You're Browsing: 16-Bit Gems

16-Bit Gems is back! After a short haitus, Roo continues his mini-retrospective on the Dragon Quest series. This time, he looks at the definitive versions of the first two games, and examines how they influenced dozens of console RPGs to come. So grab your horned hat and watch the slimes draw near – the Dragonlord’s [...]

Waiting for that lazy slob to make more 16-Bit Gems?  Wash your disappointment away as Roo shows you some tips and tricks to make your neglected video game cartridges look like new… -ish.  Clean your retro games and keep history alive in the latest 16-Bit Gems Extra!

Roo takes advantage this April 1st to talk an RPG that gets just about everything right – Dragon Quest VIII, for the Playstation 2.  Watch for an explanation of why this is a game any JRPG fan can’t pass by.

Roo presents a retrospective on the rise of the Japanese Role-Playing Game – running from tabletop wargames up through Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy – and discusses their impact on the genre as a whole.  Learn about the major players – including Gygax, Garriott, Woodhead, Horii, Sakaguchi – and how their efforts led to the [...]

A Pac-Man game is a Pac-Man game is a Pac-Man game, right?  Not when it’s Pac-Man 2 – Namco’s unexpected foray into point and click adventure.  While it threw Pac-fans for a loop in the 90′s, we can look back now and give this quirkly little title its due.  Find out why it’s worth your [...]

Believe it or not, there were survival horror games before Resident Evil.  Not many… but still.  Clock Tower for the Super Nintendo was one of the pioneers of the genre, bringing creepy atmosphere, a chilling plot, and homicidal children all together in full 2-dimensional glory.  Find out why everyone should give this overlooked gem a [...]

This Konami arcade classic was once ported to both the Super Nintendo and Genesis.  But how well did they stack up to the original?  And which one took quite a departure from its initial version?  Roo examines each in this rootin’-tootin’ episode.

We all know what we’re in for when we play an Adventure Island game: Puzzles, swords, magic, and… downthrusts?  No, Super Adventure Island 2 may not be the game you’d expect, but it’s so much more.  Join Roo as he shows off his favorite game in this storied series, as well as its surprising pedigree.  [...]

To celebrate the 2nd anniversary of Clan of the Gray Wolf, Roo completes the Gaia trilogy by taking on the game that started it all – Soul Blazer.  One of Quintet’s earliest titles, this game set up the action RPG style that was used to such brilliance in Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma.  So settle [...]