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Cuphead

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/cuphead/Studio MDHR's retro-styled run-and-gun/boss rush, rendered in beautifully animated 1930s-style cartoon visuals.

Top 47,858 Games of All Time Episode 90: Star Fox, Um Jammer Lammy, Zhadnost - The People's Party [Patreon bonus]

Join the HG101 gang as they dive under the rectangle, do a loop around the other rectangle, and shoot the triangle. Patreon bonus for this episode is Zhadnost, the USSR-themed 3DO quiz game. Outro music is from Hidden Dash II (PC-98).

Spider-Man & Venom: Maximum Carnage / Separation Anxiety

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/spider-man-venom-maximum-carnage/Two Spider-Man themed beat-em-ups for the 16-bit platforms, nothing to do with Sega's versions though. (I should probably post the review of the Spider-Man arcade game that was in Sega Arcade Classics Vol. 2, now that I think about it...)

Ages of Empires III

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/age-of-empires-iii/I wanted to expand to cover more of the 90s/00s early RTS scene, so here's the often neglected Ages of Empires III, Ensemble Studios' third and final game in the trilogy.

Trivia Tidbits: Primordial Pauline: How Did Mario’s First Girlfriend Get Her Name?

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/primordial-pauline-how-did-marios-first-girlfriend-get-her-name/Sometimes I end up going down wiki wormholes when I'm bored at work (as I'm sure we all do), so I ended up investigating one of the commonly cited sources for the name of Pauline from the original Donkey Kong, and see how it doesn't quite check out. Unfortunately, it's still not a defin...

LOCALHOST

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/localhost/In 2017, game designer Sophia Park made waves with Arc Symphony, a game about a fictitious fan community from the 90s and the impetus for many on social media to wax nostalgic about that community as though it were real. LOCALHOST, her second game, is best described as the polar opposite of Arc Symphony. This isn’t to say there’s zero artistic consist...

Top 47,858 Games of All Time Episode 89 - Half-Life, Paradroid, The Unholy War [Patreon bonus]

Join the HG101 gang as they crowbar their way toward that Nobel Prize for Physics. Patreon bonus for this episode is The Unholy War. Outro music is from Briganty the Roots of Darkness (PC-98).

Our Next Book, Coming Soon: NES Cult Classics

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/books/hg101-presents-nes-cult-classics/Time to officially unveil the complete cover for our next book! The theme of this one is all sorts of interesting titles from developers that aren't Nintendo, Capcom, or Konami.The project is still not really quite complete, though we're gearing to have all of the content formatted and ready for editing by the end of t...

The Hybrid Front (Japanese Video Game Obscurity)

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/hybrid-front-the/The sci-fi military strategy game from Sega for the Mega Drive, featuring some big name talent in storytelling, and a fantastic soundtrack

Ori and the Blind Forest

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/ori-and-the-blind-forest/Rayman Origins-style visuals meet Metroidvania-type exploration in this gorgeous (and surprisingly difficult) platformer.

Spelunky

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/spelunky/Got another modern indie classic here, talking about both the original freeware version and its HD remake, which inspired a whole wave of procedurally generated games.

Fez

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/fez/A look at one of the indie darlings from the far off lands of 2012,

Garage: Bad Dream Adventure (Japanese Video Game Obscurity)

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/garage-bad-dream-adventure/This adventure game was saved from complete obscurity thanks to some intrepid 4chan posters. And this game is MESSED UP. It's not a horror game in the traditional sense, but the opening moments, where you flick on a light, looking in the mirror, and realize that you've inhabited the body of a terrible monstrosity, is some real bod...

Top 47,858 Games of All Time Episode 88: Metal Slug Advance, Painkiller, Law of the West [Patreon bonus]

Join the HG101 gang as they rescue POWs and collect their precious underwear weapons. Patreon bonus for this episode is Law of the West. Outro music is from Kagaku Ninja-Tai Gatchaman (PC-98).

Hylics

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/hylics/A super surreal indie RPG with some really cool visuals.

Samurai Gunn

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/samurai-gunn/One of the best indie fighter games out there, along with more famous games like Nidhogg and Divekick.Patreon keeps grabbing the wrong header image and won't let me change it!!

Kalin no Tsurugi

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/kalin-no-tsurugiA company called Xtalsoft created the Mugen no Shinzou series, which in turn was believed to be hugely influential on Dragon Quest, to the point where some people think it ripped it off. So Xtalsoft repaid the favor with this FDS RPG, which rips off the style (though not the gameplay) of Enix's game.

Manic Game Girl

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/manic-game-girl/A 3D beat-em-up and the only PlayStation game developed and published in South Korea. So it's unfortunate that it's REALLY bad.

Star Cruiser (Japanese Video Game Obscurity)

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/star-cruiser/A super ambitious RPG/space simulator, rendered entirely in 3D, and an impressive effort for a game published in 1988.

Top 47,858 Games of All Time Episode 87: Tomb Raider, Spelunky HD, Pagantizu [Patreon bonus]

Join the HG101 gang as they rob graves and pay dearly for their greed. Patreon bonus for this episode is Pagantizu.

Vanguard Princess

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/vanguard-princess/An all-female 2D fighter from a former SNK/Capcom artist that's fairly well done for something assembled in Fighter Marker, though pretty heavy on the fan service.

Fight 'n Rage

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/fight-n-rage/Yesterday we looked at Double Dragon IV, a rather banal retro beat-em-up resurrection, while today we look at Fight 'n Rage, an excellent arcade tribute that does almost everything right.

Double Dragon IV

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/double-dragon-iv/I forgot this game was a thing until I picked up the Limited Run Games release for some reason, so I made myself sit down and play it. It's not explicitly awful but it is shockingly lazy...not like you should expect much from a $7 game anyway.

Asuka 120% Final Burning Fest (Japanese Video Game Obscurity)

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/asuka-120-final-burning-fest/A brief write-up of the Asuka 120% series, for the Japanese Video Game Obscurity book. The most interesting thing about these is how they're linked together to several other similar games, including Guardian Heroes, Panzer Bandit, and Phantom Breaker: Battlegrounds, since they were all developed by either Masatoshi Imaizumi or Masak...

Silviana

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/silviana/A brief write-up of this action-RPG, as featured previously in the Guide to the Famicom Disk System. Even though it's pretty short, I figured it'd be a good idea to put up some of the articles that were in there, at least for games that are kinda interesting and don't have much else written for them out there.

Million Onion Hotel

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/million-onion-hotel/The follow-up to Dandy Dungeon, this is another beautifully bizarre mobile game from cult Japanese developer Yoshiro Kimura.

Top 47,858 Games of All Time Episode 86: Rocket Knight Adventures, Panic!, Peasant's Quest [Patreon bonus]

Join the HG101 gang as they discuss rocket dogs (or something) and jokes they don't get. Patreon bonus for this episode is Peasant's Quest. Outro music is from Illusion City - Gen'ei Toshi (PC-98).

Phalanx

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/phalanx/It's Phalanx, Zoom's shoot-em-up that's mostly known for its "old banjo guy" cover, but is a pretty decent game in its own right. It actually originated on the X68000 computer, had a Game Boy Advance port/remake, and a port to the Wii (but only in Japan). Plus it was the focus of a minigame in the PS1 fighting game Zero Divide.

The CRPG Book Project has finally been released

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/the-crpg-book-project-has-finally-been-released/It’s been in the works for four years, but the CRPG Book Project, helmed by Felipe Pepe, has finally been released! At 528 pages long, it covers nearly the entire history of computer (mostly Western, but some Japanese) role-playing games, complete with reviews and pictures of most of them. In other words, it’s lik...

Bombuzal

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/bombuzal/A small series of explosive puzzle action games, originally released on the Commodore 64 and other computers, but more well known thanks to Kemco's SNES port. Also had a few sequels, including one starring Kemco's mascot Kid Klown.