James and Mike Play

James and Mike play Contra on the NES, without using the cheat code.

This week James Rolfe and Mike Matei try out Universal Studios Theme Parks Adventure for the Nintendo Gamecube!

James Rolfe and Mike Matei continue Universal Studios Theme Park Adventure for Nintendo Gamecube!

James Rolfe and Mike Matei play Bubsy in Fractured Furry Tales for Atari Jaguar!

James Rolfe and Mike Matei play Super Mario's Wacky Worlds, a canceled game for Phillips CD-i. As if Hotel Mario wasn't bad enough this unfinished CD-i Mario Game is even worse!

Dennis the Menace was developed and published by Ocean Software in 1993. It was based off the movie starring Walter Matthau, Mason Gamble, Lea Thompson and Christopher Lloyd. In this episode of James & Mike Mondays, we play the SNES version. (It was also released on Game Boy and Amiga) This is a 2D action platformer where your goal is to defeat a burglar (Switchblade Sam) as you make your way through stages like Mr. Wilson's home. Sit back and watch as James Rolfe and Mike Matei give Dennis the Menace for SNES their best effort!

ToeJam & Earl was published by Sega for the Sega Megadrive (Genesis in America) in 1991. It stars two alien rappers, Earl (the fat orange one) and ToeJam (three legged red guy) who are trying to get all the pieces to their spacecraft back together. It has a great two player co-op mode and was praised by critics for its originality. There were two sequels to this game, ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron and ToeJam & Earl 3: Mission to Earth. Join James Rolfe and Mike Matei as they see how far they can make it in the original Genesis classic!

Paperboy was originally an arcade game made by Atari in 1984. It has been ported to many systems, perhaps most famously the NES. But here, James Rolfe and Mike Matei take a look at the Nintendo 64 version of Paperboy published by Midway.

The Action Max was made by Worlds of Wonder and released in 1987. It was an obscure video game console that used VHS tapes as its games! You had to own a VCR to play the tapes. And it came with a light gun (similar to the NES Zapper). There were only five games released for the system. Blue Thunder, Hydrosub: 2021, Sonic Fury, 38 Ambush Alley and The Rescue of Pops Ghostly! Watch as we try out one of the most over looked video game consoles of all time! The Action Max!

This week James Rolfe and Mike Matei try out Anticipation for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Anticipation was developed by Rare and published by Nintendo in 1988. The game is similar to Pictionary. You have to guess the image that is drawn on screen then buzz in to enter the answer. You can chose from game pieces such as the Teddy bear, horn or high heals. This episode guest stars Bootsy.

This week for James & Mike Mondays we have Clayfighter for the SNES! It was released in 1993 and was ported to the Sega Genesis in 1994. Clayfighter was published by Interplay and developed by Visual Concepts. It made its way to the virtual console in 2009. The game features a claymation style that was done through the use of real clay models. Interplay also made another clay themed game called Claymates (a platformer for the SNES). Clayfighter includes such characters as Bad Mr. Frosty, Blob, Blue Suede Goo, Bonker, Helga, Ickybod Clay, Taffy, Tiny and N. Boss. The intended purpose was to serve as a more friendly alternative to fighting games like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. Watch as James Rolfe and Mike Matei battle it out in - Clayfighter!

This week James Rolfe and Mike Matei play the boxing mini-game in Super Monkey Ball 2! (With special guest Bootsy) Super Monkey Ball 2 was developed by Amusement Vision and Published by Sega in 2002 for the Nintendo Gamecube. The main game involves going through mazes and there are several party games. Monkey Baseball, Monkey Tennis, Monket dogfight and others. In this video we mainly focus on the Monkey Fight game.

This week James Rolfe and Mike Matei play NES Remix and NES Remix 2 for Wii U. Both games were published by Nintendo and are available as downloadable content on the Wii U console. NES Remix lets players relive many retro titles with all new challenges. Games include such classics as Balloon Fight, Donkey Kong, Ice Climber, The Legend of Zelda, Punch-Out!! and many others. In this video, James and Mike take a quick look at a few of the games, and attempt some of the challenges!

Ivan "Ironman" Stewart's Super Off Road was a game made by Leland Corp in 1989 for the Nintendo Home Entertainment System. The NES version was released by Tradewest. It was also released on the Commodore 64, Game Gear, SNES, Sega Genesis and other systems. In the game you race around top view indoor tracks. There are eight different track designs and you can race with up to four people when using the NES four score. Watch as James Rolfe, Mike Matei (and guest Pat the NES Punk) race to the finish!

R.C. Pro-Am II was a racing game for the Nintendo Entertainment System released in 1993. It was developed by Rare and published by Tradewest. It is the sequel to R.C. Pro-Am from 1988. In the game, you take control of radio-controlled cars and must win races while avoiding hazards like oil slicks. This game has a bigger variety of tracks than the first installment offered and other new features. In this version of the game, with the use of the NES four score, you can play with up to four people for excellent multiplayer action. Join Mike Matei, James Rolfe and special guest Pat Contri "the NES Punk" as they compete in this overlooked sequel for the NES.

This week James Rolfe and Mike Matei play Nintendo Land for the Wii U. Nintendo Land is a party game developed by Nintendo and released in 2012. In the game you choose between various mini games such as Mario Chase, Metroid Blast, Donkey Kong's Crash Course and others. Nintendo Land utilizes the Gamepad's touchscreen and motion capability, giving the player a unique control experience.

This week, James Rolfe and Mike Matei play Back to the Future Part III - A video game developed by Probe Software and published by Image Works in 1991 for the Sega Genesis. It is based off the movie Back to the Future Part III starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd and Directed by Robert Zemeckis. The game is divided up into four parts. Rescuing Clara Clayton, target practice, shooting Bufords goons and getting to the front of the train. This game is NOTORIOUS for it's first level being one of the hardest first levels in ANY video game. In comes Bootsy (our special guest for this episode) to work his magic!

Splatterhouse was originally an arcade game released in 1988. It was developed and published by Namco. In this video James Rolfe and Mike Matei try out the home console port of Splatterhouse on the Turbo Grafx 16. Splatterhouse is a side-scroller, where you play as a cahracter named Rick, who has the appearance of Jason Voorhees from Friday The 13th. You travel through levels fighting monsters with weapons such as a shotgun. There were other Splatterhouse games released for Sega mega Drive (Splatterhouse 2 and Splatterhouse 3) and a reboot in 2010 for PS3 and Xbox360.

James Rolfe, Mike Matei and Pat the NES Punk play Jaws Unleased! Jaws Unleased was a 2006 video game released for PS2 and Xbox. In this game you actually play as Jaws himself and attack beach goers and other sea creatures.

Sonic the Hedgehog is a classic video game series which began with Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sega Genesis in 1991. The first game in the series was a platform game where the player would control Sonic and progress through levels at high speeds, running through loops and checkpoints on his way to battle Doctor Robotnik. It had a sequel, which was released in 1992 called Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which was the second best selling game for the Sega Genesis. This one introduced a sidekick known as "Tails" who follows Sonic around. Sonic became one of the most popular video game characters of all time, and has an endless assortment of sequels and spin-off games. Including titles such as Sonic & Knuckles, Sonic Rush Adventure, Sonic Generations, Sonic CD, Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Colors, Sonic Advance, Sonic Lost World, Sonic Spinball, Sonic Adventure and many others. In this weeks episode, James Rolfe and Mike Matei attempt playing some Sonic home-brews and hacks such as Sonic Jam 6, Streets of Rage 3 Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog Megamix and Sonic Version 666!!!

James and Mike watch Bootsy play the classic point and click adventure, Maniac Mansion, on the NES.

Double Dragon is an arcade game developed by Technos and published by Taito in 1987. It was later ported to many home consoles including the NES, Sega Master System, Atari 2600, Sega Genesis and others. There were also several sequels including Double Dragon II: The Revenge, Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone and Super Double Dragon for the SNES. In 1993, Rare developed a spin-off Battletoads & Double Dragon which combined the two franchises. And in 2012 there was a remake for Xbox Live Arcade called Double Dragon Neon. This week, James Rolfe and Mike Matei try out the first Double Dragon game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. This home port had many disadvantages in comparison with the arcade version, but is a classic in its own right. Near the end of the video, we also try out Mode B where players fight against each other in a one-on-one match! It's time for some Double Dragon!!!

This week Mike Matei and James Rolfe check out two Contra related games for the Playstation. Contra: Legacy of War and The Contra Adventure! Contra: Legacy of War was developed by Appaloosa Interactive and published by Konami of America in 1996 for the Playstation and Sega Saturn. This game marks the Contra franchises leap into the 3-D era with mediocre results. The Contra Adventure was released a few years later in 1998. This one used various perspectives such as 2-D side-scrolling, overhead and third person. Both of these games were critically panned during their release. In this episode, James and Mike revisit these forgotten Contra catastrophes.

For the AVGN 10th Anniversary celebration, James and Mike torture themselves with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on NES once again! But this time, we've invited some guests to try the game too! Guests include: Spoony, AlphaOmegaSin, The Game Chasers, Shane Luis, Ryan Schott, 8-Bit Eric, Grimsie42 and Bad Luck Bootsy! Since we've played this game many times before in other videos, this time we are jumping right to the infamous barrel stage!

Released in 1987, California Games was developed and published by Epyx. It's a sports title where players compete in different events including surfing, roller skating, frisbee throwing and more. It was ported to many different systems such as the Commodore 64, Sega Genesis, Master System, Atari 2600 and the NES, which is the version seen here. Watch as James Rolfe, Mike Matei and Bootsy try out the NES (not-so-classic) California Games!

This week James Rolfe and Mike Matei try out the Super Scope 6, a peripheral for the SNES. It was developed by Nintendo R&D1 and Published by Nintendo in 1992. The gun came bundled with a cartridge that contained six games including; Blastris A, Blastris B, Mole Patrol, Intercept, Engage and Confront. These games were divided into two different menu screens, making it somewhat confusing. Blastris A is based off Tetris. Blastris B is based off Columns for Sega Genesis. Mole Patrol is much like the boardwalk game Whac-A-Mole. The other three games in the Lazerblazer category involve shooting down enemy fighters with missiles. Finally, James and Mike play Battleclash. Battle Clash was known as Space Bazooka in Japan and revolves around mecha-robots that need to be shot down with the Super Scope. It was later followed by Metal Combat: Falcon’s Revenge in 1993.

Batman: The Video Game was published and released by Sunsoft in 1990 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is a platform game consisting of five levels, that last of which being the Gotham City Cathedral where Batman must face off against The Joker! Similar to Ninja Gaiden, the gameplay largely involves Batman wall jumping in order to scale buildings. There were also versions of this game released for Sega Genesis and Gameboy. The NES version of the game is widely known as being one of the few movie based titles to receive positive critical reception for the system. In this video, James Rolfe and Mike Matei play the first four levels. Stay tuned next week for the conclusion, where Mike and James play through the final stage and attempt to make it to The Joker! (This is Part 1 of a 2 part video)

Batman: The Video Game was published and released by Sunsoft in 1990 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is a platform game consisting of five levels, that last of which being the Gotham City Cathedral where Batman must face off against The Joker! Similar to Ninja Gaiden, the gameplay largely involves Batman wall jumping in order to scale buildings. There were also versions of this game released for Sega Genesis and Gameboy. The NES version of the game is widely known as being one of the few movie based titles to receive positive critical reception for the system. They must of had a good video game design education .. In this video, James Rolfe and Mike Matei play through the final stage of the game “the Gotham City Cathedral” in a desperate attempt to make it to The Joker!

Smash TV was an arcade game developed and published by Williams in 1990. The home console versions which James and Mike play here were published by Acclaim Entertainment. Smash TV is a run and gun type game similar to Robotron: 2084. Robotron used a two joystick method of control which is what we attempt to emulate here by using two NES controllers for each player. It is very fun to play when using this setup for the NES version. Special Guest this week - Pat the NES Punk!