SNK Essentials: World Wars

The loose “trilogy” of vertically scrolling shoot ’em ups from SNK’s early days that began with Alpha Mission and Bermuda Triangle finally concludes with 1987’s World Wars.

Sometimes erroneously described as a reskin of Bermuda TriangleWorld Wars offers an interesting blend between the gameplay elements of its two predecessors, and manages to carve out an identity for itself as an enjoyable, addictive shoot ’em up in its own right in the process.

Alpha mission start! Launch all ZIG!

Continue reading SNK Essentials: World Wars

Atari ST A to Z: Yolanda

Remakes and remixes of existing video games have been around for some time now, with some dating right back to the early days of home computer gaming.

One interesting example is 1990’s Yolanda from Millennium, a game that reimagines the well-regarded but atrociously presented 1984 Commodore 64 title Hercules for a slightly more modern audience. Well, in fact, it outright recreates Hercules with better graphics and sound, and puts a hot girl in the lead role instead of a badly drawn approximation of one of Greek mythology’s most famous figures.

Dubbed “the fastest and most difficult platform game ever” in advertising from the time, it’s… well, it’s quite something, for all the wrong reasons. Take a look.

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

Waifu Wednesday: Sumika Tokiwa

Being a Compile Heart game, Death end re;Quest is, naturally, overflowing with colourful, interesting and delightful female characters.

In fact, women make up the majority of the cast… though, again, this is nothing unusual for a Compile Heart game. What is a little unusual this time around is the fact that the game unfolds across two discrete “worlds” — the “real” world and the “game” world.

For today’s Waifu Wednesday, we’re taking a look at one of your companions during your time in the “real” world, as you attempt to uncover the conspiracy that has led to heroine Shina Ninomiya — and possibly others — becoming trapped in the virtual reality massively multiplayer online game, World’s Odyssey.

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Sumika Tokiwa

Warriors Wednesday: I’m On a Boat – Warriors Orochi #30

Well, okay, there was one more challenge left to undertake with the Wu forces… just like with the Samurai forces, Orochi needs a second kicking just to make sure he stays down for good!

This time around, the stage for the battle is a take on the Battle of Chi Bi, a Dynasty Warriors classic that sees both sides battling across a flotilla of warships, with a bit of fire to keep things interesting.

Gives a whole new meaning to “tiger, tiger, burning bright,” huh?

Continue reading Warriors Wednesday: I’m On a Boat – Warriors Orochi #30

SNK Essentials: Bermuda Triangle

A couple of years after Alpha Mission, SNK put out a follow-up of sorts — if not a direct sequel. (That would show up in the Neo Geo era!)

That game was Bermuda Triangle, and much like Alpha Mission before it, it’s a very creative and unusual take on a genre that, even as early as 1987, was heavily saturated with very similar titles of varying quality.

In order to stand out in such a situation, you need to do something distinctive — even unique. And, well, there are definitely a number of features in Bermuda Triangle that I haven’t seen attempted since!

Continue reading SNK Essentials: Bermuda Triangle

Atari A to Z: Diamonds

I do enjoy a good “dirt and boulders” game. And Simon Hunt’s Diamonds, published by English Software in 1983, is certainly a good “dirt and boulders” game.

Casting players in the role of Digger Dan, part-time member of Blue Man group and long-time precious stones enthusiast, it’s up to you to gather the titular diamonds while avoiding the unwanted attentions of Brian the Blob, Philip the Filler, The Fireflies, The Eyes, Simon the Snake and The Demon. Brian also wants diamonds; the others just want you dead. Which isn’t very nice.

This is a longstanding personal favourite of mine from the Atari 8-bit era, and a game I still like returning to today quite often! Check it out when you get the opportunity.

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

SNK Essentials: Alpha Mission

SNK is primarily known for its fighting games these days, but in its earlier years it was known for a number of solid (and influential) shoot ’em ups.

While Alpha Mission (also known as ASO: Armored Scrum Object in Japan) isn’t the company’s first shoot ’em up by any means, it is an important one and forms the first in a loose “trilogy” of titles that we’ll explore over the course of the next few articles.

Drawing inspiration from Western RPGs, of all things, this is a fun but challenging vertically scrolling shoot ’em up that any fan of the genre owes it to themselves to become intimately acquainted with.

Continue reading SNK Essentials: Alpha Mission

Sunday Driving: Boneyard Rush – Split/Second #10

We’re closing in on the end of Split/Second now; only a few more episodes to go!

Today’s episode, Boneyard Rush, takes us out of the city and into a few areas rather devoid of life… the desert, the canyon, the industrial zone. Bring on the Bridge of Death!

Hit the jump to see how things went today… and to admire a stupid gag that took me probably more time and effort than it really deserved.

Continue reading Sunday Driving: Boneyard Rush – Split/Second #10

Around the Network

Another week has passed! This one seems to have gone by quite quickly for some reason. I’m not complaining; I have a couple of weeks off from the day job at the beginning of April, and I’m very much looking forward to using that time for a bunch of MoeGamer and YouTube stuff.

In the meantime, though, things have been continuing as usual around here, with plenty of things to read, watch and listen to.

So let’s take a look at what you might have missed this week!
Continue reading Around the Network

Atari A to Z Flashback: Destroyer

As we’ve previously seen with Canyon Bomber, sometimes all you need to make an addictive, enjoyable game is a simple concept… and perhaps some gimmicky controls.

Such is the case with Destroyer, a game that featured some satisfyingly clunky physical controls on its original arcade release, which are obviously lost somewhat in this home translation. Interestingly, this never got a home port of its own prior to the release in Atari Flashback Classics; it was instead incorporated into the Atari 2600 port of Canyon Bomber, which was developed by David “Pitfall” Crane.

It’s a simple idea, but an effective one… and one that really does not like being captured at 30fps, so if you can’t see the depth charges for part of this video… uh, sorry! Such are the limitations of my hardware!

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