tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18469020273932888862024-02-21T08:02:43.177+00:00RETRO SPIRIT GAMESUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger249125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1846902027393288886.post-57888307843284637112016-02-23T13:30:00.003+00:002016-02-23T13:30:35.846+00:00Retro Review - Apidya (Amiga)<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">When
it comes to shoot-em-up (or 'shmups' to use the correct parlance) I
have always teetered on the brink of becoming a hardcore fan, having spent a brief period thoroughly addicted to Cave's wonderful games. But, like junk food and pop music, the novelty soon wears off and I end up ditching it for something with more depth. However, a</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">fter many years of playing shmups I can definitely say
that the games that hold my interest for more than a few plays are
those that have interesting environments to traverse; the beaches of war torn Europe; a city under alien invasion; a forest
base or the depths of the ocean.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Anything is preferable to the tedious vacuum of space! Yep, if there's one thing I find more boring
than watching paint dry it's flying a generic spaceship or shit anime
robot through a black screen filled with stars and asteroids. Give me Capcom's
</span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">1943</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;"> franchise</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">, the sublime</span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;"> Raiden </i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">series, or </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">DoDonPachi</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;"> instead. Hell, even the madness of Konami's
insane </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Sexy Parodius</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;"> is preferable. But there's another option, a
fantastic and (shock horror) original horizontal blaster that never features in the shmup's native
home of the smokey arcades of the 1980s and 90s. Nope, this
particular gem is a Commodore Amiga exclusive, the quirky and wonderful
</span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Apidya</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Apidya
takes the standard horizontal shmup formula of moving a ship around
while blasting incoming enemies, both in the air and on the ground,
and gives it an identity all of its own by switching the space and
war themes found in a million other shooters to something closer to
home - your back garden. So, gone are planes, ships, tanks, robots,
aliens and what-have-you, and instead we have an array of insects to
do battle with.. oh yes, and you play as a wasp. How cool is that!?
We all know wasps are right bastards, capable of giving you a nasty
sting, but in <i>Apidya</i> the bastard can shoot fiery death at his
enemies, something that would definitely spoil your picnic. As you
fly through the picturesque gardens you will face beetles (of both
stag and dung variety), bees, butterflies, snails, hornets and many
more.. even moles have taken umbrage at your existence and will pop
up to hurl rocks at you. It's incredibly refreshing to play a shooter
in such a different setting to the norm and, even better, it's fantastically playable to boot! </span>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Presentation
throughout is top notch, with some truly gorgeous 16-bit
representations of the outdoor areas you traverse, from the standard
plants and grass of the garden to the more water based pond stages,
everything looks amazing – I would say it's one of my personal
favourite Amiga games on visuals alone. Add to this a truly kickass
soundtrack by Chris Hülsbeck that will stick in your head forever,
and you have an extremely polished package. The bizarre and totally unfitting anime intro animation (as well as other nods to the story and characters behind the action) are rather jarring, however, feeling completely at odds with the in-game setting. As does the mind bogglingly strange bonus stage, that occurs after each boss, in which you navigate your wasp along a sunset strewn backdrop, collecting naked babies (Cupids?) while avoiding naked red devils. Seriously... WTF?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Gameplay is of an incredibly high standard, with fast and responsive
controls keeping you in full control of your killer wasp - though make sure you have a 'proper' joystick like the Zipstik or Competition Pro (standard advice when gaming on the Amiga)! The
power-up mechanic is very similar to the one seen in Konami's excellent
<i>Gradius</i> / <i>Parodius</i> series, with a system that allows you to use your
upgrades - flowers you collect from vanquished foes -</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;"> on the weapon or ship ability of your choice with a tap of the space bar. This allows you to focus on increasing your wasp's speed, or maybe boosting the power of his horizontal or ground firing weapon. This adds an element of strategy to play, as well as the risk / reward factor of resisting the urge to immediately use power-ups in order to 'save up' for a bigger enhancement.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">The
only problem I have with <i>Apidya</i> is its difficulty. This is one hard
game! I am fairly proficient at shmups, but even getting
off the first world (made up of three stages and a boss) is a pretty mammoth task. Not only does the game ramp up the number of enemies on
screen after only the first stage, but death stops play and restarts you a reasonable way back – meaning you have to repeat the same stretch of terrain again,
only with less power-ups. World two's pond setting is an absolute
nightmare, with unpredictable enemies flying everywhere and larger
static enemies that soak up a huge number of bullets before dying.
It's a real shame as, although satisfying and challenging, <i>Apidya</i>
goes overboard, making it rather frustrating – made more so as
you so desperately want to progress to see the next world and hear
the next tune. Still, despite this brutal difficulty, <i>Apidya</i> is my
favourite shmup on the Amiga – infinitely better than the dull and
hugely overrated <i>Project-X</i> and <i>Xenon 2, </i>and the graphically impressive but boring
and empty <i>Agony</i>. So, if you think you are up to the task, then fire up
this amazing shooter and prepare to have your ass handed to you!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;"><b><span style="color: red;">Title
: </span>Apidya</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;"><b><span style="color: red;">Developer
:</span> Kaiko / Blue Byte</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;"><b><span style="color: red;">Year
: </span>1991</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;"><b><span style="color: red;">System
:</span> Amiga</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;"><b><span style="color: red;">Also
on :</span> N/A</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;"><b><span style="color: red;">Genre
:</span> Shmup</b></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1846902027393288886.post-66872124647330550012016-01-24T16:14:00.000+00:002016-01-24T16:15:30.163+00:00New DOOM map by John Romero - the original creator of the game - released!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Wow, talk about coincidences. No
sooner have I published an article recounting my love for <i><a href="http://www.retrospiritgames.co.uk/2016/01/great-gaming-moments-01-doom-id-software.html" target="_blank">Doom</a></i> when
suddenly a new user made level appears online. Not just any old user
level, oh no! This map has been created by none other than John
Romero himself.. To quote Wayne's World “We're not worthy! We're
not worthy!”. Sure, there are hundreds of thousands of home made
maps for <i>Doom</i> and<i> Doom 2</i> on this here interweb, but it's not every
day that one of the original creators of the game steps up to the
plate and offers us a brand new stage! This is the first <i>Doom</i> map
from Mr. Romero in two decades, and if that's not a reason to
celebrate then I don't know what is!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So how does this new level hold up
against the plethora of quality home-made maps by talented wannabe
level designers? It was with some excitement that I unzipped the
unimaginatively titled E1M8B.Wad – come on John, surely you could
have given the map a decent name!? - and I wasn't even bothered by
the fact that the map is for regular old <i>Doom</i> 1.. not my beloved <i>Doom
2</i>. There would be no Chaingun guys, Revenants or Mancubus (Mancubuses? Mancubi?) bothering me on this map.. nor would I be utilising the super shotgun
– my favourite weapon of all time. But fuck it! This map is by the
original creator of Doom, so I was prepared to forgo these things and
jump in and start blasting!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Upon warping into the map, first
impressions were a huge let down. As soon as I discharged my weapon,
enemies began spawning in the room with me, killing me rather
rapidly. Not only that, but the floor was covered in red lava cracks,
hurting me as I stepped on it. Feelings of disappointment started to
set in but I jumped straight back into it and died again.. several
times. After a few attempts I cleared the room and found a much
needed health kit and the chaingun. I was able to breath a small sigh
of relief before I entered a large outdoor area filled with angry
imps and I started to enjoy myself. It also became apparent that the
level was going to be larger than I had first thought, with several
different areas visible from where I was standing – though access
was impossible due to the massive sea of acid. </span>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">E1M8B (uurgh!) is very well designed
(apart from the starting point), with a heightened sense of
exploration coupled with <i>Doom's</i> usual linear route that must be taken
in order to obtain the correctly coloured key or press one of the
many environment changing switches that grant you access to the next
area. Many of the areas you must reach are blocked by a huge pool of
acid, which gives the sense you are exploring increasingly difficult
islands on your way to the exit. The map contains several pitch black
areas that become illuminated via switches and many narrow corridors,
which definitely gives the stage a horror edge, and there are plenty
of enemy filled rooms that spring open once you walk past a certain
point or flip a switch, leading to some tense stand-offs against
numerous foes in corridors you thought clear of danger. </span>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Overall, John's map is a gripping,
challenging and enjoyable new Doom level – despite the rather
annoying start room. It certainly feels like a recent map, with a
high level of detail and an intricate layout that uses lots of cool
tricks and design elements from many of the original <i>Doom</i> and <i>Doom 2</i>
levels by Id Software, yet it never feels like a mash-up of styles
just for the sake of it. It definitely retains that classic, old
school, <i>Doom</i> feeling – though this could be accentuated by the fact
I usually play <i>Doom 2,</i> and without all the extra monsters, extra
textures and the wonderful super shotgun, the original always seems
slightly empty to me. But there is a certain purity to playing<i> Doom
</i>without all the sequel's extra adversaries. It keeps you focused on
killing huge numbers of smaller enemies, while seeking the correct
path to the exit without the need for gimmicks or the irritating Pain
Elemental spewing Lost Souls everywhere, or the bastard Arch Ville
resurrecting dead enemies left right and centre. It's just you, your
limited arsenal of guns (no plasma based weaponry here), and your
reflexes, and it's all the better for it. Maybe the fact it was
created by John Romero makes me slightly biased, but I really enjoyed
my playthrough this stage and am going back to play it again now. </span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizGYAPHbuNylxhySFcgwLJUwAdkcjPMEhivH_os1C5NW0J6G5gLQ5_zkBorii71ndzORMcGC9NhK9X647smRHCpbEPO9SPs9WL_sxmmuo31Sjju5KcvNUmyi143dSL-cMe8Va-hp_eeRpy/s1600/Screenshot_Doom_20160122_123050.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizGYAPHbuNylxhySFcgwLJUwAdkcjPMEhivH_os1C5NW0J6G5gLQ5_zkBorii71ndzORMcGC9NhK9X647smRHCpbEPO9SPs9WL_sxmmuo31Sjju5KcvNUmyi143dSL-cMe8Va-hp_eeRpy/s640/Screenshot_Doom_20160122_123050.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you love <i>Doom </i>then be sure to
grab this new map (along with the awesome GZDoom source port) and
game like it's 1993 again! Head over to Doomworld.com to find thousands of fantastic levels and mods for this timeless game!</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1846902027393288886.post-90874376217500965012016-01-18T20:45:00.000+00:002016-01-18T20:49:46.531+00:00Great Gaming Moments - 01 : DOOM (Id Software)<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In a new regular series, I will be taking a look at moments in classic videogames that have left a lasting impression on me. The moments that filled me with a sense of satisfaction, accomplishment, or empowerment. They brought a smile to my face or a tear to my eye, and they have made the titles in question a personal experience that have shaped who I am as a gamer. The gameplay mechanics that make it to this list may be original and clever, or just dumb and instantly gratifying. Either way, I present to you the first of many in this series of.. <b>Great Gaming Moments</b>.</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">DOOM</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Title : </span>Doom, Doom 2, Final Doom</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">Developer :</span> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Id software </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Year : </span>1993, 1994, 1995</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Systems :</span> PC</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Also On :</span> </b></span><b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">SNES, </b><b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">32X, PS1, Saturn, </b><b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"> 3DO, </b><b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">N64, Jaguar, GBA, X360, PS3</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Not that I need any excuse to play <i>Doom</i> - one of my favourite games of all time - but here I am, some 22 years after first being introduced to Id Software's masterpiece, and I still get the same buzz of excitement when playing as I did as a hyperactive youngster. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I love </span><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Doom </i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">- as</span><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"> </i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">my two part <a href="http://www.retrospiritgames.co.uk/2013/02/special-feature-doom-20-years-on-still.html" target="_blank">special feature</a> on the game will attest to. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Of course, this is the kind of love you have for a lifelong friend, or your childhood pet, not the sticky kind of love that leaves you needing a box of tissues and a nap.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Whether skulking through the dimly lit corridors of the abandoned space station, or charging through the demonic caverns of Hell laying waste to the familiar set of hideous adversaries, I found myself experiencing a few events that brought a huge smile to my face. Every time I went through the same procedure I would be filled with the same sense of elation and accomplishment as the last time, performing something I must have now have performed thousands and thousands of times over. These moments are just a small part of what makes Doom a fantastic game, and it is impossible to choose just one (my original intention), so as a courtesy to the videogame that has provided me with an insane amount of pleasure over my life time so far, and whose characters feel as familiar to me as my closest friends, I am going to include three great gaming moments in Doom that will never, EVER get old, even when I am.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>1. Beserker power-up</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Oh boy, oh boy! Picking up the Beserker pack - a black version of the large medikit - sends your nameless hero into a fit of blind rage. The screen becomes red, you're automatically switched to your fists, a strange gong-like sound effect chimes in and you know it's time to unleash the pain! Granting you an instant 100 health points is all fine and dandy, but the real showstopper is the fact that you can now pummel the shit out of anything foolish enough to stand too close. Fireball hurling imps giving you grief? Not any more! Simply run at them and punch those brown blighters and watch as they explode in a satisfying pool of gibs. Old Pinkie demon trying to bite your face off? Maybe a large swarm of them - usually a nasty occurrence. Not a problem! Simply find yourself a nice narrow corridor and let those morons run straight into your fists of fury. Punching these pig-like abominations is insanely satisfying, a combination of the 'thwack' sound effect, and the way they reel backwards, omitting their bovine death-cry as blood spurts skywards. Simply perfect!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><b>Mmm.. satisfying!</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>2. Exploding Barrels</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The exploding barrel is now a videogame staple. What first person shooter these days <i>doesn't</i> have a barrel (usually red) that can be used as a makeshift explosive? Well, this common occurrence is all thanks to Doom - as are a great many FPS mechanics still in use today - and still hasn't been bettered.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The barrels in Doom are of the fairly unassuming white variety, although on closer inspection, the green goop frothing up inside them looks like an accident waiting to happen. Indeed, a few well placed bullets, a shotgun blast or, if you're really playing with fire, a rocket, will cause the barrel to detonate in a mighty explosion, often sending the barrel, and splash damage, in the opposite direction. Generally, they are best avoided, as these explosions can cause you serious damage. However, this caution goes out of the window when you realise that you can use them to inflict fiery pain upon the meddlesome Hell-spawn out to ruin your day. While they will cause harm to larger foes such as the Mancubus and Hell Knight, the fun really starts then you spray a barrel with bullets when lowlier enemies such as grunts, imps and pinkie demons are close by. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There is nothing quite as satisfying as luring a couple of irritants towards a barrel, the demonic glee that rises inside you as you wait for the perfect moment to shoot the toxic container, creating an explosion which emulsifies the approaching monsters into a puddle of gore. Even better is running into a swarm of grunts, chaingunners and imps all vying for your blood. You retreat back, selecting a weapon such as a rocket launcher or, heaven forbid, the BFG, but then you spot a barrel nestled among the monsters. Switching to your shotgun, you take careful aim and fire. Boom! The barrel explodes, creating a cacophony of hideous cries of pain, blood and guts flying every which way. The first explosion reaches another barrel which you hadn't even spotted, causing a quick-fire set of chain explosions which rip through the crowds to devastating effect. The area is now cleared, your work here is done!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>3. Monster-on-monster action</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">While the above methods of administering punishment to the demonic abominations is exceptionally gratifying, sometimes you just want to sit back and let them do all the work. In Doom the demons are so pissed off that they will happily start attacking their own kind, should an errant projectile from their kin collide with them. This will often cause them to forget about you entirely - the human intruder they were so keen to eviscerate only seconds ago - and turn their attentions to the clumsy ne'er-do-well who dared attack them. In the heat of battle this can provide much needed relief, but it's also satisfying and often comical to watch unfold. Demons will growl and chomp at enemies far hardier than themselves, usually resulting in their rapid demise, while imps and shotgunners can be incredibly persistent, chasing their attacker through corridors and across lava or acid. All the while, you can sit back and watch the action, saving yourself some precious ammo in the process.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So there you have it, just three reasons that explain why I am still playing this sublime game 22 years later. It's not as if I have to recommend <i>Doom 1 & 2</i> to anyone - after all, I am sure you have all played them many times. But I hope that my choice moments have brought a smile to your face and you recall experiencing them yourself, and that it inspires you to go back and play it again! The excellent Doomworld.com has recently completed its annual Cacoawards, showcasing the best user mods and levels of 2015, so what better time to get yourself back in the fray! Be sure to check out part two of my <a href="http://www.retrospiritgames.co.uk/2013/03/special-feature-doom-20-years-on-still.html" target="_blank">Doom special</a> for more info on the many excellent source ports, mods and addons available!</span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1846902027393288886.post-2303249155017111052015-12-25T23:54:00.006+00:002015-12-28T15:16:36.818+00:00A Very Amiga Christmas! 16-Bit Festive Gaming Goodies!<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>A 16-bit Christmas of Festive Freebies </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas. Tis the season, etc. etc. Yep, it's that time of year again, and thus the obligatory Christmas themed gaming articles appear online. The problem is, when looking at retro games, they are the same every year - unless some clever so-and-so has created a new homebrew game with a festive spin. Sure, I could cover newer indie games that feature Santa, elves, snowmen and the rest, but there are hardly any new ones and those that do appear are so dire they don't deserve the time spend playing (and writing about) them. Hmm, so what's a guy to do? I know, take a look at games on one of the greatest computers of all time, that's what! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Commodore's 16-bit beauty is the perfect candidate for an Xmas party as it was around in the late 1980's to mid 90's, the peak years for computer game magazines. During that time, magazines were full of enthusiastic young gamers and contained a very tongue-in-cheek style that never took itself too seriously - a far cry from the po-faced magazines of today. The best thing, however, were the cover disks! Each month your mag would come with one, possibly even two or three, floppy disks containing demos of the latest titles and, best of all, full homebrew games from bedroom programmers. Known developers got in on the action and began giving away Christmas themed levels based on their much loved titles, with Sensible Software, DMA and Team 17 all giving away seasonal treats.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was an avid magazine buying during the 90's, so I had all of these Amiga cover disks and still enjoy revisiting them to this day. As it's the holiday season I want to take a look at the best Christmas-based fun and frolics you can have on your Amiga, as well as ones that should be discarded along with all the wrapping paper!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ok, so this is technically cheating as it wasn't a cover disk freebie, but a multi-format budget release that hit stores back in 1992 - but as the most Chistmassy game on the Amiga, I had to include it. While the 8-bit versions were horizontally scrolling shoot-em-ups (note - only the C64 version is worth playing as the Amstrad and ZX Spectrum versions were horrible), the </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Amiga version is a rather bland platformer in which a chubby Santa collects presents, while pelting enemies with snowballs in order to temporarily freeze them. On the plus side, it does nail the whole Christmas vibe, with Santa, presents, snow, Christmas puds and all that jazz present and correct. But the mediocre gameplay, coupled with an irritatingly high difficulty level, makes playing the thing a bit of a chore - you must collect all the presents to exit a stage, but if you miss any it's very hard to go back. But maybe I am being a bit harsh - i</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">f you were young and had low expectations then <i>Santa's Xmas Caper</i> was probably worth the few pounds price of admission just for the ability to play something super Christmassy on the big day. But there were much better options, options that were completely free (well, aside for the cost of a magazine).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fire & Ice from Graftgold is one of the better platformers on the Amiga, so it was fantastic to get a Christmas themed freebie on the cover of Amiga Power magazine back in 1992. Fire & ice stars Cool Coyote, an instantly lovable character, who must find all the parts of a giant key in order to open the exit door to each stage. These key parts are held by enemies, who drop it when destroyed by pelting them with ice balls and then touched, shattering them into dust. The enemies holding key parts are randomised each time you play, so this gives the game a greater level of replayability. With charming visuals, great (almost rave like) music and a selection of fantastic environments to traverse, Fire & Ice is a treat on the eyes and ears. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gameplay is enjoyable and very challenging, maybe too much so (due to the rather floating jumping of our furry hero). The freezing-then-shatter mechanic is implemented well, and means you have to take your time and tread carefully, taking out enemies in small groups before progressing. The only problem is there are too many hard to avoid traps and enemies that suddenly rush onscreen, giving you very little time to react and avoid death (this is one hit kill territory, folks!). Despite the difficulty level and lack of password system (what were they thinking?? Thank goodness for emulator save states), Fire & ice is a great game and one of my favourites for the 16-bit Commodore. As the first world was snow and ice based, this Christmas edition doesn't really feel much different really. But Cool Coyote is wearing a Santa outfit, complete with beard - what more could you ask for? Plus the soundtrack is a mental rave re-imagining of a popular Christmas tune. Much lols! </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All in all, this is one of best Christmas freebies for the Amiga.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>ATR Christmas Edition</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A Christmas, by which I mean snow covered, themed stage given away on both Amiga Action and Amiga Format magazines in 1994, probably </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">to entice Amiga gamers to buy the full version of Team 17's enjoyable top down racer. <i>ATR</i> (or <i>ATR : All Terrain Racing</i>, to give it its full title) is probably the best racing game of its kind on the system, with glorious, detailed visuals and great gameplay, but is unfortunately let down by a punishing difficulty level that makes progress very hard indeed. Obviously, that isn't an issue with this Christmas demo as you are only dealing with one track to race on, and it actually helps bring you back for repeated goes as you desperately try to get ahead of the back and snatch the coveted first place position! The Christmas content is pretty cute, with decorated Christmas trees, Santa & Rudolph chilling out on the rooftop of a house and a smile-inducing rendition of Jingle Bells playing in the background. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is an extremely enjoyable freebie that still plays well today!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqOGcf7c9Jji2_xLQrolgln3-GGclGSmLQ3vo36ipz7gpMX3myCF4xJ-VvVIVPulAqkPtAO8lgZRjFrlMxGyokNxVFiZkE0JHTKGE35UO-fWcw6UHdARmCIdTuML-WcY5vCKJ7-kVxpVlm/s1600/Score+-06.5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="37" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqOGcf7c9Jji2_xLQrolgln3-GGclGSmLQ3vo36ipz7gpMX3myCF4xJ-VvVIVPulAqkPtAO8lgZRjFrlMxGyokNxVFiZkE0JHTKGE35UO-fWcw6UHdARmCIdTuML-WcY5vCKJ7-kVxpVlm/s320/Score+-06.5.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Galactic : The Xmas Edition</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvieAutsarNjwRJk3YIBb5RHiq1VHblgoCO4GOBx9ZIv9XnSzipz4HcVuggQyR7Bv3g41tmn2MSaxDName-zAMbAPCD7mOHci4he3pgYJtI_SjVHZkTGOmAVGJvUKZsDoqz-IdmcKWeZ2Y/s1600/galactic.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvieAutsarNjwRJk3YIBb5RHiq1VHblgoCO4GOBx9ZIv9XnSzipz4HcVuggQyR7Bv3g41tmn2MSaxDName-zAMbAPCD7mOHci4he3pgYJtI_SjVHZkTGOmAVGJvUKZsDoqz-IdmcKWeZ2Y/s400/galactic.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Utterly bizarre <i>Robotron 2084</i> style shooter given away with the Christmas edition of The One Amiga magazine in 1993. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You play as Santa and are given the task of blasting weird robotic penguin things with playing cards, collecting the toys and fruits they drop as a result. Bonus levels switch the play style to that of a <i>Bubble Bobble</i> style platformer, whereby you must collect all the fruit before the time runs out. Actually, it is rather more akin to Bubble Bobble sequel-of-sorts <i>Parasol Stars</i>, thanks to Santa having an umbrella to help break his falls. It plays ok for a few minutes and has some novelty value due to it being so oddball in nature. But boredom soon sets in as it's just the same thing over and over again and it won't be long before you are reaching for the off button on your Amiga. O</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">h, and the irritating sound effects will drive you nuts!</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Give this a miss.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVY2TlQ9A5bWh5OvCUPyD4MWzdayuoyPd4xHOOsL8yS5WFvsG_LM43ObJ2JQr84dFJAK6e_AZMxqjcgF3M_ZTJHb3loLXwkfle25WfEqELyqwkREIssmMx0z7M9CEpHKb1Pjogvyx5srcL/s1600/galactic1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVY2TlQ9A5bWh5OvCUPyD4MWzdayuoyPd4xHOOsL8yS5WFvsG_LM43ObJ2JQr84dFJAK6e_AZMxqjcgF3M_ZTJHb3loLXwkfle25WfEqELyqwkREIssmMx0z7M9CEpHKb1Pjogvyx5srcL/s400/galactic1.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Psycho Santa</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL8lQ2FrEtx4_i2NlsEG7cS0hTbNiodTMm1-MFHlTbGJ42_ZZyEr9teFZp_-E1tnBkA5AN7fxxoLohgoxYxnL4a7cP9OWkQbLmC7LJk5qLt5TIIk_p92Rt6-G4cUWbK_x8Eem8rUGzzuiB/s1600/psych.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL8lQ2FrEtx4_i2NlsEG7cS0hTbNiodTMm1-MFHlTbGJ42_ZZyEr9teFZp_-E1tnBkA5AN7fxxoLohgoxYxnL4a7cP9OWkQbLmC7LJk5qLt5TIIk_p92Rt6-G4cUWbK_x8Eem8rUGzzuiB/s400/psych.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another festive cover disk title from The One Amiga, this time given away to celebrate Christmas 1993. But, while <i>Psycho Santa</i> is often spoken highly of in discussions regarding Amiga Christmas games, it is actually pretty awful, and has only the most minimal of festive content to actually be classed as a Christmas game. Essentially a clone of Eugene Jarvis's classic coin-op </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Defender,</i></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> <i>Psycho Santa</i> is a 2D horizontal scrolling shoot-em-up in which you navigate a looping terrain, delivering presents to houses while avoiding or destroying enemies. A simple premise, certainly, and one that could have worked quite well with a bit more polish. For a start, the flying reapers that scream when you pelt them with your snowball projectiles seem</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> totally out of place in the game world. Likewise, the bland 'space' background seems ill at ease with your Santa in his sleigh sprite - would it have killed Bullfrog (yes, Bullfrog created this) to put some seasonal backdrops in the game? Some snow perhaps? Lastly, and probably the biggest reason I hate <i>Psycho Santa</i>, is the method of delivering presents itself. Instead of pressing a button to drop a present - which would have made for some fun, time based 'bomb' dropping gameplay similar to Konami's <i>Scramble</i> - you have to hold back on the joystick before pressing fire. This doesn't sound too bad on paper, but the execution is appalling, resulting in a tedious debacle of zipping left and right as you attempt to fling a parcel backwards into a house. The fact that the houses take several of these laborious deliveries before becoming 'happy' (the games description, not mine), just saps the fun right out of it. There's not even any Christmas music during gameplay. One to avoid.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiiKKpN92dt1XkBfhfx7y8GUmafuiqd6WnjfCHWzyVpoO6miea42nYM_aAAEw8sWwlQvVVqIpQH7kcQ3efIESzXUmpxTClRuar6mOtayJowOQHCIqAIdZQADpcIc9EWvtxic5UZbFD13we/s1600/psy2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiiKKpN92dt1XkBfhfx7y8GUmafuiqd6WnjfCHWzyVpoO6miea42nYM_aAAEw8sWwlQvVVqIpQH7kcQ3efIESzXUmpxTClRuar6mOtayJowOQHCIqAIdZQADpcIc9EWvtxic5UZbFD13we/s400/psy2.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqGZ_wY1xrwit-ouM2ARId36ogFrkKjqip0HewAjZ8RkcE8PJbsJgoCRmAT2CmnS1_dOJ5sICRCqXPMOHfXi8uS63OklqOKIc6M4SMzUIawOcu7cXFqQyhHE6nlcUF-aDY06XTLST-IC1m/s1600/Score+-03b.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="37" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqGZ_wY1xrwit-ouM2ARId36ogFrkKjqip0HewAjZ8RkcE8PJbsJgoCRmAT2CmnS1_dOJ5sICRCqXPMOHfXi8uS63OklqOKIc6M4SMzUIawOcu7cXFqQyhHE6nlcUF-aDY06XTLST-IC1m/s320/Score+-03b.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNdBMi9ljbMLPq-mcrZKRyRzYCPZCUHM7XnfKxGErsjalHpSymsx2UKJnRMuTlBZS-guPHbluqCYCtZGw9nM-eJk2PEC4ziLw6W2bTE2rjVnECWYA5sKifdDNFqtG2SDo01tAdtzbKhkWT/s1600/lemmin.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNdBMi9ljbMLPq-mcrZKRyRzYCPZCUHM7XnfKxGErsjalHpSymsx2UKJnRMuTlBZS-guPHbluqCYCtZGw9nM-eJk2PEC4ziLw6W2bTE2rjVnECWYA5sKifdDNFqtG2SDo01tAdtzbKhkWT/s400/lemmin.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ok, so I won't patronise you by explaining what </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lemmings</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> is as every man and his dog must be aware of the suicidal green haired critters by now. But as one of the Amiga's most beloved series of games it was only a matter of time before it was given the Christmas treatment and in 1991 that's exactly what Psygnosis did. </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Xmas Lemmings</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> was a short (4 levels) demo that simply gave the little rodents festive hats, changed the backgrounds to the standard snow theme and added some xmas ditties as a soundtrack. Gameplay was identical to the original game, with you commanding the Lemmings via the mouse and action icons at the bottom of the screen - clicking the dig icon and then clicking on a Lemming would then cause the light blighter to begin burrowing through the ground, while the bridge icon would result in the Lemmings building a walkway to cross large gaps.. but then you knew all this already, right? </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Xmas Lemmings</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> was an enjoyable, if short lived, bit of fun for the holiday season and must have been popular as it spawned two full commercially released sequels in 93 and 94 (named </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Christmas Lemmings</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> in the UK and </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Holiday Lemmings</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> in the USA) with far more stages this time around. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-hnP2IaIgRBBO2CabnWOoheuJi_W8qvla8liBo8X5ONukjQeElAgABjljKqJYi7dqqU3KmVnJLr264ew9o3jL-Zs5DzKTmTQ1aYK_bX6I1t1pawQ3Myq-5ZPBjZsxylEtQSABBsNr-Cd-/s1600/lemmin2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-hnP2IaIgRBBO2CabnWOoheuJi_W8qvla8liBo8X5ONukjQeElAgABjljKqJYi7dqqU3KmVnJLr264ew9o3jL-Zs5DzKTmTQ1aYK_bX6I1t1pawQ3Myq-5ZPBjZsxylEtQSABBsNr-Cd-/s400/lemmin2.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigfNpkFCZ-YOKhiPqF0SO84IgOpWhcg7J18j1IyXEbrNf9NiPMfwA84MKD1ISMOUOzrNmKrotz24g6LGZ1VvaS1JPfu5xeD-iZhyweF9hf1gcEnbZlSSo3dKvAmIpQDsy8lLfwnzUIstAX/s1600/Score+-06b.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="37" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigfNpkFCZ-YOKhiPqF0SO84IgOpWhcg7J18j1IyXEbrNf9NiPMfwA84MKD1ISMOUOzrNmKrotz24g6LGZ1VvaS1JPfu5xeD-iZhyweF9hf1gcEnbZlSSo3dKvAmIpQDsy8lLfwnzUIstAX/s320/Score+-06b.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Cannon Soccer</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiarCObT9QFefbrKXqJExq7J9UrQkRhORrGyf7h9j_IWEca0ZeygBAgUXacfZB-JMa6fWeI26WB8ZiTV48F3GGtgtcJmxAlsjlg6NhKmDlQsAKbeAUtDPYirtPGS9VW-S2pIpPFDccbyBAm/s1600/cannon1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiarCObT9QFefbrKXqJExq7J9UrQkRhORrGyf7h9j_IWEca0ZeygBAgUXacfZB-JMa6fWeI26WB8ZiTV48F3GGtgtcJmxAlsjlg6NhKmDlQsAKbeAUtDPYirtPGS9VW-S2pIpPFDccbyBAm/s400/cannon1.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As one of the best Amiga games of all time, </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cannon Fodder</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> was ripe for a festive plucking - And in 1993, Amiga Format gave us just that. With typical tongue-in-cheek humour, the guys at Sensible Software created a 2 stage, Christmas special edition of their top down strategic shoot-em-up. But, instead of going down the easy route of merely popping some Christmas hats on the war torn heroes and maybe adding a sleigh here and some reindeer there, we were given a bizarre twist to proceedings. Clearly based on the famous incident that occurred in 1914 when British and German soldiers ceased fire on Christmas day to play a game of football (there is a lot more to this story, but Google it as it's extremely interesting), </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cannon Soccer</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, as the name gives away, chucks in a football pitch and football players (I'm British so I call it Football, not Soccer) - obviously taken from Sensible Software's most famous title, </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sensible Soccer</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Other than this, gameplay is identical to the regular game - move your unit of soldiers around the landscape using the mouse, shooting and lobbing grenades at any enemies (including shepards) and buildings you see. As such, it's just as much fun as the incredibly satisfying original game but with the added novelty and humour of the Christmas theme. Be warned, however, as it is hard-as-nails, mainly due to the grenade firing chopper that constantly assaults you during the stages. One of the highlights of Amiga gaming back in the day and an essential title to fire up on Xmas day!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjICF8tYdgkwZjNNucAJqcsVvkCOe83XPkPhE_HEcFp7d8yjVJSUfSiUkkvEuVOy7LC4lk5f632ydMg2y-2_RfX1lWqPkJEDJdogfoHDsAISQ92T6gdgQtMCT2U2Jl_mpYtKwNsVWNr_fs5/s1600/cannon3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjICF8tYdgkwZjNNucAJqcsVvkCOe83XPkPhE_HEcFp7d8yjVJSUfSiUkkvEuVOy7LC4lk5f632ydMg2y-2_RfX1lWqPkJEDJdogfoHDsAISQ92T6gdgQtMCT2U2Jl_mpYtKwNsVWNr_fs5/s400/cannon3.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBoOCZKuwpKk5aBegFCPwS7MlYszzGYnDo7MyOcuglXRi9sjh22sJ6cPNvjnltpah92hKMBxOeM3xaF74wfR3FJGyXtLbCFB3_VaywyowNB0M_TQF1HjjtyT60ijcqIflWVcP5NR1gF87S/s1600/elves2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBoOCZKuwpKk5aBegFCPwS7MlYszzGYnDo7MyOcuglXRi9sjh22sJ6cPNvjnltpah92hKMBxOeM3xaF74wfR3FJGyXtLbCFB3_VaywyowNB0M_TQF1HjjtyT60ijcqIflWVcP5NR1gF87S/s400/elves2.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, you thought the days of getting free Christmas games for your Amiga were assigned to the past? Think again, because developer and </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jet Set Willy</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> fan, Nitta Mituaki has created a homage to both Matthew Smith's ZX Spectrum classic with a holiday theme, in his brand new 2015 homebrew title, </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Elves Dreamland</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. An unashamed </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jet Set Willy</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> clone, this flick screen platformer tasks you with collecting 200 items (presents, naturally) while avoiding the plethora of enemies patrolling each screen. The game is made up of 8 large areas, 7 of which are cleverly based on retro Christmas games from the 1980s and 1990s, including</span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Santa's Xmas Caper</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Plum Duff</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> and </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Christmas Lemmings</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. The gameplay is basic but reasonably fun, but the fast pace and overly light jumping make it a lot less enjoyable than its inspiration. The visuals are nice and colourful and certainly nail the Christmas spirit (though the title screen is abysmal), but the music is utterly atrocious, with some mangled versions of Christmas jingles assaulting your ears with every duff note - still, it made me laugh, so I guess it falls into the 'so bad it's good' category. At the end of of the day, though, it's a reasonably fun little game and worth playing for the novelty of having a new Amiga Christmas game to play between bouts of gluttony (pass the Xmas pud... again).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Santa & Rudolph Do Xmas</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg249ysv1Gt8v3a6Q9SNd3qq8_6k7Qkuva5fwNvAHxs9ubfuOVndwh1PJqnWhu4KmvYdwd-_65H3lfpZkFoR_qVV8jK5qzhvkItGv1ip56rrUOdDIv8tljn8inzwZXyLjMW1tZ2OWTLmh_c/s1600/santa2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg249ysv1Gt8v3a6Q9SNd3qq8_6k7Qkuva5fwNvAHxs9ubfuOVndwh1PJqnWhu4KmvYdwd-_65H3lfpZkFoR_qVV8jK5qzhvkItGv1ip56rrUOdDIv8tljn8inzwZXyLjMW1tZ2OWTLmh_c/s400/santa2.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This freeware title was released in 1994, rather late on in the Amiga's lifespan and, as far as I know, was not given away on a magazine cover disk. But it turns out to be the most enjoyable Christmas game on the system. I'm sure many will disagree, but the single screen arcade action is right up my street and I find myself returning to it every year. Choosing to play as either Santa or Rudolph, you zip around the screen (flight made possible due to being attached to a big red balloon) shooting any enemies that come onscreen with your trusty bazooka and grabbing presents that fall or enter horizontally into the play area. These presents then must be delivered to one of the various doors that, at first, merely look like part of the background. Once you meet the delivery quota you move on to the next stage. It's simple stuff certainly, but like all great arcade games (</span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mr Do</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bomb Jack, Pac Man</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> etc) it's the need for quick thinking and fast reflexes, coupled with a steadily rising difficulty level, that keeps you coming back in order to get further or beat your high score. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While the game starts you off in a predictable snowy environment (delivering presents to igloos), you soon find yourself in a town delivering to blocks of flats and houses, before zipping off to Egypt to deliver gifts to pyramids (Santa has a busy schedule, obviously). Enemies change accordingly; with UFOs in the town, mummies in Egypt, wind-up tanks in the jungle and robot grasshoppers (I think) on the moon... Look, I didn't say they made sense. One amusing factor is the invincible penguin who appears throughout the game, slowing homing in on your position thanks to his propeller hat. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Santa & Rudolph Do Xmas is the only seasonal game (not including the many themed remixes of an existing title) that warrants playing at any time of year as the twitch, arcade style gameplay is timeless and enjoyable. That's why it's my favourite Christmas Amiga game.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Sure, there are other Christmas themed games out there but I urge you to avoid the juvenile, platforming crapness of <i>Charlie The Christmas Chimp</i>; the extremely basic antics contained within <i>Cornelius Saves Christmas</i>; and the pixelated smut of <i>Maria's Xmas Box</i> (guffaw!). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, now I have separated the wheat from the chaff you have plenty of Christmas treats to get stuck into. Hopefully it will take you back to those care free days when you would be up at the crack of dawn, pestering your half-asleep parents into getting up so you could open your gifts. The days when cover disks still existed and the magazines went the extra mile in the festive season to bring you some gaming goodies with a seasonal spin. Now, if you'll excuse me I'm off to fire up <i>Santa & Rudolph Do Xmas</i> again... while drinking mulled wine, naturally!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Merry Christmas!</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><i>Retro Spirit Games (2015)</i></b></span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1846902027393288886.post-30104329564560774082015-12-18T14:54:00.001+00:002015-12-18T14:54:18.549+00:00Indie Review - Ghosts 'N Demons (PC)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYCECxNyVgqwEmZFC2ZbvboTNv1c5F_9ICV3aIeKHwJ1ds0Cb7KDTCyiZVnpeEpCOpo2qSS1km7HvEFprSNlPffK4jS5DZ9fP_coS1-7Vj8e2Y7-j3IlRaqkEZ3fi_3h5e1dLbysntHW4-/s1600/ghosts+title.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYCECxNyVgqwEmZFC2ZbvboTNv1c5F_9ICV3aIeKHwJ1ds0Cb7KDTCyiZVnpeEpCOpo2qSS1km7HvEFprSNlPffK4jS5DZ9fP_coS1-7Vj8e2Y7-j3IlRaqkEZ3fi_3h5e1dLbysntHW4-/s640/ghosts+title.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Ghosts
'N Demons</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Capcoms classic coin-op <i>Ghosts N'
Goblins</i> has just celebrated its 30th anniversary, so what better way to celebrate this milestone (other than firing up the original in MAME) than to play an indie re-imagining of this classic coin-op? No, I'm not talking about Locomalito's wonderful <a href="http://www.retrospiritgames.co.uk/2012/12/review-maldita-castilla-pc.html" target="_blank"><i>Maldita Castilla</i></a>, released in 2012, but a new kid on the block; the not-very-subtly-named <i>Ghosts 'N Demons</i>. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Personally, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">I've always had a love / hate relationship with the 1985 original (and its sequel </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Ghouls 'N Ghosts</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">, released in 1988) as, on the one hand, it contains gorgeous pixel art, a great
soundtrack and tight, action-packed platforming. While on the other, it's
an obnoxiously difficult game clearly designed to strip arcade
patrons of their coins. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">So
anyway, BonuzJZ brings us his homage to the classic 80s rage-fest, with a
solid revamp that looks, sounds and plays extremely close to its
forebear. The graphics are extremely authentic, though rather zoomed-in for
my liking (bringing to mind Game Gear ports of Master System games
back in the 90's) and audio is also of a high standard, with much of the music coming from the original games. So full marks for presentation, but how does it play?
Extremely well actually. The levels are completely different to the
original with Arthur responding instantly to commands and even
debuting a new backwards flip move he has clearly learnt over the
last 30 years. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">There are all the familiar faces and locales from both coin-op
games, giving <i>Ghosts 'N Demons</i> a nice 'mash-up' / remix feel, while levels are interesting to progress through. Unfortunately - and this is a big deal breaker for me (and gamers who value their
hair and sanity, I would imagine) - the game is even harder than the
originals. Yes, really! I struggled to get
half-way through stage 2 before the veins on my forehead started to
throb and I felt the overwhelming urge to punch someone in the face.
In a word, this game is tough. If you are one of the maniacs who
enjoys games like <i>I Wanna Be The Guy </i>and can complete<i> Super Meat
Boy</i>'s hardest stages, then maybe this won't be an issue for you. But
for me, I just felt like the fun had been removed and I came away
feeling stressed out. The addition of moving platforms and lots of instant death pitfalls (usually surrounded by a plethora of foes) only increases the frustration.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">It's
a shame, because I love the presentation and want to explore the entire
game world, but the insanely punishing difficulty level puts pay to
any thoughts of seeing the later levels. I would enjoy seeing more of the game, but booting up <i>Ghosts 'N Demons</i> almost feels like a form of self harm, and there are simply far
more enjoyable things I could be doing with my time - even trying to get screenshots for this article put me in a foul mood. In summary, if you find ridiculously hard games annoying, then
stay the hell away, no matter how powerful those rose tinted
spectacles are. But if you love the originals and have the gaming
skills of a cheetah on amphetamines, then you will probably enjoy it a lot more than I did. The choice
is yours. Personally, I would stick with <i>Maldita Castilla</i> and avoid grinding your teeth into dust.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;"><b><span style="color: red;">Title
:</span> Ghosts 'N Demons</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 13pt;">Developer
: </span><span style="font-size: 13pt;">BonuzJZ</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;"><b><span style="color: red;">Year
:</span> 2015</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;"><b><span style="color: red;">System
: </span>PC</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;"><b><span style="color: red;">Price
:</span> Free</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;"><b><span style="color: red;">Genre
: </span>Platformer</b></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1846902027393288886.post-38355052893101381632015-12-14T15:18:00.001+00:002015-12-14T15:18:10.226+00:00Indie Review - Plasma Fist (PC)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBI2KtKQAO1dBX5L6T7ptUFGPttvFe901K74YV9AM_Z3gz1xWLYtPQARF_Z0LuFow_gtxTr9xp6N5ivNVN2dCIZx6MExsZPpXRyYYAAbmZVrmLI4_8vq28nznfGfksUx-bLGm18V1dDls3/s1600/plasma+banner.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBI2KtKQAO1dBX5L6T7ptUFGPttvFe901K74YV9AM_Z3gz1xWLYtPQARF_Z0LuFow_gtxTr9xp6N5ivNVN2dCIZx6MExsZPpXRyYYAAbmZVrmLI4_8vq28nznfGfksUx-bLGm18V1dDls3/s640/plasma+banner.png" width="640" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Plasma Fist - Old School Platforming done right!</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">I
have always been a staunch believer in the gaming ethos of 'graphics
do not maketh the game' and there are certainly a lot of indie games
that require that mindset in order to engage with them. Plasma Fist, on first
appearance, is one such game - a classic platform blaster that has a
wonderfully old school 8-bit look that reminds one of <i>Lode Runner</i> or
<i>Jetpack</i>. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2A5dytetWEPV7O1iNEe8dDe54IFzENPwP4Qf-W5qZhCzBBiqBiHr-5ymFAqnkscvLprL9D9TPKYQoqHUE30PCoSRx-sA1tzMEqXSbRBP6W0zJFfVZ4d-cfmK8dmqahouE5jC26vS4RuG6/s1600/plasma6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2A5dytetWEPV7O1iNEe8dDe54IFzENPwP4Qf-W5qZhCzBBiqBiHr-5ymFAqnkscvLprL9D9TPKYQoqHUE30PCoSRx-sA1tzMEqXSbRBP6W0zJFfVZ4d-cfmK8dmqahouE5jC26vS4RuG6/s640/plasma6.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 17.3333px;">C</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 17.3333px;">ontrolling the unnamed blue protagonist, you must navigate your way across the well designed stages; grabbing treasure, avoiding or blasting the monsters and finding the exit. Simple stuff, certainly, but here's the rub; you cannot jump and your blaster has very limited shots. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">The 'no jumping' mechanic will be instantly
familiar to those of you who have played the aforementioned <i>Lode
Runner</i> and is not missed thanks to the well placed
ladders throughout the levels - In fact, much like its inspiration, it lends the game an added
element of strategy, forcing you to avoid confrontations with your adversaries, rather than simply hop over them. It also means you can take alternative routes through the stages and must think before you leap (or fall in this case) as you may not be able to get back whence you came, possibly missing precious treasure as a result.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw_aoZ6XvChxUJkjKfep3uejSC37yL4CaQnQqr3iSwXphLCbtuG0FeexBNUJ2bwpRhNh1sFlxUAlfZTliIuuhNk3QvSpwbYvTFCQ9bJJodT62DH6vueZ1GgJpUA2MJuqkCDY8I_kOOK-wL/s1600/plasma3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw_aoZ6XvChxUJkjKfep3uejSC37yL4CaQnQqr3iSwXphLCbtuG0FeexBNUJ2bwpRhNh1sFlxUAlfZTliIuuhNk3QvSpwbYvTFCQ9bJJodT62DH6vueZ1GgJpUA2MJuqkCDY8I_kOOK-wL/s640/plasma3.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">The
stages are filled to the brim with life sapping adversaries, so it's
very handy that you have your blaster to hand. Unfortunately, it only
holds a very small amount of energy to fire hot laser death, so you
must choose your shots wisely and decide how to fire the gun - do you
let off several tiny shots, capable of killing lesser enemies and
merely stunning tougher foes? Or do you hold down the power button
and unleash a massive beam of destruction that will emulsify an
entire row of enemies as well as reducing one block of wall to dust?
The fact you can only use this epic blast twice before an energy
replenishing power-up needs to be grabbed, means you have to pick your
moments carefully, but boy is it satisfying to wipe out a queue of
monsters, even if you have to retreat to find more energy afterwards.
</span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSn7YcCRVlFh0IhfAp2-qjyD_FbytT9XfDmJOfDEHWid3IHONp8RPOXYU4q52zSRCPisqvdFy2iC1Gy3L1f5kQwaUQxwOPOmSM17nOYRzF9C64_kEQ-RNibyc8GN3IdoYAGUaej6Z6GT5n/s1600/plasma7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSn7YcCRVlFh0IhfAp2-qjyD_FbytT9XfDmJOfDEHWid3IHONp8RPOXYU4q52zSRCPisqvdFy2iC1Gy3L1f5kQwaUQxwOPOmSM17nOYRzF9C64_kEQ-RNibyc8GN3IdoYAGUaej6Z6GT5n/s640/plasma7.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">The
graphics have a polished and charismatic appearance that combines the
visual style of 8-bit home computers such as the BBC Micro and C64
with early coin-op games by developers like Capcom and Konami. The sprites
are nicely animated too, which gives them far more character than a
glance at a static screenshot would have you believe </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 17.3333px;">and there are lots of lovely little background details such as spiderwebs, flickering torches and blood splats left from vanquished enemies.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;"> An atmospheric, laid back chiptune soundtrack sets the spooky tone of the game and is a welcome change from the manic chiptune techno usually found in 8-bit inspired indie games.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzGnGhOcEe9EosDQGbSLMz64AMZheNHWMpQr66TFcL-_tPAZn-xx9uglab4Opfm3AeTyoF3peEyjVEt5-0vba6x4zGBTKFGEYlWISQruJka7oRd9YX_XDqqaN4-Zt5Yjfx8SOgMnl1vfXs/s1600/plasma4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzGnGhOcEe9EosDQGbSLMz64AMZheNHWMpQr66TFcL-_tPAZn-xx9uglab4Opfm3AeTyoF3peEyjVEt5-0vba6x4zGBTKFGEYlWISQruJka7oRd9YX_XDqqaN4-Zt5Yjfx8SOgMnl1vfXs/s640/plasma4.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Thanks
to the clever weapon mechanic, interesting stages and solid
platforming <i>Plasma Fist</i> is extremely enjoyable to play and is both
addictive and challenging (Just wait until the blaster-wielding soldier starts making an appearance). Not only does it inspire you to explore
each stage thoroughly, but the extra mechanics give it an element of
depth which engrosses you in the simple, yet engaging world it
presents to you. Online scoreboards are the icing on the replayability cake and will have you coming back time and time again to beat your score. <i>Plasma Fist</i> is a must play for anyone who enjoys
immersive 8-bit platform adventures. It is also completely free, so what are you waiting for?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;"><b><span style="color: red;">Title
:</span> Plasma Fist</b></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: red;">Developer
:</span> Orange08 Games </span>
</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;"><b><span style="color: red;">Year
: </span>201x</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;"><b><span style="color: red;">System
:</span> PC</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;"><b><span style="color: red;">Price
:</span> Free</b></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: red;">Genre
: </span>Platformer</b></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1846902027393288886.post-17562040383632748752015-11-05T13:19:00.000+00:002015-11-05T13:19:29.487+00:00Super Mario Maker UPDATE! Plus, what we still want to see in the game!<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Free update is now live!</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Hot on the heels of my <i>Super Mario Maker</i> review (<a href="http://www.retrospiritgames.co.uk/2015/09/review-super-mario-maker-wii-u.html" target="_blank">here</a>), I wanted to follow up by taking a more in-depth look at the exact features missing from this fantastic game. From missing animations and power-ups to the inability to create sloped terrain, there are certainly some issues that stop <i>Super Mario Maker</i> from being the true <i>Super Mario Bros</i> creation tool it could be. Some are minor, but others are so glaring that they render the opportunity to recreate most of your favourite <i>Super Mario Bros 3</i>, <i>Super Mario World</i> and <i>New Super Mario Bros</i> levels impossible. But j</span><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">ust as I was about to post this article, news spread online of a free update from Nintendo that adds new content and fixes. I will cover these first before continuing! Now today, the patch is up for download (or yesterday if you live in the USA). I will take a quick look at what has been added before looking at the features we would like to see in future updates!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>1.2 Update</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Mid-level checkpoints</b> : This has been one of the most requested things from fans of the game and I am sure there will be cheers of celebration across the globe as fans rush to add checkpoints to their creations. While I was never too bothered about the lack of checkpoints (there were far more important missing elements, which I will talk about below) I can see how they do help make a more enjoyable experience. Many levels created by users are long and intricate, and it can be very frustrating to die and have to repeat long stretches of the stage. These checkpoints will stop people abandoning a stage after a couple of deaths and give creators much needed completion statistics and, hopefully, stars for their efforts. You can even add two of them in a stage which, I'm sure, will lead to even longer stages to traverse - something I am all for!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Mario's firepower tweaked</b> : Currently, when you place either a mushroom or fire flower in a question mark block, that is the power up you will receive, regardless of whether you're already empowered with that very power-up. Dragging a mushroom onto a fire flower creates a tweaked power-up. Now, whenever Mario hits that block he will receive a mushroom if in small Mario form and a fire flower if already the larger Super Mario, exactly how it works in the original titles. This is a lovely tweak that gives the game a more authentic play style.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Official and Event Courses </b>: Now this is exciting! New to Course World are courses made by Nintendo themselves - with a handy new tab to make finding them a piece of cake! Alongside stages by the masters of level design themselves will be more levels created by Nintendo's business partners. I, personally, am itching to play stages by Nintendo and professional level designers from other companies. New courses will be added regularly, so hopefully these will be both enjoyable to play and inspiring to wannabe designers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Gnat Attack</b> : A new, more difficult version of the inbuilt mini-game Gnat Attack is included. By shaking a muncher for ages, a huge mecha-gnat appears and takes you to the new game. I have never played Gnat Attack as I have always been busy creating and playing Mario stages, but I will certainly give this new version a try as it looks slightly more interesting from the update trailer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>So, some awesome updates to an already essential title. Watch the trailer below to see the updated features in action :</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Future content we'd like to see</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It's fantastic that Nintendo continue to listen to their fans and continue to update their popular titles. Games such as <i>Mario Kart 8</i> and especially <i>Smash Bros U</i> have seen fantastic updates that drastically improve the core experience. <i>Super Mario Maker</i> is yet another example of this and I am sure that there will be many more updates in the near future. So what do we want to see appear in this amazing title? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>1. A proper single player adventure mode</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAkwWX5GRJdmWq8N0HOH8QMiddH1NoPBpDvY1gW5yrGzXegUAbAliO70lx3MlwvRRQhoUf3xEwVAHrToRGr2qgIwcUGGtDWfjtcQZr2YoD-B5PN6ek6rCTw7tJBKG1yrCl8meZBDuTVk7q/s1600/smb3-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="337" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAkwWX5GRJdmWq8N0HOH8QMiddH1NoPBpDvY1gW5yrGzXegUAbAliO70lx3MlwvRRQhoUf3xEwVAHrToRGr2qgIwcUGGtDWfjtcQZr2YoD-B5PN6ek6rCTw7tJBKG1yrCl8meZBDuTVk7q/s400/smb3-01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What Super Mario Maker really needs is a campaign mode to play through as, currently, the stages lack any real point. Playing a single level on its own without a larger game world to adventure through makes it feel like a rather hollow experience. Even an original SMB or SMB3 stage by Miyamoto himself would be infinitely less exciting without the prospect of further levels to traverse and an overall objective to accomplish. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Without a true single player experience, collecting coins and 1ups is now a rather pointless endeavor and thus takes away the incentive to hit coin blocks, nab coins in hard to reach areas, or seek out secret areas that may hide 1ups. Having an entire world to play through with a limited supply of lives (5 is more than enough, none of this 99 lives bullshit please) would give the player the incentive to seek out coins and lives and thus explore every inch of the stage. We</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> need the ability to chain together a set of levels in order to make a game world. This could be the classic style of 8 stages, with a castle or airship stage at the end, or it could leave it up to the creator to decide the level styles throughout. Whatever the options available, it would give us far more incentive to return to the game to play, rather than create.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>2. Slopes</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkyqpQX71JiFY8_WDRPhMnxplrvhE_UxzVB6mc0D5e02UVguCOOQzJlQpaER7-eoZXg5oEfjxsZzotW371-r_7BQ76L9qRnVYyfeweNqXGilMtDgfqQsv365hHoAYzeicxyFh3wWjbZPTd/s1600/35737-Super_Mario_All-Stars_%252B_Super_Mario_World_%2528Europe%2529-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkyqpQX71JiFY8_WDRPhMnxplrvhE_UxzVB6mc0D5e02UVguCOOQzJlQpaER7-eoZXg5oEfjxsZzotW371-r_7BQ76L9qRnVYyfeweNqXGilMtDgfqQsv365hHoAYzeicxyFh3wWjbZPTd/s400/35737-Super_Mario_All-Stars_%252B_Super_Mario_World_%2528Europe%2529-3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Super Mario Maker doesn't allow you to create slopes. WTF? I know, right! This seems like the most bizarre omission in the entire software. Without slopes there isn't a chance to create the vast majority of SMB3 and SMW levels. Slopes add much needed variety and spice to a level and also grant you the ability to slide down on your ass, taking out a row of Goombas on the way down, which never loses the fun factor, no matter how many times you do it. Adding the ability to create slopes would make for some far more interesting and entertaining stages to traverse and is an utterly essential addition - come on Nintendo, we are waiting!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>3. Placing water and lava tiles whenever you want</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIWVxm9_UKnFHX_8cpYkInkusFYBNMpfdLnvBJPtYITgJIqiUsqN9BwTH8FEFJhTZOXOu0XFZdWOXtQsxpGcOZNn-HVGAtxfTJEVX_WSxrX9guATLHK4dDVh2wpHKm7lwlyVQV7G589naM/s1600/Super_Mario_All_Stars_3_99.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="349" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIWVxm9_UKnFHX_8cpYkInkusFYBNMpfdLnvBJPtYITgJIqiUsqN9BwTH8FEFJhTZOXOu0XFZdWOXtQsxpGcOZNn-HVGAtxfTJEVX_WSxrX9guATLHK4dDVh2wpHKm7lwlyVQV7G589naM/s400/Super_Mario_All_Stars_3_99.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sitting alongside creating slopes as an essential tool for recreating classic stages and producing more interesting level design is the ability to place water and lava within your stage. Being able to create bodies of water to fall in and swim around, or lava pits to jump over in your non-castle stage, would also lend itself to far more interesting levels appearing, not to mention adding fun spots to explore and allowing recreation of classic SMB3 and higher stages. Just check out stage 3 of SMB3 where you slide down the long hill into a pool of water. How much fun is that? Now imagine the possibilities in your own stages - you can create pools and waterfalls to swim through instead of having to use the one sub world allowed to make an entire water based environment to dip (excuse the pun) in and out of using pipes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>4. <i>Super Mario Bros 2</i> content</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt-DziGJk048A9dsll2Cw5-5OA1YqdTlP6nf6BFoiSy-q9CeiF9yumcZ8-FdnetoIbmjgpJ9LuTCQ3YlSJ2B_Ne7tylw3yydr_EcdrJt5DTlc0AjlL_3xX8YDYGP01eUc-uL4H0teIkCko/s1600/maxresdefault+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt-DziGJk048A9dsll2Cw5-5OA1YqdTlP6nf6BFoiSy-q9CeiF9yumcZ8-FdnetoIbmjgpJ9LuTCQ3YlSJ2B_Ne7tylw3yydr_EcdrJt5DTlc0AjlL_3xX8YDYGP01eUc-uL4H0teIkCko/s640/maxresdefault+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As my least favourite of the original 2D Super Mario Bros games, I am not too heartbroken about Nintendo's decision to not include any content from <i>Super Mario Bros 2</i>, though it would have been nice to have the graphical style at your disposal, along with classic enemies such as Shy Guys and Birdo. I can understand why this game has been left out though, after all, this was not originally a <i>Super Mario Bros</i> sequel at all, but another game entirely. When <i>Super Mario Bros 2</i> was released it was deemed too similar to the original (very true) and also too difficult (also true) for western gamers, so another game, <i>Doki Doki Panic</i>, was reskinned and tweaked to make it a more palatable game for us puny westerners. It was then released as <i>Super Mario Bros USA</i> in Japan. </span><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">This is not the only reason it's missing from <i>Super Mario Maker,</i> however, as it plays extremely differently to the other games in the series, which would have made its transition into SMM very difficult. For a start there are 4 playable characters, each with their own speed and jump physics, then there's the whole plucking turnips and items from the ground thing - something that would have been extremely hard to meld with the other games in the series, as well as the dark world doors that you create by throwing a potion on the ground. Yep, I can certainly see why <i>Super Mario Bros 2</i> is not featured at all. So, out of all of the missing content, this is probably the least likely to appear as DLC, though maybe Nintendo will allow us to use a few of the enemies from the game as a nod to this oddball (but enjoyable) title.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>5. <i>Super Mario Allstars</i> visual style</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjucBXBgragRdOMRxo7-xSRU_iMtkSJ1t18_bmvv2HXZ0n33YFkUrIkJUwZHLtuqrUpmiP8uPVP9XHfssqBUELYuBtzlTvzRvOyj2PU0HTOeP-hevLl2BAdiMDqnYvnLvI-NPAR5kPtLdW/s1600/screens1--article_image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjucBXBgragRdOMRxo7-xSRU_iMtkSJ1t18_bmvv2HXZ0n33YFkUrIkJUwZHLtuqrUpmiP8uPVP9XHfssqBUELYuBtzlTvzRvOyj2PU0HTOeP-hevLl2BAdiMDqnYvnLvI-NPAR5kPtLdW/s640/screens1--article_image.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For many gamers, <i>Super Mario Allstars</i> on Super Nintendo would have been their first foray into <i>Super Mario Bros</i> 1 , 2 and 3. This 16-bit graphical reworking of the first 3 games and the missing Japan-only second game (known here as The Lost Levels) is a fantastic way to enjoy classic mario action. As much as I adore the 8-bit visual style of the originals, Allstars is my preferred way to play the classic trilogy these days as I just love the colourful graphics, SNES music and sound effects and the ability to save your progress. Therefore I would love to see Nintendo release DLC that allows you to create <i>Super Mario Bros</i> stages using the improved 16-bit visuals. I am not sure how likely this is, after all, <i>Super Mario Allstars</i> remains inexplicably missing from the Wii U eShop (a cunning ploy to get people to buy the Wii 25th anniversary disk based version, perhaps?), but it would amazing to see this happen!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>6. Frog suit, Tanooki Suit, and other missing power-ups and items</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">While there are quite a few power-ups from the 2D Super Mario series missing, only very few are missed (though your opinion may differ from mine, obviously) and even fewer could be easily implemented into the game. So, what's missing? Well, there's the giant and tiny mushrooms from the <i>New Super Mario Bros</i> games, as well as the ice flower, penguin suit and super acorn. <i>Super Mario World</i>'s P-balloon is absent and <i>The Lost Level</i>'s poison mushroom is nowhere to be seen. <i>Super Mario Bros 3</i>, the game that features the most power-ups, is missing the tanooki suit, hammer bros suit, frog suit and p-wing. Let's be honest, the power-ups from the NSMB games would be extremely difficult to implement into the other styles, so are quite forgivable for their no-show status - ditto for the P-balloon. The SMB3 powerups could easily be implemented, however, and it's these that would best fit into user created stages. While the tanooki suit is not that big of a deal thanks to the inclusion of the similar raccoon suit, the frog suit is sorely missed - just think how much fun water based stages would be swimming around in this excellent power-up. So, while on paper there are a lot of power-ups missing, the only one that really needs to make an appearance is the frog suit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>7. Missing enemies</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In a similar setup to the power-ups, on paper there seem to be a great deal of enemies missing from Super Mario Maker. Some of the most notable omissions include: </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Chargin' Chuck</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, Rex, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">mechakoopas, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Koopalings, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Pokey, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cheep Chomp, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mini Thwomps, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Rotating Cannons, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Angry Sun, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Blaarg, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">and the Sumo Bros. While it may be sad to see some of these lovable rogues AWOL, it is easy to see why they are not here. For instance, how would Chargin' Chuck or the Koopalings work in the 8-bit versions? And why the heck would anyone want that bastard sun making a reappearance anyway?? At the end of the day, I feel that every missing enemy has fair reason for being excluded, but maybe Nintendo will surprise us all by making them fit in somehow.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>8 . Missing Backgrounds </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">An easy one, this. While there are a decent selection of backgrounds available in <i>Super Mario Maker</i>, there are some notable exclusions. So it would be great to see an update that brings the Beach, Night, Forest, Desert and Snow backdrops to the drawing board. I would love to make some tropical stages and it would be interesting to see how they would look in the older games.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>9 . Star / Yoshi Coins</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Again, I think this would be a very easy feature to implement via an update. The Yoshi coins from SMW and Star Coins from NSMB would make an excellent addition to <i>Super Mario Maker</i>. Even without the ability to create single player worlds, they would provide the incentive to explore user created stages and would inspire the creation of much more intricate levels with more secret areas to encourage players to seek out the elusive coins. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">OK, so this is a minor gripe, but as a huge fan and continual player of the classic Super Mario Bros games, there are a few animations and changes that kind of grate when player <i>Super Mario Maker</i>. One of the most notable is the animation when you enter a pipe whilst riding Yoshi. In <i>Super Mario World</i>, our intrepid duo turn slightly to face the player when going down a pipe, or duck down to squeeze through a horizontal pipe. In SMM the entire Mario / Yoshi spite shrinks slightly and expands on exiting the pipe. This looks weird and I still haven't been able to get used to it. Other tweaks include the timing of the Piranha Plant when it launches out of pipes, and the precise timing required to launch skywards from a trampoline of music note blocks. These tweaks have clearly been made to make the switch between Mario's various iterations run more smoothly, so can easily be forgiven - they just take a little getting used to. Also, let's see the wind and leaves make a reappearance... and slanted pipes that fire you out like a cannon.. the list goes on!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It's great unlocking a new 8-bit character each time you complete the 100 Mario Challenge, and also the ability to scan Amiibo in order to get them right away, but there are a couple of drawbacks. Firstly, you can only use these special characters in the original <i>Super Mario Bros</i>, so no 16-bit Fox McCloud riding Yoshi through Bowser's airship (sniff, sob), but that's just being picky. One thing that could be changed, though, is how the special characters work in the levels. You cannot choose to start as a special character, only grab a power up right at the start of the stage. If you get a hit by an enemy you then revert back to tiny Mario and must locate another special mushroom in order to return back to Samus, Slippy, Peach, Dr. Mario, Waluigi, a Goomba or whatever other special character the creator has placed there. What would be far more immersive and enjoyable (especially in stages based on the special character's theme) would be the ability to play the whole stage as that character, with a hit simply changing the sprite's size or something minor. That was you could fully enjoy, say, a Zelda theme level playing as Link the entire way through, without the jarring switch back to Mario (and necessary collection of another special shroom) every time you touch an enemy or hazard.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>In conclusion</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So, there you have it. Sure, there's a great deal of content missing, but I hope you'll agree that most of it is completely understandable given how <i>Super Mario Maker</i> transitions from different <i>Super Mario Bros</i> titles at the press of an icon. Only a small handful of additions from my list would actually improve on both the software and the stages that emerge from it. The implementation of a world creation option is essential, while </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">slopes and extra terrain options </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">would be nice. The new update clearly shows that Nintendo listen to the fans and so I have high hopes that many of the missing features I have discussed will make their way into the game at some point in the not-too-distant future. Now let's all get back to realising our secret dream of becoming a game designer and be sure to share your thoughts with the wonderful Mario Maker community, star the stages you enjoy and, for heavens sake, stop playing those awful 'automatic' levels! ;-)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Retro Spirit Game's SMM Levels!</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Be sure to check out my own SMM creations. Some are focused on classic gameplay - levels you would find in the original SMB & SMB3, while others are recreations of stages from classic games such as <i>DuckTales</i> and <i>Rainbow Islands</i>. I also have a few puzzled themed stages that will make you use your brain (while enjoying a creative setting, such as a prison escape or haunted mansion).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My Wii U username is <b>ActRaiser1980</b>, feel free to add me! </span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1846902027393288886.post-13632488486676677762015-09-21T13:27:00.000+01:002015-09-22T21:36:45.484+01:00Review - Super Mario Maker (Wii U)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Celebrating your 30th birthday in style</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It has been a long, long time since I have felt as excited about a game release as I have with Nintendo's brand new Mario creation title. Not since the days of my youth have I pre-ordered a game well in advance of it's release date and waited with baited breath for it to turn up on my doorstep, ready to be ripped open (well, very carefully opened anyway, this was a limited edition after all) and thrust into the console without delay. But this is no ordinary game, this is <i>Super Mario Maker</i>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Released to coincide with Super Mario's 30th anniversary (though not created specifically for this occasion), <i>Super Mario Maker</i> is a game creation tool that allows you to produce your very own <i>Super Mario Bros</i> levels, just like you've always dreamed of (probably). Starting with a blank level that contains only a start point and end flag, you use the Wii U Gamepad to add blocks, coins, pipes, enemies, power-ups and a whole array of familiar items in the hope of channeling your inner game designer and creating something that Shigeru Miyamoto himself would give the thumbs up. Well, that's the plan behind it anyway. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The interface is incredibly simple and intuitive, with colourful icons adorning the top bar and a handy grid overlay for maximum ease of item placement. Once you have starting drawing in some ground, blocks, coins, and Goombas, it hits you just how easy it is to knock up a basic <i>Super Mario Bros</i> stage in minutes. You can switch between creating the level and taking control of Mario instantly, meaning you can edit things as soon as you want. Once you get into your stride, you can start experimenting with other Mario content, such as Bullet Bill cannons, Baby Bowser, Piranha Plants, Bob-ombs and even Yoshi himself. Yes, that's right, for not only can you create classic 8-bit Super Mario Bros stages, but also <i>Super Mario Bros 3</i>, <i>Super Mario World</i> and even modern <i>New Super Mario Bros U</i><i>.</i> You can switch between them with a tap of an icon, meaning your <i>Super Mario Bros</i> creation suddenly turns into Mario's glorious 16-bit outing or even his latest adventure on the very console you are creating on. It's simply breathtaking how clever this mechanic is and really opens your eyes to how stages can look so different in Mario's different evolutions. You can choose from a selection of backdrops that include the colourful overworld stages, underground caves, underwater, ghost house, airship and Bowser's lava filled castle, again all instantly with a tap of the appropriate icon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It gets even better, as you are not restricted to just using the items and enemies as they appeared in their respective games. Fancy piling up 6 Goombas on top of each other in order to form a grotesque totem pole? How about making a huge Koopa Trooper (as seen in <i>Super Mario Bros 3</i>'s wonderful oversized stages)? Or how about creating a pipe that fires out flying fish, or coins, or squids, or whatever you like? Well you can do this and a whole lot more. It's all about experimenting with different combinations of items to see what wild and wacky results come out of it. You can shake items on screen with the stylus to change them into different variations of themselves (e.g. your standard green Koopa Trooper transforms into his red shelled brethren), or simply drag a mushroom or wings onto an enemy to make him super-sized or capable of flight, respectively. Non-swimming enemies placed in an underwater stage float comically around, until you near them, at which point they start to swim. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There's always something that raises a smile and encourages you to try new things.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXc6kH26OXYteT8I2NFyjvrR439J9OI7xduiknFdJGBjMyDYynLTOrf9amodC72VtVlQGExxpPGnbwNm0zcIboNmQ8PtdlC275msHbMeoO8fJPoNFxbcKnHs1szi-TjJLo6dDWSszdyFuV/s1600/11062547_10156016534605184_3532684347211392993_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXc6kH26OXYteT8I2NFyjvrR439J9OI7xduiknFdJGBjMyDYynLTOrf9amodC72VtVlQGExxpPGnbwNm0zcIboNmQ8PtdlC275msHbMeoO8fJPoNFxbcKnHs1szi-TjJLo6dDWSszdyFuV/s640/11062547_10156016534605184_3532684347211392993_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is a slight clause to this experimentation, however. Originally there was to be a 9 day 'learning period' in which new items were unlocked every 24 hours. But there was a huge internet backlash so Nintendo patched the game to allow content to unlock via the time spent using the creation tools. I was able to unlock everything in a matter of hours via this method, though I would not have minded having to wait the originally intended time period.. honestly, what's wrong with everyone these days? </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now that that 'issue' is out of the way, we can get back to what's important, the fun factor. And by God, this game has it in spades. Creating a stage is enormously enjoyable and incredibly satisfying to play back or, even better, to watch someone else play and gauge their responses to your fresh 'masterpiece'. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Got no friends to play with? </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No problem, you can upload your creation and others can play it, with the game keeping track of how many attempts and completions of your course have occurred. If your level is particularly special then users can give it a star. But be warned - don't go uploading everything you make as Nintendo have limited you to 10, with another 10 allowed once you get 50 stars. Thankfully you can delete previously uploaded stages to make way for new creations, but it still seems a little bit stingy on Nintendo's part.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIhxJFl4omx9_ls3A5eds7XXPUaBdQEDw1uc8fWP7TlFqztUT9B35HYT6n1XFlChTRgUs9IxJY6mIUD7a25vYPM_JquwMD3xvL3Gsrsw8ejjgQzvVLlwb6yZdY3J7xAKP-7NGx0zwGaPEP/s1600/12003025_10156016543310184_6977344098609557110_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIhxJFl4omx9_ls3A5eds7XXPUaBdQEDw1uc8fWP7TlFqztUT9B35HYT6n1XFlChTRgUs9IxJY6mIUD7a25vYPM_JquwMD3xvL3Gsrsw8ejjgQzvVLlwb6yZdY3J7xAKP-7NGx0zwGaPEP/s640/12003025_10156016543310184_6977344098609557110_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Along with the abundance of game items at your disposal, you can also add visual and audio effects to your stages, creating added tension and excitement, or just getting a laugh. From swiping cat claws, a sudden techno party or fireworks to falling debris (ideal for transferring via pipe to the underground) or Bowser's evil laugh and face icon appearing. Y</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ou can even record your own sound effect to include in your level, though you're restricted to just the one and it doesn't upload with your level when you put it online. Sadly, Nintendo have left out a reasonably vast array of items from <i>Super Mario Maker</i>, which seems very strange given the amount of effort that has clearly gone into the game. I am sure they have their reasons, but why are there no Charging Chucks, Mechakoopas or Reznor boss? No frog, Tanooki or Hammer Bros suits? Where are the cages you could climb on and flip round on? Why is there no <i>Super Mario Bros 2</i> (<i>Super Mario Bros USA</i> in Japan) content? And, most importantly, why can't you add lava, water blocks or slopes? This seems like a massive oversight, and means that you can only replicate a tiny percentage of the original game stages from <i>Super Mario Bros 3</i> and beyond. This has been a major topic of conversation online, so hopefully Nintendo will, once again, listen to the masses and fill in these gaps in future updates or DLC. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On the plus side, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Items and gameplay mechanics from later games have been reverse engineered into Mario's first outing, meaning Yoshi can appear in <i>Super Mario Bros</i> 1 and 3 levels, as well as ghost house, airship and castle stages in <i>Super Mario World</i>. Backgrounds and enemies from later games in the series now make an 8-bit appearance and include new animations, music and sound effects. You can also scan Amiibo's on your Wii U gamepad to unlock that character as a playable 8-bit sprite - a wonderful touch that let's you play stages as Donkey Kong Jr, Link, Sonic The Hedgehog, Pac Man, Dr. Mario and a whole host of other recognisable characters.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo7kFK4T3znBVV2a10EHJWb5ic_LSjD5Kt-AntEx37iFfoEWIjiS4v9W9OChV3wvI_GhFpybzHe5MOpRuyNl3ecyV9k0h2w-3ezWVv5Tlrx-5RrANPBB_FtcPKsTnbunnrTKddVpq7-Lrr/s1600/10374905_10156016502635184_1126439705287349738_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo7kFK4T3znBVV2a10EHJWb5ic_LSjD5Kt-AntEx37iFfoEWIjiS4v9W9OChV3wvI_GhFpybzHe5MOpRuyNl3ecyV9k0h2w-3ezWVv5Tlrx-5RrANPBB_FtcPKsTnbunnrTKddVpq7-Lrr/s640/10374905_10156016502635184_1126439705287349738_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you want to break from creating, then Nintendo have included two modes for you to sink your teeth into. The first is 10 Mario Challenge which tasks you with playing through 8 stages created by Nintendo with 10 lives. Don't come to this expecting a brand new<i> Super Mario Bros adventure</i>, though, as the levels are usually short and gimmicky (though feature some amusing and clever remixes of classic Mario levels), designed to showcase stage design ideas you may not have thought of. Once completed, these stages are saved to the course designer to edit and evaluate later - be sure to play this mode 7 times as it unlocks a nice little surprise. The 100 Mario Challenge is a similar setup, only this time with 100 lives (and 16 stages to complete if you switch from easy to normal mode) with completion unlocking a new character to use in your own stages. A nice touch for those who don't own any Amiibo figures). These levels are picked at random from the hundreds of thousands (soon to be millions, I'm sure) of user created stages that have been uploaded. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Which brings us to the one major downside of Super Mario Maker - the quality of the user created stages themselves. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDas853ibGIwNAQqBNhS3A3GR1rPYicQOeYgaajuB334IHptWYDG2Mx5z02CQFwlQLFcNH7yR0ldJIczGyeUcAJdzCB6l8zJIDnaybH0XztJKu0ENPAHzUSMGMKuwj_4Pq46WPAY0h1Le6/s1600/11145050_10156016663765184_8597913360043350219_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDas853ibGIwNAQqBNhS3A3GR1rPYicQOeYgaajuB334IHptWYDG2Mx5z02CQFwlQLFcNH7yR0ldJIczGyeUcAJdzCB6l8zJIDnaybH0XztJKu0ENPAHzUSMGMKuwj_4Pq46WPAY0h1Le6/s640/11145050_10156016663765184_8597913360043350219_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It would appear that loving something is a very different kettle of fish from being good at creating it. In much the same way as you can be a huge fan of music whilst lacking any musical ability whatsoever, it's clear from trawling though stage after stage of utter dross that most gamers lack even the most rudimentary idea of what constitutes good game design. So expect to find hundreds of stages crammed full of millions of identical enemies, often falling out of the sky and bursting out of pipes; levels so full of blocks and items of all colours, shapes and sizes that it will make your eyes vomit; incredibly aggravating levels filled with hundreds of spikes and trampolines; or ones that require absolutely no skill whatsoever to finish. Thank the heavens that you can skip stages - and you will be doing this A LOT, believe me! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUin8eIH6MPmGyIyWXtd71NeAB93WQbZl-NIfPXxVVnSdYVewNe3F3OY1IwHEpa8ek6EDvE4JCiSpCI-dQZtJKfNwLBzreu9NkcwVi976mudNYL7H5fH9ZfRXTLxBtW-iZJVz7Q33Qiu02/s1600/11933435_10156016692825184_8439066660224634332_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUin8eIH6MPmGyIyWXtd71NeAB93WQbZl-NIfPXxVVnSdYVewNe3F3OY1IwHEpa8ek6EDvE4JCiSpCI-dQZtJKfNwLBzreu9NkcwVi976mudNYL7H5fH9ZfRXTLxBtW-iZJVz7Q33Qiu02/s640/11933435_10156016692825184_8439066660224634332_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is hardly Nintendo's fault. They have simply provided one of the most entertaining and user friendly level design tools ever made and it was inevitable that much of the output of these tools would be pretty dire. It now becomes clear why the number of stages you can upload is limited to just 10. There <i>are</i> high quality and creative stages being made though, it's just very hard to find them. For some reason, Nintendo have made the online search tools incredibly basic. You can choose to view the stages with the highest star ratings, but this list never seems to change as newcomers will always play the top starred stages due to the complete lack of decent search options. The list is populated heavily with 'automatic' or 'don't press anything' stages - These novelty levels have Mario catapulting around the environment via a series of trampolines, treadmills, bouncing enemies and the like, while a plethora of visual and sound effects go off around you. Some of these are fairly clever and vaguely entertaining, but the novelty soon wears off and you crave the more traditional Super Mario Bros gameplay. A filter to categorise the stages into gameplay style would have made avoiding these and finding more satisfying and well produced levels far easier. You can't even search for key words such as N64, Super Mario Land, Adventure of whathaveyou, which would have been extremely useful. Hopefully Nintendo will sort out this large oversight in a update. In the meantime, users have been flocking to social media sites to promote their creations in the hope of finding new fans (who can then follow you if they like your work). Reddit's page is extreme good for finding top notch levels, while NintendoLife also host a great shared levels page.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Iml64rb98b7jBjRj9XN4A_Q1SSTf0gNJC_5mpQYYBwt3SHgxL3FeL7hOjnHiO_Biu-_FncPIDLRNr7poLjG5YYQn27Yc0iwWANKgKhyphenhyphenlq3eezyTuUgd_2H4v0fgPiywQzITMkxz84RyV/s1600/12033110_10156016522445184_4786621990790067563_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Iml64rb98b7jBjRj9XN4A_Q1SSTf0gNJC_5mpQYYBwt3SHgxL3FeL7hOjnHiO_Biu-_FncPIDLRNr7poLjG5YYQn27Yc0iwWANKgKhyphenhyphenlq3eezyTuUgd_2H4v0fgPiywQzITMkxz84RyV/s640/12033110_10156016522445184_4786621990790067563_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But shoddy online search tools aside, <i>Super Mario Maker</i> is an utterly essential purchase for any fan of classic 2D Mario gameplay. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's not as satisfying to play as the original games that it's based on, due to a lack of a cohesive adventure mode and the aforementioned shoddy user levels, but it's unrivaled in its role as a creation tool </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(and the only one I have ever wanted to invest any serious time in - I'm actually designing stages on paper beforehand).</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> It'</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">s an absolute blast to use and share levels and it really brings out your creative side </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">while also making you appreciate just how good Miyamoto and his fellow game designers are at what they do. I am sure that Nintendo will listen to the fans and fix many of the current flaws in the future, meaning that <i>Super Mario Maker</i> can only get better as time goes on. If you own a Wii U then you <i>need</i> this game in your collection. If Nintendo can add the missing things I mentioned then this would be a 10/10 game, but for now it remains a solid 9. Now go make some decent levels and share them online!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">The Good :</span></b></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Incredibly intuitive and easy to use creation tools</b></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>SMB1, SMB3, SMW and NSMBU visual styles</b></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Seemless switching between creation and gameplay</b></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Exceptionally fun to use (especially with friends / loved ones)</b></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Potentially infinite amount of stages to play online</b></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Online community to share levels with</b></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Comes with lovely hardback art book</b></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"><b>The Bad :</b></span></span></div>
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<li><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No Super Mario Bros 2 content</b></li>
<li><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Quite a lot of missing items and features from the original games</b></li>
<li><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">90% of user created levels are absolutely awful</b></li>
<li><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Extremely poor online search functions</b></li>
<li><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Can be unsatisfying to play due to lack of proper 'adventure mode'</b></li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT_E_kYH5q5i90mgpKKUMdLxxmqFQIczvj015gUeMlfzQ7wsKIddmED5lmlYxqIljofangRLkEbY9bR_-WuWatoyPdIzdO4-XYALGBl6Ys6N0E_H1vtKL2flBwJmzaPUBLUo4ufcJLNN4V/s1600/5141.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT_E_kYH5q5i90mgpKKUMdLxxmqFQIczvj015gUeMlfzQ7wsKIddmED5lmlYxqIljofangRLkEbY9bR_-WuWatoyPdIzdO4-XYALGBl6Ys6N0E_H1vtKL2flBwJmzaPUBLUo4ufcJLNN4V/s200/5141.jpg" width="141" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Title :</span> Super Mario Maker</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Developer :</span> Nintendo</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Publisher :</span> Nintendo</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Year :</span> 2015</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">System :</span> Wii U</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Other Systems : </span>No</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Price :</span> £34.99 - £39.99 </b>(more for limited edition + Amiibo)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigjykhyqPguQx78s0wp6Uy7qzIoQoG8SurYhkqsy_ipcx7T2aCppJ_mdJGzFapSuuNjz8_EqKvuCxhkqgfbCzEJXrfHy9jc0mol40FwMsZwTWckUmIOnvDQfjwLBp_QG27ZEoTkQ41Sk0j/s1600/WVW69iaOTokcJiJkdO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigjykhyqPguQx78s0wp6Uy7qzIoQoG8SurYhkqsy_ipcx7T2aCppJ_mdJGzFapSuuNjz8_EqKvuCxhkqgfbCzEJXrfHy9jc0mol40FwMsZwTWckUmIOnvDQfjwLBp_QG27ZEoTkQ41Sk0j/s640/WVW69iaOTokcJiJkdO.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's a creation of my own making for you to enjoy. This stage is based on Taito's classic coin-op game, </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rainbow Islands</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (one of my favourite platform games of all time). I have recreated the layout and enemy placement of world one (Insect Island) with an epic boss battle at the end. It's tough, but persist and you will be rewarded.. and there are a few small secrets in there too!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can find the course using the following code :</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Please star if you enjoy it, and feel free to share your creations of the <i><b>Retro Spirit Games</b></i> <b>Facebook</b> page, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RetroSpiritGames" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1846902027393288886.post-30457541782691115592015-08-12T10:35:00.000+01:002015-08-14T22:56:20.394+01:00Nintendo Wii U - My Favourite Current Gen Console & Why You Should Buy One<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Nintendo - Still working their magic after 30 years!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This year I have owned and played on all three of the current generation of consoles - Sony's PS4, Microsoft's Xbox One and Nintendo's Wii U. Now, I will be the first to admit that 'modern' games have not be doing it for me for several years now. While, naturally, I still enjoy the smaller indie titles that appear on Steam and other machines (especially the PlayStation Vita), the main 'triple A' titles have left me cold. I have sat down and dedicated time to games such as <i>GTA V, Assassins Creed : Black Flag, Far Cry 4, Drive Club, Forza Horizons 2</i> and <i>Batman Arkham City</i>, but all of them have felt uninspired, bland and, more importantly, not much fun to play. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, I have generally stuck to a mix of indie games, classic arcade games on MAME, and retro titles on platforms such as the Sega Saturn, SNES, N64, or whatever random console I have purchased that week.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Recently, though, I purchased a Wii U with a pile of games - it was so cheap that it would have been foolish not to. Little did I realise it would rejunenate my love for gaming and also bring back my love for Nintendo - something that faded out after my year long love affair with the Wii back in 2011 (I never really got on with the 3DS to be honest). </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now, after a couple of weeks spent playing the Wii U, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I can safely say that it's definitely my favourite modern console. Despite its childish image, the games are just incredibly fun and uplifting to play and contain a great deal more soul than the bland and joyless 'triple A' titles on both the Xbox One and PS4. I have been having an absolute blast playing <i>Super Mario 3D World</i> and <i>Mario Kart 8</i> with my girlfriend, and <i>New Super Mario Bros U</i>, while initially rather underwhelming, soon had me totally hooked. Sure, many of the games are very similar to their Wii predecessors (Wii-decessors?) only this time in glorious HD, but they look so beautiful you are willing to forgive them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's not just the finely tuned gameplay and imaginative worlds that make the games such a joyous experience, it's the constant nods to Nintendo's past that bring the biggest smiles to my face; hearing remixed versions of classic Mario tunes in these newest iterations; </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">racing on remastered tracks from <i>Super Mario Kart</i> and <i>Mario Kart 64</i> in Mario's latest karting escapade; discovering the giant world in <i>New Super Mario Bros U</i>, a wonderful nod to one of the highlights of <i>Super Mario Bros 3</i>; and playing as the dog & duck from <i>Duck Hunt</i> and R.O.B. The Robot in Super Smash Bros. It's this incredible level of fan service that makes you feel as though the games were designed just for you. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The games not only look stunning - vibrant and full of charm - but they also feel incredibly well designed - the stages are full of secrets to discover and everything feels as though it was made with love, rather than churned out to tick boxes for the most unit sales (EA and Activision, I'm looking at you!). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My experiences with Sony and Microsoft's recent consoles pale in comparison; a thoroughly unenjoyable time with <i>GTA V</i> - a game that tries so hard to be 'adult' in tone that it ends up looking like it was written by a 14 year old boy; a vaguely enjoyable driving experience on <i>Drive Club</i>, abject tedium in <i>Far Cry 4 </i>(which includes some of the most aggravating and lengthy cutscenes I've seen) and several other titles that left such little impression that I've forgotten what they are. There's none of the wonder and magic of Nintendo's products and they seem to take themselves far too seriously. Through aiming at an older audience, the other two companies seem to have forgotten the most important ingredient for any videogame, fun!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nintendo seems to get a lot of flack in the gaming press, whether it's criticism for rehashing the same franchises, releasing the least powerful machine, not linking purchases in Nintendo's eShop to your account (games purchased are locked to the machine, which is, admittedly, pretty annoying), or for appearing too childish (usually by insecure people who worry too much about what other people think). B</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ut I believe Nintendo are right to do what they do as it makes them stand out as unique compared to the Xbox One and PS4, whose game libraries and visuals are practically identical. Nintendo games have character, a lighthearted charm and a unique identity that they are rightfully proud of. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Wii U gamepad is worth mentioning too as it's fantastic to use. I'll admit, I had my doubts at first - the thing looked huge to me and I didn't relish the prospect of a tablet-like controller. However, in use, it sits very nicely in my large hands, and the thumbsticks and buttons all rest in comfortable positions and are a breeze to use. You don't even feel aware of it once you start playing - the sign of any good controller. Best of all, many games can be played on the controller itself, and is actually really good, despite not being displayed in HD. This also frees up your TV should someone else want to watch the TV, a stroke of genius on Nintendo's part. If you don't dig the tablet style controller then you can buy a Pro Controller, which is much more like something for the rival consoles, though, obviously, you will miss out on the many additional gameplay elements featured on the tablet screen, such as maps, inventories, touch screen mechanics and many other cool features, so the Pro Controller is generally used for the second player - still, it's a shit load better than the standard Wii remote Plus, which I find incredibly uncomfortable and unsatisfying to use.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, while my Xbox One and PS4 soon found their way to the classified ads, I am definitely hanging on to my Wii U - I am thoroughly enjoying the titles I currently own and intend to complete them all - something I very rarely bother with these days. I'm also looking forward to playing <i>Captain Toad Treasure Tracker</i>, <i>Yoshi's Woolly World</i>, <i>Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze</i>, <i>Kirby and The Rainbow Curse</i>, and <i>Zelda The Wind Waker HD, </i>not to mention the fantastic <i>NES Remix 1 & 2 </i>which feature reworked stages from some of the most iconic 8-bit NES games. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are also some awesome titles in the works, with a new Starfox game (<i>StarFox Zero</i>), a new Zelda game, <i>Mario Tennis Ultra Smash</i> and, most excitingly of all, <i>Super Mario Maker</i>. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This truly has the potential to be one of the greatest games ever released - a level designer in which you can create all sorts of crazy and imaginative <i>Super Mario Bros </i>stages in either 8-bit, 16-bit or modern visual style. With the ability to upload your creations, this could lead to a potential goldmine of exciting, fun and plain bonkers stages to play though - lending the title near infinite replayability. On the indie side of things, there are some exciting titles on the way too; <i>Mighty No.9, Poncho, Steamworld Heist,</i> and <i>Freedom Planet</i> all look set to be well worth purchasing. Personally, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a new <i>F-Zero</i>, <i>Pilotwings</i> and <i>WaveRace</i> game!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So if you have been sitting on the fence about getting a Wii U - maybe you feel it's aimed at kids and you are too old for it - then I urge you to cast aside your doubts and treat yourself to one. It will take you back to the golden era of videogames, when Nintendo reigned supreme. A time</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> when games were super fun and felt like a doorway to another world, one filled with creativity, wonder and joy - the days before the soul of videogaming was ripped out by 1000 identical, grey and miserable FPS games. Kudos to Nintendo for sticking to what they do best and keeping the gaming magic going for three decades! I only hope the Wii U (and 3DS) is successful enough to keep them in the console market in the future, and not end up like Sega, doomed to release a constant stream of Sonic games of ever-decreasing quality on other company's consoles.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you're a gamer who delights in shooting soldiers in the face online via one of the hideous <i>Call of Duty</i> games, then you are probably not going to get the same level of enjoyment out of Nintendo's console as I have. Sure, the Wii U dashboard is quite bland and features irritating 'elevator muzak' that will slowly drive you nuts, but I find it far less offensive than the in-your-face Xbox One dash, which looks like an iPhone App and tries to shove nonsense like Netflix, Facebook and YouTube down your throat (PS4 fares slightly better, but is still quite 'iPhone generation' in appearance). It's nice that Nintendo have a bare bones dash that makes the Wii U feel like a games console and not an obnoxious media centre designed for social media junkies. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">However, the Mii characters are less forgivable and will probably make you want to vomit, but if you have an open mind, or simply yearn for the glorious days of the NES, Super NES and Nintendo 64, then now is a fantastic time to jump onboard and give a warm greeting to the characters who probably helped define your videogame education. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, don't waste time, go get yourself a Wii U and embrace your inner child once again. You can thank me later!</span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1846902027393288886.post-40980177733509177862015-08-10T12:13:00.001+01:002015-08-10T12:50:32.993+01:00Review - Eternum (PC)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hot on the heels of my review of the excellent 80's arcade game, <i><a href="http://www.retrospiritgames.co.uk/2015/08/retro-indie-review-baluba-louk-no.html" target="_blank">Baluba-Louk No Densetsu</a></i>, comes a follow up review. This time I take a look at a brand new indie game that takes a great deal of inspiration from Able Corp's wonderful platformer, as well as a huge nod to Capcom's <i>Ghosts 'N Goblins</i> series. This inspiration is immediately apparent, i</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">n fact, the developer has referred to the game as an unofficial sequel to the Ghosts 'N Goblins games, with the hero being no other than Arthur the knight himself. Now an old man, Arthur is on a purely selfish quest. Instead of rescuing his beloved, he is now on the hunt for magical orbs that grant the owner eternal youth. I am not sure why Arthur is alone - clearly his damsel in distress wasn't as into the relationship as he was and has done a runner in the interim. You have to feel sorry for the guy, especially considering how brutally hard the challenges he faced to rescue her were.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While <i>Eternum</i> incorporates the same chest collecting, monster avoiding gameplay as </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Baluba-Louk No Densetsu</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> it differs greatly in that, this time around, you have an attack. Yes, Arthur has traded his signature lances in for an 'age appropriate' cane, which he can viciously swipe, dispatching the varied selection of undead critters in a splatter of gore. You can still bump the chests from below to open them, causing useful power-ups to appear, such as the teleport, smart bombs, and invincibility, plus there is always one fireball projectile collectible on each stage. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once again, the exit portal opens once you have snatched every chest in the level. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The game is extremely tough - just like the classic games that inspired it - and the combination of collecting items and frantic combat keeps the energy levels high throughout. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A nice addition is the switch to vertical stages that must be navigated with care as they are littered with tricky platform jumping and a multitude of enemies. These stages add some welcome variety to the standard, small, horizontal stages and are even more challenging. As an added 'bonus', a boss awaits you at the top of your perilous climb!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's an extremely polished and enjoyable effort from Radin Games, with top notch presentation that takes you right back to the arcades of the 1980s. The graphics are well drawn, with a varied selection of monsters that could easily have come from the <i>Castlevania</i> series, and the music is authentic and atmospheric. <i>Eternum</i> is a brilliant retro platform game and is a fitting tribute to both <i>Baluba-Louk No Densetsu</i> and the <i>Ghosts 'N Goblins</i> series and thus comes highly recommended. The only downside, aside from its brutal difficulty level, is the fact that it doesn't hold as much 'score chasing' appeal as the arcade games of yesteryear, but it will keep you engaged until you beat all 25 stages (thankfully, you are given infinite credits to continue with, though your score rests to zero).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Eternum</i> can be downloaded from Radin Games' website and is a 'name your own price' purchase - so if you are feeling generous, throw the guys a few pounds / dollars. Hopefully we will be seeing more games from this talented developer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Title :</span> Eternum</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Developer :</span> Radin Games</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">System :</span> PC</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Year :</span> 2015</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Genre :</span> Platformer</b></span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1846902027393288886.post-15769451023158383312015-08-04T11:11:00.002+01:002015-08-10T12:18:24.772+01:00Retro Review - Baluba-Louk No Densetsu (Arcade)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ok, arcade fans! I am here once again to bring you another obscure coin-op gem that deserves your attention. This time it's the turn of the catchily titled Japanese game </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Baluba-Louk No Densetsu</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (just rolls off the tongue doesn't it!). Released way back in 1986, <i>Baluba</i> was another colourful 2d platform, collect-em-up, in a very similar vein to the Tehkan classic, <i><a href="http://www.retrospiritgames.co.uk/2013/03/arcade-classics-bomb-jack-tecmo-1985.html" target="_blank">Bomb Jack</a> - </i>one of my all time favourite games! </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Playing as a cute little explorer dude, your aim is to move around the small underground stages grabbing every single treasure chest, while avoiding the brightly-coloured beasties that patrol the stages. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pretty standard stuff, I'm sure you'll agree. But, as with every great arcade game, there are many additional game mechanics and differing ways to approach the game. After the opening animation, which sees our hero arrive in his jeep and take a tunnel down to the first tomb, you are free to start grabbing those chests. The six monsters spawn, <i>Pac Man</i> style, from a central hole, and seem to have different ways of chasing you - some like to come directly at you while others seem to go the long way around in an attempt to block your path. Bombs situated around the stage can triggered by either head bashing the brick they rest on from below (Super Mario stylee!) or by jumping whilst standing on them. This incapacitates the enemies for a short while, allowing you to dash through them without fear of death.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The coveted treasure chests can also be used to assist you as, by bashing them twice from below, they open and, once collected, leave a weapon that fires projectiles both left and right of your position. Foes vanquished in this manner leave behind various bonus collectables, ranging from extra points to portals that allow you to move quickly to another part of the stage. The Pac Man similarities continue in the form of a 'power pill' item that turns the tables on your attackers, rather bizarrely, transforming them into spinning, yellow Halloween faces that can be nabbed for extra points. Once all the chests have been swiped, the level is complete and you can sit back and relax for a brief moment while your score is tallied up and you watch your guy pop back up to the surface and</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> trek on foot to the next tunnel. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At its heart, </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Baluba-Louk No Densetsu</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> is a rather simple game and a mish-mash of various ideas seen before, but it has the all important fun factor and enough challenging risk vs reward style gameplay - should you bash the chests to get more points, or grab them while you can? - to keep you coming back for more. It has nice presentation, the sound is catchy and the visuals are colourful and full of character. The stage backgrounds change fairly often too, adding a nice pinch of visual variety to proceedings and the between stage animations are a nice touch, which lends the game more of an adventure feeling over games that simply switch from one stage to the next without any interlude. It has become one of my favourite games to enjoy in MAME and I highly recommend fans of this style of game check it out! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Title : </span>Baluba-louk no Densetsu</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Developer :</span> Able Corp Ltd</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Year : </span>1986</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">System :</span> Arcade</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Genre :</span> Platformer</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Aigiina No Yogen : Baluba-Louk No Densetsu Yori</b></span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Baluba-Louk No Densetsu </i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">also received a sequel-of-sorts on the Famicom (Japan's NES, as if you didn't know already). Released the same year but by developer Vic Tokai, <i>Aigiina No Yogen : </i></span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Baluba-Louk No Densetsu Yori </i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(yes, really), is a bizarre hybrid of game genres that melds overhead RPG gameplay with something similar to its arcade parent - only far less enjoyable.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After having your ears assaulted by the piercing music and sound effects, you are then required to navigate your barely-animated avatar to one of the open doors on the overhead map. Once inside the gameplay switches to the 2d platforming style you would expect. However, instead of nabbing loads of chests, here there is just one. You can bash the blocks to reveal the side firing projectile weapon, but the only way to open the chest is to (from what I gather from my play testing) kill lots of enemies until one drops a key. There is also, what I assume to be, a shop where you meet an escaped mental patient - though I suspect he is actually a poorly drawn monk. I can't tell you what I found in the shop as it was all in Japanese with no icons. Anyway, the gameplay is annoying and not fun in the slightest, the visuals are miserable and bland and the sound is horrific. Stick to the original and pretend this nonsense doesn't exist.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Title :</span><i> </i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">Aigiina No Yogen : </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">Baluba-Louk No Densetsu Yori</span></b></div>
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<i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Developer :</span> Vic Tokai</b></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Eternum (2015)</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is also an excellent new indie game on the PC that takes great inspiration from <i>Baluba-Louk No Densetsu</i>, as well as Capcom's <i>Ghosts 'N Goblins</i> series. You can read a full review of Radin Games' <i>Eternum</i> by clicking <a href="http://www.retrospiritgames.co.uk/2015/08/review-eternum-pc.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1846902027393288886.post-8047607108379028452015-07-26T20:21:00.002+01:002015-07-27T20:53:56.597+01:00Retro Review - Pokemon Snap (Nintendo 64)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Gotta Snap 'Em All</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pokemon.. Ah, Pokemon. Gotta catch 'em all etc. etc. Yep, you guessed it, I am not a fan. As a lifelong loather of all things anime, I found Pokemon about as appealing as a final demand letter from a debt collection agency. But I am clearly in the minority as it's a worldwide phenomenon that shows no signs of going away. Kudos to the creators, though, for finding a way to fleece kids the world over for 20 years now, as they attempt to acquire every one of the ever-expanding bestiary of irritating critters. Anyway, I recently found myself in possession of a Nintendo 64, and in between games of <i>Goldeneye</i> and <i>Wave Race 64</i>, I decided to try out <i>Pokemon Snap</i> (purely to check it worked, honestly). I never thought I would end up inexplicable hooked to the damn thing, playing it for days on end - even starting a new game so I could watch my girlfriend do her own play through.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">At it's heart, <i>Pokemon Snap</i> is an on-rails shooter, only without any real shooting. Instead, you are armed with a camera and tasked with snapping the cute pests as they roam around the landscape you are traversing in, what appears to be, the world's slowest rollercoaster (and later, hovercraft and jetpod). When you reach the end of the stage, you choose your favourite photo of each monster snapped so that</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> Professor Oak can rate your efforts and give you a score. His criteria for scoring consists of three factors; the closeness of your subject matter, their pose, and the position in the frame. Each is rated out of 1000 and the score is then tallied up, with the prof kindly doubling your score if the Pokemon is dead centre in the photo. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Special points are awarded when you capture a beast doing something interesting, exciting or funny and this is where the game really becomes engaging and challenging. Once you reach certain point milestones, or photograph enough Pokemon (which are entered into your PKMN report for later viewing) you are awarded special items which assist your hunt for the perfect pic. These items include apple-like foods, 'pester balls' and flutes. The food comes in infinite supply and can be hurled at the animals to feed them, at which point they will jump for joy or perform a merry jig. You can even whack them in the noggin with the chuckable nosh, causing hilarious pratfalls or knocking them into environmental hazards - both of which lead to fantastic photo opportunities. Pester Balls are equally useful, coaxing hidden vermin out of their hidey-holes so they can be immortalised on celluloid.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Starting on a scenic beach, you will find yourself traversing sandy valleys, rivers, strange tunnels and spooky caves in your hunt for the perfect pics of the elusive little sods. The visuals are colourful and appealing, and the Pokemon are cute and full of individual character, as you would expect. The music is also rather relaxing and catchy, in an 'background musak' kind of way. It all adds up to a serene and pleasant experience which feels rather laid back - the perfect rainy Sunday afternoon game. It's a joy to discover new Pokemon in the environments and it also requires a degree of thought (and quick reflexes) to successfully coerce the little buggers into performing their signature moves and taking a great shot. It keeps you coming back to each stage in order to locate new monsters and get better pics, as well as discovering secret exits to new stages.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I suppose the only downside to the experience is that there are only six main stages and one bonus stage. You can easily see everything the game has to offer in a weekend. The levels, though lovely, are rather short, and there are not as many of the collectible beasts as one would expect. There are just enough tricky Pokemon to find to keep to coming back again and again, plus the game introduces an extra objective of locating hidden shapes that resemble Pokemon. There are only six of these 'signs' to discover, but they can be quite tricky to spot. Besides, the core gameplay is so enjoyable that you don't mind coming back to try and obtain the best possible score for each Pokemon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I never thought I would find myself so deeply engaged in a game based on a nonsense Japanese cartoon, but this wonderful title has been a pleasant surprise and, God forbid, has even helped me possibly understand why the whole Pokemon phenomenon is so popular - well, maybe not, but there characters have grown on me. I may even give a few of the other titles in the franchise a spin. Though if I become horribly addicted to it and start collecting the bloody things, you have my permission to call an intervention</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you are a fan of Nintendo's 64-bit console then I highly recommend <i>Pokemon Snap</i>, even if, like me, you are not a fan of the i.p. It may verge on 'casual gaming' but it doesn't matter as it's just so much fun to play. Looking into it, there also appears to be very little else out there like it (with the exception of <i>Africa</i> on PS3 - which has been panned by critics), so grab this unique slice of gaming history and prepare to be addicted - at least for a few days, anyway. Plus, the sedate gameplay is the perfect antidote to all the infuriatingly hard platform games that seem to take centre stage in retro and modern indie gaming.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>As a final note - while Pokemon Snap can be played on PC via the excellent Project64 emulator, it features some </i></span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">graphical glitches that stop you from finishing the game (the signs you have to snap near the end of the game are simply not recognised), so I strongly suggest you play this on the original hardware or via the Wii's Virtual Console.</i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Title :</span> Pokemon Snap</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Developer :</span> HAL Laboratories </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Publisher :</span> Nintendo</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Year :</span> 1999</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">System : </span>Nintendo 64</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Other Systems :</span> Wii (Virtual Console)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Genre :</span> Photo-em-up</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Expect To Pay : </span>£10 cart, £20 complete</b></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1846902027393288886.post-43086764601712642752015-07-06T10:29:00.000+01:002015-07-06T10:29:16.545+01:00Review - Letter Quest : Grimm's Journey (PC / Mac)<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Casual gaming finally wins me over</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have never once considered myself a casual gamer - I would scoff at the 'noobs' playing gibberish like <i>Farmville</i> and <i>Candy Crush</i>, guffaw at the naivety of so-called gamers who wasted their time playing touch screen nonsense on their mobiles and tablets - titles usually involving nothing more complex than swiping your finger across the screen. But now I may have to reassess my views (well, not entirely, <i>Candy Crush</i> is still an abomination) due to one title, <i>Letter Quest : Grimm's Journey</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First things first, this is certainly not the sort of title I would purchase solo, but as part of a Humble Bundle I recently purchased, I figured I may as well add it to my Steam collection and give it a whirl - after all, it was basically free. I never imagined it would end up being my go-to game of choice on my laptop, nor that I would clock in 5 hours (and counting) of game time. But there you go and here we are.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The premise of <i>Letter Quest</i> is a simple one - Choose a stage on the world map and then do battle with various beasties by spelling out words using the letters provided to cause them damage. Longer words and those using more 'valuable' letters such as Q and Z do more damage. Monsters, naturally, fight back, so you need to defeat them in as few goes as possible, while also making use of the many magic letters that randomly appear and which grant bonuses such as shields and damage increases. Monsters also have some tricks up their sleeves, and can poison or turn the tiles to stone, rendering them unusable or even damaging to you. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Beating stages and defeating your adversaries earns you gems which can be used as currency in the shop to buy upgrades, weapons, spell books and other helpful items. Many of the items you can equip can be upgraded, providing bonuses such as greater chances to dodge attacks, cause critical hits, or leech health from enemies. There is a surprising amount of depth for, what basically equates to, a remixed version of Scrabble. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With this depth comes the all important fun factor, and <i>Letter Quest</i> certainly delivers. It keeps you on your toes by steadily increasing the difficulty as you progress through the world map's many stages, including branching paths, and forces you to think carefully about which upgrades and new toys to purchase with your hard earned gems. The three additional challenges each level offers mix things up by </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">changing the rules, such as adding a strict time limit, monsters that can only be hurt by words containing more than 4 letters or starting with a consonant, and extremely powerful 'super' enemies. With 160 stars to collect, <i>Letter Quest</i> will keep you occupied for some time!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All these word related RPG shenanigans come wrapped up in a lovable and polished graphical sheen that is appealing and cute. The music also tinkers along nicely in the background and has an authentic RPG sound to it in many places, adding to a very solid package indeed. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sure, </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Letter Quest</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> will only appeal to gamers who enjoy word games, but if you do enjoy the odd game of </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Scrabble</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Word Feud</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> or even filling out puzzles in newspapers or magazines, then you will most likely enjoy this game as much as I have. At the very least it will provide you with a nice break from all that alien blasting or soldier slaughtering that you might usually be involved in when gaming on your computer, and it might even slow down the inevitable brain rot caused by the internet's continuing quest to stop us all from using our brains. For that alone, </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Letter Quest</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, I thank thee!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Title :</span> Letter Quest : Grimm's Journey</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Developer :</span> Bacon Bandit Games</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Year :</span> 2014</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">System Reviewed :</span> PC</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Also On :</span> Mac</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Price :</span> £5.59 (PC)</b></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1846902027393288886.post-3236605550437238462015-06-26T14:08:00.001+01:002015-06-26T19:41:59.535+01:00Instant Remedy - Insert Disk 2 - Amiga Remix Album Out Now!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Instant Remedy - Insert Disk 2</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Great news for fans of high quality remixes of classic videogame soundtracks : Instant Remedy's brand new album, <i>Insert Disk 2</i> is now available for your listening pleasure! A follow up to his self titled debut album, <i>Insert Disk 2 </i>focuses on remixing classic Amiga game music, rather than those of the Commodore 64. The first album is one of my favourite videogame remix albums due to it's high quality production, thumping beats and and modernised versions of some of my favourite C64 melodies, so I was very excited to hear there would be an Amiga follow-up, and I have not been disappointed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For anyone who grew up playing Amiga games, many of these remixes will hit you with an instant wave of nostalgic glee! From the epic intro and bouncy techno stomp of album opener <i>Battle Squadron;</i> to the grin-inducing silliness of <i>Seven Gates of Jambala</i>; the cinematic beauty of<i> Lost Patrol</i>; the familiar rave sounds of <i>Project X</i> and hard hitting trance of <i>Turrican</i>, every track is a winner. Special mention must go to the two megamix tracks, which blend several reworkings of Jochen Hippel and Chris Huelsbeck's original Amiga compositions, clocking in at a whopping 13:59 and 17:06 minutes respectively. These two tracks cover a wide variety of moods and tempos, and will keep you thoroughly captivated throughout. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's very hard to choose my personal favourite tracks as I enjoy so many of them. All of the aforementioned tracks are brilliant, but if forced to choose, I would probably say I love <i>Lotus Turbo Challenge 2</i> and<i> Project X</i> the most, purely as those games are the most familiar to me. But whatever memories you have of Amiga game music (and providing you enjoy electronic dance music) you are bound to enjoy this LP. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I would go as far as to say that I love </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Insert Disk 2</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> as much as the </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">C64 remix</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> predecessor, despite not recognising as many of the tunes this time around - One thing is for sure, though, the production quality is certainly higher here. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The answer simple, buy both. You can thank me later!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can visit the album's website, hosted by </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>010101Music</b></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, where you can find links to buy CD or digital versions of the LP, as well as stream it from services such as Spotify, here:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.010101-music.nl/release/insert-disk-2.html" target="_blank">Instant Remedy - Insert Disk 2</a></b></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">Artist :</span> Instant Remedy</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Title :</span> Insert Disk 2</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Year :</span> 2015</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Label :</span> 010101Music</b></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">T<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">racklist :</span></span></b><br />
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<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Battle Squadron "Ingame" </b><i>(4:36) </i></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 </b><i>(5:00)</i></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Paranoimia Cracktro "Ready"<i> </i></b><i>(4:07) </i></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Seven Gates of Jambala </b><i>(4:14)</i></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Jochen Hippel Megamix </b><i>(13:58)</i></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Lost Patrol </b><i>(5:32)</i></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Project X </b><i>(4:00)</i></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Chris Huelsbeck Megamix </b><i>(17:06)</i></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Battle Squadron "Game Over" </b><i>(4:57)</i></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Full Contact<i> </i></b><i>(4:12)</i></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Peter W : Turrican "The Tower"</b> <i>(3:43)</i></span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Pinball Dreams "Nightmare" </b><i>(4:25)</i></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.0499992370605px;"><b><span style="color: red;">Total Play Time : </span><i>1:15</i> minutes</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Formats :</span> Digital, CD, Streaming</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Price :</span> <i>Download </i>: £6.99 / <i>CD</i> : £11.99 (<i>Amazon</i>) <span style="background-color: white; text-align: right;">€17.50 (<i>010101Music</i>)</span></b></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1846902027393288886.post-6466181479979407612015-03-13T10:09:00.000+00:002015-03-13T10:09:37.508+00:00New Toejam & Earl game in development! Kickstarter project needs your help!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZushjEJJSc7xEs004tHh0V86990OEfLerJlqKEkrTtj_Nn7y5acm1BfbwmksW1EREuueDLnu6yLyRzQJZY-lP3TkQ0qiofICuAokUpwOFIeqeiO5_JLvgKFd75WHYkxjIrtGyADgB3lXZ/s1600/photo-original.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZushjEJJSc7xEs004tHh0V86990OEfLerJlqKEkrTtj_Nn7y5acm1BfbwmksW1EREuueDLnu6yLyRzQJZY-lP3TkQ0qiofICuAokUpwOFIeqeiO5_JLvgKFd75WHYkxjIrtGyADgB3lXZ/s1600/photo-original.jpg" height="436" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Bring back the funk!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Whatup Yo? Erm...? Well, I was going to start with an amusing string of 'urban slang' as part of an introduction to this piece, but I suddenly realised how uncool I am and that I would end up sounding like Jessie from Breaking Bad ("Gatorade me, bitch!"). Anyway, gamers from the 16-bit era will know all about <i>Toejam & Earl</i>! Released on the Sega Mega Drive way back in 1991, this funky, exploration game was a breath of fresh air in a world populated by platformers and fighting games. A roguelike at heart, TJ&E tasked you with wandering around the cartoon landscape attempting to find pieces of your broken space ship whilst avoiding a selection of some of the most bizarre enemies ever seen in a videogame - rogue dentists, possessed mailboxes, giant hamster wheels and stampeding nerds to name but a few. Adding to the madness were unopened presents which, when opened, could grant you useful items such as speed-giving super hi-tops, extra health, icarus wings, or money. They could, unfortunately also contain deadly items such as enemies, rain clouds that would follow you, zapping you with lightning, or even instant death. The random nature of these presents, along with the randomised levels and ship piece placement resulted in a game with plenty of replay value. The two player split screen - which allowed both players to wander off and do their own thing - sealed the deal and <i>Toejam & Earl</i> went on to become a cult hit. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the first screenshots to appear shows off the multi-tiered stages</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - try not to fall off the edge</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A sequel followed a couple of years later but, due to tampering by publisher Sega, the format was switched to a standard 2D sidescroller and the magic was lost. A third game was due to be released on the Sega Dreamcast, but this never made it to release, instead being revamped and released exclusively on the Xbox. This installment, while returning to the style of the first game, was a big disappointment to fans and marked the end of the franchise... until now! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yep, <i>Toejam & Earl</i> are coming back in a brand new title developed by Humanature Studios, which includes one of the developers of the original Mega Drive game. The team hope to go back to the roots of the series, bringing back the same multi-tiered stages, enemies, presents and gameplay style of the classic original, while adding many new features such as 4-player splitscreen gameplay and customisable characters that can level up and retain experience points earned in previous games! </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The game is still in early development but, judging on what I've seen so far, </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Toejam & Earl : Back In The Groove</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (as it is known) looks extremely promising. While I am personally not hugely enamoured with the new art style, it is constantly being revamped and improved based on fan feedback, so I have high hopes that the finished project will tick all the right boxes. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A newly released screenshot shows a new, more cartoony, visual style </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- a big improvement over the first art style</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Kickstarter project has so far reached $278,000 of it's $400,000 target, with two weeks to go! So, if you want to see the funkadelic alien duo make a return, head on over to the Kickstarter page and throw some dollar dollar bills their way, y'all! Cough. The usual incentives apply, with a few dollars giving you a copy of the game, whilst insane donations over the $1,000 mark (all the way up to $10,000.. who on earth would do this???) will grant you some exclusive tat such as toys, t-shirts, blowjobs and mugs (note : one of those may not be true). The game will be launched on PC and Mac to begin with, with the possibility of other versions to follow. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVu9DaRcBbikWuiYOhIed6X_fcCFWCYZ5vpRICSMmSVHvxRfoturUPdC9VYuUm1n5AZMURHmRms9iUOMsQFLIQ6ezu2HX5x9F-bpTiU3ukA-K22dXleg4eQlDKQyYRVo8RTeIL0OTRoQ5Z/s1600/1ed5ff458ed4034c0a2db5d555194e34_original.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVu9DaRcBbikWuiYOhIed6X_fcCFWCYZ5vpRICSMmSVHvxRfoturUPdC9VYuUm1n5AZMURHmRms9iUOMsQFLIQ6ezu2HX5x9F-bpTiU3ukA-K22dXleg4eQlDKQyYRVo8RTeIL0OTRoQ5Z/s1600/1ed5ff458ed4034c0a2db5d555194e34_original.jpg" height="403" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The new game will bring back the same split-screen co-op mode of the first game </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- only this time, four players can adventure together</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To follow the progress of the games development or to donate towards the Kickstarter goal, click <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1578116861/toejam-and-earl-back-in-the-groove" target="_blank">here</a>, or check out the Facebook page, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Toejam-and-Earl/352129104945409?ref=hl" target="_blank">here</a>. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I will bring you more news of any major developments as it appears! In the meantime, why not go back and play the classic original, either on the Mega Drive or via the excellent ports released on PSN and Xbox Live. Go on, you know you want to! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Title :</span> Toejam & Earl : Back In The Groove</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Developer :</span> Humanature</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Release date :</span> TBA</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">System :</span> PC / Mac</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Kickstarter Progress : </span>$275,000 / $400,000 (14 days remaining)</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1846902027393288886.post-67732662165693900002015-03-06T17:55:00.001+00:002015-03-06T17:55:20.445+00:00Amiga Homebrew - Fire 'N Ice (Solomon's Key 2)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnqSY0hViilXpQuQ65LLAxq5QZaDzj5W76qup4KWu3dTcRTLpwx8QGzrV39hTwQyL-MfJzG2JBy0zVYWG9TIS6pyKR2KJ0F00r9SIDkEMXSz3aIUdVNHwT0Y2t8u84M9fpBqZqYd9mmLLD/s1600/1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnqSY0hViilXpQuQ65LLAxq5QZaDzj5W76qup4KWu3dTcRTLpwx8QGzrV39hTwQyL-MfJzG2JBy0zVYWG9TIS6pyKR2KJ0F00r9SIDkEMXSz3aIUdVNHwT0Y2t8u84M9fpBqZqYd9mmLLD/s1600/1.png" height="370" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Underrated 8-bit puzzler gets 16-bit port</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A new homebrew game for the Commodore Amiga is always reason to celebrate and this brand new port of a classic, yet little known, NES game is no exception. While many old school gamers will be familiar with classic platform puzzler<i> Solomon's Key</i>, not that many people realise that Tecmo released a sequel in 1993, entitled <i>Fire 'N Ice</i>, exclusive to Nintendo's 8-bit console. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Released late in the life of the NES, </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fire 'N Ice</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> failed to make much impact as most people had moved onto the SNES. This makes finding a copy of the game difficult and very expensive these days, but thanks to emulation this doesn't stop you from playing it on your PC / PSP / Xbox or whatever other system you enjoy running emulators on (you naughty person!). Now you can also enjoy the game on your Amiga, as lone developer Hukka has ported it to everyone's favourite 16-bit home computer!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The game puts you in the shoes of an elf-life wizard (well, his clothes certainly look 'elfish') who must extinguish the flames dotted around the level by dropping or pushing block of ice into them. Armed with an ice-conjuring wand, you can produce or destroy ice blocks (only diagonally below your character, though) in order to create steps to climb (there is no jumping) or cause previously created blocks to fall. It is a very simple premise, which eases you in gently but soon becomes fiendishly difficult as other elements (such as transportation pipes) are introduced, and the fires are placed in increasingly tricky positions. It is certainly a game of trial and error and one that will have you scratching you head as you try to figure out the solution. It's fun and rewarding, though, so you will stick at it until you have put out those damned fires!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The game is just as colourful, cute and enjoyable as the original, though there are a number of differences. The first thing you notice is that the music is very 8-bit, mimicking the NES soundchip perfectly. However, it would have been nice to hear a revamped 16-bit soundtrack, especially as the Amiga soundchip is so full of character and was always far superior to the Mega Drive and SNES. The visuals are also very 8-bit, being practically identical to the NES. This is fine, though, as the visuals are easy on the eye, but there are some puzzling omissions to the presentation : There is n</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">o longer a colourful map of the land, nor the cosy 'Grandma's house' screen where you choose your stage - now it is a simple grid of numbers where you choose which level to attempt. There are also a number of m</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">issing animations, most notably the protagonists little victory routine when you complete a level, and some visual effects such as the shine on the ice are notably absent. The final stage of each world in which you had to navigate a vertically scrolling stage as lava constantly rose after you are also not included, which is a shame as they added variety and kept you on your toes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Despite these missing features, <i>Solomon's Key 2</i> remains and fun and taxing puzzler with plenty of charm and is worth downloading for any fans of the genre or the Amiga. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Solomon's Key 2</i> is now available in both ADF and LHA formats. I tested it using both my original Amiga 600 and WinUAE on my PC.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Download <i>Solomon's Key 2</i> (version 0.9) by clicking <a href="http://hukka.yiff.fi/sk2/" target="_blank">here</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Title :</span> Solomon's Key 2</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Developer :</span> Hukka / Oookami Games</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Year :</span> 2015</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">System :</span> Amiga</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Price :</span> Free</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Genre : </span>Puzzle, Platformer</b></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1846902027393288886.post-54111271461877334682015-02-17T10:54:00.000+00:002015-02-17T10:59:59.599+00:00REVIEW - Don't Die, Mr. Robot! (PlayStation Vita)<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>"Spoiler : You Will Die!"</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sometimes the simplest things in life are the best - from a slice of bread fresh from the oven, to a cold beer on a hot day. This philosophy is carried across to the world of videogames, which is why classic 80's arcade games have such a strong following some 30+ years after their original release. While complex titles involving the use of more buttons than you would find in a helicopter cockpit have their place in gaming, it is the no frills, one or two button, easy to pick up & play titles that keep us enthralled for years - Just look at the roaring success of Rovio's <i>Angry Birds</i> and Namco's sublime <i>Pacman Championship Edition DX</i> for proof of this. Now there's another title that can be used as a perfect example of the 'simple = good' mantra - Infinite State Games' <i>Don't Die Mr. Robot! </i>on the PlayStation Vita.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I first heard that a new arcade twin stick shooter was coming to the Vita I was excited - after all, the platform is perfect for the genre - but this excitement was dampened somewhat when I read that there would be no shooting of any kind. Yes, you read that correctly, no shooting. This would be a simple avoid-em-up, in which you would navigate the titular hero around the screen, collecting fruit and avoiding enemies in a bid to get as high a score as possible. Simple? Certainly. Disappointing due to the lack of shooting? Absolutely not! </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyQYiwvNbQMsBwxTajK_ZpOt7oDFVIIfwbWIlSAwdK7Ye5OYv65oR750ETuz-FBm5sFApVjS1hzNFSlFmK4WL4P3-ek2GrAc-Wcgcw2XbbghtYWlOTTEnInWQKcFmpyE1U31BdssFFNYw5/s1600/dont-die-mr-robot-14.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyQYiwvNbQMsBwxTajK_ZpOt7oDFVIIfwbWIlSAwdK7Ye5OYv65oR750ETuz-FBm5sFApVjS1hzNFSlFmK4WL4P3-ek2GrAc-Wcgcw2XbbghtYWlOTTEnInWQKcFmpyE1U31BdssFFNYw5/s1600/dont-die-mr-robot-14.png" height="362" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The game comes with four different modes. 'Arcade' is the main attraction, simply tasking you with avoiding the enemies for as long as possible. Fruit appears every second or so, collection of which causes a small explosion which is harmless to you but will annihilate any enemies in range. If the blast radius touches another fruit, then a chain is started and your score is multiplied accordingly. As you play, the enemy and fruit spawn rates increase, making life predictably tougher the longer you survive. Vanquished enemies drop coins which can be used afterwards to buy upgrades such as extra shields (hits), faster movement and a larger fruit blast radius. These carry over to your next game, giving you a greater chance surviving for a longer period of time (and thus, hopefully, getting an even bigger high score)!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Remix mode features a plethora of challenges that switch up the rules of play and require you to reach a certain target or objective in order to gain one of three medals (your standard bronze, silver and gold). These rule changes can range from being stuck on a vertical axis while avoiding laser beams fired from the sides to making certain types of fruit lethal to touch. Upgrades cannot be used in remix mode, making it a purer challenge for the hardcore, and a reason (as if you need one) to keep coming back to the game. Time Attack mode is your standard 'against the clock' affair, with death costing you precious seconds and points, and, lastly, Chillout mode is a far more relaxed affair, slowing things down to a more sedate pace, all to the delightful sounds of an electronic remixed version of The Blue Danube Waltz.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The presentation in<i> Mr. Robot!</i> is wonderful. The visuals are a perfect tribute to the arcade games of the 80's and 90's, with an extra colourful and visually stimulating appearance that comes with being made in 2014. The pulsating lights, wobbling lines, firework-esque explosions and colourful enemy laser beams often resemble a hypnotic, neon light display in a nightclub. This is enhanced further by the excellent electronic soundtrack that thumps along in time with the quickening pace of the on-screen action and the wonderful sound effects that perfectly captures the sound of a noisy arcade some 20+ years ago (complete with fruit machine and pinball sound effects). It truly is a treat for the senses and will keep your brain over-stimulated and gasping for more! It is<i> Geometry War's</i> Pacifism mode mixed with the work of Jeff Minter (<i>Attack of the Mutant Camels</i>,<i> TxK</i>) and Eugene Jarvis (<i>Robotron 2048</i>,<i> Defende</i>r) and it is more </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">addictive than nicotine and social networking combined. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In fact, I am finding it hard to find faults with this wonderful game. I guess I could say that the main player sprite is rather bland, and has less personality than many of the enemies you face (especially the amusing giant 'dustbin' type robot who stomps slowly across the screen, devouring fruit as he goes), but you can save up enough money to purchase new characters anyway (one of which resembles a character taken from a 30 year old arcade game), so it isn't a big deal. No, there is no two ways about it, this game rocks! I haven't experienced anything quite as satisfying in gaming, recently, as achieving a large chain in Mr. Robot! - you </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">take your time, carefully avoiding enemies while more and more fruit appears on screen, only grabbing one at the very last moment. This causes an enormous chain reaction of explosions, coupled with manic sound effects, a ludicrous amount of visual effects and the humorous female (GLaDOS from Portal much?) voiceover complimenting you on a "sweet, sweet chain!". This simply <i>never</i> gets old.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Don't Die Mister Robot! not only shows that you don't need an attack button in an action game, but is also now one of the best reasons for retro gaming fans to own a Vita. I am not kidding. Online leaderboards and trophies are the icing on an already sumptuous cake and will keep your glued to your handheld for weeks, nay months to come. If you own a Vita and don't already have this game, please make your way over to the PSN store post haste and nab a copy. You can thank me later!</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">Title : </span>Don't Die, Mr. Robot!</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Developer : </span>Infinite State Games</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Year : </span>2014</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">System :</span> PlayStation Vita</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Other Systems :</span> None</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Price :</span> £4.49</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Genre :</span> Arcade, Twin-Stick Shooter (without the shooting)</b></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: red;">Like this? Then try:</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Robotron 2048 (Arcade)</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgQNt8okx6RPRvFz4-HWuCtJwxmpLUyOwLS9pAuHvaHzp__6UwEtAxT9HiPNB6nq-a8eL3AsN7oB6yVgA_CA-r5Qw7WZ0A2ajRT2YKu-VLNlGmIy1nl2qvggEPiBOP3DcZ71cD7eTy4wZM/s1600/explosions.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgQNt8okx6RPRvFz4-HWuCtJwxmpLUyOwLS9pAuHvaHzp__6UwEtAxT9HiPNB6nq-a8eL3AsN7oB6yVgA_CA-r5Qw7WZ0A2ajRT2YKu-VLNlGmIy1nl2qvggEPiBOP3DcZ71cD7eTy4wZM/s1600/explosions.png" height="163" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The granddaddy of twin-stick shooters, Eugene Jarvis's 1982 insane blaster is a masterclass in design - simple, fiendishly difficult and highly addictive.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Geometry Wars 2 (Xbox 360 / PS3 / PC)</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlFcbJVTXSwCgekVDeDFvxVjfAsgAKHWtHQ9cqe1LRYhqN2tSqX1YHwMiRjCGdKwp7OE4kTDcHwzkHoVE38w_G6O6jap3Nw1D2IVc6azU2htmTrOp3M15JGt9qkTPvXzMsvrU9H-omBTZj/s1600/maxresdefault+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlFcbJVTXSwCgekVDeDFvxVjfAsgAKHWtHQ9cqe1LRYhqN2tSqX1YHwMiRjCGdKwp7OE4kTDcHwzkHoVE38w_G6O6jap3Nw1D2IVc6azU2htmTrOp3M15JGt9qkTPvXzMsvrU9H-omBTZj/s1600/maxresdefault+(1).jpg" height="112" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ok, so this is another twin-stick shooter, but it's excellent, has trippy visuals and great music, and also features a Pacifism Mode, which removes your ability to attack and so plays just like <i>Mr. Robot!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Artibeus (PC, Freeware)</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp_FhO7sjm7q-SSLn2s8uvLMXMkTGnhxNoRL-zYx3_i3KpjUe0cj0dFpdSMFthnGPeyPHBuhggSq-2YcyHVkaGFg9N1WvaNslK-_Hd4r6sotjldNjshvYLTCCIosL3MQikEweMX5jzXQ0U/s1600/artibeus.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp_FhO7sjm7q-SSLn2s8uvLMXMkTGnhxNoRL-zYx3_i3KpjUe0cj0dFpdSMFthnGPeyPHBuhggSq-2YcyHVkaGFg9N1WvaNslK-_Hd4r6sotjldNjshvYLTCCIosL3MQikEweMX5jzXQ0U/s1600/artibeus.png" height="112" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The closest game to<i> Mr. Robot!,</i> </span><a href="http://www.retrospiritgames.co.uk/2014/01/review-artibeus-pc.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank"><i>Artibeus</i></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> also has you collecting fruit and avoiding enemies. Great fun in small doses, it may lack the polish of Infinite State's superior game, but it's still worth playing and is completely free.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1846902027393288886.post-35181202697146889572015-01-08T15:48:00.000+00:002015-01-08T16:00:47.636+00:00Commodore Amiga Special - Modern Amiga Gaming - Gotek USB Floppy Drive<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBxLpXeGehWMQQsLmz5yT1e_YIKVfufe3wC9gdHyBBSdtj7xr9sRkoX9K-5mfUsCnIb4dDQJjlv9wZNwer3jFGsU4kL3sduRQU5MtBVzuyIPlRL977Yctq13bpcQpd8QIoxgj86dOEOMrx/s1600/gotek_a600_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBxLpXeGehWMQQsLmz5yT1e_YIKVfufe3wC9gdHyBBSdtj7xr9sRkoX9K-5mfUsCnIb4dDQJjlv9wZNwer3jFGsU4kL3sduRQU5MtBVzuyIPlRL977Yctq13bpcQpd8QIoxgj86dOEOMrx/s1600/gotek_a600_3.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-large;">Modern Amiga gaming </b><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Gotek USB Floppy Drive Special</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Recently I have been having a long overdue Amiga revival! For those of you who don't know (have you been living under a rock?) the Amiga is a 16-bit home computer made by Commodore and released way back in 1985. While originally released as a high end computer for business use (yawn) it wasn't long before it became known as a gaming machine thanks to its fantastic graphical capabilities and fun software. A couple of years later the most famous model of Amiga, the Amiga 500, was released and it cemented Commodore's machine as a home gaming platform bar none - It took PC games many years to catch up to the same level!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtuEcjhJ7T1vAGI6Vin9Cs36s_zUxAnvcZTv9HYL9nLgqsJx9yn_auuMRxcUbN-qGmx52xyTGzf7C_FGa46qIMrhqzJwJPWR_A7vHXYaSC0pCEmqZDcdGGyT5ERjQobo9pNEZorTdJepj-/s1600/amiga_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtuEcjhJ7T1vAGI6Vin9Cs36s_zUxAnvcZTv9HYL9nLgqsJx9yn_auuMRxcUbN-qGmx52xyTGzf7C_FGa46qIMrhqzJwJPWR_A7vHXYaSC0pCEmqZDcdGGyT5ERjQobo9pNEZorTdJepj-/s1600/amiga_500.jpg" height="260" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>The Amiga 500 - the best selling model in the Amiga range</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was lucky enough to be given an Amiga 600 (a revised A500 with more memory and smaller case) for my birthday in 1993 and was instantly smitten with the incredible 16-bit graphics, wonderful Amiga soundchip and huge library of fun and quirky games with a uniquely British flavour. From a plethora of 2D platformers and action games such as <i>Superfrog</i>, <i>The Chaos Engine</i>, <i>Alien Breed</i>, <i>Turrican</i> and <i>IK+ </i></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">to mouse driven games like </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cannon Fodder</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lemmings, Syndicate</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> and </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Secret of Monkey Island</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, the Amiga's varied selection of gaming goodies kept me hooked. It also helped that the machine used floppy disks as opposed to the incredibly expensive cartridges used by companies like Sega and Nintendo. While they took time to load and often came on a silly number of disks (often resulting in some repetitive disk changing) the disk medium meant the games were much cheaper than console games, with budget re-releases of top sellers often going for a few pounds. I may have joined the party a little late in the Amiga's lifespan, but I had the benefit of an enormous library of games to choose from.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhp8baOasbIB7LVaSWe_MMYxkdFVfjBgeuwTQxmZEIkRWquufnHXfj5SGgRKxlPa78LTlTKDoGZPMn9PxPL_FSdrMRXzKYFFBIXRSuEWsLc8_w2cgz_gJTrEgR4-COJZHz8jBrSqsVaVUE/s1600/superfrog3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhp8baOasbIB7LVaSWe_MMYxkdFVfjBgeuwTQxmZEIkRWquufnHXfj5SGgRKxlPa78LTlTKDoGZPMn9PxPL_FSdrMRXzKYFFBIXRSuEWsLc8_w2cgz_gJTrEgR4-COJZHz8jBrSqsVaVUE/s1600/superfrog3.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Team 17's classic platformer Superfrog</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fast forward to the present, and I consider many Amiga titles to be some of my favourite games of all time. I am always returning to <i>Rick Dangerous</i> to attempt to beat those fiendish levels for the millionth time, or hear the comedy screams of the little soldiers in <i>Cannon Fodder</i> as I let rip with the machine gun. I love to return to <i>Superfrog</i> - a game I find infinitely more enjoyable than any <i>Sonic The Hedgehog </i>title - for some good old fashioned jumping and coin collecting, or blast some xenomorphs in Team 17's masterpiece,<i> Alien Breed</i>. I even play sports games - something usually unheard of - in the form of <i>Sensible Soccer</i>!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxXmiI6hyphenhyphenojj_59TtFFOdSecz1YkOnnEJpB1zNN5yniEvtAv0XWxYsXADPihkeJG6FNw19Py_DXtzjr30nJ1XEN7B_wWS-RFAWC6K_THIGoalucOZnU4FwkJI-ubzTpVNsyMB2vkPDKhU8/s1600/41918-alien-breed-amiga-screenshot-firing-missiles-on-one-of-the.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxXmiI6hyphenhyphenojj_59TtFFOdSecz1YkOnnEJpB1zNN5yniEvtAv0XWxYsXADPihkeJG6FNw19Py_DXtzjr30nJ1XEN7B_wWS-RFAWC6K_THIGoalucOZnU4FwkJI-ubzTpVNsyMB2vkPDKhU8/s1600/41918-alien-breed-amiga-screenshot-firing-missiles-on-one-of-the.gif" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Another Team 17 classic - Alien Breed Special Edition '92</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Emulation</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am a huge advocate of emulation and, on PC, you are sorted when it comes to the Amiga. WinUAE has been around for ages and is constantly being updated. It performs extremely well, playing everything you can throw at it - It does require slightly more tinkering with than the average SNES or Mega Drive emulator but it's well worth the effort. However, I have found Amiga emulation on other devices such as the original Xbox, Wii and PSP to be less satisfactory. Often the games don't load, or feature stuttering framerates, sound issues or crashes. It's here where I strongly recommend the original hardware! </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqfp9Z-kdbkrof-ptjIiRNtDoD0XlkrG8sAuEeaIBAVeM38WkbdAF9CjD5RbTxIgYIl9_eS2ozaJnLHCBPZZz_W1y6rvMQi0BJZDaMhGcP6IHk0hDZ1e0tWHbGQ1O1XLYKdPUMwr_TgXtO/s1600/Cannon_Fodder_-_1993_-_Virgin_Games,_Ltd..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqfp9Z-kdbkrof-ptjIiRNtDoD0XlkrG8sAuEeaIBAVeM38WkbdAF9CjD5RbTxIgYIl9_eS2ozaJnLHCBPZZz_W1y6rvMQi0BJZDaMhGcP6IHk0hDZ1e0tWHbGQ1O1XLYKdPUMwr_TgXtO/s1600/Cannon_Fodder_-_1993_-_Virgin_Games,_Ltd..jpg" height="280" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Sensible Software's Cannon Fodder is one of the greatest games of all time</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Original Hardware</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Amiga 1200 / Compact Flash Card</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, what's the best option for someone wanting to play Amiga games today? Well, for the true Amiga aficionado I would recommend the more powerful Amiga 1200 model - capable of playing the more visually impressive AGA titles. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next you will need a compact flash card that can be used in IDE mode (stick to SanDisk's range or Transcend cards) and a 44 pin 2.5" IDE to compact flash card adapter. These can be bought together from Ebay for around £20, though you may be able to get them cheaper if you purchase them separately.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once you have the two items it's a simple matter of taking out the stock Amiga 1200 Hard drive and plugging in your CF card / IDE adapter combo. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If, like me, you are happy with using an Amiga 600, you will be pleased to know you can use this CF card method on that model too.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlNidDsie7eZzgfqr1wXnt1SSBVx20gOIVVi7CFP1TuCx1U708iBCJ-_ax7SopAc46sgJYlpWCLWLUBBuuLn-obisABbzyuE0CAGlti5oVoZRCRdCr2DNvbeWGkvBzKNWhM694S0JkH7te/s1600/$_57.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlNidDsie7eZzgfqr1wXnt1SSBVx20gOIVVi7CFP1TuCx1U708iBCJ-_ax7SopAc46sgJYlpWCLWLUBBuuLn-obisABbzyuE0CAGlti5oVoZRCRdCr2DNvbeWGkvBzKNWhM694S0JkH7te/s1600/$_57.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>A Transcend CF card slotted into the necessary IDE adapter</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On this CF card you will need to install WHDLoad - a fantastic piece of software that you use from Workbench to launch your pre-installed Amiga games. It is worth noting that these are different files to the usual .ADF files and will only run on WHDLoad. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are many fantastic tutorials online should you need any further help with installing both a compact flash card and WHDLoad! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>WHDLoad is a fantastic and easy way to load Amiga games - </i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>it even combines multiple disk games into one file</i></b></span></div>
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<b style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Amiga CD32</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you aren't up for opening an A1200 and installing a flash card you could always take the easy option - buy an Amiga CD32! The CD32 is often cited as one of the worst consoles ever made and one of the biggest failures - up there with the Atari Jaguar and Nintendo's Virtual Boy - but these days it is a great way to enjoy Amiga games. When it was first released in 1993, Commodore's 32-bit CD-ROM gaming console sounded great in theory, but with a library of software that was little more than A500 or A1200 games with some CD audio, it wasn't long before gamers abandoned the console for superior platforms such as the PlayStation and Saturn. Indeed, the CD32 was only in production for 6 months before being discontinued - surely a record of some kind?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGLp0j1pxSjQnvKQUWJuu7IRQl1MYCC4Xdb4e0NhsO2S4Zddq0XZRYCCa0qNBUnjWNImWF7YLr2ZHtiebSaLruE7vrYggvZt56sKwWg8if4FTDs3coN1ueg0-m3JhM-7maLXNIMtWUJu5S/s1600/Capture_00119.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGLp0j1pxSjQnvKQUWJuu7IRQl1MYCC4Xdb4e0NhsO2S4Zddq0XZRYCCa0qNBUnjWNImWF7YLr2ZHtiebSaLruE7vrYggvZt56sKwWg8if4FTDs3coN1ueg0-m3JhM-7maLXNIMtWUJu5S/s1600/Capture_00119.png" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ill-fated CD32 console</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These days you can pick one up for around £80 (with the controller and a few games), which is pretty decent value for money. Many of the games are excellent, though practically identical to the standard Amiga versions, and the CD music is often great as it captures the rave and techno vibes of the early 1990's (if you were in the UK, of course). The CD-ROM technology also allowed for full voice acting in games, with the first being the wonderfully voiced <i>Simon the Sorcerer</i> (featuring <i>Red Dwarf's</i> Chris Barrie as the titular hero) point & click adventure. The second great thing about the CD32 is the controller - sure, it's not to everybody's taste, but I rather like it and it also allows you to use a second button for jumping instead of up on the joystick like the majority of Amiga disk software.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Simon The Sorcerer was the first Amiga game to feature voice acting</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Best of all, there exist online several custom made CDs that contain either 200, 400 or a whopping 800 Amiga games from the A500 / A1200 range. Once downloaded these can be burnt in a specific way to enable them to be played on a standard CD32 - That's right, there is no copy protection on a CD32, so you can burn disks from downloaded ISO files.. though I couldn't possibly condone such naughty behaviour (cough!). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>I rather like the CD32 controller, though many others feel differently</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If piracy just ain't your bag then you could always add a floppy drive to the CD32 in order to play all your wonderful floppy disk originals! I have not had any experience of this method but I hear that you need certain adapters and software. I believe you would also need to have a keyboard in order to play many non-CD32 games. If this is something that interests you then head over to one of the many helpful Amiga forums online and see what people have to say. If I get around to trying out this method for myself I will add the information to this article!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>The CD32 was the only Amiga machine to get Psygnosis's </i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>gorgeous 2D platformer, The Misadventures Of Flink</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Amiga 600 & <span style="color: red;">Gotek USB Floppy Drive</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Despite the above method being the best way to enjoy Amiga games, I stand by my choice for an Amiga 600 with a Gotek USB Floppy Drive installed. The ease of copying .ADF game files to a USB drive is the deciding factor for me. The Amiga 600 holds the most nostalgic memories for me, personally, and its smaller design is far more appealing than the humungous A500 model. You don't get a numerical keypad but, if you only intend to use your Amiga for games, you won't miss it!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXVg6sVEm2lkVKZR5v3k9JGz7lZB57Zw32WFrqFsKfCCMIR80ovt-AG_ycXjUMEeuR6pYwI6WldgfNE9o0Wl6XjKZATuYNZm7TO6fUfoHzZA47add5ytvolnfVJoV_pcmuvQZNmrawdytb/s1600/Commodore_Amiga600_System_s2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXVg6sVEm2lkVKZR5v3k9JGz7lZB57Zw32WFrqFsKfCCMIR80ovt-AG_ycXjUMEeuR6pYwI6WldgfNE9o0Wl6XjKZATuYNZm7TO6fUfoHzZA47add5ytvolnfVJoV_pcmuvQZNmrawdytb/s1600/Commodore_Amiga600_System_s2.jpg" height="208" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The smaller, sleeker, Amiga 600</i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Amiga 600 I had been using over Christmas suddenly died on me. Thankfully I was able to pick up an Amiga 500+ locally for only £35. It also works perfectly with the Gotek, though the sharp edges contained on the metal parts inside the machine have rendered my hands a sliced up disaster area. I was pleased when my replacement Amiga 600 arrived this morning and after a couple of minutes cleaning and installing the Gotek I was soon playing the brilliant <i>Ruff N Tumble</i> again!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>My Gotek USB </i></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSFEQdFYbVOiAS9o-HKarV_FYH_SzbGzttzLbKTfhH5ZqoeqwmMTYpsNHP2f9RFSxv9HGu-hbCKWFtYl8QCjfg8QE4TMnj5kK7iCDYnZqgCCbUd1vg5CQwfWRqiPR26eKRe_S7NBqSlHB2/s1600/20141229_230038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSFEQdFYbVOiAS9o-HKarV_FYH_SzbGzttzLbKTfhH5ZqoeqwmMTYpsNHP2f9RFSxv9HGu-hbCKWFtYl8QCjfg8QE4TMnj5kK7iCDYnZqgCCbUd1vg5CQwfWRqiPR26eKRe_S7NBqSlHB2/s1600/20141229_230038.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Gotek USB Drive is a nifty little device that, once installed, allows you to plug in a USB flash drive and run games in .adf format (.ADF being the image of an original Amiga floppy disk - much like an ISO for CDs today). Installation is exceptionally easy and consists of the following easy steps:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: red;">1.</span> Open Amiga and lift off top case</b></span></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Inside the Amiga 600</span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Be careful when lifting the top off an A600 as this small connector</span></i></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: red;">2.</span> Unscrew and unplug the floppy disk drive</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: red;">3.</span> Plug in the Gotek using the provided cables (which look almost identical to the ones you just unplugged)</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: red;">4.</span> Leave the Gotek inside the case or feed the cables through the casing (the disk drive part) and leave it on top of the Amiga</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">5.</span> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Close case</span></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRdv0zN-9SKZwCLdfSr0DfRf0ChBNugo7XTz93wppDFevKepUudWlu-9y0UnKhFxBpWMEBWCScEWeD4zOj9Qm_tmoVA6RUbZx2A5diuOS-NSHaB522LcqE5VswHA75IfY1o6xCybSd0a_7/s1600/20141216_170250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRdv0zN-9SKZwCLdfSr0DfRf0ChBNugo7XTz93wppDFevKepUudWlu-9y0UnKhFxBpWMEBWCScEWeD4zOj9Qm_tmoVA6RUbZx2A5diuOS-NSHaB522LcqE5VswHA75IfY1o6xCybSd0a_7/s1600/20141216_170250.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Side view of Gotek inside case - note the plastic part broken off to </span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">make </span></i></b><br />
<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">USB stick fit and create easier access to tiny disk swap buttons</span></i></b></div>
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<i><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With the Gotek on the outside (A600)</span></b></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With my first Amiga 600 I had the Gotek inside the casing, using some card to keep it in place, but I had to snap a little piece of plastic from the casing off so I could press the tiny buttons on the Gotek. For the A500+ and current A600 setup I am happy for the Gotek to sit on top of the case!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On the software side of things, you need to download the <a href="https://www.sendspace.com/file/mkq4bd" target="_blank"><b>Gotek software</b></a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: red;">1.</span> Unzip the file.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: red;">2.</span> First place the SELECTOR.ADF file (located in the 'Bootdisk' folder) into the root directory of a formatted USB data stick. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: red;">3.</span> Add the 'Bootdisk' and 'Firmware' folders to the root directory.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: red;">4.</span> Add your games in .ADF format (again, to the root directory)</b></span></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All games on the USB stick are listed for easy selection - be sure to copy them to the stick in one go so that they appear in alphabetical order. Any newly added games will appear at the end of the list.</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When you boot up your Amiga you will now see a long list of all your games on the USB stick. Simply use the joystick or arrow keys to select the disk image you want then press fire or enter to select it. You then assign it to a drive (number 1), and then any additional game disks can be assigned to drives 2, 3, 4, all the way up to 99. You then choose 'save and restart' and the machine reboots and loads the game. When promoted for any disk changes in-game, you tap one of two tiny black buttons on the front of the Gotek (one changes up a number and the other down).</span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Assign the game disks you want to run to the virtual drives as shown above. </span></i></b><br />
<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then choose 'Save & Restart' to reboot.</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Adding new games to the USB drive is a simple matter of copying the .ADF file onto it via your PC. While most .ADF files worked without a hitch, I did experience quite a few that wouldn't load. This was resolved by downloading a different .ADF file for the game in question and I now have every game I want working fine.</span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Amiga 600 running The Bitmap Brother's Magic Pockets via the Gotek</span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Amiga 500+ running Superfrog via the Gotek</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You are now ready for hundreds of hours of fantastic 16-bit gaming. The Amiga is an absolute treasure trove of retro treats, from excellent arcade ports such as <i>Rainbow Islands</i> and <i>New Zealand Story</i>, exclusive titles such as <i>Benefactor</i>, <i>Superfrog</i>, <i>Shadow of the Beast 3</i> and <i>Ruff & Tumble</i>, to some classic point and click adventures such as <i>Monkey Island</i> 1 & 2, <i>Maniac Mansion</i> and <i>Indiana Jones & The Fate Of Atlantis</i>. There are many 8-bit style games that got a 16-bit lick of paint but retain the same old school gameplay, so fans of flick-screen platformers and arcade space shooters are sorted. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNDc3Hr_aaUGpdP572bDSqonllf-fLtKrS01fxTan4mxwZzKaR5q50s6p1xQl8n4SF-C7Nln2acTYn9dfrjlOAWGqKIWsTX22WZ_Y7ZOO-8YSiR7jHz_gE0vvEOVoraqRObrnRW23-uUpB/s1600/resizeimagereal.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNDc3Hr_aaUGpdP572bDSqonllf-fLtKrS01fxTan4mxwZzKaR5q50s6p1xQl8n4SF-C7Nln2acTYn9dfrjlOAWGqKIWsTX22WZ_Y7ZOO-8YSiR7jHz_gE0vvEOVoraqRObrnRW23-uUpB/s1600/resizeimagereal.png" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>Lemmings - a brain scratching classic</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are many games that will be instantly familiar to Mega Drive and SNES gamers too, with titles such as <i>James Pond : Robocod</i>, <i>Chuck Rock</i>, <i>Alfred Chicken</i>, <i>Lemmings</i>, <i>Risky Woods</i>, <i>Shadow of the Beast</i>, <i>Gods</i>, <i>Stormlord</i> and <i>Zool</i> appearing first on the Amiga. While the console versions often felt slightly slicker, with more colourful and detailed visuals than a stock Amiga 500 / 600, the music was usually worse than the excellent soundchip provided in Commodore's machine. The only downside was that many Amiga games only allowed you to hear either sound effects <i>or</i> music while playing, but not both at the same time, which often spoiled the experience. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi09wwMrUQhFKgi0tOksWqfVGFMx3KkuAeWRddEFOIE6amKnkQDnX5M8cGu0plKciRRobrpV2YHCjNkcYIns5DihWP3glqlQ-bKZoSy7KYyPpeBLO0cVnPAPa-YNZFBo1tki08lGH3xhFvu/s1600/the-chaos-engine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi09wwMrUQhFKgi0tOksWqfVGFMx3KkuAeWRddEFOIE6amKnkQDnX5M8cGu0plKciRRobrpV2YHCjNkcYIns5DihWP3glqlQ-bKZoSy7KYyPpeBLO0cVnPAPa-YNZFBo1tki08lGH3xhFvu/s1600/the-chaos-engine.jpg" height="320" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>The Chaos Engine - Another classic title that was ported to many systems, </i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>but is best on the original Amiga platform</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you want to stump up the extra cash for an Amiga 1200 you will be treated to 32-bit AGA visuals. Though '32-bit' is a bit misleading as these AGA games are far more akin to a Mega Drive than a PlayStation or Sega Saturn. Having said that, AGA games do look lovely - just look at the beautiful AGA version of <i>Exile </i>compared to the regular version to see what I mean! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyNr0iFyNU05puvb9gxSi8JZ6v3DTfuGmfHse6QEO7HgWNeyb5Ml3ceWUMEUFxivnVFzL70vL-cFxYzxSoLwGxoL7y3Sp544I9njnlC6g2NzuxnobKeA2pa_6kSK9vXtzYWaope2KDzGMM/s1600/BansheeMain+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyNr0iFyNU05puvb9gxSi8JZ6v3DTfuGmfHse6QEO7HgWNeyb5Ml3ceWUMEUFxivnVFzL70vL-cFxYzxSoLwGxoL7y3Sp544I9njnlC6g2NzuxnobKeA2pa_6kSK9vXtzYWaope2KDzGMM/s1600/BansheeMain+(1).jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Banshee is a fantastic Shmup and well worth getting an A1200 for</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are also several exclusive AGA games that were too graphically intensive to appear on the A500 / A600. Games such as the excellent <i>Banshee</i> (which gives Capcom's vertical shoot-em-ups a run for their money), 3D 'Starfox style blaster' <i>Guardian</i>, and even first person shooters in the form of <i>Gloom</i>, <i>Alien Breed 3d</i> 1 & 2 and <i>Fears</i>. However, don't come to these expecting <i>Doom</i> (or even <i>Wolfenstein 3D</i> for that matter) as the visuals and speed are pretty ropey on anything other than a suped-up behemoth of an A1200 (you will need an accelerator card). Speaking of which, if you do go down that route there are even Amiga ports of games such as <i>Quake</i>, <i>Doom</i> and <i>Duke Nukem 3D</i> which are apparently very impressive!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1GIkmsrIKwEmmhkRflgWWSWQjj13KM2R-KrNR6HAPLLSFbcyPxdoNTJaPNQ7FnrkWtLQRm1pKV7mvnb5KpXtkgjiLz6s5TKiJbJ3LBYayU6FB3PM2OIs2h6dL9DUDcoosfiDU3gQvxD0h/s1600/13998.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1GIkmsrIKwEmmhkRflgWWSWQjj13KM2R-KrNR6HAPLLSFbcyPxdoNTJaPNQ7FnrkWtLQRm1pKV7mvnb5KpXtkgjiLz6s5TKiJbJ3LBYayU6FB3PM2OIs2h6dL9DUDcoosfiDU3gQvxD0h/s1600/13998.jpg" height="320" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Even 3D FPS games are possible on the Amiga 1200</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But enough from me, I bet you are keen to get gaming. If you are new to Amiga games, or just want to discover some classic or fun games you may not have been aware of, I highly recommend a trip to the excellent LemonAmiga website. There, you can find every single Amiga game listed, all with handy screenshots and an average rating from the users. The advanced search engine allows you to filter games by score, genre, developer, publisher and many more, so it won't be long before you find a plethora of gems you will want to try out!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I will be back soon with a special Amiga games feature and also some regular reviews of some of the games I have been playing. In the meantime... happy gaming!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://cortexamigafloppydrive.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Gotek</a> </b></span><br />
<b><a href="http://www.winuae.net/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">WinUAE</span></a></b></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.lemonamiga.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Lemon Amiga</span></a></b></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.amibay.com/content.php" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Amibay</span></a></b></div>
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<b><a href="http://awesome.commodore.me/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Commodore is Awesome</span></a></b></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1846902027393288886.post-52466838789956659682014-11-17T12:34:00.000+00:002014-11-17T12:34:10.783+00:00Retro Review - Sega Rally Championship (Arcade, Saturn, PS2, PC)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY27ZHUXEAHaSRnFcpi7qPwRD-GysYqejaXDwGpI_NIcmIy5K6kGrG38bSkDoBJonQn-T-E4qYZI_jCOoyT7cnSb5EF9u0kkA9gVa0mEiPYsh5Qy3z22TL98390dT38DEAEknzotncjKiH/s1600/Sega_Rally_Championship_model2_titre.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY27ZHUXEAHaSRnFcpi7qPwRD-GysYqejaXDwGpI_NIcmIy5K6kGrG38bSkDoBJonQn-T-E4qYZI_jCOoyT7cnSb5EF9u0kkA9gVa0mEiPYsh5Qy3z22TL98390dT38DEAEknzotncjKiH/s1600/Sega_Rally_Championship_model2_titre.png" height="482" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Sega doing what Sega do best!</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">There have been many, many arcade racing games over the years, but some stand the test of time better than others. For every amazing and instantly gratifying title that can still be enjoyed 10 or more years after its original release, there are a hundred other bland, generic and instantly forgettable games out there. While racers on home consoles have evolved over time to offer more depth, more cars, more customisation, more tracks and more content in general, it's the simpler, less complicated arcade racers that hold up in the all important fun and replayability stakes. Each </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Gran Turismo</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> or </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Forza</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> game automatically renders its predecessor void as they focus heavily on realistic visuals while games such as </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Daytona USA </i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">and </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Outrun 2006</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> never lose their appeal. It's no coincidence that I use two Sega games as examples, as they are truly the masters of the genre. Almost every racer they have released has set the bar for the time, provided more thrill and spills than anything else out there, and provided a template for others to imitate, yet never better. The aforementioned </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Daytona USA</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> and </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Outrun 2006</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> are two of the best games in their genre, but it is </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Sega Rally Championship</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> that gets my vote for, not only best arcade racing game of all time, but racing game overall.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmFKrwlLvj_gJhOFpIU8rqmJkNEmsdn7tR2V3RKOvOJwDNp1MPrPdSGKVLLf5wssy0Ub9cGUCGIL64xy2TkwtyaA3lkkw5D6kkLWMpUtWcaf3tlPAJ5J8UidWgpDsZfggWs4BeTUcnXQvB/s1600/maxresdefault+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmFKrwlLvj_gJhOFpIU8rqmJkNEmsdn7tR2V3RKOvOJwDNp1MPrPdSGKVLLf5wssy0Ub9cGUCGIL64xy2TkwtyaA3lkkw5D6kkLWMpUtWcaf3tlPAJ5J8UidWgpDsZfggWs4BeTUcnXQvB/s1600/maxresdefault+(1).jpg" height="400" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><i>(Arcade - via Model 2 Emulator)</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Two cars and three tracks. Yep, that's all you get. But it matters not one iota, as what is on offer here is pure perfection, tuned and tweaked to provide the most pure and perfect arcade racing experience you can have. The two cars, the Lancia Delta (HF Integrale) and Toyota Celicia (GT-Four ST205) both look, sound and handle brilliantly and have enough subtle differences to make driving each one a whole new experience. After selecting your preferred vehicle you begin on the bumpy sand and mud filled Desert stage before heading along windy mountain roads, more mud and tight hairpin bends in the Forest course. Then it's a twisting trip through villages and, you guessed it, more mud as you careen through the final Mountain stage. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Each of these tracks is a perfect example of expert level design, with every nook and cranny feeling totally essential to the rollercoaster ride you take through the jumps, puddles, tunnels, twists and turns. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Even better, if you place first, you get a brand new track to race on, the beautiful, yet devilishly tricky, Lakeside. If you manage to successfully traverse the incredibly tight corners of this final stage and place first you are granted a brand new car, selectable the next time you play. The Lancia Stratos (HF) is just as iconic as the two cars that adorn </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sega Rally</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> flyers and advertisements and is a welcome addition that will take some serious practice to master thanks to its rather erratic handling and high speed.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj04gSCMZnh4hYjpNGlYb03xuz_QcGdtn3Klx1JCFcYJtnFftYDNf8WHHTKqkJI9ifn28MOP8NVa9d0OmWpaQ24Md50tAdrs42UexDhxGvWqgF5jPgB9w17qgGqqafvion7kC5BCheErpRH/s1600/segarallytwin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj04gSCMZnh4hYjpNGlYb03xuz_QcGdtn3Klx1JCFcYJtnFftYDNf8WHHTKqkJI9ifn28MOP8NVa9d0OmWpaQ24Md50tAdrs42UexDhxGvWqgF5jPgB9w17qgGqqafvion7kC5BCheErpRH/s1600/segarallytwin.jpg" height="400" width="351" /></a></div>
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><i>(The original two-player Coin-Op - if you see this anywhere, play it!)</i></b></div>
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<i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sega Rally Championship</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> is an absolute blast to play due to, not only the cars and tracks themselves, but the wonderful physics and handling of the vehicles. Your car drifts around corners in such a satisfying manner that it makes you feel like a true pro every time. The feeling of weight you experience when hitting one of the many bumps and lift off from the ground is second to none and wrestling with the wheel to keep yourself facing the right angle to the approaching corner is what arcade gaming is all about - pure excitement and adrenaline. The different road surfaces play a part too, with mud and sand feeling different from the smooth tarmac found on the Forest and Mountain stages - the transition from a muddy track onto the tarmac is extremely gratifying and feels, one would imagine, just like real rally driving. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sega rally offers two viewpoints, behind the car and a full screen, first person viewpoint. It all comes down to personal choice, naturally, but for my money the outside view wins every time - these cars deserve to be seen and look ace drifting around corners and launching off bumps in the road, spraying dust and mud in your face as they do so.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The coin-op cabinet came in both single and dual variations, allowing for some seriously competitive and tight races against your buddy if you were lucky enough to chance upon the double seated cab. Sadly, with the death of the arcades and the sheer age of <i>Sega Rally Championship</i>, you are very unlikely to come across one these days. If you do see one out in the wild, be sure to sit down and put a few coins in it as it's still the most enjoyable arcade driving game out there (second only to Daytona USA). Luckily, however, there were a selection of console and computer ports that brought all the thrills and spills to your own home, in some cases providing an even greater experience.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEE3blgglvjQyXCdmmpwoEhLPhj4pMv2WTe3Kl-7LTUdwmcux-WDnGp3s1H4vweqqIDVpT1g0ikvxP72UTnpJQXjvsygU5TVRh9xMm4_2eomHHb72_4Vy1ne_i_2W0OLNpLeJN2w1KgbZT/s1600/Sega-Rally-screen2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEE3blgglvjQyXCdmmpwoEhLPhj4pMv2WTe3Kl-7LTUdwmcux-WDnGp3s1H4vweqqIDVpT1g0ikvxP72UTnpJQXjvsygU5TVRh9xMm4_2eomHHb72_4Vy1ne_i_2W0OLNpLeJN2w1KgbZT/s1600/Sega-Rally-screen2.jpg" height="406" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><i>(Sega Saturn)</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first port was for Sega's 32-bit Saturn console. Released in 1995 and built from the ground up, the Saturn port was a real showstopper, especially after the rushed and rather dismal <i>Daytona USA</i> port. The visuals, while not in the same league as the original, were fantastic, with a slightly grittier look than its arcade parent. Sega were also thoughtful enough to reposition the timer to a less distracting position and also remove the unnecessary progress bar featured in the Coin-Op. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The music was one of the biggest improvements made, with the arcade tunes replaced with CD quality remixes. These powerful guitar tracks are incredibly catchy and suit the game to a tee. Anyone who has played <i>Sega Rally Championship</i> will remember the quirky voice acting in the game. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These incredibly upbeat and tongue-in-cheek samples elevated the games sense of fun even further and in the Saturn port they sound even better. T</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">he iconic "<a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9z1o3_sega-saturn-championship-race-finis_videogames" target="_blank">Fiiiii-nish</a>" and "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09s-c2JVI40" target="_blank">Game Over, Yeeeeah!</a>" are of a much higher quality than before, providing even more of a laugh. Honestly, there isn't a person on this planet who won't raise a smile at these wonderful voice overs.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh91kO58vZ0MXajsWF0U_SJ92ux1qn5Dv4YOdgUVAejvmyQLm9XAd0cb8XCNcLqSOMxM-mIMnCDi1mojpJmmZkvja0nA1dqPKKQ4ZdxeMFmj5JL-AP6ZJuh__8t8TOhf6SZvEqYn8s8xdZO/s1600/gfs_60367_2_14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh91kO58vZ0MXajsWF0U_SJ92ux1qn5Dv4YOdgUVAejvmyQLm9XAd0cb8XCNcLqSOMxM-mIMnCDi1mojpJmmZkvja0nA1dqPKKQ4ZdxeMFmj5JL-AP6ZJuh__8t8TOhf6SZvEqYn8s8xdZO/s1600/gfs_60367_2_14.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The game retains the same three cars as the coin-op, though this time the Lancia Stratos remains unlocked and selectable once Lakeside is beaten in first place. There is an additional time trial mode, complete with ghost opponent, and a brilliant split screen two player mode. There are also a wealth of customisation options for each car, allowing you to fine tune its performance to suit your play style. You can then save these customisations (along with other changes in the options) to the Saturn's memory for next time. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Saturn version was a big success and rightly so. It's the best game for the system and, despite it's rather ropey visuals (by today's standards and compared to the PC version), it remains an utter joy to play. I would even go as far as to say that it is worth owning a Saturn for this alone (a 60Hz model, of course!).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In 1997 Sega released <i>Sega Rally Championship</i> for the PC. Essentially a port of the Sega Saturn version, the PC version looked very similar (but with a slightly cleaner look), featured the same excellent remixed soundtrack, contained the time trial and split screen modes and featured the same customisation options. There was also a rare version released with direct 3D support that improved the visuals further. You can now download a patch online to mod your existing <i>Sega Rally</i> installation to this version, and there are also other user made mods out there to further enhance and improve stability and function on modern PCs. With this setup, combined with an essential Xbox 360 controller, the PC version of <i>Sega Rally Championship</i> is my favourite of all the versions. Be sure to own a copy of the original disc in order to get the awesome soundtrack playing alongside the action!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sony's PS2 received an arcade perfect port in 2006 when it was bundled as a free bonus with the fairly mediocre <i>Sega Rally 2006</i>. Unfortunately, this amazing freebie was only given to Japanese gamers, leaving the rest of us to pay expensive import prices. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These days, however, copies often appear on Ebay for around £20 and I fully recommend you grab one if you see it (and providing your PS2 plays Japanese games). I would usually recommend emulation as an option (especially as PS2 emulation is pretty damned good these days) but as far as I know <i>Sega Rally 95</i> is currently not compatible with any emulator out there. The game itself is, of course, brilliant, but </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">is slightly outshined by the wonderful Saturn and PC ports, which are just slightly more enjoyable to play and contain the far superior soundtrack. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The language barrier is not an issue and you can save your settings (including changing the difficulty and number oif laps) and high scores to a memory card. It is the sole reason I have my PS2 still plugged into my TV. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So far, so good, right? Well Sega saw fit to release two other ports that were not so good. Both on handheld machines, the Gameboy Advance port was the least offensive of the two being some what playable, but it's like experiencing the arcade original after suffering a debilitating head injury. Sure, it takes a good stab at replicating the original version - it even adds new modes and extra courses. But it's a waste of your time when you could be playing the console versions instead. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The second version, on Nokia's forgotten N-Gage, is an absolute travesty which I refuse to even speak about. If you must witness this abomination then simply check it out on Youtube and then immediately try to forget what you see. Let's all pretend these versions don't exist and move on to the next paragraph, quickly.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir-JJkaklamfRHyEzEK0LlidJZs38poY1-PxDtbENctvDgFT3aN7GrOZzXW1wrm39S-_AYylU495P0yjlxnm_rhgiKeKg8CVpXXH9ZpnDWVrrabtUx6wa62s-26MGk1HnGFJ0YFbBmc_7w/s1600/Sega+Rally+Championship.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir-JJkaklamfRHyEzEK0LlidJZs38poY1-PxDtbENctvDgFT3aN7GrOZzXW1wrm39S-_AYylU495P0yjlxnm_rhgiKeKg8CVpXXH9ZpnDWVrrabtUx6wa62s-26MGk1HnGFJ0YFbBmc_7w/s1600/Sega+Rally+Championship.png" height="440" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As if it isn't clear enough already, I adore <i>Sega Rally Championship</i>. I have been playing it on a regular basis for nearly 20 years and still enjoy it as much today as I did when I first played the Sega Saturn port back in 1995. It is one of the easiest games to pick up and play and has, shockingly, never been bettered by any other racing game, including the extremely disappointing sequels. <i>Sega Rally</i> <i>Championship </i>provides instant satisfaction and enjoyment and will keep you coming back time and time again due to the sheer joy in throwing these weighty vehicles around the sublime courses, with the added incentive of</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> shaving precious milliseconds off of your track records. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, if you have never played <i>Sega Rally Championship</i> and have a penchant for arcade racers then I simply insist that you get hold of one of the versions and discover this fantastic game for yourself. It's another shining example of Sega at the top of their game, and another reason why they will be remembered for all time as both the pioneers and masters of the arcade racing genre. I cannot recommend it highly enough!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Fiiiiiiiiiiiiii-nish!</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRQb4sM4YrfTGuntOMhUMxA2cUpmJxG0n4X8ge-U4or5jfFMidI-ZIhurbMtdZWepVRoA2TZ5LiFV5qrTs5SsMdPNFx59eJM1Vu-O1YYcL9iKaUrBre3i0eHfw6Y-mVjksULwNFrUgt_E9/s1600/Score+-010b.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRQb4sM4YrfTGuntOMhUMxA2cUpmJxG0n4X8ge-U4or5jfFMidI-ZIhurbMtdZWepVRoA2TZ5LiFV5qrTs5SsMdPNFx59eJM1Vu-O1YYcL9iKaUrBre3i0eHfw6Y-mVjksULwNFrUgt_E9/s1600/Score+-010b.png" height="46" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXur2IlFVAV8USQStbnlkJKQnYwMD4WxXBVOvex8bMotBq-9r-abgVt75HU32zIEYA5zVaatOuf26xf1Om9QI_OZF2APn8yfC3f31ocjMbvD0BTYS8tP2yy6Rzqm8OOIHQbmDOnKkw4bvs/s1600/Sega_Rally_flyer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXur2IlFVAV8USQStbnlkJKQnYwMD4WxXBVOvex8bMotBq-9r-abgVt75HU32zIEYA5zVaatOuf26xf1Om9QI_OZF2APn8yfC3f31ocjMbvD0BTYS8tP2yy6Rzqm8OOIHQbmDOnKkw4bvs/s1600/Sega_Rally_flyer.jpg" height="320" width="243" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Title : </span>Sega Rally Championship</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Developer :</span> Sega</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Year :</span> 1994</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">System :</span> Arcade</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Ports :</span> PS2, Saturn, PC, N-Gage</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Genre :</span> Arcade Racer</b></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1846902027393288886.post-90906147629746384362014-10-16T10:47:00.000+01:002014-10-16T14:23:18.168+01:00Wolfenstein 3D demo ROM released for Sega Mega Drive<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj4gg2dvgTlSopCOPEqVntAV3EcSXFOCpu8hlLMC3eFXLFSU3VaQ1Abgy0eKLgZaS3laI_ahU4yzfYuD5yrqMdoLiEzPJCa55hZ4BtE7Nm5uy89iEKgfW9BtGHHrVOccFWh8F8tRngjZWb/s1600/wolf3dtitle.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj4gg2dvgTlSopCOPEqVntAV3EcSXFOCpu8hlLMC3eFXLFSU3VaQ1Abgy0eKLgZaS3laI_ahU4yzfYuD5yrqMdoLiEzPJCa55hZ4BtE7Nm5uy89iEKgfW9BtGHHrVOccFWh8F8tRngjZWb/s1600/wolf3dtitle.png" height="402" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Great news for both retro console gamers and fans of <i>the</i> original first person shooter <i>Wolfenstein 3D</i> as it has finally found its way onto the Sega Mega Drive. Back in 1994, the Super Nintendo was lucky enough to get a port of Id Software's ground breaking title, but it was a heavily censored and very feeble looking port that wasn't a patch on the PC original. Still, it played well enough and was extremely popular. Now Mega Drive owners can finally get some payback as this unofficial port by <i>Gasega68k</i> blows the SNES version out of the water. It features a far less pixellated look that is much closer to the PC version, and the scrolling is incredibly smooth for the 16-bit system. Indeed, the whole affair is incredibly impressive, with 6-button controller support, digitised speech, the ability to save your game and graphical filters to further enhance the look of the game - though these, naturally, would only work on an emulator. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwRnN8ZR8v3m7f43_ib6vQGoxw9nTj0CaTXeU1sLHunkYMBFvdF8RJuHc8yeL7LkB9ZqHEPtBJ_N22wbNnndlTG6FtliumUkcz8Li1ZQfGun7aUqll625dPvwV5XR9kd5aCzXuyqvJ6MYN/s1600/wolf3d3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwRnN8ZR8v3m7f43_ib6vQGoxw9nTj0CaTXeU1sLHunkYMBFvdF8RJuHc8yeL7LkB9ZqHEPtBJ_N22wbNnndlTG6FtliumUkcz8Li1ZQfGun7aUqll625dPvwV5XR9kd5aCzXuyqvJ6MYN/s1600/wolf3d3.png" height="452" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have played the demo and, as a huge fan of the original game, I strongly recommend you check it out. Not only is it a big technical achievement, but it's also great fun to play, and I was soon at the end of the demo craving more. Here's hoping that this talented programmer continues his work and that a full 6 episode version will see the light of day. Heck, maybe it will even see a physical cartridge release at some point (if this is possible). I, for one, would jump at the opportunity to add this to my games collection.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just check out the video below to see the game in action, but I urge you to simply jump straight in and download the ROM and play it for yourself!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Download the ROM file and keep up to date with further updates here:</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://gendev.spritesmind.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1537&" target="_blank">Wolfenstein 3D Beta ROM</a></span></b></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1846902027393288886.post-51347771966773206892014-09-22T11:09:00.001+01:002014-09-22T11:13:49.862+01:00Review - Ziggurat (PC) Awesome Old School Fantasy FPS <div style="text-align: justify;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTHBmSmv967IaEkKVCw1bsgxQmd6jYgGZAJL6TSNVoaexOLE1oebFviShNeRq3BpBd1xWS7-KGqwcSLOCMyq293snuQwIF4B5bIzom3oLwUTFxptBP2o7xSdHdKFlHo9bWoYOEW4BBQ1uD/s1600/title.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTHBmSmv967IaEkKVCw1bsgxQmd6jYgGZAJL6TSNVoaexOLE1oebFviShNeRq3BpBd1xWS7-KGqwcSLOCMyq293snuQwIF4B5bIzom3oLwUTFxptBP2o7xSdHdKFlHo9bWoYOEW4BBQ1uD/s1600/title.png" height="400" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Don't be a Heretic, play this new fantasy FPS!</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fantastic news for those of you whom, like myself, adore the classic old school first person shooters of yesteryear. None of this <i>Call of Modern Halo Fighter 4</i> bullshit for me thanks. I want fast paced, satisfying action, not tedious, po-faced military shooters filled with lengthy cutscenes and constant Q.T.Es. Games such as <i>Doom 2</i>, <i>Duke Nukem 3D</i>, <i>Quake 1 - 3</i> and <i>Half-Life</i> are still yet to be bettered and play exceptionally well many years after their original release. It's no wonder all of those titles are still supported by talented modders, with a wealth of exciting and original content to spice up the solid mechanics and gameplay provided in the original titles. Many indie developers have tried to recreate these classic games, but always fail - seeming to miss out the vital ingredients that made the games they are trying to emulate so special. This could be down to poor level or character design, weedy guns that provide zero satisfaction, boring environments to explore, or the addition of unnecessary gimmicks. Both <i>Wrack</i> and <i>Rogue Shooter</i> are recent examples of how not to pay tribute to the classic FPS, and now we have <i>Ziggurat</i> to show us that a decent indie old school FPS is indeed possible.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This time, the inspiration is not <i>Doom</i> nor <i>Quake</i>, but slightly lesser known title <i>Heretic</i> and its sequel <i>Hexen</i>. These games were published by Id Software, but were actually developed by Black Raven with assistance from John Romero himself. <i>Heretic</i> and <i>Hexen</i> both threw out the </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">sci-fi horror </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">setting, replacing it with a fantasy world featuring magical weaponry and spells. This is what <i>Ziggurat</i> has clearly been inspired by, as its frantic pace and no-nonsense blasting action using magical projectile weapons is pure <i>Heretic. </i></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first thing you notice are the incredibly beautiful visuals. So much so, that the wheezing cadaver I call my PC nearly had a nervous breakdown when I played it and I had to reduce the graphical settings. If you are the owner of a decent PC gaming system then you are in for a treat. The dungeons look great, the lighting is mesmerising and the amount of detail on everything, from the enemies, weapons and projectiles, to background items such as skeletons and glowing mushrooms is astounding. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIsL6KkTRqmprwK1sOR-COvOoSjHkYM0Sf8KsS_ebZZu4wX9N25uYn846MErzwl_hnk_Q42ZVdWAeQ7PloE23de3j-kzX9AqwY62kZQpkGrWFpwkg3Wzgx1tegApskPWkE8wqSRQzh7etz/s1600/10.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIsL6KkTRqmprwK1sOR-COvOoSjHkYM0Sf8KsS_ebZZu4wX9N25uYn846MErzwl_hnk_Q42ZVdWAeQ7PloE23de3j-kzX9AqwY62kZQpkGrWFpwkg3Wzgx1tegApskPWkE8wqSRQzh7etz/s1600/10.png" height="400" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Ziggurat</i> also uses the popular roguelike elements seen in... well, pretty much every indie game of late. Each time you start a new game the levels are procedurally generated resulting in a fairly new experience each time. Each floor is connected by a series of rooms, and it's up to you to locate the spell book, then find the room which houses the floor guardian. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Along your way you will encounter different types of rooms. Some contain scrolls which provide some amusing anecdote, some magic chests that offer extra mana or weapons and </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">some that are filled with traps such as spikes or fiery pits. Mostly though, they are filled with enemies, named minions. Once you enter the room, the doors lock behind you and the minions' energy bar appears at the top of the screen. You must then fight for survival, laying waste to any of the hideous (and often rather humorous) creatures that appear. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As you destroy them the minions bar depletes and once empty the room is cleared and you can continue on your quest - they also drop XP, ammo and health for you to collect as they die. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's simple stuff, certainly, and many of the rooms repeat as you play through, but it never becomes too repetitive thanks to the exciting and fast paced combat that sees you strafing around the screen, firing your magical projectiles at a plethora of ground and air based foes. It really keeps you on your toes, and it is always with a sigh of relief and sense of satisfaction that you defeat the last foe and reopen the doors. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Like any other roguelike game, death is permanent and requires starting from scratch. Initially this seems brutal and progress is slow. But once you begin to hit the kill targets for unlocking new characters and weapons, as well as obtaining perks that can be used in your next playthrough, things become slightly more forgiving. Once this happens you will be hooked and will continue coming back again and again to try to beat that last boss who killed you before you could see what the next floor had in store for you. You will become more accustomed to the enemies attack patterns and behaviour and you will soon be whizzing through the levels, jumping over traps and mowing down minions left right and centre. The addition of levelling up and choosing new perks during the game in order to boost your chances of survival is a welcome one, made even better by the vast amount of perks you can choose from, new ones of which are unlocked as your hit monster kill tallies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Ziggurat</i> certainly doesn't feature the same single-player structure as the games that inspired it - there are no intricate levels to explore and switches to pull to open new paths here. This may disappoint fans of <i>Heretic</i> and <i>Hexen</i> who wanted something similar to those great games and, to some extent, I include myself in that category. But I found myself enjoying Ziggurat too much to worry about what it could have been, instead focusing on enjoying what it is - a fantastically retro FPS that is heaps of fun to play, extremely challenging yet rewarding and wonderful to look at. The only chink in its armour is the length of the game. After several days of being defeated by the third floor guardian I made it to the fourth floor. I was disappointed to see that the stages still all looked very similar as I was hoping to see some outdoor stages, maybe a huge library, a clock tower, anything really. The disappointment was magnified tenfold when I got to the fifth floor and was informed it was the final stage. Only five floors? This seemed pretty tight-fisted to me. Sure, the game is hard and it took me several days casual play to reach the final stage, but I was left yearning for far more content. After a recent update there is a now a Game+ mode, unlocked upon completion of the game, which adds a sixth floor and increases the difficulty substantially. This should keep the hardcore occupied for a while longer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Despite its short length and lack of variety in the levels, <i>Ziggurat</i> is the most complete and solid 'early access' game I have played so far, and wouldn't have been surprised if this was sold as the finished article. But with the potential for further updates and improvements, this game can only get better. If you yearn for the classic days of 1990's first person shooters then you will love <i>Ziggurat</i> and I urge you to head over to Steam and splash out on it as soon as possible. You won't regret it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>*Ziggurat is constantly in development and receives regular updates that refine the gameplay, tweak the visuals and add new content. This review is accurate as of 21st September 2014. I will bring you news of any major updates in future posts.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Title :</span> Ziggurat</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Developer :</span> Milkstone Studios</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Year :</span> 2014</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">System :</span> PC</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Price :</span> £8.99 (Early Access)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Genre :</span> First Person Shooter, Roguelike</b></span><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1846902027393288886.post-67056311999765928122014-09-02T15:09:00.000+01:002014-09-02T15:09:11.505+01:00Review - Behind You (PlayStation Mobile) Fun indie stealth game for your Vita! <div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some games seem to want to remain anonymous. That's the only conclusion I can come to when faced with titles like <i>Behind You</i>, a small indie title I recently stumbled across on the PlayStation Mobile section of the Vita's Store page. You see, I could not find any information on the whole of the interweb regarding this cute, Japanese stealth action affair. It had a release date on Metacritic, but that's all I could find, hence you will see I have had to resort to taking screenshots of the game using my camera phone (yes really)! Though, the irony of a stealth game being hard to track down is not lost on me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Essentially a top down maze game with stealth elements, <i>Behind You</i> puts you in the little boots of the anime heroin as she sets about trying to rescue her family from a military base filled with stormtroopers. That's all I can tell you about the story as there is barely any text to explain your predicament, and most of it is (rather amusingly) poorly translated. Regardless, you must navigate your way around the top down / isometric floors of the building, knocking out guards from behind and avoiding CCTV cameras. As is the norm, the left thumbstick controls your characters movement, while the right stick is used to rotate the camera, which is essential for being able to see around corners. You can also enter and roam around in first person mode, though this requires the constant holding down of the L-button. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Behind You</i> is basically a Pac Man clone at heart. You move around the corridors of each floor, trying to find keys to open locked doors, while avoiding the ghosts.. sorry, guards. If you are spotted you can run and find cover until the guards cool down and resume their original patrol route, but this raises the alarm bar at the top of the screen, and should it get to 100% the mission is a failure. Cameras will also raise the alarm, but can be hacked by conveniently located computer terminals, while laser doors must be avoided by closely following a guard through one. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Help comes in the form of a pistol and a shotgun, which can only be used in the first person mode, though this is hardly Doom - heck. It's not even Wolfenstein 3D - as you can only score a hit with a gun when text appears above the enemy you are aiming at.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> My favourite usable item is certainly the folding chair which can be used to prop up an unconscious guard, to which his comrades make a comment about him being a "laid back guy" in fine 'Engrish' fashion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Visually the game is pretty decent, if a little rough around the edges - the textures are fairly bare-bones, and the environment can appear a little shaky, even glitchy, when moving around - but otherwise it does a pretty decent job of providing immersive stages to explore. The first person mode looks pleasingly retro, reminding me of<i> Flashback's</i> pseudo-sequel <i>Fade To Black</i> when Conrad would go into first person view for combat. The music is pretty weak, however, with some plinky plonky tunes that get very repetitive. Thankfully it doesn't detract too much from the experience as you are generally concentrating too hard on not being spotted by the guards or cameras. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzj7OUzIHUsIAQMFhT7E6qeeM_QF1YYsw5SdqsQoIBpHqDDXDqe5akXBNRgM4MF5OppLdJlzSSnuqoBkr9gXcgA8sjBISFOl_H1c0ZgHfzYZOH8hcny1gSvg0OvV6HBArne6hMSfmrHEgc/s1600/Untitled-14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzj7OUzIHUsIAQMFhT7E6qeeM_QF1YYsw5SdqsQoIBpHqDDXDqe5akXBNRgM4MF5OppLdJlzSSnuqoBkr9gXcgA8sjBISFOl_H1c0ZgHfzYZOH8hcny1gSvg0OvV6HBArne6hMSfmrHEgc/s1600/Untitled-14.jpg" height="368" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With only four stages to get through, it won't take you a huge amount of time to get through the game. But each stage consists of multiple floors and, naturally, get much harder as your progress, with more numerous and tougher guards, more cameras and more locked doors, meaning it is no pushover. Overall, <i>Behind You</i> is hardly <i>Metal Gear Solid </i>or<i> Splinter Cell</i>, but it's a cheap and cheerful stealth game with a retro heart and a good sense of humour. It's engaging enough to keep you playing and challenging enough to keep you coming back until you have beaten it, with extra replay value added in the form of end of stage ratings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Title :</span> Behind You</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Developer :</span> Pon Pon Games</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Year :</span> 2014</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">System :</span> PlayStation Mobile platforms (Vita version played)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Price :</span> £2.79</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Genre :</span> Stealth, Action</b></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1846902027393288886.post-1903492660696354312014-08-31T10:47:00.002+01:002014-08-31T10:47:50.921+01:00Classic PC DOS 'Mario Kart clone' Wacky Wheels getting an HD Remake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the early 1990's if you were a PC only gamer, you missed out on a wealth of fantastic games on the 16-bit home consoles, but there were always alternatives. <a href="http://www.retrospiritgames.co.uk/2012/10/pc-dos-gaming-special-apogee-software.html" target="_blank">Apogee</a> were one of the great developers of the time, churning out a plethora of enjoyable, console-like titles for DOS gamers. One of my personal favourites was their blatant clone of the insanely popular (and insanely awesome) SNES title <i>Super Mario Kart</i>. Featuring a similar graphical style, as well as cutesy critters in karts, it made no attempt to cover up the fact that it was trying desperately hard to be just like Nintendo's racer. But this mattered not as it was a great game in its own right. I had a great deal of fun racing around the well designed and colourful tracks, blasting the other racers with hedgehog weapons and bouncing over obstacles. Sure, it was nowhere near as good as <i>Super Mario Kart</i>, but it was a great alternative option.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well, I am excited to tell you that there is a brand new HD remake in the works by indie developers Cascadia Games. They have secured the rights from Apogee and have released a video showing the progress of their remake so far. It is early days yet, but this looks to be shaping up into an impressive remake and a damn fun game to boot. The game will see life on both PC and iOS formats, but no release date has been set.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>In the meantime, check out this video and see for yourself:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Keep your eyes peeled for more news on the official website here:</b></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.cascadiagames.com/game_wackywheels.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Wacky Wheels</b></span></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1846902027393288886.post-6275343243277388252014-08-28T11:12:00.002+01:002014-08-28T11:12:46.990+01:00Review - Lovely Planet (PC)<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As a huge, huge fan of old school, 90's style first person shooters I usually take the time to play anything even remotely resembling classic titles such as <i>Wolfenstein 3D</i>, <i>Doom</i> and <i>Quake</i>, so it was mere seconds between me seeing <i>Lovely Planet</i> on Steam and making a purchase. Sure, the graphics looked cutesy and twee, but I figured it could be a wonderfully humorous combination of <i>Doom</i> and <i>Super Mario Bros</i>. Unfortunately I was left painfully disappointed by the incredibly linear stages and the simplistic 'infinite runner' style gameplay.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Of course, the visuals are the first thing that you will notice in Lovely Planet. The colourful, flat-shaded polygons bring to mind quirky Japanese titles such as <i>Katamari Damacy</i> and are quite appealing, though this depends on your tastes of course. I am just glad to see a FPS that isn't primarily made up of murky greys and browns. The problem comes when you realise that once you have played a few levels, you have basically seen everything <i>Lovely Planet</i> is going to dish up. The bland environments and enemies that are little more than shapes with faces, coupled with your pathetic looking 'stick' weapon soon lose their appeal, and the ridiculously happy J-pop soundtrack soon begins to grate, to the point where you simply have to turn it off.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Lovely Planet's</i> main failing, however, is the gameplay itself. Admittedly, I didn't read any of the blurb on Steam, preferring to make an on-the-spot purchase, but I came to <i>Lovely Planet</i> expecting a cartoon FPS in the same style as all my old favourites - run around the stages blasting enemies while trying to locate the exit with some keys and doors thrown in for good measure. What I got was an incredibly linear game that has one set path you must follow and is more akin to a 2D platformer with a first person viewpoint. It is also a speed-run style game, with incredibly short levels that can be beaten in less time that it takes to type 'First Person Shooter'. Levels are merely assault courses that you must dash through, jumping on platforms and bounce pads while blasting the enemies and projectiles before touching the exit pole. With one touch from anything hostile instantly restarting the level, it is more a memory test than a true FPS. While easy to begin with, it isn't long before the difficulty ramps up to <i>Super Meat Boy</i> heights, and it becomes quite irritating with it (especially if you have that happy music assaulting your ears). Not only are enemies (all coloured red) a concern, but often other shootable items will pop up in the distance and if they hit the ground before you shoot them, guess what? Yep. restart time. There are also friendly shapes (coloured grey) that mustn't be shot, meaning you cannot simply run around shooting your cube projectiles in every direction.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Don't get me wrong, there is some fun to be had in <i>Lovely Planet</i>, but it's very short lived, and it isn't long before the visuals (and especially the music) become tiresome and the gameplay stale. If you enjoy mobile phone style games that lack any real substance, with levels that can be finished in seconds and feature the seemingly-mandatory 'three star rating' system, then you might gain far more entertainment value from this game than I did. For those of you who, like me, come to this colourful, cartoon world looking for a dose of classic FPS action, you will be sorely disappointed. May I instead recommend the excellent <i>Doom 2</i> mod <i>Action Doom 2 : Urban Brawl</i>, as it will satisfy both your FPS itch and features great cartoon visuals and a large dose of (albeit gratuitously violent) humour.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Title :</span> Lovely Planet</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Developer :</span> Quicktequila</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Publisher : </span>tinyBuild</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Year : </span>2014</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">System : </span>PC</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Also On :</span> Mac</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Price :</span> £3.49</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Genre :</span> FPS, Platformer</b></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1846902027393288886.post-54997770556580765882014-08-15T12:47:00.001+01:002014-08-15T13:57:00.850+01:00Review - Rogue Legacy (Vita, PS3, PS4)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Back in October 2013 I reviewed <a href="http://www.retrospiritgames.co.uk/2013/10/review-rogue-legacy-pc.html" target="_blank"><i>Rogue Legacy</i></a> on PC. Now, 10 months later, this roguelike platformer has found its way to Sony's fantastic and painfully underrated Vita console. And do you know what? I had a far more enjoyable time with it this time around. For those of you unfamiliar with the game, <i>Rogue Legacy</i> is a 2d platformer in which you explore a <i>Castlevania</i>-esque castle, defeating baddies with your sword and spells, collecting as much loot as you can. Upon your death you choose a new character, spend the loot you gathered before dying on stats and equipment upgrades, and enter a completely new, randomly generated castle to do it all over again. The aim being to level yourself up enough to face off against one of the four bosses located in the four different areas that make up the game world. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Comparisons to <i>Spelunky</i> are obvious, but it really is a very different beast to Dereck Yu's masterpiece. Yes, the levels are randomly generated each time you play, and yes it's a 2D platformer. But that's where the similarities end. Whereas <i>Spelunky</i> starts you off with the same amount of lives and equipment each time, <i>Rogue Legacy</i> is all about levelling up your character enough to get a little further each time. Each of the four areas - the castle itself, the forest, the tower, and the dungeons - are always in the same direction, but the layout is different every time. The monsters positions too are random, so you never know what might face you in the next room. Each enemy vanquished drops coins or sacks of gold, as does many of the breakable furniture items dotted around. The real spoils come from the many chests dotted around the game world and larger mini-bosses you may encounter on your travels.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once you die.. and here is the main gimmick of <i>Rogue Legacy</i>.. you choose from one of three of your previous character's descendants. They can be male or female, giant or tiny, a mighty warrior or a weak spellcaster. They often acquire genetic afflictions such as colour blindness, flatulence, dyslexia and gigantism. These are amusing but also affect the game, with your character not being able to see very far, text from journals being displayed as gibberish, or even having to play with everything upside down. Once you have selected one of these trio you the get the opportunity to spend your money on a large skill tree. Here you can upgrade your total health, mana (magic power used for spells such as axes, daggers, teleportation and flaming balls that rotate around you), armour, carry weight and many more. Most important is upgrading your character classes, so next time around one of your descendants may be a mighty barbarian king, a spelunker capable of finding far more gold, or a powerful spell casting arch mage. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once this is done, you enter the grounds of the castle where a blacksmith will sell you new weapons, a sorceress will sell you runes that grant you abilities such as double jumping, flight, dashing, and the ability to gain life from defeated foes, and a mad scientist will lock the castle to the same layout as your previous playthrough (for a hefty price, of course). The catch here is that you can only purchase and equip runes, weapons or armour you have found on a previous run through. Once you are ready to hit the castle again, you must handover all your leftover cash to the grim reaper who guards the entrance, so be sure to spend as much of your gold as you can.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All this lends the game a great deal of depth, and keeps you coming back for more every time you die. Unfortunately it also has the negative impact of turning the game into one giant grind-fest. You simply stand no chance of defeating each boss until you are substantially levelled up and this is an incredibly slow process. Each game usually lasts a short amount of time as the monsters are powerful, numerous, and fire a bewildering amount of projectiles your way. Then you spend your meagre earnings on one, maybe two upgrades before repeating the process again and again and again. It soon becomes extremely irritating, a fact that isn't helped by the incredibly bland stage layouts. They may be randomly generated, but certain room layouts are repeated often, and they aren't that interesting to explore, often feeling</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> like a bunch of uninteresting screens chucked together to form a game world. The occasional run in with the mini-bosses, or trial rooms which task you with destroying every enemy, or taking no damage spice things up a bit though, as does running into special characters that allow you the chance to play mini-games in exchange for cash prizes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Despite this, it is an extremely addictive experience. As you get more powerful and purchase essential upgrades that enable you to find more gold, it becomes easier to run through the easier areas of the castle, hoovering up large quantities of gold - though the price of upgrades also rise accordingly. One good run and a near-miss battle against one of the bastard-hard bosses is enough to keep you coming back with new determination. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rogue Legacy is a tough title to review as, on the one hand it's enjoyable, challenging and addictive, yet on the other it feels seriously lacking in some aspects and feels as though it was designed to deliberately waste as much of your time as possible.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This new Vita iteration is a far more attractive proposition than the original PC version I reviewed as it's perfectly suited to the handheld format. It looks gorgeous on the OLED screen, has tight, well thought-out controls and is perfect for quick gaming sessions. It's also another cross-buy / cross-save title, meaning you can experience it on the big screen via your PS3 or PS4, making it incredibly good value for money if you are lucky enough to make use of this. It may be irritating, but it's an essential purchase for those who enjoy 2D platformers, especially those featuring randomly generated levels. Just be aware that you will need to do a lot of grinding to get anywhere in this game, so it is not for those who lack patience or dislike repeating the same thing over and over again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Title :</span> Rogue Legacy</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Developer : </span>Cellar Door Games</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Year : </span>2014</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">System Reviewed :</span> Vita</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Also on :</span> PC, Mac, PS3, PS4</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Price : </span>£9.99</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Cross-Buy :</span> Yes</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Genre :</span> Platformer, Roguelike</b></span></div>
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