Back with a Caribbean beer

It's been a while since my last post because I was in vacation in the Caribbean for two weeks. Now I'm back and I can continue to pair beers and games. Maybe a little rum and games down the road?

Just before I left for my trip, I found a good deal for 80 NES games with about 55 new ones for my personal collection. This means more games to try and match! I've got some pretty bad ones but also great games that I was looking for like Super C, the follow-up to the hard Contra.

On my trip, I tried a couple of local beers so I figured I could try to pair them with one of my games. The brew I chose is a lager from Martinique called Lorraine. It's golden/yellow in color, like many commercial lager, with a good foamy head that's quickly reduced to a thin lace. Its corny taste with minimal malt disappear as fast as the head with a light hop bitterness in the end. Really light.

There is nothing really bad about it, it's just that nothing really stands out...

So for this beer, you either need a beach/Caribbean themed game or, more akin to the Lorraine, a really standard game that doesn't bring anything new or really interesting to the table.

What we have here is a "summer" themed game from the infamous LJN to go with this Caribbean beer and it also happen to be a pretty standard game. Perfect match!

T&C Surf Design might hold a bit of nostalgia for some people who played it a while ago but playing it today, it's nothing overwhelming.

In this game, you can either skateboard, surf or play a combination of both, one after the other. When  you select your discipline, you choose your "funky" character and hop on your board! The first thing you'll notice is the control. It's not easy to describe and it's also not easy to play, especially the surf portion. On your skate, you hit B to move faster and A to jump off your board. It'll probably take you a couple try to find out how to jump with your board and you'll die trying. You need to press back and A... Yup, back and A to jump. It's not intuitive and it also slows you down a bit! The animation of your character is also worth noting. He has a weird way of pushing the board.

< + A!

Then there's the surfing! You're on top of a big wave and you try to score points. Trying to move with your D-pad isn't easy, you're always struggling against the flow of the wave pulling you downward. I tried everything and I couldn't score much. I only got my thumb to hurt.

Like the beer, it's not a complete disaster of a game, it's playable and you might get some fun out of it a couple of time but it certainly won't be a game you keep coming to when you get a craving.

The Lorraine is an OK beer when you're on the beach with friends and you can't get your hand on something else. It can also be a good one just to start your night with one or two quick games of T&C before moving on to something with a bit more meat around the bone. You could also play it later at night, after a couple beers and better games...

You can easily find worst in both the beer and game department and I promise I'll share those. I can already think of a couple mix for the future...

Until next time,

Cheers!!