I went to Video Game Swappers, made a special trip asking my brother to please take me for days on end, and saw a Japanese Super Metroid with adapter ($99). Figured I'd get a bunch of cash for my games and maybe afford it. My credit ended up being about sixteen bucks. They offered one dollar for Super Mario World. I was too naive to tell them no and traded probably five games for Phalanx. #RegretThatDecision...
Finally caught one early enough to say: Thank you so much for your work, man. As a 41 year old, I can watch your content all day, just for the memories. As a retro gamer, I check your videos before I start seriously playing a game. I appreciate it, quite a bit.
I grew up in the 90's, subscribed to GamePro and EGM, and I collect and play retro games today. I know that Zoop cover art like my mother's face. And this is the very first time I've ever seen gameplay footage of it.
Everybody remembers Zoop as that game that filled bargain bins for a period of time. I mean I don't know how many copies there are out there but considering it was on literally everything there must be tens of millions at least.
Awesome part about Tuff Enuff was that the cover was used in the first stage of Game Tengoku back in 1995. Jaleco knew how ridiculous it looked and used it as a huge stage backdrop.
The Japanese version is called Dead Dance and has a much better cover. It's funny that Jaleco knew they were giving us a horrible cover and horrible title.
Man I actually miss this. Being young and going rent games and renting them based on the cover art that stood out to me, only for the game to be complete garbage and being disappointed haha. I miss good cover art and awesome instruction booklets.
Yeah N64 games were some of the most notorious at least for me at the time. But there was something truly glorious about being able to check out a game before you buy or not even having to buy it at all. Ah memories.
I love this because as a gamer of the 90's, this was PRECISELY what we had to guard against on Friday nights at Blockbuster or the local video store when we were renting games. I would add U.N. Squadron, Outlander, and Sword of Vermillon for the Genesis for me.
Whenever I used to rent games, you could see Zoop on the shelf from the door. That's how much that cover stood out. I used to turn my nose up..even as a 4th grader lol
My brother traded all of our nes stuff for a brand new skuljager when it came out. Still remember the password for as far as I ever got ‘fly home lazy sword’. It was decent enough. However that may be the ptsd of how much nes stuff he traded for that game.
My parents bought me Zoop one day. It was an interesting puzzle game. I was never really good at it but it was entertaining enough with an okay soundtrack.
I remember playing the PS1 and PC versions of Shadow Man, and its PS2 sequel (2econd Coming). I didn't know that, everyone knew the game from the box art. I hope Nightdive Studios could remaster that PS2 sequel one day for modern platforms.
I remember Zoop be of the ads for it and it was so obscure and nonsensical. It seemed to get positive reviews here in the UK but can't really say I know anyone that got it. Saying that Acclaims marketing during the N64 time was just becoming increasingly odd until they tried to get people to advertise games on their own gravestone or changing their names legally to Turok.
Même sur une chaine anglophone trés spécifique... on croise le serbe le plus populaire de YT ! Cette chaine est super j'y ai découvert plein de trucs. Bon courage pour la suite 👍
Funny story: I found a copy of Zoop at a pawn shop that I frequent, and decided to get it so that I could replace the back of a more expensive game. Because I’m a regular, the owner threw it in for free with another game I was purchasing. I finally decided to give it a go last week, but when I turned my SNES on, I realized very quickly that it wasn’t Zoop. It was Mario’s Time Machine, and someone had swapped the circuit boards for the two games. In retrospect, it does make a bit more sense, because one of the screws was missing when I first got the game. Still, I’m not sure if it was a mistake or an elaborate bate and switch, but it surprised me either way.
Forsaken was one of my favorite games. It was actually the game I bought with the system. There was nothing like seeing a Titan nuke fly past you and the chaotic scramble to get out of the room before it explodes. Two player was what made it so much fun for me. It was like 007 but flying spaceships.
Shadow Man was based on a comic book series that has been around for a couple of years. The version the game follows was a revamp that from when Aklaim acquired Valiant Comics (which also included Turok, X-O Manowar, and Armorines) in the mid-90s.
Indeed. I remember when Valiant launched and Shadowman looked like/was(?) a generic edgy superhero character for the time. Then they reworked the story with that new look, with his old mask now being the design on his chest.
Yeah, growing up in the 90's was a weird trip. I recall all of these games sitting on Blockbuster shelves collecting dust. You couldn't escape the loud in-your-face marketing back then! I remember seeing Zoop _everywhere_. I love puzzle games, so I rented it along with Tetris Attack. I just couldn't get into Zoop at all as I didn't like the art style and the gameplay was just kind of tedious/dull. I'm still glad I rented Tetris Attack as well so it wasn't a complete loss of a Blockbuster visit!
Man, I really miss Funco Land. I had a great local store that was always friendly and fun to look through. Also, I knew Zoop because my local Blockbuster back in the day had it running on a display tv for public play for a long time. Not a bad game!
I played Zoop on a few different platforms back in the day (having worked at a game rental store), and one thing I remember is that the different ports of Zoop to various platforms _played differently_ from one another. You'd think that for such a simple game, one "Zoop" would be like any other "Zoop" - but the semi-randomness of the shape/color patterns (e.g. the distribution of runs of the same color vs. random colors, piling on shapes in one line vs. spreading them out evenly, etc.) seemed to be different in every version I tried. It's like the difference between a "Tetris" with tetrominos drawn from a finite "bag" before being reshuffled vs. a "Tetris" with _completely_ random tetrominos (allowing for long runs of the same one or two shapes). I can only guess that every platform's "Zoop" was programmed by a different team, and that Viacom/Hookstone's design documentation didn't actually specify _how_ the shapes were to be selected/distributed - kind of an important part of a puzzle game's mechanics.
I owned Zoop as a child and never understood how to play it. Understanding it was essentially a color matching game would explain my confusion as I'm colorblind.0
It's one of those times when the game boy versions of games are actually much better. Because they're entirely in black and white and grey (or green and lighter green if you wanna be pedantic). So things like puzzle games like this are designed around the lack of colour, meaning you can actually play them. Like for a game like Dr Mario. Or Tetris Attack. I dunno, things like that.
Glad you mentioned Shadow Man’s cover art in the video! Definitely agree, you saw it almost everywhere in promo pics of numerous gaming magazines or at your local video game store at the time even if you never got the chance to play it. The N64 era of cover arts/promo pics marketing definitely were something else 😅
Lt. Tasha Yar's Head on a child's body gave me a DEEP belly laugh! Thank you for covering content this 37 year old can absolutely be nostalgic over time and time again. Your cadence, delivery and presentation are top notch and your passion for these games shines through!
Claymates had the quintessential eye-catching SNES box art, complete with bright colors, full-box holographic effect, and no explanation of what the game is about. If you went to a Walmart electronics section in the early 90s, this box art and the Robocop vs. Terminator hard cover are seared into your brain.
Shadow Man on N64 blew my mind back then. The serial killers, the guts. And I had no idea what it was when I bought it with my Walmart cashier paycheck. I was 16.
I'll never forget the ZOOP box. But I also remember the back had the craziest read ever. I remember it said "what are you doing reading this box?! Pick this game up and play it now. Zoop the most addicting puzzle since ever!!" I laughed at it back in the day
I was born in the early 80’s, I think I remember the Zoop ads, own the game and that Zoop wallpaper or whatever was terrifying. I do not remember the 90’s looking like that.
Young guy here (20) Video stores were still around here for abit in Australia when I was a kid during the Wii, Xbox360 and PS3 era before eventually all dying out. The biggest game I remember seeing but never hiring was No More Heroes. It always interested me, but I never hired it and usually stuck to safer options for me at the time like the LEGO games or Nintendo made games. Going back and playing the game now No More Heroes has become one of my favourite series.
Shadow Man was an awesome game. It was cemented in my brain when a neighbor friend bought a used copy. I never saw the cover, i was just really interested in this dark game when i was 8 years old.
Always fun to see you do a list like this. You always have such a cool theme. These were permanent fixtures in the rental store, and you can't help but wonder how many of these games were bought by individuals. "Man, I got Brutal: Paws of Fury for my birthday!" "Yeah, what's that?" "These cartoon animals fight each other Street Fighter style in a tournament, and I think the prize is the winner gets a show on Fox Kids for one season!"
The thing with a few of these covers is that they were specific to the US version of the games: The PAL version of Tuff E Nuff had similar box art to the Japanese version, the PAL version of Forsaken had completely different cover art (which was fairly nondescript) while the PAL version of Body Harvest had box art that was much more representative of what the game was about. I can't comment on the other games (and I'm too lazy to check!).
I had completely forgotten about Forsaken. This wave of nostalgia just hit me with a memory of a sleepover at my friend's house and his parents got us this at Blockbuster and we played it all night. I miss the 90's
Loved the idea. The exact same thing happened to me involving Dino City, I have only paid attention to it when I saw a friend of mine playing it at the rental store and then I asked "wow, that looks neat actually. Which game is this?" and there it was, available for everyone most of the time with a crappy cover art. Vegas Stakes was also a game no one would pick, ever - neither would I. Had a good time playing Tuff E Nuff (Dead Dance as I got to know at the time) but time hasn't done good to it. One game cover which was onipresent in gaming magazines and also retail advertising here in Brazil was Little Ninja Brothers for the NES, it certainly boosted its rental visibility back then
I absolutely remember Phalanx always being there, and I never played it specifically for the reason there was nothing to draw me in. Had there been a picture of a spaceship on the front, I probably would have rented it.
SNES drunk I’m so glad you included Body Harvest! I loved that game so much! Great job on the channel, too. Been checking your stuff out for a while now. Hope you and yours are well. 🙂
A funny thing about Brutal Paws of Fury is the rabbit character actually looks similar to a character from a PC game called Ninja Rabbits. Altho both concepts were likely inspired by Usagi Yojimbo.
Fuckin LOVED the bit about polo/khaki/Corolla/Miller Lite guy and the Byron Allen reference was so hilariously out of left field. Your obscure references add so much to the overall package. Great vid as always dude.
Btw, Dinocity is based on a straight-to-tv live-action movie called "Adventures in Dinosaur City". It's available on youtube in it's entirety... It's ultra 90's.
I actually picked up a copy of Zoop at a garage sale years ago and it was because I was drawn to the artwork on the label. I agree it actually is good on the SNES
I remember seeing somebody play Zool at their house, then a few weeks later being at the rental store and thinking that game I saw was called "Zoop." The rental store didn't have cover art, didn't include instruction manuals, and didn't have Zool. I was highly disappointed and confused. Also, Shadowman is based on a Valiant comic that's really good.
Back in the 90s, when phalanx was sitting on the shelves of the local game/video rental shop, i believed it to be some sort of "music game" something like todays guitar hero. Back then the cover art was part of what made a game sell or fail, since there were no video previews or demos for cartridge consoles.
Huh, spot on with that Dino City bit. Until today, I’d _never_ seen any screenshots or video of actual gameplay. Looks nifty, and the art style is cute. Chalk up the box art to yet more ‘90s radi-cool chicanery.
I was kind of expecting more warnings than recommendations, to be honest. There were a lot of games that either pulled this trick to get you to play their bad game, or ambitious games that didn't get the work put into them they needed to be the game they were trying to make. That said, Phalanx is a gem of a shmup. I rented it on a week long blockbuster rental and played the hell out of it until it had to go back. Never finished it, but I remember having a lot of fun.
I remember Dino City because it was always in Tommy K's when renting games was a thing. Nobody I knew had it, played it, or knew what it was. I wish I check out the back. Looks like it was fun.
I actually really dig the box art on both Shadow Man and Dino City. Body Harvest isn't so bad either; it tells you that the game has that Starship Troopers vibe.
I picked up body Harvest at a pawn shop in my hometown after my grandfather picked me up from Junior High. I had no idea what the game was or how much fun I would have playing it. I still own it and it's one of my favorites. Gets hard af a few locations in
3:44 this box art always reminded me of the matrix and later on always made me think of the game TimeSplitters 2 cover because of the glasses and bald head look
Always get a kick out of seeing stuff that I mainly remember from the ad campaigns. You could easily retitle this video "Games you saw every month in Gamepro ads" and be completely accurate.
Well I spent an insane amount of time playing Zoop back in the day and still play it from time to time. A dangerously addicting game once you get the hang of it.
In case you’re wondering: The old man on the cover of Phalanx for SNES was Bertil Valley who sadly died in 2004.
I went to Video Game Swappers, made a special trip asking my brother to please take me for days on end, and saw a Japanese Super Metroid with adapter ($99). Figured I'd get a bunch of cash for my games and maybe afford it. My credit ended up being about sixteen bucks. They offered one dollar for Super Mario World. I was too naive to tell them no and traded probably five games for Phalanx. #RegretThatDecision...
Uncanny Valley defined
F
See you space banjo cowboy
Never heard of Zoop, but the Cover looks so 90s I can totally see the Fresh Prince wearing it on a Shirt.
It was heavily featured in a lot of Sega Channel commercials
Forsaken 64’s cover itself is the perfect representation of what 90’s marketing was like.
I remember Forsaken having an alternate shot with the tattoo on her thigh. It was pulled from the ads later on.
Even just the name... Forsaken 64
@@ottagol1985 I remember that. They definitely ran it in gamepro for a bit , or maybe it was EGM.
"The future is forsaken" is forever burned in my memory.
@@ottagol1985 I can't find the thigh tattoo, but definitely found the neck tattoo.
Finally caught one early enough to say: Thank you so much for your work, man. As a 41 year old, I can watch your content all day, just for the memories. As a retro gamer, I check your videos before I start seriously playing a game. I appreciate it, quite a bit.
Thanks for taking the time to watch Tyler
Cool tyler🎯
You are speaking for many of us :)
Ive gotten some good recomendations from this guy 👍
Couldn't say better
I grew up in the 90's, subscribed to GamePro and EGM, and I collect and play retro games today. I know that Zoop cover art like my mother's face. And this is the very first time I've ever seen gameplay footage of it.
Hard same. I've still never played Ardy Lightfoot or Cool World either 😂
@@captainvimes6079 both cool games, ardy is super fun.
Early to mid 90s game pro was peak game pro!
After a quarter century, I finally know what Zoop is. Thank you.
So many copies of Zoop for Super Nintendo at Game Craze
Everybody remembers Zoop as that game that filled bargain bins for a period of time. I mean I don't know how many copies there are out there but considering it was on literally everything there must be tens of millions at least.
I actually played Zoop on a PC at Office Depot back in the 90s. It was...OK?
@@DrCorndog1 - It was fine. It gets hectic real fast at level 7 and higher at least. If you reach level 10, then you were legit.
There's a copy in everyones' dusty snes box
Awesome part about Tuff Enuff was that the cover was used in the first stage of Game Tengoku back in 1995. Jaleco knew how ridiculous it looked and used it as a huge stage backdrop.
The Japanese version is called Dead Dance and has a much better cover. It's funny that Jaleco knew they were giving us a horrible cover and horrible title.
Cha-DING!
The graphics appear to highly imitate the Streets of Rage series.
"Eastern European Looney Tunes" is the best description for brutal paws of fury I've ever heard
Hi hunter
"WORKER AND PARASITE!"
@@samuraikarasu…what the hell was that?
Man I actually miss this. Being young and going rent games and renting them based on the cover art that stood out to me, only for the game to be complete garbage and being disappointed haha. I miss good cover art and awesome instruction booklets.
Yeah N64 games were some of the most notorious at least for me at the time. But there was something truly glorious about being able to check out a game before you buy or not even having to buy it at all.
Ah memories.
I love this because as a gamer of the 90's, this was PRECISELY what we had to guard against on Friday nights at Blockbuster or the local video store when we were renting games. I would add U.N. Squadron, Outlander, and Sword of Vermillon for the Genesis for me.
Dude UN Squadron is an awesome game though
@@MagnusVonBlack "for me"
holy shit i forgot that i ignored un squadron my entire life based on the cover art.
Arkana
"Lieutenant Tasha Yar's head on a child's body" made me laugh my ass off.
I missed that lol
Whenever I used to rent games, you could see Zoop on the shelf from the door. That's how much that cover stood out. I used to turn my nose up..even as a 4th grader lol
There were SO many Zoop ads in EGM for a few months.
Yep between the ads and the aggressive push to put it on literally everything it was clear they wanted it to be the next Tetris. It was not.
In every magazine and on TV.
Skuljagger, for me, was the ultimate example of this.
And then, you take a look at the game and you laugh out loud: A guy making bubbles in an effort to defeat pirates? Is that based on a chewing gum ad?
Idk. I remember renting skuljagger all the time. It was good fun.
and damn Skuljagger was pretty solid!
No, Skuljagger both chewed and blew
My brother traded all of our nes stuff for a brand new skuljager when it came out. Still remember the password for as far as I ever got ‘fly home lazy sword’. It was decent enough. However that may be the ptsd of how much nes stuff he traded for that game.
It's references like this 3:40 that make SNES drunk the perfect retro gaming youtube channel for me.
Nothing like a Byron Allen reference.
Once I saw the title and shitty cover for Zoop I'm clicked on this. What a great video idea. Gotta do more of these.
Please beat Tampa
@@SNESdrunk OMG 😂 I hope we do. What's your team? Aren't you a Wild fan?
@@pouncingpantherpucks2779 Huberdeau carried my fantasy team.
Minnesota yeah, but Barkov is great and I'm tired of Tampa
@@AyeThatsHandsomePete Yeah he was a beast this year. I think he's even better than Barkov but man they had an incredible year.
You do remember that popular Salt n Pepa song, right..?
“You make me wanna
Zoop
Zoobedoo
Zoobedoo bedoo...”
Never had the N64, but i remember the covers of Shadow Man and Forsaken hahaha Good times!
My parents bought me Zoop one day. It was an interesting puzzle game. I was never really good at it but it was entertaining enough with an okay soundtrack.
I remember playing the PS1 and PC versions of Shadow Man, and its PS2 sequel (2econd Coming). I didn't know that, everyone knew the game from the box art. I hope Nightdive Studios could remaster that PS2 sequel one day for modern platforms.
My cousin and I vividly remembered 2econd Coming for the most lolzy reasoning ever:
"I gotta get that bear, man! I got *shit* to do!"
There was alot of nostalgia in this episode for me. Thank you for creating this
I remember Zoop be of the ads for it and it was so obscure and nonsensical. It seemed to get positive reviews here in the UK but can't really say I know anyone that got it.
Saying that Acclaims marketing during the N64 time was just becoming increasingly odd until they tried to get people to advertise games on their own gravestone or changing their names legally to Turok.
Ah, I completely forgot about the Shadow Man Remaster!
on sale at GoG
@@KryptKicker5 Awesome
you answer so many question that i have from childhood x)
Ça m'étonne de te voir ici XD
Même sur une chaine anglophone trés spécifique... on croise le serbe le plus populaire de YT !
Cette chaine est super j'y ai découvert plein de trucs.
Bon courage pour la suite 👍
@@voidathetos2747 Le serbe avec les meilleurs noms de vidéo
This guys makes me go out and look for old snes games I don’t have. Thank you.
I remember the neighbors spying on the kid in the commercial for zoop and saying "maybe he's double jointed"
Funny story: I found a copy of Zoop at a pawn shop that I frequent, and decided to get it so that I could replace the back of a more expensive game. Because I’m a regular, the owner threw it in for free with another game I was purchasing. I finally decided to give it a go last week, but when I turned my SNES on, I realized very quickly that it wasn’t Zoop. It was Mario’s Time Machine, and someone had swapped the circuit boards for the two games. In retrospect, it does make a bit more sense, because one of the screws was missing when I first got the game. Still, I’m not sure if it was a mistake or an elaborate bate and switch, but it surprised me either way.
The woman on the cover of Forsaken is so you know what you're fighting for back on earth boys.
Forsaken was one of my favorite games. It was actually the game I bought with the system. There was nothing like seeing a Titan nuke fly past you and the chaotic scramble to get out of the room before it explodes. Two player was what made it so much fun for me. It was like 007 but flying spaceships.
Shadow Man was based on a comic book series that has been around for a couple of years. The version the game follows was a revamp that from when Aklaim acquired Valiant Comics (which also included Turok, X-O Manowar, and Armorines) in the mid-90s.
Indeed. I remember when Valiant launched and Shadowman looked like/was(?) a generic edgy superhero character for the time. Then they reworked the story with that new look, with his old mask now being the design on his chest.
Wow man, you hit that intro aggressively
Yeah, growing up in the 90's was a weird trip. I recall all of these games sitting on Blockbuster shelves collecting dust. You couldn't escape the loud in-your-face marketing back then! I remember seeing Zoop _everywhere_. I love puzzle games, so I rented it along with Tetris Attack. I just couldn't get into Zoop at all as I didn't like the art style and the gameplay was just kind of tedious/dull. I'm still glad I rented Tetris Attack as well so it wasn't a complete loss of a Blockbuster visit!
Remember loving Shadow Man when it came out. It was also the first game I remember hearing actual swearing in.
Oh man, do I remember that Forsaken cover art.
Man, I really miss Funco Land. I had a great local store that was always friendly and fun to look through.
Also, I knew Zoop because my local Blockbuster back in the day had it running on a display tv for public play for a long time. Not a bad game!
I played Zoop on a few different platforms back in the day (having worked at a game rental store), and one thing I remember is that the different ports of Zoop to various platforms _played differently_ from one another. You'd think that for such a simple game, one "Zoop" would be like any other "Zoop" - but the semi-randomness of the shape/color patterns (e.g. the distribution of runs of the same color vs. random colors, piling on shapes in one line vs. spreading them out evenly, etc.) seemed to be different in every version I tried. It's like the difference between a "Tetris" with tetrominos drawn from a finite "bag" before being reshuffled vs. a "Tetris" with _completely_ random tetrominos (allowing for long runs of the same one or two shapes). I can only guess that every platform's "Zoop" was programmed by a different team, and that Viacom/Hookstone's design documentation didn't actually specify _how_ the shapes were to be selected/distributed - kind of an important part of a puzzle game's mechanics.
I can’t be the only one who interprets the Phalanx cover as “old farmer who sees ufo ship in the sky and looks surprised.”
"Don't steal anybody's kidneys."
-SNES Drunk
I owned Zoop as a child and never understood how to play it. Understanding it was essentially a color matching game would explain my confusion as I'm colorblind.0
It's one of those times when the game boy versions of games are actually much better. Because they're entirely in black and white and grey (or green and lighter green if you wanna be pedantic). So things like puzzle games like this are designed around the lack of colour, meaning you can actually play them. Like for a game like Dr Mario. Or Tetris Attack. I dunno, things like that.
I loved Body Harvest back in the late 90s.
Zoop was probably the epitome of 90s game ads and I didn’t know anyone who played it
Glad you mentioned Shadow Man’s cover art in the video! Definitely agree, you saw it almost everywhere in promo pics of numerous gaming magazines or at your local video game store at the time even if you never got the chance to play it. The N64 era of cover arts/promo pics marketing definitely were something else 😅
Leo from Red Earth looks like what you'd expect from the Brutal Paws of Fury ad.
"This is just what the 90's looked like, kids." That is *terrifyingly* accurate.
Lt. Tasha Yar's Head on a child's body gave me a DEEP belly laugh! Thank you for covering content this 37 year old can absolutely be nostalgic over time and time again. Your cadence, delivery and presentation are top notch and your passion for these games shines through!
37 club unite!!!
@@JeffYPbPr YYYYEEAAAHH! Congrats on making it this far :D
Claymates had the quintessential eye-catching SNES box art, complete with bright colors, full-box holographic effect, and no explanation of what the game is about. If you went to a Walmart electronics section in the early 90s, this box art and the Robocop vs. Terminator hard cover are seared into your brain.
Shadow Man on N64 blew my mind back then. The serial killers, the guts.
And I had no idea what it was when I bought it with my Walmart cashier paycheck. I was 16.
I was definitely not expecting a Tasha Yar reference or for it to be so accurate.
I love Zoop! Spent many hours playing it on my SNES as a kid in the 90's!
I'll never forget the ZOOP box. But I also remember the back had the craziest read ever. I remember it said "what are you doing reading this box?! Pick this game up and play it now. Zoop the most addicting puzzle since ever!!" I laughed at it back in the day
Your commentary chops are really improving, man. This was solid from start to finish.
I feel like Zoop is an underrated gem of a game. It's crazy as all hell at times, but I still play it every now and then.
DinoCity was a childhood favorite of mine. I saw the film first on VHS and my Dad snagged a copy of the game on late 1990s eBay. Still have that copy.
I was born in the early 80’s, I think I remember the Zoop ads, own the game and that Zoop wallpaper or whatever was terrifying. I do not remember the 90’s looking like that.
Love the space ball’s reference when explaining the cover of shadow man
Young guy here (20)
Video stores were still around here for abit in Australia when I was a kid during the Wii, Xbox360 and PS3 era before eventually all dying out.
The biggest game I remember seeing but never hiring was No More Heroes.
It always interested me, but I never hired it and usually stuck to safer options for me at the time like the LEGO games or Nintendo made games.
Going back and playing the game now No More Heroes has become one of my favourite series.
Shadow Man was an awesome game. It was cemented in my brain when a neighbor friend bought a used copy. I never saw the cover, i was just really interested in this dark game when i was 8 years old.
Always fun to see you do a list like this. You always have such a cool theme. These were permanent fixtures in the rental store, and you can't help but wonder how many of these games were bought by individuals. "Man, I got Brutal: Paws of Fury for my birthday!" "Yeah, what's that?" "These cartoon animals fight each other Street Fighter style in a tournament, and I think the prize is the winner gets a show on Fox Kids for one season!"
Last one kinda reminds me of Yoshi’s Island, where baby Mario was on his back. Except it was bad when Mario fell off, he hadn’t learned anything yet 😂
I got body harvest from my grandma one year for Christmas. Loved this game!
Not sure why "Uh oh, that's not good" made my day...but thanks
The thing with a few of these covers is that they were specific to the US version of the games: The PAL version of Tuff E Nuff had similar box art to the Japanese version, the PAL version of Forsaken had completely different cover art (which was fairly nondescript) while the PAL version of Body Harvest had box art that was much more representative of what the game was about. I can't comment on the other games (and I'm too lazy to check!).
I had completely forgotten about Forsaken. This wave of nostalgia just hit me with a memory of a sleepover at my friend's house and his parents got us this at Blockbuster and we played it all night. I miss the 90's
Loved the idea. The exact same thing happened to me involving Dino City, I have only paid attention to it when I saw a friend of mine playing it at the rental store and then I asked "wow, that looks neat actually. Which game is this?" and there it was, available for everyone most of the time with a crappy cover art. Vegas Stakes was also a game no one would pick, ever - neither would I. Had a good time playing Tuff E Nuff (Dead Dance as I got to know at the time) but time hasn't done good to it. One game cover which was onipresent in gaming magazines and also retail advertising here in Brazil was Little Ninja Brothers for the NES, it certainly boosted its rental visibility back then
I absolutely remember Phalanx always being there, and I never played it specifically for the reason there was nothing to draw me in. Had there been a picture of a spaceship on the front, I probably would have rented it.
The game Dino City was based off the movie, Adventures in Dino City also in the 90’s. That cover art is pretty true to the film.
SNES drunk I’m so glad you included Body Harvest! I loved that game so much! Great job on the channel, too. Been checking your stuff out for a while now. Hope you and yours are well. 🙂
A funny thing about Brutal Paws of Fury is the rabbit character actually looks similar to a character from a PC game called Ninja Rabbits. Altho both concepts were likely inspired by Usagi Yojimbo.
Man thanks for giving me a lil of my childhood back in nice short bursts. Never quit. Snnnnnnneeeeeees¹⁰ drunk.
Fuckin LOVED the bit about polo/khaki/Corolla/Miller Lite guy and the Byron Allen reference was so hilariously out of left field. Your obscure references add so much to the overall package. Great vid as always dude.
Total length of video: 610 secs.
Total length of "SNES Drunk": 3.5 secs.
.57% of the video was spent listening to "SNES Drunk".
My grandfather was a body harvester, the game matches up with his stories pretty well.
Body harvest was one of my favorite games for n64 loved how many different vehicles there was. Took awhile sometimes to figure out where to go
Btw, Dinocity is based on a straight-to-tv live-action movie called "Adventures in Dinosaur City". It's available on youtube in it's entirety... It's ultra 90's.
I actually picked up a copy of Zoop at a garage sale years ago and it was because I was drawn to the artwork on the label. I agree it actually is good on the SNES
I loved Zoop on PC, and bonded with a friend’s mom who had extremely high scores in her version. I played it on my Super Nt, and I still dig it.
"Never judge a book by it's cover."
"You should judge the idiots who made the cover instead."
Shadowman is an amazing game. The cover box is why I bought it as a kid, and never regretted it.
🤣🤣🤣 now every time I see Byron Allen I'm gonna assume he's the Shadow Man
I remember seeing somebody play Zool at their house, then a few weeks later being at the rental store and thinking that game I saw was called "Zoop." The rental store didn't have cover art, didn't include instruction manuals, and didn't have Zool. I was highly disappointed and confused.
Also, Shadowman is based on a Valiant comic that's really good.
Back in the 90s, when phalanx was sitting on the shelves of the local game/video rental shop, i believed it to be some sort of "music game" something like todays guitar hero. Back then the cover art was part of what made a game sell or fail, since there were no video previews or demos for cartridge consoles.
Huh, spot on with that Dino City bit. Until today, I’d _never_ seen any screenshots or video of actual gameplay. Looks nifty, and the art style is cute. Chalk up the box art to yet more ‘90s radi-cool chicanery.
I was kind of expecting more warnings than recommendations, to be honest. There were a lot of games that either pulled this trick to get you to play their bad game, or ambitious games that didn't get the work put into them they needed to be the game they were trying to make.
That said, Phalanx is a gem of a shmup. I rented it on a week long blockbuster rental and played the hell out of it until it had to go back. Never finished it, but I remember having a lot of fun.
I remember Dino City because it was always in Tommy K's when renting games was a thing. Nobody I knew had it, played it, or knew what it was. I wish I check out the back. Looks like it was fun.
I actually really dig the box art on both Shadow Man and Dino City. Body Harvest isn't so bad either; it tells you that the game has that Starship Troopers vibe.
As soon as I saw the title of the video my mind went right to Phalanx. Both that and Body Harvest are so much better than their covers let on
Forsaken's marketing was absolutely mad. A mix of nearly naked models and THE FUTURE IS FORSAKEN.
I picked up body Harvest at a pawn shop in my hometown after my grandfather picked me up from Junior High. I had no idea what the game was or how much fun I would have playing it. I still own it and it's one of my favorites. Gets hard af a few locations in
This brings me back to my middle school years. Thank you for your video
3:44 this box art always reminded me of the matrix and later on always made me think of the game TimeSplitters 2 cover because of the glasses and bald head look
watching the intro, I am reminded of why I love this era of gaming history.
I didn't see the cover for Dino city.
But i do remember playing at someones house.
That game blew my mind back then
Lol Zoop - the cover and name is the perfect example of knowing it exists because of that.
I'm sure I'm not the only person who is reminded of "The Caretaker" from Star Trek: Voyager when looking at that Phalanx cover.
Ballz 3D is honestly one of the few games that comes to mind.
The Phalanx box art was what persuaded me to buy it...25 years after its release.
Always get a kick out of seeing stuff that I mainly remember from the ad campaigns. You could easily retitle this video "Games you saw every month in Gamepro ads" and be completely accurate.
I remember forsaken by it's cover only, but the european cover which was a little bit less confusing but still gave nothing away
Holy crap that "old guy" is famed Moon shiner from North Carolina. Popcorn Sutter! He's a legend!
"Lt. Tasha Yar's head on a kid's body" is a golden observation. Sheer gold.
Well I spent an insane amount of time playing Zoop back in the day and still play it from time to time.
A dangerously addicting game once you get the hang of it.