History Awesome / TheAngryVideoGameNerd

* Episode 175 opens with the Nerd giving a succinct, eloquent, and ''blistering'' TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'', ''Action 52'', and ''Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' cartridges -- paying deliberate homage to the ''[[Series/TheTwilightZone Twilight Zone]]'' episode [[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS5E145TheMasks "The Masks"]]. Every syllable that escapes the Nerd's mouth is dripping with seething disdain toward these abominations of gaming. Here are his words, quoted in full.

** In the same episode, Super Mecha Death Christ made of guns and a tank (who keeps on shouting "FUCKEEEEEERS!") with a [[ThrashMetal Thrash]] version of the AVGN theme playing is James Rolfe's CMOA as a video maker. He later blasts the Nerd for saying "Holy shit!", yelling "[[HypocriticalHumor WATCH YOUR FUCKIN' LANGUAGE!]]" Especially as James Rolfe does the ''voice acting'' for Super Mecha Death Christ himself.

* And, of course, only the Nerd can beat the final boss of a shitty game whilst being strangled by a FrankensteinsMonster (of his own creation, to boot).

* His speech at the end of ''Atari Sports'', relating that gamers and sports fans are NotSoDifferent after all.

* In his "Contra Memories" video, James (as himself) talked about his fond memories of the NES game {{VideoGame/Contra}}; he actually beat the game [[CrazyAwesome WITHOUT USING THE KONAMI CODE!!]] As a nine-year old child! With his parents watching!! ''[[MundaneMadeAwesome Before]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking breakfast!]]''

* One of the Zapper variants was a scope attached to a clunky and awkward looking headset. It was voice activated, and he would later discover that you didn't have to say, "Fire!" like the packaging suggests; ''any'' word will do. [[ClusterFBomb You can guess where that goes from there.]] He then turns it on ''VideoGame/DuckHunt''. And shoots down a duck by shouting, "Fuck!" at it. This is a rare case of PrecisionFStrike in the literal meaning.

* The episode where James beats the ever-living hell out of Bugs Bunny. ("I can't believe it! In my own house! Bugs Bunny! Bugs FUCKING Bunny!" ''(punches Bugs in the gut and then in the head)'') 'Bugs Bunny Birthday ''Beating''' indeed. And then Bugs came back for some payback in the Crazy Castle video, a multi-review that's so ludicrously over-the-top that words can't do it justice. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wai9CnvatBo Watch it now]]!

* During his episode on ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvilGunSurvivor Resident Evil Survivor]]'', James shows his editing skills by incorporating himself into the first game's FMV cutscenes as well as putting together an intro that pays tribute to ''Resident Evil 2'''s intro too. Complete with blurring and interlacing effects to make it look very low quality, as if they were FMV fils straight off a Playstation disc. Takes talent to make something look intentionally shitty. And the Nerd's final battle with the Tyrant is fought just like in the original ''Resident Evil''. Special mention goes to Board James, who gives him the Super Scope to defeat the Tyrant!

** That game? ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'', which he proceeds to deliver a thought out and salient review of, acknowledging that it has good points even while focusing on legitimate criticisms, much like the ''[=EarthBound=]'' review. And at the end, he proceeds to [[LowLevelRun defeat the final boss with just 9 hearts, no Fierce Deity Mask, and no Great Fairy's Sword.]]

* Episode 175 opens with the Nerd giving a succinct, eloquent, and ''blistering'' TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to the ''Ninja Turtles'', ''Action 52'', and ''Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' cartridges -- paying deliberate homage to the ''[[Series/TheTwilightZone Twilight Zone]]'' episode "The Masks". Every syllable that escapes the Nerd's mouth is dripping with seething disdain toward these abominations of gaming. Here are his words, quoted in full.

--> So, if all along you're saying I suck at this game, then '''[[PreAssKickingOneLiner suck on]]''' '''''[[PreAssKickingOneLiner this]]''''' '''[[PreAssKickingOneLiner shit!]]'''

--> Doubles as GeniusBonus and AchievementsInIgnorance after ''Back to the Future Re-Revisited''. The Nerd explains that the UP/DOWN!!! instructions are useless, as the correct coordinates are listed for you at the bottom of the screen. Ignoring the UP/DOWN and going by the numbers makes the sequence much easier. If you watch the numbers while the Nerd is playing with the Glove, you can see that he is in fact in the ballpark and that the landing is genuine, as is the Nerd's bafflement.

* Speaking of bad NES peripherals, one of the Zapper variants was a scope attached to a clunky and awkward looking headset. It was voice activated, and he would later discover that you didn't have to say, "Fire!" like the packaging suggests; ''any'' word will do. [[ClusterFBomb You can guess where that goes from there.]]
** He then turns it on ''VideoGame/DuckHunt''. And shoots down a duck by shouting, "Fuck!" at it. This is a rare case of PrecisionFStrike in the literal meaning.

* The episode where James beats the ever-living hell out of Bugs Bunny. ("I can't believe it! In my own house! Bugs Bunny! Bugs FUCKING Bunny!" ''(punches Bugs in the gut and then in the head)'') 'Bugs Bunny Birthday ''Beating''' indeed.
** And then Bugs came back for some payback in the Crazy Castle video, a multi-review that's so ludicrously over-the-top that words can't do it justice. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wai9CnvatBo Watch it now]]!

* Flying into space to throw a ''Superman 64'' cartridge into the sun while John Williams' Superman theme plays qualifies as well.
** Which was contributed by Chris Holland, another guitar guy who occasionally sends his stuff to Rolfe.

* The intro sequence for part 2 of his ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' game reviews is super awesome not only because of the theme being nicely redone by Chris Holland, but also because it features Luigi and the Nerd kicking ass!
** And while we're at it, the Batnerd freeing himself from the Joker's clutches in the same video and kicking his butt in a ShoutOut fighting sequence, culminating in him [[AssShove shoving the shitty games up the Joker's ass]].

* James discovering a good ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'' game on Super Famicom (''Super Back to the Future Part II'') at the end of his revisiting of the Nintendo Nerd years. One minute of mouth-watering clips from the game, with a great chiptune rendition of the movie's theme and James's astounded face.
** Only as the realization of "Super Famicom" means "Japan-only" catches up to him. After which we're treated to a SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}} filled with {{Angrish}}.

** This episode's title card was the last one Mike Matei made for the series, and [[http://86bb71d19d3bcb79effc-d9e6924a0395cb1b5b9f03b7640d26eb.r91.cf1.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/avgn-reviews-rob-the-robot.jpg what a great way to bow out.]]
*** Especially cool is how in the episode's opening, the theme song is cut off by an explosion as all 100 title cards up to that point appear in a flurry, gradually getting bigger as a badass intensifying sound plays in the background.

* James/The Nerd has the Nintendo World Championships Gold Cartridge, possibly ''the'' rarest video game cartridge in existence. WHICH HE JUST FUCKING ANNIHILATES WITH A HAMMER! Only in-universe, thank the lord.
** Sadly, the part about him owning the gold cartridge isn't true. According to the comments he posted on his video of outtakes from that episode, Pat the NES Punk does indeed own both the grey AND the gold version of NWC (which is pretty awesome in and of itself).

* The full-length AVGN theme in the Sega CD episode. Not only is the full song great by itself, but it's loaded with [[CallBack Call Backs]] to previous episodes!
** There are numerous complaints that the song was just too awesome and encapsulated the Nerd and his epic career (up to that point) ''too well'' for it be used that early in the series, being more suitable for the 50th or 100th episode special. It's that good.

* Him successfully beating ''VideoGame/GhostsNGoblins'', one of the hardest NES games ever made, after trying to for almost twenty-five years. In fact, it was the very first NES game he ever ''attempted'', on his 8th birthday.
** Also him successfully beating the Japan-exclusive "Transformers" Famicom game, remarking that it's the hardest game he's ever beaten.

* The end of the second part of the AVGN Wish List episode, which has the Nerd playing "Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage" on the SNES. He finds the game to be, while not necessarily the best he's ever played, a rather decent game and perhaps the best Spider-Man game he's ever played. When he looks at who made the game, he's in for a shock: on the box of the game, he sees the '''LJN logo'''. The fact that LJN of all companies could make a decent game like that is actually a pretty awesome moment in and of itself.
** The effect is lessened once you learn that LJN never made a game in-house. Instead, they always outsourced their games to different developers. Instead of finally making a decent game, they finally got a decent developer, which is awesome in its own way.

* The very end of the ''[[VideoGame/PennAndTellersSmokeAndMirrors Desert Bus]]'' episode. After playing a romhack of ''Simon's Quest'' and seeing that it fixed most of the errors he addressed in his episode for the original version, the Nerd sees that the work he's doing to warn others about shitty games is working. He [[ItMakesSenseInContext un-]][[TenMinuteRetirement retires]] himself, and then says that with this he must go beyond his basement and [[BigDamnMovie do something bigger than he's ever done before]]. He looks to the camera, nods slowly, and the episode ends.
** Not only that, but ''[[ApprovalOfGod Penn himself]]'' [[https://twitter.com/pennjillette/status/471813434561269760 tweeted about the episode!]]

* The resurrection of The Guitar Guy (Kyle Justin) using "A-BB-A", complete with a spooky sounding rendition of the AVGN Theme.
** Also, the ThemeSong returns in that episode.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3iEn5rzMnw The Mega Man episode]], where the Nerd travels back in time to his previous selves.
** At the end, he returns to 2016, only to find Bugs Bunny has taken the Nerd's job following his TenMinuteRetirement. What else should ensue but another epic beatdown.

-->'''The Nerd:''' (struggling with the camera) If you can keep me from getting out, I can keep you from showing yourself, ''[[CatchPhrase you fucking game]]''!
* His episode of ''VideoGame/EarthBound'', tying in various fan theories along with his extensive knowledge of cinema that originally inspired the game in the first place. The Nerd even provided his own theory we won't spoil here. James not only reviewed a classic cult game, he did it in a way that was uniquely him, fitting the themes of the game.
** Also the fact that he also had the balls to devote an entire segment of his video to un-sugar coated criticism of a game considered by many to be a SacredCow. Despite admitting that he thinks it really is one of the best SNES games ever made like everyone says, he still has enough integrity to point out that it's far from flawless.
* During his episode on ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvilGunSurvivor Resident Evil Survivor]]'', James shows his editing skills by incorporating himself into the first game's FMV cutscenes as well as putting together an intro that pays tribute to ''Resident Evil 2'''s intro too. Complete with blurring and interlacing effects to make it look very low quality, as if they were FMV fils straight off a Playstation disc. Takes talent to make something look intentionally shitty.
** The Nerd's final battle with the Tyrant, fought just like in the original ''Resident Evil''. Special mention goes to Board James, who gives him the Super Scope to defeat the Tyrant!

* For his episode of ''[[VideoGame/{{Pepsiman}} Pepsiman]]'', managing to get Mike Butters to reprise his role as the TV Game Guy, killing Pepsiman with a Mentos bazooka ala ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay''!
** Pepsiman himself deserves some credit by being one of the only villains in the show to have the Nerd dead to rights until Butters saves him. Also a credit to James Rolfe for managing to make ''Pepsiman'' a frightening and intimidating villain.

* Episode 175 opens with the Nerd giving a succinct, eloquent, and ''blistering'' TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to the ''Ninja Turtles'', ''Action 52'', and ''Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' cartridges -- paying deliberate homage to ''Series/TheTwilightZone''. Every syllable that escapes the Nerd's mouth is dripping with seething disdain toward these abominations of gaming. Here are his words, quoted in full.
-->'''The Angry Video Game Nerd:''' You are cruel and miserable games. You exist for one purpose: to reap everything I've sown. You've robbed me, not only of my childhood, ''but my adulthood, too!'' ([[INeedAFreakingDrink downs a shot]]) I've been cursed to play your bullshit until the end of time, but thankfully, the end of time is about to come: the year 2020 is upon us! Doomsday -- yeah, they were 20 years off with Y2K -- but this is it, for real! And with only one week left, the ceremony must begin. (He grabs three small paper masks: one is a Ninja Turtle with dollar signs for eyes, the second is a screaming Cheetahman, and the third is a distorted TwoFaced mask with a hand FlippingTheBird.) You must wear these masks until the midnight of New Years. They've been carefully selected as caricatures of your true, shitty natures.\\
(He puts the Ninja Turtle mask on the TMNT cartridge) ''Your'' mask represents The Solicitor, the one who [[CashCowFranchise uses familiar source material to cash in]] [[InNameOnly and disrespects the love for the franchise]]. You don't respond to love. [[OnlyInItForTheMoney You only respond to what your petty hunger dictates; to things that have value. You're the kind that appraises franchises without seeing their beauty]]. You're nothing but {{greed}}.\\
(He places the Cheetahman mask on the Action 52 cartridge) ''Your'' mask is [[MilesGloriosus The Overzealous Coward]], the one who has nothing to give but somehow gives too much of it. You're an overflowing garbage can of filth, bloated and packed to the gills with nonsense, bullshit to the highest capacity to hide your incompetent, broken gameplay!\\
(He puts the TwoFaced mask on the Jekyll and Hyde cartridge) And of course, ''you.'' You wear the mask of [[{{Sadist}} The Heartless Punisher]], tricking me with useless weaponry and [[EverythingTryingToKillYou sucker-punch pitfalls at every step]]! You see humanity as small animals caught in a trap to be tortured! Your pleasure is the giving of pain! From this, you feel the same sense of joy one might get from a kiss or an embrace! ''Shame on you!''\\
Shame on ALL you shitty games! All your [[GuideDangIt cryptic mazes]], bad controls, unfair jumps, vomit-inducing graphics, lack of continues, long passwords... I hope you're proud of yourselves. May God, the Devil, and whatever else have pity on you. And as for me... I wear the mask of the thing that stalks me at this very moment. (He puts on [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]], then opens the window to show the WeirdMoon in the sky above the cityscape) You shitty, shitty games. You stole my life away. It's all yours. You inherit everything left of my soul. Now, you can dig deep in the treasury, but before the world ends, I must play one last game.

** That game? ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'', which he proceeds to deliver a thought out and salient review of, acknowledging that it has good points even while focusing on legitimate criticisms, much like the ''[=EarthBound=]'' review. And at the end, he proceeds to [[LowLevelRun defeat the final boss with just 9 hearts.]]

** That game? ''[[VideoGame/MajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'', which he proceeds to deliver a thought out and salient review of, acknowledging that it has good points even while focusing on legitimate criticisms, much like the Earthbound review. And at the end, he proceeds to [[LowLevelRun defeat the final boss with just 9 hearts.]]

** And while we're at it, the Batnerd freeing himself from the Joker's clutches in the same video and kicking his butt in a ShoutOut fighting sequence, as well as shoving the shitty games up the Joker's ass.

* In the Pong Consoles episode, James comments on how a gamer during the ''Pong'' Era would react to modern consoles. They'd think that maybe the graphics would be a little better, or maybe even ''color''! Cut to scenes from ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto Grand Theft Auto IV]]'', with a rock-mix of the AVGN theme playing in the background, which then cuts to James [[HolyShitQuotient with an awesomely-shocked-and-pleased look on his face.]]

** And later both he and Kyle Justin participating in pretty much [[WebVideo/TGWTGYearOneBrawl the most epic online event ever]] as the two of them team up with all the video game reviewers of Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses against the site's other contributers.

* His review of ''VideoGame/TheImmortal'' might just be a basic one-and-done review with a medieval twist on the formula, but it's impressive for being shot [[TheOner in one single take.]] Considering it involvese both live gameplay and almost tirelessly recalling lengthy rants for about 11 minutes, it's a sight to behold.

* Him successfully beating ''VideoGame/GhostsAndGoblins'', one of the hardest NES games ever made, after trying to for almost twenty-five years. In fact, it was the very first NES game he ever ''attempted'', on his 8th birthday.

* For his episode of ''[[VideoGame/{{Pepsiman}} Pepsiman]]'', managing to get Mike Butters to reprise his role as the TV Game Guy, killing Pepsiman with a Mentos bazooka ala Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay!