S.C.G

Somewhat timely considering the choices for this months N-E Game Club. An interesting video on how memory is used in Super Mario Land 2 on the Game Boy. I really need to find my original cartridge again... I know it's here somewhere.

My vote goes to Game #2 It's a classic title - although you can't go wrong with the other choices - and another reason is that I actually need to find my original cartridge for it.

I would like to nominate @Vileplume2000 to kick off the N-E Video Games Club in 2019.

Another older video but a good one, I've watched videos on DKC before but not with this level of presentation. Also, a really cool interview with Yuzo Koshiro. (he composed the music for Streets of Rage, amongst other things) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSyI-Ds2PqU YouTube doesn't allow embedding of that particular video though, so you'll actually have to... click the link! Or... just type in "SEGA Forever meets... Yuzo Koshiro"

Fantastic video, really enjoyed watching it and a great way to round off Christmas Day.

I'm sorry to hear that you're feeling that way, Christmas Day has been pretty good here overall but I do feel like I partially understand. I too look forward to Christmas, it's nice to have at least two days off work and get to spend it with family. This year we all pitched in with cooking the meal, clearing up etc, got to watch a great film and I'm even managing to get some game time in. Presents were nice, I wasn't really expecting anything but I got a NES Cleaning Kit to add to my collection plus some chocolates etc. Everyone seemed pleased with the gifts I got them which is nice but even without the gifts, it would have still been fine. At this time I tend to think about those who are no longer with us... family members, friends, colleagues and people I used to see regularly. I know it isn't always easy but if you can focus on the good things in your life then that definitely helps... ...I'm very grateful for everyone in the family being home for Christmas for example, I have a job and I got some great games this year. The bad stuff will inevitably start to creep in this time of year though, I know how that goes... ...I'm in my Thirties, still in the same job, still single, I buy stuff possibly to fill voids and I need to get rid of a load of it. It all depends on how you look at things though, I'm still young(ish), I've maintained work, I enjoy a lot of games and even review some. See that's another thing, writing for N-E and being a part of this excellent community is one big thing that keeps me going. It's been great exchanging posts with yourself and others in the Retro thread for example, even if we do act as purchase enablers too. Try and find some things in your life that you're thankful for, it doesn't matter if they are big or small and just go from there. Eaiser to type and harder to do... I know but hang in there, OK? If you want to talk about anything, you only need ask. Oh and that film we watched earlier was Lucky by John Carrol Lynch starring the late Harry Dean Stanton, it was his last film. I thoroughly recommend it as it's a fantastic film anyway but it really helped to put a lot of things into perspective for me as well.

Merry Christmas N-E!

My brother and I started playing some Super Smash Bros. Ultimate sometime late on Christmas Eve... ...It's now just gone half two on the morning of Christmas Day and we've just finished playing multiplayer on it as the forty-odd characters I had unlocked. I then found the challenge gate and proceeded to unlock most of the characters via rematches so that they were ready to play as next time. The only two I didn't unlock were Palutena and Richter, but I'll get them next time. Not bad for an evenings worth of Smash and shenanigans.

After watching this video, I kind of want to play Sonic '06 again... ...in a parallel universe perhaps.

Time for a Nintendo themed video now, just to balance things out a bit. A really well made video on the 35 Years of NES History museum exhibit which happened in Portland some time in November I think but the video had just been uploaded. There's an entire complete US NES game collection thanks to John Hancock and a load of interesting Nintendo items from before, during and after the NES era including modern stuff. Very interesting indeed and a good way of preserving video game history.

Knuckles' response to above video... "Oh no!"

I think those titles are more than fine for the first wave but of course we all have high hopes for wave 2. What I'd like to know at this point though is the likelihood of a physical Switch release once all the above titles are released, surely chances are pretty high? Just going by the model which was used on the 3DS... but fifteen titles would make a fine Volume 1 compilation. This is the only reason I haven't downloaded any yet, although... 15 X £5.99 would be £89.95... full retail for a Switch compilation would be around £40... At least some of the games might be on sale or would have been on sale before the last titles come out, so it's at least possible. I have a feeling that if it does happen, then it will take Ages but then it's Sega so... I'm willing to wait... or cave in when Outrun comes out.

That sounds like the perfect way to go into watching a film like this. Even I want to see this latest animated Spider-Man film at some point and I'm not even that bothered about superhero films, at least not most of the live-action ones. Animated though... I'm at least interested, it looks really good, the reviews are solid and I understand that it uses several different animation styles throughout. I can remember watching some of the animated series back in the day, watching at least two of the early 00's Spider-Man films, the odd game or comic and that's it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.

Just keeping the current Sega theme rolling. Warning... watching any of the above videos may result in a sudden urge to purchase Sega Mega Drive games.

After the sales of Sonic Mania though... I thought that it must have had something to do with the licensing as well, I mean... Sonic 3 & Knuckles did get re-released but I suppose that was before we knew about the soundtrack. It would likely cost a fair amount to keep the original soundtrack in that case as of course the Jackson Estate would want their share. Also, the soundtrack wouldn't be the same without Michael Jackson's involvement, moreover... the game wouldn't be the same without the original soundtrack. I would love to see a Sonic 3 & Knuckles HD running on Sonic Mania's engine be released, I mean... fans have probably already done the work thanks to the PC mods. It's like leaving money on the table at this point.

Absolutely, I still really like both Sonic Adventure games despite their flaws. As for Sonic 3 & Knuckles... I think these days it would be some kind of patch possibly, although it's hard to say as it was born out of the technology of its time and time constraints. We may get to find out in a way... Sonic 3 & Knuckles has been absent from recent compilations, so I'm almost certain that it must be getting remade in some way. Yeah, I definitely didn't enjoy all aspects of Sonic Heroes when it was first released either but I thought it was worth playing through it all for the true ending. There was definitely still enjoyment to be had but, also so much squandered potential looking back.

I finished watching this Sonic themed episode of The Geek Critique this morning as well. It pretty much captures most of my feelings on Sonic Heroes... I didn't mind playing it as much at the time it came out but now, I'd likely feel differently. He's reviewing Sonic '06 next time, will definitely tune in for that.

The perfect follow-up to that previous Sonic themed video, just to keep things rolling. It's an hour long but it really breaks down Sonic Adventure 2 in a concise way in which I understand, respect and very much enjoyed watching. SA2 will always be a flawed but brilliant game to me and I'm more than OK with that.

Another amazing edition of Splash Wave... I'm just surprised that I didn't watch it until now, as it has been out for a week. Well worth checking out if you remember growing up anticipating the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (& Knuckles) as the story behind it is one for the ages. I'm definitely going to blast through S3&K again next year on a Mega SG when it releases, heck... probably even the entire series.

I've come to the conclusion that Just Cause isn't a series I'm ever going to really get into. It's cool that it exists but... I have a feeling this entry will do a lot better once the price hits less than £20 and once it's had a few patches. Surely this might be the last one now though? Either that or quite a break between this game and the next I reckon. I feel like it's a series which started out strong and beyond the technical advancements, it seems to have strayed somewhat from what it started out as. I'm by no means any expert on the series at all though, it's just the general impression I get from it.

Both of these videos are worth checking out if you've been interested in getting better picture quality out of your GameCube. If you only have time for one though, check out the My Life in Gaming video as the Digital Foundry one is more of a preparation video for that one.

Pretty impressive stuff overall. I enjoyed that eight-player Smash with only Ice Climbers stress test. Interestingly, the input lag is higher than previous versions even with a wired GameCube controller but I still say it's relatively imperceptible. I haven't had much of a chance to play this over the past couple of nights as I've just been too tired from work, later on though I intend to unlock a few more characters.

My vote goes to... Illusion of Time I also played this years ago and was pleasantly surprised by it, I don't think I finished it but I definitely have fond memories of this title. I seem to vaguely remember last saving in a town, near a bridge with some water running underneath it. Just my last memory of the game, it definitely has nice visuals, decent audio and an interesting cast of characters. Let us know how you get on with it, I might just load up my copy to see if the battery save is still there.

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