Tag: Ghostbusters

Cheap DVD's: The Real Ghostbusters, vol 1

So I happened to notice, the other day, that The Real Ghostbusters, vol 1 (affiliate link) was on sale at Amazon for $10.49.

You can also get the complete series for $123.99, which is a screamin' deal if you actually want the full run. But I remember that even at the age of 6 I wasn't too impressed by the season 3 rejiggering of the show, and there's not much sense paying extra for 43 episodes I don't want.

I've watched the first few episodes, and man, it mostly still holds up, but Slimer sure is annoying. To the point where I am beginning to understand why people actually hate this show.

I wouldn't go that far -- I quite like it in fact -- but I can understand it. Slimer is one of those obnoxious comic-relief mascot characters who constantly fucks everything up and yet you're supposed to like him anyway. (He makes me think of Red Foreman's line on That 70's Show: "Gilligan screwed it up. Why don't they just kill him?")

On the other hand, Frank Welker does a great voice for him (which he'd later reuse as Nibbler on Futurama).

Also: The first episode features a group of imposter Ghostbusters. Wonder if that's another deliberate knock against Filmation's Ghostbusters cartoon series, like the show's title, The Real Ghostbusters.

Some other initial thoughts:

  • Good: If you can get over the characters looking nothing like the live-action versions, the designs are pretty great; each one clearly distinct in shape and color. I noticed Dan Riba's name in the credits; he went on to be a prominent artist in DC's animated shows.
  • Good: Great cast, including Frank Welker as Slimer and Ray, Mo LaMarche doing an uncanny Harold Ramis, Arsenio Hall inexplicably getting the part of Winston despite Ernie Hudson auditioning for it, and Lorenzo Music as Garfield.
  • Good: The animation is better than the vast majority of the show's contemporaries...
  • Bad: ...most of the time, but it can get pretty inconsistent.
  • Bad: Slimer. Mostly.
  • Good: But not always. Sometimes Slimer is good, and again, Welker's voice is a delight.
  • Good: The writing. I haven't liked everything J Michael Straczynski has ever written, but this show is solid. It does a good job of expanding the universe from the movie and creating a satisfying world of supernatural weirdness.
  • Good: Thirty episodes for under eleven bucks!

To-Do

Games I've Bought Individually and Haven't Played Yet

  • Shenmue 3
  • Littlewood
  • Slime Rancher
  • God of War (2018)
  • Hades
  • Shadow of the Tomb Raider
  • Metroid: Samus Returns
  • Castlevania Anniversary Collection
  • Castlevania Requiem
  • Divinity: Original Sin
  • Steamworld Dig
  • Xenoblade Chronicles X
  • Pyre
  • Overcooked
  • Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
  • Cities: Skylines
  • Ys 7
  • Grandia 2
  • Trails in the Sky 2
  • Fallout
  • System Shock 2
  • FarCry
  • Eversion
  • Zissi's Island
  • Paper Mario

Games I've Bought in Bundles and Haven't Played Yet

  • Ittle Dew
  • Ittle Dew 2+
  • Mass Effect: Legendary Edition
  • Command & Conquer Remastered Collection
  • Planet Zoo
  • Control
  • Graveyard Keeper
  • Evoland
  • Shining Resonance Refrain
  • Zwei: The Arges Adventure
  • Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection
  • Children of Morta
  • Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
  • Catherine
  • Wargroove
  • Okami
  • Fae Tactics
  • Supraland
  • Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
  • Middle-Earth: Shadow of War
  • Phoenix Point: Year One Edition
  • Superhot: Mind Control Delete
  • If Found...
  • Genesis Noir
  • Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos
  • Chicken Police
  • Ghostrunner
  • Suzerain
  • Street Fighter 5
  • 1700 or so games in the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality, including but not limited to
    • Celeste
    • Night in the Woods
    • Night of the Consumers
    • Nuclear Throne
    • Quadrilateral Cowboy
    • Super Hexagon
    • A Normal Lost Phone
    • Starseed Pilgrim
    • Octodad: Dadliest Catch
    • A Short Hike
    • Loot Rascals
    • MewnBase
    • Wheels of Aurelia
  • Bundle for Ukraine, including but not limited to
    • Superhot
    • Wandersong
    • Sundered
    • Omeganaut
    • TowerFall Ascension
    • Underhero
    • Eldritch
    • Particle Mace
    • Nebs 'n Debs
    • Clash Force
  • Stand with Ukraine Bundle, including but not limited to
    • Metro Exodus
    • Fable Anniversary
    • Quantum Break
    • Slay the Spire
    • Skullgirls 2nd Encore
    • Sunset Overdrive
    • Tooth and Tail
    • Toejam & Earl: Back in the Groove
    • Yoku's Island Express
  • Baba Is You
  • Football Manager 2000
  • Hyper Light Drifter
  • <observer_
  • NBA 2K20
  • Kerbal Space Program
  • Eastside Hockey Manager
  • Jackbox Party Pack 4
  • The Ball
  • Super Time Force Ultra
  • Surviving Mars
  • Armello
  • Age of Wonders III
  • Overlord II
  • Kingdom Classic
  • Gonner
  • Overgrowth
  • System Shock: Enhanced Edition
  • Broken Age
  • Newt One
  • All You Can Eat
  • New Beginning
  • No Time to Explain Remastered
  • Knights of Pen and Paper 2
  • StarCrossed
  • Vertiginous Golf
  • EarthNight
  • Plunge
  • Pesterquest
  • Realpolitiks
  • Elite Dangerous
  • My Memory of Us
  • MirrorMoon EP
  • In Between
  • Gunscape
  • Neo Cab
  • Regular Human Basketball
  • Planet of the Eyes
  • Crowntakers
  • FRAMED Collection
  • Strider (2014)
  • Resident Evil 0 HD Remaster
  • Resident Evil HD Remaster
  • Resident Evil Revelations
  • Resident Evil Revelations 2
  • Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
  • Dead Rising 4
  • DmC 4
  • Blasphemous
  • Ancestors Legacy
  • Phantom Doctrine
  • Dead in Vinland
  • Horizon Chase Turbo
  • Dark Future
  • Xmorph Defense
  • Aegis Defenders
  • Deser Child
  • SoulCalibur 6
  • Yakuza Kiwami 2
  • Yakuza 3
  • Yakuza 4
  • Yakuza 5
  • My Time At Portia
  • 11-11: Memories Retold
  • Synthetik
  • Evergarden
  • Operator
  • Call of Duty: WWII
  • Crash Bandicoot: N Sane Trilogy
  • Spyro Reignited Trilogy
  • Distraint 2
  • Unexplored
  • Rusty Lake Paradise
  • Bendy and the Ink Machine
  • Prison Architect
  • Nex Machina
  • Shantae: Half-Genie Hero
  • Disgaea
  • Disgaea 2
  • Sonic Forces
  • Sonic Lost World
  • Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
  • Metro Last Light Redux
  • Crayon Physics
  • Broken Sword
  • Broken Sword 5
  • Tesla Effect
  • Shadowrun: Hong Kong
  • Shadowrun: Dragonfall
  • Xenonauts
  • Torment: Tides of Numenera
  • Dreamfall Chapters
  • Affordable Space Adventures
  • Gauntlet '15
  • Civilization 3
  • Civilization 4: Colonization
  • X-COM: UFO Defense
  • X-COM: Terror From the Deep
  • X-COM: Apocalypse
  • X-COM: Interceptor
  • X-COM: Enforcer
  • Pirates
  • Starships
  • Ace Patrol
  • Ace Patrol: Pacific Skies
  • Chameleon Run
  • Hitman Go
  • Dropsy
  • The Banner Saga
  • Punch Club
  • Super Stickman Golf 3
  • Ys: The Oath in Felghana
  • Ys 6
  • Ys Origin
  • This War of Mine
  • Nuclear Throne
  • Renowned Explorers
  • Nova-111
  • The Magic Circle
  • Super Avalanche
  • Tailwind Prologue
  • Strikbold
  • Shantae and the Pirate's Curse
  • A Boy and His Blob
  • Human Resource Machine
  • Retro City Rampage
  • Morrowind
  • Oblivion
  • Bioshock 2
  • Bioshock Infinite
  • Orange Box
    • Half-Life 2
    • Episode 1
    • Episode 2
    • Portal
    • Team Fortress 2
  • Dungeons & Dragons Anthology
    • Baldur's Gate
    • Baldur's Gate 2
    • Icewind Dale
    • Icewind Dale 2
    • Planescape: Torment
    • Temple of Elemental Evil
  • Aquaria
  • Gish
  • Penumbra: Overture
  • Lugaru
  • Trine 2
  • Mark of the Ninja
  • Eets Munchies
  • FTL
  • Rocketbirds
  • LIMBO
  • Shadowman
  • Penny Arcade Episode 2
  • Shank
  • Shank 2
  • The Baconing
  • Plants vs. Zombies: GOTY
  • Fist of Awesome
  • Reaper
  • Super Comboman
  • Ascendant
  • Fist of Jesus
  • Windward
  • Ziggurat
  • Kentucky Route Zero
  • Beholder
  • A Story About My Uncle
  • Neon Drive
  • Double Dragon: Neon

Games I've Bought and Haven't Finished Yet

  • Blizzard Arcade Collection
  • Super Mario Odyssey
  • Immortals: Fenyx Rising
  • Pentiment
  • Yakuza 0 -- Finished 2023-03-01
  • Yakuza Kiwami
  • Lenna's Inception
  • Minit
  • Cult of the Lamb
  • Stray
  • Vampire Survivors
  • Anodyne -- Finished 2022-11-19
  • Destroy All Humans
  • Triangle Strategy
  • Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
  • Castlevania Advance Collection
  • Trials of Mana -- Finished 2023-05-04
  • Mega Man 11
  • Untitled Goose Game
  • SolSeraph
  • Guardians of the Galaxy -- Finished 2022-02-19
  • Spider-Man: Miles Morales -- Finished 2022-12-04
  • FF7 Remake -- Finished 2022-02-07
  • Death Stranding
  • Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate
  • Shiren the Wanderer (SNES cartridge)
  • Persona 5 Royal -- Finished 2021-06-21
  • RimWorld
  • Cadence of Hyrule
  • Mario/Rabbids
  • Ring Fit Adventure
  • Octopath Traveler
  • GRIP
  • Disco Elysium -- Finished 2020-07-04
  • Azure Dreams
  • Metro 2033 Redux
  • Indivisible
  • CrossCode
  • The Messenger
  • NieR: Automata
  • Iconoclasts
  • Tanglewood
  • Hollow Knight
  • Tetris Effect
  • 20XX
  • Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark
  • Final Fantasy 15 -- Finished 2019-06-28
  • Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
  • SteamWorld Heist
  • Pillars of Eternity
  • Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection
  • Sonic Mania -- Finished 2019-11-17
  • Spider-Man -- Finished 2019-04-16
  • Borderlands 2
  • Rise of the Tomb Raider
  • Wasteland 2
  • Shadowrun Returns -- Finished 2018-03-16
  • Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap
  • Dragon Quest Builders
  • Breath of the Wild
  • Super Mario Maker
  • Mad Max -- Finished 2018-02-11
  • Shadow of Mordor
  • Tomb Raider '13 -- Finished 2017-06-13
  • Owlboy
  • Rayman Origins
  • Freedom Planet
  • Civilization 6
  • A Link Between Worlds -- Finished 2014-08-28
  • Majora's Mask
  • Fire Emblem: Awakening -- Finished 2015-03-14
  • Shin Megami Tensei 4
  • Devil Survivor Overclocked
  • Mario Kart 7 -- Finished single-player 2014-07-20
  • Super Mario 3D Land
  • Ys -- Finished 2017-02-04
  • Ys 2
  • Ys: Memories of Celceta -- Finished 2017-02-01
  • Axiom Verge -- Finished 2016-09-11
  • Stardew Valley
  • Mighty No. 9
  • Transformers: Devastation
  • Trails in the Sky
  • The Stick of Truth
  • Final Fantasy Type-0 HD
  • Shovel Knight -- Finished 2016-02-15
  • XCOM: Enemy Unknown -- Finished 2016-03-17
  • Civilization 4 -- Finished a full game 2016-01-23
  • Civilization 5 -- Finished a full game 2016-02-14
  • Undertale
  • I Am Setsuna
  • Shantae: Risky's Revenge -- Finished 2016-08-07
  • Adventures of Mana -- Finished 2022-05-16
  • Witcher 3
  • Skyrim
  • Deus Ex: Human Revolution
  • Bionic Commando: Rearmed
  • Guacamelee -- Finished 2015-02-21
  • Valkyria Chronicles -- Finished 2014-12-20
  • Valkyria Chronicles 2
  • Valkyria Chronicles 4
  • Walking Dead: 400 Days -- Finished 2014-01-05
  • The Wolf Among Us -- Finished 2014-07-18
  • Psychonauts
  • Super Mario Galaxy -- Finished 2013-06-15
  • Super Mario Galaxy 2
  • Xenoblade Chronicles
  • Last Story -- Finished 2013-07-13
  • Red Dead Redemption -- Finished 2018-04-14
  • Gears of War
  • Crackdown
  • Dead Rising
  • Tactics Ogre
  • Star Ocean: First Departure
  • Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles
  • Dragon Quest 9
  • Etrian Odyssey 3
  • Retro Game Challenge
  • WarioWare DIY
  • Half-Life
  • Cthulhu Saves the World
  • Bastion
  • DuckTales Remastered -- Finished 2013-08-22
  • World of Goo
  • Samorost 2
  • A Virus Named TOM
  • Fez
  • Brutal Legend
  • Ghostbusters
  • Penny Arcade Episode 1
  • Legend of Grimrock
  • Battle Kid: Fortress of Peril
  • Pier Solar
  • Metroid Prime 2
  • Persona 4
  • Mega Man X8

Games I've Received as Gifts and Haven't Finished Yet

  • Tears of the Kingdom
  • Fallout: New Vegas
  • Dark Forces
  • Jedi Knight
  • Jedi Outcast
  • Jedi Academy
  • SaGa Scarlet Grace
  • Anodyne 2
  • Recettear
  • TMNT: Shredder's Revenge
  • ActRaiser Renaissance -- Finished 2022-09-12
  • Guacamelee 2
  • Eiyuden Chronicle Rising
  • Streets of Rage 4
  • Bravely Default 2
  • Yakuza 6
  • Yakuza: Like a Dragon -- Finished 2021-11-19
  • Dragon Quest 11
  • Last Remnant
  • Portal 2
  • Sleeping Dogs
  • Hatoful Boyfriend
  • Shower with Your Dad Simulator
  • The Walking Dead -- Finished 2013-02-17
  • Donkey Kong Country Returns
  • Kirby's Epic Yarn
  • Mega Man 10
  • Kirby's Canvas Curse
  • Dragon Quest 6

Games I Got for Free and Haven't Finished Yet

  • Horizon Zero Dawn -- Finished 2022-10-04
  • AM2R
  • Spelunky
  • Batman: Arkham Knight -- Finished 2015-08-12
  • Batman: Arkham Origins -- Finished 2022-02-22
  • Game of Thrones
  • Monument Valley
  • GTA: San Andreas
  • Wario Land 2
  • Sonic 4 Episode 1
  • Ultimate NES Remix -- Finished 2015-05-24
  • New Super Mario Bros. 2 -- Finished 2015-03-18
  • Torchlight
  • Bioshock
  • Fallout 2
  • Bard's Tale (Android)
  • Mighty Gunvolt -- Finished 2014-09-11
  • Game Dev Story -- Made it to endgame 2014-03-29

Expansions I Haven't Finished Yet

  • Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare
  • XCOM: Enemy Within
  • Shovel Knight
    • Plague of Shadows
    • Specter of Torment
    • King of Cards
  • KotOR 2 Content Restoration Mod
  • Final Fantasy 15 Royal DLC
  • Sonic Mania Plus

Compilations I've Partially Completed

  • Shenmue 1&2
    • 1 -- Finished 2022-11-30
    • 2
  • TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection
    • Arcade
      • TMNT -- Finished 2022-09-14
      • Turtles in Time -- Finished 2022-09-17
    • SNES
      • Turtles in Time
      • Tournament Fighters
    • Genesis
      • Hyperstone Heist
      • Tournament Fighters -- Finished 2022-10-04
    • NES
      • TMNT -- Finished 2022-09-04
      • TMNT 2 -- Finished 2022-10-15
      • TMNT 3
      • Tournament Fighters -- Finished 2022-09-02
    • GB
      • TMNT -- Finished 2022-10-09
      • TMNT 2
      • TMNT 3 -- Finished 2023-02-27
  • Disney Afternoon Collection
    • DuckTales -- Finished 2022-10-17
    • DuckTales 2
    • Rescue Rangers
    • Rescue Rangers 2
    • TaleSpin
    • Darkwing Duck
  • Mega Man Legacy Collection
    • Mega Man -- Finished
    • Mega Man 2 -- Finished
    • Mega Man 3 -- Finished
    • Mega Man 4 -- Finished
    • Mega Man 5
    • Mega Man 6
  • Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection
    • Mega Man Zero -- Finished 2022-08-20
    • Mega Man Zero 2
    • Mega Man Zero 3
    • Mega Man Zero 4
    • Mega Man ZX
    • Mega Man ZX Advent

Games I've Bought and Haven't Finished Replaying Yet

  • Doom (the original)
  • Batman: Arkham City -- Finished 2015-01-06
  • Valkyria Chronicles
  • Mega Man Legends 2
  • Mass Effect 2
  • Sonic CD
  • Mega Man: Powered Up
  • Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X -- Finished 2015-10-12
  • Crisis Core
  • Super Mario World
  • Zelda 2 -- Finished 2013-05-05
  • Final Fantasy 6 Advance
  • DuckTales Remastered
  • Skies of Arcadia

Remakes I Haven't Finished of Games I Have Finished

  • Metroid Prime Remastered -- Finished 2023-06-13
  • Link's Awakening (Switch) -- Finished 2021-12-19
  • Final Fantasy (PSP)
  • Final Fantasy 4 DS
  • Final Fantasy 5 (Android)
  • Final Fantasy 10
  • Sonic 2 (Android)
  • Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland
  • Dragon Quest 7 (3DS)

ROMs I've Downloaded and Haven't Finished

  • Oracle of Seasons
  • Mega Man World 5 DX -- Finished 2023-03-21
  • Super Mario Land 2 DX -- Finished 2023-02-25
  • Sonic: Triple Trouble -- Finished 2022-12-09
  • Final Fantasy 6 T-Edition
  • For the Frog the Bell Tolls
  • Retro Game Challenge 2
  • Makai Toshi SaGa (WonderSwan Color)
  • SaGa 2 (DS)
  • Earth Bound
  • Earthbound
  • Soul Blazer
  • BS-Zelda -- Time limit ran out; unwinnable; not going to start over
  • BS-Zelda: LttP
  • Sonic 2 Delta
  • Phantasy Star Generation 1
  • Super Mario 3mix

ROMs I've Downloaded and Haven't Played

  • 7th Dragon
  • SaGa 3 (DS)
  • Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem
  • Soma Bringer
  • Tales of Innocence
  • Valkyria Chronicles 3

Games I Got for Free and Haven't Played

  • Neverwinter Nights EE
  • Under the Moon
  • Wolfenstein: The New Order
  • The Beast Inside
  • Lorelai
  • Dead Island 2
  • The Callisto Protocol
  • Mom Hid My Game
  • Dishonored 2
  • Beat Cop
  • Evil Within 2
  • Daymare
  • Greak: Memories of Azur
  • Behold the Kickmen
  • King of Seas
  • Ghost of a Tale
  • Terroir
  • Narita Boy
  • Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Collection
  • Genesis Alpha One
  • Master of Magic Classic
  • Immortal Redneck
  • Lovecraft's Untold Stories
  • Dex
  • Stasis
  • Bananner Nababber
  • VirtuaVerse
  • Sanitarium
  • Venetica
  • Flashback
  • Iris and the Giant
  • Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun
  • Cave Story's Secret Santa
  • Crime Cities
  • Beholder
  • Wanderlust: Transsiberia
  • ARMA: Cold War Assault
  • Hellpoint
  • Surviving Mars
  • Tonight We Riot
  • Subnautica
  • Abzu
  • Enter the Gungeon
  • Rez Infinite
  • The Witness
  • Thumper
  • Bomber Crew
  • Brigador
  • Butcher
  • Kingdom
  • Europa Universalis 2
  • NiGHTS
  • Serious Sam
  • F1 2018
  • Warhammer 40K: Rites of War
  • Eye of the Beholder Trilogy
  • Hitman: Absolution
  • Total Annihilation
  • Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation
  • Total War: Shogun 2
  • Pac-Man Championship Edition 2
  • Manual Samuel
  • Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection
  • Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection
  • Journey
  • Symmetry
  • Mabel and the Wood
  • Tower of Time
  • Borderlands 3
  • Serial Cleaner
  • Endless Space Collection
  • DiRT Rally
  • The Last of Us
  • Obduction
  • Tacoma
  • Teslagrad
  • SOMA
  • Lego Hobbit
  • Lego Lord of the Rings
  • Full Throttle
  • Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion
  • Orwell
  • Hacknet Deluxe
  • Unreal Gold
  • Eador: Masters of the Broken World
  • Satellite Reign
  • Crusader Kings 2
  • Spec Ops: The Line
  • The Darkness 2
  • Alcarys Complex
  • F1 2015
  • Lethal League
  • King of Fighters 2002
  • Amnesia: The Dark Descent
  • Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs
  • Carmageddon TDR 2000
  • Oxenfree
  • Layers of Fear
  • Homefront
  • Grim Fandango Remastered
  • Company of Heroes 2
  • Sanctum 2
  • MDK
  • Syberia
  • Killer is Dead
  • Rising Storm
  • Jotun
  • Shadow Warrior
  • Lost Odyssey
  • Dungeons 2
  • Saints Row 2
  • Corporate Lifestyle Simulator
  • Huntsman: The Orphanage
  • Fantasy General
  • Batman: Arkham Origins: Blackgate
  • Tropico 4
  • Bionic Dues
  • Divine Divinity
  • Sonic 4 Episode 2
  • Gothic 2
  • Ultima 4
  • Worlds of Ultima: Savage Empire
  • Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams
  • Akalabeth
  • Shadow Warrior Classic
  • Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games
  • Wreckateer
  • Penny Arcade Episode 3
  • Star Command
  • Magrunner: Dark Pulse
  • Warlock: Master of the Arcane
  • Aliens vs. Predator Classic 2000
  • Metro 2033 -- Bought Redux; not planning to play original
  • Teleglitch
  • Mount and Blade
  • Stealth Inc 2
  • Gabriel Knight: SotF20AE
  • Dreamfall Chapters
  • SPACECOM
  • Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee
  • Outlast

Games I Got for the Multiplayer
(so finishing them isn't really the point)

  • Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl
  • CTR: Nitro Fueled
  • Super Smash Bros Ultimate
  • Them's Fightin' Herds
  • Lego Star Wars
  • Katamari Damacy Reroll
  • Team Sonic Racing
  • Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
  • Super Mario 3D World
  • New Super Mario Bros. U
  • New Super Luigi Bros. U
  • Super Smash Bros Wii U
  • Splatoon
  • Mario Kart 8
  • Yoshi's Woolly World
  • DKC Tropical Freeze
  • Goat Simulator
  • Rocket League
  • Pac-Man 256
  • Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime

Games I've Funded on Kickstarter that Don't Exist Yet

  • Project Phoenix

Xboxin', Part 3

Dragon Age: Origins: Another medieval fantasy RPG influenced by Game of Thrones. To the point that it's about a kingdom that needs to repel a zombie invasion but is too busy fighting amongst itself. Also it spells "sir" with an "e".

Pretty standard plot; you're recruited to an elite fighting force, something goes wrong and you have to pick up the pieces. It's a BioWare game, and the gameplay is like Knights of the Old Republic with Final Fantasy 12's combat support system.

I enjoyed the hell out of it (and the expansion, Awakening, was pretty good too) but never got around to playing the sequel, which I hear is a much different game and which got pretty mixed reviews.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game: As a game it's okay. As a Ghostbusters sequel, it's great. They managed to get basically everyone from the movies except Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis back together; it's funny and it makes for a great continuation from the movies.

Do not confuse it with Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime. I haven't played that one, but it doesn't have the actors from the movies in it, and from what I've read it's terrible.

Mega Man 9: Another downloadable game. It's a new Mega Man game in the NES style. Think of a game as complexly designed and bitch-ass hard as Mega Man 2 or 3; now think of it with 20 years' more of game design knowledge attached to it. (There's a Mega Man 10, too; it's neat but not as good as 9 and I never did get around to finishing it.)


Also, I've started Gears of War; I haven't gotten far but it seems like a damn decent cover-based third-person shooter. And I got it for under $5 used. I also enjoyed the demos I played of Fez (a puzzle platformer based around rotating a 3D world that you can only move through as a side-scroller) and Pac-Man Championship Edition DX (which is a new Pac-Man game with different maze layouts, slightly different play mechanics, and a whole lot more ghosts -- another retro-style game with a really good modern design sensibility). The neat thing about all the downloadable games on Xbox Live is every single one of them has a demo you can download; given sufficient bandwidth and a hard drive you can try out a few levels of a new game or three every day and enjoy the hell out of just doing that.

Other games I haven't gotten around to playing but hear are good: Dead Rising, Bioshock, Skyrim, The Orange Box, Bayonetta.

I started a thread called Xbox 360 101 over at brontoforum.us; it's full of various recommendations.

So there ya go -- more games than you can shake a stick at and probably more than you can find time to play. That's like 5 years' worth of games for me, even though I just got my Xbox six weeks ago, since I played most of these on PC.

Xboxin', Part 1

Welp, couldn't think of an entry to write this evening, and I got to thinking -- my brother just got an Xbox (rather like I did), and I was meaning to recommend some games to him. So hey, howzabout a blog post about my favorite Xbox games.

(Actually, I've mostly played the PC versions of these. Because, again -- just got the Xbox.)

Mass Effect -- I haven't played 3 yet, but the first two games are, straight up, my favorite games of the current hardware generation. It's the guys who made Knights of the Old Republic, but it's a new science fiction setting they've cooked up. Humans have begun exploring space and are treated as second-class citizens by the Galactic Council; your character is the first human to be selected for an elite special-ops position. Of course, as these things go, you uncover a threat to all of galactic civilization.

The first game's a not-quite-perfect hybrid of third-person shooter and RPG; it's got a wonky inventory system but is pretty great aside from that. The second game streamlines out all the crap and is more of a pure shooter; on the whole I'd say it's a better game but the first has the better story. I haven't played the third yet; from what I've read it's pretty good but the ending is so bad the company actually released a new ending at fans' insistence.

Batman: Arkham Asylum -- When this game came out it got the Guinness Record for the best-reviewed game of all time. It's easy to see why. It's got a script by Paul Dini and stars Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill. The gameplay is just perfect, and the enemy AI is a great touch; a lot of the fighting is focused on the idea of sneaking around and slowly picking off thugs one-by-one. (You can even hang upside-down from a gargoyle, wait until a guy walks underneath you, and drop down and tie him up.) As you take thugs out the remaining ones get more and more agitated and have different reactions; some start firing randomly into the air, others start traveling in pairs -- the AI's not exactly brilliant but it's a really nice touch. And that's before the game even starts messing with your expectations, playing with what you expect out of the world of Batman and even the mechanics of the game itself.

The sequel, Arkham City, is supposed to be pretty fantastic too, but I haven't gotten around to that one yet.


Guess that'll do for a start. Other stuff for later: Dragon Age, The Witcher 2, Sonic Generations, Sonic CD. And, hell, Ghostbusters. Because it may be mediocre as a game, but as a Ghostbusters sequel, it's pretty great.