Spider: The Video Game is certainly a hidden gem within the PS1 library, which is a shame as more people should experience this impressive, if forgotten, platformer.
PS1
Remember when spider's had guns attached to their legs? No? The storyline explains all, which won't win any awards by any stretch of the imagination - it's the core gameplay which makes Spider: The Video Game truly shine.
When a scientist decides to create a 'cyber spider', two suspicious individuals soon become aware of this and decide they want the technology themselves, and so whilst on a raid on the lab, various pieces of equipment gets destroyed in the process, leaving the scientist to fall on a machine, which ultimately turns him into a spider. That makes it your mission to play as the spider as he pursues the couple in search of revenge. Yep...
Each level is designed around the 2.5D perspective, much like Pandemonium or Klonoa: Door to Phantomile, and it works perfect for a game such as this considering the maneuverability of a spider - this little guy can climb, crawl, and hang from various obstacles. With a total of 60 playable levels, there's a lot of ground to cover and many enemies along the way. retroreview
These include the likes of other spiders, gigantic rats, bats that drop the occasional bomb here and there, slugs, and many more bugs you wouldn't like to see in your bed. It's often the case you won't see the enemy coming as they're so quick and the camera angle can be a little awkward at times - good old fashioned memory and trial and error are needed for moments like these.
There are a fair amount of weapons to find, including the flamethrower, missiles, boomerang, among other effective weaponry, each with its own unique advantage - the flamethrower can quickly kill anything at close range, whilst the boomerang can dispose of enemies from a distance without having to consume ammunition.
The most useful is the smart-bomb, which is a rare find and rightly so considering it wipes out every enemy on the screen in one go. Spider: The Video Game can be hugely difficult and often cheap, but its addictive and fun nature will more than likely make you want to carry on, which is worth it as the game is worth playing right until the end. You'll go through the lab itself, the sewers, a city, and other locations which offer fantastic graphics that immerses you in that particular environment.
Whilst this game is hidden in the depths, much like spider's themselves, no one can be blamed as it's pretty rare to find these days. If you're fortunate enough to find a copy, get it - you won't be disappointed.
Hotline Miami takes the desire for casual gameplay, rips it apart, and throws you straight in the deep end.
Developer: Dennaton Games / Abstraction Games | Publisher: Devolver Digital | Genre: Action
PS3 | PS4| PS Vita | Mac | Windows PC | Linux |
A lengthy single player mode will keep you playing for longer than you might have expected due to the sheer amount of fun to be had, even whilst replaying the game over and over. A healthy challenge is guaranteed, although the level of difficulty could put off casual audiences.
It's the 80's and not much is going on aside from the fact our nameless protagonist is constantly being bombarded with anonymous phone calls from mysterious individuals who want you to fulfill questionable tasks including violent murder and rescue missions. The narrative does eventually get more interesting the more you play but generally it's not an important feature in a game such as this - Hotline Miami is all about arcade-style action at its finest.
Straight off the bat, you might realise the amount of retro influences put into the game, whether it's the incredibly well done music that came straight from an 80s dance club or the visual representations of that specific era in terms of character and level design. It reinforces that retro revival the gaming industry has taken in recent times and it's nice to see that retro ideologies and concepts haven't died out in a world obsessed with the best graphics and so forth.
The entire game is played in a top-down point of view, and puts you in numerous environments usually set within multi-storey buildings. Each of these levels are generally packed with enemies who are able to kill you in a single hit and they hold no mercy - once you are in the enemies line of vision, they will come after you fearlessly with all they've got. That is, unless you manage to find a hiding spot and wait until they're gone so you can plan your next course of action.
In the earlier parts of the game, enemies wield simple melee weapons which makes it easier for you to take care of them without having to worry about bullets and other projectiles, however later down the line practically every enemy will hold a gun of some sort, whether it's a double-barreled shotgun, an uzi or a carbine - they will aim to kill you if you cross their paths, so sometimes it's advised to use stealth tactics and kill off the enemies in a discreet and clever manner.
Of course, you are also welcome to take advantage of all the available weapons, whether it's a baseball bat, a knife, a pair of scissors, a powerful magnum or a machine gun of some sort. Most of the time, you'll be picking up weapons from corpses on the ground, so you'll get the chance to experiment with a varied range of weaponry throughout the game. Additional weapons can be unlocked by racking up your score, which can be increased through killing enemies and stringing together a series of combos - by the end of the game, if you played well, you'll most likely have all the weapons unlocked.
Between each chapter, in which there are 20, you'll experience a series of interludes allowing you to soak up the 80's atmosphere - a nice reminder of the themes played on throughout the game. No matter how you dispose of the enemy, lots of blood and violence will play their parts, whether you rip someones head off or blast a few shotgun shells into the stomach - this is the kind of violence that's needed in a game such as this. Don't worry Jack Thompson, it's only a video game.
Within the levels, there are masks to collect - each one contains different traits, for example the Tony (the Tiger) mask grants you strong fist attacks, making it easy to pick off enemies without the hassle of loud gunshots and so forth. Another notable mask is Carl (the Grasshopper), which gives you a drill at the start of the level - Driller Killer, anyone? After eventually making it through a chapter, you'll be given a grade based on how well or how bad you did in terms of combos, creative killing, etc.
You will die a lot in this game, there is even an achievement/trophy that is awarded once you die 1000 times, which is almost a slap in the face as you're being praised for not being able to stay alive, but it's all in good fun and even though you will repeatedly die at times, you'll find yourself wanting to carry on anyway as the game is ridiculously fun and addictive.
Whilst Hotline Miami may initially seem like a straight up fast-paced action game, there is plenty of room for tactical thought before taking on a level, for example there might be an open window you can sneak in through before entering a building, allowing you to take out enemies using stealth. Or you can simply blast your way through hoping that you don't get shot along the way - it's up to you how you play it.
Hotline Miami has enough hints at the final conclusion to keep you wanting more, but its biggest strength lies in the gameplay, which will keep you occupied for a long time, whether you want to gain the best grade on each chapter for bragging rights or collect all of the weapons and masks. This game deserves to be played due to the sheer amount of thought and detail gone into creating one of the most enjoyable games this generation has to offer. REVIEW1
Thunder Fox might be one of the most under-rated gems in the retro scene.
Arcade| MegaDrive/Genesis | Xbox | PS2
[Please note: this review is based on the console port]
Originally an arcade game, Thunder Fox was ported to the Mega Drive / Genesis and whilst it doesn't hold up to the original release, it's worth playing due the sheer amount of fun to be had.
In a world now full of terrorists who's mission it is to destroy all peace, it's up to two men simply known as Thunder and Fox to bring a sense or order back to civilization. To do this, they must take on violent enemies wielding all types of weapons ranging from simple knives to gigantic tanks and helicopters.
Honestly, there's not much to the narrative, but it doesn't really matter - games like this don't need a strong storyline to push the player forward. It's purely fast-paced action with an intent on giving the player a good time through addictive and often-challenging gameplay.
The first level, showcasing the machine-gun and some of the more easier to kill enemies.
You have the option to choose between Thunder or Fox - it doesn't matter who you pick, there's no real difference except the colour of their clothes. Essentially, Thunder Fox is a side-scrolling shooter with hints of platforming - as soon as you start the game, you're put straight into the action - wielding just a knife you must take on hordes of enemies coming from both sides of the screen, much like Kung Fu on NES.
An encounter with Gonza, a pike-wielding boss who gives you no mercy.
The knife is the only weapon that you can use throughout the entire game without having to worry about ammo, although it would be nice to give players the option to throw the knife instead of using it as purely a melee weapon, which can often be dangerous as you have to go (extremely) close up to an enemy to effectively stab them.
However, every level offers various guns at some point, whether it be from an enemy drop or hidden in a wooden box - these weapons include a machine gun, a flamethrower, a rocker launcher, and grenades. Each weapon has its advantages, for example the machine gun's bullets can travel far, making it easy to dispose of those pesky shooters hiding behind cover, whilst a blast from the rocket launcher will easily blow up a group of enemies.
Escaping an exploding "Air Fortress" - lots of explosive sprites included.
All weapons come with a certain amount of ammo, so it's advised to tactically use the bullets when you really need them - it's not worth wasting ammo on one-hit enemies that could easily be killed with your knife or jump attack. The jump attack is actually an extremely effective way of getting through the game - during a jump, you become almost invincible for some reason, making it easy to plant your feet into the face of terrorists whilst taking no damage what so ever.
With a total of six stages, Thunder Fox is generally short, and it's to be expected considering it was originally an arcade game. Each stage is accompanied with a boss battle including a helicopter, a tank, a spear-wielding maniac, and so on - each subscribe to a certain attack pattern, which when memorised, can make these encounters fairly easy to overcome.
You'll have a lot of fun playing this game, and if you're up for a real challenge, it's worth cranking up the difficulty to the max - no matter how you play, Thunder Fox offers gameplay that resembles a combination of Contra and Altered Beast. This is one of those games that didn't get much attention when released due to other more popular titles taking up the limelight, but it's certainly worth playing - you won't regret it. retroreview
Whilst Duke Nukem 64 is essentially a port of the original PC release, it does offer some interesting and entertaining changes.
Nintendo 64
Duke Nukem 64 is one of the most polished and well-done console ports during the 90s first-person era, and doesn't disappoint.
Picking up directly after Duke Nukem II, Duke Nukem 3D takes a departure from the platformer genre and enters the realm of the first person shooter, giving one of the most memorable and iconic gaming experiences of all time. On a trip to Los Angeles, Duke is shot down by alien forces and quickly learns they are trying to take over the city through mutating former LAPD officers and using their own weaponry.
With not much story to go on, its ultimately your mission to destroy any alien that gets in your way whilst protecting Duke's precious babes, and eventually saving the world from total domination. This is done through over 30 levels, including special secret levels and boss encounters, complete with an incredible arsenal of weapons.
Its same to assume most of you have played the original Duke Nukem 3D, so lets get straight into the most important changes made to the Nintendo 64 port, the first thing you'll notice are the weapon redesigns - every weapon has been altered in some way, for example now you dual-wield SMGs instead of the chaingun cannon, and the original RPG is now a grenade launcher. There are now different types of ammo for both the pistol and shotgun - a stronger ammo type is available to blast through the pistol, whilst the shotgun welcomes explosive ammo, which can deal massive damage as well as easily committing suicide in close confined environments.
Most of the explicits have been removed - considering this was a Nintendo release, this should come as no suprise. Whilst Duke maintains some of his one-liners, the more crude ones have been taken away, and now the babes are dressed with more clothing as opposed to the original, in which they were practically naked. A nice feature put into this version is the ability to actually save babes scattered around each level - this, along with finding all the secrets, adds a lot of replay value, especially if you're a completionist wanting to 100% every level possible.
Unlike many console ports at the time, Duke Nukem 64 managed to play at impressive framerates, making for extremely smooth gameplay - this combined with the excellent level designs make for a fantastic experience. Although the controls take quite a while to get used to, once you get the hang of it, you should find yourself maneuvering at a comfortable pace - there are various control schemes available, and whilst neither really change that much from another, it's worth going through them all and experimenting which is best for you.
Whilst the graphics aren't quite on par with the original release, there are some nice improvements in some areas - explosions look incredible and feature some of the best polygonal effects of the time, and even more notable is the final boss (Cycloid Emperor), who now sports a fully-rendered 3D model as opposed to the original 2D sprite. Its a mix of both good and bad graphics, the new visuals are fantastic, but overall most of the textures are very pixelated and blurry, making it sometimes difficult to navigate certain parts of levels, especially if you're new to the game.
One of the best additions to Duke Nukem 64 are the multiplayer options, you can either rip aliens apart in co-op with a buddy or battle it out on the maps available, including Castle Dukenstein - a parody of Wolfenstein 3D. 'Duke Bots' can also be added if there aren't enough real players, making up the numbers for a healthy firefight.
This game is a must-play, offering the same incredibly well-designed levels from the PC release, along with some of the most unique weapons at your disposal to blast away those pesky alien maggots. retroreview
Featuring fully rendered 3D models and a new grappling system, WWF War Zone became a must-have for both gamers and wrestling fans.
PS1 | Nintendo 64 | GameBoy Colour
WWF War Zone is a game that shouldn't be ignored, it introduced some fantastic gameplay mechanics, which at their core, can still be seen in modern wrestling games.
The year is 1998 and so far we've had an onslaught of wrestling-based games, most featuring digitized sprites, which is fine and most of these games were and still are fun to play, however it wasn't until WWF War Zone hit shelves on PlayStation and Nintendo 64 where the genre really started to kick off into something quite incredible.
Set during the 'Attitude Era', you'll be given the opportunity to play as some very iconic and memorable wrestlers such as The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, Mankind, The Undertaker, just to name a few. Each comes with a recognisable trademark move, for example Kane is able to perform the 'Chokeslam', Bret Hart can attempt to make his opponents tap out using the 'Sharpshooter', and so forth.
There are numerous modes to choose from including tag team, cage match, or weapons match (hardcore), but its advised to just jump into the challenge mode, which features all of the mentioned besides tag team - the challenge mode option is essentially a journey to reach the top in the wrestling world, this is done by starting at the bottom brawling it out in easily won fights right up to competing for the heavyweight championship itself.
During a fight, each wrestler has a stamina bar, which when fully depleted, will leave the opposing wrestler stunned for a short period of time - this is the best time to try and get the win through a good old fashioned pin count to three, however it will typically take more than a few attempts as the stamina bar will eventually fill back up. The more you fight, the colour of the stamina bar will alter to indicate how much damage has been dealt, for example if you've been constantly slamming your opponent, their stamina will turn to a red colour, which when happens, is the best time to try and win the fight.
Each wrestler has a set of moves - some more difficult to pull off than others, but its the grapple system that really made this game stand out all those years ago, this new gameplay mechanic allowed you to experiment with your move set, all whilst still being able to perform quick punches and kicks in between, and this actually made you analyse certain situations in order to pull off the best combos so to speak, giving the game a level of depth no wrestling game had previously.
With that said, there are some glitches that occur once in a while such as falling through parts of the arena or the commentary being completed wrong - this happened when The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels were facing off, in which the commentator thought Shawn Michaels was Triple H. This isn't a massive deal, but is a little strange to say the least.
Weapons matches are by far the most enjoyable, especially when someone from the crowd actually manages to throw a TV into the ring (where did they even get it from?) - whilst this is fun, you can abuse the weapons by spamming your opponent over the head with a chair or a wooden blank, which drains their stamina at a rapid pace. The cage match is also fun, instead of pinning or making your opponent tap out, you have to climb over the cage to the floor below in order to win - at times, when climbing, the opponent will shake the cage to drop you off, which can be hilarious to watch and annoying as it will deal quite a large amount of damage.
Overall, a fantastic game complete with a large roster of old fan-favourites, which is sure to crank up the nostalgia level if you were ever intro wrestling all those years ago, and even if not there's enough here to keep you entertained for a good amount of time. retroreview
Download-only game will hit virtual shelves February 19 on consoles and PC.
Capcom has revealed the official release date of Strider - a remake of the 1989 arcade classic sporting the same name (or was that too obvious anyway?). When first released, the game became one of Capcom's most successful games and would go on to be ported to the likes of Sega Genesis / Megadrive, Amiga, Atari ST, and so forth.
On February 19, you'll be able to get your hands on the digital-only remake, which will release on Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, and PC. This time around, you'll be able to access two challenge modes known as 'Beacon Run' and 'Survival Mode'.
Beacon Run is described as "a speed run-style racing mode that challenges players to get from checkpoint to checkpoint in record time, slashing their way through enemies all the while."
Survival Mode will "test your combat skills", whilst "taking on progressively difficult waves of enemies while equipped with different ability loadouts."
Other new features include various costumes and a global leaderboard - check out all the latest screenshots on the official blog.
The 2nd trailer for the NES-inspired game also reveals its release date.
Originally starting as a kickstarter project, developer Yacht Club Games reached well over there goal of $75,000 with a final figure standing at $311,000.
Today, a new trailer simply titled 'Trailer 2' revealed much of what players can expect in the final release, including various nods to classic NES titles such as Castlevania, Duck Tales, Mega Man, and Super Mario Bros.
The game features tons of gameplay mechanics gamers will find similar to the already mentioned NES games, for example the Knight has the ability to bounce on enemies using his shovel much like Scrooge did in Duck Tales: The Quest For Gold but with his walking stick.
Noticable graphical influences include the rotating cogs in the background much like the ones in Castlevania III.
Shovel Knight is to be released March 31 on Wii U, 3DS, and Steam - check out the latest trailer below.
First shown in 2010, the indie game has finally been given an official release date.
Boasting multiple awards including 'Rock Paper Shotgun Indie Game of the Show' at Eurogamer Expo in 2010 and winner of the best 'Game Design' at Indicade 2013, among others - Nidhogg has accumulated quite the following since it was first revealed.
And now it actually has a stable release date of January 13 - the game pits players in various fencing competitions across numerous levels and relies of both intelligence and speed to overcome opponents.
Nidhogg sports an Atari-2600 look, further reminding gamers its not all about the graphics. The game will be available on Steam only at the moment, with no mention of future releases. Check out the trailer below.
A
comprehensive look into the MegaDrive's complete history has been set for a
2014 release.
After
reaching its initial goal of £30,000 on the Kickstarter website, Darren Wall
has confirmed the project will be going ahead, whilst offering massive amounts
of insight into what the book will offer.
Although
the goal has been reached, the current total stands at £79,324 with almost
1,800 backers supporting the project. Depending on the amount pledged, certain
people will get special versions of the book.
Wall
claims the book, titled 'SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works [[ セガメガドライブ／ジェネシス：作品集成 ] will
"be the definitive volume on the landmark console", going on to say
"the book is officially licensed by SEGA and celebrates the 25th
anniversary of the console's release"
Over
20 interviews with the original SEGA team members will be included, in which
some have "never been interviewed before", as well as a 10,000 word
piece focusing on how the console changed gaming, which will be written by
Keith Stuart, the Games Editor for Guardian, who also contributes to Edge
magazine from time to time. Noticable interviews will include the likes of Naoto Oshima (Sonic the Hedgehog), Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage), and Toru Yoshida (Phantasy Star II).
Expect
practically every game to be covered in the book, as it will "showcase a
wealth of SEGA's 16-bit titles, from blockbuster games such as Bare Knuckle/Streets
of Rage, Sonic the Hedgehog, Phantasy Star, Gunstar Heroes, The Super
Shinobi/Revenge of Shinobi and Golden Axe through to cult gems such as
Rent-a-Hero, Vectorman and DecapAttack."
The
book itself will be published June 2014. This seems like an extremely
interesting read and a must for any gamer out there. Will you buy a copy? Leave
your comments below.
Whilst both games offer players an incredible gaming experience, which will come out on top in this brutal bout?
VS.
Its safe to assume each of these games are well known for something that defines them both as different games, yet sit comfortably together within the fighting genre. Mortal Kombat (MK) impressed gamers back in 1992 with its real-life actors who were then digitized into the game itself, MK was also the first game ever to receive a mature rating by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), due to its generous amount of blood and violence.
Street Fighter II (SFII) on the other hand would expand on the core mechanics of the first Street Fighter, and improve them immensely offering one of the most memorable and unique fighting game experiences to date. During the early 90s, these two games stood as the biggest rivals within the fighting genre, and are still compared to this day, not just in terms of these older games, but new releases too.
Graphics
Please keep in mind this retro showdown is based on the console ports of these games, not the original arcade cabinets.
Mortal Kombat features impressive sprites, which was due to the real-life actors who portrayed each fighter - as mentioned earlier, each character has been digitized into the game which was an astonishing thing to be able to pull of back then, especially on a home console such as the SNES. There is an old behind the scenes video showcasing the different actors performing their trademark moves, as well as demonstrations on how the digitizing process actually works. Check it out below.
A total of 7 stages make up for some very memorable environments, this game spawned the infamous 'Pit I' - the stage in which upon defeating an opponent, you can uppercut that fighter to a pit of spikes below, covered with blood and skeletons leftover from previous battles.
Well, that actually depends on which version of the game you're playing - the SNES port got rid of all the blood to ensure the game would suit Nintendo's 'Family Friendly' policy, replacing blood with sweat. It wasn't all bad though - the MegaDrive/Genesis version would let players use a code to allow blood in the game, also known as Blood Mode.
Each stage had its own unique look, like most fighting games do, for example 'Warrior Shrine' - statues of all the fighters in the game could be seen in the background, reminding you that you'll have to defeat them all eventually, although neither of the statues look particularly intimidating, still an incredibly detailed and illustrative stage though.
Home console versions lacked much of the mature content the original arcade cabinets contained.
Although SFII didn't use digitized fighters, it's graphics were nothing to be mocked - they were and still are quite impressive, considering the time it was released. Each fighter is highly detailed, creating a unique identity throughout the roster - all of the sprites are generally sharp and crisp, making for not only an enjoyable gaming experience but something that was really nice to look at - if you take the time to really observe a SFII character, you'll see the amount of sheer detail put into them.
Like MK,SFII had its fair amount of stages which were unique to a certain character's personality, narrative, and so forth - for example Dhalsim's stage was set in India, showcasing huge elephants and indian imagery on the walls in the background, things like this made for exceptional graphic design and shows Capcom put a lot of thought into how the game would look.
A perfect illustration of the graphics - vibrant with a lot of personality.
MK may have impressed us with the new technology of using real life actors, but the sheer charm of SFII's visuals take this one.
Mortal Kombat - 0 | Street Fighter II - 1
Music/Audio
Both games have their moments when it comes to the music used, MK had that memorable 'Select Your Fighter' track, which would set the tone for what the player could expect in the actual game, it was exciting and put you in the mood to beat down Johnny Cage over and over again. Of course, each fighter had their own respective themes, which were good enough and did the job at differentiating the roster, but in general these tracks always lacked energy and excitement.
Select Your Fighter (SNES version)
As for the sounds, every attack would give off this certain noise letting you know that whatever move you just did definitely did some damage to the opponent, this combined with the fighters grunts and groans as they fight makes for an awesome fighting game, which really utilizes different sounds to give players full satisfaction during a battle. On the other hand, there's 'Guiles Theme' in SFII - there's just something about this track that instantly puts you in the mood to play SF, it sticks in your brain like a pop song (then again, is that a good thing?). Take a listen to the song below.
Guiles Theme (SNES version)
Just like MK, SFII had its fair share of sound effects which were used when beating down your opponent - whether it be a simple punch to Blanka's electric-fuelled attacks, no matter what you were doing, you'd always get this incredible audio to aid the game's entertainment value. The rest of the roster had their own songs too, and although Ryu was essentially the game's mascot, his music was not on par with Guiles in the slightest.
SFII takes another point, the music is much better and enjoyable to listen to, its really as simple as that.
Mortal Kombat - 0 | Street Fighter II - 2
Storyline
You could argue that games within the fighting genre don't really need to rely on a good storyline to make the game good, what with the often quick playthroughs of the typical arcade mode - you choose a character, fight numerous opponents and it's game over. However, the narratives in both MK and SFII are nothing to be brushed aside, each character has their own unique backstory which if properly looked into, should improve your overall experience of the game.
Let's look at Scorpion for example - a resurrected Ninja who is now a hell-spawned undead who's goal is to avenge those who destroyed his clan and family members, things like this almost give you an extra reason to play the game as this certain character as you might want to find out more by beating the game to unlock further narrative.
The storyline throughout MK in general is that the original tournament named 'Shaolin Tournament' would promote healthy competition with the best fighters around, this was until the four-armed beast Goro invaded the tournament. From here, Goro would rule the competition for the next 500 years, not for bragging rights, but to aid Shang Tsung's thirst to conquer the Earth Realm.
The iconic logo symbolising the Mortal Kombat Tournament as well as the Elder God's in their dragon form.
SFII however, didn't contain such an exciting story - there's the on going battle between Ryu and M. Bison which is medicore at best. Before the events of SFII, M. Bison was defeated in the headquarters of his own criminal organisation Shadaloo, which leads to much rage and a need for revenge, so Bison re-enters the tournament in order to defeat his enemies and possibly take on new members to rebuild Shadaloo. It's all a bit wishy washy and doesn't promote much imagination for players. It does the job fine, but that's all it does.
The game centres around a tournament simply known as 'Street Fighter Tournament' - similar to MK, participants would have to prove their strength and abilities through a number of battles, and whoever came out on top would be crowned the winner and the best fighter around.
Participants would travel around the world to take on various opponents.
MK takes the point here due to its ability to immerse players into each and every character's storylines, which are all extremely interesting and bring more life to the game, as well as an extra reason to finish the game with all the characters to reveal the complete story.
Mortal Kombat - 1 | Street Fighter II - 2
Gameplay
Like practically every fighting game, a player usually chooses their desired fighter and utilizes various moves to deplete the opponent's health bar, often with a timer included. SFII and MK did just that, however each are significantly different, both providing a unique sense of gameplay that would define these games to what they are today.
The overall style of MK was generally quite slow-paced, often allowing yourself to tactically decide what your next move will be - there wasn't much variation either, each fighter would all share the same standard moves such as the classic upper cut, high kick, and so forth.
Saying that, a special set of moves would be applied to each fighter too, whether it be Sub-Zero's 'Ice Ball' or Scorpion's simply named 'Spear', which would drag an opponent over in a dazed state, using a spear attached to a rope which would disperse from his hand.
Whilst these special moves were extremely inventive and imaginative, the real focus had to be on the game's Fatality system - at the end of a bout, players could input a combination of buttons which would perform the fighters ultimate finisher if you will
You might remember Raiden's fatality, in which he would electrocute the opponent, leading to their heads simply popping off through the extreme amounts of pressure applied, of course this was followed with a fountain of blood from the now headless corpse.
Who really likes Johnny Cage anyway? Raiden applying his
deadly thunder-based fatality.
There was also the Test Your Might mini-game, which would allow players to take a break from the tournament, and well, test their might. You would have to build up enough power before a timer ran in order to break various materials, including wood right up to ruby.
Now, SFII - also very much like MK, you'd pick your fighter and away you go, it even had mini-games throughout the game, but this time much more fun. These included literally beating up a car, the more it was damaged by end of the timer, the most points you'd receive, another was the pummeling of a pile of bricks, again the more you manage to break, the larger the bonus score will be.
The pace in SFII was incredibly exciting, you'd always have to think of what to do next in mere seconds as the opponent would often come back even with very little health, proving for intense fights which would really test your ability of the game, something MK lacked a lot.
Each character would have their own distinguishable move set, for example E. Honda's 'Hundred Hand Slap' or Blanka's 'Electric Thunder', these types of moves were often very deadly and would consume much of a players health bar.
E. Honda performing one of his signature
moves - arguably a cheap way for an easy win.
Whilst SFII didn't contain the illustrative and very entertaining move sets contained in MK, the gameplay was much more fierce and competitive, offering lots of replay value - things like mastering the perfect combo's to quickly defeat an opponent, and so on. SFII takes this point.
First, a little background on Wisdom Tree - during the early to mid 90's, they decided that more video-games should be made focusing on religious ideologies, specifically under Christian faith, so what did they do? Release a bunch of unlicensed games. As you do. FEATURE1
One of those games was Super 3D Noah's Ark - one of the most infamous games as its practically a copy of ID's Wolfenstein 3D, with different sprites, graphical changes and music replacements to suit the Christian audience, which meant no Nazi's or Hitler in a robot suit - instead we have Ernie the Elephant and Carl the Camel.
As you enter the first stage, there's this prelude explaining the story of Noah and his ark, but with a twist - all of the animals are out of control and it's up to you the player to put them in their place.
Instead of collecting treasures and jewellery, Noah collects fruit and instead of killing enemies..I mean friendly animals, he simply puts them "to sleep" with his pet feed, as opposed to bullets.
See it to believe it, those goats aren't dead, they're just sleeping.
But honestly, the gameplay itself isn't bad at all - but that's due to the fact Wisdom Tree essentially stole the code from Wolfenstein 3D, so credit is due to...ID software for this game's core gameplay. This is getting weird.
All of the animals you expect to make an appearance do, including Goats (so many goats), Sheep, Camels, and so forth - with a total of 30 levels, this game has its fair share of fun to be had, exploring each level seeking out hidden passages, just like I did in Wolfen...nevermind.
In terms of graphics, it looks just like the Super Nintendo version of Doom, making for awkward and difficult gameplay when it comes to actually seeing what's in the distance. With that said, the animals have to come close to you in order to deduct any health, so keeping your distance and shooting your pet feed is probably the best way to go.
The animals....what did you do Noah!?
At the end of the game, you'll come across the "final boss", a notion that usually indicates an intimidating opponent that will require all of your skills used in the game so far - nope, not in this game, instead we get hold of a Watermelon throwing device in order to defeat Burt the Bear....
Burt the Bear, the final boss - with a huge watermelon coming his way.
There's no sugar coating it, this game is a clone of Wolfenstein 3D, just with a little Christian added. Saying that, the game isn't bad at all - I have been playing the SNES version so awkward controls were a given considering FPS games on consoles back then weren't too great to handle, however the DOS release is probably much easier to play.
The game is generally rare to find these days, more the SNES version than DOS - expect to see it on ebay for up to £100 or more, and that's just for the cartridge. Wisdom Tree still has a website up and running, which looks like its straight from 1998, either way check it out, maybe you'll find your next favourite game.
Popular 90's character James Pond was set for a new game, but funding is nowhere near enough.
Earlier in September, it emerged that Gamewarewere planning on creating a brand-new James Pond game.
However, in order to get the project up and running, they would need a total of £100,000 - an amount the company came to realise they wouldn't be able to get in time for October 10, the end of the funding period over at Kickstarter.
The team have said the following in terms of reasons the project had to be cancelled:
"We came into this with little game to show. We appreciate we were asking for a lot of faith from you guys, and our mantra from the start has always been to keep the game design as open as possible, with the fans calling the shots. This was a risk, and it didn't work out, but I will say a huge thank you to everyone who pledged."
A total of 336 pledges made up the amount of £16,000, just over a quarter of the actual goal, but the team are still enthusiastic about the prospects of James Pond 4:
"But is this the end for Pond? We sure hope not! If there's one thing we've learned from running this campaign it's that there sure is still a lot of love for this plucky secret agent fish and we believe it'll only take the right game and the right campaign to make James Pond 4 a reality. So stay tuned and we will be back with more news soon."
If you're a fan of the Pond games, don't expect a new game any time soon but keep in mind these guys are still very enthusiastic about the idea, and I'm sure will keep on trying.
Remake of the 1992 "classic" Flashback will be making its way to Steam this coming October 1 - already released on the Xbox LIVE Arcade back in August.
Originally, the game was released on the Amiga and sprouted multiple ports including Mega Drive, Super Nintendo, MS-DOS, 3DO, Mega CD, and quite a few more systems.
Steam users can be pre-purchase the game at the price of £7.99 and will include the original game from 1992.
Honestly, I don't think the popularity of retro games has really ever declined, what with people actively going out of their way to create emulators, modded retro consoles, and ROM files - however, as "hollywood" budgeted games are being released more frequently, sometimes it's possible to dismiss the games that started it all.
However, even with games such as Grand Theft Auto V and Call of Duty: Ghosts, there still seems to be a generally large market for retro gaming, especially when it comes to the remastering or creating a completely new game using the ideologies of retro games.
Examples of this include:
Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episodes 1 and 2
Megaman 9 and 10
Duck Tales: Remastered
Double Dragon Neon
Castle of Illusion - Starring Mickey Mouse HD
Street Fighter X Megaman
Sonic Generations
Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode I reminds me of
the old days playing MegaDrive, but with a modern twist.
I put Sonic Generations on there because whilst it still contains elements from the more recent Sonic games, it still has a lot of content that relates to the original games, which to me is something Sega should have done years and years ago before Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). I'm still waiting for Sonic Generations 2, Sega!
Games such as Duck Tales: Remastered and Castle of Illusion HD were a huge success, this is probably due to the older generation of gamers who remember playing the original versions who wanted to enjoy those games again, or it could have been that these games simply appealed to gamers in general.
With Duck Tales Remastered and Castle of Illusion HD, I'm sure Disney
will be bringing more games back to life in the future.
There are so many reasons but the success of games like these definitely reminds me that retro gaming is making a comeback and I'm sure they'll be many more remastered incarnations of our favourite childhood games, or even completely new games all together.
Let's not forget freeware gaming - Freeware Remakes specialise in creating new content that follows in the footsteps of true retro gaming.
As I see it, all of these games are completely free to download, however you can purchase the games in bundles to simply keep the website going but that's up to the consumer - my point is, people are willing to spend their own time creating retro-style games to distribute freely, which reinforces the fact that people are still heavily into the retro gaming scene, and I personally hope this will go on for a long time to come.
Above is a screenshot of 7th Swarming of the Machines, which
can be downloaded for free at the Freeware Remakes website, this is
just one example of what's available.
Will we see a remastered version of Super Mario Bros or Ninja Gaiden?, there are plenty of retro games I'm sure people would love to play again, whether it be if they're remastered or completely remade whilst maintaining that retro feel.
What games would you like to see again? Leave your comments below. Feature1
Cinemassacre has uploaded a new trailer for it's upcoming game; Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures, which essentially shows what people think to it in one simple word, or two in some cases, including "amazing", "fantastic", "f--kballs", "challenging", and so fourth.
The best word to describe the game in my opinion was "fard" - meaning fun and hard at the same time, which makes me think the game will be in true AVGN style in terms of difficulty and having that retro 8-bit/16-bit feel.
The game arrives on Steam on 23rd September, with a 10% discount for those who have pre-ordered their copy.
In my own opinion, no game is as difficult as Dragon's Lair on the NES, sure the graphics look actually really impressive for an 8-bit title, but don't let that fool you - this game is insanely difficult
Every little thing is out to kill you, even wooden doors. Yep, wooden doors can kill you.
To demonstrate just how difficult of a game this is, I decided to go out of my way to make a gameplay with commentary demonstrating what I hate about the game and why I'll never be able to finish it, not without cheat codes at least. Enough of my ramblings, now you can listen to my whining on this god awful game below.
May have to turn your speakers up high.
If you have finished Dragon's Lair, please leave a comment or a video response. Feature1
Gaming Till Dawn plays through one of the most well-known games ever as well as a lightgun NES game...
Pacman is what it is - a brilliant classic video game that is always entertaining once in a while, the NES port is my favourite of the earlier ports of the game, the Atari 2600 version is playable and it's fun but the NES port flows much more and feels a lot like the original arcade code in my opinion.
I always have this memory from high school where I would play a flash version of Pacman constantly, this was for various reasons; 1. I was extremely bored and 2. I wanted to beat all of the scores from fellow classmates, in the end I got caught and was banned from using the computers for a few weeks, either way enough of that, the gameplay can be seen below.
Onto the next game...
Secondly, we have Barker Bill's Trick Shooting - there are quite a few light gun games on the NES, I'm sure you're familiar with the likes of Duck Hunt, but Trick Shooting is my favourite.
It's not the most difficult game in the world, but it's a lot of fun, there are three main game modes to choose from, each have very similar objectives - to shoot the objects before they leave the screen to gain maximum points, every so often they'll be a bonus target such as a giant shiny diamond, which awards you an extra life.
There is a mode that let's you play all three modes in a row, I imagine this is to see how big of a score you can get through the entire game. Feature1
.png)