December 2013
December 25, 2013 29 Power-Ups of Christmas
Power-Up #28: Poison Mushroom (Super Mario Bros. 2)
Episode #28 - 29 Power-Ups of Christmas (Day 28) - Here it is, the final episode of the 29 Questionable Power-Ups of Christmas! After weeks of terrible power-ups and one major computer outage, this holiday feature ...
December 24, 2013 29 Power-Ups of Christmas
Power-Up #27: Blue Turtle Shell (Mario Kart 64)
Episode #27 - 29 Power-Ups of Christmas (Day 27) - No list of questionable power-ups would be complete without the blue turtle shell from the Super Mario Kart franchise. Easily one of the most frustrating weapons, ...
December 23, 2013 29 Power-Ups of Christmas
Power-Up #26: Quake Disruptor (wipEout XL)
Episode #26 - 29 Power-Ups of Christmas (Day 26) - As somebody who lives on the West Coast, I can tell you that earthquakes are no laughing matter. One of these days the big one is going to hit and my house will be...
December 22, 2013 29 Power-Ups of Christmas
Power-Up #25: Yoshi (Super Mario World)
Episode #25 - 29 Power-Ups of Christmas (Day 25) - Is Yoshi a power-up or a power-up? As it turns out, he's both. Still not convinced? Then I recommend you check out today's episode of the 29 Questionable...
December 21, 2013 29 Power-Ups of Christmas
Power-Up #24: Diet Food (Metal Slug)
Episode #24 - 29 Power-Ups of Christmas (Day 24) - Leave it to Metal Slug to make me feel bad about my weight gain. It's true that Americans (along with the rest of the world) have gotten bigger, but I'm not sure i...
December 20, 2013 29 Power-Ups of Christmas
Power-Up #23: Flame Weapon (Contra)
Episode #23 - 29 Power-Ups of Christmas (Day 23) - Few 8-bit games are as exciting as Contra. It's full of alien-pounding excitement, huge bosses and plenty of high-powered weapons. And yet, despite all that going ...
December 19, 2013 29 Power-Ups of Christmas
Power-Up #22: Secret Boots (Symphony of the Night)
Episode #22 - 29 Power-Ups of Christmas (Day 22) - While exploring Dracula's haunted castle, Alucard finds all kinds of interesting and useful items. At the same time, he unearths a few power-ups that serve no imme...
December 18, 2013 29 Power-Ups of Christmas
Power-Up #21: Rocket Skates (ToeJam & Earl)
Episode #21 - 29 Power-Ups of Christmas (Day 21) - Despite the tropical location and hot sun beating down, Toe&Jam & Earl is the perfect Christmas game. It's about two funky aliens who land on a foreign planet and ...
December 17, 2013 29 Power-Ups of Christmas
Power-Up #20: Frog Suit (Super Mario Bros. 3)
Episode #20 - 29 Power-Ups of Christmas (Day 20) - Between the cat suit, raccoon suit and bee suit, Mario sure does like dressing up as animals. I'm sure there's a name for people who like dressing up as animals, b...
December 16, 2013 29 Power-Ups of Christmas
Power-Up #19: Bubblegum (Skuljagger)
Episode #19 - 29 Power-Ups of Christmas (Day 19) - Yarr! Put on your peg leg and don the eye patch, because today we're looking at Skuljagger: Revolt of the Westicans. In this game, the player defeats pirates by bl...
December 15, 2013 29 Power-Ups of Christmas
Power-Up #18: Fake Item Box (Mario Kart 64)
Episode #18 - 29 Power-Ups of Christmas (Day 18) - From the turtle shells to the lightning bolt, Mario Kart 64 is a game with a lot of great weapons. Unfortunately, it also has a few clunkers. In today's episode of...
December 14, 2013 29 Power-Ups of Christmas
Power-Up #17: Skull Item (Bomberman)
Episode #17 - 29 Power-Ups of Christmas (Day 17) - Run for your lives, because Bomberman has entered the building! Now here's a guy who isn't known for his self-control. Instead of simply working out his problems, ...
December 13, 2013 29 Power-Ups of Christmas
Power-Up #16: Sword (Victory Road)
Episode #16 - 29 Power-Ups of Christmas (Day 16) - With a name like Victory Road, you may not grasp how bizarre this Ikari Warriors sequel is. Set thousands of years into the future, our gun-toting heroes are set t...
December 12, 2013 29 Power-Ups of Christmas
Power-Up #15: Dinosaur Meat (Bonk's Adventure)
Episode #15 - 29 Power-Ups of Christmas (Day 15) - It took us more than two weeks to get to a TurboGrafx-16 game. I don't know much about Bonk from playing his HuCard trilogy, but I do know that he loves dinosaur m...
December 11, 2013 29 Power-Ups of Christmas
Power-Up #14: Super Mushroom (Super Mario Bros.)
Episode #14 - 29 Power-Ups of Christmas (Day 14) - You know what makes Mario super? It's his bravery and the fact that he did the right thing by saving the Princess. However, most people think it's the mushroo...
December 10, 2013 Bonus Levels
Win One of Three Copies of Toki Tori!
Episode #112 - TOKI TORI CONTEST: Toki Tori is coming to the PlayStation 3 next Tuesday, December 17. But fans of Defunct Games can win the game TODAY ... a full week early! Follow the link and find out how you can ...
December 10, 2013 29 Power-Ups of Christmas
Power-Up #13: Power Pellet (Pac-Man)
Episode #13 - 29 Power-Ups of Christmas (Day 13) - Now here's a video game that needs no introduction. It's Pac-Man, one of the most popular games of all time. Not only did the game introduce the world to cinema cu...
December 09, 2013 29 Power-Ups of Christmas
Power-Up #12: Skateboard (Hudson's Adventure Island)
Episode #12 - 29 Power-Ups of Christmas (Day 12) - Skateboards are cool. Tropical islands are cool. And yet, skateboarding at the beach is a trip to the hospital waiting to happen. But somehow Master Higgins makes ...
December 08, 2013 29 Power-Ups of Christmas
Power-Up #11: Light Blue Capsule (Arkanoid)
Episode #11 - 29 Power-Ups of Christmas (Day 11) - Some call it a rip-off, but I choose to think of Arkanoid as the Breakout sequel Atari never made. The idea is the same; players juggle a bouncing call while clear...
December 07, 2013 29 Power-Ups of Christmas
Power-Up #10: Torch (Ghosts 'N Goblins)
Episode #10 - 29 Power-Ups of Christmas (Day 10) - Normally, fire is pretty awesome. Oh sure, it can be used for bad, but it's hard to deny the beauty of fire. Today's episode of the 29 Questionable Power-Ups of Ch...
December 06, 2013 29 Power-Ups of Christmas
Power-Up #9: Top Spin (Mega Man III)
Episode #9 - 29 Power-Ups of Christmas (Day 9) - We would need more than 29 days to go through all of the questionable power-ups in the Mega Man series. Thankfully, we don't need a full month, because one stands h...
December 05, 2013 29 Power-Ups of Christmas
Power-Up #8: Cigarettes (Metal Gear Solid)
Episode #8 - 29 Power-Ups of Christmas (Day 8) - Today's episode of the 29 Questionable Power-Ups of Christmas does not make you bigger and stronger. In fact, today's power-up actually kills you. Not just in the v...
December 04, 2013 29 Power-Ups of Christmas
Power-Up #7: Green Herb (Resident Evil)
Episode #7 - 29 Power-Ups of Christmas (Day 7) - We're one week into our month-long trek through questionable power-ups. Today we're taking a look at the very curious green herb from Resident Evil. What is it?...
December 03, 2013 Nintendo Power Uncovered
Nintendo Power #29: October 1991 - Star Trek
Episode #29 - Nintendo Power Uncovered #29 - Sometimes it feels like Nintendo Power has completely given up. This appears to be the case with this October 1991 issue, featuring part of the U.S.S. Enterprise. With d...
December 03, 2013 29 Power-Ups of Christmas
Power-Up #6: Bubbles the Chimp (Moonwalker)
Episode #6 - 29 Power-Ups of Christmas (Day 6) - It's rare when a power-up is a real living, breathing creature. In today's episode we take a look at Bubbles the Chimp, which was featured in Michael Jackson's Moon...
December 02, 2013 29 Power-Ups of Christmas
Power-Up #5: Speed Shoes (Sonic the Hedgehog)
Episode #5 - 29 Power-Ups of Christmas (Day 5) - It only took us five days to get to Sonic the Hedgehog. In the long list of useless items, Sonic's Speed Shoes is one of the worst. The poor guy is already the fast...
December 01, 2013 29 Power-Ups of Christmas
Power-Up #4: POW (Gun.Smoke)
Episode #4 - 29 Power-Ups of Christmas (Day 4) - We're back with another dubious power-up. This time around we're looking at Capcom's curious POW item. This hidden power-up kills everything on the screen, making t...