Lost in Time: UN Squadron

What’s an Area 88?

Side scrolling shooters are awesome. They have tons of great action set pieces, intense challenge, and they’ve been around forever. Whether you’re talking about Defender, Daruis, or R-Type, The “shmup” is a genre that’s filled with a multitude of bona fide classics. However, one game rises above the rest. One game got so much right, I would dare to say it’s the best the genre has ever seen. It’s also likely never to be seen again. That one game is UN Squadron for Super NES.

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Lost in Time: Safari Hunt

Why settle for ducks when there’s a safari out there?

We all remember Duck Hunt. The dog, the tree, the Zapper. It had everything. Well, almost. For all it’s charm, it lacked diversity. If you wanted a change of scenery, you had two options. You could try your hand at Clay Shooting, or you could go somewhere else entirely. Why settle for mere ducks, when you could go on a safari?

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Lost in Time: Toy Commander

More imagination than you can shake a cyborg teddy bear at

The more modern games get, the less likely they are to be lost and gone forever. Or, so one would think. Strange things happen in the video game industry, and companies come and go all the time. Nowhere was this sentiment more prevalent than during the Dreamcast era. Not quite old enough to be retro, but not quite new enough to be considered current, Sega’s little white box that couldn’t brought us some truly fantastic games, some of which can still only be played on the console they were designed for. One of those was a humble little game about toys, destruction, and the limitless joy of a child’s imagination.

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Lost in Time: Snake Rattle n’ Roll

It’s all about the Nibbley Pibbleys

Platformers were everywhere on the NES. Sure, there were many different types of games on the console, but no genre was more prevalent than the almighty platformer. You had plumbers, superheroes, children vaguely endorsed by McDonald’s, and anthropomorphic frogs. However, as broad as the genre was, every once in a while a platformer found a way to go against the grain. All you needed was a pair of sneaky snakes, a rockin’ soundtrack, and an isometric 3D perspective. 

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Lost in Time: Midnight Magic

Way better than Video Pinball

Pinball and video games go hand in hand. They’ve been linked to one another since the golden age of arcades, but there’s nothing quite as connecting as the pinball video game. For generations, game makers have been trying to bring the pinball experience home without having to spend thousands of dollars on an actual pinball machine. Atari made a few attempts, and eventually got it right. The end result was, well, magic.

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Lost in Time: Cobra Triangle

Quite possibly the coolest boat in history

RC Pro-Am for NES was a revelation. Simple, addicting, and insanely fun, this isometric racing game was a staple for most NES owners in its day, and while it received its own sequel very late into the console’s life, the geniuses at Rare had another brilliant idea: What if, instead of RC cars, you controlled a boat with a helicopter propeller that could shoot missiles, jump over waterfalls, and slay dragons? Thus, Cobra Triangle was born.

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Lost in Time: The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang

Cute vampires, delicious tomatoes, and magic hats

Vampires have taken on many forms over the years. There’s your traditional Castlevania types, your sparkly Twilight types, and even your Sesame Street Count types. In June 1994, Bullet Proof Software thought Super NES owners could use a new type of vampire: the adorable, tomato juice drinking, magic trick enthusiast type. In a market already flooded with mascot characters with names like Bubsy the Bobcat, Awesome Possum, and Aero the Acrobat, Bullet Proof Software took a chance on a little vampire prince named Spike McFang, and the SNES library is just a little more charming because of it. 

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Lost in Time: Blaster Master 2

Blasting again

Blaster Master for NES is awesome. With a Metroid-style open world, top notch graphics, and a fantastic soundtrack, there’s little not to love about the original Blaster Master. What most people don’t know, is just how many sequels it got. From Game Boy to PlayStation, Sunsoft has been trying to recreate the success of the original for years. Way back in 1993, while the NES was reaching the end of its days, Sunsoft wanted to make a 16-bit sequel to their flagship title. Blaster Master 2, however, wouldn’t be what fans expected.

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Lost in Time: D/Generation

Avoid the bouncing balls

Of all the video games that have slipped through the cracks over the years, Robert Cook’s D/Generation is perhaps the most unjustly obscure. This PC title from 1991 is a wonderful gem that suffered from poor marketing all around. To date, I only know 2 people besides myself that have even heard of D/Generation, and that’s shame. Featuring clever puzzles, bizarre enemy design, and some hilariously weird dialogue, it’s a mystery why more people haven’t played it.

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