Hi, I'm Dranzerstorm
Welcome to the Video Game & Music Lounge
This world is dedicated to Video Games and Music as I'll be showcasing the following.
Video Game Reviews set to the same tones as Retro Retrospective's Anime Reviews
Music reviews of Anime Openings & Closings
Western Cartoon music
Vocaloid Classics.
We may even have some Top Tens
I hope this World entertains you.
If you've been gaming since childhood, chances are you've played a title that no one else has because back then you were yet to develop decent taste and thought any game would do, for me it was Mouse Trap Hotel.
Released in 1992 on the Gameboy, Mouse Trap Hotel is a platformer about Maxie the Mouse trying to navigate a multistorey hotel to see his girlfriend in the Penthouse. A largely mediocre title in which your primary function is attacking with your tail while avoiding obstacles all leading to an annoying door puzzle at the end.
Fun fact, this was intended to be the official Mouse Trap video game.
Pros
Music is not half bad
Nice Box Art
Functions okay
Cons
Bad hit boxes
That annoying door puzzle
Pretty forgettable
Verdict
It's no disaster but hardly worth the effort, you won't find a hidden gem out of this.
Join me throughout December as we look at a number of gaming classics from the bygone age starting with one of the first games I ever completed, Volleyfire.
Made in 1990, Volleyfire is a Space Invaders with a twist as it features battles between ships on a Space battlefield with ever increasing unfair odds, a relatively simple concept brought about by the hands of Toei Animation but sadly wasn't able to connect it to an existing franchise as the stages imply that this was going to be something bigger.
One last thing to note, the balls to the wall music keeping the adrenaline pumping.
Pros
Easy to learn
Damn good music
Good replay value
Cons
Doesn't hold an anime license despite looking like it should do
Said unfair odds become ever more ridiculous the further you go
Frequently on Illegal GameBoy flashcards
No two player
Verdict
Nice easy game to get ourselves going, a quick fun game with some awesome music.
Just an interesting discovery but it will come with an announcement at the end.
This month, I've been partaking in an achievement challenge on X-Box One to top my friend group with as many points as possible in a single month, my friends rose to the challenge but one of them has acquired so many points in a short time that with less than two days to go is looking unbeatable but a comparison between the games we are playing reveals that my rival has just picked up as many Shovelware titles as possible, what I mean is that he's picked games that have ridiculously easy achievements, full 1000g in 20 minutes to an hour.
I've not heard of any of the titles he's playing but it now occurs to me why these titles exist. If you guarantee easy achievements then it's a guarantee quick buck as under no other circumstances would you consider buying these titles normally.
Considering that I'm not made of money, I only really have the game pass to rely on, but then I found Wandersong.
I was told it was easy but I found out why. There's a level select code and it doesn't disable achievements, so a game that should entertain you for hours is now done and dusted in 20 minutes, sure doing it gets the bad ending but if you already got everything from the achievements, why care about the story? All the effort the creators put in has been undone by a simple cheat code, which is a shame, because it really is a good game by it's own merit but the decision to add this code has destroyed anything the game could offer and you know what? It's the same everywhere else and I still criticise Lego for doing it.
So if the Shovelware stops the bullshit achievements then maybe we can have good games again and good games will be my plan for next month as I shed light on old unexpectedly good games in the advent calender of hidden treasures in a new feature I call the Games Jukebox.
Recent viewers will know about Project 1000, an ambitious review project designed to cover as many anime as possible, I would like to take a break from this in order to do a video game version. The selections will be smaller in number but will change more frequently, you may even get some surprises from this.
The type of reviews will be my standard format for games or offer insight. In rarer cases I may dig up an anime.
Our list is up to 60 titles
Metroid Prime
Final Fantasy X
Silent Hill 2
Secret of Mana
Namco Classics
Arcade Love Plus Pengo
Atelier Dusk Escha & Logy
Zelda Breath of the Wild
Super Bomberman Series
Final Fantasy V
Super Ninja Kun
Magical Pop'N
Front Mission
Umihara Kawase
Yoshi Series
Bloodstained Ritual of the Night
Capcom Beat Em Up Bundle
Captain Toad Treasure Tracker
Yooka Laylee
Zelda Link's Awakening
Dead or Alive Xtreme
Hyrule Warriors
Hotline Miami
Katamari Damacy
ToeJam and Earl
Luigi's Mansion
Monster Boy/Wonder Boy
Mario Kart 8
Mr Driller
Ninja Jajamaru
Ninja Saviours
Night Trap
Panty Party
Pato Box
Puyo Puyo Tetris
Wild Guns
Psikyo Collections
Peach Ball
Megaman Franchise
Bit Trip Runners
River City Girls
Super Mario Party
Sonic Forces
Sexy Brutale
Super Mario Odyssey
Sushi Striker
Unravel
Valfaris
Wonderful 101
Splatoon
SNK 40th Anniversary
Megadrive/Genesis Classics
Sonic Mania
Space Invaders
Toki
Team Sonic Racing
Tricky Towers
Tiny Barbarian
Toki Tori
Rive
Same rules apply as they are with the Anime version. I'll skip any I may struggle with and all comments are encouraged if you want me to cover a certain title.
Having not long picked up an X-Box One and a Game Pass which explains the sudden burst in game reviews, I have been playing games I'd otherwise never buy, this includes Disneyland Adventures, a former Kinect game re-released for next gen. Now Disney is no stranger to having a creative license for it's games so the adventures of lets call them Child A, is exaggerated when compared to real life but it's hilarious when you view it through real life logic.
1. You are a Menace to Wildlife
You are given a megaphone to scare birds away from trees from Br'er Fox who is a villain, more on him later; there is actually no logical reason to scare away birds who are otherwise minding their own business, add to that you are fighting Gorillas with fruit, scaring vultures, shooting bats, swatting away bees, forcing birds to sing and smacking crocodiles. Think Peta will be having words.
2. Who are Br'er Fox, Bear and Rabbit?
They are characters from a series of books handed down in the old south about a trickster rabbit outwitting his carnivorous pursuers and said to be the main inspiration for Bugs Bunny. These incarnations come from the movie Song of the South which has been disowned by Disney in recent years for the obvious links to the slave trade in the era it's set.
3. Naveen is White
I'm pretty sure Naveen is meant to be an African Prince but he's practically white in this. Now I'm no SJW who needs a skin colour chart but whoever programmed Naveen was very careless considering how well Tiana was done.
4. You are Looting the Park
Everything you do creates coins so every action essentially takes away money from a functioning Theme Park, even if you buy everything from the stores, you make so much money it's impossible to ever run out of money.
5. Snow White is on Something
While most characters act like their movie counterparts, Snow White is clearly on mushrooms.
6. The Toontown Election was Rigged
One mission has you helping run the Toontown Election between Donald and Mickey but a last minute vote swings it in Mickey's favour through a ballot slip out of no where, Child A is not old enough to vote so this is the Will of Walt Disney here.
7. You are Constantly in Mortal Danger
Any attraction you go on takes you off to the very environment it's based on where the injuries you get would kill someone in real life. To list a few highlights, you fight pirates with real swords, get attacked by wild animals, get skewered by bramble bushes, get bashed by rocks on high speed moving vehicles and fight a space battle with lasers against an evil space lord.
8. You are Park Maintenance
The watering of flowers, functioning of lights, conducting of bands or even clearing up all the objects left by the Disney Characters, in fact helping any character you realize you are Park Maintenance.
9. Someone Give Karen a Raise
Karen is the park guide who gives random Disneyland facts but she is everywhere and probably exhausted, at least they had the sense to give the stores to different workers but Karen is doing everything.
10. This is the Disney that even Disney forgot
The saddest thing about this game, this is the Disney that everyone knows and should be. 2020 Disney's obsession with buying every major property from Marvel to Star Wars and turning all their classics into shadows of their former selves through live action makes this game all the more depressing when you see the lifeless money maker Disney has become when you play such a bright whimsical game as this one.
