Tag Archives: irem

In the Hunt [PlayStation] – Review

I think it’s safe to say that when Metal Slug launched in 1996 it put recently minted developer Nazca Corporation on the map in a big way. It wasn’t their first effort as a team though, more like their major label debut. And like your favorite band’s major label debut, it was an effort produced after years of honing their craft. In their case, that was with games developed for Irem like Undercover Cops, GunForce II, and In the Hunt.

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Metal Slug Anthology [PlayStation 4] – Review

Last week was pretty great, and not just because I played through a different Metal Slug game each day. No, it was pretty great because I spent the week with my three month old son. My wife’s FMLA was scheduled to end and accordingly, we had planned for me to use up some accrued vacation time to prolong daycare one more week, and you know, get some quality time with our little tree frog. I had taken off the week when he was born, and of course we had plenty of bonding time in the evenings and on weekends when my wife would get a break, but nonetheless, spending so much unbroken time with him was immensely fulfilling. At this stage in his development, he seemed to make noticeable improvements with his motor skills daily; and I may be a little biased, but everything he does is so fascinating!

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Black Belt [Sega Master System] – Review and Let’s Play

black-belt

Black Belt, originally released in Japan as a tie-in to the Hokuto no Ken manga and anime, saw many changes when it debuted outside of Japan. Nearly all traces of the source material, known as Fist of the North Star elsewhere, were removed or altered, save for the protagonist’s gruesome ability to punch foes into exploding bits. With or without the branding, it’s little more than a simplistic beat ‘em up; Sega did nothing to advance the genre, content instead to pump out a clone of Irem’s Kung Fu Master. Boss fights offered a brief glimpse of challenge and fulfillment but the difficulty of some was off-putting without the use of cheats. Continue reading Black Belt [Sega Master System] – Review and Let’s Play