[Editorial] Guess what’s next on I ❤ Old Games! – 14/01/18

Hello guys,

Last week was not a particularly remarkable one regarding new games aquisitions (even though I managed to buy other two NES games 🙂 ) but I’ve finally had a lot of time to play.

Gaming-wise I decided to go back to Castlevania and Shadow Warriors, pardon, Ninja Gaiden and I’m stuck at a dead point in both of them. And guess where? Yes, at the end! In Ninja Gaiden I’ve defeated with great difficulty one of the most stupid boss ever created, the red balls shooting clown-nose. It took me forever to beat that bastard because I’m incredibly awful in jumping against and off the walls and when my timing is not perfect I end up falling against the pseudo-knight and escaping from him without losing almost all the HP is very hard. And then came the fuc***g Jacquio that is driving me crazy.

In Castlevania instead I’m stuck in the fight against the Count itself. The problem with this boss is that is not only the toughest (even though even the Grim Reaper took me a lo of tries before defeating him) but every hit drains like 4 HP. And giving the fact that it’s hard to dodge the fireballs he throws, losing a life is the easiest thing I can do.

Fortunately I’m playing these games on the NES Mini so I’ve had the opportunity to save the game before the bosses. Yes, it’s like cheating but before trying a “perfect run” I want to experience the whole game.

Another game I’ve started and completed (always saving sometimes) is Gradius, always on the NES Mini. It’s tougher then I expected, even though the brain at the end it’s one of the cheapest and most disappointing bosses I’ve ever met and this is another game in which without a save state function I would be dead in 30 seconds. No continue 😦 😦 😦

And then…I’ve thrown myself in one of the greatest challenges: beat Ghosts and Goblins. I have different versions of the game, the Master System version, the NES version and the NES Mini one (plus Super Ghouls and Ghosts on the SNES and SNES Mini, but this is all another game…) and I choose to play the latter one, not for the possibility to save the games, giving the fact that there are unlimited continues, but just because the NES Mini is always hooked up to my 40″ TV in the living room so it’s easier for me to play it. I decided I will count all the times I’ll die before completing the game and I’m more than sure it will be a three figures number…

No books or mags to read this week, since the last Retro Gamer has not arrived, but a few days ago my GF gave me a loving gift. It was our 5th anniversary (hurray to us 🙂 ) and we had a wonderful dinner out but when we came back home I’ve found on our bed a copy of the last Retro Game issue. It’s like the italian version of Retro Gamer and it comes out every two months. I’ve quickly checked it inside and it looks wonderful so I’ll probably make a subscription 🙂 This is one of the reasons why I love my GF 🙂

GAMES

• Europa Universalis IV
  Begun: November 16th, 2016
  Status: 60% completed, on hold
• Duke Nukem – Episode three: Trapped in the Future
  Begun: January 4th, 2017
  Status: 60% completed, on hold
• Super Mario Bros. 2 – The Lost Levels
  Begun: January 16th, 2017
  Status: 12% completed, on hold
• Castlevania
  Begun: January 24th, 2017
  Status: 83% completed
• Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker
  Begun: April 25th, 2017
  Status: 33% completed, on hold
• Probotector
  Begun: December 18th, 2017
  Status: 71% completed
• Streets of Rage (SMS)
  Begun: December 12th, 2017
  Status: 63% completed, on hold
• Shadow Warriors a.k.a. Ninja Gaiden
  Begun: January 7th, 2018
  Status: 95% completed
• Gradius
  Begun: January 9th, 2018
  Status: 100% complete on January 13th after 4 days
• Ghosts and Goblins (NES)
  Begun: January 12th, 2018
  Status: 10% completed

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