I reckon Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld should get together with Nintendo and thrash out some rights to get this show syndicated! If this is a taste of a typical episode, then I know I would watch. What do you reckon?
source: Esquire Bob Animations
Retro Gaming Culture
Rambo In Video Games
John Rambo: the one man war machine is back. With the imminent release of his latest video gaming incarnation, Rambo: The Video Game, we look back at some of his earlier video gaming outings.
To date, there have been ten Rambo based video games. The 1980s is where it all started for the Vietnam veteran.
Rambo: First Blood Part II
[Developer: Ocean Year: 1985 Formats: Spectrum | C64 | Amstrad CPC]
The perfect Commando rip-off, Rambo: First Blood Part II upped the ante by scrolling in eight directions. The premise of the game was simple, Rambo is sent on a reconnaissance mission to obliterate anything that moves in the Vietnamese jungle and rescue the POWs. The C64 version was damn awesome and Martin Galway’s SID tune just topped it all off.
Rambo
[Developer: Pack-In-Video Year: 1987 Format: NES]
They say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If that is the case, then Pack-In-Video’s Rambo tries very hard to be like Nintendo’s Zelda II: The Adventure Of Link. Pack-In-Video’s earlier attempt on a Rambo game came on the MSX in 1985. However, that one was quite rubbish. The NES version has basic RPG elements and features that simply don’t feel very Rambo-like, but at least it is still playable and somewhat entertaining. I don’t recall John Rambo battling dragonflies or hungry tigers in the movie?
Rambo III
[Developer: Ocean Year: 1988 Formats: C64 | CPC | Speccy | MSX | Amiga | ST | PC]
Ocean had a reputation for getting the rights to blockbuster movies. Rambo III was no exception. Before they gave us the sublime Platoon and Robocop, Ocean gave us a boring version of Rambo III. The game was broken up into three stages – raiding the enemy fort to rescue Col. Trautman; destroying the enemy compound by priming explosives; and the final stage being a 3D shoot-out, with enemies coming towards the screen.
Sega’s rendition of Rambo III [1988] on the Master System was a competent Operation Wolf ripoff, but their Mega Drive version in 1989 hit the bullseye. If you want to play Rambo III, play it on Sega’s 16-bit beauty.
Super Easy Mode
Imagine if Sonic The Hedgehog could be completed in a blink of an eye! What would our most popular video games be like if they had a super easy mode? Can’t imagine in it, can you. Well, press play and take a look at how super easy mode would be like on your fave video games.
Power Couples: Video Games Romance Novels
Imagine your favourite video game characters made the transition to a Mills & Boon romance novel – what would the novel be like?
Imagine no more! The clever people at Shutterstock have accomplished the feat in creating fictitious romance novels based on our most favourite video gaming characters, from Link and Zelda, to Pac-man and Ms. Pac-Man. So, which one of these novels takes your fancy?
Collector of Hearts, starring Link and Zelda
The Forbidden Peach, starring Mario, Princess Peach… and Luigi
Fierce Moves, starring Ken and Ryu
Hungry for Love, starring Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man
Shot to the Heart, starring Dog and Duck
source: Shutterstock
Oculus Rift: Flappy Bird goes 3D
With the meteoric rise and fall (pardon the pun) of Flappy Bird, it was only a matter of time for someone to make a first person virtual reality version of the game. Thank you Braycen Jackwitz for Flappy3D (Ed: and for the induced motion sickness!).
source: Braycen Jackwitz
Sesame Street Fighter
If you think you have seen it all when it comes to Street Fighter II mashups, then check this out – Juan David Gomez (aka: Cocoalasca) has mashed our favourite kids show with one of the greatest fighting games of all time. What Juan has created is one absolute kicka**e mashup, Sesame Street Fighter!
Best of all, you can play it! Get your typing fingers ready and have a go right now!
source: cocoalasca
Instagram: Retro 80s Edition
Imagine if Instagram was invented back in the 1980s – how would you have shared your “I am eating a lobster right now” photos? Before you blow your 8-bit registers thinking about the logistics of sharing photos online in the 80s, the good folks at SquirrelMonkeyCom show us exactly how Instagram would have worked back in the best decade of the 20th century.
This is social media 1980s style!
source: SquirrelMonkeyCom
Super Mario World vs Sonic The Hedgehog Sound Effects
I wonder what Koji Kondo would make of this – blending Sonic’s tunes and effects on Nintendo’s masterpiece, Super Mario World. Strangely enough, the Sonic music and sound effects do go quite well. I am sure Koji would approve and have a right royal laugh about it.
source: NDSLover350
Mario vs. The Rest Of The World
If Mario was on steroids, would he go on a roid rage and take on every video gaming character in his way? Looking at these fine pieces of art by Sebastian Von Buchwald, it looks like that he may. Our hero has become the angry anti-hero!
Mario vs. Ryu
Mario vs. Crono
Mario vs. Lara Croft
Mario vs. Sonic
Mario vs. Mega Man
Mario vs. Pac-Man
Mario vs. Bomberman
Mario vs. Crash Bandicoot
Mario vs. Earthworm Jim
Image source: Sebastian Von Buchwald
Street Fighter II: Cosplay Warrior
The El Gamer Cosplayers are at it again. After their awesome KoF2001 rendition, this time it is Street Fighter II that gets the real-life cosplay treatment.
Watch this classic battle between two old foes, Ryu and Chun-Li – Ready, FIGHT!
source: El Gamer Cosplayer