Justin Nation's Reviews
Strangely enough this isn't my first rodeo, back in the day I wrote for the N64HQ as well as a few other outlets on freelance gigs but then when the HQ closed I decided to step it up and started The 64 Source. As the first word of a follow-up system to the N64 began to swirl I then decided to venture out into completely new territory and started OperatioN2000, where I had very little regular reputable news to share. With no other options I decided create my own content focused on profiling key developers and their current relationship with Nintendo or "dream games" where I saw opportunities for Nintendo to dust off classics or recently-made games and do something new with them on improved hardware.
This was all going pretty well until my wife and I decided to have our first child and I then decided that it was time to hang it up and focus on my family. As I closed down both sites I did decide to partner with Billy Berghammer, another former N64HQ writer, who had created his own site, PlanetN2000. We agreed to move over the relevant content from the older sites to his and on top of that I had taken a grad school class in programming in ColdFusion and decided to offer to code the front-end and back-end for a new version of his site. Through these efforts the newer and more complete Planet GameCube was born! While I would occasionally contribute to that site, helping do things like working out Louie the Cat doing rumors and other odd things, I eventually decided to stop as my family obligations grew.
While I had continued to follow Nintendo through both the Wii and Wii U eras my TV time was limited enough that I began playing more PC games again. It is in the PC space that I began to play a number of independent games and they started to be the games I enjoyed the most. Between their lower price, their often less traditional gameplay and approach, and their great variety I was hooked!
With the launch of the Nintendo Switch I was already excited by the possibilities. The portability factor alone meant that I would have far more options and places I could play away from the TV, and games like Breath of the Wild looked impressive. With my oldest daughter poised to start her senior year in high school and my youngest finishing out junior high I started to see an opportunity to get back into amateur games journalism once again with what is now Nintendo World Report as well but I'd initially just thought about writing some editorials periodically. Then, right before the launch of the system, Nintendo had their Nindie-focused presentation and I saw my two most beloved gaming worlds colliding. The games I had been playing on my PC could now be played in a portable way and on Nintendo hardware! Being the type who tends to work against the normal current the concept behind Nindie Spotlight was born!
While certainly sporting a cute set of characters and overall look there's not too much easygoing once you dig in for a few stages in this endless runner of sorts...
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OK, so there's a saying that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, though in entertainment media when you copy something a bit too much it can be weird...
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It's most definitely that time of year when gamers are inclined to go looking for something a bit more horror-focused in order to enhance the Halloween Spirit...
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Horace is an odd title in that much like the title character robot of the same name it is quite unassuming and humble but there’s so much more to it...
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There’s something about ScourgeBringer that deep down brings back my nostalgia for being in an arcade, pumping quarters into a game that consistently kicks my butt yet still puts a smile on my face...
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Once again it's time for old school pinball fanatics to rejoice as a new pack of conversions from the classic collection of Williams tables has arrived...
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This futuristic sports title boasts a mix of 2-on-2 goal-scoring action with brawling and varied arenas...
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There's nothing wrong with a very arcade-like twin-stick shooting experience with a little flavor of Robotron and some others, I love the classics and still load up Robotron with some regularity...
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Among the many genres and subgenres roguelikes have managed to infiltrate I can’t say that a tactical turn-based adventure-ish RPG is one I’ve run across to this point...
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As a life-long fan of the beat-em-up genre there's just something simple and satisfying about a good brawler, letting you blow off some steam kicking ass and taking names...
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While it has a slick look and strangely compelling story the elements don't quite come together
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As you may assume with a Nintendo system platformers are roughly a dime a dozen and though Metroidvanias aren't as abundant their average quality has been impressive...
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One of the original scandalous and exploitatively violent games on the PC an eon ago, the name Postal has a certain degree of deserved reverence...
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To be clear the issues its sibling had with driver AI inexplicably crashing and taking themselves out of races remains...
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My family and I have become massive fans of the Jackbox games over time, having played through each party pack at some point...
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On a general level interactive fiction titles haven’t been my cup of tea...
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When you’re young your imagination can truly be a powerful (and sometimes scary) thing...
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What’s interesting with indie games is their consistent ability to seem familiar at first but then consistently surprise you by defying expectations...
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When it comes to strategy games we’re finally to the point where the Switch has a fair amount of diversity...
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Somewhat of following the general concept that anything can be reinvigorated and possibly improved with the inclusion of zombies we have Dustoff Z, which reaches back to the likes of the classic Choplifter for inspiration while throwing in modern progression and conveniences as well...
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