Discussion The old magazine review scores super spreadsheet project

[ReyVGM]

Currently, if you want to look at a review score any old magazine gave to an old game, there's no place on the Internet to quickly find that info.

You'd have to search through old magazine scans, and even if you know the month and year the game came out, there's still no guarantee you'll find the score easily or quickly. Some magazines scored games months before its release date, some scored them much later. And some didn't score them at all (like how EGM never reviewed Super Mario World 2 Yoshi Island).

So, I decided to self-flagellate my mind and started a google spreadsheet where I'm manually writing down every single score given to every single game (right now I'm up to issue 30 of Nintendo Power). However, I know I will never be able to finish this project on my own, so this is where the community comes in. I would appreciate it if people contributed to the spreadsheet and added scores from other magazines (EGM, Game Pro, etc.).

To contribute:

• The spreadsheet in question: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16lWeOg-XCfFbV4qCI12MisDjI_yVP-wRvJS-jPWI7uA
• Just google, for example, "EGM magazine archive", and you'll probably find an archive.org collection featuring scans of that magazine. Then, look for the review scores section and add them to the google spreadsheet.
• To add the info, just right click and comment on the proper field with the score and issue number and I'll add the info. I'm doing it this way to prevent vandalism, but if someone contributes consistently, I can grant that person editing powers too.
• If a game or console isn't featured, just leave a comment anywhere and I'll add the info.
• I'm going to take care of all the Nintendo Power NES, SNES and GB scores. But if someone wants to jump ahead and add all the Nintendo 64 Nintendo Power scores, let me know and I'll add the list.
• Right now I'm only focusing on officially licensed North American releases, but if someone from Europe or Japan wants to add scores from Euro/Japanese magazines, I'm fine with that, however, please don't do so if you only plan to submit a few entries.
• I will not add scores if the issue number isn't listed.

Hopefully someone will take a liking to this project and help me complete it faster.

 

[ReyVGM]

I finished adding all the NP Game Pak Source supplement scores.

 

[Brofield]

Currently, if you want to look at a review score any old magazine gave to an old game, there's no place on the Internet to quickly find that info.

You'd have to search through old magazine scans, and even if you know the month and year the game came out, there's still no guarantee you'll find the score easily or quickly. Some magazines scored games months before its release date, some scored them much later. And some didn't score them at all (like how EGM never reviewed Super Mario World 2 Yoshi Island).

So, I decided to self-flagellate my mind and started a google spreadsheet where I'm manually writing down every single score given to every single game (right now I'm up to issue 30 of Nintendo Power). However, I know I will never be able to finish this project on my own, so this is where the community comes in. I would appreciate it if people contributed to the spreadsheet and added scores from other magazines (EGM, Game Pro, etc.).

To contribute:

• The spreadsheet in question: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16lWeOg-XCfFbV4qCI12MisDjI_yVP-wRvJS-jPWI7uA
• Just google, for example, "EGM magazine archive", and you'll probably find an archive.org collection featuring scans of that magazine. Then, look for the review scores section and add them to the google spreadsheet.
• To add the info, just right click and comment on the proper field with the score and issue number and I'll add the info. I'm doing it this way to prevent vandalism, but if someone contributes consistently, I can grant that person editing powers too.
• If a game or console isn't featured, just leave a comment anywhere and I'll add the info.
• I'm going to take care of all the Nintendo Power NES, SNES and GB scores. But if someone wants to jump ahead and add all the Nintendo 64 Nintendo Power scores, let me know and I'll add the list.
• Right now I'm only focusing on officially licensed North American releases, but if someone from Europe or Japan wants to add scores from Euro/Japanese magazines, I'm fine with that, however, please don't do so if you only plan to submit a few entries.
• I will not add scores if the issue number isn't listed.

Hopefully someone will take a liking to this project and help me complete it faster.

I genuinely don't know when I could contribute, but I do have a fairly sizeable Nintendo Power collection ranging from about ~170 to ~250? I should be able to go over them sometime in the future to add what game reviews I can add from the Gamecube/GBA/Wii/DS era

 

[ReyVGM]

I genuinely don't know when I could contribute, but I do have a fairly sizeable Nintendo Power collection ranging from about ~170 to ~250? I should be able to go over them sometime in the future to add what game reviews I can add from the Gamecube/GBA/Wii/DS era

Thanks. But I think that era is already covered by metacritic? I know Wii and DS are at least.

This archive is more for the old scores that aren't in online databases. 32bit generation and lower. But if GC and GBA aren't in online databases, then they can be added yes.

 

[Stopdoor]

I genuinely don't know when I could contribute, but I do have a fairly sizeable Nintendo Power collection ranging from about ~170 to ~250? I should be able to go over them sometime in the future to add what game reviews I can add from the Gamecube/GBA/Wii/DS era

Not helpful either but funnily enough this is almost my exact range of Nintendo Power as well lol, probably a weird indirect sign of generational age

 

[ReyVGM]

Finished adding all the Game Boy Player's Guide scores

 

[Gingerbread Man]

You could try asking this YouTuber for help: https://www.youtube.com/@DefunctGames

 

[Brofield]

Thanks. But I think that era is already covered by metacritic? I know Wii and DS are at least.

This archive is more for the old scores that aren't in online databases. 32bit generation and lower. But if GC and GBA aren't in online databases, then they can be added yes.

Ahh, fair enough! That makes sense, but nevertheless good luck and godspeed on this project!

Not helpful either but funnily enough this is almost my exact range of Nintendo Power as well lol, probably a weird indirect sign of generational age

Oh for sure, about that age when I was able to have a magazine subscription paid for myself and then gave up over time; the era came to an end all too fast but damn what a special time capsule they are to re-read over again haha

 

[Krvavi Abadas]

i know Gamerankings used to document a few scores from old gaming mags, but the whole site was killed off after it was bought by the same parent company as Metacritic.
the dates on them are also generally inaccurate (note how it says the game was reviewed by EGM in June 2003 rather than January 1993)

 

[ReyVGM]

I finished adding all the Nintendo Power scores for the NES and most of the SNES/GB stuff. I'm up to 1997 now so there are still some SNES/GB releases left to add.
I'm also adding N64 scores, but I'll probably stop with NP after the SNES/GB releases stop. Then I'll move to EGM.

Other contributors are adding GameFan and GamePro scores.

 

[Bro3256]

Apologies for the delay, anywho I think we should consider including reviews from Japanese magazines and to start with here are all the reviews from every 1986 issue of Famitsu. These were gathered by FamiWiki user Minuy600 several months back. These consist of review scores of Famicom, and Disk System reviews. While Famitsu combines both the Famicom and Disk System, I feel like for the purpose of this spreadsheet that they be separated since that's the consensus by both Japanese and English players.

---

Issue - Name - Console - Scores - Total
#10 - Akumajou Dracula - FDS - 8, 8, 9, 9 - 34/40
#10 - Castle Excellent - FC - 8, 6, 7, 6 - 27/40
#10 - Othello - FC, FDS - 5, 6, 7, 6, 24/40
#10 - Buggy Popper - FC - 4, 5, 8, 4 - 21/40
#10 - Urusei Yatsura: Lum no Wedding Bell - FC - 4. 4. 7, 6 - 21/40
#11 - Pro Wres: Famicom Wrestling Association - FDS - 7, 8, 8, 7 - 30/40
#11 - Meikyuu Kumikyoku - FC - 6, 8, 9, 6 - 29/40
#11 - Dead Zone - FDS - 4, 6, 7, 6 - 23/40
#11 - Ikari - FC - 5, 7, 8, 4 - 24/40
#11 - Nagagutsu o Haita Neko: Sekai Isshuu 80 Nichi Daibouken - FC - 5, 7, 8, 5 - 25/40
#12 - Super Star Force - FC - 6, 7, 8, 6 - 27/40
#12 - The Monitor Puzzle: Kineko: Kinetic Connection - FDS - 8, 9, 9, 7 - 33/40
#12 - Daiva Story 6: Nirsartia no Gyokuza - FC - 6, 7, 7, 6 - 26/40
#12 - Hottaaman no Chitei Tanken - FC - 4, 6, 6, 4 - 20/40
#12 - Zanac - FDS - 9, 7, 7, 8 - 31/40
#13 - Tatakae! Chou Robot Seimeitai Transformers: Convoy no Nazo - FC - 3, 4, 7, 4 - 18/40
#13 - Doraemon - FC - 6, 7, 8, 6 - 27/40
#13 - Moero TwinBee: Cinnamon-hakase o Sukue! - FDS - 6, 7, 9, 7 - 29/40
#13 - Pro Yakyuu Family Stadium - FC - 9, 8, 9, 9 - 35/40
#13 - Dragon Ball: Shenron no Nazo - FC - 5, 8, 8, 8 - 29/40
#14 - Mashou - FC - 5, 7, 7, 6 - 25/40
#14 - Maduura no Tsubasa - FC - 3, 6, 7, 5 - 21/40
#14 - King Kong 2: Ikari no Megaton Punch - FC - 6, 8, 8, 7 - 29/40
#14 - Nazo no Kabe: Block Kuzushi - FDS - 8, 9, 9, 9 - 35/40
#14 - Layla - FC - 5, 7, 7, 7 - 26/40

---

Notes
FC - Family Computer (Famicom): An 8-bit console released by Nintendo on July 15, 1983 in Japan.
FDS - Family Computer Disk System (Famicom Disk System): An add-on for Nintendo's Famicom console that allowed the system to played disk cards instead of cartridges.
The names used for software are their original Japanese names romanized to English. These are the names we use on FamiWiki.

 

[ReyVGM]

Are you the same Bro from TCRF?

Are the average scores something famitsu also included or is that something included by the person that gathered the scores?

I'll add the scores, but I would really like it if the focus was to complete adding scores for the most popular US magazines first.

The more magazines/regions we add, especially if it's only a few contributions, the more incomplete the spreadsheet will be.

 

[Bro3256]

Are you the same Bro from TCRF?

Are the average scores something famitsu also included or is that something included by the person that gathered the scores?

I'll add the scores, but I would really like it if the focus was to complete adding scores for the most popular US magazines first.

The more magazines/regions we add, especially if it's only a few contributions, the more incomplete the spreadsheet will be.

Yeah I'm the same Bro that's contributed to TCRF including the recent contributions to the Felix the Cat NES page. Definitely focus on US magazines as there's a lot more to work with plus you don't have to deal with a language barrier getting in the way. I personally think a compromise for now would be to add games when we can confirm reviews for them exist rather than have a huge list of games that might not even have reviews of any kind. As for how Famitsu reviews work, EGM more or less copied their system almost 1:1 (from issues 2 to 50) so that's basically how Famitsu's work. Each of the 4 reviewers rate a game from 1 to 10 and the scores are combined out of 40.

 

[ReyVGM]

Yeah I'm the same Bro that's contributed to TCRF including the recent contributions to the Felix the Cat NES page. Definitely focus on US magazines as there's a lot more to work with plus you don't have to deal with a language barrier getting in the way. I personally think a compromise for now would be to add games when we can confirm reviews for them exist rather than have a huge list of games that might not even have reviews of any kind. As for how Famitsu reviews work, EGM more or less copied their system almost 1:1 (from issues 2 to 50) so that's basically how Famitsu's work. Each of the 4 reviewers rate a game from 1 to 10 and the scores are combined out of 40.

Thanks. Yeah, I'll stick with US magazines for now.

 

[ReyVGM]

Wow, magazines of the era reviewed a shit ton of 3DO games. I thought they reviewed a lot less 3DO games.

I far as I was concerned that console didn't even exist for me.

 

[ReyVGM]

Project keeps growing.
JJC is adding all the GamePro scores, lordmrw is adding all the GameFan ones.

I added all the NP scores up to issue 115, EGM up to issue 140. I'm going to do Next Generation and Game Informer next.

 

[Nabbit]

This is a great project! Thank you Rey for initiating this and thanks to all who are working on it. One resource I thought of where I remember seeing some US and EU scores from old magazines is Moby Games.

Glover reviews - MobyGames

Listing of critic and player reviews for Glover

www.mobygames.com

Here's Glover for example and you can see some magazine scores referenced. Y'all probably already knew about this but wanted to share just in case it's helpful.

 

[ReyVGM]

This is a great project! Thank you Rey for initiating this and thanks to all who are working on it. One resource I thought of where I remember seeing some US and EU scores from old magazines is Moby Games.

Glover reviews - MobyGames

Listing of critic and player reviews for Glover

www.mobygames.com

Here's Glover for example and you can see some magazine scores referenced. Y'all probably already knew about this but wanted to share just in case it's helpful.

Thanks, Nabbit!