Hardcore Gaming 101
Hardcore Gaming 101 is a video game overview site run by Kurt Kalata that is dedicated to cult classics and the obscure. Founded in 2004, it looks at everything from the classics, to Japanese import games, to long-forgotten arcade quarter munchers, to homebrew, to pure garbage and the utterly insane. The site also takes a look at the output of various companies like Compile, Toaplan, Eighting Raizing, Nippon Ichi and Irem, and the various Licensed Games of Capcom and Konami. The overviews are quite image intensive, and tend to run on to some strange tangents. It is also one of the few places you'll find someone defending the Zelda CD-i games.
The site updates roughly every week. For real this time. Honest.
Game series and individual games reviewed:
- Action 52
- ActRaiser
- Adventures of Lolo
- After Burner
- Alex Kidd
- Alien Syndrome
- Alpha Protocol
- Altered Beast
- Another Centurys Episode
- Art of Fighting
- Asura Series
- Athena / Psycho Soldier
- Azure Dreams
- Bangai-O
- Battle Circuit
- Battle Tanx
- Ben There Dan That
- Berzerk
- Beyond Oasis
- Big Rigs Over the Road Racing
- Bionic Commando
- Blake Stone
- Blaster Master
- Breath of Fire
- Bubsy
- Captain Commando
- Captain Novolin
- Castle of Shikigami
- Cho Aniki
- Cocoron
- Commander Keen
- Conquests of Camelot / Conquests of the Longbow
- Crazy Taxi
- Crime Fighters and Violent Storm
- Crusader
- Dangun Feveron
- Darius
- Darkseed
- Darkstalkers
- Dead or Alive
- Death Smiles
- Dig Dug
- Dragon Slayer (including Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu, Romancia, Legacy of the Wizard, Sorcerian and The Legend of Heroes)
- Dragon Quest
- Drakengard
- Dungeons and Dragons Shadow Over Mystara
- Earnest Evans (including El Viento and Annet Futatabi)
- Earthworm Jim
- Ecstatica
- Einhander
- Eliminate Down
- Escape Velocity
- Espgaluda
- ESP Ra.De
- Eternal Champions
- Eye of the Beholder
- Fantasy Zone
- Fatal Fury
- Final Fantasy [1]
- Final Fight
- Fire Emblem
- Flashback
- Front Mission
- Gabriel Knight
- Ganbare Goemon
- Gemini Rue
- Gex
- Ghosts N Goblins
- God Hand
- Golden Axe
- Gradius
- Guardian Heroes
- Gundam Wing Endless Duel
- Gunstar Heroes
- Gungrave
- Guilty Gear
- Guwange
- Hagane
- Hammerin' Harry
- Harvester
- Hatoful Boyfriend
- Hong Kong 97
- Hoshi wo Miru Hito
- Ico/Shadow of the Colossus
- I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
- Ikari Warriors
- Inca
- The Incredible Machine
- Jazz Jackrabbit
- Jet Set Radio
- Jets N Guns
- Joe and Mac Caveman Ninja
- Joy Mech Fight
- Jurassic Park: Trespasser
- Kabuki Quantum Fighter
- Katawa Shoujo
- Keio Flying Squadron
- Kenseiden
- Ketsui
- KiKi KaiKai
- Killer7
- Kings Field
- The King of Fighters
- King of the Monsters
- Klonoa
- Kunio-Kun
- Langrisser
- Last Blade
- Laura Bow
- Leather Goddesses of Phobos
- The Legend of Kage
- The Legend of Kyrandia
- The Legend of Zelda CDI Games
- Leisure Suit Larry
- Little Samson
- Live a Live
- The Longest Journey
- Loom
- LSD Dream Emulator
- The Magic of Scheherazade
- Maniac Mansion
- Metal Slug
- Metal Wolf Chaos
- Might and Magic
- Mole Mania
- Monkey Island
- Monster Party
- Moon Crystal
- Muchi Muchi Pork
- Myst
- Namco X Capcom
- Nanashi no Game
- Nazo no Murasamejo
- Nin 2 Jump
- Ninja Baseball Bat Man
- Ninja Gaiden
- The Ninja Warriors
- Noitu Love
- Odin Sphere (along with its spiritual predecessor Princess Crown)
- Oneechanbara
- Otomedius
- Out Run
- Phantasmagoria
- Policenauts
- Prince of Persia
- Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom
- Prinny
- Progear
- Punch-Out!!
- Puyo Puyo
- Quest for Glory
- Radiant Silvergun
- Recca
- Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale
- Red Earth
- Revolution X
- Rez
- Rival Schools
- Rosenkreuzstilette
- R-Type
- Rygar
- SaGa
- Samurai Shodown
- Samurai Zombie Nation
- Shaq Fu
- Shenmue
- Shin Megami Tensei
- Shinobi
- The Shivah
- Shock Troopers
- Simon the Sorcerer
- Siren
- Sky Gunner
- Snatcher
- Space Harrier
- Space Quest
- Splatterhouse
- Starship Titanic
- Streets of Rage
- Strider
- Strong Bads Cool Game for Attractive People
- Summon Night
- Superhero League of Hoboken
- Super Robot Wars (the Classic Timeline)
- Sweet Home
- Tin Star
- Toejam and Earl
- Tokimeki Memorial
- Trio the Punch
- Trouble Witches
- Turrican
- Ultima
- Umihara Kawase
- Urban Yeti
- Vagrant Story
- Valis
- Virtual On
- VVVVVV
- Warlords
- Wild Guns
- Wonder Boy
- Xevious
- Ys
- Yume Nikki
- Yu No
Licensed Game franchise overviews:
- Asterix
- Discworld (the three adventure games)
- Donald Duck
- The Goonies
- Indiana Jones (the adventure games)
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (the fighting games from Capcom)
- Last Action Hero
- Michael Jacksons Moonwalker
- Rambo
- Ranma ½ (the fighting games for the Super Famicom/SNES)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Zillion
Your Weekly Kusoge (brief reviews):
- Agarest Senki
- Awesome Possum
- Burn:Cycle
- Critical Path
- Limbo of the Lost
- Noby Noby Boy
- Operator's Side
- The Orion Conspiracy
- Sprung
- Voyeur
- Xenophage Alien Bloodsport
Hardcore Gaming 101 provides examples of the following tropes:
- Gushing About Games You Like: Ys, especially.
- Fannage: Kept to a minimum, surprisingly enough.
- Schedule Slip: The frequency of updates can be erratic.
- ↑ Yes, this doesn't count as obscure. It's a reprint of a Final Fantasy recap done on another site by one of the forum mods. As of this writing, it only goes up to five (although it goes further on that other site).