I looked through the site, and it doesn't seem like every review is negative. Indeed, the first one on the page (Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past) is painful fanboyism. When I write reviews, I always try to separate my nostalgic feelings from the game itself, or, when that's impossible, offer a disclaimer. What I've often found is that a game I tremendously enjoyed in the past was not really because of the game itself, but rather the conditions (i.e., I played it with my best friends back in college). For instance, I never player the first Warlords game now (and don't consider it to be a great game), though I played it almost constantly back in college and loved every minute of it. However, I think we could've played E.T. for the 2600, and I'd still look back fondly on that time. On the other hand, I have great memories of playing Bubble Bobble with my younger siblings and having a great time, played it again years later with friends and loved it, and still boot it occasionally into MAME and enjoy it. It's just a great game, period. Warlords, Empire, Ebonstar, Sango Fighter, Ports of Call, etc.--I can get teary-eyed with nostalgia over them, but they're not great games, and I never play them now.
A reviewer has to be careful not to confuse the game with the context.
I looked through the site, and it doesn't seem like every review is negative. Indeed, the first one on the page (Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past) is painful fanboyism. When I write reviews, I always try to separate my nostalgic feelings from the game itself, or, when that's impossible, offer a disclaimer. What I've often found is that a game I tremendously enjoyed in the past was not really because of the game itself, but rather the conditions (i.e., I played it with my best friends back in college). For instance, I never player the first Warlords game now (and don't consider it to be a great game), though I played it almost constantly back in college and loved every minute of it. However, I think we could've played E.T. for the 2600, and I'd still look back fondly on that time. On the other hand, I have great memories of playing Bubble Bobble with my younger siblings and having a great time, played it again years later with friends and loved it, and still boot it occasionally into MAME and enjoy it. It's just a great game, period. Warlords, Empire, Ebonstar, Sango Fighter, Ports of Call, etc.--I can get teary-eyed with nostalgia over them, but they're not great games, and I never play them now.
A reviewer has to be careful not to confuse the game with the context.
Matt Barton, Managing Editor
Location: St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA
Email: matt@armchairarcade.com