You ever play a game that you really want to like, but almost everything about it just makes it nigh-impossible to do so?
That was me with The Assembly Line’s Helter Skelter, an unusual platform game in which you control a bouncy ball and attempt to squish enemies in a preset order. Sounds simple, right?
It is very much Not Simple.
For many players of a certain age, Blaze Fielding would have been one of the earliest high-profile female characters we got to spend some time with — one who made no secret of her gender, anyway!
She stood out — not only was she an attractive young woman, which obviously appealed to those who appreciate such things, but she was also highly capable of kicking vast amounts of booty on the streets without any need for support from smelly old men. Although, of course, if you had a friend who didn’t mind playing as a smelly old man, she would always welcome the backup.
With the long-awaited Streets of Rage 4 now out for everyone to enjoy — and my Limited Run copy still not here at the time of writing — let’s take a moment to celebrate one of the most ass-kicking ladies of 16-bit gaming.
I really like Lonely Mountains: Downhill, as you’ll know if you’ve read my writeup on it.
It’s a wonderfully chilled game in its early stages, but also offers some stiff dexterity challenges for those who want to push themselves on its later courses. The whole thing is held together with a delicious low-poly/papercraft-style aesthetic and some of the best ambient sounds I’ve ever heard.
If you wanted to see how it actually plays, well, I’ve got the video just for you right here! Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more.
Blaze’s new retro gaming handheld, the Evercade, officially launches on May 22, 2020, with the company hoping to get units in the hands of everyone who preordered by June 12, 2020 at the latest.
Since I’m planning some extensive coverage of this device and its games as soon as mine arrives — fingers crossed it’s towards the beginning of that release window, but we’ll have to wait and see at the time of writing! — I thought I’d take the opportunity to talk a little bit about this new device, why it appeals, and why I hope it ends up being a success.
Plus, if you’ve not yet heard of the Evercade, you can find out a bit more about it for yourself. Everyone wins. Hit the jump and let’s get started!
Continue reading Evercade: The Case for Curated Retro Gaming
Dot-eating maze games were a staple of both early ’80s arcades and home computers from the same era, as we’ve seen a fair few times on this series already.
Nibbler, originally released into arcades by Rock-Ola, became somewhat notorious for being the first game to allow players to score more than a billion points. There’s even a documentary about various attempts to pursue this milestone over the years.
The Atari 8-bit version was actually a pretty solid conversion of the arcade game. I have no idea if you can score over a billion points in it because I’m not that good… but at least we can have a look at the basics!
As my house gradually returns to normal from the building site it has been turned into, we find some time between the noise of sanding and angle grinding to record a new episode of the podcast — as always, featuring both myself and 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 and listen on Spotify. Please do at least one of these if you can; it really helps us out!
Or you can just hit the jump to watch or listen to today’s episode right here on MoeGamer.
Continue reading The MoeGamer Podcast: Episode 38 – ATTACK MAGIC ITEM BURST
Hello everyone! It’s the end of another week, or the beginning of another one, depending on how you look at it, and thus it’s time for the weekly roundup!
I’ve got one more week of the day job before a blissful week off. Hopefully my Evercade retro gaming handheld from Blaze will arrive in time for that, because you can expect a bunch of in-depth coverage on that system and its games once it’s in my hands! The Atelier MegaFeature will, of course, continue, but my intention is to provide detailed writeups on each and every one of the games available for Evercade — because in all cases, they’re relevant to all enthusiasts of gaming, not just those picking up the new system.
Anyway, that’s something to think about when we get to it. For now, we’ve got a week’s worth of happy funtimes to get through. So hit the jump and let’s get started!
Flag Capture is one of those games that looks laughably simple today, but there’s still some good, honest fun to be had — especially with two players.
The concept couldn’t really be much simpler — there’s a flag somewhere in a grid, and you have to find it using both directional and numerical clues. The interesting stuff this game does comes from how this simple concept is twisted in a few different ways — do you find the flag against the clock? Against another player with simultaneous movement? Against another player moving one at a time?
It’s probably not a game you’ll want to spend a lot of time with today, no, but it’s definitely worth a look for a quick bit of fun with a friend!
This post is one chapter of a MegaFeature!
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Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm initially doesn’t appear to have many direct connections to its two predecessors — aside from the presence of the Mana spirits, that is.
There doesn’t seem to be a widely accepted “official word” on exactly why this is, so it’s largely up to interpretation. Some commentators online believe that the game was originally intended to show Iris Blanchimont’s alchemy training, placing the game in between Atelier Iris 2: The Azoth of Destiny and Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana in chronological terms — but either that was never a thing, or it was changed at the last minute. Because, as the game makes clear, the Iris in Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm is not Iris Blanchimont — she’s Iris Fortner.
Ultimately it doesn’t matter all that much; Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm very much has its own story to tell, and has a well-realised narrative setting in which to explore that story. So let’s do just that!
Continue reading Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm – Narrative, Themes and Characterisation
It isn’t easy being dead, as Minwu, Scott, Josef and Ricard have been discovering in their afterlife adventures.
I’d heard before starting that the Soul of Rebirth postgame scenario could be a bit grindy if you hadn’t prepared the characters beforehand in the main game… but, well, I didn’t prepare the characters beforehand in the main game, so guess what we have to get cracking with?
Still, it’s interesting to be challenged by this game again — particularly with a new lineup of characters that I’m having to figure out the best way to make use of.
