Puzzle Bobble / Bust A Move (1994)

Game: Puzzle Bobble

Release Year: 1994

Time to complete: 1hr
Played on: Neo Geo CD

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Presentation: 8

Difficulty: 5

Fun: 7

Rating on a 1-10 scale

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You would have to have been living under a rock, raised by wolves, or (insert phrase here) to have missed this one. Versions of "Puzzle Bobble" or "Bust A Move" landed on pretty much every console in existence from 1995 to 2001. Interestingly enough, the Neo Geo has the distinction of being home to the very first version of Puzzle Bobble (if you don't count a limited Japanese JAMMA release entitled "Bubble Buster"). The thing that surprises me most about this title is that Taito, the publisher, was not in the habit of supporting the Neo Geo. Also odd is that it was only released on the MVS and CD hardware with no AES version. 

Any how, it's a good time to be had breaking bubbles. Gameplay takes a reverse approach to most puzzle games of the era by shooting bubbles up the screen to create groups of matching bubbles. Once a group of 3 or more is made, they pop and you can get to the bubbles above, with the ultimate goal being to clear the board. Its really a very nice tie-in to the Bubble Bobble franchise gameplay unlike Dr. Mario and Dr. Robotinic, that had essentially nothing to do with the action games from which they were spawned.

The game has nice crisp graphics, sounds, and animations, that do a nice job of maintaining the charm of the Bubble Bobble world. There are two modes of play available on the CD version (I assume the same is true on the MVS release). The first is a standard 2 player side by side mode that lets you take on a friend, or in my case my lovely wife, and dump bubbles on their side when you break a large chain of bubbles on yours. The second way to play is in a single player, 30 level mode, where each board is constructed in a different pattern of bubbles. It's not the most difficult thing to play through, and is fairly enjoyable, but, as with most games in the genre, the real fun lies in the the 2 player mode.

I will always have a soft spot in my heart for this game, but it does lack some of the intensity of Magical Drop and the mechanics of Tetris. Overall a fun ride, but does feel a bit dated 18 years later.

King of the Monsters 2 (1992)

Game: King of the Monsters 2

Release Year: 1992

Time to complete: 3hr
Played on: Neo Geo CD

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Presentation: 6

Difficulty: 6

Fun: 7

Rating on a 1-10 scale

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Its time for more giant monster fun! In the follow up to 1991's King of the Monsters, SNK brings us revised game play and a new visual style in KOM2. I was sure I had played this game, but upon playing it again, I not sure thats true. My main memory of it was that they (SNK) had taken the unique gameplay of the original and turned it into a so-so side scrolling action game reminiscent of what SEGA did to poor Toe Jam & Earl. Well now that I've played through it, I can say that it's true that they introduced "side scroller" elements but its far from a standard approach. Each level is essentially broken into short walk to the right and battle small enemies section (the side scrolling part) and boss battles (the part like the first KOM). Presentation wise, most of the B-Movie charm of the original is lost and somewhat cartoony, simplistic visuals take their place. Not the worst look but it does not have that distinct Neo Geo look.


The storyline is that only 3 of the original 6 monsters have survived. I'm not sure what happend to the others, but its a shame because it's now up to the remaining 3 monsters to protect the earth from an alien onslaught. Each of the 3 playable monsters (ape, human, and dragon) have a fairly unique style of attack. The level design is not nearly as interesting as the original. Instead of destroying different detailed Japanese cities, you traipsing around the globe visiting more generic, less interesting locations. The levels do get slightly more unique closer to the end of the game with some pits and sink holes but still not much to write home about.


Overall the battle mechanics are not nearly as wrestling inspired as the original and play more like Final Fight's. In KOM2 both you and the larger enemies simply have a life bar that when expired results in death i.e. no more need to pin the opponent for a 3 count. It works fairly well and I confess, at first I didn't love it, but the more I played, the more I enjoyed it.


As you play through the generic levels you will once again get to the tried and true "fight every boss again" last level and I have to say jumping jesus on a pogo-stick! This sure was a common way cheap out back in the day. The saving grace of the final level is the comically large final boss and his great animations. Interestingly this game does offers multiple endings, a good and bad ending based on how you fight in the final battle. I was unable to gain the "good" ending the first time around and had to play through all of the bosses again to get the good one but it was well worth it. 


To wrap it up I did find myself liking the game more and more as it slogged along and came to appreciate the visuals certain charming simplicity. 

I've come to earth to to eat brains!

Baseball Stars Profesional 2 (1992)

Game: Baseball Stars Profesional 2

Time to complete: 8-9hr

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Difficulty:6

Fun:10

Rating on a 1-10 scale

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Oh baby, here it is. One of my all time favorites. This is the 4th, and as far as I know final game in the Baseball Stars series, unless you count the Neo Geo Pocket version. And what a finale it is! Released in 1992, this title personifies the moment the Neo Geo hit its stride. Graphically taking full advantage of the powerful color pallet and animation potential of the hardware, it is a truly stunning game to look at. To fully appreciate it you really need to play BBS 1 and BBS 2 back to back. It's remarkable what they (SNK) managed to accomplish on the same hardware in such a short period of time. The audio is equally awesome, with a rocking soundtrack and great voices. Everything about the presentation oozes Neo Geo.


But lets face it, that's all well in good if the game play is just so-so, but it's not! Its great! Really great! More then any other arcade style baseball game it does a very nice job of capturing the essence of the sport while still making it accessible to a novice player. Hitting, fielding, and pitching mechanics all work well, and for the most part, make for a very balanced game. There are a few oddities here and there, for example your starting pitcher will run out of gas after about 20-30 pitches which is not the most realistic portrail. You can play the game in two primary modes, easy and hard fielding. The difference between the two is simply that in the easy mode your fielders are more or less put into position to catch the ball while in hard mode you need to quickly move into place. Surprisingly (not really) BBS2 has no MLB licence but there are a number of teams available from around the globe that do actually offer a variety of skill sets. For example there are teams that are very fast, have great pitching that last longer, or strong hitters. As a result, there is actually some strategy to the way you use your team. 


Beyond the basic game you also have the option to play the season mode. It consists of 15 regular season games and one championship game. As a result, similarly to Neo Turf Masters, it offers one of the most robust sports experiences on the Neo Geo. It took me roughly 8 hours to play through all of the regular season games and win the championship. I did lose a few of the season games but as long as you end up on top at the end of the 15 games season you will head to the title match. One of the more unique elements of the season mode is the inclusion of the "owner", shown below...

He owns the team you are playing as and will provide you with better players throughout the season. He will also provide you with better pitch hitters mid game as well as the ocasional Power Up Bat if your in a tight spot. It's a fun little extra that adds the the flavor of the overall experience. 


I really could go on and on about how much I like this game. Besides being one of my favorite Neo Geo games it's far and away the most fun baseball title I've ever played. Pure classic.

Street Hoop AKA Dunk Dreams AKA Street Slam (1994)

Game: Dunk Dream

Time to complete: 50min

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Difficulty:5

Fun:6

Rating on a 1-10 scale

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Alright it's basketball time, Neo Geo style. Released in 1994 by Data East for the AES, CD, and MVS systems, it's the lone entry into the world of basketball on SNK's classic hardware. No doubt a reaction the the popularity of NBA Jam in the early 90's, Dunk Dream (Japanese title) is a 3 on 3 street basketball game. Why it has so many different titles I'm not entirely sure, though I think it may have something to do with there being a popular Japanese animation called Slam Dunk that Data East wanted to take advantage of in the East. Beyond the plethora of titles, there is one other unique thing about this title in regards to localization. Below you can see the two distinct team selection screens based on if it was a US version or a Europe/Japan version. 

Teams from around the world, and look, the US is really good at Dunking...

And here we have the US version of the team selection.

So lets discuss the game. It's ok overall. Visually it's pretty colorful stuff. Not amazing graphics and I actually always thought it was released earlier then it actually was. Now let's talk music. Or should I say Hot Hip Hop Jams! I played this game on the Neo Geo CD so I'm not sure if this is one of those games that they aded a new soundtrack to for the CD release, but it has has some amazingly bad rapping about street basketball. I'm not even sure how to describe it. If I'm ever feeling motivated I'll rip it off the CD and post it so it can live on for all time. 

Ok now that thats out of the way lets discuss the gameplay. Nothing painful here. I've never been a big fan of the arcade style basketball game so I don't have a whole lot to judge it against. I played through it on single player mode, and in typical fashion, you need to beat each team to win the... well... I guess it's a championship? But I'm not sure it's every really referred to as one. Anyway, it's a decent experience, but you don't really get the feeling that you need allot of skill overall. It may very well be more challenging if you are playing against someone who knows how to play, but it just feels a bit repetitive against the computer. For example you can pass the ball which works well mechanically but there is really not much need to since the computer rarely successfully steals the ball from you. As a result I would often just walking my ass down the court and shoot a 3 pointer or slam the ball, my choice. This does remind me that the slams are pretty cool which was certainly a prerequisite in 94' for any self-respecting street basketball game. Overall I would be happy to play Dunk Dream again if I had the opportunity to do so against someone else. By myself? Not so much. 

Andro Dunos (1992)

Game: Andro Dunos

Time to complete: 80min

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Difficulty:8

Fun:5

Rating on a 1-10 scale

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Here is a title that I was not aware of till well into my adulthood. Fortunately my brother-in-law owns the AES cart so onto the review! Andro Dunos is made by Visco, one of those studios that I believe were part of SNK and only developed games for their platforms. In any event it's a side scrolling shooter that has subtle R-Type game play elements. Visually it's one of those games that does not necessarily feel like a Neo Geo game. Not that it's not bad looking, it's just different. One of the most unique aspects of the visuals are the variety of levels. They really went out of their way to make each level look like its from a different game. One level your in a super tech landscape with spaceships and what not, and then all of a suden, on the next level, its totally biological without a hint of technology. It's a bit odd, but it works with the story line. Did I mention there is no story line? Like none at all? Just wait for the ending!!!


Difficulty wise this is not a easy game. We started playing on AES mode but quickly switched over to  MVS. Finishing this title on the 4 credits the AES mode allots is just crazy talk. My brother-in-law and I must have gone through 40+ credits each. The game does control nicely overall. You are given 4 stock weapons that you can upgraded with power-ups, which can be cool, but in this case you never really need to switch between them like you would in something like Radient Slivergun. The level design in Andro Dunos is very pattern dependent. They do some cool things with having to dodge moving blocks and what not which are fairly unique.


Overall I would play this game again some day but when compared to Last Resort and Pulstar it's hard to compete.

Taco Bell Doritos Taco Sadness

Continuing my theme of taco shaped disappointments, I present the taco bell Doritos taco, with a real Doritos shell! Now I could not bring myself to actually digest such a thing but I had to know, did it really come in a Doritos bag? No. It does not. I'm sad. But the nice man behind the counter did offer to place it inside a empty Doritos bag that was in the back. I passed.

Cable TV and the price of sports

So just read a very interesting article about the price of sports programing for cable providers such as Comcast. Apperently sports programing is far and away the most expensive programing to buy, with ESPN leading the way at 5 dollars per cable subscriber. I had no idea that one non preimum station could make up such a large part of my monthly bill. Now to the fascinating part. The question becomes why make people who have no desire to watch such programing pay for it? And were not talking about a small group either, 3 out of 4 cable subscribers have no interest in sports. The answer is they have no choice. To be relevent in the marketplace cable providers must have sports programing and since the actual group of folks watching is so small it would result in a likley unacceptable rise in costs for those subscribers. Oh ontop of that, content providers like Disney who owns ESPN also like to bundle their channels together, so if Comcast wants ESPN they have to buy the whole suite of Disney programing. The whole thing really makes me wonder how much longer cable TV will be relivent as online based services get better and better. And if u look at content consumption and the way its changed recently its really all about specialized media these days. When I want my sports news I don't by today's issue of the Chronicle along with the host of other news it comes bundled with. I go to not just a sports site but a sports site just about baseball and in many cases one focused on fantasy baseball. How much longer will people continue to buy their TV this way? I guess ultimately its up to the content providers and what road they see leading to the most spoils which must be scarry for the cable providers...