Aw yeah. This is the good shit.

This cartoon was HUGE when I was a kid. I had (and still have) dozens of He-Man toys, read the books, and rushed home after school to watch the cartoon. It blew my eight-year-old mind.

When Prince Adam raises the Power Sword to the sky and speaks the magic words, “By the power of Grayskull!” he turns into He-Man…the most powerful man in the universe! Christ, just typing that makes me want to churn out some embarrassingly awesome fan-fiction.

The cast of He-Man includes some of the greatest characters ever invented: Ram-Man, Skeletor, Trap-Jaw, Man-At Arms, Beast Man, Orko, Hordac, Teela… The list goes on and on and on.

So how does it hold up? How about fucking awesome?! The He-Man series has been reinvented a few times since the mid-80s, and the series from 2002 was actually pretty decent. But the original is still the best. From the cheesy acting to the stilted animation to the “what did we learn today?” segment at the end, there are fewer cartoons that better represent childhood in the 80s.

The classic He-Man series is available by season, but there’s also a “Best of” collection containing ten episodes, some cool artwork, and interviews with the creators. You can find it here: The Best of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (10 Episode Collector’s Edition).

Duh da-duh da-duh…Duh da-duh da-duh DUH DUH!

We all know the theme song, right? Man, this show made me laugh back in the day. Of course, I was also a big James Bond fan as a child, so Inspector Gadget was right up my alley. Starring an incompetent spy in the vein of Inspector Clouseau, Gadget had all sorts of bionic abilities that he could summon simply by calling out, “GO! GO Gadget _____!” He had the Gadget Coptor, the Gadget ‘Brella, the Gadget Skates, and countless others. What never bothered me as a kid was the fact that Inspector Gadget was smart enough to build all these devices, but a complete dolt otherwise.

Fortunately for him, he had his niece Penny and her dog Brain to help him out on cases, most of which involved the head of M.A.D., Doctor Claw. The premise to the show was pretty formulaic: Gadget would hanging out somewhere in the world with Penny and Brain, Chief Quimby would pop up with a self-destructing mission brief (which would then be used to inadvertantly blow him up by Gadget), Gadget would take the case and accidentally (with the help of Penny and Brain) thwart Doctor Claw. Rinse, repeat.

Honestly, the show doesn’t hold up all that well today. The theme song is still awesome, and some of the episodes are entertaining, but the formula gets old quickly. Ethan couldn’t be bothered to watch more than two episodes. The good news is that Inspector Gadget is available to watch on Netflix Instant Queue or Hulu for free. But if you’re eager to plunk down cash for nostalgia’s sake, you can do so here: Inspector Gadget: The Go Go Gadget Collection.

Time to reach into my collection for some more classic cartoons. This time, let’s talk about the Number One Super Guy: Hong Kong Phooey!

Holy shit, I love that tune! And then there’s this cover version by Sublime. Yes, this is one of the all-time great cartoon theme songs.

As the the lyrics indicate, Hong Kong Phooey is a bumbling superhero who “in reality” is Penry, the police department janitor. When Penry catches wind of crime, he jumps into the file cabinet (you know, instead of a phone booth) and becomes Hong Kong Phooey. Aided by his striped cat “Spot”, HKP cruises the streets in his Phooeymobile and figures out how to capture criminals with the aid of his manual, “The Hong Kong Book of Kung Fu”.

It’s fantastic stuff.

Hong Kong Phooey originally aired in the mid-70s, just before I was born, but I was luckily able to catch the show in reruns on the USA Cartoon Express (best cartoon show ever). It’s a Hanna Barbera production from the peak of their run, which means that you’ll recognize voices from other HB productions and the animation has the same (some might argue “shoddy”) style as other HB ‘toons from that period. Either way, I love the show, as does my son. Unfortunately, there were only sixteen episodes of Hong Kong Phooey. The good news is, they can all be purchased in one slick collection right here: Hong Kong Phooey – The Complete Series

As a self-processed “nostalgia whore”, having a son has been a great thing for me. Introducing Ethan to stuff I enjoyed as a kid allows me to relive some of those great times for myself and one of my favorite parts about being a kid was cartoons. This is before cable TV all but destroyed the Saturday morning cartoon phenomenon and when USA’s Cartoon Express was in its heyday, showing a cavalcade of Hanna Barbera classics from the 60s, 70, and 80s.

Thanks to DVD collections, Netflix Instant Queue, and Hulu, (along with some other more nefarious methods, when necessary), Ethan and I have enjoyed hours of cartoons from my childhood. I figured chronicling some of these cartoons might not only be fun for me, but might also loosen some memories for you.

Let’s start out with a show I used to watch after school on one of the cable networks; probably WGN, USA, or TBS. Heathcliff was based on the comic strip of the same name, and the cartoon I watched as a kid – and the one I’ll be referencing today – was actually the second series to be based on that strip. This one was produced by DiC and starred the legendary Mel Blanc as Heathcliff. The cast included Heathcliff’s on-again/off-again partners, the Catillac Cats, headed by Riff Raff and including Hector, Wordsworth, and Mungo. Riff Raff also had a foxy girlfriend named Cleo who lived in a music store. The Catillac Cats were such an integral part of the Heathcliff series that they even had their own standalone segment.

Back to Heathcliff, the premise was pretty standard. Heathcliff is a trouble-making cat who “terrorizes” the neighborhood by stealing from the milkman, swiping fish from the market, and other shenanigans. Other characters included Spike the dog and Heathcliff’s jailbird, Humphrey Bogart-sounding father.

Surprisingly, and unlike many cartoons from that time period, Heathcliff stands up pretty well as children’s entertainment. The animation is pretty representative of the era and there’s enough goofball fun to be had to make the show worth checking out with your kids. Ethan got quite a few laughs out of the DVD we watched, which can be found here: Heathcliff: Terror of the Neighborhood.

I’ll cover some more cartoons (The Hair Bear Bunch, Hong Kong Phooey, and more) in the coming weeks.

It’s been a long time since I picked up a magazine off the rack and bought the damn thing, but when I saw this little gem in my local Target I couldn’t resist the purchase. Despite the steep cover price ($9.99), there’s enough nostalgia packed within these pages to make it worthwhile.

20 Years of Nintendo Power was written by Scott Pelland, who wrote for the magazine from 1988-2007, spanning nearly the entire history. The book itself clocks in at just over 60 pages and, as the cover states, gives you the history of Nintendo through the pages of the official magazine. So what you get here is not necessarily a historian’s view of the company, but a look at Nintendo through the years as told by Nintendo Power. They go by console through the generations, highlighting not only the hardware, but also pointing out a dozen-or-so key titles for each console. I expected them to just point out the big first-party blockbusters; the Marios, Zeldas, Metroids, etc. And while they did that, they also surprised me by including some off-the-beaten-path titles like Maniac Mansion, The Lost Vikings, Body Harvest, and Killer 7. Also included are looks at Nintendo’s massive collection of peripherals like the ASCIIPAD for the SNES, the NES Advantage, the Game Boy Camera, and tons more.

Continue inside for some scans…

(more…)

I am an unapologetic nostalgia whore. I spend untold amounts of cash chasing down memories from years gone by with the hope that I’ll be able to turn those memories into tangible items that can make me warm and fuzzy at a moment’s notice. Hell, I’m even nostalgic for things that I’m too young to have experienced. My favorite actor is Humphrey Bogart, I love antiques, and the music that suits me best is generally the stuff that was around long before I was born.

To make a long story short: Retro Game Challenge was made for me. When XSEED decided to take a chance on localizing Game Center CX: Arino no Chousenjou, I was their target audience. I am one of those people who twenty years ago obsessed over NES games and poured over each and every issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly and Nintendo Power. I sat on the floor in front of a television set, usually with a friend or my brother, for hours trying to beat Double Dragon, Ninja Gaiden, Super Mario Bros., Faxanadu, Kung Fu, and countless other games. We’d challenge each other to find secrets, unlock items, and get as far as we could. And it was fantastic.

Retro Game Challenge recreates these memories almost perfectly. Containing eight games brilliantly designed in the Famicom/NES style, you play as yourself, transported back to the 80s by “Game Master Arino”, and the only way to return to the present is by playing through different challenges for each game. The top screen displays the game, while the bottom screen shows your character and your companion, a younger Arino, who encourages you while you play and discusses the various games in between play sessions. And to me, as great as this game is, that’s the touch that nails it for me. It’s almost as if one of my old junior high buddies is sitting next to me.

In addition, young Arino is a subscriber to GameFan Magazine. Every so often, a new magazine will be added to his collection and you’re free to go to his shelf and page through each issue. Inside you’ll find news on new games, tips and tricks, cheat codes, reviews, letter to the editor, and editorials. Each issue is around 10-15 pages, and with writers like “Johnny England”, “Milkman”, and “Dan Sock”, it’s not too difficult to figure out which recently closed-up magazine they’re paying tribute to.

Aside from entertainment value, GameFan contains vital tips to help you complete the challenges. If you’re finding a particular game to be a little too difficult, chances are there’s a tip or even an invincibility code somewhere in one of the issues.

I realize that this game is based on the Japanese TV show Game Center CX, and that’s probably a topic for another time. But as a child of the 80s, and one that dearly misses the youthful enthusiasm of the hobby, Retro Game Challenge is as close as I’ll get to time warping back to those days. Please do me a favor: check out their website and if you like what you see buy the game. Your inner child will thank you.

Or, Things to do with the GBA slot on your DS.

So, with the announcement of the GBA slotless DSi, I thought I’d provide some background as to why this removal should piss you right off. The GBA slot (or slot #2, conveniently located at the ass-end of the DS [no, there is no end in sight to the anus jokes]) provided a unique and awesome addition to the handheld. Not only could one play two generations of games on one device, but they could both be stored on the portable at once. Now, not only is Nintendo going to take away the region-free element of the DS with their new iteration, but my ability to play my $85 copy of Ninja Five-O at will? I brim with geeky angst.

Rage at the inability to enjoy overpriced rarities aside, the GBA was host to a huge number of games that put redefined the term value. This is a particular shock for a handheld, but true. Let’s look at a few examples.

Final Fantasy: Dawn of Souls. This was FF1 and FF2 in one cartridge, in their entirety, with a HUGE extra dungeon added just for kicks. And you didn’t have to buy it twice like you do for the PSP!

Phantasy Star Collection. Sega’s attempt to match the Final Fantasy bundle. Includes 3 of the master system’s best RPGs for about 100+ hours (!) of content. And half of this collection didn’t suck.

Capcom Classics Mini-Mix. Again a ridiculous value. I’ve seen this for $10, and it includes Mighty Final Fight (a superdeformed version of Final Fight that actually has 3 playable characters and a levelup system), Bionic Commando (didn’t you just drop $10 for this on XBL?) and Strider (Ok, it’s the shitty Nintendo version of Strider, but it’s still Strider).

Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo Revival. Ah, street fighter names. How ridiculously long can you become? This was actually a fantastic version of SF2, with all of the turbo options and extra characters (in addition to Akuma), a ton of challenge modes, and even a ‘monkey’ setting that made all of the special moves easier to perform. The downside? As a GBA title it became single-player only. However, that’s only a problem if you actually play SF2 with other people, which I don’t. There was some unpleasantness. People were horrible bastards with turbo. Super Advantages were put in places they should not have been.

And these are four I come up with on the fly. That doesn’t even touch the SNES Final Fantasy remixes (including VI, which is the best in the series. I know some of you believe you have a different favorite. And you’re wrong. You actually love Final Fantasy VI), the Metroid games, the Castlevania games that ripped off the Metroid games, or dozens of fantastic 16-bit titles (Golden Sun, anyone? ). Hell, we have DS titles out now that are simply ports or remixes of good GBA games. Scurge comes to mind as a fantastic budget metroid knock-off that hit both systems with identical versions. Mazes of Fate was also just ported after a short GBA stint.

Sure, the new DSi is going to be smaller, brighter, lighter, and have an SD card and other things. Sure it’s a definite improvement over the previous model. Save for this one aspect. However, that one missing aspect is going to suddenly exclude hundreds of fantastic titles. And why? So that we can buy them all over again as DLC? So that more GBA games can be repackaged as DS titles and sold for full price? So that we won’t notice that Square-Enix has been giving us the same six games over and over on handheld consoles for the last 5 years? Or do we just need a shitty camera in the DS that much more than access to a classic game library?

The DSi will be out in a year or so, and probably continue Nintendo’s streak of ridiculous sales figures. However, I know that I will be clinging fervently to my zoftig red DS, trying once again to beat that 100-man survival mode on SF2 in between boughts of map-drawing in Etrian Oddyssey and psychedelic xenocide in Space Invaders Extreme.

At least until I can shove my virtual console games onto it.

Inspired by our recent contest entries, which you can read all this week as well as hear on the upcoming Drunken Gamers Radio, we’re talking about Robots. Robots in all their 80′s glory, that is.

Enjoy.

After Hours:10-Robots