PixlBit

Step 1: Talk about video games. Step 2: ??? Step 3: Profit!

Hey there, folks. Julian here. So, I've been going through a lot of personal stuff for the past, oh, year or so, and it's starting to come to a head. What that means for you is we don't have a topic this week because I was too frazzled to come up with one. However, my  pain may become your pleasure, because somehow we managed to have a two hour show with a ton of different little discussions that turned out pretty well.

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Thunder rumbles on the Genesis.

If there was one thing that Techno Soft did very well in the 16-bit days, it was shoot ‘em ups.  It all started when they created Thunder Force in 1984. It was released on the NEC PC-8801 and several other Japanese home computers at the time, but never saw the light of day in the US.  The game featured an overhead free-roaming viewpoint and the goal was to destroy the enemy’s shield generators, using your main shot for air targets and the bomb shot for ground targets in each stage. While it’s tough to gauge the game’s popularity from back then, it apparently did well enough to warrant a sequel. Thunder Force II was released four years later for the Sega Genesis in 1989, making it the very first shoot ‘em up on the system.

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Takin’ it back to the old school ('cause I'm an old fool).

As an SNES kid, there’s a sizable selection of Genesis classics that I’ve never had the opportunity to play. With the exception of the first game, the Shinobi series unfortunately falls into that category. However, thanks to Sega’s recent efforts to 3D-ify some of their classic Genesis titles, I’ve finally been able to give Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master a shot. I’m happy to report that not only is this title still fantastic today, but that M2 has done a phenomenal job in bringing this game to the 3DS.

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Winners in our hearts.

Voting is a funny thing. It’s hard to argue with addition, but there are plenty of instances where some of the staff thought a title or two got overlooked. Even though our GOTY 2013 article used some inarguable mathematics to come to the PixlBit staff’s consensus opinion, some of us thought there were games that should have gotten a few more votes. To highlight some of the games that each of us took a particular shine to in 2013, we present our staff’s personal picks that didn’t make the cut. 

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