I'd say the personal story also translates into personality of the animation. I'm pretty sure mid-'80s Epyx rotoscoped for Impossible Mission or Winter (and all the other) Games, but the results are not as striking while just as smooth. Kane's horse does move great for its time, but it looks like they just traced…

I think the most striking part about shooting game sprites to me is the clustering or object grouping or whatever the technical term may be. There's typically little traditional animation (as in a series of images displayed in succession), but rather conjoined elements forming a larger whole (the tail of the first…

AV Club! How's it going? My Sunday appointments got canceled so I figured I'd drop by and say hi.

Hi, AV Club! It's been a while. I hope you're all well. I finally did some things again this weekend!

Definitely try some Obatzda ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wi… ) served with pretzels, rye bread and/or radish. Potato dumplings might be good, too.

Nothing came close to Queen Millenia, Leiji Matsumoto's sci-fi adventure fusion of The Tale of The Bamboo Cutter and Planet X hypotheses. Transformers was great and everything, but it couldn't hope to compete with a fully serialized show that deftly balances fun, suspense, and thoughtfulness while exploring piety in…

I haven't played it, but I can't believe that. Isn't that a strategy game? If so it must have a Sakimoto soundtrack then, no?

I only played Aquanaut's Holiday 2, so I can't you help you with the Reef View stuff, but generally speaking: If you're occassionally amazed by what you find in the game then you've already figured it out quite well.

I'd say yes. It has the best atmosphere in the series, the best soundtrack, the best level design and the best script (or at least translation).

"…and I still feel the presence of Atlantis through… err… may I present NUR-AB-SAL…"

Add Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, Magnificent Butcher, Wing Chun and Tai Chi Master. I thought True Legend was disappointing, but the man has easily earned a lifetime pass. There really aren't a whole lot of better choices to direct a martial arts movie.

Hey! You show some respect when you're talking about my son!

Aaaah, don't flaunt it! My old belt-drive has been wonky for ages and plays everything too fast (how much too fast seems to depend on weight and track width, I surmise), so ripping would be a waste of time. The upside is that when I end up looking for the music online in correct tempo instead, I sometimes find out…

Hey! There are some great tracks on Amerie's second album ( http://youtu.be/xIxt04fsqYA ) even if nothing touches 1 Thing, and Critical seems like an odd pick. Was that actually a hit single somewhere? In any case, the rest of Mind Over Matter was really solid (and often better than Critical, I think) and Deep Water…

I was very late to this generation, so I'm still playing catch-up myself. I'd add 3D Dot Game Heroes, Tokyo Jungle, Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown and After Burner Climax to what's already been mentioned. These are all games that aren't also on or coming to PC or newer consoles, so I think they'd make sense for your…

That's exactly the one. I had never played it before, only, as I said, the demo for Klonoa 2. And either that or Gitaroo Man was my most frequently played OPM demo.

Heel theme: I totally couldn't make the lyrics works, but Jadakiss - Shoot Outs (the instrumental versions on Youtube kinda suck and I can't find the regular version, so http://rd.io/x/QURb0zed7Ok/ is the best link I can provide). Ominous intro->thunderous orchestral percussion->CON AIR GUITARS OVER A RAP…

If it's possible at all, I find it helps immensely to play them with others. It immediately turns every "Ugh, I'm stupid!" into the less frustrating "Oh, this is a tough one", it reduces guilt over using walkthroughs ("It was group consensus!"), and I think they're legitimately good "play", as in "Here's a pretend…

EU PSN has a pretty sweet sale going on right now, so I grabbed Klonoa and Jumping Flash 1. I used to play the demo for Klonoa 2 a lot so I'm glad to have a full game from that series now, and I played Jumping Flash 2 last year so I know that's gonna be great as well. I've already started with Klonoa and I'm super…

I'd love to hear your take on it if you do decide to get it. The word-of-mouth from people who should be into it has indeed been overwhelmingly sobering so far, but your approval might sway me.