Line #17 WebVideo/Chrontendo


1	''Chrontendo'' is a series on the internet that begun in 2008 and still runs today. The series is mainly dedicated towards one man that calls himself Dr. Sparkle who plays every single official game released on the [[Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]]/Famicom in chronological order.
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3	As time passed he has also started Chronsega, which reviews every single Platform/SegaMasterSystem[=/=]Platform/SegaGenesis game in chronological order, and Chronturbo, where he reviews all the games for the Platform/TurboGrafx16.
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5	[[https://www.youtube.com/user/Chrontendo Here]] is a link to his Platform/YouTube channel.
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7	He also hosts a blog, which can be found [[http://chrontendo.blogspot.be/ here]].
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9	!!Tropes used in his reviews:
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11	* AccentuateTheNegative: He does this a lot in Chronsega, to the point where he didn't want to say anything negative about Creator/{{Sega}} in Chrontendo episode 20 when he covered ''VideoGame/FantasyZone'' for the NES. He also tends to be dismissive toward games made outside Japan, but only in his reviews. His arcade and PC-history round-ups show off some of the best arcade/computer games made outside of Japan and his PC-history round-up even blatantly disregards the Japanese computer games scene.
12	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation[[invoked]]: When he reviewed ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' in Chrontendo episode 38, he said that Ryu Hayabusa is the worst ninja ever.
13	* AnachronismStew: Despite him showing games in chronological order he said that he did not play the games in chronological order. He noted this in Chrontendo episode 46 when he reviewed ''Hissatsu Doujou Yaburi''. He said that before this game he played a game called ''Tenkaichi Bushu Naguru'' before ''Hissatsu Doujou Yaburi''. He praised ''Tenkaichi Bushu Naguru'' for being a fighting game/RPG hybrid and for being original, but ''Hissatsu Doujou Yaburi'' is also a fighting game/RPG hybrid and it came out earlier.
14	* AprilFoolsDay: His Chron-CD-I [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-67BV7mJ5LI "preview"]] was posted on 1 April 2012. One only needs to see the game featured to know that it is not for real.
15	* AuthorTract: He usually becomes very personal in his reviews.
16	* ArtEvolution: Chronsega episode 8 is very different in presentation compared to all previous Chronsega episodes.
17	* BileFascination[[invoked]]: When he arrived at the end of episode 29, he said that he was going to review what is considered to be the worst Platform/{{NES}} game ever the next episode. At episode 30 he {{lampshaded}} it again when he reviewed the game in question, saying that nobody cared about ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'' (the big game that episode) because ''VideoGame/DrJekyllAndMrHydeNES'' was way more important.
18	* BoomerangBigot: In his Chron-CD-I preview he said that the fact that Americans went gaga over low-tech junk such like the Super Nintendo and even the Genesis to be the reason why Americans have no taste whatsoever.
19	* BrokeTheRatingScale: He did this in Chrontendo episode 12. When the time arrived to review ''Super Monkey Daibouken'', he turned the coloring negative and played the music reversed.
20	* BrutalHonesty: He has this character trait. He still however tries to understand why he has to be so about it though and this can lead to some truly interesting reasoning.
21	* CallBack: Expect this to happen when he reviews a sequel of a game which he previously reviewed or when a video game company makes its next appearance.
22	* TheCameo: Dr. Sparkle has noted that pretty much every Creator/{{Konami}} game ever features a Moai head.
23	* TheCavalry: Dr. Sparkle realized that he was playing lots of crap in Chrontendo episode 12 and probably would have given up, but the fact that it was the episode in which he could review ''VideoGame/{{Zanac}}'' kept him motivated to finish the entire episode.
24	* DamnYouMuscleMemory: In episode 42, he said that he had difficulties enjoying the NES version of QBert. He said that it was probably the best port of QBert around that time and perfectly acceptable by 1989 standards, but he said that he had difficulties to enjoy it because he was not habituated to the button lay-out.
25	* DesignatedHero[[invoked]]: He complains about the protagonist in this way in nearly every single video game he played so far. He even ended up praising the Japanese version of ''VideoGame/{{Karnov}}'' for giving the titular character a backstory and thus making him more sympathetic in Chrontendo episode 26.
26	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Whenever there's something that was similar to another game he reviewed, he will usually notice it and bring the subject up.
27	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Chrontendo episodes 1 and 2 have been given a revised edition. Considering that they were the first episodes, you probably get the idea why this trope comes in effect.
28	** The audio quality is quite poor in the earlier videos, there's far less footage of non-Famicom games, and there's more misinformation (getting release dates wrong, factual errors, mispronunciations, etc.) Virtually every facet of Chrontendo has drastically improved over the years.
29	* EdutainmentShow: The whole purpose of it.
30	* EvolvingCredits: At the beginning of Chrontendo, Dr. Sparkle mentioned the site in the credits section. Episode 38 marks the point at which he stops mentioning the site and starts mentioning where he got his music from.
31	* FakeDifficulty: Some games he reviews have invisible items that you need to progress in the game. He said in his review of Doreamon in episode 13 that he found it to be lazy programming and a pathetic excuse to not put much content in the game.
32	* {{Fanservice}}: He noted the fact that Western NES games have a tendency to feature more sexy girls than is the case with Japanese games when he started reviewing ''VideoGame/DefenderOfTheCrown'' in episode 47.
33	* FunnyBackgroundEvent: While he was talking about his #4 spot on his top 10 worst NES/Famicom games list he wrote in the background a message to the developer and publisher of said game.
34	* GainaxEnding: In Chrontendo episode 39 he said that he can not take anymore games in the Family Trainer series, so he says that he would immediately skip to Chrontendo episode 183 to play ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid''. While the end makes sense on a psychological level, it undermines what Chrontendo is all about. Thankfully what he said in the ending never happened and Chrontendo episode 40 still came along as usual.
35	* GenreBlindness: He has noted that he can not play typically Japanese genres of games such as Mahjong, Shogi or Visual Novels, as they require a deep understanding of Japanese text.
36	* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff[[invoked]]: He lampshaded this in Chrontendo episode 36 when he reviewed the NES game ''Knight Rider'', which is based on a TV show in which David Hasselhoff is the lead actor. After expecting people to say that David Hasselhoff must have been really popular in Germany because he was an European record label he said that David Hasselhoff is just a smokescreen for popular stuff in Germany that was even worse, such as ''The Kelly Family'', who moved to Europe in the 70's and became popular in Germany, BENELUX, Switzerland etc. and sold there 20 million albums. At the end he even showed even a clip of a song that they sang.
37	* GrowingTheBeard[[invoked]]: He thinks that a few companies are this:
38	** Creator/{{Sunsoft}}. In the beginning of their lifespan, all of their output was crap. As time moved on, however, they slowly begun making some of the best games for the NES.
39	** TOSE also counts, albeit only because they are pretty good at making adventure games.
40	** He predicts that CBS Sony will become this, because after a few years they would be working on the Platform/PlayStation.
41	** He bashed Creator/{{Sega}} a lot for their early games before they made it big with Sonic.
42	* GuideDangIt: When he did his top ten list of the worst Platform/{{NES}}/ Platform/{{Famicom}} games, he noted that #3 was impossible to play without a guide or walkthrough.
43	* GuiltyPleasures: As noted in this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trXHJEljEeE video]] he noted that he had guilty pleasures (like everyone). In his case it was the ''Music/{{CHVRCHES}}'' album ''The Bones of What You Believe''. He noted that it was dumb, fluffy pop music but also that it is actually well made. [[invoked]]
44	* IAmWhatIAm: There are a few times when he dislikes a game that everyone seems to love (such as ''Phantasy Star 2'') and that he admires a game everyone hates (such as ''Final Fantasy 2''). He usually openly states it and continues in depth as to why he likes a game that others hate or hates a game that others love and also addresses the reasons why people hate or love them.
45	* ImportFilter: He takes it off and shatters it into tiny little pieces. Not surprising, since he also reviews all the games that came out on the Japanese Famicom. He also says that this is also why he dislikes some games that other people like.
46	* IncompetenceInc: His opinion on ''Creator/{{Taito}}''. He made a history on this developer in and he explicitly noted that it is the least competent main developer of console games that also makes arcade games.
47	* InnocuouslyImportantEpisode: This is the rare show in which every episode is one, since every episode has the possibility to show an important game or key element that would set the standard for the games that a certain company would do in the future.
48	* {{Leitmotif}}: The theme he uses to introduce a new game (affectionately called "Game Info Screen Music") is always the same one (for Chrontendo it is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnUc1ItdfJk "Tin Cans (Puerto Rican Remix)" by Tortoise]] and for Chronsega it is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-I-WkPkdqTY The Boss theme of Fantasy Zone]]). It has been averted a few times though.
49	* MadeInCountryX: In Chrontendo episode 48 he noted that the worst games of the episode were ''Hollywood Squares'', ''Sesame Street ABC'' and ''Bad Street Brawler'' and that it was a good pitcher for the horrible video games being produced in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.
50	* MeaninglessMeaningfulWords: In Chronsega episode 1 he lampshaded this phenomenon when talking about Sega's "Great Sports" series, saying that it is not by putting the name "Great" in the title that the game is going to be any better.
51	* MoodMotif: He will always play [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7_jbluF0qo 3030 by Deltron 3030]] during the "Game Info Screen Music" when he plays a game that puts him in a good mood.
52	* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: In the very early episodes of Chrontendo, Dr. Sparkle always notes the amount of games that had a Ninja in them.
53	* NintendoHard: He criticized that a lot of NES games are considered this in Chrontendo episode 44. Saying that they seem easy when you compare them to ''Holy Diver''.
54	* NoExportForYou[[invoked]]: He will usually note which games were only released Japan or only in the US.
55	* OminousVisualGlitch: When he had to play ''Ganzou Saijuki Super Monley Daibouken'' in chrontendo episode 12 he turned the coloring negative and played the music in reverse to show that the game BrokeTheRatingScale.
56	* OnceDoneNeverForgotten: Whenever a game is made by AVP he will always mention that they once made a game called ''Ganzou Saijuki: Super Monkey Daibouken'', the worst game from 1983 - 1987 that he ever reviewed.
57	* PrecisionFStrike: He showed one in the game ''Bakutoushi Patton Kun'' in Chrontendo episode 34. It was apparently due to a BlindIdiotTranslation.
58	* TheProblemWithLicensedGames[[invoked]]: When he did his top 10 worst NES/Famicom games his #10 spot showed a game which he accused of causing the flood of bad licensed games based on Anime and Toys on the Famicom.
59	* PublicDomainSoundtrack: All of the tracks he used are this. Chrontendo episode 38 marks the moment when he showed where he got his soundtrack from in the credits.
60	* RefugeInAudacity: When he reviewed ''Animal Attack Gakauen'' in episode 27, he noted that a lot of Japanese video game programmers hide their bad programming skills by using wacky themes. Also exaggerated in episode 46 when he reviewed ''VideoGame/MonsterParty'', as he said that the game was very incompetently programmed but that in the end it was so wacky that you could not help but loving it. In the end he tied it up with the NES adaptation of ''Film/{{Willow}}'' as the best game he played during the episode because of how creative and original ''VideoGame/MonsterParty'' was.
61	* RuleSixtyThree: He noted in ''VideoGame/{{Faria}}'' that the main character is female and that the character looks like Aldo from the ''VideoGame/{{Ys}}'' series in Chrontendo episode 46.
62	* {{Sequelitis}}[[invoked]]: He found that a lot of Creator/{{Nintendo}} games suffer from this.
63	** ''Donkey Kong 3'' was the first of such. He found it to look more like a 2D-shooter than an actual platformer when he reviewed it in Chrontendo episode 2.
64	** He found ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels'' to be more of a ROM-hack than an actual sequel as of chrontendo episode 8.
65	** He also said about ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'' that he could not forgive Nintendo for making a generic action game with RPG elements in Chrontendo episode 14.
66	* SoBadItsGood[[invoked]]:
67	** The first Famicom adaptation of ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' in Chrontendo episode 10. He said that it is just mindless fun to punch people and look at how awful the graphics and sound effects are.
68	** The video game ''Sherlock Holmes: Hakushaku Reijou Yuukai Jiken'' is this too. He mentioned that in a lot of ways the game is ahead of its time due to the fact that you can kill pedestrians, go through cities in a non-linear fashion (even if you have to pay money for the privilege) and gamble but that the bad controls and that the aspect of running around looking for clues in random spots is just not at all appealing. He ended up calling it "an unplayable relic of its era". He reviewed that one in Chrontendo episode 14.
69	* StealthParody: His [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-67BV7mJ5LI Chron-CD-I preview]] is this.
70	* TheStinger: From Chrontendo episode 32 onward and finishing with Chrontendo episode 38 every Chrontendo episode had one (with the exception of chrontendo episode 37). It was usually a fragment of a TV show, film or music video that he was talking about in the episode itself.
71	* TopTenList: He made a top 10 worst NES/Famicom games list with games created for the console made in between 1983 and 1987.
72	* ValuesDissonance[[invoked]]: He noted one in Chrontendo episode 4 while reviewing ''VideoGame/TheTowerOfDruaga''. He said in that video that Japanese gamers are in general more patient than Western ones and seem to be OK with RPG's that use long and extensive level grinding in order to get some ultimate reward at the end.
73	%%* VideoReviewShow

Context WebVideo / Chrontendo