
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Post by Mandarin Dessert Version 0 on Apr 19, 2021 1:21:16 GMT -5
You would think Mario would already have it hard with having to rescue his princess from the evil Bowser. Now his adoring fans make it even harder for him as we shall see when James & Mike play Super Mario Maker 2 for the Nintendo Switch: -Mike actually mentions that when he played the first Mario Maker he wanted to do a J&MM episode on it but it just never came to be for some reason. Somehow, the way he says this makes me think that something more is behind this...or maybe it is just Mike trying to be funny again. Who knows?
-Of course, he wants James to try out the Contra level first which is kinda faithful (especially how they did the boss from the third Contra level).
-Holy frigg, that Level 1-1 With A Twist level. Certainly puts some fire into your behind.
-Oh geez, if that game had been around in James & Mike's college days, any drinking game they would have done with this would have probably ended in them dying, I can believe that.
-Interesting to hear that this game was so popular that even companies outside Nintendo did order some levels to advertise with like the Arby's level they played there. Probably also Mickie James's favorite level. And Heath Slater probably must have liked the Wendy's level.
-Kinda prefer that Contra inspired level more than that Castlevania inspired level. Perhaps it's the modern graphics in that one rather than the classic look.
-Stress! That about fits some of those levels.
-The highlight of this video is definitely the last level they do. Just James & Mike's facial expressions when they do their final run on that level are worth the price of admission and I remember when I first watched this video that I was also on the edge of my seat seeing what else this level offered and how James managed to navigate it.
-Overall, a very entertaining video with two guys having fun playing some difficult Mario levels.
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Post by Mandarin Dessert Version 0 on Apr 20, 2021 1:42:41 GMT -5
Well, hopefully this is a game that they can do in their sleep when James & Mike do Little Nemo: Dream Master for the NES: -Yeah, that is among the largest comic books I have ever seen. So, they go into a little bit of the background behind Little Nemo (which are not the adventures of Captain Nemo as a child as James once thought) and it is interesting that the same guy was behind it who also did Gertie The Dinosaur (which I saw last year during the phase where I tried to watch the movies that are in the National Film Registry). Also mentioning the 1989 animated movie which I have never seen and only seen the Nostalgia Critic review for it (back when I thought the NC was a decent person). -I remember reading about this game in German Nintendo Power and thinking it looked interesting but I never played it. The graphics are certainly good and I like the gameplay of using candy to use animals to help you progress through the game. Though as Mike mentions this game gets really hard. And I think somebody should have told those animal helpers that normally you don't take candy from strangers. -Now I am wondering which of James's cats does that thing with the litter box and dragging its ass across the floor. Was it Boo (who was still alive at the time of the video) or Yeti? -Also wondering what James would prefer nowadays: still going back to the days where he had to change his younger daughter's diapers or playing through her Mario Maker levels today? -No question in their mind that Capcom and Konami were easily the best third-party developers on the NES. They also are appreciative of Sunsoft (though they had some bad games like Fester's Quest), especially their music. -Somehow, it turns into a Three Stooges conversation which takes a turn nobody would have expected: DOING AN ABRUPT GAME CHANGE! As in now playing The Three Stooges for the Sony Playstation. -A remake of the NES game which was already a terrible game (leading them several times to ask "Why would they remake this?!") and the Playstation version might be even worse. -Even if I am probably among the least knowledgable regarding the Three Stooges, I do know that that Curly boxing short was named "Punch Drunks" and not "Violent Is The Word For Curly". -At least, James manages to fish the crackers out of the soup in this one (apparently this is something he was never able to do in the NES game). -Overall, a good video where I don't mind the game change so much (though I wonder how the many people requesting they play Little Nemo felt about that) and their reactions to the Three Stooges game were fun.
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Post by Mandarin Dessert Version 0 on Apr 21, 2021 1:10:28 GMT -5
You have to fight harder to be a hero...so let these two guide you when James & Mike play Skyblazer for the SNES: -OK, what was the conversation at the start all about? There's a spider living under Mike's couch and to block her going in and out from there, he put some Spiderman Omnis in front of it? Interesting way of doing it. And after that I wonder if James ever got the time to see that Spiderman movie from 2018? -Oh my, James going into Sonic Boom overload with that character's special weapon, drawing the chagrin of Mike. -It's one of those games where one level you are just doing a normal jump'n run and then in another level you are in a side-scrolling shooter level. Definitely some sort of variety there though. -We learn that James and Mike do not have anything against auto-scrolling levels in general though James has some examples of levels where he didn't like it and the only thing Mike doesn't like is that it slows him down when he tries to rush through a level. -It does make sense to not hit the genie but rather the lamp (they really missed a Zelda reference there with the second boss in Link's Awakening. What kind of Zelda geeks are they? ) -Fighting fire with your bare hands...how tough is this dude? -Interesting that when they mention spiralling tower levels, they mention Super Castlevania IV, Super Ghouls'n Ghosts...but no Battletoads which I think is another example of a good looking spiralling tower level. -Disappearing, reappearing blocks...a staple of any game since Mega Man. -Geezus, that second level boss...he gets so large that I am like James & Mike: how do you defeat that guy? They even try various tactics against him. -Love that story about a group consisting of James & his friends driving home from somewhere and doing Gilbert Gottfried impressions the whole time. James shoulda told Gilbert that story when he met him. -OMG, Mike's big "BUCK!" scaring the crap out of James! -Also, I cannot see that controller lasting much longer giving those sounds. -To add insult to injury, it ends on the last life with a glitch when the protagonist decides that he wants to buck the ceiling bricks more than defeat this boss. -Overall, a fun video with a good looking game and some entertaining frustration by James & Mike.
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Post by Mandarin Dessert Version 0 on Apr 22, 2021 1:31:31 GMT -5
Wow, they made a game for this? SSSSSSSMOKIN'! Let's see what it is about when James & Mike play The Mask for the SNES: -James remembers liking this movie a lot when it came out while Mike also liked but only saw it one time in the theatre. I saw it in the theatres as well and it was a popular rental of mine that I really liked watching several times (though don't ask me why I didn't just buy it). Memorable for the CGI effects, Cameron Diaz in either her debut (or at least her first major role) and just being entertaining, it is a movie that still holds up today. Though I wonder if James & Mike are correct in their assertion that you couldn't make a movie like this today because most of the children today wouldn't be familiar with the classic Looney Tunes humor that the movie tries to invoke and it just would fall flat today. And the less said about Son Of The Mask the better.
-I remember actually renting this game one time and having the same thoughts James & Mike have here. Great graphics, love the various attacks the Mask can do but way too confusing level design where I couldn't even finish the first level (that's something that James & Mike have over me here).
-While not all Jim Carrey movies didn't have a video game connected with them, there was a time that seemed like every Jim Carrey movie got a cartoon (Ace Ventura, The Mask, Dumb & Dumber) which is more notable for me.
-Want to know how interesting this game is? James and Mike rather discuss why James had a white turd in one of his AVGN episodes than play this game.
-Too bad James's wish of having Harrison Ford on J&MM never came to fruition.
-All in all, a decent episode. Nothing bad but not that memorable either.
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Post by Mandarin Dessert Version 0 on Apr 23, 2021 4:40:02 GMT -5
Seems like we have had lots of games featuring the Dark Crusader and his adventures. What's one more when James & Mike play Batman for the Sega Genesis? -Basically, a 16-bit version of the NES Batman game where Batman is actually black instead of purple (and both of them make a good point: why couldn't they have gone with a grey or other color scheme for the NES game?). -That looks like a pretty nifty museum James went through featuring all sorts of Batman memorabilia (mostly from the movies though, it appears). -Hmm, is James's impression correct? Was Batman at the time of the video (September 2019) especially more popular than at other times? -So we get their favorite superhero movies: Mike: -Turtles (1990) -Batman (1989) -Batman (1966) aka the movie James: -Turtles (1990) -Batman (1989) -Dick Tracy -The Tom Holland Spiderman movies -Iron Man Interesting that hardly any movies from the MCU are in there and mostly movies that they saw during their childhood. -Also interesting to see the question: why do these video games feature Batman killing lots of enemies when he has a code against killing? Sure, that would make for a pretty boring video game but still....To be fair, they mention that the earliest Batman comics didn't have this code and he even used a gun in the first issues. -...the resemblance between Mike and this fifth beatle, Pete Best, is kinda uncanny. As is James's resemblance to this guy calling himself the Angry Video Game Nerd. -That is really a good question: which movie-based games are most faithful to the movie? That would actually make for a good show going by consoles. Too bad, neither James nor Mike ever went through with this idea. Love James's double take when Mike mentions Fester's Quest during this discussion. -Speaking of it, they do mention Christopher Lloyd playing Fester in the 1990s Addams Family movies...and it reminded me how flabbergasted I was when I found that out years after watching the movies because I just couldn't see Christopher Lloyd in there (the same goes for when he played the Klingon commander in Star Trek III). -Doesn't this sound like Batman, driving through the city shooting everything in sight while in the Batmobile? -Interesting that they talk about The Dark Knight having several parallels to the 1989 Batman movie (like Joker defiantly standing before the incoming Batwing). -Looking forward to watching Mike's stream of this when I get to his Sega Genesis game playthroughs. -To conclude, a good episode featuring a fun game and lots of interesting Batman discussions.
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Ultimo Gallos
Grimlock
Dreams SUCK!Nightmares live FOREVER!
Posts: 14,328
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Post by Ultimo Gallos on Apr 23, 2021 12:14:29 GMT -5
THis and DJ Boy were the first time I imported a video game. Had a buddy who's uncle was living in Japan at the time. He would come home 2 times a year. First time he came home that year he had Batman an DJ Boy. At the time Batman wasn't going to get a release in the States cause of Nintendo and their policies. An DJ Boy was getting a released but was censored. So I got this friend's Uncle to grab me both when,and when he came home later that year for Xmas he brought them.
All you had to do to get Mega Drive games to play on a US Genesis was shave down the sides of the carts. Did this and for close to a year I had Batman on the Genesis before the courts ruled Nintendo could do what they had been doing and it got a legit release over here.
The Genesis/Mega Drive Batman game was way better than the NES release.
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Post by Mandarin Dessert Version 0 on Apr 24, 2021 1:20:56 GMT -5
Hey, I was promised a game featuring a mumbling boxer teaming up with a Japanese sweet snack! And this isn't at all what I got when James & Mike play Pocky And Rocky for the SNES: -A game I knew from my childhood but one I never actually played. I remember seeing it once on a game show and featured in Nintendo Power and thought it looked like a fun game. I would probably dig it even more know since I am more in love with Japan now and would love all the different things that make this distinctly Japanese (Pocky being a shrine maiden [miko], Rocky being a tanuki [raccoon dog], them having to fight off various yokai from Japanese folklore etc.). -OK I admit, I took that first sentence gag from James & Mike who did it themselves (and I have to agree with James, Pocky is an awesome snack). -Love their little discussion at the beginning with Mike alternating between good and bad games when inviting James since if he would only do bad games with James, it would become too predictable. He comes clean after a while saying that this is a good game and over the course of the video, they do enjoy this game a lot. -Going by bringing up Rocky, they also mention that so far no movie in the Creed series has disappointed so far and they look forward to whatever they have in store. I guess nothing then since I don't know whether a third Creed movie was ever planned or not. -Dang, James really floored that first level boss with the special weapon. -James, you are taking Motherbucker Mike's food off of his table when you get all items for yourself...and don't give me that "It would disappear otherwise!" excuse. -I admit I chuckled when they referred to the kappa in the cutscene as balding Ninja Turtles when the Turtles themselves were referred to as kappa in the third movie....speaking of that, I should really rewatch the third TMNT movie one of these days since I haven't watched it since childhood (mostly because I have become more interested in Japan and would love to see the historical accuracies and inaccuracies in that movie). -Love that they do more ads for Mike's livestreams at the end now (in case Mike did the game). Have to say that since the middle of March I have now watched more than 20 of Mike's livestreams where he finished games and I thorougly enjoyed them. -Overall, a good episode featuring a fun and enjoyable game.
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Post by Mandarin Dessert Version 0 on Apr 25, 2021 2:56:45 GMT -5
Thankfully, I never had nightmares about my homework. I hope James & Mike never had ones, too...then again, it might have helped them more as they play Bart's Nightmare for the SNES: -I remember reading about this in the German Nintendo Power and I also rented it at one time. Thanks to the instruction manual and Nintendo Power, I knew from the start what I was supposed to be doing...but it didn't help since I remember not beating any of the minigames and so I left it at that one rental. -This brings about something related that I never understood: why Doug Walker got so much hate for his NC video of Bart's Nightmare. Don't get me wrong, I haven't watched a video of his since Change The Channel happened and there have been many problematic videos by him. Years after that particular video came out, I watched it when I watched all of the "old NC" episodes and I found it to be a decent video. Not one of Doug's best works but nothing too bad either. So it surprised me that he got so much flag for it that he had to do an apology (in his "hobo" persona though) for it. I am honest in that I really don't get why it got so much ire back then. -This is another longer episode (clocking in at about 1 hour 5 minutes) but you can stop at certain parts. See, this is essentially divided into three chapters. Don't ask me why they went with that angle but who knows? -The first chapter is essentially your normal J&MM episode. -Somehow, it's more fun sometimes seeing them get into a game blindfolded, not having any clue what to do. Which is especially funny in this case. -So yeah, the graphics are pretty good...then again, as they say, the Beavis & Butthead game on Sega Genesis was also good graphics-wise and look how that turned out (though they remark that many people love that game). -That is a curiosity that they mention: The Simpsons had so many mediocre-to-bad games on home consoles over the years yet the one really good Simpsons game (the Simpsons Arcade beat 'em up) was never ported to any home console (only port was for the C64 home computer). It was apparently on XBox Live but disappeared at the time of this video (September 2019) so I don't know if it showed up anywhere else or if it was offered again on XBox Live? -Mike especially hates the Krusty's Fun House games for one reason: slide puzzles. Mike is a big fan of puzzle games but if there is one type of puzzle he loathes it's slide puzzles. Can only remember vaguely Krusty's Fun House but weren't those Lemmings type of games? Did they really have lots of slide puzzles? -Yeah, the majority of the chapter is just them trying to figure out what's going on in the hub world until they finally land on a piece of paper and make it to the Bartman minigame. -It's decent but nothing that could overcome the frustration they had with the hub world...even looking up tips on the internet didn't help. -Oh my, James actually comparing it to Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde for the NES! -Chapter 2 starts after 20 minutes and that one is essentially only Mike trying to explain the game mechanics and some secrets to James. So those who just want a regular J&MM episode can basically stop when the Chapter 2 screen appears. -Love how James mentions Mike sounding like a raving lunatic when he explains how to expand your life meter, how to get more continues etc.. -Also love James's either incredulous looks or how at one point he yawns at Mike's explanations and looks like he is on the verge of falling asleep. -Watermelon seeds or watermelon pits? On which side of the debate do you stand on? -It is kinda sad to see that they cover most of the mini games yet they don't have any success of getting to the Bartzilla minigame which is probably the mini game James would have been the most interested in. -And so Chapter 3 begins after another 30 minutes (50 minutes total video runtime)...which is just a highlight reel of Mike's livestream where he beat the game. -While I have since begun to love Mike's livestreams, I watch J&MM for James & Mike playing video games together. I don't want to see a 15-minute highlight reel of what was a 2 hour 20 minute livestream (though I don't know if that one was an edited one or if it was really 2 hours 20 minutes of unedited playthrough). A small dose like at the end of the previous two J&MM videos is OK but this is too much. -Overall, yeah, not an experiment they should have done more often. As said above, you only need the first 20 minutes to get a decent J&MM episode and the rest is only for those really interested. Otherwise, just stop when you see the Chapter 2 screen.
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Post by Mandarin Dessert Version 0 on Apr 26, 2021 2:52:05 GMT -5
Third time's a charm: that's how the saying goes. Though I wonder if it applies to a case where two gamers do a game for a third time like when James & Mike play Super C for the NES: -I am too lazy to check right now though I would say that the probability is very high that this game is among the games most covered by J&MM. I remember a normal episode on it, then an episode where they played a glitched version of it...and now this one which is a part of their challenges. -So the challenge here is a pacifist run...or, as they prefer to call it, a no shots fired run. Go through the game without shooting at anything. -Two seconds...they couldn't even get two seconds in without already forgetting about the challenge! -After finding out that this is too difficult with the 2-player mode, they decide to go at it one -Damn, some pretty impressive acrobatic jumping and weaving they both pull off here. And although I would prefer them doing a new game instead of revisiting this, their joy and fun they have doing this challenge just seems infectious. -Didn't know Megatron was a frequent J&MM watcher. -OK, at one point they do the first area regularly so that they could try the top-down second area which James is pretty good at. The compromise is that when they meet the tanks that they cannot simply walk by, they are allowed to use the guns on them. -How cool is James doing the level with one hand while drinking a drink of some kind? -Overall, a good video mostly through the obvious fun they had while playing the game that way.
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Post by Mandarin Dessert Version 0 on Apr 27, 2021 0:23:15 GMT -5
Well, there's a saying going around: don't lose your head in stressful situations. Wondering if that can be adhered to when James & Mike play Decap Attack for the Sega Genesis: -Kinda sad when you realize that this is the final James & Mike Mondays October month where they played horror games. -OK, so you are playing a mummy with your main mode of attack being that you have a slit in your stomach where you can shoot out your face like a spring kinda. Then you can also find your head in the stage and use that to chuck against enemies (fitting that your character's name is Chuck D. Head). This actually is something that grosses Mike out despite it being kinda similar to Krang's 1987 design. Personally, I think it is kinda an original attack move to use and it really fits the Halloween theme of that month's episodes. -Yeah, it is strange that there have only be about three Beetlejuice games in existence (at least up to October 2019) with the most "famous" one being the NES game. Both are actually surprised when they hear that Rare made that one...a "rare" clunker, so to speak (although the SNES and N64 era was where Rare's star really began to shine). -Oh, quit whining about those clouds. Those are easy to distinguish from the "real" clouds after a while if you are actually paying attention. I would personally complain more about those transparent platforms. -That is one complicated bonus game. -This makes me wonder where "auto-scrolling levels where you are chased by something" rank in the popularity scale for jump'n run levels (though to be honest, they aren't that different from other auto-scrolling levels). -Yeah, that's the key, just blame every time you get hit from now on on Mike until the end of time. -All in all, a decent episode with a neat game but not much in the way of interesting discussions.
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Post by Mandarin Dessert Version 0 on Apr 28, 2021 4:39:30 GMT -5
Come on, come on, 2-for-1 sale today, bay-bee! First up, it is time again for the Earthrealm and the Shadowrealm to clash when James & Mike play Mortal Kombat 11 for the Sony Playstation 4: -Seems like the Mortal Kombat series is another one of those chronologically confused series where you have to look up to know which one is 5, which one is 7 etc.. -Wondering how many would feel like James & Mike that Mortal Kombat is perhaps the most brutal and goriest piece of entertainment that continues to be released. Cannot think of many others that would come close to the gory scenes portrayed in the fatalities and stuff. -Nope, James & Mike, I don't want to hear about your "fatal blows" anymore. -The topic of Johnny Cage in this game looking like he would probably look today if it were real brings them to The Simpsons and how James thinks that it would have been better if they allowed the characters to age instead of keeping them the same age throughout. They also mention that they don't watch the Simpsons anymore (Mike tried an episode about the time of this episode, so fall 2019) and thought it sucked. Tis a shame for them since they both like the Simpsons still. -Come on, Mike, I like you but I wouldn't think that Ed Boon (or one of his underlings) used your Joker face from the AVGN Batman episode as a template for the Joker DLC character in this game. -Yeah, Mortal Kombat and Dead Or Alive...not exactly the games you would want to play when your parents enter your room. -The last five minutes of this video contains Mike doing the game solo because they released the Terminator as a playable character. -Hmm, cannot say that I have ever encountered that problem with my PS4 controller. -That Terminator fatality with the time sphere...that is awesome. -To conclude, a good episode with Mortal Kombat being always good for eliciting James & Mike's excitement. Next up, I hope they won't have to kill a cyberdemon with their bare hands again as James & Mike play DOOM 2016: -Cannot tell exactly on which system they play but going by how they mention the small text, I assume they are playing it on a console (but don't know if it is PS4, XBox One or the Nintendo Switch)? -Yeah, they have way too much fun with those melee fatality attacks that you can apparently use to easily incapacitate an enemy (though they do mention that it takes away a bit of the fun of the original DOOM where it was more about trying to shoot an enemy from as far away as possible when the latter is still a tiny speck on the screen). -Oh my god, the fun James has with using the chainsaw -Well, there needs to be a return of non-descriptive movie titles in the vein of "Them", "It", "Us" etc.. Also love James laughing when he finds a movie titled "Don't F**k In The Woods" (and there is even a documentary titled "F**k"). -Overall, a fun little episode with them having more entertainment with a bloody, gory game.
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