Retro Review - Apidya (Amiga)

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, after 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.

A Very Amiga Christmas! 16-Bit Festive Gaming Goodies!

A 16-bit Christmas of Festive Freebies 

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! 

Indie Review - Ghosts 'N Demons (PC)

Ghosts 'N Demons

Capcoms classic coin-op Ghosts N' Goblins 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 Maldita Castilla, released in 2012, but a new kid on the block; the not-very-subtly-named Ghosts 'N Demons. Personally, I've always had a love / hate relationship with the 1985 original (and its sequel Ghouls 'N Ghosts, 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. 

Indie Review - Plasma Fist (PC)

Plasma Fist - Old School Platforming done right!

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 Lode Runner or Jetpack. 

Super Mario Maker UPDATE! Plus, what we still want to see in the game!

Free update is now live!

Hot on the heels of my Super Mario Maker review (here), 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 Super Mario Maker from being the true Super Mario Bros creation tool it could be. Some are minor, but others are so glaring that they render the opportunity to recreate most of your favourite Super Mario Bros 3, Super Mario World and New Super Mario Bros levels impossible. But just 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!

Review - Eternum (PC)

Eternum

Hot on the heels of my review of the excellent 80's arcade game, Baluba-Louk No Densetsu, 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 Ghosts 'N Goblins series. This inspiration is immediately apparent, in 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.

Review - Letter Quest : Grimm's Journey (PC / Mac)

Casual gaming finally wins me over

I have never once considered myself a casual gamer - I would scoff at the 'noobs' playing gibberish like Farmville and Candy Crush, 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, Candy Crush is still an abomination) due to one title, Letter Quest : Grimm's Journey.

Review - Rogue Legacy (Vita, PS3, PS4)

Grindhouse

Back in October 2013 I reviewed Rogue Legacy 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, Rogue Legacy is a 2d platformer in which you explore a Castlevania-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. 

Review - Another World 20th Anniversary Edition (Vita)

A World of Pain

Originally an Amiga title, Another World (or Out Of This World in the USA) blew gamers away in the early 1990's thanks to its impressive animation and atmospheric alien world to explore. You played as Lester, a young professor working on dangerous particle acceleration experiments. One night, after arriving late at the lab one night (in his Ferrari, as the computer needlessly points out) to continue his work, disaster strikes when lightning hits the roof during a critical moment in the experiment. Lester is then transported to a strange alien world, and must escape. It was a pioneering title that would pave the way for more expansive adventures such as the unconnected follow-up title Flashback, Abe's Odyssey, and Tomb Raider. It could perhaps be considered the Uncharted of the time.

Review - Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition (Xbox 360)

¡Ay caramba!

As many of you who read this site will know, the so-called Metroidvania sub-genre is one of my favourite types of game. 2D platformers are my passion and have always appealed to me a million times more than even the best 3D offerings (Mario 64 I'm looking at you). So any new game laying claim to the Metroidvania tag is always going to be a cause of much excitement. It was this excitement that got me playing the original version of Guacamelee! on the PS3 last year. It was a beautiful homage to classic SNES game Super Metroid (even containing many unsubtle nods to its source of inspiration) that added a welcome sense of humour to proceedings. Unfortunately, I was never able to beat the game and frustration led me away and, I'm embarrassed to say, I completely forgot about it. Well, I can now right that wrong as Guacamelee! is back in a new and improved 'Super Turbo Championship Edition' (Capcom would be proud of that title!) which adds new content and mechanics and irons out many of the issues of the original version.

Review - Max : The Curse of Brotherhood (Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC)

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

As anyone who has one will attest to, having a younger brother can be a real pain in the ass. They use or steal your stuff, embarrass you in front of your friends and are generally a thorn in your side until you are are old enough to move out. Max's little brother Felix is no different. Max returns home from school one day only to discover the little runt is in his room again, playing (and breaking) his toys. So, Max does what anyone would do in his situation. He goes online and finds a spell that will rid him of his younger sibling for good. Moments after he utters the magical words a portal opens up and a monsterous claw comes through and pinches Felix right from under Max's nose. Being a decent sort, Max dives in after his little bro in order to save him. So thus begins Max's adventure, a journey that will take him through sandy deserts, deserted towns, lush forests, dank caves and lava filled pits. All in a desperate bid to rescue Felix from the clutches of Mustacho, an geriatric evil wizard kinda guy, who intends to switch bodies with Felix in order to regain his youth. 

Subdog - cute underwater collect-em-up for Android & PC

Dogs love bones, that's a well known fact.But what lengths will they go to to retrieve one of their prized treats? Well venturing into the hazard filled depths of the sea is something they will gladly risk if this new indie game from Dark Pixel & Oskey Studios is anything to go by. After a tentacled ocean beastie nabs the titular hero's bone from right under his nose, he dons his underwater apparatus and dives in without a moments hesitation. What follows is a straightforward 2D sidescroller, which plays a lot like the swimming sections in classic platformers such as Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong Country, or... well, every other 80's and 90's platformer that featured a underwater stage. 

REVIEW - Putty Squad (PS Vita)

Like putty in my hands

Retro gamers and owners of Commodore's wonderful Amiga computer will be familiar with System 3's Putty games. The first, simply entitled Putty, was released in 1992 to favourable reviews, and gained a loyal fan-base thanks to the zany humour and stretchy protagonist. The sequel, Putty Squad, developed two years later, never made it to the system, instead finding a home on Nintendo's SNES console. This was due to the Amiga being a bit long in the tooth by this stage, and the publishers not wanting to risk releasing the, already completed, game to market. All was not lost, however, as System 3 finally released the Amiga 1200 version of Putty Squad - available as a free downloadable disk image - in 2013, as a warm up to the brand new reboot that is now doing the rounds on the PS4, 3DS, and now PS Vita. So, does the remake do the original justice? And is it still relevant in 2014, when fantastic 2D platformers such as Spelunky, Fez, Super Meat Boy and Rayman Legends exist?

Kero Blaster - From the makers of Cave Story - coming this May!

New Studio Pixel game, Kero Blaster, is almost upon us!

Cave Story is a very well known PC Indie game that was created by Japanese developer, Studio Pixel. Released as freeware back in 2004, it quickly gained popularity thanks to its cute, pixellated graphics, quirky (read, Japanese) story, and Metroidvania style open world platforming. Such was its popularity that it was remade and enhanced for general release on Nintendo's Wiiware and DSiware services in 2010, with a further enhanced version, entitled Cave Story+ hitting Steam a year later and Nintendo's 3DS the year after that.

New Indie Action Platformer - Action Mogura - beta available

Action Mogura, or Action Mole if translated from its native Japanese, is a new action platformer with Metroidvania elements from developer, Kro Bon Station. Currently in the unfinished beta stage of development, this action packed uber-Japanese game has bags of potential. Featuring a chubby brown mole who is capable of hurling large Hadouken style fireballs at his robotic adversaries, it is clear that this is a game that doesn't take itself too seriously - though it can often to be hard to tell with Japanese games. 

Review - Nom Nation (PSP Minis / PS Vita)

Playing with your food

The word 'Edutainment' is usually enough to send gamers running for the nearest exit. Whether it's the unnecessary addion of arithmatic or spelling in games such as Donkey Kong Math or Word Rescue, tedious historical searchings in Carmen Sandiego, or the downright laughable (for all the wrong reasons), diabetes related shenanigans in the appalling Captain Novalin, throwing learning into the mix is usually a recipe for boredom. Even Nintendo superstar Mario isn't infalable, with his shoddy educational exploits, Mario Is Missing and Mario's Time Machine proving that the classroom has no place in gaming.

Retro Review - Captain Dynamo (Amiga)

Budget Platform Action

Featuring possibly one of the least appealing protagonists I have seen (ranking up there with Lester The Unlikely), Captain Dynamo is another platform game offering from budget supremos, Codemasters - responsible for popular titles such as CJ Elephant Antics, Bignose The Caveman, and the Dizzy series. Released on a range of home micros in 1992, Captain Dynamo was a late starter for the 8-bit systems, who were now reaching the end of their long lifespans (sob). While the ZX Spectrum & CPC versions look very similar, aside from changes to the colour palette, the C64 appears significantly different, with a surprisingly drab and washed out look. It also features vastly tweaked level layouts, including one of the most irritating first screens ever to grace a videogame. One to avoid then, but how does Commodore's 16-bit machine fare?

Review - Excavatorrr 2 : CWOUN (PC)

Dig your way to a thousand deaths

It would appear that videogames have a long term obsession with underground digging. From the early days of Dig Dug, The Pit and Boulderdash, to more recent offerings like Mr Driller, Spelunky, SteamWorld Dig and Minecraft, it's clear that gamers have a penchant for dirt shifting shenanigans. Now lone indie developer Hempuli is adding to the (dirt) pile, with a sequel to his 2009 mine-em-up, Excavatorrr. That title may have possessed crude visuals that aped the style of the Atari 2600, but it was more addictive than nicotine and sex combined. It slipped under the radar of many gamers - which is a shame as it was (is) absolutely excellent - but hopefully this new sequel will get the attention it deserves. 

Indie Demo - Nightmare Night - Gameboy style platformer

Nightmare Night (surely that should be 'Knight'?) stars a young squire on a quest to vanquish the evil goblins from the nearby forest. His quest may seem a simple one, but that is because this new platform game from lone developer, KG, is only in alpha stage, and thus only has the first stage complete. As you can see, the visuals are heavily inspired by Nintendo's classic Gameboy handheld, with a monochrome palette and cute, yet well drawn, sprites. Beginning with a trusty sword, you must make your way through the forest, slashing the skeletons, adorable lizard things and spiders, as you make your way to the Goblin King boss. Along the way are chests and pots that can be broken for coins or health potions, and you even get to don a Knight's helm in order to look more badass. 

Indie Demo - Tomb Robber (PC)

Raiding Tombs, 8-bit style

Currently holding the work-in-progress title of Tomb Robber, this 8-bit style platformer has been in the works for a couple for years now, with no new news for over a year. However, even in its current unfinished state, it's one of the most enjoyable retro platform adventures since Rick Dangerous or Montezuma's Revenge. As an archaeologist with an urge to explore ancient tombs and recover valuable artifacts, you make your way to an Egyptian pyramid filled with long forgotten treasures. Bringing only your old revolver for protection, you must first navigate a short stretch of desert, avoiding snakes and bats, before entering the tomb. Once inside you must traverse the single screen stages, avoiding acid spitting mummies, skeletons, scorpions and more bats as you attempt to locate the red Ankh that will open the exit door and take you to the next room.