Atari A to Z Flashback: Gravitar

We all know “harder than Dark Souls” is a cliche today. If you really want to show your hipster retro gaming cred, describe something as being “harder than Gravitar”.

Gravitar is indeed monstrously difficult, at least partly because of its “turn and thrust” control scheme, but there’s an undeniably addictive quality that keeps you wanting to play just once more… just once more and you might nail that level you nearly completed… just once more and you might beat that high score…

I may have a problem. And I’m pretty sure Gravitar caused it.

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

Death end re;Quest: Down the Rabbit Hole

cropped-header-2500285This article is one chapter of a multi-part Cover Game feature!
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Death end re;Quest, in keeping with the rest of Compile Heart’s Galapagos RPG project, is an ambitious and rather unusual affair from a narrative perspective.

The setup for the game is pure isekai, but almost immediately after actually starting the game for the first time, you’ll come to realise that there’s much more going on here — a really interesting blend of genres and styles that makes good use of its medium to tell a story and raise some intriguing questions.

Let’s take a closer look.

Continue reading Death end re;Quest: Down the Rabbit Hole

New Game Plus: Mel Kishida Loves Stinky Feet – Atelier Rorona DX #10

As with Wednesday’s Warriors Wednesday video, I thought I’d make an effort to drop in some vaguely interesting factoids into my video intros.

As such, today you will learn that yes, indeed, Atelier Arland character designer Mel Kishida is indeed into stinky feet. But how is this relevant? Umm… Well… Oh, just watch it, will you? (And play Blue Reflectionit’s beautiful.)

Hit the jump to see how Rorona’s efforts went today… ignoring the pervy Japanese dude just waiting for her to take her boots off!

Continue reading New Game Plus: Mel Kishida Loves Stinky Feet – Atelier Rorona DX #10

OMG Zombies: In The Middle of a Chain Reaction

Prejudice is an ugly thing, but it’s important to acknowledge it when you allow it to affect you.

Consequently, dear reader, I don’t mind admitting that when I was presented with the opportunity to take a look at a new Switch game called OMG Zombies that, at its launch, cost just 99p (it’s now £3.99 after the initial discount) I was… shall we say, a little skeptical about whether or not this would be a worthwhile experience.

Internet slang in the title? Check. Use of zombies, arguably the most overused foe in all of video gaming history? Check. A distinctly “mobile-tier” price point? Check. This game would certainly have an uphill struggle to impress me.

Continue reading OMG Zombies: In The Middle of a Chain Reaction

Atari ST A to Z: Batman – The Movie

A well-known name in the 16-bit home computer era here in Europe was Ocean Software.

Ocean had many strings to their bow, but one of their most reliable sources of income was movie tie-in games, many of which drew criticism for being somewhat derivative and unimaginative platform games, but which sold well regardless. A good example of a game where they tried something a little bit different from the usual formula was Batman: The Movie.

That said, the opening stage is a platform game, and is so monstrously difficult I’d be surprised if everyone saw the other things the game had to offer without making use of the cheat mode… I know I certainly didn’t!

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

Waifu Wednesday: Lucil Filarete

Death end re;Quest’s cast, like many other Compile Heart ensembles, is designed in such a way that pretty much everyone will find someone who appeals to them.

If you’re the type who likes the kind of girl who speaks in a wispy, seemingly emotionless, far-off voice, then you’ll probably get along with Lucil Filarete. If you like petite elf girls with honkin’ great boobies, you’ll probably also get along with Lucil Filarete.

In short, she’s a very appealing character for many, many reasons!

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Lucil Filarete

Warriors Wednesday: Gender Roles – Warriors Orochi #33

In today’s Warriors Wednesday, Ginchiyo Tachibana struts her stuff and proves exactly why she is known as the Goddess of Lightning!

Fighting alongside Xingcai and Zhao Yun in the first side mission of the Shu campaign, Tachibana quickly proves herself to be a formidable warrior who is more than happy to put all the men on the battlefield well and truly in their place. One in particular

Hit the jump to see how today’s battle went!

Continue reading Warriors Wednesday: Gender Roles – Warriors Orochi #33

Puzzler Essentials: Take It Easy

I don’t play a lot of games on my phone these days, because a lot of them are touchscreen-controlled garbage, bad knockoffs of games that I didn’t really want to play in the first place or microtransaction-infested pits of misery and despair.

However, once in a while a game comes along with none of those issues. A game where you can pay once and just play it; a game where you’ll never see an ad, never be asked to pay again and not be bugged every ten minutes to “rate 5 stars on the App Store”.

And sometimes that game is even good! Here’s Take It Easy, by Ravensburger.

Continue reading Puzzler Essentials: Take It Easy

Atari A to Z: Gridrunner

It’s time to pay another visit to the strange and wonderful world of Jeff Minter… albeit with one of his least strange games.

It may not be particularly peculiar compared to some of his other work, but Gridrunner is still a classic shooter from his back catalogue, drawing some inspiration from Centipede and building on the formula.

It’s hard though. Or I’m just rubbish. No, that can’t be it, it is the game that is hard!

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

The MoeGamer Podcast: Episode 19 – Best of Battling

Good afternoon! Welcome, once again, to The MoeGamer Podcast, featuring a pair of shamelessly pants-free games enthusiasts: myself, and the good Mr Chris Caskie of MrGilderPixels.

The MoeGamer Podcast is available in several places. You can subscribe to my channel on YouTube to stay up to date with both the video versions of the podcast and my weekly videos (including the Atari A to Z retro gaming series); you can follow on Soundcloud for the audio-only version of the podcast; you can subscribe via RSS to get the audio-only version of the podcast in your favourite podcast app; or you can subscribe via iTunes. Please do at least one of these if you can; it really helps us out!

Or you can hit the jump to watch or listen to today’s episode right here on MoeGamer.

Continue reading The MoeGamer Podcast: Episode 19 – Best of Battling

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