Most of us, maybe even all of us, have been to a pizza place, either it be Rocco’s, Round Table, Pizza Hut, you name it. There were always several arcade machines in a corner, the handles and buttons having been molested by several greasy hands over time, the coin slot having been eroded by many coins going in, the machine itself being stained over the years by misuse. However, for me at the local Round Table’s Pizza, there was a favorite of mine. The only reason I always wanted to go there. I spent a large chunk of childhood here, wasting several quarters over time, for one game in particular.

That’s right, Sunset Riders. This game was possibly the most mind-wasting and money-burning game I have ever played. I must have given that one machine over fifty dollars in the course of all the time I have played it. Nostalgia goggles aside, this game is a fast-paced shoot-’em-up set in the Wild West. Not much else to it besides playing one of the four main characters, all of them buddies looking for a bit of cash. Vigilantes. There isn’t much anything going on story-wise, and that’s part of the game’s charm. It cuts right to the action. Also, if you notice in the title screen, it properly shows each character. Nice touch.

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Box art

Back when we were all growing up, or at least some of the older folks here, most of us would marvel at the latest brand-spankin’ new hot game that came out for the Nintendo. Most people can right off the bat, list the favorites: Megaman, Super Mario, Contra, it can go on. But I am here today to bring you a game that I always cherished since I first got it for Christmas when I was about eight or nine in 1990. At first, I looked at the box kinda strange, but I gave it a shot.

Well, I really wasn’t expecting this much pink and joy bundled in one title screen. At first, I was kind of turned off by the girly-styled title screen, but I had to push forward. Here’s a little back-story on what happens during the game.

• You play as Kickle, the white guy with red ear muffs. What happens is the evil Wicked Wizard King turns all of the Fantasy Kingdom (your home) into bags. These people also turn out to be a lot of different types of fruits and vegetables, the stages usually taking the form of a shape, like a heart.

The developers were mostly high when they made it, but then again, this came from Japan. So, what do you do in this game? As mentioned previously, you control Kickle! His main ability is to freeze people with his breath, which anyone can get after sucking on a whole box of spearmint Altoids. He uses his breath to freeze enemies into blocks, and then kick the block into a certain direction. If there’s a certain hole in the ice, you can make a bridge with these blocks, or kick them into enemies or their spawning points (little red orb). In order to get past each and every stage, you must collect all of the red Dream Bags. Also, one additional note, the music for every stage is the same tune. You’re going to hear it the entire game, with only sporadic song changes for beating a stage or beating a boss.
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