Dragon Spirit (TurboGrafx-16 / PC Engine)

Long before series like Panzer Dragoon had us flying around on dragons fighting evil, there were games like Dragon Spirit challenging us with this.  It's a solid little shmup with decent controls, and cool power-ups.  As opposed to the traditional combination of regular attacks and super bombs found in other games in the genre, here you had air attacks and ground attacks, and had to make good use of both in order to succeed.  Boss fights were pretty tough, as was the game as a whole because once you ran out of lives it was game over with no continues.

Golden Axe (Genesis / Mega Drive)

Wow, not a single newish game posted today.  It's been a week or so since I've done that, so I guess it's about time for a full-on retro day.  Anywho, I'll just close out today with some screens from Golden Axe.  It was one of my favorite beat 'em ups to play with friends in the arcade, and it was a ton of fun to play when the home version came along on the Genesis.  As you can see by the screenshots, I'm rather fond of the dwarf.  Who's your favorite character to play as in Golden Axe?

Adventures of Lolo (NES / Famicom)

The Lolo series are probably some of the most charming puzzle games that I've ever played.  You play as a spherical dragon dude trying to save his girlfriend by unlocking one room after the next in a massive castle.  With a cute aesthetic, interesting puzzles, and a catchy theme song, it's hard not to like the Adventures of Lolo.  In a time where puzzle games are dominated by cold, sterile colors and shapes, it makes me wish there were more Lolo games today.

Side Arms: Hyper Dyne (TurboGrafx-16 / PC Engine)

One day as a kid on a shopping trip to the local mall with my family, I wandered into the arcade there to see what games they had, and there was one that really stood out to me: Side Arms.  This was when Robotech was being aired in the West, and I was absolutely hooked on giant robots and Veritech Fighters, so, seeing a game where you could play as a plane that turned into a robot just blew my mind.  The game also had really cool power-ups, and it was possible to combine your robot with another to become a super robot.  Amazing!  So, when I found out the game was coming to the TG-16, I ran out and got it.  A tough shoot 'em up, and probably nowhere near as good as a lot of other entries in the genre, but I loved the game. =)

The Adventures of Bayou Billy (NES / Famicom)

Sometimes I wonder how I even managed to play some of the games of my youth.  When I was a kid, I played the hell out of Bayou Billy, and even managed to finish the game.  However, coming back to the game as an adult I realize that it's actually really tough.  Even the first level is handing my backside to me on a regular basis.  It's games like these that really show me how challenging games on the upper end of the difficulty scale can be.

Super Hang-On (Genesis / Mega Drive)

Going with a bit of a Sega Genesis racing game theme today.  Gonna start out with some Super Hang-On screenshots.  Played this a plenty in the arcades, and even more so on the Genesis.  Used to love the courses in Asia and Europe.  Stay tuned for some screens from Outrun and Super Monaco Grand Prix later in the day. ^_^

<3 Sega