Atari A to Z: Dandy

For the retro gaming and retro computer enthusiasts among you, here’s the continuation of my ongoing project to explore the library of the Atari 8-Bit.

Released through the Atari Program Exchange (or APX), an initiative by Atari that allowed amateur and professional programmers alike the opportunity to get their projects distributed commercially, Dandy by John Howard Palevich turned out to be a rather influential game.

Originally intended as a multiplayer networked adaptation of Dungeons & Dragons before being simplified and refined into the four-player action dungeon crawler it ultimately became, Dandy would be a defining influence on Atari’s later arcade hit Gauntlet… and it’s not hard to see why.

Delving into Dragon Quest: Hand of the Heavenly Bride – #6

Okay, I got it wrong. I have not yet finished Hand of the Heavenly Bride, nor was I near to doing so.

Well, actually, that might not quite be true. But I have been getting a little distracted on my way to what I can only assume is the final boss: first with grinding to get Bianca up to a similar level as my protagonist and their children, and subsequently with the subject of today’s article.

Many RPGs today concentrate primarily on their core mechanics, with their optional content involving those same mechanics: challenging combat, deep dungeons or hard-to-find items. But the Dragon Quest series, like Final Fantasy, is one that has always incorporated minigames into the mix, with their own completely separate ways of playing. And it’s that I’d like to talk about today.

Continue reading Delving into Dragon Quest: Hand of the Heavenly Bride – #6

Sunday Driving: Scud Racer – Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed #3

It’s time for another episode of Sunday Driving and the continuation of Amy’s world tour in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed.

I noticed the quality on the previous videos was lower than it has been from my previous PC game captures, likely due to the fact that some combination of Windows 10 and/or my switch to SSD has meant that I’ve been having to re-encode captured video to a constant frame rate otherwise I get audio sync issues. This time around I’ve used higher quality settings, so let me know if you notice the difference.

Hit the jump to see the video! Continue reading Sunday Driving: Scud Racer – Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed #3

Evenicle: Introduction and First Impressions

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Alicesoft was a developer that wasn’t really on my radar before I played the English releases of Rance 5D and Rance VI, and chances are if you haven’t explored eroge in any great detail you may not be overly familiar with them either.

However, between the Rance games and my experiences with Evenicle so far, I’m very comfortable with saying that they are an excellent developer that any fans of high-quality enjoyable RPGs with interesting mechanics, solid narratives and extremely memorable characters would do well to check out. Particularly if you’re keen for your games to actually treat you like an adult — and I’m not just talking about sexual content here.

So what is Evenicle? Let’s take a closer look.

Continue reading Evenicle: Introduction and First Impressions

Sonic the Hedgehog: Dare to be Different

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With how positively Sonic Adventure had been received on its original release — and many subsequent Sonic releases being compared unfavourably to it — it’s surprising that Sonic Team didn’t return to the concept sooner.

Return they did, however, with an ambitious multiplatform title that was originally intended to be the third official Sonic Adventure game. Initially developed under the working title of Sonic World Adventure — a title it would keep in Japan — Sonic Unleashed was intended to shake up the series in a few fundamental ways.

These days, in retrospect, Sonic Unleashed is seen as one of the earliest examples of what some people describe as “Boost Sonic“, but it’s an interesting game in its own right. Let’s take a closer look.

Continue reading Sonic the Hedgehog: Dare to be Different

Waifu Wednesday: The Hundred Honeys Project – A New Venue

That bedroom was getting a bit cramped with all the Honeys present, so I’ve moved the photoshoots to a new location. Which is already pretty full.

For those unaware, the Hundred Honeys Project is my attempt to see just how far I can push the engine of Illusion and Fakku’s excellent sex sim-cum-digital dollhouse Honey Select Unlimited — and specifically its Honey Unlimited Studio feature, which allows you to load in characters and pose them as you see fit for, you know, digital art.

Today, as a bit of a change, I thought I’d investigate the Illusion Game Cards Booru and download some creations from the wider community — specifically those that don’t make use of any external mods, just the included assets. Making use of someone else’s character couldn’t be simpler — just download the .png file from the booru, drop it in Honey Select Unlimited’s UserData\chara folder and… that’s it! The .png files contain all the info the game needs to decipher the custom character.

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: The Hundred Honeys Project – A New Venue

Warriors Wednesday: The Sword That Hits Eight Times – Warriors Orochi #5

It’s time for another romp in Orochi’s less-than-fair lands as Nobunaga and his samurai friends hack and slash their way to another victory.

I, uh, made a small mistake with recording this one in that I accidentally deleted my whole commentary while I was cleaning up my videos folder, so I ended up having to record a new commentary “after the fact”, as it were. I don’t think it came out too badly.

Hit the jump for the new video.

Continue reading Warriors Wednesday: The Sword That Hits Eight Times – Warriors Orochi #5

Sega Ages: Tant-R and Bonanza Bros

It’s a double feature today, as the two games in question were bundled together as Sega Ages 2500 Vol. 6 on PlayStation 2 in Japan, and indeed remain as a single “unit” in the Sega Classics Collection we got here in the West.

Bonanza Bros is a staple inclusion in most people’s Mega Drive libraries — indeed, it’s tended to find its way into most of the Mega Drive compilations for subsequent consoles over the years, too — but Tant-R may well be new to you, since prior to the Sega Classics Collection release it was Japan-exclusive.

The Sega Ages versions of both games don’t radically reinvent anything to the same degree as Tamsoft’s take on Monaco GPbut they remain solid games in their own right. So let’s take a closer look.

Continue reading Sega Ages: Tant-R and Bonanza Bros

Atari A to Z: Caverns of Mars

Happy Tuesday! While I prepare something more substantial for your reading pleasure later this evening, I invite you to enjoy the latest installment in my retro gaming side project.

The Atari 8-Bit is the first computer I used growing up, and it’s a platform I still very much enjoy busting out today. It’s somewhat lesser known than its contemporaries, the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spectrum, but it has a great library of games and software.

Today we take a look at a classic (and influential) vertically scrolling shoot ’em up, Caverns of Mars. Enjoy!

Delving into Dragon Quest: Hand of the Heavenly Bride – #5

I haven’t had as much time as I’d like to play Dragon Quest recently, but I took the time to play some at lunchtime today, and it reminded me of some things I’d like to talk about.

What I’m going to talk about today relates to the series as a whole, but with the release of newest installment Dragon Quest XI looming at the time of writing, it’s particularly pertinent to mention these things, given some of the issues that have been brought up by recent reviews.

So let us ponder a core aspect of not just Dragon Quest, but of the type of RPG that Dragon Quest went on to inspire. Let us contemplate grinding!

Continue reading Delving into Dragon Quest: Hand of the Heavenly Bride – #5

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