Tag Archives: gameplay

Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash: No Shirt, No Shoes, All Shinobi Shooting

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It’s understandable that some people approached Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash with a certain amount of trepidation prior to its initial release.

After all, here was a series that was supposedly about ninja girls fighting an unseen battle against the otherworldly youma forces, and yet their next game seemed to have them all clad in bikinis having water pistol fights with one another. Sure, the fanservice angle had always been part of the series… but surely, surely we were going a bit off-piste now, right?

Two things. Firstly: Bon Appétit would like a word about going “off-piste”. And secondly: Peach Beach Splash is absolutely a worthy sequel to Estival Versus that sets the series up for what will hopefully be an apocalyptic, climactic finale. In the meantime, though, yes, water guns.

Continue reading Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash: No Shirt, No Shoes, All Shinobi Shooting

Atari A to Z Flashback: Adventure II

One of the most interesting things about the retro scene is how these old, supposedly defunct platforms still have plenty of people developing for them.

In some cases, these projects that began as homebrew affairs end up being official follow-ups to established classics, thirty or more years later! Such is the case with Adventure II, which was first released in 2005 as part of the Atari Flashback 2 console.

Mechanically, there’s not much new in Adventure II, but the interesting new map design and cranked up difficulty makes it a distinct experience in its own right!

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

Final Fantasy Marathon: Navigation Issues – Final Fantasy I #10

After last week’s unfortunate adventure in the Earthgift Shrine, the Warriors of Light do their best to get back on track.

However, it’s not quite that simple! Their next destination is concealed in the heart of a complicated labyrinth of rivers and streams… and it turns out that they perhaps weren’t even heading in the right direction in the first place.

Oh well. Those are the perils you sign up for when you take on a less linear RPG!

Atari ST A to Z: Welltris

Tetris is a timeless classic that remains relevant today. Its various sequels and spinoffs, on the other hand, have varied somewhat in how well they’ve persisted over the years.

One such title that has been largely forgotten today is Alexey Pajitnov’s official follow-up to the original Tetris, known as Welltris. Developed in Soviet Russia, ported to a variety of platforms and published by Spectrum Holobyte and Infogrames around the world, Welltris takes Tetris into the third dimension.

It’s a solid game… but you have to approach it very differently to Pajitnov’s more enduring classic!

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

Warriors Wednesday: Do Not NTR Lu Bu – Warriors Orochi #54

Of all the things you should not do to Lu Bu — and there are many — I’d say that cuckolding him is pretty high up the list, perhaps just underneath pursuing him.

Still, Diao Chan doesn’t seem to be particularly enamoured with his attitude fighting in Orochi’s forces, and so she decides to defect to the Coalition. Naturally, Cao Pi is more than happy to welcome a new ally to the fold.

Of course, as you might expect, a betrayal of one of the most legendarily powerful warriors in existence is not something one can expect to go all that smoothly…

Pokémon Masters: Friendly Free-to-Play

If you, like me, have been around the mobile gaming block a bit, chances are that you have a certain image in your mind of what Asian free-to-play games look like.

You’re almost certainly picturing energy bars, timers, feathers, coins, gems and an overwhelming array of things to do, all of which seem dead set on distracting you from completing the actual main story of the damn thing.

Well, if you’ve ever felt like this, Pokémon Masters is a refreshingly straightforward breath of fresh air… or at least it is right now at the time of writing, a little after its official launch!

Continue reading Pokémon Masters: Friendly Free-to-Play

The MoeGamer Podcast: Episode 28 – Best of Bosses

What is up, friendos, and welcome once again to The MoeGamer Podcast, featuring both my fine set of pipes alongside those of my good friend 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. Please do at least one of these if you can; it really helps us out!

Or you can hit the jump to watch or listen to today’s episode right here on MoeGamer.

Continue reading The MoeGamer Podcast: Episode 28 – Best of Bosses

Atari A to Z Flashback: Adventure

Hey! Listen! Do you like Zelda? If so, then take a moment to give thanks to 1979’s Adventure for Atari.

Adventure is an early example of a top-down action-adventure, and has been cited as an important influence on the development of subsequent titles such as The Legend of Zelda. While it may look primitive today, its abstract graphics, simple sound and straightforward mechanics still do a surprising amount to stir the imagination, even today.

It’s also the first ever game to feature an “Easter Egg” — and it’s all because the programmer Warren Robinett, quite reasonably, decided that he wanted to actually be credited for his hard work!

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

Taito Essentials: The Electric Yo-Yo

One of the nice things about the two Taito Legends compilations on PS2, Xbox and PC (and the separate PSP release, which acts as a kind of “best of” compilation containing elements of both) is that it includes both well-known games and more obscure affairs.

One such example of the latter is The Electric Yo-Yo, an unusual Taito America game from 1982 that is so obscure that it doesn’t even have its own Wikipedia page (shock!). If Giant Bomb’s rather bare-bones page on the game is to be believed, it seems that it wasn’t all that well-received back in the day — but if there’s one thing I’ve learned in MoeGamer’s lifetime, it’s that it’s always worth considering something on its own merits, devoid of its original context and popular reception.

And y’know what? I kinda like The Electric Yo-Yo. I mean, sure, it’s kind of infuriating and I’ve hurled some deeply offensive language at it during my time with it… but I still kinda like it.

Continue reading Taito Essentials: The Electric Yo-Yo

Final Fantasy Marathon: This Was A Mistake – Final Fantasy I #9

You know how sometimes you get yourself into a situation that, before long, makes it abundantly clear that you have made a poor decision?

Well, that’s what happened in today’s episode of Final Fantasy. Fresh from their defeat of Lich, they decide to check out the newly unlocked Earthgift Shrine, because surely a newly unlocked dungeon is something you should go and check out immediately, isn’t it?

Well… nope. Let’s maybe save these bonus dungeons for the endgame, huh? You’d think I’d know that after having played this version before, but apparently not…