Better Late Than Never #1

Shinobi by Sega (1987) - Master System

Oh hey, what's going down? Welcome to another new (kind of) feature here at Red Parsley! As I've no doubt mentioned before, despite my enthusiasm for and love of video games, especially ones of the 80s and 90s, I've never been particularly good at them. Some I could complete, but there were many I could not. There were some games that have stuck in mind all these years as being ones I played a lot and got quite a long way into a lot, but never managed to finish. This feature, whilst otherwise very similar to my existing Game Gallery posts, will showcase my (probably save state-assisted) journey to finally completing some of the offending games. First up is one of my very favourite games for one of my very favourite consoles:

Click here for the full review of this fine game.

Indie Nuggets #8

Sapphire Yours (2017)
By: Bence Sipka Genre: Puzzle / Action Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: PC
Also Available For: Android, iOS

There were a number of classics I missed out on in my youth. Among them was Boulder Dash, the much-loved jewel-grabbing, debris-avoiding mazey action/puzzler. I'm still not quite sure how I managed to miss it since it was released on every format under the sun but I have of course now remedied my oversight. Just in case anyone else missed it, or perhaps wasn't even around in its heyday at all, it was brought back to grace our screens once again much more recently! Okay, it's not officially part of the series but it may as well be. The first version dates back to 2001 and was created by an Austrian (I think) developer called Reinhard Grafl while the version I've looked at here comes to us courtesy of Bence Sipka, a Hungarian (I think) indie developer who is presumably a fan of both First Star Software's iconic game as well as Mr. Grafl's unofficial follow-up, and whose own game is available to play for free. How generous of him!

TV Shows #35

Flipping Bangers (2017-22)
Developed By: Just Might TV
Starring: Gus Gregory, Will Trickett

Certificate: PG Running Time: 43-50 Minutes per Episode (approx)

I'm not sure why but sometimes when I'm not feeling great, I end up watching something totally different to the kind of thing I would normally watch. As you might have guessed, just such an occasion befell me recently. I hadn't been feeling too good all day but I went downstairs at my normal time to pour a nice drink (usually bourbon and cola) and continue whichever streaming show I was in the middle of at the time. When I got there, however, I just... didn't feel like it. I toyed with the idea of just going to bed when I noticed a show being spammed on my Firestick's menu, so... I just clicked it. As it happened, it turned out to be a reality show - a genre I typically avoid like the plague - but it was one featuring cars which are of interest to me, so I gave it a try. And wouldn't you know it, it turned out to be pretty corking! I even continued watching it after I felt better again, and there were three seasons of it for me to get through. Naturally, when I finished, I figured I might as well burble on about it here!

Action RPG's #3

StarTropics (1990)
By: Nintendo R&D3 Genre: Action RPG Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Nintendo NES
Also Available For: Nothing

This game is unusual in that it was an NES game made by Nintendo themselves but only released in the US and Europe, with poor Japanese players having to do without. This has probably happened with certain types of sports games or tie-ins to things only popular in the west but this was an action RPG - a genre more popular in Japan than maybe any other! It's also, oddly, a game I never heard about in its day from magazines or other gamers, only learning of it later from collectors. It has, however, intrigued me since then, mainly due to its name and the images it conjured in my head - something to do with spacey, sun-bathed alien worlds overflowing with lush vegetation and glowing sands, punctuated by curious creatures and hiding some sort of magical adventure. The other day I was oafing around in my garden and decided it was time to see what the actual game was like, and if it bore any relation to the version I have been having visions of for many moons. Join me as I venture forth, into the mysterious tropics...