90s gaming… I just can’t quit you.
I’m of the opinion that there are few eras in gaming more important than the 1990s. Yes, gaming started in the 70s, and took the world by storm in the 80s, but the real beginning of the industry as we know it today happened in the 90s. I mean, just look at the list of gaming related things from the 1990s article on Wikipedia! The 90s set the stage for gaming as we know it now; console wars, mascot wars, Doom-clones, the rise of Sony, the downfall of Sega… ahem, excuse me… I just need a mintue… that last one always gets me teary eyed…
So what’s my point with all this? The video at the top of the post, that’s what. If you were to say that you’ve never heard of NAViGaTR, I wouldn’t think less of you. There’s not a tremendous amount of information out there other than their website, which looks like GeoCities and MySpace had a love-child and left it in a dumpster on prom night. And to tell you the truth, I’m not convinced that the whole thing isn’t a big put-on. However, there is a diamond in the rough. Apparently, NAViGaTR had a series of video reviews for games released throughout the 90s, and through what I’m sure was accidental genius, decided it would be a great idea to upload them to YouTube. The series is called “Gaming in the Clinton Years“, and while these may all be part of an elaborate ruse, it doesn’t change that what we have here is a treasure trove of greatness. Most of these reviews are laughably bad, some of them are surprisingly good, but overall they offer an amazing look into the decade when gaming lost it’s innocence. And besides, any videos that start with a stage from Battletoads on the SNES, a drawing of Bill Clinton, and the music from Shadowgate over it is OK by me. Hit the jump to see more of my favorite picks from the series.
A review of the Nintendo website, circa 1997. We’ve come a long way, baby.
A review of Super Return of the Jedi for the SNES. Dammit I love these games! I used to crank up my stereo when I was playing these. Wavetable synth was, and still is, the coolest.
Review of Toy Story on the SNES. Oh my, the naive nature of reviewers and players in the 1990s. The rant about SGI graphics in the game is classic! Hey, the standards of informed cynicism were much lower back then.
More Gaming Clarity goodness:
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“Cool screenshots!”
“the fight with Jabba is awesomely fun!”
“but so are you!”
this guy is hilarious at trying to put any feeling into his speech.