Retro Gaming Australia

The game that turned the tides of the 16-bit conflict.

Donkey Kong Country was the ape’s first home console outing in almost a decade. The game boasted graphics at a quality unseen at that point in time, thanks largely to Rare’s Advanced Computer Modelling technique, whereby characters were rendered as 3D models and converted into sprites. It is still the most successful western developed game released in Japan, having sold over 2 million copies there, and about 8 million total worldwide. This ad is for the UK release of the game.

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The game that started it all

Mega Man was released by Capcom in North America in 1987 and by Mattel Europe/Australia in 1988. The character has gone on to star in more than 50 games over 8 different series. This ad is for the US version of the first game of the series, which is often highlighted as an example of terrible box art.

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Funkify your Mega Drive with this wacky adventure!

Toe Jam & Earl was one of the first hits on the Mega Drive/Genesis. The game follows two funk-obsessed aliens who crash land on Earth and need to rebuild their ship while avoiding some deranged humans. Contrary to popular belief, Sega does not own the rights to the characters – they belong to creators Greg Johnson and Mark Voorsanger. This ad comes from the United Kingdom.

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The ultimate fighting game grudge match.

Capcom vs. SNK: Millenium Fight 2000 is the first Capcom-developed entry in the crossover fighting series. 14 characters from each brand (28 total) come together to battle it out to see just who really is the king of fighters. It was originally released for Sega’s NAOMI arcade board, and later ported to Dreamcast. This ad comes from the campaign for the release of the Dreamcast port in North America.

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The peak of the series, at least until the new one came out.

Mortal Kombat II was one of the most successful arcade ports during the fourth generation era when it was released in 1994. Nintendo decided against forcing Acclaim to censor the Super Nintendo version of the game after censorship led to the Mega Drive version of Mortal Kombat outselling their version by as much as 6 to 1. It was one of many factors that led to the SNES’s comeback and eventual victory in North America.

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As you may recall from a couple of months ago, I posted some ads in our Australian video game commercial section. Two of these ads were CG ads which Sega Ozisoft aired in 1993-1994 that all featured a place called “The Net” (prior to the Internet becoming big).

I was recently contacted through Youtube by a user named antdavisonNZ, who let me know that he had worked on these commercials in the 90s while working for a New Zealand based advertising company called Giant Productions (I guess that technically makes them Kiwi Oddities).

According to antdavisonNZ, there were two series of ads, but only the second series of ads aired in Australia. There were eight or so ads in the second series – I don’t know how many are in the first. The campaign lasted for 11 months. (continue reading…)

A nice minimalist ad

Final Fantasy VIII was one of the most anticipated releases of 1999, with hype at an apex after the explosive success of Final Fantasy VII. In true Final Fantasy style, the game uses completely different systems than the game before it - something for which it was somewhat criticised for at the time. This advertisement comes from North America, where the game launched on the same day as the Sega Dreamcast.

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From a time when Squaresoft was at the top of their game.

Chrono Trigger is an RPG with a distinct focus on time travel. The game was a big hit on the SNES in 1995, but European and Oceanic audiences did not get to experience the game (officially) until its release on the Nintendo DS in 2008. The original SNES version was not officially released until it hit Virtual Console in 2011!

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Today’s ad is a little bit naughty

Earthworm Jim 2 came out about a year after the first game. It takes the quirky humour a step further with some truly weird sequences – riding up stairs on a granny chair, dressing up as a salamander, and duking it out with condiments on a barbecue. This ad originates from the UK.

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Back to our regularly scheduled programming. Today’s ad comes from a game that’s full of lies;

Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest picks up seven years after the first game, with whip-cracking protagonist Simon Belmont suffering from a curse placed on him by Dracula during their last encounter. The curse can be undone if Simon resurrects Dracula and defeats him again. The game is infamous for its NPCs, several of whom purposely tell you lies to throw you off course. Unfortunately, some of the subtlety of the game’s dialogue was lost in translation. This ad originates from North America.

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