Atari 5200 Episode
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avortac — 11 years ago(September 29, 2014 10:18 PM)
The Atari 5200 episode is the best.
It's also the first episode I saw of him, so my expectations were not really met with the other videos, where he 'merely' reviews NES-games and curses a lot. I thought he'd actually get to play some Atari 5200 games at some point, and review them, and all.
I also thought there would be more 'system reviews', with perhaps funny antics or not, but at least more ob68f the 'geek in the basement'-feel with inspiring, old games and such.
All in all, I thought he would review a lot of stuff, but basically, he turned out to be this 'character' that has to drink beer and curse and have drawn-out fights with puppets and his friends in costumes.
So the Atari 5200 episode is quite different from the other episodes, and quite unique in itself - I just wish more episodes were like that. The points he makes about the system are good, he presents everything very clearly and in an entertaining way, and the 'theatric gimmicks' actually support the episode perfectly (and he even uses carefully selected NES musics on the background).
Everything 'feels right' about this episode, the only thing I'd wanted to also see, though, is him ACTUALLY PLAYING those games. That would have made it perfect (although probably less funny in some people's opinions).
But it's still the best episode in my opinion - and shows a path Rolfe COULD have taken, but only briefly visited, while going to the other direction. It shows roots for something great that never manifested fully, sadly.
The way he handled Atari Jaguar, for example, was still good and entertaining - just not AS good.
I kinda expected him to review lots of other systems, like Sega Dreamcast and perhaps Commodore 16 the same way as the Atari 5200, except that he would have the opportunity to actually praise a system instead of just cursing a lot (was never a fan of the cursing, although THIS particular episode made it funny).
But AVGN became a bit rigid and non-flexible - sort of fell into a mold that hardened quickly, so he wasn't "free" to explore also the GOOD side of things (it's easy to find crap, it's difficult to find good games - I have still kept finding great arcade gems, for example, by simply going through the MAME library almost randomly, that I wonder if everyone knows about or not), or make more neutral, cuss-free, beer-free episodes and reviews of other platforms and systems.
Like, what would it be like, if Rolfe (without necessarily in the AVGN character) reviewed the Amiga? A thorough review that takes into account all revisions and shows them and talks about their strengths and weaknesses? Even if he only (or mainly) focused on the game side, without touching the creative side or the dreamy operating system side much, he could really make it something spectacular.
Moonstone and Turrican II alone would immediately get the glory they deserve (because I know Rolfe would be fair to them and praise them, he knows his stuff when it comes to video game playability and game humor, and hopefully music also) - the seven-channel Turrican II Amiga intro music is just so mindblowingly euphoric and inspiring, energetic and atmospheric that I am sure it'd get a special mention.
Just an example.. I am sure R5b4olfe could do a plethora of really wonderful, great, glorious things, if he only focused on computer and video games and created long reviews of them without including any of the other stuff, and freeing himself from the tight shackles of the AVGN character.
It's not the character, it's the games and systems - and with his expertise and skills and talent, he would always have a large audience.
But alas, his interests do not seem to coincide with my ideas.. but one can dream, can't one? (I'd make those videos myself, if I could)