GC9X Post Mortem: Reevaluating games so you don't have to!

As part of HG101's ever expanding efforts to document classic games, GC9X hosts Snarboo and KaL present the GC9X Post Mortem!

What is the Post Mortem exactly? Think of it as a video companion to the podcasts! For each Post Mortem, we play through a specific game, summarize its strengths and weaknesses, then score it twice: once from a modern perspective, and then again from a more contemporary viewpoint.

Our ultimate goal then is to review each game as fairly as possible, trying to take into account when a game was released in addition to any other factors, such as overall quality. Videos are generally released every few weeks, so be sure to check in frequently for new updates!

The latest Post Mortem covers Sega's unusual slime themed action game The Ooze:

All current and future episode of the Post Mortem can be watched here!

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBpMvityRZPxvQ0CP4p9mbdGZQyiJWKvewZIIC9SZSu1_9yY3sKxq0gDejHnX7TF4BnXihUFDdHvvv__n1q8-nm7b5XAH1UXyDk7uum15pCS0NB-1Pbp5TinOMQOELZvbWp4nUnTnVRFQd/s1600/post_mortem_logo_mini_2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBpMvityRZPxvQ0CP4p9mbdGZQyiJWKvewZIIC9SZSu1_9yY3sKxq0gDejHnX7TF4BnXihUFDdHvvv__n1q8-nm7b5XAH1UXyDk7uum15pCS0NB-1Pbp5TinOMQOELZvbWp4nUnTnVRFQd/s1600/post_mortem_logo_mini_2.png" /></a></div> <br /> <br /> As part of HG101's ever expanding efforts to document classic games, GC9X hosts Snarboo and KaL present the GC9X Post Mortem! <br /> <br /> What is the Post Mortem exactly? Think of it as a video companion to the podcasts! For each Post Mortem, we play through a specific game, summarize its strengths and weaknesses, then score it twice: once from a modern perspective, and then again from a more contemporary viewpoint. <br /> <br /> Our ultimate goal then is to review each game as fairly as possible, trying to take into account when a game was released in addition to any other factors, such as overall quality. Videos are generally released every few weeks, so be sure to check in frequently for new updates! <br /> <br /> The latest Post Mortem covers Sega's unusual slime themed action game The Ooze: <br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="266" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_piF-tqcJkA?feature=player_embedded" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="320"></iframe></div> <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFmRT9cdb1io2M_rEUtYOJz8HBJok2EAH">All current and future episode of the Post Mortem can be watched here!</a> <br />

GC9X wishes you a Happy New Year!

We here at the GC9X crew would like to wish all of you a Happy New Year! And what better way to start off 2014 than to watch us fumble around with games for 3 hours? Presenting the first GC9X livecast of the year:

We here at the GC9X crew would like to wish all of you a Happy New Year! And what better way to start off 2014 than to watch us fumble around with games for 3 hours? Presenting the first GC9X livecast of the year:<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="266" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iU1DvizMBlQ?feature=player_embedded" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="320"></iframe></div> <br />

GC9X Dispatch - Do This, Don't Do That

Robo-fairy-parent observes.

This month’s game, Wonder Project J, is often described as a “raising sim.” It’s about a robot boy named Pino whose creator is arrested right before he comes to life. Pino is raised by the robo-fairy/living cursor “Tinker” and an invisible god-like entity, “the player.” The gameplay basically consists of bringing various objects to Pino’s attention and praising or chastising him based on what he does with it. Pino’s first reaction upon seeing a cat, for example, is to punt it. *RIGHT CLICK* That’s baaaaaad, Pino.

As longtime readers/listeners probably suspected, I’m old. I’m old enough to be married and have a two year old son. So, for obvious reasons, this game feels a bit familiar. Especially the substantial portion of it I spend telling a little boy to do something and watching him ignore me in the most extravagant ways possible.

But that is something Pino shares with other things besides two-year-olds. Puppies, for example. Or Siri.

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoT0CwqvMsdEwLwReNPTk28g7ejR2hkTNHbnk3oVL0r1A1sWuiqFeyYOy1rSVWkX5nisSRV-eicPduy5Ltu4eEWg6gRGPUTMVd4WbvQg1JgqOm7XSy064BxOKgsPA5YkHXXv_vtmY47JqW/s1600/wp6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoT0CwqvMsdEwLwReNPTk28g7ejR2hkTNHbnk3oVL0r1A1sWuiqFeyYOy1rSVWkX5nisSRV-eicPduy5Ltu4eEWg6gRGPUTMVd4WbvQg1JgqOm7XSy064BxOKgsPA5YkHXXv_vtmY47JqW/s400/wp6.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Robo-fairy-parent observes.</i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <br> <div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> <span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><a href="http://hg101.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=games&action=display&thread=9773" target="_blank">This month’s</a> game, <i><a href="http://hardcoregaming101.net/wonderproject/wpj1.htm" target="_blank">Wonder Project J</a></i>, is often described as a “raising sim.” It’s about a robot boy named Pino whose creator is arrested right before he comes to life. Pino is raised by the robo-fairy/living cursor “Tinker” and an invisible god-like entity, “the player.” The gameplay basically consists of bringing various objects to Pino’s attention and praising or chastising him based on what he does with it. Pino’s first reaction upon seeing a cat, for example, is to punt it. *RIGHT CLICK* That’s <i>baaaaaad</i>, Pino.</span></div> <div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;"> <span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br></div> <div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> <span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">As longtime readers/listeners probably suspected, I’m old. I’m old enough to be married and have a two year old son. So, for obvious reasons, this game feels a bit familiar. Especially the substantial portion of it I spend telling a little boy to do something and watching him ignore me in the most extravagant ways possible.</span></div> <div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;"> <span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br></div> <div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> <span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">But that is something Pino shares with other things besides two-year-olds. Puppies, for example. Or Siri.</span></div>

199X Dispatch - Our Lingering Deus Ex Question

Another month has come and gone, and the Deus Ex Ultra-Team Ultra-Challenge is over. The podcast has been recorded and should be available in the thread by the time you read this.

In what I hope will become a regular feature of the podcast, Snarboo closes out with a "lingering question." He wants to know if it is possible to kill every last person in Hong Kong. If not (Tracer Tong may well have a plot-powered forcefield) how close can one get?

The first person to provide Youtube proof of the possibility or impossibility of this challenge will get Pit Fighter for Game Boy a cherished game from my own collection, autographed by me. You are guaranteed to have the only one of those ever to exist. So in terms of rarity, it's priceless.

And of course, don't forget to vote on one of September's three randomly-selected games: Crystalis (NES), Military Madness (TG16), or Ninja Kid (NES) / Pocky & Rocky (SNES). Vote or die!
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://i675.photobucket.com/albums/vv120/joestarsan/Deusex2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219" src="http://i675.photobucket.com/albums/vv120/joestarsan/Deusex2.png" width="320" /></a></div> <br /> Another month has come and gone, and the Deus Ex Ultra-Team Ultra-Challenge is over. The podcast has been recorded and should be available in <a href="http://hg101.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=games&action=display&thread=9447">the thread</a> by the time you read this.<br /> <br /> In what I hope will become a regular feature of the podcast, Snarboo closes out with a "lingering question." He wants to know if it is possible to kill every last person in Hong Kong. If not (Tracer Tong may well have a plot-powered forcefield) how close can one get?<br /> <br /> The first person to provide Youtube proof of the possibility or impossibility of this challenge will get <strike>Pit Fighter for Game Boy</strike> a cherished game from my own collection, autographed by me. You are guaranteed to have the only one of those ever to exist. So in terms of rarity, it's priceless.<br /> <br /> And of course, don't forget to vote on one of September's three randomly-selected games: Crystalis (NES), Military Madness (TG16), or Ninja Kid (NES) / Pocky & Rocky (SNES). <a href="http://hg101.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=games&action=display&thread=9567">Vote or die!</a>

199X Dispatch - JC Denton and the Prison of Possibility

muteKi keeps it gangsta.

JC Denton is a nanotech-augmented UNATCO super-cop. He can survive a ten-story fall, hack ATM machines, and swim with a trench coat on. Malt liquor heals him. So why the hell can't he just CLIMB DAMMIT!? CLIMB! JUST GRAB THE LEDGE AND PULL YOURSELF UP! DAMN.

The one thing everyone knows about Deus Ex is that it has a very wide range of meaningful gameplay options. I say "meaningful" to distinguish it from the lower tier of "sandbox" games, wherein the wide variety of options are, in truth, different cars to steal and NPCs to murder. DX is a game where you can hide behind a sofa, or use it to barricade a door, or pick it up and throw it at a helicopter.

Even twelve years ago, this kind of thing wasn't unique to Deus Ex. Computer RPGs had long provided at least as much gameplay variety, if not more. But the fact that Deus Ex gives the player so much control within a three-dimensional environment is something more than variety — it's freedom.

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/594727976564964957/45BFE7D87EC0430AF744155CA80F62D6599D962E/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/594727976564964957/45BFE7D87EC0430AF744155CA80F62D6599D962E/" width="320"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">muteKi keeps it gangsta.</span></b></td></tr> </tbody></table> <br> <div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;"> JC Denton is a nanotech-augmented UNATCO super-cop. He can survive a ten-story fall, hack ATM machines, and swim with a trench coat on. Malt liquor <i>heals</i> him. So why the hell can't he just CLIMB DAMMIT!? CLIMB! JUST GRAB THE LEDGE AND PULL YOURSELF UP! <i>DAMN</i>.</div> <div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;"> <br></div> <div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> The one thing everyone knows about Deus Ex is that it has a very wide range of meaningful gameplay options. I say "meaningful" to distinguish it from the lower tier of "sandbox" games, wherein the wide variety of options are, in truth, different cars to steal and NPCs to murder. DX is a game where you can hide behind a sofa, or use it to barricade a door, or pick it up and throw it at a helicopter.</div> <div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;"> <br></div> <div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> Even twelve years ago, this kind of thing wasn't unique to Deus Ex. Computer RPGs had long provided at least as much gameplay variety, if not more. But the fact that Deus Ex gives the player so much control within a three-dimensional environment is something more than variety — it's <i>freedom</i>.</div> <div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> </div>

199X Dispatch - Forever Munching Quarters

See those green blobs? That's why you're dead.

Nowadays we use the adjective "quarter-munchy" to describe any retro game that (1) allows players to continue playing so long as they keep feeding credits into the machine, and (2) is extra difficult for that reason.

But there's kind of an understanding here, between quarter-munchers and quarter-possessors: keep playing and you will see something new; play even longer, and you might even get good at this. Beat-em-Ups were, by this standard, the pinnacle of quarter-munchery. The best games in that genre made sure to do something new and nifty in every stage.

The original Gauntlet games, however, are the black-hearted demigods of the arcade. Abandon all hope ye who enter here.

When I selected Gauntlet II for this month's experimental "live challenge" I was remembering the fun times I had with the NES port as a kid. This version is somewhat fair AND it supports four players. I now realize that it was, without a doubt, the finest version of classic Gauntlet ever released in any format.

But Gauntlet II, it seems, is no Gauntlet II. It's the Anti-Fun. Here's why:

<br> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheA1y8o9VDyCla1C2V9Hb6IVfCcmyCN71Om2VDo85bVLed8BEDT-fl1iqglzy_Y8HiYosseeGx3LapFmjg-WWzuz5rmOiJghyXes5H_j7z3z-Wz9Y0mw_KKrXuMVnB_q9_3anIugaf8wW8/s1600/0015.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheA1y8o9VDyCla1C2V9Hb6IVfCcmyCN71Om2VDo85bVLed8BEDT-fl1iqglzy_Y8HiYosseeGx3LapFmjg-WWzuz5rmOiJghyXes5H_j7z3z-Wz9Y0mw_KKrXuMVnB_q9_3anIugaf8wW8/s1600/0015.png"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>See those green blobs? That's why you're dead.</b></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"> Nowadays we use the adjective "quarter-munchy" to describe any retro game that (1) allows players to continue playing so long as they keep feeding credits into the machine, and (2) is extra difficult for that reason.</div> <div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"> <br></div> <div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"> But there's kind of an understanding here, between quarter-munchers and quarter-possessors: keep playing and you will see something new; play even longer, and you might even get <i>good</i> at this. Beat-em-Ups were, by this standard, the pinnacle of quarter-munchery. The best games in that genre made sure to do something new and nifty in every stage.</div> <div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"> <br></div> <div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"> The original Gauntlet games, however, are the black-hearted demigods of the arcade. Abandon all hope ye who enter here.</div> <div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"> <br></div> <div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"> When I selected Gauntlet II for <a href="http://hg101.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=games&action=display&thread=9230">this month's experimental "live challenge"</a> I was remembering the fun times I had with the NES port as a kid. This version is somewhat fair AND it supports four players. I now realize that it was, without a doubt, the finest version of classic Gauntlet ever released in any format.</div> <div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"> <br></div> <div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"> But Gauntlet II, it seems, is no Gauntlet II. It's the Anti-Fun. Here's why:<br> <br> </div>