Newbie Guides: Retropie Complete Setup and Tutorial

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 12/02/2021
Posted in: Blogs, Newbie Guides, Retro Consoles. Leave a comment

Well, I guess someone had to do it right? There isn’t a single Retropie setup for Raspberry Pis on the internet that I could find. After setting up my Picade I spent three weeks tweaking, adjusting, fiddling, troubleshooting, and overall just learning the ins and outs of Retropie and Retroarch. It’s a fantastic and powerful emulator software but needs to be fiddled with so much that most casual users will give up. You finally have a Pi and an enclosure or some sort of cabinet for it and no idea on how to make it look nice or even get games to work.

Getting Retropie Up and Running

Let’s start with something simple and that’s just getting the thing up and running. You will need to burn an image to an SD card to get started and I highly recommend just using a Pi 4 as this guide will cover that Pi, but older ones are fine too.

First, you’re going to download the Retropie Imager

Choose the version of Retropie that matches the Pi you’re using and then select your storage and click write. That’s it! You now have the basic Retropie install ready to go. Slot it into your Pi and start it up.

When you startup Retropie you will need to set your controls. If you have a cabinet built around the Pi set your controls as you want and hold down any button you want to skip. If you’re using a controller I suggest picking the main controller and sticking with that one as Retroarch will map EVERY emulator to these controls.

After this, you will need to have the correct keyboard layout for your country. To do this go into RetroPie>Raspi-Config.

For the US layouts change the keyboard to “Generic 105 key” layout and the rest their default options when prompted.

Setup Wifi and SSH

The best and fastest way to get ROMs and files onto your Pi is to set up the Wifi and SSH into it. We can’t do anything without these two things set up first. You can also alternatively use an ethernet cable, which is recommended, but if you have an arcade enclosure or are far away from your router then this may not be an option. Once you have set up your control go into Retropie>Wifi. I highly recommend getting a wireless USB keyboard for this stuff as the “DOS” menus of Retropie are easier to navigate with a keyboard. I use this one as I can leave the dongle inside my Picade and the keyboard has very long battery life. It also has a great layout and nice buttons. You also won’t be typing more than a few buttons prompts or short commands so you don’t need anything full size for typing novels. Rii Mini Wireless Keyboard

Once you’re in you can scan for an SSID and type in your password. And yes, I looked it up, there’s no way to see the characters in your password which is super annoying if you have a complicated password. You should see SSIDs, this one is blank for privacy reasons. Once you’re connected write down your IP address as you will need it next.

Setting up SSH on your Windows 10 PC (I’m not sure how to do it for Mac) is fairly easy. I highly recommend using WinSCP as it’s just easier and more reliable and has Windows built-in FTP stuff. Once you have it installed you need to enter your IP address from the previous screen and the username and password is always pi and raspberry by default. You can change these if you want, but…who wants to hack into your Pi? Yeah, no one.

You should now see a screen like this. Always remember that in the <root> menu that <home> is your main folder if you get lost. Inside go to RetroPie and the <roms> and <bios> folders are what you’re going to use the most.

You also need to enable hidden files by going to Options>Preferences>Panels>show hidden files

Update RetroPie and Firmware

You should upgrade your firmware if you haven’t already. If you installed a Picade you have probably already done this step, but you need to step down into a command line by pressing F4 on your keyboard and type in:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get upgrade

you can then type

reboot

At this point, I recommend updating Retropie by going into the Retropie>Retropie Setup in EmulationStation. Then select Update RetroPie Script and once that’s done you can select Update.

Now we’re ready to add BIOS files and ROMs

Getting ROMs Working

Before we make Retropie look fancy we want to get games working first. I can’t link where to download them, but for Arcade MAME ROMs you can go to archive.org and get romsets. Now, I need to take some time and explain MAME and how it works as it’s very confusing and most people have trouble getting MAME up and running.

MAME is not like other video game consoles in which you can download any ROM and stick it in the folder and it plays. MAME requires the correct romset version/year for the MAME emulator you’re using. For Retropie you will mostly use mame2003plus, mame2010, and FinalBurnNeo. You must only use the romset that matches the emulator version. This is such a hard thing to find online as there are a million answers. If you go to archive.org and search for “mame2003plus romset” you should find an entire archive of them. This is also important because some ROMs only work with certain emulators and you need to have the right romset. You can’t just download an entire 120GB file and drag them all in your ROMs folder and hope they work. Now the confusing part is getting distracted by the three main emulators. Don’t worry about this. I will link a Google spreadsheet of every MAME game (or most of them) that works and for what emulator to use them with. I highly recommend searching inside the document under each emulator tab at the bottom for the game you want. Search within mame2003plus first as you want this to be your default core. Any other games needing specific emulator changes can be changed individually.

Here is the Google Doc

This is also mainly for a Pi3b+, so anything that says it lags will most likely run on a Pi 4 just fine. Remember, there are some popular games that just do not run on a Pi 4 and that includes Killer Instinct and some Cave 1K games. Modern fighters like Tekken 3-6 will not run. This also includes certain Sega games that use the Naomi or Atomiswave boards for Dead or Alive and Crazy Taxi for example. The Pi 4 just isn’t powerful enough for these so don’t even bother.

There are also some games that require CHD files which are hard disk images that are needed to run alongside the ROM itself. You will probably not find any games that require these as most are too advanced to run on a Pi 4 anyways, so you can mostly ignore this.

For games like Metal Slug, you need the neogeo.zip BIOS file in the ROMs and BIOS folder. For games like Demon Front, you need the pgm.zip BIOS in both folders as well. I can’t link BIOS files, but Google search “neogeo.zip for mame” and something will come up.

For other consoles, I highly recommend reading the official Retropie help docs and under each emulator, it will tell you if a BIOS is needed, what format each emulator can read files in, and other settings. I also recommend compressing your CD images into CHD files as most disc-based emulators can read these and it saves space. The official docs have links to CHDMan and how to use it. There are places to download already made CHD files for systems like PlayStation. r/roms on Reddit is a good place to start.

Whenever you SSH ROMs over to your Pi you need to restart EmulationStation which is your GUI for Retropie. You can press Start>Quit>Restart ES and your ROMs should appear under the correct consoles if you put them into the correct folders.

Scraping

This is a weird term that most people don’t know, but it means downloading all the images and metadata you need for each game to make your Pi experience look presentable. A blank screen with game names just isn’t very appealing. You also want a nice ES theme to complement these scrapes, but we’ll get into that later. Don’t ever use the built-in scraper inside ES as it’s crap. You want video snapshots, wheels, and even marquees, but it’s a bit complicated and you will need your trusty keyboard for this one.

We are going to press F4 on the keyboard and type in the following:

sudo ~/RetroPie-Setup/retropie_setup.sh

Quick tip. If you press the up arrow in the command line screen the Pi remembers all the commands you type in. This is a quick shortcut when needing to get the scraping section faster or any other command you’ve used.

Navigate to Manage Packages>Manage optional packages>scroll down to the bottom and install the skyscraper package.

For this scraper to work correctly you will need to go to screenscaper.fr and create an account. You then need to enter the credentials in the skyscraper .ini file using WinSCP. Optionally you can edit the .ini file on your Pi by going into “Advanced options” in the skyscraper menu and editing the config file there. Pressing Ctrl+X will allow you to save the changes.

Navigate to the following location in WinSCP

/home/USER/.skyscraper/config.ini

Then enter the following at the bottom

[screenscraper]
userCreds="USER:PASSWORD"

Replacing USER:PASSWORD with your credentials.

Once this is done, navigate back to the skyscraper menu. Under option 5 “generate options” make sure ROM Names is Source Name, Remove Bracket info is enabled and the last option is disabled. Make sure “Download videos” is enabled.

Under option 3 “Cache options” make sure screenshots, cover, wheels, scrape only missing are enabled. The rest should be disabled.

Once this is done you need to go under option 1 “Gather resources” and press space to select the systems you want. After this is done let the scraper do its thing. Depending on how many ROMs you have this could take a while.

After this is down you need to generate the lists! They won’t show up in ES otherwise. Go down to option 4 “generate game lists” and select the systems you just scraped and continue.

You’re done scraping! After this backup, until you see the reboot option.

Customization EmulationStation

Themes

This is an important one and probably one of the most important visual changes you can make to make your Pi look unique. I suggest looking at a list of the official ES themes here or a video preview of them all here. Navigate to the ES Themes under the Retropie menu and select “View or update theme gallery” and then “Update theme gallery”.

Once you have the theme you want installed press the select button on your controller and go to UI Settings>Theme Set. It should change instantly. This is when you should check your scrapes. If you have a theme that plays videos you should see them playing when you highlight them. Some videos may not play and you may need to change to the OMX Player by going into the settings again and “Other Settings” and turning it on. If this still doesn’t work some videos may need to be re-encoded. Don’t bother doing this until you have all the games you want on your Pi and are happy as every time you scrape you will need to replace/re-encode all of the videos again.

Splash Videos

Splash videos are videos that play while Retropie is booting up. You will want to disable startup text and the length of the video will depend on how many games you have installed. Videos can range from around 12 seconds to a minute. These videos cover up anything on the screen so it looks cleaner when starting up.

To disable on-screen text that you see during the start-up phase you can do so by dropping down into the command prompt with F4

sudo nano /boot/config.txt

go to the very end and add this line

disable_splash=1

These videos are usually in .mp4 format and can be ripped from YouTube videos and dropped into

/home/pi/RetroPie/splashscreens/video/yourvideo.mp4

Here’s a link to an entire playlist of professionally made splash screen videos

Properly Encoding Troublesome Videos

If you have scraped videos for your theme and some aren’t playing at all or have no sound or video then you might need to re-encode them. SSH into your Pi and navigate to

/opt/retropie/configs/all/emulationstation/downloaded_images

There should be video folders within each system folder. Download and install Handbrake. Under preferences change the output file name format to just “{source}” as you want the file names to stay the same. You don’t want to go renaming possibly dozens, or even hundreds, of videos by hand. You can also batch convert these files, but make sure they convert into .mp4 files. Once this is done you can just overwrite the files in each system folder.

Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 11/17/2021
Posted in: Mac, Nintendo Consoles, PC Reviews, Switch. Leave a comment

Publisher: Graffiti Games

Developer: Snoozy Kazoo

Release Date: 04/22/2021 – 11/12/2021 (Physical)

Rating: Everyone 10+

MSRP: $19.99 ($24.99 Physical)

Also Available On

The title is very intriguing and unlike most game titles. Another game title based on a crime, Grand Theft Auto, is the single biggest video game franchise in history, so how does a white-collar crime-based game compare? Well, there are no data sheets or graphing in this game, but this is a 2D isometric Zelda clone where you are trying to stop a corrupt onion mayor from pushing his greed onto the vegetable people.

The game starts out with a short opening of you, Turnip Boy, who hasn’t paid the property tax of his greenhouse and owes a lot of money to the money. He is wanted for tax evasion and must work off the debt by helping the mayor collect four items for an unknown reason. These four items make up the entirety of the game as well as four small dungeons. There is a small world to explore with collectible hats that can be obtained by helping veggies around the area. Each dungeon contains a final boss and an item the mayor needs.

Wandering around the village is easy enough and memorable thanks to landmarks and great level design. There are signposts that guide you to the general areas and the mayor will tell you what area you need to be in. There are plenty of NPCs to talk to that provide fairly funny dialog. Nothing that will make you cry, but some funny tidbits and real-world references from the last 5 years. You start the game out with nothing and eventually acquire a sword and a watering can. The can is used more than the sword, but mostly for puzzle solving. You can make green lilies grow and this activates bombs, melons, and various other items. You also get a portal pot that plants portals (a call back to Portal with the orange and blue colors) and an upgraded shovel sword (maybe a nod to Shovel Knight?) There are a few passive things you acquire like a hazmat suit, boots to kick blocks, and a few others. These are all recovered relatively quickly. Each dungeon takes maybe 30 minutes to complete and that includes getting to the dungeon itself. Boss fights are the hardest thing in the game and that’s not saying much. The combat is really easy and similar to older Zelda games, but there aren’t as many enemy types and their movements don’t vary much. There’s very little challenge in this game.

Bosses usually require you to use the last acquired item to beat it, just like in Zelda games, and then you get a heart and move on. Once you give the mayor his item he sends you onto your next quest. Inside these dungeons, you can help other NPCs and acquire hats or smaller passive items like keys to get further inside. I never really got lost anywhere and I thought exploring the game was rather fun. Sadly, due to the combat being so easy and the game so short, about 2-3 hours run time even if you do side quests, it’s no more than a short afternoon gaming affair. There’s nothing quite memorable about this game either other than the title itself and the art style which is beautiful and well done. It’s a mix of 16-bit visuals and modern cartoon art. The music is fantastic as well, but there’s just not enough of all of this. Turnip Boy’s dungeons are fun and well laid out, but they’re very short and I feel there’s so much more potential here, but it’s all cut short right when you feel the game is getting deeper.

There is a free DLC update that adds a rogue-lite train dungeon with a final boss, but if you aren’t fond of the combat you won’t care here. Unless you really want to spend several hours swinging your sword at stiff baddies then the final game will be enough. There are a few more objectives to complete and more hats to collect, but the main game isn’t long enough to make you love this game enough to want to spend more time in its world. What’s here is a ton of fun and it’s a visual and comical treat, but it feels more like a sample of what a longer game could be. The puzzles are solid, the gameplay mechanics are great, the combat is simple, but works, and there’s tons of humor here. It’s a fun time and worth a purchase, but don’t expect anything groundbreaking.

Complete PS2 Games Under $20 in 2021

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 11/14/2021
Posted in: PlayStation 2, Retro Consoles, Sony. Leave a comment

The PlayStation 2 is not just the best selling video game console of all time, but has some of the most iconic and memorable games of all time. While the PS2 had massive third-party support is had many great exclusives and first party games. While most multiplatform games played and looked best on the Xbox I won’t cover the game I covered over on that article. You can basically check that one out and play the PS2 versions if you want and/or don’t have an Xbox. Check out that article here.

The PS2 was a major part of my childhood. It’s the system that made me a hardcore gamer. I read the Official PlayStation Magazine religiously and I owned three different systems thanks to the disc read error on the early phat models. I got the network adapter when the price dropped with SOCOM being my first ever online console game. This system is amazing and has so many fantastic games, but also has some expensive games. Most survival horror games won’t be on this list or obscure Japanese made titles. The survival horror genre is highly coveted by the niche fans it garners and I am actually one of them.

The PS2 may be the least powerful system of the three consoles but some developers really made miracles on this console. Some games just look downright amazing on here, and while no where near what the Xbox could do, it still managed some lookers. These are games that are in my personal collection, as per the usual, and you can get for under $20.

Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War – Namco – 2004

The Ace Combat series was a PlayStation exclusive for over a decade and this was the last in the series and went out with a bang. Every game was fantastic, but this one looked the best and played the best. There is a whopping 32 missions and a ton of jets and weapons to unlock. If you love air combat games this is the best it got in this generation.

Call of Duty: Legacy Bundle – Spark Unlimited/Treyarch/Activision – 2007

This was a VERY late release for the system, but it contains both Finest Hour and Big Red One. Both were console exclusive Call of Duty games. I played a ton of Finest Hour as it was a present I received for Christmas the year it came out. I also played the online mode a ton. It’s not very good today, but Big Red One is much better. If you hate WWII shooters then skip this as these were at the steep descent of the genre.

Cold Winter – Swordfish Studios/Vivendi Universal – 2005

This is a Cold War spy FPS, and one of the few exclusives to PS2, and it plays surprisingly well. It was a flop, but it had fun online multiplayer at the time and was released towards the end of the system’s life. All of the FPS games that were multiplatform were better on Xbox, but we at least got something decent.

Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore – Tecmo – 2000

This was a launch title for the system and while the Xbox got a better upgraded version, this one plays very well even if you don’t have an Xbox. The game has a better tag mode and added stages and characters. It’s an early fighter so it feels a bit dated, but it’s still a lot of fun for the low price.

Devil May Cry – Capcom – 2001

This was an early entry and one of the first smash hits for the system. This game was created by the Resident Evil and Platinum Games superstars Hideki Kamiya and Shinji Mikami. It was to prove that fast paced 2D action can be done in 3D and it worked. It’s one of the biggest gaming franchises ever created. While the HD versions are the best way to play now, this version still holds up today.

Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening – Special Edition – Capcom – 2006

This was released at the end of the PS2’s life, but it went out with a bang, and the Special Edition is superior as it adds a lot of content. You can play as Virgil and Nelo, there’s harder difficulties, a new style and weapon, and a lot more. This game also released for $20 under the Greatest Hits banner and that’s when I picked this up. Sure, the next-generation of consoles were almost here, but DMC3 was still fantastic.

Downhill Domination – Incog Inc./SCEA – 2003

This was a sleeper hit. A downhill bicycle riding game was a weird niche at the time, but the game is a ton of fun and has a great sense of speed. The fun is in the physics and the course design. Jumps, bumps, steep hills, and of course you can knock opponents off their bikes. It’s cheap and a blast to play.

Final Fantasy X – Square – 2001

This was one of the first major hits for the system and even I rented this from Blockbuster when I got my PS2. The game had amazing graphics and was the first ever JRPG I finished. The characters are memorable, it has a great battle system, and the story is actually quite good. I just hated the math game known as Blitz Ball and getting the weapons can be a real chore, but this was re-released in HD on newer systems, so unless you want to play on those this version is pointless.

Final Fantasy X-2 – Square/Square Enix – 2003

This was the first time a Final Fantasy game ever got a direct sequel and it was a huge deal. Some even say this game is superior to X. I do prefer the combat here as it feels faster paced and the game is a bit easier. It features two new characters along with Yuna who become series icons and looks even better this time around. Again, this was also released in HD so those versions are better. My copy is actually the one I gave to my sister for her 14th birthday, but as an adult she grew out of gaming and gave the copy back to me. It’s nice to have it in my collection.

Final Fantasy XII – Square Enix – 2006

This was released just around when the PS3 and Wii launched and despite the late release, and one of the last exclusives for the system, it was a big hit. It featured the same world and art of Final Fantasy XI Online and featured a more real-time combat system, but had great characters and story. The game has been remastered for newer systems so this version is mostly irrelevant now. The copy I have was given to my youngest sister for Christmas in 2007 and she gave it back to me due to her not being interested in retro games anymore. It’s also nice to have that in my collection too.

Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec – Polyphony Digital/SCEA – 2001

This didn’t quite make the launch of the PS2, but boy did I put dozens of hours into this game. It’s still the best game in the series and holds up amazingly well today. One day I plan to play this again and finish every event. This game also showed what the PS2 could do visually and was ahead of its time for the longest time. Racing sims on PC couldn’t even match this game at the time.

Gran Turismo 4 – Polyphony Digital/SCEA – 2004

This game seemed to have taken forever to release, and while not as good as GT3, it still holds up very well today. This issues were with the physics model and quality being all over the place. It’s still a lot of fun with a racing wheel if you can find one. This game pushed the PS2 to its limits and was surpassed by the superior Forza Motorsport a year later.

Headhunter – Amuze AB/Acclaim – 2002

This is a port from the Dreamcast with upgraded visuals. You play as a cop who is head hunting criminals have a variety of moves and weapons at your disposal. It didn’t sell all that well, and feels dated, but a lot of fun as it was kind of unique for its time.

Hot Shots Golf 3 – Clap Hanz/SCEA – 2002

This is one of the best golf games on the system. While it’s not a realistic simulator, it has cartoon visuals and the ball physics are quite good. The game isn’t restrained by licenses or real world courses and equipment. You can level up and buy new equipment and items for your characters. It’s really fun and if you love golf games this is a must have.

ICO – Team Ico/SCEA – 2001

This is one of the most unique games of this generation. Despite the terrible cover art the West got this is a treat to behold on the system. It used to command high prices before the HD version was released as well. While that version is better you have to experience this on the hardware it was designed for. It pushes the PS2 to its limits, but also isn’t much more than a concept or tech demo. It’s very short and most people didn’t get the game at all thus the low sales. It was originally developed on PS1, but the hardware couldn’t do what the team wanted.

Jak II – Naughty Dog/SCEA – 2003

I played the hell out of this game from Blockbuster when it was released. It was like a cartoony GTA. Well, the game isn’t as good as I remembered and it’s been released in HD since, but this was a huge deal on PS2 and was good for its time.

Jak 3 – Naughty Dog/SCEA – 2004

This game didn’t do as well as Jak II despite improving on it in every way. It had a lot of ‘tude compared to the original’s light heartedness. The game ditches the open area levels for more straight forward platforming and shooting combat. I never really cared too much for the Jak series, but it’s still good nonetheless.

Jak X: Combat Racing – Naughty Dog/SCEA – 2005

This was released late in the system’s life, but was a damn good car combat game. I actually only own all of these Jak games because my youngest sister gave them to me a while ago after realizing she just isn’t into retro gaming. She treasures the memories but doesn’t have the tech or knowledge to get the systems running on modern TVs correctly. They have a special place in my collection. I also don’t own the original game as it was one of the few Sony games that just didn’t appeal to me. I still don’t care much for this series, but I don’t hate them.

Killzone – Guerrilla/SCEA – 2004

I remember following this game in magazines as it was dubbed the “Halo Killer” and of course that never happened. It was panned by critics as pushing the system too hard and being slow and cumbersome. I got this for Christmas of 2004 and loved it to death. I replayed the campaign a few times and thought the weight and slow reloading of the weapons felt good for once. It did have a lot of slowdown, but also looked good despite being very gray and brown. The game is better played on PS3 on the Killzone Trilogy which puts the game in HD.

Kim Possible: What’s the Switch? – Artificial Mind & Movement/Buena Vista Games – 2006

This was released at the end of the system’s life, but it’s a hidden gem through and through. Even if you don’t like Kim Possible this is a fantastic platformer that’s incredibly underrated and overlooked.

Kinetica – SCE Studio Santa Monica/SCEA – 2001

This is an awesome cycle racing game that is often overlooked. You drive humanoid cycle at a great sense of speed and can do some insane stunts. The tracks are crazy, the game looks great for being an early title, and the animations are awesome. If you like Wipeout you will like this game.

The King of Fighters 2006 – SNK Playmore – 2006

A late release for the system The King of Fighters went full 3D with a whopping 38 character cast and dozens of costumes to unlock. It doesn’t feel as fast as the 2D game, but it looks halfway decent and plays well. It’s a fun PS2 exclusive fighter especially with an arcade stick.

The King of Fighters XI – SNK Playmore – 2007

Released long after the next generation of consoles had arrived almost no one talked about this game. This game stuck to the traditional 2D sprites and is a great fighting game. An arcade stick is recommended here as well. If you’re short on PS2 fighters this is one of the best.

Kingdom Hearts II – Square Enix – 2006

Released towards the end of the PS2’s life it went out with a bang with the juggernaut that was KH2. I rented this game from Gameplay the week it came out and it was the only game I ever cried at the end for. Not to mention the theme song by Utada Hikaru is still on my playlist to this day. It’s a fantastic action RPG and yes it has been released in HD on newer consoles, but the PS2 version plays just fine even today.

The Mark of Kri – SCE Studio San Diego/SCEA – 2002

This was a stylish action adventure game with some stealth elements and it wasn’t half bad. It’s full of cheap deaths and can be really hard, but it looks and plays great even to this day. Sadly, there was no sequel, but I hope Sony digs this up again at some point.

Maximo: Ghosts to Glory – Capcom – 2002

This is essentially a 3D Ghosts ‘N Ghouls. It has a fun art style, challenging gameplay, and is just a lot of fun all around. You can collect coins to continue the game and his armor is reduced as you take each hit. It’s a pretty unique game in its own right and deserves to be revisited.

Micro Machines V4 – Supersonic Software/Codemasters – 2006

This is a fantastic top down racer with a great sense of speed and control. You can get power-ups, race through houses and other areas that make you look very small. You can even design your own tracks and it was one of the few PS2 games that interacted with the PSP.

Midway Arcade Treasures 2 – Digital Eclipse Software/Midway – 2004

This is one of the best classic compilations of this generation. This game sold so well because MK2 and 3 were included. You also get Smash TV, Rampage, Narc, and many other Midway classics here.

Outlaw Golf 2 – Hypnotix/Global Star Software – 2004

This does play and look better on Xbox, but I have it on PS2. It’s another raunchy sex infused sports game from the Outlaw series, but it’s actually quite good. The humor is dated, but I still got a few laughs from it.

Outlaw Tennis – Hypnotix/Global Star Software – 2005

Again, I own it on PS2, but it’s better on Xbox. Another crazy sports game with boobs and fart jokes. You can play in volcanos, beaches, and even space. This game features all the characters from previous Outlaw games so it has a lot of content.

Primal – SCE Studio Cambridge/SCEA – 2003

This is essentially a Tomb Raider clone but more fantastical. You solve puzzles, jump around, attack things, and it feels a bit clunky, but has a long run time and a somewhat interesting story and characters. It wasn’t a big seller though.

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within – Ubisoft – 2004

It plays and looks better on Xbox, but I don’t have it on that system. This is my favorite PoP game because of the dark and gory tone and the heavy metal music. A lot of people got mad due to the shift in tone, but I think it was brave and needs to be done more. It’s a huge improvement over the first game and even has a scantily clad antagonist that was plastered all over magazines in the day.

Project Eden – Core Design/Eidos – 2001

An early game for the PS2, Project Eden was created by the Tomb Raider team and was a third person shooter with puzzle solving. It didn’t sell well and I always confused this game with Deus Ex. It’s a lot of fun despite feeling a bit dated and you will be entertained for quite awhile.

R: Racing Evolution – Namco – 2003

This plays and looks better on Xbox, but I have it on PS2. This is a racing sim featuring a surprisingly entertaining story of a busty Japanese girl trying to make it in the racing scene. The busty girl was supposed to be a huge selling point, but the game didn’t do to well. It’s still a great racing game.

Ratchet & Clank – Insomniac Games/SCEA – 2002

This was a game my youngest sister was obsessed with growing up. I liked it to and it was Sony’s more popular mascot platformer over Jak & Daxter. The series was praised for it’s clever humor, memorable characters, and signature guns with awesome alt fire modes. This game was remade for PS4 and is probably the best version to get as well as released in HD a few years back. The first game always feels dated and clunky, but it’s still a good game.

Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando – Insomniac Games/SCEA – 2003

This game was a huge improvement over the first game and was praised by critics from all corners. More levels, bigger weapons, better graphics, more gadgets. The game also retains the great humor and adds new characters. The HD version is probably the way to go but it holds up on the PS2 well.

Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal – Insomniac Games/SCEA – 2004

Yes, by the third game it was starting to get a little old, but series wouldn’t stop evolving and adding quality content in form of weapons, levels, characters, and advancing the story. This was a rare case in which each sequel was better than the last and not worse. It was released in HD as well so you should play that, but the PS2 version is outstanding. Probably the best game in the trilogy.

Ratchet: Deadlocked – Insomniac Games/SCEA – 2005

Released towards the end of the PS2 life Deadlocked was the only game never released in HD and this is where things started heading downhill. The game isn’t bad at all, but it focuses more on the shooting and less platforming. The game has a lot of combat arenas and is more serious and darker in tone. Clank is also not in this game outside of voice overs which irked many gamers.

Resident Evil 4 – Capcom – 2005

Released a year after the GameCube version, and pissing many GameCube owners off, the PS2 got more content. While you can play better versions of this today, the PS2 version is still solid and well worth a play through if you don’t care about visual upgrades (they’re pretty minor). Or you can hold off for the official remake. My sister pre-ordered this in excitement and after getting scared during the first level before entering the village she turned it off and gave it to me straight up. She actually got the Premium Edition that included some extras and commands a much higher price than the standard version.

Resident Evil: Code: Veronica X – Capcom – 2001

This was a port of the Dreamcast game and was released to much acclaim. The enhanced visuals and new cut-scenes are a nice tough, but it’s just a great classic Resident Evil game. Some even say this is their favorite over Resident Evil 2. This is by far the best version of the game and should actually get a remake too.

Rogue Galaxy – Level-5/SCEA – 2005

An underrated JRPG Level-5 would later go on to make Dragon Quest VIII and Ni no Kuni. This is a fun JRPG with a sci-fi background and allows synthesizing maxed out weapons to help break up the traditional JRPG formula. It’s got a nice story and if you love classic JRPGs from this era you will love this one.

Rygar: The Legendary Adventure – Tecmo – 2002

This is a sword and sandal adventure game with platforming and puzzle solving. It’s not super memorable, but it’s fun and has a decent story and worth checking out for the low price.

SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs – Zipper Interactive/SCEA – 2002

This was one of the first major first party shooters Sony was able to get right. This game was a huge phenomenon and one of the first major shooters that went online. In fact, this was the first console game I ever played online and I put dozens and dozens of hours into this game. It was an absolute blast, and while it feels dated, it’s worth going back and playing through the campaign.

SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs – Zipper Interactive/SCEA – 2003

This one had a much improved online component, but issues form the first game’s campaign remained, however it’s still a great tactical shooter despite it’s age.

SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy SEALs – Zipper Interactive/SCEA – 2005

The sad thing about these games is their online component were its strong suite and the servers are long gone. The campaigns just warmed you up for what to expect, but SOCOM 3 added vehicles to the game with improved visuals, controls, and overhaul of systems. It’s the best in the series, but if you have to pick one just jump into this one if you don’t care to see how the series evolved.

Shadow of the Colossus – Team Ico/SCEA – 2005

This was a great game to send the PS2 off. It pushed the system beyond its limits and had clunky controls, but man was it an experience. There was nothing like it. I got this for my 16th birthday and I played through it in one night. Now, there’s no reason to get this version as the HD one for PS3 is superior and even the PS4 remake is even better with improved controls and visuals, but only get this to experience the game as it was on the system it was built for. It’s really something to see, and it’s one of the cheapest complete games on the system.

Shinobi – Overworks/Sega – 2002

This was a reboot of the 2D series and it worked well here. The game has fast paced combat and platforming and is hard as nails too. The game is rather short, but most people won’t see the end. It’s not really a looker, but it just plays really well and if you are a fan of the 2D classics you will enjoy this.

Sly Cooper and the Thievius Racoonus – Sucker Punch Productions/SCEA – 2002

This was another cartoony action platformer smash hit for Sony. It spawned four sequels and they just kept getting better as time went on. This game holds up very well even today, but a better HD release of the trilogy was released on PS3 so go for that unless you want it specifically on PS2. The game has clever writing, fantastic controls, great animations, and addictive gameplay. The third game is also great, but I don’t have it in my collection.

Sly 2: Band of Thieves – Sucker Punch Productions/SCEA – 2004

This game improved upon the first in so many ways. More characters, better controls, larger levels, more things to do, mini-games, and just a perfect culmination of action platforming. I actually have these two Sly games because my youngest sister gave them up as she no longer has a desire to play retro games. She loved the Sony mascot platformers as a kid and they have a special place in my collection.

SoulCalibur III – Project Soul/Namco – 2005

A PS2 exclusive, SC3 was a massive game. 24 fighters, two huge game modes with one including a strategy type game, and robust custom fighter mode which stayed in the series here after. There wasn’t any online play, which sucked, but the game was still a blast and is one of the best fighting games on the system. It’s even better with an arcade stick.

Spider-Man 2 – Treyarch/Activision – 2004

This game looks much better on Xbox, so get it on that if you can. The PS2 version still plays great though. This game was a huge part of my teen years. I bought this game when it came out and played through it more than once. It was amazing swinging through the city with such ease. Open world games outside of GTA weren’t a thing back then like this especially with this quality. The combat was repetitive, but it’s the best Spider-Man game outside of the newest Sony ones.

Splashdown: Rides Gone Wild – Rainbow Studios/THQ – 2003

This game was a huge deal back in the day. Jet ski games weren’t really a thing and when something as crazy and fun as this game came along people talked. The courses were insane, the tricks were fun, and the sense of speed was unreal. It holds up really well even today.

Tekken Tag Tournament – Namco – 2000

This was a launch title for the PS2, and yes it had two fighting games at launch, and this game featured the ability to choose two characters and tag them out. It was a massive hit and was the talk of every playground. It looked good too.

Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven – K2/Activision – 2003

Tenchu returned with much praise. This was more ninja stealth action that played well, felt good, and holds up even today. You need some patience so unless you have that don’t bother with this one. Running around and swinging your sword will just get you killed.

The Getaway – Team SOHO/SCEA – 2003

This was a huge deal when it was released. It pushed the PS2 to its limits, and the game had no HUD. When you drove you only knew where to go based on the car’s blinker and where to turn. This was cool and unheard of back in the day, but also led to many cheap deaths. The controls are clunky, but you have to admire the London style GTA clone that it was and tried to be hyper realistic.

Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution – Sega AM2/Sega – 2003

This is one of the best fighters on the system. Probably the top three. Virtua Fighter 4 is just so fast, fluid, and responsive and feels like its evolved. There’s a quest mode, unlockable fighters, costumes, wallpaper and more. The game is packed with content and plays best with an arcade stick.

Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 11/13/2021
Posted in: Hardware, Nintendo, Nintendo Consoles, Retro Consoles. Leave a comment

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Nintendo

Release Date: 11/12/2021

Rating: Everyone

MSRP: $49.99

The Game & Watch series is Nintendo’s first foray into video games and handhelds like the GameBoy Micro, and even the DS drew inspiration from it. It’s also not going to attract the attention of anyone under 25 who isn’t just curious or truly into retro gaming. The original Mario Bros. release was underwhelming as it didn’t have much value for your money. They could have easily added the entire NES Mario library at no extra cost but chose not to. It seems Nintendo listened this time as the entire Zelda NES library is included here in a nice package with extras.

The unboxing experience is quite nice here for such a small proprietary device. The handheld comes out in a display box (more on that later), some of the usual safety pamphlet stuff Nintendo does, and a code to redeem 300 platinum coins on Nintendo.com (which are used to redeem things that actually matter like physical items). The device itself is inside a foam sleeve and that’s your lot. The charger is hidden away inside a “compartment” of the display box and this is a tiny three-inch USB-C cable, but any cable will work. This one just so happens to be Nintendo branded so collectors might want to hold on to it and not lose it. When you power on the device you will be greeted with a splash screen of Link himself and plopped right into the “main” screen which is the clock. If you press the Pause/Set button you can enter the system’s settings that allow you to change the sound and brightness and turn off sleep mode (if plugged in).

Once you have your time set you can go into the game selection screen and can choose between the original Zelda, The Adventure of Link, and Link’s Awakening. You can also play the Game & Watch series Vermin which stars Link himself. You can then use the Timer app as well. So, these sound great on their own right? Well, this entire device is chock-full of Easter eggs and features that you will probably miss or never know about without playing around or reading about them. First, the Timer and Clock screens both have playable games built into them. The Clock features several screens and Link will take 12 hours to complete the “game” or you can control him yourself. There are hidden Easter eggs here such as fairies appearing when the clock says 2:22, and other things happening when all digits are the same number. The game’s lighting will affect the time of day as well which is really neat. There are also several language versions for each game and you can experience their regional differences. This is more of a historical curiosity thing for most, but it’s nice these were all included.

The Timer app has three backgrounds you can cycle through and a time attack mode. Every game has cheats built-in that will give you full hearts if you hold A for five seconds while starting a new game. The Clock screen can switch from the 8-bit ticking sound (which is really freaking annoying by the way) to the game’s music and sound effects. There is also an auto-save feature that resumes right where you left off. You can easily switch between all three games and never lose your spot. There’s also a manual-save mode by holding A+B+Select+Start. Vermin has an extra hard C mode if you press A for five seconds, and the Clock screen will also cycle through 11 different backgrounds before going into sleep mode.

If that isn’t enough to keep you busy for a while (seriously this would be a great stocking stuffer as it’s great value for your money) you get a nice little cardboard display that has a fold-out stand in the back which is made from the tray the device sits in. This isn’t going to hold up over time so I suggest you get a third-party stand or something that someone else made for the long-term. Collectors will probably not want to use this either. And, as a nice little bonus, the rear tri-force logo lights up when it’s on.

So, that’s your lot. Three fantastic and iconic Zelda titles and the Game & Watch title to tie it all in with fun interactive apps. The device itself is what you would expect from Nintendo. It’s lightweight but has sturdy plastic and the screen is gorgeous with sharp colors and a vivid picture. The speaker is great too and spits out 8-bit tunes clearly and doesn’t sound tinny or anything like that. While these games are emulated ROMs they don’t have any issues and work just fine. The D-pad feels amazing and while the two face buttons are a bit rubbery, they’re fine for this device. It just looks gorgeous and is a fantastic piece to display as well. Overall, this is how these need to be done in the future and is well worth the $50.

Happy Game

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 11/08/2021
Posted in: Mac, Nintendo Consoles, PC Reviews, Switch. Leave a comment

Publisher: Amanita Design

Developer: Amanita Design

Release Date: 10/28/2021

Rating: N/A

MSRP: $13.13

Also Available On

I personally love short indie games, especially if they can deliver something pretty crazy in at least one department. A great story, fun gameplay, or crazy visuals which Happy Game delivers here. There’s no story really, no dialog, no pretense. You just play as a ball-shaped headed kid who goes to sleep and has nightmares about three of his favorite toys. Each toy needs to be rescued and falls under one of three chapters.

The first nightmare is about the boy’s ball. He gets beat up and it’s taken from him and you use just your mouse to drag the boy around and manipulate objects. Pushing, pulling, twisting, rotating, and anything in between is the name of the game here and the only gameplay element. Every single screen is something completely new and it’s either gory, crazy, scary, weird, or creepy. I never got bored looking at this game and the few puzzles that got thrown in were quite fun as well. The game is never complicated or requires using your cerebral jelly, but manipulating certain objects a certain way is how you solve the few puzzles. The second toy is a stuffed rabbit and the third is a dog.

I can’t describe the game and give a clear vision without you playing the game. It’s just so much fun to look at. The game’s strongest point is the visuals here as every step of the way something new is presented. From pulling apart toys to revealing creepy things inside, murdering various oddly shaped creatures, helping other creatures, pulling eyeballs out of skulls, and the list goes on. There’s so much here in just one hour that I have to applaud the developers for giving us so much content and diversity in such a short period of time.

The game is also full of a lot of atmosphere. Most of the game is in black and white to emphasize blood and gore. There’s really creepy music, the boy grunts a lot and cries and shouts but never speaks. The facial expressions on every object are very detailed. This is a moving piece of horror art or even a hand-drawn haunted house ride if you will. Very rarely did I not know what to do or couldn’t figure something out. Maybe two or three scenes are a little obscure, but eventually, I did move on.

Sadly, there’s zero replay value other than to just experience the visuals again. It’s incredibly short-lasting maybe an hour, but it’s a very entertaining hour. It’s hard for me to score these types of games above an eight even if they are amazing because there’s the issue with the length and there’s almost no gameplay and usually zero stories or character development. These types of short indie games are mostly visual treats or just a quick fast-food type experience that’s rarely as endearing as games like Journey or Monument Valley but are just fun enough to warrant your time. Happy Game is by far one of the most visually striking games of the year and sadly it’s going to get looked past due to these negatives that most indie games get bashed for. I’m not personally bashing Happy Game for its shortcomings as it’s not trying to provide you with some of everything and presenting a mediocre package. Its strong points are worth noting and playing for and that’s just fine.

Unpacking

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 11/07/2021
Posted in: Mac, Microsoft Consoles, Nintendo Consoles, PC Reviews, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S. Leave a comment

Publisher: Humble Games

Developer: Witch Beam

Release Date: 11/02/2021

Rating: Everyone

MSRP: $19.99

Also Available On

I love games like these. Short little indie games that do something AAA games don’t care to notice or even glance at. Unpacking is what you get on the tin. There’s no story here at all, no characters, you just get put into various years from the late ’90s to 2018 unpacking a person’s belongings in various homes. It seems dull on paper, but it’s actually quite satisfying, but the enjoyment solely comes from you wanting to decorate everything correctly and not just put things where they go.

Bedrooms consist of era-appropriate computers, lots of clothing, knick-knacks, plants, posters, frames, shoes, workout equipment, you name it. Bathrooms will have bathroom items, and kitchens will have things like food and utensils. There are also living rooms that have video game consoles, knick-knacks, frames, pillows, blankets, plants, and other items. There are a lot of items in this game, but here lies my biggest complaint about this game. It’s incredibly repetitive. After the second “album” that I completed, I pretty much saw every single item. Sure, unpacking boxes and putting things away satisfies an OCD in most people, but out of the six levels how many dozens of underwear, bras, and clothes do I need to hang? Things only got interesting later on when new objects did pop up or large items. Laundry baskets, trash cans, umbrella stands, and dish racks were far and few between, and it wasn’t until the last level where you get every room and pretty much unpack every item in the game.

As you start off in 1997, you may get a bit of a nostalgia hit, there are a lot of 8-bit style items laying around from the era. CD players, cartridge game systems, old stereos, crazy teen angst posters, and anything else you can think of from your childhood. The game is set in an isometric perspective so you can zoom around and that’s about it. There are numerous boxes in various rooms and when you click on a box it opens and inside you just see packing paper. Clicking the box has an item pop out and most are regular everyday household items, and most of the boxes are to be unpacked in that room with the occasional item being misplaced. You can rotate items and even activate some items for achievements, and the snapping feature works rather well. A book can lay flat or if you push it up against a shelf it will stand up and stack.

There are a few challenges when it comes to space. Some rooms will be very minimal with a lot of items and you have to be clever and organized to get everything to fit. Once you unpack every box items that are in the wrong place will flash red and most of this made sense, but some didn’t. Why do I have to put a backpack on a shelf when on the bed makes sense? There were a few cases in which I couldn’t make out what the items were at all and had me clicking and placing it on everything until I found the right spot. I also wish I could unpack the furniture and literally unpack an entirely empty home. Maybe some outdoor areas would have been nice like backyards, sheds, garages, or other settings like offices would have added variety.

What’s here is still rather charming with some nice music, that seems to stop for long periods of time which I hated, and there’s a seemingly pointless photo mode in which you can add borders and stickers. This feature just felt like filler content to me, but this is a very unique game and there’s nothing else out there like it. The game is so short that you can finish it in less than two hours, so it won’t offend anyone despite the repetition. What’s here is fun, charming, and satisfying.

Pimoroni 10″ Picade Bar Top Arcade Cabinet

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 11/04/2021
Posted in: Hardware, Retro Consoles. Leave a comment

I have a fascination with arcade hardware, but it’s just too big and expensive to own a real one. While I have covered the Arcade 1Up Mortal Kombat cabinet, it just seems that you really need to put a personal touch on something and build it yourself, or heavily mod an already made one to make it feel proper. The Pimoroni Picade was the next best thing as I already had a Raspberry Pi 4 laying around from a Retropie project I tried and gave up on. This was a long journey of fiddling, learning, and searching for answers as the software side was way more complicated and troublesome than the hardware build. I’ll cover the hardware part in this review, but I have something coming up that will cover a full guide on settings up a Retropie for Dummies. Not just for the Picade, but in general as there isn’t one online that exists.

The Unboxing

I have to say that the unboxing experience here was a real treat. The box itself looks nice and is in full-color print and has tons of information on it. This looks like something you would see on a store shelf. It has enough information on the outside and tells you quite a bit about what you’re going to get into. When you pull the lid off the documentation is all on top including an envelope bursting with dozens of stickers, an info sheet on Pico-8, and a redeemable code. This isn’t really my thing, but it’s a program that allows you to share and create 8-bit style games. You also get a full-size poster! The cabinet itself is sectioned into four boxes and well organized too. The instructions are actually online and are actually well done. I was worried as they were mostly just text with a few low-res photos and no video. A video does exist on YouTube, but there are no close-ups and it only gives you a rough idea of where things go. I honestly found the descriptions perfectly fine. They were very detailed and described mostly everything very well. I was a little confused at first with the bags of screws, but the instructions even tell you to grab “the big bag of screws” or “use the plastic screws and nuts” which really helped. Once you unpack each box and separate them you get an idea of what you have and it seems overwhelming at first. There are easily three dozen or more parts here. Once I got to building the cabinet I was able to learn the ins and outs of the cabinet and I felt if anything went wrong I knew all the shortcuts of how to get to each part the easiest.

You will need a Philips screwdriver, a power adapter for your Pi preferably the Canakit one (which I have), or an official Pi adapter. I also recommend a pair of needle-nose pliers and a flathead screwdriver (small one) as the crimps for the buttons can sometimes need adjusting.

The Build

Building the cabinet was actually quite fun and fairly straightforward. It took me around 2 hours to build the entire thing. I do personally recommend buying real Sanwa buttons as the ones that come with the Picade are garbage. After about an hour of using them, they start binding up badly and squeak. The joystick is perfectly fine and feels like a higher quality Sanwa clone, but these buttons are just unacceptable. Two buttons would stick and stay down after a couple of presses, so the playing games was pretty much a no-go until my Sanwa buttons came in. I spent that week messing with the Retropie software and tweaking. Standard 30mm Sanwa buttons fit right in perfectly with no issues and they feel a million times better. I decided to leave the standard side buttons since you don’t use them very often, but these also started binding up, sticking, and squeaking about two weeks in, so I will have to replace those as well. With the Picade already costing $250 and adding $40 for buttons that are really racking up the price point.

I also found that the standard artwork was fairly boring and will use the template to create my own. Despite those minor issues, the Plexi is sturdy and solid, and the wood panels are powder coated nicely and feel really solid. My only build quality issue is that the marquee is a little loose and could use some slightly smaller cutouts to hold the Plexi panels in place. The rubber feet hold up nicely and keep the Picade from sliding around, and I love that everything is easily accessible. You can access the buttons by taking off the two mounting screws for the control panel and the back is held on with a single tab and a rubber band. The screen OSD controls have their own cut-out and mount and the SD card is accessible via a slot at the bottom. This is not just sturdy and fun to build, but also easily serviceable for further customization without the need to dismantle the entire thing.

The Initial Play Test

First, I highly recommend using a wireless keyboard with the Picade as you don’t want wires hanging out. I’ve used this keyboard for over a year and it has a great layout, buttons, and the battery lasts forever. Rii Mini Wireless Keyboard

There really aren’t any instructions on how to use Retropie or customize it. There are some software steps you must take to get the screen and Pi Hat working for the control panel, but I ran into an issue right away. While the fix to get the HDMI settings to stick correctly worked, and setting up Wifi, the update for the Pi Hat didn’t work and I had to hunt down a fix for nearly an hour as without this the controls just won’t work. The link that you are given to put into the command line is correct, but the firmware for your Pi might be outdated. I had to do the following commands to get the link to register and work.

apt-get update

apt-get upgrade

Then I typed in the instructions to install the Picade drivers and it worked. They should really add these instructions to the official documentation as some people may never figure this out and get incredibly frustrated.

I do want to mention that the LCD screen is gorgeous. It’s a true 4:3 aspect ratio with a 1024×768 resolution which is perfect for a Pi to render at. I didn’t really need to mess with the OSD settings as they seemed perfect out of the box. The giant 10″ display with the small bezel just looks so good and it runs at 60hz!

After this, there are instructions on how to get Retropie going by “burning” an image to your SD card. I highly recommend 64GB or higher. Once you pop in your SD card and start up Retropie… there are no further instructions. You just spent $250 and 2-3 hours of your time only to set up the controls and that’s it. There’s no guide on what to do after this and you must spend hours researching and fiddling and figuring out what to do. Arcade games are the main reason people will buy this and this has been one of the most complicated, delicate, and fiddly things I have ever done project-wise. I will post a full guide on setting up Retropie with pretty much every issue you could possibly run into and how to easily customize it without needing to Google every single thing like I had to do. It took me a total of three weeks to fully customize and set up my Picade the way I want.

Complete Wii Games Under $20 in 2021

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 10/29/2021
Posted in: Nintendo Consoles, Wii. Leave a comment

The Nintendo Wii was everyone’s console. Your grandma’s and even your little brother’s. It was a household staple and was even used in nursing homes. Now that’s accessibility! However, the Wii probably has more shovelware on the system than any other console in existence. I mean just look at all of it! All that plastic. Usually when you put the words cheap and Wii together you immediately think Chicken Shoot or Carnival Games, but that’s not always the case. There are genuinely fantastic Wii games, some of the best on the system even, for under $20 complete inbox. So, if you just bought a Wii, have a Wii U collecting dust, or just want to see if there’s anything you have missed, boy do I have a list for you!

Like before these are all games in my personal collection, and there are more out there, but these are some of the best you can get on the system. Again, you won’t see any survival horror titles as these are niche and skyrocketed along with those on every other console, there’s a lot of JRPGs that are high in price and many indie developed games that didn’t get many points.

GoldenEye 007 – Eurocom Developments/Activision – 2010

So, there’s a thing in the James Bond universe in which you are not allowed to take old James Bonds into the future. It’s dumb and the creators are stubborn assholes, but we got GoldenEye remade! Kind of! It’s more of a reboot of the original idea with Daniel Craig as the Bond here. It’s a fantastic shooter on the Wii and looks really good. Just don’t come in expecting good ‘ol Pierce on your screen.

Boom Blox – EA – 2008

Steven Spielberg said screw Medal of Honor! Jenga is where it’s at! This game took the world by storm with it’s Jenga style shoot-blocks-out-of-the-tower gameplay. We all did this as kids and it works so well on the Wii here. The game looks great too and the physics are awesome. There are a ton of puzzles to play through and a good amount of modes. It’s more addicting than you think.

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two – Junction Point Studios/Disney Interactive – 2012

This game came out late in the console’s life and the first game didn’t pan out too well for good old Warren Specter, the creator of Deus Ex. The game had an awful camera and just felt clunky despite the Disney aesthetics. Mickey 2 is a much better game here and while not the Wii’s swansong, it looked better on other platforms at this point. It’s still feeling the best to play thanks to the Wii remote. Still has flaws, but it’s a lot of fun.

Excite Truck – Monster Games/Nintendo – 2006

This was a launch title for the system and while it’s not very deep it’s fast-paced and fun. It looks halfway decent too and runs at a good speed. I don’t quite know why they took the Excite name and made a game out of trucks. Those aren’t something you think about when you see the Excite name. It’s cheap and good fun.

Ghost Squad – AM R&D Dept #2/Sega – 2007

This was an early game for the series and was released shortly after Link’s Crossbow Training so it used the Wii Zapper. It’s a fairly generic yet entertaining light gun game and feels just like Sega’s arcade classics. I would have liked something more fantasy-like than a dry military-style game, but it’s fun and back then you didn’t have a huge selection of games to play on Wii.

Kirby’s Epic Yarn – Good-Feel Co.,/Nintendo – 2010

This was a late release for the system, and while very easy, it oozes charm, and the yarn style visuals were so popular Nintendo released more games in this style. It’s one of my favorite Kirby games and the boss fights, levels, and overall design are just so clever and addictive, this is a game you won’t want to put down.

MX vs. ATV: Untamed – Incinerator Studios/THQ – 2008

Racing games that aren’t Mario Kart were not very big on the system due to the underperforming hardware, but MX Untamed is a great motocross game that is fast-paced and has decent physics. You won’t get fancy terrain deformation or anything like that, but it plays well and just feels better than most racers on the system.

MadWorld – Platinum Games/Sega – 2009

This was a flop, but one of the few mature games on the system. It featured a black and white art style and tons and tons of gore and dismemberment. In fact, that’s the gimmick here. The game is very repetitive, but the different death animations and weapons to use are a lot of fun. It’s a short game and is made by Bayonetta creators Platinum Games so you know it’s still quality gaming.

Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 – Team Fusion/EA – 2007

I don’t own the first game because there’s really no reason to. It was a light-gun on-rails-style game and this one is free moving. This was released during the steep descent of repetitive WWII shooters. It uses the Wii remote well here and is entertaining for a few play-throughs. If you can’t stand Medal of Honor or WWII shooters in general this won’t win you over.

Mercury Meltdown Revolution – Ignition – 2007

This was a fun game on PSP and it moved to the Wii and the combination with the Wii remote and the motion sensor just made sense. It’s fun, innovative, and has great physics and colorful visuals. The game isn’t just a Super Monkey Ball clone, but a puzzle game as well. You need to match colors and open gates and move things around to pass the level. It’s addictive and has more depth than you’d think.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption – Retro Studios/Nintendo – 2007

This was one of the most anticipated games of the mid-2000s. It pushed the system to its limits and really utilized the Wii remote. It’s surprisingly cheap too and is a great jumping-in point if you don’t want to shell out the dollars for the more expensive GameCube versions. There were ports to the Wii but that trilogy is quite pricey and one of the most expensive games on the system. The game is brilliant and just a masterclass of the genre.

Mini Ninjas – IO Interactive/Eidos Interactive – 2009

Mini Ninjas is a fun and cute platforming adventure game. It uses the Wii remote well here and looks pretty good as well. It was sadly overlooked by other games that came out around that time, but don’t let the kid-like visuals stop you. The game can get pretty tough and it has a lot of well-designed gameplay mechanics.

Monster Hunter Tri – Capcom – 2009

This is your typical Monster Hunter affair. The series grew kind of stale of me around this point, but this game works well on the system and introduced underwater combat for the first time. It looks great for a Wii game and any diehard Monster Hunter fan will enjoy this. If you own a Wii and never tried the series this is probably the best one to do so with.

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon – Midway – 2007

Say what you will about the 128-bit era of Mortal Kombat games, but Armageddon had hell of a roster with every single character ever created in the game. They were stripped down to two fight styles instead of three, and the unique fatalities were cut out for generic “Kreate-A-Fatality”. A new create a character mode was added and was surprisingly deep and a much improved Konquest mode was added that felt similar to Shaolin Monks. Motor Kombat was passable, however. If you hated this era of 3D Mortal Kombat games then keep moving, and I also have to add that the motion controls are awful. Use a Classic or GameCube controller here.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii – Nintendo – 2009

This is where the New Super Mario Bros. gameplay stuff started to peak. It was introduced on the DS and this was the first 2D Mario platformer on a home console in nearly 20 years. It was a huge deal. People bought Wiis just for this game. If you like any current 2D Mario game today you will love this as well. It has clever level design, addictive gameplay, and the difficulty ramps up just right. This is a must-own for any Wii owner.

NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams – Sonic Team/Sega – 2007

This was a long-awaited sequel to one of the best Saturn games released. People talked about this game for ages and it was a smash hit when it was released by the core Saturn fans. It looked amazing, played well, and was incredibly colorful, and had that classic Sega vibe to it. It’s a must-own for any Wii owner as it was the last game we’d ever see in the series.

Prince of Persia: Rival Swords – Ubisoft – 2007

This is essentially just Two Thrones. It was also released alongside the PSP and was great on that system as well. Rival Swords look great, plays well, and if you haven’t played a Prince of Persia game this isn’t a bad one to pick up outside of being at the end of the trilogy story-wise. It has great combat, fun time puzzles, and fantastic exploration.

Resident Evil 4 – Capcom – 2007

2007 was a smash-hit year for the Wii. Resident Evil 4 was a fantastic port and considered the best port to date outside of the HD versions. The motion controls just fit this game so perfectly, but sadly there’s no new content here. This is essentially the PS2 version with the added Separate Ways story. It’s still great despite looking a bit rough around the edges.

Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles – Capcom – 2007

This is an on-rails retelling of Resident Evil 0 through 3 and does a great job recapping those games. The game gets really hard very quickly and gun upgrades are a must if you are to survive at all. This is one of the best on-rails shooters for the system, and despite looking pretty ancient, even for the Wii, it’s a lot of fun.

SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 – Alpha Denshi/SNK Playmore – 2008

This is a great compilation disc with many well-ported arcade classics. Metal Slug, Samurai Shodown, Neo Turf Masters, Fatal Fury, The King of Fighters ’94?! This is a great list of games and will keep you busy for hours. You just can’t go wrong here if you are an SNK/Neo Geo fan.

Samba de Amigo – Escalation Studios/Sega – 2008

This is a great rhythm game and is a remake of the Dreamcast game. You play with the Wii remotes and use them like maracas. The previous game had to include expensive peripherals, but not here! The music feels like classic Sega and is quite catchy. It’s great fun and uses the Wii remotes very well.

Sonic Colors – Sonic Team/Sega – 2010

This was released late in the system’s life, but Sonic Colors is considered one of the few good 3D Sonic games. This game was unique to the system and so was the DS version, both are great. It’s the Wisp abilities that make this game stand out the most and it somehow worked. Sonic Team actually made a good game! While it’s been re-released for Switch, that version is better, but if you don’t have one or want a cheaper version, this is the way to go.

Super Paper Mario – Intelligent Systems/Nintendo – 2007

This is by far my favorite Paper Mario game and I loved it to death when it came out. I sat through and played this in one sitting it was so good. The game shifted you from a 3D perspective to 2D on the fly and the unique puzzles, platforming, level design, and animations just won me over. It’s one of the best games on Wii and feels very unique for the system.

The Conduit – High Voltage Software/Sega – 2009

This was released pretty late in the system’s life, but it was a big deal because it was a new FPS on the system that wasn’t an on-rails shooter. It had a sci-fi vibe to it and felt like something close to Project Snowblind. The game has a unique feature that allows you to see objects and enemies through walls to solve puzzles as well. It has a dumb story, but the action is solid and well worth the cheap price of entry.

Tomb Raider Anniversary – Buzz Monkey Software/Eidos – 2007

This is a unique version of Anniversary as it features puzzles only seen in this version and excellent motion controls. It looks pretty good too. Better than the PS2 version, but not as good as the Xbox 360 one. This is probably the superior version over all of them due to the unique content and controls. It’s a must-have for the system and is also a remake of the first game, so now you don’t have to play that.

Trauma Center: New Blood – Atlus – 2007

If you didn’t like Second Opinion or any of the DS entries you won’t like this one. It looks the same, plays the same, and just features a different story and characters. There is a co-op mode and that’s about it. The game is still solid and the Trauma Center series would only live on Nintendo platforms due to the unique controls needed.

Trauma Center: Second Opinion – Atlus – 2006

This was an early title for the system and a port of the DS game. It’s still hard as balls and I still can’t beat this game, and I’ve tried three times on both versions. If you didn’t like the DS version you won’t like this one either. The controls not being a touch screen make you a little less imprecise which can lead to making the game seem harder. It features a crazy terrorist plot story and some anime tropes. If that’s your thing then pick this one up.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess – Nintendo – 2006

This was a launch title for the Wii and was a smash hit. Everyone talked about this game for a good five years after it was released. People cried at its reveal, and while it looked super ugly, it was a lot of fun and used the Wii controls very well. If you haven’t played a Zelda title before this is a great one to pick up, and until they finally port it to Switch, this is your best option unless you own a Wii U.

Banjo Kazooie: Grunty’s Revenge – 18 Years Later

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 10/14/2021
Posted in: Game Boy Advance, Nintendo, Retro Consoles. Leave a comment

Publisher: THQ

Developer: Rare

Release Date: 09/10/2003

MSRP: $34.99

Rating: Everyone

Available Exclusively On

I’m not a huge Banjo fan. I never was as a kid either. I felt the game was really tedious and easy. The only interesting parts of the game were the platforming and collecting everything, and even that got dull after a while. I personally feel it’s a very much overrated game and is one of the most nostalgia blind games in existence. I tried out Grunty’s Revenge for GBA, and it’s exactly what I expected. An over simplified version of an already pretty simple game.

The story is mostly nonsense, but Gruntilda has created a robot form of herself and you need to stop her. The end. Yeah, Banjo was never much for story. I do have the say the yapping voice samples are incredibly annoying and repeat themselves over and over again. It’s some of the most annoying voices I’ve heard in any game. It’s just irritating noises, they don’t even sound like voices. Never mind that though, your goal is to run around collecting Jiggies, musical notes, honeycombs, and various other odds and ends to acquire abilities to gain access to new areas. The levels in this game are fairly small but well designed. I have to say the level design overall here is great and I never got lost thanks to memorable landmarks which are key to a game with no map. You talk to a mole fellow who will grant you a new ability once you have enough notes. I never ran into an issue with this as exploring alone will give you more than enough notes. Abilities range from smacking enemies with your pack to a roll. Once you acquire Kazooie you can get the ability to fire eggs, batteries, a jump glide, and an aerial attack.

I do like how the abilities keep coming and in quick succession. It was satisfying to get back to the hub world and gain access to new abilities such as ladder climbing and diving. Thankfully just exploring on its own saw me collecting and completing 100% of each level with ease. There are boss fights and these are painfully easy and never change. The boss has an electric field around it and you just run around dodging attacks. Once the field is down you can attack. The life counter will go down with each attack and you are rewarded afterward. Enemy encounters are pretty much the same and enemies constantly respawn. Some enemies require more than one hit, but I found it annoying that they would get in the way of a platforming segment after I’ve killed them and only got knocked down to come back around have to kill them again. It was hard to judge depth with some platforms and it would lead to cheap falls.

I do have to say that while the game looks decent the pseudo-3D look makes everything look quite bland. While it’s by no means ugly I never cared for the art style of Banjo. Everything is just green and yellow in this game is it gets old after a while. There are only four large levels and the game can be finished in less than four hours. Thankfully you can save anywhere, and dying doesn’t even reset the area. You just start off at the next closest spot or platform so I didn’t see the point in having a life bar if there were no consequences to dying. The only thing that kept me going was the completionist in me wanting to 100% every level and acquiring the next ability was fun.

Overall, Grunty’s Revenge is a decent isometric platformer, but other games did it better such as Spyro. The visuals are kind of muddy and blurry and a bit hard to see when it comes to platforming, but the levels are designed well. The story is nonsense and there’s zero challenge outside of just the platforming. If you want a short and light-hearted pseudo-3D platformer for your GBA then you can’t go wrong here.

Complete Nintendo DS Games under $20 in 2021

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 10/08/2021
Posted in: DS, Nintendo, Retro Consoles. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

The Nintendo DS. The system that has the better half of itself. The Gameboy Advance 4 because there’s two screens in one. The system your grandma probably at some point may have played Brain Age or New York Times Crosswords on. The system that had a library just as strong as the GBA’s and had so many different models. It could play Gameboy games, GBA games, and then it all went away when they took the GBA slot away to give us cameras. Yeah, no thanks. The DS has a vast library of amazing games, but the system is becoming more and more collectible as time goes on and your favorite childhood DS game may be over $100. Metroid Prime Hunters? Yeah, forget it. Hamsterz Life? Yes! Castlevania? Not going to happen. My Baby Girl? You got it! In all seriousness there are cheap games that aren’t shovelwere, quite a few in fact. Also, don’t even bother with the few horror games on the system Japanese release only or not.

Complete in box games are hard to come by and can be expensive, so I dug into my own collection and will be talking about these games that are under $20. Of course there’s shovelware if your a glutton for punishment, that stuff can be bought by the truck load off of eBay and paid by the pound. There may be a few games here you don’t have or just got a shiny DS or have a 3DS and want to dive deeper into this backlog of goodness.

Age of Empires: Age of Kings – Backbone Entertainment/Majesco Entertainment – 2006

Yes, the Majesco that killed off Psychonauts and made the crappy Game Gear re-release in 2000. That Majesco. That’s okay as Age of Kings is a fantastic strategy game on DS and there aren’t many. The touch screen allows for some better controls over buttons and remember this is a tile based game rather than real-time like on PC. It’s a lot of fun, but slow paced and nothing flashy or pretty. It’s great for relaxing on a quiet day and exercising your brain.

Alice in Wonderland – Étranges Libellules S.A./Disney Interactive – 2010

This game came out late in the system’s life, but what is this even?! A good Alice in Wonderland game? A good DISNEY GAME? It looks like Okami?! C’MON! This is a fantastic platformer with a gorgeous art style and thankfully has nothing to do with the terrible Tim Burton movie. I’m surprised it’s not worth more as it’s pretty unknown and was overlooked on the shelves because of the terrible timing of the movie. It’s dark, pretty, and a lot of fun.

Band Hero – Vicarious Visions/Activision – 2009

Band Hero is probably the most peripheral heavy game on the system. They packed an entire band in here! The great thing is you can still pick this up new for under $20 because no one cared about it. Sadly, it’s a great game! It comes with a guitar grip and a weird rubber drum condom. It has great licensed songs and play better than Guitar Hero on DS. It’s a game you can’t really emulate well or watch. It’s an experience of the senses. You of course need a DS with a GBA slot so that pesky DSi won’t due. It’s made by the Crash Bandicoot team so it’s got to be good right?

Big Bang Mini – Arkedo SARL/SouthPeak Interactive – 2009

This is a fireworks shoot ’em up hybrid that utilizes the touch screen very well. It’s super colorful and bright and a lot of fun to get into. There are mini-games and the challenge ramps up as you go on. It’s super colorful and tons of fun with varied boss fights and enemies. This is a must have.

Brain Age Academy – Nintendo – 2006

Well it’s brain teasers, math problems, timing tests, reaction tests, and many things you probably did in school, but it’s fun because it’s a VIDEO GAME. This series was actually quite fun and you can sink several hours into the game and don’t want to stop. Your grandma probably didn’t want to stop either. The entire series is pretty much the same just with new ideas and mini-games and problems. They’re solid and utilize the touch screen well.

Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day! – Nintendo – 2007

Around this time people were tired of Dr. Kawashima’s crap and sales dropped. Brain Age 2 is the best of the bunch and is less mini-game like from Big Brain Academy and more educational. These brain exercises are great for anyone studying in school, children, or just plain fun if you want to utilize that fancy touch screen. It’s nothing pretty to look at but a seriously interesting piece of software that only could be done on the DS.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare – n-Space/Activision – 2007

Can you 360 no scope in this game? Probably not, but it’s a great single player experience with decent visuals and it feels like a portable Call of Duty game. The only way to get it portable as Roads to Victory wasn’t too hot on the PSP. This was built from the ground up and n-Space were excellent developers for the system back in the day. These are highly overlooked because they’re not big bombastic console versions, but they are quite solid on DS.

Classic Action: Devilish – Starfish Kaihatsu/UFO Interactive Games – 2007

Well this game got shit on a lot because it was unchanged from the Genesis/Game Gear version, and that’s okay. It just stretches the play field out across both screens, but it’s still fun. This plays like a shoot ’em up mixed with Arkanoid. It’s not an instant classic, but that BOX ART THOUGH! Yeah, it looks nothing like the game, but you can still pick up sealed copies of this game because no one knew it existed. That’s okay. At least you do now.

Diner Dash: Sizzle & Serve – Climax London/Secret Stash Games – 2007

Well this was a popular Java mobile game series and also on PC and it came to DS. I love time management games as they are so addictive and you can’t put them down. Diner Dash may not look amazing but it’s super addictive and a ton of fun. You will sink more hours into this game than you will want to admit. Guilty pleasure indeed.

Feel the Magic XY/XX – Sonic Team/Sega – 2004

This was a launch title for the system and was super weird. So the game is all about rubbing things, and no you can’t feel up Sonic I looked, and it was rather fun. It was zany Japanese mini-games that utilized the mic and touch screen really well. You won’t sink hours into this, but it’s cheap enough for some quick fun.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes in Time – Square Enix – 2009

One of the few Final Fantasy games on the system under $20. This was the better half of the Crystal Chronicles series released on GameCube. It’s a top down real-time combat action game with RPG elements. It’s rather fun and unique and different from what we’re used to in the series, especially at this point in time. Even if you don’t care for Final Fantasy this is worth a look.

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings – Square Enix – 2007

One of the other few cheap FF games on the system, this was a turned based RPG with a slower pace than its console brother. It looks good and has 2D sprites which just look good. You can play the entire game with just the stylus so your screen will finally get it’s mileage if it hasn’t already. It’s a longer RPG that takes around 30 hours to finish so it’s a great time sink and if you are already an FF12 nut then add this to your collection.

Glory of Heracles – Paon Corporation/Nintendo – 2010

If you don’t like JRPGs then look elsewhere. It’s about a JRPG-y as it gets here. At least the skills and powers and done with the touch screen which is nice, and it’s nice and lengthy and a good time sink. It was a late bloomer in the system’s life cycle and didn’t see many sales, but the DS is one of the best handhelds when it comes to JRPGs.

GRID – Firebrand Games and Entertainment/Codemasters – 2008

A racing game that didn’t look like poopoo on the DS? Color me surprised. Racing games weren’t a strong suit for the DS due to the lack of power and anyone willing to create a hand-tailored engine for the system. Either you played Mario Kart DS or didn’t. That was it. Then GRID came along and was a game changer for the system. It looked fantastic and ran at a good framerate and was an actual good racing game. It also wasn’t an arcade racer and more of a sim game, or at least as sim like as you can get on the DS. This is a must own for any racing fan.

LEGO Rock Band – Backbone Entertainment/Warner Bros. Interactive – 2009

Well, if peripherals and weird condoms aren’t your thing then this might be. This was a peripheral-less Rock Band game featuring Legos. You used the DS buttons or touch screen and looked good and had some great licensed tracks. It’s one of the better rhythm games on handhelds and shouldn’t be passed up over the kid-like appeal.

Mario Kart DS – Nintendo – 2005

This was an early instant classic on the system. It’s considered one of the best in the series and actually had online play. It’s fantastic Mario Kart goodness and it’s all in 3D rather than the Mode 7 style of the past. It was a big deal as it was the first portable Mario Kart game in 3D and took the world by storm. Everyone was playing it and so should you.

Meteos – Q Entertainment/Nintendo – 2005

A early puzzle game for the system that was a smash hit. It’s bright, colorful, fast paced, has great music, and you can sink hours into it similar to Tetris. It’s honestly one of the best portable puzzle games ever made. It was created by none other than the Rez man himself Tetsuya Mitzuguchi. This is something that can only be experienced on the DS as it utilizes both screens. You match blocks and they shoot up like rockets at the top screen and you need to chain them. It’s a lot of fun for such a small price.

New Super Mario Bros. – Nintendo – 2006

Well this is why Mario 2D platformers returned. It was the first one in 15 years. New Super Mario Bros. was a mega-hit and the formula of the physics, looks, art style, and identity is all due to this game right here on the DS. It’s an instant classic and just as good as any older 2D Mario game. While the series burned itself out on 3DS it’s feel more energetic and innovative here.

Orcs & Elves – id Software/EA – 2007

I’m surprised this isn’t worth more being an id Software game and an obscure one at that. This was a Java port using the mobile Doom engine from the mid-2000’s. It’s a fantastic FPS game of might and magic and should be owned by everyone who likes Doom or classic dungeon crawlers. It uses the dual screens well and I’m sure it will eventually shoot up in price at some point. You can’t get the mobile version anymore so this is it.

Ridge Racer DS – Nintendo/Namco – 2004

Ok, here me out. A PlayStation exclusive racing series developed by Nintendo for a Nintendo handheld. What kind of sorcery is this?! Yeah, Nintendo made this while Namco published it. So, it’s not Mario Kart that much is obvious and it’s why no one bought it. If you’re a Nintendo racing game and you aren’t Mario Kart you’re going to have a bad time. Here’s the thing, it’s one of the better racing games especially being an early title for the system. It’s not GRID pretty, but it looks and plays really well. The system is anemic with the racers so get this if you can.

Skate It – Exient Entertainment/EA – 2008

Welp, it’s not Tony Hawk. While American Sk8land was much better this tried to bring the Flick-It system to the DS using the touch screen and it mostly worked. It has a high learning curve, but for those patient enough to stick with it you will have a good time.

Super Mario 64 DS – Nintendo – 2004

This was a launch title for the DS and holds up well today. It’s a full remake of the game and is still the best version. There are more characters to play as with different abilities, an expanded quest, and more stars to collect. It’s the definitive version of the game yet not many people talk about it. It’s far superior to the N64 version and is a must own, probably top 5, for the system especially with how cheap it is. You will probably always find at least one copy at every used game store.

Thor: God of Thunder – WayForward Technologies/Sega – 2011

This was released so far into the system’s life it barely sold anything and hardly anyone noticed. It’s made by the talented Shantae studio as well. Ignore Chris Hemsworth on the cover and ignore the movie license tie-in. This is through and through one of the best best platformers on the system bar-none. Don’t believe me? It’s made from the ground up and doesn’t follow anything from the movie. It looks fantastic, isn’t in 3D, bosses fill both screens, and it’s a blast. It’s not a fast paced platformer, and there are a few flaws, but it’s always overlooked.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 – EA Tiburon/EA – 2007

Welp, there was Tiger Woods at the beginning and then there was 08. You can’t get miracles here. The series skipped a few years and returned due to the popularity on the PSP. This is probably the only good golf game on the DS as it wasn’t a popular genre on the system. It looks decent, plays well, and uses the touch screen for the swing meter. It’s dirt cheap and if you are a golf fan then this is a no-brainer.

Tony Hawk’s American Sk8land – Vicarious Visions/Activision – 2005

An early game on the system, American Sk8land on GBA and DS was better than the console versions by a long shot. It had a unique art style, better controls, less dull, and got rid of the stupid skate park building system that wasn’t any fun in the console versions and had a better one. There was wifi mode on the DS which was a blast. This is probably the best skateboarding game on the DS.

Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam – Vicarious Visions/Activision – 2006

Downhill Jam was a pretty awful game, but the limitations of the DS pushed Vicarious to make a pretty good game. While not as good as Sk8land, this downhill racer is just that, but with Tony Hawk stuff thrown in. I much prefer the open levels, but this is still fun and a nice change of pace. Just stay away from the console versions.

Trauma Center: Under the Knife – Atlus – 2005

This game is hard as nuts. It’s solely unique to the DS hardware as you can’t do it anywhere else. Pulling out glass shards, zapping polyps, and stitching up patients. It has a crazy anime infused storyline about terrorism. The last few puzzles are so hard I have never finished them to this day, even on the Wii port. It’s still a lot of fun and has that Atlus difficulty curve thrown in for good measure.