So, given that I spent the last month writing a The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time piece for its 25th anniversary, I decided to give other 1990s games some love. Today, I am remembering, and listing the most memorable Storylines from turn-based RPGs that I played during the magical 16 bit – 32 bit…
Category: Throwback Bit Thursday
Throwback Bit Thursday is a weekly Thursday feature on Never Ending Realm. Read all of NER’s #TBT articles here!
TBT: 27 Years of Super Mario 64: Turning My Love for Super Mario into a Family Tradition
Yes, it has been 27 years since Super Mario 64. Despite the fact that this article is mainly focused on that Nintendo 64 groundbreaking title, it wouldn’t be fair to say that the first game to get 3-D right has been the most influential game of my gaming life…even though it could be. While I…
Throwback Bit Thursday: 1998 For a JRPG Fan!
So, it is hard to believe, but it has been a quarter century since 1998. I have very fond memories, perhaps my fondest memories, as a gamer are from that year. While most of my time was spent playing (oh blessed days!) WCW/NWO Revenge, Ocarina of Time, and Golden Eye. I did play some JRPGs…
TBT: Final Fantasy VII: That Time a Popular Game Killed its Princess
So, at this point, it is well known in the gaming world (it has been nearly 26 years), that Aeris (now known as Aerith) died (was murdered really) in Final Fantasy VII. Gamers born after the fact, or near it, will not quite appreciate the shock and awe factor, of watching a heroine, or better…
Throwback Bit Thursday: Remembering a Merry 1998 ChristmasÂ
It is known (if you are a long time reader of the site), that 1998 is, in my honest opinion, is the greatest year in gaming, bar none. Most us will look back at that time when we were 10-14 years old, as the best time for video games, regardless of the year. That said, 1998…
TBT: Five Critically Underrated 32-Bit Era JRPGs
Generally speaking, the mid to late 1990s are considered the golden age of the Japanese Role Playing game genre. High Quality JRPGs flooded the PlayStation in quantities not seen since on any system. Amongst the sea of stars, some of these titles were poorly received by critics despite the fact that they were quite good…
Throwback Bit Thursday: Sonic Generations
Sonic 3-D games, for the most part, have sucked. Don’t get me wrong, I highly enjoyed Sonic Adventure back in 1999-2000, but that might be the only 3-D game in the franchise that I thought was any good. My son (who is 5 years old) loves Sonic, he loves Mario too (and has played dozens…
Throwback Bit Thursday: Street Fighter IIÂ
The 1990s were a good time for everything related to martial arts. Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, and Van Damme movies were all the rage. Kids shows like the Power Rangers and movies like The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles drove younglings all over America into Martial Arts schools. Â Before the wired special effects shenanigans turned…
Throwback Bit Thursday: Re-Loving Tales of Vesperia
Tales of Vesperia is my favorite Tales game ever. After more than a decade without making a serious run through the game, I decided to give it another try last week. Basically, playing older JRPGs is difficult for me these days, because if I already know how the story ends, I quickly lose interest in…
Throwback Bit Thursday: Alundra is a Grown Up’s Zelda Game
This week, as I continued to play Elden Ring, I began to look back at what games were tough, or tougher than Japan’s newest poster boy. Some of the 2-D Castlevania games were very difficult. Even Castlevania 64 was quite challenging if you went for the good ending.  Castlevania 64, in particular, did not…