No, I’m not even a little bit sorry for that title. Because it’s finally time for the final campaign of Warriors Orochi!
Yes, after successfully clearing the Samurai, Wu and Shu campaigns, it’s finally time to tackle the Wei’s challenges — beginning with Cao Pi apparently in the service of the snake god himself. But, as anyone who has ever played a Warriors game will attest, anyone with “Cao” in their name is usually up to something… I wonder what?
Time to hack and slash our way to the truth!
It’s kind of strange to think that puzzle games — at least how we know them today — were a relatively late evolution compared to other genres.
Today’s Atari 8-bit title is a type-in BASIC listing from popular Atari magazine Antic, and was developed by someone who had never seen or heard of Tetris at the time. It’s a fun little puzzler, and an interesting example of the very early days of a genre we take for granted today.
It’s also surprisingly bloody hard, despite the simple concept! After a while all that nuclear waste just melts your brain, I think…
Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official site.
At this point, most people know that Super Breakout is a bona fide classic of the early days of gaming. But no-one really talks about how monstrously difficult its original arcade incarnation is.
Well, I’m here to change all that today! Super Breakout for the arcade is really, really hard, primarily because the paddle you control is such a stingy, pathetic little size that it’s very difficult to actually return the ball once… let alone enough times to clear the damn screen.
Doesn’t stop me coming back for more, though… particularly with three different game modes to take on in the vain hope I might be good at one of them!
Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official site.
It’s time! For the longest while, I’ve been thinking I should do a Final Fantasy marathon: that is to say, playing through all the mainline Final Fantasies one after another.
With my growing confidence in video and the ease of capture using my current gaming setup, what better time than the present to get started with this?
My long-term goal is to play through all the numbered mainline Final Fantasy games — including X-2, XIII-2, Lightning Returns and the two MMOs Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV. But before that, we need to go all the way back to the beginning… or at least one of many interpretations of the beginning, anyway. Let’s begin what promises to be a very long adventure.
How’s your spatial awareness? Reckon you could put together a picture puzzle from an isometric perspective? Easy, right?
Okay, now you have to do so by controlling a little dude who can walk on walls. Oh, and the pictures are sometimes (often) moving. And malevolent chess pieces want nothing more than to mess up all your hard work for no other reason than “because they feel like it”.
Doesn’t sound quite so easy now, does it? Oh well. Never Mind.
Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official site.
You thought we were done with the Shu campaign, but it was I, Lu Bu– hold on, I’m getting confused somewhere, I think.
Anyway, yes, as with all the other campaigns, the Shu missions play host to a “Chapter 8-X” which allows you to square up against Orochi once again… and perhaps give a certain little overconfident jackass with a silly hat the kicking he so deserves.
Let us take to the field once again, warriors, and this time, we shall be the ones to pursue Lu Bu!
Fie on your spaceships, I say, the true shoot ’em up connoisseur takes control of pterodactyl-esque creatures and uses them to penetrate deep inside their enemies’… err, lairs!
Well, okay, maybe not, but that’s the setup for Thrax Lair, anyway, in which you control a “Tarp”, a winged creature capable of firing lasers from its eyes with a strong (and eminently justifiable) grudge against the spider-like Thrax.
Gameplay-wise, it’s a bit like River Raid, but with enough unique elements about it to make it worth a look — even if it might not be the most flashy game the Atari 8-bit ever offered!
Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official site.
How do you make Asteroids better in a more substantial way than just adding “Deluxe” to the name and making it look a bit nicer? Start by chaining two ships together and work from there.
Atari’s Space Duel was designed as another successor to Asteroids after the aforementioned Asteroids Deluxe regrettably failed to replicate the success and popularity of its influential predecessor. Featuring several ways to play — including both cooperative and competitive two-player modes — it’s a more obvious step forward than Deluxe was.
Don’t let the name fool you as it did me for many years, however; this game can very much be enjoyed single-player, and in one of its modes in particular provides an absolutely unique shooter experience that is well worth giving a go for yourself.
Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official site.
Who’s the leader of the club that’s made for you and me? Some mouse, I think.
Yes, it’s time for the official computer game adaptation of one of Disney’s most beloved properties: one Michael Mouse. This game was produced by Gremlin Graphics, and was noteworthy at the time for being a licensed game that eschewed the usual platform game formula. (Granted, Mickey Mouse and friends had several very good platform games throughout the 8- and 16-bit eras, but it was cool to see something a bit different!)
This is a pretty cool game with a couple of aspects that are inordinately frustrating… most notable of which is the fact that actually completing a level is next to impossible thanks to a monstrously difficult boss encounter! Oh well. At least it looks nice.
Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official website.
Well, the Shu warriors have finally reached the end of their journey: Koshi Castle, home of the dreaded Orochi.
This is what it all comes down to! Everything the team has been fighting for culminates in this final battle. And perhaps… just perhaps, if they’re lucky, they’ll finally be reunited with Liu Bei after a very long journey!
Although if you’re accustomed to how Liu Bei looks in more recent Warriors installments, be ready for a bit of a surprise!
