All the non-Cover Game articles and features in one place.
Good even… err, morning. Gosh, it got late all of a sudden.
I’ve been editing a podcast today! Hurrah! Please look forward to it (hopefully) tomorrow, as you’ll be able to enjoy both Chris and me waxing lyrical about the joy of gory games. We had some rather in-depth thoughts, as it turned out!
Anyway, in the meantime, there’s a chance you might have missed something awesome in the last week, so let’s have a look back over everything that’s been going on!
Although I tend to use emulation to record my Atari A to Z videos for the sake of convenience, when I actually want to sit down and play something on the Atari 8-bit or Atari ST, I prefer to use the original hardware.
There are myriad reasons for this, probably chief among them being that strange sense of nostalgia for things that used to be inconvenient, like disk loading times (and the noise of disk drives!), playing on a small CRT TV (or TV-monitor in my case, since we had — and I still have — a lovely Trinitron hybrid thing) and all those delightful compatibility issues we used to have to deal with.
There’s one aspect that can prove quite annoying, however, and that’s the tendency of old joysticks to fail. While games for many home computers of the ’80s offered keyboard control as an alternative, on Atari systems it was often joystick or nothing. So clearly the way was open for a company to put out a modern joystick that would work on an old system.
Continue reading Deluxe Mini Monster: Take Your Retro Gaming to a New Level
One of the Nintendo series that I have never really explored over the years is Kirby. This isn’t for any reason other than the fact I simply haven’t really got around to it.
I picked up Wii U title Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush (known as Kirby and the Rainbow Curse elsewhere, I believe) a little while back, and just recently I thought I’d put it through its paces just to see what was going on.
So far I’m having a blast. I understand it’s not like some other Kirby games… but I also understand that there isn’t really a set “Kirby formula” in the way that some other Nintendo franchises have a distinctive way of doing things. So as such it’s an interesting one to start with… and an interesting one to take on its own merits.
Continue reading Delving Into Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush – #1
With today’s episode of Warriors Wednesday introducing Zhu Rong for the first time, I thought she’d make an ideal subject for a Waifu Wednesday article. And it’ll probably make my podcasting partner in crime Chris happy too, because he likes her. Y’know, like likes her.
Ahem. Anyway. Zhu Rong (or Zhurong, as her name is more correctly localised in later Warriors games) has been part of the series since 2001’s Dynasty Warriors 3, putting in an appearance in pretty much every major installment as well as all the Warriors Orochi spinoffs.
Despite her obviously… appealing elements, she doesn’t seem to be a massively popular character, however, if popularity polls from over the years are to be believed. Let’s show her a bit of love, shall we?
G’day folks, and happy Easter! I hope you’re all having a suitably pleasant day, filled with however you choose to celebrate, if at all.
I write this after a delicious roast lamb lunch, and although the wife and I are still technically dieting, I’m pretty sure we can find a bit of room for some chocolate later. It’s what the Lord would have wanted.
Anyway! Let’s crack on with our usual rundown of what you might have missed this week, shall we?
The PS2 was a delightful period of experimentation for a lot of developers. And the fact that the only option for distribution was on physical media helped these titles get both noticed at the time, and fondly remembered long after the fact.
2000’s Sky Odyssey isn’t a game I ever played back in the day, but having familiarised myself with it for the first time recently, I have discovered it to be one of those titles for which a simple, offhand mention tends to trigger a gushing torrent of effusive praise from anyone who was there first time around. This is a game that people loved back in the day — and yet it’s mostly unheard of today. The very definition of a hidden gem; a forgotten classic.
The advantage of its underappreciated status, of course, is that it means you can pick up a copy for 50p down your local CEX, enjoy a fine, fine addition to your PS2 collection and still have change for an overpriced cup of shopping centre coffee. Let’s take a closer look. At the game, not the coffee.
Those of you who have been following the Warriors Wednesday series of videos will know that in each of Warriors Orochi’s campaigns, I’ve found one warrior in particular who has proven to be an ever-reliable killing machine that I can fall back on in most circumstances.
In the Shu campaign, which we’re currently embroiled in the middle of at the time of writing, that warrior is Ginchiyo Tachibana, someone who erstwhile protagonist-of-sorts Zhao Yun and friends stumble across in the very first mission.
She’s grown to be a formidable force on the battlefield and one of my favourite characters to play as — so let’s take a closer look at who she really is.
I always find it interesting to head back to a series’ roots to see what has changed and what has stayed the same over the years.
I was particularly excited to start from the beginning of the Ace Combat series, since it’s one I’ve come to really enjoy in the last few years, and I sense there’s still quite a lot I’ve missed out on.
Would the original PS1 release from 1995 be worth revisiting today, I wondered?
Good day, friends! It’s time once again for another round-up post.
I’m trying desperately not to think about the fact I have to go back to the day job tomorrow after two wonderful weeks off, but at least I can do so with the confidence that I’ve got a lot of things prepped and ready for the coming weeks.
Hmm, no, that’s not really helping… I want my lie-ins! Oh well. Let’s see what you might have missed this week before I get too sad.
Quick! Name three Bizarre Creations games! GO!
If your entire list consisted of Project Gotham Racing games, you just about scrape a passing grade. If you remembered to mention Metropolis Street Racer, take five bonus marks. Including any Geometry Wars games in there (except Geometry Wars 3, which wasn’t them) gets you an additional five marks. Remembering The Club exists gets you a gold star — and hold that thought, we’ll definitely come back to that one.
If Boom Boom Rocket was anywhere in your list, however, you get exclusive membership into the Cool People Club. Benefits include never being able to get a small selection of classical music out of your head, the constant desire to tap your foot any time you see a fireworks display, and optional free hugs. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read on…
Continue reading Boom Boom Rocket: Classical (Exploding) Gas
