Cover Games, Senran Kagura

Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash: No Shirt, No Shoes, All Shinobi Shooting

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It’s understandable that some people approached Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash with a certain amount of trepidation prior to its initial release.

After all, here was a series that was supposedly about ninja girls fighting an unseen battle against the otherworldly youma forces, and yet their next game seemed to have them all clad in bikinis having water pistol fights with one another. Sure, the fanservice angle had always been part of the series… but surely, surely we were going a bit off-piste now, right?

Two things. Firstly: Bon Appétit would like a word about going “off-piste”. And secondly: Peach Beach Splash is absolutely a worthy sequel to Estival Versus that sets the series up for what will hopefully be an apocalyptic, climactic finale. In the meantime, though, yes, water guns.

Continue reading Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash: No Shirt, No Shoes, All Shinobi Shooting →

Announcements, Community

Around the Network

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Hello everyone! Sorry this is much later than it usually is (again), but I’ve been keeping myself quite busy!

I’m just starting a week off from the day job, which you think would mean I have lots of time to spare… but I’ve set most of the time aside for getting well ahead of schedule on video series and articles, and as such I’ve spent the majority of today researching material for upcoming Atari A to Z videos!

That doesn’t mean there’s no time for the usual fun and games around here, mind, so let’s have a look at what you might have missed in the last week.

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Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z Flashback: Adventure II

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One of the most interesting things about the retro scene is how these old, supposedly defunct platforms still have plenty of people developing for them.

In some cases, these projects that began as homebrew affairs end up being official follow-ups to established classics, thirty or more years later! Such is the case with Adventure II, which was first released in 2005 as part of the Atari Flashback 2 console.

Mechanically, there’s not much new in Adventure II, but the interesting new map design and cranked up difficulty makes it a distinct experience in its own right!

Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official site.

Essentials, Racers, SNES

Stunt Race FX: A Last Hurrah

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Stunt Race FX — or Wild Trax, as it was known in Japan — is not a game that gets talked about nearly as much as many of its contemporaries.

There are a number of reasons for this, chief among which was that it released in 1994, when excitement for Sony’s PlayStation — originally intended to be a CD-ROM-based add-on for the Super NES, lest we forget — was reaching a fever pitch; the 32-bit system would release later that very year, wowing everyone with its smooth, texture-mapped polygonal graphics, high-quality audio and impressive arcade ports.

As with many things that got overshadowed at their time of original release, however, Stunt Race FX remains a fascinating piece of Nintendo history that remains worth exploring.

Continue reading Stunt Race FX: A Last Hurrah →

Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy Marathon, Videos

Final Fantasy Marathon: Navigation Issues – Final Fantasy I #10

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After last week’s unfortunate adventure in the Earthgift Shrine, the Warriors of Light do their best to get back on track.

However, it’s not quite that simple! Their next destination is concealed in the heart of a complicated labyrinth of rivers and streams… and it turns out that they perhaps weren’t even heading in the right direction in the first place.

Oh well. Those are the perils you sign up for when you take on a less linear RPG!

One-Shots

Nintendo Switch: Modern Console, Gateway to Retro

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Retro gaming has been growing increasingly popular over the course of the last few years; as we move further and further away from gaming’s earliest days, it seems people are becoming more and more keen to know the medium’s roots.

This is absolutely great, as there are lots of different aspects you can explore the history of through retro gaming. You can see how storytelling has developed over the course of numerous generations of RPGs and adventure games. You can see the rise and fall of numerous mechanical genres. You can even see how now-famous creators got started!

There’s a growing problem, however; as retro gaming — and by this I mean “officially sanctioned” retro gaming, rather than the legal grey area that is emulation and ROM downloads — becomes more popular, it also becomes more difficult and more expensive to get involved with.

That is, unless you have a Nintendo Switch.

Continue reading Nintendo Switch: Modern Console, Gateway to Retro →

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari ST A to Z: Welltris

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Tetris is a timeless classic that remains relevant today. Its various sequels and spinoffs, on the other hand, have varied somewhat in how well they’ve persisted over the years.

One such title that has been largely forgotten today is Alexey Pajitnov’s official follow-up to the original Tetris, known as Welltris. Developed in Soviet Russia, ported to a variety of platforms and published by Spectrum Holobyte and Infogrames around the world, Welltris takes Tetris into the third dimension.

It’s a solid game… but you have to approach it very differently to Pajitnov’s more enduring classic!

Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official site.

Waifu Wednesday

Waifu Wednesday: Hikage

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One wouldn’t think that a character seemingly devoid of emotions would be a popular choice. But Senran Kagura’s resident snek wife would like a quiet word to educate you.

As one of the more longstanding members of the Senran Kagura cast — she’s been in there since the very beginning — it’s understandable that Hikage has plenty of fans. She’s unique, she’s interesting and she has excellent chemistry with the other cast members.

And she can rap. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Thank you, baby.

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Hikage →

Videos, Warriors Wednesday

Warriors Wednesday: Do Not NTR Lu Bu – Warriors Orochi #54

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Of all the things you should not do to Lu Bu — and there are many — I’d say that cuckolding him is pretty high up the list, perhaps just underneath pursuing him.

Still, Diao Chan doesn’t seem to be particularly enamoured with his attitude fighting in Orochi’s forces, and so she decides to defect to the Coalition. Naturally, Cao Pi is more than happy to welcome a new ally to the fold.

Of course, as you might expect, a betrayal of one of the most legendarily powerful warriors in existence is not something one can expect to go all that smoothly…

Pokemon Masters

Pokémon Masters: Friendly Free-to-Play

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If you, like me, have been around the mobile gaming block a bit, chances are that you have a certain image in your mind of what Asian free-to-play games look like.

You’re almost certainly picturing energy bars, timers, feathers, coins, gems and an overwhelming array of things to do, all of which seem dead set on distracting you from completing the actual main story of the damn thing.

Well, if you’ve ever felt like this, Pokémon Masters is a refreshingly straightforward breath of fresh air… or at least it is right now at the time of writing, a little after its official launch!

Continue reading Pokémon Masters: Friendly Free-to-Play →

The best of overlooked and underappreciated computer and video games, from yesterday and today.