In the late 90s I received several videotapes in the mail from Nintendo for upcoming games on the N64. At the time I wasn’t a Nintendo Power subscriber but they still had my address. The videos are really goofy but do a good job of showing off the games.

(link to part 2 of the video)

From what I remember, this video was delivered to my house just a few months before the N64 was released in North America. It has a good rundown of the first games on the system and stars Ken “Klobb” Lobb.

(link to part 2 of the video)

“Nintendo Hot News” features previews of Donkey Kong 64, the Donkey Kong TV show, Pokemon Snap, and dozens of other games.

(link to part 2 of the video)

Jon Lovitz gives you the lowdown on Banjo-Kazooie in this one. It’s at least more entertaining than High School High.

The generic Jim Carrey guy babbling about the different vehicle options in Diddy Kong Racing didn’t do the game any favors. This is the strangest of videos I received from Nintendo. Compare it with Sega’s commercials of that era, which seemed much more desperate. Sega relied on making you feel ill-prepared for their products. “You’ve come a long way… ARE YOU READY FOR THE FUTURE??” They might as well have had the silver Kratos guy say, “Hey asshole, buy our system… please?” This is not to say that the Saturn was horrible, but I guess this type of marketing was a product of its time.

I might have rented this game from Superior Video back in the day. Look at that title screen. It’s terrifying. I have a couple of things to share tonight including a scan of the original manual for the game. If you think the game sounds bad just wait for the manual.

The Angry Video Game Nerd takes a dump on the game. Literally. That kind of reception makes me think he actually enjoyed it quite a bit.

It’s a classic AVGN nerd review. Now that we’ve had an entertaining overview of the game, check out the manual. Here are some highlights. Or lowlights.

Don’t wanna dream no more!! (thank you, Dokken)

Wait, what? A Shadow Warrior? It looks more like a teenager in black sweats and a ski mask.

An acrobat? Did LJN find these graphics in a clip art book? The Necromancer looks like she’s wearing a robe made of children’s bed sheets, which makes sense considering they fight Freddy in the dream world. She also looks like she’s about to sneeze.

As if the bad news about this game was not already apparent, the developers kindly included this handy appendix. The clip art here looks like it came from the Halloween section. The image of Freddy is clearly a modified image of a normal person with his head changed and the gloved hand placed behind him. Clever.

Skelos: Invisible vending machine!
Bogle: My brother was in Labyrinth!
Deathwing: Puny mortals! I have had many names throughout history, all of them spoken with dread: Neltharion, Xaxas, and many more. Yet you shall know me best as Deathwing, for so I am! I am the bane of life, the darkness within history, the lord of death, the master of destruction. And I tell you now, and so it is true, that this world is mine!

A Nightmare on Elm Street Instruction Manual (PDF)

This is one of my favorite games. One of the things that has always fascinated me about this game is how the opening sequence is actually the end of the previous game (Devil’s Castle Dracula X Rondo of Blood). It was a great way to re-introduce the series to gamers who might not have played any of the Castlevania games for a few years.

Speaking of which, here is the opening video:

Richter: Die monster. You don’t belong in this world!
Dracula: It was not by my hand that I am once again given flesh. I was called here by humans who wish to pay me tribute.
Richter: Tribute!?! You steal men’s souls and make them your slaves!
Dracula: Perhaps the same could be said of all religions.
Richter: Your words are as empty as your soul! Mankind ill needs a savior such as you!
Dracula: What is a man? (breaks wine glass) A miserable little pile of secrets. But enough talk… Have at you!
Richter: (Richter whips him back to hell)
Dracula: No! This cannot be! ARGHHHHHH!!!

A lot of people dump on this game for the voice acting but I think it’s great. At the time of this game’s release, voice acting certainly wasn’t unheard of, but I totally didn’t expect to hear any in a Castlevania game outside of a few heroic grunts.

Another common complaint is the music from the end of the game, which is a pop song called “I Am the Wind”. The music of Castlevania is mostly remembered for its rocking songs: Bloody Tears, Dracula’s Curse, Mad Forest, The Theme of Simon Belmont, and Wicked Child. Perhaps it was an anti-climatic ending for some, but I thought the final song in SotN was okay. A bit of a weepy ending but Adrian Farenheights Tepes was the first in a long line of emo Dracula Killers. It was fitting.

It’s Halloween so I’ve dug up something positively horrifying for this great holiday. I have never played this game but I remember it being one of the more quirky titles on the Virtual Boy (and that is saying a lot). I still own my Virtual Boy that I purchased with Christmas money in December of 1995. Anyway, on with the story.

These scans came on a CD-R with an eBay purchase I made a few months ago. After prying open the shipping crate with a crowbar, the awful smell of dead fish filled the room. In the box was a brand new Game Genie; the disc with these scans; and a severed, scaly human hand. I swear I heard the word “doom” in the air as if it was whispered by a dying man in his last throes of senility and crippling illness. Submitted for your approval: The Book of Waterworld on the Nintendo Virtual Boy.

WARNING: THIS PRODUCT HAS BEEN RATED BY THE ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE RATING BOARD. THERE WERE NO SURVIVORS.

Look, this is your last warning. Abandon hope all ye who enter the icy depths of The Waterworld.

Before Starting The Game

Are you really sure you want to go through with this? I mean, you have friends, right? Family members? You have a life worth living!

Please adjust the Virtual Boy eyelid spanners for optimal mind-warping insanity.

All this adjustment does is clear the reception with the bile-spewing demons of The Waterworld. Feel free to leave it at its default setting if you want to live a few minutes longer.

Auto Pause? A placebo feature for sure.

The Index of Insanity.

(Click here to listen to the audio recorded at the time of viewing this page)

(Audio recording continued)

It looks like English but that’s purely a coincidence. It’s actually a highly-stylized ambigram of an arcane ritual. Reading this page aloud recites the incantation in reverse, which is exactly how it is meant to be performed.

Did you notice how they don’t even ask you to read the warning? Just press the start button when it appears. Fools.

This is your last semblance of control.

The magicks of your own undoing.

Nice try. While this spiritual gesture does work, it only resets the session, meaning you will only relive the horror long enough to watch yourself reset your life again…

and again…

and again.

The following pages spell out your demise; each individual receiving a different tale of doom.

Heh.

Bestiary of the Dark Servants of the Damned.

Dark Servants of the Damned (cont.)

Charon, The Ferryman.

All that remained of the photographer of this Tracker Shark was a bloody scrap of fabric (perhaps flesh) and a roll of film.

There are no extra lives in the Deepest Hell of All-Hells.

Tracker Sharks are soul-stripped humans in the form of vicious sea predators. They retained their upper limbs after transmogrification and wield rusty swords and harpoons.

Shortly after publication the eight graphic artists were found in five oil drums in a New England port town. Their friends and families were contacted but had no recollection of their deceased relatives — they were unwritten from reality.

They say Mike Mantarro had eight arms and flayed the skin from the backs of the innocent.

If you are not satisfied with this product, simply return it to the ocean from whence it came. Not a single game pak was ever returned. Travelers to The Waterworld never leave.

Even agents of Hell are worried about liability.

Still there? If you’ve made it this far, I’m afraid you’re already dead. You just don’t know it yet.

This video shows Milhouse breaking Billy Mitchell’s world record score on the rare Waterworld arcade game at the Funspot.

I found some Power Glove stuff that seemed like it would be worth posting. In addition to a clip from The Wizard you will find a TV ad, a few images, and a PDF link to the original Power Glove program manual. Enjoy!

This is arguably the best part of the entire movie.

I guess the cartoon kid was the unofficial mascot of the Power Glove. This was not a wise choice as it made the Power Glove accessory look like a ridiculous arm-swallowing monstrosity. It’s huge!

Because only real gamers play Nintendo in warehouses of the dystopian future.

Power Glove Program Guide (PDF)

Today we have a nice box scan (from ZoneSega) of the Mega Drive port of Sunset Riders, a.k.a. Leather Slug. I spent the better part of a spring break vacation playing this game and NBA Jam with some friends. If you enjoy games like X-Men, TMNT, Rolling Thunder, or Metal Slug, you will find a lot to enjoy in Sunset Riders.

Below you will find a nice video taken from the arcade version of the game that was posted on YouTube.

Updates to this site might be less frequent over the next month or so. I am going to be moving far away later this week so I might not have as much time to post new scans or photos. If possible I will upload some new images before I leave and then try to post them here later. We will see! For the four or five of you who leave comments on this site or on Facebook, I have appreciated your feedback!

Three scans this evening from the 1991 Batman Annual Armageddon 2001. I got this issue a few weeks ago from the Hero House at Fountain Square in downtown Indianapolis.

Yo dudes, check out this Ultra-cool advertisement for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game on NES! Totally rad!!

According to a couple of the reviews I found on YouTube, this game is terrible. The music seems decent:

This ad is my favorite of the three. The Road Warriors look really pissed. I am sure I played this game a few times but I don’t remember if Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, or Ice Cube were playable characters. Maybe they were unlockable.

This week I received the Famicom Dojo Season 1 DVD in the mail. Famicom Dojo is a web-based TV show hosted by Vinnk from 4 color rebellion / Rising Stuff and SeanOrange from Powet.tv.

The first season of the show is loaded with information about the Nintendo Famicom as well as its various incarnations, features, and accessories. Even though I have read about this stuff online it is way more interesting to see it in action. For example, both hosts give demonstrations of microphone-enabled Famicom games in episode five’s “Microphone Roundup”. Fascinating!

The episodes are around eight minutes each and there are many extra videos included on the DVD. I found a few strange easter eggs as well. The music video for 1337band’s Koshudenwa (Public Telephone) is worth finding. Additional features include commentary, deleted scenes, and DVD-ROM content.

As a reviewer I am often short on words so the best I can say is go check out the show for yourself. The DVD is well worth the purchase not only for the content but as a way to support Sean and Vinnk for sharing some of their video game knowledge.

Stay tuned next week when I rename the site* to “Aladdin Deck Enhancer Dojo” and give more in-depth coverage of this great system.

*Not really.

Interesting fun (possible) fact: Sean wonders in episode four why the Robot Gyro (Gyromite) cart goes backwards in the adapter. One possible explanation is that the NES carts themselves are backwards. In the original NES if you were to turn the cart vertical (end label up) the cart would indeed be facing toward the rear of the system. Could that be the reason?

This game looks awesome. I have included the trailer and a few screenshots in this update. If you go to the official site you can view some additional screens and listen to more of the soundtrack.

Yes.

Last night I scanned in some Capcom video game ads from a few mid-90s comics. Nothing spectacular here but hopefully a nice trip down memory lane.

While an animation cell would be a cool thing to have, the 10 winners of the first prize got a much better deal. Seriously. My guess is that Capcom figured anyone worthy of a grand prize already owned most of the games. They were probably right.

Don’t worry, it’s the animated version. It is a definite improvement over the original, which was produced by running an angry tapeworm through a film projector. The following YouTube video will fill you in on the highlights of the anime SF movie:

Believe me, as a complete production it’s actually very entertaining.

Cool SFA ad from 1996. The sequel was ported to the SNES (among other systems) later that year. It has some problems with speed but it’s still moderately playable. I’d recommend the other two over that port. The first two Street Fighter Alpha games are available on the PSN Store for $5.99 each if you’re into these games.

Whoa, blast from the past. “The graphics are hotter than you know what.” Okay. Have you played this game? If so, what did you think? It reminds me of the “Gold Box” series from SSI.

MK2 ad just for fun. Midway expected you to know what was up with this one.