Tag Archives: gameplay

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z Flashback: Circus Atari

Leave a comment

Today’s Atari Flashback Classic is Circus Atari, an interesting and challenging twist on the Breakout formula.

The origin story of this one is quite interesting, too; it began life as a third-party spin-off of the Breakout arcade hardware, then was subsequently ported by Atari itself to the 2600 platform. Original developer Exidy, who were struggling to compete with Atari at the time, must have been real pleased about that!

Anyway, if Breakout wasn’t hard enough already for you, Circus Atari challenges you to bounce two little clowns on a see-saw and pop a bunch of balloons. Good luck; you’ll need it!

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

Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy Marathon, Videos

Final Fantasy Marathon: Leila, Warp! – Final Fantasy II #5

2 Comments

The early Final Fantasies are interesting to return to, as they show the origins of various things that have become series mainstays over the years.

Today in Final Fantasy II, we see the first mention of the Dragoons in the series; while you can’t actually be a Dragoon in Final Fantasy II, you do learn a little bit about them and their companion Wyverns. We also see the Lifestream for the first time; this concept hasn’t been in every Final Fantasy, but it does play a prominent role in both Final Fantasy VII and, of all things, the CG movie Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. Bet you’d forgotten about that, hadn’t you?

Maria also spends a lot of time training her Scourge spell, and we get into a real mess trying to get back out of a dungeon. Because, well, we’ve set a certain amount of precedent at this point, haven’t we?

Essentials, Shmups

Sisters Royale: Five Sisters’ Story

3 Comments

Oh no! Seytan (spelled differently, presumably for copyright reasons) is threatening the land with his massive, throbbing evilness. Whatever will we do?

Fret not, my friend, for there is a prophecy. There always is a prophecy in situations like this, and indeed this time is no exception. The prophecy states that five sisters will combine their formidable magic powers and defeat Seytan once and for all… and wouldn’t you know it — it just so happens that five sisters with formidable magic powers have just shown up. Whew, that’s a relief, isn’t it?

Well, it would be if they didn’t all hate each other, of course. It seems they have a bit of unresolved business to deal with before any sort of “cooperation” will be taking place…

Continue reading Sisters Royale: Five Sisters’ Story →

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari ST A to Z: Rod Land

2 Comments

Ah, Rod Land! I frigging love Rod Land, as I believe we’ve previously discussed elsewhere.

Turns out the Atari ST version is a very, very good port indeed — and a game that I absolutely coveted back in the day. I never had my own copy though, so I had to satisfy myself with the short demo I had from a magazine cover disk.

Thanks to Patron Ken, however, I was able to secure myself my own copy after many years! Time to enjoy; I’ve got a lot of catching up to do!

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

Videos, Warriors All-Stars, Warriors Wednesday

Warriors Wednesday: Wicked Lil’ Servant – Warriors All-Stars #15

1 Comment

Drama and intrigue in today’s episode of Warriors All-Stars as Kasumi and Arnice attempt to save Setsuna from the trap he’s fallen into.

We also run into Marie Rose, subject of last week’s Waifu Wednesday, and discover that she’s a more powerful weapon than anyone could have possibly imagined… and she doesn’t even need to touch anyone.

While we’re on, we have a nice chat about what’s coming up here on MoeGamer, too. Why not stop in and hang out? We have swords and cute girls.

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z Flashback: Championship Soccer

Leave a comment

I detest most real-life sports, but I’ve been known to have a bit of fun with digital recreations of sporting activities over the years; they make great, easily understandable competitive affairs, after all.

My favourite sporting games are those that don’t try too hard to be realistic simulations; those that simply make use of straightforward, abstract mechanics that provide a rough approximation of the basic rules of the sport. Games that you can just pick up and play without having to worry about the more complex side of things.

As it happens, Championship Soccer for Atari 2600 is a great example of this. It resembles football in only the most cursory of ways — but it’s actually quite an enjoyable competitive game of skill, even for those of us who don’t really like sports!

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

Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy Marathon

Final Fantasy Marathon: The Dreadnought Factor – Final Fantasy II #4

1 Comment

After last week’s intensive mage training, Firion, Maria and Guy are just about ready to take on their most significant challenge yet: destroying the Empire’s superweapon, the Dreadnought!

Of course, it won’t be an easy task. First they have to find the damn thing, and navigation, it seems, is not their strong suit. Then they need to remember all of the reasons they went there, not just the one that involves a big, exciting explosion. Memory, it seems, is also not their strong suit.

But what is an adventure without a few mishaps along the way? Join our friends of the Wild Rose rebellion as they do their best to make the world a better place…

CocoPPa Dolls, Mobage

CocoPPa Dolls: I’m a Pretty Princess

8 Comments

At the time of writing I am, as you’ll well know if you’ve watched any recent videos or read my blog on Patreon, ill.

When I’m ill, I want to do mindless things. And in the world of interactive entertainment, there are few things more mindless than mobile games. So with that in mind, I downloaded Arknights. This is the new release from Azur Lane publisher YoStar, and a game a lot of people are talking about on social media right now.

Then I decided to play CocoPPa Dolls by United Inc. instead. Why? Well, why not?

Continue reading CocoPPa Dolls: I’m a Pretty Princess →

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari ST A to Z: QBall

Leave a comment

You like pool? Reckon you’re good at pool? Well, how about if it was in an antigravity cube with pockets in the corners and customisable air friction?

Those are the questions that the unusual QBall for Atari ST attempts to answer, presenting a simple but impressively slick 3D view of the playfield in question, detailed controls and a stiff challenge for even those who think they have a fine command over the laws of physics.

QBall was the work of Adam Billyard, who is perhaps best known for his 8-bit 3D racer Elektra Glide; QBall represents a rare 16-bit appearance for both him and publisher English Software.

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

Videos, Warriors All-Stars, Warriors Wednesday

Warriors Wednesday: The Truth Hurts – Warriors All-Stars #14

1 Comment

In today’s episode of Warriors All-Stars, we start to get a hint of what Setsuna’s up to — and why the war among the furry siblings kicked off in the first place.

Setsuna hasn’t been entirely forthcoming with Arnice, Kasumi and his other allies, however… and as such they’re finding it somewhat difficult to trust him, as his true intentions remain somewhat murky. Can you truly be someone’s comrade if you don’t really know why they’re fighting in the first place? Can you trust an ally if you learn more about their philosophy from your supposed “enemies” than from the ally themselves?

These are all big questions that will need to be answered eventually. For now, though, let’s continue racking up those monstrous KO counts!