MK Mythologies: Sub-Zero + MK Mythologies: Special Forces (N64 and PS1, 1997 and 2000)

 

They should have called both games MK ULTRA because they're torture. Not sure how far I'll be getting with either of these but I sure won't be finishing either.

That's right, it's the infamous side-games where you play as specific characters, fleshing out their story a bit. I think they were planning a whole series of these, but the idea bombed out quickly and only really got revisited with the Liu Kang / Kung Lao driven Shaolin Monks years and years later. That game is actually good, probably because Ed Boon took command on it unlike these two disasters.

In said disasters you're playing as Sub-Zero and Jax respectively. Special Forces was supposed to also center around Sonya, which would have added a lot to the game (and let them knock out another character from their no doubt long list of side games they'd have to do if this "do a game starring each character" madness continued). After some development hell, playable Sonya was left out of the game. Originally you chose one of the two characters at the outset and played as them throughout, with the second character appearing to offer assists or show up in cutscenes. Well, far as I can tell Sonya was totally removed.

I don't know how many characters they were planning to do games for, but it appears that it was at least the original cast. Mythologies: Sub-Zero has the titular character and Scorpion, while Special Forces was supposed to star Jax and Sonya going aganst Kano. That leaves Raiden and Liu Kang, who were...the next planned games. However they also had a Baraka game on the drawing board so they may have extended into MK2's roster. The Baraka and Liu Kang games were cancelled, while the concepts for the Raiden game were retooled into aforementioned "only good spinoff" Shaolin Monks with Liu Kang and Kung Lao. (Edit: I forgot Johnny Cage lol...but so did they)

Fun Fact: While both are prequels to the main series, Special Forces is canonically the first game in the entire MK-verse, taking place before any of the others.

Mega Man Xtreme (Game Boy Color, 2000)

 

On the 8th day of Christmas, stuff your stocking with Mega Man. The two Xtreme games on the Game Boy Color are kind of interesting. I totally missed these in-era because I never had a GBC. Funny thing is, apparently this game actually works on a regular Game Boy too, and I didn't know it. So I could have played it! By 2000, though, I'd pretty much completely winded down with the original Game Boy. The last thing I played on it was Final Fantasy Legend 3 in late 2000 / early 2001 and that was it.

Regardless, the Xtreme duo are sort of a followup to the five Mega Mans on Game Boy in that they mix and match bosses. Except now, it's the X series.

Dragon Warrior III (Game Boy Color, 2001)

In 2001, DQ3 hit the Game Boy Color. This version borrows a lot from the Super Famicom version and so far it's a blast.

Dragon Warrior II (Game Boy Color, 2000) - A Side

Dragon Warrior 2, yet again. I missed out on playing this on the original NES until the advent of emulators in the late 90's. In a world without emulation, I likely would have been into this portable version of the game back in 2000. Let's see how it translated into a smaller-screen format. Many years before we had the fancy high-res phone version, we had this. Note: I'll be using Warrior and Quest interchangeably here when talking about the game, but I'm specifically referring to this as Warrior in the title because that's what it was called at the time. 

Dragon Warrior (Game Boy Color, 2000)

That's right, we're going back to the Game Boy now. Seeing where portable games were at just a mere decade and a half before the HD Android ports. What a difference a few years can make. I've never played this one before so I'm looking forward to it.

Wario Land 3 (Game Boy Color, 2000)

Wario Land 3 is a game I missed entirely when it first released. It continues in the vein of Wario Land 2 by having Wario be invincible, a unique but weird choice. It also features some highly unusual level design. One of the things that made the original Wario Land so great was the simplistic style of gameplay. The sequels are slower-paced and a bit on the complicated side for platformers of this nature, and I don't think they're anywhere near the fun level of the original.

Suikogaiden: Vol. 2 - Duel at Crystal Valley (Playstation, 2000)

A little over a year ago, I covered Suikogaiden Vol. 1. Just seemed like a good time to check out the sequel. So far so good, this is one of the nicest title screens I've seen in a long time.

Suikogaiden (Playstation, 2000)

Today I'm looking at a very special game. It's an effort on my part to get my mind off of the disintegration of the Boston Celtics after trading their two best players to the Brooklyn Nets.

This is a DLC-like side-story / companion piece to Suikoden 2, one of the best RPGs on the original Playstation. It takes place during the timeframe of that game, showing you some of the things that happened off-camera. This game was never released in the United States, but it recently got a translation from intrepid ROM hackers. Let's take a look.

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (Nintendo 64, 2000)

Previously on The Three Decade Project, I talked about Ehrgeiz for the Playstation. Ehrgeiz is a game that hits close to home for many internet tough guys and keyboard warriors. This is because in addition to having had sex with a multitude of models, the average internet tough guy already has his hands registered as lethal weapons.

Now, we send it back over to the Nintendo 64. While the Playstation had adult fare like Metal Gear Solid, the N64 was now cornering the kids market. With "play it loud" out the window, Nintendo's new M.O. consisted of having no RPGs or games that appealed to grown-ups, instead relying on trotting out the same superstar franchises of the past to keep fans happy. It was just like modern WWE.

Love Hina Games

Love Hina is a Japanese TV show best known for having a male lead who gets victimized regularly for no apparent reason by the women on the show. In other words, Love Hina is atrociously bad. At least, we can presume that much. I don't watch the damn thing. The problem is, they made games based on this infernal show. Women don't play video games, so I'm not sure how the publishers expected to sell any copies. I sat down and spent a few minutes with a pair of these non-gems, which were never released outside of Japan. The results are... unpleasant.