Classic Game Room

Classic Game Room is the first video game review show that I fully appreciated because the reviews that this show makes are not biased and it has a lot of substance and style.

Mark Bussler really did proved that you don't need obnoxious screaming and dirty language (although he does the latter on certain episodes) in order to make a review interesting.

The real kicker here, however, is the funny one-liners and commentary that he makes in every review; regardless of the game's quality overall. Whether it be an excellent game like Daytona USA or an awful rendition of Indy 500 on the Game.com, Mark never fails to provide a good laugh.

Truly, CGR knows how to stand the test of time... with style!

Mark Bussler is the kind of guy that can review anything and make it entertaining, whether that's video games, the occasional food review or some gaming peripheral. And that's why I've been a "Classic Game Room" subscriber for years. He's got a knack for always finding the good in any given game, and it makes for a refreshingly unique show. CGR is occasionally billed as, "The Cure for the Corporate Review", and that's exactly right; it's very positive. You look at the YouTube landscape these days, and it's one "personality" after another, each one jockeying for attention. These sort of things can get obnoxious quickly. But Mark's got a natural likability, a sense of humor that's a little goofy, partially sarcastic, and pretty much always oddball. He's a lot of fun.

And as a review show, it's wholly effective. He's turned me onto a lot of games that I would never have given a second or even a first glance. And I've reaped considerable rewards from being a regular viewer. And he works across the board, too; he'll do games for systems I've never seen available, and some I've never heard of. Maybe the best thing I can say to someone who's never seen this show is that, you find yourself watching reviews for games you have no intention of playing just to be entertained.

Put simply, this is a guy who has taken his love for video games and turned it into a career (indeed, he's carved the Intergalactic Space Arcade out of some warehouse space in Pittsburgh; he's living the dream!), and he's been promoting the fun of video games for many years. Currently, "Classic Game Room" is in a state of flux as Mark transitions the show from YouTube to somewhere else on the web. Maybe a completely different format. Part of it makes me sad, but change has a habit of doing that. If I'm a fanboy of anything in this life, it's this show, and I'll be a there for whatever he does next.

10/10

Documentary veteran Mark Bussler decided to revive his turn of the century video game review series in 2008 on Youtube, no doubt a move influenced by the rise of amateur critics who mixed in humour, like the Angry Video Game Nerd and the Nostalgia Critic, with criticism. However, unlike those shows, 'Classic Game Room' was shorter and more squarely focused on the actual reviews, with the humour coming from Mark himself in the forms of oddball commentary, references and one liners, as opposed to sketches or vulgarity like the former individuals and their many clones.

Mark's almost childlike enthusiasm and larger than life personality are a fundamental part of the show's appeal, finding a balance between a charismatic entertainer yet someone you can relate to as a fellow gamer and pop culture enthusiast. The reviews themselves are no slack, in part due to top notch production quality given Mark's past experience, and give you a good impression of the game reviewed, usually placing a big emphasis on gameplay and control, with sound and graphics being secondary. They aren't exactly highly critical or essay level depth, but for short internet video reviews, they still get the job done and do give a sense of if the game is or isn't in your field of interest.

If you're tired of all the really long, skit laden reviews out there and want something that still has a comic element while being much shorter, CGR is worth a shot. Some may find Mark's wackiness a little much, but for those who can get into the whole 'goofy uncle/friend we all know' quality that Mark conveys, you'll be nicely rewarded.