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May 2016 patron supported

Thank you so much for the support this month!

Coming Soon - Data East Arcade Classics

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/dataeastbook/dataeastbook.htm

Our next book, due out in late July 2016, is Data East Arcade Classics! Data East was a pretty weird company, as much of their output falls into the "fun but...

Famicom Bunko: Hajimari no Mori

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/famicombunko/famicombunko.htm

Released in 1999 exclusively through the Nintendo Power download service for the Super Famicom, this adventure game seems like a simple summer love story, bu...

Your Weekly Kusoge: H.U.R.L.

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/kusoge/kusoge-hurl.htm

FIrst person shooters were extremely popular around the time of Doom, but of course most were extremely violent. Millennium Media Group tried to make a goofy, kid-friendly...

bit Generations (Pt. 1)

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/bitgenerations/bitgenerations.htm

A series of seven GBA titles released over the course of two weeks, the bit Generations games are aesthetically-driven and simple-but-pleasant little...

Inventory: Mortal Kombat Klones

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/inventories/mortalklones.htm

Beyond giving us ten games and several spin-offs, Mortal Kombat also inspired a legion of clones, rip-offs, and homages. This article covers over thirty of thes...

Mortal Kombat X (update)

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/mortalkombat/mortalkombat8.htm

A little late coming, but we've updated our Mortal Kombat article with coverage of Mortal Kombat X, as well as adding the new character bios to the  2016-05-25 01:11:48 +0000 UTC View Post

Croc

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/croc/croc.htm

Argonaut, developer of the SNES Starfox games, pitched Nintendo an idea for a 3D platformer starring Yoshi. They struck it down. Frustrated, the team broke ties, continued to develop the ga...

Omikron: The Nomad Soul

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/omikron/omikron.htm

The first game from well known developer David Cage, Omikron features David Bowie in the role of a central plot-moving character who interacts directly with the player, looking ...

F-Zero (Part 2 of 2)

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/fzero/fzero4.htm

The second (and final) part of our F-Zero article covers the beautiful F-Zero GX/AX, plus the remaining two Game Boy Advance games, which tied into an anime from around the same time....

Post Mortem / Still Life

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/stillife/stilllife.htm

A trilogy of mystery adventure games from Microïds, the stories mix together mystical elements, psychic flashes, and utterly tone deaf comedy in a way that somehow works.<...

Red Comrades Save the Galaxy

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/redcomrades/redcomrades.htm

A classic Russian comedy adventure game, the first in a series of five, that has recently been translated into English for the first time. It's about Communists ...

Dolphin Blue

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/dolphinblue/dolphinblue.htm

It's Metal Slug meets anime Waterworld in this 2.5D run-and-gun released for the Atomiswave arcade board in 2003.

The Count Lucanor

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/countlucanor/countlucanor.htm

Baroque Decay's The Count Lucanor, a loose take on the Spanish stories of Count Lucanor, done entirely in the style of a Studio Ghibli film (their comparison...

F-Zero (Part 1 of 2)

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/fzero/fzero.htm

Even though F-Zero is part of Nintendo's long list of franchises that are only dug out from their vault for new Smash Bros. characters and trophies, it used to be one of the big names id...

Actual Sunlight

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/actualsunlight/actualsunlight.htm

Indie gaming has been involving for a good while, and one of its most popular subgenres in the western world has become the narrative game. Many of t...

April 2016 patron supported

Thank you so much for the support this month!

King and Balloon

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/kingballoon/kingballoon.htm

An early variation on Namco's Galaga, where you fittingly protect a king from attacking balloons.

Cosmic Smash

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/cosmicsmash/cosmicsmash.htm

Sega's high minded, artistic title with an abstract technological aesthetic, even though it's really just "squash meets Breakout".

Interview with Bobby Vandiver (Red Comet)

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/romhacks/redcomet-interview.htm

Bobby Vandiver, better known as Red Comet, is an accomplished ROM hacking and the man behind  2016-04-27 01:46:09 +0000 UTC View Post

Technocop

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/technocop/technocop.htm

This driving/shooting game by Gremlin Graphics had the questionable honor of introducing explicit gore to home consoles, years before it became a big issue with  2016-04-24 16:19:32 +0000 UTC View Post

Tattoo Assassins

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/tattooassassins/tattooassassins.htm

Data East's pinball division tried to make their own Mortal Kombat II ripoff with Tattoo Assassins. We say "tried" because the game technically n...

Baraduke

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/baraduke/baraduke.htm

Gamers were shocked when Samus Aran revealed herself to be a woman at the end of Metroid, but technically Namco's arcade space shooter Baraduke beat Nintendo to the punch 2016-04-19 13:55:24 +0000 UTC View Post

500 Word Indies: Cast of the Seven Godsends

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/500wordindies/500wordindies-cotsg.htm

Developed by Italy's indie game scene, Cast of the Seven Godsends emulates arcade classics like Rygar and Magician Lord, though with vis...

Ancient Domains of Mystery

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/adom/adom.htm

Ancient Domains of Mystery seems like a standard cRPG, and has many things in common with the ge...

The Dark Spire

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/darkspire/darkspire.htm

A first person dungeon crawler for the DS that directly replicates the feeling of the classic Wizardry titles, though with a stylish visual makeover.

JJ Squawkers

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/jjsquawkers/jjsquawkers.htm

An eccentric arcade side-scroller from Athena featuring two crow brothers and their fight against evil.

Mamono Hunter Youko: Dai 7 no Keishou

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/mamonoyohko/mamonoyohko.htm

Based off the 90s anime OVA, this Mega Drive action game is reminiscent of Valis, though playing it feels like navigating an alien world that’s hostile to your...

Your Weekly Kusoge: Family Dog

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/kusoge/kusoge-familydog.htm

In the early 90s, there were a number of "adult" cartoon sitcoms after the early success of The Simpsons. These were all terrible (except The Critic) but one of ...

Pony Island

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/ponyisland/ponyisland.htm

A super creepy game about a piece of software that seems to be possessed by the devil. Not actually about ponies.