Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

Want to be a part of Cheerful Ghost Radio? Come play Super Mario Bros. 2 with us!

In season 3 of Cheerful Ghost Radio, we are starting our NES Classic reviews with Super Mario Bros. 1-3. Next up is the first sequel, Super Mario Bros. 2! Come play the game and discuss it with us, and we’ll include your thoughts in the episode!

And by the way, if you don’t have an NES Classic or the original, but you do have Nintendo Switch Online, you can play it there as well!

The Super Mario Bros. 2 we know in Western territories isn't the first game to go by that name. The first one (re-released later as The Lost Levels) was deemed too hard for us, so Nintendo reskinned Doki Doki Panic and released that as Super Mario Bros. 2 for us noobs in the west.

Come play... Read All

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/25/2019 at 12:30am

I'll be playing it!

Also, love that picture it looks like someone gave it a slight 3D effect or is the game naturally shaded like that?

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 02/25/2019 at 01:00am

It’s an edited image but I think the shading on things was there for some objects.

jaelte wrote on 02/25/2019 at 05:53am

Super Mario Bros. 2 (along with Section Z) was actually the first Nintendo game I ever owned. I got it for my birthday at the same time as the system itself. My friends and I played nonstop for hours on end.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 02/25/2019 at 11:22pm

@jaelte I never even heard of Section Z, I had to look up some gameplay. That looks like a fun intro to the autoscrolling shoot-em-up.

In terms of Mario 2, what did you think as a fresh NES owner? What do you think now? You should drop into the event and play it with us this week ;)

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Tetris 99 Might Be The Battle Royale Game You've Been Waiting For

Nintendo recently dropped a Direct that unveiled a bunch of new games such as the Link's Awakening Remake and Super Mario Maker 2 and one that I noticed but didn't think much about was Tetris 99. It released that day for free to anyone that has the Nintendo Online subscription ($20 a year). I'm a big Tetris fan and over the years I've played it in many versions on the Gameboy, NES, Wii (Tetris Party Deluxe) and now Tetris 99 on the Switch. I'll cut right to the chase: Tetris 99 might be the biggest reason to get Nintendo Online but i'll talk a bit more about why below.

Nintendo Online is Actually Much Cooler Than I Thought

Historically I've been a huge PC gamer starting... Read All

LGR Reviews SimCity on DOS

If you didn't know you needed an LGR styled SimCity retrospective in your life, here's your moment to fill the void. Clint's YouTube reviews on esoteric PC hardware and old games are some of my most favorite and this one is one of his best. If you were wondering what influences SimCity as well as some information on its various ports, this is for you. Personally, I owned the DOS version as well as my favorite port of it on Super Nintendo.

Questions I have About The Link’s Awakening Remake And What That Might Mean For The Immediate Future.

To say that I was excited when I found out Link's Awakening is getting a Switch remake is an understatement. I have quite a few more thoughts about that release and I think some clear take aways that I wanted to talk with you about. If you have another take, please drop them in the comments!

The 3DS Moves Out of Focus

I love my 3DS and hope it has a long life ahead of it. I'm not one of those Nintendo fans that want to see the 3DS obsoleted. With that I noticed that the Link's Awakening remake is coming to the Switch with no mention of 3DS. If you look at past Zelda 2D topdown titles they came exclusively to the DS/3DS and Link Between Worlds(the last one on 3DS) had a... Read All To say that I was excited when I found out Link's Awakening is getting a Switch remake is an understatement. I have quite a few more thoughts about that release and I think some clear take aways that I wanted to talk with you about. If you have another take, please drop them in the comments!

The 3DS Moves Out of Focus

I love my 3DS and hope it has a long life ahead of it. I'm not one of those Nintendo fans that want to see the 3DS obsoleted. With that I noticed that the Link's Awakening remake is coming to the Switch with no mention of 3DS. If you look at past Zelda 2D topdown titles they came exclusively to the DS/3DS and Link Between Worlds(the last one on 3DS) had a similar style to the upcoming remake on Switch. Put another way, the Link's Awakening remake looks like it would have been a perfect fit for the 3DS but it's coming to the Switch and so far seems exclusive. Switch is Nintendos future and with that are they now focusing all new development in it's direction?

Will Nintendo Dual Wield Each of it's Properties?

For many years now you have the main Mario franchise focuses on 3D platformers such as Super Mario 3D World and more recently with Mario Odyssey. The second Mario franchise is closer to its 2D platforming roots in New Super Mario Bros that gets regular releases as seen recently with New Super Mario Bros. Wii U Deluxe on Switch. With the recent Pokemon Let's Go: Eevee and Pikachu and Nintendo ALSO working on a new a main series Pokemon game on Switch it seems Pokemon is dual wielding the franchise with games focused on the classic gameplay and the fresh new Pokemon installment coming later.

So this sort of begs the question, will Nintendo dual wield each of the franchises with games focusing on the classic gameplay and some moving forward as with Zelda? Seems so and I wonder what Nintendo franchise will be next? I'd love to see that treatment for Mario Kart and can think of many things i'd love to see in the next installment such as a Mario Maker style track creator.

Will Nintendo Remake All The Best of Gameboy Titles

Metroid: Samus Returns and now the Link's Awakening remake are strongly in the best-of Gameboy camp and I'm curious what Nintendo might be planning next? Frankly i'd prefer ports of Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess on Switch as Nintendo can only remake so many games at one time. That said, if we got a Six Golden coins or Wario remake i'd be totally in on that too.

Mario Maker 2 and Zelda: Link's Awakening Remake Announced in the Latest Nintendo Direct

I've been wanting a Mario Maker port on the Switch for a while now, but a sequel may be even better! Coming this June, Mario Maker 2 brings more features and more things to do, with each iteration of Mario as expected.

But the big surprise for me was. the Link's Awakening remake! The 1993 Gameboy masterpiece was my favorite Zelda game for quite some time, so I'm glad to see it reimagined. The art style is very charmingly cartoony, like everything's made out of plastic. We don't know much about any potential gameplay changes, and we know nothing about a release date yet, except it'll be in 2019. The little teaser at the end will have to hold you over.

In addition to... Read All

Cheerful Ghost Radio Episode 49 : Birds and Boxes and Bandersnatches, Oh My!

In this episode, we choose our own adventures while taking the Bird Box challenge in a Netflix double-feature review of Bird Box and Black Mirror: Bandersnatch!

Here Is 9 Minutes Of Rage 2 Gameplay That Will Blow Your Mind

Rage 2 is the AAA game that tops my anticipation list for 2019. I have a soft spot for iD Software games and was a fan of the original Rage so much so that Rage 2 will be a day one purchase. Rage wasn't the biggest hyped game when it came out and thoughts on it today aren't negative as much as fuzzy memory around it coming out entirely. All that said, I really enjoyed the shooter mechanics, think the game nailed driving around in your car, dug the wingstick and loved the co-op. A new nine minute gameplay trailer dropped today focusing on combat, driving and ... flying. Yeah, it seems that you can fly around in Rage 2 something I didn't know was coming and it looks... Read All Rage 2 is the AAA game that tops my anticipation list for 2019. I have a soft spot for iD Software games and was a fan of the original Rage so much so that Rage 2 will be a day one purchase. Rage wasn't the biggest hyped game when it came out and thoughts on it today aren't negative as much as fuzzy memory around it coming out entirely. All that said, I really enjoyed the shooter mechanics, think the game nailed driving around in your car, dug the wingstick and loved the co-op. A new nine minute gameplay trailer dropped today focusing on combat, driving and ... flying. Yeah, it seems that you can fly around in Rage 2 something I didn't know was coming and it looks quite fun.

Rage 2 Looks To Mix Up The Best Open World Games

I don't want to lose the fact that Rage 2 has some very deep callbacks to the original. The shooting sounds and looks like the original, the wasteland looks HEAVILY influenced by the original game with more of a bright neon focus making Rage 2 something fresh. The game really looks to take the best parts of Rage and turns it up to 11 while adding a whole slew of new stuff that makes Doom 2016 look tame.

It seems Avalanche studios has taken open world elements from the modern Far Cry and mixed it up here to produce something really fun. Some people have wondered how far Rage 2 gets to the Borderlands series and it looks from this gameplay likes it's nothing really obvious. Rage 2 has a bombast feel but it looks to pull more elements from Mad Max Fury Road than Borderlands. And frankly, if you're shooting for that post apocalypse wasteland feel you should be borrowing more from George Miller than 2K anyway.

I Am Excite

Not sure I can be more excited for Rage 2 but I am. One big aspect of fun for me with the original was Mutant Bash TV and I hope Rage 2 goes all in on that. There were only two Mutant Bash TV levels in Rage and one was tied up in DLC. Hopefully Rage 2 goes deeper here and Bethesda has stated they plan on dropping even more Rage 2 gameplay and I hope they focus on the ol' Mutant Bash. I know I did.

Riddles In The Dark

So this Gameplay footage is all crazy and great but it doesn't show the games HUD at all. I know that's a work in progress but it gives a bit more open feel than the actual game will have. iD isn't known for bad HUD's I just noticed it wasn't included and wondered what they might land on?

I also really wanted them to show a "(T)alk it out" option in gameplay where instead of punching people to human pulp you can sit down and calmly talk out a non-violent solution. The end of that might not be well but at least you could start things off with something a bit more diplomatic than a hello rocket blast to the face. Still, hello rocket blasts to the face can be fun in video games and watching people debate the merits of water rights might not make the most entertaining time.

The Future Of Cheerful Ghost - Our First Game Is Coming!

Travis and I have been working over the last two months and finally happy to announce that Cheerful Ghost is in development of it's first game! In 2018 we launched our games BBS featuring the best open source web games you can play as the first step in us getting to the point of creating our own games. Each of the games we launched on our BBS so far are single player games and we think that what makes Cheerful Ghost great is hanging out with other users so each game we create ourselves will be multiplayer at their core.

What Are You Making?

We're not quite ready to drop the full details of our upcoming game yet, but I do want to talk about a few things. Firstly, as I... Read All

The Future of Ray Tracing and Nvidia RTX In Quake 2

Nvidia focused heavily on its new ray tracing technology during its RTX showcase. When the technology is ubiquitous enough ray tracing will allow some incredibly impressive lighting that until now was limited to show floor demos and a render farm but recently someone modified Quake 2 to support ray tracing and the results are impressive and you can try right now(assuming you have an RTX video card). Since iD Software released the source for Quake, Quake 2, Quake 3, Doom, Doom 2, Doom 3, etc anyone can take that source and modify it and someone did to retrofit it to support Nvidia's new RTX tech. As always, Digital Foundry has an analysis video and if you are... Read All

The Playstation Classic Is Tried In the IUPG Courtroom

I think we were all very excited about the prospect of a Nintendo Classic styled Playstation that contained the best games of that era. When Sony dropped word that one was coming and that one launch title would be Final Fantasy VII the excitement was very palpable. As someone that missed the Playstation era of gaming I was excited to get one and learn what some of the best games from that system were. That said, when the final list of titles was released it was as if the air was let out of the fan excitement balloon and when the Playstation Classic dropped it didn't land well.

I've decided to not write about the Playstation Classic launch until now because I haven't... Read All