Category Archives: Videos

Evercade A to Z, Videos

Evercade A to Z: Prehistorik Man

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It’s always nice when your expectations, preconceptions and prejudices are proven wrong — particularly when the result is something you find surprisingly enjoyable.

Such was the case when I first booted up Prehistorik Man from Titus, originally released for Super NES and more recently found on the Interplay Collection 2 cartridge for the Evercade retro gaming platform. Developer Titus has a somewhat… variable reputation, shall we say, so it was a pleasant surprise to discover that Prehistorik Man is actually a solid, interesting platformer with some fun, varied level design.

Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more.

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari ST A to Z: Fast Food

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While the Dizzy games are primarily associated with the 8-bit microcomputer platforms for many people, a lot of them came out on the 16-bit computers, too.

Third title Fast Food deviated from the traditional “arcade adventure” format of the series, instead providing a maze-based munch ’em up in which the things you are tasked with munching are all moving around as much as you are. K.C. Munchkin would be proud.

Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more.

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short;Play, Videos

short;Play: Petal Crash

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After a period of… let’s call it “dormancy”, standalone, non-freemium puzzle games are very much alive and well, and I am 100% here for it.

Petal Crash, a Game Boy Colour-inspired puzzler from Friend & Fairy, published by Freedom Planet creators Galaxy Trail, is a fine example. Featuring gorgeous visuals inspired by 8-bit handhelds and a fantastic chiptune soundtrack — plus excellent gameplay — I was immediately smitten with it when I wrote about it.

Now you can see it in action in the video below, too. Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more!

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z: Loco

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Pardon me, boy, is that Sega’s Super Locomotive? Why no, good sir, it’s Alligata Software’s Loco, a gratuitous “homage” to Super Locomotive which creator Antony Crowther got away with thanks to Super Locomotive’s relatively unknown status!

Loco is an interesting concept for a game; you’re driving a steam locomotive down never-ending tracks, fending off attacks from small aeroplanes and inconveniently placed handcars that have been carelessly discarded around the railway network. You’ll never get where you’re supposedly going — this is an arcade-style game through and through — but in games like this it’s all about the journey, not the destination.

Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more!

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Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z Flashback: Pong Sports

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Are you ready for the Video Olympics? Because that’s what we’re playing today!

Yes, today’s game from Atari Flashback Classics, known as both Pong Sports and Video Olympics depending on where you bought it and from whom, offers an array of rough approximations of sports based on Pong mechanics. It’s a simple set of games and there’s almost nothing here if you’re a solo player, but if you’ve got a friend or three to play with there’s a lot of fun to be had here.

Enjoy the competition between me and my wife in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more.

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Evercade A to Z, Videos

Evercade A to Z: Dig Dug II

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Everyone knows and loves Namco’s Dig Dug — it’s an all-time classic of arcade gaming’s golden age. But not so many people know about Dig Dug’s official sequel.

This is partly due to the fact that it didn’t leave Japan until pretty late in the 8-bit home console era, several years after its original launch — and as such, it got rather overshadowed by most of its contemporaries.

Now, though, we can enjoy it in all its glory on the Namco Museum Collection 2 cartridge for the Evercade retro gaming system. Take a look in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more.

Videos

Atari ST A to Z: Electronic Pool

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For quite a while, games that ostensibly simulated “real” sports and activities weren’t necessarily concerned with realism — they were concerned with being fun video games first and foremost.

A good example of this is Electronic Pool for Atari ST by Microdeal. This game resembles real-life pool but doesn’t follow many of its rules — and in doing so it manages to create an entertaining arcade-style experience. (One might argue that it’s quite similar to Data East’s Side Pocket, but this certainly isn’t an official adaptation of that…)

Rack ’em up and join me in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more.

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short;Play, Videos

short;Play: Mad Rat Dead

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I love Nippon Ichi Software. Over the years they’ve provided some fantastic games, and they rarely stick to what’s “safe”; their games are, in many cases, some of the most joyfully experimental, mechanically rich titles out there.

A great example is new release Mad Rat Dead, which combines electro swing-fuelled rhythm action with tricky platforming, a surprisingly dark narrative and a colourful, punky aesthetic. It’s a lot of fun, but looks like being a pretty stiff challenge in the long term!

Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more.

Videos

Atari A to Z: Kaboom!

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One of Activision’s most fondly regarded games from the Atari 2600 library is Kaboom! — a simple affair that gratuitously rips off Atari’s own Avalanche, because apparently Atari had very little interest in porting that themselves.

Kaboom! also got a port to Atari 8-bit, and it’s a good ‘un. The enhancements over the original 2600 version may be fairly subtle, but they all add to the experience, making for a straightforward but enormously addictive little game that you’ll find yourself spending a surprising amount of time with if you let it get its claws in.

Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more.

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Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z Flashback: Outlaw

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It’s time for the original deathmatch! Outlaw was one of the first games available for the Atari 2600, and it remains a beloved competitive multiplayer game today.

Unlike its stablemate Combat, Outlaw actually also offers a single-player mode. Okay, it’s not a particularly good single-player mode, but at least you can get in a bit of target practice by yourself — something which you definitely couldn’t do in Combat. And, of course, the two-player funtimes still hold up brilliantly today.

Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more!

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