Tag Archives: gameplay

The MoeGamer Podcast: Let’s talk about E3, Evercade, Steam Next Fest and More!

Welcome to a new-look, new-format podcast! Sorry it’s been so long again, but we’re both busy chaps! All being well, both my good buddy Chris Caskie of CCaskieArt and I should be able to “do” this new format a bit more often, though, so we hope you like it!

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!

Enjoy the podcast in video and audio formats below:

This time around, we chat about the excitement of all things Evercade that are in the pipeline, marvel at the moribund monstrosity that was E3 2021 and talk about Steam Next Fest’s creative demos. Plus there’s plenty of talk about what we’ve been playing and recent happenings in gaming.

We hope you enjoy the new format — please look forward to a variety of new stuff in the podcast playlist soon!

Atari A to Z Flashback: Stellar Track

One of the oldest video games out there is the old “Star Trek” game that people used to play on mainframe computers. Like many other mainframe games, this was ported to home systems in various forms over the years.

One of the most surprising ports of this game came in the form of Stellar Track for the Atari 2600, a surprisingly impressive and full-featured version for a platform not best known for its text-based games. And if you enjoy boring people with retro game trivia at parties as much as I do, you can also tell them that this was one of just three 2600 games that was exclusively sold at Sears through their Tele-Games label.

(Just kidding. I don’t go to parties.)

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

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Retro Select: Midtown Madness 3

Retro games are wonderful, aren’t they? That’s why I’ve set up a new series that is just for exploring whatever retro nonsense I feel like enjoying from week to week.

Today, we take a look at Midtown Madness 3 on the original Xbox — yes, like it or not the original Xbox most certainly is “retro” these days — and have a lot of fun with the Paris bus.

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

Atari ST A to Z: Llamatron

If you like flashing lights, boy do I have the game for you. If you have a problem with flashing lights, maybe steer clear of this one.

Llamatron for Atari ST is one of the legendary Jeff Minter’s many takes on classic arcade games. This time around, he sets his sight on the classic Robotron, which was already a fairly psychedelic experience filled with pulsing colours and flashes of light, but Llamatron takes all that to a whole other level.

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

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Atari A to Z: Runner Bear

The Atari 8-bit community is still alive and well — and many of the folks involved with it are just as active today as they were back in the good old days!

One mainstay of the community for all these years is Paul Lay, who put together some fabulous machine code games as type-in listings for Page 6 magazine all those years ago, and is still putting out top-notch software for the platform today. Here’s Runner Bear, programmed with the intention of being the first Atari 8-bit game of 2020.

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

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Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book – Stirring the Pot

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As is tradition for the series at this point, Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book shakes things up considerably when it comes to its core alchemy mechanics.

And again in keeping with past installments, the reinvention isn’t so radical that it feels incongruous with the rest of the series, but it’s distinctive enough to make Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book stand out nicely amid its many, many peers.

So today let’s take a closer look at that alchemy system — along with how the people around the town of Kirchen Bell can help out with your studies!

Continue reading Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book – Stirring the Pot

Atari A to Z Flashback: Steeplechase

Sometimes, as we’ve seen numerous times on this series already, the simplest game concepts really do work quite well. And such is the case with Steeplechase for Atari 2600, one of three games to be exclusively distributed through Sears’ Tele-Games label.

Offering simple, easy to understand horse racing action for one to four players, Steeplechase is a fun game to bust out when you have friends over and can’t be arsed to explain anything that needs more than one button. This also makes it an ideal fit for those people in your life who claim not to “do” video games.

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

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Atari ST A to Z: Kid Gloves

Do you like pixel-perfect jumping and dodgy hitboxes? Then you’re gonna love this pretty platformer from Millennium and Logotron!

This is one of those games that I remember seeing screenshots of back in the day and thinking it looked really cool thanks to its console-style visuals. Gameplay-wise, it’s not terrible — but be prepared for plenty of frustration as you battle your way through 50 screens of precision platforming!

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

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Atari A to Z: Quest for Quintana Roo

Sometimes, you just want to raid a pyramid. Because it might have treasure in it, of course! That’s Yucatan Sam’s thinking, anyway; somewhere in Quintana Roo are riches beyond his wildest dreams.

Quest for Quintana Roo is a peculiar action adventure game in which you explore the aforementioned pyramid in the hopes of tracking down some mysterious stones that will open the way to great fortune. It’s become known as a somewhat obtuse game where it’s not super clear what you’re supposed to be doing, but it can be figured out with a bit of effort!

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

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Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book – Alchemist on the Road

cropped-atelier-megafeature-header-1-8868334This post is one chapter of a MegaFeature!
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Having taken a high-level look at Atelier Sophie’s place in the series and its overall game structure, it’s time to look more specifically at the way it does certain things.

In this part of the Atelier MegaFeature, we’re going to take a look at what Sophie gets up to when she leaves the safety of her hometown Kirchen Bell and heads out into the big, wide world. As we’ve seen elsewhere in the Atelier series, exploring and gathering ingredients is an important part of an alchemist’s lifestyle — and Sophie’s life as depicted in Atelier Sophie is certainly no exception in that regard.

So empty that Basket and throw on those gathering gloves — it’s time to hit the road!

Continue reading Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book – Alchemist on the Road