The Mentonomicon: 2018 Portfolio

All my written pieces for 2018. See the first post for more details about the Mentonomicon. This year introduced a revolving Tuesday block, which hosted a number of features of variable length, as well as more coverage of TV and movies.

Indie Game of the Week

The SNES Classic Mk. II

A new feature for 2018 to replace "The Top Shelf" from the previous year. This feature, running every other week, takes two SNES games from its immense library - one I've played previously, and one I've yet to spend any significant time with - and judges their suitability for a hypothetical second SNES Classic console. Not only does this feature look at each game's general quality, but also considers its originality and how well it has aged - two important virtues for any retro game released today.

The SNES Classic Mk. II: Intro and Contents

The SNES Classic Mk. II: Episode I: Demons & Angels (Demon's Crest + ActRaiser)
The SNES Classic Mk. II: Episode II: Time Bomb (Operation Logic Bomb + Chrono Trigger)
The SNES Classic Mk. II: Episode III: Aeronauts & Crosses (Mario's Super Picross + Pilotwings)
The SNES Classic Mk. II: Episode IV: Telling Tales (The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang + Tales of Phantasia)
The SNES Classic Mk. II: Episode V: Isometric Exercise, Care To Join Me? (Monstania + Equinox)
The SNES Classic Mk. II: Episode VI: Pop'n Zitz (Magical Pop'n + Battletoads in Battlemaniacs)
The SNES Classic Mk. II: Episode VII: Hakkun Smash! (Sutte Hakkun + Sanrio World Smash Ball!)
The SNES Classic Mk. II: Episode VIII: Goofs & Parodies (Goof Troop + Parodius)
The SNES Classic Mk. II: Episode IX: Holy Grails & Holy Umbrellas (Holy Umbrella: Dondera no Mubo + King Arthur's World)
The SNES Classic Mk. II: Episode X: Birdman of Alca-Blaz (Alcahest + Skyblazer)
The SNES Classic Mk. II: Episode XI: Cecil B. DeMup (Shin Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun: Kunio-tachi no Banka + Final Fantasy IV)
The SNES Classic Mk. II: Episode XII: Guns N' Rodents (Gunple: Gunman's Proof + Lemmings)
The SNES Classic Mk. II: Episode XIII: Plok and Marty (Super Back to the Future Part II + Plok)
The SNES Classic Mk. II: Episode XIV: Soul-fége (DoReMi Fantasy + Soul Blazer)
The SNES Classic Mk. II: Episode XV: SinCity (Majyuuou + SimCity)
The SNES Classic Mk. II: Episode XVI: Too Easy (Ys V: Ushinawareta Suna no Miyako Kefin + Ys III: Wanderers of Ys)
The SNES Classic Mk. II: Episode XVII: Dream Bream Machine (Kirby's Dream Land 3 + Umihara Kawase)
The SNES Classic Mk. II: Episode XVIII: Jelly Boyz 2 Mega Men (Mega Man 7 + Jelly Boy)
The SNES Classic Mk. II: Episode XIX: Fiddle-Fodder (Hameln no Violin Hiki + Cannon Fodder)
The SNES Classic Mk. II: Episode XX: Sci-Fi B-Movie Double Feature (Robotrek + Secret of Evermore)
The SNES Classic Mk. II: Episode XXI: Writer's Blocks (Super Gussun Oyoyo 2 + Tetris Battle Gaiden)
The SNES Classic Mk. II: Episode XXII: ROM-Zom-Kong (Zombies Ate My Neighbors + Donkey Kong Country 2)
The SNES Classic Mk. II: Episode XXIII: The Marvelous and Mystical (Marvelous: Mouhitotsu no Takarajima + Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest)
The SNES Classic Mk. II: Episode XXIV: Quintet-sential (Terranigma + Illusion of Gaia)
The SNES Classic Mk. II: Episode XXV: End of the Rainbow (Pop'n TwinBee: Rainbow Bell Adventures + Mario Paint)

The SNES Classic Mk.II: The Finale

Rainy Days & Mundis

A mini-feature covering HOPAs - Hidden Object Puzzle Adventures - which have grown in popularity over the years. As an adventure game aficionado, I'm curious to see how rigorously these games stick to a blueprint.

Rainy Days and Mundis: Episode 1
Rainy Days and Mundis: Episode 2
Rainy Days and Mundis: Episode 3
Rainy Days and Mundis: Episode 4
Rainy Days and Mundis: Episode 5
Rainy Days and Mundis: Episode 6
Rainy Days and Mundis New Year's Eve Special: Manic Mundis

A Randomized Link to the Past

An LP series for a "randomizer" run of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for SNES. Inspired by a Games Done Quick speedrun on a version of A Link to the Past that shuffles the contents of all the treasure chests of the game, giving certain items away early and hiding others in secret locations, I wanted to see how far I'd get with only a baseline knowledge of the core game.

A Randomized Link to the Past - Episode I: Lasagna Kitten: The Fell Depth Oozed

A Randomized Link to the Past - Episode II: Pasta Fiend Tale: Hell-Zonked Ghetto

A Randomized Link to the Past - Episode III: Lazed Feline Goal: Pet the Dank Thots!

Mento Gear Rising

A brief two-parter to continue the "Mento Gear Solid" reaction blogs from previous years. This time, we cover PlatinumGames's 2013 franchise spin-off Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.

Mento Gear Rising: Revenge Jests (Part One)
Mento Gear Rising: Revenge Jests (Part Two)

May Maturity 2018

May Maturity has been left intact from last year, where each of its subjects - all PC games from the 1990s - are afforded an "intro" blog that explores a game's systems and concepts in a screenshot LP format, and an "outro" blog that works more like a summation or final review.

May Maturity 08: Might and Magic: World of Xeen (Intro) (New World Computing, 1994)
May Maturity 08: Might and Magic: World of Xeen (Outro)
May Maturity 09: The Legend of Kyrandia: Malcolm's Revenge (Intro) (Westwood Studios, 1994)
May Maturity 09: The Legend of Kyrandia: Malcolm's Revenge (Outro)
May Maturity 10: Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds (Intro) (Looking Glass, 1994)
May Maturity 10: Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds (Outro)
May Maturity 11: The Feeble Files (Intro) (Adventure Soft, 1997)
May Maturity 11: The Feeble Files (Outro)
May Maturity 12: Anvil of Dawn (Intro) (DreamForge Intertainment, 1995)
May Maturity 12: Anvil of Dawn (Outro)

Mento's Alternative to E3

An annual blogging series that takes place across the six days of E3 (that is, the three days when the event is open and the three days prior when all the developer press briefings occur). This year's theme was randomizer hacks, following from "A Randomized Link to the Past," above.

Mento's Alternative to E3 2018 Day -2: A Randomized EarthBound
Mento's Alternative to E3 2018 Day -1: A Randomized Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Mento's Alternative to E3 2018 Day 0: A Randomized Super Mario World
Mento's Alternative to E3 2018 Day 1: A Randomized Final Fantasy Tactics
Mento's Alternative to E3 2018 Day 2: A Randomized Pokemon FireRed
Mento's Alternative to E3 2018 Day 3: A Randomized Secret of Mana

Mega Archive

A Giant Bomb Wiki-focused feature wherein I research and update, in chronological order, the game pages for everything released on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. It's the third and final major 16-bit console to tackle, after having completed Wiki Projects for the other two (SNES/Super Famicom and TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine), and I'm looking to make a significant effort towards ensuring a comprehensive database on the system.

(This year's Mega Archive covered the system's releases between 1988-1990 before going on hiatus. I plan to continue it in the future.)

Mega Archive: Part I: From Space Harrier II to The Revenge of Shinobi
Mega Archive: Part II: From Truxton to James "Buster" Douglas Knockout Boxing
Mega Archive: Part III: From Darwin 4081 to Cyberball
Mega Archive: Part IV: From Super Monaco GP to Burning Force
Mega Archive: Part V: From Tel Tel Stadium to Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi
Mega Archive: Part VI: From Cutie Suzuki no Ringside Angel to Trampoline Terror!

Saturday Summaries

A weekly review show, taking in all the week's blogging as well as rundowns for other games I've been playing. This year also sees the addition of TV and movie appraisals.

Saturday Summaries 2018-01-06: New Year Resolutions Edition

Saturday Summaries 2018-01-13: Back On My Wiki BS

Saturday Summaries 2018-01-20: Roguish Edition

Saturday Summaries 2018-01-27: Sour Grapes Edition

A Jazztronomical Score

A brief travelogue-type feature that describes the Garry's Mod mode Jazztronauts and my frequent heists in user-created levels.

A Jazztronomical Score: Part One

A Jazztronomical Score: Part Two

A Jazztronomical Score: Part Three
A Jazztronomical Score: Part Four
A Jazztronomical Score: Part Five

A Jazztronomical Score: Part Six
A Jazztronomical Score: Part Seven
A Jazztronomical Score: Part Eight

Misc

Hollow Knight: Bosswatch - A guide/codex to the many bosses of Team Cherry's Hollow Knight.

CING Inc. Their Praises - A rundown of defunct studio CING and five of their more notable games.
The Mento Game Awards 2018 - An awards blog for the most deserving games of 2018.

The Mentonomicon

Thursday, February 1, 2018

2018 Portfolio