#video games are for everyone

[lowpolynpixelated]

So, you don't wanna play Nintendo games

As I'm sure a lot of you lovely folks out there have seen, Nintendo recently did its most recent act of evil by suing the dev team behind both the Citra and Yuzu emulators. While I won't get into how I feel about it as a fan of media archival work and a massively passionate fan of video game history, this is despicable to say the least. What I WILL do, is get straight to the point the title says! So, you don't wanna play Nintendo games? Well do I have some games for you! I've seen a few posts like this floating around, and I absolutely adored the concept of talking about niche/lesser known titles that get overshadowed in their genre by bigger names, such as Nintendo. As an avid player of weird and wonderful games throughout my life I think I've got some good ones that I've slotted into some neat categories below. I hope you enjoy this post! And I hope you take a new favourite away as well!

(Note: All of the games listed below are available to play on very easily accessible emulators.)

So, you like 3D platformers do ya?

-My first and foremost suggestion is always the woefully underappreciated game Taz Wanted.

This wacky platformer sees you in the role of the one and only Taz, or the Tazmanian Devil for long, from the Looney Toons property. The game revolves around you entering large colourful levels filled with goofy enemies and a lovely cell shaded art style to mimic that classic cartoon look. Within those levels your job is to find and destroy a certain number of wanted posters which can take the form of just about anything. From standing signs to blimps your goal is to solve various platforming challenges, puzzles, and minigames to destroy these posters and secure an item that will assist you in getting to the next hub world. With 4 worlds to explore and each world with 3 levels and a boss fight game at the end, I'm sure any fan of 3D platforming will have a blast.

-Next up is a package deal, the first of which is a 3D platformer predating Mario64! These games are none other than the Jumping Flash! games.

The two games play identically, and are both a seriously good time. Taking place entirely in first person you take up the mantle of intergalactic space hero robot Robbit tasked with collecting a certain number of items in large playground-like levels made with tons of verticality in mind. Why you may ask? Because much like the name suggests Robbit can JUMP. The game employs a fantastically implemented camera system which forces you to look down at Robbit's feet when you use your double/tripple jump, ensuring you can see where you're landing. On top of this, the game's level design feels like a never ending barrage of jungle gyms and challenging boss fights all set to a cartoonish story with bright poppy visuals, and not to mention a soundtrack of absolute bangers

Okay, but what about the Zelda fans?

-I assure you I haven't forgotten, and my first pick here is an all time favourite of mine ever since I played it when I was like, 8 years old. Sphinx and the cursed mummy is a 3D adventure action game where you play as both the titular Sphinx and the cursed pharaoh to be, Tutankhamen .

The game is heavily inspired by Egyptian mythology and sees you battling and puzzling your way through a world of mysteries and great evils lurking just beneath the surface. Exciting battles, puzzle platforming, monster collecting, and so so much more are all front and center in this game, and I really cannot recommend it enough to anyone who wants a different adventuring experience in their life.

-The second and last one in this category I PROMISE a lot of you have heard of but I really want to drive home just HOW GOOD it is. Okami stands tall as one of the best examples of non-Zelda 3D action adventuring.

Taking place in a GORGEOUSLY rendered fantasy rendition of classical Japan, the adventures of the sun goddess Amaterasu are yours to control. I really cannot stress HOW GOOD this game still looks today, even without the HD remasters its been given. The entire game is rendered in a cell-shaded art style reminiscent of classical Japanese paintings, giving the whole world a vibrant painted aesthetic that never EVER gets old. On top of this the game provides a truly unique combat and interaction system, seeing you use a paintbrush to paint your attacks and spells into reality. There isn't much I can say about this game that hasn't been said already, and it's certainly the least niche game on this list. Go give it a shot! You won't regret it.

So we did 3D platformers, but what about 2D?

-Fear not! I've got some solid suggestions for those too! Our first one here is another bundle of 2, those being the Klonoa games.

Klonoa: Door to Phantomile and its sequel, Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil, are two of the best 2D platformers I've ever played. Releasing on the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 respectively, these games utilize a 2.5D perspective to let you run back and forth through revolving dioramas of platforming goodness. With a cheery, almost circus-like soundtrack and an adorably charming artstyle to match, I have such fond memories of discovering these games for the first time. The 3D nature of the game's assets allow for some truly impressive setpieces and boss battles, along with the aforementioned circular scrolling you partake in. Bubbling and tossing enemies at each other never seems to get old, or using the same bubbled enemies to get just a little more height to reach a secret. Definitely give these ones a shot if you're a fan of fun 2D playgrounds.

-Here's a real weird one to cap this category off (and another two pack to boot!) Loco Roco 1 and 2 are a set of puzzle platformers with a bit of an unorthodox control scheme.

Coming out on the PSP these are some WILD experiences. In the games you control a horde of blobs that sing with childrens voices to some rather catchy tunes, and tilt the entire world around them with the left and right triggers to get them over under and anything in between, and then to the exit. Did I say you play as the blobs? I meant you play as THE PLANET the blobs are on! See what I mean? These games are absolutely a delightful time though. And with such poppy mid 2000s soundtracks I can't help but love them. The tilting gameplay is tough as nails to master, and getting through a level with all your little Rocos AND the collectibles is no easy task. Give these ones a look! Or at least listen to the soundtrack.

And at last we arrive at the one's I couldn't think of more for, or couldn't think of where to place.

The next two games are just rapid fire ones that are personal non-nintendo favourites of mine, covering a variety of genres.

Ribbit King is my favourite wacky sports game ever. You play Frolf instead of Golf, Frolf being Golf but with frogs, get it? Send your frog around the bright colourful stages to gather points and be the first one to sink your frog to get the full 1000 available from the hole. Alternatively go for a FROG-IN-ONE to get 1500,

Wipeout is a series of tough as nails futuristic hover-racing games a la F-Zero. The soundtracks boast an inumerable amount of Drum and Bass/Electronic jams and the gameplay is lightning fast and smooth as all hell. Not to mention the games are just SO stylish. I'd recommend Wipeout Pure on the PSP, but all of the PlayStation consoles before the PS3 have at least one Wipeout game. Highly recommend checking them out.

SO obviously I couldn't put EVERY game I'd recommend in one post. But I really do hope this list gives you something new to play. Gaming history is so monumentally important to me, and what happened to Citra and Yuzu is nothing short of a tragedy. Always remember folks, play new games! Play old games! Hack your old hardware! Pirate new software! EMULATION IS FREE, LEGAL, AND FOR EVERYONE!

[greelin]

i am so fucking bad at video games. but he’s in there. and i have to see him. I Have To

[blackkatdraws2]

[Toon x Mobster] A tender moment.

[Animation timelapse here!]

[AUDIO USED:] Chet Baker - Almost Blue Sound Effects edited by me!

[milkywayes]

badass weekly anniversary edition [prints]

[helpimstuckinafandom]

The fact that we got both Brennan and Lily's reactions in the same shot

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Dungeon Meshi: The RPG

[pengold]

Nacha Mikaelys, the "Chef"

.

Headcanon for Nacha is that her late husband was the right hand to the Irish mafia. She knew what he did, but as long as he was loyal to their family she did not care.

(( Also I based her off of Selena Quintanilla-Pérez))

[justanartistiguess]

Remember the whole BuzzFeed era?

Remember when everyone was leaving and made videos on it?

[junewild]

Watching Sam & Brennan talk about the beauty of frivolity, of adults playing silly games just as seriously as they fight to survive, and... yeah. There are some things that keep us alive, and there are some things that make life worth living, and I think games are one of those things that fall into both categories. Games make our lives better and they make us better at being alive. I think that's pretty cool.

[4rt1f1c14l]

stay warm! ❆⋆｡˚₊

[high-voltage-rat]

I think it's fascinating that the quotes:

"Have you forgotten sir, we were at war? A fight with an alien race for the very survival of our species. I feel I must remind you that it is an undeniable, and may I say fundamental quality of man, that when faced with extinction, every alternative is preferable."

"When you spend every day fighting a war, you to demonize your attackers. To you, they're evil, they're subhuman. Because if they weren't, what would that make you? What I'm trying to say... is I've been afraid to see you for what you really are. You're our brothers. Our sisters. And the things we've done to one another are unforgivable."

"These guys want to use us, take us away from our families, and send us all over the dad-gum galaxy just to test if their agents are ready for the big fight? Well... guess I'm interested in showin' em exactly what a big fight is all about! So I'm not ordering you to go. I ain't even asking. You do what you gotta do, Private."

came from the same series whose standard fare is lines like:

"What in the hell are you two doing?" / "We're being executed by our own men, sir." / "Cut it out."

"I only drink the blood of my enemies, and the occasional strawberry yoohoo."

"You always said I could sleep when I’m dead, Sarge, and guess what? I am dead. This purgatory is about to become purga-snore-y, yawn!"

...and both categories manage to be a poignant statement about the nature of war and what it does to the people in it.

[felassan]

[shit-talker]

The only way I can rationalise people accepting literal children going out and fighting crime as Robin is if they don't think Robin is a real child.

I think it would be fun to see how Bruce would use that to his advantage in protecting his kids. Like, if people think Robin isn't human, if they instead think he's a spirit or a ghost, they are less likely to shoot at him, less likely to try and physically attack Robin because they think it would be no use.

The fun part would be deciding HOW they would do this. I like to think that Robin's domino mask doesn't have a hole for his eyes but instead is glazed over so that he can see out of it, but you can't see in. Maybe they install small lights in it so it looks like his eyes glow in the dark, because can you image how fucking scary it would be to just see these two sentient light-like eyes and just know the Batman must be lurking somewhere close by?

Maybe Bruce installs super strong magnets in their gloves because on the chance that someone does pull a gun on his kid close range, it would be a lot easier for them to grab the gun away if they had the force of magnetism on their side. Also, grabbing onto poles and other metal materials would make all the scaling on tall buildings a little safer. Obviously, they'd need a way to turn it on and off, but still. Can you imagine, you're in a warehouse and there are steel frames fucking everywhere and you look up and suddenly there's a child gripping onto one effortlessly? Horrifying.

Maybe they have a voice box. Want to scare people? Play this really ominous recording of a child's laughter that echoes just a bit too loud to be normal. Play this ominous screaming that seems too silent to be real. Play this ticking that seems to never end that induces stress and increases the chance of them messing up.

What would be even funnier is keeping this act up with the Justice League and other teams.

Batman doesn't bring Robin to these meetings at the beginning because he sees no need to involve a preteen in such matters, but at some point the subject does come up and it's sort of like; So, Bats, what exactly is the kid? Like...is he yours?

And Bruce (paranoid as fuck) doesn't want to admit to these people that yes, Robin is my son because hello? That's gotta be his biggest weakness, he would do anything to keep that kid safe and fuck them if they ever tried to hurt him to get to Bruce.

So, he tells them that he's a spirit sent to haunt him and remind the city of it'd failures and the Justice League just... believe him?? Because this is Batman, and why would Batman ever lie about something so, frankly, strange? And it's not a huge deal, like they're a team comprised of metas and aliens and literal godesses, so what if the one normal human guy has a weird little ghost child? Who cares if he cares about it like it's a real boy? Maybe the baby spirit has rights, too!! They don't know!

So, when the JLA gets more popular and becomes an actual, legal part of the American government, they're required to list all of their members. And they class Batman as a human, because that's obvious but next to Robin, they don't really know what to say or how to ask Batman about it, ao they just put "Unknown Child Spirit - TBD"

And then just... never change it?

So, they don't question why a few years later Robin seems to look entirely different, or why after that he changes again, or why Robin is suddenly a girl for a while before going back to a little boy. That's obviously just some weird spirit thing they don't understand, and it's not like Batman is going to explain it!

[kinokoshoujoart]

Marrying Carter in Harvest Moon DS Cute! (North American version)

oh… sorry no not the archaeologist, i mean Pastor Carter from Mineral Town!

(or is it Pastor Curdy….?)

teeechnically his descendant, and it causes a game over… but this is the only time we’ve been able to marry him right?

so in the girl version of HMDS, there’s two “secret” Mineral Town bachelors that you can marry by talking to them enough times on the phone. one is Mason, the guy who runs May’s Tailoring… but the second, Pastor Carter, is a bit more obscure…

i couldn’t find them uploaded anywhere so here are his 2nd* thru 10th conversations+his proposal+proposal rejection in english! if you want to see it on youtube instead here you go

*i failed to record the first conversation when it happened, and there’s no way in hell i’m resetting my whole game again (…yet), so…just know the first one was like “oh you want to talk? what should we talk about…….. …… ….. …. i can’t think of anything. well see ya………” extremely riveting stuff

he’s so obscure that i didn’t even realize that he was a bachelor until i found out about the mechanic from this japanese wiki!! (here’s an archive link to the page on him in case the page doesn’t work) all i did was test whether it worked in english since i couldn’t find any english info at all mentioning it. i’m sure others have found him… right……..

in case the links above don’t work, a small guide to holy matrimony below the cut since i can’t find one in english

it works essentially the same as the Mason marriage (so it’s just a game over, sadly…), and the steps are pretty tedious and counterintuitive, so you’re unlikely to just stumble across it… but you too can get a priest to break his vow of celibacy for you or whatever!

you will need:

at least 2,050,000 G

20 cursed tools/accessories

if you really don’t want to dig up 20 cursed things you can substitute 100x “remove a cursed tool/accessory” for blessing a cursed tool…

but, including all the cursed tools and accessories, there’s only 16… which means you will need to go dig up 4 duplicate cursed accessories using this method! yay!!! extremely pointless since you can’t sell blessed accessories until after marriage in DS for girl (at which point you can’t trigger pastor carter’s proposal)

you unlock a conversation with cardi when you spend at least 205,000 G. which means the quickest thing to do is to order removal of a cursed item five times, then bless 2 cursed items.

**be careful when blessing accessories to only equip one at a time!!! if you equip a stack of duplicate accessories, blessing that stack destroys the duplicates!!!! :( so just take 1 out of the stack and equip it!!!**

you also can’t unlock more conversations until you’ve seen the one you unlocked, so like even if you spend a million G you’ll just unlock one conversation, and you’ll need to finish that conversation and then spend 205,000 G to unlock the next one…yeah….

on the tenth conversation he abruptly reveals that he’s fallen in love with you and asks you to marry him! it ends your game, but….! on the bright side, it ends your game!!! you’re finally free from Hell Simulator!!!!

[pengold]

Arnold Schmicht, the "writer"

.

Headcannon is that he used to work for the Rudboys family (the Irish mob is now the Rudboys family, so everyone I said worked for the Irish mob is now Rudboy mob). He was one of the head enforcers but got severely injured the night of the police attack. Now he is "retired" and writes crime mystery novels that totally aren't just true stories from his life.

[raccoonscity]

Games Played in 2023: Oxenfree (2016), Night School Studio