Black Widow (1982)
13 min readIn a ravine she lived, and took shape as a spider of monstrous form, weaving her black webs in a cleft of the mountains. There she sucked up all light that she could find, and spun it forth again in dark nets of strangling gloom, until no light more could come to her abode; and she was famished.
-J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion
Forget surly, gazelle-faced Scarlett Johansson for a moment because this is a real arachnid femme fatale. Put down those razor blades, you acarophobics, here comes Black Widow!
The year was 1982. It was a great year in gaming, though an inevitably flawed one, and
the golden days of the arcades were still humming right along as the industry crash loomed dead ahead. Many titles that are now iconic legends were released that year from Dig Dug to Donkey Kong Jr., from Joust to Pitfall! and Q*bert, and yes, lest we forget, E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial. The Atari 2600 saw the release of both E.T. and the home version of Pac-Man that year, two games which undoubtedly contributed to the coming recession. It was the calm before the storm. Everyone cried “Peace! Safety!” before sudden destruction that left companies reeling, gamers disinterested and the industry in ruins. Until Nintendo, but that’s another story.
In the midst of busy 1982 came Atari’s obscure title: Black Widow. On the surface, it looked like Robotron 2084, and indeed the gameplay seemed very similar. Others more familiar with Robotron 2084 have pointed out all the similarities but since I haven’t played it myself I’ll leave the comparisons to those writers. Besides, in the early 80’s gaming was all about making clones of what was popular. It’s a part of what led to a flooded market that in turn contributed to the crash. Now, maybe things haven’t changed much in 30 years. There are still some shameless clones being made but we could talk about that brand of plagiarism until I’m blue in the face.
Speaking of clones, though, I found it interesting to learn that the Black Widow cabinets were conversions of Gravitar cabinets, which didn’t sell well because reasons. Apparently the Widow art was slapped right over the Gravitar art. Cost effective!
Black Widow may have been overshadowed by other arcade titles, or it may simply have been released too close to the crash, but whatever the explanation this is a game I don’t see talked about very often. I’m convinced it deserves more popularity than it enjoys. Why? This multi-directional, dual-joystick shooter put a plot twist on one of the most feared arthropods in existence, pitting the eponymous ebon predator against her own prey. In this bizarre paradox, the hunter became the hunted and the black widow had to defend her web against a siege of angry mosquitoes, hornets, and beetles. Shouldn’t have voted Trump!
The object of the game is to destroy the insect invaders in waves of assault which steadily rise in intensity, a challenge considering the bugs rush at you from everywhere. Sounds like a nightmare. The black widow’s only defenses are her nimble legwork and the ability to shoot what looks like glowing webs from her face. These projectiles deflect and scatter when hitting a target, which makes the widow’s attacks erratic and sometimes randomly effective. The widow can also push eggs and larvae off the edge of her web, or through the web’s center, to get rid of them before they hatch. What kind of a spider is this?!
Kill enemy bugs and they’ll drop dollar signs for the black widow to pick up, which are apparently called “grubsteaks” (officially the grossest word I’ve written). These are your bonus points. They deteriorate in value over time (from 500, 250, 100 to 50) so picking up the $ as soon as possible is best. Did anyone stop to ask what a black widow would do with money?
Yeah, the devs didn’t do their research but screw entomological accuracy! It doesn’t matter because this game is all kinds of retro-awesome. And bear in mind that this is coming from someone who believes quality retro-gaming began with the NES. Cheaply made games with terrible design or knock off clones and horrific ports made the pre-Nintendo era a casual wasteland that was bound to fail until quality control came in. But that age was not without its own jewels here and there. With Black Widow, how can you not love that psychedelic, neon vector art that looks like it leaped out of Tron, or the extremely fast-paced, adrenaline-laden, points-collecting gameplay?
When starting a new game, you’re allowed to start at either wave 1 or a few other incremental waves. Beginning at the first wave is obviously the easiest though you can start with the high intensity stages if you want your abdomen handed to you. Two joysticks are used to play the game so it functions comfortably on the modern controllers. The left stick is used to maneuver the widow and the right stick is used to shoot in any of eight directions.
Something which elevates the superficially simple gameplay of Black Widow is precisely a technical element which made Pac-Man such a success. Both games include enemies that function by different patterns and behaviors, with strengths and weaknesses. Unique strategies must therefore be employed in dealing with them individually. Drawing upon these strategies at increasingly hectic paces is what keeps the brain engaged, immersed, and pushed to its limit by an otherwise seemingly basic game. The fact that this is done through less than a dozen “rules”, not by adding new elements or constrictions as the game progresses, is a testament to the streamlined genius of classic arcade games.
Unlike Pac-Man’s four ghosts with their four different movement patterns and personalities, Black Widow features eight enemy insects whose differences must be recognized in order to get anywhere close to the advanced stages of the game. Keep in mind these quickly get faster and more aggressive with each subsequent wave. Here they are as they appear in the order of images above:
The mosquito is the basic bug. It flies into the web then mucks about aimlessly and leaves grubsteaks when defeated by the widow for easy points. The beetle is larger than the mosquito but not slower for its size. It moves directly for the widow, trying to eat her, but it will also head for and devour grubsteaks if they’re left on the field. What a jerk for denying the widow points and thus extra lives!
The hornet will target the widow or grubsteaks. If it reaches the latter, it turns the $ into eggs which must be pushed off the web before they hatch into more hornets or spoilers. The spoiler is a dangerous bug that’s practically invincible. The widow’s shots can’t hurt it so disposing of them in egg form is essential. Spoilers don’t seem to care about the widow though as they often just fly away from the web shortly after hatching, so again this is just points denial. The grenade bug is an unusual species which doesn’t appear in nature, thank God! When killed, they explode. The blast radius will destroy other insects and eggs, and it generates 500 solid points, but if the black widow is caught up in the explosion she’ll get blastigated.
Every fourth wave will end with something like a Galaga bonus stage. A segmented chain of thunderbugs rushes into the web, dive-bombing the widow and moving extremely quickly. Shooting them down causes each bug to drop away from the formation and shoot like a rocket at the widow. If you shoot them in this stage, they’ll just blow up with a small blast radius. It’s pretty easy to lose a life here but killing the whole swarm yields 5000 points.
The last two bugs are the rocket bugs and the bug slayer. The rocket bug is invulnerable and it throws missiles at the widow. The bug slayer is ubiquitous, appearing in every wave so far as I know. It is also invulnerable to the widow’s attacks but it’s actually a harmless insect. The widow won’t die even if she touches the slayer. However, the slayer isn’t exactly a friend. It’s a rival, competing with the widow for good eats: valuable grubsteaks and even other bugs. The bug slayer is the ultimate bottomless pit and if you don’t beat it to your prey you’ll find yourself short on extra lives. At least the slayer notifies you of which bug it’s about to eat as its prey will briefly flash before being consumed.
There is actually a rare ninth bug, the bonus bug which is basically just a huge dollar sign with wings. The bonus bug is slow moving but tough to prioritize if you’re fighting against the hordes for your life. However, taking it down can render a ton of points depending on the wave in which you encounter it: from 25000 to even 415000 points!
With all this in mind, it’s clear that your mind has to balance several things at once: staying out of danger, shooting bugs, picking up $, and prioritizing bugs or grubsteaks that are about to be eaten so you aren’t denied valuable points.
I’m finding there are a lot of so-called “classics” from the Atari era that are just too inaccessible to me, either in terms of graphics or gameplay or a combination of both in one ugly, unrefined package. I do really think that this playing field makes the real gems shine all the brighter, though. Games like Black Widow are a real joy to play and I discovered it personally after downloading Atari Flashback Classics vol.1 on my PS4. So no, this was not a game I ever played in the arcades and I therefore have no nostalgia attached to it, but I think it’s one of the best on that vol.1 collection.
Black Widow has been re-released in a few Atari compilations over the years: Atari Anniversary Edition Redux for the PS1, Atari – 80 Classic Games in One! for PC, Atari Anthology for PS2 and Xbox. Seems to me like Flashback Classics is the most readily available for current gen gamers, so I’d encourage you not to pass this piece of history up.
The 8-bit Review
 Visuals: 9/10The multicolored vector art goes a long way in making this game look great even after so many decades. It’s aged very well and there’s more rhyme and reason to the graphics than in other contemporaneous vector games. The neon polygon shapes of bright primary hues really pop on that black background, especially the cobalt of the widow’s web. The colors really seem to glow, especially if you crank up the saturation on your TV like I did. Little lightshows between stages, the web flashing like a kaleidoscope, are some of the more visually impressive sequences I’ve seen from Atari.
 Audio: 4/10Arcade games without music were pretty much the norm in the early 80’s but things were already changing with some titles introducing little jangles and ditties that breathed extra character in the cabinets. Pac-Man, Galaga, and Dig Dug were already playing around with the beginnings of music that could frame and define their personalities. Black Widow, on the other hand, isn’t particularly ambitious in this area. There’s no music at all, none that I found at least, and the sound effects are crude metallic chirping and marching noises. Yes, the robotic bleeps and boops may be endearingly evocative of the era, and there’s a certain harmonious quality to them, but games were fast changing and this may have been yet another reason why Black Widow was left in the caboose on the popularity train.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG-HBrntgf4&w=560&h=315]
 Gameplay: 8/10The waves really turn up the heat quickly. Bugs that were slow-moving on the first wave seem like they’re racing across the screen by the fourth and there’s a fair amount of them to worry about as well. While it may seem like a good idea to hang out in the dead center of the web and fire off in all directions, the varying paces at which the enemies move and certainly the blast radius of the explosive insects will inevitably force you to maneuver. On top of that, later waves begin to introduce walls and barriers in the webbing itself. Green segments of web the widow can pass through just like blue segments but these will prevent enemy bugs from proceeding outward through them. Red segments are worse. They prevent all movement through them, whether inward or outward and it’s easy to get stuck in your own trap and overrun by bugs. Again, worst nightmare ever.
One element of the otherwise enjoyable, fast-paced gameplay that’s a blow against the game lies in the eight-directional limitations of the widow’s movements and fire. Eight directions is not enough and that becomes increasingly apparent as you’re forced to line up your shots rather than relying on diagonal angles. I don’t know if increasing the amount of directions would’ve dragged down the speed of the game too much or not but as it is there’s a lot of missing that goes on because you sometimes can’t get the line of fire just right.
 Accessibility: 4/10The game’s idle screens inform players have to play but only the rudimentary elements are covered, like picking up grubsteaks. The behaviors of the enemy insects aren’t immediately obvious when first playing the game. It’s something that you’ll either have to read about (you’re welcome) or you’ll just have to learn by observing as you play the game and get your game overs. First time I played I couldn’t exactly tell what was going on with all the different bugs and why some of them could be killed and blown up while others couldn’t, or why some ate the $ while others didn’t and where the eggs were coming from. There are such a variety of bugs as well that the sheer number of them makes enemy taxonomy difficult. It’s certainly not game-breaking and this is a far cry from the most inaccessible Atari games, of which there were plenty, but it may make for frustrations in beginners. At least you’re not dropping your own lunch money into the game anymore!
 Challenge: 9/10“Intense” is a good way to describe the latter waves. Starting from these in a new game without getting sufficient practice and training your brain to think at these speeds for the next few minutes is not recommended. It’s certain suicide. A wave that includes rampant bugs flying everywhere shooting missiles and eating each other while trying to corner the widow is a sight to behold, however briefly. With sufficient practice, I’m sure the game can be aced and this is one of the beautiful things about games from this era. There weren’t a whole lot of rules to memorize, exposition to sit through, DLC to download and get ripped off on, numbers to crunch or items to collect. It was simply about racking up the points, a definitive goal with a set number that you could either reach and exceed or fail to. This alone made games worth playing in that time and it came with its own set of bragging rights. While merely beating one’s high-score isn’t a provocative motivator anymore these days, it’s nice to be able to play something challenging and see how far you can get. It won’t hold your attention for hours (probably), but each time you return to Black Widow you can see if you can get just a little further.
 Replayability: 7/10The PS4 Flashback Classics adds trophy support for a little extra replay value. Trophy collecting seems to me like the natural evolution from points-collecting gameplay, so if you’re one of those who needs to platinum everything or get every achievement then you’ve got at least that to work toward in Black Widow. Otherwise, replay value is in getting and beating high-scores and enjoying the gameplay for the sake of the gameplay itself.
 Uniqueness: 6/10While still a clone, Black Widow stands out to me among most of the Atari/arcade games I’ve played from the early 80’s. It certainly looks better and has a more iconic aesthetic than Robotron 2084. It does a lot of things really well, with my biggest complaint being its limited eight directions. Besides that, its deceptively simple appearance masks an engrossing gameplay experience that is quite intense. Plus that vector art is superb.
 My Personal Grade: 9/10
Retro-gaming perfection right here. Well, not exactly perfect but very enjoyable and engaging nonetheless. This quickly became one of my top three favorite games on the Atari Flashback Classics vol.1 collection. Its art style, complex enemy patterns, and pace are three things which put it a head above its peers. Many of them, at least. Black Widow may not be as famous as several other games from 1982 but it was a great concept and it had great execution. Sometimes I’m dispirited trying to enjoy games from this time period, especially if I’m anywhere near the Atari 2600, but Black Widow helped me see there are pockets of goodness here and there just waiting to be found. For those looking for a taste of the golden age of the arcades, I definitely recommend this one.My only question is: Why are there so many old games based on creepy crawlies? Centipede was horrifying enough. Now I gotta go fumigate my house.
Aggregated Score:Â 7.0
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Wow… I actually have Atari Anthology on PS2, and somehow I never played this game…must’ve skipped right over it! I’ll have to go back and revisit it! 🙂
If you do, let me know how you like it!
Will do!!
Great review! I tried to find the game online but failed. Sounds like a lot of fun:)
Indeed it is! If you have a PS4 or Xbox One, I believe you can get the Atari Flashback vol.1 for either of those systems and the collection includes Black Widow. Flashback is usually pretty cheap and playing these ancient games today is a treat. Not all of them are exceptional, but Black Widow is great.
Thanks!
I have never heard of this game! lol, but it looks like some old fashioned classic gaming fun. Man, I’ve been trying to get a game to review, but I can’t manage to get very far in anything these days. I think I got about 4 hours into FF9 and about 7 hours into Stardew Valley, but then I couldn’t stand them anymore. FF9 was just this infinite hunt for items in every nook and cranny. Flashbacks of having to steal from every boss and if not getting the special items, of restarting all over again, came rushing back from the year 2000. Stardew felt both too slow and too fast. It’s cool, but it doesn’t seem optimized enough for my playstyles. Like it was way too slow to get money coming in to progress in the story, but too fast when it came to days passing… not enough time in the day, man! I have enough of that already in real life, I guess, haha. Anyway, I’m still hangin around. Nice avatar! Your wife is quite talented!
I was happy to discover this game for the first time myself! Like I mentioned, I’ve no nostalgia connection to it as pretty much anything pre-Nintendo is pre-myself. It was a delight to find something super enjoyable from the era though. I think arcade games like this pre-1985 are exceptionally fun. What’s more, they’re easy to review. I guess that’s why I gravitated toward writing reviews for retro games. Not only do I love them but they’re easier to complete. When I reviewed FFXV it took me a week and 8000 something words later it was finally done! I’d much rather finish a bunch of reviews a week than just one, but if I’m playing through a big game then I’ll review that anyways. It’ll just take more out of me.
I totally get what you’re saying about FFIX and Stardew Valley. The former I’ve played through many times so writing a review on it was somewhat manageable. I still had to replay most of it and do some research into it but it wasn’t the worst review on here in terms of difficulty. As for Stardew, man I got hooked bad on that thing. Spent weeks playing it. I definitely got that the in-game time went too quickly but if these games are stressing you out, but you’re looking for something to review, I suggest going retro for the reasons I listed above. What systems/consoles do you own? That’ll decide too partly what is available to you. Are you also just looking for something to play or were you organically getting into FFIX and Stardew? I’m here to help! Haha!
Thanks for always stopping in. I love these chats. And thank you for the compliment on the avatar! I’m very proud of what my wife was able to do while feeding a baby, and in a single day! It’s something we’re preparing to roll out, possibly, as a logo design service, which she’s done in the past as a graphics designer. Self-employment looks better and better these days but times are tumultuous so who knows what the future brings.
Yeah, she’s got some skills! Self-employment is something that I’ve not given too much of a chance in my career, but boy would that be nice!
Thanks for trying to dig deeper into this conundrum of mine!
I was looking through my Steam library for games I bought but really haven’t played. I’ve been wanting to get into a game too, nothing is really clicking. I have like $20 set aside to buy one, but I can’t make a choice now… it’s a split between Rain World, Hollow Knight, and Night in the Woods. I’m afraid Hollow Knight will disappoint me a bit because I’m really picky with jumping in my platformers and it doesn’t look exactly like its what I really like, but the rest of it looks really fun. The Rain World one is super gorgeous looking and immersive, but I’m worried the gameplay might be a little too obtuse. Then there’s Night in the Woods. It’s beautiful too, but I’ve never known myself to be an adventure game guy and might just hate playing it while loving the art/theme/story. First world problems, I suppose… so I wouldn’t say it’s stressing me out, but it a kind of odd space to be in. Maybe I don’t need a game, but the itch is there. I’ve also been waiting for Tekken 7 to come out for ages so I can get my competitiveness itch scratched.
I own PS1-4, Xbox 360 and a modestly sized steam library. The only console I have connected is my PS4, at the moment.
Hey, I’m here to help! I think I definitely understand what you’re going through. I wish there was a name for it. It’s certainly a first-world problem, something like gamer’s block. There are so many possibilities that sometimes I’m paralyzed by wondering what I should play next… That being said, $20 can snag quite a few good indies and others on PSN alone, especially if there’s a sale going on. Sometimes I tell myself “This may not be the next game I’m meant to play, but I need/want to get around to it eventually anyway so there’s some incentive at least to play it right now”. If you are thinking about a game specifically to review than I would personally go with a game you’re more comfortable with, though the act of writing about it seems like it can make even a disappointing experience more valuable. At least then you get to rant! Haha! I’m sure you’ll figure this out eventually.
As for self-employment, it’s been a dream to work from home since I was a child. My brother recently began working from home. Granted he lives in Texas so he’s not burdened down by some ridiculous California taxes, but it is possible. With podcasting coming later this year and my wife renewing her business license, we’re wondering if there’s a possibility of beginning at least to move in that direction.
Hmmm… I didn’t think about the fallback of being able to rant against the game. Yes, that makes it feel like there is less of a burden of choice. That helps a lot actually. Thank you. Yeah, I think that PSN could be a place to look for some games too, but being a poor teacher means I gotta get the most bang for my buck and I tend to go to Steam or Humble Bundle and such, for the deals. I will say that PSN is sliiiightly stepping up their deals game… so there’s always a chance that there could be something worth the money, that I can’t get on the old PC.
Have you sketched out more of what you are looking to do with the podcast? I’m find it kind of fascinating. I want it to be a reality. Are you looking into podcast hosting and such, or already made a choice? I would request that it be available on itunes because… that’s where I get all my podcasts… although for this special case I’d bookmark a site 🙂
Well that makes me happy! I spent a lot of time early on just reviewing my favorite games but it’s an extra layer of strangeness to try and review a game you didn’t feel so hot about or even worse which you just feel blah about.
That’s smart to stretch your dollar, especially with how expensive games are. I can’t speak for Steam since I’m not there but Humble Bundle is awesome! Those PSN sales can be good, but they’re sometimes hit or miss. I picked up four games for about $10 once and they were all short, enjoyable rides.
As far as the podcast, I’ve done some talking with friends who want to appear as guests and some brainstorming. It’ll be the same flavor as the blog in terms of asking questions, long-form discussion, and trying to break down exactly what it is we’re talking about instead of just saying “I like this, it is good”. It’ll be called The Well-Red Mage Casts. Get it? Magic! Haha! And yeah I’m thinking itunes because that’s where most folks listen to podcasts. I haven’t listened to any in recent years, not beyond one or two, so I need to find some to latch onto and learn more about it and why people listen to podcasts at all before diving into it myself. More research equals better. There’s an episode a friend and I sketched out a bit, just in conversation, structured around the question “Could the gaming industry ever crash again?” Thanks for expressing some interest! That’s a real motivator!
Well it sounds like you have a good research plan for the podcast. That is an interesting topic to bring up, as depending on the interpretation of “game” you could either say that it has crashed already and people don’t know it, or it might crash due to VR. If we define a game based on more formal definitions, what is making tons of money aren’t really games at all, but more like interactive experiences (like Inside, FF games etc), while games themselves although there are a lot of them, they are really just for people who enjoy competitiveness and mechanics based games. It’s actually pretty niche. Then there’s the VR thing which if I understand correctly is quite visceral. World building and experiential type of stuff may be VR’s strongest point, putting again game rule sets and mechanics into the background even further. 🙂 I’m sure there’s all sorts of other ways to look at it, but yeah, super fun topic!
Thanks for the talk through. I finally bit the bullet and picked up Hollow Knight. I’ve only been able to play it for about 30 minutes, but so far it’s actually pretty good. Some reviews said that it is a bit hard due to the random exploratoriness of it, but that’s the kind of stuff I love. They were saying it was hard to get the map, but I found it with ease… ! Hmmm, so hopefully sometime I can make more time to play it!
Thanks! Such encouraging words. I actually ran into a great deal at GameStop today for the Blackout Yeti microphone, so it begins! I’m excited for some extra time tonight to play around with it, maybe put together an introductory jingle of some sort.
As far as the topic, I think we’d define “video game crash” in terms of what happened in the early/mid 80’s. So it would mean publishers and developers either going bankrupt or having to drop out of the industry altogether. In modern terms that would be Sony, M$, and Nintendo having to dramatically scale back or cease production due to massive profit loss and huge disinterest from consumers. We could imagine what else might happen though a lot of what caused the original crash wouldn’t work anymore, since the industry is a lot bigger now and less dependent upon the success of a single game or two, or a single publisher or two. Still, it’s fun to think about what new things could happen.
Haha I was just thinking today: “Hey, remember VR?” Like it already seems as if nobody is talking about it and nobody cares again. Every time they’ve done VR in the past, it’s been the same thing. It’ll never replaced traditional console gaming, imo.
Glad to hear you touched down on a game! I know nothing about Hollow Knight, literally beyond its name I know nothing about it so any insight you have is certainly welcome. I’ve had a sneaking suspicion for a while that the number one thing that’s dubious in reviews is how difficult they say a gam is. For one, different things are different for different folks, but it seems like reviews usually overestimate difficulty. Just a thought.
Yeah, I was trying to be crafty with my interpretation of the crash. I don’t like things to be simple apparently. You guys were like being literal about a actual gaming crash equitable in its destruction as the one in the 80’s. Blackout Yeti sounds like a pretty good mic! I’ve hear of the blue yeti, so I’m guessing the blackout must be a newer version. How did the test go? Smooth and silky I hope.
A VR skeptic it sounds like! I’ve not actually used the new and improved so I can’t really say one way or the other, I just listen to a bunch of people talk about it and some pretty smart devs seem to think its well, quite different as it is. Only time will tell though whether it will actually be a viable commercial product.
Yeah, reviews do have quite a bit of subjectivity to them and I take them with plenty of salt. That’s why I had a feeling that the map issue wouldn’t be a problem for me, and I went ahead with it.
Any game(s) you’re playing at the moment?
Ah I misinterpreted your advance to the realm of metaphor and allegory! That makes the subject even more interesting to pursue. Testing is soon to commence! Silky smooth would be ideal. You’re correct of course that time will test the merits of this latest flavor rollout of VR. I’m a cynic when it comes to this kind of flashy stuff, just like I was when motion controls came out, exploded and then died off (for the most part).
As for review subjectivity, I think this is why the canny among us seek out the most like-minded reviewers we can find. Currently the only game I’m consistently playing is Final Fantasy 1 on the NES Classic and I just finished Sonic the Hedgehog 1 on a PS3 collection last night. My first time beating a Sonic game and I was… not impressed. It seemed bizarre to me how the level design through 90% of the game prevented Sonic from going any faster than a slow hop. I’ve heard that the second game is better and more refined, and playing it for a little bit I think that’s true. Spoilers for my upcoming review on Sonc 1, I guess. Haha! I appreciate you asking!
Well I was trying to imagine how one might argue a conspiracy level explanation about how the crash has already occurred, but the world hadn’t noticed. Why? No deeper reason really. Just thought it would be fun. Anyway, yeah. Sonic 1 wasn’t too exciting eh? I’m sure I beat it back in the day, but can’t remember it. So suppose it wasn’t that much of a hallmark in my life. I think I played and beat 1-3 in fact. My best friend had the Genesis, and I had the Snes. Yup. I want to try VR but I don’t know anybody who has nor do I have any spare money bags laying around. ha. One thing I thought was a far was 3D movies. Kinda gimmicky really. Alright man, I’ll catch you later. 🙂
You got the better end of the deal with the SNES over the Genesis. I’m sure the Genesis has great games, but not as many “of all time” great games as the SNES has. Later, my friend! Enjoy Hollow Knight!
Yeah, SNES was better. haha.
Thanks! You too, enjoy Final Fantasy in all its classic glory!
Indeed I will, or at least I’m trying to! Not being able to cure Stun… among other archaic gameplay elements… makes that rather difficult sometimes. D:
Yeah I never beat this one… I watched my friend play for a bit back in high school, but it was so grindy. He wanted to beat all the Final Fantasy games and had to retroactively beat this one. He did come out triumphant, so it is possible!
I am finding that it is VERY grindy and very unbalanced. I’ll be sure to detail all of this in the review of posterity, so those who don’t have the time or desire to beat it can get why it was a good start but with some real wrinkles. I only barely touched this game as a kid so this is going to be my first time beating it. I do hope it’s possible!
Yeah, speaking of grindy and unbalanced, I actually never played the FF games that only came out originally in Japan (FF 2,3,5) as they didn’t seem to be that good. I think I own them all though somewhere on disc, though. One thing I hated about the rereleases on PS1 was they were soooo slow to load compared to the cartridges. I tried replaying FF6 back in the PS1 (or was it PS2?) and I just had to give it up… so much loading, for example between random encounters. Ugh…
On a more positive note, Hollow Knight is simply amazing.
Yeah some of the early ones are pretty atrocious. I liked II for the most part, which I played on PS1 (more on that crappy port in a moment) and I played a little of V but was turned off by so much humor. I think IV was really the first GREAT Final Fantasy game while its predecessors seem to range from “good” to “mediocre but visionary”.
As for the PS1 Origins and Anthology discs, those are some of the worst ports ever. It was like they sat down and asked “How can we ruin some of the greatest games ever made?” I was excited when they announced Chrono Trigger for the PlayStation but imagine my very real horror when those loading times made the game unplayable, especially in comparison with the SNES. There’s no excuse for it. And somehow they still preserved those versions for PSN? Terrible and stupid.
Glad you’re enjoying Hollow Knight! Can’t wait to hear more about it and the like!
What can a black widow do with money, you ask? Well all that red hair dye gets expensive 😀
So luxurious! She uses Thoreal!