Tag Archives: arcade

Retro Select, Videos

Retro Select: Front Line

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Every genre needs to start somewhere, and in the top-down run-and-gun shooter’s case, it pretty much started with Taito’s Front Line.

By modern standards,Β Front LineΒ might look a bit laughable — particularly when it comes to its animations. But give it a bit of time and you’ll find a thoroughly playable — and very hard! — game to enjoy in the mix here. Without this game, we likely wouldn’t have had SNK classics likeΒ TNK IIIΒ and Ikari Warriors!

Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget toΒ subscribe on YouTube for more!

Retro Select, Videos

Retro Select: Rally-X

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Early ’80s arcade games were seriously tough to get to grips with — not necessarily from a mechanical perspective, but in terms ofΒ applying your knowledge of those mechanics effectively.

Namco’sΒ Rally-X is a great example of this. The concept, on paper, is simple: drive a car around a maze and collect flags while not crashing into rocks or other cars. The execution, meanwhile, is the sort of thing that will have you flinging your controller out of a window before long — but you’ll still keep coming back for more.

Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget toΒ subscribe on YouTube for more!

short;Play, Videos

short;Play: Joust 2 – Survival of the Fittest

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We’re going retro for this week’s short;Play, with one of the many games in the first Midway Arcade Treasures compilation for PlayStation 2, Xbox and Gamecube. (There’s also a PSP version, but that’s slightly different.)

Joust 2: Survival of the FittestΒ perhaps hasn’t aged as well as some other arcade classics due to its monstrous level of quarter-munching difficulty, but it’s an interesting game that doesn’t get a lot of acknowledgement, while its predecessor is very fondly regarded. This may partly be due to the fact thatΒ Joust 2Β didn’t get any home ports, while the originalΒ JoustΒ was on pretty muchΒ everything.

Anyway, it’s an interesting curiosity if nothing else, so check it out in the video below to find out more. And don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube when you’re done!

Sega Ages

Sega Ages G-LOC Air Battle: Wish Fulfilment

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Sega’s G-LOC Air Battle is my favourite arcade game of all time — not that I had that many opportunities to play it as a child, sadly.

We don’t really “do” arcades here in the UK anywhere other than the seaside, you see, and thus, growing up in a small village that was a considerable distance from the nearest seaside resort, I only ever got to play a lot of arcade games when we went on holiday. This, naturally, led to me judging a lot of domestic holiday destinations based on what arcade machines were readily accessible.

G-LOCΒ is a game that immediately caught my attention on a family trip to Newquay in Cornwall. I dropped a quid in it for three credits, sat down and prepared for action. And from that moment on, I was in love.

Continue reading Sega Ages G-LOC Air Battle: Wish Fulfilment →

Delving Into..., Super Castlevania IV

Super Castlevania IV: Playing A Game “Right”

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I’ve been continuing to explore Super Castlevania IV recently, and a few things about my experiences have got me thinking.

Specifically, it’s got me thinking about whether or not the concept of playing a game in the “correct” way really exists — and if that’s the same thing as experiencing the game in the same manner and the same context as its original release.

This is a question that is particularly relevant to modern rereleases of retro titles such as Super Castlevania IV, so let’s ponder it together today!

Continue reading Super Castlevania IV: Playing A Game “Right” →

Psikyo Shooting Stars, Shmups, Switch

Gunbird: The ’90s Anime Shoot ‘Em Up

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In conversation with casual shoot ’em up fans I’m acquainted with, I’ve come to learn that Gunbird is one of Psikyo’s most fondly regarded series.

It’s not hard to see why, either. Although the firstΒ GunbirdΒ game predates many of Psikyo’s other works, it features a lot of their most appealing elements. We have the multiple endings and strong replayability ofΒ Samurai Aces. We have the strong degree of physicality of theΒ StrikersΒ series. We have the overblown narratives ofΒ Sol DivideΒ andΒ Dragon Blaze. And the whole thing is topped off with a ton of ’90s anime charm.

Sounds like a recipe for success to me. Let’s take a closer look.

Continue reading Gunbird: The ’90s Anime Shoot ‘Em Up →

Essentials, Mega Drive

Flicky: The Sound of Birdsong is So Beautiful

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Ah, the 1980s; a period of shameless attempts to replicate and exceed the success of other people by having a go at doing it yourself.

Well, that was the thinking that drove Sega to createΒ FlickyΒ in 1984, anyway; jealous of Namco’s success with Mappy, the company’s leadership tasked designer Yoji Ishii with creating something that would beat their rival’s game.

Did they succeed? Well, that’s a matter of opinion. Just maybe bring the earplugs if you want to judge for yourself.

Continue reading Flicky: The Sound of Birdsong is So Beautiful →

Essentials, NES

Donkey Kong 3: Shot Up The Arse, And You’re To Blame

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When you’ve developed a successful franchise, the natural thing to do with a sequel is to throw everything that made the previous games good out the window and try something completely different.

I’m being facetious, but this is actually something Nintendo has done more than once over the course of several of its classic series’ lifetimes. Sometimes it works indisputably well — few people would consider the reskinnedΒ Doki Doki PanicΒ that we Westerners know as Super Mario Bros. 2Β to be a “bad” game, for example, despite how different it was from its predecessor.

Sometimes, though, we get something likeΒ Donkey Kong 3, and no-one is quite sure what to make of it. And that’s kind of why I really, really like it.

Continue reading Donkey Kong 3: Shot Up The Arse, And You’re To Blame →

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z Flashback: Super Breakout

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At this point, most people know that Super Breakout is a bona fide classic of the early days of gaming. But no-one really talks about how monstrously difficult its original arcade incarnation is.

Well, I’m here to change all that today!Β Super BreakoutΒ for the arcade isΒ really, really hard,Β primarily because the paddle you control is such a stingy, pathetic little size that it’s very difficult to actually return the ball once… let alone enough times to clear the damn screen.

Doesn’t stop me coming back for more, though… particularly with three different game modes to take on in the vain hope I might be good atΒ oneΒ of them!

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

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z Flashback: Skydiver

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It’s time for another simple but addictive game from the early days of Atari today: this time around it’s the turn of Skydiver.

SkydiverΒ is slightly more complex thanΒ Canyon Bomber,Β which we saw a few episodes back, but it’s still simple enough that anyone can pick it up with minimal explanation. Mastering it is, of course, another matter entirely, but it was ever thus in these early arcade games!

SkydiverΒ is also one of the noisiest games Atari ever created. Be sure to turn your volume down a bit if you’re playing this one yourself!

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