Arino Sharing his Wisdom

Weird Box Art of the Week: Third World War

SNES Games for a Rainy Day

In Korea its rainy season. This means two things, always carry an umbrella and stay indoors as much as possible. While staying indoors, why not kick back and play a few SNES games?  Here are some recommendations that can be beat during a rainy afternoon...

Earth Defense Force

This is a solid SNES shooter from Jaleco. While the SNES isn't known for shooters, this game stands up pretty well to other games in the genre, and the graphics are quite nice. It is a fairly obscure gem that doesn't take too long to master and defeat, but I think it is worth a few playthroughs.

Illusion of Gaia

One of my favorite SNES action RPGs is also a fairly short one. The graphics are top-notch and the music is also catchy. If you like Ys or Zelda, try this classic. It is best to play this one in short bursts, but if you have one whole day to relax, you could certainly find worse ways to kill time.

Mega Man X

This is the penultimate Mega Man experience. It takes all the stuff that worked well in the NES games and builds on it to make a great action game. Everything about this game is awesome, so if you haven't played, clear out your schedule and get to it...rain or shine!

Cybernator

Cybernator is for people that love awesome 2-D action and robots. If you fall into this cateogory (and who doesn't) then play this game. It has not been re-released on a virtual service, which is unfortunate, but track it down for a rainy day by legal or shady means. You will not be disappointed. This one also has a fan-made patch that re-implements the Japanese character art and infamous suicide scene for those interested in seeing the original version fully intact.

Violinist of Hameln

The final game I will mention is a Japanese exclusive. It is based on a manga about a girl that can change into animals that is practically unknown in the US. However, this is a wonderful puzzle filled platformer with cute characters and a charming theme that should appeal to anyone with a weakness for retro games. There is an English patch available (http://superfamicom.org/translations/info/violinist-of-hameln-english) so now you can enjoy the story.

Awesome Box Art of the Week: Download 2

The Amazing Flyer for Mother on Famicom

 reblogged from http://gameandgraphics.com/post/56506574737/japanese-flyer-design-for-mother-nintendo-and

Awesome Box Art of the Week: Bahamut Lagoon

Five PSOne Games We Need on PSN

The PlayStation Network has plenty of quality games from the PSOne era, especially if you own a Japanese account. However, there are some glaring omissions in the library that need to be corrected, starting with...
5. Strider 2 

This great 2-D action game has a reboot coming out soon so it seems like a perfect time to stick this baby on PSN. Strider 2 also came with an arcade perfect port of the first game as a bonus disc that should be included for completion's sake. Come on Capcom, release it in a digital format (my Vita needs game), and if you are feeling really kind release the next one as well...
2. The Misadventures of Miss Tron Bonne

The Misadventures of Miss Tron Bonne epitomized the awesomeness of Tron Bonne and the lovable Servbot army from Mega Man Legends. This game is a bit of cult classic which keeps the disc prices high on eBay so I'm sure people would jump at the chance to own a cheap digital copy. I bet many Marvel vs. Capcom 3 players would like to see her origins, but the Mega Man Legends series has been swept under the rug in favor of crap like Lost Planet 3. Sigh.
3. Skullmonkeys

This weird little platformer is not remembered by many people and that is a shame, because it has more charm than half of the PlayStation games worshiped by reviewers and collectors these days. Skullmonkeys deserves another chance, if Tomba and Earthworm Jim can catch a break, why not this one?
2. Sexy Parodius

If you like shoot'em ups, Sexy Parodius should be at the top of your must play list if you've never tried it. The game parodies Gradius and other famous Konami franchises with cute 2-D graphics and a great OST. I'm really shocked that this is not on PSN since so many people loved this game (in Japan, as it was never released elsewhere.)
1. Top Shop

This game was released toward the end of the PSOne era at a super cheap price, but don't let that fool you, this is one of the best multiplayer games around. It is like Monopoly set in a mall with charming chibi anime characters. It can't cost too much to throw this on the PSN store, since this game isn't popular, but it could become popular, especially for people that like board games.

Awesome Box Art of the Week: Star Fox (JP)

Awesome Box Art of the Week: Remote Control Dandy

Awesome Box Art of the Week: Zombies Ate My Neighbors

Bad Box Art of the Week: Plumbers Don't Wear Ties

Chickens? Shower Scenes? A Plumber? What type of fucking game is this?

Awesome Box Art of the Week: Dragon's Crown

Bravo Sony

Sony just slayed the Xbox One at E3. Wow. No DRM, used games are yours to own forever, and it is one hundred dollars cheaper ($399.) Enjoy this video of Sony trollin' the shit out of Microsoft. Good news for gamers, and maybe even humanity.

Bad Box Art of the Week: Laser Lords

They can't all be Star Fox.

Awesome Box Art of the Week: Atelier Escha & Logy

The Good Old Days: Street Fighter 2 Rainbow Edition

In the 1990s, life was good: Fresh of Bel Air and Seinfeld ruled the airwaves, hip-hop music didn't suck yet, and a new Street Fighter update was available every 3-6 months. Some of these updates were of the unofficial variety, which basically meant the arcade owner or some technician tweaked the CPS2 board to "enhance" the game in new ways. Want to throw multiple fireballs at once? Got it. So you want to switch characters during the second round? No problem. You want Zangief to glitch through the screen for no particular reason? Sounds good to me!

You can see plenty of this nonsense in the video above in an unofficial, but popular version of Street Fighter 2 called Rainbow Edition. In Japan, they still have local tournaments for this amazing bootleg. You can find this version in a rom set for MAME if you are curious about it. Sadly, most Westerners can't just walk into an arcade in 2013 and pop a few quarters into some crazy ass hacked game....nope, you could only do that in the good old days.

Awesome Box Art of the Week: Soldnerschild

Bad Box Art of the Week: Backyard Baseball '09

The face only a mother could love...

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle Will Be Da Bomb

In case you don't know, I am huge fan of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. The series captured my interest with the old Capcom game back in the day, later I read the manga, and these days I am addicted to the anime series. Cyberconnect (the guys behind Asura's Wrath and the Naruto games) are slaving away on their latest fighting game, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle for PS3. Literally everything I have seen about the game is awesome, from character selection to the attention given to walking animations taken straight from the pages of the manga.
There have been a ton of characters announced so far, with the latest ones being the suave gentlemen of part 5, Bruno and Narancia, along with their nemesis Diavolo. I am still waiting to hear about Weather Report, Diego, and Hot Pants...hopefully they make the cut. I haven't been this excited for a fighting game in a long time. I just hope it is being balanced better than the Naruto fighters which never gain traction with the FGC. In the meantime, let's dream of an English release in physical form. Or at least an Italian one, I can kinda understand that language (but I will miss the crazy Engrish...SHEER HEARTO ATTACKA!!)
Also check out this fine English patch for the Super Famicom Jojo game, found here: http://agtp.romhack.net/project.php?id=jojo

That is an unusual stand power...

Awesome Box Art of the Week: Seaman 2