A new section of the show has been introduced the past two weeks and it needs to be driven by the community. Tom, Mike and Jason have started a Retro Game Club. Every episode, they will choose a game at the beginning of the show and for the next week, the community along with them will play the game and we will discuss it the next week. I figured that we needed an official thread for the Retro Game Club and here we can discuss the game all in one place.

So, please, comment on the latest game below. Most of these can be find as ROM's, but we can all play these on the old consoles to get the true feeling behind them. Take your time and tell us below what you think of the game. Our comments along with Tom, Mike and Jason can bring in some interesting discussions on some great and old school games.

Retro Game Club Schedule

Week 1 = Final Fantasy (NES)
Week 2 = Cobra Triangle (NES)
Week 3 = Kung Fu (NES)
Week 4 = Pilotwings (SNES)
Week 5 = Ninja Gaiden (NES)
Week 6 = Road Rash (GEN)
Week 7 = Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (SNES)
Week 8 = Blaster Master (NES) & Blaster Master 2 (GEN)
Week 9 = Grand Theft Auto III (PS2)
Week 10 = Rambo (NES)
Week 11 = Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins (GB)
Week 12 = Mike Tyson's Punch Out (NES)
Week 13 = Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (PS2/Xbox/GCN)
Week 14 = Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (GEN)
Week 15 = The Legend Of Zelda (NES)
Week 16 = Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist (GEN)
Week 17 = Mega Man 3 (NES)

Very cool that you guys took my suggestion. I have Final Fantasy and Cobra Triangle so I will be playing those and I'll work on finding a copy of Kung Fu. I know Cobra Triangle is a great little hidden gem in the NES library.

I have Kung Fu! God, I think it was one of the first games on NES. Pretty simple game, but it's always fun punching midgets!

Kung Fu was released in October 18th, 1985 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was originally known as Kung-Fu Master as a 1984 Beat'em Up Arcade Game published by Data East. It was one of the first beat'em up game and really paved the way for the genre to succeed and flourish especially in the 90's.

I remember playing this game, but never owning it. The guys are completely right as it is incredibly difficult and progressing through each stage really gives you a sense of accomplishment. I didn't realize there was only 5 levels as I thought it was another NES/Arcade game that just never ended. It is a classic in the perfect sense and another beautiful port from the Arcade to the NES. That really helped the NES at the beginning of its life.

Pilotwings was released as a launch title for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System on December 21, 1990 in Japan, August 23, 1991 in North America and sometime in 1992 for Europe. The game is a flight simulator with an increasing difficulty as the player earns licenses throughout their term on flight school.

The aspect of this game that stood out the most for me is the fact that almost the entire game takes place on the SNES' Mode 7 Graphics. For most games, the Mode 7 Graphics have been used as a way of showing the map such as Final Fantasy III/6 being a perfect example. It really gave the game a wonderful 3D effect and was unlike any other game out there.

As a launch title, I remember this game being slightly overlooked because of Super Mario World being a launch title as well. However, all of the Super Nintendo launch titles are pretty impressive considering it includes Super Mario World, Pilotwings, F-Zero, Gradius III & Sim City. Pilotwings looked really different from those games and stands out as being a simulator.

I don't have any personal experience with this game, but I would gladly purchase it now along with its N64 sequel. A little overlooked in its day and a bit today, but a gem that deserves another chance to play.

Hey retro game club! We got so wrapped up in this weeks topic we forgot to talk about Pilot Wings! We will be doing a double feature next week! The next game is Ninja Gaiden! (Nes era) Show will be posted today!

Ninja Gaiden was released in December of 1988 as a great port from the original arcade game.

A fantastic game that I bought a while ago and has not seemed to age all that badly at all. Granted, the game can still be frustrating and has some of the 'NES Hard' aspects to it that detracts from it, but the quality and game play is still utterly fantastic. I remember being extremely frustrated at the spawning enemies off screen and getting hit and instantly flying back with no control. However, it seemed more random than cheap in my opinion. Plus, I don't think the difficulty was enough to detract from it. The game was hard, but the levels that you could play were just fantastic.

I also remember this game being innovative in having pretty in depth cut scenes. It was actually an interesting story with many twists and turns that made you want to come back for more. It helped with the difficulty as it gave you incentive to keep playing. Having a difficult game with no reason to keep playing means the game will never be played. This one at least gave you a good and valid reason to keep trudging through for some more punishment.

A difficult, but great game and a must own for any NES fan!

So next's week's game is Road Rash. Let me tell you the version on 3DO/PC is FUCKING AWESOME!! Spent almost the whole summer back in '96 playing this game with a buddy who had a 3DO until later that fall my parents bought a top of the line PC and I picked it up on that. Think of it as Need for Speed with super bikes, bats and chains! Also the BEST full motion video sequences in gaming history! It also has one of the best soundtracks ever! Soundgarden, the Tea Party (a kick-ass Canadian alternative band from the 90s, happened to also be one of my favorite bands in high school), Monster Magnet, it was the tits!

I redownloaded the game and burnt it on CD a few years back and it was just as kick-ass as I remembered it... then my dog (who was a puppy at the time) got a hold of the disc and chewed it up... I was one sad Blackie...

I really wish there would be a new game or reboot. I know there was a rumour of a cancelled Road Rash game, which makes me sad as I would instantly buy it if it ever came out.

Agree, gaming in the 90s didn't get much better than this. I played the Sega CD version. This might be the best Road Rash but I missed the 2 player mode that the previous titles had. I guess all that CD quality music came at a price. But that is a price you are willing to pay because Monster Magnet is the t1ts. Oh and Paw? Remember Paw? What a lame name for a band. My friend's old car only had a tape deck and we would pull out the Paw cassette as a joke, but joke was on us because it was pretty good.

Damn! I forgot about Paw! Jessie was one of the best tracks in the game. Damn, I think I might have to redownload and burn this game. More people need to play Road Rash.

Yeah it may have lacked the 2 player mode from the previous games but damn if it didn't kick more ass. My buddy and I just took turns. I think we played it for at least 24 hours straight on more than one occasion that one summer right before high school on 3DO... god does that bring me back. Why the hell hasn't there been a new game in this series in 15+ years???

It died with XTREME TO THE MAX sports games.

The jump from 2d to 3d wasn't too kind to the series on N64/PSX.

I also blame the rise of sim sport/racing games over the last 15 years. If it came out today they would have to have licensed bikes and realistic physics and remove all the traffic, illegal street racing angle, weapons, and violence to make it kid friendly.

ugh... that would make me so sad. I want over the top fun violence (it really wasn't too violent, well unless you include the fact you could beat cops). I can still hold hope that someone, somewhere loves this game as much as I do and will make a new one similar to the old 3DO/PC version.

This week's game

TMNT:Tournament fighters on the SNES

A challenge as well!
Beat the game on the highest difficulty setting using default 3 continues
Good luck

What happened to the Road Rash episode??? I want talk about that forgotten but much loved (by me) classic!

It will be up tonight!

Thanks Tom! I was worried there for a bit...

BLASTER MASTER for the NES and evidently one for the SEGA Genesis

blaster master is a great metriodvania title on the NES, it does so much right. I played a bit of the gen one but it didnt feel the same

ummm..... is there going to be a show this week?