I have an idea for what I want the Sonoran Videogame Society to become, but this will take some time.

In the meanwhile, I no longer have any desire to create the type of content that has been the focus of this Substack, namely old game reviews.

Thus, for now, the Sonoran Videogame Society is on pause.

It will return. Maybe. Probably. Hopefully.

When/if it does, it will be in a new form, with a clear identity and purpose.

I will continue writing articles for “Nintendo is Great.” Please check me out there.

For those of you who are currently financially investing in the Sonoran Videogame Society, I’m happy to give you a free yearly subscription to Nintendo is Great. Please message me for more information.

Thank you all for reading and responding to my work on this Substack over the last year.

Best,

DC

PLAYERS: 1-2 simultaneous

PUBLISHER: Sega

DEVELOPER: Technos (port by Sega)

If any brawler can give players lessons in the School of Wayward Fists, it’s Double Dragon. This game was among the first beat-em-ups to equip you with weapons and, more importantly, to provide two player co-op. No thanks to the latter features, Double Dragon was an instant success, paving the way for ports – as many as you could stomach. The flippin’ Atari 2600 got a port of this game! Way to keep the fire burning, Activision.

Most gamers either remember the NES port or the Master System port, and for good reason. In 1988, these were the only two consoles that could render proper punch-and-kickery (the near-flawless Genesis version wouldn’t show up until 1992). Neither 8-bit port is arcade perfect, though the Master System comes the closest. The NES version couldn’t handle Billy and Jimmy co-op play (despite the fact that Double Dragon II provided seamless co-op a year later), while the Master System delivered co-op ’til you co-drop. The Master System’s levels are closer in design to the original arcade levels, as well, while the NES version did more or less what it wanted. The NES port did receive a two-player fighting game and a unique upgrade system. With the latter, the more enemies you fought, the more points you received. Said points would then unlock new moves. This is a nice gesture on Technos’s part, but the fighting is primitive and gets old fast. Also, most of the unlockable moves are moves provided from the beginning in the Master System version.

So Double Dragon for the Master System is the default winner, right? Congratulations, Sega, you have the stronger console and thus the better looking, better playing port!… right? Well, hmm. The hit detection for Double Dragon is some of the worst I’ve tussled with in a while. Unless you’re staring your opponent directly in the face, you’ll be roundhouse kicking the air – and leaving yourself open for blows. Hit detection applies to you, but not to the lowlifes you’re up against. Unless you’re positioned apart from them, they can very well hit you wherever they feel like, as long as you’re within kicking distance.

Now, let’s say you and your opponent have locked eyes. You approach them and start being ruthless: headbutts, kidney jabs, the Alabama Shuffle. In the midst of your punches and kicks, your opponent will hit you, sometimes several times, while you are hitting them. What this means is you will always take damage during a fight. Always. The only way to potentially avoid getting hit is to jump kick, run away, jump kick, run away. And even then, sometimes they jump kick into you, sprawling both fighters on the ground. Not only does this suck the fun out of the game, but the NES port does not have this problem. In the NES version, when you got someone in a combo, they took your blows and then tried to sucker punch you.

In the NES version, you had three lives to beat all four stages. No continues. Your life bar was ample and would refill at the beginning of a new stage, but otherwise, those three lives were like precious street diamonds. The NES version is tough, sure, but not because the fighting is cheap. Double Dragon for the Master System has unlimited continues until stage 4 – because the game is just that balls hard. Unless your skills are otherworldly or you’re playing with a buddy who’s seen his fair share of the streets, there is no way anyone would make it past stage 1 without these continues. Their inclusion signifies Sega’s laziness. Sega rarely provides continues in their action games (and this port is by Sega, so I feel comfortable calling it a Sega game), let alone a charitable amount like “unlimited.” Sure, they dry up on the last stage, but only because there has to be challenge somewhere.

Old habits die hard. In this case, my habit of preferring the NES to the Master System. Double Dragon for the NES may have been the neutered punk between the two ports, but the dearth of co-op didn’t ruin the game. Given the Master System’s roided insides, this version should have been as close to perfection as possible. Alas, no co-op in the world could make Sega’s busted brawling feel right. At least Technos admitted that when they developed Double Dragon for the NES/Famicom, they were unfamiliar with the system’s hardware. What’s Sega’s excuse?

History

From 1984 to 1986, Nintendo allowed Hudson Soft the keys to their kingdom. Not only was Hudson allowed to port over first-party Nintendo titles like Ice Climber, Balloon Fight, and Tennis to the NEC PC-88 and Sharp X1 computers. They also got permission to make their own Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. games.

Mario Bros. Special, Punch Ball Mario Bros., Donkey Kong 3: Dai Gyakushū, and Super Mario Bros. Special are four unique Mario/Donkey Kong titles that only ever released on the PC-88 and Sharp X1 in Japan.

In this article, we're only covering Super Mario Bros. Special. But before we get into the latter, let's consider what this Hudson/Nintendo partnership actually meant.

Today, of course, Nintendo would never ever allow another software developer to make new games based on Nintendo's properties and release them on competing or even non-competing hardware, like PCs.

Not only did the company learn its lesson with the Philips CD-i in the early 90s (RIP Hotel Mario and The Zelda Games We Shall Not Name). But after several decades in the gaming market, Nintendo understands how important their character/franchise lineup is. Nintendo IPs are king and rightly so.

In the mid-80s, however, Nintendo was much smaller and had a lot less to lose. Their IPs – Mario and Donkey Kong particularly – were successful, but not nearly to the degree they are now. The Famicom was selling extremely well in Japan, but the home console and computer markets were two separate entities. Perhaps, Nintendo reasoned, porting their Famicom games to select PCs would provide them access to a whole different audience and entice PC users to purchase Famicoms.

I have to speculate because, as far as I can tell, Nintendo has never provided an official reasoning for why they allowed Hudson Soft to have a go at Mario Bros. (twice!), Donkey Kong 3 and Super Mario Bros.

Obviously Nintendo and Hudson had a close relationship. Hudson was the first third-party developer for the Famicom, and many of their early games – Lode Runner, Raid on Bungeling Bay – sold incredibly well on the console. Still, to give a third-party developer access to some of your most popular titles and allow them to make whatever changes they want is just bizarre.

No matter. This partnership happened. These bizarre not-quite-Nintendo games happened. Super Mario Bros. Special happened. None of this can un-happen, so we may as well talk about it.

How Special Is It?

Super Mario Bros. Special might be the first ROM hack of Super Mario Bros. It's certainly the only Nintendo-approved SMB ROM hack to emerge outside of Nintendo themselves (All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros. was actually developed/modified in-house by Nintendo EAD, believe it or not).

The game also looks, plays, and feels like Super Mario Bros. unhinged. Like, what if all those mushrooms really did affect Mario's sense of reality? That's Super Mario Bros. Special. Take the color scheme. Mario's skin is a jaundice yellow. His hair is black instead of brown. When he gets a fire flower, his clothes turn green which makes him look like Luigi. The stage time also counts down considerably faster than the original game, forcing you to hustle. Stage elements, like pipes, blocks, bricks and enemies aren't where you think they should be. Everything is not what it seems.

Controlling Mario is a prime concern, as well. Remember how smooth his running and jumps were in the original? Well, you can put those fond memories behind you. Mario can run here, but not particularly well. It's like he's trying to motivate himself to save the Princess, but the slightest thing – like a lone Goomba in his path – can bring him to a halt (from depression? Possibly, since his company essentially sold him out). Mario's movements are so not Mario-like that relearning the controls is a necessity, if you want to progress.

Speaking of momentum: neither the PC-88 nor the Sharp X1 are able to render proper scrolling as seen in the Famicom/NES version. On the PC-88, when Mario jumps between screens, the screen temporarily goes black before Mario makes it to the next area. The latter is a real point of concern, since this game asks you to make some enormous blind jumps, particularly in the second half. When you jump between screens on the Sharp X1, the screen doesn't go dark, but Mario does pause briefly while the game loads the next screen a la The Legend of Zelda.

Both PCs' limitations render Super Mario Bros. Special nearly unplayable, which is a shame given the game's uniqueness. All of the levels have been completely redesigned from the original, including the secret coin areas. While most of the levels have conservative designs – some bricks here, pipes there, enemies scattered throughout, emphasis on Mario haulin’ balls – occasionally you'll see something outlandish. Strange design choices range from inaccessible pipes, to stairs made from trees, to Bloopers swimming through walls. These choices aren't as absurd as some found in future illegal ROM hacks, but they definitely remind you that you're not playing a Nintendo-developed Mario game.

There are new power-ups and items here, including the Hammer from Donkey Kong (which does what you'd expect) and a Wing that allows Mario to fly around (which makes him look like he's swimming in the sky). There are also clocks, which give Mario 100 additional "seconds" on the timer, Hachisuke which is the Hudson Bee mascot worth 8000 points, and a Lucky Star which destroys every enemy on-screen.

I attempted to play the PC-88 and Sharp X1 versions of Super Mario Bros. Special to no avail. Perhaps I was just impatient, but figuring out how to control Mario coupled with the jarring screen transitions, felt like an exercise in futility.

Luckily, there is a solution for any interested players: an NES ROM hack of Super Mario Bros. Special. This hack effectively brings over all the levels, the crazy color scheme, and the fast moving clock, all with the same buttery smooth scrolling found in the original Super Mario Bros. The new power-ups and items seemed to be missing, and even some of the enemies weren't in select levels; I couldn't find a reason for these omissions. While a Donkey Kong hammer and a screen-clearing Lucky Star would've been nice to have, it's enough to be able to play Super Mario Bros. Special comfortably.

Unless Nintendo gets taken over by young Japanese renegades who want to throw the company's conservative playbook to the winds, we'll never see the likes of something like Super Mario Bros. Special again. Despite its considerable flaws, this does make the game's presence in our world something special indeed.

PC-88 / Sharp X1: ONLY FOR THE BRAVE

NES ROM Hack: A-

*all screenshots come from the NES ROM hack, unless otherwise noted.

PUBLISHER: Sega

DEVELOPER: Capcom (port by Sega)

RELEASE DATE: 08/03/89 – (JP), 10/89 – (US), 11/90 – (EU)

With all respect to Phantasy Star II, Ghouls ‘N Ghosts was the landmark title for the Genesis in 1989. Besides being the first Capcom game on any Sega system, the Genesis version was the best looking, best playing port of the arcade game and fully justified Sega’s claim that playing the Genesis was akin to the arcade at home. The demonic difficulty certainly ostracized those not willing to virtually flagellate themselves through limitless Game Overs, but even today, Ghouls ‘N Ghosts rich Gothic visuals and unrelenting action still hold up next to later platformers on the console. Provided you like bathing in pain, of course.

You control Sir Arthur, a knight tasked with taking on the Prince of Darkness and his evil minions. Arthur’s an interesting bloke. Despite what appears to be strong armor, one hit will rip it off and leave him trembling in his skivvies, while one additional hit turns him to bones. The game occasionally graces you with golden Magic Armor, which allows you to perform magic attacks that differ depending on the weapon you’re holding. The armor is elusive, however, and can only be found in treasure chests. Arthur begins his adventure with a sword (looks more like a lance to me, but hey) to skewer all manner of Grim Reaper, Depraved Vultures and Vomiting Pigs. Other weapons like Fire Water, Axes, and Daggers eventually make their presence known, but the sword remains one of the best weapons in the game, due to its flexibility and speed. That said, boss battles will sometimes be more easily won with different weapons. Experimentation is key.

If you’ve never played Ghouls ‘N Ghosts or any other Ghosts ‘N Goblins game, imagine a platformer with the pace of a shoot-em-up. This might sound like a refreshing amalgam, but Capcom doesn’t get the blend right. Enemies are ruthless and surround you with little room to maneuver, while Arthur’s sprite is large and slow. As with shoot-em-ups, enemies constantly emerge and re-emerge out of the dark landscapes, but since Arthur can’t navigate around the entire stage like a ship could, you have to be constantly alert and/or lucky to avoid the majority of the chaos.

To its credit, Ghouls ‘N Ghosts has some incredibly innovative sections and outlandish boss designs. Few will forget riding the tongues of the gargoyle statues in the Horrible Faced Mountain (actual name), sliding down the sides of the Crystal Caves, or avoiding the bouncing Rock Turtles in the Village of Decay. The multifaceted Worm is one of the most challenging bosses I’ve ever faced, while the final boss – Satan himself – is a massive beast bigger than the screen itself. If you’re interested in Ghouls ‘N Ghosts but aren’t sure if you can take the oppressive beatdowns, I highly recommend a Youtube runthrough. If nothing else, you’ll be able to appreciate Ghouls ‘N Ghosts visual splendor in peace.

I’ve tried repeatedly to delve into Arthur’s sordid world via the original Ghosts ‘N Goblins, Super Ghosts ‘N Goblins, and now Ghouls ‘N Ghosts, and I just don’t get the same enjoyment that others do. Yes, the game’s aesthetics are top-notch, but the game contains some of the hardest, cheapest platforming found on a 16-bit console. Enemies appear out of nowhere. Arthur, the main protagonist, is a weakling in knight’s armor with unintuitive controls. Trying to venture forward with caution? Forget it. The stages have a strict 2-3 minute time limit. And just like Ghosts ‘N Goblins, you have to beat Ghouls ‘N Ghosts twice, and the second time is harder than the first. If you’re committed to Arthur’s cause, you’ll beat the game eventually, thanks to the unlimited continues. Even with this generous concession, Ghouls ‘N Ghosts is less a game to enjoy than a trial to endure. Sounds like hell to me.

PUBLISHER: Rockstar Games

DEVELOPER: Angel Studios

RELEASE DATE: Oct. 25, 2000 (US), Nov. 10, 2000 (EU), Dec. 28th, 2000 (JP)

Back before Rockstar focused on the same GTA game for over a decade, they published and developed a wide variety of titles, including the Christmas favorite, Manhunt, the world's finest ping pong simulator, Table Tennis, and today's feature, the zesty criminal enterprise known as Smuggler's Run.

Smuggler's Run is both an incredibly rewarding romp that highlights the most bonker car physics ever seen in an arcade racing game, and a terribly frustrating experiment into the depths of video game madness. Rarely has a game so delighted and infuriated me in equal measure. Careening your buggy off the top of a tall hill while five slightly upset Canadian border patrol agents chase you is truly sublime. But if you land slightly crooked and all five agents slam into you with the fury of a thousand moose, woe. Woe is you!

The bulk of Smuggler's Run has you driving across one of three landscapes – forest, desert, and snow – and collecting “lost cargo” for your “friends.” The cargo is conveniently highlighted with green gas, while the cargo drop off point is highlighted with red gas. Between your first pickup and your first drop off, cops are alerted to your wicked ways and begin to chase you. Complicating matters are the incredibly bumpy and hilly surroundings, which threaten to knock you off course while driving at high speeds.

Other types of missions appear occasionally, including racing against rival gangs for street cred, and gang warfare that pits you and some buddies against rival gangs. The latter missions only involve – once again – picking up cargo and taking it to the drop off point before your rivals do. Still, the increased vehicle involvement makes for some nutty pileups. Thank goodness everyone's insurance is top-notch.

“No rest for the wicked.”

“You want a medal? Get to the next pickup!”

“Drive like a man, baby. Drive like a man!”

These quotes (and many more) come from Radio Girl, your unseen smuggling partner, again and again and again, until out of desperation, you check the options to see if you can turn off her voice. Thank the Lord, you can. When you do, she says, “You're on your own, baby.” Finally, some peace and quiet.

The constant aural bombardment is one of Smuggler's Run's defining features. If you're not getting told off by Radio Girl, you're being told to “Slow the car down, sir!” by Canada's border patrol, all of whom sound suspiciously like Dan Aykroyd. I love the cops' polite belligerence and, unlike the constant prattling of your partner, could listen to them attempt to pull me over all day. Other gangs will yell at you, cursing you and your mother, which seems about accurate for gang language circa 2000.

Smuggler's Run is not to be taken seriously, which is why the game's sudden jump in difficulty so perplexing. Around the tenth mission, the proceedings veer from slightly challenging at times to replaying the same mission fifty times. No, not all missions from ten onwards are tough, but those that are will make you question your hard-earned sanity. All I want to do is speed down hills, get chased by the border patrol (or the army, or the CIA), and make a ton of money in five minutes or less. I do not want to have to try.

Despite my frustrations, I still sort of love Smuggler's Run. It is a ramshackle game that feels like it should fall apart at any minute, but doesn't. I'm not sure I'll ever beat all thirty-four missions, but maybe that doesn't matter. Maybe the brief endorphin rush I receive from smuggling some “cargo” past state officials in an unwieldy offroad vehicle is enough in today's high stress society. Either way, I miss when Rockstar focused their attention on more than just a singular cash cow to finance their entire enterprise. Smaller budget AA games like Smuggler's Run – for better or for worse – are all but extinct these days.

FUN FACT

In Japan, Smuggler’s Run is known as Crazy Bump’s: Kattobi Car Battle.

What an awful cover!

Nothing has changed from the American release, gameplay-wise, except for the name and the title screen - which is unfortunate. I was hoping Crazy Bump’s was some sort of Japanese monster wheel truck show that featured pregnant women driving these insanely large vehicles, but then it turns out, they’re not really pregnant, they just had Hello Kitty pillows stuffed under their shirts the whole time. Something amazing like that.

Happy New Year, friends!

You may or may not have noticed my silence these last couple weeks. Basically, I hit a holiday-related wall of overwhelm where I felt pulled in a thousand different directions, including Substack.

And instead of saying “I’ll be back in a couple weeks!” to all of you, I just… went dark. Not sure this was the best decision, but it absolutely helped my fragmented state of mind. I hope you understand.

At any rate, I am back, feeling moderately refreshed and ready for whatever 2025 wants to bring. Speaking of which…

1st: I have an article backlog, which means I’ll be uploading hot ‘n fresh “content” at my current rate of once a week for the next couple of months. These are mostly older game discussions/reviews, as is my wont, but I imagine we’ll see at least a couple entries in Alexander Hellene’s Mega Man soundtrack breakdowns as well. And the occasional oddball article, like my look at The Game Awards.

2nd: once this backlog runs dry, I’ll be pivoting to more long-form articles about specific events within gaming history. Perhaps a look into the creation of the Intellivision or a biography on Roberta Williams, one of the first influential women within game development. These two ideas popped off the top of my head as I’m writing this, so I may not explore them at all. Point is, historical long-form video game articles are where I’m headed with the Sonoran Videogame Society in 2025.

3rd: as a result of the latter, I predict that my current one-post-a-week rate might reduce down to one post every 2-3 weeks or even once a month, depending upon the size of the article. I’m not a fan of less articles for all of you, but going deep just takes more time.

4th: I will no longer produce any exclusive paid-subscriber content for Sonoran Videogame Society. This may or may not change later this year, but for the time being, exclusive paid posts are going away. I have reasons for this, and if you ask, I’m happy to share. But in lieu of a long-winded rant in this section, let’s just say… keeping up with two Substacks is a challenge.

For those of you purchased monthly/yearly subscriptions in 2024, first of all, thank you, you’re amazing. Receiving payment for my writing has always been the dream, so experiencing that firsthand these last few months via this Substack has been a true blessing. As such, I’m happy to offer you a free paid monthly/yearly subscription to my sister Substack, Nintendo is Great, provided you are already subbed as a free subscriber.

I will continue to produce paid content for Nintendo is Great.

Nintendo is Great

a beautiful, trenchant journey through the depths of Nintendo's back catalog. NES, SNES, N64, Game Boy (s), DS, Wii, Switch, waaa-HOOO, we got it

By Dylan Cornelius

That should do it! Thanks to all of you who have read, liked commented, subscribed, and just all-around enjoyed these posts over the last nine months or so. I can’t stress enough how much encouragement we writers receive from just a simple like on our post or a comment expressing your enjoyment of the article. Our souls are nourished, and we carry on.

Hope your year is off to a great start, and I’ll see you next week!

Best,

DC

This post is part 2 in his multi-part series on excellent video game soundtracks. Check out this introductory post and Part 1 to learn more about this series.

As always, Sonoran Videogame Society is a Substack dedicated to playing and exploring video games with friends like you. Some posts are free, some are for paid subscribers only. Don’t forget to sign up here. Thanks for reading!

Release Date: December 24, 1988
Composer: Takashi Tateishi (credited as Ogeretsu Kun), Manami Matsumae (credited as Manami Ietel)
Rating: 8.1

Mega Man wasn’t a runaway, breakout hit for Capcom, but it did sell well enough to prove that the company could make games geared towards home consoles that didn’t have to be ports of arcade hits. Plus, the music was pretty bangin’. I’ve been unable to find sales numbers, though some sources claim they were unimpressive1—I’ve found that the first Mega Man sold 31,941 copies in Japan,2 where it was called Rockman, but I am unable to find international sales figures. Still, considering that 1986’s NES port of Ghosts n’ Goblins sold 1,640,000 copies, good for 38th best-selling NES game of all time, and it’s no wonder Capcom’s top brass weren’t exactly chomping at the bit for more Mega Man.

Still, someone must’ve believed in the Blue Bomber, because Capcom greenlit a sequel . . . provided the team made it on their own free time. Apparently, they used some unused assets from the first game, and in general kept the look and feel while refining the gameplay and adding more. More bosses! More levels! More weapons! And more music!

It sounds like an intense time for the Mega Man team, which included producer Tokuro Fujiwara, programmer Nobuyuki Matsusbima, sound programmer Yoshihiro Sakaguchi, and artists Yasuaki Kishimoto, Naoya Tomita, Keiji Inafine, and Akira Kitamura:

The first Mega Man game—released in 1987—was not successful enough to justify the immediate development of a sequel. According to Roy Ozaki, director Akira Kitamura had wanted to make a sequel to Mega Man, but producer Tokuro Fujiwara was against it. Kitamura then went to Capcom Vice-President [sic] to get permission to make the game. Capcom allowed the development team to create a sequel on the condition that they work concurrently on other projects as well. The staff spent their own time on the project to improve upon the original by adding more levels and weapons, as well as improving the graphics. [citations omitted]

Per Inafune:

So we, of our own accord, got together, spent our own time, we worked really, really hard, you know, just 20-hour days to complete this, because we were making something we wanted to make. Probably in all my years of actually being in a video game company, that was the best time of my working at Capcom, because we were actually working toward a goal, we were laying it all on the line, we were doing what we wanted to do. And it really showed in the game, because it’s a game, once again, that we put all our time and effort and love, so to speak, into it, designing it.

Other elements were added to the Mega Man formula, including a password system so the game didn’t have to be finished in one sitting, three devices used to help Mega Man traverse the levels, and energy tanks to refill Mega Man’s life meter on the fly.

There was also the addition of the Dr. Wily castle map screen, which became another series mainstay, as well as an opportunity for more music.

Interestingly, Mega Man 2 also began the series tradition of soliciting fan input for the robot master names and designs. Of the reported 8,3703 fan submissions, eight were chosen.

Music was handled by Takashi Tateishi after Mega Man composer Manami Matsumae was moved to Capcom’s more prestigious arcade division. Tateishi had worked with Matsumae previously, and Matsumae provided a little music for Mega Man 2, notably some of Air Man’s theme. But this game was Tateishi’s baby, interesting considering he was (a) not classically trained, being a musician in a rock band, and (b) a relative newcomer to Capcom. Prior to Mega Man 2, he’d worked on U.N. Squadron with Manami and a Japan-only game called Mad Gear.

Tateishi was given scant direction for his compositions:

Tateishi’s composed video game music by first receiving a mood from his director, often a single word or phrase like, “hot” for Heatman or “hurry up!” for Quickman. With that in mind, he would begin composing his songs on a synthesizer keyboard. He would play his song for his director and, if it was approved, a programmer would convert his music to work in a tracker program that was designed for whatever hardware the game used for audio. At Capcom it was Yoshihiro Sakaguchi. Tateishi explained that, when he was writing music for games, he preferred FM synthesis of arcade hardware, but, looking back, he appreciates the sound of the NES APU more.

His first submissions, however, were deemed too “cute,” so back to the drawing board he went. And whatever happened, it worked, with Tateishi creating a soundtrack widely considered one of the best ever that helped redefine video game music and point to what it could be.

And he didn’t even know it.

We’ll get to the music later, but Mega Man 2 proved to be the breakout console hit Capcom hoped for, selling over 1.5 million copies worldwide. The first game’s proof of concept proved sound, and with the second game’s success, you know there would be further sequels. So many sequels . . .

It’s safe to say this is where Mega Man became MEGA MAN. Maybe it was the box art . . .

That’s the Japanese box art, which looked pretty excellent. The North American box art, well . . .

It’s certainly a step up from the first game’s amateurish nightmare with a hero sporting a “I just crapped my pants and I really hope nobody notices” grimace4, but it’s still odd. Quick Man and Crash Man are identifiable, Mega Man looks like Mega Man, and the action takes place on what looks like a lava level. But still, why is Dr. Light directing Crash Man to attack Mega Man instead of Dr. Wily? And why is Mega Man using a pistol? Artist Marc Ericksen explains:

What happened was I had to go down to Capcom and do a game they just got in from Japan. They had a beta version; they were in a hurry to get this thing out. So I went down there. The gentlemen was the art director was there with the beta guy and they were waiting for me and I came with my pad and they started running the game. What we saw was this little pixelated figure of the famous Mega Man running around on the screen shooting. Bang, bang, bang, he’s shooting obviously like this with his arm. So I said to the art director, “what is he shooting? What is he shooting with?” The art director said, “he must have a pistol because I don’t see that he’s got a rifle so he must have a pistol.”

“So . . . a pistol? You want me to do a pistol?” And he said, “yeah, let’s put a pistol in there.” So I did what I was told and I put the pistol in there. Add to the fact that they only had, like, a day and a half for me to do the painting and what you wound up with was not the greatest result but certainly a result that was not my fault.

I like it. It has a charm. The European box art, though . . .

Now we’re getting into “So bad it’s good” territory.

But not the music. The music is in “So good it’s almost unbelievable that it’s coming out of this small gray box” territory.

Before we begin, I need to amend my rating system. In calculating the overall rating for Mega Man 2, I noticed that the incidental music—the password screen, the boss select sting, the “Weapon Get” theme, the Wily map, defeating a boss, etc.—tended to drag the overall score down to a degree that is both inaccurate and unwarranted. Therefore, all of these incidental bits of music will be averaged out and rolled into one rating, called “Incidental Music.” It’ll make sense when we get there, I promise.

Title Screen:

In a brilliant nod to the first game, Mega Man 2’s title theme starts out by recapitulating the first part of Mega Man’s ending theme. However, instead of building up to the expected main ending melody (while the camera pans to the top of the skyscraper atop which Mega Man gazes into the city), we get a descending burst of sound like a pick-slide on a highly distorted electric guitar that blazes into a power-chord type melody with galloping bass and drums. One of the first things you’ll notice is that Mega Man 2’s music just sounds fuller and more robust. I chalk it up to more familiarity with the NES’s sound hardware.

This melody rocks. It has a cool B-section with a melody like a guitar solo and fun percussion “doops” that sort of sound like roto toms. Some fun, tight riffing neatly wraps up the theme to a conclusion. This, coupled the short story sequence, definitely gets you pumped to play. Let’s go! 8.8

Menu/Password (Incidental):

This is a simple melody over a shuffling 12/8 beat with some busy, bouncing, upper-register bass and some more of those percussive “doops,” which always please my ear. I like how the melody alternates between an E and an F at the end of each phrase. It’s short, catchy, and pleasant, something you wouldn’t mind hearing over a long period. 7.0

Stage Select:

This theme is a classic, with a very cool use of rhythm: four ascending phrases of three, and one ascending phrase of four creates an odd-time feel, even though it’s just two bars of standard time. It makes you feel unsettled, perfect for selecting a robot master to take on. The percussion is effective, and the bass plays a syncopated countermelody. Further, Tataeishi creates a fun call-and-response with the melody between the primary and secondary channels. There’s so much creativity in such a short theme. 7.2

Boss Select (Incidental):

It’s the same as in the first game with a slightly updated sound. Why mess with success? 7.0

Bubble Man:

Listen to how full that sounds! This theme has a simple, memorable intro with a low, horn-like sound and, yes, a “bubbling” triangle wave burble in the background. I love the little hits before the main melody comes on. There are all sorts of great flourishes throughout, like the lower square wave which builds the foundation until the higher melody enters. Speaking of the melodies, they are linear, scalar, and effective. Very terse and rock-like as opposed to something longer; punchy as opposed to complicated, but hardly simplistic. The rhythmic B-section has an ear-catching bass countermelody, and there are great cross-rhythms and busy arpeggios during the breakdown. One of many that could be a legit rock song—in fact, there’s a reason rock bands love to cover this game’s soundtrack. 8.8

Crash Man:

Time for a dance party! Crash Man’s theme is apparently the only one of Tateishi’s “too cute” initial works that made it into the final game,5 and it’s a fun one. This piece sports a supremely catch baseline that’s just a G to an E with a funky, chromatic walkup with plenty of octave-leaps and accents. It’s like an amped-up version of the first game’s Elec Man theme. There is great percussion and a melody that offers some cool harmonic dissonance, starting on a D and walking down from an F.

The main melody, over a sub-melody that sounds like fast-picked guitars, keeps going up and up, just like the level, playing around with the rhythmic and melodic motif and ending in a great flourishing turnaround that brings it back to the beginning. The tropical feel of the B-section with the fun busy bass and ending tom fill goes way harder than it has to, just like this theme in general. There’s not much explosive or “Crash Man” like about it, but that doesn’t matter when you can’t get this theme out of your head. 8.7

Flash Man:

Here’s a cool-sounding theme, perfect for Flash Man’s oddly icy level. We start with a minor-key, spy-movie riff with catchy rhythms before exploding into a disco-esque, twisting melody that climbs but doesn’t quite reach the apex. I love when the two channels come together for the short, descending riff, as well as the bass that plays slightly across it. This theme utilizes the secondary square wave channel for some rhythmic underpinning, and while it’s a bit repetitive and samey, it never overstays its welcome because it’s so catchy. 8.5

Heat Man:

A lot of people really like this theme, and I get it. It does bubble and simmers. It does cook. It does—ahem—BRING THE HEAT. But while I like the challenging, heavy metal feel of the main riff and the longer-toned, linear follow-up that gives way to an angular turnaround, it has no real catharsis and stays at a low boil. Which, when viewed alongside the stage itself, makes perfect sense: it burbles and gurgles like lava, and it fits the stage perfectly. It also just sounds good. 7.5

Metal Man:

Now we’re cooking. Here’s some dance-rock; I can easily imagine two guitars playing these lines: one is terse and busy, the other lower and linear. And that bassline! Nice and busy. The main melody sounds like an early 2000s indie rock jam. It’s a short piece with fun, disco/dance drums and an overall metallic feel that actually brings to mind the Fire Man theme from Mega Man. Short and sweet. 8.5

Wood Man:

Great drum intro, beating on those faux toms, before a big slide that ushers in some galloping bass and drums. Incessant and driving, with that awesome, moody scalar main melody going at a breakneck pace—it really makes you want to keep going, keep fighting. But it doesn’t scream “Wood Man.” At the end of the day, the adrenaline is pumping too much to matter. The B-section goes up a flat-III and features some echoing square wave, and I like how the second channel drops out before a descending flurry of notes brings the theme back to the top. It’s fun, but perhaps not quite as dramatic as it was going for. 8.3

Quick Man:

Another use of that Fire Man-stage metallic percussion; fitting, because some of the enemies in Quick Man’s stage shoot those little fire guys from Fire Man’s level. So the overall feel is more fiery than quick, but fire is quick, right? I don’t know. Either way, this is a fun Latin/Afro-Cuban two-chord vamp that gives way to a melody with some nice long tones. I love the flurry of 16th notes at the end of each phrase before the B-section begins. It has a nice, tightly rhythmic turnaround and the overall piece is short and catchy. I don’t listen to this in isolation and think of laser beams coming to obliterate Mega Man, but it still somehow fits. 8.5

Air Man:

Now here’s a theme that goes hard! Not only is that descending chromatic hook catchy, I love how it implies a slight hitch in the tom-heavy groove. There is a great, busy bassline underneath the main melody which is basically a screaming guitar solo over an I-bVII chord progression, a rock music staple. The soaring melody in the short turnaround with the drum fills is effective and when it loops back around, you already find yourself eager for the guitar solo again. Just an absolutely stellar theme that doesn’t make you feel like you’re floating in the clouds, but definitely sends the intensity into the stratosphere. For my money, this is the best robot master theme in Mega Man 2. 9.0

Wily Castle Map (Incidental):

A nine-second little jingle that is fun and off-kilter, and lets Mega Man know he’s in for some twisted challenges. Dig the siren-like sound in the background. You know what’s up. 6.8

Wily Stages 1 + 2 Theme:

The one everybody loves, and for good reason. This theme cooks. It sounds like it could be an emo song, with the strident, galloping bassline and drums (a trick Tateishi employs quite often in this soundtrack), terse rhythmic phrases, and moody chord progression. It really makes you want to run! The melody is incredibly well-constructed, wrapping on itself quite nicely, and the echoey square wave of the secondary melody is a little brighter; check out the countermelodies on the lower channel. And then when the melody comes back for the second time, there’s another melody playing a variation on a theme underneath. The second chorus then features some upper-register bass. The B-section is great, with the two lead channels playing in unison and some walking octave bass—it’s a short and satisfying turnaround. Run, Mega Man, there’s a giant dragon behind you! Simply perfect. 9.3

Wily Stages 3 + 4 Theme:

I have to give this theme more points for compositional creativity than I do for the actual melody. The melody is good, and the simple four-note motif is queasy sounding, and creates a palpable sense of unease in the player, but it’s very short and repetitive and there’s not much to it. The furious bassline underneath the long tones only adds to the tension. However, what makes this theme so cool and unique is that it modulates every time through, and it cycles through all twelve keys before finally repeating. That’s really interesting and a wonderful use of keys to create an unsettling feeling. 8.1

Boss Theme:

Great four-chord buildup with a short fanfare before the main melody kicks in. I like how it’s highly rhythmic, only accentuated by the bass part. It’s not as frenetic as Mega Man’s boss theme, but it’s catchier and better sounding. It might not make your blood boil, but it’s still intense, and you’ll be hearing it plenty during a few of the trickier, longer boss battles. 6.5

Stage Clear (Incidental):

You did it! Yay! The drum intro is cool. 4.2

Weapon Get (Incidental):

A fun, catchy drumbeat . . . not much else to say! 4.0

Game Over (Incidental):

You are dead. This theme makes you feel appropriately ashamed. 4.0

Wily Defeated (Incidental):

A short, triumphant fanfare that does its job. 5.5

Ending Theme:

This is a long piece of music that goes through three distinct parts:

Part 1:

We begin on the iii chord (a C# minor), which is an interesting choice, but appropriate for this bittersweet piece. We have a moody arpeggio which eventually goes through a few major chords, like sunshine breaking through the clouds. There’s a beautiful call and response, then we get a descending bassline under a steadily ascending melody—tension and release. It ends on the V chord (an E major), which gives it a slightly unfinished feel—perfect for the visuals the piece is accompanying.

Part 2:

This brings us back to the main title theme—always a good time!

Part 3:

Upbeat and fun! It’s a two-chord vamp with the bass taking center stage that almost sounds like a variation on the Air Man theme, but more spacious and with snappier drums. Eventually we get a drumbeat that sounds like the Weapon Get theme with a really busy melody that’s all over the place, triumphant and dense. Eventually, we get a variation on the title theme, with a fitting echo on the very last note. It gives a real sense of accomplishment that the player certainly earned . . . especially if you play on the “Difficult” setting. 8.7

Let’s tally up our scores. First, we’ll get the overall Incidental Music rating: 7.0 + 7.0 + 6.8 + 4.2 + 4.0 + 4.0 + 5.5 = 38.5/7 = 5.5

Now, let’s tally everything together:

5.5 + 8.8 + 7.2 + 8.8 + 8.7 + 8.5 + 7.5 + 8.5 + 8.3 + 8.5 + 9.0 + 9.3 + 8.1 + 6.5 + 8.7 = 121.9/15 = 8.1

Man, this feels way too low. I need to figure out a better way to handle the incidental music. See, if I take that out, we end up with 116.4/14, which would get us an 8.3, which also feels too low. But math don’t lie! I think I saw that on a t-shirt once.

Everyone loves the Mega Man 2 soundtrack. I mean, everyone. One of my favorite covers is by the rock band Bit Brigade, who performs game music live while their fifth band member utterly destroys the game live on a big projection screen:

Takeishi seems like he keeps a pretty low personal profile in general; he did score some other NES games for Capcom, including Willow. MobyGames has a list of stuff he’s worked on in one capacity or another, and it’s quite extensive. He even did uncredited work on the Abobo’s Big Adventure fan game, which if you’ve ever played is, uh, decidedly NSFW.

All told, Takeishi created a true masterpiece here. And we also have to give a shout-out to his colleague Manami Matsumae, who not only laid the groundwork for the Mega Man sound, but worked on this game. I leave you with an interview with the two of them from last year, given for Mega Man 2’s 35th anniversary.

Takaeshi truly raised the bar for video game music, and his impact is still being felt. Will later Mega Man composers be up to the challenge? Will I ever iron out my rating system? Stay tuned!

NEXT UP: Mega Man 3

4

The Game Awards! Like the Oscars for video games, if new movie trailers were the reason anyone watched the Oscars. Can you imagine Dame Helen Mirren winning for Shazam 2, and she’s thanking God and her acting teachers for helping get where she is today, but the moment she’s off-stage, a new trailer of Godzilla X Kong III: The Reckoning makes us forget she was ever there? Hollywood, for all its faults, would probably never commit to such shameless product placement.

But the gaming industry pretends to not care, and the Game Awards watch numbers show why. In 2023, the show received 118 million streams, which is, like, 10x what the Oscars gets these days.

Let’s face it, most of those watching the Game Awards – and I hate to write this, but we all know it’s true – are not there to watch talented actors, developers, writers, and directors receive awards for their hard work. They’re watching to see the latest Witcher 4 or GTA VI trailer or the occasional random celebrity treat video games like they’re more than an afterthought. Like when Keanu strolled out on stage to plug Cyberpunk 2077. Or, in 2024’s case, an 82-year-old Harrison Ford (who was probably paid handsomely to be there) announcing Best Performance alongside Bethesda’s Todd Howard and Troy Baker.

Yeah, I don’t care about the Game Awards, but I do like ranking things that the Internet seems to care about. Hence the following list, where I rank every new game announcement from the 2024 Game Awards. I’m only ranking games that were announced for the first time last night, not previously announced games that received their first trailers. Still, Geoff Keighley and co. presented 19 never-before-seen games last night, which seems like a lot to me! Most of us who have disposable income to purchase these upcoming games will be lucky to play 1 or 2 a year.

Nevertheless! I shall rank these 19 titles from Least Interested to Most Interested. As per all Internet standards and bylaws, feel free to tell me why my thoughts and opinions are trash (respectively) in the comments below.

Enough intro blather. Let’s do this!

#19 – STEEL PAWS

The latest Yu Suzuki title, soon to be released by Netflix Games. A brief 30-second anime-heavy trailer reveals very little, although the press release says, “In Steel Paws, embark on an adventure alongside Buddy Robots to conquer a mysterious tower that reappears every century. Master your abilities and upgrade your buddies to uncover new enemies, rewards, and endless ways to play. Steel Paws comes exclusively to Netflix in 2025.”

If Yu Suzuki’s name wasn’t on this, I wonder if Steel Paws would have gotten a Game Awards announcement at all. Hang-On, OutRun, Virtua Fighter, Shenmue, Suzuki’s a legend, which is why I don’t want his career to end with Steel Paws. The super-short trailer doesn’t reveal gameplay nor does it hint at why we should care. Also, it’s only for mobile at the moment, which makes me think all the bad things. Someone give Suzuki-san some money to make Shenmue 4 and let him retire with dignity.

#18 – STEEL HUNTERS

The world is ending, giant robot suits are the only way to free humanity, blast fools to smithies, and so on. Steel Hunters is a free-to-play mech battle arena from Wargaming. The trailer looks very pretty, and I know there’s a huge audience for these types of games. Alas, they lost me at free-to-play. Give me the full game for a single price upfront or leave me be.

#17 – THICK AS THIEVES

Like Steel Paws, Thick as Thieves has an impressive resume. Warren Spector from Deus Ex and Greg LoPiccolo and Paul Neurath from Thief are the leads here, and their previous work speaks for itself. This trailer, though…

The inclusion of “Been Caught Stealing” by Jane’s Addiction is woefully on the nose in a game where you play as a variety of different thieves1 . The presumably four-player action where the thief you control has to steal an item, not get caught, and keep other thieves away from the loot looks stressful and exhausting. I’m all for original game concepts, and a part of me hopes this does well just because it’s different, but nothing about Thick as Thieves appeals to me in the slightest.

#16 – STAGE FRIGHT

From VGC: “Stage Fright is a two-player co-op game with a horror theme, which is described as “Luigi’s Mansion meets Overcooked with a really charming story”.

According to Hello Games, the game is “packed with co-op moments” which it says combine Overcooked-style chaotic moments with escape room principles.

Stage Fright’s trailer is cute and self-effacing with excellent animation, and if you like co-op games, this might be up your alley. But I miss the days when co-op wasn’t forced into a game, like you must play with another person to progress. Can you imagine being forced to play Turtles in Time with your brother every single time you wanted to beat Shredder?

Anyway, Stage Fright is a game you can play with your kids or spouse and probably have a heartwarming time. Not for me, though.

#15 – ONE MOVE AWAY

A warm and fuzzy indie game about placing all your crap in a car and moving away from home. Is there more to it than that? Maybe. I hope so! But all the trailer showed was that aspect of it and some mild millennial nostalgia (it’s set in 1989 and has big tube TVs and cassette stereos), so… who knows.

#14 – REMATCH

Gotta be honest, I’m not a huge soccer fan, so I didn’t think a 5-v-5 soccer game would even rank this high. Rematch’s trailer looks intriguing, though. No licenses, no real players, but the players’ fluid movement and unique backdrops look engaging. If the game feels great to play and has a rewarding gameplay loop, I could see Rematch sucking in fans of arcade sports.

#13 – NINJA GAIDEN: RAGEBOUND

Listen, I want the first 2D Ninja Gaiden game in 29 years to be incredible, but I have a tremendously personal nitpick: the egregious amount of bloodshed in the trailer. Yes, the 3D Ninja Gaiden games of the 2000s were M-Rated action titles with some blood, but the original 2D NES trilogy were simple all-ages, parent-approved affairs. Any eight-year-old could slash away at a bird or soldier and not see geysers of blood greeting them at every turn.

Anyway, I’m disappointed and disgusted, especially since the art direction looks fantastic.

#12 – SHADOW LABYRINTH

Shadow Labyrinth looks like it was being developed as a brand-new IP before Namco brass got a hold of it and said, “We’ll only greenlight this game if you insert Pac-Man in it somehow.” And thus, a dark, edgy Pac-Man adventure that nobody asked for was born.

#11 – INTERGALACTIC: THE HERETIC PROPHET

A four-and-a-half-minute movie trailer introduces Naughty Dog’s latest single-player, presumably story-driven game, a la Uncharted and The Last of Us. Naughty Dog has been in the Last of Us business for over a decade now, so I’m curious to see how a brand-new IP fares with gamers. I haven’t enjoyed a Naughty Dog game since Uncharted 3, and I’d be shocked if Intergalactic sucks me back in after a 14-year interim (presuming the game comes out in 2025). Also, apparently AAA gaming is so expensive now, that product placements must be placed front-and-center. Hilarious and sad.

#10 – PROJECT CENTURY

In the first twenty seconds or so, this trailer had me on board with its early 20^th century Japanese setting. But man, I just can not abide all the violence against normal looking human beings here. It’s one thing to stab a creature from some mystical realm and see blood pool out from him, but dudes from the 1910s wearing overalls and wife-beaters? That’s too real for me, friends. Feels like something 15-year-olds trying to be hard would really get off on, yet these games are made by adults, for… adults?

#9 – SPLIT FICTION

From VGC: “Split Fiction tells the story of two writers who specialize in fantasy and sci-fi stories. Both characters find themselves in each other’s worlds, meaning players have to make their way through sci-fi and fantasy environments, using each other’s abilities to work together.”

The premise has potential, and the gameplay presented in the trailer looks potentially satisfying. But man, every line uttered by these characters is a generic stinker. To the point where I wondered if that’s what the writers were going for. Gamers generally don’t care if a script is a cliched mediocre mess if the gameplay sucks them in, but some dialogue polishing would work wonders here.

#8 – DISPATCH

A hero loses his super powerful suit and must work at a dispatch center for superheroes. Looks like a Telltale game, which makes sense given that a lot of Telltale developers worked on it. I’m cautiously optimistic, but the trailer has some weird elements that give me cause for concern. You’ll know them when you see them, they clash with the rest of the trailer, don’t @ me.

#7 – ELDEN RING: NIGHTREIGN

Do you like Elden Ring? Do you like… co-op?! Get ready for some cooperative swatting down of enormous world-swallowing bosses, the likes of which you’ve seen before in previous FromSoft games. I’ve yet to play Elden Ring, and as previously mentioned, I’m not a big co-op guy. But Nightreign looks swanky and will absolutely appeal to a good chunk of the 20 million+ people who bought Elden Ring. Have at it, boys.

#6 – SONIC RACING: CROSSWORLDS

Perhaps a controversial pick placing it this high, especially since the trailer showed little other than the back of Shadow’s head getting into an oversized sports car. But these Sonic Racing games are almost always good times, and I doubt this one will disappoint.

#5 – OKAMI SEQUEL

Okami is one of those games that’s so pretty and iconic, people forget how clunky the game was when it first released for PS2 back in… *checks time log*… 2006?! Stunning visuals forgive a lot of sins in the gaming realm, though, plus control schematics have come a long way. Developer Clovers Studio would have to drop the ball pretty hard to mess this up.

#4 – ONIMUSHA: WAY OF THE SWORD

Is the gaming industry running out of brands to bring back from the dead, or was the clamor for a new Onimusha game really that loud? Nevertheless, here’s Way of the Sword, a game that looks a little like the Onimusha of old and a considerable amount like a modern From Software title. Capcom has generally excelled at giving gamers what they want in recent years, though, so I imagine this sequel/”re-imagining” will hit hard in 2026.

#3 – TUROK ORIGINS

Turok, like Onimusha, is another one of those franchises that I’m surprised anyone still cares about. Sure, a Dinosaur Hunter hunting alien dinosaurs in jungles/cities is a winning idea for video games, but most Turok titles are average-to-terrible at best. That hasn’t prevented all three original Turok N64 games from receiving a remaster in recent years, though. Crazy! And apparently, someone bought the remasters a few times over, hence this very pretty-looking modern revamp of Turok. The trailer looks like a return to the jungles of the first game, with some weird DNA splicing going on for good measure. Dare I write, Origins looks decent.

#2 – NEW VIRTUA FIGHTER PROJECT

2024 is the year of gaming miracles, no thanks to the handful of franchise resurrections on display at the Game Awards and beyond. Sega promised not long ago that they were working on a new Virtua Fighter entry, and here it is, sort of. Just a brief glimpse of Sarah Bryant fighting some bulky hat-wearing individual. But it’s enough! Nearly two decades on from Virtua Fighter 5, fans have hope.

#1 – PROJECT: ROBOT

Going by Fumito Ueda’s track record, I don’t expect to see Project Robot until at least 2030 on the PlayStation 6. But you know when it comes out, it’ll be a banger. The man’s only ever produced three games in the last quarter century – Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, and The Last Guardian - and all are iconic gaming landmarks. If he disappoints with Project: Robot, it’ll be the first time.

So that’s it! Thanks for joining me on this journey, I’ve never ranked game announcements before. It was both fun and meaningless – but mostly fun! If these Game Awards trailers have taught me anything, it’s that most modern games aren’t for me. Between the excessive violence, dark themes, or just genres I don’t care for like forced co-op, I am very much feeling my middle age.

Oh well! At least I’ll always have Nintendo and retro games.

What were some of your favorite announcements from the Game Awards? Do you like seeing folks win awards or do you only watch for the trailers?

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next week!

I’m doing this for two reasons. #1) Many have subscribed in the last couple months that may not have seen these posts, and #2) I need a break! I’ve been writing 2-3 posts a week for eight months in a row. Your boy is tired! Thus, I’m taking a month off to prepare for 2025.

For those who have been around since the beginning of this Substack (back when it was known as Retro Gaming Archive), thank you for reading, commenting, and supporting. For those who’ve chosen to support this Substack financially, I’m so grateful for your kindness and generosity.

Thanks for understanding while I prepare something awesome - a Brave New World, perhaps - for 2025!

Sonoran Videogame Society is a Substack dedicated to playing and exploring video games with friends like you. Some posts are free, some are for paid subscribers only. Don’t forget to sign up here. Thanks for reading!

Childhood is a wild ride. Everything seems at once very new, almost hyper-real and yet incredibly normal. Your world is the world of your family. Whatever world they inhabit or that they construct around you is what makes sense to you, it’s all you know. Only later when you go to school or to a friend’s house do you encounter new, often wildly different ecosystems that shatter your reality.

For example, as an only child, I was intrigued by my friends who had siblings. I studied how they interacted. Sometimes conversations were peaceful, but often, there was a lot of teasing, name-calling (“what are you looking at, butthead?”), physical fighting, among other things. Sometimes I’d get thrown into the mix when I was around, guilt by association, even though I never instigated any conflict. I didn’t mind. It was a new experience, one that I knew I’d never get at home.

Video games were a regular part of life growing up. My dad bought me an NES sometime in 1989 or 1990, and that was it, there they were, just like television and radio, like they’d always been there. My grandpa Popie (not his Christian name, just what I called him) also owned a Commodore 64, and we regularly played Pac-Man and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? together. Again, I thought this was normal, catching ghosts and criminals with a joystick and keyboard, next to my grandfather. He bought the computer and games, of course, not me, I didn’t have any money. I just participated and enjoyed the connection, never thinking that other kids don’t always have this sort of unusual experience.

The next part of this story requires a setup, so please bear with this long and winding road.

Sometime in the early 90s, my cousin Jesse and my aunt Jeannine moved back in with her parents, our grandparents, hereafter known as Grandma and Grandpa (Grandpa is not Popie – Popie is my dad’s dad, while Grandpa is my mom’s dad). Sometime after they moved in, Jesse asked for an NES. Jeannine obliged, on the condition that he could only play after all his homework was complete for the day. With the system came many of the classics: Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ninja Gaiden II. But there was also a curious item: 42-in-1, a bootleg cartridge that hailed from Southeast Asia.

42-in-1 had – that’s right – 42 games crammed into one single cartridge. The cartridge was wider and bulkier than a standard NES cartridge, so Jesse and my grandfather "widened" the NES cartridge slot to make it fit (with a flathead screwdriver, I think? Not sure). When turned on, 42-in-1 would display 20 games only. To access the other 22, you'd turn the system off then on again, and there they were, illegal magic right in front of your eyes.

Not all bootleg games/compilations are quality, admittedly, but 42-in-1 bucked the trend. There are first-party Nintendo titles (Super Mario Bros., Pinball, Excitebike), some awesome Famicom games that never released on the NES (B-Wings, Battle City, Front Line), and some fantastic third-party titles (Galaga, Star Force, Bomberman). Not every game is a winner, of course, but with 42 games to choose from, you always have something to play.

Earlier I mentioned that my cousin Jesse was only allowed to play the NES when all his homework was done. Well, Jesse was a good student, so he always held up his end of the bargain. After school, he'd start right away on his homework. Once finished, he'd run to the NES, excited to play... only to find our grandparents sitting in front of the television, transfixed by 42-in-1.

See, while Jesse was at school all day, and my aunt Jeannine was out working, Grandma and Grandpa – both recent retirees - played hours of NES games. Bomberman was one of their favorites, along with Lode Runner, Othello and Battle City. Any game they could share and play together, they did (as an adult, I now find this incredibly sweet). They played so much that Jesse rarely got a chance. Eventually, he told his mom about it, and she confronted them. My grandparents recognized that they were addicted, but they didn't stop playing. Instead, whenever they played, they would set an egg timer for 30-60 minutes. When it dinged, they’d stop.

For context, Grandpa was born in 1926, Grandma in 1930. Grandma was born in Texas to a German family, though both parents were at least second generation. Grandpa was born in Minnesota to a Czech family who emigrated when they saw the Communist writing on the wall. Both lived through the Great Depression and World War II, with Grandpa enlisting in the Air Force at 17. Grandma got her master’s degree and presumed she’d be a teacher her whole life, but when she married Grandpa in 1952, they had six kids and she was kept extremely busy (no regrets, she says). Thanks to Grandpa being in the military, the family moved everywhere, including random places like East Germany and Sudan. Eventually, Grandpa retired from the Air Force in 1988 at the age of 62. To the best of my knowledge, neither of them had played any video games prior to the NES, but they had already lived a full, rewarding life.

All throughout the 1990s, my grandparents played an excessive amount of NES, like the king and queen they are. My cousin Jesse wasn't the only one to bear witness to this. I did too, often, and I thought nothing of it. At the time, my innocent, undeveloped mind assumed that all kinds of people played video games because video games are awesome. Only in hindsight do I realize how special and amazing this was. 15 years before Wii Sports captivated nursing homes everywhere, my grandparents were blowing up bricks and baddies in Bomberman. In Battle City, they leveled hundreds of enemy tanks. In Lode Runner, they collected all the gold and beat the game dozens of times over. My grandpa even beat the original Super Mario Bros on a semi-regular basis. They knew what they were doing.

My grandparents played NES together for years until my grandpa got sick and passed away in 2002. Grandma just turned 94 last week. The last time I saw her playing NES was six years ago, aged 88. Championship Lode Runner was the game, and she was having a hard time. It was the only game her and Grandpa never beat together.

I’m doing this for two reasons. #1) Many have subscribed in the last couple months that may not have seen these posts, and #2) I need a break! I’ve been writing 2-3 posts a week for eight months in a row. Your boy is tired! Thus, I’m taking a month off to prepare for 2025.

For those who have been around since the beginning of this Substack (back when it was known as Retro Gaming Archive), thank you for reading, commenting, and supporting. For those who’ve chosen to support this Substack financially, I’m so grateful for your kindness and generosity.

Thanks for understanding while I prepare something awesome - a Brave New World, perhaps - for 2025!

Sonoran Videogame Society is a Substack dedicated to playing and exploring video games with friends like you. Some posts are free, some are for paid subscribers only. Don’t forget to sign up here. Thanks for reading!

Ah yes, the “listicle.” You know the kind!

“Top 10 Reasons to Shave Your Nosehair!”

“Mulder and Scully’s Best Arguments, Ranked!”

That sort of AI-generated crap that most people despise, but click on anyway because they can’t help it.

But I’m not talking about “The 8 Lego Sets You Can’t Afford!” today, oh no. Today, I’m ranking all the Nintendo consoles - the NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube, Wii, Wii U, and the Switch – from worst to best. The handhelds will get their own separate “worst to best” list at a future date, because this console list was hard enough.

Nintendo is special. Not just because they make great games and unique hardware, but because their consoles are often a person’s first experience with video games. How many millions of kids were delighted by a Mario or Zelda game growing up? Or these days, Animal Crossing or Splatoon? Nintendo properties do a fantastic job at captivating the imagination and stirring the spirit, particularly in children. To the point where even if people start gaming on Playstation, Xbox, or PC, Nintendo will always hold a warm, nostalgic place in their heart.

I grew up with all of Nintendo’s consoles, even the ones that disappointed me. My first was the NES back in 1989, followed by the SNES in 1992. If I wasn’t gifted them for Christmas, I purchased them with my own money later in life. Out of all the main console manufacturers in my lifetime – Sega, Sony, and Microsoft – Nintendo has had the most lasting impact.

The parameters for this list are simple. Did I enjoy the console growing up? Do I enjoy the console now? Do I think the console will stand the test of time? In other words, this is a completely subjective list, as it should be. I’ll list the sales numbers and the amount of games produced for the console in its lifetime, but these stats will have no bearing on each individual console’s ranking.

I should note that I don’t hate any of these consoles, even my least favorite. Every Nintendo system has its fair share of solid games, and if I wanted to play a specific title that’s tied to a respective system, I would absolutely boot it up today. But to paraphrase Morrissey, some consoles are better than others. Otherwise, man would not need to rank them in a list such as this.

Alright, I think that covers everything. Now, are you ready to disagree? Let’s do this!

#7 – NINTENDO 64

FIRST RELEASED: September 29^th, 1996 (US)

SALES: 32.93 million worldwide

GAMES: approx. 388

Somewhere, off in the distance, Generation-Z rips their clothes and throws ashes in the air.

I know for many late twenty/early thirty-somethings, the Nintendo 64 was their console. And I get it. Super Mario 64. Blast Corps. Goldeneye 007. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Banjo-Kazooie. Donkey Kong 64. Paper Mario. Not all of these games, particularly the Rare platformers, are my cup of tea, but I can’t deny their impact.

The problem for my demographic, the older Millennials, is that we grew up with the NES and the SNES. The NES made console gaming great again, and the SNES bombarded humanity with a seemingly never-ending stream of classics. In 1996, with two outstanding successes under their belt, many of us thought Nintendo could do no wrong.

For a time, we were correct. Super Mario 64 absolutely revolutionized the industry, and its influence can’t be understated. Not many games can sustain a system singlehandedly, but Mario 64 did just that for a time. But after several months of being on the market, Mario 64 was still the best the Nintendo 64 had to offer, outside of some mediocre third-party titles and the “ok, I guess” Pilotwings 64. Indeed, as the glow of Mario 64’s light waned in the first half of 1997, it became clear that all was not well with Nintendo’s third console.

Throughout the Nintendo 64’s lifespan, noteworthy game releases emerged in a slow trickle, both third and first-party. Third-parties were not happy with Nintendo’s decision to use expensive cartridges as their proprietary format, and Nintendo themselves struggled to make 3D games in-house. Entire genres, like the RPG and survival horror, were all but absent on the N64 (Quest 64 and Resident Evil 2 barely count). Family-friendly 3D platformers abounded, and while some of Rare’s titles in this field were technically excellent, the bulk just felt like expanded iterations of Mario 64. (That said, Rare is absolutely the savior of the Nintendo 64. Without their work, the console wouldn’t be nearly as well-remembered today as it is.)

During this time, money was limited in our household, so I never owned a ton of N64 titles. I gorged on what I could: Super Mario 64, Killer Instinct Gold, Starfox 64, Diddy Kong Racing, Ocarina of Time, and Harvest Moon 64. I played through the entirety of Banjo Kazooie, not because I liked it, but because I asked for it for Christmas; by the time I realized the game was disappointing, I figured I should at least finish it. Majora’s Mask was another Christmas gift that, while appreciated, I didn’t enjoy until years later.

I rented games from Blockbuster a lot during this time, and unfortunately, most N64 games were proper pants. Cruisin USA, Clay Fighter 63 1/3, Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, Duke Nukem 64, etc. I read game magazines, I knew these games didn’t get the best scores, but friends, I can’t stress this enough: outside of Nintendo and Rare’s titles, there just wasn’t much to play, so I rented and played whatever I could. Even games that EGM and GamePro liked at the time, like Mario Kart 64 and 1080 Snowboarding, I couldn’t get into. And for some reason, I never owned Goldeneye 007, so I rented that about a dozen times.

Meanwhile, the Playstation was overwhelmed with amazing Capcom, Konami, Square, and Sony-developed titles. Big, beefy, mature games, several discs long, full of amazing cutscenes and CD-quality audio soundtracks. To me at the time, Playstation looked more and more like gaming’s future, while Nintendo seemed stuck in the past.

By the time early 2001 rolled around and the N64 was winding down, the beleaguered console was long in the tooth. The Dreamcast and PS2 were out, 3D games were looking better and better, and outside of Perfect Dark and Paper Mario, the N64 had little to offer.

I can’t stress how disappointed I was in the N64 as a kid. The console should have been a sure thing. Until the late 90s, Nintendo consoles always had the best exclusive games, the sharpest graphics and sound, the most variety, etc. Whether due to hubris or just severely underestimating the strength of their main competitor, Nintendo absolutely dropped the ball here. My least favorite Nintendo system by a wide margin.

#6: WII

FIRST RELEASED: November 19^th, 2006 (US)

SALES: 101.63 million (worldwide)

GAMES: approx. 1,638 games released physically, 430 games released for Wii Ware, and between 659-800 Virtual Console games. For an approx. total of 2700 games, give or take.

By some miracle, I got the Wii on launch day. Not because I camped out for days prior, not because I knew the specific store that had lots of stock. No, my roommate that morning had convinced me we should go find one. I thought he was nuts, but I liked his moxie, so off we went.

Our nearby Target was a bust. The employees were kind enough to tell us that the head count in the line wrapped around their building exceeded their stock, so we didn’t even bother waiting.

We drove to Best Buy. Another huge line. This time, though, no one seemed to know how many Wiis were here. We got in line, and within thirty minutes of waiting, an employee announced that they would be handing out tickets in order of arrival. Whoever received a ticket would be able to purchase a Wii.

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The employee kept moving towards us, handing out tickets. I expected them to run out a few people ahead of us, so we could go home. But it didn’t happen. We got the second to last ticket, and not long after, walked away with a Wii, an extra Wiimote with nunchuk, and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. I couldn’t believe it. Thanks to my roommate and his supreme convincing skills, we now had the new Nintendo console.

Once we got home, we called all our friends over, created countless, ridiculous Miis, and played Wii Sports all day long. Between waiting in line, the sheer luck of getting a Wii, and the many hours of in-person hilarious multiplayer, November 19^th, 2006 remains one of my favorite gaming memories.

And, for about 18 months, the Wii was my favorite Nintendo console. Twilight Princess. Wii Sports. Trauma Center: Second Opinion. Super Paper Mario. Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition. Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree. Mario Strikers Charged. Super Mario Galaxy. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Boom Blox. No complaints here.

The Wii was nearly impossible to find for about three years after its release, which made playing these games all the sweeter. Due to the console’s accessibility and ease of play, the Wii became a cultural phenomenon that captivated gamers and casuals alike.

Something happened with Smash Bros. Brawl, however. While I applauded the game’s scope, cast of characters, and general mayhem, the game just wasn’t that good. The Wiimote/nunchuk controller combination was particularly awful for a fighting game that required precise controls. Thankfully, you could connect Gamecube controllers and play that way, but even then, the game felt too floaty and slow compared to Smash Bros. Melee’s insane kinetic energy.

After the Brawl disappointment, the Wii fell off hard for me. The system continued to sell gangbusters for the next couple years, but few games came out that were worth playing. In fact, the console was known mostly for its shovelware, or as we call them today, mobile games. Even the Nintendo-developed titles, the usual saviors of any Nintendo console, were lackluster. Mario Kart Wii, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and Skyward Sword in particular are shockingly dull, especially given the pedigree of those respective franchises. Super Mario Galaxy 2, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Kirby’s Return to Dreamland, and Fortune Street were four shining outliers at the end of the Wii’s lifespan, but otherwise, I was disappointed with what the console had to offer post-2008.

“But Dylan, what about Virtual Console?” Yeah, I’ll admit, Virtual Console was a cool idea and somewhat ahead of its time. The limited money I threw around for videogames in the Wii-era primarily went to new titles, though, not ones I either already owned or had no interest in playing. When your gaming budget is tight and you really want to play Super Mario Galaxy, decisions must be made.

The Wii is particularly hard to return to today. The Wiimote/nunchuk combination which felt so intuitive and unique in 2006 absolutely grates my nerves in 2024. Needing AA batteries just to use the required controller feels so antiquated and annoying now, as does any game that requires waggling or pointing directly at the screen. As with any Nintendo console, I am absolutely grateful for the memories the system provided, either by myself or with others. But the Wii is up there with the N64 as the Nintendo console I play the least.

#5 – SWITCH

FIRST RELEASED: March 3^rd, 2017 (Worldwide)

SALES: 139.36 million consoles shipped as of December 2023

GAMES: no definitive number, but between physically released titles and eShop exclusives, upwards of 5,000 games

I promise, I’m not trying to be a contrarian. Few self-respecting Nintendo fans, myself included, aren’t grateful for the Switch. The console was an absolute Hail Mary play, one that, if it failed, might have been the end of Nintendo’s hardware business altogether after the underperforming Wii U. And yet, against all odds, it’s their best-selling console - and nearly their best-selling handheld as well, next to the Nintendo DS’ 154 million units. And all because of the system’s brilliant ability to play console-quality games on the go or at home with the dock.

I don’t have any problem whatsoever with the Switch. It has an overwhelmingly great library of games from both Nintendo and third-parties. Many of Nintendo’s best series have been well-represented here, including the underappreciated Metroid and Pikmin. Depending on who you ask, Mario and Zelda got their best titles with Super Mario Odyssey and Breath of the Wild. And if you didn’t buy a Wii U, the Switch received nearly all of its predecessor’s best games, save for a couple that relied too heavily on the tablet controller.

But here’s the thing… the Switch wasn’t made for me, a guy in his late thirties who still happens to love Nintendo. This is not a bad thing, by any means. I just have no emotional attachment to it whatsoever. It’s a piece of hardware that happens to run a bunch of great Nintendo games, nothing more. And while I feel like that should count for more than it does in my mind, it just doesn’t.

The lifeless interface, the laggy eShop, the backwards voice chat options, and the Joy-Con drift are all real problems with the Switch that I hope get addressed in Nintendo’s next console. But none of these issues affect how I feel about the Switch at this present moment.

I’m so glad the Switch exists. I’m so glad it got Nintendo out of their rut and made them and their properties relevant to a whole new generation. But when I reflect on what the console means to me, all I’m left with are some games, its revelatory gimmick and its absurdly high sales numbers. Plenty of evidence to consider the Switch an excellent console in its own right, but not one that touches me as deeply as the next four.

#4: WII U

FIRST RELEASED: Nov. 18^th, 2012 (US)

SALES: 13.56 million

GAMES: 792

I love underdogs, which means I love the Wii U. I love its ridiculous tablet controller, I love its stupid name that confused the hell out of the general populace, and I love that only 13 million people bought one.

Now, I acknowledge that the Wii U wasn’t a great system. It was poorly executed, terribly marketed, and almost solely supported by Nintendo after its first year. But dang, did I love this bulky, awkward mess.

The Gamepad remains one of my favorite controllers ever. Not only does it just feel good in your hands, the tablet screen, when used properly, was amazing. Making levels with Super Mario Maker worked perfectly. The world map in Xenoblade Chronicles X is surprisingly detailed and well-considered. And I think I’m one of the few weirdos who preferred using the Gamepad in Pikmin 3 over the Wiimote/nunchuk combination. Few games made good use of the tablet screen, but I was always impressed by those who succeeded. Also, at the time, playing games solely on the tablet while your wife watches “Monk” or whatever was pretty nifty.

The good game list is shockingly small, even smaller than the N64’s. New Super Mario Bros. U. Nintendo Land, Pikmin 3, NES Remix 1+2, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Hyrule Warriors, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Yoshi’s Wooly World, Mario Kart 8, Wind Waker HD, Twilight Princess HD, Breath of the Wild, and Super Mario 3D World are all top-tier. Splatoon, Paper Mario: Color Splash, and Super Smash Bros. Wii U are all pretty solid as well.

So if I acknowledge that good games are few and far between, why is the Wii U ranked so high? Some of the Wii U’s games absolutely floored me. I sank 100+ hours into Hyrule Warriors, Xenoblade Chronicles X, and Breath of the Wild, and dozens more into Mario Kart 8, the Zelda HD remasters, and Super Mario 3D World among others. Excellent games holding my interest for long spans of time combined with a quirky system that few seemed to appreciate at the time, propel the Wii U’s standing in my eyes.

I also appreciated the Miiverse, Nintendo’s bizarre online network that essentially gave each new game its own community. People could write notes to others and draw non-crude, but still freakishly rendered iterations of Nintendo characters to their heart’s content. Miiverse felt like Nintendo finally taking a step into online community, so it’s a shame that they failed to improve on its solid foundation for the Switch.

Even though the Wii U is absolutely the precursor to the Switch, it is, to me, the last Nintendo system that feels like it had its own personality. Like an awkward teenager who has a lot of endearing traits, but just needs a bit of confidence and encouragement. Players were few, games were fewer, but the memories are forever.

*images courtesy of Nintendo and GameStop

#3: NES

FIRST RELEASED: Oct. 18^th, 1985 (New York), Feb. 1986 (Los Angeles), Sept. 27^th 1986 (rest of US)

SALES: 61.91 million

GAMES: 1,387, including Famicom and Europe-only titles

They say you never forget your first, and I suppose that’s true.

When my dad brought home the Nintendo Action Set that included two controllers, the Zapper, and the Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt combo cart, I didn’t know that this was the console and game that saved the video game industry. I wasn’t aware that the NES had dozens of landmark titles or that entire genres were being pioneered on the console. All I knew was that Super Mario Bros. ruled. When Mario jumped, I jumped. When he died, I died a little inside. Getting to Bowser felt like an event… until I realized Princess Toadstool was in another castle. That was it, I was hooked, like millions of other kids my age. For a time, Nintendo was gaming, thanks to the NES.

While I grew up with the NES and enjoyed the SMB trilogy extensively, I never owned many games. But I rented a ton of titles, and particularly fell in love with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trilogy and any Mega Man game I could get my hands on (usually 2, 3, 4, and 5 – 1 and 6 were always difficult to find).

My cousin also had an NES and his library was slightly more extensive than mine. Ninja Gaiden II, Paperboy, Wheel of Fortune: Junior Edition (surprisingly fun, this one), and the bootleg to end all bootlegs, 42-in-1. Yes, the latter actually had 42 games on it, and yes, it worked like a Swiss watch; still does today, in fact. 42-in-1 compiles mostly older titles, like Pinball, Tennis, Donkey Kong 3, etc, but it also contains an array of Famicom-only games that are fantastic. Games like TwinBee, B-Wings, Antarctic Adventure, Battle City, and Front Line, bizarre Japanese relics that deserve a wider audience, even today.

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Fourteen years ago, I started a NES blog called “The Quest to Review Every NES Game.” The quest took a little over three years to complete, but I eventually reviewed all 754 NES games. The reviews are still up now, so if you’re inclined, check them out on Questicle.net.

During this quest, however, I discovered a shocking secret. One that really irritated a lot of NES fans out there, but that I, after playing every NES game, could not deny. The NES has a lot of crap games. Like… a lot. I’d say about 1/3 of the library is great-to-good, 1/3 is mediocre, and 1/3 is complete rubbish. That’s a little over 500 games that you’re probably not going to want to play, ever. And your disposition towards the 250-ish games that are left will depend on your affinity for dated game mechanics. My brother-in-law, who’s slightly older than I am, can’t play NES games anymore for this very reason, and I understand that.

Personally, I still love many cherished titles like Contra, Ninja Gaiden II, and even the original Super Mario Bros., but I find Legend of Zelda and Metroid difficult to return to today. Not unplayable, mind you, and I appreciate that they pushed the exploratory action-adventure genre forward. Still, future iterations of each franchise are, for the most part, more polished and interesting than their inaugural entries.

The latter is an example of why the NES isn’t higher on this list. It’s a fantastic console and a pioneer. Without its unbelievable success, we wouldn’t have, well, every other console that came after it here in the States. But it’s also nearly forty-years-old. While some of the games remain excellent to this day, a good portion are absolutely feeling middle age.

#2: GAMECUBE

FIRST RELEASED: Nov. 18^th, 2001

SALES: 21.74 million

GAMES: 651

As evidenced by my undying affection for the Wii U, I love when Nintendo gets odd. Especially when it looks like they’re also trying to appeal more to the mainstream. The Gamecube has incredible graphics, arguably some of the best of the sixth generation, which includes PS2, Xbox, and Dreamcast. The console also, finally, embraced optical disc technology, which meant games were much cheaper than N64 titles.

With these two consumer wins, however, come a host of caveats. The discs are tiny, which gives them personality, but was mostly done to prevent copyright infringement and to avoid paying licensing fees to the DVD Forum (both the PS2 and Xbox used DVD discs as their proprietary format). As such, Gamecube does not offer the ability to play DVDs, which both the PS2 and Xbox provide. The Gamecube itself is essentially a small purple cube, and arguably, to quote a young Elijah Wood, looks like a baby’s toy; it has a carry handle, for crying out loud.

The games are eclectic and weird, much more so than any previous Nintendo console before or since. Luigi’s Mansion was a launch title. The divisive Super Mario Sunshine and Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker were the flagship Mario and Zelda titles on the console. Sega, now a third-party developer for the first time, loaded up the Gamecube with exclusive Sonic Adventure ports, Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, and Skies of Arcadia Legends. Other random exclusives like Animal Crossing, Cubivore, and Chibi Robo are wonderful Japanese oddities. Donkey Konga 1 + 2, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, P.N. 03, Viewtiful Joe, Odama, all the Mario Parties, but especially that one with the microphone, I could go on and on. Every Resident Evil title saw a release on Gamecube, with three – the Resident Evil remake, Resident Evil Zero, and Resident Evil 4 – exclusive to the console for a time.

I know I’ve mentioned some popular titles already, but some of these, like Luigi’s Mansion, sold well because it was a launch title, not because people necessarily wanted it. The game got decent scores at launch, but many critics (and players, no doubt) wondered why the system didn’t launch with a Mario game. No one could have predicted that Luigi’s Mansion would become a beloved franchise. Ditto Animal Crossing, which didn’t really pick up steam until the Wii and DS versions. Wind Waker is now considered a beloved entry in the Zelda franchise, but its existence was a dramatic point of contention before and after its release.

Metroid Prime, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Resident Evil 4, Mario Kart: Double Dash, and Super Smash Bros. Melee are about the only games people can agree on for the Gamecube. The rest are up for debate.

Just writing all of this reminds me how unbelievably brilliant the Gamecube was at the time. Poor Nintendo, they had no idea what an early 2000s mainstream audience wanted, but they were absolutely catering to me, a guy who loved as much Japanese strangeness in his games as he could get. The controller might be my favorite Nintendo controller to this day, it is so comfortable and ergonomic, and all the big, pillowy words people use to describe a well-made controller. Get rid of that worthless little D-pad, and it’s a 10/10 here.

I know the Gamecube’s failure is responsible for the Wii, and that makes me sad. With Gamecube, Nintendo got too insular, and according to them, too focused on the “hardcore” gamer, so they pivoted towards a more casual audience for the Wii. From a business perspective, this makes all the sense, but at what cost? The casual audience didn’t follow them to the Wii U, they jumped ship for mobile games.

I suppose Nintendo’s story has a happy ending, though, at least for now. After several years of costly trial-and-error with the Wii U, Nintendo finally found a profitable medium with the Switch, a console that caters to casuals and die-hards alike with a wide range of titles.

Nintendo will never be as weird as they were with the Gamecube again. Not just the console’s strange design, but the risks they were willing to take. For as much as I love some of Nintendo’s modern titles, a lot of them feel very safe, polished to a cautious sheen. You can’t really say that about the Gamecube’s look or library. It feels designed to make the average gamer uncomfortable in the most precious way possible.

#1: SNES

FIRST RELEASED: Aug. 23, 1991

SALES: 49 million

GAMES: 1,746

When all the SSD drives and microtransactions have been dumped unceremoniously into the Matrix’s garbage pile of irrelevance, the SNES will still be there. You will slam an F-Zero cartridge into its top-loader and it will turn on every time, because it is faithful and true to its purpose. It knows you’ll come back to it, as well. How could you leave? The SNES has it all.

Remember when you saw Mario fly with his yellow cape in Super Mario World? No more pretend flying with the raccoon tail! With the cape, you could soar all the way across the outdoor levels. And there was a world map! Hidden exits and secret levels and riding Yoshi and a very intimidating Bowser castle and a place called Chocolate Island where every kid wanted to go and live forever.

The very best SNES games aren’t just considered the best on the console. They’re considered to be some of the greatest of all time. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island is a perfect 2D platformer that’s rarely been equaled. Super Metroid is still one of the best entries in the adventure franchise 30 years later. Few RPGs rival Chrono Trigger or Earthbound for sheer creativity and innovation. And Turtles in Time is still one of the most enjoyable co-op beat-em-ups ever created. So many developers were firing on all cylinders with the SNES.

The SNES feels like it’s ancient, eternal, like a friend that’s always been there and always will be, yet you’re not sure where it came from or where it’s going. Like every console, it has its fair share of underwhelming games, and yet, just playing the SNES itself, regardless of the game, is a joy. The console represents wonder, your childhood imaginations catching up to realms of possibility. The best game developers understood that they could create full-on worlds on this thing, not just snapshots. The SNES feels eternal because these developers – many of them Japanese and exceedingly brilliant – aimed for eternity. Link to the Past needs to sell, sure, but if the game doesn’t take root in your soul and plant a garden, what’s the point?

Many millions before me have gushed about the SNES’ greatness. I could go onabout any number of titles I haven’t already mentioned. Titles like Super Castlevania IV, Street Fighter II Turbo, the Donkey Kong Country trilogy, ActRaiser, Super Mario Kart, King of the Monsters, Final Fight II, the Super Star Wars trilogy, and on and on. These games are probably some of your favorites, and you probably have some of your own that I didn’t mention. Better do it now in the comments, or I won’t know what you love and that’d be a shame.

Do kids today need to play old games? We’re all kids, and SNES games aren’t old, they’re everlasting. Kids need to learn history, they need to know where they came from, where they’re going, what’s possible.

Maybe it’s been awhile since you’ve given your old pal, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System a visit. Maybe you feel like that part of you that played those games is in the past, and they’re never coming back, so why dredge up old memories? You’re too focused on being a responsible person, earning a living, taking care of your family. Fun is for kids who don’t know any better. That’s the hurt talking, the imposter, the voice you’ve settled for. You dwell in a ball of internal misery and anxiety constantly, not even the SNES and its powers can heal you now. Maybe so… maybe so. But perhaps, a perspective change is in order. To get out of your current self, you must return to where you came from. Start again. Change your mind. Play your favorite SNES game, embrace all the mixed emotions of life, and remember when all was well. Perhaps, someday, with enough time and effort, all can be well again.

*Switch wallpaper courtesy of Reddit user eaw213 and image courtesy of IGN

How about you? What’s your least favorite Nintendo console? Or how about your favorite, and why is it the SNES? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

I am nine years old, reading the December 1994 issue of GamePro magazine with great joy and expectation.

Donkey Kong Country is my new favorite game, even though I haven’t played it yet. It looks amazing, and as we all know, graphics are everything. I love the Genesis and I love Sonic, but c’mon. Only Nintendo - assisted by the formidable power of the SNES and the brilliant minds at Rare - could have produced a 32-bit cartridge that looks nearly as good as any computer game.

GamePro almost gives Donkey Kong Country their highest rating. 5.0s for Graphics, Control, and Fun Factor, but it only receives a 4.5 for Sound. According to the reviewer, Scary Larry, “The music is great, but not quite perfect. The theme song is forgettable, but the cool sound effects include lots of gorilla screeches, chimp whimpers, and jungle drums. A little digitized voice from the master of insults, Cranky, would’ve really put the icing on the cake.”1 I do not judge his words, because after all, he’s a game critic. He plays video games for a living. Any person lucky enough to get such a job must know what they’re talking about.

I receive Donkey Kong Country for Christmas 1994, and it is everything I expect it to be.

I am swept away by the game’s gorgeous photo-realistic landscapes, the haunting music (it’s a 5.0 in my book, with all respect to Scary Larry), and the exciting platforming. Donkey Kong and his new pal Diddy Kong look and play flawlessly. My expectations are met and then some. It is to me, at nine, a perfect game, and I am grateful to own it.

SYNOPSIS

In Donkey Kong Country, you control both Donkey and Diddy Kong as they fight King K. Rool and his Kremling gang. Their mission: to retrieve Donkey’s stolen banana hoard from K. Rool. The game is standard 16-bit platforming – jump here, bounce on enemies’ heads, avoid the pitfalls, collect items etc. – but interspersed with unique timing-based sections, like barrel-blasting and mine-cart riding.

Donkey Kong Country’s graphics were the game’s main selling point. Created with Silicon Valley SGI Workstations, Rare initially purchased these computers to use in developing games for Nintendo’s upcoming Ultra 64 console. According to IGN’s Rare developer profile, however, “While working with the new SGI equipment, the Rare team discovered a method to incorporate photo-realistic graphics, light sourcing, and advanced motion capture into the aged 16-bit SNES. This method [was] called Advanced Computer Modelling (ACM)…”

It's hard to overstate how phenomenal Donkey Kong Country looked in 1994. 3D graphics had appeared in console games prior to this, but in very rudimentary forms, like 1993’s polygon-heavy Starfox. DKC’s 3D models were beautifully rendered and provided the world a glimpse into what the future of gaming would resemble.

Donkey Kong Country also emerged at the perfect time for Nintendo and the industry. The Genesis and SNES were hanging on to their market share, but they were visually getting long in the tooth. The SNES’ sales still tracked behind the Genesis in North America, a once-unthinkable feat given how dominant Nintendo was with the NES in the region just a few years prior. The Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64, and Sony PlayStation would eventually usher in 3D gaming for the masses, but all three consoles were still almost a year (or two in the N64’s case) away from being released in the United States.

With Donkey Kong Country’s massive success (9.3 million units sold worldwide), Nintendo both extended the life of the SNES and reclaimed their throne as the most successful video game company in America.

REFLECTION

A lot has happened since I first played Donkey Kong Country thirty years ago.

My parents separated and later divorced. I graduated from college, got married, moved around the United States. Beloved grandparents have passed on. My spiritual journey has expanded my understanding of life and love in ways I never believed were possible.

And along the way, I’ve played hundreds of video games. Many of which are superior to Donkey Kong Country.

Don’t get me wrong, Donkey Kong Country is very easy to pick up and play to this day. If you’ve ever played a 2D platformer, you’ll know exactly what to do here.

But the character models, once so rich and beautiful, now look warped and smeared. I’ve read some articles where authors define the DKC models as plastic, but they look more like CGI clay to me. The platforming has always been basic, but because the graphics no longer generate the same sense of awe, the gameplay feels more average than ever.

That said, you know what Donkey Kong Country still has over so many other 16-bit platformers?

Atmosphere.

If there’s any reason to play Donkey Kong Country in 2024, it’s to immerse yourself in the game’s fully realized world.

David Wise, Eveline Fischer, and Robin Beanland’s rich, enveloping music fully captures the essence of each location the Kongs visit. In the jungle stages, they expertly combine tribal drums and cricket chirps with upright bass and jazz piano. The forest levels mix flute, xylophone, and harp, creating an ethereal soundscape that invites you in. “Aquatic Ambience” is the soundtrack’s MVP, though. A truly stunning piece of ambient music that sits alongside Brian Eno and Aphex Twin’s greatest works in the genre, it is the perfect complement to the game’s otherwise lackluster underwater areas.

Many of the outdoor levels feature dynamic backdrops that shift as you progress. In “Jungle Hijinks,” for example, the sun fades out at the end of the level. The next level, “Ropey Rampage,” starts off with darkness, rain that obscures the screen, and thunder and lightning, but by the end of the level, the rain has stopped and the sun peeks through once more. Likewise, “Snowy Barrel Blast” begins as a sunny, albeit cold winter day, before a dark snowstorm blows in and adds more chaos to the already tense level. Little touches like this impressed me as a young person, but even more so now, perhaps because they make the game feel more alive.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Beauty fades, yes it does, both with people and technology. A technological advancement or achievement, once so exciting and vibrant, six months, a year, five years down the road, is swept away by something different, something that makes what was once a breakthrough, look obsolete by comparison.

With beauty being unreliable, we must look for what really matters, that which lies within. Donkey Kong Country is a mediocre platformer surrounded by excellent artistry - and I don’t just mean the graphics, though they were crafted with great time and care. The designers, the artists, the composers, all of whom absolutely prop this otherwise average game up with their superior talents. Nostalgia aside, they are the ones who make Donkey Kong Country playable three decades after its release.

My nine-year-old self was not wrong. Upon its release, Donkey Kong Country was the greatest game I had ever played. I will always be grateful to it, to Rare, to Nintendo, for transporting me into a world that felt so lived-in and alive, so laden with secrets and mystery. Seems silly now, maybe, but that’s what childhood is all about, the sense that anything is possible, and adventure lies wherever you can find it, whether in the physical or digital realms.

But my thirty-nine-year-old self isn’t wrong, either. I appreciate and respect what has come before, but I also want to make room for what came after and what has yet to come. Forget the graphics. Donkey Kong Country paved the way for far superior games, worlds, and experiences. Let’s honor it for that.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this look back at one of the most influential Nintendo games of all time, I invite you to check out my sister Substack, Nintendo is Great.

Here, I’ll be playing and exploring every game ever released for a Nintendo console/handheld in chronological order.

I started about two months ago and have just finished covering all the NES launch games, with… (checks list)… several thousand more games to go!

So far I’m in good spirits, but there’s no telling what the future holds. Subscribe now so you don’t miss any future surprises!

Nintendo is Great

a beautiful, trenchant journey through the depths of Nintendo's back catalog. NES, SNES, N64, Game Boy (s), DS, Wii, Switch, waaa-HOOO, we got it

By Dylan Cornelius

*thanks to Retro Mags, GameGrin, Brittney Brombacher, MobyGames, RetBit, and VG Museum for the images

I emerged from my mother's womb, gasping for air, and clutching Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt in my right hand.

Or... maybe that never happened. Not physically, anyway. I was born in the summer of '85, a full three and a half years before the SMB/Duck Hunt combo cartridge would grace our sweet American shores within the NES Action Set. Also, the NES wouldn't be released in America in any capacity until October 1985, another few months after my birth. Also, from what I understand, my mom's womb was sealed tight until my exit. No NES carts in there!

No, I did not appear from my mom with the world's most iconic combo cartridge in hand. But considering I received the NES Action Set at the tender age of four, I can truthfully say that my conscious mind doesn't remember a time without Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt.

Like Cyndi Lauper's “Time After Time,” or the first “Ghostbusters” film, SMB / Duck Hunt is one of those pure 80s creations that feels like it's always existed.

For myself and millions of millennials, Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt was the pixelated gateway drug, the portal to new dimensions. We had all experienced moving images on our television set from an early age. Now, with Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt, we were asked to actively participate in what was happening on screen.

When Mario jumped, we jumped.

When Mario increased in size with a Mushroom, we too grew several feet taller.

When Mario ran into a Goomba, we cried and fell on the floor.

We weren't simple. We had just become one with a paunchy, mustachioed Brooklyn plumber. His triumphs were our triumphs. His pain was our pain. No mere television show could produce such reactions. Video games were a brave new world, one that could consume us if we weren't careful.

Of course, Super Mario Bros. is the real breadwinner in this relationship. SMB is an Adventure with a capital 'A.' 32 smoothly scrolling levels, it changed video games forever, Mario still controls like a dream, yada yada yada, a true American classic, except it's as Japanese as it gets.

Duck Hunt is the game where you shoot ducks. And clay targets, if you're feeling like your dad. There's that goofy dog that laughs at you when you miss. He's amusing, although lots of folks that live on the Internet seem to hate him.

What would our young lives had been like if Nintendo had paired two of their great early adventures – SMB and Metroid or Kid Icarus – together instead of SMB and Duck Hunt? Too much greatness in one combo cart? Or was Nintendo implying that we should complement our larger adventure with smaller, more immediate fare, like Duck Hunt or Hogan's Alley? Without Duck Hunt's perhaps inevitable placement in the combo cart, we wouldn't have received that quintessential piece of 80s tech, the neon orange Zapper. And a childhood without a futuristic video game gun isn't much of a childhood at all.

Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt is one of the most ubiquitous NES games, and thus, can be found for a few dollars used online. Loose copies of the original Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt are much more rare than the combo carts and cost several dollars more.

Today, Super Mario Bros. is the first entry into a universe-conquering franchise. Duck Hunt is still a lone NES title where you shoot ducks (and/or father-approved clay targets) with your canine companion. While Nintendo likely never viewed them as games of similar quality, they each sold different, at-the-time equally important aspects of Nintendo's new “Entertainment System.” If you didn't like Super Mario Bros. (you monster), you could shoot virtual ducks to your heart's content with the Zapper. If you didn't like Duck Hunt, you could go save the Princess again and again.

There will never be a world without Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt. Even if all of the combo carts are rounded up and buried in the New Mexico desert somewhere, the millions of personal memories made from this most blessed of pairings will permeate our atmosphere for ages to come.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this look back at one of the most influential Nintendo games of all time, I invite you to check out my sister Substack, Nintendo is Great.

Here, I’ll be playing and exploring every game ever released for a Nintendo console/handheld in chronological order.

I started about two months ago and have just finished covering all the NES launch games, with… (checks list)… several thousand more games to go!

So far I’m in good spirits, but there’s no telling what the future holds. Subscribe now so you don’t miss any future surprises!

Nintendo is Great

a beautiful, trenchant journey through the depths of Nintendo's back catalog. NES, SNES, N64, Game Boy (s), DS, Wii, Switch, waaa-HOOO, we got it

By Dylan Cornelius

This post is part 1 in his upcoming multi-part series on excellent video game soundtracks. Check out this introductory post to learn more information on this series.

As always, Sonoran Videogame Society is a Substack dedicated to playing and exploring video games with friends like you. Some posts are free, some are for paid subscribers only. Don’t forget to sign up here. Thanks for reading!

Release Date: December 17, 1987 (Japan/North America), December 13, 1989 (Europe)
Composer: Manami Matsumae (credited as Chanchacorin Manami)
Rating: 6.7

Released in the waning days of 1987, Mega Man, or Rockman in Japan, was not a hit. But the “Blue Bomber,” as he came to be known, was the little robot that could, and would prove to power Capcom as one of the premier video game development companies of all time, a title they still proudly wear today.

In the early days of gaming, Capcom was killing it in arcades. Before Mega Man, before Resident Evil, before Devil May Cry, before Monster Hunter, before Street Fighter, before Marvel vs. Capcom, before Final Fight, before the Disney games, Capcom was known for 1942, Commando, Gun.Smoke, Legendary Wings, and Ghosts n’ Goblins, and the ports of these popular games to home consoles like the NES.

But Capcom, as all the best and most restless of creators do, wanted to try something new. They wanted to try their hand at making games specifically and exclusively for home consoles. I’m sure money was involved in this decision as well, as the NES was proving to be not only the savior of the video game market, but an absolute cash cow. And thus Mega Man was born.

Bringing in a small team of young talent, including director/artist Akira Kitamura, producer Takashi Nishiyama, artists Keiji Inafune, Naoya Tomita, Yasuaki Kishimoto, programmer Nobuyuki Matsushima, and composer Manami Matsumae.

Inspired by anime and “rock paper scissors,” the Mega Man team came up with a concept where the player could choose which stage to play. Upon defeating each boss—the “Robot Master”—Mega Man would get each boss’s weapon upon defeating him. Further, in keeping with its inspiration, each Robot Master had a vulnerability to a specific weapons, so while players could best stages in an order, there would naturally be a preferred sequence depending on which stage was chosen first, as all bosses are equally vulnerable to Mega Man’s starting weapon. Upon defeating each Robot Master—six in the first game, eight in subsequent releases—the Dr. Wily stages would open up, providing a linear series of several challenging stages where players would have to utilize every tool at Mega Man’s disposal to win.1

Rinse, repeat.

It sounds basic now, but this formula was fresh and novel in 1987.2 And players really enjoyed it, those who played the game, despite its high degree of difficulty. The graphics, concept, gameplay, and spot-on controls really struck a chord with gamers. However, the game wasn’t the breakaway sales hit Capcom as hoped despite its dedicated following. That would happen with the sequel, but we’ll get to that later.

So why didn’t Mega Man sell like hotcakes? Maybe it was the box art, which looked like this in Japan . . .

. . . but looked like this in North America.

The European box art was much better, also:

I’ll tell you what didn’t scare gamers away: the music.

Matsumae did a fantastic job on a new franchise with the NES’s limited sound hardware, the humble Ricoh RP2A03.

There were some definite learning experiences according to Matsumae:

I knew about the layout of the stages during the music composition stage. It’s important for there to be a balance of sound effects and music during testing, so there are times when we had to lower the volume down, but there weren’t any instances in which I actually had to change the composition of any of the music. The sound effects, which are one-note chords, play onto the music, which are three-note chords, so I had to do things such as shorten the sound effects, as well as adjust them so they don’t cut into the melody of the songs. But since it was my first time supervising such a project, there are places where the sound effects cause the melody to go away. (emphasis mine)

As you’ll hear, Matsumae describes her approach as melody focused:

When I joined Capcom, my superior (sempai) told me that I had to create melodies that were memorable. I haven’t forgotten those words even after three decades. I think my signature sound is thus melodies that are catchy and memorable. In other words, my songs are melody-focused. Whenever I’m asked to compose, people ask me to create something with the Matsumae signature sound! (laughs) I also like to use chord modulation in my tracks, so my melodies will feature this technique. I love thinking about how my melodies will turn out as I experiment with this during the composition process. (emphasis mine)

Now let’s check out some of those melodies.

Title Screen: There is no music at all on the title screen for Mega Man’s inaugural installment so, per the rules of this exercise, it will not be rated.

Stage Select:

This is decent four-bar riff that is cheerful and appropriately “robotic,” but repetitive and grating after a few times through. There’s something about the timbre of it that feels like spikes being jabbed into my ears. Better select that stage quickly! 4.8

Boss Select:

Matsumae’s jingle after a Robot Master has been selected is so iconic, it was used for most of the series. It only lasts less than 10 seconds, but it deserves a high rating for memorability and staying power. 7.0

Cut Man:

Matsumae’s favorite piece in the game!3 Cut Man’s theme is a high-energy, eastern-tinged workout. I always liked the “blink blink” effect before each phrase, as well as the busy sub-melody. There is a fun “brrrRRRR” that ushers in the B-section; the sub-melody drops out here, which creates interest, but it highlights the sparseness of overall sound. Still, the melodies are well-constructed and resolve well, looping back on themselves satisfyingly. The percussion is nothing to write home about, but gives the melody a slight propose edge. Nothing about the theme screams “Giant scissors robot”—what music could, really?—but even so, it fits the stage. 7.5

Guts Man:

Arguably the hardest Robot Master stage in the game, and one Matsumae had trouble beating during her testing.4 Guts Man’s theme has a good intro that is appropriately minor key and urgent. I like the tremolo on main melody, and it’s nice to hear the bouncing bass. The melody is moody and effective, but get used to it because it goes nowhere; there is no B-section or any deviation, so it’s a bit boring even if it does fit the stage. 6.0

Ice Man:

Another difficult stage, thanks to the disappearing yoku blocks peppered throughout. But what about the music? I like the intro, with its snaky submelody; it gives a sense of uncertainty that, coupled with the chromatic buildup to the main melody, fits a level made of ice, where disappearing blocks confirm that things aren’t as they seem. The main melody is typical Matsumae, in other words, memorable, but the track overall has a very empty and sparse sound. Again, it sort of fits the theme but undercuts a lot of urgency this level needs. Bonus points for contrasting the major-key main melody with the minor-key intro/B-melody. I think more interesting bass and percussion would also have helped. It’s a “slippery” sounding theme, but doesn’t scream “ICE LEVEL!” 6.5

Bomb Man:

Many players’ preferred first level, Bomb Man’s theme has a loping, easy-going tempo with a bright, cheery intro that least into another well-constructed, attractive melody that steadily ascends like the stage Mega Man must traverse. Great rhythms too. I like the little vibrato effect on the highest note of the A-melody before the B-melody comes in. Speaking of which, the second section is more minor key with some busy scalar runs underneath a slower counter melody, culminating in a slick syncopated arpeggio with a lower-toned, heavily filtered sound, before a short turnaround, culminating in dramatic up-and-down triplets acts like a staircase back to the main melody. The theme doesn’t sound “bomby,” but perfectly fits the stage’s look. As with many tracks, it could use better percussion and a more interesting bass part, but despite these shortcomings it’s great, and easily the best Robot Master theme in the game. 7.9

Fire Man:

Ow, we’ve got a hot one here! I love the metallic percussion and bouncing octaves in the bass. Like Cut Man’s theme, this has an eastern flavor. The rhythm track adds tensions, as does the main melody when it repeats an octave higher—very effective! The turnaround chord progression adds a bouncy, push/pull rhythmic device that is very Mega Man and will be used on other soundtracks by different composers throughout the series, but Matsumae started it here. Bonus: this absolutely sounds like “fire level” music. 7.6

Elec Man:

Disco, baby! Dig that percussion intro—makes you want to dance, doesn’t it? The main melody always reminded me of Kool and the Gang’s “Celebration,” though I’ve heard others say it calls to mind “Faithfully” by Journey. Either way, this is one fun tune. The chiming “ding dings” at the end of phrase are an excellent touch. The B-melody is great as well: the first two channels take over as rhythmic accompaniment like chiming guitars or keyboards while we get an upper-register bass solo for the melody. But again, it is overall sparse and empty sounding. The percussion, after starting off strong, becomes sort of an afterthought, which too bad considering that tie is a very attractive melody. But it fits the vertical nature of the stage, and likening “electric” to disco/dance music is very clever. 7.4

Boss Theme:

Fights with Robot Master are wild, and so is their theme. It begins with a flurry of lower-register notes, building onto a busy, frenetic and uptempo rhythm, a short loop through a I-bVII-bVI-V chord progression that will raise your blood pressure while you fight, and while just listening to it. There’s dramatic tension and not much else. 5.6

Wily Stages 1 + 2 Theme:

You’ve done it. You’ve finally fought through the Robot Masters and are ready to take on the evil Dr. Wily himself. But first, you need to make it thorough his castle and its gauntlet of traps. The melody for these stages is appropriately urgent, playing over a descending chord progression. I like when the main melody begins: one channel remains playing the intro melody, which is highly effective and reminds me of a emo song for some reason. The turnaround has some cool, tricky syncopated back-and-forth, but despite its plaintiff nature, doesn’t quite get the blood boiling. 7.2

Wily Stages 3+4 Theme:

Deeper into the bowels of Wily’s castle, the music takes a decidedly sinister turn. Mega Man rushes through water-filled tunnels and spike-laden corridors as a chromatic four-chord progression with throbbing bass steadily rises. There’s quick, undulating riff, and then the chord progression repeats an octave higher. After, there’s a back-and-forth chord sequence in that repeats itself in the lower octave before going back to the top. It’s really good mood music, but so short! The result of limited storage space, perhaps? Whatever the case, Matsumae evokes maximum emotion with just a handful of chords. 5.9

Wily Stages Boss Theme:

The layered scalar riff is appropriately frantic and sounds like a I-bIII chord progression with the lower channels providing a half-time countermelody. It’s effective, but only lasts four bars. I do think it is more “sinister” sounding than the Robot Master boss theme, which befits obnoxious bastards like the Yellow Devil. I hate that guy. 5.8

Ending Theme:

You’ve done it. You’ve beaten Dr. Wily and restored peace. Now, you ride home on a train, back to your creator Dr. Light and your sister Roll. You’ve truly earned a great closing theme, and Ms. Matsumae delivers. The poignant intro makes great use of a I-iv progression, which picks up steam going through a progression of chords and modulating to a new key before an uptempo variation on the somber main theme enters. I like the lower-toned bell-like sounds in the main channel, as well as the trade off with the twinkling descending phrase. There’s a third section with a melody that sounds like a riff on the Bomb Man theme, especially rhythmically. It all comes to a gyrating conclusion, culminating into a weird, unresolved, I think A7sus2 chord, which is a really interesting choice for the game’s conclusion, but fits with the melancholy mood. Remember: the never ending battle continues until all destructive forces are defeated. Fight, Mega Man! For everlasting peace! This is the best-written piece in the game by far. 8.1

Let’s tally up our scores:

4.8 + 7.0 + 7.5 + 6.0 + 6.5 + 7.9 + 7.6 + 7.4 + 5.6 + 7.2 + 5.9 + 5.8 + 8.1 = 87.3. 87.3/13 = 6.71, which rounds down to 6.7.

This score feels fair and accurate to me. Though Matsumae did an outstanding job that set the tone for the entire franchise, these tunes have a sparse sound, the percussion is by and large absent or weak, and several themes are short. Still, there are some strong melodies, and that Mega Man feel was there from the get-go.

I think Manami Matsumae knocked the Mega Man score out of the park. Though she contributed to Air Man’s theme from Mega Man II, Matsumae wouldn’t work on the Mega Man series again until the 21st century, arranging a track on Mega Man 9 and contributing a Robot Master theme to Mega Man 10 along with many other past Mega Man composers. She didn’t leave Capcom right away, though, creating music for arcade games like F1 Dream, 1943: The Battle of Midway, Final Fight, U.N. Squadron, Dynasty Wars, Mercs, and Magic Sword. She also worked, on several Game Boy, SNES, and computer games, and did music for breakout 2014 hit Shovel Knight, 2016’s Mighty No. 9 with Mega Man co-creator Keiji Inafune, and she’s still in the video game music industry to this day. Notably, Matsumae released an album called Three Movements in December 2017, featuring a combination of piano, chiptune, orchestral, and ambient music.

A true pioneer, Manami Matsumae first blessed us with her talent on the very first Mega Man game, paving the way for the mega-successful franchise’s composers to come.

Next up: Mega Man II

The original Super Mario Bros. on the Famicom/NES has a singular visual language. In a word? Crude. Mario, Bowser, Princess Toadstool, the enemies and the backgrounds are chunky, blocky, pixelated works of art. The characters don't resemble their modern counterparts in the slightest, and that’s a wonderful thing. This crudeness gives the game its identity.

Mario has never looked more like a blue-collar workhorse. Bowser (or King Koopa) resembles a kabuki demon lizard from hell. And Toadstool... poor Toadstool.1

Menacing Goombas and Koopa Troopas move rigidly along the rough brick and grass. The clouds, bushes, and green mountains look like they belong in a five-year-old’s diorama. They're all so wretchedly beautiful. They have soul. No NES game – not even the dozens of Mario clones out there – pulled off this particular aesthetic like the original Super Mario Bros.

We all know the rest of the story. Super Mario Bros. and the franchise it birthed became some of the most popular games of all time. Millions of young gamers loved the worlds that Nintendo created. Then in 1993, something unthinkable happened. Nintendo released Super Mario All-Stars, a visual reimagining of the NES trilogy, along with the previously unreleased-in-America, Super Mario Bros. 2 or Lost Levels. Nintendo pulled a Lucas with their beloved Mario games. Except instead of the typical backlash that happens when Lucas changes the Star Wars Trilogy for the 47^th time, gamers loved it. The gaming press loved it. Super Mario All-Stars was hailed as a great value, a collection that reinvigorated Nintendo's older Mario games. Even recently, when Nintendo released the compilation on the SNES Switch Online platform, Mario fans both young and old took to social media to sing Nintendo's praises.

Super Mario All-Stars is a great value – four Mario games in one cartridge, c'mon – and Super Mario Bros 2 and 3 do benefit from additional colors and fleshed-out landscapes. Super Mario Bros. does not.

The game's graphics are polished to a smooth, shiny sheen. As a result, the Mushroom Kingdom and its inhabitants lack all of the grit and edge of the original. Despite each stage having the same enemies and obstacles as before, the game overall feels safer, brighter, and happier with little threat of danger. Mario somehow controls heavier and more slippery than he does in the NES version. Every element – Mario, Bowser, Toadstool, the enemies, bricks, power-ups, etc – is where it should be, and yet, the game never feels quite right. Like you're playing a Super Mario Bros. impostor instead of the real deal.

SPECIFIC VISUAL GRIEVANCES

• The twinkling colorful stars in the night stages. The pitch-black backgrounds from the NES are far more immersive and foreboding.

• Bowser's goofy self-portraits in the background of his castles. Is this the beginning of Nintendo making Bowser more of a silly character?

• Mario's sprite looks more like the befuddled mascot he became, rather than the rough-and-tumble Brooklyn plumber he once was. I understand this change. I also hate it.

• Mario smiling and making the peace sign at you every time you enter a bonus pipe. The new absurdly chipper music is grating as well.

• World 6-3 is now just a night time forest stage instead of the eerie white forest found in the NES.

  ---

That said, not all of the visual changes are garbage.

VISUAL DIFFERENCES THAT ACTUALLY WORK

• The bizarre Goomba statues in the background of the bridge stages. Finally, Goombas get their due!

• Worlds 3-1 and 3-2 are covered in snow. The white snow contrasts well with the (relatively) dark backgrounds.

• The Toads emerging from the sack after the end of every castle. You never know what those little guys are gonna do!

  ---

Nintendo has re-released the original Super Mario Bros. more times than just about any other game in their back catalog. You can play the game on the NES, the SNES (in All-Stars), the Game Boy Color (as a standalone cart), Game Boy Advance (as a standalone cart), the Gamecube (via the Game Boy Player, but you can also hack Animal Crossing), the Wii, the 3DS, the Wii U, and the Switch.

You know how many times Nintendo has re-released 16-bit Super Mario Bros. outside of Super Mario All-Stars? Zero.

Nintendo knows. The original Super Mario Bros. for the NES is the better version of the two. Like the original “Star Wars,” its visual style is iconic and timeless, ancient and otherworldly. No games look like Super Mario Bros. today. None would even dare. The SNES version, on the other hand, looks like a myriad of other SNES games. It's clean, sterile, and dare I write, pretty.

Like the “Star Wars” Special Edition, it completely misses the point.

*image on the right courtesy of Youtube channel Carls493

If you like Nintendo-related content, I cordially invite you to check out our sister Substack, Nintendo is Great!

Here, I’ll be playing and exploring every game ever released for a Nintendo console/handheld in chronological order.

I started about two months ago and have just finished covering all the NES launch games, with… (checks list)… several thousand more games to go!

So far I’m in good spirits, but there’s no telling what the future holds. Subscribe now so you don’t miss any future surprises!

Nintendo is Great

a beautiful, trenchant journey through the depths of Nintendo's back catalog. NES, SNES, N64, Game Boy (s), DS, Wii, Switch, waaa-HOOO, we got it

By Dylan Cornelius

Thanks much to AR for getting in touch and submitting this incredibly in-depth piece! Check out his Substack here for info on music, engineering, and life and how to live it.

Sonoran Videogame Society is a Substack dedicated to playing and exploring video games with friends like you. Some posts are free, some are for paid subscribers only. Don’t forget to sign up here. Thanks for reading!

Oh, the mid-’90s in America. So much potential, so much tailwind from the ‘80s. And what does one do with all that momentum? Self-destruct and blow it all up, of course! Just like the Sega Saturn - the superior console of the time for the simple facts that X-Men: COTA was released to it first and the tag-team combat of X-Men vs. Street Fighter was only on Saturn at the time.

Oh, and the Saturn had Dragon Force!

But, alas, what was a critical success and adored by many fans like yours truly was anchored with the Saturn to the bottom of the sea.

Dragon Force was an amalgamation of war strategy and JRPG - a glorious mix of resource-management à la Warcraft II and the story-driven, turn-based Final Fantasy, all on a Risk map. But with a fantasy medieval setting. And everyone has magic. And there are dragons. And samurais. And….robot UFOs? To be honest, I’m surprised the storyline isn’t sold as a hand-bound parchment series at a booth at the Renaissance Faire by dorkgoths drinking overpriced mead out of overpriced horns. And, yes, I’d stroll right in there and collect every one.

This is one of the few games I ever replay because I still have not played a game even remotely like it. And so it stands alone, lost to the history of time, as the one-and-only StratPG RPStratG WaRPG (maybe, I’ll keep playing with acronyms).

I won’t convince anyone to like this game, it fills a überniche category and is heavy on the strategy. There are periods where you tinker with the map to optimize strategy, moving Generals around, switching troop classes, upgrading castles. Think of World History class and all those old newsreel maps showing unit movements1.

You control the map movements of the Generals, but in-battle, you can only control the General’s special powers and Troop strategy in realtime instead of moving the General or Troops around the battle like other RPGs. The game engine takes over the Troop hive and directs it based on your orders, and you trigger a General’s special powers when it makes the most sense to do so. These battles are ultrafun, watching the probabilities and advantage effects play out while Troops kill each other.

It is not a fast game to play due to the fixed time intervals between administrative rounds (in-game as ‘Weeks’), and the fixed time points of the story arc that rely on those Weeks. One Week could last just a few minutes while another can be 20-30 minutes fighting battle after battle. These periods of down-time punctuated by violence and battles from kingdoms attacking you from all sides is what I find strikingly beautiful about the game. I just beat it over this last week and I’d clock it at close to 40 hours (while you can cheat-code your way to maybe beat it faster, it’s a mixed bag whether it actually speeds it up).

So, let’s dive in!

The brief background of the story is that the dark god Madruk periodically destroys what the presumably benevolent goddess Astea creates - civilization, monarchies, eras of prosperity, etc.

However, 300 years ago, Astea and the dragon-god Harsgalt set out to stop him by creating the Dragon Force - eight warriors hand-selected to defeat him. Unfortunately, petty squabbling was the downfall of this era of Dragon Force and Harsgalt only succeeded in sealing away Madruk for 300 years (uh oh, that’s now-times!).

The seal holding Madruk is now weakening and two of his Dark Apostles are actively sowing chaos throughout the world of Legendra.

Epic, right?

We’re gonna need some heroes! And where, oh where, will those heroes come from…

Monarchies!

Wow, monarchies are back in a big way. Very Substack. The continent of Legendra is ruled by eight of them (hey, wait, eight? Like in the number of failed Dragon Force heroes? What a coincidence….). Their fiefdoms love their overlords and everything was relatively peaceful between the nations until the Dark Apostles started spreading rumors about election-tampering in the West Wing.

Each of the eight monarchs can be played (except two until you beat the game), with vastly different storylines and progress throughout the game. Instead of having one excellent story for some main king and sub-par stories for the remaining, each storyline is intricate and interwoven with the other monarchs. Each have their backgrounds with the others and fights and rumors of dark magic and even trysts.

Every monarch starts out with their own set of castles that have unique defensive or offensive advantages depending on their location in Legendra. Some monarchs start strong while others are weak, but all have a loyal set of core Generals that you can set loose on the world or mind the castle, whichever you prefer. As they travel around the map on the predefined roads, they display a little avatar of their monarch.

You’ll send your Generals out to conquer and pillage the surrounding castles and mercenaries to try and win them over to your side. Battle another monarch and usually a story arc will be triggered to presumably win their nation’s hearts and minds to serve you. With violence. With lots and lots of violence.

And that brings me to….

Generals!

As strong and powerful as your monarch might be, they’re nothing without their Generals. Every monarch starts out with five core, ride-or-die Generals, and you acquire more along the way, albeit less loyal sometimes. Part of the game is to keep your non-core Generals happy or else they can abandon you or ask not to fight.

Sending your Generals out for war makes them happy, and winning gets them up for promotion for new troops and XP. You can choose to award them new troops, or award someone else those troops (Like yourself! You’re a monarch! You do what you want!).

Generals have special powers that can be used during battle. They tend to fall into general classes based on the type of General: knights use Sonic Boom - a shockwave that kills Troops and damages the enemy General, summoners use protection or resurrection spells, ninjas throw a shuriken that stifles power, stuff like that.

As mentioned, Generals control troops. They ship these poor souls off to inevitably die in battle, but hey - the Generals are there, too! Right on the frontline, baby. And when they need more fodder, these Generals ‘recruit’ Troops from castles controlled by your Monarch (or press into service, it’s not clear).

Troops!

Each General can have up to 100x of any type of troop. Most Generals start off with just one specialty - knights have soldiers and cavalry, magicians have mages, fighters have monks, beasts have…beasts?, etc. However, you can award them new classes of troops as you search castles for items: archers, samurai, dragons, zombies, etc. They can then fill those troop numbers up as well, switching between the classes as needed for a particular upcoming challenge. While troop count is as critical as it seems, the class of troop is even more critical. Pitting harpies against mages is a recipe for disaster, and forget about fighting dragons with anything but samurai.

Gameplay!

Dragon Force rotates through two modes: timed intervals (Weeks) of controlling the map - moving Generals around to explore and do battle like a classic JRPG, recruiting Troops, strategically positioning - i.e. The Fun Stuff, and then another mode of administrative proceedings (Domestic Affairs) in which you tackle more mundane elements like awarding your generals, fortifying castles, searching for items, and trying to convince your captives to join you. Crucially, the latter mode is where major plot advancements in certain Weeks are triggered.

Weeks are counted down by a little hourglass in the upper-right corner. It’s one of those elements you catch yourself either dreading or wishing would hurry up, just as obsessively as watching all the General movements across the map. Weeks fold up into months and years (it’s a long war campaign!).

Time is everything in this game. Especially in the beginning with your lackluster forces, timing attacks well and biding time for Troops to regenerate in castles are critical strategies. Getting those last few Troops trained and assigned to a General in the precious few seconds while an enemy bears down on you. During a battle, timing your special power attacks just right to maximize damage or disable the enemy. One of the great joys of the game is prepping for inevitable attack only to - at the last second - adjourn to administrative proceedings. I know, sounds droll as hell. Sometimes it is annoying. Sometimes it saves your butt.

I won’t get into all the specifics of administering your kingdom. It is sometimes tedious and repetitive, but I think it is structured that way to force you to put in work and think about your actions. 130+ Generals and 30+ castles are a lot to maintain, but you get on auto-pilot when you get a routine down. It really is a crucial step to the whole game because if you don’t bother with administration, Generals leave, castles crumble, and you miss out on the edge that items bring you.

But, the Fun Stuff really is:

Battles!

It is really, really, really awesome to see 200 Troops controlled by the game engine doing battle. The game designers did an awesome job with Troopdeath graphics and audio, it’s very satisfying. Troops move in a hive-mind, but dart around randomly as well, creating odd probabilities. Sometimes these random movements can get them stuck in between the enemy’s Troops and absolutely butchered. Sometimes Troops can beat long odds and eke out a win. While the battle gameplay largely follows the class and terrain probabilities, the randomness is what makes the game terribly fun and addicting. No two battles are the same, especially when different classes are paired against each other.

You begin a battle by choosing a strategy that dictates how your Troops line up, how they move, etc.. Once you’ve chosen a strategy, you’re stuck with it. However, you can command your Troops at will to advance, retreat, disperse, regroup, or the throw-it-all-to-the-wind ‘melee’ option - in which your Troops run rampant destroying everything in their path, but there is no option to call the mad lads back.

The Generals’ power meters gain strength throughout the battle and once maximized, you can spend some MP to unleash holy hell on the poor bastards. Meteor storms, tornadoes, calling on gods to smash or trap, flinging fireballs in the air, plus a ton more.

Destroy all the enemy General’s Troops and the General is left to fend for themselves. The Battle is over when a General loses all HP or retreats (unless you’ve gone all tricky and Ensnared the cowards). If you both lose all your troops but have some HP, you duel!

So far we’ve only been discussing single battles, but a General’s unit can actually consist of up to 5 Generals outside of a castle and 10 inside of one. This adds a dynamic layer to the strategy. One strong General can knock out a couple of weaker ones, and of course Troop class plays its critical part.

Dragon Force II?

There was a second Dragon Force game made, but only for the Saturn in Japan. I’d kill to get my hands on a copy, and I have an adapter that allows me to play Japanese Saturn games on my American hardware (I have an X-Men game that was only released in Japan, and which my brother picked up for me while playing soccer over there).

The gameplay sounds largely the same but with the ability to have two Troop classes under one General and the ability to research new skills.

But still, it surely can’t be better than the first. It was an instant classic when it premiered and, unfortunately, relatively few people ever played it. It still holds up today - I only meant to play a few ‘Weeks’ to make sure my Saturn still worked, and I ended up getting sucked in and played for a week - a real, liveworld week. And here we are: a couple thousand words later raving about how much I love this game.

The modern gamer might be bored to tears playing Dragon Force without constant engagement, action, and dopamine hits. But, for me, this game is the pinnacle of gaming. Engaging stories, military strategy, tons of ways to replay the game, thoughtful hidden elements, compelling battles that can tip the scales, and just enough challenge to frustrate or satisfy. And dragons and robot UFOs.

PUBLISHER: Sony Computer Entertainment

DEVELOPER: Sony Computer Entertainment Japan

RELEASE DATE: March 9th, 2000 (JP), Oct. 26th, 2000 (US), Nov. 24th, 2000 (EU)

Fantavision is my favorite kind of mobile game. You pick it up, play through three or four levels, get a higher score than you did last time, then switch to a different app. There's fireworks and pretty colors and lights and weird spacey music, and the whole experience is fun for about five minutes.

Problem is, Fantavision isn't a mobile game. It's a PS2 launch game, one that cost actual cash money to play. From my limited research, the game launched at fifty dollars, just like the rest of the launch lineup. This means you could pick up Fantavision for the same price as Tekken Tag Tournament or Madden NFL 2001 or Dynasty Warriors 2. Considering the majority of the PS2 launch games contained actual content (TimeSplitters notwithstanding), this is an absolute ripoff.

Let's say you plunked down some hard-earned Clinton/Bush-era dollars for Sony's fireworks display. What could you expect other than a sense of searing loss?

In Fantavision, fireworks of different colors and shapes ascend into the sky from any number of directions. Your job is to link fireworks of multiple colors together, make them explode, and create chain reactions that activates your sense of awe and wonder at the PS2's particle simulation capabilities. Making fireworks go boom involves a circular cursor in the middle of the screen and a line that emits from the cursor when you move the analog stick. As the line moves over the fireworks, you press 'X' to chain them together, then 'O' to make them explode.

Fireworks eventually fizzle out, and if you miss enough, your life bar will decrease to nothing. Since the game throws out fireworks hard and fast, it's all but necessary to learn the Advanced Technique known as daisy chains. When you link three fireworks of one color together, then select a multicolored firework, you're able to link fireworks of a different color together for a larger daisy chain. Learn daisy chains and you'll beat the game's eight stages within thirty minutes.

To Fantavision's credit, I got caught up in trying to combo all the fireworks and explode all the chains. The game launches fireworks quickly, particularly towards the end of each stage; at times, it's all you can do to keep up. In these zen moments when you're having a good run, Fantavision feels like the blissful spaced-out experience Sony intended. Once you descend from that high, however, you realize how barren the game really is. Aside from the one-player mode, there's a hard mode for the devout, and a two-player mode if you can convince another person to play a game called Fantavision.

If you paid fifty dollars for Fantavision back in 2000, you got ripped off and I feel bad for you. I paid five dollars in trade credit for this at a used game store, so I can't complain. I maintain that Fantavision would be a perfect free-to-play mobile game today. The game's colorful, bright, and addictive in short bursts. Young kids would eat it up, which means Sony could clean up with microtransactions (I do not condone this, but I can see it happening). A spiritual successor titled Fantavision 20XX is currently available for PC and PS5, if you want to get your glossy HD firework display on. Sony's still charging ten dollars for the OG Fantavision on the Playstation Store, though, which remains nine dollars too much.

Ladies and gentlemen… Alexander Hellene.

Sonoran Videogame Society is a Substack dedicated to playing and exploring video games with friends like you. Some posts are free, some are for paid subscribers only. Don’t forget to sign up here. Thanks for reading!

Introduction

At first, there was nothing . . . and then beeps and bloops . . . followed by (drum roll, please) MUSIC!

Nah, we won’t get actual drums in the games for a few years, but you know what I mean.

Taito’s Space Invaders (1978) is considered to be the first video game with continuous background music. Before that, gamers played in silence, like the cold vacuum of space . . . or their living room. Since the waning days of the Carter administration, video game music has become an inseparable part of the whole gaming package, truly coming to fruition as an artform with everybody’s favorite gray box, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Released in 1985, and widely credited with single-handedly saving the flailing home video game industry, the NES also revolutionized game music.

The touchstone, obviously, the ur-example of VG OSTs, is Koji Kondo’s outstanding work on Super Mario Bros.—I guarantee the main theme just popped into your head right now. Though released in 1985, the music in this game, notably the main theme and the underground theme, are still utilized in current-gen Mario games nearly 40 years later. If that isn’t staying power, I don’t know what is.

More legendary game soundtracks followed suit, some by Kondo (Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3, The Legend of Zelda), and some by composers from other companies, like Hidenori Maezawa and Kiyohiro Sada’s work on Konami’s Contra, Koichi Sugiyama on Enix’s (later Square Enix) Dragon Quest games, Nobuo Uematsu on Square’s Final Fantasy franchise, and into the 16-bit eras and beyond. The Follin brothers (Tim, Geoff, and Mike), David Wise, Yuzo Koshiro, Yoko Shimomura, Yasunori Mitsuda, Michiru Yamane, Junichi Masuda, Hirokazu Tanaka, Masato Nakamura . . . these names are likely familiar to fans of what are now called “retro games.” And for good. reason: their works have become lodged in the brains of players, becoming as inseparable from the experience as the gameplay itself.

Video game composers had an interesting challenge in the early days, needing to create pieces for games on systems with acute hardware limitations that would not only not get on players’ nerves, but be memorable and catchy and, most importantly, fit and enhance the mood of the game. And said composers couldn’t use the talents of a full orchestra, or even a string quartet, rock group, or jazz combo. They had to rely on the sound hardware of whatever system they were writing for, and their own prodigious talents.

Video game music had to be music distilled to its core components with few, if any, tricks to hide behind. Melodies had to be well-constructed and able to loop back on themselves naturally. The harmonies and rhythms had to be interesting and ear-catching without becoming droning. The goal wasn’t to have players tune it out, but to associate the music as an integral part of the game, just like with movies. And by and large these pioneers of the artform did a bang-up job.

You’ll notice two notable NES franchises hitherto absent from this discussion: Mega Man and Castlevania. That’s because these two venerable gaming series are the subject of this series of posts that Dylan Cornelius is so kind to host on his site. Both are two of my favorites both for gameplay and musical reasons.

Who Am I?

What makes me qualified to write about this stuff? In addition to my day job, among my interests, and something I’ve been formally trained in, is music.1 From performing to studying to writing and to listening, I've been at it for almost 30 years (rock, pop, jazz, classical, punk, metal, lots of weird stuff, the works). I’ve also been playing these old games for longer than that, so I am familiar with them. Thanks to Dylan for letting me talk about the music from these games! I hope you all enjoy reading them as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them.

The Games

We will be doing reviews of the soundtracks to the following games:

• Mega Man

• Mega Man II

• Mega Man III

• Mega Man IV

• Mega Man V

• Mega Man VI

• Castlevania

• Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest

• Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse

These are all on the NES. Note that Mega Man would continue on the SNES and PlayStation, all the way up to modern consoles in addition to innumerable spin-offs, while Castlevania would similarly continue on to the SNES, Genesis, and PlayStation and PlayStation 2, before finding a home on Nintendo's various handhelds, notably the Game Boy Advance, the DS, and the 3DS. I might cover those later, but for know these nine games will keep me plenty busy.

The Hardware

The NES contained a Ricoh 2A03 or RP 2A03. This was an 8-bit microprocessor, but was also used as a sound chip. Not bad! According to Wikipedia, the 2A703 has 5 channels separated into two APUs. I don’t know what that particular Simpsons character has to do with any of this, but—

Oh, APU stands for Audio Processing Unit. Further:

While a majority of the NES library uses only 4 channels, later games use the 5th DPCM channel due to cartridge memory expansions becoming cheaper. For example, Super Mario Bros. 3 uses the DPCM channel for simple drum sounds, while Journey to Silius uses it for sampled basslines.

Parsing the-technical language, for our purposes it’s enough to know that NES composers typically had four channels to work with. In the Mega Man and Castlevania games, this usually results in two “lead’ channels—the higher-pitched melody and harmony lines that could be likened to guitars or keyboards—a “bass” channel, and a “miscellaneous” channel that often gets used for percussion. Note, however, that when some games want to do a tom-tom effect with the drums, in addition to a bass-drum/snare-drum beat, that tom-tom “eats” one of the other channels, i.e., actually uses it, most notably the bass channel, so you often have the bassline cut out at that point. Keep an ear out for that as you listen to the discussed soundtracks.

The Process

Each substantial piece of music will be rated on a scale of 1 to 10 with decimals used to allow us to get to the nitty gritty. Roughly, 5 is mediocre—shut it or not, no strong feelings either way—with anything below that being absolutely mute-worthy to varying degrees. A 6 is middle-of-the-road, with the 7-8 range being pretty good but flawed, and 8 and higher going from “recommended” to “excellent” to “iconic/legendary” The scores for each piece in a given game will then be added together and averaged out to get our overall soundtrack score.

Since we're starting with the Mega Man series, here are the Categories:

• Main title theme (if applicable)

• Password theme (if applicable)

• Stage select

• Stage select confirmation jingle

• Each robot master theme

• Boss fight theme

• New weapon theme (if applicable)

• Wily castle theme (if applicable)

• Wily level themes

• Wily stage boss themes

• Final boss theme (if applicable)

• Ending theme

In addition to discussing the more technical aspects of a given piece of music, and overall just how good it is, we’ll also be taking the feel into consideration, how well a them fits its stage or other situation.

I think this sets us up for our first review, the original 1987 Mega Man, with music courtesy of Manami Matsumae. See you next post.

This is a free preview of a paid post. Paid subscribers get access to posts like this one, along with paid posts from our sister Substack, Nintendo is Great. That’s two paid Substack subscriptions for the price of one!

Michael Jackson is a myth, he doesn’t even seem real, today or yesterday. Watch old videos of him dancing, before the fire went out, before the 1990s destroyed him and his reputation. Listen to him sing, the infectious joy of “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” or “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin,” before fame made him bitter and distrusting in the late 1980s. Even his more aggressive fare, like “Leave Me Alone” or the bulk of Dangerous is bizarre and captivating. His later life is sad and very human and nobody really wants to remember that, even though it’s a part of his story. Still, now that he’s been gone fifteen years, all that remains for most of us is his talent, his iconography, and unfortunately, his controversies.

Amidst the complicated world that Jackson created for himself, the man legitimately liked video games. Not sure if he chose Sega to work with or Sega chose him, but story goes that he loved Sega arcade games. Sega’s arcade output in the 80s and early 90s was fast-paced, intense, and often pushed the boundaries of technology. Probably reminded Jackson of himself.

For a few years, Sega had close ties with Jackson. In 1989, they collaborated with him on Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker for the arcade, Genesis, and Master System. Jackson also partnered with Sega in 1993 on their state-of-the-art AS-1 arcade simulation pod for a laserdisc game called Michael Jackson’s Scramble Training. He submitted a few pieces of music for Sonic the Hedgehog 3. And even though Sega would distance themselves from him after his 1993 child abuse allegations, a creepy alien avatar of Jackson named Space Michael would appear in the 1999 Dreamcast cult classic Space Channel 5 and its sequel.

WHAT ABOUT MICHAEL JACKSON’S VIDEO GAME MUSIC?

As far as I can tell, the only legitimate music that Michael Jackson ever composed for a video game is for Sonic 3, and only a handful of tracks at that. That said, digitized versions of some of his biggest hits are found in Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker and, even though Jackson didn’t compose those (shoutouts to Hiroshi Kubota and Takayuki Nakamura for their mostly excellent work), I’m counting these on the list as well.

To summarize: I’m going to be ranking Moonwalker’s renditions of “Smooth Criminal,” “Beat It,” and other Jackson songs alongside his original compositions for Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

Which Jackson cuts remain supreme and which ones should get taken out back and shown what it’s like? Let’s find out.

#12 – “BAD” (Moonwalker)

Out of the five main Jackson songs run through the Genesis’ Yamaha YM2612 sound chip, “Bad” is the least excellent of the group. The high-pitched synth notes during the chorus are legitimately not great, and the song lacks the thick swagger vibes of the other Moonwalker tracks.

#11 – “Carnival Night Zone (Act 1 and 2)” (Sonic 3)

Don’t get me wrong, I’d much rather listen to this woozy late-night circus jam than whatever Sonic Origins’ replacement track is trying to be. That said, “Carnival Night Zone”’s main melody never really goes anywhere, it just meanders in a dizzying circle, eventually making Sonic and the listener sick. I do love the sample from “Jam” at 1:03, though.

Read more

PLAYERS: 1

PUBLISHER/DEVELOPER: Sega

RELEASE DATE: 08/25/90 – (JP), 08/90 – (US), 02/91 – (EU)

Outside of the Jackson 5 and not including his early teenybopper solo work (or creepy posthumous releases), Michael Jackson made 6 albums across a 30 year solo career during his lifetime.

Two of those albums – Off the Wall and Thriller – have sold nearly 100 milion copies combined worldwide, and are among the best pop albums of all time. The other four – Bad, Dangerous, HIStory, and Invincible – are definitely lesser works, but none of them sold less than 10 million worldwide.

Even though only three of those albums had been released by 1990, those sales statistics show why Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker was a huge deal for Sega. Released three years after Bad and one year prior to Dangerous, Jackson was still at the height of his powers. Pre-Sonic, Sega hired big name sports stars, like Arnold Palmer and James “Buster” Douglas, to reach sports fans, but they still had trouble making the Genesis appeal to a wider audience. With Michael Jackson on their team, they could, in theory, reach millions across the world who loved the man’s music.

Moonwalker was based on Jackson’s 1988 “film” of the same name. Less a movie and more of a showcase for Jackson’s music videos for Bad, “Moonwalker” was a straight-to-video affair, not a major motion picture event. Even today, consensus is divided as to whether it’s a work of troubled genius or a complete disaster. But like any product released with the man’s name attached, “Moonwalker” was a rousing success, selling like gangbusters upon release.

Listening to Jackson’s music and watching a movie starring Jackson are enjoyable, if not passive forms of entertainment. Would Jackson’s fans – men, women, and children of all ages – be willing to play a video game starring the man? Jackson himself bet they would. He was a huge fan of Sega’s arcade games and signed on with Sega to make Moonwalker games prior to the Genesis’ release. He also oversaw the making of both the arcade version and the Genesis version with Sega of America’s head of marketing, Al Nilsen.

The goal of both the film and the game is to rescue children from the villainous Mr. Big and his cronies. As in the film, Jackson’s eccentricities are present throughout Moonwalker. Rather than attack enemies with a punch or kick, Jackson sprays magical sparkles at them. A dance routine is a screen-clearing special move. Bubbles the Monkey – one of Jackson’s favorite pets at the time – leads you to the boss of the level. When you collect a shooting star, Michael turns into a robot that can laser blast his enemies. And the final battle against Mr. Big is a spaceship battle. Just like Jackson himself, Moonwalker is larger than life.

In addition to the aforementioned ridiculousness, Jackson can also perform his famous moonwalk and crotch-grab. Neither of these moves do anything for your health nor are they special attacks; they’re included solely because of their prominence in Jackson’s repertoire. The Jackson sprite’s animation is some of the best on the Genesis and eerily replicates the man’s own movements. Fantastic synthesized versions of Jackson’s songs play throughout each level. Without Jackson’s personal involvement in the making of the game, Moonwalker could have been a completely different entity.

If it hasn’t already been made clear, Moonwalker worships at Jackson’s altar. If you’re not at least a mild fan of the man’s work, there’s not much for you here. Indeed, it’s because of his bizarre, personal touches that the game remains a cult classic. Unfortunately, however, the gameplay – which involves fighting off thugs, gangsters, zombies, and animals, while rescuing kids hidden within each level – is very much of its time. It’s initially thrilling to play and move as Michael while hearing 16-bit renditions of his best songs, but by the third or fourth level, saving kids and flinging pixie dust at zombies and thugs has already grown old.

The 1993 and 2003 child molestation allegations all but destroyed Jackson’s public image, and the 2019 documentary “Leaving Neverland” did nothing to help repair it. Those who believe Jackson is guilty of those allegations (he was never convicted) might balk at the thought of rescuing children as him in Moonwalker; especially since they replenish your life once you find them. That’s understandable. Still, it’s important to note that, upon the game’s release in 1990, the concept of Jackson saving children wasn’t perceived as any more or less strange than anything else the man did.

While the Genesis version of Moonwalker is an exploratory platformer, the arcade version is a top-down isometric brawler. Up to three players can play as different versions of Michael. The basic story and enemies are the same, though the enemies are faster and tougher (gotta get them quarters). The levels have a grittier, more urban look than the home ports. The kids are also hidden in plain sight, as opposed to the Genesis version which places them behind bushes, in the trunks of cars, or deep within caverns.

Moonwalker wasn’t the system seller Sega needed to turn the Genesis into a powerhouse, but Jackson’s presence did succeed at drawing more attention to the console. While other console developers, like NEC and SNK, seemed content to carve out their own niche, Sega was hellbent on competing with Nintendo. With Jackson and sports icons firmly in Sega’s corner, Sega had something Nintendo didn’t have: star power. And while it would take the company one-upping Nintendo at the mascot game to truly make the Genesis a success, Moonwalker was a crucial step in establishing Sega as a true contender within the console industry.

Hello there, upstanding Society members!

A couple weekends ago, the Sonoran Videogame Society hit over 100 subscribers, and I couldn’t be more thrilled and humbled.

It’s been close to a decade since I’ve seen this much engagement in my work. Thank you everyone for reading!

To those who are paying for my work, I’m beyond grateful for your generosity and encouragement. From the depths of my heart, thank you so, so much!

Posting Schedule and Future Plans

I’m not sure how many people pay attention to Substack posting schedules, but for the first few months of this Substack, I posted twice a week, every Monday and Thursday.

For the last couple of weeks, however, I’ve only posted once a week, and unless something shifts, I see a one post a week schedule continuing into the foreseeable future.

Two reasons for this:

1)      I started a new Substack called Nintendo is Great, so I’m now dividing my time between two Substacks. If you love Nintendo and absurd, ambitious gaming quests, I highly recommend it.

2)      The Sonoran Videogame Society is not yet what I want it to be. I find myself feeling a bit lost with this Substack at the moment, at least in terms of the type of writing I desire to produce for it. I more-or-less know where I want it to head, but getting there requires elements to shift in my personal life. I’m working on something right now that, once it’s revealed, will absolutely change the course of this Substack for the better. Until then, please forgive me if it feels a bit aimless.

The latter point leads me to…

Topics for Consideration

I have some ideas in the pipeline for the Sonoran Videogame Society, articles that are gonna kill, baby, kill!

But if you have any gaming-related topics you’d like me to cover, please let me know in the comments or shoot me a DM. Can’t promise I’ll write about them, of course, but I’ll definitely consider any and all suggestions!

What I’m Playing

I’ve seen other gaming Substack authors share what they’re currently playing, so I thought I’d join in!

Recently, I’ve been getting back into Hyrule Warriors, specifically the Definitive Edition on Switch. If you don’t know what Hyrule Warriors is, imagine every Legend of Zelda character set loose on a battlefield with little restraint.

It’s Link teaming up with Zelda to stop Ganondorf, but it’s also Agatha from Twilight Princess aligning with Marin from Link’s Awakening to stop Toon Link’s reign of terror; real Zelda fans know.

Between the super satisfying combat and the strategic and tactical elements, Hyrule Warriors has one of the most addictive gameplay loops I’ve ever encountered in my 30+ years of gaming. The Switch edition in particular has 9 Adventure Maps, each one with at least 70 missions or more, sooooo yeah, there’s a lot of content here. My wife and I have already sunk a couple hundred hours into this bad boy over the last decade, and I imagine, over the course of our lifetime, we’ll sink at least a couple hundred more.

Hyrule Warriors is also one of the few games I can revisit, pick up, and start playing, like no time has passed… or so I thought.

Yesterday, I played a mission where I had to destroy Ganon in his dark beast form, along with two other massive bosses, within a ten minute time span. Unfortunately, I forgot how to damage Ganon, so I died rather quickly.

If you want a game you can get lost in and you love the Legend of Zelda franchise, I absolutely recommend Hyrule Warriors. It’s my favorite entry in the series, because it feels like a celebration of every Zelda game pre-Breath of the Wild. A bombastic party where every Zelda character is as powerful and epic as you’d expect them to be. Except for Tingle, of course.

Shameless Plug

Right now, getting a monthly or yearly paid subscription to Sonoran Videogame Society will get you a free monthly/yearly paid subscription to Nintendo is Great, and vice versa, as long as you’re free subscribed to both.

Two paid subscriptions for the price of one, which adds up to $3.50/month for both Substacks!

Upgrade to Paid

Thanks Again

Again, I can’t thank everyone enough for continuing to read my work, week after week.

There’s too much content out in the world right now, and everybody wants a piece of your time. So the fact that you take 5-7 minutes of your day to read my video game articles is truly wonderful.

I’ll see you next week.

Blessings,

DC