My picks this week ended up being so by pure chance, and oddly, they're simultaneously related and unrelated - unrelated due to the properties concerned having nothing to do with each other, but related due to both being platformers based on 1980s/1990s animated properties, both sharing some devs, and both being published by Hudson Soft.


After listening to a SNES music compilation on YouTube, I ended up digging into some videos about various overlooked titles, and was reminded of this 1993 Inspector Gadget game for the SNES, which the British gaming press gave a bit of a spotlight to back in the day due to the game being part of a multimedia unmasking of the long-unseen villain character, Dr. Claw (another part of it was an action-figure released around the same time, where the packaging hid the figure from the shoulders up, just like in the TV show). If I'm remembering right, this was treated as a selling-point of sorts - though unfortunately the famous title theme wasn't, as the game lacks that. I saw it claimed that it's a solid enough game, so I figured that I'd finally give it a go this week.


This also led to me discovering that, in 1994, some of the same developers and Hudson Soft got together again to deliver a SNES game based on An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, the 1991 sequel to the classic 1986 animated movie about a family of mice who emigrate to America seeking a country with no cats and streets paved with cheese, only to find that there are still trials to be faced along the way. The sequel saw Fievel Mousekewitz and his family head for the Wild West, which makes for an easier adaptation into video game form than the first movie's subject-matter would have. I absolutely loved An American Tail when I was a kid, and honestly I still do (though it's disappointing that modern re-issues re-dub some of the other mice in the Orphan Alley scene to sound like generic grown-up cartoon villains, in order to try to pretend that kids aren't cruel to other kids, which reduces the impact of the scene significantly), so I'm looking forward to checking this one out.

[+..••] Other stuff that I played this week;


BomberZone (Native Linux)


Bombing Bastards (Native Linux)


Bombslinger (Proton)


Donkey Kong Country Competition Cartridge (SNES)


Dr. Mario (NES)


Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine (Native Linux)


Super Bomberman 3 (SNES)


Super Bomberman R 2 (Proton)

And, last but not least, in gaming-related news...


... An official Placid Plastic Duck Simulator plush has been announced via Makeship, and has already gained enough orders to fund it and bring it into full production. I was delighted to discover this, and I've just ordered mine. He's scheduled to arrive in May.

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderI was at the opshop the other day and I found this PAC-MAN Arcade Cabinet Alarm Clock….. It was only 2 Dollarydoos so I had to grab it…… I also got my revenge on my mortal nemesis…… Children…… As I had to reach over the top of a kid and take it while he was looking at it on the shelf…… And even went “yoink” as I grabbed it……. He was to short to reach it……..

Works perfectly fine so far…….

I looked it up online and this thing was sold for $55.95 when they first came out here in Aus……..

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PAC-MAN Arcade Cabinet Alarm Clock

What an awesome find! Congratulations!

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderIt also appears that last weeks Shadow the Hedgehog chanting summoned a new Shadow the Hedgehog game...... All I have to say about this is.......

I am the emo that sulks in the night............ I made a second game purely out of spite...... I am Shadow the Hedgehog!...... *lightning strikes in the background*

GODDAMNIT SPIDER!

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderAnd that is why my final score for Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball is Breast Implants out of 10……...

Oh lord.

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderThe road to unlock the PES Penguin in Pro Evolution Soccer 6 is at 2950 PES points out of 5000……….

Getting closer! But still no sign of Dick Trickle and friends this week, either...

Quoting: StoneColdSpider

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Valkyrie No Densetsu (1989 Namco) - Role Playing Game

This is an old favourite of mine. There was later an official English translation on the Namco Museum 5 compilation for the PlayStation - I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderNow for my bad joke of the week……
I bought a jumper that was picking up static electricity........ So I returned it....... He gave me another one free of charge.........…….
*ba dum.... tssssh…...*

Hahahaha!

This weekend I played AssaultCube with some friends that came over this past Sunday. Been awhile but the jank and silliness was a lot of fun.

Quoting: Pengling1993 Inspector Gadget game for the SNES, which the British gaming press gave a bit of a spotlight to back in the day due to the game being part of a multimedia unmasking of the long-unseen villain character, Dr. Claw (another part of it was an action-figure released around the same time, where the packaging hid the figure from the shoulders up, just like in the TV show). If I'm remembering right, this was treated as a selling-point of sorts - though unfortunately the famous title theme wasn't, as the game lacks that. I saw it claimed that it's a solid enough game, so I figured that I'd finally give it a go this week.

Yeah I remember seeing that same Dr Claw action figure here too....... Damn that makes me feel old........

Quoting: PenglingThis also led to me discovering that, in 1994, some of the same developers and Hudson Soft got together again to deliver a SNES game based on An American Tail: Fievel Goes West

Ive never heard of that movie...... Looks a bit *cheesy*........

Quoting: Penglinganimated movie about a family of mice who emigrate to America seeking a country with no cats and streets paved with cheese, only to find that there are still trials to be faced along the way.

Geee that sounds very similar to a documentary we both watched recently...... Kinda eerily similar....

Quoting: Pengling

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BomberZone (Native Linux)

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Bombing Bastards (Native Linux)

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Bombslinger (Proton)

You really do like games with the word "Bomb" in the title...... You sure your not Irish???.......

Quoting: Pengling

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Donkey Kong Country Competition Cartridge (SNES)

Looks like Donkey Kong is trying to sniff the other monkeys arse........

Quoting: Pengling

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Dr. Mario (NES)

Is he a Doctor of Thuganomics????....

Quoting: Pengling

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Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine (Native Linux)

I do own that game but I could never get into it........

Quoting: Pengling

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Super Bomberman 3 (SNES)

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Super Bomberman R 2 (Proton)

GOD DAMMIT PENGLING!!!!.........

Quoting: Pengling

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... An official Placid Plastic Duck Simulator plush has been announced via Makeship, and has already gained enough orders to fund it and bring it into full production. I was delighted to discover this, and I've just ordered mine. He's scheduled to arrive in May.

A game about rubber ducks...... And they release plushie merchandise........ Seems like a missed opportunity to me......

Quoting: PenglingWhat an awesome find! Congratulations!

Thanks been using the alarm function all week and its working great......

Quoting: PenglingGODDAMNIT SPIDER!

Quoting: PenglingOh lord.

Admit it...... You thought that was a cleaver........

Quoting: PenglingGetting closer! But still no sign of Dick Trickle and friends this week, either...

I showed Dick what you had said he responded with this.....

Quoting: PenglingThis is an old favourite of mine. There was later an official English translation on the Namco Museum 5 compilation for the PlayStation - I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Its a really good game..... I will have to check out the English version because I had no idea what was going on storyline wise.........

Quoting: PenglingHahahaha!

Knew you would like that one lol......

Quoting: MezronThis weekend I played AssaultCube with some friends that came over this past Sunday. Been awhile but the jank and silliness was a lot of fun.

Sounds like you had fun mate.......

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderYeah I remember seeing that same Dr Claw action figure here too....... Damn that makes me feel old........

It's weird that it feels like a lifetime ago that seeing Dr. Claw's face was a big deal in pop-culture.

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderIve never heard of that movie...... Looks a bit *cheesy*........

An American Tail (and its sequel) was a big deal in the 1980s because it was the first time another animation studio had given Disney a run for their money in cinemas. Don Bluth's animated movies (An American Tail was one of his, along with The Secret of NIMH, The Land Before Time, All Dogs Go To Heaven, and, much later, Anastasia) stood out because they tended to have a darker streak to them than most Disney films did.

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderGeee that sounds very similar to a documentary we both watched recently...... Kinda eerily similar....

Yeah. It's an age-old story, really. An American Tail is set in the late 1800s, drawing (somewhat loosely, since it's about anthropomorphised mice) from actual recorded history.

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderYou really do like games with the word "Bomb" in the title...... You sure your not Irish???.......

It's kind of inevitable for Bomberman derivatives to use the word "Bomb", though.

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderLooks like Donkey Kong is trying to sniff the other monkeys arse........

Oh lord, Spider...

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderIs he a Doctor of Thuganomics????....

I don't think he's a registered medical professional at all!

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderI do own that game but I could never get into it........

I like what I've played so far, though I felt that the option to play offline could've been made a little more obvious - it looks like a statement about what the setting is, rather than the actual setting that you can change right there!

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderGOD DAMMIT PENGLING!!!!.........

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderA game about rubber ducks...... And they release plushie merchandise........ Seems like a missed opportunity to me......

Not that I'm complaining, since I specifically collect video game plushes, but it is odd, yes. It feels like they missed a trick by not using recycled polyester, which is typically made from PET bottles.

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderAdmit it...... You thought that was a cleaver........

No.

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderI showed Dick what you had said he responded with this.....

Oh dear - I hope he didn't die on his way back there!

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderIts a really good game..... I will have to check out the English version because I had no idea what was going on storyline wise.........

There's a good lore run-down and quasi-walkthrough for the game here.

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderKnew you would like that one lol......

It was a particularly good one, yes.

Last edited by Pengling on 10 February 2024 at 12:04 am UTC