jdodson1

Joined 01/23/2012
  Admin

I'm an Engineer and built the video game community Cheerful Ghost and text based mini-MMO Tale of the White Wyvern.

2755 Posts

LGR Reviews Yoot Tower The Lesser Known Sim Tower Sequel
I heart Sim Tower so when I heard there was a sequel a few years back I was surprised. Sim Tower gets some love in retro circles but seems like a forgotten gem. Lazy Gamer Clint Basinger is back doing his review magic on a game that I feel holds up well even if some of the games simplicity doesn't fare well for longer play sessions.

"There was a Sim Tower 2? In all but name, yes! Let's take a look at Yoot Tower, aka The Tower II, developed by OPeNBooK9003 and published by Sega in 1998 for Macintosh and Windows PCs. Along with the Towerkit maps and other plugins from Japan!"

Donkey Kong Country Classified Information!
I've played a lot of Donkey Kong Country but I wouldn't consider myself a pro. When I was in my prime I could be the whole game start to finish without dying, which is quite difficult. To celebrate the game coming to Switch Online on July 15th Nintendo released a fun Classified Information video showcasing some Donkey Kong Country secrets. One features infinite lives you can get while Diddy Kong and also a trick to getting 101% which is just what all the Donkey Kong Country completionists out there needed.

The full list of games Nintendo is adding on July 15th is Donkey Kong Country, Natsume Championship Wrestling on SNES and The Immortal on NES.

I Might Have a Problem and Borderlands on Switch Is Also Very Good
2K Games dropped a raft of games on Switch recently with Bioshock The Collection, The Borderlands Legendary Collection and X-Com 2. Last week I happily opened The Borderlands Legendary Collection on Father's Day and was able to play it enough to note that's it's another solid Switch port worthy of the games strong legacy.

I know this might not be a popular opinion but I think the first Borderlands game is the best in the series(I have yet to play Borderlands 3). And now that the original Borderlands was remastered with a ton of updates and quality of life improvements (auto pickup, etc) it really is the best looter shooter around. 2K took this remastered version and perfectly ported it to Switch such that I honestly can't tell if they had to compromise anything in the way of visuals or gameplay.

If you are interested in buying the physical version of Borderlands on Switch there is something to keep in mind. 2K was able to put the original Borderlands on the game cart but if you want to play Borderlands 2 and the Pre-Sequel there is an included code to download them. As someone that enjoys buying a physical copy and loaning it to friends this is a bummer but on the other hand, there is no cart switching required to play Borderlands 2 or the Pre-Sequel. Plus if you just wanted to play those two games, one could buy the game snag the codes and loan out the game cart to someone that has yet to play the original.

Earlier on I picked up The Bioshock Collection and 2K put a bit of each game on the cart and required complete downloads of all with the game cart. I appreciate that they included a sample of all three games I think I prefer what they did with The Borderlands Legendary Collection.

Borderlands is already a classic game and it's good to see it continue to be relevant and come to an even wider audience on Switch. If you have Borderlands remastered on PC already and prefer that platform i'd recommend playing it that way but if you have a Switch and have yet to try it out this is a great way to do that.

I also wanted to note that I played Borderlands on Switch co-op with a friend recently and if your Switch is online it requires you friends account to be connected to a Switch online account. This makes some sense as Borderlands co-op can interact with public online as well but it was a major hassle to figure out how to get around this. To get around Switch Borderlands requirement for a friend account to link online you simply turn wifi off on your Switch. It's a strange hack but it worked and hope it helps anyone that runs into that problem.

Digital Foundry Analyzes the new Cyberpunk 4k Trailer
Cyberpunk 2077 is the follow up to the Witcher III by developer CD Projekt Red. Recently they released some 30fps 4K footage of Cyberpunk and Digital Foundry did a really interesting analysis. Digital Foundry updated their video notes to say that the 4K footage is in fact using Ray Tracing to get those incredible lighting effects. So if you want to play Cyberpunk to the fullest it looks like you should play with RTX on the PC until the PS5 and XBox Series X have released.

I know there are many people on Cheerful Ghost that played The Witcher III and I'm wondering how many are excited about Cyberpunk?

What Do You Think The Most Under Rated Consoles Are?
Metal Jesus made a video ranking the most under rated consoles and after watching the video I wondered what would be on my list? Frankly I don't think many consoles are as under rated as they were unpopular. The Wii U wasn't very popular but I think it's fairly well loved for being a low seller. What consoles do you think deserve more love than they get? I'd also put the Ouya on my list as well as it proved there was a market for indie games on your TV and then Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo noticed and then allowed anyone to publish to their systems.

Listen to Tarn Adams Talk About How Fun Dwarf Fortress Bugs Can Be
Dwarf Fortress is one of the coolest games I've ever heard of but is so incredibly evolved i'm somewhat nervous to try it. Like D&D i've gone so long admiring it and not playing it I get lost admiring the complexity and lack of starting it.

That said, one highlight of going to PAX West a handful of years ago was talking with Tarn Adams for a good while about Dwarf Fortress and watching this recent No Clip video reminded me of that PAX. Tarn is a fun developer to listen to and Dwarf Fortress is one of those games that even if you might not have played it it's still an impressive feat and if games are considered art, and I think they are, Dwarf Fortress would rank at the tippy top of that list.

Command & Conquer Remastered Looks Incredible!
We are in the age of classic game remasters and as many of these remasters are of games I love I enjoy the trend. The Command & Conquer Remastered Collection brings the original game + Red Alert a new coat of paint and a lot of really impressive tech under the hood to breathe life into these classic games. Personally I've played Red Alert the most and consider it to be one of the best RTS games around. It refined the original game and spun up the crazy style of Command & Conquer that was later made even better in Red Alert 2.

As usual Digital Foundry has run the new games through their paces and give them fantastic marks. Plus the collection is only $20 on Steam so why not give these classics a try?

"It may be 25-years-old, but Command & Conquer remains one of the greatest strategy games ever made - and the recently released remaster is a simply exceptional piece of work. Alex Battaglia has the full lowdown on the modernisation of a stone-cold classic."

Bill & Ted Face The Music
Be excellent to each other.

Mavis Beacon: The Original E-Girl
YouTube Retro Game Reviewer Bobdunga dropped an incredible retrospective on the legacy of the Mavis Beacon series of educational PC games. I'd put the Mavis Beacon games next to some of the great educational games such as The Oregon Trail, Odell Lake, Number Munchers and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego. Even if you've never experienced the Mavis Beacon series of games you should treat yourself to Bobdunga's retrospective as it highlights the importance of these games to the early Internet and computing.

"This week, we take a look at the classic Toolworks program known as Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, which I'm sure many of us who were born in the 90s remember to some capacity! I take you through the history, inception, and legacy of the fictional typing instructor! Stay tuned to the end for a little surprise! ;)"

Time To Head Back To Rapture? Get BioShock: The Collection on Switch.
BioShock: The Collection released on Switch recently which contains BioShock, BioShock 2 and BioShock Infinite plus all the DLC. There have been some questions about what's included if you decide to buy the Switch physical release and I do want to say that the box does come with a game cart and that game cart has the opening acts of all 3 games. I can confirm all three games do play just fine BUT if you want to play the full games you will have to download the full games clocking in at 31GB. So if you don't care about owning a box to put on your shelf the digital release does make sense to get.

I played BioShock Infinite when it was ported to Mac and all the DLC but the original BioShock game has always been something I've wanted to play to the end. When I heard about the Switch release of The BioShock Collection that seemed to be a good time to jump in and I have to say that Rapture looks and plays fantastically on the Switch. Is it as good as playing on a top of the line PC? No. But I did play the original BioShock for a handful on minutes on the PS3 and I can't tell a huge difference between the PS3 and Switch in handheld mode. Plus kicking back on the couch and playing BIOSHOCK in handheld just seems like some magic.

I've only clocked in a bit of time on the game itself and so far it's a fantastic experience. The dark tone and storytelling are top notch but for a game that came on in 2007 that's hardly new information.

If you've played BioShock a ton already this Switch release might not excite you but this collection brings three awesome games to Switch giving it a wider audience of younger gamers ready for something a bit different.

2K released a few older games to Switch recently along with The BioShock Collection including The Borderlands Collection and XCom 2. As a huge Borderlands fan I do plan on picking that one up as well because I love collection well ported games on the Switch I want to play again.