Games Potpourri Volume 1
Date: 2025-1-11
As part of my wanting to commit to writing something about every game I play, I don't want things I play for a few hours (or complete in a few hours, for that matter) to have their very own post, so I'll be compiling smaller game thoughts and screens into potpourri volumes!
Comix Zone (1995) - Mega Drive - Played 1/4/25
As a Sega Channel kid I tried Comix Zone dozens of times and my strongest memories are of the little rat friend and the “mic check” Sega logo opening.
This is a famously difficult and punishing game and revisiting it as an adult made that even more obvious. I had to use save states and then an infinite health cheat to get through it—what a pain in the butt
I love a lot about how this looks and I love the idea of going through comics! It also can’t help but be a charming time capsule of a certain 1995 zeitgeist. My guy’s name is Turner, he’s a comics bad boy, has a ponytail and a rat and grunge-style tunes
Sega Ages 2500 Vol 1: Phantasy Star Generation - 1 (2003) - Playstation 2 - Played 1/5/25 and 1/6/25
After a lifetime of loving Phantasy Star by way of 3, 4 and PSO and after a couple aborted attempts over my lifetime of trying to beat the Master System version of 1, I finally did it with this version, and had a pretty decent time
With enormous caveats though. PS1 was made with a sensibility that I can’t get on board with and don’t have the time or energy to jive with in my adult life—having to talk to every NPC in an exacting order and having an enormous world but with very specific triggers and flags to set…not to mention the mazes and mazes…
It’s just not for me, so I stayed glued to a guide and maps, not to mention max level, money and health cheats. All in all, I was here for the vibes
And it delivered! I’ve always loved the Phantasy Star world, and Alisa rocks. The characters and art are awesome—I love this and the original equally and for different reasons
This was a fun way to kill some time and finally play Phantasy Star 1. Can’t say I’ll ever do it again but I can say I had a lovely time
Virtual Volleyball (1995) - Saturn - Played 1/7/25
I love watching and playing volleyball and I love the Saturn, so a Saturn Volleyball game was right up my alley
There’s a wicked adorable little volleyball mascot guy on the startup screen and menus, which got me excited too!
The actual gameplay is…honestly not too shabby by the standards of Saturn/PS1 3D sports games! It revolves around timing, with the ball glowing red when you’re supposed to press the a volley or spike button. It’s also got this interesting thing where you can queue up fighting-game style commands to your players on the court that I didn’t really spend a lot of time fussing with, but seems like it has an absolutely wild amount of depth
Ultimately didn’t hold my attention for wicked long, but I played for a couple hours in between work meetings today and that was honestly more than I expected it would 😅
Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap (1989) - Master System - Played 1/8/25
This game charmed my socks off!
The Master System I grew up with was the sad and neglected system that gathered dust relative to the family PC and our Genesis; my memories of the Master System are mostly my dad playing things borrowed from his other Air Force colleagues, and one of those may have been this one (but I doubt it)!
All of that is to say that for all of my Sega bonafides, I had never until this very week, played one of the brand’s most iconic games (or franchises)—imagine that
And this was fun! I’m not a platformer gal and I typically bounce all the way off of the Metroid style games—but I was never lost or confused here.
I had fun, I thought it was adorable and it didn’t make a nuisance of itself—what else can you ask for from a classic?
I Love Softball (1989) - NES - Played 1/8/25
I played a couple games and I don’t have incredibly complex thoughts but as a big time connoisseur of baseball video games I cannot express how rare baseball games with women are, especially from this era! So I love it for that, but above and beyond that, there’s some extra character here which is lovely! It has a sort of “campaign” which has little in-between game interstitials and other little touches that I think are really funny/cute
What isn’t cute is the: Doot do duh doot doo, doot do duh doot doo music on and on and on and on forever when there’s runners in scoring position
Pretty good for an NES sports game!
Alisia Dragoon (1992) - Mega Drive - Played 1/9/25
I enjoyed this! An all timer ending screen with our gal in a very Popful pose (I got “Salamander” 😎)
I had fun with this, but wouldn’t have made it five seconds without making Alisia invincible—seems like a really tough one to play for real!
The levels were kinda neat and I liked the verticality of some of them, and I loved the cute little dragons! The boomerang one was my favorite, and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what the little one made of orbs is for—I’m assuming he heals you?
Fun little game, nice way to chill out while watching GDQ
Ace wo Nerae! (Aim for the Top!) (1993) - Super NES - Played 1/9/25
I’m writing this at the Prefectural Semifinal against Midorikawa and I’m gonna finish the whole thing but I don’t think my opinion is going to be different after that so I thought I’d gush about this now!
This is amongst the best—maybe fully the best?—tennis games of any era prior to fully fluid 3d type games. It’s absolutely peerless on the Genesis/Super NES at the very least
Firstly, it looks and feels awesome—it’s bright and that cool Super NES 3d effect is so stinking neat in how it’s used here. The little story mode is cute and the tennis gameplay itself is really ahead of its time
Much like every sports game of this era there are ways to exploit the mechanics and AI—and you can ace every single serve (to non Midorikawa players at least—her speed lets her cover it) and you could argue that net play is overpowered for sure. In fact I don’t think you could win any matches with baseline play because there’s no stamina meter or anything like that
Anywho if you like retro sports games and/or tennis games you gotta play this one—it’s the cream of the crop in game feel
