Video Works by Jeremy Parish

Well, well, well, what have we here? It's a game by legendary developer Nihon Falcom! Don't get excited, though — this is a port of the very first game by Nihon Falcom, Dragon Slayer, which was six years old by this point but felt far more ancient than that. The action RPG had come a long way since Falcom staked their claim on the genre in 1984, and considering you could play the likes of its own successors Legacy of the Wizard and Ys on NES and Famicom by this point, this clunky and dated game is a hard sell. It has a certain appeal, but since it consists of a lengthy quest and lacks any option to save progress, it makes for a pretty awful Game Boy release. Oh well!

Direct download: Game_Boy_World_079_Dragon_Slayer_I_Nihon_Falcom_Epoch_1990.mp4
Category:Video Games -- posted at: 12:00pm EDT

If F-Zero was Nintendo's Super NES tech showcase, Super Mario World showed how their developers could expand on existing game concepts with the new hardware. This first half of Mode Seven's Super Mario World retrospective looks at the history of the game, where it sits in Nintendo's c.v., and the enormous impact on the adventure's design of a little green dinosaur.

Direct download: Mode_Seven_002a_Super_Mario_World_Part_1.mp4
Category:Video Games -- posted at: 10:37pm EDT

As the title might hint for those paying attention, what we have here is a Shanghai-style game about matching mahjong tiles. It adds a few unique elements and ideas, but ultimately feels less interesting as a game than as a historical footnote to a completely different game platform.

Direct download: Game_Boy_World_078_Hong_Kong_Onion_Soft_Tokuma_Shoten_1990.mp4
Category:Video Games -- posted at: 9:00am EDT

First-person head-to-head 3D maze combat comes to Game Boy! I'm so, so sorry. Bionic Battler means well, but it sure does flop hard. With stiff and limited controls, choppy graphics, and some very weird and out-of-place music, this is a bizarre little game best left to the dustbin of history.


The first part of a look back at the NES hardware itself begins with the origins of its Japanese version, the Family Computer — Famicom for short. This episode adapted from the text of Good Nintentions 1985, with special thanks to Steven Lin.

Direct download: Good_Nintentions_000_Part_1_The_NES_Family_Computer.mp4
Category:Video Games -- posted at: 8:41am EDT

A wonderfully charming and immensely playable little puzzle-action game from Natsume. Yes, even on a system loaded down with games like this, there's still breathing room to appreciate exemplary renditions of the genre. Definitely one worth tracking down. (Special thanks this episode: Armen Ashekian.)

Direct download: Game_Boy_World_076_Amazing_Penguin_Natsume_1990.mp4
Category:Video Games -- posted at: 8:40am EDT

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