frozensun

Mystic Defender review by Fausto Chavez I never played this game growing up. It is an early Genesis title with a fantasy medieval theme, like many games of that era, and as a fan of that genre, I was excited to have discovered this game. Story: 4/5 Your basic 'save the princess from the evil one' story: Alexandra and Zareth, something about a castle in Japan. The game actually begins with a scrolling text of the story accompanied by great music. During the game, there is no presence of the story until the ending, with another scrolling text and an image of you and Alexandra again with some nifty music. Gameplay: A side scrolling platforming game with not too much learning a curve, easy enough to control, and long jumps. The attacks are magic based in that you don't punch or kick. This is best part of the game. Destroying enemies and bosses with the magics is very fun. There is a magic/attack bar which when filled up, gives you full strength attack, which will be eit...

walkthrough for: Warrior of Rome for the Sega Genesis by Fausto Chavez faustozone@gmail.com I’ve decided to write a walkthrough for this game since there is none yet in existence. This is a real time strategy war game that’s received little attention through the years. Being a fan of strategy games, history, and of the Genesis, this is one of my favorite games ever. Notes: The game’s manual is poorly written, omits critical information and is in fact misleading. This walkthrough corrects those errors. This game is known also as Ambition of Caesar (Japan). There was a sequel made which has a completely different game engine. Story: You play Julius Cesar commanding armed forces through four scenarios. First, defend the island of Crete against a pirate attack, then lead your navy across the Mediterranean to land in Egypt, travel inland to break through Cleopatra’s palace walls, then storm the palace and reach Cleopatra. Show these dogs the might of Rome! Controls: Button layout is customi...

Seasons in the Abyss review by Fausto Chavez When I first heard this album as a teenager I was disappointed because it was not blistering fast like 'Reing in ...' Now as an adult, I listen to this album often, and think it's one of their very best efforts. There is so much creativity and intelligence here. Some of their best solo's are found on this album, for instance, the last solo on 'Seasons' is amazing. There is no weak song on this album, even my least favorite song here 'Blood Red' earns praise from me for its unique-in-the-world-of-metal topic on political oppression in communist countries. 'Expendable Youth' is a breathtaking discourse on gang rivalries and their violent consequences. The album begins and ends with two memorable epics: 'War Ensemble' and 'Seasons in the Abyss--two of the best songs they ever wrote and both have aged well. The production is another high point, Andy Wallace makes everything crisp, clear and wel...

Bedtime for Democracy review by Fausto Chavez While this album may not have as many memorable moments or as many five-stars songs as Plastic Surgery, this one of DKs strongest works. Even though there are 21 songs here, in my opinion there are no fillers. Lots of creativity here. I listen to this album all the way through without skipping any songs, they are all aggressive and well thought out. This is easily the best recorded album: drums loud and clear, vibrant guitars, colorful vocals, thick bass--polar opposite of the poorly produced 'Fresh Fruit.' These are the most conscious lyrics in any of their albums, challenging all paradigms, even critical of the punk movement. Songs like 'Jet Set,' 'Macho Insecurity,' 'I Spy,' 'Rambozo,' 'Cesspools' and 'Triumph of the Will' are absolutely brilliant. Much of the material here is so aggressive and competently played that it borders on thrash. Some fans say this album is too different f...

Sonic Adventure 2 review  by Fausto Chavez This is a phenomenal game! I had played Sonic Adventure 1, before playing this game. In Sonic Adventure 2 all the problems that bogged down the first title have been fixed. Gone are the pointless puzzles, and no more weak side-games where you drive vehicles. What's left is pure Sonic action. There is the choice of playing through two stories, Hero and Dark. This game is LONG. It would have been fine had it ended sooner, but it just kept going. There are different kinds of stages. Some are a rip-roaring Sonic blur, others you play as Knuckles, other stages Sonic is inside a robot suit with its own unique control and attack, while some stages are puzzle-like where you must find three emeralds, whose locations are randomized. The variety of stages keeps the game fresh throughout. The controls are varied: depending on the character and stage layout. Each stage has its own learning curve, so you have to constantly keep learning new controls and...

The New Astrologer review by Fausto Chavez This is a good book for any level astrologer. Martin's expounds on the the basics: planets, sign meanings, house systems, etc. all of which is well stated and given fresh perspectives. Though the techniques found here are western astrology, he shows familiarity with Hindu astrology, mentioning Parashara and divisional charts of which he makes frequent reference to their western counterpart, harmonic charts. He likes vertexs and midpoints and a wide range of aspects. A strong point for this book is its size: it is a large book, with large print, very easy to read and well deserving of its heft as an attempt at a comprehensive manual. He doesn't have much use for houses, though he describes house systems in detail. The downsides here are Martin's chart analysis which falls short of the mark. He mostly uses aspects and his favored Vertex and midpoints; also he tends to be negative both in his selections of people to analyze and his an...

Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker review by Fausto Chavez I enjoyed the first few stages, fun and easy to play. Starting out, the enemies and bosses were easy and fun to fight. At Forest Haven the game became increasingly difficult. Any sort of progress began to require solving endless puzzles and a lot of micro-tasking. Seriously, just to get to the cave at Forest Haven you had to go through all sorts of loops. Once in the cave, you're met with even more puzzles and micro-tasks just to make any progress. I started using walkthroughs heavily at this point. Still, the game was so complex with music spells, multi-layered dungeons, and intricate tasks, that the online walkthroughs were not enough; so I got the official strategy guide. Using the official strategy guide I was able to make quick progress and the game was fun again. Then came the stages requiring you to take control of another character in addition to yours, including progressing through dungeons with these characters. This...

Revenge of Shinobi review by Fausto Chavez Somehow, I never played Revenge of Shinobi back when I was a teen (played of most the hit games but not this one). So in my late 30s, I finally tried this game out. It started out well, but then hit a double-jump bottleneck in the second stage. At first I thought it impossible to hit the jump, but with practice I was able to land it. Venturing deeper into the game, the same thing kept happening: encountering a difficult spot, but with practice was able the master the spot and continue. This is not a game that you can blast your way through; you have to master the skills, memorize, and be patient. The controls are tight. The varied attacks, power ups, including magic, mean you can strategize your way through. The graphics are great for its era and have aged well. The music is unbelievably great, a mix of funk, hip-hop and rock, and is my favorite part of the game (Sound Select is included in the options menu--spent a lot of time just listening ...

Topless island women, scanned from collection of vintage photos

Sailor with Cheerleaders scanned from a Polaroid, reverse side reads "Palm Springs 1989"

Pictures of New York World's Fair, 1939 Also at Pinterest:  here