Things really should be slowing down at work sometime soon, but so far that hasn’t been the case. And when I have a busy time at the paying gig, side projects like Nostalgia, Cringe Cinema, and Super Cool Games don’t get the love they deserve. In fact, I’m behind on a lot of things, including scheduling on the socials. So I had better get on it before next week hits and I don’t have any content! I haven’t missed in two years, so I don’t want to start now!
And the January playlist on YouTube as well:
Weekly Finds
I pull a lot of the items about gaming and movie news here from a number of sources: The Atari Age forums, Retro Indie News, Time Extension, IGN, Retro Hour podcast, Itch.io, Facebook, Twitter, etc. What shows up here will change weekly depending on what I happen to find in the wild. I try to include the original sources in the links.
Dakar Desert Rally free on Epic Games
If you’re into racing, Dakar Desert Rally is currently free on the Epic Games Store.
Daily Drop Roundup
You can get daily drops in your socials wherever you live. First Facebook link is the the Nostalgia Drop page, and the second is to the group. The group is more fun.
February 18th, 2024
Scritti Politti “Absolute”
Tonka Super Naturals
Tonka Supernaturals were a failed toy line with a really cool gimmick. The characters had holograms that would show different images at different angles, obscuring their “true” faces. They only had a single run in 1988 before being cancelled.
Magical Drop (1995)
Magical Drop is a 1995 puzzle game where players must match three or more drops from columns to make them disappear and clear the board.
The Beastmaster (1982)
The Beastmaster from 1982 is a fantasy film starring Mark Singer, Tanya Roberts, and John Amos. After his village is destroyed, Tarl goes on a quest of revenge and learns he can talk to animals as well as see through their eyes. It has a lot of the usual fantasy tropes, but the one thing that always stuck with me (and with just about everyone I talked to about this) were the weird bat people that would wrap their wings around people, dissolve them with acid, and then consume the dissolved flesh. They were terrifying and awesome. When I watched it again for the first time in about two decades, I felt like I was watching a brand new movie since I had forgotten massive chunks of it. I didn’t think that was possible since I had watched it religiously as a kid every time it was on cable. It made me want ferrets!
February 19th, 2024
Snow – “Informer”
Miss Cleo
Miss Cleo was a television and telephone psychic persona whose real name was Youree Dell Harris. If you watched television in the 1990s, you were most likely innundated with Miss Cleo’s Jamaican accent telling you to call and let her tell you all about your future. The main goal of a pay-per-minute service like this was to keep people on the line and tell them what they wanted to hear so they could call back again and again for more advice.
Shantae (2002)
Shantae is a Game Boy Color game released in 2002. In it, half-genie Shantae must travel across Sequin Land (yes, Sequin Land) and stop a lady pirate named Risky Boots. Yes, again, he name is Risky Boots. Shantae unlocks new dances and powers in this 2D platformer. It has spawned a series of sequels, each of them quite fun in their own rights.
Sleepers (1996)
Sleepers (1996) is an American crime and legal drama about a group of boys who are abused by guards in a juvenile facility only to get revenge on them years later. Brutal and gritty, it includes some of my favorite performances from Kevin Bacon and Jason Patric.
February 20th, 2024
Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch – “Good Vibrations”
Weebles
Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down.
Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade (2003, GBA)
Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade was released in 2003 for the Game Boy Advance. It was the first Fire Emblem released in the West due to localization concerns for the previous seven games in the series. In hindsight, it seems like a huge mistake to not release the Fire Emblem games since they are popular now. But at the time, Intelligent Systems had no idea if a tactical RPG with a ton of text would be commercially viable. In the game, the player takes control of Lyn, Elwood, and Hector as they progress through the story by fighting a number of tactical battles.
Basquiat (1996)
February 21st, 2024
Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock – “It Takes Two”
Rain oil lamp
I’m not sure why, but it seems that a lot of families I knew in the 1970s had a rain oil lamp. They would turn and drip oil and look pretty.
Space Harrier (1985)
Three Men and a Baby (1987)
Three Men and a Baby was released in 1987 as three lovable men tried to take care of a new baby as shenanigans ensued. And no, there wasn’t a ghost in the movie. Just a cardboard cutout.
February 22nd, 2024
Adam & the Ants – “Stand and Deliver”
Disco Jumpsuit
If you wore this disco jumpsuit in the 70s or 80s, you may be entitled to compensation.
Metal Slug (1996)
Metal Slug from 1996 was a gorgeous 2D run-and-gun platform shooter similar in gameplay to Contra, but much, much more detailed.
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
February 23rd, 2024
Siouxie and the Banshees – “Peek-a-Boo”
Bone Fone
If you like sharing your music with unsuspecting strangers while walking down the street, the Bone Fone is for you. Just tune in the radio and boom. Music for you and anyone near you.
The Super Spy (1990)
The Last Starfighter (1984)
February 24th, 2024
Haircut 100 – “Love Plus One”
Zune
Move over iPod, the Zune is in town. And then it wasn’t, even if there are still Zune sickos who love it more than the much, much more popular iPod.
Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster Busts Loose (1993)
