SNES Game Review: PGA Tour Golf

I already did a review of a true golf game on the SNES, Waialae Golf Club, and one that isn't a true golf game but is labeled as one in Kirby's Dream Course (both those will be at the bottom of this blog.)  Now I go into my third golf game in PGA Tour Golf.  The folks at EA Sports were starting to dabble into the SNES market with games such as John Madden Football and this was one of the starting games as well.  To say the SNES was not real great with true golf games is putting it nicely, as I rated Waialae very lowly and to be honest PGA Tour Golf isn't great either.  Of true golf games it is the best, but that's not saying much at all if we are to be honest.  However, there are a few things that EA did well on.

PGA Tour Golf Game Cover

Positives:

1. The three tap shot system is easy.  Literally, this is what every golf game on the SNES should have done.  It's beyond the easiest way to shoot on the SNES and later on the PS1.  EA did a good solid job with this.

2. The four courses to choose from are actually pretty graphically correct.  I know the graphics could be better going forward and they would after 1991 when this game was made but the hole locations and the golf courses were actually pretty accurate to their time.

3.  The tips from the pros on the game is a cool hint.  Obviously later versions are all known about Tiger Woods.  However, a lot of different professional golfers give their hints on every hole and therefore it is pretty neat that they start with this game with the different hints.

Negatives:

1. While the three tap shot system is good, if you are off on it in anyway you are going to be very inaccurate.  This game is not forgiving in the slightest in this regard.  I guess it takes from the actual game of golf where mis-hits are brutal for a golfer though so at least it is realistic.

2. The frame rate is better than most golf games, but it is still brutal.  The frame rate is so slow in this game and it is a shame because if the frame rate was better this game would be actually a lot better.

3. There are only four courses in this game so that is kind of a let down.  I guess in the later edition of PGA Tour 96, there are double the amount but the game not being as good hurts, so I guess this is more of a sacrifice for a better gaming experience.

Rating/Ranking:
After playing PGA Tour Golf, I came away thinking this is probably the best true golf game on the SNES, but also saying that golf was not a friendly sport for the SNES to gravitate towards.  The later consoles were much more premier for golf and a much better fit than the SNES.  There are some positive things to PGA Tour Golf, but plenty of negatives.  The simplistic hitting system is nice, same for the tips from the professionals.  However, the unforgiving nature of hitting and frame rate make this a real drag to have for a game.  Still, of true golf games it is the best albeit that doesn't say much.
Ranking: Out of 10, this game gets a 3.8, with an all-time rating of 502nd out of 721 SNES games.

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SNES Game Review: Tecmo Super Bowl

  This is the start of the Tecmo age on the SNES.  Tecmo Super Bowl, a game that was hugely popular on the NES (along with his trademark starter, Tecmo Bowl.)  The NES games were huge for the Tecmo brand, as there are tournaments held across the nation still to this day.  The Tecmo game crossed through three consoles, ending with the PS1 and their game there (which is actually better than Madden 97 on the PS1 in my opinion.)  Tecmo Super Bowl started the SNES trilogy, and it is honestly unfair to compare it to the other two because Tecmo really just brought themselves better and better off the first game anyway.  I can't do much of a comparison act between the other games because of that.  But what does Tecmo do well?  What did Tecmo not do well to start the trilogy?

Tecmo Super Bowl SNES cover.  Credit: Lukiegames

Positives:

1. Quick pace- This game is amazingly fast paced, something the game takes from the NES and is actually really good to the rest of the series.  All the games are quick to finish.  Typically about 25 minutes at maximum to finish with overtime.

2. The most realistic Tecmo game honestly in terms of being competitive.  The Packers are a team that typically goes to the Divisional round but typically not much further.  The dominant teams are San Francisco, Dallas and Buffalo, and typically those three teams plus either Houston, KC or someone else are in the championship game.  Typically the Super Bowl is SF/Buffalo or Dallas/Buffalo.  There could be a surprise team like Washington (who was a playoff team in 1992, but not 1993) but those were few and far between.

3.  The playbooks are simplistic but they can also be changed on offense and defense.  It just takes a couple of buttons to press and you are good.  So if you want the Flea Flicker play, you are able to insert it in just a couple simple ways.

4. The success Tecmo took from the NES directly applies to the SNES right away.  It's easy to grasp, it's quick paced, and it's a lot of fun.  It's pretty realistic for the time in terms of skill and team ability so you don't expect the Cardinals to be better than the Giants and Cowboys or the Buccaneers to be better than Minnesota in the Central division.

Negatives:

1. Why is Brett Favre so awful at this game, and why is Ken O'Brien so good for GB?  I found myself asking this a lot.  In 1992, Favre was raw but was actually decent.  I know 1993 he was very inconsistent, but Ken O'Brien is listed on the Packers roster and was actually better than Favre.  This is evident on the deep ball to Sterling Sharpe constantly.

2. I feel like this is the start of the wacky defensive flaws of Tecmo.  You really can't get a good feel for defense on the game.  Most times you hope to get it right and most times you are wrong and it gashes you for a insanely big gain or a TD.  There were times I just wished to hold a team to a field goal and go from there.

3. It's essentially a third version of an NES game, and I know some people will find that to be a negative.  To me, it's not a terrible negative but it's one that I can agree with given the fact I have at least played some of the two games on NES, it feels a lot more of the same, if only just a bit more polished.  This is something obviously the later games fix to make it feel a SNES game.

Reaction, Ratings:

To me, Tecmo Super Bowl for the SNES is a gateway from the NES to the next versions on the SNES.  This is a perfectly okay football game and SNES game.  Obviously the later Tecmo games are better but this was a good start to the trilogy on the SNES.  You should anticipate a quick paced game that you can grasp, at least offensively.  Defensively it poses a problem and different things make you adjust a lot but with the right set up, it may work out.  Overall, as far as football games go, it's in the top 10 but behind it's two sequels, Maddens 97 and 98, both QB Club games and Sterling Sharpe End to End.
Overall Rating, Ranking: Rating for this game is likely 6.4 out of 10.  For the overall ranking, it's probably.. 331st out of 721.  The sequels do a lot better in the future and this game starts that ascent.

SNES Game Review: Super Caesar's Palace

Super Caesar's Palace is the other casino video game on the SNES, with Vegas Stakes being the other one (I will tag that review at the bottom of the page of this review.)  While Vegas Stakes had some okay ideas, some fancy music, Super Caesar's Palace had some okay ideas as well.  Note, neither is a particularly fantastic game, more merely average at best.  How does Super Caesar's Palace rate?

Super Caesar's Palace Cover.  Credit: Gamespot

Positives:

1. More games than Vegas Stakes- This is more of a pure feel to a casino, with video slots, card games, slots, etc.  So the assortment of games is definitely there.

2. Real life process- You can move around to game to game, instead of just a screen saying "Slots, Roulette" and so on.  So that makes it pretty cool for a real life process of the game.

Negatives:

1. No music? Really?- Yeah when you are playing this game and you play any slots or roulette or whatever, there isn't any music.  And the music of the game as you walk around is pretty mundane to be honest.  There isn't much to say other than it would be better with any sort of upbeat music like Vegas Stakes. Therefore there isn't as much fun.

2. You just walk around- That's all you do to find a game.  It's just walking around and just walk up to the game.  You don't leave the casino, you don't really do much of anything.  There's no real storyline other than play one game, move on.  You don't do much.

Neutral:

1. Similarity to Vegas Stakes?: There are some, but not many.  Just the games really are the same, just a bit expanded.  There are some other similarities as like you can collect big rewards on the games.  You don't have the strange encounters like Vegas Stakes which is more of a neutral than positive or negative.

Analysis:
Super Caesar's Palace does have some upsides to Vegas Stakes but also some downsides.  It's also a game that really doesn't have that nostalgia feel to it like Vegas Stakes.  It's a decent game if you want a variety of casino games which is good.  But there isn't much to it.  You just pick game, play game, win or lose money.  I guess if you wanted the straight forward lifestyle of a casino-goer, that is that right?
Overall Rating: 5.3 out of 10
All-time Rating: 387th out of 721.

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SNES Game Review: Vegas Stakes

  Seemingly everything in the 90's was put onto the Super Nintendo.  From movies to games, seemingly any star sports player having a video game, to casinos.  Yep, casinos were also a thing.  Super Caesars Palace and Vegas Stakes were the main games to this.  I played both of them in a 48-hour span because they really are just pick up and play, easy to navigate and deal with.  The first of the two I will review is Vegas Stakes.  This game is a bit of a nostalgic feature for me, as I also had it for the Game Boy and enjoyed it for my child years playing. Will that affect my rating?  Or how do I see this game in an overall aspect?

Game Cover of Vegas Stakes. Credit: Lukie Games

Positives:

1. Simple, easy pick up and play- There is no strategy to this.  Literally, all you do is pick up, play, enter your name, go to one of the four (later five) casinos in the game.  It's much like hot and cold in real life casinos.  You win, you lose, you win big, you lose big.  If you get bored with one, you go to the next casino and keep winning money.

2. The music- I actually thought the music was quite upbeat.  If you like a sorta techno hip-hop mix then this is for you in a lot of ways.  I liked it.  If it's not your forte, that is alright as well.

3.  The feel of Vegas- I think the glitz and glamour of Vegas is decently represented here. The lights of Vegas, the casinos, and the wheel and deal spirit are all there when you play Vegas Stakes.

Negatives:

1. Slim array of games- Usually at a casino there are a vast array of games, whether roulette, poker, video slots, etc.  There is a limited amount of any of those in Vegas Stakes.  Essentially it is poker, blackjack, slots, roulette, and craps.  I think the idea was to provide the basics of gambling in Vegas, but I feel like they could have put more into the game.

2. You get bored real quick- Yeah, this was going to come up with any casino game.  Yeah it's just the same thing over and over again.  You go to one casino, play the games.  Then another, and another.  Hence why this game is quick to get to the end point of beating it.

3. The sideshows- I didn't really know what to put here but there are various scenarios during the game where someone comes up, asks you to do something or invest or whatever it may be.  If you say yes, it can be good or bad.  The problem is to me it overwhelms the game rather than being fluid.  They would have done far better without the many sideshow scenarios playing a role.

Neutral:

1. Nostalgia- This was a fun game for me as a kid, mainly because as a kid I never thought of having 100,000 dollars, let alone ten million.  To me that was always fun to play as.  I think that is part of why I always get this game regardless of how many times I played it on SNES or on Game Boy.

In Final: All in all, to me Vegas Stakes is a fairly ordinary game.  To me, Super Caesars Palace is better than Vegas Stakes when I played both of them essentially back-to-back.  The nostalgic factor though for me will never go away.  In all honesty, it is always a cheap buy so you wouldn't be wasting much with it.  It's a merely average game that is worth the price of payment.
Overall Rating: 5.8 out of 10
All-Time Rating: 350th out of 721.

The Indianapolis 500: Prestige, History, Bricks and Fast Cars

  The Indianapolis 500.  When you think of it, you probably think Brickyard, the Museum, pageantry, prestige, and the many names to come through this race.  Those names are probably Ganassi, Penske, Mears, Andretti, Castroneves, Montoya, Fittipaldi, and many, many more.  You probably think about 300,000 race fans all gathered around a 2.5 mile track and if you are a music fan, about the loudest ongoing concert from dawn to dinner.  Everything is amazing when it comes to the Indy 500.  What does going to the Indy 500 weekend feel like and what is it like?  Having now been to the 2016 Indy 500, the 2019 Indy 500 and the 2023 Indy 500, I can tell you this.  In this story, I'll tell you what to expect, what you should do, where to go, and the experience of going to the Brickyard again this past year.

Under Caution at Indy

  Saturday, Indianapolis.  The significance of this day is mainly for the autograph session and the Legends to come out and be with the fans.  My advice for the autograph session is get there at least 30 minutes earlier than when it starts.  Remember that there are a ton of fans in the infield and they can line up as well to get autographs assuming they have the ticket.  Then, walk at a very brisk pace to get in line.  They do have the concessions and the gift shop open then so if you wanted to buy food or apparel, you can do that as well.  I waited for Sunday, but if you wanted to do it Saturday you could.  They don't have any on track activity. I personally would recommend going to Anderson, IN for the Little 500, a sprint car race on a quarter mile that is a premier race for sprint cars.  Otherwise, you can see what may be in and around the Indianapolis area for events or just relax. Now, we go to Sunday at Indianapolis.

Dale Jr, as a part of NBC, at Indy

   Sunday, 5:30 a.m.  Why do I say 5:30 am? Here's the ordeal with Indy, you HAVE to get there within an hour of gates opening at 6 a.m. or you are going to wait in traffic for at least two hours.  I learned that the hard way in 2016 and my friend learned that the even harder way in 2023. I wasn't going to make that same mistake.  Literally, if you get 5 miles from the track after 7 a.m., good luck to you getting in by 9 a.m. my friend.  I got there at about 6 a.m. in 2023 and I still had to wait a bit to go into the parking space, parking about 6:45 a.m.  At this point the sun had arose and I was well on my way to walking into the track. You may ask yourself upon entering the track, what is there to do?  Well you can shop for merchandise, which I did.  Or you can eat.  Yes, Breakfast at Indy is a thing.  Yes, you can get a lot of good breakfast food at Indy at 7 a.m.  You can do what I did: Tots and a Mountain Dew in 2023 (Breakfast of Champions everyone!) Yes, the Snake Pit concert seen is loud as can be at 7 a.m.  Yes people are partying at that time.  You can also check out the cars from a distance, check out everything and just have some time to relax.  If you want, you can take your seat and nap, or catch a tan if the sun is out, or shop.  That's what I did: In 2019 I got a Juncos hat, an RHR shirt and I think a couple other things. In 2023: A David Malukas Shirt, An Alexander Rossi Shirt and a ton of small diecast cars.  From there, it was eating, which I did.  I think the Chicken and fries are good, as are most of the breakfast selections.  The one thing I would highly recommend having though is a Verizon network phone.  I had AT&T and it was at best spotty for the track. They should STILL make this easier in 2024 (because they didn't fix it in 2023.)  One upgrade from Indy 2016 to 2019 and 2023?  The vendors could take cards!  Yes you don't need a wad of money to purchase stuff, as the vendors at the track took credit/debit cards this time.  That was a huge relief for me as I randomly forgot money.  What else is there to do after 8 a.m.?

The Borg-Warner Trophy

   Wait.. you may be asking yourself, that was only all before 8? For the most part yes!  Now what I did was just explore.  I went to more shops, walked the infield track where they hold the Indy Grand Prix race for IndyCar.  You can go into their museum at the track, but I went there back in the spring of 2019 and saw a lot of neat cars and stories of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  But that is a good way to spend an hour or so of the time prior to the race.  What I did though was just explore a lot of areas.  Near the Pagoda, they had a red carpet show where drivers and celebrities were.  We got to see Mario Andretti and Matt Damon in 2019 for that, but one of the cooler things I saw was seeing the Borg-Warner trophy that is awarded to the winner of the Indianapolis 500.  Seeing that after seeing a group performing with bagpipes was one of the cooler things I have done in my life.  That goes along with kissing the bricks, which I was fortunate to be able to do as well.  After that, really it was all about awaiting the race itself.

Me kissing the bricks at Indy

   The race itself is exhilarating.  Cars are going about 220mph, passing each other a lot.  The best way to describe it is an adventure to see these cars and these teams go through a 500 mile race that is perilously close to changing and altering all strategies and create a major event to the end of the day. 33 cars with a chance to win the sports biggest prize pushes drives to and over the limit. The agony of defeat can only be explained with what Scott Goodyear felt in 1992, Helio Castroneves in 2014, and Marcus Eriksson in 2023. However, the thrill of Victory can only be explained in that same length as Helio 4 different times, Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2014, Tony Kanaan in 2013 or even Josef Newgarden in 2023.  After that, it was a long and arduous time of trying to get out of Indy.  That would be a negative, but with the track near residential housing, there isn't much the track or the city can do about it and they do the best they can to direct traffic out to the interstate anyway.  Just happens when 300,000 fans in one area tend to leave the track at one time.  As I drove home, I thought how amazing it was to be a part of history and have a chance to see a fantastic race.  This is why you should come to the Indianapolis 500.

Louisville's Bats Have A Slugging Great Stadium

  I said after my City of Louisville post, I would put the Louisville Bats stadium up for the next post.  The stadium is Louisville Slugger Field.  As I said in the prior, Against the Grain Brewery and Smokehouse is attached to the stadium.  So exiting a door and going to the stadium was easy.  If you don't through through the Brewery, there's just a ton of parking nearby the stadium and near the Lakefront park so it's easy to go to.  Outside the stadium, there is a cool statue of Paul Hornung, Green Bay's Golden Boy of the Lombardi era.  Upon entering the stadium, you are greeted with a 360 degree concourse and either a lot of sun or shade in the ballpark.  Fortunately for me, I was greeted in my seat with the sun.  However, besides the heat and the sun, there is a lot to like about the park.
  First off, there are a ton of options for food, drinks, merchandise and to see in the stadium.  The food and drinks are affordable, and personally I would recommend the lemonade for this particular ball park.  The merchandise in the team store is abundant and it's mainly affordable.  In there, on a hot day you can cool off in the air conditioning while seeing the Reds play.  Louisville is a heavy Reds city, being a Triple-A affiliate of the Reds and the town is full of Reds fans.  The drinks of soda, water, beer are all affordable as well, though obviously don't drink and drive everyone!
  The stadium itself has a lot to offer and is a premier Triple-A park in the world of Minor League Baseball. For kids, there are some games down the left field line to play, there is some open area in right field also to play for kids.  For adults to get out of the sun, there are some good areas to get out of the sun with some shaded patios or by going through the concourse with the shade.  The ballpark does well for this as well.  Louisville Slugger Field is a very wide ballpark as well, and it is good with the fact that a lot of people attend this ballpark.  There is ample space to move about and do just about anything you'd like.  The only major downsides I feel to the stadium is the fact they don't have an ATM inside the ballpark itself.  This can be troublesome if you don't get your ticket acknowledged by a staff member.  This nearly happened to me before the guy let me back in.  The other downside is at least on this night, the staff was under stocked on items.  This happened at least at two vendors and it left some fans displeased through the course of the night.  The concourses around the ballpark before going in are pretty neat as they feature players of yesteryear playing in Louisville as part of the organizations that have played in Louisville.
  All in all, I would give Louisville Slugger Park a decent grade though.  I don't think it reaches the height of Indianapolis, but it is better than Principal Park in Des Moines (as the only Triple-A parks I have seen a game in.)  There are some knocks to it, but overall I believe they do a very solid job all around to see a game and buy merchandise from.  I would definitely recommend this ballpark to Minor League Baseball goers.

Louisville: A Riverfront City

I had debated what I should have started my Memorial Day vacation time with.  I was thinking at one point to just cover the Indy 500.  Another thought well I should have covered the Schaumburg game I went to.  Another had me thinking I should do something of just the whole trip.  However I didn't feel that was the best way to go about it, because it would be far, far too long.  So I am starting the Memorial Day weekend posting with my trip to Louisville.  Note, I am not including the Bats game here, as I have a separate post for that.  And don't worry, I have a lot more game reviews coming in the following weeks.
  The start of my trip to Louisville actually started at Indy, as I got to get autographs prior to the Indy 500 as part of Legends Day.  Meeting Sebastien Bourdais, Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi was really neat.  Upon getting to Louisville though, it is really cool the bridges you cross and go over.  All of them connect you with some part of the city so it is very easily accessible.  The skyline is pretty neat as you cross the border from Indiana to Kentucky.
  The first place I went to was the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory.  I didn't realize it was pretty cheap to park in the city of Louisville, but it was good to know that it was only 5-7 dollars most everywhere.  After parking, I went to the factory to see the bat making process.  I am and still am impressed by how many people are involved in the process and all the tools used to make the major league bats for players.  It really is quite the task every day for them but it is also used with a sustainable effort towards the environment in mind.  There are a lot of different things to see as part of the bat making process and the factory and museum itself is quite amazing.  They also have a pretty significant gift shop for those who want souvenirs from the facility. 

Me with Jackie Robinson

  Following a really good lunch at Just Another Sandwich Shop, which yes is the name of the restaurant (seriously, get the Stacker sandwich.  It's a triple cheese grilled cheese sandwich and get some Cherrywine soda) I then went to the Muhammad Ali Center.  This place was probably the one exhibit I wanted to see in Louisville more than anything else.  As everyone today knows, Ali was more than a boxer.  He was a civil rights leader in a time of tumultuous relations in America with the civil rights campaign.  He also was The Greatest in terms of sport and boxing that could even be accomplished.  The one moment my generation may look at is the 1996 Summer Olympics.  He was the person who lit the torch, and the center had this moment.  To this day I can remember Bob Costas saying, "Look who gets it next!" and Dick Enberg saying, "The Greatest!" followed by his ever enthusiastic "OH MY!" that followed as Ali very shortly after lit the torch to open the Atlanta Olympic Games.  To me seeing everything there was a complete sight to behold to see what Ali battled not just in the ring but in the every day society of the 60's and 70's in America.  They have different art exhibits as well so you get to see some really cool artwork, and they have some nice artwork outside the building as well.                         

Ali's medals

  After the museums, I then looked around to where my next place to go was and I found myself going to Riverfront Park, which is a couple blocks from the Louisville Slugger Stadium.  To say this park is pretty is honestly underrating the park itself. It's absolutely gorgeous, with the Ohio River as the backdrop and the state of Indiana right past the bridges in plain sight.  It's a wonderful area to use the scooters or a bike or just walk.  You'll really enjoy being out and about this park.
  After that, and before the game, I went to the Against the Grain Bar and Grill for dinner.  They actually also make their own style of brews, so don't ask for a Michelob, Miller or Bud for any reason because it won't be sold.  This is better than those domestic beers anyway (from what the public said, not myself per se as I didn't drink there.)  The cool thing is they put things in those glasses that look like a barrel.  Also, absolutely get the turkey here.  I thought it would be a turkey sandwich that is actually good turkey instead of the store bought nonsense.  However, this is actual turkey slices and it is smoked and absolutely terrific.  It's probably the closest thing to home turkey I could get.  So I was very impressed.  I was also impressed with the staff having a good service and being able to accommodate so much.
  Next is my review of the Louisville Bats and Louisville Slugger Stadium.  I am absolutely impressed though with the entire city of Louisville and happy to hopefully go back sometime soon.

SNES Game Review: The Lion King

Like Goof Troop (reviewed earlier and link at the bottom), The Lion King was another Disney video game.  This was mainly made through Virgin Entertainment.  Yes, that company that Richard Branson owns was part of the video game craze known as the 1990's.  The Lion King was a highly successful movie that has gone through sequels and now the live-action version movie that is probably going to garner like 482 quadrillion dollars in the opening week.  The Lion King game was also highly successful, having sold across all platforms about 4.5 million copies (Sega, SNES, Windows, etc.)  The Lion King the movie was also highly acclaimed.  The video game, at least the SNES version that I can review, is one that gets quite a lot of acclaim as well.  How do I rank it?  Let's see below.

Positives:
1. Graphics: The graphics to this game are very well done.  The Virgin people and staff did a very good job with Disney and Westwood to make a very well done graphical game.  You can't put any one of the ten levels in a bad setting and it is terrifically well done.

2. The ability to grab lives: There is a massive reason I say that.  See below.

3. Simba's progression: No, it's not like the movie.  But the cool part of the game is seeing Simba go from cub to lion to overcoming his past like the movie is really cool.  They did well to incorporate parts of the movie to make it a good feature for the game.

4. Music: Yep, you knew this would be on here.  Literally, YouTube the music.  It is fantastic for this game.  (Yes it helps when Disney literally was part of this and gave the game the music from the movie, but just roll with it.)

5. The Ending: Personally, I get a great sense of pride at the end of the movie.  If you know the ending of the movie, in a lot of the same the way Simba does the ending of the movie is the ending to the game.  Connect the dots to it yourself, but the level is exceptional and worthy of a high ranking with how you win the game overall.

Personally, before I go to the negatives (oh yes, there are those too) my favorite level of this game had to be Can't Wait to be King.  The music is terrific.  Once you figure out what you are doing for that in terms of jumping, you'll be fine.  Plus it is one of the best levels to gain lives for later on.

Negatives:

1. Difficulty: Alright, it sounds like I am complaining here.  And yes, I am aware of that.  BUT FOR GOD SAKE THIS GAME'S DIFFICULTY IS STUPID.  I get why The 7th Saga was hard as heck, but for gosh sake how on Earth was The Lion King this freaking difficult?  Everyone might say "David, your skill at these are lackluster" and I would say "Okay absolutely fair" but GOOD LORD THIS GAME.  You will die repeatedly, again, and again, and again.  A lot of gamers rate this in the top 10 of hardest games, and I tend to agree.

2. Too finite on controls: Yes I understand being perfect on controls.  No I do not understand on how bats can hurt Simba when I hit them already previously.  I also don't know how Simba can't grab onto an animal's tail when he is directly over it.  I also don't know how he can hit panthers despite not reaching them.  Anyway, you have to be way too perfect with the sprite lineup to do some things.  That would be a personal negative to me.

Overall rating and rank:

First, yes at times you will notice a game I rate like a 8.2 or 7.4 or whatever may be lower than a 8.0 or something.  One reason for that: Genres.  EX: Tecmo Super Bowl III may be rated an 8.2 (which I think I put) will be far lower than a platformer or RPG likely rated a 7.7 because of the genre aspect.  Plus unless you are 3 NHL games and one MLB game, you likely weren't worth a high top 100 merit in the world of the SNES.  ANYWAY, to my rating of The Lion King.  To me, I would actually rate it an 8.3.  The music, graphics, the progression, and most levels all warrant high mention.  The perfection of the controls though listed above and the ungodly and unreasonable difficulty is just something that knocks it down for a supposed kid's game (Your kid will break controllers.)
For the ranking, The Lion King's difficulty will make a lot of people despise this game.  This is a game though that overcomes that.  It also makes it a top 50 game with everything else incorporated.  To me, it's the back end of the top 50 of SNES games with it being ranked 48th.

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SNES Game Review: The 7th Saga

  Ah yes, the year is 1993.  I was going on all of four-years-old, the Packers were relevant again and the Badgers were.. somehow going to a Rose Bowl.  Yes all that was going on as The 7th Saga was released for the Super Nintendo.  Much like the Packers road back to relevance and the Badgers surprising literally everyone to the Rose Bowl, this game is... well difficult isn't a good enough word.  To say this game is difficult is putting it very, very loosely.  How does it rank though?  Well let's unveil that as we go through everything below.

Positives:

1. Non-Linear Plot: Typically this is a negative because the developers don't know what they are doing with the plot.  However, there are some games that bust this method.  For instance, Super Metroid, Super Mario RPG, and Chrono Trigger (to some extent) all do well with this.  The 7th Saga also does well with a non-linear plot.  The game is about exploration and finding seven runes, but you don't really know until very late into the game why you need the runes and what the purpose of them are.

2. Different characters: You have the choice of seven characters as well, with all different skill sets, weaponry and armor and magic ability.  You can only team up with one character later on in the game and you have the ability to switch party members through different sequences of the game.  It's pretty neat how you can use these characters to your own ability to get the most you can out of your own starting character.

3. Music: Yep, this game rocked at music.  Noted is that Squaresoft didn't make this game.  That would belong to Enix.  Yes, the same company that early in the 2000's merged with Squaresoft produced games as well as a separate entity.  They did very well with the recording of music and deserve a lot of praise.

4. Graphics: Enix also gets credit for the graphics which pushed the SNES a lot but they did very well with the graphics and the different abilities of them in the world, dungeons and in battle.  This does well overall for a game that is this challenging.

Negatives:

1. Difficulty: I hate getting on the difficulty too much but holy cow is this game a grindfest.  You will want to spend multiple times in the day going on a break from this game.  Note: You will die, and die, and yes die again in this game.  It is what it is, as the game is really, really difficult.  If you find yourself grinding like crazy and getting fed up with this, that's the norm for this game.  You just have to have the perseverance to overcome it.

2. That ending. Really?: Yep, that's correct.  The ending.. le ouch.  It's not that the ending boss is difficult, once you know what you are doing, it's literally the ending itself.  It gives you a feeling of you did everything.. for that?

3. What was Enix's purpose for this game?: This one I found myself asking a lot.  What was the actual purpose for this game?  Was it to provide the public with a cult following, which it did?  Was it to provide gamers with a challenge, which it also did?  Was it to provide the necessary tools to completely tick off gamers who died more than four times, which obviously it did?  I can see why the following to this day.  The difficulty as well, as well as the challenge but I wonder what the opening cause of the game and why the purpose for the game existed.

Rating and ranking: IN conclusion, I feel that The 7th Saga is a quite well made game, but has a lot of flaws.  Notably the difficulty is a flaw, but also, the random battles are a flaw as well in terms of amount generated.  This game is an absolute grindfest and if you want a difficult battle to play, this is your game.  It takes a LONG time to complete this game.  But if you have enough patience, you will win and and will do well. My rating is 7.5 out of 10 for this game.  My ranking all-time is conflicting.  There were times I thought this could be a top 100 game.  There are times I would only put it in the Top 200.  Overall, I would rank it like 105th.  I'll drop in a good YouTube sensation, SNESDrunk, who did a couple of videos on this game, and how it deserves a second chance.  I think that's why I put it so near the top 100.  You will need to grind this game out but it is a good overall game.  But if you give up right away, I would give the game a second chance, grind some levels, and you'll be more successful. 

Wrigley Field: A Throwback in a Modern Society

  Wrigley Field, the words prelude to the history of one ball park both up and down.  The names of Dawson, Maddux, Sosa, among others are there.  However, so were moments of sadness.  Those include 2003 with Steve Bartman (hopefully 2016 has made it easier on the poor guy) and pretty much the duration of the 90's.  Included in that is the 108 year curse that was finally lifted in 2016 by Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and others.  However, amidst the ups and downs of all the Cubs history, I got to see Wrigley Field up close on April 8, their home opener against Pittsburgh.  On the day, they won 10-0, but the ballpark and the residing area were more than just that.  Below is what I think of the park from top to bottom.
  Upon getting to Chicago to Wrigley, let's say the best way to get there is public transport by either bus or train.  It's quick and efficient to get there that way. You'll be there within an hour and a half and it is a TON better than just trying to drive there.  Also there legit is no parking around the stadium that I saw.  I could be wrong with the idea of parking garages, but I found it massively much more easy to get the CTA pass for the day (10 dollars, so you pay nearly as much in tolls from WI to IL as you do for a full day pass on trains and buses) and use the train to see the city then the Cubs.
  Wrigley itself is.. well old.  It was completed in 1914, so it's 105 years standing and going.  This is the part where it leads to the downsides of the ball park.  It's age is significant because it started as a small ballpark, then made a lot, lot bigger in a small space.  The seating capacity is north of 42,000 and it shows with the cramped style.  If you are a bigger built person like myself, then I would highly recommend going on a day that you can walk around and sit more freely than just in a squished way.  It's also got very long concessions and bathroom lines due to the lack of numerous amenities.  Same for the merchandise shop.  It's crowded because of Wrigley's compact ways.  Also, if you don't like obstructions or visual blocks, then you wouldn't be too fond of the obstructions around the park in areas.  As for the concessions itself, some are pricey and some are moderately on level with other major league parks.  Most notable feature is probably their Chicago Dog and the deep dish pizza.  I've had deep dish pizza in Chicago so I won't go into the long story but the Chicago Dog is a cased hot dog with loads of different condiments and items.  If you like to stuff your face with different foods, I'd look at this and pay the higher price for the Chicago cuisine.  Personally, I wouldn't pay 11 dollars for the dog, or the alcohol that is attributed to this park, but if you want to, go to it!  However, there's another aspect of Wrigley that you may enjoy.
  The historical aspect of Wrigley makes it worthwhile in a lot of ways.  The city ballpark, the apartments across the street with seating, the ivy walls, the scoreboards.  All of it is worthwhile.  The downsides with this antique (I honest to God mean that in a good way to Wrigley, it's like an old Gibson guitar that is refurbished and done correctly) ball park are noted, but the good sides are immense as well.  The cuisine in the park, the Chicago selective food is a major plus for me.  Also, the vast amount of stuff in the gift shop.  Yes I got a Cubs hat which was much to the chagrin of the Brewers fans I follow (if you hadn't noticed, I buy hats from every new place I go) who thought I was crazy or a Cubs fan.  Also, outside the stadium is really awesome.  They have different shops, bars and such that make it really a nice stadium district around Wrigley.  Plus they are continuously trying to improve Wrigley Field and that is something that deserves a lot to be commended.
  The atmosphere is electric at Wrigley.  Fans are very much into the game.  I commend the Cubs fans on this a lot.  As a guy who frequents Miller Park, I always chide on the fans for not being in the game and not really energetic.  This has been that way since 2008.  I just don't feel the same energy now as then.  However, Cubs fans are always into the game even when the scoreline is 10-0.  They do talk and different things, but they are ultra focused on the game.  They are energetic from the first inning on and I absolutely love that sort of energetic atmosphere at a ball park.  Other fans would do well to emulate Cubs fans on being able to get as energetic as them.
  In final, I think Wrigley Field is a must visit for a bucket list item.  The only major league park now of the surrounding states I have not been to is Comerica Park (bordering states of Wisconsin) but in terms of where I would put Wrigley Field in terms of best ball parks I have visited that are current (STL, Milwaukee, Cincy, both Chicago's, Minnesota) I would put this probably 5th of them.  I like Busch Stadium more and you cannot beat Cincy or Minnesota's stadiums as they are top notch in every facet.  I think Miller Park is slightly above Wrigley, but the main reason is available amenities now, restrooms and so forth.  If this were pre-2018 Miller Park, then Wrigley is ahead of them.  As far as history though, Wrigley is number one on this list.  You get the history from the start and it stays with you.  That's my thoughts on Wrigley, what are your thoughts and memories?

SNES Game Review: Kawasaki Caribbean Challenge

  The SNES featured all sorts of genres and companies and names to their games.  Kawasaki got into the mix with two different games, Kawasaki Superbike Challenge and the next game to be reviewed which is Kawasaki Caribbean Challenge.  There are some ups and downs to this, mainly more of the latter.  As you can tell already, this isn't going to be among the tops of the racing games out there.

Positives: Yes, let's start there.

1. Caribbean feeling- You get the Caribbean feeling in the graphics, which have a lot of beaches, essentially everywhere on every course (three road, three water) there are beaches a plenty.

2. Variety of road courses- One square oval and two twisting road courses feature the road events. There is a significant downside to this after the variety is noted.

3. Game pace- Like the Wheel of Fortune game, which has the same developers, this is a quick paced game.  This can be beaten in less than an hour.

Negatives: Plenty more so.

1. The controls are bad- You can't go fast on the road courses.  You have to slow down considerably to even make a corner on the road courses, and you risk getting run over.  Hey that leads me to..

2. The AI is bad- Yep, getting run over a ton is my impression of motorcycle racing.  Even if not getting run over, you then see them just as ridiculous on the track all over the place.  GameTek, the designers, really didn't think this through.. and the AI are a massive downside to this game.

3. The random obstacles- Oil and hay and water on the road, whirlpools in the water.  This is just straight up laziness to be honest.  Not just that, but there is almost no way to avoid about 85 percent of them as they are in the ideal racing line.  It's also that they give you a guaranteed wreck about 90 percent of the time, even if slowed down.

4. No sense of real racing- After the first motorbike, you have bikes that have no real sound of an engine.  After the first bike, everything sounds so much quieter.  The wave-riders are just as meh.  They don't have much to them.  Controlling them is next to impossible as well most times.

5. Graphics are meh- They aren't great.  Yes, I said that you are in the Caribbean and it is noticeable, but that doesn't mean the graphics are good.  They are more or less average and pretty grainy in many ways.  This is noted more so on the road tracks than the water tracks.  The road tracks make it want to feel a sense of speed but instead it is more just the fact it is grainy and just rough.

In all, Kawasaki Caribbean Challenge isn't a great game, nor a good one.  On the face, it's a bad game, with not much going for it.  Sure the fact it is a quick game is notable, but it's not a very good game by any stretch of the imagination.  The controls are bad, as are the graphics, and the AI make it a demolition derby rather than a race.  My number rating for Kawasaki Caribbean Challenge is 3.4 out of 10.  My all-time ranking is 525th.

SNES Game Review: Goof Troop

  Everyone has heard of Disney.  If you haven't.. well that's honestly something.  In the 90's, Disney characters and movies were very prevalent in gaming as well.  Movies like Aladdin and The Lion King were turned into SNES games.  Same with games with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and everyone's favorite hero, Goofy.  Yes, Goofy is in an SNES video game and so is his son Max.  The game is Goof Troop, made by Capcom.  Capcom made the Breath of Fire series, Aladdin, Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts, Street Fighter and so on.  Capcom had a lot, and I mean A LOT, of success in the 90's.  Goof Troop can be labeled as a success as well.  Below is to why that is.

Positives:
1. Graphics- Goof Troop's graphics are actually quite good.  That's not real surprising considering it is Capcom, but the sprites are actually quite well made for the SNES.  You can't knock Capcom for Goof Troop's graphics really at all and they add to the game really.

2. Not your original game- This is more of a puzzle sequencing game than a platformer or an RPG.  And it takes some solving to get used to it and complete the game.  But it is a very fun challenge to be honest and something that Capcom did well to incorporate with their game.

3. Two player co-op:  Tired of playing by yourself or got a friend who wants to game up?  Outside of the modern consoles, this game here features two player co-op where you can play as Goofy and his son Max.  The goals of the game are still the same, but with a co-player you can make the game a lot more fun than it already is.

4. Straight forward story: Essentially the story is straight forward.  Pete and his son have been captured by pirates and it is up to Goofy and/or Max to save them from them.  There are five levels with boss battles to beat at the end of them.  It's also featured on a Caribbean island, so you get to see the different levels of a beach, cave, and a pirate ship.

5. Quick game: It's a game that will take you only at most three hours to beat.  Most averages are about two hours so it isn't a game that will take all day to win or multiple days or an all-nighter.  It's overall a solid game that doesn't last too long.

Comical:  I feature a new part to my reviews for really just a few select games.  There is one comical thing to this game.

1. Listen to when Goofy or Max hit a pirate with a barrel or something, because they usher out some sort or wacky yell or yelp.  It made me laugh and should be the same for you as well.

Negatives:

1. The controls are slippery- A lot of the times I felt the controls were very slippery to deal with and you had to concentrate to walk with Goofy.  He seems to slide all over the place at times and it makes it difficult to finish some levels without running out of lives.

2. No real competition except bosses- Like I said above, it's a quick game.  That's because mostly the only meaningful fights are the bosses and even then at least two of them are simplistic.  Three of the bosses reach the above average difficulty.

Neutral:

1. Likely a kid game- If you want a quick game for a young kid, this would be it as well as it likely is a game built for a young kid.  It's not too difficult and it won't be a bothersome game for a youngster.  This is a puzzle game for a kid to figure out.  They would have fun with it I feel.

Overall, Goof Troop is a pretty good puzzle game that would be good for a young kid to figure out and do well with.  If they want your help, a two-player co-op would be fun for them as well.  If I had to give a number grade, let's go 8.1 out of 10.  The easier difficulty does knock it down a bit, but that's not the main reason.  The controls being slippery knocks it more so, but something that still makes this a pretty good game.  If I had an all-time rating, Goof Troop isn't in the Top 50, but it is in the top 100.  I would put this game 74th out of 100.

SNES Game Review: True Golf Waialae

The SNES was full of sports games.  Golf was no exception to this, as many different companies in one sequence or another tried their hand at a golf game throughout their time on the SNES.  However, most were pretty rough at this.  If you count Kirby's Dream Course, which is far and away then the best golf game, then the rest of the games are at best below average and at worst just terrible.  True Golf Waialae is one of those that goes in the bad pile.  There are some upsides to it, but overall not enough to shake the label of being bad.

Positives:
1. Graphics of the course- This is actually a good plus side to it.  Waialae's golf course was very finely done.  This is true for the other True Golf games of Pebble Beach or Wicked 18.  So they did well with the layout of the course and showcasing it.

2. Four player compatibility- This is also another plus.  The game has four-player compatibility.  However, that is pretty much where the positives end.

Negatives:

1. Frame rate- Yeah, this game is awful for frame rate.  It is so slow, so choppy that good luck if you get anything done in a reasonable time.  One hole can take upwards of five minutes if you are lucky to get it done by then.

2. Hitting is nearly impossible- You can't hit the ball seemingly without it slicing all over.  I mean I know I am terrible at golf in real life, but this is just brutal from a video game.  That is just something that drags this down so much.

3. Same thing goes with putting- First you have a 100 foot putter.. for like a 3 foot putt.  Yes that doesn't make sense.  So regardless putting is a disaster anyway.  You will not make many and when you do, you should celebrate it greatly.

With that, and there aren't many on each side due to it being a golf game, that recaps True Golf Waialae.  The best rating I can give it is 2.2 out of 10.  When you have a graphically sound game, that gives you plus points, but when the main things of frame rate, hitting and putting are just so bad, it won't give you a great game.  If I had an overall rating going for the 721 games on SNES, I'd have a hard time going anything higher than 620th.  It's one of the bottom 125 games on the SNES.

SNES Game Review: Final Fantasy VI

Depending on what version you believe this to be, Final Fantasy 3 is Final Fantasy 6 actually in the US of A.  Yes, the wacky separation of the numerical Final Fantasy games aside, Squaresoft birthed their dynasty with not just Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest, but then Final Fantasy 2 (FF IV) and then this game after that.  Yes, Squaresoft also got on the map with FF7, but LET ME REVIEW THAT GAME AT A DIFFERENT TIME!  Anyway, when I mentioned in my Super Metroid review that my #2 game was still ongoing and needless to say it is this one.  What do I think of this game?  Well let's detail!

Positives:
1. The music- Let's face it, any game named Final Fantasy is going to have absolutely kickass music.  FF VI is really no different.  The levels, the battles, the towers, everything about this game with music is the absolute best that you can offer.

2. The challenge- This game is a good level of challenging without being too difficult that it makes you super frustrated.  You can die a couple of times in this game but then you get better and get back at it again.  The boss battles are actually quite well thought out, with you needing to be strategic to win the battles, especially later on in the game.

3. The Storyline- It's a massive story that Squaresoft wanted to provide and they did very, very well in telling it.  It's a fantastic job from start to finish in how this storyline is told throughout the game.  If you haven't played this game, I would recommend doing so for this storyline.

4. The central cast of characters- Yes you can 14 characters in total (more on that later) but the central characters are Terra, Edgar, Sabin, Locke and Celes.  Though you could probably add in Cyan, he's not one of the first five introduced to this.  These five are the strongest of the bunch and they are your biggest keys to beating the game.  Each are their own skill sets and each have the best weaponry to get you through every part of the game.

5. The worlds- Yes I said worlds.  Two different worlds to navigate.  You go on foot, airship and can go also by chocobo if that is your thing too.  The second world, the World of Ruin, is a lot more different to navigate because it is broken up so much from the first world you encounter.  You'll definitely feel a difference in skill level, battle level, boss level and so much more.

6. The sidequests- These are actually pretty good.  The main reason is a lot of them involve the storyline in some way.  The main one is the dragon sidequest.  You have to beat eight of them.  But the benefits are a lot of good items and summons to make the game easier on yourself.  It also helps for the exploration factor of the game and the leveling up (more on that in a bit as well.)

7. The Opera Scene- Personally, I wanted to put this in neutral but I really couldn't find myself to do it.  Overall it is something completely different than most Final Fantasy games.  Like that of the play in FF7, the plays in FF9, etc.  Also, as above, the music is absolutely incredible.  Celes' part in this is absolutely awesome and well worth the small part to what you have to accomplish later.

8. Active Time Battle- The best strategic move that any company made was an RPG with Active Time Battling.  FF6 has this, brought it up and Chrono Trigger perfected it while FF7 popularized it.  FF6 did superior on this, and Square took note and progressed it further.  I believe this game and Chrono Trigger made things a lot easier for them on the PlayStation.

Neutrals:
1. The grindfest that is this game- Look, this is the SNES, and the fact that you have to grind in some games are just a thing of this console.  The same goes for Chrono Trigger, Super Metroid (unless you are a super awesome Speedrunner) FF2, The 7th Saga and you get it with RPG's.  You have to grind it out and spend time on the game to do the best you can for it.

2. The cast of characters- A lot of different gamers wonder why there are 14 characters in this game.  There are some parts to this I agree with their concerns on and some I don't agree.  I agree that it is a vast amount and about 3-4 too many.  The most notable are Umaro and Gogo.  They may be the two characters you least need in the story, but it is good at least to bring Umaro along for the final battles.  He has a good offense and his defense isn't too bad.  Gogo has the ability to use all skills.

3. Is it too big a storyline?- I thought this was an interesting one.  I overall thought the storyline was terrific, but is it too big?  To me, I don't think so because Squaresoft was looking to produce FF7 with the PlayStation and in 1994, they needed a big game to set that up.  This was that game and it produced big-time for Square and their future games.  It essentially set the stage for the future of Squaresoft on the next consoles.

There you have it for Final Fantasy VI.  It's one of the best on Super Nintendo.  It's one of the best, if not the best, Final Fantasy games of all-time.  The massive storyline plays right into Squaresoft's idea of going forward with FF7 for the PlayStation.  The music is nothing but spectacular.  The characters, while a bunch, are all very well drawn out.  I'd give the game a numerical rating of 10 out of 10 (by the way, my four best games are all 10 out of 10) and in terms of all-time rating I would place it #2 behind Chrono Trigger.

SNES Game Review: Super Metroid

Super Metroid.  A game that comes from Metroid on the NES.  A classic on the NES, Metroid was set up to the massive classic that Super Metroid would then become on the SNES and pave the way for the fanatical following of it afterward.  Super Metroid is also, after going through Google, Wikipedia and YouTube, a speed runner's dream.  It's also got accolades.  Electronic Gaming Monthly in 2004 called it the Greatest Game ever made at the time, a feature that would possibly hold today if not in the top 5 or 10.  To me, it's the most fun game I have ever played.  It boasts a great challenge without being too grind heavy.  It allows for a break in the story as the story isn't linear and you don't have to do one thing to do another to do that other thing, hence why the speed runners are so good at this.  So what does this game do well?  And why was it known for being the greatest ever made?  Let's look below.

Positives:

1.  The power-ups: They do not just pop up all the time right away.  They progress over time.  This makes this RPG so much fun.  You have to have some strategy, even when speed running, to go through this game.  The bosses are very much a challenge so you have to accord your power ups as you can.

2. The graphics: Needless to say, the graphics are badass.  They hold up today and they were done amazingly throughout.  There is no level that makes you think, "Well, these were done terribly."  Nintendo was simply fantastic during the graphics phase of the game.

3. The non-linear story: There are a few games that a non-linear plot works fantastically.  Among those: Final Fantasy VII, The 7th Saga, and this game, Super Metroid.  You know the road probably leads to Mother Brain (oh come on, you know this isn't too much of a spoiler.)  However, what you don't know is the road to get there.  You have to do a bunch of things to get there.  When you are finally there, there is a couple of stunning things that make you think it wasn't her that you truly face.  So the winding story is something that is awesome.

4. Various things to do: From wall jumping, to bomb jumping, sprint jumping, this game has everything.  You also have to do a lot of these things to be successful at the game in order to get the power ups.  The most important of the things you have to learn is shine spriting.  Essentially is when you get the speed booster to help it then you stop and launch up to a different floor or to a power up or different things.  The other may be the screw attack as it becomes super easy then to beat enemies.

5. The music: Simply put, the music is absolutely incredible.  Every part of the game has absolutely brilliant music to it.  You cannot go wrong at Crateria, the Sunken Ship or anywhere else.

6. It's a challenge: You'll likely die if you haven't played in a long time.  I did on more than one occasion.  That doesn't make this game bad by any stretch.  If you know the SNES, there are a LOT of challenging games out there.  This is one of them.  Super Metroid will challenge you in so many ways and you will be a better RPG player for it.  Every step is a challenge in this game but you are better for that challenge afterward.

7.  The Battle System: It's a continuous flow for Super Metroid, unlike Final Fantasy or Chrono Trigger, which makes it why I said the most fun I have had playing a game.  You have to think all the time, instead of what you are going to do on a turn.  The battle system is incredible and makes for a very awesome game.

8. Different Endings: This all preludes what you do for a time.  There are three different endings assorted by if you finish the game under a certain amount of time and if you complete 100 percent of the game (including a different rescue at the end.)  It's another added plus.

Negatives:

Literally, nothing.  The graphics for the time were fantastic, as well as the music, the battle system and much more.  This game was perfect for Nintendo.

Grade, where does it rank all-time?

The grade is easy.  It's 10/10 and easily the best game Nintendo made for the SNES.  As far as all-time rank, to me it is #3.  Note this: My top 4 games all time are all rated 10/10 and it is very hard to say and is interchangeable.  I happen to own and am in the process of completing what I think is the second best game on the SNES.  If noted by #1, which was Chrono Trigger, you could take a guess at #2.  However, Super Metroid is very deserving of all the accolades that it has gotten over the years.  It is the most fun I had with an SNES game.

SNES Game Review: NCAA Football

If there is one thing to know about me, I like sports video games on most consoles.  That includes the Super Nintendo, even though most of them (not including Tecmo) are massively below average.  NCAA Football is a game that the producers from Mindscape that I try to believe wanted to at least be as decent as Bill Walsh College Football for the SNES.  However.. as you'll read.. it doesn't really come close.  There are some positives, so let's dive into those first.

Positives:

1. Field graphics: These are quite done well in my opinion.  They aren't choppy, they aren't plastered on there at all and they look pretty decent for an SNES game made by a company most haven't heard of today.  So this is a pretty solid starting point.

2. Offense/defense mix: The offenses aren't too overpowering (see Tecmo) and defenses aren't world-beaters (See Madden on SNES) so they both have a good flow to them on both sides of the ball.  This was a good point for me while playing it.

3. Team uniforms: I believe for the most part, Mindscape got those right.  Wisconsin's colors were good, same with Stanford, Syracuse, and so on.  Not an overtly great positive, but one that'll work when you at least are knowledgeable about the sport of football.

4. NCAA license: Not sure how the NCAA licensed this game but not Bill Walsh.  Sort of mystified, but at least they got colleges instead of random city names.

Negatives:

1. No regular season: Yep, like I said it doesn't get much better than the four listed above.  The way to beat this game is go through a 16 team tournament and you are good.  No regular season like actual college football  You can do just one of the decades because otherwise it's just repeating itself through decades.

2. Slow pace: The time is slow, the players are slow and the running/passing are slow.  In all, this is just a slow game.  I'll emphasize that it isn't blocky.  It's just slow.  While most games are only around 30 minutes, you also burn a lot of time in the playbook, which leads me to..

3. Playbook clunk: This is very clunky.  And also slow as well, because it takes forever to get to the play you want and you risk a delay of game penalty a lot of the time.  If Mindscape and refined this, it would have been a lot better.  However, it's very difficult to navigate within a 25 second frame for a play.

4. Passing game: This is a major downfall.  It's difficult to complete passes.  It is something in the mechanics of the game that make it a rough thing to come up with as an answer because it would be a more polished game with a better passing game.  A real shame considering the passing game is so brutal and it is hard to complete passes.  A product of that is...

5. Controls: Yep, the first time I will complain about the controls of a game.  These were just so nonsensical it is hilarious.  The controls to kick are so wonky, same with toggling for a receiver and passing.  For rushing and defense it is easy to do.  But otherwise, it's a mess of the controls all around.

6. Map on the field: Now you can toggle the map off, but it brings up a point.  Why is there a map anyway when you can turn it off?  It doesn't make much sense to me at all.

Analysis:

There weren't many college games made for the SNES, but Bill Walsh is better by far than this game.  There were a couple more games made but I haven't played them at all.  NCAA Football had some good moments to it, but there were far too many negatives for it to be considered even an average game at best.

Grade, Where does it rank all-time?

The grade is somewhere around a 4 out of 10.  Mindscape did the fundamentals of offense/defense right.  They also had the NCAA license to build themselves upon, but they fell well short.  If they cleaned up the game's clunky features, slow gameplay and made it close to a Tecmo-esque game, they would have been so much better than Bill Walsh's College Football.  However, they had a game that was far too slow, too clunky, and too uncontrollable.  For a rank, I have to put it around 540th, or there about.  It's not the worst of the worst, and it's far from the worst sports game.  However it's not a good game either and doesn't deserve to be in the top half.

SNES Game Review: Wheel Of Fortune: Deluxe Edition

A lot of game shows were in the Super Nintendo at the height of television shows.  Most notably of those are Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune.  For the latter, they made two versions.  A regular edition, and a deluxe edition.  Essentially there isn't much difference, but the main things to the deluxe edition is six rounds and a ton of different puzzles.  While the puzzle substance is there, how does this game add up to anything else?

Positives:
1. It's a very quick game: You'll be done with this game in less than an hour.  Literally even though it took me three tries, I was done in less than an hour's time and it went straight to this review.  I think that can be a good thing if you want it to be.  If you want to keep playing, then keep on playing!

2. Depth of puzzles: There are over 4,000 puzzles to this thing.  So you likely wouldn't go through the same ones time after time.  Gametek, the producers of this game, knew it would be a quick game so they want to keep the gamer going with puzzles upon puzzles if they wanted.  So you can't complain about variety at all.

3. Kind of like Wheel of Fortune: It's kind of realistic like Wheel of Fortune because you have to pick and guess and solve.  The prizes are also involved at the end like the show as well.  It's the best they could do to simulate it, so they deserve the award for trying at least.

4. Multi-player: This is a sticking point with me as you can game with more than just two computers.  You got the capacity to play multi-player and have fun with a friend, relative or significant other.  For a lot of gamers, this could be a good thing.

Negatives:
1. AI Difficulty: It's really not there, unless you forget the letters you have (admittedly guilty of this.)  So it's not as realistic in that sense like the real show because the AI just are not very bright.

2. Lack of player choices: Only six characters in the screen to choose from.  It would have been really cool if they went in-depth with this with multiple characters to choose from.

Neutral:
1. Graphics- They aren't bad, but aren't great.  They are alright for the time frame and the ability to be a quick game.

2. No Pat Sajak, but Vanna White is featured: For those watchers of the show, Pat is not featured in the game, but Vanna is.  Given there isn't much for substance of the characters themselves, it's more a neutral than a negative that only one of two main show people were featured.

Analysis:

Wheel of Fortune: Deluxe Edition is a game that if GameTek put more into this, could have been a game on PS1 or N64 that would be really fun.  I know it is out for the latest Gen Nintendo console, so they brought it back.  For the SNES though, it's limited in sphere of how they can do it.  It's got a multi-player feature which is huge for the game and definitely benefits it.  For the intelligence of AI lacking though, it drops it down a peg.  To me, it's good that it is a quick game, because that's how it was made and why it was made for.  The fact that it is a quick game is what makes it alright.  It's not great, not bad either.  It's an above average game that if you want to spend half an hour on, go for it.

Grading, where does it rank all-time of SNES games?

For a grade, I'd say 6.3 out of 10.  Like I said it's not a bad, nor great game.  It's a game that is there and collected money for the title.  It has a multitude of puzzles if you want to keep going with the game after beating it.  For an all-time rank, I'd say around 340th.  It's being above average puts it above the median line only just.  Not a bad game if you are looking for a little bit of a break from the world.

Book Review: Getting Bi: Voices of Bisexuals Around the World

Now you'll look at the title of this and be like "David, how on bloody Earth do you now review books after a bazillion SNES games?"  Well it's easy in a way (and by the way, when I decide I have enough time in my life on video games, it will also look to PlayStation games if/when that ever happens.)  However, this is my first ever real book review I am putting up.  So it'll be a lot different than those bluntly honest video game reviews I put up for SNES (I would say if you are looking forward to it, my next one is Final Fantasy 6.)  But I'll really just give my insight as to the book, with some positives, negatives but mainly overall my thoughts on it in full.  So, without any more lecturing of how this will go, here's what I thought of this book.

For me, Getting Bi is a good book for myself.  If you have lived under a rock in the last year, and in most cases you haven't (though kudos to you if you have made that work), you'll note and know that I am bisexual.  This is honestly a good book for a person learning about themselves personally in terms of who they really are.  For myself personally, I found the insight of the authors and the stories of others to be very intriguing.  I thought incorporating people from other countries was a very astute idea as it makes you open to the idea of the laws and observations of a public abroad.  The idea for me to be involved in this book is to learn more about myself as I go on with life.  I found that to be a very positive influence for myself and others while reading.  If there is any negative, it's that this is probably a direct book to people who are bi, but it does have some ideas for transgendered people as well.  However, it doesn't really go much deeper than that for either straight people, gay people, etc.  I would have liked some insight as to that, but given the book's title, you can't really think the context would be more than it was.   

In critical summary, if you are bisexual or are trying to learn about yourself such as myself you will really like this book.  If you aren't, then you might find it intriguing to learn about other people but likely wouldn't enjoy it too much.  For myself, I found the book to be very much with insight and knowledge that I can use for the future.  I'm very proud to have read this book and learn about how I can live with being bisexual more in the future.  And different situations to handle it.  I would recommend this book to a various amount of people and think it is much worth reading.

SNES Game Review: Tecmo Super Bowl III: Final Edition

Tecmo Super Bowl III: Final Edition is about the most real title you can think of.  Yes, it's the final edition of the trilogy for the SNES.  They actually did make one for the PlayStation, which I haven't physically played but it didn't sell well so maybe look into that for how it is?  Anyway, the third edition for Tecmo is honestly the best of the three and it is also the best of the football games on SNES.  That may not seem like much, given how lackluster I felt about the Madden 96 review, but the Tecmo game is probably the highest of the video games for football that I could rate.  That's going based on a lot of different factors.  However, there are a lot of flaws with this game as well.  How did I feel about it?

Positives:
1. Nearly all players listed: Now there are some players not on here.  But that's because of personal preference.  This game had the NFL license.  Same with Madden, NFL QB Club and others, but it still was up to the player to reject it.  It became a thing more with the PS1/N64 and other platforms to get your name on the game.  So due respect as it was.

2. Some teams are perfectly put on the game: It's weird, but roll with me.  Some teams are perfectly built here.  Dallas, San Francisco, and GB were the three best teams in the NFC in 1995 and played like it.  Detroit was a playoff team and played like it.  Cleveland was a legit Super Bowl contender (if they didn't move) and played like it.  Others like Houston were bad and played like it.  There is a catch to this however and I will dive on that.

3. Ability to sign/trade: The final edition got this right.  Though I didn't trade or sign anyone, you can definitely do so if you wanted. If you wanted a stacked Browns team, you could.  Or more stacked Dallas team, you could.  Just give it a go and see what you could do in terms of Free Agency or trading players all around.

4. Improved graphics: This is more of a comparison to the other two, but the third has the best graphics to make it a realistic enough feeling for what the super Nintendo would have in terms of a football game.  It's obviously something the PS1 and other consoles do better on but this game probably is the best in terms of graphics with the SNES for football.

Negatives:
1. Not all teas are perfectly put: Yep, like I said I would have a catch to this.  GB was a formidable Super Bowl contender (lost to Dallas in the NFCCG in the 1995 season) but Seattle and Oakland were not and they were in the title game, which Seattle was in the Super Bowl.  Seattle's QB was Rick Mirer.  However, they had a decent defense so that's not the bad thing.

2. Good luck playing defense: Yes the NFL is a guessing game, but you can be better than like 15 percent of guessing plays on defense.  On top of that, even if you guess right the players on this game may not even play the defender correctly.  This was enormously frustrating throughout and thought this was a downgrade actually from the second Tecmo game.  There were many shootouts to say the least.

3. How Godly the Browns were: Okay, how on Earth did they not win it all in my simulation?  Not sure because when the time I played them, they were all jacked it seemed on stats and attributes.  Look, the Browns in 1995 were screwed by their owner moving the team and announcing it mid-season.  Maybe Tecmo wanted to make sure they got what they deserved (a likely Super Bowl effort) in spite of that?  It's possible.  But holy cow, I should have played as the Browns because everyone is insanely good.

Comparisons to the second Tecmo game:
To compare to the first is very unfair, as the third is better all around.  So we'll compare to the second game.

1. Defensively, it goes to the second game.  You can play defense on that game better.
2. Graphically, the third is the best of all the SNES football games, so the third gets it.
3. Fluidity of game-play goes to the third game as well.  It's less choppy though the second is quite fine at game-play as well

So how does this game rate?  Well it's easily the best of the games on the SNES for football.  As far as overall rating, it's probably an 8.2 or so.  However, it barely gets into the top 100 of games on SNES.  There are plenty more sports games overall better on the SNES than Tecmo III.  I would put it maybe 98 or 99 on the list.  However, this is the best of the games for football on the SNES.

SNES Game Review: Madden NFL 96

There was a time that Madden wasn't the best video game for football on the market, or really the only game on the market.  Way back when, say oh the 90's, there were a LOT of video games for Sega and the system that I have, the SNES.  That also went to Playstation and PS2 for some extent but primarily going to focus on the SNES, as you can clearly see the title of the review.  This is technically the fourth of six games for the SNES that deals with the Madden series (John Madden Football, followed up with Madden's 94-98.)  That in mind, the games did have it's share of partners with EA Sports in their endeavors.  This was with Visual Concepts.  To put this modestly, it has a lot of ups and downs.  So how does this game turn out?  Let's see below.

Positives:
1. The running game is powerful enough to get to the Super Bowl for you in this game.  Yes, there's a specific reason and yes I will highlight it below.  But the running game is good for you in this facet.
2. At the end of games, you get to see a highlight of a different game if you want, with the exception of the playoffs.  It's kinda neat that they have that sorta game break in there kind of like the FOX Sports thing in real life.
3. More features than most games around this time.  It has sign a player (free agency sort of), trade players, create a player, combine (sort of) and more.  It is only combined with Tecmo Super Bowl III about the features that come along for the games.
4. The playbook is expansive, yet simple to understand.  There isn't terminology that is overtly confusing and the diagram essentially helps the player out.

Negatives:
1. The passing game is awful, minus screen plays, so you have to rely on the running game.  This really isn't fixed on Madden 97 either as I play it now.  It's an honest shame that they didn't get this sorted at the time or the game would be miles better.
2. Anytime you throw a pass and it isn't completed, you have a quagmire of players in a mess so this was something that hampered the game.  Also about every other pass is batted down at the line of scrimmage.
3.  Realism of game is very shoddy.  The Cardinals didn't do better than 8-8 at this time, but they were in the divisional playoffs.  The Packers easily can win the Super Bowl.  So yeah, it's not a very realistic game in terms of difficulty.
4.  You can get by on about 4-5 defensive plays.. in a season.  Yeah.. that's not really a great thing so another negative.

In all, this game is at best average, at worst below average.  It isn't terrible, but in all honesty, the three Tecmo games are better in addition to at least 2-3 other games, including both NFL QB Club games.  There are some things to like but not enough to give it a good/great rating.

Final rating: 5.5/10.  If I threw a number out there overall, 400th would make sense.

Lambeau Field: Always Historic

When you think Lambeau Field, you think history.  You think of Lombardi and of the duels of snow and cold in November and December.  Of Hornung and Taylor running through Cleveland in a mud and snow slogged field in 1965.  You think of NFL Films with John Facenda and Harry Kalas.  You think the Ice Bowl.  The greatest block in NFL history (Jerry Kramer on Jethro Pugh in said Ice Bowl) to help Green Bay win a record three straight NFL championships.  You think of massive winning streaks with Brett Favre in weather under 32 degrees (kinda ironic since he was from a warm state.)  You think of Majik in 1989.  Of Hail Marys that were full of grace from Aaron Rodgers in playoff games.  Also, related note, they have their Hall of Fame on the premises so that's another reason for the history.  I had gotten the chance a few times in the past to go to Lambeau Field and I wrote at the time about it, but this probably goes more in-depth because I like to explain everything seemingly.
  Alright, so where to start?  Let's start with the fact that the two games I went to were the Falcons and.. well the freaking Cardinals game (that one where Mike McCarthy was fired, yes.)  Word to the wise, do not park on grass in rain/snow conditions, that pretty much blows.  Save the 20 or more bucks and just park on the street somewhere for free.  Aside from the absolutely god awful performance of the team against Arizona, the stadium was in okay shape given the fact that the weather really didn't match what the forecasts were saying.   The only gripe I would have with the stadium is there really is no drainage in the rows so the water stands.  I suspect the reasoning for that is it presents a hazard, also the stadium layout plays a role in it as well but it is something to lay out so you aren't stepping in every puddle ever.  Also, it was funny to laugh at all the drunk buffoons not know how to engage a step.  For the Atlanta game, there weren't many qualms but the one thing I will say is there isn't a lot of space to navigate when with about 80,000 people in the stadium.  That isn't something new considering most stadiums are like that.  More or less just the norm.
  So what's good about Lambeau?  Like I said, history.  The moment you get there, you feel a part of that history.  The fan shop is gigantic in the atrium with a lot of different stuff you can get.  The atrium itself is actually warm (thank you for allowing us to warm up and dry out in that Arizona game) and has a ton of televisions so you can watch the games going on.  Also, the bathrooms have the radio broadcast so you aren't too far behind.  The food is pretty good, with plenty of choices.  That same can be said for whatever drink you'd like to choose.  Also, when the stadium district is finished, it'll look super awesome.  So is there anything that isn't good?
  If I were to throw something up and say improve these things at Lambeau it is these, make the food better quality, as while good it isn't mind-blowing good.  Same goes with waiting for bathrooms.  The lines can be super long really at any point it seemed when I went both times.  Also, better Wi-Fi access.  Yes, fans like being on their phones checking probably fantasy football and since this isn't a baseball game with batted balls to look out for in terms of safety, there's almost no reason not to combine with a internet company to have strong enough Wi-Fi for 80,000 plus people.  All in all though, not too many qualms with Lambeau.
  I would always, 100 percent recommend going to Lambeau.  If you are around it, just take a picture of it.  It's always a good time to be at the field and being around so many fans.  It's a unique place, in a unique atmosphere.  But always one I cherish every single time I go up to Green Bay.  There is a lot to behold with it but overall, yes do visit Lambeau Field to go to a game.