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Maps Of The Month / 2025/11: Scurge: Hive (GBA) - Spanettone

« on: October 31, 2025, 09:30:43 pm »

Scurge: Hive

For this month's "Maps Of The Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to Spanettone's Scurge: Hive (GBA) maps.

On the planet Inos, at a research laboratory, a virulent alien parasite known as "the Scurge" has breached containment.  As the Scurge infects organisms and machines, it transforms them into creatures and obstacles that our heroine, Jenosa Arma, will have to overcome.  She has been hired by the military to eliminate the Scurge while salvaging whatever equipment she can.  Good thing she has a special suit and is capable of upgrading her abilities along the way, but she'll have to stave off her own infection, which she gets after her first exposure to the Scurge.

Though comparisons with the Metroid series are expected, Scurge: Hive is more action-heavy, so Jenosa's survival will be very much a priority, that exploration of this isometric world won't be that easy.  It's fortunate that we have these maps by Spanettone to make getting around Inos easier.

Though this game was released on the GBA and DS back in 2006, it recently got rereleased - last month, in fact -  for the PC and all the major platforms, so it's easier to experience Scurge: Hive than ever before.

So to recognize the effort put into mapping this "isometroid", Spanettone's Scurge: Hive (GBA) maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps Of The Month for November 2025.

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Gaming / "10 Games To Get To Know Me..."

« on: October 31, 2025, 11:58:52 am »

I could've sworn I already posted this in these forums... but maybe I'm confusing it with the VGMaps Discord... or my X, Bluesky, Facebook, or Instagram... too many social media platforms to keep up with!

Anyway, if I haven't, here's my image as part of the "10 Games To Get To Know Me" trend on social media where people post an image of themselves, as well as box shots (usually, or some use screenshots) of ten video games that they really like, or define them, or whatever.

I couldn't settle on 10 so I took it up to 11 (like Spinal Tap).  Well, I had kind of settled on ten games a few days earlier, but noticed right after posting it that I had somehow forgotten the game with my favourite map on all of VGMaps.com, Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night!  (Thanks yet again, Revned!)

A bizarre thing to forget as it should have been high on the list to begin with.  As I saw others were breaking the "rule" (if there ever was one) and posting fewer or more games, and as it IS Hallowe'en, I was like, yeah, I'll stick Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night on there, it's fine.

Obviously, The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past is there, as the first maps I ever made for VGMaps.com are of that game.  But some weren't sure bets, at least not initially.  I hesitated on if I should include SimCity Social (a now-defunct browser game on Facebook that didn't even last a year) or specifically the arcade version of SoulCalibur II which I played when I worked at Playdium (especially the Risk-like "Conquest" mode not seen in any of the home versions).  Then my brother said those are EXACTLY the reasons why I should include them if I wanted my image to be personally unique, because others likely wouldn't have such strong and specific memories.

So, yeah, that's my eleven games.

(I guess.  In my over four decades of gaming, I've played MANY games, so this wasn't easy to choose in the first place... This might be a little different if you ask me about the most influential games in my life if you ask me on another day, if I remember something else... for me to even forget Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night in the first place... wow, maybe I am getting old...)

If you want to partake in this trend, you're welcome to share your ten (or however many you want).

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Map Requests / Re: List of unmapped NES games

« on: October 27, 2025, 10:02:04 pm »

And so what we have here is the combination of the two previous wallpapers from my two previous posts... the 72 games Nintendo Of America published for the NES in North America.

Nintendo did things differently in Europe, so that might be interesting to look at later.  They published The Battle Of Olympus, Kickle Cubicle, Little Nemo: The Dream Master, and others.

Sorry for the North America-centrism, but if we compare the 72 games here to the listing on VGMaps.com...

Wow, we actually have maps for them all... except for Cobra Triangle.

I'm going to put that on my personal requests list now, as well.

That will be a milestone, wouldn't it?  Would be cool to be able to say that we have every Nintendo (of America)-published NES game here on VGMaps.com: The Video Game Atlas?

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Map Requests / Re: List of unmapped NES games

« on: October 27, 2025, 09:56:35 pm »

Maybe I will talk more about that, actually...

If you are curious, I also made a wallpaper of the 35 games published by Nintendo themselves that are NOT in a black/silver/blue box.

Nintendo wanted to get North American gamers into RPGs, so they chose to publish Dragon Quest (and rename it to "Dragon Warrior"), Final Fantasy, and Faxanadu.  They also chose to publish Mega Man 6 when Capcom didn't seem to want to do it.

But it's interesting what we have here...
Consider the black/silver/blue-box games (seen on the wallpaper in my previous post) to be when Nintendo was starting out, that is, the early NES era.
Then the games with red banners on the top would be the latest phase (because the Super NES was on the horizon or already out, like Kirby's Adventure, Wario's Woods, and the Yoshi puzzle games).
Then everything else in between is what you'd think would be the "peak Nintendo era".

But if you filter out the Zapper and Power Pad games, since no one remembers those (sorry, Super Team Games and To The Earth), the games from franchises that are not dependent on Nintendo anymore (as mentioned earlier, like Final Fantasy and Mega Man 6), then what are you left with?

Super Mario Bros. 2 and 3, both Zelda games, Punch-Out!!, and... that's pretty much it?

(I mean, I like StarTropics, but sadly, that's not really remembered after the NES era... wasn't even released in Japan... not even any Super Smash Bros. references, if I recall correctly...)

Arguably, The Legend Of Zelda would almost be a "Black Box" game due to the timing and that it almost had a black box... but that just means one fewer game for the "peak era" that we are discussing here!

I mean, sure, the Mario sequels and Zelda (even if it's "just" Zelda II) are certainly nothing to scoff at, and Punch-Out!! was insanely popular too.  Though big, nay, HUGE, that's really not many games at all.  But they didn't need to make many more, clearly.  Maybe Nintendo didn't NEED to release more stuff, lest it distract from the well-selling Super Mario Bros. 2 and 3.  Looking at this really goes to show how the "peak NES era" was probably heavily supported by third-party games, that is, Mega Man, Castlevania, Ninja Gaiden, even licensed stuff like Disney and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Certainly interesting to look at it this way, isn't it?

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Map Requests / Re: List of unmapped NES games

« on: October 27, 2025, 09:21:50 pm »

I made this wallpaper on the 40th anniversary of the NES (nine days ago, Oct. 18), and was kind of surprised to see that of the 72 NES games that Nintendo published themselves, 37 (JUST over half of them) are "Black/Silver/Blue-Box" games.  That is, if you count World Class Track Meet, the Action Set (Super Mario Bros.+ Duck Hunt) double Game Pak, and the Power Set (Super Mario Bros. + Duck Hunt + World Class Track Meet) triple Game Pak as truly belonging here despite not actually having individual boxes.  Plus, Donkey Kong Classics (being comprised of Donkey Kong + Donkey Kong Jr.) kind of feels like it belongs here.

I could talk a lot more about that, but I bring it up because I probably should have acknowledged that when zagato blackfist submitted maps for Mach Rider, Slalom, and Stack-Up the other day, we actually now have maps for all 37 of these "Black/Silver/Blue-Box" games!

Keep up the good work, zagato!   

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VGMaps Social Board / Re: YouTube channel! (JonLeung1)

« on: October 16, 2025, 10:08:29 pm »

I will soon have a full vlog of Jason and I at Edmonton Expo 2025, but until then, here's this year's Cosplay Craftsmanship Cup.

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Map Requests / Re: List of unmapped NES games

« on: October 16, 2025, 11:44:22 am »

As for "1.36 NES games per day", this not unreal because some games consist of one-screen "maps" or have non-platforming structure.

With less than two days until the 40th anniversary, and under two hundred games to go, I'm pretty sure we won't have all the NES maps done by the 40th anniversary.

Not unless someone can map 100 games a day, and for me to be able to put them up instantly.  Nope, not happening.  I know I can't work that fast.

How about for the 45th anniversary (in the year 2030)?

If one NES game is mapped every a week, a full map set should be completed in under four years.  So, 44th anniversary?  4+4=8... like 8-bit.  Or something...?

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Map Gab / Re: Sega Genesis Mini 2 - full map set

« on: October 10, 2025, 09:07:15 am »

If anyone's still in the mood for some Sega Genesis mapping...

I'm always wondering if I should make a topic about mapping all of the games available on the "Nintendo Classics" apps (as they are now called) for subscribers of Nintendo Switch Online (the online service for the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2).  More games are added occasionally, so it'd be something I'd have to keep updating, but I imagine it should easily be possible to map them faster than they add to them. 

The apps include games from the NES/Famicom, Super NES/Super Famicom, and the Game Boy/Game Boy Color on the basic tier.  Subscribing to the Expansion Pack also adds games from Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 64 (with a separate app for M-rated games, and more features on the Switch 2), Virtual Boy (announced but not yet available at the time of this post), and GameCube (for the Switch 2, not the original Switch).  And it's not limited to Nintendo platforms, there's the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive as well.

Here's the current list of those, as seen on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Classics#Sega_Genesis_/_Mega_Drive

As of now, there are 51 Sega Genesis games, but 42 of them have already been mapped.  Certainly having the Sega Genesis Mini and Sega Genesis Mini 2 fully mapped knocked out many of these classics already.

Now, I haven't checked if those 42 games are FULLY mapped, but the nine games that we don't have any maps from at all are these:

ESWAT: City Under Siege
Flicky
Mercs
MUSHA
Puyo Puyo (J)
Super Thunder Blade
Target Earth
Thunder Force II
Zero Wing (E)

So yeah, I dunno... should I make a "NSO/Nintendo Classics apps" requests list?

From my personal requests list, all I have right now for the Genesis is one Sega CD game: Snatcher.  (Though maybe I should add Zero Wing (E) to it, weird that we don't have that already...)

Thanks again for all your hard work!  I don't mean to sound like I'm all like "you're not done yet, LOL".  Though I am a Nintendo fan, I always feel like the Genesis needs more representation here.

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Map Gab / Re: Sega Genesis Mini 2 - full map set

« on: October 09, 2025, 09:03:55 pm »

G.E.R. has mapped out Shining Force CD and Mansion Of Hidden Souls!  Turns out that last one wasn't that hard after all.
Thanks, G.E.R.!

He has also clarified that the Shining In The Darkness map set by Vorpal86 that we've had all this time is actually complete too.
Belated extra thanks, Vorpal86!

It looks like... could it be?  The Genesis Mini 2 has been completely mapped?

I'll check it over, and if so, I'll thank everyone involved and edit the original post (like I did with the others when they got completed), move this topic to "Map Gab", and make a front-page feature image sometime.

EDIT: This is who has mapped what... looks like G.E.R. was involved in mapping 46 of the 61 games, most of them completely by himself!  Wow!  That's dedication!

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VGMaps Social Board / Re: YouTube channel! (JonLeung1)

« on: October 09, 2025, 07:23:50 pm »

I saw a funny Chiitan☆ video, wanted to see what it would be like to add Contra music to it, then figured, "that's cool", but at this point, why not just make it a YouTube Short?

My recent Mega Man 3 Short is now at 10k views and the Mega Man 2 Short is now at 50k views.  So even though I seriously need to get back to making longform content, I can make silly stuff like this now and then to keep my watch time up.  They don't take too long to make, after all.

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Map Requests / Re: JonLeung's Requests

« on: October 09, 2025, 09:11:21 am »

Gravity Circuit is on my list, and this is a public service announcement that the game is free to claim on the Epic Games Store this week (until Thursday, October 16, 9:00 AM MST) if any of you PC gamers want a NES-like Mega Man-style (or maybe more like Mega Man X-style) game.
https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/gravity-circuit-489baa

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Gaming / Re: Broken Relic (point-&-click adventure game on Kickstarter that I'll appear in!)

« on: October 08, 2025, 09:58:20 am »

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Gaming / Re: Broken Relic (point-&-click adventure game on Kickstarter that I'll appear in!)

« on: October 08, 2025, 08:54:15 am »

Bumping this up as there's only 25 hours left (essentially, it's the final day) and I wanted to bring attention to it again for a final push and before it's too late.

At the moment, it is very close to the £20,000 stretch goal that will bring it to iOS & Android, so that's quite likely, but can it get to £25,000 for a Nintendo Switch port?

If anyone's been holding off, well, there's no reason to delay now that there's not much time left!   

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Map Requests / Re: JonLeung's Requests

« on: October 02, 2025, 05:49:37 pm »

Ah, forgot to mention that a few days ago we got the maps for Noah's Ark (E), thanks to zagato blackfist yet again!

I did mention it on social media, though, and I said:

"Yesterday, zagato blackfist contributed maps of Konami's "Noah's Ark", a PAL exclusive, and the ONLY officially-licensed NES game with biblical themes.
Now VGMaps has maps of ALL of the Christian NES games (licensed or not)."

"This should NOT be confused with Super 3D Noah's Ark. They are quite different!

Noah's Ark = NES, only officially licensed Christian game, Europe only
Super 3D Noah's Ark = Super NES, only unlicensed cartridge during the lifespan of the Super NES, North America only"

It's nice to get a themed set of games complete.

Thanks again, zagato!

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Map Gab / Re: Sega Genesis Mini 2 - full map set

« on: October 01, 2025, 08:51:52 pm »

Do you think it is okay to mark Populous as complete, then?

Thank you for the submissions and clarifications on Ecco The Dolphin and Ecco: The Tides Of Time.  Still took a while to get them up because I had to rename a bunch of existing maps that I figured are still worth keeping.  Both of the Ecco games have now been checked off of the Sega CD section.

Awesome work yet again, G.E.R.!  You really love taking on these multi-game requests, don't you?  Your effort is appreciated.

I guess that leaves the two Shining games - Shining In The Darkness and Shining Force CD - as well as Mansion Of Hidden Souls, which I'd be interested to see how that is handled.