New old videogames

I recently purchased some used XBox games. Showdown: Legends of Wrestling is a noticeable improvement on Legends of Wrestling II, though I'm not sure if you could go so far as to call it a good game. But it's a video game where Ravishing Rick Rude (RIP) talks some smack to my custom character (Jeff "The Flatulent Beast" Hogan) and then I get to beat Mr. Rude up. That's entertainment. I also picked up Midway Arcade Treasure 2 and Capcom Classics vol II, both of which are chock full of fun old arcade games. Pat was over yesterday and we played Magic Sword, an old side-scrolling platformer/beat 'em up with a fantasy theme. Since virtual quarters are as plentiful as pressing the the Start button, we played through all 51 levels in maybe an hour or so.

One of the neat features of this game are the NPC adventurers. Each player controls their own character but can recruit an NPC that follows them around. In the above graphic the guy with the axe and the dude with the sword are the players. Swordy has a cleric following him around, while Mr. Axe is accompanied by a barbarian babe with a crossbow. My favorite NPC was probably the Fire Ninja.

Also note the hostile Easter Island head. The monsters in this game are awesome!

Here's the Swordsman with his NPC buddy, Large Redheaded Barbarian Dude. This game features a surprising number of bear fights. More games should feature bears attempting to maul the good guys.