Today I’m going to be introducing a new segment I want to try out on you guys called “Blast From the Past.” Original, I know. However, I feel like I need to dig into the geek time capsule and pull out some of these oldies but goodies. First up is a show I’ve loved since watching the movie made in 1988. It’s Alien Nation! And it’s awesome beyond words.

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When Hollywood decides to make a movie based on a video game I always get nervous. Their track record hasn’t been so good. Movies like Resident Evil, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Hitman and most other movies based on games, aren’t really classified as good movies. With the newest movie based on a game, Prince of Persia, coming out soon we’ve decided to dust off some of these old movies and give them another chance. Think of it as a sort of retro movie review. And what better way to start us off than the one that started it all, Super Mario Bros.

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It seems today everything has a sense of the past linked to it, retro is cool and kicking. This is the inspiration behind 3D Dot Game Heroes. This game is every classic video game smashed together into a smoothie of wonder, BUT in 3D! This will sound dumb, but imagine the 2D games, but in 3D. Right? It’s like…Avatar, 3D man!

While a game that’s main selling point is that it is 3D you might think it to be oddly enough shallow. I got to watch and preview the game this morning and let me tell you it is nothing to scoff at here. The game has large influences of game play from the games of old, but everything with it has a distinct flavor of new to it. You ever listen to artists that mash up songs to make their own? It’s very much like that and it is super fly, fool. You have your hacking and your slashing, puzzles, and some pretty sweet mini games to boot. I am excited for the game to release in May (May 11th 2010 to be exact). I think the thing that I am most excited about is the music in the game, It has such a “Neo-Old School” feel to it that I can’t stop listening to the music on the website. Listen to it. I want to wake up to that every morning.

The only thing I could hope for right now would be an old school controller to go with the game to get that feel on touch basis. But hey, that’s hardly a complaint about the game. Again check it out when it drops on May 11, 2010.

OK, so there have been quite a few attempts by Sega to get Sonic into the 3D realm, pretty much all of which sucked. It’s ok, not every 2D character translates into 3D and finally Sega seems to have wised up about it because Sonic 4 is going 2D again! I don’t know about you but I still play the odd bit of Sonic & Knuckles and to be honest it’s one of the best retro gaming experiences you can get. So I guess you could say I’m pretty excited about the prospect of a whole new, 2D, back to it’s roots Sonic game. Good news is you don’t need a Gensis, or a Dreamcast for that matter, to get in on the action as it’s going to be digitally distributed across all major consoles including Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360. Rumours are also abound that it’ll launch on the iPhone, but that’s speculation at the moment thanks to a ‘?’ on the official Sonic 4 site.

Anyway, head on over to the site, it’s a bit bare at the moment, but there are lots of count down timers for further information and news, something to keep you occupied while you wait.

[Sonic 4 Official Site Via Sega]

As big a gamer as I am, the list of games I played in my younger days is embarrassingly small. So, much like a man who buys a big gun to compensate for having a small penis, I overcompensated in recent years, leaving me with a library of games littered with titles I’ve never finished. Still, even with all those games left to play, I always find myself going back to basics, playing the classics from the small library of games from my past. And out of that small list, there is one game that stands out more than the rest. Nintendo’s Super Mario World for the SNES. It’s a game that, for me, never gets old. It aged really well and, after nearly 20 years, is still as enjoyable now as it was back then.

Gameplay:

Compared to today, a game like Super Mario World is very simplistic when it comes to gameplay. Despite the SNES controller’s six-button layout, only three buttons were really useful. The B button was the standard jump button, the A button was the spin jump, which came in useful when dispatching some of the more powerful enemies, and the X and Y buttons did the same thing…allowing Mario to run faster, shoot fireballs, and swallow enemies while riding Yoshi.

While Super Mario World didn’t have the variety of items and power-ups that Super Mario Bros. 3, such as the Tanooki Suit, the hammer suit, and so on, there was only one that was really necessary anyway. While you still had your standard Mushroom, Fire Flower, and Starman power ups from previous game, SMW introduced the Cape Feather, which bestowed onto Mario a cape for which to fly. While it served a similar function to SMB 3’s Super Leaf, allowing Mario to fly and use a spin attack, the Cape Feather gave Mario 2 new powers; the ground smash attack that creates a shockwave that incapacitates nearby enemies and a parachute maneuver, which, if utilized properly, can be used to float indefinitely.

The game itself was comprised of 7 normal worlds with about 5 levels leading up to the boss castle. On top of that, 4 special switch palaces, which unlocked special blocks, were hidden. Certain levels contained multiple exits that unlocked special paths, along with access to the hidden Star World, containing extra levels, special Yoshi’s, a direct route to Bowser’s castle, and access to the Special World. The Special World worked sort of like a challenge world, with increasingly difficult stages placed to test players. Completion of the Special World caused cosmetic changes in the game, including a new color scheme for the world map and different looking enemies, such as Koopa Troopas with Mario masks instead of shells.

With its power ups, fun level design, and interesting enemies and bosses, along with the puzzling and confusing Forest of Illusion, the gameplay itself holds up pretty well, even in this day and age.

Graphics/Visuals:

For a 16-bit game that relies on animated sprites for its graphics and character animations, the game never stops being colorful. The visuals just pop, with a nice cartoonish look that is nicer to look at than some other, more pixilated visuals of the era. Sure, Luigi is, for the most part, just a recolor of Mario (unless you’re playing the Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World bundle pack), but the game still looks bright and colorful, which flows quite nicely with the lighthearted tone of the game. In contrast, the Ghost Houses, Castles, Fortresses, and Underground cavern levels, while still colorful, have a more eerie, ominous look in their level design, which fits the style as well.

While definitely unable to compete with the complex, photorealistic visuals of today, Super Mario World still manages to shine.

Music:

While not as celebrated as the music from Super Mario Bros., SMW’s music is definitely fun. While most of the level songs are just rearranged versions of the same melody, it doesn’t get too repetitive. In addition, the world map music is quite a treat, with my personal favorite being the Forest of Illusion theme. Even a rearranged version of the Starman theme plays in the Star World, along with a version of the original Super Mario Bros. Overworld theme, which can be heard in the Special World if you wait long enough. All in all, Koji Kondo’s score for the game is great.

Overall:

Some may accuse me of wearing nostalgia goggles when it comes to Super Mario World, but I definitely have it as one of my favorite games of all time. While Super Mario 64 may have been an excellent attempt at translating a 2D series into a 3D world, Super Mario World, in my opinion, is the best Mario game of all time and one I like to revisit ever now and again. The games of today may still capture my attention, but sometimes, this game is all I need. It’s no secret I’m not the biggest fan of Nintendo these days. But that doesn’t mean I can’t admit when they’ve made a great game.

As expected, the graphics for this game is lame because it’s on a Wii.  But, Wii isn’t knownfor thier “cutting edge” HD graphics.  Hopefully the game play will be fun.

its school time, so i cant play mario kart religiously, but after watching this, i want to play so bad!! i didnt even know the movie Death Race even existed until now. whoever made this, i love you and i want to have babies with you….sorry boyfriend.

i hope this video, gives movie producers out there a great idea for a new flick, rather than recreating classics, and failing epically.

Well, not really on acid, but it’s still a huge trip.

With this script, the player’s controller input is disabled and Mario only moves according to the rainbow lines you draw on the screen. It’s available for download at FCEUX. They give it the fitting term “Rainbow Riding.” Upon killing enemies, the demo shows red splashy animations that have a semblance to blood. It’s a bit twisted when juxtaposed with all of the rainbow paint, but, I mean – cool. The makers note that the script is similar to Kirby’s Canvas Curse. While there are similarities, this Rainbow Riding business definitely needs to find its way on the DS.

Videodrome is one of the the biggest WTFs of the 1980s. Max (James Woods) is the president of a sleazy TV station and he’s looking for the next big thing. He comes across a pirated channel airing “Videodrome” – basically, a plotless show about people having sex and getting tortured in a bright orange room. After viewing this show, Max gets intense hallucinations. I mean, fucking intense:

WTF? He’s making out with the TV.

Now he’s putting a gun in the vagina-looking thing that appeared on his abdomen.

Squishy things coming out of a guy he murdered. Long live the new flesh?