Words On Wednesday

“Pokemon Red” and “Pokemon Blue” are an RPG pair released on the Game Boy in 1996 in Japan, and 1998 in North America. They have since spawned a huge following, and a number of different sequels, spin-offs, and more. However, were the original games really all that good? Do we remember them with nostalgia because of the quality of the sequels, or were the first generation games as great as fans remember them being? Story - 8/10 The story of Pokemon Red and Blue is inspiring, if not entirely believable. A young boy goes on a journey to capture a team of Pokemon, and take on the Pokemon League. Along the way, he meets new friends, explores the world, and defeats an entire criminal organization. A kid, typically accepted as 10 years old, takes down a crime boss and all of Team Rocket. It’s far-fetched, but boy if it doesn’t send kids a strong message of “you can do anything you set your mind to.” The characters of Pokemon Red and Blue are entertaining, if predictable. The prota...

“ EarthBound ” or “Mother 2” is a Japanese Role Playing Game released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994. Originally not very popular, the game gradually developed a sort of cult following for its quirky story and interesting combat. Is EarthBound genuinely a great game, or are fans of it seeing through the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia? Story - 7/10 The story of EarthBound is undeniably the most distinctive facet. I have described it before as “a representation of how the culture of the United States is seen from the perspective of Japanese video game developers,” but even that doesn’t fully describe what EarthBound is. From one perspective, it is almost boringly typical of a JRPG. A great evil threatens the world, and a young boy is chosen by destiny to join with a group of friends and defeat this evil. The nuance, however, is just strikingly odd. It’s very much like asking someone who has never been to United States to describe Americana culture. They...

Nintendo has finally announced the long rumored SNES Classic Edition . When Nintendo released the NES Classic Edition back in November 2016, people immediately began speculating about a SNES Classic Edition. Despite the good and bad about the NES Classic Edition, it only made sense. So many fans want an official way to play old SNES games, and this seems to be the solution. After just a few months, Nintendo has confirmed that the SNES will be revived in the form of the SNES Classic Edition . The Good In many ways, Nintendo seems to have learned from the mistakes they made with the NES Classic Edition. First and foremost, Nintendo has elected to include a second controller with the SNES Classic Edition. One of the biggest appeals of video games in the NES and SNES eras were the local multiplayer. People didn’t play at their respective homes, connected via the internet. They went to each other’s houses, and they played on the same console and screen. When the NES Classic Editi...

‘Murica. If I had to describe Independence Day in one word, it would simply be “‘Murica.” I’ve always had a weird relationship with Independence Day, or “the fourth of July” as I tend to hear more often. As a kid, we did Independence Day big. And I don’t mean we went somewhere to see professional fireworks shows. We shot fireworks at home. And not small, gas station fireworks. We had hookups with people who shot professional fireworks, and somehow managed to acquire some of these for our own purposes. As such, I’ve always been intimately familiar with fireworks. That includes the mishaps that can go along with amateur firework shows. We’ve had a dog run by and snatch up an actively firing cake of Saturn Missiles, shooting off as we chased her around the yard. A larger cake of balls with report tipped over once, pointing directly at where the entire audience was seated. Another time, a rocket shot up into a tree and caught the top of the tree on fire. Someone had to climb up an adj...